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autisticsupervillain · 9 months

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It's Fictional Throwdown Friday!

This Week's Fighters...

John Amherst vs The Thing!

Conditions:

No Restrictions

Scenario:

Amherst wants to experiment with creating diseases that can survive extreme conditions, so he heads to the Antarctic in order to plague the locals. Literally. Unfortunately, he happens to choose a research station that has already been completely overtaken by The Thing as his starting point.

Analysis: Amherst

What is it that you fear most? Are you afraid of fire? Of the smoke and heat of Desolation burning away all that you hold most dear? Or are you afraid of being watched? Terrified that some all seeing Eye might reveal all of your failings to the world? Then perhaps you might like to share your story with The Magnus Institute. They can tell you what Fear is hunting you... and what Fear has already claimed you.

It's dangerous to have a biggest Fear in the world of the Magnus Archives. That would only give it cause to hunt you down. Hound you, torment you, feed off of you... until you become an extension of what terrifies you most. An Avatar of your greatest Fear. Forced to feed your tormentor or starve to death trying.

Out of all the Fears, there are few more viscerally disgusting than that of the Corruption. It is the Fear of everything that rots and slimes. It is the Fear of disease, rot, and infestation. And of all the Corruption's Avatars, there are none more sickly and sadistic than John Amherst.

No one knows where Mr. Amherst came from. By all accounts, he simply stepped out of thin air one day. An unassuming man in an oversized brown coat who was constantly wracked with horrific diseases and plagues. Some speculate that he may a relative of Jeffrey Amherst, an infamous bigot who used infested smallpox blankets to wipe out large swathes of indigenous people during the French-Indian War. Others speculate that he is just a nobody who was inspired by this act of biological war crime to commit his own atrocities and that his real name has been lost to time. One thing is certain, however. John Amherst has a love of spreading disease and death everywhere he goes.

The Corruption granted Amherst two unique gifts that make him completely unlike any other Avatar in the series. First is his ability to always be sick with ever festering and ever evolving diseases, so that he may always feel how the Corruption "loves" him and spread it wherever he goes. Second is his ability to constantly come back from the dead. Constantly claimed and revived by his own sickness.

Amherst would use his immortality as an opportunity to spread his diseases wherever he could, feeding off the Fear of plague to keep himself... "alive" and constantly reviving. Always resurrecting two months after his demise, Amherst was lethal to the touch, instantly killing the men tasked with burying his body upon each death. Even the things he touched remained lethally infested, with his bed killing any man who was put in it within the day. During the Second Boer War, Amherst delighted himself with infecting the wounded in the medical ward, continually fracturing his own shattered ankle to that end. When he revived, his now thoroughly mangled leg returned to perfect condition. An immortal like him had no stake in the war. Only in the cesspit for disease it provided. When captured by the enemy, Amherst would delight himself again with causing the brutal plague outbreaks the concentration camps were known for.

The longer Amherst lived, the more advanced his plagues would become as would his control over them. By August 2011, he'd learned to spread his plague through the ants and flies that followed his every move. His mere presence became lethal and the air around him became rancid, rotting the walls around him and filling the people he interacted with with flies that muffled their screams from the inside out. Flying out of every hole in their face. During this time, ge forged the paper work necessary to take control of Ivy Meadows Care Home and turn it into his own personal plague paradise. The elderly had never smelled worse. Julia Montauk and Trevor Herbert had to burn the whole building down to stop the spread. But even that did not keep Amherst dead.

In was in 2013 in the small German town of Klanxbüll where Amherst would unleash his most horrific plague. His mere presence causes the skin and muscles of everyone in the town to melt straight off, allowing him to command each of their still living bodies to twist together into a wretched throne in the middle of town, from which he observes the agony.

This display caught the attention of paranormal investigator Adelard Decker who confronted Amherst atop his throne. Suited up in a contamination suit, Decker was able to overpower Amherst. While John is strong enough to dig himself out of his own grace, Decker was still the stronger man. Devising a way to kill Amherst permanently, Decker buried him in concrete, allowing the stone to bury his plagues. Unable to feed off the fear of disease, Amherst starved and died in his tomb, ending the pandemic of death he had unleashed upon the world.

Though it would be Amherst who got the last laugh on Decker. One of his swings had managed to cut open Decker's suit, infecting him. Decker writes his account of Amherst's demise and sends it as a statement to Gertrude Robinson, reassuring the Archivist with his final breath that the most horrible Avatar the Corruption had ever claimed walked the Earth no more.

Analysis: The Thing

A stranger approaches you in the snow. "Who Goes There?" You call out. But no one answers. No one is there. Somebody used to be there. It even looks like somebody is there. But there is no humanity beneath the stranger's skin. Only a Thing that has found, in this Antarctic hellscape, that man is the warmest place to hide.

Deep in the icey desert of the Antarctic, an American research team finds that their Norwegian neighbors have seemingly gone mad. Their base has been completely destroyed. The blood from their slit wrists froze before it could even hit the ground. And the one survivor seemed desperate to kill an innocent dog, chasing it down with an attack helicopter. After killing the madman, the crew looked the dog away in the kennel, completely oblivious to what they had let into their base.

The dog wasn't any kind of animal at all, in truth. It was a... Thing. That's really the best word for it. With no true form, no home world, no species name, this Thing simply assimilates and copies every animal it touches on a cellular level. It has no known predators. No naturally occuring weaknesses. If it ever escaped from the freezing cold of the Antarctic, it would doubtlessly overtake the Earth.

Every single cell in the Thing's body is technically its own organism. Once separated from the main body, it prioritizes its own survival over all else. One the one hand, this means that touching even a single cell of the creature will allow it to overtake you, assimilate you down to the cellular level, copy your DNA, and replace you. One the other hand, this means that there is an easy way to see through the Thing's disguises. Take a sample of its blood, expose it to fire, and see if the blood reacts. If it does, it's a Thing.

But that's only if you can narrow down the suspect. It copies every cell in your body. Your memories, your mannerisms, everything that makes you who you are. It can imitate a victim perfectly and manipulate every part of its body to its will. It can turn its ribcage into a gaping maw, turn its veins into tendrils to drag you in, spray acid from its body, and survive anything short of killing every single cell in its entire body, from gun fire to being completely frozen. And the more biomass it absorbs, the bigger and stronger its bodies can get. It's human bodies can smash through solid walls, while it's largest seen bodies are big enough to dwarf entire buildings.

But, that does play into one of the Thing's biggest weaknesses: fire. As none of the cells in its catalog can survive such extreme heat, fire is a good way of putting a Thing down permanently, as would be powerful acids, due to destroying on the molecular level. And while the Thing would assuredly wipe out every animal on Earth, it's assimilation is limited to the animal kingdom. It cannot breach the cell walls of plant cells, it cannot assimilate inorganic matter, and it requires direct skin contact to assimilate and infect its prey.

The Thing is effectively a virus on macroscale and the Earth is it's massive Petri Dish. You can't blame it for its alien behavior. In the Antarctic Winter, man is the warmest place to hide.

Throwdown Theme:

youtube

Throwdown Breakdown:

This entire debate comes down to two questions. Amherst is almost certainly going to get assimilated immediately. Unless he can breathe fire and just never told us, he had no way of holding the Thing off directly. So the question remains.

1. Can Amherst's resurrection save him from the Thing's assimilation?

2. Can Amherst's diseases kill the Thing?

The first question is something I'm pretty confident in saying no to. Not only has Amherst's resurrection never brought him back from something like that, even if it did, he'd just get assimilated again. He'd respawn right back inside the Thing again, where he'd get re-absorbed immediately. He'd then eventually starve to death from being unable to spreaf fear and die permanently.

For the second question, we need to ask microbiology. I don't find it very likely that the thing can copy Amherst's viruses and diseases, as they're smaller than our cells, which are the smallest things its been shown to copy. Nor can it just expell the viruses from its body, as it's just never spat out something that small. Furthermore, the Thing's cells would have to have DNA in them, as copying DNA is a part of its assimilation process, so the viruses can infect the Thing's cells, but can't be assimilated back.

While normally, the Thing's ability to copy a human’s immune system would be enough, Amherst's diseases are supernatural deadly. While Amherst's ability to control his diseases means that the amount of time it takes to kill a victim varies, no victim has lived longer than a day, with the autopsies of his victims showing his infections to be months more advanced than they should. Amherst being dead just makes this even worse, because people have been seen to die instantly just from touching his corpse.

While the Thing's unique physiology means it would survive the infection longer than most, as it would take a significant amount of time to kill every cell in the body as opposed to just the vital organs of humans, it still doesn't have any means to treat the disease. Separating into different organisms wouldn't help because the very air around Amherst is shown to be toxic, so separating wouldn't stop them from getting reinfected by the very air around them.

As such, Amherst gets assimilated and dies. Then the Thing gets sick and dies. Tie.

This Throwdown is a draw!

#fictional throwdown fridays #john carpenter's the thing #the magnus archives #john amherst #Youtube

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parieha-aaa · 1 year

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❝ DRABBLE ; 48 HOURS POST MORTEM . canon - divergent (?) centered drabble centered around satoru’s following days post ‘resurrection’ & the star plasma cult incident .

48 hours since his revival from the brink of death & yet , satoru felt as if he were still suffering the shock of a blade through his back . as he sat in the office of another higher up , another useless nothing that he’d pay no mind to unless it suited him , he’d only reported in order to give his account of what had happened with the star plasma cult & fushiguro toji . ( to be honest , it didn’t matter how long the questions lasted , or what the content consisted of : satoru watched the ceiling with both eyes absently locked on random tiles . he didn’t know what had happened either , he’d only really gathered the information he did have from the others who were present . people like geto . ) ❝ satoru , are you listening ? ❞ ❝ . . . ❞ ❝ this is to absolve you of any . . . ❞ ... and there they went again , allowing the man in glasses to return to that place in the back of his mind that culminated in a makeshift funeral service for his failures . he’d never once tasted bitter defeat , not once since he’d gotten involved with the likes of sorcery , but this had probably been a long time coming , if gojo had to hazard a guess on the matter . ‘ the strongest ‘ didn’t mean what he’d thought two days ago , and this proves that simply being the strongest wasn’t enough anymore , being a pair was no longer enough . if he was going to protect people , he needed allies , strong allies . wait ... since when did he feel any obligation to help the weak ? he’d asked that question a million times to geto and his superiors , and had never received a strong enough argument to make him rethink his choices . however ... now ... he’d come to give a damn about someone who was weak . and even then , it wasn’t enough , he still managed to fail , to fall , nearly die . ( the last thing he clearly recalled was the stone under his body , warmth flooding the cracks , and struggling to get a single breath inside his lungs . as he lay there , useless , helpless , in agony , in anguish , he watched panic ensue , the sudden scrambling of his fellows and his target . at some point , that thick blanket of blackness had enveloped his mind , muddled it , made him wade through sludge to get a thought across . he was dying . he was dying . think . think of something . anything . your life was on the line . their lives are on the line . if you don’t get up now , this is the end for them . ) there’s brief flashes beforehand , from before his body finally lost proper function . trying to fight without a way to breathe was running on a clock as blood threaded and seeped through his fingertips , as his dark clothes soaked up the gore and fluid following being skewered through the abdomen by some bastard who’d had enough sense to make him waste infinity to the point of exhaustion . smart , but it left him between a rock and a hard place . running on adrenaline alone was fine until it was spent , until his vision blurred , until his entire body was screaming to have a relief from this anguish . but that relief was going to be death , that would be final , and he couldn’t afford it . he’d kill toji . he’d murder him . tear his fucking heart out . he’d never stop , revenge would be his & satoru told himself this all the way until his head hit the pavement . until blood gushed out of his nose and mouth to the point he choked , and until he’d lost far too much to possibly survive . it was the end , the world washed out before his eyes , and he swore up and down that the experience was warm , to give up felt welcome , more so than it had any right to feel . opening his eyes afterwards had been the hardest thing , wiping blood from his eyes and his face as he forced his limbs to cooperate despite any and all significant protest . everything inside of him screamed to stop moving , every muscle stretched into agony , every tendon to their limit , his lungs burned with the effort he made to advance . by the time he was standing , the pain was merely normal , something to put up with . now , now was the time for payback . for suguru , for amani , for everyone who’d risked their lives . only to return . . . and find out no one cared . no one cared what they had seen , what pain they had experienced , or how it changed he and suguru respectively . that was when it hit him like a gut punch : this world . . . no , this whole damn jujutsu system . . . was a fucking lie . corrupt to the very core . he wasn’t a hero , he wasn’t even a person to them , he was a machine : made to follow orders , not to question them , and never to be incapacitated by his experiences and emotions . they were all expected to be soldiers , but he & suguru caught the brunt of it all as survivors . they’d fought to survive for nothing more than the blame to be placed on them . truthfully , satoru hadn’t been to classes in days either . he’s sure that the instructors could find out why if they asked , and he’s also sure that they avoided him too for now , not knowing what to say to him . acidic hatred ran through his blood , and it wasn’t at fushigoro . it was no different walking back to his room , as he kept uncharacteristically silent on his way . head ducked down , not meeting the sorrowful gazes of anyone because they all knew what had happened , they knew and he didn’t have an answer for any of their , no doubt endless questions . for once , gojo satoru walked back to his room in a deafening silence , something to heavy that it could suffocate him if he didn’t focus . going from the strongest sorcerer in the world to a fuck up in the matter of a few days left him exhausted , fatigued , unable to see anyone much less speak to them . their sorrow and disappointment were measurable , he saw it in the eyes of those he did manage to catch from time to time . he felt it in everyone’s very presence . failure . weak . fuck up . killer . letting them die because he couldn’t do anything was just as bad as holding the gun to amani’s head . it had been his job , his mission , and ... this was the outcome . the revenge he’d gotten on toji wasn’t worth anything . he’d felt empty when he’d been attacking , vacant when he killed the man for what he’d done , and yet he was left with the ruinous mess to deal with afterwards . killing fushigoro didn’t bring amani back from the dead , it didn’t even make him feel better . it was all hollow , inside to the out . maybe that was the most frustrating fact of the matter : revenge had been meaningless . that empty feeling still stuck to his ribcage even days later , making it all the more difficult to breathe . he’s sure people are talking . people always talk . & the best he could do was tune it out as much as possible , to walk into his room and shut the door as soon as he’s inside , to put a blockade between himself and the world outside . it was only a wonder how a few days away had refurbished his entire room into an almost foreign space . from the shadows along the walls to the trinkets from past ventures with the others ... it all felt like eons away . especially now . it’s only been a few days yet it felt like walking into his childhood room , where it felt like a lifetime between then and now . with a swallow , satoru felt his back against his door , and he sunk until he was sitting on the floor , finally alone to process everything that had happened . finally alone , finally ... he pulled his black circular lenses down his nose and off his face , allowing them to rest on the floor with carelessness . pressing his face to his hand , there’s an unsteady breath taken from between his fingers , eyes closed . for now , he’d bask in the silence , spend time sorting out his thoughts before trying to face the world again . he was alone . a survivor , certainly , unfortunately , but ultimately and bitterly alone .

#drabble /#❪ ✩ ❫ ─── ⠀ ⠀‵⠀ in character ⠀ 〳 ⠀ roleplay ‵

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kendrene · 2 years

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Theirs is a poor house.

They’d done relatively well before her father passed — a good blacksmith brings in steady work, and food or other goods if customers can’t pay in coin. Things are different now. Harder. Their home is suffering as they are; walls are warping, the roof leaks, new problems spring up the second the old ones are dealt with.

There are times, especially in the strange hour that separates evening from night, when Kara has the impression she exists inside the chambers of a rotting diseased heart. Sorrow clings to every surface, light and warmth and laughter gone. What once had been a home has become an inhospitable place, soaked through with the inherent cruelty of the wilderness that surrounds it. It’s like staring into a mirror — the three of them are struck by grief, and so the house is too.

The small kitchen at the bottom of the stairs is the one place that hasn’t been affected. A fire burns in the hearth at all hours, no matter how tiny the flame, and every day after supper it is Kara’s task to bank the glowing embers for the night, so that the blaze can be easily revived the following morning.

Today a chill hangs in the air, and long shadows gather at the corners of the room. Alex sits at the table, a bowl of porridge in front of her. Kara joins her and helps herself to a second.

“Your absence at the fires was noted last night.”

“Good morning to you too.” The porridge is thinner than it was a week ago, and lukewarm. Kara eats it anyway. Having her mouth full gives her an excuse not to talk.

“I’m serious, Kara.” Alex’s eyes flick to her face. They narrow. “I’m pushing hard for you to be considered for apprenticeship, and you need to—”

Kara swallows a bite of dried apple and pushes the bowl away, still half-full.

“Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe it isn’t what I want anymore?” The thought has hounded her, given no respite. To voice it, unexpectedly even to herself, makes her ribs try to constrict and expand at the same time. That’s how it must feel to be trussed and quartered by horses, Kara thinks. Perhaps, she’ll rip apart too.

“What are you talking about?”

“This.” Kara plucks at the front of her stiff-collared uniform. Alex wears the same, except that red and gold chevrons are embroidered at the shoulders and cuffs, denoting rank. “You’ve not asked me if I still want to be a part of it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” They’re sisters, they’ve fought plenty. The cutting, almost dismissive edge in Alex’s tone is something new. “Of course you do. Witch hunters have protected the village for longer than either of us has been alive. It’s an honor to be picked for enlistment. We help people, Kara. I thought that’s what you wanted too.”

“I do!” Kara snaps, more harshly than she means to. She can tell that things are escalating, and yet doesn’t know how to keep the words from spilling out of her now that the dam has been broken. “I’m starting to wonder, is this the right way? Things are getting worse.”

“Keep your voice down.” Alex practically growls. “This is the kind of talk that can land you in a fire. You’re not wrong. Things are bad. The sickness, the failed harvests, the scarcity of game.” Alex sighs, and for the space of a breath she drops the act. Behind the mask, Kara sees tiredness. She senses fear. “It’s hard to come to grips with all of this misfortune. Do you think it’s easy for me? That I don’t question why nothing we do seems to be helping?”

The harvest wouldn’t be so poor if farmers were permitted to rotate their crops more often, Kara itches to point out. Game would be abundant if Lord and his ilk hunted a little less. The illness — people have begun to call it the Brittles on account of how easily the bones of those afflicted break — she has no explanation for. But with the earth and living things around them wasting away, what right do men have to fare any better?

“And what do you tell yourself?”

Alex’s expression hardens again. “That our work isn’t done. That it won’t be until every last witch is gone.”

“And after that? What happens?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I mean—” Kara leans forward, hands flat on the table top. She isn’t sure whether she’s steadying herself, or readying to go for Alex’s throat. “Suppose you get rid of all the witches. What happens if things still don’t go back to how they were? If it’s not them, doing all you’re blaming them for?”

Swan song - supercorp witch/witch hunter au - read now on Patreon.

#swan song #supercorp #kara x lena #dren writes #patreon update

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stillness-in-green · 3 years

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MVA In Memoriam (3/5)

The Comprehensive Account of the Butchering of My Villain Academia

(Introduction and Part One, Episode 108: My Villain Academia) (Part Two, Episode 109: Revival Party)

Part Three, Episode 110: Sad Man's Parade

Chapter 229 – All It Takes Is One Bad Day

• The full first page, of Jin getting mobbed by Puppet!Jins, them tearing his mask off, and flinging it and then him away. Saved them a bit of budget, I suppose, but it’s a shame to lose the drama and the violence of Twice having his mask pulled away, since it’s decent foreshadowing (indeed, possibly intentionally so, on Skeptic’s part) for the violent bewilderment he’ll be subject to shortly.

• Re-Destro’s line, “Not when he’s using his meta-ability to puppeteer, unless you want another nagging lecture.” They didn’t keep the first nagging lecture, so of course they wouldn’t keep this. I’m still annoyed, both on general principle and at the loss of RD’s implication that these nagging lectures are a regular occurrence, especially if one tries to bother Skeptic when he’s using his meta-ability. Has RD himself been on the receiving end of one? Possibly so! But you’d be less likely to think so just from the anime.

• Re-Destro’s line, “This allowed our warriors to momentarily hold back and stay out of danger.” Because why would the audience need to know that Skeptic planned for and Re-Destro cares enough to observe something like that lol?? Obviously the MLA is perfectly content to just throw their peoples’ lives away because, whatever, more where that came from! Dammit, anime, the fandom believes this enough as it is without confirmation bias from your cuts!

• Skeptic’s “fufufu” laugh, because the anime is allergic to the MLA having fun.

• The police officer’s line, “Sure, but in a case like this, you’re still to blame.” The rest of the exchange hints at it, of course, but there’s a horrifying callousness to a police officer just saying straight to the face of a teenaged orphan facing his first offense, “Yes, you were obeying the law perfectly and this guy just ran out in front of you, but it’s going on your criminal record anyway, whatever.” A weight the anime lost, and another that makes me very suspicious of the patterns behind what, precisely, was put on the chopping block.[1]

• Jin’s narration, “That police officer couldn’t have known. Me neither.” Demonstrates that Jin doesn’t really hold his fall against the one policeman. It’s a consistent thread with Jin’s character that, while he’s very jaded, he’s not actually vengeful, nor is he looking to enact systemic change. While he’s very defensive of his friends, people who hurt Jin himself are never in any real danger of him coming to collect his pound of flesh in return; he just rolls with it as part of how the world works, in the way of someone who was never given reason to believe any different. This line is a good example of that.

• From Jin’s old employer’s angry rant, deletes the note that the client that called is angry, and that the client said, “That young punk of yours did this!” It’s nothing that wasn’t obvious from the rest of the conversation, but I do I think cutting it loses a sense that this guy is just unloading all of his frustration and fear on Jin. The length of the screed, the extra details—it clearly communicates that Jin’s boss is so angry and upset he’s not paying any real mind to filtering, but just recounting every point of contention the moment they come into his mind.

• In modern society, when you’re someone without roots… Well, not a lot of people can relate to that.” It isn’t just the police that failed Jin; it’s a whole society that’s distrustful of people who don’t have a place in the fabric, and thus are unwilling to try and bring them into it. Like Tenko, there are a thousand little places where someone could have reached out a hand, but no one ever did. The audience can intuit this, but I feel it’s better to be clear about it—it’s not just the legal system that screwed Jin over; it’s every other person that never tried to help him because they were afraid of his eyes or distrusted a guy who had no connections. When Shigaraki comes, he’s not going to be coming for heroes alone; he’ll be coming for this entire tapestry of indifference and timidity.

• Skeptic’s lines, “Hrm? Fighting back? I was sure he’d either flee or cower in place... We didn’t anticipate such unity between them.” This gets at two things. Firstly, and once again, that the MLA did their research; that they came into this with educated expectations and a definite plan. Secondly, an in-character observation of what the arc has been showing the audience all along: that the League isn’t just a disparate gang of hoodlums anymore; that they’re developing real bonds. Those bonds mark them as unusual—Re-Destro comments on it in 223, as did Overhaul in 147; even Mr. Compress remarks disapprovingly on Twice’s “habit” of getting overly attached to people. It’s striking that, even though the MLA knew from Giran’s records that the League was uncommonly well-bonded, Twice’s devotion still fell outside Skeptic’s parameters.[2]

• Again Skeptic’s line, “Now his legs.” The drones don’t actually get this far (though you can see them gearing up for it on the next page), so it’s a reasonable enough cut, but it does emphasize the ludicrous, over-the-top extremes Skeptic in particular is willing to go to in securing what he wants. If, you know, “Kidnap the doubler so we have a method to make copies of the Grand Commander at our leisure,” wasn’t bonkers enough.

• Twice’s line, “Even against Gigantomachia!” It really highlights just how much mental energy Twice has been dedicating to avoiding injury, that he was able to keep it in mind even fighting a foe as overwhelming, and for as extended a period, as Machia. And like, the anime blitzed over the Machia fight so quickly, and with so little visible wear and tear to the League, that it really could have used all the reminders it could find room for about how intense those six weeks were.

• Twice’s line, “I won’t watch a friend die!” Such an important line that the composer named an entire track for it, not that the anime gave us that track in the moment it was clearly scored for. They added in a new line later in the scene which mostly gets the important sentiments back in, but loses out in being slightly less fitting to his breakthrough. See the Additions portion of the write-up on Chapter 230, following.

Framing Shifts

• The policeman in Jin’s flashback looked up at him in the anime, where in the manga, his eyes stay down on his paperwork the entire time. I realize that anime can’t just still-frame every panel of a manga and call it an adaptation,[3] so characters will do things like move and look around in different directions just in the course of inhabiting a room, Still, in this case, it has the effect of making the officer look more alert and engaged than he was in the manga, and given that this whole chunk of backstory is about Jin slipping through the social safety net, it feels appropriate to me that the officer should be completely checked out.

Additions

• A new shot of Jin(s) in his pre-massacre doppelganger army days. Didn’t tell us anything we don’t already know—it’s little more than a new angle of the gang in the truck—but it was nice to see.

Bonus Note

• They left Re-Destro’s phrase, “My company,” alone when he was talking about the micro-transceivers Skeptic was using. That’s accurate to the manga, but I’d like to remind everyone that, at that point in the anime, viewers whose only reference is the anime itself have no idea that Re-Destro is a businessman. The show skipped the commercial, RD’s intro, the dinner scene where his company comes up, and Giran’s association of RD with Detnerat; it will further go on to skip Shigaraki recognizing him from the commercial. The news report mentioning Detnerat was ten full episodes prior to Episode 110, and was followed up on in not the faintest degree. For heaven’s sake, would it have been so hard to have Hirata Hiroaki say, “My Detnerat’s,” instead of just, “My company’s”?

Chapter 230 – Sad Man’s Parade

• Deleted the MLA members that are attacking Compress as they get pushed off by the Twice wave. Not the first time, and not the last, that the anime didn’t animate the random MLA people on the street. It’s hard to take the threat of their numbers seriously when the anime kept deleting them from what are supposed to be crowd scenes, you know?

• Mr. C thinking worriedly about Dabi as he’s mulling over Geten’s strength and disregard for catching his own people in the collateral damage. It’s just a, “Dabi—!” but it’s yet another tiny cut that shaves away at the manga’s clear depiction of Leagues’ concern for one another—even Mr. Compress, who claims that such things aren’t very villainous.

Framing Shifts

• Changed the random MLA’s exhortation to kill all the Twices to a generic, “Damn—!” I know American censors have often taken issue with the words “Kill” and “Die” in kids’ cartoons, but I was never of the impression that that was the case in Japan. And it’s not like the show made any bones about Curious planning to kill Toga. A rephrase to save a second and a half on dialogue, maybe?

• Had Skeptic give his lines about failure on the way over to the elevator instead of stalking over in silence, and then dumping the whole monologue all at once. The manga’s extended silence over three identically sized panels is much funnier and more characterful. I grow ever more confident in my assessment of Skeptic as the second-most ill-treated MLA character in this adaptation.

• The return of the Doom Choirs for the Twice Parade. I really wish the anime would lay off slathering Doom Choirs all over everything, especially a moment like this: a triumph for Twice, and, true to form for Twice, also crammed to the gills with visual and verbal gags. The Doom Choir is out of keeping with both the victory and the comedy—Mine Woman, later on, served the Parade much better.

Additions

• Gave Twice a new line, “I will protect my comrades!” It was nice to make up for his, “I won’t watch a friend die!” but the latter is more characterful, especially since a more literal translation is, “I won’t kill my friends!” Which is, you know, relevant to the fact that Twice has problems telling himself apart from things that just look like him, and he just had to intervene to stop some of those look-alikes from killing one of said friends. At least it got his use of nakama back in.[4]

• A new little cut of animation as the action went back to Geten and Dabi. I suppose the Dabi fans liked it, and it was nice to see more of Geten’s ice dragon, but I’d have much preferred they could keep the scenes we already have before adding new ones.

Chapter 231 – Path

The scene of Hawks wondering why he hasn’t heard from Dabi and his subsequent flashback to the last time they spoke were relocated to the beginning of Episode 102, the first thing the audience saw after the prior episode ended with Shouto inviting Bakugou and Deku to come intern with him at Endeavor’s. In the manga, of course, it’s not “a few weeks ago in Kyushu,” it’s “meanwhile in Osaka.” Also, the order of the scenes was flipped—the episode led with the flashback, then returned to the modern day. It really makes the timeline needlessly confusing—the viewer has no real context for what we’re seeing and when, especially since the anime neglected to specify how much time passed between the two scenes. You have to assume it was enough time for an outcry to be raised over Jeanist’s disappearance, but the random shot of a bird flying over was not at all helpful there.

Alterations included (as usual, outright removed material is in bold text):

1. Cut Hawks’ thought, “That’s why you keep calling,” and his line, “What’s the job?” I know I should give a breakdown here about Hawks’ mentality and training, but I’m afraid I don’t have it in me to complain about any lines Takami Keigo loses. God knows the anime gives him plenty enough bonus material.

2. Spliced in the flashback scene of Hawks reporting to the Commission from Chapter 243, but subtly changed it to suggest that it took place after the phonecall in which Dabi demanded Hawks kill a non-Endeavor top hero, rather than it taking place right after Hawks and Dabi’s first contact, which is what the manga implies.

3. Deleted several key shots in the Jeanist apartment scene, with the effect of making Hawks way less creepy. We got an anime-original shot of his eyes, narrow and serious, but not either of the shots of his big, off-putting grin and widened eyes as he pulls a feather-blade on Jeanist. We also lost a shot of Jeanist turning to face him, framed between extended primaries of Hawks’ Fierce Wings. It’s not like the anime dropped the fake!Dead Jeanist plot, so I’m not sure why the shift, unless it’s just that they wanted to keep Hawks likable for the merch-buying crowd, not creepy and unsettling. And while I personally never believed that Hawks really killed Jeanist, a lot of people thought it was plausible, no doubt based on how off-kilter he comes across in this scene. It loses a real frisson, to just play it straight.

• Shigaraki decaying a missile in mid-air. So Dabi can get those little animation flourishes but Tomura can’t, huh, anime? I see how it is. I. See. How. It. Is.

• Spinner’s little side comment about all the ice everywhere. A nice demonstration that Geten and Dabi’s fight really is affecting huge swathes of the city; that’s certainly apparent already in a bunch of the wide shots showing exactly that, but it’s helpful to have the more zoomed-in moments, too. Also, I do enjoy those little side quips wherever we get them, and the anime often removes them.

• Thinned out the crowd guarding the route to the tower somewhat (it’s particularly noticeable on the mid-distance rooftops) and, as best I can tell, removed Shigaraki and Spinner from the shot. Why keep all the lines harping on the 110,000 number when a) it’s not even accurate to the MLA’s forces, just the League’s assumptions, and b) the studio doesn’t even have the resources to adequately convey the numbers the manga does portray?

• Somebody in the crowd being defiant about Twice’s multiplication and vigorously declaring that the League are all just sacrifices for the MLA’s Revival Party anyway. The background nobodies? Allowed to express even bog-standard over-confidence? Well I never. How dare those people think their lives count enough for them to get dialogue.

• Spinner’s, “This keeps happening!” Of course he couldn’t have that line in the anime, since the anime cut the other big place Trumpet clearly used his power to rile up his followers. What other times were you even talking about when you said, “Every time he talks,” Anime!Spinner? That scene was the first time we even saw Trumpet since he welcomed you guys to town.

• Twice calling Re-Destro a cult leader. He just called him a damn moron (bakayarou) in the anime; he uses the considerably more specific baka kyouso (Google Translate gives “guru”; jisho gives “founder of a religious sect”). He uses the same term again immediately afterward—Viz’s translation gives, “More like chrome dome cult!”—which the anime also deleted.

So here’s another example of the anime doing everything it could to erase the presence of cults in the HeroAca world. The easy assumption to make is that this was tied to broadcast standards about the depiction of what Japan refers to as “new religious movements,” which—and pardon the brief swerve into real life historical horrors here—have been very unpopular in Japan since Aum Shinrikyo and the sarin gas attacks in 1995. But were these elements removed because the anime didn’t want to represent anything that smacks of new religious movements at all, or because the depiction of both the MLA and particularly the CRC are explicitly villainous and calling religious movements, even made-up ones, evil on TV leads to a lot of angry phone calls?

• Re-Destro’s line, “Unlike my good Miyashita, there’s nothing charming about you.” Of course they’d cut this, having cut the Miyashita scene, but I hate it anyway. As I said earlier, RD’s invocation of Miyashita in front of two people who are going to have not the slightest clue who that is tells me that Re-Destro really does miss and feel bad about killing the guy. Cutting the reminder that RD still feels that sting makes it much too easy to assume that Shigaraki’s right about RD hiding up in his tower, uncaring of the blood shed on his behalf, when if you read Re-Destro with even the slightest of attempts at good faith, it’s clear that those losses weigh very heavily on him.

Incidentally, and not to harp on the art again, but in the manga, Stress is still visibly spread down from RD’s temple to the ridge of his brow over his eye socket. The anime returned it back to its normal resting state, again suggesting that the death toll mounting in the streets below (as well as, possibly, the new stress of confronting a quirk as powerful as Double) left RD completely unmoved. The spread was back in the following shot, so it was probably just an art error, but it would be nice to have had fewer of those, especially when they impact characterization as much as what RD’s Stress blots are doing at any given time.

Framing Shifts

• Had Machia doing this weird cannonball skim just over the ground, when in the manga, he’s still half-buried, spraying earth and stone everywhere. The manga never namedrops Machia’s Mole quirk during the story itself, but it’s important to know for later that Machia can not only tear through obstacles, he can tear through obstacles extremely quickly.

Additions

• Gave Hawks a few new lines about how too many unexpected things happened for their last arrangement, and that Dabi should have given him more warning. Largely seemed to be there to give the anime an excuse to flashback to the High End fight, in case the viewers had completely forgotten about Hawks and Dabi having a clandestine meeting and sniping at each other in the aftermath of that event. An understandable addition, but deeply frustrating in the context of all the lines that got cut.

Chapter 232 – Meta Abilities and Quirks

• Dropped a third instance of Twice calling Re-Destro a cult leader. I don’t know what the S&P restriction is on this, but given that the movie was allowed to create and villainize an entire international terrorist cult, it is really incomprehensible that the MLA doesn’t get to keep their designation as such. Why?? Because the movie involves going out and defeating its cult, but the series is going to engage in a more sympathetic treatment?[5] Because the self-selecting movie crowd is less likely to complain than the TV audience? Did they just not want to draw attention to how much the movie was ripping off the MLA’s whole shtick? What??

• Missed that RD’s swole arm swipe wipes out the puppets Skeptic left behind; they just vanished from the scene entirely after Twice’s arrival. It’s hard to blame the anime for this; the manga also seems to lose track of the fact that they’re right there in between RD and the elevator—they’re nowhere to be seen anywhere between the end of Chapter 231 and the aforementioned arm swipe, where you can see them getting obliterated. Both versions could have stood to be more attentive to this; indeed, the anime could have fixed it, small error though it is.

• A sort of twitchy sparking around Shigaraki’s hand right after he decays the tower. This is foreshadowing that Shigaraki’s big AOE decay attacks are hard on his body, which will become extremely apparent after he unleashes it on the city at large during the climax, and factors into his decision to accept the mysterious power Ujiko offers. The damage Shigaraki sustains there doesn’t come out of nowhere; Horikoshi is, on the whole, extremely good at layering in foreshadowing many chapters before the foreshadowed elements come fully to light. It makes the writing look much messier than it actually is—more convenient, more pat—to delete this stuff.

• Shigaraki recognizing RD from the Detnerat commercials. Well, they ditched the Detnerat commercial, so of course they ditched this. Still, it lost one of the indicators that Shigaraki is, despite not receiving a formal education, actually quite up to speed on current events—even, apparently, when those current events are happening while he’s been fighting Machia in an isolated stretch of mountains for six weeks! I already suffer enough through fanon characterizations of Shigaraki in which he’s a basement-dwelling feral manchild glued to his gaming console whom AFO bans from accessing information about the outside world, anime! I don’t need you dropping the scenes that most clearly demonstrate otherwise!!

• In the anime, Baby!Chikara’s face was unmarked, just a normal infant face—you’d never even know the kid had a meta-ability just to look at him. In the manga, the skin of his face is clearly darker, contrasted against the paleness of his mother’s hand. It’s obvious that he’s not “normal” looking, and thus equally obviously would have attracted negative attention in his era.[6] Also had his mother smiling; her face in the manga is too shadowed and vague to make out an expression, befitting the murky tragedy of her story and the fear she must have been living with.

Framing Shifts

Additions

• A little thing: they had Twice echo, “Cushion?” when Clone!Shigaraki told him to get ready to cushion Giran’s fall. If anything, Re-Destro and his little thought-bubbled question mark is probably the one who should have had this reaction line.

• Added a visual for Clone-araki catching himself on the window. A perfectly reasonable way to fill screen time while a dialogue beat was ongoing.

• Added a panning still over a reaction shot from a bunch of Twice clones when the tower came down. It had a few good faces in it.

---

So, generally, this episode was better. I definitely still had issues with it, but compared to what came before, when they were trying to cram 5+ chapters into the episodes, there were far fewer cuts, and what cuts and tweaks there were, were relatively minor. Definitely nothing that made me want to throw chairs Jerry Springer-style the way 108 and 109 did.

Sadly, I can't say the same for the remaining two episodes. Come back next time for Part Four, Episode 111: Shimura Tenko, Origin.

FOOTNOTES

[1] After witnessing the massacre that was Episode 108, I was convinced they were going to cut the policeman scene entirely, and just go right to Jin getting fired for hitting someone with his bike, letting the audience think it was his fault completely rather than cast aspersions on police and the justness of the law. I was pleased they kept it at all, but less pleased with the steps taken to soften the sharpness of its accusation.

[2] Of course, it’s not like the MLA themselves don’t understand the willingness to give everything for the people who matter. They just label those feelings Devotion To The Cause, and don’t think the League is capable of such resolution.

[3] Netflix’s Way of the House Husband, be told.

[4] Nakama is, of course, a shonen standby, but, to the best of my knowledge (which is admittedly limited; I don’t follow a lot of shounen series), it’s pretty rare to hear the word coming out of a villain’s mouth! Jin calling the League his nakama ties into how the League are both sympathetic villains in the larger story and also the protagonists of the current arc, thereby operating under a lot of protag tropes for the duration—foreshadowed by Spinner’s earlier talk of Shigaraki and his boyish, dream-chasing eyes.

[5] Sometime after the mass arrests, one hopes.

[6] This could well be a coloring error in the manga, but if so, you’d think they’d have corrected it for the volume release. Especially given that, again, the color is in a different shade/screentone than the shadow that covers most of his mother’s face, and her hand stroking Chikara’s chin isn’t shadowed at all.

#my villain academia #bnha #bnha meta #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #my writing #stillness has salt

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ehovocrown · 3 years

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Ground Zero

Author: ehovocrown

Pairing: Alpha Team (Special Ops) Captain Byun Baekhyun x Air Force Lieutenant Reader

Genre: Special Forces!AU, Angst

Warnings: Cursing, slight sexual content, violence, mention and use of combat weapons

Author’s Note: Hi there! this is the first one shot that i’m posting on this account, it’s been collecting dust on my notes app so i thought maybe it finally deserves to see the light of day. :’)

Word Count: 2,017 words

—

Smoke bombs & gunshots were his norm, weaving through the constant precipitation of bullets as he fought every waking day for freedom, honour, and protection. Meanwhile for her? The skies were her territory, unlike him who was totally grounded on soil, she was the captain of the skies. Flying, fighting, and pursuing freedom in the air. But there was one thing that they had in common, and it was that every waking day was a fight for survival.

—

[Spring 2017 - D-1 to special ops]

“Operation failed. Our troops and allies are all dead. ARE YOU NOT GOING TO FOCUS?!” Captain of the Special Ops Unit Byun Baekhyun’s booming voice resonated through the warehouse, frustration and anger clearly evident in his features.

“I’m sorry Captain!” The youngest soldier replied, earning him multiple sighs of exasperation from his team followed by a whirling sound and sudden gasps.

A knife, flying ever so closely by their captain’s head only to impale itself on the wooden panel behind him.

“Get your fucking boy scouts together Byun! Or maybe go the fuck home.” Captain Kim called out, snickering as he turned to the group of laughing soldiers behind him.

Baekhyun scoffed, turning around to pluck the combat knife from the panel. “If he keeps doing shit like this I might have to rebel again.” And with that he whirled the combat knife back towards its original owner, making sure with exact precision that it would end up on the wall between the laughing captain’s legs, right in between where it would hurt.

The snickering was definitely put to a halt, and both teams suddenly found their captains heading toward’s each other, hands balled into fists and ready to salvage their own pride.

But the fight never came, because just as they were about to deliver their first hit, Baekhyun felt the cold barrel of a glock against his temple.

“Break time’s over boys. Looks like the regiment has been going too easy on you for your troops to be playing around like this.”

The captain turned slightly towards his aggressor, only to lay his eyes on a lady, his lady, in her Air Force uniform, long hair cascading past her shoulders making it impossible for him to see her rank, or her name patch.

“Easy, do you even know how to use that?” Baekhyun taunted as he motioned towards the gun that was still pointed at him, the lieutenant raised a brow, smirking at the captain’s obvious arrogance.

“Looks like playtime is over for you, Byun.” The other long forgotten captain spoke, snickering once again at the sight of Byun Baekhyun who was currently at the mercy of the Air force pilot.

Captain Kim’s glory moments didn’t last long though, because his snarky remark earned him a kick from Y/N who clearly had both him and Baekhyun at her mercy.

The kick landed behind his knees, causing him to fall to the pavement, pride clearly shattered to pieces, ironically the same one that he was trying so hard to salvage just a few minutes ago.

“Play time is over for you too, take your squad back to your quarters or you will receive word on disciplinary orders tonight.” Y/N spoke simply, and Captain Kim wasted no time in leaving.

On the other hand though, the coldness of the barrel did nothing to aid Byun Baekhyun’s pride, deciding that he too was tired of being held hostage, the captain moved swiftly to snatch the gun from the lieutenant in front of him.

First, a grab on her wrist.

Second, his hand overpowering hers.

Third, a quick snatch of the weapon from her delicate hands.

And fourth? Turning the tables so that her back was now pressed against his chest, his arm keeping her restrained while his other hand dismantled the gun in front of her face.

“Do not, play with me like that ever again.” His voice was deep and hoarse as he whispered against her ear, “understood?”

Y/N simply rolled her eyes, scoffing at the captain’s sentiments.

“As if. Did I hurt your pride Captain? Angry because you didn’t get to dig your fist into your opponents smug face?” Her tone had the captain smirking in no time, turning to his men to subtly signal them their dismissal.

He watched them leave, now relieved that the eyes that were watching him and Y/N were gone.

“Lieutenant, i think you’d be falling for me in no time once you see me in combat.”

The lieutenant only scoffed, turning to face her lover the moment he released his hold on her.

“I think you’re wrong Captain.” She whispered, arms wrapping around his waist and her words ghosting against his lips due to their close proximity.

Personal space was now a foreign concept and neither one of them were willing to let go, not when they are so grateful that the both of them were able to see each other again.

“And why is that?” The captain hummed against his lover’s lips, his heart feeling fully content in her presence.

“Because, there will never be anything attractive about seeing you get hurt.”

Baekhyun only shrugged in reply, deciding that he has been patient long enough he took her lips into his, pressing a passionate kiss that dripped of longing and worry that his heart was unable to suppress as his lover went on her mission approximately 5 nights ago.

Her return felt like heaven to him, and he knew just as well as she did that this was the consequence of falling in love in the force. But neither one of them were willing to give up what they had, even if that meant living in a state of anxiety when one of them would get deployed.

———————-

Back in the captain’s quarters that night they found themselves tangled in sheets, bodies speaking not with a language of words but with passionate kisses and thrusts, of fingers that were intertwined so tightly that both their knuckles turned white, and of heavy breathing as their names escaped each others lips in pleasure.

For Baekhyun? Hearing his name on Y/N’s lips was his revival. In every day that he was deployed to the field he felt like half of him was already in the grave not knowing whether he would even make it out alive.

But here with her, with every passionate kiss, every loving and lustful touch, every mark that he left on the canvas that was her body, and as his name escaped her in sighs of pleasure, he knew that he was fully alive. He knew that his heart had every reason to keep on beating.

But for the lieutenant?, For Y/N, Baekhyun was her grounding force, her safe haven. He was home, and the captain of the sky barely made it home today but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

And as she embraced being on the receiving end of the captain’s every kiss, and every touch and everything else in between, she held on to him, flipping them over so that she could return the favour.

Her every touch left goosebumps on the captain’s skin, kissing the scar on his temple, down to the one on his chest, and the other on his hip. And with every passing second that she spent straddling him, she poured all her love onto him in ways that he could also feel.

And with a climax that ran through them more intensely than the wages of war, they both prayed to the heavens to not take this love away from them. Not when each other was the only form of sanity left for them to hold on to.

——————-

[Spring 2017 - Special Ops d-day]

“Promise me you’ll fight.” Y/N whispered as she worked on buttoning up the captain’s uniform.

“Promise me that you will do everything in your power to stay alive.” She placed his dog tag over his head watching as it landed on his chest.

“Promise me, that i will see you again and not just your tag being handed over.” The lieutenant stepped back, eyes still trained on the dog tag around her lover’s neck.

R.O.K. ARMY

Byun, Baekhyun

- 050692

Blood Type: O

“Captain Byun Baekhyun, promise me that you will come home.” And she raised her arm in a formal salute with utmost respect overflowing despite the tears that fell relentlessly down her face, and the Captain did the same.

And as they stood in his quarters with a silence that was as deafening as the aftermath of an exploded grenade, Byun Baekhyun spoke. Not with with words but with a kiss that conveyed everything that he wanted to say to the lieutenant who stood before him, I love you, until my heart stops beating, and maybe even then I’ll love you.

_________________

[5 years later]

“Mommy these flowers are pretty!” the little boy smiled as he eyed the bunch of roses in his hands. The roses that resembled the scar that sat on his father’s temple, and the same scar that sat on his.

“They really are, aren’t they Raiden?” Y/N smiled at the boy who was walking beside her, kneeling down so she could face the little boy better. “Should we give them to daddy?”

The little boy flashed a toothy smile as he nodded, never letting go of his mother’s hand.

“Mommy, where did i get this necklace?” The little boy asked in curiosity as he examined the silver tags around his neck.

Y/N smiled at her son, eyes welling with tears as she watched her little boy try and read the letters on the tags.

“Rai, you know that Daddy was a very brave man right?”

“Yes mommy!” Raiden smiled, to him Byun Baekhyun was a hero, like the avengers as he would like to call it.

“Well Rai, daddy used to wear that necklace whenever he would fight bad guys.”

“-Then why do I have it now?” the boy tilted his head, confusion evident on his innocent face. And in that moment it was as if the former lieutenant’s heart broke all over again, and as she suppressed the tears that were threatening to spill she looked at the picture of her lover. One that sat behind the glass window next to an empty urn that held nothing but an engraving of his name.

“When daddy had to fight for the last time, he asked uncle Sehun to give it to mommy.”

“-but why mommy?”

Y/N fell silent, how could she possibly explain to her little boy that it was because his father was not supposed to be identified incase he was killed on enemy grounds? How was she supposed to say that his father surrendered his tags because he knew that the operation was a suicide mission? How was she supposed to explain, that until the very end his father gave it his everything, but it wasn’t enough for him to be able to come home, and so he left his tags for the woman that he was no longer going to be able to come home to. His way of saying, I’m sorry, but i will always be here, and you will always be my home.

Taking a deep breath, the former lieutenant gathered her thoughts, “because daddy wanted you to remember him Raiden, that’s his way of saying that he will always be with you.”

The little boy nodded again, eyes still scanning the tags he wore before noticing the same ones that hung around his mother’s neck.

Examining both his father’s and mother’s necklaces, Raiden looked on with curiosity, “what does it say mommy?”

Y/N took both tags in her hand for her son to see.

R.O.K. ARMY

Byun, Baekhyun

- 050692

Blood Type: O

R.O.K. AIR FORCE

Y/L/N, Y/N

- 080514

Blood Type: _

“This is daddy’s name, and this is mommy’s name.” Y/N explained, and the little boy smiled with pride. Then she flipped the tags over, a new engraving, one that she had made shortly after Raiden came into her world.

To our son Raiden Byun, we will love you even after our hearts stop beating.

— end.

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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How iCarly Defined a Millennial Era

https://ift.tt/3yoqPme

For those of us in the late millennial generation, TV, movies, and videogames of the late 2000s were ideal platforms to explore the ways in which the planet was changing rapidly. They were a way for teens to connect with each other when the older folks were too stuck in their ways to move along with the new times. And when certain pieces of entertainment really nailed the intricacies of the era, that media became eternally ingrained in the psyche of the audience it was targeting.

iCarly ran on Nickelodeon from 2007 through 2012 and embodied these descriptions more than any other adolescent show of the decade. Starring Miranda Cosgrove as the clever and ambitious 13-year-old Carly Shay, the show depicted the journey of teenage exploration through the eyes of her webshow, a program that eerily resembled the entertainment provided by YouTube pioneers and OG social media stars of the time.

With her friends Sam (Jeannette McCurdy) and Freddie (Nathan Kress), and her goofy older brother Spencer (Jerry Trainer), Carly shared her oddball sense of humor with her web show audience, and vicariously through her actual TV audience behind the fourth wall. A show within a show is nothing novel, but it was a bold decision from showrunner Dan Schneider to create a world that allowed young people to explore their creativity on screen in a way that was completely unique to the years being lived in.

For those who didn’t fit the targeted demographic the first time around, it would be no shock if they didn’t understand why the show was being revived for Paramount+ this summer. To truly understand why the series connected with ‘90s babies, you’d have to have trekked with the show through the internet globalization that it was birthed into. Millions of returning fans rushed to watch the trailer and were rewarded with the familiar humor they were looking for when the show returned on June 17.

Unfortunately, Sam is absent from Carly’s life now because McCurdy chose not to return due to the toll on her mental health from working in the entertainment industry as a child and young adult. New character Harper (Laci Mosley) fits in nicely as a semi-replacement, sharing Sam’s spunk but also adding some racial and sexual diversity (the character is both Black and dates women). Spencer has finally cashed in on his dream of being an artist, but it hasn’t altered his struggles to find a wife or create a family outside of his little sister. Freddie has a step-daughter from a divorce and is living with his mom again after failing to make it big as a tech entrepreneur.

All of the occupations and tribulations of the cast make sense and fit with what we would have imagined would happen to these people in the nine years since going off the air.

What Nicktoon Reboots We Want to See Next

By Nick Harley

Both the original airing of the show and this reboot fit together like a locktight time capsule, displaying for the viewers at home a select set of people who are simultaneously relatable, but also even more flaky and unpredictable than ourselves. In 2007, Carly and her cohort wanted to show the world all of the zany things that suddenly poof into the millennial mind: what happens if you hit someone with a sock full of butter? What about putting a grown man’s face inside a plastic baby’s body and flinging ketchup, lotion, shampoo, and other gooey substances all about the crib?

iCarly is special because it was and still is all about feeling free to do whatever the hell you want, whenever you want, and not being embarrassed to share it with the world! It had a keen understanding of the teenage struggle, and that sometimes letting off steam and just doing some stupid crap and broadcasting it to people who are like you is a great anecdote for the most confusing time in life, compounded by existing on a planet that had never been more in the process of evolving. The show even brilliantly foretold some of the pop culture events of the early 2020’s, such as feverish fan panels a la Comic-Con, or social media stars getting in the boxing ring for a minute or two.

Through the first four episodes of the reboot the characters’ choices in social media interaction reflect their growth in age; the webshow remains as the chosen avenue for Carly to project her views to the world. If the original were being made today, Tik Tok would almost certainly be the chosen medium for Carly’s teenage fans. Today’s adolescents are experienced vets in tech, whereas 2007’s were pioneers still learning the new ways. Being trampled by the overabundance of options available, the current kids are most attracted to instant gratification and short bursts of artistic expression. YouTube is a little too long-format for the contemporary attention span, but it fits like a glove for 20-somethings who are willing to adapt and learn about new world affairs, but are also starting to sound more and more like their “get off my lawn” ancestors.

This is why the show embraces having been pigeonholed into the demographic that is so in love with it nearly 15 years after the pilot episode (the show’s trailer on YouTube has garnered nearly 4.5 million views in the month of June and the official Twitter account has over 3.5 million followers). Every piece of humor and every choice the characters make is a reflection on a little bit of ourselves trying to figure out what the hell this world means and how we can become successful in it.

While older folks call us lazy or undriven for using these artistic or unconventional methods to try and achieve greatness, we know that we are simply not going to be deterred until we are thriving in the chaos. If you live outside of this bubble, you’ll think of the show with the same confusion that someone from this time would perceive Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Sixteen Candles. The former is celebrated on Twitter annually on the anniversary of its release, and younger generations are expected to worship at the altar of an iconic flick that screams 1980s and nothing else.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

And that is the most universal thing about iCarly and any other era-specific piece of media, the concept that ties them all together for every age: if entertainment understands where it came from and why it exists, there is no reason to try and progress forward or backward from that point. The memories are unaffected, and even when the nostalgia-glasses are removed, the emotions and lessons of the work have an ability to transport us right back to where it came from. And if they remake the show again in 2040 when Carly has her own teenage kids, we’ll still be there to see where she takes them!

The iCarly revival series is available to stream on Paramount+ now.

The post How iCarly Defined a Millennial Era appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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route22ny · 4 years

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“The moral crisis of poverty amid vast wealth is inseparable from the injustice of systemic racism, ecological devastation, and our militarized war economy.” by Rev. Dr. William Barber II, March 30, 2020. (complete text below)

***

The United States is the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, yet millions of American families have had to set up crowdfunding sites to try to raise money for their loved ones’ medical bills. Millions more can buy unleaded gasoline for their car, but they can’t get unleaded water in their homes. Almost half of America’s workers—whether in Appalachia or Alabama, California or Carolina—work for less than a living wage. And as school buildings in poor communities crumble for lack of investment, America’s billionaires are paying a lower tax rate than the poorest half of households.

This moral crisis is coming to a head as the coronavirus pandemic lays bare America’s deep injustices. While the virus itself does not discriminate, it is the poor and disenfranchised who will experience the most suffering and death. They’re the ones who are least likely to have health care or paid sick leave, and the most likely to lose work hours. And though children appear less vulnerable to the virus than adults, America’s nearly forty million poor and low-income children are at serious risk of losing access to food, shelter, education, and housing in the economic fallout from the pandemic.

The underlying disease, in other words, is poverty, which was killing nearly 700 of us every day in the world’s wealthiest country, long before anyone had heard of COVID-19.

The moral crisis of poverty amid vast wealth is inseparable from the injustice of systemic racism, ecological devastation, and our militarized war economy. It is only a minority rule sustained by voter suppression and gerrymandering that subverts the will of the people. To redeem the soul of America—and survive a pandemic—we must have a moral fusion movement that cuts across race, gender, class, and cultural divides.

The United States has always been a nation at odds with its professed aspirations of equality and justice for all—from the genocide of original inhabitants to slavery to military aggression abroad. But there have been periods in our history when courageous social movements have made significant advances. We must learn from those who’ve gone before us as we strive to build a movement that can tackle today’s injustices—and help all of us survive.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, African Americans who had just escaped slavery joined with white allies to form coalitions that won control of nearly every southern legislature. These Reconstruction-era political alliances enacted new constitutions that advanced moral agendas, including, for the first time, the right to public education.

During the Great Depression, farmers, workers, veterans, and others rose up to demand bold government action to ease the pain of the economic crisis on ordinary Americans. This led to New Deal policies, programs, and public works projects that we still benefit from today, such as Social Security and basic labor protections.

Pushed by these movements, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt even called in 1944 for an economic bill of rights, declaring: “We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.”

During what I like to call the “Second Reconstruction” over the following decades, a coalition of blacks and progressive whites began dismantling the racist Jim Crow laws and won key legislative victories, including the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act.

With each period of advancement has come a formidable backlash. This is how we find ourselves today, in the year 2020, with levels of economic inequality as severe as during the original Gilded Age a century ago. Since the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby decision, Americans have had fewer voting rights protections than we did fifty-five years ago, while thanks to the earlier Citizens United ruling, corporations can invest unlimited sums of money to influence elections.

In response to fair tax reforms, the wealthy have used their economic clout to slash their IRS bills, cutting the top marginal income tax rate from more than 90 percent in the 1950s to 37 percent today. In response to the hard-fought wins of the labor movement, corporate lobbyists have rammed through one anti-worker law after another, slashing the share of U.S. workers protected by unions nearly in half, from 20.1 percent in 1983 to just 10.5 percent in 2018.

Decades after Depression-era reforms, Wall Street fought successfully to deregulate the financial system, paving the way for the 2008 financial crash that caused millions to lose their homes and livelihoods. And the ultra-rich and big corporations have also managed to dominate our campaign finance system, making it easier for them to buy off politicians who commit to rigging the rules against the poor and the environment, and to suppress voting rights, making it harder for the poor to fight back.

Our military budgets continue to rise, now grabbing more than fifty-three cents of every discretionary federal dollar to pay for wars abroad and pushing our ability to pay for health care for all, for a Green New Deal, for jobs and education, and infrastructure, further and further away.

In short, the official measure of poverty doesn’t begin to touch the depth and breadth of economic hardship in the world’s wealthiest nation, where 40 percent of us can’t afford a $400 emergency.

The wars that those military budgets fund continue to escalate. They don’t make us safer, and they’ve led to the deaths of thousands of poor people in Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, and beyond, as well as the displacement of millions of refugees, the destruction of water sources, and the contamination of the environments of whole countries.

The only ones who benefit are the millionaire CEOs of military companies, who are getting richer every year on the more than $350 billion—half the military budget—that goes directly to their corporations. In the meantime 23,000 low-ranking troops earn so little that they and their families qualify for food stamps.

Key to these rollbacks: controlling the narrative about who is poor in America and the world. It is in the interest of the greedy and the powerful to perpetuate myths of deservedness—that they deserve their wealth and power because they are smarter and work harder, while the poor deserve to be poor because they are lazy and intellectually inferior.

It’s also in their interest to perpetuate the myth that the poverty problem has largely been solved and so we needn’t worry about the rich getting richer—even while our real social safety net is full of gaping holes. This myth has been reinforced by our deeply flawed official measurements of poverty and economic hardship.

The way the U.S. government counts who is poor and who is not, frankly, is a sixty-year-old mess that doesn’t tell us what we need to know. It’s an inflation-adjusted measure of the cost of a basket of food in 1955 relative to household income, adjusted for family size—and it’s still the way we measure poverty today.

But this measure doesn’t account for the costs of housing, child care, or health care, much less twenty-first-century needs like internet access or cell phone service. It doesn’t even track the impacts of anti- poverty programs like Medicaid or the earned income tax credit, obscuring the role they play in reducing poverty.

In a report with the Institute for Policy Studies, the Poor People’s Campaign found that nearly 140 million Americans were poor or low-income—including more than a third of white people, 40 percent of Asian people, approximately 60 percent each of indigenous people and black people, and 64 percent of Latinx people. LGBTQ people are also disproportionately affected.

Further, the very condition of being poor in the United States has been criminalized through a system of racial profiling, cash bail, the myth of the Reagan-era “Welfare Queen,” arrests for things such as laying one’s head on a park bench, passing out food to unsheltered people, and extraordinary fines and fees for misdemeanors such as failing to use a turn signal, and simply walking while black or trans.

We are a nation crying out for security, equity, and justice. We need racial equity. We need good jobs. We need quality public education. We need a strong social safety net. We need health care to be understood as a human right for all of us. We need security for people living with disabilities. We need to be a nation that opens our hearts and neighborhoods to immigrants. We need safe and healthy environments where our children can thrive instead of struggling to survive.

With the coronavirus pandemic bringing our country’s equally urgent poverty crisis into stark relief, we cannot simply wait for change. It must come now.

America is an imperfect nation, but we have made important advancements against interconnected injustices in the past.

We can do it again, and we know how. Now is the time to fight for the heart and soul of this democracy.

***

Rev. Dr. William Barber II is a co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A Call for Moral Revival.

Read more by Rev. Dr. William Barber II

Source: https://progressive.org/magazine/real-epidemic-poverty-barber/

Note: the title of this article, and the purpose of this post, is not meant to diminish the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic in any way.

#poverty in america #rigged economy #covid19 #rev dr william barber II

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doomedandstoned · 4 years

Text

Top 10 Albums Of The 2010′s

~By Calvin Lampert~

I think it is safe to say that underground metal has enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth and popularity in the last 10 years. But when I am saying this I am not only thinking about the heavy underground; those adherents of the Sabbath sound and this whole new wave of doom metal bands. I am thinking of the fact that (underground) metal has undergone a change in image, too.

Though frequently maligned as hipster bands (or metal for people who don't like metal), acts like Deafheaven have brought metal to a whole new audience and raised awareness of the genre as a genuine form of art that does not just exist for its own sake; that metal fans only go for gore, beer and self-referential horn-throwing. Not that Neurosis and Godflesh haven’t been ambassadors of this mindset for more than three decades already, but it feels that the understanding of metal as art seems to have finally broken through to an audience outside of the traditional metal subculture in the past decade.

I think it is in no small part thanks to some of the bands on this list I have assembled (though I may have forgone obvious picks like Alcest and Deafheaven for more personal choices). And in retrospect, it should’ve been a list of bands rather than records, as most of the artists on this list would’ve have had a claim to a spot on here, with any record they put out. Take that as a hurray for consistency. So, without further ado, my picks for the best and most remarkable records of the decade.

10. Akhlys – 'The Dreaming I' (Debemur Morti - 2015)

The Dreaming I by Akhlys

I can’t help but wonder if Naas Alcameth of AKHLYS (also of Nightbringer, Aoratos and Bestia Arcana) set out with the express intent to create what is essentially a nigh perfect atmospheric black metal record when he started working on The Dreaming I. It damn sure feels like, each strum, syllable, and beat sits at the right place; the pieces of this nightmarish puzzle fit with an unsettling ease.

Photograph by by Kuba Leszko

The sound really does justice to the underlying concept of dreams and nightmares, as you’ll rarely find a record with such an impenetrable atmosphere. Once you hit play you’re soon enveloped by countless layers of swirling guitars, all at the command of Naas Alcameth, and he seems hellbent on suffocating you with them. The Dreaming I is about as close as you can get sleep paralysis-made-music. If you put off black metal as spooky noise made by a bunch hooded esoteric nerds you might’ve found your match in Akhlys. They are just that, they’re dead serious, and the results are impressive.

9. Elephant Tree – 'Elephant Tree' (Magnetic Eye Records - 2016)

Elephant Tree by Elephant Tree

I’ve observed myself growing increasingly apart from most stoner rock as of late, sometimes even antagonizing the genre. I’m afraid I’m just burned out on it and grown embittered, so a record from those genres ending up on my Albums of the Decade list should give you a hint of just how special it really is.

That is not to say that there haven’t been some real stoner rock heavy hitters this decade, such as Gozus Revival, Valley of the Suns Sayings of the Seers or Lo-Pans Salvador, but there’s something to ELEPHANT TREE's self-titled record that just so narrowly sets it apart from the others.

Photograph by Phil Smithies

What that is I am still not quite sure, and I had my fair share of relistens. Maybe it is the tasteful balance act of the production that makes this record so wonderfully ethereal but also ridiculously crushing. Or the sleek as all hell songwriting where every hook fires but the flow remains impeccable. Or the gorgeous harmonic interplay of Jack Townley and Pete Hollands vocals. Or maybe really just the sum of it all.

Whatever it is, Elephant Tree get it so very right and it is a true joy to behold such a well-written and fine-tuned record in a genre that has become all too prone to shoddiness and idle Kyuss worship. If there is any justice in the world, Elephant Tree will be looked back as a classic of the genre.

8. Oranssi Pazuzu – 'Värähtelijä' (Svart Records/20 Buck Spin - 2016)

Värähtelijä by Oranssi Pazuzu

So many have tried to do it. Countless chonged out Hendrix worshippers. Australian neo-psych darlings. But they all failed. Turns out the holy grail of psychedelia was dug up by a bunch of dudes in the frozen wastes of Finland when they decided to throw together black metal and almost every imaginable psych rock permutation under the firmament. Absolute insanity inducing balls-to-the-wall trippiness ensues.

ORANSSI PAZUZU is their name, ego-death squared in hyperspace is their game and Värähtelijä is the latest in a slew of attempts to smear your brain across the event horizon, and their most accomplished one so far. Think Hawkwind trying to interpret the soundtrack of Interstellar with a guy being spaghettified by a black hole screaming on top of it. Huge, plodding riffs and spacey synth fuckery abound.

Film by Shelby Kray

This madness extends to their live shows, yours truly (being completely sober) suffered a sensory overload when they launched into the crescendo of the album opener "Saturaatio" at Roadburn 2016. This band is taking things to the next level, and something tells me that Värähtelijä is just another chapter in an increasingly maddening venture.

7. Conan – 'Blood Eagle' (Napalm Records - 2014)

You can’t really draw a picture of the doom scene in the '10s without CONAN. And I do mean that in quite the literal sense, as seemingly every self-respecting doom fan seems to own at least one Conan shirt and you can’t really go to a gig without seeing one.

By all accounts the band probably could’ve retired years ago and just live off those rad merch designs. But Conan knows no rest -- always writing, always touring, always scheming. Thus the band has fed a steady stream of releases to a cult-like following over the years and narrowing down the output of such an important band to just one record is no small task. My choice eventually fell on the fan favorite, 2014's Blood Eagle.

Photograph by Sally Townsend

Conan had already pretty much established themselves as the emergent sludge-doom act of the decade at that time, but as we know they’re not one to rest on their laurels and Blood Eagle was just them driving the point home and the stake deeper, solidifying a grasp on the scene that hasn’t waned ever since, and they did it oh so righteously, by the primordial might of tonal displacement and drop F glory.

Conan might have the closest thing to a universal doom appeal because they speak to your baser instincts. Songs like "Foehammer" or "Total Conquest" seem like trebuchets aimed at the synapses of your reptilian brain, and I can’t help but admire these noble DIY barbarians, who so deservedly have carved out their place in the canon of the genre.

6. SubRosa – 'More Constant than the Gods' (Profound Lore - 2013)

More Constant Than The Gods by SubRosa

SUBROSA was one of a kind. If one band calling it quits this decade broke my heart, it was them. But before doing so they gifted us three outstanding post-metal records, whose folk and chamber music flourishes felt completely unique, intimate, and anachronistic in a genre dominated by more vast and spacious narratives. They reached inward rather than outward and did so with a no-parts-wasted mentality.

In a world rife with one-trick bands, SubRosa's employ of multiple vocalists and two electric violins felt natural and unabashedly non-gimmicky, and they would reveal the true potential of their sound on 2013's harrowingly beautiful More Constant than the Gods.

Photograph by Alyssa Herrman

More Constant is remarkable for its elegant and restrained way of instilling dread. Hardly any harsh vocals, the tempo never goes beyond a steady stride, just those horrific and yet also beautiful violins, plodding guitars, and downright poetic lyrics. And SubRosa seem to feel right at home on either terrain, be it the skin-crawling lead guitar line of "Affliction" or the grandiose outro section of "Fat of the Ram." One can only hope that SubRosa will return one day. A band that was truly novel, and not just a novelty.

5. Tchornobog – 'Tchornobog' (Fallen Empire / I, Voidhanger - 2017)

TCHORNOBOG is many things. Among others, a dark, ancient Slavic deity. In the world of music, a monolithic amalgamation of extreme metal, some Eldritch chimera of cavernous black, death, and doom metal. And the beast of one Markov Soroka, though him stating that the Tchornobog inhabits his head begs the question who might really be in charge?

Photograph by Nona Limmen

Soroka does indeed seem to be guided by spirits since he started the project at the age 14, and eight years of gestation and arduous work culminated in one of the most engrossing, all-consuming records I have come across this decade. Far be it from me to reduce Tchornobog’s remarkability down to the young age of its creator, but Sorokas ambition and execution of those ambitions could run circles around a lot of veteran extreme metal bands. The man is just flat out talented. And that is not even taking his various other projects (Drown, Aureole, Krukh) into account, or his curation work through his own label, Vigor Deconstruct.

As such, Tchornobog ultimately is, among many other things, a bright spotlight shining on a young man who has all the makings of being the next big underground metal mastermind. I’m sure you’ll be inclined to agree as soon as Soroka brings out the grand piano and saxophone on "III: Non-Existence’s Warmth (Infinite Natality Psychosis)" to perform what I’d like to call Lovecraftian Lounge Music. He must have a thing for Demilich too, judging from those song titles.

4. Hell – 'III' (Lower Your Head / Pesanta Urfolk - 2012)

Hell III by Hell

There is a subtle power in melodies, particularly melancholic and sad ones. Doom, and more specifically funeral doom, have long since sought to harness the power of the melody, but I think nobody has been quite as effective or moved me so profoundly with a simple plucked melody as MSW, the singular mind of HELL.

Just one minute into Mourn, the opening (and penultimate) track of Hell III), I am already instilled with a deep sense of melancholy, but also foreboding doom. However, few songs can just thrive from having a good riff or lead -- and there’s 17 minutes yet to go. I’ll spoil you and say that in this time Hell shifts between doom, black metal, neoclassical music, and dark ambient. That’s a lot of territory to cover and it becomes apparent that for how meticulously well crafted its individual parts are, MSW never loses sight of the bigger picture and the transitions between these different sounds are seamless.

Film by Billy Goate

At the danger of sounding like a huge fucking nerd, I really am more inclined to refer to "Mourn" and its follow up "Decedere" as movements rather than songs and if the songwriting doesn’t clue you in you’ll be persuaded by the time Decedere breaks out the operatic vocals and a flute accompanied by a string ensemble. And no matter if he’s performing a contemplative acoustic piece or pounding you in the ground with some absolutely hellish (the band name is apt as can be) blackened doom, MSW always manages to maintain an aura of grandeur. MSW is not just a great songwriter, he’s a veritable composer, and III is his magnum opus.

3. Mizmor – 'Yodh' (Gilead Media - 2016)

Yodh by מזמור

If whatever has come before was bleak, then Yodh is pitch fucking black. This decade hasn’t lacked in dark records (not even taking metal into account -- Mount Eerie's A Crow Looked at Me, Nick Cave’s Skeleton Tree, or The Caretakers Everywhere at the End of Time), but taking on existential dread specifically (and thereby becoming a vessel for it) MIZMOR's Yodh remains unsurpassed in its sheer effectiveness to instill said dread in the listener and is possibly the most harrowing record of the last 10 years.

Photo by Kento Woolery

As befits the theme, Yodh genuinely sounds like the work of a broken man. A miserable slab of glacial funeral doom and grimy black metal, but delivered with a brute strength and conviction that really suggests more defiance than self-pity. I’d be remiss to not point out ALN's incredibly varied vocal performance, ranging from wretched snarls and air-starved bellows to what I can only describe as pterodactyl shrieks, all carrying the same biting vitriol as the instrumentals.

Film by Shelby Kray

Yet for all its doom and gloom, Yodh surprises with occasional moments of tenderness and outright (if melancholic) beauty, too, such as the acoustic intro of "II: A Semblance Waning" or the massive main riff of "III: The Serpent Eats Its Tail" that feels like the sort of thing Pallbearer would’ve come up with if they had been more into Mournful Congregation than Warning.

All these things combined with thoughtful, introspective lyrics make Yodh into an incredibly powerful and downright visceral record, and if for you the main draw of doom metal lies its emotional potency (as it does for me) then Yodh is an essential listen. Let ALN shout down the very pillars that uphold your personal beliefs of life’s meaning.

2. Pallbearer – 'Sorrow and Extinction' (Profound Lore - 2012)

Sorrow And Extinction by Pallbearer

Warning was the first band to try to bridge the gap between traditional and modern doom metal, and while Watching from a Distance might have a fair claim to be one of the saddest metal records out there, in my eyes it was PALLBEARER who took that formula even further and perfected it with their 2011 debut Sorrow and Extinction. To me, it’s a classic record in both senses. A landmark of post-millennium doom and a throwback to the days of yore, when Saint Vitus and Candlemass were in charge of bumming everyone out; while still maintaining the larger-than-life-feel and sonic heft of modern doom championed by bands like Yob or Neurosis.

Photo by Sally Townsend

But Sorrow and Extinction isn’t just some roided up epic doom sans the operatic vocals, Pallbearer are far too clever to suffer such a pitfall. Granted, Sorrow sounds huge, and while there’s plenty of the heavy stuff to go around what makes Sorrow so great is how catchy it is. There is no weak song on this record (admittedly there’s only five), and while most bands could only hope to one day write a riff as good as "Devoid of Redemption's" main theme, it seems like Pallbearer just comes up with them on a whim, and their ability to do so doesn’t seem to have faded three records into their career -- not even to speak of Brett Campbell's soulful lyrics and passionate delivery.

Film by Billy Goate

Then, of course, there’s the amazing guitar interplay between Campbell and Devin Holt, chiefly on the casket closer "Given to the Grave," whose second half essentially boils down to them constantly trading dramatic leads with each other like the world's most woeful ping pong game.

Sorrow and Extinction is not only a deeply moving yet utterly anthemic record, but also one that successfully marries the past and the present of doom. In that regard, it is a preciously rare and so far unsurpassed record.

1. YOB – 'Clearing the Path to Ascend' (Neurot Records - 2014)

Clearing The Path To Ascend by YOB

Writing about metal without resorting to superlatives is hard. Try to practice restraint in the presence of something whose very nature lacks restraint. I am definitely guilty of that lack of restraint; one has only got to scroll up again to confirm it. But luckily some records are so very superlative that I do not have to take that editorial high road and can fire all the “mosts” and “-ests” at will. In fact, they almost require you to use them. Clearing the Path to Ascend by YOB is one such record. Even among all these preceding superlative records it stands above and beyond.

Photo by Angelique Le Marchand

Clearing the Path to Ascend is so vast, it feels singular. It is one and it is all. When I think larger-than-life sound, Clearing comes to mind first. It has become the very benchmark with which I measure other records. Yob's big and beautiful only consists of four tracks, but they made each feel like a distinct part of a greater journey. "In Our Blood" opens with a recording of Alan Watts telling you it is "time to wake up," before the song slowly rises into a stretched-out draw and crash, eventually unfurling into a manic guitar line.

"Nothing to Win" feels like Yob's own take on Neurosis’ Through Silver in Blood. It is an unrelenting, steady 11-minute march down a highway of broken glass, utterly windswept and viciously hopeless. "Unmask the Spectre" seems to tread similarly bitter paths but manages to wrestle itself free into two grandiose spiraling crescendos.

Film by Billy Goate

The death knell of an album closer that is "Marrow" shouldn’t really need much of an introduction at this point. It still feels like I’ll see a link, post or share of it every other day. It has become an omnipresence in the doom scene, and deservingly so. Yob dials back on the gloom and shines all the brighter. "Marrow" is not just hopeful; it is downright ecstatic and by the time Mike Scheidt launches into the grand solo of the track (so very gracefully accompanied by a Hammond organ played by producer Billy Barnett) has ascended to a genuine sermon.

Though Clearing had its fair share of dark moments "Marrow" closes the record on a remarkably conciliatory note and I really think that speaks of Yob as a (metal) band. Call it a big move to offer closure -- a fitting end to such a big record. One that suits the title of ‘Album of the Decade,’ and embodies the spirit of metal that wants to be just more.

Calvin's Choice: 100 Best of the Decade

YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend

Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction

Mizmor - Yodh

Hell - Hell III

Tchornobog - Tchornobog

SubRosa - More Constant Than The Gods

Conan - Blood Eagle

Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä

Elephant Tree - Elephant Tree

Akhlys - The Dreaming I

Clutch - Earth Rocker

Merkstave - Merkstave

Gozu - Revival

Chelsea Wolfe - Pain Is Beauty

Valley of the Sun - The Sayings of the Seers

Inter Arma - Paradise Gallows

Thou - Heathen

Om - Advaitic Songs

Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper

All Them Witches - Dying Surfer Meets His Maker

Horn of the Rhino - Weight of Coronation

Boss Keloid - Melted on the Inch

KALEIKR - Heart Of Lead

Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus - Spirit Knife

Woman is the Earth - Torch of Our Final Night

Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising

LINGUA IGNOTA - Caligula

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

Messa - Feast for Water

Anna von Hausswolff - Dead Magic

Mamiffer - The World Unseen

Samothrace - Reverence to Stone

Primitive Man - Scorn

Fórn - The Departure of Consciousness

Khemmis - Absolution

Bongripper - Miserable

High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis

UN - Sentiment

Cult of Luna - Mariner

Slomatics - Future Echo Returns

MISTHYRMING - Söngvar elds og óreiðu

Dvne - Asheran

Earth - Primitive and Deadly

Mars Red Sky - Apex III (Praise For The Burning Soul)

The Midnight Ghost Train - Cypress Ave.

Panopticon - Panopticon - Roads to the North

Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith

Sólstafir - Ótta

Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World

Furia - Księżyc Milczy Luty

Tardigrada - Emotionale Ödnis

Yellow Eyes - Immersion Trench Reverie

Stoned Jesus - Seven Thunders Roar

Höstblod - Mörkrets Intåg

Ulver - The Assassination of Julius Caesar

Zola Jesus - Okovi

Funereal Presence - Achatius

Wormlust - The Feral Wisdom

Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want

L'Acephale - L'Acéphale

40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room

Vilkacis - Beyond the Mortal Gate

Bossk - Audio Noir

Carpenter Brut - Trilogy

Sumac - What One Becomes

Death Grips - Exmilitary

Red Fang - Murder the Mountains

Lo-Pan - Salvador

Whores. - Gold

Truckfighters - Universe

Greenleaf - Trails & Passes

Bölzer - Aura

Monolord - Vaenir

Dead to a Dying World - Elegy

The Body - I Shall Die Here

Mutoid Man - War Moans

Neurosis - Fires Within Fires

Opeth - Pale Communion

Planning for Burial - Below the House

Triptykon - Melana Chasmata

Graveyard - Hisingen Blues

Saor - Aura

Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower

Egypt - Endless Flight

Emma Ruth Rundle - Marked For Death

Deafheaven - Sunbather

Kadavar - Kadavar

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Vanum - Ageless Fire

Dai-Ichi - Dai-Ichi

Lord Mantis - Pervertor

Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

Loss - Horizonless

Tome of the Unreplenished - Innerstanding

Elder - Lore

Witch Mountain - Cauldron of the Wild

Ahab - The Giant

Alcest - Kodama

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation

Sleep - The Sciences

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pinetreeanarchism · 5 years

Link

When George Orwell returned to Barcelona for the third time, on June 20th, 1937, he discovered that the Spanish secret police were after him. He had been forced to return to the front in order to have his discharge papers countersigned and, in his absence, the Communists had initiated a purge of their perceived enemies. Orwell was on the list. As he arrived in the lobby of the Hotel Continental, Eileen approached him calmly, placed her arm around his neck, and smiled for the benefit of anyone watching. Once they were close enough she hissed in his ear:

“Get out!”

“What?”

“Get out at once.”

“What?”

“Don’t keep standing here! You must get outside quickly!”

Eileen guided a bewildered Orwell toward the hotel exit. Marceau Pivert, a French friend of Orwell’s who was just entering the lobby, seemed distressed to see him and told him he needed to hide before the hotel called the police. A sympathetic member of the staff joined in, urging Orwell to leave in his broken English. Eileen managed to get him to a café on a discreet side street, where she explained the seriousness of the situation.

David Crook, a young Englishman working for the Independent Labour Party’s (ILP) Barcelona office, had become friends with both Orwell and his wife over the last few months. He was not what he seemed. He had arrived in Spain in January 1937, the month after Orwell, eager to join up with the International Brigades and fight the Fascists. He was descended from Russian-Jewish immigrants and grew up in Hampstead, attending the prestigious Cheltenham College.

Like many young men who grew up after the First World War, he was attracted to left-wing causes. He moved to New York City, where he attended Columbia University and embraced radical politics, joining the Young Communist League. As a student delegate he traveled down to Kentucky to support the famous miners’ strike in Harlan County, witnessing its brutal suppression by the National Guard. On his return to London he became a member of the British Communist Party. At one meeting, the doomed poet John Cornford spoke about the Republican cause in Spain, and Crook was inspired to enlist.

Like Hyndman, Crook was thrust straight into the action at the Battle of Jarama, taking three bullets to the leg. Recovering in Madrid, he socialized with the literary set, including the brilliant war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, her lover Ernest Hemingway, Mulk Raj Anand, and Spender. At this point he came to the attention of Soviet intelligence agents. After recruiting him, the NKVD sent him to a training camp in Albacete, where he was given a crash course in sabotage and surveillance techniques.

There he became a Communist spy. Crook’s mission was to infiltrate the ILP and report on all their activities. The Soviets already had one agent in place, David Wickes, who volunteered as an interpreter with the ILP and passed what information he found on to his handlers. Now Crook was to infiltrate deeper and get hold of documents. Orwell was his most prestigious target.

Orwell knew it was pointless to remain in Spain; he could no longer serve the cause to which he had committed himself.

As cover Crook pretended to be a stringer for a British newspaper, with credentials on headed paper secured from “a comrade in London.” The NKVD arranged for him to be discharged from the International Brigade with “lung trouble.” The day after Orwell returned from the front for the first time, before the outbreak of the May fighting, Crook installed himself at the Continental, befriended Eileen, and insinuated his way into the ILP office.

During the long Spanish lunch breaks, when the office was deserted, he took documents to a safe house on Calle Muntaner and photographed them. He compiled reports on the Orwells, Kopp, and McNair and, at meetings in a local café, delivered them folded up in a newspaper to his handler, Hugh O’Donnell (code name “Sean O’Brien”). Sometimes he secreted the reports in the hotel bathroom if more discretion was needed. Crook reported that Kopp and Eileen were having an affair, the kind of information the NKVD valued for blackmail purposes.

Kopp professed to be in love with Eileen, and while Orwell recuperated from his wound, their “association” developed “in little leaps” (these are her words; Orwell and Eileen had an unconventional relationship, and she was clear with Kopp that he could never replace his friend and rival). Also among the documents Crook apparently lifted was a report from Orwell’s doctor about his neck wound, which ended up in Orwell’s KGB file in Moscow. He was compiling evidence that could be used as justification for the coming purge.

Nobody suspected Crook, but there were plenty of other reasons to be fearful. Orwell knew it was pointless to remain in Spain; he could no longer serve the cause to which he had committed himself. Any foreign fighters seeking to leave the country were considered deserters, so it was important that Orwell got his discharge papers in order. For that, he needed to return to the front one last time. It took him five days. Time was running out.

The raid on Eileen’s room came early in the hours of June 16th, the same day that the Communist-controlled Republican government declared the POUM [the Worker’s Party of Marxist Unification] an illegal organization. The NKVD and the Spanish secret police (the SIM) moved swiftly on their targets. The NKVD assassin Iosif Grigulevich led the hit squad. Nin, POUM’s leader, had previously served as Trotsky’s private secretary in Moscow and, even though the two had split over political differences, argued that Catalonia should have given Trotsky asylum.

Those associations proved fatal. He was “arrested, brutally tortured, then flayed alive when he refused to confess to imaginary crimes.” Irwin Wolf, another of Trotsky’s former secretaries, was kidnapped and executed. Kurt Landau, a prominent Austrian Trotskyist, went into hiding, but thanks to information gathered by Crook, the death squad kidnapped and murdered him, too. Landau’s wife spent five months in prison, all the while vainly trying to discover what had happened to her husband.

Kopp was arrested at the Continental and thrown in prison. Crook, in order to maintain the integrity of his cover and to continue his spying, was “arrested” by two plainclothes policemen and thrown into the same jail as Kopp.

In the raid on Eileen’s room agents of the SIM confiscated every piece of paper they could find, including Orwell’s diaries, papers, and photographs. They also seized Orwell’s books, including his French edition of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and, ironically, Stalin’s Ways of Liquidating Trotskyists and Other Double Dealers. For two hours the policemen sounded the walls, checked behind the radiators, sifted through the trash, and held every item of clothing up to the light, searching for hidden letters or pamphlets.

They went through every single one of Orwell’s cigarette papers looking for hidden messages, yet for some reason, perhaps a perverse sense of decency, they failed to search the bed in which Eileen had concealed their passports and checkbooks. “The Spanish secret police had some of the spirit of the Gestapo, but not much of its competence,” he wrote.

Orwell arrived back in Barcelona on June 20th, having secured his discharge papers. It became clear he needed to get out quickly if he were to avoid the same fate as others associated with the POUM. Eileen told him McNair and an 18-year-old ILP volunteer, Stafford Cottman, were already in hiding. Eileen feared the only reason she remained free was as bait for her husband. She told him to destroy his militia card and incriminating photographs.

On no account could he return to the hotel. He would have to go into hiding, as there was almost certainly a warrant out for his arrest. Orwell suddenly felt like “a hunted fugitive.” The Orwells now had to find a way to get out of Barcelona and across the French border undetected. This was easier said than done. Suspicious as Orwell was, he had no idea just how closely the Communists were having him watched.

Eileen arranged for them all to meet the following morning at the British Consulate. Orwell spent the night in the ruins of an old church. After learning that it would take the consulate three days to get their passports ready, he and his friends did their best to remain inconspicuous. That night, in the bitter cold, Orwell, McNair, and Cottman slept, or at least tried to, “in some long grass at the edge of a derelict building lot.”

They spent the following morning restless for the cafés to open so that they could revive themselves with a coffee. After that Orwell went to the barber for a shave and then for a shoeshine. He took care to avoid any of the hotels or cafés associated with the POUM. Instead he began frequenting the city’s most exclusive restaurants, where no one knew him. Orwell took care not to be stopped as the streets “were thronged by local and Valencia assault guards, Carabineros and ordinary police, besides God knows how many spies in plain clothes.”

The morning after going into hiding, Orwell learned that Smillie, the young journalist alongside whom he had fought on the front, had died in a Valencia prison. The official verdict was appendicitis, but Smillie was only 22, and Orwell had seen just how tough he was. At best, Orwell thought, Smillie had been allowed to die “like a neglected animal.” Kopp later claimed he saw a police file that said Smillie had died from heavy kicks to the stomach. Orwell never forgave Smillie’s death.

By day the Englishmen pretended to be in the city on business, by night they slept rough. To get some respite, Orwell spent one day at the public baths. “It was an extraordinary, insane existence we were leading,” he wrote. “By night we were criminals, but by day we were prosperous English visitors—that was our pose, anyway.”

Needing an outlet, Orwell took the opportunity of an unobserved moment to scrawl political slogans on the walls. While on the run, Orwell persisted in the “ineradicable English belief that ‘they’ cannot arrest you unless you have broken the law,” even though “practically everyone we knew was in jail by this time.” He tried to do something for his friend Kopp, taking a great risk of his own arrest in twice visiting him in the filthy, overcrowded prison. Eileen offered to help Crook by smuggling letters out. But in the end there was nothing they could do for Kopp, and he spent the next year and a half being shuttled from prison to prison, from interrogation to interrogation, from prison ship to labor camp.

Even years later, Orwell kept among his papers a report detailing how when Kopp refused to sign a confession he was “put in a coal bin without light, air, or food where enormous rats ran in and out of his legs.” The use of rats in torture stuck with Orwell and became the subject of an iconic scene in Nineteen Eighty-Four. When Kopp was finally released 18 months later, he had lost 98 pounds in weight, and was suffering from scurvy and blood poisoning.

In the prison, Orwell had also seen Milton, who had tried to leave the country only to be arrested at the frontier despite having all his papers in order. The American had helped carry Orwell to the ambulance when he was wounded, and they had served together for months on the front line. But fearful of discovery, they “walked past each other as though [they] had been total strangers.” Milton’s failure to get out was a warning to Orwell and his friends: even jumping through the right hoops was no guarantee of a successful escape.

Orwell needed to tell the world, and most importantly his fellow left-wingers, the truth about what was going on in Spain.

Finally Orwell discovered his papers were ready. The group hatched an escape plan. A train was leaving for Port Bou, on the French border, at half past eight in the evening. It was important the secret police did not get wind of their planned escape. Eileen was to give no indication that she was leaving or they would pounce. They would order a taxi ahead of time but Eileen should pack her bags and pay the bill only at the last possible moment. To his horror, when Orwell arrived at the station he discovered that the train had left early. Fortunately, it had done so in time for him to warn his wife. It was a close call.

Orwell managed to ascertain that the manager of a local restaurant was an Anarchist and therefore sympathetic to their cause. He put Orwell and his two friends up in a spare room, a great relief after sleeping rough. A train left early the next morning, June 23rd, and, joined by Eileen, the group took seats in the dining car. “Two detectives came round the train taking the names of foreigners,” he wrote, “but when they saw us in the dining-car they seemed satisfied that we were respectable.”

At the border crossing the guards looked up their names in a card index of suspects. It was a tense moment, but for some reason their names were not listed. (Orwell suspected police inefficiency.) Everyone was searched thoroughly, but nothing incriminating was found. The guards pored over Orwell’s discharge papers and, in another stroke of luck, failed to make the connection that the Twenty-Ninth Division was in fact the POUM.

The Orwells and their friends made it to France and safety (the first newspaper they read contained a premature report announcing McNair’s arrest for espionage). A secret police file, dated July 13th and prepared for the Tribunal for Espionage and High Treason in Valencia, denounced Orwell and Eileen as “confirmed Trotskyists.” The report was compiled with information from Wickes (and almost certainly Crook). Orwell had fled just in time.

Orwell’s tenure in Spain, he later wrote, “was a queer business. We started off by being heroic defenders of democracy and ended by slipping over the border with the police panting on our heels.” His wounds hurt and his health, as always, was poor. He needed time to recover. But when his strength returned he knew what he needed to do: he needed to tell the world, and most importantly his fellow left-wingers, the truth about what was going on in Spain.

The Communists had perhaps mistaken Orwell for another naive volunteer, there to be pushed around, but they had in fact made a powerful enemy, an enemy who now prepared to fight back with his trusted weapons, the typewriter and the pen.

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The Best Movies on Netflix in India [February 2020]

In its efforts to win Oscars and please its 167 million members, Netflix has been pouring billions into movies recently, including projects from or featuring the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Martin Scorsese, and Michael Bay. One of those — The Irishman — racked up 10 nominations for the streaming service at the 2020 Oscars, though it failed to come away with a single prize. Netflix has also expanded its film efforts in India in the past year, announcing projects from the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar. For now though, the strength of its catalogue is still the acquisitions. With over 3,500 movies, Netflix offers more choices than any other platform in India. To pick the best movies on Netflix, we relied on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and IMDb ratings to create a shortlist. The last of them was preferred for Indian films given the shortfalls of reviews aggregators in that department. Additionally, we used our own editorial judgement to add or remove a few. This list will be updated once every few months if there are any worthy additions or if some movies are removed from the service, so bookmark this page and keep checking in. Here are the best films currently available on Netflix in India, sorted alphabetically. 12 Monkeys (1995) Inspired by the 1962 French short La Jetée, a prisoner (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time to learn more about the virus that wiped out nearly all of humanity. Terry Gilliam directs. 12 Years A Slave (2013) Duped into slavery on the account of a job, Steve McQueen's adaptation of a free New York black man's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) 19th-century memoir is an incredible true story, and an important watch. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) In Stanley Kubrick's highly-influential sci-fi film, humanity charts a course for Jupiter with the sentient computer HAL 9000, to understand the discovery of a black monolith affecting human evolution. It's less plot, and more a visual and aural experience.

3 Idiots (2009) In this satire of the Indian education system's social pressures, two friends recount their college days and how their third long-lost musketeer (Aamir Khan) inspired them to think creatively and independently in a heavily-conformist world. Co-written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused in the #MeToo movement. 50/50 (2011) Inspired by a true story, a 27-year-old radio journalist (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is diagnosed with spinal cancer and learns the value of friendship and love as he battles the rare disease. Aamir (2008) Adapted from the 2006 Filipino film Cavite, a young Muslim NRI doctor (Rajeev Khandelwal) returning from the UK to India is forced to comply with terrorists' demands to carry out a bombing in Mumbai after they threaten his family. American History X (1998) In a film that's more relevant today than when it was made, a neo-Nazi white supremacist (Edward Norton), who served three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter, tries to prevent his younger brother from going down the same path. American Hustle (2013) In the late 1970s, two con artists (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) are forced to work for an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) and set up a sting operation that plans to bring down several corrupt politicians and members of the Mafia. Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner star alongside. Andaz Apna Apna (1994) Two slackers (Aamir Khan and Salman Khan) who belong to middle-class families vie for the affections of an heiress, and inadvertently become her protectors from a local gangster in Rajkumar Santoshi's cult comedy favourite. Andhadhun (2018) Inspired by the French short film L'Accordeur, this black comedy thriller is the story of a piano player (Ayushman Khurrana) who pretends to be visually-impaired and is caught in a web of twists and lies after he walks into a murder scene. Tabu, Radhika Apte star alongside. Apollo 13 (1995) Ron Howard dramatises the aborted Apollo 13 mission that put the astronauts in jeopardy after an on-board explosion ate up all the oxygen and forced NASA to abort and get the men home safely. Argo (2012) Ben Affleck directs and stars in this film about a CIA agent posing as a Hollywood producer scouting for location in Iran, in order to rescue six Americans during the US hostage crisis of 1979. Article 15 (2019) Ayushmann Khurrana plays a cop in this exploration of casteism, religious discrimination, and the current socio-political situation in India, which tracks a missing persons' case involving three teenage girls of a small village. A hard-hitting, well-made movie, though ironically, it was criticised for being casteist itself, and providing an outsider's perspective. The Avengers (2012) Earth's mightiest heroes — including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk — come together in this groundbreaking Marvel team-up from writer-director Joss Whedon to stop Thor's adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his alien army from subjugating mankind.

The Aviator (2004) With Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes and Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, Martin Scorsese dives into the life of the aviation pioneer and film producer, who grapples with severe OCD while his fame grows. Awakenings (1990) Robin Williams and Robert De Niro lead the cast of this drama based on a 1973 memoir of the same name, about a doctor (Williams) who discovers the beneficial effects of a drug on catatonic patients, thereby gifting them a new lease on life. Barfi! (2012) Set in the 1970s amidst the hills of Darjeeling, writer-director Anurag Basu tells the tale of three people (Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D'Cruz) as they learn to love while battling the notions held by society. Beasts of No Nation (2015) With civil war raging across a fictional African nation, this Netflix Original focuses on a young boy who's trained as a child soldier by a fierce warlord (Idris Elba), and the effects it has on him. Before Sunrise (1995) In the first chapter of Richard Linklater's long-drawn-out trilogy, two idealistic twentysomethings, an American man (Ethan Hawke) and a French woman (Julie Delpy), spend the night together walking around in the Austrian capital of Vienna. The Big Lebowski (1998) A guy known as The Dude (Jeff Bridges) seeks payback for his ruined carpet after he's mistaken for a millionaire with the same name in this crime comedy from the Coen brothers. Less about the plot and more about a way of living. The Big Short (2015) Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt, a look at Wall Street's penchant for self-profit in a vicious loop that caused the 2007–08 global financial meltdown. Birdman (2014) Alejandro G. Iñárritu won three Oscars including Best Picture for this tale of a washed-up superhero actor (Michael Keaton) who struggles to revive his career with a Broadway play. Known for appearing as if it was shot in a single take, it also starred Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Emma Stone. Blade Runner (1982) One of the most influential cyberpunk films ever made is about a burnt-out cop (Harrison Ford) who reluctantly agrees to hunt down a group of fugitive “replicants”, synthetic humans with a limited life-span who aren't allowed to live on Earth. Blue Valentine (2010) Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams lead this drama that shifts between time periods to depict a couple's courtship and how their marriage fell apart. Das Boot (1981) One of the most authentic war movies ever made chronicles the life of a German submarine crew during World War II, as they go through long stretches of boredom and periods of intense conflict, while trying to maintain morale in a capsule 10 feet by 150 feet hundreds of metres under the surface. The Bourne trilogy (2002-07) Technically not a trilogy, but the first three chapters — Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum — starring Matt Damon in the lead as the titular CIA assassin suffering from amnesia were so good that they changed the longest-running spy franchise of all-time: James Bond.

The Breadwinner (2017) This animated film follows a 11-year-old girl living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, who disguises herself as a boy to provide for her family after the father is taken away without reason. Uses wonderfully-drawn vignettes to stress on the importance of storytelling. Bulbul Can Sing (2019) Three teenagers battle patriarchy and the moral police as they explore their sexual identities in Rima Das's National Award-winning drama — and pay for it dearly. Das writes, directs, shoots, edits, and handles costumes. C/o Kancharapalem (2018) Set in the eponymous Andhra Pradesh town, this Telugu film spans four love stories across religion, caste, and age — from a schoolboy to a middle-aged unmarried man. A debut for writer-director Venkatesh Maha, featuing a cast mostly made up of non-professional actors. Capernaum (2018) In the award-winning, highest-grossing Arabic film of all time, a 12-year-old from the slums of Beirut recounts his life leading up to a five-year sentence he's handed for stabbing someone, and in turn, his decision to sue his parents for child neglect. Captain Phillips (2013) The true story of a Somali pirate hijacking of a US cargo ship and its captain (Tom Hanks) being taken hostage, which spawns a rescue effort from the US Navy. The Bourne Ultimatum's Paul Greengrass directs. Cast Away (2000) After his plane crash-lands in the Pacific, a FedEx employee (Tom Hanks) wakes up on a deserted island and must use everything at his disposal and transform himself physically to survive living alone. Castle in the Sky (1986) In the first film officially under the Studio Ghibli banner, a young boy and a girl protect a magic crystal from pirates and military agents, while on the search for a legendary floating castle. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Chupke Chupke (1975) Hrishikesh Mukherjee's remake of the Bengali film Chhadmabeshi, in which a newly-wedded husband (Dharmendra) decides to play pranks on his wife's (Sharmila Tagore) supposedly smart brother-in-law. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan also star. A Clockwork Orange (1971) Set in a near-future dystopian Britain, writer-director Stanley Kubrick adapts Anthony Burgess' novel of the same name, commenting on juvenile delinquency through the eyes of a small gang leader who enjoys "a bit of the old ultra-violence". Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Steven Spielberg's slow-paced sci-fi pic — which spent several years in development, being rewritten over and over — is about an everyday blue-collar guy (Richard Dreyfuss) whose humdrum life turns upside down after an encounter with an unidentified flying object (UFO).

Cold War (2018) Jumping either side of the Iron Curtain through the late 1940s to the 1960s, Oscar-winner Paweł Pawlikowski depicts the story of two star-crossed lovers, as they deal with Stalinism, rejection, jealousy, change, time — and their own temperaments. Company (2002) Inspired the real-life relationship between Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan, director Ram Gopal Varma offers a look at how a henchman (Vivek Oberoi) climbs up the mobster ladder and befriends the boss (Ajay Devgn), before they fall out. Dallas Buyers Club (2013) Refusing to accept a death sentence from his doctor after being diagnosed with AIDS in the 1980s, the true story of an electrician and hustler (Matthew McConaughey) who smuggles banned medications from abroad. Dangal (2016) The extraordinary true story of amateur wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) who trains his two daughters to become India's first world-class female wrestlers, who went on to win gold medals at the Commonwealth Games. The Dark Knight (2008) In the second part of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, regarded as the greatest comic book movie ever, Batman (Christian Bale) faces a villain, the Joker (Heath Ledger), he doesn't understand, and must go through hell to save Gotham and its people. Dev.D (2009) Anurag Kashyap offers a modern-day reimagining of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali romance classic Devdas, in which a man (Abhay Deol), having broken up with his childhood sweetheart, finds refuge in alcohol and drugs, before falling for a prostitute (Kalki Koechlin). Dheepan (2015) Winner of Cannes' top prize, three Sri Lankan refugees — including a Tamil Tiger soldier — pretend to be a family to gain asylum in France, where they soon realise that life isn't very different in the rough neighbourhoods. Dil Chahta Hai (2001) Farhan Akhtar's directorial debut about three inseparable childhood friends whose wildly different approach to relationships creates a strain on their friendship remains a cult favourite. Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Preity Zinta star. Django Unchained (2012) Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) helps a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) rescue his wife from a charming but cruel plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). Drive (2011) A stuntman moonlighting as a getaway driver (Ryan Gosling) grows fond of his neighbour and her young son, and then takes part in a botched heist to protect them from the debt-ridden husband.

Dunkirk (2017) Christopher Nolan's first historical war movie chronicles the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the French beaches of Dunkirk in World War II, using his love for non-linear storytelling by depicting three fronts — land, sea, and air — in time-shifted ways. The Edge of Seventeen (2016) In this coming-of-age comedy, the life of an awkward young woman (Hailee Steinfeld) gets more complex after her older brother starts dating her best friend, though she finds solace in an unexpected friendship and a teacher-slash-mentor (Woody Harrelson). End of Watch (2012) Before he made a terrible sci-fi remake of his own film, writer-director David Ayer took a near-documentarian lens to the day-to-day police work of two partners (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) in South Los Angeles, involving their friendship and dealings with criminal elements. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) An estranged couple (Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet) begin a new relationship unaware they dated previously, having erased each other from their memories, in what stands as writer Charlie Kaufman's defining work. The Exorcist (1973) One of the greatest horror films of all time, that has left a lasting influence on the genre and beyond, is about the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl and her mother's attempts to save her with the help of two priests who perform exorcisms. The Florida Project (2017) Set in the shadow of Disney World, a precocious six-year-old girl (Brooklynn Prince) makes the most of her summer with her ragtag playmates, while her rebellious mother tries to make ends meet with the spectre of homelessness always hanging over them. Willem Dafoe stars alongside. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) In John Hughes' now-classic teen picture, a high schooler fakes being sick to spend the day with his girlfriend and his best friend, while his principal is determined to spy on him. Fruitvale Station (2013) Black Panther writer-director Ryan Coogler's first feature offered a look at the real-life events of a young California man's (Michael B. Jordan) death in a police shooting in 2008. Winner of two awards at Sundance Film Festival. Full Metal Jacket (1987) Stanley Kubrick follows a US marine nicknamed Joker from his days as a new recruit under the command of a ruthless sergeant, to his posting as a war correspondent in South Vietnam, while observing the effects of the war on his fellow soldiers.

Ghostbusters (1984) A bunch of eccentric paranormal enthusiasts start a ghost-catching business in New York, and then stumble upon a plot to wreak havoc by summoning ghosts. Gave birth to one of the most iconic song lyrics in history. Gol Maal (1979) A chartered accountant (Amol Palekar), with a knack for singing and acting, falls deep down the rabbit hole after lying to his boss that he has a twin, in this Hrishikesh Mukherjee comedy. Gone Girl (2014) Based on Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel and directed by David Fincher, a confounded husband (Ben Affleck) becomes the primary suspect in the sudden mystery disappearance of his wife (Rosamund Pike). GoodFellas (1990) Considered as one of the best gangster films of all time, it brought Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro together for the sixth time. Based on Nicholas Pilegg's 1985 non-fiction book Wiseguy, it tells the rise and fall story of mob associate Henry Hill, his friends and family between 1955 and 1980. Gravity (2013) Two US astronauts, a first-timer (Sandra Bullock) and another on his final mission (George Clooney), are stranded in space after their shuttle is destroyed, and then must battle debris and challenging conditions to return home. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) A bunch of intergalactic misfits, which includes a talking racoon and tree, come together to form a ragtag team in this Marvel adventure that needs no prior knowledge. Guru (2007) Mani Ratnam wrote and directed this rags-to-riches story of a ruthless and ambitious businessman (Abhishek Bachchan) who doesn't let anything stand in his way as he turns into India's biggest tycoon. Loosely inspired by the life of Dhirubhai Ambani. Haider (2014) Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespearean trilogy concluded with this modern-day adaptation of Hamlet, that is also based on Basharat Peer's 1990s-Kashmir memoir Curfewed Night. Follows a young man (Shahid Kapoor) who returns home to investigate his father's disappearance and finds himself embroiled in the ongoing violent insurgency. Her (2013) A lonely man (Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with an intelligent computer operating system (Scarlett Johansson), who enriches his life and learns from him, in Spike Jonze's masterpiece. Hot Fuzz (2007) A top London cop (Simon Pegg, also co-writer) is transferred to a sleepy English village for being the lone overachiever in a squad of slackers. A blend of relationship comedy and a genre cop movie. Edgar Wright directs. Hugo (2011) In 1930s Paris, a boy who lives alone in the walls of a train station tries to figure out the mystery involving his late father and his most treasured possession, an automaton, that needs a key to function. Martin Scorsese directs.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) In the best of four movies, Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen is forced to participate in a special edition of the Hunger Games, a competition where individuals fight to the death, featuring the winners of all previous competitions. I, Daniel Blake (2016) After a heart attack that leaves him unable to work, a widowed carpenter is forced to fight an obtuse British welfare system, while developing a strong bond with a single mother who has two children. Winner of the Palme d'Or. I Lost My Body (2019) In this animated Cannes winner, a severed hand escapes from a lab and scrambles through Paris to get back to his body, while recounting its past life that involved moving to France after an accident and falling in love. In This Corner of the World (2016) Set in Hiroshima during World War II, an 18-year-old woman agrees to marry a man she barely knows in this animated Japanese film, and then must learn to cope with life's daily struggles and find a way to push through as the war rages on around her. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Directed by Steven Spielberg off a story by George Lucas, an eponymous archaeologist (Harrison Ford) travels the world and battles a group of Nazis while looking for a mysterious artefact, in what is now often considered as one of the greatest films of all-time. Infernal Affairs (2002) Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning The Departed is a remake of this original Hong Kongian film, in which a police officer is working undercover in a Triad, while a Triad member is secretly working for the police. Both have the same objective: find the mole. Into the Wild (2007) Based on Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book, Sean Penn goes behind the camera to direct the story of a top student and athlete who gives up all possessions and savings to charity, and hitchhikes across America to live in the Alaskan wilderness. Iqbal (2005) In writer-director Nagesh Kukunoor's National Award-winning film, a hearing- and speech-impaired farm boy (Shreyas Talpade) pursues his passion for becoming a cricketer for the national squad, with the help of a washed-up ex-coach (Naseeruddin Shah). The Irishman (2019) Based on Charles Brandt's 2004 book “I Heard You Paint Houses”, Martin Scorsese offers an indulgent, overlong look at the life of a truck driver (Robert De Niro) who becomes a hitman working for the Bufalino crime family and labour union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

John Wick (2014) In the first part of what is now a series, a former hitman (Keanu Reeves) exits retirement to find and kill those that stole his car and killed his dog. Less story, more action, with the filmmakers drawing on anime, Hong Kong action cinema, Spaghetti Westerns, and French crime dramas. Jurassic Park (1993) It might be over 25 years old at this point but watching the very first Jurassic film from Steven Spielberg — based on Michael Crichton's novel, which he co-adapted — is a great way to remind yourself why the new series, Jurassic World, has no idea why it's doing. Kahaani (2012) A pregnant woman (Vidya Balan) travels from London to Kolkata to search for her missing husband in writer-director Sujoy Ghosh's National Award-winning mystery thriller, battling sexism and a cover-up along the way. Khosla Ka Ghosla! (2006) After a powerful property dealer (Boman Irani) holds a middle-class, middle-aged man's (Anupam Kher) newly-purchased property to ransom, his son and his son's friends devise a plot to dupe the swindling squatter and pay him back with his own money. Dibakar Banerjee's directorial debut. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) A coming-of-age story of the young titular witch, who opens an air delivery business, helps a bakery's pregnant owner in exchange for accommodation, and befriends a geeky boy during her year of self-discovery. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Lady Bird (2017) Greta Gerwig's directorial debut is a coming-of-age story of a high school senior (Saoirse Ronan) and her turbulent relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf), all while she figures out who she wants to be through friendships and short relationships. Lagaan (2001) Set in Victorian India, a village farmer (Aamir Khan) stakes everyone's future on a game of cricket with the well-equipped British, in exchange for a tax reprieve for three years. The Little Prince (2015) Antoine de Saint-Exupery's 1943 novella is given the animation treatment, in which an elderly pilot (Jeff Bridges) recounts his encounters with a young boy who claimed to be an extra-terrestrial prince to his neighbour, a young girl. Rachel McAdams, James Franco, and Marion Cotillard also voice. A Little Princess (1995) Alfonso Cuarón directs this tale of a young girl who is forced to become a servant by the headmistress at her New York boarding school, after her wealthy aristocratic father is presumed dead in World War I. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) Peter Jackson brought J.R.R. Tolkien's expansive Middle-Earth to life in these three three-hour epics, which charts the journey of a meek hobbit (Elijah Wood) and his various companions, as they try to stop the Dark Lord Sauron by destroying the source of his power, the One Ring.

Loveless (2017) A Cannes winner about the social ills of life in modern Russia, told through the eyes of two separated parents who are drawn back together after their 12-year-old child goes missing. From award-winning director Andrey Zvyagintsev. The Lunchbox (2013) An unlikely mistake by Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox carrier system results in an unusual friendship between a young housewife (Nimrat Kaur) and an older widower (Irrfan Khan) about to retire from his job. Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro (1979) In legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki's feature debut, a dashing master thief enlists the help of a long-time nemesis in the police and a fellow thief to rescue a princess from an evil count, and put an end to his counterfeit money operation. Marriage Story (2019) Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver play an entertainment industry couple going through a divorce, which pulls them — and their young son — from New York to Los Angeles, the two different hometowns of the protagonists. Mary Poppins (1964) Based on P.L. Travers' book series of the same name, a disciplined father hires a loving woman (Julie Andrews) — who he doesn't know is capable of magic — to be the nanny for his two mischievous children. Won five Oscars, including best actress for the debutant Andrews. Masaan (2015) Neeraj Ghaywan ventures into the heartland of India to explore the life of four people in his directorial debut, all of whom must battle issues of caste, culture and norms. Winner of a National Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes. Million Dollar Baby (2004) An overlooked, veteran boxing trainer (Clint Eastwood, who also directs) reluctantly agrees to train a former waitress (Hilary Swank) to help achieve her dreams, which leads to a close father-daughter bond that will forever change their lives. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) With the organisation he works for disbanded and his country after him, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) races against time to prove the existence of the schemers pulling the strings in this fifth chapter. Introduced Rebecca Ferguson to the franchise. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) The legendary British comedy troupe mix their talents with the tale of King Arthur and his knights, as they look for the Holy Grail and encounter a series of horrors. A contender for the best comedy of all-time.

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Satire so cutting that it was banned for years in the UK and elsewhere, Life of Brian saw Monty Python turning their eyes on more long-form storytelling. The Life of Brian is the story of a young Jewish man born on the same day and next door to Jesus Christ, who gets mistaken for the messiah. Mudbound (2017) A Netflix Original, this World War II drama is set in rural Mississippi, and follows two veterans – one white and one black – who return home, and must deal with problems of racism in addition to PTSD. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) After his parents find out he has been pretending to be a doctor, a good-natured Mumbai underworld don (Sanjay Dutt) tries to redeem himself by enrolling in a medical college, where his compassion brushes up against the authoritarian dean (Boman Irani). Co-written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused in the #MeToo movement. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Set in post-war rural Japan, a heart-warming tale of a professor's two young daughters who have adventures with friendly forest sprits. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Mystic River (2003) Three childhood friends reunite after a brutal murder, in which the victim is one's (Sean Penn) daughter, another (Kevin Bacon) is the case detective, and the third (Tim Robbins) is suspected by both. Clint Eastwood directs. Nightcrawler (2014) Jake Gyllenhaal plays a freelance video journalist with no ethics or morals who will do anything to get the best footage of violent crimes that local news stations love. A feature directorial debut for screenwriter Dan Gilroy. Ocean's Eleven (2001) In this first of Steven Soderbergh's trilogy, which features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon, Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his eleven associates plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos at the same time. Okja (2017) Part environment parable and part skewer of corporatisation, this underappreciated Netflix Original by Bong Joon-ho tells its story of a young Korean girl and her best friend – a giant pet pig – while effortlessly crossing genres. On Body and Soul (2017) A shy, introverted man and a woman who work at a Hungarian slaughterhouse discover they share the same dreams after an incident, and then try to make them come true.

Only Yesterday (1991) A Studio Ghibli production about a 27-year-old career-driven Tokyo woman who reminisces about her childhood on her way to the countryside to see her sister's family. Isao Takahata writes and directs. Paan Singh Tomar (2012) A true story of the eponymous soldier and athlete (Irrfan Khan) who won gold at the National Games, and later turned into a dacoit to resolve a land dispute. Won top honours for film and actor (Khan) at National Awards. Pan's Labyrinth (2006) In Guillermo del Toro's fantastical version of Spain five years after the civil war, Ofelia – a young stepdaughter of a cruel army officer – is told she is the reincarnated version of an underworld princess but must complete three tasks to prove herself. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) Emma Watson stars in this coming-of-age comedy based on the novel of the same name by Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote and directed the film. Watson plays one of two seniors who guide a nervous freshman. Phantom Thread (2017) Set in the glamourous couture world of 1950s post-war London, the life of a renowned dressmaker (Daniel Day-Lewis), who is used to women coming and going through his tailored life, unravels after he falls in love with a young, strong-willed waitress. Pink (2016) A lawyer (Amitabh Bachchan) comes out of retirement to help three women (Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, and Andrea Tariang) clear their names in a crime involving a politician's nephew (Angad Bedi). Won a National Award. PK (2014) A satirical comedy-drama that probes religious dogmas and superstitions, through the lens of an alien (Aamir Khan) who is stranded on Earth after he loses his personal communicator and befriends a TV journalist (Anushka Sharma) as he attempts to retrieve it. Porco Rosso (1992) Transformed into an anthropomorphic pig by an unusual curse, an Italian World War I ace fighter veteran now works as a freelance bounty hunter in 1930s Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Queen (2013) A 24-year-old shy woman (Kangana Ranaut) sets off on her honeymoon alone to Europe after her fiancé calls off the wedding a day prior. There, freed from the traditional trappings and with the help of new friends, she gains a newfound perspective on life. Director Vikas Bahl stands accused in the #MeToo movement.

Rang De Basanti (2006) Aamir Khan leads the ensemble cast of this award-winning film that focuses on four young New Delhi men who turn into revolutionary heroes themselves while playacting as five Indian freedom fighters from the 1920s for a docudrama. Ratatouille (2007) An anthropomorphic rat (Patton Oswalt) who longs to be a chef tries to achieve his dream by making an alliance with a young garbage boy at a Parisian restaurant. From Pixar. Rebecca (1940) Alfred Hitchcock's first American film is based on Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel of the same name, about a naïve, young woman who marries an aristocratic widower and then struggles under the intimidating reputation of his first wife, who died under mysterious circumstances. The Remains of the Day (1993) Made by the duo of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, this based-on-a-book film is about a dedicated and loyal butler (Anthony Hopkins), who gave much of his life — and missed out on a lot — serving a British lord who turns out to be a Nazi sympathiser. Reservoir Dogs (1992) After a simply jewellery heist goes wrong in Quentin Tarantino's feature-length debut, six criminals – Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Madsen are a few of the actors – who don't know each other's identity start to suspect each other of being a police informant. The Revenant (2015) Leonardo DiCaprio and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu won Oscars for their work on this semi-biographical Western film set in the 1820s, which tells the story of frontiersman Hugh Glass and his quest for survival and justice amidst severe winters. Roma (2018) Alfonso Cuarón revisits his childhood in the eponymous Mexico City neighbourhood, during the political turmoil of the 1970s, through the eyes of a middle-class family's live-in maid, who takes care of the house and four children, while balancing the complications of her own personal life. Sairat (2016) In a tiny village in the Indian state of Maharashtra, a fisherman's son and a local politician's daughter fall in love, which sends ripples across the society because their families belong to different castes. Currently the highest-grossing Marathi-language film of all time. Scarface (1983) Al Pacino delivers one of his best performances as a Cuban refugee who arrives in 1980s Miami with nothing, rises the ranks to become a powerful drug kingpin, and then falls due to his ego, his paranoia, and a growing list of enemies. Se7en (1995) In this dark, gripping thriller from David Fincher, two detectives – one new (Brad Pitt) and one about to retire (Morgan Freeman) – hunt a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives. Secret Superstar (2017) Though frequently melodramatic, this coming-of-age story – produced by Aamir Khan and wife Kiran Rao – of a Muslim girl from Vadodara who dreams of being a singer dealt with important social issues and broke several box office records during its theatrical run.

Sense and Sensibility (1995) Jane Austen's famous work is brought to life by director Ang Lee, about three sisters who are forced to seek financial security through marriage after the death of their wealthy father leaves them poor by the rules of inheritance. The Shining (1980) Stephen King's popular novel gets the film treatment from Stanley Kubrick, about a father who loses his sanity in an isolated hotel the family is staying at for the winter, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and the future. Shoplifters (2018) Winner of the top prize at Cannes, the story of a group of poverty-stricken outsiders scraping together an under-the-radar living in Tokyo, whose life is upended after they take in a new, young member. Hirokazu Kore-eda writes, directs, and edits. Shrek (2001) A half-parody of fairy tales, Shrek is about an eponymous ogre who agrees to help an evil lord get a queen in exchange for the deed to his swamp, filled with enough jokes for the adults and a simple plot children. A Silent Voice: The Movie (2016) Based on the manga of the same name, a coming-of-age story of a school bully who tries to make amends with a hearing-impaired girl he tormented back in the day, after the tables are turned on him. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) Two people (Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper) with pain and suffering in their past begin a road to recovery while training together for a dance competition, in what becomes an unlikely love story. The Sixth Sense (1999) In writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's best film to date, a child psychologist (Bruce Willis) tries to help a young boy (Haley Joel Osment) who can see and talk to the dead. Snowpiercer (2013) Chris Evans stars in this sci-fi from Bong Joon-ho, which takes place in a future ravaged by an experiment, where the survivors live on a train that continuously circles the globe and has led to a punishing new class system. The Social Network (2010) The tale of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg gets a slight fictional spin, as it explores how the young engineer was sued by twin brothers who claimed he stole their idea, and sold lies to his co-founder and squeezed him out.

Soni (2019) A short-tempered young policewoman and her cool-headed female boss must contend with ingrained misogyny in their daily lives and even at work, where it impacts their coordinated attempts to tackle the rise of crimes against women in Delhi. Spartacus (1960) After failing to land the title role in Ben-Hur, Kirk Douglas optioned a book with a similar theme, about a slave who led a revolt — known retrospectively as the Third Servile War — against the mighty Roman Empire. Won four Oscars and was named as one of the best historical epics. The Stranger (1946) A war crimes investigator hunts a high-ranking Nazi fugitive (Orson Welles, also director) hiding in the US state of Connecticut, who is also duping his naïve new wife. Super Deluxe (2019) An inter-linked anthology of four stories, involving an unfaithful wife, a transgender woman, a bunch of teenagers, which deal in sex, stigma, and spirituality. Runs at nearly three hours. Swades (2004) Shah Rukh Khan stars a successful NASA scientist in this based on a true story drama, who returns home to India to take his nanny to the US, rediscovers his roots and connects with the local village community in the process. Taare Zameen Par (2007) Sent to boarding school against his will, a dyslexic eight-year-old is helped by an unconventional art teacher (Aamir Khan) to overcome his disability and discover his true potential. Talvar (2015) Meghna Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj combine forces to tell the story of the 2008 Noida double murder case, in which a teenage girl and the family's hired servant were killed, and the inept police bungled the investigation. Uses the Rashomon effect for a three-pronged take. Tangerine (2015) Shot entirely on iPhones, a transgender female sex worker vows revenge on her boyfriend-pimp who cheated on her while she was in jail. Tangled (2010) Locked up by her overly protective mother, a young long-haired girl finally gets her wish to escape into the world outside thanks to a good-hearted thief, and discovers her true self.

Thithi (2016) In this award-winning Kannada-language film, set in a remote village in the state of Karnataka, three generations of men reflect on the death of their locally-famous, bad-tempered 101-year-old patriarch. Made with a cast of non-professional actors. The Town (2010) While a group of lifelong Boston friends plan a major final heist at Fenway Park, one of them (Ben Affleck) falls in love with the hostage from an earlier robbery, complicating matters. Train to Busan (2016) Stuck on a blood-drenched bullet train ride across Korea, a father and his daughter must fight their way through a countrywide zombie outbreak to make it to the only city that's safe. Tu Hai Mera Sunday (2016) Five thirty-something friends struggle to find a place in Mumbai where they can play football in peace in this light-hearted rom-com tale, which explores gender divides and social mores along the way. The Two Popes (2019) Inspired by real life, the tale of friendship that formed between Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), the future Pope Francis, after the latter approached the former regarding his concerns with the direction of the Catholic Church. Udaan (2010) Vikramaditya Motwane made his directorial debut with this coming-of-age story of a teenager who is expelled from boarding school and returns home to the industrial town of Jamshedpur, where he must work at his oppressive father's factory. Udta Punjab (2016) With the eponymous Indian state's drug crisis as the backdrop, this black comedy crime film depicts the interwoven lives of a junior policeman (Diljit Dosanjh), an activist doctor (Kareena Kapoor), a migrant worker (Alia Bhatt), and a rock star (Shahid Kapoor). Uncut Gems (2019) A charismatic, New York-based Jewish jeweller and a gambling addict (Adam Sandler) ends up in over his head in this taut thriller, struggling to keep a lid on his family, desires, business, and enemies. The Untouchables (1987) With mobster Al Capone (Robert De Niro) making use of the rampant corruption during the Prohibition period in the US, federal agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) hand picks a team to expose his business and bring him to justice. Brian De Palma directs. Up in the Air (2009) A corporate downsizing expert (George Clooney) who loves living out of a suitcase finds his lifestyle threatened due to a potential love interest (Vera Farmiga) and an ambitious new hire (Anna Kendrick).

Vertigo (1958) Topping Citizen Kane in the latest Sight & Sound poll of greatest films of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's thriller about a detective afraid of heights who falls for an old friend's wife while investigating her strange activities continued his tradition of turning audiences into voyeurs. Village Rockstars (2017) A young Assamese girl of a widow pines to own a guitar and start her own rock band, but societal norms routinely get in the way. Rima Das writes, directs, shoots, edits, and handles costumes. Visaranai (2015) Winner of three National Awards and based on M. Chandrakumar's novel Lock Up, the story of four Tamil laborers who are framed and tortured by politically-motivated cops in the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh. Vetrimaaran writes and directs. A Wednesday! (2008) Neeraj Pandey's film is set between 2 pm and 6 pm on a Wednesday, naturally, when a common man (Naseeruddin Shah) threatens to detonate five bombs in Mumbai unless four terrorists accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings case are released. Wonder Woman (2017) After a pilot crashes and informs them about an ongoing World War, an Amazonian princess (Gal Gadot) leaves her secluded life to enter the world of men and stop what she believes to be the return of Amazons' nemesis. Wreck-It Ralph (2012) This Disney animated film tells the story of a video game villain who sets out to fulfil his dream of becoming a hero but ends up bringing havoc to the entire arcade where he lives. Zero Dark Thirty (2012) The decade-long international manhunt for Osama bin Laden is the focus of this thriller from Kathryn Bigelow, dramatised as and when needed to keep a CIA intelligence analyst (Jessica Chastain) at the centre of the story. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, and Abhay Deol star as three childhood friends who set off on a bachelor trip across Spain, which becomes an opportunity to heal past wounds, combat their worst fears, and fall in love with life. Zodiac (2007) David Fincher signed on Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. to depict a cartoonist's (Gyllenhaal) obsession with figuring out the identity of the Zodiac Killer in the 1960s–70s. Zombieland (2009) A student looking for his parents (Jesse Eisenberg), a man looking for a favourite snack, and two con artist sisters join forces and take an extended road trip across a zombie-filled America, while they all search for a zombie-free sanctuary. Read the full article

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artemisegeria · 5 years

Text

The Picture of the Mind Revives Again (1/?)

Title: The Picture of the Mind Revives Again (1/?)

Rating: T

Word count: 1532

Warnings: None

Summary: Sequel to “A Formula, A Phrase Remains.” Title is from “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth.

Vision has gone missing after Shuri, Bruce, and Helen revived him. Now they must tell Wanda what they did without her knowledge.

A/N: Onto the second part of this story. We’ve had some new material and news about the future of Wanda and Vision in the MCU, and the MCU as a whole, since I started my initial plan, but I think I will be ignoring most of it. I am completely disregarding the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home; none of it happened. I may feature a little more Strange and Wanda interacting due to the news that she will be joining his sequel, but that’s about it.

Instead of alternating POVs between Wanda and Shuri, this part will alternate between Vision and Wanda.

And now, with gleams of half-extinguished thought,

With many recognitions dim and faint,

And somewhat of a sad perplexity,

The picture of the mind revives again:

While here I stand, not only with the sense

Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts

That in this moment there is life and food

For future years. And so I dare to hope,

Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first

I came among these hills; when like a roe

I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides

Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,

Wherever nature led: more like a man

Flying from something that he dreads, than one

Who sought the thing he loved.

- William Wordsworth

Vision tried to move his fingers and toes, but his limbs were slow to respond to his thoughts. Buzzing filled his head. He opened his eyes slowly, and the world gradually came into focus. All of that was forgotten as he remembered who and where he was. He expected the to hear the sounds of battle all around him, but there was only the quiet hum of computers.

He called out, “Hello.” No one answered. His thoughts were sluggish. There was something very important to remember. Wanda! She had jumped into battle just moments before. He forced himself to his feet and walked toward the window. He finally realized that he was in a different room when the view outside the window was not the wide-open field that he was expecting. Instead, it was a view of the city. He recognized the Wakandan style of architecture, so he was evidently in the palace. But he could not understand why there were no signs of struggle.

Vision attempted to scan the internet to find the answers he was seeking. He was shocked when the timestamp read September 2024. How could he have missed more than six years already? His body slumped against his will. He struggled to bring it back under his control. It felt as if his arms and legs belonged to someone else. He managed to lean against the wall to support his weight as he continued to search.

A search for “Wanda Maximoff” brought up articles concerning recent missions with the Avengers. One article described how the team had recently been handed keys to New York City. A picture showed her smiling with one arm around Sam and one around a blonde woman he didn’t recognize. Sergeant Barnes, Peter Parker, and another man he had never seen before were also present. Wanda was on several lists as the number two and number three most eligible bachelorettes in New York City. Vision also scanned through and quickly closed several Reddit threads about her.

Wanda seemed happy at least. Vision knew how she would hide her true feelings, and he wished to speak with her to ascertain that her surface appearance was an accurate representation of her emotional state. But she had the team. She was still able to be an Avenger and help others, as she always talked about wishing she could return while she was a fugitive. Most of the articles he read lauded her powers and her efforts and proclaimed her a valuable member of the team, as Vision thought they should. People were finally starting to appreciate her as she deserved. He was so proud of her.

Vision forced himself away from Wanda and to the world at large. From what he could gather, Thanos had been successful in his plan, half the population of the universe had disappeared, and they had returned five years later. A full year and more had passed since then. Despite Vision’s free access to the information, the weight of all he had missed fell heavily on him. There was still so much he did not understand. How was he functioning? His hand went to his forehead. He felt the ridges of a stone, but that did not make sense. If Thanos tore his Stone from his forehead as was reported, how was it still in his head?

He heard footsteps approaching his room. Without thinking, Vision phased himself through the wall, remaining incorporeal as he floated above the city. He needed someplace to sit and think, alone. He traveled to the forest. When he found a convenient branch where he could perch, he widened his search to discover more about the world today.

Vision researched the other Avengers. The roster was quite different than it had been. He bowed his head in grief when he realized both Tony and Natasha were gone, having sacrificed themselves to save the universe. One of the men in the picture was Doctor Stephen Strange. He had apparently become Wanda’s mentor, if certain news articles were to be believed. Sergeant Barnes had been healed by Princess Shuri and had joined the team. King T’Challa had taken on a larger role while focusing most of his energies on Wakanda. Vision scrolled through information on others who were also only with the team part of the time; he knew none of these people. He tried and failed to process all the changes that had occurred.

Vision frowned when he saw that Thaddeus Ross was the president of the United States and was running for re-election. It appeared that he was still not facing accountability for his involvement with the RAFT. It was at least a relief that the Accords were no longer in force.

The sun was beginning to set when several of T’Challa’s Dora Milaje passed underneath him. He slipped further up the tree to hide among the leaves. He did not know why he did not simply make himself known to them. He knew that T’Challa was still king here and Shuri was in charge of developing Wakanda’s technology. Surely, they could help him understand and get in contact with Wanda and the others. But he could not confront another person right now. It was all too much.

Vision remained where he was, absorbing this new world. He scanned through every article he could absorb on the politics, religion, and culture that were all unfamiliar to him. So much was different from what he knew. He could categorize the data, draw up charts and graphs, but he could not truly comprehend the changes.

It was some hours later when he heard a familiar, precious voice. “Vizh! Vision! Are you here?” Wanda collapsed on the ground beneath his perch. She shouted his name a few more times before she broke into wordless keening. His instinct was to go to her, but he could not move. He could see her distress, but he could not feel it. He realized that their mental link, which he had enjoyed throughout the years they had known each other, was completely absent.

Wanda continued to cry beneath him. Vision began to hate himself. What kind of man was he that he did not try to comfort the woman he loved, that he merely watched while she mourned for him? But still he could not force his limbs into motion.

Eventually, Wanda’s sobs quieted, and she rose to her feet, dusting herself off. She walked away from him with renewed exclamations of his name. Vision knew that it was not too late to talk to her. He could follow her, explain how confused he had been, ask her what was happening, beg her forgiveness for not approaching her immediately. She would understand him. Wanda always understood him from the very beginning of his existence.

But still he did nothing. Darkness fell completely and he remained in the same position. Wanda even passed directly underneath him again on her way back to the palace, head hanging low and steps lethargic. But he did not go to her.

When Vision could not bear the thought of remaining in this place any longer, he lifted himself into the air and began to fly away. He found that it was far easier to navigate through the air than to walk. At first, Vision had no destination in mind, simply away from what he had lost, all the people he could not face.

By the time he had been in the air for several hours, he was able to think more clearly. Vision decided he needed a destination with which he had no connection. That eliminated anywhere he had traveled for a mission with the Avengers or searching for his fugitive teammates, and certainly anywhere he had visited with Wanda.

He settled on Geneva, Switzerland. His typical human disguise would not appear amiss there. He could explore an area that he had not experienced.

Vision flew some hours more before he landed in a back alley, remaining incorporeal until he was firmly on the ground. He was grateful that he did not need food or water or shelter, except under the most extreme weather conditions. Now he only faced the question of how he would fill his days.

And there was one more detail that he had to take care of before he did anything else. He needed to explain himself to Wanda. Vision began composing an email, careful to take measures to ensure he could not be traced.

A/N2: All the news we recently learned from SDCC 2019 has reinvigorated my interest in finishing my three-part story because I can’t predict or control what happens in canon, but I do promise a happy ending here.

#fanfiction #fix-it #endgame fix-it #vision #scarlet vision #wanda x vision

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fractempyreal · 5 years

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@stylunt said ‘ Fuck Whitney in particular ’ : " I couldn't have done it, y'know. " It comes out of nowhere; an admission Vergil likely didn't ask for but Dante offers anyway. ( I couldn't have killed you, brother. / Like I couldn't kill Urizen? Dante pushes the thought aside. ) " Or maybe I could've -- probably after cussin' you to hell and back. But I'd killed you twice already by that point. Figured I'd at least let you even the score, y'know? "

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 , 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍’𝐓 𝐈𝐓 ? Blood splattering over Yamato’s hilt & coating his hand as blade shoves further into the younger twin . MUSCLES SPASMING , TWIN’S FEATURES CONTORTING HORRIBLY .

Just like old times .

𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐘 , 𝐓𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐘 , 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐃 . This time is different than the ones before . Words readily set to lash in typical taunt , dying before it can even reach the end of his tongue . A RIPPING OF MUSCLE , SICKENING SQUELCH OF BLOOD POOLING , SPURTING , whereas before there lacked any sort of weight , here instead he feels it crashing down upon him ( THREATENING TO CRUSH HIM BENEATH ) . His features remain blank in spite of it all , inhaling deeply at the silent grunt released by twin , CARRYING WEIGHT THAT HEAVILY SLOUCHES AGAINST HIM . It’s different this time .

It’s different .

𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃 , 𝐀 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐑 , 𝐂𝐎𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐄 . Easily could he tear Yamato from her place embedded into twin , but something keeps him from following through ( INSTINCTIVELY KNOWING THE RESULT THAT WOULD SUCCEED THE ACT ) . The hollowness within his chest only seem to gape open in the following seconds . Similar times in the past , he’s known the little impact that such a strike could cause on the another ( LOVINGLY IMPALED , TO AWAKEN DEVIL WITHIN ) . Their powers evenly matched only with each other , THUS THEY COULD ONLY EVER WHITTLE DOWN AT ONE ANOTHER’S STAMINA & STRENGTH UNTIL ONE FELL . Piece by piece , year after year , they found each other , & one always came out on top . Boiling rage , rushing through his veins upon each & every defeat , SERVING TO FUEL FURTHER THE ALL - CONSUMING CONFLAGRATION BURNING WITHIN HIM . If there had ever been hope to revive the shadow of humanity within him , then it was lost the moment when obsession overshadowed it .

𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄 , 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 ? Where wrath & fury long stamps out the possibility of human compassion ? It would seem so , where iridescent gaze stares out into the darkening stratosphere , VACANT , BURNING FIRE WITHIN THEM SHOCKINGLY QUENCHED . All he feels is the twitching muscle , hears the labored breathes gradually devolving into watery struggling , body further slumping against the elder for support .

IS THIS WHAT IT’S SUPPOSED TO FEEL LIKE ?

𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐘𝐀𝐖𝐍𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐓 , 𝐒𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 ��𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐌 . Heavy clatter of sword against the rocky surface of the demonic tree loudly ringing within his ears & returning him to the present . PICK IT UP . PICK IT UP .

❛ Pick it up . ❜

𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐍 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 , 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐀𝐈𝐑 , the spilled ink of ever blooming regret staining the pages of their history . It seeps between the words , STAINING & DESTROYING WHAT ONCE WAS . Perhaps it can be saved ( THERE HAS TO BE A WAY TO SAVE IT . THERE MUST ) . A hair’s breadth longer , before he tries to pull away with Yamato , only to find himself anchored in place BY THE ARMS WRAPPING AROUND HIM . Prying them off wouldn’t have proved difficult , he’s blatantly aware of this fact , but something keeps him rooted in that very position , FROZEN ENTIRELY .

❛ I couldn’t have done it , y’know . ❜

𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐏 𝐒𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 , 𝐖𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 & 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐏𝐎𝐍 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐒 . Yamato’s end lowering to the ground , releasing her target with what Vergil could only imagine to be hesitancy on her part . SHE SINGS , THE MOURNFUL DIRGE HUMMING IN THE AIR as boiling blood cools upon once pristine surface . Setting his jaw , Vergil finds himself faced with a growing fury within his chest instead ( HIS HAND IS RIGHT THERE , IT’S RIGHT BESIDE HIS SWORD . HE COULD PICK IT UP AGAIN , STAND & FIGHT AGAIN ) , This is what he’s always wanted , wasn't it ? TO PROVE HIS WORTH , TO DEFEAT HIS YOUNGER BROTHER . This is where he would gain all that he’s ever wanted .

THEN WHY DOESN’T IT FEEL THAT WAY ?

𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 , 𝐒𝐎 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐇 . Waves of uncertainty washing over him , MEMORIES FRACTURING FLOODGATE , SPILLING INTO MEGALOMANIC THOUGHTS . What was before a brief recollection of memories & precious moments locked away , now floods entire thoughts . HE’S A LITTLE BOY AGAIN , telling his brother to get on his feet & try again . He’s the little boy that reaches out towards twin ( INSEPARABLE , THEY ONCE HAD ALWAYS BEEN INSEPARABLE ) , to help him back onto his feet in order for them to continue , up until frantic cry put a stop to their mock battles in preventative measure .

❛ Get back on your feet . ❜

𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 , 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐘 . He watches as younger remains unresponsive to him , as if he hadn’t heard him . He watches as the blood flows freely from where Yamato was once embedded ( MORE THAN IT’S EVER BLED BEFORE ) , slicking hands in dark crimson . He watches as form struggles to remain upright , FOREARMS LIMPLY RESTING UPON THIGHS & HEAD BOWED . He can’t tell if he even hears him , if he even knows what’s happening anymore . Body swaying with the soft wind , blood pooling on the ground between his legs . WHY HASN’T IT HEALED YET ?

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 , 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐘 𝐃𝐑𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇 as Dante continues , form further hunched over in pain . Even in finding himself faced with his words , HIS WILL OF EXPLANATION , shadows valley across the bridge of his nose , before instantaneously smoothing out . Brows slanting downwards as he stares at his younger brother ( THE ONE HE HAD SOUGHT TO PROTECT AT ONE POINT ) , life blood steadily bleeding through & saturating the front of shirt . Is this truly what he had wanted all along ? To put an end to their constant battles ( THOUGH THIS WENT FAR BEYOND A PETTY SQUABBLE NOW ) . Taking a step backwards , heel of boot sending a pebble skittering across the ground to be as quickly forgotten as much as his ability to speak .

𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐂𝐄 . 𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐋𝐘 , the mind painting each one as a masterpiece of ultimate defeat . YET UNBEKNOWNST TO THE TWIN , HE HAD DIED MORE TIMES THAN HE THOUGHT . Rise , O Lazarus , more powerful each & every time , with only one objective on the forefront of his mind . HE HAD TO PROVE HIS WORTH . TO HIMSELF . TO HIS BROTHER . TO THEIR FATHER .

TO THEIR MOTHER .

❛ Dante—————— ❜ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 , 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 , 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 . The wretched twist of fates setting him upon that treacherous path , STEELING RESOLVE & WILL , TENFOLD . Hours , days , YEARS , spent imagining the swelling sense of victory upon younger’s defeat . To come out victor , like he once so often did when they were younger . IT ALL FALLS GUT - WRENCHINGLY FLAT WITHIN THE NEXT FEW SECONDS . In the back of his mind , he hears that despairing plea for them to stop , rendered to complete silence .

𝐉𝐀𝐖 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 , 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐒 𝐊𝐍𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐔𝐏𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐏 𝐎𝐍 𝐘𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐎 , he begins to wonder here if he should have allowed it to end here . ❛ You are just as naive as when we were children . ❜ His own voice echoes in his ears , staring at the failing body before him . THIS IS WHAT HUMANITY LED TO , DIDN’T IT ? ❛ But I will not allow it to end here . Retrieve your sword , Dante . Stand & fight . ❜ It cannot be ended here . Not with that confession . ❛ DON’T TELL ME YOU HELD BACK ON MY ACCOUNT . ❜

BUT HE KNOWS HIS LITTLE BROTHER .

𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐎𝐔𝐁𝐓 , 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 . He had known from the beginning , & had long since accepted it . A TRUE FOOL , RISKING ALL OF HUMANITY IN HOPES OF SAVING HIS BROTHER . Who was to save him now ? Who was to save the crooked grin that finds itself stretching across dirt - stained face ? Who was to save that mischievous chuckle & gleeful glitter winking up from pale blue eyes NOW DULLING AS THEY TURN TOWARDS THE SKY ? Who was to save that final breath from rattling within his chest with burning stars twinkling down upon him from the dark velvet sky ? WHO WOULD SAVE THE SAVIOR ?

Following silence pervades , & as such , the question would remain unanswered .

𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 . 𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐑 . This is all they knew , now to stand above him , STARING DOWN AT THE BODY , HIS BROTHER’S BODY , he feels that cold dread set within his bones . It feels nothing as he had imagined , for whatever sense of victory he could have felt , IS NOW INSTEAD TAINTED WITH BURGEONING REMORSE . He could have further goaded Dante , mocking him for failing to rise to his feet , BUT THEY WOULD HAVE FELT EMPTY . He’s no fool , he knows what death looks like . It looks like the fading of memories , the absence of laughter ( THE EMPTINESS OF A VAST SILENCE AS RESPONSE TO TAUNTS ) . It is the souring of purpose , the loss of reason through some twist of fate’s string , PROMPTLY SEVERED . He knows what death is , FOR HE IS DEATH , HE IS THE JUDGE , HOLDING & MANIPULATING LIFE WITHIN HIS THE PALM OF HIS HAND .

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 . 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐃 . What more is left now , if testament of his weakness ( IN TANDEM WITH HIS HUMANITY ) , now lays at his feet ? He finds himself questioning where to go from here , as opalescent frost drifts from a familiar face , to the gleam of crimson at the pommel of sword nearby . Breath catching in his throat , fist curling inwards before lifting a mournful blade to rip the blood from her surface , HER HOLLOW CLICK RESOUNDING IN THE PALPABLE SILENCE . Staring at the familiar stone embedded within fiery clutches . He staring at it , & the longer he does , the more he realizes what he’s done . Form lowering , hand extending with fingers brushing over its smooth surface ( IT’S AS BEAUTIFUL AS HE REMEMBERS IT ) . Her voice pushes into his mind , lovingly warm , bestowing upon them the one item symbolizing that they were to always be two halves of one whole . POWERFUL ON THEIR OWN , UNSTOPPABLE WHEN ONE .

𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 , 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 . Breath coming in a little more than a shudder , realizing the irreversible , reprehensible mistake committed . What more is there , now that one of the flames has been snuffed out ? MONSTER , HE’S BEEN CALLED . BEFITTING OF HIS TRANSGRESSIONS AGAINST HUMANITY . Even now , as he drags his hand away from that precious stone ( UNWORTHY . HE’S UNWORTHY OF POSSESSING IT ) , he accepts that there is no turning back , that he’s far past the point of no return . Deep rumblings of the Qliphoth drawing him from his thoughts , reminding him of what he had set about to do , & THAT NOW THERE STANDS NOTHING BETWEEN HIM & ———————-

𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 , 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 & 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 . But pieces of him lost each time , further & further straying from what he was , MORE DEVIL , MORE MONSTER THAN HUMAN NOW . Death to his humanity , wrought by his own hands & blind ambitions ( DESPITE ALL THAT ONCE WAS PRECIOUS , WHAT STILL WAS PRECIOUS , ONCE STOOD BEFORE HIM ) . Ironic , that where once it was crumbling body , it now infiltrates beyond surface , spreading within ( PIECES OF HIM FALLING AWAY , SCATTERING ACROSS GROUND WITH EVERY PROGRESSING STEP HE TAKES . ASHES TO ASHES & DUST TO DUST ) . Approaching what once had served as his tether to this world , NOW RESTING PEACEFULLY AS EMPTY GAZE STARES TOWARDS THE HEAVENS . He stands above him for a time , slowly lowering himself to take in the face of a twin he viciously sought to defeat . Slowly , slowly do his fingers glide over his brow , sliding down over his eyes to lay him to rest . IS THIS WHAT DANTE HIMSELF HAD WANTED ? Something about the faint smile touching upon his lips tells him so . Perhaps there is some measure of comfort to be found in that .

𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐍𝐎𝐖 , 𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 . Dante had followed him to where he could , but where he goes now , HE COULD NO LONGER FOLLOW . Weighted sigh coming more of a hiss from his lips , briefly turning head as if to look back at where he lay , BUT THOUGHT BETTER OF IT . Opting instead for softer words ( DESPONDENT IN THEIR NATURE , DEVOID OF USUAL CRUELTY ) , serving as a bitter farewell to his dear brother , along with the humanity lain to rest beside him .

❛ ———————- Farewell , little brother . ❜

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 , along with being the final resting place of one . The other will forge onward in divergent path , set in his resolve & renouncing heart in doing so . May the savior find peace , FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD , WOULD NOT .

FOR HE IS THE ALPHA & THE OMEGA .

HE IS THE BEGINNING & THE END .

& THE BEGINNING OF THE END HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN .

#stylunt #r YE I HA T E YOU SO M UCH I HATE THIS SO MUCH I HATE HATE #I'M LEGIT SO FUCKING SAD RIGHT NOW WHAT THE FU C K STOP IT .#I WANT TO SCREA M THEY NEED TO STOP AND I DON'T WANT TH I S I DON'T WANT.#death tw #♚ ` ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ɢᴇᴛ sᴏ ᴄᴏᴄᴋʏ ｡ﾟﾟ In Character #♚ ` ʜᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙʀɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴛɪʀᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴛᴏ ɪᴛs ᴋɴᴇᴇs ｡ﾟﾟ Answered #long post //

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bakudomaster · 5 years

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Hot In Cleveland

Greetings to literally no one! Hopefully that will change....

I’ve had this account for a while now and I’ve finally thought about what I want to use it for.

Starting today, this will be a literary analysis of some of the entertainment media I have consumed over the years. Why you ask? Hmmmm, that’ll be for a later post. I hope that you enjoy reading this!

WARNING: THESE POSTS WILL UNASHAMEDLY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Today, we’ll begin with a sitcom that’s very close to my heart - Hot In Cleveland

[cue title music - ba ba ba baaaa... ba ba baaa... dwing dwing HEY!]

PREMISE

Hot in Cleveland first premiered in 2010 on TV Land as their first ever original production. Up until that point, the network was well known for airing reruns of previously ended shows, such as The Cosby Show and The Golden Girls. One of the producers of the show was Sean Hayes of Will & Grace fame.

The show revolves around three middle-aged women bound for Paris to forget their troubles of broken hearts and struggling careers when their plane makes a emergency landing in Cleveland, Ohio. Deciding to explore the city, they find it a more compassionate and welcoming than the glamorous, youth obsessed Los Angeles and decide to relocate there. When they rent a house, they find it comes with a decidedly snarky housekeeper.

CAST & CHARACTERS

Valerie Bertinelli as Melanie Moretti - a recently divorced one-time author, she has known very little beyond her roles as mother and wife. She tends to be very optimistic and romantic, often to the annoyance of her friends. Out of the younger trio, she takes the most to Cleveland and tries new things to broaden her horizons. She is the most compassionate out of the three, often being the glue that binds them together. Though she’s a very nice character to watch, she lacks true grit and comes off as a pushover at times. I don’t know much about Valerie’s work before the show, but she does do quite well, with her natural warmth and friendliness coming through.

Wendie Malick as Victoria Chase - an ambitious but ditzy soap opera actress, she has just had her show cancelled and falls into despair at not being in the public eye anymore. Self-centered and willing to do almost anything, Victoria is the least enthusiastic about moving to Cleveland due to the lack of botox and paparazzi among other things. Over time, she takes on various projects to try and revive her career, resulting in an Emmy & Oscar win. Wendie Malick is best known for her role on Just Shoot Me as well as her voice acting in various shows and movies, such as The Emperor’s New Groove and BoJack Horseman. She’s an absolute delight to watch here, completely immersing herself in the role and surrendering to Victoria’s insanity.

Jane Leeves as Rejoyla ‘Joy’ Scroggs - a beautician with a business that’s starting to fail, Joy’s real problem is being unlucky in love. From being abandoned by her teenage sweetheart when she fell pregnant by him, to being left at the altar on her wedding day, Joy’s endless parade of bad luck has left her cynical and just a tad yandere for any man who dares cross her (watch out boys...). She’s neutral to Cleveland, but secretly longs for romance and eventually settling down to start a family. Jane is best known for her work on Fraiser. She’s initially a bit frigid over the first two seasons but warms up to the role as she gains more prominence in the show over the later seasons.

Betty White as Elka Ostrovsky - an escapee from WWII Poland, she is a widow who lives in the house as a caretaker. Though she finds the LA trio’s obsession with glitz and glamour very strange, she quickly makes friends with them to varying degrees, often dispensing advice and acting as a voice of reason when the others get a bit too crazy or feel despondent. She is very proud of Cleveland, eventually becoming its mayor and is not averse to doing things outside of the law. Betty White has a career in television spanning over 80 years. She was initially only supposed to appear in the pilot episode but the audience response was quite positive so the producers upgraded her to series regular.

STRUCTURE, WRITING & DEVELOPMENT

The series plays out as a typical slice-of-life sitcom. The idea of older women living together and going through life isn’t new - think Golden Girls in the modern era and you pretty much have the gist of the show. However, is that such a bad thing? I think every TV era needs a show that focuses on the challenges one faces as the march of time proceeds; something that feels comfortable without pushing the boundaries too much and HiC was that for a generation who missed out on Betty White’s previous hit show. It wasn’t cerebral watching and it didn’t need to be.

In line with this, many of the plots are taken out from well known tropes that have developed over the years. Love triangles, a vapid rivalry in Hollywood, false pregnancies and lost loves returning all play part in the show’s six season run, edited and polished for character context. This is a big part of why the show felt so familiar to many viewers. Script structures followed one of three methods:

Characters A & B take part in subplot 1 whilst C & D take part in subplot 2 - this proves most effective for humor, balancing out the plot and giving each character something to work with

Characters A & B take part in subplot 1, C in subplot 2 and D in subplot 3 - this proves most effective for character development but can feel too scattered at times

Characters A, B, C & D take part in the main plot - this is most effective for plot lines, usually occurring at season premieres or finales

In terms of character development, the main trio of ladies find fulfillment in each other’s status. I’ll explain:

Melanie was an author but didn’t really have much experience in the working world, choosing instead to derive her satisfaction from being a mother and a wife. Now that her marriage is over and her kids are in college, she feels lost and doesn’t know what to do with herself. Over the course of the show, she has a series of meaningful relationships but develops the most in her career;becoming a column writer, a public relations assistant, a radio show host and a restaurant manager. This is what Victoria was trying to achieve at the beginning of the show.

Victoria is an out of work actress who has to resort to all sorts of tricks to get back into the public eye. Her approach is hit and miss, but she eventually goes on to win an Emmy and an Oscar, along with some work in critically acclaimed stage plays and a brief period as a news reporter. Despite this, she finds more satisfaction in her love life (despite being married EIGHT times!), eventually marrying her one true love at the end of the series. This is what Joy was trying to achieve at the start.

Joy is struggling as a beautician who looks for love in handsome men and one night stands, but never seems to catch a break. Her love life goes from bad to worse and her relationships fail due to a combination of her own issues with trust and the fact that the men she loves aren’t that great to begin with. She eventually puts her cynicism and stalking tendencies (I told you to watch out for her!) to good use, studying criminology and becoming a private detective. She also reconnects with her son that she gave up for adoption and gleefully accepts when she finds out that she’s a grandmother. Long story short, she’s looking for stability and finds it in the most unlikely man, becoming a wife and a mother at the end of the show. This is what Melanie was looking for at the start of the show.

Over the first three seasons, a heavy emphasis is placed on Elka due to the show trying to capitalize on Betty White’s resurgence in popularity at the time. This is in spite of the fact that Elka kind of feels like a lost puzzle piece. She doesn’t really fit in to the whole cohesiveness of the other three characters. This is changed in season 4, when the character of Mamie Sue (played by Georgia Engel, Betty’s costar from The Mary Tyler Moore Show) is promoted to a recurring character. It not only gives a nice chemistry to a previously ill fitting character, it creates a parallel with the LA trio: Mamie Sue is a combination of Victoria’s airheadedness and Melanie’s kindness to Joy’s cynicism found in Elka.

The show starts off quite shakily, despite its hype, but takes a turn for the better around the fourth season. The frivolous story lines from earlier episodes are eschewed for more long term plots with more emotional impact. Themes of loneliness, love at middle age and returning to correct past regrets are explored quite deeply. The show also loses some of the LA stereotypes as it goes on.

Some really big names are booked as guest stars, some notable ones being:

Susan Lucci as a parody of herself, being Victoria’s arch-nemesis

Joe Jonas as Will, Melanie’s son

Craig Ferguson as Simon, Joy’s first love and babydaddy

Jon Lovitz as Artie Firestone, an eccentric billionaire who takes an interest in Joy

Heather Locklear as Chloe, one of Melanie’s bosses at her PR job

The entire cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show as G.L.O.B. (Gorgeous Ladies of Bowling)

Alan Dale as Sir Emmet Lawson, a renowned actor and Victoria’s sixth husband

Rick Springfield as a parody of himself

BULLSEYES & IMPROVEMENTS

What the show gets right:

Exploring the crossroads many women face at middle age, in terms of the main aspects of life: family, love & career

Great acting, especially in the later seasons

Wendie Malick - she deserved an Emmy nomination for her acting here

Jennifer Love Hewitt as Emmy, Victoria’s eldest daughter. Seriously, watch her episodes and tell me they aren’t funny

The general lack of pressure - you don’t need much attention to cycle in and out of the show, it’s easy watching

The consistency and plot development post season 3

What I think should be improved upon:

Melanie can be TOO nice, something that’s actually picked upon by other characters. Her cancer subplot was a nice opportunity to get some grit, but most of it was just by the way and not fully delved into

Victoria’s job as a news reporter was forgotten as soon as she landed a part in a Woody Allen movie. It would have been nice for her to be in that occupation a bit more or go back to it after her Oscar win and give her a chance to be on the other side of fame

Elka’s love life - every boyfriend seems to be a copy of the other and there are way too many of them

CULTURAL & PERSONAL IMPACT

This article from the A.V. Club goes into detail about the show and I have to say, I agree with it wholeheartedly agree. HiC was a reminder of what was before the more intellectual comedies came along. It shamelessly pandered to an older generation who wanted something familiar in an ever changing landscape. The fact that it didn’t take many risks in its approach was a risk in itself. It was clearly one that paid off, given the six season run. It wasn’t a darling of the critics, but it didn’t need to be. This was a show that could be watched to generate a few laughs without the need for in depth discussion with a coworker in the break room the next day.

A few years after the show’s cancellation, Valerie Bertinelli expressed her anger at TV Land for the decision, calling it sexist. I can’t really comment on that, given that I’m not too familiar with TV Land’s other work, but I will say that HiC did what it had to do. Six seasons in an age where you’re lucky to get more than three is amazing. The plot lines tied up quite nicely at the end and in the end, that’s all that everyone wanted.

Personally, I watched this show at two very difficult times in my life. The first was at college during my final year, when deadlines loomed and twisted my stomach in anxiety. The second was a few months ago when I had quit my job and needed something to distract me from the depression. On both occasions, this show has really made me laugh and fall in love with its simplicity. It’s undemanding and solid, just what I need to get through a trying period.

WHERE TO WATCH IT

Seasons 1 to 5 are available on Amazon Prime Video

Seasons 1 to 4 are available on Hunnyhaha’s channel on Youtube

If you’re in Southern Africa, the entire series are available on Showmax

#hot in cleveland #tvland #sitcom #literary analysis #betty white #valerie bertinelli #jane leeves #wendie malick #television #series

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paperjngs · 5 years

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close as strangers part two.

A/N: I had somewhat of an idea for this part and I kind of liked how it turned out yet I think there shall be another part just because it doesn’t feel finished to me yet. However, as you read if you feel like it’s done then that’s cool but if you don’t, let me know and I may make a 3rd part… maybe I’m even working on it right now who knows. Again, thank you to @h-osterfield , your account is truly amazing and this idea for the challenge is brilliant, this is for you.

Warnings; mention of character death, angst, sadness, but.. some FLUFF at the end. It doesn’t make up for it all but it’s kind of cute ig.

part one part three

The cool air begins to freeze over as you continue to walk. The tears have dried over and numbness started to take over your whole body. It was one that you weren’t a stranger to, the reason behind it, however, now that was new. Tom had always seemed to bring out the worst in you in the best way possible, well, until now. He called you out on your bullshit and you couldn’t even get mad at him because you knew all he wanted was the best for you. For you to be happy.

It was one of the many reasons why you fell in love with him. Not only was he extremely sweet and kind but he always tried to make you better. He knew your past and how it was with your mother and how you felt towards people leaving. Maybe that’s why it hurt so much when he did it. He knew how much it affected you and he still walked away from you the way he did and not even a single phone call.

You were halfway home when you heard a car roll up. You could feel yourself tense up, bringing your bag closer to your small frame and feel inside for the pocket knife you kept in there. Ever since your car broke down, you have kept it in there when you decided to walk from place to place.

You had learned how to use it from your father, the one man that you had high views for. Ever since your mother had left you guys when you were 5 years old, he stuck by you through first scraped knees, first period and first heartbreak. He was also there for you when Tom decided to break off your relationship. He knew how much Tom had meant to you and how much it crushed you to see him leave like that.

So, your father let you stay at his house for a few weeks, it was a blessing in disguise because soon the whole situation with Tom was forgotten about. Staying with your dad brought up old memories hidden within the walls of the old family house and the old happiness you found in there restored. You were finally at peace and you didn’t feel as horrible as you did that night a few months ago right after Tom told you the news. It didn’t even bother you when Tom decided not to reach out to you, even though he had said that nothing would change and that you would always be someone special to him. You had your father and that’s all that mattered. That was until you didn’t anymore.

You had come home from a hard day at work and wanted to sit back and relax on the couch as you watch a comedy when you had seen his lifeless body on the cold kitchen floor. At first, you couldn’t register what you were seeing. The man who raised you, the one who helped you ride your first bike and made pizzas with you every Friday for movie night, was laying flat on the floor. Body cold and blue from the lack of oxygen coursing through his brain.

You couldn’t even recall what you did next, all that you could summon up were the paramedics running into the house, one of them coming from behind trying to calm you down as you shake violently in their arms, breathing becoming uneasy as the air that tried to course through your lungs felt like it was being wrecked through your entire body. The others trying their hardest to revive your dad's heart only to fail.

That was a few months ago, the picture still replaying in your mind like a song on repeat. You shake your head, trying to get the image and the thought of him as you continued to walk ahead, ignoring the car but also ready to strike a nice clean cut if needed. It wasn’t until you heard Harrison’s voice that you stopped in your tracks, turning around so fast, you could feel your head spin for a second.

“What are you doing here?” You ask, crossing your arms, putting on a brave face after the night you’ve been having but also anger being present from Harrison notifying Tom about you being in the same club as them.

“Giving you a ride, what does it look like I’m doing?” He says, nodding towards the inside of his car.

“Get in.” But you didn’t see the point of it, you knew how to handle yourself when it came walking the streets alone at night. You shake your head.

“I think I’m good,” You say, pulling out the pocket knife, using your thumb to pull back the lever and for the knife to snap back and reveal how sharp it truly was. You could hear Harrison chuckle, shaking his head, staring at you in disbelief. This only makes a knowing smile quirk up on the sides of your lips.

“C’mon Y/N, let me bring you home.” He begs which only makes you roll your eyes. You look around the empty streets, knowing you probably won’t be bothered but also knowing that Harrison wouldn’t stop until you get into his car. You snap the knife back into the socket and back into your purse before hopping into the front seat.

“You’re lucky, you’re a decent person and that I don’t hate you.” You say once in the car, which only makes him chuckle before pulling out into the road.

“Actually, I do hate you,” You say, you break your eye contact on the roads passing by to look back at Harrison to see him pop his neck towards you, confusion written across his face.

“Why is that?” He says before pulling his attention back to the road.

“You let Tom know I was at the club, you are the literal definition of a buzzkill, you know that right, Haz?”

He looks at you, smiling, a small sweet chuckle escaping from his lips. He shakes his head before a serious surface of emotion takes over the happy smiley one he was working, looking at you and then, turning to look at the road.

“What happened between you two?” He asks, no playfulness in his voice at all. It made your insides grow cold once again, remembering the worst months of your life. “And I know it wasn’t just because he broke up with you, which he regrets, by the way.” He adds, the little comment making you scoff and earning him an eye roll.

“Yea, right,” You look anywhere but his face. The stop sign, the lights from huge hotel buildings, the trees that sway to the sound of the wind as it whips the branches, making them dance.

“He does, Y/N. Trust me.” He says sincerely and no matter how hard you try to resist looking back at him, you still did. And there it was. In his eyes, you could tell, he was telling the truth. You look back the road signs to avoid looking at him, even more, when you noticed that he didn’t take the right turn back to your house.

“Hey, Haz, you missed the turn,” You say, but it didn’t seem like he heard you. So you say it again.

“My house is the other way, Haz, what are you doing?” You felt the urge to shake him because it seemed he had gone deaf but you knew Harrison better than that and you knew he was up to something.

“Harrison, what the hell are you doing?”

“Bringing you back to my place, I don’t think you want to be alone tonight.” He finally answers.

“And why is that?” You say, furrowing your eyebrow, waiting for a response, only for it to come a few seconds later. The color from Harrison’s face draining and the look of pity showcasing across his face. You knew what it was before he even said it and you were already getting the “It’s okay”’s out to mask the tears away.

“I heard about your father, I’m so-“

“It’s okay, I’m okay.” You say quickly before facing the window. Building up your wall once again, something that you never used to do, only in moments when you didn’t want to talk about something, something that brings such a negative infliction on you, you couldn’t bear it.

Silence washes over the two of you. The tension in the air, you wanted so badly for it to go away but you knew that it wouldn’t unless you try to talk positively about it or change the subject so that’s what you tried to do but the only thing that came out was, “Does Tom know?”

You didn’t know why it came or why you wanted to know, you just did. But Harrison shakes his head.

“I thought it would be best if you told him, I only found out a few weeks ago, right after we found out we were able to go home for a short break, I just thought it would be wise if I let you handle it and maybe try and fix what’s broken,”

“Haz, I don’t think that’s such a good-“

“C’mon Y/N, just hear him out,” He says but you don’t answer and watch as you see a familiar apartment become closer and closer.

Once the car stops, you jump out before realizing that Harrison didn’t move from his seat, he didn’t take out the keys or didn’t even seem like he was going to get out any time soon. Before you could even ask Harrison, what he was doing, you heard a soft whisper of your name. And as you turn around is when you could hear Harrison finally driving off, leaving you in the presence of your ex.

You could feel yourself frozen as you could see the droopiness of Tom’s face. The sorrow in his eyes followed along with red puffiness surrounding them. You hadn’t seen Tom look that way in quite some time but then again, he didn’t always tend to show this side of himself, only when it was serious. And you were the only one who could bring him back from it, making him smile with tight hug and kisses peppering his face. No words, nothing but the comfort of your presence was enough for him. You tried to resist the urge of the old habit of wiping the tears away with your thumb before bringing him into your arms.

The urge brought back memories of all of the good times with him. All of the cuddles, the movie nights, the surprise visits on set and even just the simple moments of Tom reading the script for his next movie as you read a new fantasy book you were dying to get your hands on. The legs of both entangled within each other, the silence between you guys were so pure and relaxing. It had almost calmed you down in that very moment, staring at him, trying to upkeep the anger you had for him but you were growing tired. You wondered if it was even worth it anymore if you should just give up and listen to him like Harrison said.

“Please don’t go,” Tom whispers, his voice breaking from emotion. He feared you were going to turn around and try and leave but if you were being completely honest, the state he was in, you didn’t think you could.

“I wanted to say that I’m sorry for saying that I didn’t know you because that’s far from the truth,” He starts it off and at first, you’re confused. You knew you had changed, you knew he probably didn’t recognize you at first, wondering who the girl with the low cut shorts and black tank top was in the first place. But that was what you wanted, you hadn’t felt like yourself in months so you dressed like a stranger.

“This isn’t you, love,” He comes closer to you and whispers it in your ear. Pulling away to look into your eyes, no emotion in them, no anger hanging from them so he continues. “You are so much better than this and I’m sorry for everything that went down between us, I realized my mistake right after but, it’s too late now, isn’t it?” He backs away, falling onto the steps with a loud thud.

You bite your lip, the intense feeling of anxiety brushing past you as a friendly reminder of the reason why you pushed away.

“It wasn’t because of that,” You finally say, Tom’s eyes sparkling up hope within them as you said those words.

“Well, some of it was,” You say and his eyes glimmer a little less shiner but still has that slit of hope stuck in them. You sit down next to him and lean your head on the cool stone wall surrounding the stairs.

“You know, my father died,” You blurt out after a moment too long, it comes out as a small whisper, so small you almost didn’t hear yourself. You figured Harrison was right, after all, maybe you should tell him. Maybe then, he would understand how shitty everything was, maybe he would understand why you changed.

“Wait, what?” He says, stunned. His mouth hanging open, making you look back at him.

“Nothing, nevermind,” His reaction made you remember the very reason why you barely brought it up, it was too painful. You get up from your place from the stairs, feelings the need to pace.

“Wait, no,” Tom pulls you back to face him, tears brimming them once again, that, alone, telling you that he heard you.

“What did you say?” He says but this time much softer, it was like he was trying to be quiet in the fear that you may break any second. But maybe it was true, maybe you would break any second but that’s how it was now. Maybe what he had said back near the club had some truth to it, maybe he didn’t know you anymore.

“Just forget it about it, okay?” You say defeatedly and this time, without pacing, you start to walk away. The whole scene that had happened at the club replaying all over again.

“Talk to me, please.” He pleads from where you left him, you stop in your tracks, clenching your fists. You turn around and walk towards him in such a speed, you are face to face to him in no time.

“You want to talk?” You tilt your head to the side, your voice rising before realizing that your anger was too.

“Okay, let's talk about how you weren’t here,” You point his chest, making him take a step back.

“Let’s talk about you broke up with me and swore nothing would change but didn’t even call, not even once!” You step closer to him and no matter how hard you try to calm down, knowing that it wasn’t all his fault but not being able to stop. It made you hate yourself even more and you know if you kept this up, he would end up hating you too. Maybe it was for the best.

“Or let’s talk about when my father died, you didn’t once, call to check up on me.” You knew that was a low blow, that he didn’t even know but he should’ve. He should’ve been there.

“I didn’t know, I’m so-”

“Oh but of course you didn’t because you weren’t here, you didn’t call or even messaged me, and that is the reason why I’m like this because I was alone to deal with it all,” Your cold hard exterior was starting to fade as tears welled up in your eyes, voice breaking. Only wanting the arms you knew you shouldn’t have, the arms that you didn’t deserve from the look on his face, still being so pure yet so broken.

“The one person that was there for me, gone, without any warning. Just like you.” You finally say before breaking down into sobs, the loneliness creeping into you even more now than ever before. This broke Tom to see you like this and all he wanted to do was make it all better. He captured you in his arms, leading you up the stairs and into Harrison’s house.

You didn’t even try to fight back, you were so exhausted. He brings you to the couch and it was as if he knew not to let go of you or you would crumble all over again. He used one hand to grab the blanket that hung loosely off the couch, his other hand gripping you tight. He wanted to make sure you knew that he would be here for you from now on, that he will always be here no matter how hard you tried to pull away.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” He whispers into your hair but you couldn’t even be bothered to try and wave it away. To let him know, it wasn’t truly his fault. Tragedy falls on people all the time, that was just life. You fell asleep in his arms as he gently rubbed your back.

You were drained of all the emotion this one night seemed to bring but happy it ended with Tom by your side. You knew that nothing was fixed between you two but it didn’t matter at that moment, the calmness you felt with him made it all melt away.

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland oneshot #tom holland fanfic #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x you

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