#Die Hard with a Vengeance Rewatch

[spockvarietyhour]

#Die Hard with a Vengeance #John McClane #Bruce Willis #Jeremy Irons #tw blood #Die Hard with a Vengeance Rewatch

[candied-cae]

Rewatching Season 1, just closed Episode 7 again, and now I'm thinking about Jim.

Jim, who lost their father right in front of them. Who inherited a legacy of revenge they never wanted. Who was taught over and over again that life is pain and disappointment and burden. Who left home all alone in the world to get their vengeance at their Nana's advice. Who found Oluwande as a way into Spanish Jackie's proximity to get the man who stole their whole life. Who ran away with Oluwande at their heels, the first time they've run with someone running with them. Who had to hide and lie and keep their lips sealed to board The Revenge and did so with only a single ally they could trust. Who had to slowly learn how to talk, not in the literal sense, but metaphorically, to be vulnerable. Who saw their Nana again and let themselves be sent back to a life of settling a tiresome grudge. Who had to decide, for the very first time themselves, that they wanted the good out of life.

About Jim who went back home, to The Revenge.

Who got back just in time to kiss Oluwande and hold him close and bed him in their shared room. Who lost him just as quickly. Who was alone again, but in an entirely new way. Who woke up with a pounding headache pinned under glowering eyes. Who's been pushed to the breaking point of killing and raiding without a cause to believe in.

Who still held so much heart and longing for closeness. Who told Fang stories to help him stop crying and laugh, who even did the little wooden boy voice to make sure it worked. Who started to fall for Archie in the middle of all the hurt and cold loneliness that took a hold of their home, of their Revenge, the only one they've ever really cared for.

And then... just when Ed seemed to be getting better than he had in a while, they were in a storm. Surrounded by screaming weather and getting soaked with rain. And as they find themselves staring down the barrel of death, only hours or minutes from complete destruction and erasure, they are commanded to snuff out their recent string of hope.

And Blackbeard cackles as he tells them all love dies, he was just hastening the process.

And it hit them again, with the same force as Archie's fist hits their jaw... it's the same thing.

"Life is pain." "Life is disappointing." "Life is pointless if you aren't mad and making a statement."

The world was telling them again, that was how it worked.

And they didn't listen. They didn't bend to the universal law they kept having barked into their face. Instead they reached down, and pulled Archie to her feet. And Jim pressed their forehead into hers. Knowing they were going to die soon. It was just a fact, Blackbeard was always going to blow the mast, no matter if they listened.

So Jim was going to stop fighting. Stop scrambling desperate and scrappy to survive. They were just going to hold the little bit of love they had within reach, and wait for the Life that's aways been hard to end.

More OFMD

#Cae Has Lots of Feelings About Our Flag Means Death #And then - obviously - Izzy gets back up and shoots Ed #So Jim turns around and starts fighting to live again with the rest of them #But ignoring that part #This is the profound poeticism of Jim Jimenez's life as we've seen it #And fuck it killed me rewatching szn 1 and noticing these little tethers... these little 'consistencies' in their life. #It's so un-fucking-fair #And Jim deserves a big ol' poly dream. Please please please people who make the show let them be surrounded by so much love and joy #Let them have everything. Romantic love. Platonic love. Familial love. Self love. #I really want Jim to pull themselves into so much fond happiness #And this is all part of why Jim is a sort of representative for Ed #They exist in similar aspects to him #And it's fucking killer #Our Flag Means Death #OFMD #Our Flag Means Death Season 2 Spoilers #Our Flag Means Death Spoilers #OFMD Spoilers #OFMDS2 #OFMD s2 spoilers #OFMD Jim #Jim Jimenez #Oluwande #Oluwande Boodhari #OFMD Archie #Teal Oranges #Oluwande x Jim #Jim x Archie #All the couplings #I want them all to exist happy and together

[cody-helix02]

My silly Brain tried to rewatch the 5th Die Hard movie "A Good Day to Die Hard"....just cause I wanted to see after years if its still as bad...and cause of the actors and let me tell you guys...I really tried. I REALLY TRIED. To like it but I am a Hater at heart and that movie just sucks so bad...not even Jack McClanes ass was able to safe it 💀 IYKYK

If I had to rank all the movies...this one already is the 5th so it can stay in that place 💀

Btw my Ranking:

1. Die Hard

2. Die Hard with a Vengeance

3. Live Free or Die Hard

4. Die Harder

5. A Good Day to Die Hard

And yes if the 5th movie wouldn't exist the 2nd movie would be on the last place cause I DO NOT like it at all. Absolutly stupid and boring. Sorry not sorry.

#Cody rants into the void #die hard

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Die Hard With a Vengeance (McTiernan, 1995)

The first two movies I rewatch most years for Christmas so I've seen them a ton of times. This one I've seen less, in part because it's not tied to any specific holiday, but also because I always felt it loses a little once Gruber's motives are revealed (that he loves gold and isn't just a psycho out for revenge) and fizzles out at the end. I probably still feel that way but this time around I definitely appreciated more how much it plays like a video game. Gruber's diabolical puzzles are like minigames, and the heroes drive like maniacs across town, stealing one shitty car after another when they've managed to wreck the one they're currently using, like a Grand Theft Auto game.

Given Bruce Willis' retirement last year, it's been nice to go back and see him in his prime. One great discovery has been his guest role in the "No Exit" episode of Miami Vice, a show I will never, ever stop talking about, where his charisma clashes with his vileness. McClane in this one isn't peak magnetism Bruce Willis like the first two movies, but more the hungover asshole Bruce Willis like in The Last Boy Scout (another great discovery for me last year). He looks like shit, everyone keeps telling him he smells bad, he's working through a brutal hangover, and he wields profanities like a blunt weapon. ("Hey, fuckhead. Yeah, you, fuckhead.")

The racial stuff has definitely aged awkwardly, but what can I say, Willis and Samuel Jackson play off each other terrifically. I also appreciate that it's in the context of New York as a living, breathing city. And on that note, I like that this movie shows the city apparatus working in concert and reasonably effectively in the face of such unprecedented challenges. It's a nice contrast to the incompetence of the authorities in the first movie. I don't think the supporting characters are fleshed out with as much personality as in the first two movies, but I liked seeing people like Colleen Camp and Graham Greene and even little Aldis Hodge. And while Kevin Chamberlin seems like he's being set up for comic relief, he gets a nice moment of genuine courage.

The second movie gets knocked for following the original's template as slavishly as it does (one of the reasons I like it so much is that it's pretty much the best Die Hard clone there is and just happens to be a sequel), but this definitely has its share of overt callbacks. McClane slamming the door into the guy, McClane taking out a taller, stronger opponent using a chain, McClane (and Zeus) jumping away from the explosion, the last of which looks quite a bit choppier than in the original. I don't think this has as many exclamatory moments as the previous films, and the emphasis on expansive, open air action doesn't really play to John McTiernan's strengths as a visual stylist, but there are plenty of the classic glossy, lens-flare-heavy McTiernan widescreen frames if you look for them.

One last note: When McClane calls his wife, he refers to somebody named Carmine. True Die Hard fans know that this is the first name of the Dennis Franz character in the second movie. Is the implication that McClane's wife left him for Dennis Franz when he moved back to New York and she stayed in L.A.? To my knowledge, none of the sequels proved otherwise.

#film #movie review #die hard with a vengeance #john mctiernan

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

2022 MOVIE OF THE WEEK #35

die hard. can you believe i had never seen this movie until this year’s holiday season? cuz i can’t really believe it. i went through such a bruce willis phase when i was younger, i used to own the dvd set of moonlighting and i watched him on friends and in movies with matthew perry and the fifth element was a classic in my house...somehow this one just escaped me, i think because my mom’s Action Men tastes were very specifically adrian paul and chuck norris. whereas mine can probably be best described as ‘aw shucks schlubby charm,’ dudes who just seem more normal until they are required to be badasses. bruce willis, david harbour...i can’t remember what other actor i realized he reminds me of while watching this, but i know i told leander and was pleased by the realization, so i’m sure there are more examples.

anyway, this was so not on my radar; i didn’t even know what it was about other than through cultural osmosis. when a movie is mentioned as often as this one, you Know It even when you don’t. though there is a specific kind of joy that comes from finally seeing the line ‘yippee ki-yay, motherfucker’ delivered in its original context. that was fun. 

until pretty recently, i didn’t know alan rickman was the antagonist--that was a large part of why i watched. and boy does he make a meal out of this role. a significant chunk of this movie was just me thinking about what a great actor he is in this. his line deliveries are so delicious that i made a mental note just to mention ‘ho...ho...ho.’ as something nobody else could have had as much fun with. i was truly sad when his character finally died, because of course that ending was always going to come, but i didn’t want it to. the mark of a good villain is actually wanting more of them when you’re not supposed to like them in the first place, and he was an excellent villain--clever and funny with his own moral code, perfect to face off against bruce willis’s unexpected hero.

besides alan rickman, the other reason i decided to watch this (with @actuallylukedanes​ and their fiance who had both seen it before) was that it was featured in an episode of you are good, a movie podcast i like, which meant i’d already heard about the plot and figured that might help me enjoy it more. (normally if they discuss movies i intend to watch, i skip those episodes to avoid spoilers, but i never planned to see this one. lol.) anyway, they watched it as one of their christmas picks, and i knew there was a big debate about whether or not it counts as a christmas movie.

now that i’ve seen it, i feel like the debate is settled and it is OBVIOUSLY a christmas movie, no question. it is in my opinion a movie about a bunch of people (including john mcclain) having the worst christmas of their lives, and there was something i found oddly comforting about that. with my shiny new holiday depression this year, i wasn’t in the mood for any holiday movies--but i would rewatch this one every christmas, because like any good christmas movie there is a party and people remember that family is the most important thing. but UNLIKE other christmas movies, it has alan rickman taking his craft super seriously while bruce willis is in his softest and prettiest young phase, which i adore. and things explode.

(i also need us all to move on from this ‘is it a christmas movie?’ debate so people can be converted to the cult of my much more underappreciated christmas fave, batman returns. tim burton said gotham christmas but make it creepy! and michelle pfieffer learned better whip skills than harrison ford just to manifest it. the true spirit of christmas is being reanimated by cats, and using your new nine lives to flirt with a wealthy orphan while seeking vengeance on anyone who wronged you.)

i’m sure i could go on, but you can tell how old this movie is from the poster up there--i was barely ALIVE when this came out, lol. so i am very late to the party and i doubt a ton of people need me going on and on about it. besides alan rickman and bruce willis, i didn’t know most of the cast, but they all did a good job, there was at least one plot thread that didn’t go the way i expected, and i was pleasantly surprised by that. this movie’s racial politics make me reeeeally uncomfortable, but it’s not at all unusual for its time. the one honorable mention i’d give in casting is to the actor i grew up watching on family matters who plays a central role in helping john survive. he’s portrayed as a black hero, but he can’t just be one because he’s john’s emotional support system throughout the movie--no, he has to become a ‘real’ cop again by shooting a guy. at the same time, you have two major comic relief characters, and both are young black men; one driving john’s limo and the other handling technology for the villain. there’s a same sort of ‘balance’ with the movie’s two asian characters, the seemingly kind company owner who’s murdered early on versus a team member of the villain whose role is also tiny.

the movie is also trying to say stuff (or is just accidentally saying stuff based on the era) around post-soviet american perspectives, but i feel like the racial element sticks out way more because it goes uncommented on. like since it’s clearly not something the plot thinks about, these choices are even more noticeable and important because they reflect the buried stuff.

idk, i just have a lot of feelings about the fact that john’s friend over the radio couldn’t be really redeemed unless he used his gun. or about the fact that he and john are both cops in the first place, so even this sort of ‘everyman’ action movie is promoting the idea that while the fbi and other bureaucracy is useless or will even make things worse, good cops are the only hope we have. 

and his marital reconciliation--i basically just threw up my hands with that one, because i don’t think a near-death experience on christmas will automatically save your marriage. but at the same time, if your wife’s problem with you is that you wouldn’t follow her to her new job, and you finally show up there and save a whole building full of people while she’s in it...then yeah, okay, whatever. maybe that’s all it takes. i mean, if i were her, i’d probably be willing to consider applying for jobs back in new york after that anyway. they’ve definitely earned some kind of happy ending.

in conclusion, i loved this movie. it is an action movie classic in the truest sense of how that felt in the 80s and 90s, and it features bruce willis at his finest and alan rickman briefly doing an american accent and a whole very huge lot of broken glass. broken glass is basically a character in this movie. die hard was an excellent christmas choice for me this year and i’m glad i was welcome to join in the watching. :)

#actuallylukedanes #convinced me to start posting my completed reviews even when they're out of chronological order #so here we go! #die hard #2022 motw #bruce willis #alan rickman #i have the best best friend

[tyrannuspitch]

rewatching merlin 1.06 and i have MANY thoughts on edwin because he is an EXCELLENT villain. probably the best in s1.

first of all - edwin making it look like gaius has been medically endangering uther's family and getting him cast out is a recreation of what happened to sorcerers as a whole after ygraine's death. he could've chosen to kill gaius - and maybe he would have later - but first he wanted something a bit more poetic. nice bit of... backstory foreshadowing, i suppose?

this miiight also mean edwin is trying to bring about his new age the same way uther did? he wants revenge for his dead family and he's shown himself willing to kill innocents (merlin), not just those he has good reason to want vengeance on (uther, gaius). but that's still not indicative of a reign of terror equivalent to uther's, so like, he still has my vote lmao.

secondly - this is a very interesting episode for gaius. it's always hard to say quite how much of his moral ambiguity is deliberate, but like... he REALLY doesn't look good here.

gaius is far more distrustful of edwin than what he knows really warrants. he threatens to tell uther who edwin is, and it's not exactly clear what would happen if he did, but gaius clearly feels threatened just by the presence of a child of sorcerers. he has a guilty conscience which he eases with further aggression. not with remorse.

his justification for his actions also rings pretty hollow - he just says "dark magic", without defining it, as if the phrase itself should obviously justify two brutal murders and the maiming and traumatising of a child. but like, what IS "dark magic"? is condemning it actually any less arbitrary than declaring all magic evil?

and finally - he's a hypocrite. he talks about "betraying another sorcerer" as if he hasn't built his own life on doing so. and moments later he admits that he probably WOULD give up merlin to save uther, in the exact same outraged tone. and what actually stops him from doing so is merlin's destiny, not the fact that merlin is a young man in his care who does not deserve to die.

thirdly - edwin's manipulation is. very good and fun on its own. (sorry). but also... interesting in how close to gaius it actually comes.

catching merlin in the act of using magic when they've just met, insisting that it is magic while merlin denies it, commenting on how unusually gifted he is, telling him it should be used for a great, good purpose, offering to teach him, and then making him promise to keep their magic a strict secret between the two of them - all these are EXACTLY what gaius did.

the main difference is that gaius forbids casual magic as something dangerous, and edwin encourages it as practice. but like... i really don't buy that magic ~corrupts~ by giving you shortcuts to your chores lmao. yeah, edwin does also get to "let me teach you" much much faster, but even so. these are small differences. if this scene was creepy with edwin, then it was creepy with gaius!

edwin reveals at the end that his great purpose with merlin as his apprentice is to overthrow uther and rule camelot. and it's pretty clear when he says "we could be all powerful" that he wants merlin's power under his influence.

but. you know. doesn't gaius also want to influence merlin to use his power so camelot will be ruled how he wants it to be? by murderers, no less?

fourthly - part of the reason all this works on merlin is because gaius is not a flawless mentor! half the time he scolds merlin just for using magic. sometimes it's reasonable, but the overall pattern is excessive, imo. it's not ~immoral~ to use magic to sweep the floor, and it shouldn't be dangerous, either. gaius should be providing a safe space, but he isn't. he's teaching merlin shame and fear. edwin is the first person merlin hears talk about magic fearlessly, and as primarily good.

(the fact that edwin actively uses magic while gaius is decades out of practice is definitely part of it too, though. merlin needs Someone Like Him and gaius just... isn't. but again, idk, *maybe* if gaius weren't so over-cautious, he wouldn't be merlin's sole source of support! merlin could know some actual sorcerers!)

-

so yeah. overall: very good villain. interesting. charismatic. revealing. i can see why people get annoyed at him being *this* evil, because, like, can we not have one revolutionary who isn't secretly a tyrant in the making, but personally... i don't mind it in his case. because it is all about how gaius sucks too lol

#bbc merlin #rambling #many thoughts head full of bees #long post #why so long :/ bees!!

[cinemacentury]

Saturday, March 30, 2024

"I can appreciate your feelings for McClane. But believe me, the jerk isn't worth it. He's stepped on so many toes in this department, by this time next month he's gonna be a security guard. His own wife wants nothing to do with him, and he's about two steps shy of becoming a full-blown alcoholic."

150. DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (John McTiernan, 1995) - United States - Streaming - Digital Rental, AppleTV - 128 minutes. Rewatch #11.

#die hard #bruce willis #samuel l. jackson

[zalrb]

Top Boy anon. What did you think of the last season

They seemed like they wanted to wrap it up and be done with it.

The way they handle Dushane and Jaq storylines was sloppy. I know they were supposed to be unraveling and not thinking clearly but they just came off as being stupid.

Especially Dushane, I don’t buy him not being more suspicious after that woman practically said “what money”. He might of failed at stopping her but I feel like he would have kept an eye on her. Then forgetting to wipe down the front door after murdering someone. They could have went for a less obvious mistake.

I’ve always liked him too but this season I was just waiting for his ass killed or arrested. I’m glad Shelly left when she did.

I will say I liked Sully and Dushane last scene together. I can’t say I wasn’t invested in any of the dynamics because of the previous seasons but I checked out. I did like Stef and Erin though, they were cute.

There were aspects of this season that I liked but it definitely felt rushed despite the fact that the episodes also felt long because we weren't focusing really on what we should've been for the ending that we got.

Jaq is probably my favourite character and her stealing the drugs and doing nothing with it was absolutely ridiculous. If she's having a crisis about being a dealer then burn the drugs, if she's thinking about getting out then make off with it to sell wholesale, but this stealing the drugs, keeping it at her house, expecting no one to find it was so ridiculous I couldn't comprehend the point.

I also thought we needed more time with her reconciling the fact that she's a drug dealer because I got it in theory; Lauryn had a baby and now she's looking at her clients differently because she understands what it is to have a baby in your life, then Lauryn OD's and it hits different when it's someone you love but it really just came across as omg I sell DRUGS and drugs have consequences?? as opposed to her taking a hard look at her life.

I also thought Lauryn's addiction happened way too quickly. I obviously understand why she would turn to drugs after what she went through but because we don't spend enough time with her descent, we don't really know how long she's been doing it, we don't really see her struggle with it, it kind of just happens, I was just kind of like well ... OK?

Dushane's unravelling, I needed more time to understand his erratic behaviour because even before the final couple of episodes I was like, Dushane is being uncharacteristically dickish. Not that he was nice before but he wasn't always on edge. Like I know he's made some moves in the past that were shady particularly when he puts Jamie in jail but that was all calculated for him to get the best possible result, so granted, I didn't rewatch the previous season before watching this one but I was like, this unnecessary aggression Dushane is moving with is odd. It almost made me forget how much I hate Sully.

Sully was consistently Sully.

Honestly, every time I saw Shelley I was like where is your kid? Lmao. And she was right to leave Dushane but she did annoy me during his confrontation when she just kept repeating "It isn't about the money, it isn't about the money!" without explaining herself and when she did explain herself, I thought she explained it badly? Because saying one day you're in a good mood and the next day you have blood on your hands, Dushane was right in saying yo man you said you were ride or die, what it really should've been is one day you're in a good mood, the next you're yelling at me, shutting me out, I'm afraid you're going to get physical with me, you're too unpredictable because THAT'S the issue.

The ending had me like they probably wanted to do a Departed like thing but I really just wanted Stef to pull the trigger. I get the whole don't want to perpetuate the cycle of violence but I just wanted vengeance for Jamie. I personally think the Irish killed Sully.

Stef and Erin were adorable.

[maxanor]

i'm doing a spartacus rewatch, i'm watching vengeance and it is wild to me just how bold glaber is and for no good reason either. like this man murdered seppia's twin brother AFTER he clocked seppius for being jealous of how close seppia was getting to varinius. so i'm not saying glaber knew these two were incestuous little freaks but he knew enough to know better than to murder seppius and think seppia wouldn't be out of her mind when she found out

OMGGG a spartacus message in my inbox 🥺 thank u anon i love you and i feel so blessed bc i could talk about this show for hours!!! putting this under a read more just bc it gets quite long <3

i think one of the most interesting things about glaber (and batiatus honestly) is that he's incredibly entitled. he thinks so much of himself; he deserves to be in the senate, he deserves an heir, he deserves to divorce ilithyia not when she feels like it but when he does, he deserves to get away with murder bc he's better and smarter than those around him, when in reality none of that is true. he genuinely thought he was smart enough to get away with murdering seppius without anyone finding out, and tbh i think he was getting off on having seppia wrapped around his finger knowing that he killed her brother and that she was coming to him for comfort. you hit the nail on the head, he’s so bold and reckless, and until the very last moment before his death he doesn’t think it’s possible for spartacus to beat him based simply on the fact that spartacus is a slave and glaber himself is roman.

monsters is one of my favorite episodes in the entire show and i absolutely relate to wanting seppia to get her revenge, but i'm also obsessed with ilithyia and glaber's fucked up relationship and the parallels between them betraying each other and then coming back together ("we are both monsters gaius, let us be so together" is such a line), only to both die in the next episode like it hits so hard for me. but i do think seppia should have been able to stab him a little, as a treat.

also i know you said that he let her father die but he did literally kill her father sdflkjh like he hit him over the head with a piece of wood repeatedly so. that was not just him letting him die when the arena burned down lmao like he did that on purpose. yeah he's a piece of shit but so is ilithyia and i'm obsessed with both of them.

i love how glaber and batiatus are set up as these sort of bumbling brazen villain types in the first two seasons in comparison to crassus in s3. glaber and batiatus are so obsessed with getting and maintaining power and they disrespect and betray those around them to try and climb up the social ladder but crassus doesn't have to do any of those things bc he's already at the very top. he gets to act with an heir of superiority that, to the fellow romans around him (and even some slaves), he "deserves." i’m obsessed with all the villains in this show i think they’re some of the best written villains of all time <3

#asks #anon #thank u sm for sending this i loveeee talking about this show #it's always on my mind it's the best show of all time it means so much to me

[writer-at-the-table]

I always forget just how good Die Hard with a Vengeance is until I rewatch it again. Really just an excellent movie.

#die hard #mine #My posts

[shurisneakers]

shut in [7]

Summary: When your high profile mission goes terribly wrong, you’re forced to hide in a safehouse with a man you’ve never met before. With seemingly nowhere else to go, you’re forced to work together to figure out who is trying to have you assassinated before it’s too late. (Sam Wilson x Reader, Hitman AU)

Warnings: cursing, implied abuse, death, implied ptsd, injuries, broken bone, origami and paper planes

Word count: 3.7k

A/N: ONE MORE WEEK !!!!!!!!! ONE MORE WEEK !!!!!!!! also gif is somewhat related except steve isn’t there sorry to crush any hopes

i also appreciate feedback so if you would like to, please consider dropping me an ask or comment ly guys!! also if you want to be on the taglist, it’s mentioned at the bottom of the chapter.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Shut In Masterlist

“Is there a reason you’re back so early?”

Both of the men nervously glanced at each other, silently urging the other to talk. A quiet form of encouragement.

“We chec- we checked all the neighbouring towns. All your safehouses,” one of them finally sputtered up after his partner elbowed him in the ribs.

“And?”

“We coordinated with all our guys across the country to look for them-”

“All I’m hearing are a bunch of excuses,” they twirled the gun on its barrel like it was a plaything. “Get to the point.”

“No one knows where they’re hiding,” he finished, swallowing thickly. “We’re still looking though. We just thought-”

“What?” their voice was surprisingly calm. “That your little status update would impress me? That I’d feel sorry for you for working so hard?”

“N-no boss,” his partner finally pitched in, saving face for his companion who opened and shut his mouth wordlessly. “Just keeping you in the loop. We’re close, I can feel-”

“Do you remember what I told you the last time you were here?”

Both of them shut their mouths immediately. Knuckles white, nails digging into their skin as they clenched their fists shut.

“That you wanted them dead,” the first one said with faux confidence. A waver in his voice gave it away.

“Yes, but you’re forgetting the important part,” they tsk’ed, shaking their head, eyes downcast.

They didn’t give anyone a chance to react. They slammed the gun down, swiftly picking it up before taking aim at his partner’s face.

“I said I’d blow your brains out.” They pulled the trigger.

Bits of bone fragment and blood splattered across the first agent’s face. He inhaled sharply, chest rising and falling haphazardly. He had his eyes shut tightly, face away from the carcass slumped over next to him..

“I want every fucking part of this country searched,” they roared, throwing the gun to the side carelessly, leaving someone else to scurry after it. “And since it’s so fucking hard for you to finish two tasks, just get me their location.”

The agent barely nodded, looking like he was about to throw up. His partner’s blood trailed down the side of his face like sweat.

“I’ll kill them myself.”

Hugh Grant was starting to look less appealing on your 6th rewatch of Notting Hill. In fact, he was starting to blend together with the characters from Die Hard and it was becoming difficult to differentiate which part belonged to which movie.

Sam sat opposite to you at the dining table, a set of papers assigned in front of him. The TV was left on, serving as background noise and occasional fillers to substitute the lack of conversation.

“That movie is not making sense anymore,” he stated objectively.

“It stopped after the third time for me.” Your words were hushed, your focus remaining on the swan you were trying to create from scratch.

“If I hear her say ‘I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy’ one more time, I actually think I’ll projectile vomit.” You could tell that his eyes didn’t shift from the screen though. “I can feel the bile. It’s going to happen.”

You only hummed in agreement, more interested in his lamenting than the actual movie.

Although origami wasn’t one of the skills you picked up in the fucking mafia, you still knew a few basic things. The rest you just folded with confidence and prayed it would work.

What other options did you have when you were stuck together in a house with no WiFi?

Sam had made a paper bowl to hold the car keys and the few dollars you picked up from Pierce’s place. It looked like it would fall apart at any given moment, its structural integrity questionable at best.

You had made a small flower that rested on the table in front of you. You were sure it would go missing the minute a draft entered the room.

He had given up after his contribution of the bowl. Apparently his creative expertise extended only towards that and paper airplanes, not that that stopped him. He was folding and manufacturing them with a vengeance.

“How is this supposed to help, Wilson?” you questioned, unable to contain the smile that grew on your face at the sheer number of planes he was making.

“Just because it’s not a decorative marvel-” he shot back in its defence, “-doesn’t mean it’s useless.”

“Oh, yeah? What else can it do other than not fly?” You watched as he launched one of them. It did a loop before falling miserably to the floor.

“Hey, you can put a message in it. Maybe one of those button trackers, a microphone. The possibilities are endless.” He laughed, folding another one out of the limited supply of paper he had left. “Besides, your thing won’t even lift off the ground.”

“Yeah, but this one can float.” You held up the swan that you had created. That about concluded your knowledge of origami.

“That’s actually… pretty cool,” he admitted. “Teach me how to make one.”

“A true master never reveals their secrets,” you eluded, placing it on the table.

“I dare you to make another.” Sneaky bastard. He knew you wouldn’t be able to replicate it. He saw you struggle the first time.

“Why, so you can just copy off of me?” you dodged, and Sam narrowed his eyes at you. You followed the same.

Neither of you blinked for a while.

“I’m out of paper,” he finally relented, gesturing to the fleet of planes that littered the table.

“I’m out of ideas.” You paused, looking down at how you’d spent the last hour. “Do you wanna go test these outside later?”

Sam looked up eagerly and you could just tell he was intending on getting competitive. “Hell yeah.”

“I’m going for a run in some time.” You got up to stretch your limbs, shrug off the fatigue that was setting in. Along the way you left the swan and one of the paper planes on top of the mini fridge alongside the car keys. It was cute. “We could do it then?”

“Sure,” he affirmed. “What time?”

“At around 6-” your eyes landed on the clock on the wall before widening, “-shit, shit, shit, I didn't realise it was five thirty. We have a call with Ransone.”

“Phone’s on the couch,” he mentioned to the living room, sitting up straight. “Why are you freaking out? We still got a few minutes to go.”

You pushed yourself away from the table, forcing yourself to shakie off the drowsiness that had begun to set in.

“You wouldn’t get it,” you mumbled, “He gets pissy if I don’t do things his way.”

You grabbed the phone, punching in the buttons and having it at the ready.

You noticed Sam focused on you with knitted eyebrows but not voicing whatever he had on his mind.

“Ready?” you questioned, but more as a formality. You had to do it regardless.

He simply nodded, looking on as you let the phone ring. If he had noticed your antsiness towards the call, he didn’t bring it up.

Ransone picked up on the last ring, not skipping a beat in answering, “Y/N.”

“Hey Ransone.” You switched the call to speakerphone.

“Are you alone?”

You glanced at Sam. He shook his head, arms crossed over his chest, edging you to continue with the arrangement you had planned the day prior.

Ransone trusted you more. He was more likely to communicate openly if Sam wasn’t around.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Where’s the other one?”

Sam silently scoffed.

“He’s taking a nap.”

“Ah,” Ransone’s tone was condescending. “How have things been?”

“It’s fine.” You press your lips into a straight line, not elucidating. “What’s the update out there?”

“Everything is a mess. We’re trying to figure out who attacked you but since there wasn’t anything left behind or any kind of trace, it’s proving to be... inconvenient.”

“Is it safe to travel?”

“What, with your face on national television?” he laughed. “Nah, I’d say it’s a little too early to be thinkin’ of a road trip. Just stay where you are, I’ll tell you when you can come out.”

Your fingers were thrumming at the table rhythmically, peeking at Sam every now and then for anything he found suspicious or wanted you to ask about.

“Listen, we’ve paid off every big guy to keep this under wraps as much as possible but Pierce was an important person. All the higher ups want this to be solved as quickly as possible. They don’t care about sacrificing a player here or there.”

Pinning the blame on you was easy enough. The faster you were put away, the faster they could stage an “accident” in prison so that none of their secrets were exposed. Wasn’t like they hadn’t done it before.

“Others in the business aren’t likin’ us accusing them of attacking one of our own. Our best bet right now is Serpentine but we haven’t gotten anything to prove it.”

You doubted they ever would. Even if they did do it, Serpentine was notorious for being cunning and stealthy in their operations. They made sure there would be no tracks leading back to them.

“So, we’re at a dead-end,” you verified. There was no telling when this would end, your exit looking further and further away. “We’re fucked.”

“No. We’ll just- Y/N, listen to me,” Ransone called out, drawing your attention back to the call.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve always protected you,” his voice was noticeably softer. “Don’t you trust me?”

You felt the temperature in the room drop.

“You said there would be no one there!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ransone scoffed. “I never said that.”

“I walk in there and there’s four people, completely armed.” Forcing yourself to recall it was making your head spin. Maybe you could ask the nurse for a painkiller. “It was supposed to be empty.”

“I think the blood loss is making you delirious,” he chided, looking at the bag of drips hanging above your bed. “It wasn’t even that bad-”

“You’re lying.” The words slipped out before you had the chance to think it over.

“Excuse me?” he tilted his head, tone suddenly sifting to that of warning.

You knew he was. You had agreed to this mission because it was supposed to be easy. It was a break.

“Ivan was there when you briefed me.” You lifted your good arm to point at him shakily. “He knows you’re lying.”

“Does he now?” Ransone quirked an eyebrow, studying his aid who stood in the corner of the dingy hospital room.

A beat of silence passed where Ransone stared at Ivan, waiting for a reply of confirmation.

Ivan only lifted his shoulders in unawareness. “I don’t remember you sayin’ that.”

Your mouth fell agape but you quickly rushed to shut it. Fucking liars. You shouldn’t have expected anything better.

“Told you.” Ransone shrugged. “You’re a smart one, Y/N, so I’m going to let that slide this time. But next time you accuse me of something I didn’t say…”

He trailed off, resting a hand on your broken shoulder. You flinched, jaw clenched so tightly you thought your teeth might break. You tried to imagine yourself somewhere else, desperate to reduce the quivering of your body when he squeezed it lightly.

“You know I’ve always tried to protect you.” He put a finger under your chin, tilting your head to meet his eye. “Don’t you trust me?”

A beat passed before you responded.

“I do,” you said through gritted teeth, pulling your face away from him.

“I’ll ask them to up your dosage.” Ransone took a step away from you, dropping his hand. “I’m going to need my best player on the field as soon as possible.”

You didn’t acknowledge his statement. Every part of your body felt like it was going to combust.

Did he really say that no one was going to be there or was it just the injuries playing with you?

“Get well soon,” he offered, one step out the door. “Buttercup.”

“You trust me, don’t you Y/N?” he repeated when you didn’t respond.

“Yes.” You swallowed, gaze falling to the floor.

“And I trust you. You wouldn’t do anything to break that, would you?”

Sam raised his one hand questioningly as if to ask what the hell he was talking about. An intimidation tactic. He had been using it for several years to reinforce your loyalty.

“I wouldn’t.”

There were things you weren’t telling him, of course. Details about that day or where you and Sam were hiding right off the top of your head. More if you thought about it deeply.

“Good,” came his response. “So if there’s anything you need, let me know. I’m always a call away.”

“Thank you.”

“Talk to you soon.” He ended the call there.

You stood there blankly for a while before dropping the phone to the ground and crushing it. Usually you wouldn’t have to do that; removing the battery would be enough. This time you wanted to.

Your chest rose and fell heavily. You loathed him. Yet, you couldn’t fucking leave. 

“Hey.” Your eyes snapped back to Sam. “We still going on that run?”

__

The wind felt good.

Your muscles were burning and you could feel the constriction of your lungs but you liked it. The endorphins were working their charm.

Sam was right beside you, not questioning why there was so much aggression in your movement. You had lost track of how long you had been running. You couldn’t bring yourself to focus on that.

The path was paved with fallen branches and roots sticking out, forcing you to hop over some of them to avoid falling. It only annoyed you further.

You wanted to punch something. Or someone. The tension was rolling off your back in waves, and if someone saw you the’d probably believe you were going to commit an act of violence.

It was a while before you felt your steps begin to falter, the need for a proper breath taking precedence over the want to run more.

“Timeout?” you asked Sam breathlessly, slowing your pace to a jog.

“Sure about that, Usain Bolt?” he huffed, slowing his pace to match yours.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he dismissed it. “T’was fun.”

Now that you had slowed down, it forced you to come to terms with how much energy you had just burnt out.

“You wanna talk about what’s on your mind or ignore it?”

“Rather not talk about it for now.” The more you thought about him, the angrier you got. And as of late, you had realised that your method of dealing with that anger wasn’t the best.

The air was getting colder. It was getting harder to see what was in front of you, relying on the few rays of sunlight that shone through the treetops. You took a roundabout at your self declared checkpoint, changing course back to the house.

Sam followed wordlessly, but his presence was strangely comforting. Warm.

“Thank you.”

“For...” he trailed off, prodding you on.

“I don’t know. This.” You gestured to the path ahead of you. “I didn’t think you’d agree to it.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” His eyebrows knit together in puzzlement.

You didn’t have an answer to that. Probably because you weren’t used to people just doing nice things for no apparent reason.

“How are you so calm all the time? I’ve never seen him get under your skin,” you asked quietly. “How do you do it?”

He didn’t answer straight away. He mulled over it as he dodged broken sticks and upended roots on the ground. You would be fine if he didn’t answer either; as long as he knew that you appreciated it.

“I just realised that everything he put into me was destructive. Actively worked on unlearning it,” he replied after a while. “It took me years to even begin.”

You expected to hear that but it didn’t make it easier.

“I don’t even know how to start,” you mumbled. It was so tiring, even thinking of where and how it began. It was all you knew. All you were taught.

“If I could add something?”

You looked at him questioningly.

“You had a different relationship with him than all of us, Y/N. A deeper one. It’s not easy to forget that,” he pointed out. “But… you’re not him. That takes strength.”

These weren’t new revelations. It was things you had told yourself earlier to rationalise all your actions. You knew it on a surface level but it was difficult to convince yourself sincerely.

You didn’t say anything, just continued jogging with an eye on the ground. 

It felt better to hear it from someone else. A starting point to maybe get to where he was, too.

“I just can’t believe anyone took him seriously enough for him to get this far,” Sam added, a tick of annoyance in his voice. “I don’t condone bullying but someone should have just punched him in the face as a child.”

It wasn’t even the funniest thing you had heard him say but for some reason it elicited a snort from you, soon giving way to a laugh.

His face snapped to yours at the sound of your laughter, a small smile growing on his face.

His brief moment of distraction was all it took for him to not notice the tree root sticking out in front of him. His ankle got caught in the wood, sending him stumbling to the ground face forward.

“Oh shit,” you cursed, halting in your place immediately, dropping to your knees to where he was.

“Fuckin’ hell,” he groaned, turning onto his back. “I think I broke my face.”

“That may be a bit excessive but your nose is definitely bleeding,” you knew this was serious but you were finding it difficult to control your laughter once you realised it wasn’t a life threatening injury.

“Just leave me here to die.” He covered his eyes with his elbow, refusing to look at you.

“C’mon, Wilson. Let’s get you fixed up.” You stood up, offering your hand. He grabbed onto it, hoisting himself up.  “Can you stand up straight? Do you think you have a concussion?”

“World class assassin,” he grumbled, shaking his head to imply he was fine other than a possible broken nose.

“Promise I won’t tell. Your reputation is safe,” you said it humorously but with conviction, hoping to make it less embarrassing for him. Not that you’d let him forget it any time soon.

It took longer to walk back considering how far you had ventured out, along with the fact that you had to guide him as he held his nose in the air to try and control the bleeding.

You pushed open the door to the house, holding it open as he walked in. Sam made his way to the dining room after you told him you’d get the first aid kit for the second time during your stay there.

By the time you returned from the bathroom, grabbing an old t-shirt along the way, he had a single ice cube pressed to the bridge of his nose.

“That’s not going to be enough.” You dropped the kit onto the table, opening the mini fridge. You emptied the ice cubes from the tray onto the t-shirt, twisting it into a small ice pack.

“These are my battle scars.” You could tell that he was trying not to use his nose. He sounded ridiculous. 

“Whatever makes you feel better, Sam,” you chortled. His mouth eased into a half smile and you didn’t get why until you realised it was the first time you had called him by his name. You didn’t acknowledge it, surprised by how easily it slipped out from your mouth when you weren’t actively stopping it.

You gave him a bit of cotton to wipe off the blood that had dried on his face.

“Look up,” you instructed, standing over him so you could assess the damage. He complied, letting you cradle his jaw softly, tilting his head to see if there were any signs of a fracture or anything worse.

It was a bad fall, but nothing he hadn’t been through before in terms of severeness. It wasn’t going to leave a mark.

“Definitely going to bruise but it’s not broken,” you concluded, going over it once more to make sure.

“Thanks, doc,” his voice came softly from below you. Only then did you realise how close you were standing to him. You could feel his breath on your wrist that was still caressing his face.

It felt like eternity, but he didn’t make an effort to move or shove you away. Your eyes flitted down to his lips for a second. If you just leaned dow-

“Right,” you cleared your throat, taking a step back. “Just hold this to your face for a while to reduce any swelling.”

You handed him the makeshift ice pack, feeling the heat creep up your neck.

“Your turn to use the bed tonight, right?” His voice was significantly lower than what it had been a few minutes ago, something you weren’t acclimated to hearing. It only made your face feel hotter.

“Yeah.” You avoided meeting his eyes, using the time to close the first aid kid. “Unless you want it.”

“No, go ahead.”

It was too early to retire for the evening but suddenly you weren’t all that hungry anymore. Apparently neither was he.

“See you tomorrow, then?” you inquired, turning away before he could see you cringe.

“See you tomorrow,” he confirmed, “Good night.”

You just gave him a short wave over your shoulder and physically restrained from walking to the room, shutting the door and never looking at him again. You hoped he didn’t notice or at least never bring it up if he did.

You couldn’t do this. Not again.

Not when you knew the consequences.

Next part

#sam x reader #sam wilson x reader #mcu fic #sam fic #sam wilson fic #sam wilson fluff #sam wilson angst #sam wilson series #falcon #falcon x reader #the falcon x reader #hitman!sam wilson #hitman!au #shut in fic #marvel fic #marvel #mcu #sam wilson #the falcon #sam wilson fanfiction #marvel imagine #marvel fanfiction #sam wilson imagine #sam imagine

[spockvarietyhour]

Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)

#Die Hard With a Vengeance #John McClane #Zeus Carver #Bruce Willis #Samuel L. Jackson #diehardedit #filmedit #movieedit #GIF #my gifs #die hard with a vengeance rewatch #Hide and Queue

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 20, part two

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff) (Previous Post)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

So much happens in this episode that I couldn’t stop the meta and had to break it in thirds. Part one is here, part three is here. 

Owie Owie Owie

Wen Zhuliu takes exquisitely tender care of Wen Chao, despite presumably disliking him quite a lot. He wipes his tears away, saying that the tears will infect his wounds, which...isn't likely, but ok. 

I will note that he didn't get the "no sting" kind of medicine, however, so maybe there's a limit to his kindness.  Wen Chao screams and yells at him while he puts a tiny amount of medicine on one tiny spot of owie. It's going to be a long night for these fellas. Except it isn't because they're going to die, so at least they won't have to put more medicine on.

The candles blow out and we hear the sound of a flute, which Wen Zhuliu hilariously says is just the wind when Wen Chao starts freaking out. They have two days to go before they get to safety, and Wen Chao is pretty sure he's not going to last two days. And you know...he's right!  

As usual he blames Wen Zhuliu for the situation, but then gets afraid that WZL is going to leave him, and starts making promises of status. WZL says that's not necessary. He is a loyal sonofabitch, I'll give him that. 

The Man Comes Around, Redux

And now Wei Wuxian enters the scene, climbing menacingly up the stairs carrying his own hair fan, just like Lan Wangji did in the previous episode. (Gifset here). Wen Zhuliu doesn't look optimistic. When the boys on the roof see Wei Wuxian they don't look too happy either.

Wei Wuxian stops in front of Wen Zhuliu and proceeds to have a philosophical conversation with him. Wei Wuxian has come to fuck your shit up, but he has also come to pass judgement on your ethics because he is, fundamentally, still himself. 

Wen Zhuliu takes the opportunity to justify his actions, giving a heartfelt statement about what he owes to Wen Ruohan. Wen Zhuliu knows his number is up and that they obviously didn't kill Wei Wuxian hard enough, but he still feels righteous.

(more after the cut)

Here Wei Wuxian asks a question that shows the fundamental difference between himself and Wen Zhuliu. In many ways they are similar: neither of them was born into their clan. Both were appreciated by the clan leader and placed in high positions. Both feel an obligation to those clan leaders. When Wei Wuxian asks "why do other people have to pay for your gratitude?" he's foreshadowing the moment when Jiang Cheng demands the death of the Dafan Wens.  

Wen Zhuliu doesn't hesitate to murder people because his clan leader wants him to. Whereas Wei Wuxian doesn't hesitate to pay a terrible price--his golden core-for his gratitude to Jiang Fengmian. But he won't let the Dafan Wens pay the price of his continued membership in the Jiang clan; he chooses exile while Wen Zhuliu chooses murder.

Wei Wuxian is done talking and very very slowly brings his flute into position and starts to play. Wen Zhuliu doesn't make a move to stop him, but he might be frozen in place...everything happens at weird speeds in this scene.

Lan Wangji is super horrified when he sees what Wei Wuxian is doing with his flute. So horrified, in fact, that by the time they are face to face, he's moved past any other emotion.

Lady in Red

As Wei Wuxian plays the flute, the camera moves around him (or they spin him on a turntable) and the scenery around him shifts to a 360 view of...the burial mounds! That's so fucking cool! 

You can take the boy out of the graveyard but you can't take the graveyard out of the boy. He is carrying it within him now.

He summons up the hottest ghost lady ever, to scratch the shit out of the Wens with her fancy fingernails. She's all in red, not the dark Wen red, but super-saturated bridal red. 

She's not dressed as a bride, but she is very pretty and the color is awesome, particularly when she turns into red smoke. Presumably having actual ghosts attacking people is ok with the censor board as long as they are pretty ladies in nice clothes, since there are two in this episode and this one is absolutely definitely a non-corporeal being when she wants to be.

Camera Operator: What did I ever do to you?

She fights with Wen Zhuliu, who tries to put his core-melting hand on her, unsuccessfully, and then figures out that Wei Wuxian is the better target, so tries to put his core-melting hand on him. 

Wen Zhuliu, you need to have some different moves! Not everybody has a core for you to melt.

Zidian’s Revenge

As soon as Wen Zhuliu targets Wei Wuxian the boys break in from the rooftop, with Jiang Cheng snapping Zidian up over a rafter and down around Wen Zhuliu's neck in a single move, and then hauling him up and hanging him. 

This is a pretty gratifying moment; Jiang Cheng finally gets his vengeance using the weapon his mother gave him before this fucker killed her. He also gets to come back at the guy who melted his core and kill him with a spiritual weapon. All around nice work, Jiang Cheng.

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji initially placed himself between Wen Zhuliu and Wei Wuxian, which is a pretty strong show of devotion, given that his chest was directly in line with Wen Zhuliu's hand. 

He watches intently while Wen Zhuliu dies...Lan Wangji is actually a pretty vengeful guy, isn't he? He's not into torture but he seems to like executing bad people, and he enjoys chopping off arms a whole lot.

Welcome Back

Having disposed of Wen Zhuliu, Team Where The Fuck Have You Been is ready to greet Wei Wuxian. This is Lan Wangji as he prepares to turn around and face him. 

This is not "relieved that my soulmate is ok" or even "feeling betrayed because you didn't even send me a text." This is cold, hard, fury. He's plowed right past relief and joy into full on disgust and vehemence.

Jiang Cheng is also pissed at him, but he's so used to being pissed at him that it's not a remarkable emotion, and it passes quickly. He gives him his sword, calls him a prick, punches him in the shoulder while Lan Wangji looks grumpy Wang Yibo tries very hard not to smile, and fails. 

Then Jiang Cheng gives Wei Wuxian an enormous squishy hug. 

Wei Wuxian, who has probably wanted that hug for the past decade, does not return it, and looks stricken, eventually raising his flute hand behind Jiang Cheng's back.

Lan Wangji glares at him while Jiang Cheng hugs him, and then shifts to glare at the flute.

Let's talk about Lan Wangji's body language here. This scene is often talked about, including by OP, as "Wei Wuxian picks a fight with Lan Wangji in order to push him away." But since their very early days,Lan Wangji's nonverbal communication has been an essential component of his relationship with Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian has been reading his microexpressions from the very start, and he's the only one besides Lan Xichen who does that. 

Lan Wangji's anger and disapproval are written all over his face and posture, so much so that even a casual observer can tell what he's feeling.  For Wei Wuxian, with his extreme awareness and having shared actual literal telepathy with the guy previously, this has got to feel like Lan Wangji is screaming at him.

Lan Wangji is the one picking this fight. Wei Wuxian is trying to defuse it by giving him time to calm down before engaging. For perhaps the first time since meeting him, Wei Wuxian ignores Lan Wangji to focus on Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng asks him a bunch of questions and Wei Wuxian slides out from under most of them, giving half answers, non-answers, and what All The President's Men calls a non-denial denial.

Wei Wuxian, who is adept at sounding like he's speaking truth when he is lying, here sounds like he's lying when he's speaking something very close to the truth. He spins a particularly outrageous-sounding tale of finding a cave and learning an ultimate power there...but that's actually what he actually did, actually.  Xue Yang does this "lie so much that the truth now sounds like a lie" thing by accident, years later in Yi City, but Wei Wuxian is using it as a deliberate tactic to hide the truth from his brother. Which is basically his main occupation at this point.  

He acts offended that Jiang Cheng doesn't believe him, but he does it playfully to cast everything in the conversation as a joke.

Lan Wangji is not as inclined to accept utter codswallop as Jiang Cheng is, and he has already figured out an important underlying layer of the situation--the turn away from the way of the sword--while not seeing the very bottom layer, the "I don't have a golden core" layer.  

Unfortunately, he continues to be judgy and pissed off. He says "Wei Ying" gently enough, but his body is braced for conflict. 

Wei Wuxian looks at him wearily and stands up to have the fight Lan Wangji is asking for.

Maybe you were right But baby I was lonely I don't want to fight I'm tired of being sorry

I'm standing in the street Crying out for you No one sees me But the silver moon

Soundtrack: 1. Sympathy for the Devil, The Rolling Stones 2. Tired of Being Sorry, by Ringside

Writing Prompt: Who is the lady in red and what is her deal?

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #wangxian #chengxian #the untamed gifs #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original #my gifs

[nanamisflowers]

I was thinking about the Pregnant!MC asks and a thought crossed my mind. An unrested ghost who holds a big grudge against [Twst boy]'s family because something bad happened to her centuries ago and it was done by [Twst boy]'s family. The unrested ghost was waiting for the last family member to die for it will be the end of the bloodline and the person she was waiting was [Twst boy] because he didn't seem to be interested in lovelife but all of that expectation went down when he met MC, got together with her and got married with her and now MC is currently pregnant with their first child. So the unrested ghost decided to meet MC by asking the deities to give her a temporary spell where she'll be visible to other people as she disguises herself as a human.

MC in a convenience store: Hmmm... I really gummies... Ahh! *drops pack* Awww dang it! There's no one else here and the cashier went out to ask for supplies, guess I have to do this on my own.

Unrested ghost: *Sees her from a distance outside the store* Hmmm...

MC: *Struggling* Almost there... Gah, being pregnant is so hard- *Sees someone get the pack for her* eh?

Unrested ghost: *Picks up the pack* Here...

MC: Ah! Thank you

Unrested ghost: You're welcome *is about to leave*

MC: Ah wait!

Unrested ghost: Yes?

MC: Are you a relative of my husband's? I notice you looking at me from a distance

Unrested ghost: *Silence* I was once a part of your husband's family, I was an in-law actually

A few minutes later

MC: He gives me a lot of support and even buys all the baby's stuff for me, he's very hardworking and I want to help him as well, for our baby.

Unrested ghost: Aren't you bothered?

MC: Bothered? About what?

Unrested ghost: About the baby, if the baby turns out to be a girl then she'll have limited rights-

MC: What? What are you talking about? This isn't the Dark Era where women didn't have the right and if they give birth to a girl, the people would kill the baby. This is the present, a lot of rights have been given to us.

Unrested ghost: I- well...

MC: You've experienced something bad with my husband's family before... Haven't you?

Unrested ghost: *Silence* Yes...

MC: Well it doesn't matter, because even if I get judged for whatever that baby's gender is. Be it a boy or a girl, it doesn't change the fact that this child is mine and my husband's. No one can change that, not even the world.

Unrested ghost: *Coming to a realization as the memories of her despairful times living in the Dark Era flashed in her mind from her baby's death to her death*

MC: Ma'am?

Unrested ghost: Why...Didn't I think that... For my daughter? *About to cry* I could've saved her... *sniffs*

MC: It's okay, ma'am. You're daughter is still with you, she's always with you.

Unrested ghost: *Sniffs* Makes sure that that baby is healthy and strong, *sniff* work together with your husband to give that baby the best life they could ever have *sniff*

MC: Yes, ma'am. I will, everything I will do for me and my husband's child *smiles*

And so the unrested ghost's grudge has finally vanished for she has found the peace she was longing for after many centuries thanks to MC's words. She no longer was the ghost who held vengeance against [Twst boy] 's family instead, she is now a ghost who found eternal happiness and is now ready to cross the borders to paradise. MC may never know that the woman she talked to was a dead mother grieving for the loss of her child centuries ago, but she did helped her take the everlasting pain in her heart.

(Based on a scene from the Kdrama "Hotel de Luna")

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 MC CAN EVEN MAKE GHOSTS HAPPY!!! Djdjkdld💕

I liked Hotel de Luna but I stopped watching it. There was one thing that I disliked, but I can‘t seem to remember it🤔 maybe I have to rewatch it.

#nanami answers

[girl4music]

BUFFY REWATCH - S04E08 - Pangs

Gerhardt: “And that's why it's appropriate that the ground-breaking for the UC Sunnydale cultural partnership center is taking place so soon before Thanksgiving. Because that's what the melting pot is about - Contributions from all cultures, making our culture stronger...”

Willow: “What a load of horse hooey!” 

Buffy: “We have a counterpoint?”

Willow: “Yeah. Thanksgiving isn't about the blending of 2 cultures. It's about one culture wiping out another. And then they make animated specials about the part where, with the maize and the big, big belt buckles. They don't show you the next scene, where all the bison die and Squanto takes a musket ball in the stomach.”

Buffy: “OK. Now, for some of that, you were channeling your mother?”

Willow: “Well, yeah, sort of. That's why she doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving or Columbus Day. You know, the destruction of the indigenous peoples. I know it sounds a little overwrought, but really, she's... She's right.”

This episode was a very interesting one. It has the Gang dealing with vengeance demons. But there’s a very compelling confliction going on because these vengeance demons are the spirits of tribes of Chumash Native American people. So it has the likes of Willow and Buffy - the more compassionate members of the Scooby Gang - torn for what to do. They don’t know whether they should be helping them or stopping them. Feeling guilt, for their ancestors tortured these tribes into submission and helped set up Western European Colonialism. Willow - being Jewish - is especially hesitant on killing these demons, learning of all the shit that has been done to their people from her mother, who refuses to celebrate Thanksgiving or Columbus Day. Buffy really wants a nice, normal Thanksgiving Day meal with the Gang - her found family - but she also struggles with whether she’s in the right or wrong for it.

So there is a lot of complexity going on in this episode which makes it very interesting for me to watch - because I like complex, I like drama, I like conflict. I like something that makes me think a little bit and reassess my beliefs. I don’t really see the point of interacting with any kind of art/entertainment otherwise. I don’t care for the pleasure principle whatsoever when it comes to what I watch or listen to or read etc... I am very much about the learning process only. So, this episode is definetly another one of my favourites. Spike has a very good line. He provides the logic to this episode but in a way where it’s very consistent with his character and straight to the point of the matter which I love about him in general.

“You exterminated his race. What could you possibly say that would make him feel better? It's kill or be killed here. Take your bloody pick.”

I know if I was American - I wouldn’t celebrate Thanksgiving Day either. Well done to the writers for trying to tackle such a controversial subject. Never shying away from the hard discussions in order to give the audience a lesson. Which, as I have said, it’s precisely the point to interacting with art/entertainment for me.

#buffy the vampire slayer #S04E08 #pangs #buffy summers #willow rosenberg #spike #professor gerhardt #thanksgiving day #indigenous cultures #colonialism #episode recap #buffy rewatch

[nitrateglow]

Last watch of 2021: The Cruise of the Jasper B

Absolutely insane silent movie. If you’re a fanfic writer, you’ll be familiar with the term “crack fic”-- that is, a fanfic that is so bizarre and off the wall that it might have been written under the influence. That’s this movie. It’s just that demented, like a 1910s Douglas Fairbanks comedy gone wrong.

At first, you think the plot is going to be like Seven Chances: a guy has to get married on his 25th birthday or he loses the family fortune. He crosses paths with an heiress who has a will inexplicably copied onto her back-- it’s the only proof of her inheritance and her evil uncle is chasing her down with a sponge, intent on erasing the will from existence. These two rush to get married ASAP, but they’ve got the evil uncle, armed robbers, and then eventually the entire armed forces of the US chasing them.

Yes, that is actually what happens. It’s INSANE.

First watch of 2022: A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities is my favorite Dickens novel. Like Wuthering Heights, I re-read it every year, but unlike Wuthering Heights, I haven’t watched that many film versions. About the only ones I’ve touched are a 1917 film, a 1980 TV production, and the famous 1935 adaptation with Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton.

I saw the 1935 film years ago on TCM and just rewatched it after buying the new Warner Archive release. It’s an impressive film. Dickens is hard to cram into two hours, but this movie does pretty well in that regard, even if some things had to be condensed a bit too much to be immediately comprehensible to those unfamiliar with the book.

One thing which stood out to me was how the influence of silent filmmaking still lingers in this movie-- the use of intertitles for instance. And then there’s the presence of Lucille LaVerne as La Vengeance. She played a similarly nasty role in Griffith’s silent epic Orphans of the Storm, only there we didn’t get to hear her cackling. The woman has to have one of the most delightful evil cackles in movie history.

And holy heaven, if the casting isn’t amazing in general. I always said Dickens was served well by the larger than life acting styles of Old Hollywood. “Gritty realism” just cannot do justice to creations like Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher, Madame Defarge, or the icy Marquis St. Evermonde. Everyone is pretty much as I imagined them in the novel. I know some people have issues with Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton, but don’t count me among them. I thought he perfectly captured the wit and tragedy of one of my favorite characters of all time.

On a side note (and spoiler alert, if you don’t know the ending): this time, I watched the movie with family members who are not familiar with A Tale of Two Cities. As in, they didn’t know the ending at all-- so they were all a bit miffed at me when Carton met his fate. “Why does he have to die for the boring guy?!” cries my sister. My mom had to watch a baking show to cheer up before bed!

#thoughts #the cruise of the jasper b #a tale of two cities #rod la rocque #mildred harris #snitz edwards #ronald colman #silent film #old hollywood