#Edgar bright fan fiction

[rudie-wr1tes]

Endless Passion- A Sandman Fan Fiction

X. Reverie

Synopsis: On a bright morning in the Dreaming, Sabine meets the acquaintance of Morpheus's most recent creation. The creature seems innocent, but it makes Sabine wonder if she knows more than she lets on.

  The sound of mourning doves and the fluttering of wings stirred Sabine from her rest, as gentle golden daylight crept through from the edges of her bedroom. She was perfectly splayed out on the sheets, blankets and pillows scattered on the floor. She slowly rose, sitting at the edge of her bed. Oddly enough, she felt more energized. In her apartment, she would spend an extra hour in bed just to rot, but here- here something was recharged within her. She noticed the plumerias from her floating vases had disappeared, and were replaced with light blue hydrangeas- another favorite of hers. She began to wonder if that would change daily, as she walked across the room. 

A rolling rattle activated within the wall across from her, as she noticed a fireplace coming to life on the empty wall. It was a graceful thing, carved with two sirens on either side. Waves and strange, medieval looking sea creatures swept across the crest of the hearth. She shook her head. 

“He is done for.” She muttered, sitting in front of the toasty fire, “Trying to win my affections to a lifetime in this pretty place.” 

As she curled by the fire, there was a knock to her chamber door. She quickly approached, snatching a fluffier robe that seemed to appear out of thin air on a coat rack. She was five seconds from opening the door when a glass peep hole formed in the starlit surface. She flinched back, to lean in again. 

An unmanned handcart appeared on the other side, with a tea pot and sealed food packages on its surface. Of course she wasn’t going to let it get cold, the woman was starving. 

As she opened the door, the wooden cart moved past her, nearly running over her toes. 

“Hello?” She stammered, trying not to laugh, “What are you?” 

The teapot floated on its own, pouring a steaming cup of french sipping chocolate for her, before sliding back down in its proper place. Sabine’s jaw dropped. 

“.... Is marriage out of the question?” She remarked to herself, soon reaching for a little tin full of cream. 

“I can make myself a bowl of cereal just fine, you know.” She muttered to no one, taking a rather large sip of it out. She melted, tapping her feet against the floor at the rich flavor. And to think it was only the beginning of her time here- an eternity of hot chocolate and invisible wait staff would mean heaven for the rest of her days. 

There came a tapping on the glass doors to her balcony. Sabine turned with an upper lip full of chocolate, soon scrubbing it off with the back of her palm. It was Matthew, who waited patiently. And as she opened the door to him, she couldn’t help but to smile and think of Edgar Allen Poe so fondly. 

“Morning!” Matthew croaked, “How are you feeling?” 

“Good morning, Matthew!” Sabine smiled, “I am feeling juts fine now… My cut is nearly healed.” 

“Ah, that’s great.” Matthew honked, “I’m glad to see you adjusting. Dream is still on to see you this afternoon and told me to remind you.” 

Sabine rolled her eyes, “Yes, of course. I can’t forget about the Lord of dreams and trying to bribe my affections.” 

Matthew opened his beak, but soon shut ut into a small chuckle, “He genuinely does feel bad to keep you here, you know.” 

Sabine crossed her arms, “I know he does. He’s doing so much for me and… Frankly…” She looked back at her beautiful room to see the bed had been made automatically on its own, “I find myself receptive to it. He even gave me my hot chocolate this morning.” 

“Oh, that’s not all he’s giving you.” Matthew said in a smug tone, “I’d like to stay and chat, but there’s someone who’s been wanting to meet you!” 

“Me?” Sabine inquired, “And just who may that be?” 

“Matthew!” A smaller squawk echoed, “Matthew I’m almost here, I’m- Woah!” 

There was a crash of white feathers into a portion of Sabine’s moon garden. Her eyes widened slightly, as Matthew let out a groan. 

“... Here we go.” He muttered, hopping off th balcony to aid his apprentice. 

In the mix of dirt, leaves, and white flowers was a dust ridden albino raven. A female, younger than Matthew, who sneezed dirt out of her beak and coughed. 

“Oh, gosh, the dirt here tastes terrible too!” a warm, innocent voice stammered out of her beak, “I thought it would be something magical since this is just a dream realm, but my goodness! It’s just plain old dirt!” 

Matthew scoffed in annoyance, his feathers puffing up.

Sabine squatted down and helped the creature out of the mess. 

“Well, what did you think it was going to taste like?” Sabine asked curiously. 

“I don’t know! Something like oreo dust,” She shrugged her wings softly, “Like those worm cups they make for kids in preschool with gummies in them.” 

 Matthew plucked a leaf off from the top of her head, sighing. 

“And I told you to watch your landings.” Matthew struck an impatient tone, “You’ll bust a bone, and then what will become of you?” 

“Have you broken anything?” Sabine asked, sweeping the dirt off of her feathers. 

“Oh, no, just my own pride.” The white raven said sheepishly, “Especially in front of you, lady.”

As she flicked the dirt off of her feathers, Matthew nudged her. 

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?” Matthew asked, seemingly annoyed by his apprentice. 

Sabine only smiled, waiting patiently. 

“What’s that?” She squaked, “Oh! Please forgive me, lady-” she cleared her throat, bowing with her wings, “Good morning, my name is Evangeline. I am a raven that was created by Lord Morpheus to be your personal messenger and guide!” 

“Hello, Evangeline.” Sabine greeted, “It’s nice to meet you.” 

“Oh, you’re right, Matthew!” Evangeline beamed, “She is lovely! My name sounds prettier when she says it!” 

Sabine laughed softly, letting Evangeline perch on her fingertips, “You’re even lovlier. It’s my great grandmother’s name you have.” 

“You don’t say!” Evangline said bashuflly, “Well, I’ll tell you this. It wasn’t the name I was born with! You see, I was just like Matthew here-” Matthew seemed annoyed at this tibit of information. 

“I was human too!” Evangleine’s blue eyes brightened, “And I was a human in the waking world! I was dying of cancer one minute, and I remember watching my family over me, and the next I was flying through the air and stars, and I was here! And he let me pick my own name. Oh, I always wanted something pretty and heavenly like Evangeline. I’ve never felt freer, so when Lord Morpheus gave me this chance, I had to say yes! I can’t fail him, or you now!” 

“Not until you improve your flight patters.” Matthews frowning tone interrupted her, “She will be closer to you in due time, but for now I’m on flight training duties with this one. She will have a more in depth judgment of the Dreaming as a whole for you to reference.” 

“That’s amazing.” Sabine said in awe, “Thank you, Matthew. When do you think she will be done with her training?” 

“That depends on how far we get today.” Matthew answered. 

“I can’t help it.” Evangeline pouted, “I’ve only had these wings for a day, you know.” 

“She does make a point.” Sabine said in a reassuring tone. Matthew clicked his beak. 

“We should go.” Matthew said, “Lucienne’s sorting books out now whenever you want to head over and visit. She always claims she doesn’t need help, but…” 

Sabine nodded, “I know exactly what you mean. She could use the company?” 

“Exactly.” Matthew said, “Allright, Evangeline, let’s hop off here.” 

“Okay!” Evangaline chirped, “Well, I am so happy to meet you Sabine. I hope my training goes fast so I can see you again soon!” 

“You too!” Sabine smiled.

“Oh, I can���t wait to learn.” Evangeline beamed, stepping onto the balcony, “I love it here. Come on Matthew, you promised to show me Fiddler’s Green!” 

Matthew shot an irritated look toward Sabine’s way, as Evangeline was the first to fly off. 

“You’re having the time of your life, aren’t you?” Sabine remarked. 

“She’s green.” Matthew sighed, “And I’m trying to be patient, and it’s hard.” 

“I’m sure it was like that for you too, once.” Sabine reassured, “But you’re doing great. I know it’ll work out.” 

“I know, I know.” Matthew groaned, “She’s just got too much energy for me, personally.” 

Sabine giggled, “Are you regretting my stay here?” 

“... Not even in the slightest.” Matthew said with a smile in his voice, “Hang on, I gotta keep her from crashing into the gargoyles here. They’re not the friendliest.” He checked below him, “Hey! Eva! Keep your distance from there, you’re going to get eaten by one of those damn things!” 

Sabine watched as he banked down to help the younger raven, finding more questions than answers in regards to Lord Morpheus. 

As she finished her sipping chocolate (by some miracle that remained warm) with her croissant, she opened her grandfather’s wardrobe to find it looking shockingly average to the real thing- space spreading horizontally, instead of inwards. A handful of items lined the racks with felt hangers- one being the outfit she escaped the Corinthian in- perfectly washed and pressed, free of bloodshed. The second was her night slip and robe, as she pushed past them, a soft mint colored dress ran across her fingertips. The scoop necked thing was plush to the touch. The waist was decorated with a light layer of lace and buttons, cinching exactly at the smallest point of her figure. Small trims of lace framed the three quarter sleeves. She smiled to herself, taking it off the rack. It was one of her original designs from a notebook a year prior. Beneath the dress was a pair of eggshell colored flats, like the ones she missed at home. 

As tempted as she was to run off without makeup, a single glance by the mirror convoluted her judment, as she found her makeup arenal to be overpowered. 

“I could get used to this,” She smiled to herself. 

************************************************************************

Evangeline dragged her wings away from the window of the mortal woman who was to be her patron. Matthew had begrudingly steered the young corvid from stone jaws of hungry gargoyles on the southern side of Dream’s palace. In the light, she could swear she saw sweat forming at the top of his beak. The oil spill hues of his feathered coat shone brightly, as they banked to the left in flight together. 

“You need to be more careful.” Matthew advised, “I know you might think I’m being a hard ass, but I am for a reason!” 

“I’m sorry.” Evangeline faltered shyly, “I just got so excited. Sabine is so pretty, and she’s so nice. She’s like a disney princess on that balcony.” 

“I’ll tell you this, it’s far from disney with those two,” Matthew shrugged off, “This may be the realm of dreams and nightmares. But I’m still trying to piece together hy he’s keeping her around. And I know there might be something he isn’t owning up to.” 

Evangeline looked back at Sabine through her windows, at her vanity. Eva watched, as she put on her eyeliner with a precise hand, a learned hand that left a feline flick at the outer corner of her doe eyes. 

“Do you think he fancies her?” Evangeline blurted aloud, “Like it’s one of those things… What are they called? The revelation people run from but always seems to happen anyways?” 

“A prophecy?” Matthew corrected. 

“Yes, that!” Evangleine beamed, “That exactly! Maybe that’s why he’s quiet about her.” 

Matthew paused. There was a reason that Evangleine was created. At first, he only assumed she was juts some lucky kid with a second chance at life. He oversaw her creation- watching her in the window of a hospital room with chords and fluids tied into her. Two weary parents stood beside her in her final moments. He remembered the sound of their cries of agony, as Death welcomed her with a gentle hand to the face and a reassuring smile. 

There was a part of him that ached. She had no chance in the waking world, sickness had ruined that for her before her life could even begin. He was angry about that. He was angry at first being assigned to training her how to fly, but wanted to be the only person who could. Matthew stood no chance of surviving in his cruelty as a human. But here, he could at least try and protect her from it. He was angry with Morpheus, despite his reasons. But it seemed she knew more than she let on. But maybe, he considered, Evangeline was a fresh, innocent pair of eyes examining a situation Matthew had seen unraveling. After learning of Morpheus’s unfortunate track record with love, it wouldn’t be out of the question. He paused a moment, wondering if that was actually the case, even after joking about it. He hadn’t been that defensive about someone… Well, ever. Except in aiding in Calliope’s escape. 

Matthew shook his head and sighed, “We have work to do. There’s a lot you need to learn…” 

“I think it would be so romantic.” Evangeline delighted in a near whisper, “I can see it now. He’s very lonely. Otherwise, why would he make such a pretty room for her? Friends wouldn’t leave fresh cut flowers in a lady’s bedroom every morning-” 

“And I don’t need you getting all swooney on me either!” Matthew cut her daydreams short with a sharper tone, “I need you to stay focused!”

“Yes, Matthew.” She snickered. 

“We will land in a few minutes, there in the field.” Matthew instrucrted, “I can tell you’re getting tired.” 

Evangeline was quiet. He began to worry. 

She was looking at the skies above their heads- many changing, glimmering with different colors spanned across the horizon. 

“This is the best first day of existence I’ve ever had.” She observed, looking back at him, “thank you, Uncle Matthew.” 

Matthew’s nerves eased at such a term of endearment. They had barely known each other for a day. And he slowly realized- perhaps she wasn't just there for Sabine.

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

Hi, yes, I made another OC for this fanfic, and I would commit arson for Evangeline.

Happy Easter to my readers who celebrate!

#dream of the endless #fan fiction #writeblr #my fanfiction #the sandman netflix #the sandman #lord morpheus #fic writing #matthew the raven

[korakonrad]

For the Moon never beams without bringing me dreams

a Simon "Ghost" Riley Fan Fiction

F/M

Simon "Ghost" Riley x Fem!Reader

Summary: You don't know his name or his face. Yet he is haunting you wherever you go - and you wish he never stops. For years Simon Riley had lived for the job, going from mission to mission and dreading the unforgiving lonely times in between. That changed when one night he stepped into your bar in his hometown. Now he aches everytime he is away from you - aches for the sight of you smiling at your costumers, aches for the way your hair shines in the dim lights of the bar, aches to protect you from the many dangers of this world - and to keep you all to himself. Title is from the poem "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe

Chapter 1: A Place That Was Yours

" For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I see the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling - my darling - my life and my bride,

In her sepulchre there by the sea -

In her tomb by the sounding sea."

- E. A. Poe

 

Simon Riley had always known more than others. He was observant, listening intently and absorbing every little detail in his periphere. While others talked or lost themselves in their minds, Simon became the Ghost that he was.

He analysed all of his opponents reactions - friend or foe. Simon had learned to read the nervous twitch of an eyelid, the careless strokes between lovers, the fluttering pulse under the delicate skin of a throat. Simon Riley always knew what other people believed, wanted or feared. Except when it came to you. You changed everything.

The first time Simon saw you was on a cold winter night in Manchester. The biting wind had pushed heavy snowflakes under the hood of his jacket. His balaclava had already been soaked the moment he stepped out of the airport. He could have taken a cab but the mere thought of having to talk to another human being had seemed bloody impossible. He had decided to walk the distance to his flat. He didn't really feel the cold anyway. In fact, Simon had not felt anything at all at that time.

Which is why he himself was more than surprised by the sudden, almost overwhelming urge to stop and take a look inside the small bar that slightly iluminated the street ahead of him. Subtly jazz tunes vibrated through the warm air and a short jingle announced Simon as he entered the bar. Later he would not quiet remember even deciding to go inside, he had done it on instict. And the reason for that instinct was you.

-

It was a rather busy night at your bar. Aside from your usuals a group of kids from university preoccupied most tables. This is how you liked it, you thought. A bunch of people finding company and warmth in a place that was yours. You were standing behind the bar, filling a large glass with beer while Ernie - one of your regulars - talked your ear off. You had planned to answer the man in front of you, as the door opened and a huge sillhouette appeared in the doorframe. That man was big all over, clothed in black. You felt the energy in the room shift and a shiver - not intirely unpleasent - ran down your spine. Dispite your inner turmoil you flashed a wide smile in the direction of your new guest. "Just pick a seat. I'll be with you in a second!" He did not react, just kept standing there. You could not make out his face under the hood but you felt his intense stare on you. You put down the beer in front of Ernie and wiped your hands on your apron. Slowly you walked up to the man at the door. Only when you came to a halt in fornt of him you noticed he was wearing a mask, no, a balaclava, that had a skull painted on it. To your horror you squeaked surprised. What the hell? To fill the awkward silence between the two of you you asked: "You're not tryin' to rob me, are you? There isn't much to steal anyway. But there's a bank next door so ..." You trailed of. The masked man looked down at you with piercing gray eyeys. You had to crane your neck to be able to hold eye contact with him. You didn't even reach his chin. Slowly he blinked as if he was shaking of a daze. Than he fucking scoffed and took a step backwards. Without a word he left your bar. You stayed behind, cheeks hot and pulse thrumming.

-

Simon stood in the hallway of his flat. He was feeling hot all over. Was he going crazy? All he could smell was your scent that somehow still lingered in his nose. Something warm and sweet. The force of it had hit him like a fucking train when you had stood in front of him. His heart had started beating so fast he dashed out of there like a maniac, feeling overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of emotions. But now, standing in his flat alone he was already craving this ecstasy again. Had his last mission been so long, that he couldn't interact with a normal person anymore? Simon closed his eyes, relived the sight of you. He didn't want to admit it yet, but he knew it all too well: He was going to find you again. Even if it only was to destroy this illusion he had of you.

#ghost mw2 #ghost #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #call of duty #modern warfare two #ghost fanfiction

[seriousoswald]

Very Important Post

I write fan fiction, you can find it here. Below I'll include a comprehensive list of fanfic I've written by title with a brief description (there is literally 1 from the ikerev fandom right now lol) I am willing to take one shot requests for the following IkeRev and IkeSen bois (I do not promise completion within a certain time period.) Please be specific in your request, I will keep everything rated T unless specifically requested otherwise.

Ikemen Revolution (updated as I complete routes):

Ray Blackwell, Sirius Oswald, Fenrir Godspeed, Luka Clemence, Seth Hyde, Lancelot Kingsley, Jonah Clemence, Zero, Edgar Bright, and Kyle Ash

Ikemen Sengoku (updated as I complete routes):

Nobu, Hideyoshi, Masamune, Mitsunari, Ieyasu, Yuki, Sasuke, Kenshin, Shingen

Fanfic master list:

A Tree of Red Camellias (Sirius x OC Female - longfic, 19 chapters 46,000 words - Incomplete as of 09/30/22)

#ikerev #ikemen revolution #ikemen series #fanfic #fan fiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 author #archive of our own #requests open #fanfic writer #ikemen fanfic #ikerev fanfiction

[ikemenlibrary]

Candy Canes and Mistletoe (Ikemen Revolution)

Pairing: Edgar Bright x Alice (MC)

Day 3 of @voltage-vixen​ ‘Tis the Season for Smut! Prompt: “Kiss me under the mistletoe” Summary: Edgar said he’s always dreamed of kissing someone under the mistletoe during Christmas  Warnings: nsfw below the cut - oral sex (female receiving)

“You’re back!” Edgar’s bright smile greeted Alice as she walked through the gates of the Red Army.

She had taken a day out to Central Quarter to do some Christmas shopping and despite Edgar’s protests, she was able to go off on her own.

“I am!” Alice giggled as Edgar’s arms wrapped around her waist and he spun her around in a circle before setting her down and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

His eyes glinted with mischief and his smile made Alice feel giddy. “Did you get anything for me?”

Her cheeks reddened and she had to force herself not to look down at the discrete little black bag she had hidden in between other bags. Alice knew that Christmas was one of Edgar’s favorite times of the year and she had specially ordered something to hopefully get him into the spirit of the holiday.

“It’s a possibility,” she responded, dodging his questions by pressing a kiss on his lips and scurrying to her room.

Edgar wouldn’t let her go that easily; he knew if he pestered her enough, she’d relent and tell him what she was trying so desperately to hide. So Alice wasn’t even a little surprised when a few moments after her door locked, she heard a knock and Edgar’s teasing voice.

“C’mon Alice~” he sang out, his hand wiggling the doorknob. “You know you can’t hide it from me forever.”

She had time. The door was locked, and he wouldn’t give up easily.

Picturing the look on his face as she opened the door in holiday-themed lingerie made her giggle softly and she quickly started removing her clothes. Her heavy skirt dropped to the floor and after it, her panties. Her top and bra were next and as she stood naked in front of her mirror, her hands skimming over her body and goose pimples followed that path.

At that moment, her door burst open and she screamed, her arms going to cover as much skin as she could as her intruder barged in. “Woah,” Edgar’s mouth dropped open as he stood in the doorway.

“Don’t just stand there, close the door!” Alice spoke frantically as she grabbed the black bag and locked herself into the bathroom.

“I think there’s something wrong with your lock,” Edgar called through the bathroom door as Alice started dressing in the green mesh she had ordered specially. The fabric was embroidered with mistletoe and was very flattering against her pale skin. “I’ll make sure to have someone fix it ASAP.” She stepped out of the bathroom while he was still fiddling with the lock and once their eyes met, Edgar’s mouth upturned into a devious smirk. “What is this?”

Alice pushed down her nervousness and sauntered the rest of the way across the room to her boyfriend.

Edgar was still on his knees, one of his hands still holding onto the doorknob, the other hand dropped to her ankle and traced a confident line up her leg, his hand ending up resting on the band of her mesh-covered hip.

“You said you’ve always wanted to kiss someone underneath the mistletoe,” Alice told herself she wouldn’t be nervous; she wanted to seem confident with him for once. But the moment his hand met her bare ankle, she shivered and her voice trembled.

Edgar’s jade eyes met her own and she felt his hand move from her hip to the inside of her thigh, his other hand going to stroke her backside, his gentle hand following her curves and making her weak at the knees.

“I was expecting a sweet kiss under a doorway but this… Alice, this is more than I could have even imagined.” Edgar leaned in, kissing her upper thigh. His tongue traced a pattern and his warm breath made her weak at the knees.

His one hand started kneading on her butt while his other hand tugged the material aside as his tongue followed a line up to her wet slit. He started softly, a teasing lick, a small nip, before his hands joined, swiping against her opening and spreading her slick around before flattening his tongue and licking the whole drenched area.

Alice’s hands fell to his hair as she cried out Edgar’s name. Her nipples under the flimsy bra were erect and rubbing against the mesh as Edgar’s hands each dug into one buttcheek and he pulled her in closer to him. She was almost on his shoulders at this point, the only thing keeping her standing was his hands holding to her tightly.

As Edgar’s tongue continued his ministrations, his fingers joined in, deftly plunging into Alice’s sopping opening and causing her to moan out in ecstasy. “More,” she babbled. “Please. More, more, more.”

As her speaking turned more incoherent, Edgar’s lips wrapped around her clit and he suckled, his two fingers turned to three and he started thrusting at a faster pace, helping Alice chase her release. Her hips bucked violently and his hands moved from her ass to her hips, holding them in place as she came undone on top of him.

When her heaving body calmed, Edgar kissed slowly up Alice’s body, pressing wet kisses into her skin and when he reached her lips, he leaned in and let her taste herself on his lips.

“Now that’s a mistletoe kiss I’ll never forget.” Edgar hummed against her lips as she pulled away, a distracted smile playing on her lips.

“Me either,” she agreed, her hands reaching out to cup the bulge in his pants. “But for now, I have a candy cane to suck.”

Edgar laughed out loud as she unzipped his uniform pants and pushed them to his ankles.

“What’s going on in there?” Jonah yelled from outside the door. “I heard yelling, I’m coming in.” Before Alice or Edgar could protest, Jonah walked in, and shielded his eyes in horror. “For goodness sakes, at least lock the door!” Before Alice brought her mouth back down on Edgar’s aching cock, she cheekily reminded him to make sure to get her lock fixed later.

#'tis the season for smut #'tis the season for smut content creation challenge #Edgar bright #ikerev edgar #ikemen revolution edgar #ikemen revolution fanfic #ikemen revolution fan fiction #ikerev fanfic #ikerev fan fiction #Edgar bright fanfic #Edgar bright fan fiction #ikerev Edgar fanfic #ikerev Edgar fan fiction #my writing #genre: fantasy

[clefairymuke]

eloquent | one

pairings: levi x reader | eren x reader (fwb)

word count: 4799

tw: [chapter]: swearing, alcohol consumption, references to marking (hickeys), drunk sex 

[fic]: age gap, professor/student pairing, smut, hate sex, angry sex, casual sex, i’ll add more as i go

themes: modern au, college (grad school) au, enemies to lovers, slow burn (smut is immediate but feelings aren’t), professor levi, authority kink, extremely smutty, i should be ashamed, teasing & edging, pining so hard it's embarrassing, dom levi/sub reader

note from the author: sorry i disappeared i’ve literally written so much of this fic but i had really bad block for the beginning but inspiration struck today i hope you like it

Tick. Tick. Tick.

You recline your head against the cold black leather of the sofa, eyes squinting up at the analog clock on the wall above you. 11:06. You glance at your phone once more for good measure, the reminder banner still bright and undismissed.

September 7, 2021 Advising Dr. Ackerman - Johnson Building R 19 10:30 A.M.

Looking at the great dark oak door across from you sends ice through your veins and unease to your stomach. The receptionist — a rather unkind woman with frizzy blonde hair who wore a nametag that read “Cheryl” on her painfully lime green blouse — has assured you, regardless of her level of sarcasm, that Dr. Ackerman had not forgotten you, and was simply a very busy man. Forty minutes late, though? You ask yourself, your finger twirling idly in the front of your hair. You sigh. Published author or not, he would at least shoot me an E-mail. You glance at Cheryl again and straighten your back, pointing a fake grin her way as her eyes pry at you from behind her thick, round glasses. 

“I’m sure he’s wrapping it up,” she says, her nasally voice shrill in your ears. “Dr. Ackerman entertains a lot of visitors. He’ll get to you when he gets to you.” 

You nod back at her, turning your head away before she can see the look of annoyance on your face. You see the manilla folder on the sofa next to you, a bit too thick to close completely. It was your last years’ work — scattered scenes, chapters, and ideas for your latest project. It was your only project, really, since the sins of your past will likely lie dormant in your Google Drive to never be seen again. This one, however, is your blood, sweat, and tears. You can’t bear to think too deeply about the words on the pages right now. You’re patiently waiting at the gate of the lion’s den.

Your eyes have wandered the walls twice by now, but they’re drawn back to the neatly arranged frames that surround the oak door. Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. Dr. Ackerman in the most expensive suit you’ve ever seen shaking hands with Harper Lee. Edgar Award for Best Novel. Doctorate’s degree in English. Dr. Ackerman, no older than 24, holding a copy of his novel Serpentine on the set of Good Morning America. He’s a fucking legend.

As if that isn’t intimidating enough, he has a reputation. He tends to lose his temper and can be a rather unconstructive critic when presented with the works of others. He trended on Twitter last year when a life-long fan of L. K. Ackerman and indie author sent him their debut novel and asked for his critiques — he tweeted pictures of the pages he disliked most with insulting annotations in the margins, captioned, “Abysmal. Consider a less difficult career.” He proceeded to block most everyone who sent him backlash, including his own social media manager and the First Lady of the United States of America. 

And the cherry atop it all, the thing that’s been crawling underneath your skin and breathing down your neck since you first received your advisor assignment: the signed copies of each of Dr. Ackerman’s novels on the tip-top of your bookshelf, alongside the photo of you and your favorite author, L. K. Ackerman, at a signing for his latest book, and a special limited edition Serpentine bookmark with a note on the back: 

thank you for your support.

if you really dream about writing, never let anything get in your way.

levi

Will he recognize you? That’s a tough one. Sure, you’ve been to multiple signings and have “met” him many times. Still, you doubt people like him remember the faces of people like you. The crowds likely got very annoying, and he probably said the same script and wrote the same note to you as he did every other person in line. At least, you hope so. Dr. Ackerman thinking you’re obsessed with him wouldn’t be very helpful to your teacher-student relationship. You look up to him a great deal, and his books are easily your favorite stories you’ve ever read, but you aren’t obsessed with the author himself. If he does unfortunately recognize you, you hope he’ll understand that. You wince a bit at the thought of him laughing in your face.

The door handle rattles at 11:18. Dr. Ackerman strolls out, a wrinkle-free brown blazer draped neatly over his arm and his pinstripe tie hanging fashionably loose atop a grey button-down shirt. The woman who follows behind him, however, looks rather disheveled; her blonde hair is all but falling out of what looks like it used to be a neatly-braided bun, and little black mascara stains shine just below her lash line. Her tight-fitting blouse has a button blown open right at her chest, which she nonchalantly tries to cover with her cardigan. Your mouth threatens to drop open as she walks by and your eyes catch a deep purple hickey on her left breast. 

This was the meeting that pushed nearly an hour over? You feel your eyebrows pinch together in anger before she’s out the door and you force them to relax again. Fuck it. You think, picking up the file folder next to you. No point in arguing. You lift your eyes to look at Dr. Ackerman again, watching as he takes long strides to the desk where Cheryl, who is training to work the reception desk in Hell, sits and paints her nails. “Tell me I’m done for the day, Cheryl,” he says, his tone both bored and irritated. You want to scoff, but you decide against it. He wasn’t this inconsiderate when it was the fans that line his pockets.

“Sorry, boss, that little bird over there is waiting on you,” she sighs, rolling her eyes and pointing your way. Your gaze moves from her stubby finger to Dr. Ackerman’s disappointed face. He looks at you, his eyes shooting from your head to your feet, and then back to your eyes again. He cocks his head to the side just slightly, jutting out his chin and accentuating the sharpness of his jaw. You feel like all but your terribly dry mouth has turned to jello.

“Oh?” he questions, straightening and taking a step toward you. “What do you need?” The question sounds almost rude, as if he’s rushing you out the door. You try not to take it personally. You clear your throat.

“I had an advising appointment scheduled with you for 10:30 A.M., Dr. Ackerman. Sorry if it’s any inconvenience,” you tell him, ignoring the fact that he’s wasted an hour of your day already. Whatever satisfaction you might get from chewing him out isn’t worth a bad first impression. 

“Am I supposed to already know your name or something?” he asks. You furrow your brow, your face contorting in anxiety. So, he does recognize you. This just became the worst day of your life.

You chuckle nervously, gripping the manilla folder a little tighter than you should. “I was actually really hoping you wouldn’t recognize me. Um, I —” you break off, laughing again. “I’ve been to each of your book signings. But I’m not a fangirl or anything, I promise. I didn’t expect you to remember my name, don’t worry about it.” You wish there was some way to just swallow every word you just said back inside of you. Dr. Ackerman now looks uncomfortable, and Lilith, mother of all monsters, also known as Cheryl, is giggling not-so-silently into her hands.

He raises one eyebrow at you, and then holds out his hand to shake yours. “I just meant you neglected to introduce yourself. If you’re always this nervous, I think a Xanax prescription would be very helpful. Your name?” He asks dryly. 

You take his hand and tell him your name, trying to shake off the pure mortification you’re feeling. “I’m sorry, I just admire your work and I’ve met you a few times as a result. I was worried I’d look like a crazy superfan,” you tell him, the little voice in your head screaming at you to stop talking.

He chuckles and places his hand on the small of your back, guiding you to his office. “My first piece of advice for you is to work on your people skills. You must be awful at networking.” His bluntness shocks you, but you just push the anger away and focus your attention on the room in front of you. Despite the unfortunate events that took place in this office for at least the past hour, it’s utterly spotless. A great mahogany desk sits at the center of the room in front of a tall, black-framed window that sat overviewing Lake Mustang, the unusually large pond that adorns the west side of campus. It’s a beautiful view, and you can tell by the reading nook nestled in the corner that he enjoys it often. Two large bookshelves sit on each of the walls to your sides, brimming with pristinely cared-for hardcover books, old and new. A floral-patterned armchair sits facing his desk, and he motions for you to sit in it with long, slender fingers. 

The romance author in you sees a student who desperately wants an “A” and the dark-academia-esque English professor with dark eyes and slender fingers who could give her extra credit, if. . . 

As much as you may see where the romance author in you is coming from, now is not the time. You try to shake the thoughts free from your skull. Guesses at where Dr. Ackerman laid out the blonde from the lobby poke at the very back of your brain — he probably bent her over his desk (and over his lap), or sat in his big leather chair while she climbed on top. A thought crosses your mind about the versatility of an office space, and you tuck an idea for a love scene away in your mental filing cabinet. 

He sits in his desk chair across from you, holding his hand out for the manila folder you’re digging your nude-painted fingernails into. You suck in a cold breath through your teeth. You hand it to him, loosening your iron grip and trying as hard as you can to shake the nervousness that overwhelms you. You can’t help but assume he’s going to hate it. When the rough yellow paper leaves your palm, it feels like your heart is trying to burst from your chest and go with it.

You put your hand to your mouth and clear your throat, watching carefully as he bends the scarcely attached clasp and pulls the typed papers from the safety of the folder. “The first page is a synopsis of the plot and a table of contents. You’ll see a key for the colored tabs. First are the scenes and excerpts that I feel are my most sound work. I thought that would be a good starting ground.” You search his ash-colored eyes for any signs of opinion, studying his face. He looks very young for his age, his jaw sharp and his skin soft and clear. His eyes are stormy. You don’t think you’ve ever seen eyes so truly grey, nor ones with such intensity. If looks could kill, they would come from this man, you think. Still, his face is charming. Even pushing 40, he’s incredibly handsome.

The sound of the papers thudding against the desk pulls your thoughts back to the present. “I don’t care to read all of this shit when I have the author in front of me. I prefer organic responses anyway,” he states, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet on the desk. “Is this the piece you sent in an excerpt of? I remember your application.”

You freeze, biting at the inside of your lip before opening your mouth to speak again. You remembered your submission; you hadn’t yet titled it, but you called it “The Bane of My Existence” in writing workshops and conversations with your friends. The title had nothing to do with the plot, only your honest feelings about the grueling slowburn that laid claim over three entire years of your life. “Uh, no, sir, I unfortunately abandoned that project a while ago. But this one is much more —”

He cuts you off with a laugh, and you can tell by the tone that it’s at your expense. You shrink. “I’m sorry, I guess we’ll have to reschedule. Pull that project back out and bring me some good pages. I chose you for that piece. I’ll be the one to let you know if you should abandon it,” he tells you, an authoritative edge in his voice. Before you can even register that he’s kicking you out, Dr. Ackerman is up and opening the door, motioning you out with his arm. 

Autopilot overpowers the shock that's moving through your limbs to grab your folder and walk out the door, saving at least a little bit of face on what’s lining up to be your most mortifying experience yet. You don’t tell him goodbye, since the tears pushing behind your eyeballs would surely break free if you did; still, you feel his eyes trained on your back as you pass him. “It was nice to meet you,” he tells you insincerely. “Come back at the same time on Thursday with something I want to read.”

You squeak out, “Yes, sir,” as you pass Cheryl at her desk. You try not to look at her, afraid that she’ll see the tear that’s now traveling down your cheekbone, but the horrible sound as she sucks her teeth and snickers beneath her breath confirms your fears. You silently hope that the devil is ready for her to transfer to his front desk very soon.

The automatic door opens out to campus, and the sunlight feels like pure relief on your face. For a moment, you consider dropping out and heading home — Zeke might be upset to have to find a new roommate, but at least you’d never have to face Dr. Ackerman again. Your friends would be supportive. You could go to cosmetology school, or write for your hometown newspaper. 

You need to call someone before you actually start packing your things and booking a flight. You pull out your phone as you walk down the cobblestone path, dodging incoming grad students on your trek to the parking lot. Leaves blow over your boots every few moments, the breeze slipping through the holes of your knit sweater. Autumn is beginning to settle in. You scroll through your recent call log. Mom (3), Zeke, Eren, Mom (2), Zeke (4), Tinder Jean, and, finally, Mom (2). You sigh. Your social life needs work.

In your defense, your mother is an excellent conversationalist, and your roommate and his little brother should definitely count as friends. Tinder Jean was a mistake, though, and you can’t defend yourself for that. You frown before hitting the FaceTime button next to Zeke’s name. Your eyes fall on the front of your car, only a few feet away. You pick up the pace and grab the driver’s door handle, throwing yourself in and slamming the door. You can cry now. 

Zeke’s face appears on your screen, a pen tucked into the blond hair above his ear and the clear glow of a computer screen in a dark room falling across his face. “Make it quick,” he says, “I think I’m having a breakthrough.” Before you can respond, you see him look away from the computer and at your face, your eyes a little swollen and your lip quivering like a child’s. You hear him mutter the word “Fuck,” before the light switches on and his computer turns off. He picks up the phone from its place on the desk and holds his face square in frame. “What happened, kid?”

-

“I’m sick of this shit, Laura. I mean it,” he said sternly, his voice getting louder and more desperate with each word. He could see her nails digging into her palms. His eyes followed one drop of blood as it flowed from the inside of her hand to the tip of her manicured thumb. His breathing grew ragged. 

Laura, however, didn’t say a word. She knew there was no undoing what she just did to him. Everyone was going to hate her. But she hated him, and she wanted to hurt him, and he deserved it, and fuck everything else. Because Laura is a terribly written character and I would kill her off if she wasn’t half of the romance in this romance novel.

Fuck this scene. This is the worst thing I’ve ever written. Fsadjgfg

You watch the cursor blink a few times before you drag it across the two pages you just wrote and smash the delete button. The Bane of Your Existence, once your proudest work and now your most infuriating. Of course this is what Dr. Ackerman wants. Maybe Cheryl already works for the devil, and his name is Levi.

You groan before fishing your phone from your back pocket, opening Snapchat and tapping Eren’s avatar hesitantly.

party tonight?

Before you can lock your phone again, he’s typing. You stifle a relieved grin. You need to relax.

i’ll pick you up @ 9

Zeke is not a friend that attends parties at your side by any means. You’ve never seen Zeke be more adventurous than bong rips in his bedroom or cheap whiskey on the rocks on the sofa. His brother, on the other hand, is the frat boy of your mother’s nightmares. You’re closer to Eren’s age, anyway, but Zeke — albeit a late bloomer— was the more intelligent brother, and was often your first choice to work with. Once you finished up general education, Eren wasn’t in fiction writing courses anyway. He still attends the state school a half hour away for undergrad, but he and Zeke are too close for you not to see him often. 

Zeke has been holed up in his room since he started working on a new short story last week — he writes horror, and he’s nothing to bat your eyes at. He has an immense amount of talent for creating suspense and making typewritten letters genuinely frightening. You hope he’ll let you sample his new one soon. You smile to yourself when you hear his fingers clicking furiously on his keyboard as you pass his bedroom. Your eyes lock on the oven clock as you enter your kitchen, the bright green digital numbers reading, “6:37.” Not too much time to kill.

You pull the pantry door open by its cool metal handle, rummaging through endless empty boxes until you reach the snack cakes in the very back. You retrieve two before putting back the now-empty box; you and Zeke are currently at war until he starts cleaning up his beard hairs immediately after he trims. It’s disgusting. So, you aim to get his hopes up that his favorite snacks are waiting safely in the pantry only to be met with heartbreaking disappointment. 

You walk through the wide arch that separates your kitchen and living room and plop down on the shitty Wal-Mart futon, grabbing the remote on your way down. You turn on the cooking channel and turn your attention to your phone, opening Tinder and shoveling half of a cream-filled cupcake into your mouth.

The dating pool in this town is rather weak, you decide. Of course, it is a college town directly adjacent to another college town, and you are on what is traditionally used as a hookup app; still, you lament on your limited choices. College and relationships haven’t melded very well for you in the past. Even on breaks, you get far too immersed in writing to spend enough time with your significant other to satisfy them. Your mom tells you that it’s a good thing, and that it shows your motivation for school — but you just don’t care to bother with it. Still, you have needs just like everyone else. And every writer draws inspiration from something. You close it out with a deep sigh before sinking your remaining time into a farming game you saw an ad for on Facebook. You’re debating spending ten dollars of your hard earned money on gems when Eren texts you.

omw

You close out the godforsaken game and retreat to your bedroom to get dressed. You pull on a tight-fitting black sweater dress falling at your mid-thigh; you want to be sexy, but not cold. The breeze had chilled you a bit earlier. You sit on your bed and tug your favorite fall boots just over your knees, taking a minute to lace them before standing again. Your hair and makeup from your advising appointment are passable enough, you figure, looking in the mirror quickly before getting your purse and going to Zeke’s door.

You knock twice and wait a second before nudging the door open and poking your head in. You see him in the same spot as earlier, hunched over his keyboard with the lights turned off. “Hey, I just wanted to let you know me and Eren are going to a party tonight. He’s on his way to get me,” you tell him, already starting to close the door before he can reply.

“Be safe,” he calls out to you. “Call me if you need a ride, Ubers are high around here.” You shoot him a thumbs up before pulling the door shut and turning on your heel. Your phone vibrates again as you walk down the hallway.

here

You take your keys off the hook by the door and make sure to lock it behind you before turning and scanning for Eren’s red Ford Focus. You practically skip down the steps when you spot him, more than ready to put your day behind you. You pull the handle and settle in, breathing in the smell of cigarettes, weed, 5 gum, and the floral air freshener plugged in on his AC vent. Eren greets you with a squeeze on your knee, a cigarette sitting between his lips and his hair falling in his eyes from the half-up bun he’s made his trademark. He grabs the pack of Marlboros and gestures it your way, and you shake your head. “Do I ever accept the offer?” You ask him.

“After a few drinks,” he snorts, spinning the volume dial on his radio until some screamo song is audible. He swings his arm around and rests his hand on the back of your seat as he backs out of the parking space, leaving it there for a few minutes as you begin your journey to Eren’s frat house. The two of you discuss your experience with Dr. Ackerman as you make your way down the highway, and you try your best to keep calm. Try as you might, though, you can’t seem to be an optimist. Your greatest inspiration refused to read your most prized work. A lesser author might jump off a cliff. You haven’t decided how low you’ve sunk yet, but you’re starting to get there.

“Fuck ‘im,” Eren says nonchalantly after listening to you whine for a few minutes. “Bring him the other shit, let him read it, and don’t worry about what he says. Plenty of people have written plenty of books without the help of that fucker.” He looks at you and shrugs his shoulders, and his green eyes look sincere.

You smile and shake your head at him. “I’m stuck with him unless he sticks me with another advisor. His opinions affect my degree progression.” 

Eren sucks his teeth, tossing his finished cigarette butt out the window. “Then make him reassign you. Be a hellish bitch. I’m sure it won’t be that hard,” he teases you, poking your side and making you yelp.

Still, his idea isn’t awful. “Good plan, Eren,” you tell him, and you mean it. “If he already hates me, it can’t be that hard of a push. I’ll just be a hellish bitch.”

Eren bares his white teeth at you in a playful smile before getting another cigarette from his cup holder and lighting it expertly despite the wind. He turns up his music one more time, now a bit too loud for conversation. “I need to get in the zone for the party,” he shouts, accidentally blowing a bit of smoke in your face. You cough. “I need to get laid tonight.”

“Me, too,” you shout back, running your hand through your hair. “I’ll find someone for you if you find someone for me. Wingman me.”

“Deal.”

-

Several hours and drinks later, you aren’t quite sure who you’re dancing on. Although that would typically be alarming, you don’t consider it. The only thing you’re considering is how secure his hands feel on either side of your waist and how warm his lips feel on your neck (and how it feels when he grinds against you, but you’re trying to ignore that part before you get all drunk and desperate). You see Eren — two blurry versions of him, really — drunkenly grinding on a redhead, and you start to stumble his way, the drink in your hand spilling out and your former dance partner shooting a hurt look at your back. By the time you’re halfway there he’s noticed you already, and has nudged the redhead over to the next guy, waving you over with a smile on his face.

“Are you having fun?” He shouts as soon as you’re in earshot, slurring through his words.

“Hell yeah!” you tell him, closer now. You stumble right into him and use his shoulders for stability, causing him to wobble and nearly take you both down. You giggle when you catch yourself, laying your head on his chest and breathing out in relief — relief from what, you aren’t quite sure. 

“Do you want to dance?” he asks over the music, wrapping his arms around you and clumsily trying to turn you around. You oblige him and pull his hands to your hips, turning around and starting to move to the rhythm of the hip hop song blaring from the sound system. You feel his long fingers fasten around your waist, and he pulls you in closer, letting you grind on him to the music. The two of you are too drunk to care, and it won’t be weird in the morning. You two have spent the night together after a few too many parties, but it’s probably better than fucking a stranger and having to go get tested afterwards. You don’t seem to want to have sex with each other when liquor isn’t involved, anyway, so preserving your friendship is never really a concern. 

Not that you’re able to think about this right now, of course. You’re too many drinks deep to focus on anything but Eren’s jeans growing tighter behind you as you rub against him. When his lips fall to your neck, the crowded room starts spinning even faster than it already was. You wrap your arms around his neck as he leans in behind you, securing his mouth on you as you wiggle your hips playfully. You feel his teeth prick against your sensitive skin as he smiles against you. “Come on,” he says into your shoulder. “Bathroom.”

You release each other from your holds and stagger together to the bathroom down the hall. Hopefully you don’t remember how obvious it was in the morning. Apparently all it takes is seven shots to make you try to pull Eren’s shirt off in the hallway in front of other party attendees. Still, the two of you stumble into the bathroom, you feeling around desperately for the light switch while Eren shuts and locks the door. When his lips finally crash on yours, your tongues needy and sloppy and your hands wandering each other’s bodies without reserve, you feel a hunger you didn’t know you were neglecting. You push your hands up his shirt, combing your fingers across his warm skin and toned muscles, letting out a breathy moan. 

With his right hand, Eren grips the back of your thigh, his rough hands warm against your skin as he hoists you against the cold tile wall and wraps your legs loosely around his hips. With his left, he starts at his belt. Fuck, you think, a fleeting moment of clarity before you let Eren really make you forget about everything for a while. Zeke got so pissed off last time we did it. 

But, just like that, the thought is gone again, and he pulls your panties to the side.

last chapter | next chapter

bonus scene [eren x reader | nsfw]

#aot au #levi #levi attack on titan #levi x reader #Levi fanfiction #professor!levi #agegap #aot fanfiction #levi aot #attack on titan fic #attack on titan #enemies to lovers #slowburn #levi smut #aot smut #levi ackerman smut #levi x you #dom levi #levi fic #dark academia #enemies with benefits #eventual romance #eventual fluff #eventual happy ending #eventual comfort #captain levi

[cogentranting]

I posted a couple times last night about Prodigal Son along the lines of “how could you cancel something this delightfully unhinged” and the thing is I am 100% serious about that being one of the main appeals of Prodigal Son. 

The thing about Prodigal Son is that it just doesn’t hold back. Other shows seem to have this sense of decorum that keeps them in check, keeps them from being “too much”. But Prodigal Son is totally committed to going big. They said “make it gothic” and then embraced that in everything it means. 

And that’s what it is-- an updated take on Gothic fiction. The “prevailing atmosphere of mystery and terror”. It doesn’t take place in castles  and ruins but it does lean on dramatic locations that pull elements from those, like Claremont evoking dungeons, Jessica’s house and the other rich people’s homes like castles and manors, Bright’s loft which is decorated with medieval weaponry, old hotels, creepy schools etc etc. All modern but bringing forward elements of those settings which give Gothic fiction its name, especially in their tendency to include “subterranean passages, dark battlements, hidden panels, and trapdoors” all of which are staples of Gothic literature. 

In particular, Prodigal Son in the vein of the later Gothic tradition which merges with the romantics. Romanticism brings in the really heightened emotions and sensibilities. Characters’ feelings are hugely important and often come in out big sweeping expressions, or completely overwhelm the characters.  With Malcolm all this is rooted in psychology, both in the sense of his career and in terms of his own mental health, and guess what? That’s romantic too! Romanticism has “ a heightened examination of human personality and its moods and mental potentialities” which makes it ripe for psychoanalytical criticism. And Gothic romance like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula really emphasize the idea of “the existential nature of humankind as its definitive mystery and terror” which is SO in keeping with a show about a forensic psychologist who chases serial killers. 

Another big idea of romanticism is “a preoccupation with the genius, the hero, and the exceptional figure in general and a focus on his or her passions and inner struggles” which precisely describes the way the show frames Malcolm. In terms of art, Romanticism holds that the “creative spirit is more important than strict adherence to formal rules and traditional procedures”-- Malcolm may not be an artist but this is also a fitting description of the way that he does his work and therefore what the show values in him. 

Gothic romance also has a “predilection for the exotic, the remote, the mysterious, the weird, the occult, the monstrous, the diseased, and even the satanic” which matches well with Prodigal Son’s macabre sensibilities: sensational over the top crimes, charismatic serial killers, the hobbies of characters like Malcolm and Edrisa. 

And Gothic fiction is very much known for “extravagances of plot” ranging toward melodrama. Which is why Prodigal Son so often is just dialed up to 11. 

Prodigal Son has taken all of these elements and embraced them wholeheartedly and unabashedly and that’s what makes it so vivid and rich and fun. The writing is indulgent, but in the way that a really rich dessert is indulgent. They know what they’re about, and they know what their fans want and aren’t afraid to give it to them. Sure this killer can create a giant trap out of falling swords! Sure this killer can use a guillotine! Sure Ainsley can be a sociopath who goes into a disassociative state and murders another sociopath. Sure we can have a new serial killer every three months. Sure Malcolm can get kidnapped by a serial killer again. All that you want and more. 

But it’s that same indulgence that may have doomed it. Like a really rich dessert or a spicy food, that extra flavor that makes it so appealing is also going to drive some people away from it. Prodigal Son is very well tailored to its fans. But by being willing to commit so enthusiastically to a particular sensibility--one which delights in the extreme--it limited its mass appeal and alienated a wider audience. 

tl;dr What makes Prodigal Son great is that is written in the style of Gothic Romanticism (similar to Mary Shelley or Edgar Allan Poe) but applied in a modern setting in a way that’s very different from most other shows on tv, and that it does that with all the gusto and extravagance that that style calls for, but in doing so it becomes focused on appealing to a particular palate and lessens its mass appeal. 

The sources I pulled quotes from on Romanticism and Gothic fiction

#prodigal son #prodigal son meta #cogent metas #long post

[naia10101]

Tag people you want to get to know better

So i was tagged by @tolrais and I've never really done one of these before sooo figured I'd try it out!

Your name and what you would have named yourself: I actually really like my name ngl, but I don't particularly feel comfortable sharing it online so yall can stuck to Naia 😂

Astrological sign (sun/moon/rising): sun sagittarius, moon taurus and rising virgo. My main comment on this is that apparently rising virgo is what you try and present yourself as and i dont think anyone has every viewed me as organised 😂😂

When did you join tumblr and why: 2014, mostly cos I got sick of clicking on fanart from Google images and not being able to look at it without an account 😂

Top 5 fandoms: of all time would probably beeeee, general podcasts (since the Magnus Archives, the penumbra podcast, welcome to night vale and such are all kinda linked in the fandom), hannibal because I will never be over it :'), critical role cos I'm counting that as seperate to general podcast since I tend to watch it rather than listen, dungeons and dragons cos I think that counts as a fandom and probably steven universe because even though I don't really actively participate in the fandom anymore, it will always have a really special place in my heart with how it affected my development when I was growing up

Top 5 movies: first of all is definitely Saw, the first movie is amazing the other I don't mind but the first will always be my favourite. Next is prolly Scream cos all 3 of the original movies are absolute GOLD. Silence of the lambs, but only the first one cos I haven't actually seen the others and they don't sound as good ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Avengers civil war, purely just cos of the people I watched it with and how special those memories are. Finally probably The Shining, again cos it was an amazing movie night.

Go to song when you want to Feel: anyone who knows me will judge so much cos I rarely listen to pop and this is cheesy af but Human by Christina Perri, and it only works if I'm already feeling a lot, it somehow just channels everything out my eyes :')

What's your religion or faith if you have one: I've always been pretty agnostic, but recently have found myself really drawn to different pagan-y, but that mostly manifests as talking to my pagan friends about it a lot and reading a lot about it

Do you have a type: uuuuuhhh I suppose anyone not particularly intimidating, I find a lot of things really pretty for different reasons, but I'm not a fan of really "scary" or overly "sexy" looks

What does your heart/soul yearn for: peace and equity

If you had to describe yourself in 5 words to someone you don't know: meaningless facts adhd excitement octopus

Favourite subjects in school: biology, chemistry music and drama

Top 5 fictional characters: Jonnathan Sims from the Magnus archives, Juno Steel from the penumbra podcast, caduceus clay from critical role, Burger Chainz from polygons cyberpunk red campaign and peridot from steven universe

Top 3 moments that made you ugly cry: THE ENDING OF FALSETTOS like bruh that's my go to when I need to cry cos EVERY TIME. Wei wuxians death scene on the cliff from the untamed cos OWCH. And the end of avengers endgame cos wow I have grown up with marvel since I was like 8.

The earth, the sun, the moon or the stars: the moon, cos earth SUCKS the sun is way too hot and bright and i love the stars but the moon is just so beautiful and is the symbol of a lot of ancient goddesses that I really identify with

Favourite kind of weather: heavy rain and overcast so I can curl up with a cup of tea and listen to emo music cos I will never escape being a shameless emo and also sunlight flares on my glasses so I hate it

Top 3 characters you kin: uuuuhhhhhhh no.

Favourite medium of art: idk if it's what I prefer to use or see? I prefer to draw on digital but I love seeing classical ink art from Asian cultures like China and Japan (I'm sorry I don't know what it's called 😬)

Introvert/ambivert/extrovert: extroverted introvert 😂 cos I need to talk to people I know well but I HATE talking to anyone not my friend and all interaction drains me to some degree

A favourite literary quote: "life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"

Some of your favourite books: Song of Achilles by madeline miller cos aaaaa, Dark matter by Michelle paver for the amazing horror descriptions and extra points for the surprise gay, anything by Edgar Allen poe or lovecraft, good omens by Terry pratchet and Neil gaimen and I must include the hunger games, because I reread those a hundred times as a teenager

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be: I'm not massively picky about what I want but definitely some cottagecore vibes so probably somewhere in the countryside in southern France or maybe Italy

If you could live in any time in history when would it be: tbh i like WiFi and also being a big gay with mental illness I don't think I'd do well in any other time 😅 maybe would be born a few years earlier for when emo music was popular cos I missed that but that's it

If you could play any instrument masterfully what would it be: since I already play guitar and uke and stuff I'd love to be masterful at piano. I already play it somewhat but being truly masterful at it is one of the most incredible things I've seen

If you have one, what mythological gods/goddesses do you feel a connection to: definitely Artemis, dionysius, athena and hades, not particularly for spiritual reasons but their stories and characterisations speak to me a lot

And lastly, favourite recent selfie on your camera roll:

Apparently I gotta tag people now so uuuhhhh @enbeeees and @fluffyboissculptedboishissybois I'm curious what you guys would answer 😁😁

[lrthedirectorscut]

Film Research

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 horror comedy film directed by Edgar Wright. Bizarrely, rated 15.

The official poster for the film features three protagonists in the centre on a poster for the film containing all of the information, using mostly black, white, and red - the three typical colours associated with horror posters. The “poster within the poster” is surrounded by the zombies featured in the film, symbolising events in the film in which the characters, of course, get surrounded by zombies. I think this aesthetic of the poster works really well of giving a “preview” of the film without showing zombies surrounding the actual characters as it could not give a very presentable view of them, yet it still indirectly previews the film, as a film poster should do. I think it is very well designed, coloured, and thought through.

Cast

The film stars (and theatrically debuts) the duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, as well as Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy and Peter Serafinowicz.

Synopsis

The story of the film entails a zombie apocalypse in London from the perspective of the title character Shaun and his fellow underachiever best friend, Ed. Shaun was recently dumped by his girlfriend Liz and survival, romance and comedy dictate the rest of the film.

When I first watched the film, I did not like it at all because I was overwhelmed by its horror elements and not expecting them at all. Retrospectively, however, knowing what to expect, the film seems much more comedic and clever to me.

Key Scenes/Elements

The scenes and elements that stick out to me as key or otherwise memorable are the scenes revolving round the Winchester, the pub that the two main characters frequent.

On some posters for the film, it has the tagline “A Romantic Comedy. With Zombies”, which I think is amusing.

I genuinely found the alternative posters to be impressive that I could find of the film. I very much liked that they consistently used the film’s logo as well as entirely sticking to the same colour theme.

The Fifth Element (1997)

The Fifth Element is a 1997 French science-fiction film (in English), directed by Luc Besson. Rated PG.

I think the real poster is very inspiring and well-designed. It uses a pleasant combination of darkness, blues, and reds. A cool sci-fi laser effect is stretched across the poster vertically, with a light at the bottom middle of the poster, showing the title under it. Although it uses the “floating heads” trait here, I think it is effective and presents the cast with an aura of mystery. The subtitle “There is no future without it” provides the audience with unanswered questions of mystery too, and I think it is effective.

The film entails a New York taxi driver, Korben, who meets Leeloo falls into his cab in the 23rd century. As the embodiment of the fifth element, Leeloo needs to combine with the other four to keep the approaching Great Evil from destroying the world. Together with Father Vito Cornelius and Ruby Rhod, Dallas must race against time and the wicked industrialist Zorg to save humanity. Pretty standard Sci-Fi stuff.

Key elements of the film seem to be just Leeloo, who has bright orange hair, because that’s all I can see in image results for the film.

As part of the sci-fi theme, fan alternative posters have used blue-hue themes in conjunction with the orange theme presented by Leeloo’s hair, which I think is a very effective choice.

Fight Club (1999)

Fight Club is an American 1999 film directed by David Flincher. It is rated 18.

The poster design is quite iconic and I love the balance of the two characters on the poster, and the film’s title being engraved on a bar of soap, a central element of the movie. I also like the contrast of the green in the background with the bright pink soap, the latter of which is a strong part of the film’s visual identity. It is mentioned in the film’s tagline “Mischief. Mayhem. Soap.”

The film is about an unnamed narrator who suffers from insomnia and is unsatisfied with his job and attends support groups as an imposter where he meets Marla Singer. The narrator meets a soap salesman, Tyler Durden, whom he starts a fight club with, and is actually the same person in the same body.

Key elements include, of course, the fight club itself, and the soap.

My favourite alternative posters were for this film. Much like with Shaun of the Dead, I liked that people really seemed to stick with the colour pink unanimously. I also really like the works that hint towards the two main characters being a split personality of one another. The aesthetic of each one of these is strong in its own way to me, from use of minimal colours, to minimal imagery, to just clever concepts.

After researching all of my films, I assembled spider diagrams for each one with elements that I could use for designs of them.

I then created twelve sketch designs of alternate posters, four for each film. I thought about various elements such as where the title appears, making sure for it to be a different place on each poster, as well as including different elements in every design. I was pleased with several of the designs.

[greentomato13]

Tag Game

I was tagged by @rockmarina. Thank you 😊

Rules: tag 9 people you want to get to know better and answer the questions.

Relationship status: taken 💚

Favourite colour: It depends on what it is for? But I like dark green (somewhere around about #255404 ish) but also bright blue, mustard yellow, crimson red and pastel blue, chocolate brown.... I have a fascination with colour soo...

Top 3 ships: this constantly changes but at the moment... 3- unlikely lovers (falsettos) tied with with Drarry (Harry potter) 2- reed900 (Detroit become Human) 1- pretty much as always... Wolfstar :-) (Harry potter again)

Lipstick or Chapstick: Chapstick, they taste nice lol (but i do often wear lipstick if I go to a party or dinner)

Last song: she wants it (just not from you) - lesbian bed death but while doing this it changed to Riptide - Vance Joy

Last Movie: I was watching a documentary called 'The 34th' (dir-Linda cullen, Vanessa Gildea) but didn't get to finish it, last full movie and fiction movie I finished though was 'the worlds end' (dir- Edgar Wright) unless you count short films then I rewatcthed one of my favourite short films 'time for love' (dir- Sean Lionadh) here's the link cuz I love it and relate to it and its brilliantly done :-)

Currently reading: The age of magic - Ben Okri but also fan fiction... Far too much fan fiction 😂

I'm tagging if they want to do it: @astral-ghoul @cosmic-cats @chaosgaminggirl @awkwardbean-lostsoul @pageofrage612 and @theoneandonlylafayette (and cuz i don't know who else to tag if you're reading this go ahead if you want 😂)

#gt13answers

[vankoya]

Can you believe I stuck with a persona for a whole year? No, neither can I. But I have somehow managed to be Ivory for the entirety of 2017, and I deem that an accomplishment in itself. Here is to hoping I can stick with her for 2018!!

The past year has been interesting, to say the least. A lot of good shit happened; a lot of bad shit happened. But we made it!! I was away at university for a good five months of it, which was such an eye-opening experience and I am super excited to get back into my second semester at the end of February. Because of this, I definitely did not get to do as much writing as I hoped, but that’s okay!! Life happens like that!! I am wishing that this year will bring me more opportunities to write, and that while I am at university, I can manage my time better to fit writing in. Fingers crossed.

Thank you all for sticking through this year with me. I love all of you so much, and I am so proud of how far everyone has come. I hope each and every one of you has a fresh new year of exciting beginnings, loads of happiness and love, that inspirational drive you have been searching for, and above all, great health.  I promise we are all going to kick ass in 2018!! We got this!!

Without further ado, let’s get to the sappy messages.

@vantesoleil – Hey, best friend. You don’t even use Tumblr anymore, but how could I make a post like this without including your bitch ass? Thank you for coming into my life almost two years ago now. You make every single day so much brighter, and I am beyond grateful to have you there to talk about everything and anything. Whether it is guiding each other through hard times as a shoulder to lean on, or thirsting over unspeakable things, or sending ugly ass snapchats, or blatantly sassing one another with the craftiest insults ever, or coming up with the wildest nicknames. You are my rock. You are my sunshine. I love you!!! Thank you for being an incredible, talented person!!!

@baeseoul – Katie, where do I even start? Most of our conversations are in complete caps lock, and are about sex toys or a certain someone whom we both adore with our whole hearts, and I would not have it any other way. We have always been in contact for the past few years, but it was not until the last two or so months that we have really connected and delved so much deeper into our sweet, yet nasty little friendship. You are hands down one of the most inspirational, talented, a goddamn hilarious people I have ever had the utter pleasure of meeting. I have never, ever met someone who can not only craft such unique, gripping fan fiction, but come up with the wildest fucking analogies for literally ANY situation. For example: “I slid off the fucking toilet and almost died. I shit you not, I was like a bumblebee in a particularly strong gust of wind.” Please. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being as hard a procrastinator as I am. I love you so much, even when you make up my author preferences in your head!!! (Who the fuck is Edgar!!!)

@versigny – Kappy, we are coming into our third year of friendship and it is so fucking cool to think about that. Three years of being friends. Holy moly. I cannot express how downright bloody happy I am that we had the chance to meet and become buddies. You are not only such a selfless, kindhearted, precious being, but you simultaneously manage to be so filthy-minded, meme-y, and absolutely hilarious. One of my earliest memories of when we were still budding pals in 2015 was when you messaged me, nervous about posting The Take-Home Test (and then you DID and it blew the fuck up and we could not BELIEVE you lured hundreds of people into the kink realm of armpits and it was fucking awesome.) I have adored watching you grow into such a stunning writer, and a brilliant human being in general. Seeing that you have messaged me, or sent me a 4:20am/pm snapchat, or replied to my tweet, or fucking anything that involves you interacting with me makes my day and I smile so, so much. I love you!!! (I think of you whenever I hear this heavenly song, but you know that already!!!)

@tayegi / @kingdomtae / @dailydoseofdia / @floralseokjin / @kittae / @the95liner / @kimtrain – I am grouping all of you together because I want to say the same thing to each of you wonderful, talented ladies. We came together over such a shitty occurrence. But, unbelievably, there was a bright side, and that was all of us becoming the most supportive circle of friends I have ever been a part of. All seven of you are immensely talented, and such beautiful, sweet people, and I am beyond honoured that I am friends with each of you. Thank you for always helping me through my shit, and thank you for coping with my randomly thirsty ass in the group chat. I love you girls so much!!!

@tayegi / @softshow-12 / @heungtanbts / @yuudetama – Lu, J, Hyun, and Yuu. You fabulous women will always, always have such a warm presence in my heart that is overwhelmed by love. All of us are crazy busy with real life and all that fun, adulting shit, but nothing will ever break the Holy Quintet. We are bloody invincible. Three years and still going strong as ever. Here’s to our New Year’s resolution of doing a Google Hangout this year, for the first time in two years!!! I love you, my cactus dildo babies!!!

@war-of-hormoan – Rams, you are too special to me. I am so glad to have met you last year, because you are such a delightful, supportive, and all-round fabulous friend. We are both so shitty at keeping in contact, but that is okay, because no matter how much time passes between our last sent messages, we always jump straight back into conversing like we were only talking five minutes ago!! I truly treasure you, and I am so proud of you and everything you have accomplished this past year. You are amazing, never forget that!! I love you!!!

And here is a special shout out to the most wonderful, talented people who I have had the absolute pleasure of interacting with and/or befriending over the past year(s), and admire more than I can express. I wish all of you the absolute best for 2018, and hope that your health and happiness is bountiful!!

@jungblue | @inktae | @jungkxook | @ellieljade | @avveh | @johobi | @kpopfanfictrash | @knockknocksoosthere | @joonbird | @jeonjagiya | @taepott | @mangaetteok | @pjmms | @sexiimochi | @ibyoonprofen | @yoongihime | @btssmutgalore | @meanyoongis | @blushoseoks | @1honeypot (honourable mention because I miss Nana so much) | @hobibliophile | @kookingtae | @oppaimagines | @ardentlyjae | @zephyoongist | @tinselrice | @trbld-writer | @imaginethisbts | @workofteaguk | @lthyl | @jimin-calicocat | @chimdeer | @an-exotic-writer | @jiminniemouse | @infireation | @taeniasis | @tendershepherd | @kainks | @chimchimseyo | @joshuahk ♡

#appreciation post #I love you all!!!!! #if I missed u pls SLAP me #I am so bad with things like this

[odanurr87]

My thoughts on... Altered Carbon

Apologies for not posting this review earlier but a few things happened during the week, one of which was the Farewell episode of Life is Strange: Before the Storm and I simply couldn’t not play it right away. Also, as you may have noticed by now, I hadn’t written up this review yet. I’ll try to keep this brief.

Overall, Altered Carbon is a series I enjoyed a great deal due to several factors, the first of which is its length. Much like British TV shows, Altered Carbon’s first season is short, comprised only of ten episodes, what’s good because it doesn’t dilute the narrative and keeps the momentum going. I’ve lost count of how many filler episodes there are in any given American TV show and I’ve often pondered how much better something like, say, The Flash would be if it were given half the number of episodes to tell a story. Not to mention there are only so many times I can be invested in Barry having to defeat yet another evil speedster. Altered Carbon is given 10 hours to make this work and I believe it succeeds.

The second factor that immediately appealed to me was the blend between sci-fi and crime thriller ala Blade Runner (probably leaning more towards 2049 than the original). The main protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs, is introduced to us as a mercenary on the run who is later hired as a private eye to look into a murder given his... colourful background. The investigation is certainly eventful and well-paced although it doesn’t do as good of a job as other murder mysteries, such as Poirot, or Miss Marple, in involving the audience and trying to get them to play detective themselves. By the time Kovacs decided to gather everyone in the traditional “room scene” I had few concrete reasons to suspect any of them for the murder but Takeshi managed to paint a colourful picture as was, indeed, the intention. 

Perhaps this is compounded by the fact that, in Altered Carbon’s universe, the body is just a shell (wink wink), a sleeve, a skin that can be worn by anyone, what makes it difficult to guess who may be using a person’s sleeve at any given time, a fact that Altered Carbon takes advantage of throughout the series. This leads to a number of plot threads that introduce new characters and potential allies of Takeshi, such as Kristin Ortega (played by Martha Higareda), a police officer who’s aware of Takeshi’s colourful past and decides to keep tabs on him; and Vernon Elliot (played by Ato Essandoh), a former medic in the Tac Marines who initially becomes a prime suspect in Takeshi’s investigation. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Poe (played by Chris Conner), the Raven hotel’s Artificial Intelligence who takes on the appearance of, you guessed it, Edgar Allan Poe and sees himself as Takeshi’s partner in crime. If only. Poe’s introduction in episode 1 is probably the best in the series (certainly the funniest and a tad creepy as well) and I hope he returns in an eventual sequel.

Poe, one of the best supporting characters.

Since we’re talking cast I should mention a few other names that are tied to Takeshi’s past but for that I need to paint you a picture of the setting. As I mentioned earlier, in this alternate future, humanity has unlocked the means to live forever by storing their consciousness in a chip called a “stack.” In so doing however, humanity has paved the way for further differentiation of the classes, where the rich and powerful can practically live forever in the best and most alluring sleeves while the lower classes either die or often get placed in the cheapest bodies they can afford. At one point, a group of rebels called Envoys decided to rise against this system and tried to put an end to immortality. Needless to say, it did not go well for them and the series explores the events that led to their downfall alongside the murder mystery. In fact, Takeshi was the sole surviving member of their group and he was put on ice for a couple hundred of years. You can imagine he was none too thrilled about being brought back to solve the murder of an immortal, as he embodies everything Takeshi fought against.

Takeshi Kovacs, meet the new Takeshi Kovacs.

This segways nicely into an interesting discussion point as Altered Carbon’s main protagonist is played by two actors (three actually, as he’s briefly played by Byron Mann in the beginning as the above picture shows): Will Yun Lee, during his Envoy days; and Joel Kinnaman (whom you may recognize from Suicide Squad), during the murder investigation. Personally, I liked both their performances and I even felt, at times, that I could see Lee’s Takeshi in Kinnaman’s performance, what is no mean feat. Connecting the two is Quellcrist Falconer (played by Renée Elise Goldsberry), the smart and fearless leader of the Envoys and, incidentally, Takeshi’s love interest. I absolutely loved her interactions with Takeshi, be them past or present. Indeed, Altered Carbon successfully weaves and balances the Envoy storyline with the murder mystery in a way reminiscent of how Arrow used to balance Oliver’s past in the island and his day-to-day as a vigilante in Star City. Some, if not all, of the best moments in the series involve these two in some form or another. Quell is always present in Takeshi’s thoughts, even in death, and her wisdom helps him out of many a tight spot. It’s a rather beautiful, if tragic, love story and I’m a sucker for those. The ending of the series perfectly sets up the sequel playing to Quellcrist’s theme, undoubtedly the most emotional of the music tracks in the series and my personal favourite (sadly, it’s not a part of the OST). Since I mentioned music, I must admit Altered Carbon has some badass scenes that are perfectly enhanced by tracks like PJ Harvey’s “The Wicked Tongue.” Is the soundtrack worth listening to on its own? My first answer would be “no” but let me get back to you on that.

Quell is my favourite supporting character and I hope we see more of her in a sequel.

There are a few other positives and negatives I could mention about the show but I’ll do so in the spoilers section of this post. In general lines, the murder mystery is relegated to a second place after a certain point in the series as it switches to the heist genre once the criminal mastermind has been identified (perhaps somewhat sooner than I would’ve liked in retrospect). The reveal came as a bit of a surprise, even when it really shouldn’t have. Personally, I found the conclusion to the investigation more disappointing than the culprit’s identity as a few things line up rather too conveniently. 

The series has also been, to an extent, criticized for its somewhat gratuitous depictions of gore and nudity but, to be fair, it’s nothing we haven’t seen in Game of Thrones before, a series that, if I remember correctly, was praised for that very same fact not too long ago (even though I always felt this was done for the shock value and to attract viewers). However, at least the nudity doesn’t seem too out of place in Altered Carbon when you consider most of the universe’s richer denizens see their bodies, their sleeves, as a sign of their power and would probably waste no opportunity to show off (indeed, one such scene transpires between Takeshi and Miriam Bancroft). Still, I believe the series would work just as well if there was less of it.

Overall, Altered Carbon is a series I would heartily recommend to any fan of science fiction and murder mysteries, not to mention it has a solid romance story between Takeshi and Quell (and maybe between Takeshi and the beautiful Kristin Ortega, you’ll just have to see!). I’m a bit puzzled by the critics’ tepid, if not outright dismissive, reception of this series, but for a while now I’ve had the feeling that critics have become increasingly out of touch with what people look for in entertainment. Their professionalism in analyzing or critiquing a film or a series has, sadly, become more and more influenced by their biases and agendas (be those political or otherwise), as recent releases like Ghostbusters or The Last Jedi would suggest (or the different reception to The Orville vs. Star Trek Discovery insofar TV shows are concerned). In fact, James Raney over at YouTube makes an interesting comparison between reviews for Netflix’s Bright and Disney’s The Last Jedi, highlighting the lack of consistency when reviewing one of the other (you can watch his video here). Erik Kain from Forbes also wrote an article about a month ago arguing some critics didn’t do their due diligence when reviewing Altered Carbon (you can read his article here). Is the takeaway here that I should start watching everything the critics review badly? I should hope not.

With that said, let’s dive into spoiler territory.

I didn’t like the character of Lizzie, Vernon’s daughter. I thought Poe’s therapy took way too long and was meant entirely to have her show up in the last episode to save her parents through Kovacs’ levels of badassery in an outfit that felt out of place, if not out of character. Not to mention she hints at being able to see the future, something that comes entirely out of the left field and certainly adds nothing to this series but perhaps it’s setup for the sequel. It’s also rather convenient that she has the single, most damning, piece of evidence for Takeshi to round up his investigation, something you will probably guess early on and that the show will do its utmost to make you forget (or you will have solved at least half of the puzzle).

Much criticism has also been directed at the character of Reileen Kawahara (played by Dichen Lachman; did I mention the women in this show are all absolutely gorgeous?), Takeshi’s sister. As you can undoubtedly guess, she’s the evil mastermind behind everything that’s going on to the point she even has her version of Oddjob (that’s from James Bond’s Goldfinger in case you didn’t know) to run interference and murder everyone that gets in her way. I personally liked how Lachman played the character as I felt she was very attached to her brother (maybe too much so), to the point I truly believed she was sincere about wanting him back at her side, the two of them against the world, even if it was also crystal clear everyone else was utterly expendable to her. In hindsight, perhaps the flashbacks don’t accurately convey this bond as Takeshi and Reileen have little time to reconnect, after being separated since childhood, before they’re recruited into the Envoys, but Reileen certainly comes across as (overly) protective of her big brother from that point onwards. Props to Joel Kinnaman also as Reileen’s and Takeshi’s last scene aboard the “Head in the Clouds,” is especially poignant as you can see how neither truly wants to harm the other and it tears Takeshi (and the viewer) apart when he finally pulls the trigger and end his sister’s life. As the resort plunges from the skies to its inevitable doom, Takeshi ignores Ortega’s pleas to escape with her and resolves to stay with his little sister to the very end.

Please find a way to reunite brother and sister in a sequel! It’s so sad we spent so little time with her before she was outed as the villain.

I think that about covers it. As you may have noticed, I’ve taken a liking to several of the supporting characters in the show. Sadly, all of these end up dead but I’ve learned not to take death for granted in a sci-fi show, especially one where there a technology exists that can backup a person’s consciousness. Let me add here that I also liked Ortega’s busybody character but I feel her arc was well-rounded at the end of the series so I don’t think it’s necessary for us to see her again in the sequel, but maybe Takeshi will run into Elias Ryker one day? That would be fun to watch.

What did you make of Altered Carbon? Who was your favourite character? Who would you bring back? Also, with the introduction of sleeves, this show could potentially go on for as long as it wants (or has enough material), similarly to Doctor Who. Will Yun Lee could certainly reprise his role as Takeshi Kovacs or perhaps he could be played by someone else. The ending takes every precaution not give away any hint as to his ethnicity, to the point his new sleeve is even wearing gloves. Who would you like to see play Takeshi Kovacs in a sequel?

#altered carbon #netflix #takeshi kovacs #reileen kawahara #quellcrist falconer #kristin ortega #joel kinnaman #will yun lee #dichen lachman #renée elise goldsberry #martha higareda #chris conner

[abby-studies-art]

Unusually Wondeful Spotify Playlists

Spotify is a fantastic place to find and discover new and old music, but it can also be a wonderful source of literature, audiobooks, and old radio shows. As a fan of all of these things, I have put together a list of some of my favourite non-musical playlists!

Scary Stories Everything from Poe’s the Raven to some good, old-fashioned spooky late night radio! Very good for fans of podcasts/audiobooks like Lore, the No Sleep Podcast, etc. Mythologies Explore the stories behind your favourite myths including Greek gods and legends, Buddist mythologies, Britannic classics such as Arthur, and Egyptian Afterlife stories! Love Poems A beautiful collection of love poems from classic authors like Shakespeare, Walter Raleigh, and more! Fairy Tales A collection of full fairytales, all by Hans Christian Anderson and including The Mermaid, the Little Match Girl, and The Snow Queen! The Adventures of Sherlock Homes Select adventures of Londons Favourite Detective, and including some pretty amazing vintage radio adaptations! The Essential Edgar Allen Poe Great for research projects, this playlist includes the very best of the famously frightening poet Poe. (I love his work but lack the focus to read it on paper, so this playlist has been a godsend for several English projects and papers!) Jane Austen This is a massive playlist, including the entirety of the Pride and Prejudice audiobook, sense and sensibility, persuasion, and more! It also includes poetry and film scores from Austen adaptation. The HP Lovecraft Compendium 23 hours and 14 minutes of love craft’s spokes and mind bending-est stories read aloud to you by some fantastic Narrators.  A Hipsters Guide to Poetry Ever seen and amazing poem quoted on Tumblr? It’s probably on this playlist. Sylvia Plath, Walt Whitman, and Robert Frost are all included. SciFi Radio Dramas Classic Science Fiction, like 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, 1984, and the War of the Worlds turned audio play for vintage radio and coming to your late night study session now! Women’s Lit Maya Angelou, Virginia Wolfe, Mary Shelly and More are included in this playlist, their poems and short stories.  Irish Lit Explore classical and contemporary Irish novels, short stories, plays, poems, and lore in both English and Irish Gaelic! Learn and practice the language at the same time as you discover the countries culture. Shakespeare: The Poetry His sonnets and poems, all of them, read aloud to you by a number of talented performers. 5 Hours of Shakespeare to put you in the writing mood! French Literature Hugo, Balzac, Dumas and more! French short stories and novels, now in audio form! Explore classics of French literature while you do laundry! Shakespeare: The Comedies Shakespeare can get notoriously gloomy, what with all the murdering and tragically ridiculous misunderstandings he features in some of this plays. But explore his bright, innocent, and summer side with hi classic comedies! The Victorians Explore the sensibility of the Victorian era through some if its best poetry: brooding, sceptical, romantic, whimsical, and nonsensical.  Sylvia Plath Everything you’ve ever wanted in a beautiful playlist. “Hear the voice that penned the poems.”-Spotify. Poems for Spring Beautiful poems read vintage and modern style, celebrating the innocent light that emerges in the spring!

So there you have it! This is by no means a complete list of playlists containing this kind of content, I know for a fact that most public domain books/ audiobooks are available on here! Happy Listening!

#tunes #spotify #playlists #studyblr #jane austen #shakespeare #poetry #audiobooks #podcasts #vintage radio

[mi5014characterdesignhuwfenny]

Primary research

H.P Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was an American born acclaimed horror-fiction writer from the 20th century. To modern horror writers, Lovecraft was an influential figure both in the genre of horror and early science fiction – his short stories and novellas laid the groundwork for generations of fans and those curious of the unknown.

The unknown was Lovecraft’s trademark, focusing on primal human fear which, arguably, hadn’t been truly mastered since the works of Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley or Bram Stoker. Lovecraft created an entire sub-genre of horror, eponymously named Lovecraftian horror which explores cosmic horror tropes and is defined as “fear and awe we feel when confronted by phenomena beyond our comprehension, whose scope extends beyond the narrow field of human affairs and boasts of cosmic significance”. Lovecraft created an entire mythos surrounding the creatures and worlds which were foreign to society at the time, this had a huge impact on literature and film due to the increasing popularity of fantasy and otherworldly interpretations of life which had never been available before. Conceivably, without the introduction of Lovecraft’s work and legacy, modern day horror media would have been almost unrecognisable as certain tropes – forbidden or veiled knowledge, the fate of man and omniscient godlike beings - and inspirations caused by his work would have, perhaps, not caused a domino effect on creatives destined for success in this genre such as Universal Horror and the works of Stephen King.

FROM BEYOND (1986) - The Adaptation of Lovecraft’s Work

Furthermore, on my study of H.P Lovecraft’s works, I delved deeper into the adaptations of his works. I found a film based on one of his works and it follows the same idiosyncrasies and characteristics of his written short stories. Eighties creature features are the main focus of our short film and the basis of my character designs, as I wanted something so visceral and unnerving I decided to study body horror films and take influences from genre attributes that worked the best during them. 

The use of a humanoid frame was something that appealed to me, for example creatures in horror films appeal to our innate fight or flight response is due to our reaction of the ‘Uncanny Valley’ - which is when something is so human but there is something so innately inhuman in it’s qualities that we are at once disturbed and disgusted. I wanted this response from my audience. The revolted reaction I had from these body horror films were something that I wanted to convey in my work. 

The slimy, moist body texture was something I wanted to translate into my creature. Exposed muscle, pulsating veins and malformed flesh and skin textures inspired the general concept of the creation of my creature. In addition, the use of an unexplained ethereal plane where the creature comes from in the film From Beyond was an element that I was interested in and thought that I could incorporate this into my work. 

The creature slowly transforms as the influence of darkness takes hold (Above)

The darkened room doesn’t show much of the creatures design, the low light only shows the creatures silhouette and body structure. The looming, hunched frame is intimidating and shows a lot without showing much at all, influencing the audience’s own fears by triggering their own worst nightmares that are mirrored by being that is slowly revealed in front of them and is aided, in part, by the feeling of the unknown. (Below)

When the creature is finally revealed, the stark contrast of the bright lighting brings forward the detail of it’s stance, anatomy and overall design. This reveal is something that I want to incorporate into my work. By adding different aspects of lighting to the scene, certain elements of horror will be amplified and will become more effective. 

I enjoyed the serpentine head movements of the main antagonist in the film, the extruded and elongated neck really influenced my design, as well as the snake-like movements and attributes, as I though these were so inhuman I could incorporate this into my final design and general walk cycle and would get a repulsed reaction from my audience. It inspired me as these aspects of this film made me react in a fearful manner, this is how I wanted my innate audience to react. 

David Cronenberg - The Deeper Meaning of the Monster

Studying film such as David Cronenberg’s The Fly helped my development in my design process. Similar to the Lovecraftian adaptation of From Beyond, this creature also has a focus on body horror. The constantly deforming and changing body of the main character as he metamorphosis into a human fly helped me realise the stance and head shape of my character. The crushing, almost depressing realism of Cronenbergs film is akin to other tragic characters in film. The inclusion of metamorphosis in The Fly helped me develop my character as I wanted it to look like a human that had been influenced by a power beyond their control, this also links back to From Beyond and the Uncanny Valley, as something that was once human is changing, or has changed, into something so inhuman. The binary opposition of the Priest characters faith and the inclusion of a tainted, satanic being appealed to me as it at once showed the difference and the distinct human quality and notion of evil. I wanted to keep my character unambiguously humanoid, as we are the only species that has the intelligence to define something as ‘evil’. 

In addition to this, the humanoid shape but the animalisitc, beastly intentions are something that can influence the horror of my short film. Despite the human appearance, the demonic entity I am developing will have no human emotions. Creatures in Universal Horror films, such as Dracula (a vampire) and The Wolf-man (a lycanthrope)  are innately human in appearance but can represent things much deeper than just their appearance. For example, Dracula can represent aristocracy and a hidden monster, and the Wolf-man can represent our animalistic nature which we have repressed such as rage and sexual desire. George A. Romero’s Night of the Living dead represent communism and then in Dawn of the Dead they represent consumerism. The tragedy of Seth Brundle in The Fly connotes to the slow recession into terminal illness.

Having an underly message in the creature is something that I am interested in and the inclusion of a demon tormenting a Priest can be analysed as the Priest struggling with his faith. 

Seth Brundle’s transformation takes effect (Above) and the full transformation of Brundlefly (Below)

Francis Bacon - Nightmare Influenced Artwork and Creature Designs

Francis Bacon was an artist whose work often depicted the crucifixion of subjects, depictions of Popes and Priests and portraits. These visceral, often disturbing depictions of horror and anti-religious connotations greatly influenced the concept art for my creature as it links to the concept for our idea. The raw imagery is so dream-like and surreal, that I decided to study some of his works and attempted to replicate it in my own. Some of his works focuses on creatures, or surreal depictions of humans, that had ghastly and spectre-like appearances, with elongated maws and craning necks. The distorted shapes of these caricatures could have been influenced by Bacon recorded sadomasochistic  (S&M) tendencies. The positions of screaming, whether this can be interpreted as pleasure or pain is subjective, the blindfolding of the creatures and the characters on all fours can be linked with these tenancies. 

This creature is in a stooped position with a gaping human like mouth and human ears without no eyes, I would like to incorporate this into my work as the lack of eyes can give the impression that, if in pursuit of prey, they cannot hide from it. As the uncertainty of how it sees can bring doubt, I believe that no eyes can, ironically, encompass an all seeing presence.  

This almost swan-like craning neck and lack of detail is arguably like a devolved version of the character above. The addition of having no eyes is characteristic of Bacon’s work. 

This creature on all fours considerably influenced my creature design, as the human-like body posture but devolved position is innately terrifying.

Speculative Evolution and After Man (The Works of Dougal Dixon)

Speculative evolution focuses on the hypothetical evolution of some creatures in a distant future, rather than being based on real science. Rather than being backed up by scientific proof, it is a sub-genre of fictional biology - the most notable works were created by Dougal Dixon. I found researching and reading about these helped me create a varied image of my creatures. 

The designs of the Flooers and Night Stalkers also helped me develop different stances in the process of character creation. I experimented with the integration of different characteristics from multiple species and added them to a single design. In addition, the use of no eyes becomes prevalent again in my research, and digging deeper into my research I discovered the Sci-Fi television show Primeval used the concept of the Night Stalker and adapted it to create a creature called the Future predator and this also influenced my designs.  

Flooers and Night Stalkers, Speculative Evolution - ‘After Man’ (Below)

The Future Development of the Human Genome - ‘After Man’ (Below)

More examples of Speculative Evolution - ‘After Man’

The Priest

For the Priest, I wanted to make him an average person, an every-man for the audience to relate to. Since my primary research focused on priest and holy characters in horror films to create the basic characteristics for my character. Researching these will help me build a deeper knowledge for the nature and development of both characters. 

Priests Facts and characteristics

Clerical Celibacy - In orthodox traditions, a Priest cannot marry a woman, or man, as it is an act of respect, to deny having sexual relations, spouses or children, in order to be closer to God and achieve divinity. 

Clergy House (Parsonage, Manse or Rectory) - I will set the environment and subsequent animation in a house given to the Priest by the church, as it is a symbol of God. 

Vestments - Catholic priests wear a uniform, vestments, to not define themselves a clergyman who does not see themselves as an individual but rather to draw attention to their beliefs and what they are performing.

Popular Media - Priests in Horror Films

Father Karras (And Father Lankester Merrin) - The Exorcist

I studied how priests and holy men were portayed in horror media. For example, both Priests fail in their attempt to exorcise a demon out of girl. Father Lankester Merrin suffers a heart attack during an exorcism. And at the end of the exorcist, when possessed by the demon inhabiting a young girls body, Father Karras throws himself to his death by act of defenestration, throwing himself out of a window in an act of suicide. He allows himself to become possessed by the demon and letting it taint him, as all acts of God he tries to perform do not work. This is something I want to translate into my work as I think my character could be shown to be subtly corrupted through character design, behaviour and the environment, as an extension of his religious beliefs.  

Reverand Lowe - Silver Bullet

In this Stephen King novella, and subsequent film, the monster in question is a werewolf who is revealed to be Reverand Lowe, a pillar of the community and who is deemed to be a good man. The werewolf that resides below his skin taints his life and actions, as his selfless nature becomes corrupted by that of the beast.

Comparisons between the monster

As the characters are binary opposites, clear representations of good and evil, I want to use this idea and expand upon it. For example, I will design my Priest wear a long cloak or clothes covering up his body, using cleaner and lighter tones to represent his divinity in comparison to the monster. As well as this, I will incorporate the body composition of both characters in this same vein, for example as the creature’s torso is larger than his waist, I will make the Priest’s upper torso thinner and have his lower waist pudgier and fatter, perhaps a small indication of a sin of gluttony. Additionally, I will make the creatures features on his face phallic, such as the tentacles, and the mouth vaginal, to represent his rule of not marrying to represent the temptation that he has denied in order to be closer to God. I will also, change the vestments to an off-white or black colour to subtly indicate he has been tainted in some way.

Quotes to develop the moral compass of the Priests character

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. —Psalm 23:4 

There will be a contradiction of this in our animation, as the Priest does, in fact, fear evil, as the creature pursues him through his house hold. 

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” —Psalm 27:1

As the creature is revealed, there will be a change in lighting from light to dark, symbolising the powerlessness of belief in God when faced with this demonic force. The bright lights at the beginning will flicker and the lighting will change for dramatic tension. 

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” —Matthew 10:28

As the nature and background of this sudden creature is never reveal, it is uncertain that the Priest can be saved from such a malevolent force, however, with the use of lighting and the metaphorical loss of God, it could be interpreted that his soul will not be saved either. 

You believe that God is one You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. - James 2:19  

"He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons." - Luke 11:15

Quotes discussing demons in the Bible, discussing the importance or not letting them in or succumbing to them, which the Priest does, unknowingly, by the creature appearing in his house. This could be an interpreted as allowing his own demons to ravage his faith, as his home is meant to be a church, the symbol of religion. 

[lady-nevermore]

Tag you’re it! ^_^

Umm.....I’m pretty sure I’ve already done this survey/questionnaire before; ah well, I’ll try to make my answers vary a bit from last time, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll probably just copy and paste my answers from the last one (feeling sorta lazy atm, sorry). lol ^^;

But anyways, yeah, I don’t mind doing this a second time around, they’re actually pretty damn fun, so let’s get started! :D

Rules: Answer these questions, and tag 20 amazing followers that you would like to get to know better.

Tagged by: @blueteamproblem​ (Cool - Thanks for the Tag). ^_^

Name: *sigh* I’m hesitant/reluctant when it comes to revealing my name, cuz I’m paranoid/anxious, that people I knew from my past will end up finding me again......and tbh, I’m not quite ready for that reunion/confrontation just yet.....But here’s a hint: (My name means Soul in Spanish). ^-^

Nickname: Ama (by my dad, my little cousins, and one of my fave Aunties), hmmm....A few of my old-friends back in my high school days used to refer to me as: “Almy, Almita, Soulzzz, etc”. Do these count? lol ^^;

Zodiac sign: Leo (Western Zodiac) and Sheep/Ram (Chinese Zodiac).

Hogwarts House: When Pottermore first started becoming a “thing” around 2010-2011 (I remember cuz I was one of the beta-testers), I was sorted and placed in Slytherin. .....But I believe that, that was due to the fact that I was in a really really really depressed, bitter and dark place at the time (those who have read my first entry of my “therapy blog”, and will end up reading more in greater detail later down the line, will know why); but as of right now: I’m happy to say that I’m a Proud Pottermore Ravenclaw. ^_^

Height: 5′3” (yeah, I know i’m pretty smol). heh ^^;

Orientation: Bisexual (I know that I’m attracted to women at the very least, as well as men....but it’s sorta on a 70/30 sometimes 60/40 on the spectrum/scale), but as of late, I feel like I could also very possibly be ace, maybe even possibly demisexual (Let’s just say that It’s safe to say I’m still questioning/trying to figure myself out, and leave it at that). ^^;

Ethnicity: Hispanic/Mexican-American

Favorite fruit: Cantaloupe, Gala/Fuji Apples, Granny Smith Green Apples, Mango, Strawberries, etc. 

Favorite season: Fall/Autumn and Winter Seasons 

Favorite book series: The Harry Potter Series The Inheritance Cycle / Eragon Book Series The Unexpected Dragon by Mary Brown The Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings The Hunger Games Trilogy The Giver Book Series The Time Traveler's Wife Shakespeare Edgar Allen Poe Grimm Fairy Tales 

Manga wise: Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki His and Her Circumstances aka Kare Kano Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter, Level E, and Ookami nante Kowakunai all by my all-time fave mangaka (infamous for his long-ass Hiatuses, but damn it I still think they're worth it): Yoshihiro Togashi.

Favorite fictional characters:  Waaaaay too many for me to list here, but currently as of right now, as I’m sure some of you may have noticed, I’m crushing/fangirling rather hard over Soi Fon at the moment. lol xD

Favorite flower: I love most flowers (like for example: a classic single stem Rose) but I do have a soft spot for Small flowers, like: Morning Glories and White Clovers.

Favorite scents: Petrichor aka the smell of the earth/soil after it rains, though the smell of coffee, the smoky scent of firewood during a cold night, the crisp cold scent of an early morning/early evening/late night, the smell of freshly mowed or cut grass, the fresh smell of laundry, and the scent of sandalwood are all pretty damn nice too. ^_^

Favorite color:  Purple, Lavender, Orchid Purple, Wine Red/Red-Violet, Magenta, Sapphire Blue, Cerulean Blue, Light Blue, Red, Maroon, Teal, Emerald Green, Turquoise Green, Seafoam green, Gray, Black, Silver, Gold, Neon Colors, basically any type of bright / vibrant colors, though pastels colors are pretty nice too....I find most hues/shades of colors beautiful in their own right.....So let’s just say everything! lol ^^;

Favorite animal:  I’m real fond of the whole Trickster-archetype when it comes to animals, so it’s safe to say that I really do have a soft spot for Corvids (Crows and Ravens), and Foxes; though I also really like Wolves, and Owls. But above all else, I really really really fucking love felines/cats (big and small); ie Grey Tabby Cats, Maine Coons, Norwegian Forest Cats, Lions, Leopards, Jaguars, but especially Snow Leopards! =^.^=

Favorite artist/band:  

 Musical Scores:

- John Williams's Scores in the Harry Potter Films - Murray Gold's Scores in Doctor Who - Trevor Jones's Scores in The 1998 Merlin/Merlin's Apprentice mini series (aka the one with Sam Neill). - ATLA/Legend of Korra Scores by Jeremy Zuckerman - Pirates of the Caribbean Scores by Hans Zimmer - The Anime Scores in both Rurouni Kenshin and in Yu Yu Hakusho respectively. - Oh! And the anything by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams (like the RWBY and RVB OST for example) Oh! and the Scores in Harvest Moon and Legend of Zelda Soundtrack (Song of Storms anyone?). ^_^  And probably several other scores in anime and videogames that I just can't recall at the moment. But music-wise: Just like with anime, books, and tv-shows I tend to be a pretty open-minded and am into several types of genres (from J-pop/J-rock/anime theme and ending songs, anything by Megumi Ogata, punk rock, alternative rock, 80's and 90's pop/rock music, electronic, pop, hip-hop, r&b, jazz, anime jazz covers, classical music, modern classical music with a modern twist aka pop/rock covers via a classical musical sense, scores in anime and in some of my fave nerdy fandoms, basically anything and everything even country....all except for like "pure rap or purely screamo heavy metal".... like, I don't mind if there's a little bit in like r&b/pop or rock respectfully, but yeah, just no). ^^; My Fave bands/musicians: - Green Day - Death Cab For Cutie - Daft Punk - Owl City - Etc.

Coffee, tea, or hot cocoa?: Tea; I used to be quite the coffee drinker, but not anymore mostly due to my anxiety (trust me I still really miss it, especially the taste & the smell of coffee.....Hmmm, I’ve been thinking that maybe I should try decaf), but anyways, yeah, over the years I’ve stuck and grew to really love tea....tho cocoa is nice every once in awhile (especially during the colder seasons). ^^;

Average sleep hours: *sigh* I have insomnia, so my sleep cycle is pretty much wack and all over the place; I’m lucky if I get 5-6 hours of sleep. -___-;

Number of blankets you sleep with: As of right now: one; I really really really hate humid/warm/hot weather....makes it soo damn uncomfortable to get a good night’s sleep (but that’s what I get for living in California, I suppose). ugh. >_<;

Dream trip: Japan would be pretty cool! ^_^

Last thing Googled: Butterflies and their symbolism with souls/afterlife.

Blog created: Since 2011

How many blogs do I follow: Dunno, I never really checked. o.o

Number of followers: 697

What do I usually post about: Usually, I tend to just reblog a lot of fan art, gif edits, or posts pertaining to some of my fave fandoms; right now it’s: Bleach (Soi Fon), RWBY, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc. But I will be posting about my therapy sessions in my “therapy blog” in the future, so look out for that I guess. ^^;

Do you get asks regularly: Not a whole lot, but when I do, they never fail to make me smile. :)

What is your aesthetic: Damned if I know...Um, 90′s aesthetic? idk! lol ^^;

Tagging (don’t feel obligated to do this if you don’t want to): @angelotics , @theamazingflyinglion , @tdk-blog, @doctordearie , @youko-fairy , @nightjasmine10 , @luckystarchild , @tifa-the-bacon-goddess , @boserwulf , @ravenhull , @fionaandcake27 , @hirusekidragon , @weissrose , @rwby-fan , @yangsmash , @bizarrolord , @blue-eyed-korra , @hellfire47 , @yyhlove , @yyhaesthetics

#tag you're it #don't feel obligated to do this if you don't want to #tumblr survey thing

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: Space 1889, Barry Windsor Smith, Tokien, Prydain

Popular Culture (DVS Press): If you needed more proof that the obsession with fictional corporate franchises has a religious overtone to it, here is a major filmmaker advertising just that. When my viewers were upset about the corporate destruction of Star Wars, calling the franchise a cultural institution, I thought it a bit hyperbolic – after all, these are just stories, and you can’t uncreate what George Lucas did. I see things better now. Star Wars is part of the religious reverence for popular franchises.

RPG (Matthew J. Constantine): Way back in the 80s when I was a wee lad and just getting into tabletop RPGs, I used to see Space 1889 on the shelf at a local game store and I thought it looked pretty cool. Somewhere around there, my father picked up a copy, and I used to thumb through it a bunch.  There was something in the setting that really hit a lot of my buttons. I was an Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.G. Wells, and Jules Verne fan, so that was probably enough. But the setting had something that drew me in.

Comic Books (ICV2): Marvel Comics announced Conan the Barbarian: Coming of Conan, the first volume of collected Conan books restored for The Original Marvel Years Epic Collection, for release into trade in June 2020. Conan’s adventures would become legend, but before he became king, he was Conan the Barbarian. In this new trade paperback, Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith bring Robert E. Howard’s barbarian to four-color life, and have restored the art to match the epic majesty of their original editions.

Cinema (Amatopia): So this Birds of Prey movie didn’t do so hot. The usual suspects are blaming misogyny among the movie-going public. The other usual suspects are blaming a marketing campaign that specifically told men that this movie was not for them. Now, both are apocryphal, as I have not found men telling other men not to see this movie because it features women, and I have also not found people involved with the making of the movie telling men “This movie is not for you.”

Tolkien (Sacnoth’s Scriptorium): we now know that Tolkien was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature at least three times: in 1961, when he was nominated by C. S. Lewis. in 1967, when his name appeared on the (alphabetical) long list as #58 of 70 nominees. In 1969, when he was #90 on the long list of 103 names. So far as I know he did not make the short list any of these times.

Weird Fiction & Appendix N (Goodman Games): Without August Derleth (1909-1971), you probably wouldn’t have that Cthulhu bumper sticker on your car, that Cthulhu for President poster, and certainly not that Plushie Cthulhu you have staring down at you from your geek-memorabilia shelf.  Not that Cthulhu would not exist, but he (it?) would be just one more forgotten character in a series of stories by an author unknown except to the most ardent of horror literati. Howard Philip Lovecraft’s greatest creation and most if not all of his fiction would have passed into obscurity if not for August Derleth’s founding of Arkham House publishing.

Fiction (DMR Books): These are stories of Jean Ray, who was known as “The Belgian Poe.” Other writers he was similar to are H. P. Lovecraft, William Hope Hodgson, and Guy de Maussapant. I first read Ray’s fiction in the doorstopper anthology The Weird by Jeff and Anne VanderMeer which reprinted his stories “The Mainz Psalter” and “The Shadowy Street.” Reading these stories, I felt like I did when I first read Lovecraft. They were tales of cosmic horror of immense power and imagination. I decided I would seek out more of his fiction.

RPG (Black Gate): For twenty years, the folks at Privateer Press have been creating games, primarily set in their Iron Kingdoms steampunk fantasy setting. They began with a series of RPG volumes, including an award-winning trilogy of adventures from 2001. These adventures, later collected into The Witchfire Trilogy, was built on the D20 System from Dungeons and Dragons 3E. Then Privateer Press really came into their own with the introduction of the Warmachine miniature wargame, focusing on armies that control massive metallic warjacks, one of the iconic creatures from their Iron Kingdoms setting.

T.V. (Dark Worlds Quarterly): When I was in graduate school, one of my

favorite television shows was Highlander.  I’d seen the first and second movies, and while I’d enjoyed them, it was the TV show that really captured my imagination and made me think about immortals and immortality. A movie is limited to approximately two hours. By contrast, a weekly show has a lot more time to develop characters, backstory, plots and subplots, and story-arcs that can last for months or even years.

Fiction (Epoch Times): In 1907, the man who composed these verses won the Noble Prize for Literature at the remarkably young age of 41. He also wrote hundreds of short stories and several novels. Many of these were made into films in the 20th century, among which were “The Jungle Book,” “Kim,” “Gunga Din,” “Wee Willie Winkie,” “Captains Courageous,” “Soldiers Three,” and “The Man Who Would Be King.” (Reader, if you haven’t seen this last film, starring Sean Connery, Michael Caine, and Christopher Plummer, treat yourself to a great movie this winter.)

Fiction (Wasteland & Sky): A couple of years ago, Superversive Press announced a series of 12 volumes each containing short stories based on the classic planetary system. 9 were based on the planets, and two were based on the sides of the moon. Each volume would contain stories science fiction, fantasy, horror, and weird fiction, with everything in between. No genre style was off limits. All that mattered was matching tone and theme. As a themed series of short story anthologies, it was quite ambitious.

Retro-Science Fiction (25 Years Later): There are two closely-knit, though not necessarily always interchangeable, subgenres of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Raypunk, or in architectural design circles referred to as Raygun Gothic, is the retrofuture with an eye for a bright future. Atompunk generates dystopian vibes and warns of a dreaded future in which the atomic bomb desecrated all humankind. Atompunk is bleak and afraid. Raypunk is quite excited for what tomorrow has in store.

Cinema (Jon Mollison): Bollywood often gets bandied about as an alternative to Hollywood fare by those cut back on consumption of it’s anti-American resentment.  Taken in by the flashy colors, the obvious national pride of the productions, and for some strange reason the song and dance numbers that break out on the regular, they seek solace in alien spectacle.  Personally, I find the sheer foreign-ness of Bollywood off-putting in much the same way I find anime incomprehensible. . . Enter Furious, the Russian made story of 17 brave warriors who stood up to a full Mongol horde.

Art (Down the Tubes): The Windsor-Smith Studio announced the completion of Monsters, the long awaited graphic novel by Barry, last December, and that the project is on track for a mid-2020 release, but a publisher was not revealed. Assuming it will be launched through traditional distribution routes and not solely through the Windsor-Smith Studio official web site, you’d expect a solicitation through Diamond Previews might soon be in the offing.

Fantasy Fiction (Superversive SF): To both spend time with my children and give them literary food to build their minds, I recently read to them THE CHRONICLES OF PRYDAIN. For them, it was the second reading, but they were too young to remember the first. This time, they were begging for me to read more each night. The stories of Taran and the companions, Fflewddur Fflam, Gurgi, and Eilonwy not only filled their imaginations with adventure but taught them how dragons can be slain (paraphrasing of G.K. Chesterton).

Tolkien (Tentaculii): In August 1955 L. Sprague de Camp reviewed new Conan books and The Fellowship of the Ring, in Science Fiction Quarterly, August 1955. Worth reading right across the spread, as it’s ‘all of a piece’. For those who have somehow not yet enjoyed The Lord of the Rings, note that his review has plot spoilers for the first volume. At that time the second volume was not yet published. Camp must surely have here been the first to draw the comparison between the modus operandi of the ring in the Conan novelette “The Phoenix on the Sword” (1932) and The Lord of the Rings.

Sensor Sweep: Space 1889, Barry Windsor Smith, Tokien, Prydain published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[longislandweekly-blog]

Downtown Manhattan was the first writer’s haven

Vintage engraving from 1861 showing a general view of the city of New York in 1860

When New York City was settled during the 17th century, downtown Manhattan was the center of activity. The rest of the borough, not to mention everywhere else in the New York area, was farmland. Downtown was the center of commercial and political activity. New York’s first newspaper, the New York Gazette, was founded in 1725. In those days, publications were not considered journalism, instead their goal was to advance a certain political party, while running down any competitors.

Such advocacy reached a peak in 1787 and 1788, when three of the Founders—John Jay, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton—co-authored The Federalist Papers, an apology for the ratification of the United States Constitution that appeared in serial form in several publications and then in book form. The volume has remained an American classic ever since, studied by generations of budding historians.

Pamphleteering was also popular in the old America. New York as a haven for writers began with Thomas Paine and the publication of Common Sense (1776). Paine was a British national who enthusiastically supported the American Revolution. He also had a house in today’s Greenwich Village. The address was symbolic as the Village, starting in the late 19th century, would stand as a hub of creativity, not just in literature but in music and art as well, attracting ambitious youngsters from all over the country to New York.

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With ratification, history would be the next step in developing a literary New York. Another famous name that lives on is Washington Irving. A prolific author, Irving penned a satirical book, A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809) which was well-received overseas. Both Charles Dickens and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were fans of the book, enhancing both the author and the volume. At home, the history reigned for decades as the best-selling book in the young nation. Irving later published a popular biography of George Washington and the much-beloved classic, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820).

Another novelist who enhanced New York’s literary reputation was James Fenimore Cooper. Irving lived on Williams Street. Cooper had a house on Greenwich Street. Cooper is legendary as the author of The Leatherstocking Tales, a series of five novels published between 1827 and 1841 and set in upstate New York. His city novel was also satirical, with Home as Found (1832), criticizing the pretentious ways of the city’s high society. That theme has never grown old, used in later decades with great effectiveness by such talents as Truman Capote and Tom Wolfe.

Cooper was also a generous man, befriending many young writers. One of them was William Cullen Bryant, who also wrote poetry. As editor of the New York Evening Post, Bryant combined newspapers, advocacy and poetry, setting a pattern followed by many writers who came after him, including Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman. Bryant was more polemical. A staunch abolitionist, Bryant introduced Abraham Lincoln when the latter gave his famous Cooper Union speech in 1860.

William Cullen Bryant statue in Bryant Park, New York City (Photo by Billy Hathorn via Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0)

These men played a major role in establishing the city as a literary counterpoint to Boston, which by the 19th century, was well-established as the literary capital of the United States. When Bryant and Whitman first published their verse, gaining the approval of such mandarins as Ralph Waldo Emerson was key in securing their fame.

In time, the literary action would move slightly uptown to Greenwich Village. But these men made their mark. The U.S. Constitution is that era’s most enduring monument.

Today’s New York includes an Alexander Hamilton High School and a James Madison High School, both in Brooklyn, plus a John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. A handsome statue of Washington Irving sits outside a high school named for the man in the Gramercy Park area. Manhattan also boasts of Bryant Park in midtown, plus the renovation of Cedarmere, Bryant’s estate in Roslyn Harbor.

Downtown means Wall Street, and with the stock market boom of the 1980s and beyond, that once-staid club became a model for fiction, most spectacularly in Tom Wolfe’s 1987 best-seller The Bonfire of the Vanities, where stockbrokers now fancied themselves as the new “masters of the universe.” Earlier, Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights, Big City (1984) predicted the transforming effects of the coming digital age and signaled the return of the downtown area as a locale for fiction. McInerney’s later novels, including Brightness Falls (1992) and Bright, Precious Days (2016), also used the ups and downs of Wall Street as the background for fictional drama.

The wheeling and dealings on Wall Street are likely to remain a gold mine for future novelists. Money, after all, is the New York religion.

Long Island Weekly's Joe Scotchie looks back at the authors who defined New York City in their novels, newspapers, essays and poems. Downtown Manhattan was the first writer’s haven When New York City was settled during the 17th century, downtown Manhattan was the center of activity.