#it’s a shame they cut most of the scene with them stealing the key - but I also love what we ended up getting in the final cut too | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nebulablakemurphy · 3 years

Text

Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Part Five)

Jacob Black x Fem!Vampire!Swan!Reader

Summary: Jacob Black, alpha of his pack, would never fall in love with a bloodsucker, much less imprint on one. The problem is that Y/N Swan was human…until she wasn’t anymore.

Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

The bike works for a while, Bella can see Edward; until she gets good at operating the vehicle. After that the danger is gone and so is any version of him.

Jacob and Y/N are hunting Victoria. Charlie is hunting the wolves, who he still believes to be bears, responsible for the killings around town.

Bella’s alone again.

She decides to try something new, to get that rush of adrenaline. Cliff jumping is about as stupid as it is recreational. But Edward is there, begging her not to jump. So she does, anything to make him stay.

———————————————————————

“She’s freezing cold. I can’t touch her.”

“Relax. Human hot box, remember? I hope you don’t mind, I’m gonna have to give her mouth to mouth.”

“Jake,” thwack.

Beyond the voices, Bella can feel pressure. Like someone is pounding on her chest, commanding her heart to beat.

“Come on Bella. Breathe.”

With a sputtering inhale she chokes up the water that invaded her lungs.

“Bella!”

The brunette opens her eyes just in time to see her sister reach for her and then remember her temperature, dropping both hands back to her sides.

“I’m ok,” Bella tells her, through chattering teeth.

“What the hell were you doing?” Y/N demands, tossing a blanket around her shoulders.

Jacob lifts Bella from the sand to lean against him, soaking up his warmth.

“I just wanted to see something.” Bella looks away from Y/N. The venom has eaten away her contacts and she can see her now for what she truly is.

“We’ve gotta get her home.” Jacob says, lifting Bella with ease.

“Your eyes,” Bella tries to warn her.

“It’s ok,” Y/N shakes her head. “Dad’s not home. He’s over at the Clearwater’s.”

“Did something happen?” Bella wonders.

“Harry had a heart attack.” Jacob breathes, the words striking like a hot iron. “He didn’t make it.”

“I’m so sorry.” Bella whispers to no one in particular.

“Let’s go,” Y/N jerks her chin in the direction of the road.

“I’ll run her,” the wolf offers.

“My truck,” Bella pushes feebly against his chest.

“I got it,” Y/N sighs, taking the keys. “You go, keep her warm.”

“On it.” Jacob nods, breaking into a sprint.

Y/N heads back to the truck, opening the door and waiting as it rattles to life. Her fingers curl over the steering wheel harshly, distorting it with the force of her grasp.

The phone buzzes to life in her pocket, not a number she recognizes. “Hello?”

“Y/N, it’s Edward.”

“Edward…” The Y/H/C nearly short circuits.

“Is Bella alright?” He asks immediately.

How did he know? “Now you care what happens to Bella?”

“Y/N please-“

“No,” she cuts him off. “Edward, you left. You left and you didn’t care. I mean where the hell have you been? Where were you while I was here picking up the pieces?”

“I’m sorry.” Edward grovels, the way she had on the front lawn of the Cullen’s home after Bella’s birthday party. “It was a mistake.”

“Your sorry means nothing to me.” Y/N ends the call. Tossing the phone to the passenger seat. Her foot pressing the gas pedal to the floor.

Arriving home at record speed, she finds a black car in the driveway. Carlisle’s car. Parking the truck, she jots through the front door.

Alice, Jacob and Bella are deep in conversation.

“What are you doing here?” Y/N asks Alice.

“I had a vision of Bella jumping off a cliff. I didn’t see her get pulled out of the water-“ Alice breaks off. Her eyes fluttering, then she gasps.

“What now?” Jacob runs a hand over his face.

“It’s Edward, he thinks Bella’s dead.” Alice chokes out. “He’s going to the Volturi, he wants to die too.”

“What?” Bella’s entire body lurches forward.

“Rosalie told him why I came here. Then Y/N-“

“You spoke to him?” Bella cuts Alice off. “What did you say?”

“I told him to screw himself. Not kill himself.” Y/N says defensively.

“Y/N!” Bella is hysterical.

She never meant for this to happen. “Tell me where he is and how to get there.”

“What are you gonna do?” Jacob leans in, his fingers closing around her wrist.

“I have to go,” Y/N rolls her eyes at the ridiculous nature of the situation, “save Edward.”

Jacob’s face falls into a scowl, “no, no way in hell.”

“Jake-“

“The Volturi, isn’t that some kind of vampire judge and jury situation? The ones you’re so afraid of that you can’t even tell Charlie what happened to you?” Jacob can put up with a lot, and he has. But this…

“Jacob, I know that this sucks.” Y/N pulls him away from Alice and Bella for a shred of privacy. “But it’s my fault. I have to make it right.”

“Stop blaming yourself for his shitty decisions!” Jacob roars, “it’s not your fault that he left, it’s not your fault that he didn’t come back and it’s not your fault that you told him to shove it where the sun don’t shine.”

Y/N takes step back, “please don’t.”

“Please don’t what?” Jake snarls, closing the distance between them. “Tell you the truth?”

“Please don’t hate me for what I’m about to do.” Y/N pleads, allowing his fingers to sear her skin.

“If you die…” he strokes her jaw reverently, “I’ll kill you.”

“I love you so much,” she turns into his palm and presses gentle kisses there.

Jacob lets his hand fall away as they break apart. “What do you want me to tell Charlie?”

“Last minute girls trip or something,” Y/N shrugs.

“How long will you be gone?” Jacob wants to say it back. That he loves her.

Y/N looks to Alice.

“Three days, round trip.” The pixie tells them.

Bella has already gone up to pack.

“Perfect,” Jacob acknowledges. Keeping the words to himself.

———————————————————————

The plan ride to Italy is tense. Bella hardly sleeps, she is a nervous wreck.

Alice is flooded with vision after vision as she watches Edward and the Volturi’s decisions.

Y/N plucks anxiously at the wolf charm on her wrist.

The car Alice steals is a beautiful canary yellow color. It shifts gears like butter and glides over the road.

“The Volturi refused him.” Alice says, surprise and relief in her voice.

“Should you be driving?” Y/N wonders, there’s no way she can concentrate with the future flashing before her eyes.

“You can channel for me” Alice offers. There is no time to stop.

Y/N closes her eyes, willing the visions to come to her. “He’s waiting until noon, when the sun’s at it’s highest. Then he’s going to reveal himself to the humans.”

“Alice, you gotta hurry up.” Bella pleads, tugging at the roots of her hair.

“Bella,” Alice coos, “breathe.”

Y/N opens her mind, but Edward is decided, so nothing changes. Until something unexpected appears.

Jacob. He’s seated on their living room couch, shooting the breeze with Charlie. Clearly waiting for something as his eyes flicker to the clock repeatedly. Her, Y/N realizes, he’s waiting for her.

“What did you see?”

“It wasn’t Edward, don’t worry.” Y/N drawls. Just her letting down the most important person in her life…again.

The crowd surrounding Volterra is massive, Alice cuts through as much as she can with the stolen Porsche, but eventually Bella has to make a run for it. To the clock tower at the center of the festival before Edward exposes himself in the sunlight. She is the only one Edward can’t see coming.

“So, what now?” Y/N demands.

“What did you see?” Alice asks instead.

“Doesn’t matter.” The Y/H/C shakes her head. “We can’t just sit here-“

“You saw him, didn’t you?” Alice steals a glance at her. “Jacob?”

“Does he always look so miserable in your visions,” she wonders.

“I can’t see him.” The other vampires admits, “the wolves are a blind spot.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure.” Alice’s brows furrow, the visions are back in her own head. “We have to go.”

The two of them weave through the festival, skin covered from the sun that shines bright overhead. Finally taking shelter in a door off the alley way.

“Come on guys,” Alice pulls the scarf from her head as they enter. “Wouldn’t want to cause a scene.”

The ‘guys’ in question have glowing red eyes, their diet is strictly human blood.

Bella is against the wall, with Edward between her and the two men wearing black cloaks.

“No we certainly wouldn’t.” The shorter blonde man purrs. “Aro requests your presence.”

“Bella,” Edward addresses her, “why don’t you go back out and enjoy the festival?”

“All of you,” the larger man clarifies.

A third vampire joins them, a girl with blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun. “Aro sent me to see what’s taking so long.”

“So no festival?” Y/N cocks her head to the side.

“I’m afraid not.” The girl gives her a tight lipped grin. “Right this way.”

The four of them are led down a long corridor to a stair case, then to an elevator.

Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

Edward’s eyes, dark with thirst, cut to Y/N. Bella tucked securely beneath his arm.

‘Sorry,’ she mentally shoots back.

He turns his gaze ahead as the elevator doors open onto a checkered marble floor. The ceilings are high, adorned with paintings that put the Sistine chapel to shame.

“Don’t be afraid,” Edward whispers to Bella.

“Are you?” Bella stares up at him.

“No,” he lies.

They land at double doors, pushed open to reveal three more men, seated in high back chairs that resemble thrones.

The one in the center moves to stand, the other brunette and blonde vampires can’t be bothered.

“What a happy surprise!” The man rejoices, “Bella is alive after all. And you’ve brought a friend.”

“I’m just here for moral support.” Y/N explains, jerking her thumb at Bella, “she’s my sister.”

Aro looks her over, “welcome…”

“Y/N,” she introduces herself.

Aro steps forward then, taking Edward’s hand from Bella’s into his own.

“Aro can read every thought I’ve ever had with a single touch.” Edward tells them.

“You are quite a soul reader yourself Edward. Although you can’t hear Bella’s thoughts.” Aro remarks, “would you do me the honor?” He extends a hand to Bella.

Warily she steps forward, allowing him to encase her hand with both of his.

“How strange,” Aro pulls away after a moment. “I see nothing. I wonder if…let us see if she is immune to all our powers, Jane.”

“No,” Edward protests, jumping in front of Bella.

“Pain,” the blonde girl murmurs, a satisfied smirk spreading across her features as Edward falls to the ground. He writhes silently at Bella’s feet.

“Stop! Please.” Bella yells, “stop hurting him.”

Aro watches her in fascination, allowing the torture to continue for a moment. “Jane.”

“Master?” The girl says.

Edward relaxes with a grunt.

“Go ahead my darling,” Aro motions to Bella.

“This might hurt just a little,” Jane warns.

But Bella feels nothing.

“Remarkable.” Aro marvels, “she confounds us all. So, what do we do with you now?”

“She knows too much, she’s a liability.” The blonde man on the right croons, from his chair.

“That’s true.” Aro replies, “Felix.”

“No,” Edward flips Bella behind him, having read his thoughts.

Alice seen Aro’s decision to have Bella killed.

And Y/N catches on quickly enough. Stepping in front of her sister.

Alice is restrained by the short blonde haired guard and Edward is wrestling with the larger vampire, which eventually leaves Edward on the ground.

Y/N’s never engaged in combat, but fight or flight is still a thing. She’s stronger and faster than anyone in the room, perks of being a newborn. She uses it to her advantage.

Fending off every attack the guard throws at her. But she is wreckless, untrained in her youth. Eventually she is restrained, with a hand at her throat.

The exchange gives Edward enough time to recover, he comes back swinging. For Bella. Anything for her.

Felix is strong. Edward is going to lose and her sister is going to die.

Y/N does the only thing she can do, “pain.”

The large man twists inhumanly at the crippling pain coursing through him.

Aro’s mouth sits slightly agape, watching in wonder as Edward returns to his feet.

“Call him off and I’ll stop,” Y/N jerks her chin toward Felix.

“Let us discuss this in a civilized manner.” Aro tries to defuse the situation.

“Tell your men to stop trying to kill my sister,” Y/N tosses the guard’s hand from her neck. “Then we discuss.”

“Felix, stand down.” Aro orders.

Y/N releases the man from her clutches, hearing him struggle to regain composure.

“You have the most peculiar scent.” Aro comments, “come.” He holds a hand out, “let me see.”

Y/N steps toward him, allowing his palm to rest under hers.

His eyes fall closed as he weaves through the facets of her memories. From birth to death and after life. “Ahh,” Aro coos.

Y/N resists the urge to pull away.

“Your gift is…untouched.” The things she could do, if only- “I can teach you.”

“Let my sister go,” Y/N repeats.

“So young, so much control.” Aro remarks. “To have resisted her blood twice within the first year. You are magnificent.” He smiles, drunk on the idea of harnessing the power she possesses. “You could join us.”

“I have someone waiting for me.” Y/N declines the offer.

“The child of the moon.” Aro recalls the boy from her mind. Dark hair, bright smile, “you love him impossibly so, against everything in your nature. It makes my heart ache.”

“Consorting with a werewolf?” Caius rushes to his feet. “Our sworn enemy?”

“This is different brother,” Aro stops him. If only he earns the young vampire’s trust, all that power will be his. “They have no qualms with us, nor each other. Misfortune has befallen them, much like our young friends Bella and Edward. This is a sadness.”

“You already know what you’re going to do, Aro. Let us be done with this.” Marcus motions dismissively.

“If only it were your intention to change her.” Aro addresses Edward now.

“Bella will be one of us.” Alice interrupts, “I’ve seen it. I’ll change her myself.”

Aro steps away from Y/N, to where Alice stands. Whatever she shows him must be proof enough. They’re free to go. For now.

———————————————————————-

The plane ride home is awkward. Both better and worse that the flight there.

“Thank you, for what you did.” Edward breaks the silence, as Bella sleeps peacefully against his shoulder. “Only it wasn’t smart. Aro has taken interest now, he’ll try to win you over.”

“Better men have tried.” Y/N turns her nose up at the idea, and him.

“I’m not going to push for your forgiveness. Or hers.” He looks over at Bella, “I’m going to earn it.”

“Sure.” The Y/H/C crosses her arms, “holding my breath.”

“Good thing you don’t need air.” Edward cracks a smile.

“Can you not pick my brain right now? I need to think.” Y/N tries to refocus. “Alone.”

“Jacob will forgive you.” Edward ignores her comment.

“Jacob always forgives me.” She whispers, “I want to deserve it this time.”

Edward nods in understanding. “I’ll leave you to your thoughts.”

If he hears anything else he doesn’t comment on it. Falling into a comfortable silence.

Y/N is largely on autopilot until they make it home.

Charlie rushes out onto the porch at the sound of a car engine. “There you are.”

“Hi, Dad.” Y/N steps up to hug him.

Charlie kisses the top of her head, returning the embrace. “Jacob said it was a girls trip.” He’s not thrilled to see Edward.

“It was supposed to be,” Y/N pulls away. “He surprised us.”

“She does look better though, doesn’t she?” Charlie notes, seeing Bella.

“Yeah,” as much as Y/N hates to admit it, she agrees.

“Go on. He’s been waiting for ya.” Charlie nods toward the house. “I’m gonna have a word with Edward.”

“Ok,” Y/N takes the stairs two at a time. “Don’t be too hard on him though.” She calls after her father. “He’s been through hell too.”

Charlie squints at her, hoping she will elaborate but knowing she won’t.

“Honey, I’m home.” Y/N sings into the living room.

Jacob doesn’t say a word. Just makes his way to her and wraps her up in his arms. Inhaling the scent at the crook of her neck, deeply. “Never thought I’d miss your stink.”

Y/N takes a whiff of her own. “The wet dog and earthy tones are starting to smell like home.”

“Yeah.” He feels it too.

“Can I ask you something?” She murmurs against his shoulder.

“Sounds like a loaded question already.” Jacob can hear it in her voice.

“How much of you staying here is because of the imprint? How much of it is your soul needing mine? And how much of it is just Jake?”

“I guess I-“ he breaks off. “I’ll never really know for sure. But I think the Jacob I’ve been my whole life would stay. Imprint Jacob would have no choice but to please you. And my soul just wants to be close to yours, anyway it can.”

“Do you ever wish you could un-imprint?” If that’s even a word. “I hate the thought of you chipping away parts of yourself…to please me.”

Jacob nuzzles her forehead with his own. “I’m lucky that I got to imprint on someone who loves me. Someone I didn’t have to change for. Being with you is easy, like breathing.”

“I want to give you more than I take.” Y/N tells him.

“I can feel you,” heart and soul, “how much you love me.”

“You can,” the vampire tenses, “feel me?”

“I know how guilty you feel for leaving, how scared you are that you’ll have to do it again.” Jacob places her hand over his heart. “I’ll wait.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” she argues. “You’re already giving away too much.”

“Stop beating yourself up. I can handle you. Have little faith.”

“I have faith in you.” That was never the problem.

“Give yourself some credit too.” He taps her chin, “quit brooding.”

“I’ll try.”

“Good,” Jacob holds Y/N at arms length, “now tell me everything. What’d I miss on the trip of a lifetime?”

“Well Alice stole a car.” She starts with the fun part. “Porsche I think, crazy fast. You would’ve loved it.”

———————————————————————-

The night they return from Italy, Bella insists that her mortality be put up for a vote. The Cullens gather around the staircase in their home, calling for Y/N and Jacob as well.

“You are part of this family, Y/N.” Carlisle rests a hand on her shoulder. “Jacob is your mate. Bella is your sister. You have a say in this.”

Jacob votes no.

Y/N votes not to vote. Only expressing her opinion based on her own experience. “I know what it feels like to have your choices taken away. I won’t do it to you.”

Life goes on. Y/N visits the reservation often. Like Jacob promised, everyone is coming around.

Graduation is right around the corner. Bella is waiting until after to become a vampire. Hoping it’ll be easier on Charlie.

He’s definitely not going to let it go a second time. He’ll demand answers that they won’t be able to give. They’ll have to leave. All of them.

Billy can see how much Y/N is wrestling with the decision. “In your heart you know that this is the best thing for everyone. Why are you hellbent on torturing yourself?”

“I’m not,” she shakes her head.

“You and Jake will get each other through.” Billy isn’t worried about that.

“What about my Dad?” He’ll be devastated.

Billy sighs, resting a hand on her shoulder. “What’d you want me to say kid?”

“Give me another choice.” She covers his fingers with her own.

“You having a pity party without me?” Jacob catches them, leaning heavily against the doorframe of his childhood kitchen.

“You were sleeping.” Y/N sniffs, breaking away from Billy. “I made you breakfast. Pancakes, French toast, eggs, bacon, sausage and-“

“And?” Jacob perks up.

“Chocolate chips muffins for dessert.”

“You’re trying to butter me up, huh?” Jacob grins, making his way to the breakfast table. “It’s working. Just give it to me straight.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Billy excuses himself.

“The Cullens are having a graduation party for Bella.” Y/N watches the wolf take a bit of food from each dish.

“Just Bella?” Jacob arches a brow.

She huffs, reaching into her bag for the formal invite.

‘Congrats Grad!’

‘Please join us to celebrate, Alice, Jasper, Bella, Edward, Y/N and Jacob.’

‘R.S.V.P. To Alice or Esme Cullen.’

“Wow,” Jacob takes it all in. “They shouldn’t have.”

“They gave them to half of Forks high school.” Y/N explains, “most of my senior class remembers you as my hot boyfriend from a different school.”

“I am your hot boyfriend from a different school.” There is no denying it.

Y/N bites her lip. “They gave me a handful of invites for you too. If you want…”

“Really trying to push the whole ‘happy family’ agenda.” Jacob takes the stack of envelopes.

“It’ll only get worse if we indulge them.”

“In a few months they’ll be the only people we know.” Jacob reminds her. “Should probably get used to it.”

Y/N nods, turning her gaze out the window. “The younger we start out in a new place the longer we get to stay.”

“So high school again.” Jacob laughs humorlessly. “Can’t wait.”

“I want to stay in Forks.” Y/N forces out the words. “I want to stay with my Dad.”

“Baby,” Jacob breathes. That’s one thing he can’t give her.

“But it doesn’t matter what I want. Bella has to turn. We have to move on.” Y/N squares her shoulders. “Just let me sulk a little.”

“Sulk away, beautiful.” Jacob takes a bite of scrambled eggs. “Just pass the salt first.”

Series Taglist: @remembered-license @itscheybaby

Part 6

#jacob twilight #jacob black x y/n #jacob black x you #jacob black imagine #jacob black fanfiction #jacob black x reader #jacob black #twilight x you #twilight fanfiction #alice cullen #edward cullen #bella swan #Volturi #charlie swan #billy black

344 notes · View notes

pennyserenade · 3 years

Text

tags: nameless oc x javier peña, nameless oc x javier pena, angst rating: e ( explicit ) warnings: smut, language. word count: 3k+ summary: marriage requires sacrifice; theirs takes a little more than most notes: i definitely did steal the title of this chapter from the original scenes from a marriage and you know what? i’d do it again. anyways, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy this installment! if you want to be tagged in this series, just shoot me a message or fill out my taglist form that’s available on my masterlist (pinned post). original gif by: @javierpcna

the art of sweeping things under the rug

scene two, scenes from a marriage

Wedding bands can vary in weight depending on the sort of week you’re having, she finds. Conveniently light, sometimes--nearly invisible, as if intertwined with oneself--and then, impossibly dense at others. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, she tells herself, but she’s on no throne, and there is no crown. It’s just her and Javi, and the elopement that tied them together.

The ‘70s had faded silently into the ‘80, and it’s easy to feel in love when the future looks promising. Well--maybe promising is too generous of a word for what they had felt then; perhaps uncertain is better. It wasn’t the sort of uncertain that fills one with dread either, the kind that leaves them in the dark with no flashlight. No, it was the uncertainty that felt good; the sort that made them think whatever was offered in the decade they’d not yet painted with plans was going to be great. It was promises of catching Pablo, promises of a promotion, promises of a proper marriage in the country they’d come to love in their own separate and shared ways. It was realists sharing one optimistic view in a world that seemed so void of them, and now, as she sits at the dinner table in her apartment, looking at the thin band on her finger, she wonders if they’d rushed into it

Her mother told her a mal tiempo, buena cara. In bad times, keep a good face. Just grin and bare it, wait for the uneasiness of the life they were living now to trickle into the marriage she anticipated, but she isn’t sure what sort of marriage she was anticipating. She had understood that there were going to be hardships, but she had welcomed them then because she thought they were going to be hardships they would endure together. They weren’t doing a very good job at the together.

It isn’t that she doesn’t love him. She has an unwavering love for him, but the absence of his being in her life has begun to create a festering wound in her heart. She’s torn between asking him to never leave again—to quit it all and stay wrapped in bed with her, pretending the horrors outside of their utopia didn’t exist—and saying nothing at all. Grinning and bearing.

He’s a good man. A great man, actually. He’s gentle, funny. A little too stressed for his own good most of the time, and a bit grumpy until he settles somewhere, but he’s exactly what she needs, and everything that could break her if he so wanted it, too. And she knows he never would want that, but she isn’t sure he knows he can either, because if he did, then he was tiptoeing dangerously close to that line.

Sighing, she shakes her head, dismissing it all.

The afternoon has begun to fade into the evening, and the cool summer wind blows a gentle breeze into her home. Javier said he wouldn’t be working late at the Embassy tonight, and she had told him she’d cook dinner, but the eagerness that had overtaken her then had been worn by the sight of his wedding band on her dresser. It was the thing that made hers seem so heavy. The thing that made her want to cry, really, and it was so silly, but she could not help the angry ball of frustration and confusion that formed at the sigh of it, or the way it had turned into the lump in her throat.

She yearns for the days when it was just fucking—the way they hadn’t exchanged anything personal so nothing could be personal. She misses the way he would call her, flustered, at all hours of the night and the way she’d always open her door for him, and they’d kiss passionately and fuck roughly and explore each other over and over.

But really, she doesn’t want that, either. She doesn’t know what she wants.

She hears the jangle of keys, hears the latch open, but she doesn’t turn to meet him. Instead, she’s lit a cigarette, and she’s staring out the window, looking at how the sun shadows the town. She puffs away at the cigarette and he says nothing when he enters. He just throws his keys on the counter and then moves quietly over to her, hands falling to her tense shoulders. She hates the way she leans into him too; how effortlessly the anger ebbs.

She looks up at him, and he smiles gently. He looks worn, as though he’s fighting something that she won’t learn until the early hours of the morning, when he’s spent from spent from sex and the general excitement that paints all of his days. Javi is interesting in that way—not emotionally stunted, but hesitant.

“You didn’t make dinner?” he asks while pushing her hair away from her neck, pressing his lips there quickly. He nuzzles against her for a beat, taking in her scent, feeling the warmth of her against him in gratitude. He is spent, and he’s wanted nothing more than to come here. Doesn’t even really care that she’s not made him dinner, just said it to hear her.

“I didn’t,” she responds, more softly than she likes. Her heart is tender for him, kind naturally because his being warrants it. She wants to yell, but she can’t because she loves him so goddamn much.

“S’okay,” he mumbles. Javi moves away from her, slipping off his jacket and sitting it on the chair. “We can order something later if you want.”

She nods, putting out the cigarette. “When do you have to go back in?”

“Six tomorrow morning. What about you?”

“I took tomorrow off.”

His eyebrows furrowed, “¿Por qué?”

“Because,” she shrugs. “Only so much depressing material you can write until it starts to wear you down.”

“You know I said—“

She cuts him off. “I don’t want to live off your paycheck. I know what you said but I’m happy doing what I do. Just—“ she pauses, struggling to think. “—not all of us can give our lives over to the cause all the time.”

She meant that, meant that entirely, and knows he feels it by the way his features settle into a look of pure nothingness. Stoned face, giving nothing. She’s sorry for it, but can’t say it. He doesn’t ask for her to.

“Cruelty doesn’t look so good on you, baby,” he tries to tease, but it comes out flat and serious. She bites at her lip, and turns her head to the window, back to the city, trying not to cry.

“Are you angry with me?”

He’s a good detective, isn’t he?

“Javi, I don’t want to fight.”

“You are angry with me.”

She sighs heavily. “No, I’m not.”

“You are, and I wish you’d just say why.”

“It doesn’t even matter, Javi,” she dismisses it with a simple shrug of her shoulders. “You’ve been at work all day and—“

“Is it because I work so much?” he interrupts.

“Goddamnit, Javier, I’m not fucking angry with you!” she shouts. Shouts like she is angry with him. Silence ensues and she wants to crawl in a hole and disappear completely.

“You left your wedding ring,” she admits quietly, half out of remorse, half because she can’t stand the way he’s looked down at the table and not looked back up. Or how he sits like he’s torn between fleeing and staying. “But it really doesn’t matter, and I don’t know why it bothers me so much because I know you...you don’t mean to hurt me.”

“No,” he shakes his head. He still does not look at her, focusing on a line in the table. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Javi, I said it didn’t matter.”

“But it does.” He finally looks up. “It matters if it makes you angry with me. I left it because I forgot, that’s all.”

“I said it doesn’t matter.”

“You never fucking fight me.”

“There’s no reason for it,” she replies.

“There is reason for it.”

“Javi, please. I don’t get you for very long and this is not how I want to spend it.”

“Stop doing that.”

“What?” Confusion paints her features.

“Running from it. Fight with me.”

“Why do you want to fight so fucking bad? When you’d turn into such a fucking masochist.”

She feels that lump in her throat again, feels the way it wants to give way and lets it all go the way he’s requesting. Fills the bitterness creep into her system the way she hates.

“I’m not a masochist,” he replies, “You’ve obviously got shit to say, so say it.”

“Fuck you, Javi,” she chokes, blinking back tears now. She definitely did not want this.

She gets up to move, but he grasps onto her wrist.

“Don’t run away,” he repeats. He’s angry too.

“Let me go,” she spits out spitefully. He has such a loose hold on her that she doesn’t even need his permission to escape from it, but it’s the concept more than anything. He does let go, but she doesn’t move.

“I didn’t want to fight with you.”

Her cheeks begin to heat with anger, and it’s the worst sort of anger, the kind that makes her sob because she can’t contain it. It’s an anger that feels unfair, and she can never beat it; the tears begin to fall rapidly.

Sympathy tugs at his heart; his steely resolution falls as quickly as it has come up. “I know,” he acknowledges. “We’ve got to fight, sometimes, though.”

“I know, but I don’t want to. I only see you two days a week and I don’t want to spend one of them yelling at you,” she confesses. “All I want you, Javi. Is that so much to ask?”

It’s his turn for shame to fill him. He knows why that can’t be—knows it’s because there’s things she can’t know and having her in a building full of DEA agents comprises the both of them. She’s in danger just wearing that wedding band on her finger; God forbid any of those fucking narcs ever found out they were married. He shouldn’t have done it, married her, but he could not help it; a sort of selfishness that was not uncharacteristic had pushed the boundaries within him, and he decided the good outweighed the bad. But, maybe it didn’t.

He stands and envelops her frame in a hug. She sighs into his chest and wraps her arms tightly around him. She only wants to make him happy and to be happy with him. Why did it seem so hard? When this all began, it felt so easy, so nice and now it felt hard.

Javier kisses her softly, just a peck and she feels lighter because of it. As he goes to pull away, she pulls him closer again, pressing their lips together. He responds, a hand resting on her hip and the other on the small of her back, holding her against him. She initiates a deeper kiss, swiping her tongue against his lower lip. They stand like this for a few minutes, kissing and basking in the presence of each other the way they’d both desired.

It is Javi who pulls back from their kiss, needing air and wanting to take it further—just not here. In the beginning of their relationship, when it was just fucking, sex felt something they had to do everywhere; on the couch, on the table, on the counter, in the shower, on the ground, even in front of the window. And they still did that, still let spontaneity sway them, but they’d settled into more comfortable routines too. He liked fucking her in their bed, the one thing they always agreed was undeniably both of theirs wherever it resided. It was their bed so as long as they both fell there to sleep.

He doesn’t even have to speak, just nods his head in the general direction, before she’s tugging him along.

She sits down on the bed and peers up at him, eyes still red from the tears. He feels awful about it, but doesn’t have it in him to say it. Can’t, for some reason. It’s lost between his brain and his tongue, but it finds its way out through the gentle way he presses her onto her back and lets his lips kiss her everywhere. He kisses her face, her lips, then her neck, and then he goes further, pushing her shirt up and pressing his plush lips against the newly exposed flesh. Then he then he’s undoing her pants, kissing the spot where her panties usually begin. He offers her a mischievous grin, and she smiles back at him.

“You really didn’t want to fight, did you?”

She shakes her head. “No, you fuck, I didn’t,” she laughs.

He continues his trail down her body, and she lifts her hips so he can remove her pants. Javier presses his lips on her hips, on the flesh directly above the pubic bone. Then, he presses them on the inside of her thighs, teasingly slow when he gets closer to her core, and she whines out of protest when he spots. Her eyes flicker down to see why, and when her eyes met his, he presses his tongue against her clit. A moan escapes her and she grasps onto the bedspread. Javi is encouraged by this, swiping his tongue against her folds, dipping his tongue into her, tasting her—really, truly admiring every part of her—before pressing his tongue back onto her clit. He begins to suck gently, and she writhes without control beneath him. A trained expert at this now, he anchors her down by wrapping an arm around each thigh, holding them in place.

“Javi—“ she manages to say, just as the tension begins to build in her stomach. “Oh Javi, baby, faster.”

He obliges and she is quick to find her release in a matter of seconds. Javi remains in between her thighs, licking up her arousal. He’s gotten good at this, knows the way she likes it, knows how to do it even when she can’t tell him.

She carts a hand through his hair, tugging gently, and he removes his lips from her finally. Despite her worn state, she’s quick to rise and meet him, uncaring about her arousal on his face as she presses their lips together once more. He kisses her back with more need than he previously had, his jeans feel tighter and more constricting than usual.

“I want to ride you,” she whispers against his lips, and he nods eagerly. Her fingers work at his belt, and then the button of his jeans, hardly making it past the zipper before she slides her hand into his pants and palms his already hard member. He winces against her lips and she can’t help but grin; this is her Javi. This is the marriage she wants.

“Te amo,” she says, beginning to tug at his jeans. He assists her, pushing them down all the way.

“Take off your shirt,” he demands, tugging at the fabric. She obeys him, throwing the shirt in the same place his pants fell, before he tugs her closer to him. A gasp falls from her lips as she mounts him, the warmth of his length agonizing so close to her heat. She reaches between them, lining his cock up to her entrance. Eyes connect as she fills herself with him, and his mouth falls open, desperate to moan but too choked by the feeling of her around him. She moves slowly, not wanting to release the warmth of him yet in favor of forming a steady pace to ride him. Javi, however, is growing increasingly aroused beneath her, and can’t help the way he guides her on his cock. “Please,” he begs, brown eyes dark with desire. She nods, and they move together, her hips following his hands instructions.

“Fuck,” he breathes out, watching the way he slides in and out of her. “I’m not going to last much longer, baby.”

Distracted by her own desire, she merely nods his confession, grinding herself on him until she fills the beginnings of another orgasm, the sweet release inches away. He doesn’t lift her from himself now, wanting to savor this feeling for a few moments longer. “Te amo,” he finally responds back, a deep groan releasing at the way she squeezes around him. She grinds against him, and he lets her, allowing his finger to undo the bra they’d both been too eager to take off as she does. It falls slowly down her chest, and as soon as it exposes her nipple, he’s quick to wrap his mouth around it. This earns a throaty moan from her, and she swears her orgasm isn’t ever going to end.

He pulls the fabric down her arms completely before turning them over, never leaving her once. He is desperate now, denied his orgasm too long, and the heat is pooling viciously in his stomach. He thrusts roughly into her, a whine emitting from her lips when he does, but she lifts her hips to meet him the second time he does it.

“Faster, baby,” she encourages, and he presses his fingers into her hips so hard that he’s certain the skin will bruise as he thrusts into her for the last time.

He slides out of her, and with a few more rough tugs on his cock, he’s releasing on her stomach. He wants to lay beside her, flat and lifeless as his lugs play catch up (it’s the fucking cigarettes, but he can’t stop them), but he resists the urge. He leans towards the bed stand and grabs a handful of tissues, wiping himself and her clean of his cum. She lays still, watching him intently, a soft, appreciative smile embedding in her features.

“I miss you a lot, you know,” she says. He throws the tissues away in the bin across the room, and she takes in his frame; admires the way his back looks, the broadness of his shoulders, even his ass. He’s a good looking man, on top of everything, and she’s happy to be his wife. She just wishes it was easier.

“I do know. I miss you too.”

He slides back into bed, uncaring of his nakedness, and she uncaring of hers. He pulls her bare body against him, and she wraps a leg around her hip. She traces his lips with her finger and he takes her hand, kissing the palm of it.

He loves her, loves her so goddamn much that the guilt of the wedding ring on her dresser eats away at him. It bites and bites because the way he’s so casually lied about why he left it, acted as if it wasn’t deliberate. Doesn’t want to tell he’s afraid they’ll find out if he doesn’t, doesn’t want to have to worry about if she’s okay anymore than he does already. He calls her every night, checks in at the same time so he knows nothing is wrong, and she knows he does this, but there’s a thousand things she doesn’t see. A thousand things he doesn’t want her to see, either, like the way he left the wedding band because he’s afraid or the way he drives past her house every night before he goes to his, just to ensure it’s still there, even though he knows it is. Doesn’t want her to see the anxiety that fills him every time he hears about a bombing or the way he can’t sleep when he goes away. He wants their marriage to be perfectly normal, wants it all to be perfectly normal. Colombia deserves to be a country where marriages don’t feel this hard, and that’s all he wants to give her, but he can’t.

As she lays against him, she can feel the tension in his body, knowing by the way he holds her a little too firmly that he’s thinking about something. She wants to ask about what, but she doesn’t want to spoil the moment.

They’ve both become experts at sweeping things under the rug—at sacrificing—and neither of them knows whether it’s good or not, but they’ll continue to do it. Lie causally in order to protect, not address the pain and disorder, just for moments like this, moments that feel entirely like their own. Moments that make them feel married and dedicated to one another.

This is scene two from a marriage.

tagged: @filthybookworm

#javier peña x oc #javier peña x reader #javier pena x oc #javier pena x reader #javier pena x nameless oc #narcos fanfic #narcos fic

186 notes · View notes

rivalsforlife · 3 years

Text

The AAI Cast Takes On Twitter

Hello! For the release of ace attorney investigations 2 ten years ago, on the official AA twitter account, Capcom posted a bunch of tweets that were made to sound like they came from the characters themselves. You can still find them if you dig far enough, but it’s a bit of a pain to find and especially a pain to understand in English, so I decided to compile them all here and attempt to translate them. (They have also been “localized” in true ace attorney fashion.)

First, a disclaimer: I am absolutely NOT a translator and my understanding of Japanese is abysmal. I put the original tweets through google translate and then went through trying to make them legible, including looking up words and phrases when they didn’t make any sense. As a result, I can’t guarantee that this is completely accurate, and I definitely messed with phrasing a bit to get things to flow better or sound more in character. Hopefully the general gist of things should make sense! I’ll put the original Japanese text below the English one, and if you actually know Japanese and would like to properly translate it, please do so! I just wanted to get this out here as fast as possible.

If you want to view the original tweets, I’ve filtered them (mostly!) here in reverse-chronological order. There are tweets from the game staff at the end that I did not “translate”.

With that said, here are the tweets. (It is long, so most of it is under the cut.) The breaks are things I added that I believe were breaks in time on the actual account, and represent new scenes.

-----

<Edgeworth>: I was told to “tweet” what I usually think about to commemorate the release of “Ace Attorney Investigations 2”... What should I do?

<Kay>: Come on, Mr. Edgeworth! First, you need to introduce yourself!

<Edgeworth>: Oh. Sorry for the late introduction. My name is Miles Edgeworth, a prosecutor at the District Attorney's Office. Kay informed me that this is “Tweeter”.

<Kay>: No! It’s pronounced "Twitter"!

<Edgeworth>: Is it "Tweeter"? I'm not very good at this kind of thing ...

<Kay>: Okay, moving on. Ace Attorney Investigations 2 is about to be released, and Mr. Edgeworth has a lot to say, right?

<Edgeworth>: Mm. Certainly, there are few opportunities like this, so this should be a valuable experience.

<Kay>: Then this Great Thief, Kay Faraday, will teach Mr. Edgeworth the fun of tweeting!

<Edgeworth>: I’m not very interested in that… but alright. More importantly, Kay, do you want to start working soon?

<Kay>: Yes! Then, we can play later!

<Edgeworth>: (Well, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to tweet.)

<Kay>: Mr. Edgeworth ... Your inner voice is in the tweet! Isn't that neat?

<Edgeworth>: Ah! Tweeter… I shouldn’t underestimate it.

-----

<Edgeworth>: It's already 12 o'clock ... I wanted to take a break for lunch, but it seems that I won’t get the chance. The detective just reported a new case. I'm heading to the scene right now.

<Edgeworth>: Detective Gumshoe seems to have been in a hurry. He said he “lost something important”... It’s probably not something to worry about. I should concentrate on the investigation first. It takes a careful investigation to find out the truth hidden in the scene. There are many things that cannot be understood from desk work alone.

<Edgeworth>: I've arrived at the scene. Mm? It seems that some pencils have fallen near the victim.

<Edgeworth>: Search for the connection between information. That is the pursuit of "Logic". Assembling "Logic" is the key to the investigation even in Ace Attorney Investigations 2. “Something lost by Detective Gumshoe” and the “pencil left on the scene” ... There is one answer that can be derived from the two pieces of information.

<Edgeworth>: Detective Gumshoe! It seems that we found your lost pencil. ‥‥ Don’t leave extra evidence on the scene!

<Edgeworth>: Hmm ... Finally, the truth of the scene has come into view. This case will likely be resolved soon.

-----

<Kay>: Good evening! I came to play as promised!

<Gumshoe>: Welcome, Kay!

<Kay>: Huh? Gummy, are you also on Twitter?

<Gumshoe>: It’s popular among my detective friends. As long as my number of followers keeps increasing, I’m happy!

<Edgeworth>: What is a "follower"?

<Gumshoe>: Well, people who read your tweets. To put it simply, it’s like a friend group.

<Kay>: It seems that there are many people who are watching this tweet! Ehehe. That makes me kind of happy!

<Edgeworth>: Hmm. Friend group...? That sounds a little embarrassing, but thank you, followers.

<Kay>: Hmm. I feel that followers and friends are a little different. Well, as long as he’s happy.

<Edgeworth>: Let’s say that tomorrow we’ll spend more time with our followers on Tweeter.

-----

<Gumshoe>: I've been waiting for you, Prosecutor Edgeworth!

<Edgeworth>: Mm. Good morning Detective Gumshoe. It's rare for you to get to court earlier than me.

<Gumshoe>: That’s because I have to set a good example for my followers! I skipped dinner last night so I wouldn't be late.

<Edgeworth>: What does skipping dinner have to do with getting up early?

<Gumshoe>: Well, it sets a “belly clock”, so you wake up at breakfast time!

<Edgeworth>: (There are too many problems with that, and I don't feel like pointing them all out... I’ll just stay silent.)

<Gumshoe>: Mr. Edgeworth ... We can see the tweets of your inner voice, you know…?

<Edgeworth>: It's about time for the court to open. I'm heading into court without any uncertainty today.

-----

<Kay>: Hello everybody! I'm Kay Faraday, also known as the Great Thief Yatagarasu. Fufufu ... I’m actually in the gallery right now! I wanted to see Mr. Edgeworth and Gummy in court, and keep an eye on the enemy!

<Kay>: Oh! Mr. Edgeworth screamed, “Objection!” This is the 5th time today. The other lawyer is sweating now. The judge’s gavel is getting fierce! Eh -- what? “You can’t tweet in the courtroom…?” Hey!

<Kay>: Uh ... I was kicked out of the courtroom. As expected by the new rival of Ace Attorney Investigations 2, Justine Courtney! She seems like a kind judge, but also very observant.

<Kay>: This is an unexpectedly strong enemy! Mr. Edgeworth, are you okay ...?

<Edgeworth>: Kay. What were you doing in the gallery today?

<Gumshoe>: I was surprised to see Kay being kicked out of court!

<Kay>: I didn't think that tweeting was prohibited. As a Great Thief, this is the ultimate mistake!

<Edgeworth>: If you have time to regret breaking the rules of the court, use it to learn a little more about them.

<Kay>: If I had to leave the court anyways, I wanted to have a cooler exit, befitting of a Great Thief!

<Gumshoe>: … I don’t think she regretted breaking the rules.

<Kay>: Anyway! You’ve already finished your work today, right?

<Edgeworth>: Yes, I finished my work in the courtroom today. It looks like we can have a nice holiday.

<Kay>: So, why don’t the three of us go play together! Bowling, karaoke, game centers, etc.!

<Edgeworth>: No ... I'm not very good at such things.

<Gumshoe>: Since it’s Friday night, why don’t we play around and recover from working hard! I think watching movies would be fun!

<Kay>: Yeah, you worked so hard this week! Now, let’s go play!

<Edgeworth>: *sigh*. Whatever I say, it’ll be a waste of time… If we must, at least make it a movie.

-----

<Gumshoe>: This Saturday morning is a nice time for a walk! I sometimes take a walk with Missile to build strength and give him training. As the “partner” of Prosecutor Edgeworth, I want to be useful in Ace Attorney Investigations 2!

<Gumshoe>: When investigating with a metal detector or collaborating with Missile, I will be second to none! Hey, Missile! Hmm? Is a scent bothering you? Aaaaa! Mi-Missile has run away! He must’ve smelled food.

<Gumshoe>: When this happens, I have to rely on the odor to chase after it! This is part of the investigation process! Uh… I lost him right away. When this happens, I have to prepare sweets that Missile likes to lure him in! … I’m so overwhelmed.

<Kay>: It’s a shame to keep Missile as a police dog. He stole away Samurai Dogs from this Great Thief and ate them…! I was trying to eat with Ema.

<Gumshoe>: Sorry about that, pal. By the way, what were you doing together? Collecting fallen leaves…?

<Ema>: We’re grilling Samurai Dogs on this fire we made from scientific chemicals!

<Gumshoe>: Huh. Scientific chemicals, pal…? Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Missile! Do you feel alright?

<Kay>: It’s fine! He ate it before we started the fire.

<Gumshoe>: Oh. I wish I got to have some...

<Edgeworth>: It’s not good to use chemicals to play with fire, Ema. Scientific research is important, but please use moderation.

<Ema>: Yes! Moderation! By the way, are you going somewhere?

<Edgeworth>: Yes. I have some business. ... I don't have much time, so excuse me.

<Kay>: ... Mr. Edgeworth, where are you going?

<Ema>: Fufufu. In this case, we can follow his footsteps! Using the power of science… in moderation!

<Kay>: Alright! Let's follow him… in moderation!

<Gumshoe>: They both have a strange definition of “moderation”...

-----

<Kay>: That overwhelming scale! I think I’m going to cry! That’s a first for an orchestra concert!

<Ema>: The powerful sound of brass instruments and the splendid melody of woodwind instruments! Scientifically speaking, changing between different sounds is what makes music good.

<Edgeworth>: Umm. While I was looking forward to today, I didn't expect you two to follow me.

<Kay>: I wanted to bring Gummy as well, but he had to walk Missile, so he couldn’t come with us.

<Edgeworth>: The detective can still hear the “Ace Attorney Investigations 2 Orchestra Arrangement Collection” CD. You can pre-order one at E-Capcom.

<Ema>: I already pre-ordered it, of course! I’ll also get the 1:10 figure of Mr. Edgeworth!

<Edgeworth>: A 1:10 figure of myself? I don't remember measuring my height, but ...

<Kay>: That's because I stole Mr. Edgeworth's height perfectly!

<Edgeworth>: I'm a little hesitant to say it in the orchestra hall, but let me just say one word.

<Kay>: "Objection!"

<Edgeworth>: Wha…? How did you --!

<Ema>: This must be the famous technique of the Great Thief, stealing the words right out of his mouth! How informative!

-----

<Edgeworth>: I have no plans today, so I will spend my time reading at a nearby coffee shop. Naturally, I want to relax on Sundays.

<Edgeworth>: I’m drinking high-quality black tea in a comfortable sunny place. Today is going to be a good day off.

<Edgeworth>: Speaking of which, the other day, a follower named “Wendy” greeted me here on Tweeter. I don’t know how to return messages, so I haven’t done so yet. Let me thank you here. Ms. Wendy, thank you for following me.

<Oldbag>: E… Edgey-pooooooo! I finally found youuuuuuu!

<Edgeworth>: Gah! What are you doing in this coffee shop ...!?

<Oldbag>: No way, Edgey-poo! Just now, didn’t you say this on Twitter? Didn’t you just say “Ms. Wendy, thank you”? You made this old lady so happy! I just ran around all the coffee shops and searched for you everywhere, Edgey-poo. The power of lo

<Edgeworth>: Do you talk too much to fit on Tweeter? So, “Wendy” was you! No matter how many coffee shops you visit, there’s no way you found me so easily… Are you hiding something?

<Oldbag>: If you say that without evidence, you’d tarnish the title of “prosecutor!” I have nothing to hide from my dearest Edgey-poo!

<Edgeworth>: Hmm… Even without evidence, if I read your reactions and feelings, I can expose the truth while only using my words.

<Oldbag>: Oh, I heard about this, Edgey-poo! Isn’t it called “Logic Chess”? I know everything about you, Edgey-poo!

<Edgeworth>: What do you mean by “I know everything?”

<Oldbag>: You see, it’s because I’m a security guard. Recently, because the whippersnapper who was there before me got fired, I was temporarily guarding the prosecutor’s office. At that time, I just so happened to see your address, Edgey-poo.

<Edgeworth>: …………… I didn’t even need to pull out information, and you’re already telling me the answer!

<Oldbag>: Oh. It was a slip of the tongue. I thought I would get to see Logic chess.

<Edgeworth>: Well, could you see it in Ace Attorney Investigations 2? Please excuse me, I have very important business to attend to.

<Oldbag>: You mentioned that you have no business today! Today, I will never let you go!

-----

<Edgeworth>: Ngh… That was quite the disaster today.

<Edgeworth>: I was too careful just because it was a holiday. I was neglecting my remarks and wasn’t vigilant of those around me ...

<Edgeworth>: Mm? Now “Tweeter” is showing something from “Wendy”. … “Sorry. - Wendy.” … I’m not going to respond to that!

-----

<Gumshoe>: Prosecutor Edgeworth, did you hear? Agent Lang is coming from the Republic of Zheng Fa!

<Edgeworth>: Hm. Is he also involved in an international case? I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to him for long the last time. If I have time, I’ll go greet him.

<Gumshoe>: The last incident was a difficult one. I couldn’t talk much with Agent Lang’s subordinates, either.

<Gumshoe>: There are 100 people who know about it.

<Edgeworth>: If you tried to talk to everyone, the sun would set before you did.

<Gumshoe>: To be honest, I gave up trying to remember my own face and name.

<Edgeworth>: That’s just being lazy!

-----

<Lang>: Yo, Mr. Prosecutor. It's strange to see you in a place like this.

<Edgeworth>: It's been a long time, Agent Lang. I never thought we would meet again at a restaurant like this.

<Lang>: I just happened to see this place while I was looking for somewhere I could go alone.

<Edgeworth>: Alone ...? That’s unusual for you. Aren’t you usually with your subordinates?

<Lang>: Well… Lang Zi says: “To know the feelings of a lone wolf, you should leave the pack.” Sometimes I do things on my own.

<Edgeworth>: Is that so? However, I see a contradiction right there on your table.

<Lang>: Hah! Is that the prosecutor’s famous “deduction”?

<Edgeworth>: For someone eating alone, you ordered a lot of “platters”, which seem to serve over twenty people.

<Lang>: Arooooooo! ‥‥Oops. It seems I have a habit of ordering too much. If you don’t mind, Mr. Prosecutor, would you take a little?

<Edgeworth>: It seems that you’re not very good at acting alone.

-----

<Kay>: Eh? Agent Lang’s coming here again?

<Edgeworth>: Ah, yes. Unlike before, though, it seems like he’s acting alone for some reason.

<Kay>: Isn’t that because it’s difficult to sneak around with too many people? It’s an important rule for a Great Thief!

<Edgeworth>: He is an “international investigator”, not a “Great Thief”. … Anyway, he seemed to come to this country for some purpose.

<Kay>: Then, we might meet him again at a crime scene.

<Edgeworth>: Even if we both desire to pursue the truth, our paths often run counter to each other. If I meet him in the field, we may argue.

<Kay>: That’s nice. I also want a rival that will change me as a person! Ahh… I wonder if they’re out there… the rival who wants to hunt down the Great Thief!

<Edgeworth>: If you want to be arrested so badly, ask Detective Gumshoe.

<Kay>: Ugh! You just don’t get it!

-----

<Kay>: It's finally February!

<Edgeworth>: Oh. So it is...

<Gumshoe>: I'm looking forward to February 3rd!

<Gumshoe>: At our police station, we will sow beans for the bean-throwing festival! February 3rd is a precious day when you can eat soybeans for free!

<Kay>: Every year, I challenge myself with how many beans I can throw! “Out with the demons, in with the fortune, and in with the Great Thief’s treasure!”

<Edgeworth>: Did you forget the most important thing?

<Kay>: I was just kidding! Of course I remember what’s happening February 3rd!

<Gumshoe>: There is no reason to forget the release date of Ace Attorney Investigations 2!

<Edgeworth>: Mm ... I hope.

-----

<Edgeworth>: It’s three days before the game goes on sale. I hope the followers look forward to it as well.

<Edgeworth>: Investigating in winter is necessary, even if it’s cold, and you can’t catch a cold before the game goes on sale. Ergo, please take proper measures against the cold.

<Edgeworth>: Speaking of which, Detective Gumshoe wears the same coat all year round. Doesn’t that get cold? Ah… maybe it’s just that his salary is too low to buy anything else.

<Edgeworth>: ……… Should I invite Detective Gumshoe for dinner? What little I know about his eating habits worries me. I don’t think he’d eat instant noodles in winter…

<Edgeworth>: There is a handmade udon restaurant near the prosecutor's office. The taste is satisfying for a reasonable price. ‥‥‥‥‥‥ Though, when it comes to inviting Detective Gumshoe, I shouldn’t limit myself to just noodles.

<Edgeworth>: Mm. I tweeted that it was only 3 days before the game’s release, but it was 2 days. I worked all night in the office yesterday. It seems my sense of time has gone haywire.

<Edgeworth>: What I tweeted then was contradictory… Pardon me. Thank you, followers who pointed that out.

---

<Gumshoe>: This pork roast is delicious! This is my first one of the year!

<Edgeworth>: Detective Gumshoe. Stop eating while tweeting!

<Gumshoe>: I've been eating only plain pasta this year. I couldn’t help myself!

<Kay>: I could, but I still tweeted!

<Edgeworth>: It may not be instant ramen, but his eating habits are always in crisis.

<Gumshoe>: Ugh... every time I make a mistake while investigating, the cost of living becomes a crisis.

<Kay>: But the one who is in the most danger right now is Mr. Edgeworth, isn't it? I saw it in a commercial! He’s having his “biggest crisis!”

<Gumshoe>: I heard it too ... What kind of mistake did you make, sir?

<Edgeworth>: Don’t compare me to you! I don’t know what it is, but I’m not afraid of any crisis. No matter what happens, I simply do what I think is right.

<Kay>: As expected of Mr. Edgeworth! Well, you can always count on this Great Thief to help you in an emergency!

<Gumshoe>: Of course, I will help too! If you want to manage your living expenses in a crisis, sir, just leave it to me!

<Edgeworth>: First, could you try helping me as a detective?

-----

<Kay>: By the way, Mr. Edgeworth, what kind of person is your father?

<Edgeworth>: … Why would you suddenly ask such a question?

<Kay>: I just asked Mr. Shields. He said your father was a very good person! I also respect my dad, so I was a little curious about yours.

<Edgeworth>: When I was a child, he was someone I highly respected, and… the kind of man I aspired to be.

<Kay>: Huh? Is it different now?

<Edgeworth>: ……… About that… It’s difficult to explain. If you want to know the answer, please wait until tomorrow.

<Kay>: I see! The answer is hidden in Ace Attorney Investigations 2. I’ll be sure to steal the truth about Mr. Edgeworth!

-----

<Kay>: Gummy! Please decorate it from the right side!

<Gumshoe>: Here it is! Oh no, the decoration fell!

<Edgeworth>: What are you doing in my office in the middle of my workday?

<Gumshoe>: I’m off duty, but since today’s the eve of the release date, I’m preparing a party!

<Kay>: It's almost time to tweet! Mr. Edgeworth, please work and just ignore us!

<Edgeworth>: If you truly want that, then please stop climbing on my desk. … I’ll finish work soon, so please wait until then.

<Kay>: Eh! Are you going to help us?

<Edgeworth>: I would like to celebrate.

<Gumshoe>: That’s helpful, sir! Then, I’ll be sitting on the sofa and waiting until it’s time!

<Edgeworth>: ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Just wait in the corridor.

-----

<Gumshoe>: Cheers for the release of Ace Attorney Investigations 2!

<Edgeworth>: Hmm ... This party for the eve of the release is rather nice.

<Kay>: Ehehe. Tomorrow, we’ll give it our all!

<Edgeworth>: Umm. Thank you very much.

<Kay>: This is the last of our tweets ... It's a little regrettable.

<Edgeworth>: But I’m glad I had this opportunity to directly express my gratitude for the week. Those who were watching our tweets… let me thank you again.

<Gumshoe>: I still have something to talk about, but we’re already out of time!

<Kay>: But the eve of the release has only just begun! After this, you can talk to the development staff of “Ace Attorney Investigations 2” directly!

<Gumshoe>: Oh! Is that the plan?

<Kay>: I’m certain, because it’s information I stole from Capcom! It seems like it will start around 18:00!

<Edgeworth>: I do have a lot to ask, but let's leave that to the followers. Well then, excuse us for now.

<Edgeworth>: If you have any questions for the development staff, please quickly send them in!

------

Translation notes first:

The localized foods are as follows:

dorayaki -> Samurai Dogs (since Missile also has a habit of eating those, though I don’t believe the original was dorayaki?)

somen -> instant ramen

katsudon -> pork roast

shirataki -> plain pasta

The “bean-throwing festival” is Setsubun, a festival where you toss soybeans and eat some in order to toss out bad luck and bring in good luck (to my understanding, please correct me if I’m wrong). What Kay said (minus the Great Thief part) is one translation of a phrase you shout while throwing the beans. I obviously gave up on trying to localize this.

------

Original Japanese (minus breaks):

〈ミツルギ〉：『逆転検事２　発売直前記念』として、私が日頃思っていることを“つぶやく”ように言われたのだが‥‥どうすればいいのだろうか？

〈ミクモ〉：ダメですよミツルギさん！まずは自己紹介からしないと！

〈ミツルギ〉：ム。紹介が遅れてすまない。私の名前は御剣怜侍、地方検事局で検事をしている。ミクモくんに教えてもらったのだが、これが“ついたー”というものなのだな。

〈ミクモ〉：違いますよ！“ツイッター”ですってば！

〈ミツルギ〉：“ついったー”か。こういったアレは、あまり得意ではないのだが‥‥。

〈ミクモ〉：まあまあ。逆転検事２も発売間近ですし、ミツルギさんも言いたいこといっぱいあるでしょ？

〈ミツルギ〉：ム。確かにこういった機会は少ないから貴重ではあるな。

〈ミクモ〉：それじゃ、この大ドロボウ・一条美雲ちゃんが、つぶやく面白さをミツルギさんに教えちゃいますよー！

〈ミツルギ〉：そちらはあまり興味がないが‥‥まあいいだろう。それよりミクモくん。そろそろ仕事を始めたいのだが？

〈ミクモ〉：はーい！　それじゃ、また後で遊びに来ますね！

〈ミツルギ〉：（まあ、気になったことがあれば気軽につぶやくとするか）

〈ミクモ〉：ミツルギさん‥‥。心の声がつぶやきに出てますよ！興味津々じゃないですか！

〈ミツルギ〉：なッ！ついったー‥‥あなどれんな。

〈ミツルギ〉：もう１２時か‥‥優雅にランチといきたいところだが、そうもいかないようだ。先ほど刑事から新たな事件の報告が入ったのでな。いま、現場に向かっているところだ。

〈ミツルギ〉：イトノコギリ刑事は、“大事な物をなくした”と慌てていたようだが‥‥どうせたいした物ではないだろう。いまは捜査に集中するべきだ。現場に隠された真実を知るには、入念な捜査を必要とする。デスクワークだけでは分からないことも多いのだ。

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥現場に到着だ。ム？被害者の近くに“えんぴつ”が落ちているようだな。

〈ミツルギ〉：情報同士の共通点を探す。それこそが《ロジック》を追うということだ。逆転検事２でも《ロジック》を組み立てることが捜査の重要なカギを握っている。現場に残された“えんぴつ”と“イトノコギリ刑事がなくした物”‥‥２つの情報から導き出せる答えは１つ。

〈ミツルギ〉：イトノコギリ刑事！キミが無くしたというえんぴつが見つかったようだ。‥‥現場に余計な証拠品を残さないように。

〈ミツルギ〉：ふむ‥‥‥‥ようやく現場の真実が見えてきた。この事件は早急に解決できそうだ。

〈ミクモ〉：こんばんわ！約束通り遊びにきましたよ！

〈イトノコ〉：いらっしゃいッス！ミクモちゃん！

〈ミクモ〉：あれ？ノコちゃんもツイッターやってるんだ？

〈イトノコ〉：刑事仲間の間でも流行ってるッスよ。フォロワーもどんどん増えて、うれしい限りッス！

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥“フォロワー”とは何なのだろうか？

〈イトノコ〉：えーと。自分のつぶやきを読んでくれる人たちのことッス。簡単に説明すると“トモダチの輪”って感じッスかねえ。

〈ミクモ〉：このつぶやきを見てくれている人たちも、たくさんいるみたいですよ！えへへ。なんだかうれしいですね！

〈ミツルギ〉：ふむ。トモダチの輪‥‥か。少々恥ずかしくもあるが、ありがたいことだな。

〈ミクモ〉：うーん。フォロワーとトモダチとはちょっと違うような気もしますケド‥‥。ま。喜んでいるみたいなのでいいや！

〈ミツルギ〉：明日も“ついったー”で、フォロワーに恥じぬ時間を過ごすとしよう。

〈イトノコ〉：お待ちしてたッスよ！御剣検事！

〈ミツルギ〉：ム。おはようイトノコギリ刑事。私よりはやく裁判所に着くとはめずらしいな。

〈イトノコ〉：フォロワーのみんなに、カッコ悪いとこを見せられないッスからね！遅刻しないように、昨夜は夕飯を抜いておいたッスよ。

〈ミツルギ〉：夕飯を抜くのと早起きをするのに、何の関係があるというのだ。

〈イトノコ〉：すさまじい“腹時計”で、朝ご飯の時間に目覚めることが出来るッス！

〈ミツルギ〉：（問題が多すぎて、指摘する気にもなれん。‥‥ここはあえて黙っているとしよう）

〈イトノコ〉：御剣検事‥‥。心の声のつぶやきが自分にも見えるの、分かってやってるッスよね‥‥？

〈ミツルギ〉：そろそろ開廷の時間だ。余計なセンサクをしていないで、法廷に向かうぞ。

〈ミクモ〉：みなさんこんにちは！大ドロボウ・ヤタガラスこと一条美雲です。ふっふっふ‥‥実はいま、傍聴席にいるんですよ！敵情視察も兼ねて、ミツルギさんとノコちゃんの法廷姿を見ておこうと思って！

〈ミクモ〉：あ！ミツルギさんがまた『異議あり！』って叫んでる！今日はこれで５回目ですねー。相手の弁護士さんも汗だらだら流してますよ。裁判官の木槌も激しくなってます！えーとなになに？“法廷内でのつぶやきは却下しま‥‥す？”え。ちょ、ちょっと！

〈ミクモ〉：ううう‥‥‥‥法廷内から追い出されちゃいました。さすがは逆転検事２の新ライバル“水鏡　秤”さん！優しそうな裁判官だと思ってユダンしていました。

〈ミクモ〉：これは思わぬ強敵ですよ！ミツルギさん、大丈夫かなあ‥‥？

〈ミツルギ〉：ミクモくん。今日は一体傍聴席で何をしていたのだ。

〈イトノコ〉：法廷から追い出されるミクモちゃんを見て、ビックリしたッスよ！

〈ミクモ〉：まさかつぶやきが禁止とは思いませんでした‥‥。大ドロボウとして、一生の不覚です！

〈ミツルギ〉：後悔するヒマがあるのなら、法廷のルールについてもう少し学んでおきたまえ。

〈ミクモ〉：どうせ退廷させられるのなら、もっとカッコ良く立ち去りたかったです！大ドロボウとしては！

〈イトノコ〉：‥‥そっちで後悔しているとは思わなかったッス。

〈ミクモ〉：それはともかく！　今日はもうお仕事終わりなんですよね？

〈ミツルギ〉：今日の法廷で仕事は一段落ついたからな。気持ちよく休日をむかえられそうだ。

〈ミクモ〉：せっかくだから、いまから３人で遊びに行きましょうよ！ボーリングとかカラオケとか‥‥ゲームセンターとか！

〈ミツルギ〉：いや‥‥私はそういったものはあまり得意ではないのだが。

〈イトノコ〉：まあまあ。金曜日の夜はパーッと遊んで、仕事の疲れを癒すものッスよ！映画とかもいいッスねえ！

〈ミクモ〉：今週もお仕事お疲れ様でした！さあさあ。遊びに行きましょう！

〈ミツルギ〉：まったく。いまのキミたちには何を言ってもムダのようだな。‥‥せめて、映画にしてくれたまえ。

〈イトノコ〉：土曜日の朝は散歩日和ッスねえ！ミサイル。体力作りとミサイルの訓練も兼ねて、たまに一緒に散歩してるッスよ。御剣検事の“パートナー”として、逆転検事２では自分も役に立ちたいッスからね！

〈イトノコ〉：金属探知機を使った捜査やミサイルとの連携なら、誰にも負けないッス！ねー。ミサイル！ん？何か気になるニオイでもあるッスか？ああああッ！ミ、ミサイルが走って行っちまったッス！ミサイルは食べ物のニオイがすると突っ走っちゃうッスよ。

〈イトノコ〉：こうなったら自分もニオイを頼りに追いかけるしか！こっちも捜査のプロッスからね！うぅ‥‥‥‥‥‥さっそく見失っちまったッス。こうなったら、ミサイルが好きなお菓子を用意しておびきよせるッス！‥‥本末転倒な気もするッスけど‥‥。

〈ミクモ〉：警察犬にしておくには惜しいですね、ミサイル。まさか大ドロボウから“どら焼き”を盗み食いするなんて‥‥！せっかく、あかねちゃんと２人で食べようとしてたのになあ。

〈イトノコ〉：おどろかせてすまねッス。ところで、さっきは２人で何をしてたッスか？落ち葉をこんなに集めて‥‥。

〈アカネ〉：ヒゾウのカガク薬品でおこした火を利用して、あったか～い “焼きどら焼き”を作ろうかと！

〈イトノコ〉：え。カガク薬品ッスか‥‥？ミミミミミサイル！お腹の調子は悪くないッスか！

〈ミクモ〉：大丈夫だよ！火をおこす前に食べられちゃったから。

〈イトノコ〉：ほっ。だったら良かったッス。

〈ミツルギ〉：ぜんぜん良くないだろう。カガク薬品を使って、公共の場で火遊びなど。あかねさん。カガクの研究は大事ですが、ほどほどにしていただきたい。

〈アカネ〉：はい！ほどほどにします！ところで、どこかにお出かけですか？

〈ミツルギ〉：ええ。少し用事がありまして‥‥。あまり時間がないので、失礼します。

〈ミクモ〉：‥‥ミツルギさん、どこに行くんだろうね？

〈アカネ〉：ふっふっふ。そんなときは足跡を辿ればいいんですよ！ほどほどにカガクの力を使って！

〈ミクモ〉：よーし！ほどほどに尾行しましょう！

〈イトノコ〉：２人とも‥‥ほどほどの使い方がおかしい気がするッス。

〈ミクモ〉：あの圧倒的なスケール！涙なしには語れません！オーケストラコンサートなんて初めてです！

〈アカネ〉：金管楽器の力強い音と、木管楽器の華麗な旋律！音のカガク変化を起こすことで、音楽は作られているんですね‥‥。

〈ミツルギ〉：うム。この日を楽しみにしていたかいがあったというものだ。‥‥まさか、キミたちまでついてくるとは思わなかったがな。

〈ミクモ〉：ノコちゃんにも聞かせてあげたかったな−。ミサイルの散歩があるから、一緒に来られなかったんですよね。

〈ミツルギ〉：刑事には、サウンドトラックＣＤ「オーケストラ・アレンジ楽曲集　〜奏でられし逆転〜」を聞かせるとしよう。いまからでもイーカプコンで予約出来るだろう。

〈アカネ〉：あたしはもちろん予約済みです！御剣検事さんの“1/10フィギュア”もバッチリゲットしますよ！

〈ミツルギ〉：私の1/10フィギュア？身長などを測られた覚えはないが‥‥。

〈ミクモ〉：そりゃもう、わたしがミツルギさんの情報をバッチリ盗んでおきましたからね！

〈ミツルギ〉：オーケストラホールで言うのはいささかためらわれるが‥‥一言だけ、言わせていただこう。

〈ミクモ〉：“異議あり！”‥‥ってね！

〈ミツルギ〉：な‥‥なぜキミが言うのだ！

〈アカネ〉：これが有名な大ドロボウの技“言葉を盗む”ですね。勉強になります！

〈ミツルギ〉：今日は特に予定が入っていない。近くの喫茶店で読書をして過ごすとしよう。‥‥さすがに、日曜日ぐらいは落ち着いて過ごしたいからな。

〈ミツルギ〉：心地よい日の当たる場所で、上質の紅茶を飲む‥‥。今日は良い休日になりそうだ。

〈ミツルギ〉：そういえば、先日“カオルさん”というフォロワーから、ついったーでアイサツされたのだが‥‥。アイサツを返す方法が分からなかったので、まだ返せていないのだ。ここで改めて礼を言わせていただこう。カオルさん、フォローしていただき感謝する。

〈オバチャン〉：ミ‥‥ミッちゃぁああん！やっと見つけたよぉおおお！

〈ミツルギ〉：ぐッ！ど、どうしてあなたがこの喫茶店に‥‥！

〈オバチャン〉：やだよミッちゃん！こないだこのツイッターとやらでアイサツしたじゃないか。さっきも“カオルさん、感謝する。”って言ってくれただろう？オバチャンうれしくなっちゃってねえ。ついついそこいらの喫茶店を巡ってミッちゃんを探しちまったのさ。愛のチカラっ

〈ミツルギ〉：は、早口すぎて“ついーと”におさまっていないではないか！しかも、“カオルさん”とは‥‥‥‥あなたのことだったのか！いくら喫茶店を巡ったといっても、こんなにカンタンに見つかるワケはない。‥‥何か隠していることがあるのではないか？

〈オバチャン〉：ミッちゃんったら、証拠もないのにそんなこと言っちゃ検事の名がすたれちゃうよ！オバチャンがミッちゃんに隠し事なんてするわけないじゃないのサ！

〈ミツルギ〉：フッ‥‥証拠品がなくとも、あなたの反応や感情を読み取り“言葉のみ”で真実を引き出してみせよう。

〈オバチャン〉：ああ。それならオバチャンも聞いたよ、ミッちゃん！《ロジックチェス》っていうヤツだろ？オバチャン、ミッちゃんのことなら何でも知ってるんだからね！

〈ミツルギ〉：“何でも知っている？”‥‥とはどういうことだろうか？

〈オバチャン〉：ほら。オバチャン警備員だからさ。このあいだ、前に勤めてた子がクビになったっていうから臨時で検事局の警備をしてたんだヨ。そのときにミッちゃんの住所がたまたま目に入っちゃってサ。

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥‥‥こちらから情報を引き出すまでもなく、自分で答えを言っているではないか！

〈オバチャン〉：あら。つい口が滑っちまったヨ。せっかくロジックチェスが見られると思ったのに残念だねえ。

〈ミツルギ〉：そ、それは逆転検事２で見ていただけないだろうか。私は用事があるので失礼する！

〈オバチャン〉：今日は用事がないってつぶやいてたじゃないか！今日という今日は、オバチャン絶対に逃がさないヨッ！

〈ミツルギ〉：く‥‥今日はさんざんな目にあった。

〈ミツルギ〉：休日だからといって気を抜きすぎていたな。自分の発言や周囲の警戒を怠っていたとは‥‥。

〈ミツルギ〉：ム？また“カオルさん”から私あてに“ついーと”が来ているな。『残念無念　カオル』‥‥と言われても、断じて誘いに乗るつもりはない！

〈イトノコ〉：御剣検事、聞いたッスか？ロウ捜査官が西鳳民国から来ているみたいッスよ！

〈ミツルギ〉：ほう。また国際的な事件に関わっているのだろうか。彼とはあまりゆっくり話す機会が無かったからな。時間があればアイサツぐらいは行くとしよう。

〈イトノコ〉：前回の事件は大変だったッスからねー。自分も、ロウ捜査官の部下の皆さんとはあんまり話せなかったッス。

〈イトノコ〉：なんせ知ってるだけでも１００名はいるッスからねえ。

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥全員と話そうとすれば、日が暮れてしまうだろうな。

〈イトノコ〉：正直、顔と名前を覚えるのもあきらめたッス。

〈ミツルギ〉：すべてをあきらめているではないか！

〈ロウ〉：よう。検事さん。こんなところで会うとはキグウだな。

〈ミツルギ〉：久しぶりだな、ロウ捜査官。まさか、このような飲食店で再会するとは思わなかったが。

〈ロウ〉：どっか１人で落ち着ける店を探してたら、たまたまここが目に入ったんでな。

〈ミツルギ〉：１人‥‥？キミにしてはめずらしいではないか。いつもの部下たちは一緒ではないのだろうか？

〈ロウ〉：まあな‥‥。狼子、曰く！“単独犯の気持ちを知るには、群れを離れるべし”ってな。オレだって１人になるときはあるさ。

〈ミツルギ〉：ほう？だが、それにしてはキミのテーブルにはムジュンがあるようだ。

〈ロウ〉：ハッ！検事さんお得意の“推理”ってやつかい？

〈ミツルギ〉：１人で食べるにしては、注文した料理は“大皿”ばかりで、量はどう見ても２０人以上に見えるのだが？

〈ロウ〉：うおおおッ！‥‥しまった。いつものクセでつい頼みすぎちまったようだ。よければ検事さん、少しもらってくれねえか？

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥１人で行動するのは、あまり得意ではないようだな。

〈ミクモ〉：ええ！ロウさん、またこっちに来てるんですか？

〈ミツルギ〉：ああ。以前と違い、なぜか１人で行動していたようだ。

〈ミクモ〉：それは、やっぱり大人数だと忍び込むのが難しくなるからじゃないですか？大ドロボウの鉄則です！

〈ミツルギ〉：彼は“国際捜査官”だろう。‥‥なんにせよ、彼には目的があってこの国に来ているようだったな。

〈ミクモ〉：それじゃ、また現場で会うかもしれませんねー。

〈ミツルギ〉：真実を追い求める気持ちは同じでも、時にはぶつかることもある。もし現場で出会うことがあれば、戦うことになるかもしれないな。

〈ミクモ〉：いいなあ。わたしも自分を高めてくれるようなライバルが欲しいです。ハア‥‥どこかにいないかなあ。大ドロボウを追い詰める好敵手！

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥逮捕されたいのなら、イトノコギリ刑事にでも頼みたまえ。

〈ミクモ〉：もう！そういうことじゃないんです！

〈ミクモ〉：ようやく２月になりましたね！

〈ミツルギ〉：ああ。いよいよだな‥‥。

〈イトノコ〉：２月３日が楽しみッス！

〈イトノコ〉：ウチの警察署で��、節分の豆まきをやるッス！２月３日は、タダで大豆が食べられる貴重な日ッスよ！

〈ミクモ〉：わたしは毎年、投げられる豆をどれだけ受け取れるか挑戦してるんですよ！“鬼は外、福は内、大ドロボウは盗み”って感じで！

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥一番大事なことを、忘れているのではないだろうか？

〈ミクモ〉：冗談ですってば！２月３日といえば、もちろんアレですよね！

〈イトノコ〉：逆転検事２の発売日を忘れるワケないッス！

〈ミツルギ〉：ム‥‥ならばいいのだが。

〈ミツルギ〉：発売まであと３日。フォロワーの方々も楽しみに待っていてくれたまえ。

〈ミツルギ〉：冬場の捜査は、寒くてかなわないな‥‥。発売前に風邪を引くわけにはいかん。しっかり防寒対策をしなければな。

〈ミツルギ〉：そういえば、イトノコギリ刑事は年中同じコートを着ているが、寒くないのだろうか‥‥。ああ‥‥単に、給与が下がりすぎて買えないだけかもしれないな。

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥‥‥夕食はイトノコギリ刑事でも誘うとするか。彼の食生活は、はた目から見ていても不安になる。まさか冬にそうめんを食べていることはないだろうが‥‥。

〈ミツルギ〉：検事局の近くに手打ちのうどん屋がある。リーズナブルな値段の割に、味も満足のいくものだ。‥‥‥‥いかん。イトノコギリ刑事を誘うとなると、ついつい麺類にばかり考えがいってしまうな。

〈ミツルギ〉:ム。さきほど発売まであと３日とつぶやいたのだが、発売日はあさって‥‥あと２日だったか。昨夜は、執務室で徹夜仕事だったのでな。日付の感覚が狂ってしまったようだ。

〈ミツルギ〉:私としたことが、つぶやきが“ムジュン”していたとは‥‥失礼した。指摘してくれたフォロワーの方、感謝する。

〈イトノコ〉：カツ丼美味いッスぅううう！今年初めてのトンカツッスよ！

〈ミツルギ〉：イトノコギリ刑事。つぶやきながら食べるのはやめたまえ！

〈イトノコ〉：自分、今年は水炊き鍋で“しらたき”ばかり食べてたッスからねー。

思わず叫んじまったッス！

〈ミクモ〉：叫んだんじゃなく、つぶやきですけどね！

〈ミツルギ〉：ソーメンではなかったが、彼の食生活はいつも危機的状況だな。

〈イトノコ〉：うう‥‥捜査で失敗するたびに、生活費がピンチになるッスからね‥‥。

〈ミクモ〉：でも、いま一番危機が迫っているのは、ミツルギさんのほうなんじゃ？

ＣＭで見ましたよ！“最大のピンチ”だって。

〈イトノコ〉：自分も聞いたッスよ‥‥。いったい、どんな失敗をしちゃったッスか！

〈ミツルギ〉：キミと一緒にしないでくれたまえ！

身に覚えはないが‥‥ピンチを恐れていても仕方がないだろう。

私は、自分の信じる道を行くだけだ。

〈ミクモ〉：さっすがミツルギさん！いざとなったらわたしも力を貸しますからね。大ドロボウとして！

〈イトノコ〉：もちろん自分もッス！ピンチな時の生活費のやりくりならお任せッス！

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥せめて、刑事として力を貸してもらえないだろうか。

〈ミクモ〉：そういえば。ミツルギさんのお父さんって、どんな人なんですか？

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥なぜ、いきなりそんな質問を？

〈ミクモ〉：さっき信楽さんに聞いたんですよ。ミツルギさんのお父さんは、すごく立派な人だったって！わたしもお父さんを尊敬してたから、ちょっと気になっちゃって。

〈ミツルギ〉：幼い頃の私にとっては、尊敬すべき相手であり‥‥目標でもあった。

〈ミクモ〉：あれ？いまは違うんですか？

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥‥‥どうだろうな。一言で説明するのは難しい。この答えを知りたいのならば、明日まで待ってくれたまえ。

〈ミクモ〉：なるほど！逆転検事２に真実が隠されている‥‥と。ミツルギさんの真実、私が盗んじゃいますよ！

〈ミクモ〉：ノコちゃん！そっちの飾りは、もっと右よりでお願い！

〈イトノコ〉：こっちッスね！あ、飾りが落ちたッス！

〈ミツルギ〉：昼間から、人の執務室で何をしているのだ。

〈イトノコ〉：今日は非番ッスからね！明日の発売日に向けて、前夜祭の準備をしてるッスよ！

〈ミクモ〉：そろそろ、つぶやく時間もなくなって来ましたからね！

ミツルギさんは気にせず仕事をしててください！

〈ミツルギ〉：そう思うのなら、机の上にのぼるのはやめていただきたい。

‥‥もう少しで仕事が片付くから、それまで待っていたまえ。

〈ミクモ〉：え！ミツルギさんも手伝ってくれるんですか？

〈ミツルギ〉：私とて祝いたい気持ちはあるのだ。

〈イトノコ〉：助かるッス！

それじゃ時間までソファーに座って待ってるッスよ！

〈ミツルギ〉：‥‥‥‥‥‥廊下で遊んでいてくれないだろうか。

〈イトノコ〉：逆転検事２発売に向けて、乾杯ッス！

〈ミツルギ〉：フッ‥‥前夜祭というのも良いものだな。

〈ミクモ〉：えへへ。明日には、わたしたちのカツヤクをお見せできるんですね！

〈ミツルギ〉：うム。感慨深いモノがあるな。

〈ミクモ〉：わたしたちのつぶやきも、これで最後になるんですね‥‥ちょっと名残惜しいです。

〈ミツルギ〉：だが一週間のあいだ、このような機会をいただけて良かった。直接、感謝を伝えることが出来るのだからな。私たちのつぶやきを見ていた方々。‥‥あらためて礼を言わせていただこう。

〈イトノコ〉：まだまだ話したいことはあるッスけど、もう時間ッスからね！

〈ミクモ〉：でも、まだ前夜祭は始まったばかりですよ！なんと！このあと「逆転検事２」の開発スタッフに直接質問ができちゃうんです！

〈イトノコ〉：へえ！そんな企画があるッスか！

〈ミクモ〉：カプコンから盗んできた情報だから、確実ですよ！１８時ぐらいから始まるそうです！

〈ミツルギ〉：私としても聞きたいことはたくさんあるのだが‥‥そこはフォロワーの方々に任せるとしよう。それでは、私たちはこれで失礼する。

〈ミツルギ〉：開発スタッフに聞きたいことがあれば、どんどん追及してくれたまえ！

#ace attorney #aai2 #(no spoilers though!)#miles edgeworth #kay faraday #detective gumshoe #my posts #really hoping there isn't some egregious error in there hahaha!#also hoping someone appreciates it half as much as I do #but even if no one does this was fun to look at

270 notes · View notes

mxtxsblog · 3 years

Text

Untamed did XY dirty

I love Untamed, I really do. Unpopular opinion: I love love love almost all the changes from the novel. WWX having the same body? Inspired (and MDZS cheated about it: in most adaptations WWX's and MX's body are so similar the audience can't disintiguish them!). The bit about WWX falling, LWJ trying, JC stabbing (but not really)? A piece of art. Demonic cultivation as black smoke? Yes baby!

JC and WQ? Genius.

WWX tenderly wiping away JC's tears in the climax? I want to scream (WWX and JC's relationship is my second favorite one, just after XueXiao). And I love the changes about Yi City quartet! XY appearing early and being a force of demonic cultivation? Sweet. XXC not being so driven to arrest him? Yay. XY dying with a smile remembering XXC? Babies. But I really really really hate the change about XY's tragic backstory. It really changes everything about XY and I simply ignore it (and so usually does fandom, so yay!). Why? Because XY's backstory is divided into two parts, and the division is essential.

(As usual, I wish I had more time and energy to dedicate to this meta, but sadly I can't).

From the start, XY doesn't make it a mystery he grew up beaten up. Because that's not the point, not really. Then XY decides to share a bit with AQ and XXC, and it's the sad story of a child without parents nor money who loves sweets but can't eat them. Of course sweets are a symbol of food, a home, a family, kindness, happiness, everything baby XY (he's only 7 years old!!!) doesn't have. It's noted that child XY is strangely naive and trusting (they call him dim-witted!). So even in his poor situation, he conserved a trust in the world and its justice. (And I think this particular is key to WHX's belief that XY has a good nature). So a man asks XY to do a task, in exchange of some sweets. XY does it (and he's happy to earn the pastries! He doesn't even think about stealing them or anything!), and he's harshly beaten (twice!) because of it, injustly. The story ends for the moment, XY lets out the most important part (and XXC feels that the story is unfinished). Then everything happens. And XY tries to share the last part to XXC. And yes, that's the really important part. XY runs in Chang Cian and, with an innocence impressive for a child in his situation, tells him what happened. He doesn't understand yet, he thinks there was a mistake ("he felt both frustrated and happy"). Surely Chang Cian didn't send a poor innocent child to be beaten for fun. But Chang Cian beats him too, and denies him his pastries. XY tries to stop him, and Chang Cian decides to strike him in the face with a whip and runs him over with his charriot. That's the important part of the story, that's the thing who destroyed and shaped XY. It's not about his little finger (but of course his mutilated hand is a eternal remind of what's happened!). It's not about physical suffering: living poor, alone, homeless, in the streets, XY must had already met many bad people (he himself says that he was beaten a lot as a child). (Although I can concede that the excrucing pain of a crushed hand, obviously not treated, was the worst pain XY had ever felt, with painful and lasting consequences.) It's about hurting a child for one's amusement. It's about tormenting him without any care. As he was a stray dog, a broken toy. It's about being manipulated and hurt simply because a person is rich, is gentry, is powerful. (And also normal people, the man, the waiter, the driver, hurt him without any care. I think that's essential for XY loss of trust in anyone, and his disgust with people in general). If Chang Cian was simply a person who denied a begging child few pastries, if he was simply a cruel man who beated a child, he wouldn't have earned XY's revenge. But XY hates him, not the waiter, not the other man. Why? Because Chang Cian chose him to amuse himself with his pain, with his shattered hopes. XY did everything right, did what was asked of him, and was cruelly hurt for it. And when XY tried to stand up, to demand his recompense, he was hurt even worse. "Is it that, since the fingers weren’t yours, you guys were incapable of feeling the pain?! You guys didn’t know how horrifying screams sounded like out of your own mouths? Why didn’t you ask him why he decided to amuse himself with me without a single reason?!" And of course nobody helped him. Not the waiter, not the driver of the charriot, not the people. Nobody cared about a starving nobody. And it's this cruelty, this abusing of an innocent child's trust, who broke XY. So yes, the backstory in Untamed about a man who denied a homeless child's begging for sweets and run him over, while tragic, lacks the most important part. The things that set Chang Cian apart from all the other people who hurt a homeless child. "A man sat on a table inside the shop. as he saw the child, he gestured for him to come over." XY wasn't bothering him in any way. The man just saw a poor defenseless child and decided to hurt him and be cruel without any care. And yes, I can't forgive The Untamed for this. So in all my meta XY's backstory is MDZS's one. Because the other one really doesn't make sense and lacks the

original's complexity and brutality (also, XXC gives XY candies even in The Untamed, so it makes more sense if the story was told). Last but not least: they robbed us of XY sharing the first part of his story around the fire. Eternal shame on them. Of course in my meta that scene happened. Strangely enough, they originally also cut XY's incredibly complicated smile at XXC by the fire. Maybe they didn't know how the audience would have reacted to XY, who from what I can see he's a popular but deeply divisive character. So they couldn't decide how much sympathetic they wanted to present him? (Similar to Loki's case, in truth). So in the end: don't let Untamed fools you, XY's backstory is tragic and deep. And it's not about physical hurt, but the shattering of a child's trust in the world.

(Also, XY knows and hates that cultivators and people in general don't care about powerful people abusing poor nobodies. Ghosts and monsters? Political conquests? Of course, but rich powerful people hurting defenseless children? Ahahah, no.)

In short: XY is a woobie destroyer of worlds and that's really sexy of him.

Also, the world fully earned his enmity.

Also, I want all the AUs where somebody is kind to this child and nurses him back to health. As consequence, magic ancient China loses a killer and gains a bloody defensor of starving children, eater of the rich, rogue demoniac cultivator.

#xue yang #xuexiao #meta #the untamed

70 notes · View notes

vargaslovinghours · 3 years

Text

Vargas Playlist Part II (Part I)

Honey I’m Home - GHOST

Final Chapter - Snake City

Empty - Boyinaband & Jaiden Animations

Beauty and the Beast - Disney (covered by Chase Holfelder)

I want you to want me - Cheap Trick (covered by Chase Holfelder)

Toxic - Britney Spears (covered by Casey Beeves)

Devil’s Backbone - The Civil Wars

Stand by You - Rachel Platten

Monster - KIRA (covered by Aruvn)

Kitchen Fork - Jack Conte

The Mind Electric - Miracle Musical

Manipulate - Nathan Sharp

(And more talking under the cut)

Honey I’m Home

Religious imagery and familial rejection and abuse ahoy! I’ve already doodled Scriabin with a moth chained to his hand (and Moth Edgar lol), but he obviously suits the spider just as well. The droning repetition suits Edgar too, especially since it’s centered around repression of thoughts and wants. That vivisection could be a lot of things, “Done by God for all to see” makes me tempted to pin it to Scriabin and Edgar’s separation.

Final Chapter

I mentioned briefly in my first set of tags that I liked this song for juuuust After Scriabin gets his own body. “For a second let’s forget and pretend” feels very much like how they want to act, they want to have what they had even though they never can again - “Never thought we’d come to an end” is the first line! Wanting to hold each other, like nothing happened; especially Edgar, but Scriabin too. I think it could pair well with You Can’t Live Like This as well, they’re trying so hard not to turn that page!

Empty

Like I said the first time I mentioned this song, I’m still a little conflicted including such a personal song, but there are so many weirdly appropriate lines that it feels unavoidable to add it to my list. Since it talks about a voice arriving, it lines up almost perfectly with their relationship before they started being weird about each other, terribly hate filled. “Fill up on water and shame” and “Convince myself I’m in control and it’s not all the voice that makes me sick” especially stick out to me, as well as “empty” as a theme, Edgar’s mindscape is so blank! (Also if you watch the behind the scenes, there’s red yarn which is weird :0)

Beauty and the Beast

Well that’s a bit obvious, isn’t it lol. I only really started to consider it because of the minor key though, the way the tone twists and shifts with the new notes and mixing, ah it’s lovely. I especially like the way “Barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly” hits, they’re always surprising each other! Bittersweet and strange indeed.

I want you to want me

Yet more minor key covers, yay. I was originally going to tie this one to mainfic, most specifically Edgar’s desire to get home from work to see Scriabin heh, but now there’s some interesting new layers with Manual Override, especially Scriabin trying to convince Edgar and himself. Scriabin is Scriabin no matter what though, so he’s always going to push for what he wants, in every context!

Toxic

A bit on the nose perhaps ♪ I think my mind was wandering while I was thinking about Once Again and it landed just long enough on this song to desperately want to give it a relisten, and whoops ♪ For whatever reason, Edgar drinking from “the Devil’s cup” really stood out as a strong image to me, either from his visit to Hell or redirecting those feelings onto Scriabin. Somehow this version really gives the vibe of them fully permeating each other, hateful and desiring and hard to pick apart.

The Devil’s Backbone

On recommendation, I have indeed added this one to my personal playlist! I was surprised, I’m usually so picky with my music but I could not stop listening to it. It fits Edgar/Nny so well! That said, I can see Scriabin stealing a line as well now, “Somewhere between a hangman’s knot and three mouths to feed” with Edgar’s new life situation of Nny’s threat of death and living with Scriabin and Todd. The bridge is still completely Edgar tho, that absolute desperation is so good.

Stand By You

Ngl, I almost cried listening and recontextualizing this one, the line “If your wings are broken, borrow mine so yours can open” just- agh. Also they never got to walk through Hell together so it only half works but I’ll take it! Probably especially relevant to the final chapter of You Can’t Live Like This, their little discussion sitting on the floor, pledging their lives to each other again fdjsalkfdsf

Monster

I can’t but imagine a bouncy Scriabin gloating about how he was made, “Feed me your negativity, talk some more about me ♪” Too bad it’s Monster rather than Demon eh! “I see how you’re going crazy, always thinkin’ ‘bout me” works rather well too, there’s a lot of lines that suit him! He’s so insufferable haha. The bridge is quite good too, “It could’ve been so different between us, then you went and messed everything up.” He’s always blaming Edgar!

Kitchen Fork

I’ve wanted something of Jack Conte’s for a while now, there’s so much chaotic energy in all his songs. I feel like this one and Bloody Nose both really suit Violation, there’s a really lovely disjointed energy, though I think Kitchen Fork works more generally. “Wake from the scar” and “Save us from our own two heads” are both really great lines for Edgar especially, and the rising violins are so unnerving.

The Mind Electric

I drew to this one quite early but it wasn’t until I started thinking about it a bit harder that I realized just how well it works, especially with Diaryfic/Hospitalfic. Much like with Stay, I can imagine this one working well as an animatic, it’s all very evocative of imagery. Would Scriabin be the “Lord” or would the doctors? Hmm. “Doctor, I can’t tell if I’m not me” continues to be a great line for both of them.

Manipulate

Nate needs to stop with making literally every song so adaptable, I can’t keep giving away my heart like this. Another song that switches POV from verse to verse, starting with Edgar and then with Scriabin: “Find somebody else to call your home.” “You stab me in the back and then you make demands! You say it’s only you? I got another plan.” “Maybe you could torture someone else.” “Maybe I don’t have the strength to follow you Hell.” I cry okay. I can’t just list all the lyrics, they’re all too good.

#💟#I basically have enough songs in my Tentative pile that I could make a part 3 almost immediately but mmmmm #This one took long enough lol I had all the songs picked out literally days after Manipulate was first published #Months!! Darn focus |P #I think that only one that really has an argument is Fear and Delight by the Correspondents since it's moved off and on that list thrice #At first I was like ''Maybe?'' and then I was like ''Nah'' but then Once Again came out and I was like ''Perhaps???'' Lol #Anyway #Yet more YT links! Enjoy the jankiness ♪#I relistened to all of them again and some of the imagery goodness me #I kinda can't believe it took me this long to start adding minor key covers to my list lol #Minor key gives great spooky vibes I would've thought I'd pick that out immediately but nope #Also tangentially related - the YT channel that introduced me to Final Chapter - Philosophy Tube - helped me push past a writing block #Might be seeing something related to that soooon :P #Some of her videos tho honestly I'm just like ''Oh I guess I'm thinking about Vargas now didn't expect that from a philosophy video''#It's happened at least a couple times now lol

15 notes · View notes

grigori77 · 3 years

Text

Movies of 2021 - My Pre-Summer Favourites (Part 2)

The Top Ten:

10. ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE – one of the undisputable highlights of the Winter-Spring period has to be the long-awaited, much vaunted redressing of a balance that’s been a particular thorn in the side of DC cinematic fans for over three years now – the completion and restoration of the true, unadulterated original director’s cut of the painfully abortive DCEU team-up movie that was absolutely butchered when Joss Whedon took over from original director Zack Snyder and then heavily rewrote and largely reshot the whole thing. It was a somewhat painful experience to view in cinemas back in 2017 – sure, there were bits that worked, but most of it didn’t and it wasn’t like the underrated Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, which improves immensely on subsequent viewings (especially in the three hour-long director’s cut). No, Whedon’s film was a MESS. Needless to say fans were up in arms, and once word got out that the finished film was not at all what Snyder originally intended, a vocal, forceful online campaign began to restore what quickly became known as the Snyder Cut. Thank the gods that Warner Bros listened to them, ultimately taking advantage of the intriguing alternative possibilities provided by their streaming service HBO Max to allow Snyder to present his fully reinstated creation in its entirety. The only remaining question, of course, is simply … is it actually any good? Well it’s certainly much more like BVS:DOG than Whedon’s film ever was, and there’s no denying that, much like the rest of Snyder’s oeuvre, this is a proper marmite movie – there are gonna people who hate it no matter what, but the faithful, the fans, or simply those who are willing to open their minds are going to find much to enjoy here. The damage has been thoroughly patched, most of the elements that didn’t work in the theatrical release having been swapped out or reworked so that now they pay off BEAUTIFULLY. This time the quest of Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck) and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) to bring the first iteration of the Justice League together – half-Atlantean superhuman Arthur Curry/the Aquaman (Jason Momoa), lightning-powered speedster Barry Allan/the Flash (Fantastic Beasts’ Ezra Miller) and cybernetically-rebuilt genius Victor Stone/Cyborg (relative newcomer Ray Fisher) – not only feels organic, but NECESSARY, as does their desperate scheme to use one of the three alien Mother Boxes (no longer just shiny McGuffins but now genuinely well-realised technological forces that threaten cataclysm as much as they provide opportunity for miracles) to bring Clark Kent/Superman (Henry Cavill) back from the dead, especially given the far more compelling threat of this version’s collection of villains. Ciaran Hinds’ mocapped monstrosity Steppenwolf is a far more palpable and interesting big bad this time round, given a more intricate backstory that also ties in a far greater ultimate mega-villain that would have become the DCEU’s Thanos had Snyder had his way to begin with – Darkseid (Ray Porter), tyrannical ruler of Apokolips and one of the most powerful and hated beings in the Universe, who could have ushered the DCEU’s now aborted New Gods storyline to the big screen. The newer members of the League receive far more screen-time and vastly improved backstory too, Miller’s Flash getting a far more pro-active role in the storyline AND the action which also thankfully cuts away a lot of the clumsiness the character had in the Whedon version without sacrificing any of the nerdy sass that nonetheless made him such a joy, while the connective tissue that ties Momoa’s Aquaman into his own subsequent standalone movie feels much stronger here, and his connection with his fellow League members feels less perfunctory too, but it’s Fisher’s Cyborg who TRULY reaps the benefits here, regaining a whole new key subplot and storyline that ties into a genuinely powerful tragic origin story, as well as a far more complicated and ultimately rewarding relationship with his scientist father, Silas Stone (the great Joe Morton). It’s also really nice to see Superman handled with the kind of skill we’d expect from the same director who did such a great job (fight me if you disagree) of bringing the character to life in two previous big screen instalments, as well as erasing the memory of that godawful digital moustache removal … similarly, it’s nice to see the new and returning supporting cast get more to do this time, from Morton and the ever-excellent J.K. Simmonds as fan favourite Gotham PD Commissioner Jim Gordon to Connie Nielsen as Diana’s mother, Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira and another unapologetic scene-stealing turn from Jeremy Irons as Batman’s faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth. Sure, it’s not a perfect movie – the unusual visual ratio takes some getting used to, while there’s A LOT of story to unpack here, and at a gargantuan FOUR HOURS there are times when the pacing somewhat lags, not to mention an overabundance of drawn-out endings (including a flash-forward to a potential apocalyptic future that, while evocative, smacks somewhat of overeager fan-service) that would put Lord of the Rings’ The Return of the King to shame, but original writer Chris Terrio’s reconstituted script is rich enough that there’s plenty to reward the more committed viewer, and the storytelling and character development is a powerful thing, while the action sequences are robust and thrilling (even if Snyder does keep falling back on his over-reliance on slow motion that seems to alienate some viewers), and the new score from Tom Holkenborg (who co-composed on BVS:DOJ) feels a far more natural successor than Danny Elfman’s theatrical compositions. The end result is no more likely to win fresh converts than Man of Steel or Batman Vs Superman, but it certainly stands up far better to a critical eye this time round, and feels like a far more natural progression for the saga too. Ultimately it’s more of an interesting tangential adventure given that Warner Bros seem to be stubbornly sticking to their original plans for the ongoing DCEU, but I can’t help hoping that they might have a change of heart in the future given just how much better the final product is than any of us had any right to expect …

9. SYNCHRONIC – writer-director duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are something of a creative phenomenon in the science-fiction and fantasy indie cinema scene, crafting films that ensnare the senses and engage the brain like few others. Subtly insidious conspiracy horror debut Resolution is a sneaky little chiller, while deeply original body horror Spring (the film that first got me into them) is weird, unsettling and surprisingly touching, but it was breakthrough sleeper hit The Endless, a nightmarish time-looping cosmic horror that thoroughly screws with your head, that really put them on the map. Needless to say it’s led them to greater opportunities heading into the future, and this is their first film to really reap the benefits, particularly by snaring a couple of genuine stars for its lead roles. Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan) are paramedics working the night shift in New Orleans, which puts them on the frontlines when a new drug hits the streets, a dangerous concoction known as Synchronic that causes its users to experience weird localised fractures in time that frequently lead to some pretty outlandish deaths in adults, while teenage users often disappear entirely. As the situation worsens, the pair’s professional and personal relationships become increasingly strained, compounded by the fact that Steve is concealing his recent diagnosis of terminal cancer, before things come to a head when Dennis’ teenage daughter Brianna (Into the Badlands’ Ally Ioannides) vanishes under suspicious circumstances, and it becomes clear to Steve that she’s become unstuck in time … this is as mind-bendingly off-the-wall and spectacularly inventive as we’ve come to expect from Benson and Moorhead, another fantastically original slice of weirdness that benefits enormously from their exquisitely obsessive attention to detail and characteristically unsettling atmosphere of building dread, while their character development is second to none, benefitting their top-notch cast no end. Mackie is typically excellent, bringing compelling vulnerability to the role that makes it easy to root for him as he gets further out of his depth in this twisted temporal labyrinth, while Dornan invests Dennis with a painfully human fallibility, and Ioannides does a lot with very little real screen time in her key role as ill-fated Brianna. The time-bending sequences are suitably disorienting and disturbing, utilising pleasingly subtle use of visual effects to further mess with your head, and the overall mechanics of the drug and its effects are fiendishly crafted, while the directors tighten the screw of slowburn tension throughout, building to a suitably offbeat ending that’s as devastating as anything we’ve seen from them so far. Altogether this is another winning slice of genre-busting weirdness from a filmmaking duo who deserve continued success in the future, and I for one will be watching eagerly.

8. WITHOUT REMORSE – I’m a big fan of Tom Clancy, to me he was one of the ultimate escapist thriller writers, and whenever a new adaptation of one of his novels comes along I’m always front of the line to check it out. The Hunt For Red October is one of my favourite screen thrillers OF ALL TIME, while my very favourite Clancy adaptation EVER, the Jack Ryan TV series, is, in my opinion, one of the very best Original shows that Amazon have ever done. But up until now my VERY FAVOURITE Clancy creation, John Clark, has always remained in the background or simply absent entirely, putting in an appearance as a supporting character in only two of the movies, tantalising me with his presence but never more than a teaser. Well that’s all over now – after languishing in development hell since the mid-90s, the long-awaited adaptation of my favourite Clancy novel, the origin story of the top CIA black ops operative, has finally arrived, as well as a direct spin-off from distributor Amazon’s own Jack Ryan series. Michael B. Jordan plays John Kelly (basically Clark before he gained his more famous cover identity), a lethally efficient, highly decorated Navy SEAL whose life is turned upside down when a highly classified operation experiences deadly blowback as half of his team is assassinated in retaliation, while Kelly barely survives an attack in which his heavily pregnant wife is killed. With the higher-ups unwilling the muddy the waters while scrambling to control the damage, Kelly, driven by rage and grief, takes matters into his own hands, embarking on a violent personal crusade against the Russian operatives responsible, but as he digs deeper with the help of his former commanding officer, Lt. Commander Karen Greer (Queen & Slim’s Jodie Turner-Smith), and mid-level CIA hotshot Robert Ritter (Jamie Bell), it becomes clear that there’s a far more insidious conspiracy at work here … in the past the Clancy adaptations we’ve seen tend to be pretty tightly reined-in affairs, going for a PG-13 polish that maintains the intellectual fireworks but still tries to keep the violence clean and relatively family-friendly, but this was never going to be the case here – Clark has always been Jack Ryan’s dark shadow, Clancy’s righteous man without the moral restraint, and a PG-13 take never would have worked, so going for an unfettered R-rating is the right choice. Jordan’s Kelly/Clark is a blood-soaked force of nature, a feral dog let off the leash, bringing a brutal ferocity to the action that does the literary source proud, tempered by a wounded vulnerability that helps us to sympathise with the broken but still very human man behind the killer; Turner-Smith, meanwhile, regularly matches him in the physical stakes, jumping into the action with enthusiasm and looking damn fine doing it, but she also brings tight control and an air of pragmatic military professionalism that makes it easy to believe in her not only as an accomplished leader of fighting men but also as the daughter of Admiral Jim Greer, while Bell is arrogant and abrasive but ultimately still a good man as Ritter; Guy Pearce, meanwhile, brings his usual gravitas and quietly measured charisma to proceedings as US Secretary of Defence Thomas Clay, and Lauren London makes a suitably strong impression during her brief screen time to make her absence keenly felt as Kelly’s wife Pam. The action is intense, explosive and spectacularly executed, culminating in a particularly impressive drawn-out battle through a Russian apartment complex, while the labyrinthine plot is intricately crafted and unfolds with taut precision, but then the screenplay was co-written by Taylor Sheridan, who here reteams with Sicario 2 director Stefano Sollida, who’s also already proven to be a seasoned hand at this kind of thing, and the result is a tense, knuckle-whitening suspense thriller that pays magnificent tribute to the most compelling creation of one of the best authors in the genre. Amazon have signed up for more with already greenlit sequel Rainbow Six, and with this directly tied in with the Jack Ryan TV series too I can’t help holding out hope we just might get to see Jordan’s Clark backing John Krasinski’s Ryan up in the future …

7. RAYA & THE LAST DRAGON – with UK cinemas still closed I’ve had to live with seeing ALL the big stuff on my frustratingly small screen at home, but at least there’s been plenty of choice with so many of the big studios electing to either sell some of their languishing big projects to online vendors or simply release on their own streaming services. Thank the gods, then, for the House of Mouse following Warner Bros’ example and releasing their big stuff on Disney+ at the same time in those theatres that have reopened – this was one movie I was PARTICULARLY looking forward to, and if I’d had to wait and hope for the scheduled UK reopening to occur in mid-May I might have gone a little crazy watching everyone else lose it over something I still hadn’t seen. That said, it WOULD HAVE been worth the wait – coming across sort-of a bit like Disney’s long overdue response to Dreamworks’ AWESOME Kung Fu Panda franchise, this is a spellbinding adventure in a beautifully thought-out fantasy world heavily inspired by Southeast Asia and its rich, diverse cultures, bursting with red hot martial arts action and exotic Eastern mysticism and brought to life by a uniformly strong voice cast dominated by actors of Asian descent. It’s got a cracking premise, too – 500 years ago, the land of Kumandra was torn apart when a terrible supernatural force known as the Druun very nearly wiped out all life, only stopped by the sacrifice of the last dragons, who poured all their power and lifeforce into a mystical gem. But when the gem is broken and the pieces divided between the warring nations of Fang, Heart, Spine, Tail and Talon, the Druun return, prompting Raya (Star Wars’ Kelly Marie Tran), the fugitive princess of Heart, to embark on a quest to reunite the gem pieces and revive the legendary dragon Sisu in a desperate bid to vanquish the Druun once and for all. Moana director Don Hall teams up with Blindspotting helmer Carlos Lopez Estrada (making his debut in the big chair for Disney after helping develop Frozen), bringing to life a thoroughly inspired screenplay co-written by Crazy Rich Asians’ Adele Kim which is full to bursting with magnificent world-building, beautifully crafted characters and thrilling action, as well as the Disney prerequisites of playful humour and tons of heart and soul. Tran makes Raya an feisty and engaging heroine, tough, stubborn and a seriously kickass fighter, but with true warmth and compassion too, while Gemma Chan is icy cool but deep down ultimately kind of sweet as her bitter rival, Fang princess Namaari, and there’s strong support from Benedict Wong and Good Boys’ Izaac Wang as hard-but-soft Spine warrior Tong and youthful but charismatic Tail shrimp-boat captain Boun, two of the warm-hearted found family that Raya gathers on her travels. The true scene-stealer, however, is the always entertaining Awkwafina, bringing Sisu to life in wholly unexpected but thoroughly charming and utterly adorable fashion, a goofy, sassy and sweet-natured bundle of fun who grabs all the best laughs but also unswervingly champions the film’s core messages of peace, unity and acceptance in all things, something which Raya needs a lot of convincing to take to heart. Visually stunning, endlessly inventive, consistently thrilling and frequently laugh-out-loud funny, this is another solid gold winner once again proving that Disney can do this kind of stuff in their sleep, but it’s always most interesting when they really make the effort to create something truly special, and that’s just what they’ve done here. As far as I’m concerned, this is one of the studio’s finest animated features in a good long while, and thoroughly deserving of your praise and attention …

6. THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES – so what piece of animation, you might be asking, could POSSIBLY have won over Raya as my animated feature of the year so far? After all, it would have to be something TRULY special … but then, remember Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse? Back in 2018, that blew me away SO MUCH that it very nearly became my top animated feature of THE PAST DECADE (only JUST losing out, ultimately, to Dreamworks’ unstoppable How to Train Your Dragon trilogy). When I heard its creators, the irrepressible double act of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs), were going to be following that up with this anarchic screwball comedy adventure, I was VERY EXCITED INDEED, a fervour which was barely blunted when its release was, inevitably, indefinitely delayed thanks to the global pandemic, so when it finally released at the tail end of the Winter-Spring season I POUNCED. Thankfully my faith was thoroughly rewarded – this is an absolute riot from start to finish, a genuine cinematic gem I look forward to going back to for repeated viewings in the near future, just to soak up the awesomeness – it’s hilarious to a precision-crafted degree, brilliantly thought-out and SPECTACULARLY well-written by acclaimed Gravity Falls writer-director Mike Rianda (who also helms here), injecting the whole film with a gleefully unpredictable, irrepressibly irreverent streak of pure chaotic genius that makes it a affectionately endearing and utterly irresistible joyride from bonkers start to adorable finish. The central premise is pretty much as simple as the title suggests, the utterly dysfunctional family in question – father Rick (Danny McBride), born outdoorsman and utter technophobe, mother Linda (Maya Rudolph), much put-upon but unflappable even in the face of Armageddon, daughter Katie (Broad City co-creator Abbi Jacobson), tech-obsessed and growing increasingly estranged from her dad, and son Aaron (Rianda himself), a thoroughly ODD dinosaur nerd – become the world’s only hope after naïve tech mogul Mark Bowman (Eric Andre), founder of PAL Labs, inadvertently sets off a robot uprising. Cue a wild ride comedy of errors of EPIC proportions … this is just about the most fun I’ve had with a movie so far this year, an absolute riot throughout, but there’s far more to it than just a pile of big belly laughs, with the Mitchells all proving to be a lovable bunch of misfits who inspire just as much deep, heartfelt affection as they learn from their mistakes and finally overcome their differences, becoming a better, more loving family in the process, McBride and Jacobson particularly shining as they make our hearts swell and put a big lump in our throat even while they make us titter and guffaw, while the film has a fantastic larger than (virtual) life villain in PAL (Olivia Colman), the virtual assistant turned megalomaniacal machine intelligence spearheading this technological revolution. Much like its Spider-Man-shaped predecessor, this is also an absolutely STUNNING film, visually arresting and spectacularly inventive and bursting with neat ideas and some truly beautiful stylistic flair, frequently becoming a genuine work of cinematic art that’s as much a feast for the eyes as it is the intellect and, of course, the soul. Altogether then, this is definitely the year’s most downright GORGEOUS film so far, as well as UNDENIABLY its most FUN. Lord and Miller really have done it again.

5. P.G. PSYCHO GOREMAN – the year’s current undeniable top guilty pleasure has to be this fantastic weird, thoroughly over-the-top and completely OUT THERE black comedy cosmic horror that doesn’t so much riff on the works of HP Lovecraft as throw them in a blender, douse them with maple syrup and cayenne pepper and then hurl the sloppy results to the four winds. On paper it sounds like a family-friendly cutesy comedy take on Call of Cthulu et al, but trust me, this sure ain’t one for the kids – the latest indie horror offering from Steven Kostanski, co-creator of the likes of Manborg, Father’s Day and The Void, this is one of the weirdest movies I’ve seen in years, but it’s also one of the most gleefully funny, playing itself entirely for yucks (frequently LITERALLY). Mimi (Nita Josee-Hanna) and Luke (Owen Myre) are a two small-town Canadian kids who dig a big hole of their backyard, accidentally releasing the Arch-Duke of Nightmares (Matthew Ninaber and the voice of Steven Vlahos), an ancient, god-tier alien killing machine who’s been imprisoned for aeons in order to protect the universe from his brutal crusade of death and destruction. To their parents’ dismay, Mimi decides to keep him, renaming him Psycho Goreman (or “P.G.” for short) and attempting to curb his superpowered murderous impulses so she can have a new playmate. But the monster’s original captors, the Templars of the Planetary Alliance, have learned of his escape, sending their most powerful warrior, Pandora (Kristen McCulloch), to destroy him once and for all. Yup, this movie is just as loony tunes as it sounds – Kostanski injects the film with copious amounts of his own outlandish, OTT splatterpunk extremity, bringing us a riotous cavalcade of bizarrely twisted creatures and mutations (brought to life through some deliciously disgusting prosthetic effects work) and a series of wonderfully off-kilter (not to mention frequently off-COLOUR) darkly comic skits and escapades, while the sense of humour is pretty bonkers but also generously littered with nuggets of genuine sharply observed genius. The cast, although made up almost entirely of unknowns, is thoroughly game, and the kids particularly impress, especially Josee-Hanna, who plays Mimi like a flamboyant, mercurial miniature psychopath whose zinger-delivery is clipped, precise and downright hilarious throughout. There are messages of love conquering all and the power of family, both born and made, buried somewhere in there too, but ultimately this is just 90 minutes of wonderful weirdness that’s sure to melt your brain but still leave you with a big dumb green when it’s all over. Which is all we really want from a movie like this, right?

4. SPACE SWEEPERS – all throughout the pandemic and the interminable lockdowns, Netflix have been a consistent blessing to those of us who’ve been craving the kind of big budget blockbusters we have (largely) been unable to get at the cinema. Some of my top movies of 2020 were Netflix Originals, and they’ve continued the trend into 2021, having dropped some choice cuts on us over the past four months, with some REALLY impressive offerings still to come as we head into the summer season (roll on, Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead!). In the meantime, my current Netflix favourite of the year so far is this phenomenal milestone of Korean cinema, lauded as the country’s first space blockbuster, which certainly went big instead of going home. Writer-director Jo Sung-hee (A Werewolf Boy, Phantom Detective) delivers big budget thrills and spills with a bombastic science-fiction adventure cast in the classic Star Wars mould, where action, emotion and fun characters count for more than an admittedly simplistic but still admirably archetypical and evocative plot – it’s 2092, and the Earth has become a toxic wasteland ruined by overpopulation and pollution, leading the wealthy to move into palatial orbital habitats in preparation for the impending colonisation of Mars, while the poor and downtrodden are packed into rotting ghetto satellites facing an uncertain future left behind to fend for themselves, and the UTS Corporation jealously guard the borders between rich and poor, presided over by seemingly benevolent but ultimately cruel sociopathic genius CEO James Sullivan (Richard Armitage). Eking out a living in-between are the space sweepers, freelance spaceship crews who risk life and limb by cleaning up dangerous space debris to prevent it from damaging satellites and orbital structures. The film focuses on the crew of sweeper vessel Victory, a ragtag quartet clearly inspired by the “heroes” of Cowboy Bebop – Captain Jang (The Handmaiden’s Kim Tae-ri), a hard-drinking ex-pirate with a mean streak and a dark past, ace pilot Kim Tae-ho (The Battleship Island’s Song Joong-ki), a former child-soldier with a particularly tragic backstory, mechanic Tiger Park (The Outlaws’ Jin Seon-Kyu), a gangster from Earth living in exile in orbit, and Bubs (a genuinely flawless mocapped performance from A Taxi Driver’s Yoo Hae-jin), a surplus military robot slumming it as a harpooner so she can earn enough for gender confirmation. They’re a fascinating bunch, a mercenary band who never think past their next paycheque, but there’s enough good in them that when redemption comes knocking – in the form of Kang Kot-nim (newcomer Park Ye-rin), a revolutionary prototype android in the form of a little girl who may hold the key to bio-technological ecological salvation – they find themselves answering the call in spite of their misgivings. The four leads are exceptional (as is their young charge), while Armitage makes for a cracking villain, delivering subtle, restrained menace by the bucketload every time he’s onscreen, and there’s excellent support from a fascinating multinational cast who perform in a refreshingly broad variety of languages. Jo delivers spectacularly on the action front, wrangling a blistering series of adrenaline-fuelled and explosive set-pieces that rival anything George Lucas or JJ Abrams have sprung on us this century, while the visual effects are nothing short of astounding, bringing this colourful, eclectic and dangerous universe to vibrant, terrifying life; indeed, the world-building here is exceptional, creating an environment you’ll feel sorely tempted to live in despite the pitfalls. Best of all, though, there’s tons of heart and soul, the fantastic found family dynamic at the story’s heart winning us over at every turn. Ultimately, while you might come for the thrills and spectacle, you’ll stay for these wonderful, adorable characters and their compelling tale. An undeniable triumph.

3. JUDAS & THE BLACK MESSIAH – I’m a little fascinated by the Black Panther Party, I find them to be one of the most intriguing elements of Black History in America, but outside of documentaries I’ve never really seen a feature film that’s truly done the movement justice, at least until now. It’s become a major talking point of the Awards Season, and it’s easy to see why – director Shaka King is a protégé of Spike Lee, and together with up-and-coming co-screenwriter Wil Berson he’s captured the fire and fervour of the Party and their firebrand struggle for racial liberation through force of arms, as well as a compelling portrait of one of their most important figures, Fred Hampton, the Chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the BPP and a powerful political activist who could have become the next Martin Luther King or Malcolm X. Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya is magnificent in the role, effortlessly holding your attention in every scene with his laconic ease and deceptively friendly manner, barely hinting at the zealous fire blazing beneath the surface, but the film’s true focus is the man who brought him down, William O’Neal, a fellow Panther and FBI informant placed in the Chapter to infiltrate the movement and find a way for the US Government to bring down what they believed to be one of the country’s greatest internal threats. Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You, Knives Out) delivers a suitably complex performance as O’Neal, perfectly embodying a very clever but also very desperate man walking a constant tightrope to maintain his cover in some decidedly wary company, but there’s never any real sense that he’s playing the villain, Stanfield largely garnering sympathy from the viewer as we’re shamelessly made to root for him, especially once he starts falling for the very ideals he’s trying to subvert – it’s a true star-making performance, and he even holds his own playing opposite Kaluuya himself. The rest of the cast are equally impressive, Dominique Fishback (Project Power, The Deuce) particularly holding our attention as Hampton’s fiancée and fellow Panther Akua Njeri, as does Jesse Plemmons as O’Neal’s idealistic but sympathetic FBI handler Roy Mitchell, while Martin Sheen is the film’s nominal villain in a chillingly potent turn as J. Edgar Hoover. This is an intense and thrilling film, powered by a tense atmosphere of pregnant urgency and righteous fury, but while there are a few grittily realistic set pieces, the majority of the fireworks on display are performance based, the cast giving their all and King wrestling a potent and emotionally resonant, inescapably timely history lesson that informs without ever slipping into preachy exposition, leaving an unshakable impression long after the credits have rolled. This doesn’t just earn all the award-winning kudos it gained, it deserved A LOT MORE recognition that it got, and if this were a purely critical rundown list I’d have to put it in the top spot. As it is I’m monumentally enamoured of this film, and I can’t sing its praises enough …

2. RUN, HIDE, FIGHT – the biggest surprise hit for me so far this year was this wicked little indie suspense thriller from writer-director Kyle Rankin (Night of the Living Deb), which snuck in under the radar but is garnering an impressive reputation as a future cult sleeper hit. Critics have been less kind, but the subject matter is a pretty thorny issue, and if handled the wrong way it could have been in very poor taste indeed. Thankfully Rankin has crafted a corker here, initially taking time to set the scene and welcome the players before throwing us headfirst into an unbelievably tense but also unsettlingly believable situation – a small town American high school becomes the setting for a fraught siege when a quartet of disturbed students take several of their classmates hostage at gunpoint, creating a social media storm in the process as they encourage the capture of the crisis on phone cameras. While the local police gather outside, the shooters discover another threat from within the school throwing spanners in the works – Zoe Hull (Alexa & Katie’s Isabel May), a seemingly nondescript girl who happens to be the daughter of former marine scout sniper Todd (Thomas Jane). She’s wound pretty tight after the harrowing death of her mother to cancer, fuelled by grief and conditioned by her father’s training, so she’s determined to get her friends and classmates out of this nightmare, no matter what. Okay, so the premise reads like Die Hard in a school, but this is a very different beast, played for gritty realism and shot with unshowy cinema-verité simplicity, Rankin cranking up the tension beautifully but refusing to play to his audience any more than strictly necessary, drip-feeding the thrills to maximum effect but delivering some harrowing action nonetheless. The cast are top-notch too, Jane delivering a typically subtle, nuanced turn while Treat Williams is likeably stoic as world-weary but dependable local Sherriff Tarsey, Rhada Mitchell intrigues as the matter-of-fact phantom of Zoe’s mum, Jennifer, that she’s concocted to help her through her mourning, Olly Sholotan is sweetly geeky as her best friend Lewis, and Eli Brown raises genuine goosebumps as an all-too-real teen psychopath in the role of terrorist ringleader Tristan Voy. The real beating heart and driving force of the film, though, is May, intense, barely restrained and all but vibrating with wounded fury, perfectly believable as the diminutive high school John McClane who defies expectations to become a genuine force to be reckoned with, as far as I’m concerned one of this year’s TOP female protagonists. Altogether this is a cracking little thriller, a precision-crafted little action gem that nonetheless raises some troubling questions and treats its subject matter with utmost care and respect, a film that’s destined for major cult classic status, and I can’t recommend it enough.

1. NOBODY – do you love the John Wick movies but you just wish they took themselves a bit less seriously? Well fear not, because Derek Kolstad has delivered fantastically on that score, the JW screenwriter mashing his original idea up with the basic premise of the Taken movies (former government spook/assassin turned unassuming family man is forced out of retirement and shit gets seriously trashed as a result) and injecting a big dollop of gallows humour. This time he’s teamed up with Ilya Naishuller, the stone-cold lunatic who directed the deliriously insane but also thoroughly brilliant Hardcore Henry, and the results are absolutely unbeatable, a pitch perfect jet black action comedy bursting with neat ideas, wonderfully offbeat characters and ingenious plot twists. Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk is perfect casting as Hutch Mansell, the aforementioned ex-“Auditor”, a CIA hitman who grew weary of the lifestyle and quit to find some semblance of normality with his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen), with whom he’s had two kids. Ultimately, he seems to have “overcompensated”, and his life has stagnated, Hutch following a autopiloted day-to-day routine that’s left him increasingly unfulfilled … then fate intervenes and a series of impulsive choices see him falling back on his old ways while defending a young woman from drunken thugs on a late night bus ride. Problem is, said lowlifes work for the Russian Mob, specifically Yulian Kuznetsov (Leviathan’s Aleksei Serebryakov), a Bratva boss charged with guarding the Obshak, who must exact brutal vengeance in order to save face. Cue much bloody violence and entertaining chaos … Kolstad can do this sort of thing in his sleep, but his writing married with Naishuller’s singularly BONKERS vision means that the anarchy is dialled right up to eleven, while the gleefully dark sense of humour shot through makes the occasional surreality and bitingly satirical observation on offer all the more exquisite. Odenkirk is a low-key joy throughout, initially emasculated and pathetic but becoming more comfortable in his skin as he reconnects with his old self, while Serebryakov hams things up spectacularly, chewing the scenery with aplomb; Nielsen, meanwhile, brings her characteristic restrained classiness to proceedings, Christopher Lloyd and the RZA are clearly having the time of their lives as, respectively, Hutch’s retired FBI agent father David and fellow ex-spook half-brother Harry, and there’s a wonderfully game cameo from the incomparable Colin Salmon as Hutch’s former handler, the Barber. Altogether then, this is the perfect marriage of two fantastic worlds – an action-packed thrill ride as explosively impressive as John Wick, but also a wickedly subversive laugh riot every bit as blissfully inventive as Hardcore Henry, and undeniably THE BEST MOVIE I’ve seen so far this year. Sure, there’s some pretty heavyweight stuff set to (FINALLY) come out later this year, but this really will take some beating …

#movies 2021 #zack snyder's justice league #synchronic #synchronic movie #without remorse #raya and the last dragon #the mitchells vs the machines #pg psycho goreman #psycho goreman #space sweepers #judas and the black messiah #run hide fight #nobody #nobody movie

12 notes · View notes

grantcontrol · 3 years

Text

Light Magic ◈ solo

Timing: Thursday Afternoon (April 1, 2021) Location: The Outskirts >>> Adams Residence Summary: A hunt gone wrong sends Anton into the arms of a couple of strangers. Are they friends? Or are they foes? Content: Terrible editing, insect (bee) mention, death mention

Heart beating furiously, much faster than he can run, Anton pressed his back against the nearest tree. He held his spear tightly, head to one side, every sense he believed useful in this extremely trying time readied and alerted to pick up even the slightest movement and presence. The exterminator could feel the trickles of sweat forming around his forehead, his back already soaked. Swallowing air, as if it was his own heart trying to escape the scene through his own throat, he tried his best to maintain his composure, to keep his wits about him, knowing that if he didn’t, he might not make it out of this place alive.

Ghastly chittering, buzzing, soon drowned the nearby area, as three humanoid creatures entered the fray. Anton held his breath, closing his eyes forcefully, gripping his spear tighter. No amount of training, experience, could ever stave off the fear of getting ripped to shreds by four humans made of paper as well as the subsequent stinging that would persist slowly and painfully even until one has passed out. In retrospect, it was a bad idea to forego his flamethrower and then try to spear three beeserker hives because he wanted to be home early. Well, it’s way past his bedtime now, and he was being hunted by his own quarry.

Fortunately, they soon seemed to move on. One of them stretched a makeshift hand towards the wrong direction, and the other one followed their lead, both moving away from where Anton was actually hiding. He heaved a sigh, eased his grip on his spear, and wiped the sweat from his brow. That was a close one, he thought to himself. Thank god for his luck— Wait, weren’t there three of them? Anton quietly took a peek, carefully only moving what was enough, what he could to catch a glimpse of them. They were moving slowly but they were almost out of sight now. Both of them. Both?

The buzzing came again, but this time, it all came from right behind him, though Anton didn’t notice it until it was already too late. Turning around without much thought, he came face to face with the third beeserker that immediately struck him down, surprising the exterminator. Knocking his head against the tree, a barely conscious Anton used his spear to keep the creature away, acting on instinct to protect himself. He began to slowly dip into unconsciousness, the creature not relenting. Anton did not scream, as he knew it might alert the other two, and he was already having his hands full with just one. Slowly, he felt his own strength wane, the threat to his life closing in on him, before something glowed from behind the creature, an angel of sorts? That was the last thing he saw. The last thing he heard was loud more loud buzzing.

◈ ◈ ◈

“What was he doing in the woods?” The voice rang in Anton’s ear as he began to stir awake, though his body was in no rush to do the same. “He’s going to be just fine.” Another voice, more calculated than emotional, bored than infuriated, joined the first one. Barely conscious, the exterminator could only make sense of bits and pieces of the conversation that seemed to happen between a man and a woman, none of them he could recognize.

“...almost killed him…” “...not human…” “...lucky we had a fight…” “...looks familiar…” “...remember the man…” “...should be dead.”

“Hello?” The words finally slithered out of Anton’s mouth. He struggled to get himself upright on the, uhh, bed, and almost fell back down immediately, but one of them caught him. The man smelled like a hospital, the same scent of disinfectant from Anton’s office, and his hands were rough and shaking. Strange. “Who are you?” Anton asked next, not even clear of thought yet to filter his own curiosity. “Where am I? Am I dead?”

“I wish.” The other person quipped, her voice sounded like it came from someone who was used to being in command, to having authority, and a quick glance made Anton realize she was standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, most likely scowling.

The man quickly drew Anton’s attention to him, however, carefully laying him back on the bed. “I’m Doctor Xavier Adams, the angelic presence watching over you is Detective Rachel Lee—” The detective cut the doctor off, sighing. “Charmed.” But Adams disregarded it almost as quickly. “You’re in our home, Mr. Grant. Healing.”

“Found you in the woods. Out cold. Brought you here to the Doctor to see if you’re dead. Shame.” Lee feigned disappointment, much to Adams’ chagrin. Anton didn’t have time for it, though, and tried to get back up again. “How did you know my name? Where’s my van?” He was too out of it to notice Lee giving Adams a look of disbelief, though Adams tried his best to calm her and primarily the exterminator down. “From your card. In your pocket. Bug Busters Pest Control Solutions?”

At that, Anton smiled. His advertising has paid off. Sure, it was annoying, and he has gotten his fair share of hate replies, but it was working. That was all that matters. He couldn’t let his grandfather’s business die, even though he knew next to nothing about marketing and shit. He swore to him, at his grave, that he would do his best to keep the doors of Bug Busters open, no matter the cost. He was going to keep that promise, no matter the cost.

◈ ◈ ◈

For the next few hours, Anton found himself sleeping comfortably. The doctor and the detective watched over him, the former doing his duty as a man of medicine and the latter annoyed the entire time. Drifting between bouts of unconsciousness and semi-consciousness, Anton could swear he heard them grunting and fighting and screaming and yelling.

Eventually, the exterminator found himself back to decent health and surprised the pair when he interrupted them in their living room, having passed by walls of bookshelves and that one room with all the exercise equipment he assumed was the place for all that grunting and fighting and screaming and yelling. He was already dressed and ready to go. “Uhh, so, like, how much should I…?”

The doctor turned to him with a wide smile, putting down the newspaper he has been reading. “Oh, Mr. Grant, you’re all well, then? Your van’s in the driveway.” As if on cue, the detective tossed him his keys, still scowling at him as she looked him over. “You’re the grandson?”

Anton didn’t know what to say to that, but he remembered they found his card, so he just smiled and nodded. The detective didn’t seem like she was much older than him, if only by a few years, and he looked taller than her. The doctor felt like he was much older than the two of them, though he somehow didn’t look like it.

Adams rose from his seat and gave him a card in turn. “Should you get into more trouble—” “—which you will, no doubt—” “—feel free to contact us. We may be of more help in the future.” The detective sighed and took her place and moved past them, opening the front door and gesturing for Anton to leave. “Please don’t abuse that.”

“Oh, uhh, okay then. Thanks?” That was all the exterminator could muster. He gave both a nod and went out the door, stealing one last glance of the weird couple who was watching him from the same door, the doctor with a smile and the detective with arms crossed and a glare. “Who the fuck are these people?” He muttered to himself, a question he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer to, as he gave them one last smile and drove away.

Once he was gone, Adams and Lee gave each other a look of disapproval, with Lee heaving a sigh. “Apparently, the apple—” “—does not fall far from the tree."

[END]

#wickedswriting #. ˋ ◈ ᵃⁿᵗᵒⁿ ᵍʳᵃⁿᵗ ››› solo ˋ .#. ˋ ◈ ᵃⁿᵗᵒⁿ ᵍʳᵃⁿᵗ ››› light magic ˋ .#(ugh the editing is no bueno)#(i'm so sorry)

9 notes · View notes

raendown · 4 years

Link

At last I get around to writing the fourth installment of my Amends to the Dead series, even if it’s just a missing scene from the third part!

Pairing: None Word count: 3241 Rated: T+ Summary: When his first brother was born Hashirama held the tiny babe in his arms and promised to protect him always. How cruel that only now when all of his lifelong dreams have come true he should realize that Tobirama, precious Tobirama, has given his own away.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Dire Rise

Evening hangs like a dark and heavy blanket after Madara leaves, a weight on his chest that presses against his ribs to steal his breath away. Pretending has been difficult in the face of someone he so rarely needs to pretend for. His best friend has been a wonderful distraction, his efforts all too obvious as he tried to repair the mood ruined by their earlier conversation, and Hashirama feels no guilt for letting the man think himself successful. It isn’t his fault the most important part of Hashirama's life has been falling apart in front of his eyes without him even noticing.

There can be no one to blame for that but himself.

In the sudden quiet of solitude the house feels empty in a way it never has before. From childhood Hashirama has always enjoyed finding positivity in the smallest details of life, always happy to entertain himself with nothing but the world around him, never lonely even in the rare moments he finds himself alone. Now he stands in the genkan and folds his arms across his chest. If he holds tightly enough then perhaps this aching hole will fill itself, the tears still threatening to spill over will subside.

His efforts prove futile. Resisting the urge to open the door and call Madara back inside, he turns and makes his way to the living room with heavy, ponderous steps. The cabinet in the corner sings to him with sweet promises of ignorance. It would be all too easy to pick the lock and drown his shattered heart with sake or plum wine or whatever other blissful potions are hidden away therein. Mito holds the key but he would be a poor shinobi if he couldn’t find his way inside without it. Hashirama sinks down on to the couch and leans forward to stare at the cabinet as though it will give him a reason not to. What he wouldn’t give in this moment not to feel the sensation of falling, breaking, failing the one person in this world he had promised himself he would never fail again. Knowing that to give in to the drink would be little more than another failure is all that keeps him in place.

Waiting takes forever. Hashirama sits in his empty home and wonders if this is even a shadow of what his brother has been carrying alone for months now. How alone must he feel with no one to share his burdens? How deeply has Hashirama failed him if he feels he cannot ask for help? Questions without answers chase each other round and round in his mind until at last the front door opens and Hashirama lifts his head to look at the clock. A tentative stretch of his senses brings the warmth of Mito’s chakra reaching out to entwine with his own, salt water and a warm sea breeze, tempestuous yet tightly controlled.

For the first time since the day they met Hashirama is honestly disappointed to see her. He swallows the shame of this as she walks in to the room, pausing to take in his expression before hurrying across the floor to take his face between her hands.

“Tell me.” Her voice is quiet steel, strong and soft, every inch a queen ready to bow if only to bring a smile to his face. Oh how he loves her.

“I’m waiting for Tobi,” he tells her. “We…we need to talk.”

Mito studies his face through narrowed eyes. Then she bends forward to lay a kiss against his forehead so gentle he can feel it upon his very soul like a balm he doesn’t deserve. “Should I stay with you while you wait?”

“No. I need to think about what to say and I haven’t really been doing any thinking so far. It’s all so...I don’t know. He’s not okay. And how could I ever be okay if he isn’t? Except I didn’t notice.” His eyes fall closed almost as a barrier against the benediction of another gentle kiss.

“You can tell me as much or as little as you like when this is done - but it sounds like you’d like to speak with him first. Will you be alright alone?”

“I don’t know.”

Her smile is understanding in a way that pierces. “Then I won’t press you for answers. I’ll go to bed. You know that you can wake me if you need to.” Genteel fingers with hidden strength card through his hair. “Even if all you need is someone to hold you.”

The words sting where they hide behind his teeth; he doesn’t deserve comfort right now. Right now it is his duty to comfort another that he hadn’t even realized he’s been neglecting. Perhaps neglecting is not the right word, he has of course not forgotten his brother in any way, has in fact paid him as much loving attention as has been normal since they were young and clinging to each other, the last of their line. That does nothing to stop the guilt from rising up to whisper in his ear that he’s let his beloved Tobirama down in a way he vowed he never would. All this time the younger man has been suffering right before his very eyes and Hashirama has been blind to it. The last thing he deserves now is to be comforted for dishonoring the most precious of all his bonds.

As the hours pass Hashirama imagines himself spreading roots, anchoring his misery more and more with every minute until he isn’t sure he will be able to sit in this room again with a quiet cup of tea and not think back on this moment. He imagines that Tobirama must feel the same in his own way, unable to escape the darkness inside, unable to ask for a light to guide him out, washed in a loneliness that should have never been his and forced to walk through every day knowing the next would be just the same. That ends tonight. If he must crawl in to the darkness himself and find the path for them both he will.

When Tobirama comes home it is long past late and Hashirama's knees are stiff with inactivity but he rises from the cushions without remark for the way his muscles creak and strain in protest. He sees the caution in those eyes, the weariness, and bites viciously upon his own tongue to hold the tears at bay.

“I’m surprised you’re up.” Soft spoken, unassuming, but there are cracks in his voice now that Hashirama knows to look for them. He should have been looking long before now.

“I was waiting for you.”

“Ah.” Tobirama blinks slowly, the corners of his lips tightening with suspicion. “Is something wrong?”

Before he can push it back down a sob bubbles up and Hashirama snaps his teeth down halfway through the noise but the damage is done. “So, so much. I’m sorry, Otouto. I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

What hurts the most is the honest bafflement in his face. His brother has no idea at all why he needs to apologize and just seeing the curious tilt of his head brings the tears back, spilling down Hashirama's cheeks in an instant. It should have been obvious what was upsetting him. It should not be so far outside the realms of possibility for him to share his brother’s hurts that they do not even occur to the man.

Hashirama crosses the space between them with his hands outstretched and the surprise in the expression looking back nearly shatters his heart. It’s not as though a loving touch is uncommon between them. Perhaps it’s the way he falls to his knees and presses his brow to the floor at pale feet.

“Please forgive me. I will be better, I promise! You deserve more than a sibling who could ever let your pain go unnoticed but I swear I’ll be better!”

“What–?” Tobirama kneels and buries both hands in the back of his shirt to pull his face away from the ground. “Anija what the hell is going on? Stop that!”

“You’re hurting,” Hashirama cries.

His brother stills, several expressions flitting one after the other across his face. All of them are gone too quickly to identify but he settles quickly on the sort of blankness that showed itself most often when they were small things still new to the world, their emotions so easy to display and so quick to bruise. It’s something Hashirama realizes that he’s seen more often lately and oh he curses himself for not recognizing it sooner.

“I’m fine, Anija, there’s no reason to be throwing yourself at the floor like this.”

“You are not fine! You- Madara spoke to me today.”

He only catches the minute flinch because his eyes are wide and staring.

“Whatever that fool told you is an exaggeration I’m sure, he’s your friend not mine. Surely it can’t be worth staying up until the fool’s hour when you have plenty of work to do tomorrow.” Tobirama shakes his head as if to dismiss the issue but it cannot possibly be that simple. Not now that Hashirama knows what such dismissals are meant to distract him from. With desperation in his veins he takes his brother’s hands between his own and shakes his head.

“Don’t. Tobi, I know that you’ve been following Izuna.” The way red eyes fall away from his own are all the confirmation he didn’t need. “I thought that you were doing better. Why…why didn’t you tell me that this was still on your mind? I could have helped. I want to help! A-and even if I can’t I want to be there for you!”

“This isn’t something that I need help with.”

“But you’re not okay!”

Tobirama draws in a deep breath but it rattles like the death he so nearly escaped. “I’m truly fine. This is the best solution. You have your dream now and I will do what I must to protect it, is that so hard to understand?”

“You’re allowed to have your own dreams, Otouto.”

“I’ve never been much of a dreamer,” Tobirama responds blandly. His thoughts are hidden in the lack of proper inflection.

Heart shuddering in his chest, Hashirama reaches out to gently touch the side of his precious brother’s jaw, feeling the invisible scars left behind by a lifetime of war and hidden by the boon of naturally pale skin. “You’re allowed to build your own life, follow your own paths. I love you, you know that I appreciate everything you’ve done to support me, but I just...I don’t want you to build your entire self around me. You can be your own person separate from me.”

“How do I put this?” Tobirama asks the space between them, something faraway in his eyes. And yet underneath the aching sadness there is something like peace in his expression. An insidious sort of peace that doesn’t belong. “You’re like the sun, brother. And I’m the moon. The moon can’t make her own light, you know; all she’s ever done is reflect the sun. ”

“You are not the moon! You are a man! You’re my little brother and you’re sad and I hate it!” The emotions inside him rise up like such a wave it cripples him and Hashirama curls in to himself with a wretched sob.

“A little lost, maybe,” his precious sibling admits distantly. “I’m looking for answers like I always have, that’s in my nature, but I’m finding them. Everyone wants to have a purpose in life. I found mine in you. Why should that be something to make either of us sad?”

With his eyes shut tight Hashirama feels the touch of soft skin against his own. Fingers more gentle than many could ever believe stroke the side of his face until finally he relents. Looks up. He finds Tobirama looking down at him as though accepting the mantle of the elder sibling on to his own shoulders, brows drawn together with concern. And Hashirama wishes he knew how to turn the man’s concern back inside of himself to make him care for his own well being.

His knees creak with protest when he shifts his weight but he ignores the rough grain of wooden floors pressing in to his skin. Perhaps he should have worn something more than a short and well worn yukata. But then, perhaps he deserves a little suffering to make up for the fact that he has ignored Tobirama’s for so long.

“I’m sad,” he says, “because you’re not happy.”

“Says who?” Tobirama challenges him. Then he flinches when Hashirama returns his gentle touches with one of his own.

“Your eyes say so. Your actions say so. Would a happy man say the things that you did to Madara?”

“My conversations are my own business.”

Just like that the curtain falls between them and Hashirama can almost see physical barriers rising in those beloved red eyes. His brother pulls away his emotions even as he pulls his hands away too, standing to brush imaginary dust from his clothing. Looking at him has never been so painful before.

“Don’t go,” Hashirama pleads. “We need to talk about this!”

“No, we don’t.”

“Please! I just can’t stand watching you wrap yourself in my shadow like this!”

Tobirama blinks once and then turns, speaking over his shoulder without looking back. “Then don’t watch.”

With that he walks away in the long strides of a man firmly set upon his path. Only the years and the love between them give Hashirama the clarity to see the slightest of tremors and he knows - he knows - that Tobirama is more torn than he is willing to say. He is a man who has doomed himself to a fate that he does not want. And he is a man that will follow this path until the end, whatever that may be. It defies the laws of possibility that Hashirama’s heart could break any more than it already has.

For a very long time he sits upon the floor of the living room and stares at the walls as though they might come crumbling down between two brothers so close and yet so strangely far apart for the very first time. He can’t remember a time before when Tobirama kept him at arm’s length and that aches almost as much as knowing the depth of the pain his sibling carries inside. Now time passes him by unchecked while he curses the cruelty of the world, that he could be declared a god of the battlefield, a healer of unsurpassed skill, and he cannot heal the one hurt that matters most. He cannot heal a broken heart. And not even the Yamanaka can heal a broken mind.

Night lies heavy on the world like the burdens pulling his shoulders down as Hashirama realizes that he has been kneeling alone in the dark for too long. Strange, he thinks distantly, that neither of them thought to turn on the light. It makes him wonder how often his brother uses the environment as an excuse not to meet his eyes. Rising from the hardwood makes his knees creak again and his spine pop in several places. He’s getting older. And he feels every minute, every hour, every day upon him on the slow unsteady journey down the hall. Mito’s chakra calls to him like a beacon that he cannot decide if he wants or not, though his wishes are the last that he feels deserve to be taken in to account, and it doesn’t matter very much what he wants anyway. He is helpless to the siren call of the woman who loves him just as he has been since the day they were bound together.

At the door of their bedroom he pauses to lay his forehead against the frame and breathe deeply. Does he deserve to expel his own pain when Tobirama cannot? He doesn’t know. There’s so much he doesn’t know.

What he does know is the sweet scent of his wife’s hair when the door opens. She must have felt him. Even a child with little more than basic chakra manipulation training could probably feel his roiling chakra a mile away right now, the way it rolls and folds in to itself lie a boiling cloud of black smoke, choking everything around it. Mito’s hands frame his face like fragile glass and only then does he realize that his eyes are still closed. She pulls him in to the room. The door closes. And the damn breaks.

Tears flood his eyes and spills over his cheeks, rivers of salt and anguish pulling him under the way Mito pulls him in to her arms. Like the steadfast rock that she has always been for him he leans against her and lets his grief batter them both, trusting her not to let him wash away in the storm.

“I’m here,” she whispers against his temple. “Will you tell me what’s wrong?”

So he does. He tells her everything. Tells her of the conversation he had with Madara, tells her how badly it hurts to fail the last of his family, and he tells her that he does not know what to do now. Helping has always been his way and the inability to do so tears at the very fabric of who he is. Mito listens to his story with the patience of a saint until at last his words have run dry. Then she folds him to her breast and holds him tightly as though she too can feel that he is only a moment from flying apart.

“I’m so sorry, my love,” she tells him. “So, so sorry.”

There isn’t much else for her to say. He can hear in her voice that she has no more answers than him but he’s not sure he’s earned them anyway. What hurts he has wrought are up to him to fix; he won’t allow these burdens to rest on anyone else’s shoulders. This is his cross to bear and fixing it will be his task alone.

Or, it will be if he can figure out how.

For now he curls tightly against the warmth of his loving wife and whimpers as the tears begin anew. Perhaps it makes him a weak man to accept her comfort when he probably shouldn’t but this is a strength he has never pretended to have. To lean on those who offer support should be one of life’s greatest joys. How terrible that such offers are made only in times of despair. With a whimper building in his throat, scraping past his teeth as something of a muted howl, Hashirama lets his despair run freely and revels in the darkest hidden corners of his mind. For now he will grieve.

Tomorrow he will go to his brother again and bend words to scribe his thoughts as best he can. Tobirama always did hate when their conversations grew overly emotional. Approaching him from a more reasonable frame of mind will surely afford him an opening to talk about their situation at the very least. He prays so. Words are all he has to offer, words and a bleeding heart.

He would give his heart a thousand times if only doing so would bring joy to his last, most precious brother.

#rae writes #hashirama #tobirama #mito #fanfiction #me?? writing gen??#don't worry my plans for this universe end up with romance #because it's me

24 notes · View notes

i-am-vpelno · 3 years

Text

JUSTICE LEAGUE SNYDER CUT SPOILERS!!!

So, due to the nature of this film my opinions are going to be all over the place and admittedly biased. I am a huge Justice League fan, I hate Zack Snyder, I hated the original Justice League by Snyder and Whedon and I’m not the biggest fan of Batman or Superman.

The Editing:

I’m kind of between the acknowledgment that this was Frankensteined together and wasn’t meant to be released and the fact that Snyder was given like 70 million to make this movie so what’s up? Let’s start with the negatives. This movie could’ve been waaay shorter by editing out SO MANY unnecessary scenes and slow mo. I can distinctly remember several scenes where I felt awkward just waiting for a character to hurry the fuck up and get where they’re going. This is especially prevalent with the Flash as almost every scene with him is in slow mo despite him being a speedster??? Then there are just “walking scenes” where it was just so so so uncomfortable and pointless watching the characters walk from point A to point B with nothing else interesting going on in the scene. There are strange scenes that don’t really add anything or lead anywhere like the Icelandic lady smelling Arthur’s shirt????? And Steppenwolf getting “permission” from Desaad to interrogate the scientists even though we knew he was going to do that already. A lot of these extra scenes interrupt the pacing as well which is a shame because I think the time would be less daunting if you cut them. I think the worst part though was the soundtrack. They only play Wonder Woman’s theme once in the beginning but then every time an Amazon is on screen they start playing this “lamenting tune” over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again!!! If it’s not the same exact clip from the same exact song I will genuinely be surprised. A lot of it just doesn’t fit the film, I definitely prefer Icky Thump to whatever Snyder had Arthur drinking to.

I didn’t mind Snyder’s color palette this time as I feel like the colors are punched up just a bit. I am so glad they chose to change the entire scenery for the final fight, it was so much more pleasing to look at. Albeit it was dark so...not much visibility lol but it’s understandable. I caught myself catching chills from the suspense and the emotional scenes in this. The emotional heart of this film is definitely there! I love the fight scenes!!! Other than some awkward moments with Batman and the Flash they were amazing!!!! Everyone looks great but I think the cgi shines the most here. I can actually see the parademons clearly now and I like their design. Steppenwolf had the biggest improvement, he was kinda blurry before but he looks great and I LOVE how they chose to show off the armor and his anatomy throughout the film. For this film specifically, I enjoyed the “Part One” things because it fit well in explaining part of Snyder’s vision AND was useful when I needed to take a break from the film. I kind of enjoyed the lack of a wide screen. Like Evangelion, I got the sense that there was more happening around the characters off screen and it greatly added to the mood. One of my favorite scenes is the Barry saves “Iris” (I don’t know if that’s actually Iris West.) This is one of the only times I thought Ezra Miller’s Flash was not only charming, funny and had a neat interpretation of his abilities but this is probably the best use of the weird music and slow mo in the film. I thought it was really cute.

The Story:

By far the biggest improvement upon the original, the added context is not only done well but probably the most interesting part of the film. Though not without its own issues, it adds much needed context, stakes and characterization that wasn’t available in the original. I could summarize that “everything makes sense now” but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We learn so much about Darkseid, his followers and his purpose. The whole “science so advanced it’s like magic” thing was so interesting!!! Cyborg finally has a really well done and AMAZING origin story here!!! I love how Cyborg talking to Superman’s ship and the Mother boxes is used to explain the Injustice future and how dangerous the Mother Boxes really are. It’s really hard to put it into more words than I already have!

There are still a lot of issues but they’re not too big, just pacing and preference things. For instance we didn’t need the first scenes with Lois getting coffee but we did need the ones with her and Martha. However it’s not Martha, so what’s the point? We don’t know the Martian like that yet and we have no context showing that he knows Lois is “the key.” The Flash tends to over explain his abilities at awkward points but that’s an issue I’ll expand on later. The entire “Diana explains Darkseid to Bruce” scene is good but goes on far too long and we didn’t need to see them make the boxes even though it was cool. I hated the Injustice epilogue and the intro to the Martian. We didn’t need to see the entire “break into the lab” scene or the entire convo about bringing back Superman, some of that could’ve been cut. I don’t like how they handled Black Suit Superman. From my own knowledge and reading I know that the context for the black suit is that Superman was weakened and not killed so he wears the black suit to gain his power from the sun slowly, more or less. However it’s just a fashion choice here as Supes only lost his memory. Also, no matter how hard they try this movie is not funny. Besides the jokes we’ve already seen, very few hit and I can’t even remember them. I didn’t laugh once.

The Characters:

I wanna jump into it with how bad the Flash is here. Like I said, him saving “Iris” was pretty damn good but everything around that is awkward, bumbling and forced. My biggest issue is that I’m biased towards the CW’s Flash, who is my preferred live action Flash and I completely disagree with how they’ve treated the Flash’s origin and his father. The best part of the Flash is that he’s kind of like Spider-Man in that he’s super smart and strong but lives humbly and spends most of his time helping his community. And like Spider-Man he has great quips but is easily weakened by his arrogance. This Flash is barely above a hobo and only shows the faintest hints of competence. How did he even get his suit???? Did he steal the parts to make it??? The guy who plays his father is so close to being perfect actually, if they could stop him from sounding like a high frat boy. Seriously there’s “My dad is my best friend” and then there’s “I smoke up with my mom’s sperm donor Fred.” I didn’t even like him in the original however I ever so slightly prefer him to this.

Let me tell you I’m not one to get sincerely mad over a movie, it’s all calm critique over here. However, what they did to my man Martian Manhunter is mildly infuriating. Like I said, him being Martha completely ruins that scene and makes no sense in this film. Why doesn’t he help the justice league???? His formal introduction is so blah and lacks the punch that his character deserves. I was hoping he’d get his own movie or at least something similar to Cyborg in this film. So sad!

Cyborg is obviously the star of this film AS IT SHOULD BE. Again, I’m biased but from my reading and watching of the Mother Box story from the comics, ALWAYS had Cyborg heavily involved somehow because it’s connected to his origin. But goddamn does Ray Fisher absolutely shine and I’m glad Snyder saw that in him too. The depth they go into Cyborg’s origin was great and so entertaining to watch. Hands down consistently the best part of the movie. And he was funny!

I’m going to put Batman and Wonder Woman together because I ship them but also because my critique is fairly similar. I was absolutely shocked by both of them, Diana being faithfully more brutal and Batman being to a point off color by being so soft and hopeful. BUT I ADORED BOTH. There is a balance that many people misunderstand when writing these two characters. They both have the capacity for cold calculation but have big hearts and care a lot about saving people. I hope to see more of this characterization from them. Also, we love to see Alfred being the smart capable father we know he is. I do wish they kept the thing about Bruce confronting Diana about being hung up on Steve because it’s annoying and needs to be addressed.

Superman is boring again here, but it’s the way Snyder writes him so I’m not sure what else I can say. I just don’t like how inhuman Superman seems despite his upbringing. Aqua man was shockingly boring as well. I though he was giving a decent performance, being the laid back, giggly badass from the first film.

I think Steppenwolf was amazing, a few weird flops here and there but a compelling performance that really let us get to know him! Desaad was surprisingly intriguing, mostly due to the vocal performance. Eh Darkseid was definitely different. I was missing his almost regal authority, I always thought of him as an evil emperor and I was a little sad that he didn’t act more like it. Even the Harley Quinn show captured his well founded self righteousness.

The Dreams and Epilogue:

Here’s the thing, I already know this stuff was added for sequel bating but I’d like to address some questions and concerns that I still have. I still prefer Arrow’s Deathstroke to this one, but we’ll see. Jesse Eisenburg simply doesn’t fit as Lex Luthor, even that trick he pulled was poorly done. I wonder if Lex’s body guards are Amazon’s like in the comics. Jared Leto continues to try way too hard as the Joker but actually has some intriguing lines here. Kind of alludes even more that he’s a Robin turned crazy or something. Is this leading to Injustice or APOKOLIPS War?

Anyway, it was a good film! I recommend it!

#justice league Snyder cut #justice league #dceu #Snyder cut #justice league spoilers

3 notes · View notes

she-ra-cat-ra · 4 years

Text

I’m honestly just kinda bored and decided to make this for no real reason. I like doing fic recs because I think I have taste but some of these.... kinda aren't good lol it’s more of what stuck with me through the years.

So yeah List of fics that were important to me and that were on my fanfantion.net fave list and may or may not be good:

What The Eyes Can't See : The only fic on this list that made it over from my very first fanfic.net account that has now been lost to time. This was the fic that got me into long fics It’s a Bleach fic and made me super disappointed that Tatsuki never got to do anything as cool as she does in this fic, at least when I actually watched/read it. Also, my mom found my bookmark of it and had to have a talk with me because she ended up reading the smut bits. You can’t even read the whole thing on fanfic.net, parts had to be cut when they did that purge of smut years and years ago

Timely Errors: I love time travel more than like any other trope. Harry Potter goes back in time is pretty common but this fic is pretty rare in that it still pretty good. Plus it’s cute and made me cry. And whats funny is that it’s a small bit at the end that I remember the most, where Ron has no idea that something is wrong until Hermione gives Harry an extra piece of cake then he just Knows has stuck with me for years because it’s so cute and sad and just so.... idk the perfect way I’ve seen their friendship expressed?

Hourglass For some reason the general outline of this fic has been in my head since 2009 when I first read this 142k beast of a fic. I had just started to really get into fandom and Kingdom Hearts was poping. The idea of an older vision of the nice main character coming backward in time but is really mean and jaded because the future sucks really stuck with me. Also, there is a throwaway line about how Mulan lost her husband in the war but continues to fight anyway and Mickey Mouse has a moment to be sad about it has also stuck with me because what the fuck

Wait This fic is here more because I kept thinking over the idea more than the actual fic, I mean it’s a little bit of a mess because it’s a songfic and the way it’s written through a couple of lifetimes BUT the idea of someone who is the Avatar's companion and gets reincarnation randomly instead of in order is one that I’ve thought about a LOT because of this fic. You again? is same thing but I like the actual fic more as the idea that the companion isn’t always a lover and they kill each other about half the time is a good one.

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend ok look this is not a list of fics that are 100k and have great plots etc etc this is a list of fics that have stuck with me and for some reason, this Icarly fic is one of them. I have no idea why but it is funny and cute and I love the idea that Sam is wanted in France for stealing the Eiffel tower

Lily Potter and the Worst Holiday I love the idea of two universes clashing together and seeing two that aren't great, as both had a lot of people die including a young Ron and Hermoine because Harry wasn’t there, stuck with me.

Many Thanks this fic made me cry AT LEAST three times, just thinking of it makes me tear up man. And it keeps going way longer than you think but in a good way? Not only does it have time travel but instead of being in the traveler's point of view, it’s from a bystander. It’s just... ugh the idea of it is great and it just works really well. I just love me some badass Hermione.

Old Bones just a little fic that made me go, ‘oh shit maybe seeing everything underground after a 100-year war could end up fucking up a 12 ear old’

Awkward Once again this is a list of fics that stuck with me and for some reason this one did. No idea why since I didn’t even ship Raven/Starfire but it’s pretty cute

City of Ghosts such a weird little Xena Fic but it’s weird in a canon kind of way? Like yeah, that could be in a Xena episode. This fix it fic works pretty well at what it’s going for I guess. I so love Gabrielle, or her reincarnation kicking ass and saving Xena

ab igne ignem capere AU where Azula was born first so she isn’t the favorite. Great idea and I loved the style but it’s unfinished and it’s such a shame too.

Alone, Together Oh my god this is where my love of weird plots came from. I LOVE this fic and I think about it all the time. The idea of two people having to be alone together for YEARS and they actually fall in love and have to work at it for it to work but they do it!!! Only to have all of that taken away, memories and all??? And now they have to deal with where they were before that all happened and just UGH what a fic man.

And The Whole World Tilted this fic made me cry and still kinda does and since it’s a iCarly fic that's impressive

A Secret Relationship Unlike Any Other back at it again with the weird plot. The idea that Rachel Berry loves planning and bossing people so much that she ends up dating Quinn with Finn as a puppet is very funny and is super in character.

A Million Miles Of Fun this fic is so dumb but every once in a while I think ‘lol remember that fic where Faberry and Brittana kill a ton of people and it was like 100k and kinda good?’

The Line Between Jealousy and Hate this fic really really got me when I was younger. It’s a KND fic and the idea that 86 hates boys because she’s a lesbian is kinda overplayed in fandom a lot but idk man this fic hit me hard when I wasn’t out yet.

Just off the Key of Reason is Quinn out of character in this fic? Yes. Is there any plot? No . Have I read this fic and all its sequels like 100 times? Yes because it’s pure wonderful fluff

Animals and Prizes .....OK I need you to listen to me. Do I want to remember this fic so much? No not really but can one really forget their first alpha/omega fic? I read this fic way back in 2013, I was in high school! Honestly, everything considered it’s better than you would think, I mean it has an actual plot

Those Gilded Chains We Wear this fic got me in two ways. One: I love me some dark ladies with a Past that fall in love with some good-hearted person and grow from it. Two: a kinda weird plot where Hermione and Bellatrix have a magic bond thing because Bella, of her own free will, leaves Voldemort and the magic bond thing is the only way to make sure she isn’t lying. Re-reading it now I don’t enjoy it as much, as Hermione just takes way way too much crap but it’s still enjoyable. The idea that Bellatrix is actually legally insane and should be treated for it is nice and the idea that magic could affect how mental illness shows up in a person is cool.

Dark Energy Yo not one other fanfic series has made me cry as much as Dark Energy. I usually hate re writes fics but Dark Energy makes it work really really well. The first is pretty plain compared to the others but by the second it just nails it. By far this is my favorite Mass Effect fic and it’s differently effected how I see characters in the game.

Sight the King once again I got taken in by weird plot. I mean you know how rare season 0 fics are in Yu-Gi-Oh? Super rare and this one is what happens when you realize season 0 is super fucked up, I mean people get set on fire and that's like three times! So yeah seeing Yugi deal with waking up at the scene of four-ish murders with blood on his hands and realizing that no one is going to belive him is just great. A+ for the great tone too, the writing is great and it’s by far the most in-character fic out there for this time period

#long post #I have 800+ faves on fanfiction #I mean most are trash but still #I like going back and reading stuff that I liked years ago #God if I did a master list of fic recs....#I read fic a LOT #Like a LOT a Lot #maybe I'll do one if I get bored again lol

7 notes · View notes

bookworlders · 4 years

Text

the wedding date - chapter 10

percabeth fake dating!au based on The Wedding Date movie

part 1 | FFnet | ao3

masterpost

“I’m paying him. Percy. I paid him to come here to make Luke jealous. He’s not my boyfriend.”

Annabeth said, tears welling up in her eyes. She cut Thalia off before she could hear anything else to make her feel even more guilty.

“What?” Thalia “What do you mean?”

“He’s an actor. I hired him—”

“What the fuck, Annabeth? So you’re just lying to everyone?”

“Thalia, you don’t understand—”

“Annabeth, that’s not right! You can’t play these games with people—”

“I know! But you have to understand I’m not trying to hurt you or Luke, I was just trying to protect myself, okay? I-I’m sorry. I’m not using Percy to get Luke back, I just couldn’t show up here in front of you all alone.”

“Annabeth—”

“I have to go, Thalia. I’m sorry,” Annabeth turned and ran away before Thalia could respond. She couldn’t bear to see whatever judgemental look Thalia might have on her face. Her face burned with shame. The absurdity and inappropriateness of the situation was catching up from her.

She hoped she could catch Percy in their cabin before he returned back to the rehearsal dinner.

“Annabeth, hey! Thank, gods I’ve been looking for you.” Jason called, breathless from jogging to catch up with her. “I need a huge favor.”

“Now’s not really a—” Annabeth stopped herself, remembering she was talking to the groom the night before his wedding, “Yes, what can I do?”

“We’re out of wine, and you’re the only one who knows where the spare key to Mr. D’s wine cellar in the Big House is.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s behind the leopard head in the living room, but you need to climb onto the bookshelf—you know what, it’s too complicated. I’ll just grab it for you. How many more bottles? Like one red and two white?”

Jason glanced back at the rehearsal dinner still in full swing, “I’d make that three of each.”

“You know everyone’s going to be hungover at the ceremony tomorrow, right?”

“Hopefully that’ll mean everyone’s too hungover and tired to cause a scene.”

“Right, I’ll go bring them to you now.”

_________________________________

Annabeth coughed from the cobwebs she had swept away from the mounted leopard head named Seymour by their old camp director, Mr. D.

She had spotted Mr. D hiding his spare key away here when she had been dropping off paperwork one night during her last summer at camp. As a senior counselor, she used this new found knowledge to steal wine and they’d all go drink at the stables. It was Mr. D’s fault for having a well-stocked wine cellar at a summer camp full of minors.

Annabeth crouched, browsing the bottom shelves for the shittier wines. Everyone was already too drunk to notice if the bouquet was off.

“Annabeth, hi.”

_________________________________

“Annabeth!” Thalia called, following Annabeth back to the rehearsal dinner.

Jason waved to his sister, “Thals! Where you been?”

“Have you seen Annabeth? We were having a, erm, conversation and she just ran off.”

“Oh, she’s inside. I sent her to get more wine. Actually, can you go check on her? She’s been taking a long time.”

_________________________________

Annabeth shot up, slamming her head on one of the top shelves.

“Ouch!” she spun around to face the door. “Luke,” she said breathlessly, “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you alone. This seems to be my first shot of the night.”

“What do you want?”

“Annabeth, I know you only brought Percy here to make me jealous.”

Annabeth’s blood went ice cold, “What? Who told you-”

“You didn’t even have to say it, I can see it on your face, you’re still into me.”

Annabeth breathed deeply through her nose, Luke was just being arrogant. “Why would you say that?” She replied, cooly.

“Look at him! He’s not your type. You’re all over him and it’s just to get under my skin.”

“What exactly is my type, Luke? You? Just because you’re the only guy I’ve dated before Percy? Not everything’s about you. I really like him.”

“Annabeth, stop this–”

“No!” Annabeth protested. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get these to Jason.” Annabeth tried to push past Luke to the door.

He grabbed her waist and kissed her, hard.

“Mmph!” Annabeth squirmed, dropping the bottles. Luke’s hands cupped her face, holding her lips to his.

“Annabeth? Annabeth, are you down here? Jason sent me to come check on—what the fuck. How could you?”

Annabeth shoved Luke away from her just in time to see the back of Thalia storming back up the cellar.

_________________________________

As Percy headed back towards their table, he decided he wouldn’t tell Annabeth about his confrontation with Luke. That asshole didn’t deserve any more of her brain power devoted to him. Percy decided that, and only that, was the reason he wasn’t going to tell her, and not because of the stab of jealousy and protectiveness that had coursed through his veins when he argued with Luke.

When he got to their table, it was empty. At that moment, Thalia shoved past him, clearly on her way out.

“Oh, hey. Have you seen Annabeth—Whoa, are you okay? What happened?”

Thalia’s signature heavy black and purple eye makeup was smudged around her puffy eyes. “You know exactly what’s going on,” she spat, “But why don’t you ask Annabeth, she’s the one with Luke’s tongue down her throat.”

“What?”

Thalia rolled her eyes, “You’re a great actor, Percy. Bravo. Your scheme worked. Luke and Annabeth are making up inside as we speak. I hope she tips you well.” She pushed past him in disgust, stalking away.

_________________________________

“Get the fuck off of me.” Annabeth shoved him, hard. “Thalia, wait!”

Luke grabbed her wrist, “Forget her. Annabeth, it worked okay? I hate seeing you with that guy, I want to get back together.”

Annabeth yanked her arm out of his grasp, “Stop, Luke! I’m done being hung up on you. I brought Percy to this wedding as my date, and I really care about him. Get over yourself, because I am.” Annabeth pushed past him. As she stalked out of the Big House, for the first time this weekend, she wasn’t lying or acting. She meant it. It didn’t even scare her that as soon as Luke kissed her, every atom in her body screamed at her to find Percy.

Annabeth saw their empty table, realizing he must still be getting changed. Good, she thought, it was shit show of a rehearsal dinner anyway and she and Percy could just hang out in their cabin

She hurried back to Cabin 3, and flung open the door, “Percy?”

Percy zipped up his duffle bag, turning to face her.

“Why—why are you packing?”

“Because clearly my work here is done.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Congratulations, Annabeth. You got Luke back. I wish you would’ve warned me before leaping back into his arms, but whatever.”

“Percy, stop it, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m pretty sure I do, Annabeth. I’ve seen you string your friends along all weekend, but you won’t string me along.

Annabeth’s mouth gaped, “I don’t understand why you’re getting so angry when you agreed to this arrangement just as much I did!”

“Yes, I agreed to come be your date to a wedding so you wouldn’t be alone, I didn’t agree to you manipulating your friends! I don’t wanna be that kind of guy for you, Annabeth.”

Annabeth steeled herself as those words cut deep. She didn’t even process the words coming out of her mouth, “For me? This is all just for show, remember Percy?”

Percy scoffed, slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder, “I can’t believe you, Annabeth. You and Luke are perfect for each other.”

The screen door slammed as Percy left.

She didn’t go after him.

_________________________________

Percy shouldered his duffle bag, his leather dress shoes making imprints in the sand of the volleyball court. He was taking the long way around to the parking lot next to the Big House, giving the porch a wide berth to avoid the rehearsal dinner that was still in full swing.

“Perseus?”

“Chiron, sorry I didn’t see you.” The bearded man rolled towards him in his wheelchair with a pack of cards in his lap.

“It’s alright, I was just sneaking back into the house to get cards for a game of pinochle that Mr. D is insisting on.” Chiron eyed Percy’s duffle bag. “Going somewhere?”

Percy scratched the back of his neck, Annabeth’s favorite mentor was quite literally the last person he wanted to run into, “I’m going to go find a hotel or something. Things aren’t really working out between me and Annabeth.”

“You’re leaving?”

“I—

“Didn’t you two drive a rental car here? Unfortunately we’re a bit far out for cab service.” Percy hadn’t thought far enough to figure out how he was going to leave Camp Half-Blood yet. “Perseus, please. There aren’t hotels for miles. Stay here in the Big House. At least until the morning.”

“Chiron—”

“Come along, I’ll show you to the spare room.”

_________________________________

Annabeth collapsed on the bed in Cabin 3. As her head hit the pillow, which still ached from slamming it in the wine cellar, she felt something under it. She pulled out a paper envelope. Inside was two thousand dollars in cash.

Annabeth threw the envelope on the floor and wrapped a blanket around herself, not caring that her mascara stained the pillows.

_________________________________

The spare room was the camp infirmary.

Percy set his bag down on one of the six beds with crisp white linens that lined the open room as Chiron bid him goodnight.

He buried his head in his hands as he sank onto the bed. What a mess this night was. It already pained him how early he needed to get up in the morning in order to leave camp before the wedding party arose for the ceremony. Percy’s heart tightened when he thought about how hurt Annabeth must be feeling, and he dreaded her sitting through the wedding alone even though he was the one who left her.

He hadn’t signed up for this. Although, to be honest, he had no idea what he did sign up for. The most beautiful girl in the world that he had met on the opening night of his show contacted him out of the blue to attend a wedding with her. What could go wrong?

Percy couldn’t see a shower or bathroom in this room and he was too spooked to snoop around the darkened halls of the Big House, but he saw a sink in the corner of the room near the medicine cabinets and a bulletin board.

He dug his toothbrush out of his bag and trudged over to the sink. The bulletin board had dozens of polaroids of kids in orange t-shirts — campers, Percy guessed—participating in various camp activities. One particular face, shot over and over again, caught his eye.

A young Annabeth smiled back at him in many of the photos that ranged from a lanky grinning twelve-year-old with scabby knees holding a red flag in triumph — captioned ‘Cabin 6 wins capture the flag’— to a teenage Annabeth with sunburned cheeks and a messy ponytail beaming with her arms around friends — ‘Head counselors at bonfire sing-a-long.’ He smiled seeing her familiar gray eyes staring back at him, although the eyes he knew were a little sadder and more reserved these days.

Percy’s heart squeezed. He longed to know the girl in these photos. His chest ached thinking of the girl he just walked away from. Staring at the pictures, Percy realized he was recklessly in love with her.

#the wedding date #percabeth #fanfiction #fake dating au #mywriting #percy jackson #annabeth chase #heroes of olympus

3 notes · View notes

youthagainstrape · 4 years

Text

Porn:- An addiction needed to be stopped

Porn:- Porn is a short/long video or any printed thing, which has sensational aspects thing on it. Both men and women see porn. Nowadays youth is much connected to it. Porn is also a reason for rape cases. It is mistaken and when somebody sees it they then this is easy and everybody does the same but that’s defiantly not the case. Effect of Porn on Teenagers Depression and Loss of Interests: When a young person is being exposed to the challenges of life, they need to cope. Often, they are under-resourced to do so emotionally – partly because their brain is still forming, and teenagers usually encounter many challenges. Porn is a dopamine volcano that can boost a teen out of a funk. It is overwhelming and exciting to the brain, and it can quickly be associated with feeling better. Further, it is part of the nature of curiosity and exploration of sexuality – except that it is a lie that can consume them. Sadly, depression sets in when we become beholden to a shameful, secretive and brain chemistry-altering stimulus. Seeking this stimulus, keeping it hidden and managing nagging shame can consume a teen. Depression naturally lowers enjoyment in other things teens may have liked and made them more susceptible to return to porn. Video game addiction also functions in a similar manner and often co-occurs with pornography use. Lying, Stealing and Secrets: If a teen has increased the number of lies they tell and the secrets they hide, it is worth noting! People often assume these are natural actions of teenagers who are “finding their way.” This is true to some extent, yet if we take a step back, we can usually trust our internal sense of when this is growing into a problem. Further, if you have any money or cards stolen, passwords changed, the “password reset email” (when you didn’t activate it), etc., you shouldn’t blindly look the other way. Shame is the best friend of lying, stealing, and secrets. Don’t expect a quick or easy confession, and don’t press hard for one! This is more likely to make the teen go further into hiding. Extended Late Nights Yes, teens often stay up late, but if this falls into an unhealthy pattern, it is likely serving some purpose. It is important to teen can account for their actions and use of time. Debilitating Pursuit of Immediate Gratification: Again, this is common among teens, but it should be monitored. If your teen can’t move away from pleasure-seeking behavior, this either is causing them problems, or it will. A relentless search that negates the necessary tasks of growing up (school, chores, sleep, relationships, etc.) is a sign of something wrong. Technology Obsession: The previous point ties in with technology obsession. Teens with unfiltered and unmonitored access to internet-enabled devices are at great risk. Technology (including games) can quickly become addictive, and an inability to not use it is problematic. It is important to monitor the device history and downloads. You will quickly discover if inappropriate content is being accessed, or deleted or covered up (especially if history is consistently missing). You must get familiar with the technology your teens are using – including websites, apps, devices, etc. Truth of Porn:& Many people are mistaken by considering that what happens in the video that they have to do the same without any parameters. They just see the video they don’t go behind the scene. The truth is they do it for money and there is a whole industry of it. They sign a contract and then shoot the video according to it. They have their own thing and they follow. Role of Sex Education to stop Porn Sex Education is important now. Many of the teenagers don’t know what actually they are seeing because they are getting exposure to the world. In the meantime, if they don’t get the real guide or knowledge about it then it can be very harmful. Sex education is very vital to stop porn as the person who knows and has proper knowledge understands what is wrong and what is right. In addition, there are several things you should know about check out the blog on sex education on our platform. Ways to Stop Porn Addiction Key Points To Remember For Parents (Parental Guide): Start an ongoing, age-appropriate conversation about sex early. The child is more likely to be responsive and find you safe. Teach them. It is your responsibility as a parent. Place boundaries and safeguards. Explain to them as appropriate. Make space for hard conversations when you least want them – and when they most want them! Talk about sex and process your struggles with your partner. You need to know where you stand and have a strong starting place. Get expert help if you need it. Key Points For teens:- Take help of experts Understand the negative effect you can go through due to porn addiction you have to delete all the materials related to it Learn to control your trigger (feeling to see porn or do the activity) One thing is trying to cut down the times every day. (If you are watching porn 6 times a week then make it 3 then 1 then 0. Make a goal in small parts) Focus on doing other activities more so that you don’t get time to see. How To Approach Your Teenager Firstly, if you have evidence of pornography use, it is likely you don’t know the entire story. If you have evidence, the first thing to do is check that it didn’t come from someone else in the home – seriously. Then, bring the evidence to your teen at a time they are most likely to engage with you (if this is never, then make your best decision). You should non-judgmentally let them know what you found. Ask them about it, without venom, tears, accusation or anything else! Be calm and genuine. You need to be safe for them to move toward, and you need to deal with your own emotions, Don’t put that burden onto the teen. Wait on their response and gently bring it back around to the question if they sidetrack. Express how you care about them and want the best for them. Let them know what you think they might be feeling (shame, fear, anger) and acknowledge that you “get that” and it makes sense. Reassure them you aren’t judging them and are willing to walk with them in their experience. Listen, listen, listen if they are talking! When appropriate, move to explain the myth of pornography – that is normal that they would enjoy it, and that you disagree with their continued use of it and why. Your values should be communicated, as should the support you will give to your teen. The safer you become, the more they are likely to share. If you suspect something, follow the same steps as above. Start by initiating a conversation about porn from a sexually exploitative viewpoint (such as a sexualized billboard or ludicrous movie scene). Start with something like, “You know… as I saw X, it made me wonder about how all this over-sexualized stuff is impacting you?” Don’t be condescending, fake or make accusations. Do, however, get to a pornography discussion. They will more likely respect straight talk! Conclusion:-. The people who are in videos or in an industry they are not wrong. They are doing their work. However, the people who see it without knowing the real thing and do the wrong thing by inspiring seeing the video are wrong. Otherwise, Sunny Leone also does charity and many others have their family. Therefore, knowing the real part of it is important and not following it is better than doing the wrong thing. It can be harmful to society as well as to yourself.

7 notes · View notes

weekendwarriorblog · 4 years

Text

The Weekend Warrior February 21, 2020 – CALL OF THE WILD, BRAHMS: THE BOY II, THE IMPRACTICAL JOKERS MOVIE, EMMA and more!

After overestimating Birds of Prey… I mean, Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey… it looks like I underestimated Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog… I mean Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik… with Sonic. It truly spanked my lowball prediction in the mid-$40 millions, but I wasn’t alone there at least. Hey, it’s a fun movie and my positive review wasn’t off-base with the critical world at large, so there’s that, too. (Apparently, I liked both Downhill and Fantasy Island more than most people, including CinemaScore voters who gave the movies a “D” and “C-“ respectively… ouch!)

This is likely to be another down week as neither of the two new movies are particularly strong, which gives me a chance to focus instead on this week’s FEATURED MOVIES! And we have four of ‘em this week, no less!

That’s right. I think it’s time I go back to my previous desire to use this column to focus on smaller movies that you may have missed since very few of the bigger outlets bother to cover them, and there’s a few worth pointing out this week. I’m gonna start with the two foreign films, because hopefully, you’ve listened to Bong Joon-ho and his translator and are not as fearful of subtitles…

First up, opening on Wednesday at New York’s Film Forumis Jan Komasa’s CORPUS CHRISTI (Film Movement), Poland’s selection for the Oscar International Feature category, which was actually nominated for an Oscar in the category in which everyone already knew Parasite was always gonna win! It’s a shame, cause this is a really amazing film with Bartosz Bielenia playing Daniel, a troubled youth just out of juvenile hall who steals the trappings and identity of the youth prison’s pastor and is therefore mistaken as an actual priest when he arrives at a small community village that has suffered a tragic loss. It’s an amazing film about faith and forgiveness and redemption, and how the script came to Komasa from screenwriter Mateusz Pacewic is an equally amazing story. Seriously, if you get a chance, definitely check this powerful drama out, since it’s another fantastic film from a country that has continually been delivering the goods in terms of original storytelling.

I was just going to do three featured movies this week, but a really good German thriller is finally hitting the States, opening at the Quad in New York Friday then in L.A. on March 13 before a nationwide rollout. Michael Bully Herbig’s incredibly suspenseful German thriller BALLOON (Distrib Films USA) is about two families from the GDR (aka East Germany) who try to cross over into West Germany in 1979 using a hot air balloon, over a decade before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Based on the actual events, their story previously was adapted into the Disney movie Night Crossing (which oddly, isn’t on Disney+ yet-- I checked, but it’s on Amazon Prime if you wanna compare the two movies). The movie doesn’t spend nearly as much time in the balloon as something like The Aeronauts, as the family’s first attempt fails miserably, so much of the film involves them working towards a second attempt, while trying not to be caught.

Balloon is a pretty heavy film (irony?), sometimes a little overwrought with drama but it keeps you on the edge of your seat as it cuts between the families trying to figure out their escape plan and the authorities trying to put together the clues to find these defectors. There’s a particularly amusing man in charge of the investigation, played by the always-amazing Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist), who is constantly berating his men, something that helps lighten the otherwise heavy tone that permeates the film. This is another fairly low-key foreign film that’s worth seeking out.

Another movie people should make an effort to seek out is Rashaad Ernesto Green’s PREMATURE (IFC Films), an amazing film that follows the relationship between two young people in Harlem over the course of a summer. We first meet Zora Howard’s Ayanna as she’s hanging with her friends kibitzing about boys, as they begin their last summer before Ayanna heads to college. Shortly after, she meets Josh Boone’s Isaiah, and the two hit it off. The rest of the film follows the ups and downs of their relationship including incredibly intimate moments that lead up to Ayanna getting pregnant.

I won’t go through the plot play-by-play style, because it’s interesting to discover the twist and turns in their relationship in a similar way as we do our own relationships. Needless to say Green has a pretty amazing partner and lead in Howard, who co-wrote the screenplay, which is probably why it feels so authentic and real. Sure, there are a few scenes between Howard and Boone, both fantastic actors, that feel a bit too showy dramatically but otherwise, it’s a fantastic second feature from Green who has mainly been directing TV since his earlier film Gun Hill Road. I’ll definitely be very curious to see what Green and Howard get up to next either alone or working together.

Opening in New York and L.A. this Friday but in theaters nationwide on March 6 is the latest incarnation of Jane Austen’s novel EMMA. (Focus Features), this time starring the wonderful Anya Taylor-Joy (from The VVitchand Split/Glass) as the title character, Emma Woodhouse, a 28-year-old matchmaker who prides herself on the relationships she’s put together even while unable to find her own mate. The film follows as the latter starts coming in the way of the former as she infiltrates herself into things as an “expert on love” who can’t find it herself.

Maybe it’s not surprising that I haven’t read much of Austen’s work and have missed this one altogether, never having seen any of the other iterations, but it’s a fairly wild and witty ride. Much of that is due to the amazing and wonderful cast around the young actor, the most surprising behind Mia Goth, who is in fact three years older than Taylor-Joy, but plays the younger wide-eyed Harriet who looks up to Emma and elicits her advice. Emma basically steers Harriet from the farmer she likes to Josh O’Connor’s Mr. Elton, the wealthy local vicar who is more than a little bit of a dark. This leads to a bit of a revolving door of who is interested in whom, etc especially when Emma’s nemesis Jane Fairfax (Amber Anderson) returns to Hartfield.

Some of the other men in the mix are Johnny Flynn’s dashing George Knightley – the brother-in-law to Emma’s sister – and Callum Turner’s wealthy Frank Churchill, whose attentions lead to more misunderstandings. Both were great but I was more impressed with O’Connor who transforms into a completely other person when Emma spurns his affections and seems like a different person from the way first-time features director (and photographer) Autumn de Wilde shoots him. Of course, Bill Nighy is as great as always as Emma’s father, always feeling a slight draft, but even more impressive is the wonderfully hilarious Miranda Hart (from Spy) as Miss Bates, a woman who gabs at length about how wonderful Jane Fairfax is, much to Emma’s annoyance. As much as Emma. is Anya Taylor-Joy’s show, it’s the ensemble cast around her that makes the movie so infinitely enjoyable, getting better as it goes along.

This is a very good first feature from de Wilde, who has directed quite a number of music videos for Beck, and Emma. seems very different from the movies we normally get from video directors, much of that to do with Austen’s source material and the cast. Either way, how things develop over the course of the film makes it more enjoyable as it goes along. (Although I have never read the book, the film seems fairly faithful to the book’s Wikipedia page, so Austen fans should enjoy it, too.)

I guess we can now get to the wide and semi-wide releases and the rest of the movies – merging my two columns into one means you get more 5,000-word columns, you lucky ducks!

The higher-profile of the two new wide releases is probably CALL OF THE WILD (20thCentury Studios), a PG adaptation of Jack London’s classic novel starring Harrison Ford and the most adorable CG dog (i.e. not real, so back off PETA!) you’ve ever met named Buck! Sure, dog lovers might say, “Why would we want to watch a movie with a CG dog when clearly, a movie with actors in green suits turned into dogs using CG would suffice?” But no, it’s actually a very heavily CG movie directed by Chris Sanders, who directed Lilo & Sitch, the first How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods before giving a go at live action. (Sanders also provided quite a few voices in earlier animated films like Disney’s Mulan and Tarzan.)

A film that already was well into production when Disney bought Fox (now 20thCentury Studios), Call of the Wild also stars Omar Sy (returning for next year’s “Jurassic World” finale), Karen Gillan, Dan Stevens, Bradley Whitford but the real star of the movie is the dog Buck, which is performed by the immensely talented Terry Notary, who you’ll know for his work on the “Apes” movies with Andy Serkis, Kong: Skull Island and some of the characters in the last couple “Avengers” movies.

Of course, opening the weekend after Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog, which has turned out to be a bigger hit than anyone imagined, certainly won’t help The Call of the Wild.

In many ways, this reminds me of the 2002 Disney movie Snow Dogs, which opened with $17.8 million over the 4-day MLK weekend. The combination of Ford (who appears in very few movies) and the adorable dog antics might be enough for the movie to make $15 to 17 million this weekend, maybe a little more, although it only has two weeks to do business before Disney’s next Pixar movie, Onward, takes over, not giving it much time to make bank.

Mini-Review: It’s pretty evident that this exceedingly faithful take on Jack London’s book will not be for everyone. While I personally was mixed, I expect this to be one of the rare positive reviews just ‘cause. Surprisingly, it’s also the most “Disneyfied” movie that could possibly come from the newly-renamed 21stCentury Studios as it’s a movie clearly made for kids and animal lovers even if never the ‘twain shall meet, in some cases.

The story follows a large St. Bernard named Buck (portrayed by Terry Notary – but we’ll get back to that), who begins his life as the spoiled and pampered pet of a wealthy judge in California but is sold to a man who trains Buck with his club sending the dog on a wild journey across the Yukon as part of a dog sled for a pair of Canadian postal workers (played by Omar Sy and Cara Gee from “The Expanse”). Eventually, he’s paired with an alcoholic frontiersman (Harrison Ford) and he finds true love, as the two of them go off looking (and finding) gold.

Some might be surprised that director Chris Sanders (who has an extensive animation background) decided to go for straight-up CG when depicting the animals and some of the environments in Call of the Wild. In fact, it feels almost necessary to make Buck as expressive as he needs to be to carry this film, and that’s where Terry Notary (Andy Serkis’ partner-in-performance-capture from the “Apes” movies) and the CG team comes in handy. Buck is already lovable but being able to make him so expressive doesn’t hurt, and the scenes where he’s interacting with other animals are pretty amazing.

We do have to discuss the negatives, and one of them is the episodic nature of Buck’s story that means that Harrison Ford, other than the narration and a brief appearance, doesn’t play a large part in Buck’s story until about the 45-minute mark. I didn’t think much of the performances by Sy and Gee or Dan Steven and Karen Gillan as the spoiled rich people who buy Buck to drive their dog sled off to find gold. Buck’s experiences as part of the first dog sled is far more positive even though it’s rigorous and it puts him at odd with the dog pack leader. The problem is that most of the human actors don’t come close to delivering what Notary does as Buck, the exception being Ford, but it’s still one of those odd CG-live action amalgations that doesn’t always work.

If you’re fond of Jack London’s Arctic adventures (as I generally am), Call of the Wild offers as much good as it does bad, but it’s worthwhile more for the amazing vistas and terrific use of CG (and Terry Notary’s performance as Buck) than anything else.

Rating: 6.5/10

I won’t have a chance to see the horror sequel BRAHMS: THE BOY II (STXfilms), but I never got around to seeing the first movie either, although this one, starring Katie Holmes, does look kind of fun. 2020 has not been a great year for horror so far with almost a new horror every weekend and few doing particularly well – The Grudge tops the heap with just $21 million and that opened almost two months ago!

I really don’t have a lot to say about this other than the fact that the original The Boy(not to be confused with The Boy, The Boy or The Boy, which are also movies about a different “Boy”), also directed by William Brent Bell, opened in January 2016 to $10.8 million on its way to $35.8 million domestic but it also opened at a time when there were no strong horror films in theaters. Some could argue that there are still no strong horror films in theaters, especially since so many of them quickly lost theaters after bombing. Still, there have been a lot this year already and the most recent one, Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island underperformed this past weekend, so why would anyone want more?

STXfilms’ marketing has been solid even as this moved from its December release to now, but I still think it will be tough for this to make more than $10 million this weekend and probably will end up closer to $8 million or less.

Opening in limited release but also sure to be exciting to the fans of the TruTV hidden camera prank show is IMPRACTICAL JOKERS: THE MOVIE, which brings the hilarious Tenderloins comedy troop – Q, Murr, Sal and Joe -- to the big screen as they go off on a cross-country adventure to attend a party in Florida, playing their usual prank-filled games to see which three get to attend. At this writing, I have no idea how many theaters it’s opening – I’m assuming 150 to 200 maybe? – so no idea how it might do although there are already some sold out showings in my general area (NYC) where the guys are from.

Mini-Review: It feels like there need to be two reviews for this movie – one for those who already know and love the show and find the Tenderloins hysterical (this includes me) —and then one for everyone else. The former can probably skip the next paragraph.

The Tenderloins are a group of four Staten Island friends (names above) whose antics led to a successful TruTV hidden camera show where they pull pranks and challenge each other to say and do whatever they’re told. The show has run eight seasons, and it’s made the Tenderloins such big stars they regularly sell out enormous venues (like Radio City Music Hall) to perform live for their fans. Considering the success Johnny Knoxville’s “Jackass” show has had in movie theaters where it can take advantage of an R-rating, there’s little reason why the “Impractical Jokers” shouldn’t be able to do the same. (For some context, I watched this movie with a theater full of the group’s friends, crew as well as Q’s firehouse buddies, in other words, 75% of Staten Island.)

The movie, directed by Chris Henchy, long time McKay and Ferrell collaborator – the film is presented by their “Funny or Die” brand –opens with one of a number of scripted/staged scenes to frame the road trip the Tenderloins to attend a party in Miami being held by Paula Abdul. Since they only have three passes, they need to compete in their usual challenges to determine who misses out.

If you are a fan of the show, I’m not going to spoil any of the challenges or pranks they plan on each other, but they generally get better and funnier as the movie goes along, to the point that when it returns to the “story” and the scripted stuff, the movie does falter a little. Although the Tenderloins aren’t the greatest actors, they are great improvisers and you can tell when they’re coming up with lines by the seat of their pants.

The majority of the movie is basically what we see on the show without all of the commercial breaks cutting in just as things start to get outrageous, and as someone who watches more of the show than I probably should admit, I find it hard to believe no one watching the movie will at least get one good snicker out of the movie. There are a few recurring gags throughout the movie as well as a follow-up to a memorable punishment from an earlier season. (Like with the show, you’re likely to feel bad for Murr and Sal, the nicer half of the group who always get the most abuse because of it.)

If you’re already a fan of the Impractical Jokers, you’ll probably like the movie, but if not, you might not get it and there’s just no real use trying. In other words, not a great intro to the “Impractical Jokers” but a fine bit of fun for the already-converted.

Rating: 6.5/10

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount) - $29 million -50% (up $1.5 million)**

2. Call of the Wild (20th Century) - $17 million N/A (up .3 million)** 3. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (Warner Bros) - $9 million -48%

4. Brahms: The Boy II (STXfilms) - $7 million N/A (down .6 million)**

5. Bad Boys for Life (Sony) - $6 million -48% (down .1 million)**

6. The Photograph (Universal) – $5.5 million -55% (down .6 million)**

7. Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island (Sony) - $5.3 million -57%

8. 1917 (Universal) - $5 million -38%

9. Parasite (NEON) - $3.6 million -35%

10. Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) - $3.3 million -42%

-- The Impractical Jokers Movie (TruTV) - $1.8 million*

-- Las Pildoras de mi Novio (Pantelion/Lionsgate) - $1.3 million*

* These last two projections are made without much info on either movie, including theater counts for the former.

**A few minor tweaks as we go into weekends with actual theater counts, although this weekend will still mostly be about Sonic the Hedgehog. I still don’t have any theater counts for Impractical Jokers on Thursday night so I guess we’ll just have to see if the theaters playing it report to Rentrak and it gets some sort of placement, presumably outside the top 10, on Sunday.

LIMITED RELEASES

There are lots of other new limited releases this weekend beyond the ones I mentioned above.

On Wednesday night, Fathom Events is releasing Masaaki Yuasa’s new movie RIDE YOUR WAVE (GKIDS) across the nation for one night only in some places, although it will get a limited release on Friday at New York’s Village East and maybe other places, as well. If you’ve seen any of Yuasa’s other films like 2017’s The Night is Short, Walk on Girl or Lu Over the Wall or Mind Game, then you can probably expect this to be another wild ride, except this time it’s on a surfboard. It follows the story of a surfer and a firefighter who fall in love. You can learn more about how to get tickets here.

Like Portrait of a Lady on Fire last week, Una director Benedict Andrews’ SEBERG (Amazon) received a one-week release in 2019 but it’s getting a legit limited release this Friday. It stars Kristen Stewart as French New Wave icon Jean Seberg who came to the States in the late ‘60s and began a relationship with civil rights leader Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie), putting her in the sights of the FBI who were hoping to use her to bust the Black Panthers. The film also stars Jack O’Connell, Margaret Qualley, Vince Vaughn, and Stephen Root, and it’s a pretty solid historical drama, although I haven’t seen it so long I’m not sure I can say much more about that.

I was never a huge fan of Bob Dylan or the Band but I found Daniel Roher’s doc ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND (Magnolia) (about the latter) to be quite compelling as the story is told by various people who were there, including the film’s exec. producer Martin Scorsese who directed the band’s legendary concert film The Last Waltz. This is also produced by Ron Howard and Brian SGrazer of Imagine, so you know it’s gonna be a quality music doc, and it certainly is, although I’m not sure it will be of that much interest to people who aren’t already fans of The Band.

Opening in roughly 350 theaters this weekend is LAS PILDORAS DE MI NOVIO (Pantelion), translated as “My Boyfriend’s Meds,” a comedy about a woman (Sandra Echeverria) who falls for a mattress store owner who suffers from multiple personality disorder and when they go on vacation… he forgets to bring along his meds! Humor abounds. As usual, this won’t screen in advance for critics.

Tye Sheridan stars with Knives Out’s Ana De Armas in Michael Cristofer’s thriller The Night Clerk (Saban Films), Sheridan plays a hotel clerk with Asperger’s Syndrome who witnesses a murder in one of the rooms but ends up as the main suspect by the lead detective, played by John Leguizamo. The film also stars Helen Hunt and it will be released in select theaters (including New York’s Cinema Village), on demand and digitally this Friday. Just couldn’t into this one, having at least one good friend with Asperger’s, due to the way Sheridan played this often-debilitating disease. (Think Rain Man without the talent of Dustin Hoffman.)

Opening exclusively at theMetrographFriday with an expansion on March 3 is Portugese filmmaker Bruno de Almeida’s Cabaret Maxime (Giant Pictures), starring Michael Imperioli as Bennie Gaza, the owner and manager of the title nightclub specializing in a mix of burlesque, striptease, music and comedy. Bennie is fairly old-fashioned so when a modern day (translation: trashy and demeaning to women) strip club opens across the way, Bennie finds himself pressure to make changes to stay in line as he starts getting pressure from his mobster financer to change. I was kinda mixed on this movie, which delivers another typically great performance from Imperioli but the way it cuts between various acts and disparate scenes that do very little to move the story forward (including the far-more-interesting subplot about Bennie’s wife Stella, a performer suffering from depression, as played by the amazing Ana Padrão). I think one of the reasons I just couldn’t get into the movie is cause a friend of mine attempted a similar film based out of a nightclub and the film never got much traction. De Almeida should have paid more attention developing the storytelling than showing off his talented musical singing/dancing friends.

A second Portugese filmmaker, Pedro Costa, also releases a new film this week. Vitalina Varela (Grasshopper Film) will open at New York’s Film at Lincoln Center on Friday. The title of the film is also the name of the non-actor who returns from Costa’s Horse Moneyto play a woman from Cape Verdean who comes to Fontainhas for her estranged husband’s funeral and sets up a new life there.

Also opening at the Quad Friday is the latest from the Dardenne Brothers, Young Ahmed (Kino Lorber) about a 13-year-old (Idir ben Addi) who has come under the grips of radical jihadism in his Belgian town, putting him at odds with various factions. When he carries out an act of violence, he ends up in a juvenile detention facility. The Dardennes won the Best Director award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where their films have been honored with the Palme d’Or twice. I’ve never been much of a fan but what do I know?

Opening at the IFC Center Wednesday is Nicolas Champeaux, Gilles Porte’s documentary The State Against Mandela and the Others, which is built around recently recovered audio recordings of the 1963-4 Rivona trial in which Nelson Mandela and eight others faced death sentences for challenging Apartheid. The film mixes animation showing the trails with contemporary interviews with the survivors including Winnie Mandela, about their fight against the country’s corrupt system.

Another doc I know little about is Andrew Goldberg’s Viral: Antisemitism in Four Mutations, which will open at the Village East Friday but it includes the likes of Julianna Margulies, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton as anti-semitism rears its ugly head over 70 years after the end of World War II and the Holocaust.

Also opening at Cinema Village is Matt Ratner’s Standing Up, Falling Down (Shout! Studios) starring Billy Crystal and Ben Schwartz (the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog!), the latter playing a stand-up comic whose L.A. dreams have crashed and burned leaving him with little money, forcing him to return to Long Island. Once there, he pines over his ex (Eloise Mumford) and becomes friends with an eccentric dermatologist (Crystal) as they help each other deal with their respective failures.

Playing at the Roxy for a one-week run starting Friday is Sam De Jong’s Goldie (Film Movement), starring actress/model Slick Woods as the title character, a teenager in a family shelter pursuing her dreams of being a dancer while trying to keep her sisters together. This premiered at the Tribeca Film Festivallast year.

Oscilloscope (the distributor that brought you the cat doc Kedi) is doing something called “Cat Video Fest 2020,” which will take place at the Alamo in Brooklyn (although the Saturday screening is sold out there) and the Village East Cinema. This screening of pre-selected cat videos is also taking place at other cities throughout the country, and you can find out where right here.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

This Friday, the Metrograph will debut its newest series “Climate Crisis Parabels,” a series of varied future shock films, this weekend with Robert Bresson’s The Devil, Probably (1977), Steven Spielberg’s 2001 film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (1999) (hosted by Naomi Klein Sunday afternoon, but also playing as part of the Playtime Family Matinees”) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner: The Final Cu ton Sunday night. “To Hong Kong with Love” also continues with screenings of Stanley Kwan’s Rouge (1987) and the 2016 film Raise the Umbrellas. The ongoing Welcome To Metrograph: Redux also continues with HarunFarocki’sdocumentary Before Your Eyes: Vietnam (1981). This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph is another Japanese thriller, Hiroshi Teshigahara’s 1966 thriller The Face of Another, and the Metrograph’s Japanese love continues as Playtime: Family Matinees will also show Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke from 1999.

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Tonight’s “Weird Wednesday” is Ken Russell’s 1987 film Gothic, and this week’s “Kids Camp” offering is the 2006 animated Curious George with a special “pick your own price.” In preparation for the release of Emma. On Friday, the Alamo is doing a “Champagne Cinema” screening of the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley, which unfortunately, is sold out already. (Waugh Waugh) Monday’s “Out of Tune” is the Prince film Under the Cherry Moon from 1986, which is also sold out. (Hey, Jeremy Wein, why don’t you tell me these things are going on sale so I can go!?!) Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is the horror classic Candyman (1992), which is ALSO almost sold out and then we’re back to “Weird Wednesday” with next week’s offering, 1985’s soft-core actioneer Gwendoline.

If you’re one of those poor souls living in L.A., you can also go to see Don Coscarelli’s 2002 film Bubba Ho-Tep, starring Bruce Campbell, on Wednesday night or the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors on Thursday at the grand, new(ish) Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Downtown Los Angeles. Saturday afternoon is a matinee of Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight (1998), starring George Clooney and J-Lo and Saturday night, you can see Cassavetes’ Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), starring Seymour Cassel and Gena Rowlands. Monday night is Juliet Bashore’s 1986 Kamikaze Hearts, which looked into the X-rated SF underground of the ‘80s. The West Coast “Terror Tuesday” is Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film Bram Stoker’s Dracula, starring Keanu Reeves, Gary Oldman and Winona Rider!

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Wednesday’s afternoon matinee is the classical musical The Sound of Music (1965) and then Weds and Thurs night’s double feature is Robert Redford’sThe Hot Rock (1972) and Cops and Robber (1973). Friday’s matinee is the late Tony Scott’s The Hunger (1983) and then the Tarantino-pennedTrue Romance (1993, also directed by Scott), will play Friday midnight and Saturday’s midnight movie is the 1967 film Carmen, Baby. This weekend’s Kiddee Mattine is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Monday’s matinee is Terrence Malick’s Badlands (1973) and the Monday night double feature is A Man for All Seasons(1966) and The Mission (1986). Tuesday’s Grindhouse double feature is 1980’s Super Fuzz and 1977’s Death Promise, both in 35mm, of course.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Weds’ “Black Voices” movie is William Greaves’ 1968 film Symbiopsychotaxiplasm, and then on Friday night in the Spielberg Theater, you can see the 1913 film Traffic in Souls with live music as well as a couple shorts. The Japanese horror film Kwaidan(1965) will play in the normal theater. On Saturday, the Egyptian is presenting “Leigh Whannell’s Thrill-A-thon” a series of four films that helped to inspire Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, which comes out next week with some great options worth seeing, including 1987’s Fatal Attraction, David Fincher’s 2014 film Gone Girl, Rob Reiner’s Stephen King adaptation Misery(1990) and the classic Aussie thriller Dead Calm(1989) starring Nicole Kidman … all for just 15 bucks!

AERO (LA):

The AERO’s “Black Voices” film for Weds. is the great Stir Crazy, starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, and then on Thursday afternoon, you can see Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 classicDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb for $8 (free to Cinemateque members!) New restoration of the Russian film Come and See (also opening at the Film Forum in New York) will play on Saturday evening as part of the “Antiwar Cinema” series. Sunday’s double feature in that series is Kubrick’s Paths of Glory (1957) and the Russian film The Ascent (1977). Tuesday’s “Black Voices” matinee is Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust (1991) and then Greg Proops will screen the 1996 film Ridicule as part of his Film Club podcast which precedes the film.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Jack Lemmon continues through the end of the month with Mister Roberts (1955) on Weds., Billly Wilder’s Avanti (1972) and the classic (and one of my all-time faves) Some Like it Hot (1959) on Friday. This weekend also sees movies in the continuing “Theater of Operations” series, which will include Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker (2009) on Saturday afternoon and a bunch of docs including Werner Herzog’s 1992 film Lessons of Darkness on Sunday. Weds also kicks off “Television Movies: Big Pictures on the Small Screen” – pretty self-explanatory, I think – with 1953’s The Trip to Bountiful and 1955’s Tosca on Weds. and Sunday, 1967’s Present Laughter Thursday and Tuesday and more. (Click on the link for full schedule!) Following Film Forum’s focus on black actresses (for February, Black History Month, get it?) MOMA begins a “It’s All in Me: Black Heroines” series with All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story and Julie Dash’s Illusions, both from 1982, on Thursday and many more running through March 5.

ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES (NYC):

The Anthology still has a few more films in its “Devil Probably: A Century of Satanic Panic” including Eric Weston’s Evilspeak (1981) tonight in 35mm, but also David Van Taylor will be at tonight’s screening of his 1991 film Dream Deceivers. I’ve never seen either of these, by the way. Robert Eggers’ The VVitch and Alan Parker’s Angel Heart screen one more time on Thursday night, as well. This weekend also begins a new series, “Dream Dance: The Films of Ed Emshwiller” but since I have no idea who that is, I have nothing further to add. (Sorry!)

NITEHAWK CINEMA (NYC):

Williamsburgis showing David Lynch’s 1990 film Wild at Heart as part of its “Uncaged” series on Friday just after midnight and John Singleton’s Poetic Justice on Saturday morning as part of “California Love.” They’re also showing Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride on Saturday morning for an “All-Ages Brunch Movie.”

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Elem Klimov’s 1985 Russian drama Come and See (Janus) will have a DCP restoration premiere at the Forum and Sunday afternoon will be a screening of the 1953 Mexican film El Corazon y La Espada in 3D. This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is the 1953 pseudo-doc Little Fugitive. Monday night is a screening of David Rich’s Madame X (1966) introduced by actor/playwright Charles Busch.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

This weekend’s Weekend Classics: Luis Buñuel is the Mexican film The Exterminating Angel (1962), while Waverly Midnights: Hindsight is 2020s will screen Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Mnemonic and Late Night Favorites: Winter 2020is taking a surprising weekend off.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Still waiting to see if Pandora and the Flying Dutchman continues through the weekend, as at this time (Monday), there is nothing repertory listed.

BAM CINEMATEK(NYC):

Horace Jenkins’ Cane River continues through Friday. Saturday night’s “Beyond the Canon” is a double feature of Ida Lupino’s The Hitch-Hiker(1953) and Malick’s Badlands (1973).

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

This weekend’s “See It Big! Outer Space” offerings include1974’s Space is the Placeon Friday and 1924’s Aelita, Queen of Mars and the 1980 Flash Gordonscreening on Saturday and Sunday. As usual, 2001: A Space Odysseywill screen on Saturday afternoon as part of the ongoing exhibition.

ROXY CINEMA(NYC)

Weds’ Nicolas Cage movie is Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead (1999) and then Thursday is a 35mm screening of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)!

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Friday’s midnight movie is Who Killed Roger Rabbit (1988).

STREAMING AND CABLE

Let’s see what’s going on in the world of streaming this week, shall we?

Netflix is debuting Dee (Mudbound) Rees’ new movie THE LAST THING HE WANTED on the streaming service Friday, even though apparently, it opened in select cities last week, including New York’s Paris Theater, although it got such terrible reviewsout of Sundance, maybe Netflix didn’t want any more bad reviews before it begins streaming. Regardless, it stars Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, Ben Affleck and Rosie Perez, and it’s based on Joan Didion’s novel about a D.C. journalist named Elena (Hathaway) who abandons her work on the 1984 campaign trail to run an errand for her father (Dafoe). I guess I’ll watch it when it’s on Netflix just like everyone else but my expectations have been suitably lowered.

The Jordan Peele-produced series “Hunters,” starring Al Pacino, which is about a group of Nazi hunters will hit Amazon Prime this Friday as well, and a new season of the popular series“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” will debut on Friday on Disney+, adding to the amazing amount of content already available on that network.

Next week, Saw and Insidious co-creator Leigh Whannell revamps The Invisible Man for Universal with Elisabeth Moss, and there’s also (supposedly) a movie call The Ride, which I know nothing about. You can guess which movie I’ll be focusing on.

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or send me a note on Twitter. I love hearing from readers!

#TheCallOfTheWIld BrahmsTheBoy Premature Emma Balloon CorpusChristi Movies Reviews Repertory Streaming TheWeekendWarrior

2 notes · View notes

thebluelemontree · 5 years

Note

Hi, this is lyastark (i changed blogs), you responded to my ask here: /post/175700394682/. i wanted to say that i loved your meta! i was thinking more of their relationship in the purpose of the story. for me, no one knowing about this interaction has to serve some plot purpose. b/c of this, i think that sandor is going to be the one to tell her about LF shitty behavior towards her. her relationship with him is the ONLY one that LF doesn't know about. we know he doesn't b/c he NEVER mentions (1)

sandor to sansa. he was quick to dismiss tyrion, loras, wilas, margaery, etc but he said nothing about sandor. i also believe that sansa has gotten to the point where there’s no one “new” she has met that she would 100% trust with something this big. sandor is someone she explicitly trusts not to lie to her, and is someone she associates with safety and her old life. he’s her hidden dagger, if you will

Hey, glad you liked it.

Yeah, I’m in agreement that Sandor will be crucial to Sansa reclaiming her identity in a few ways, and it will pay off that their relationship has flown under the radar for all this time. While Jeyne Poole is also an alternate possibility or an addition to that, I think Jeyne is on course to meet with (perhaps travel with) Arya first. It may take all of TWOW, maybe to the beginning to ADOS, for Arya and Sansa to reconnect. One thing I’m reasonably sure of is that things will start happening pretty quickly in TWOW for wrapping up Sansa’s training arc. With only two books left, it’s time to start moving all the remaining characters into the final act.

I’m just going to put the rest under the cut. This isn’t so much a coherent meta, but me just riffing because I have a lot of feelings about this topic XD

Littlefinger was only a mask he had to wear. Only sometimes Sansa found it hard to tell where the man ended and the mask began. Littlefinger and Lord Petyr looked so very much alike. She would have fled them both, perhaps, but there was nowhere for her to go. Winterfell was burned and desolate, Bran and Rickon dead and cold. Robb had been betrayed and murdered at the Twins, along with their lady mother. Tyrion had been put to death for killing Joffrey, and if she ever returned to King’s Landing the queen would have her head as well. The aunt she’d hoped would keep her safe had tried to murder her instead. Her uncle Edmure was a captive of the Freys, while her great-uncle the Blackfish was under siege at Riverrun. I have no place but here, Sansa thought miserably, and no true friend but Petyr. – Sansa I, AFFC.

“She would have fled them both…” if she had another option available to her. If she had another friend nearby, but in her mind, she doesn’t.

For Sansa’s training arc to end, her sense of isolation and dependence on Littlefinger have to be overpowered. It is a psychological obstacle as much as it is a physical one. Sansa has seen Littlefinger literally get away with murder and come out in a stronger position than he was before. He seems to always be a step ahead of his enemies. He has already bribed and extorted his way to power among the Vale lords. He’s iced Yohn Royce out of political influence. He’s planted seeds of doubt in Sansa toward Myranda Royce before she even met her. (On a side note, Myranda does know Sansa’s real identity, but has never confronted her about it and nor has she used that information against her). So LF’s locked down all the potential allies or troublemakers that he can see. But we know there are things he can’t see, like the possibility of Sansa winning Lothor Brune’s loyalty from him. Nor does he seem to be aware of Lyn Corbray’s seething resentment over being ousted as his brother’s heir thanks to Littlefinger’s marriage brokering. Not to mention he’s hired a bunch of hedge knights for his household guard not suspecting for a moment that they are there to steal Sansa from him. Littlefinger’s hubris has made him blind to things that are right in his own backyard.

While I’m 95% sure Sandor will be at the center of Sansa reclaiming her identity, I definitely don’t think he will be her only trusted ally or source of support before it’s over. That comes from Sansa herself in doing what she does best: being kind and empathetic to win people over. I see her cultivating her own little band of helpers to escape rather than (as some speculations suggest) Sansa simply name-dropping at the tourney and all the Vale lords instantly pledging their swords to her as their new regent/leader/whatever. That makes for a dramatic turn of events but is also pretty unrealistic as I see it. I think she will eventually be in a position to receive Yohn Royce’s military support, but I strongly disagree that it’s going to be as easy as name-dropping. Littlefinger has too much backing of his leadership right now. The Vale lords at the tourney are already on board that gravy train of gifts, gold, and glory. He has custody of Robert Arryn. No one really gives a shit about Lysa’s murder and everyone is looking toward the future with the more robust young falcon, Harrold Hardyng. IMO, Sansa needs to get with Yohn Royce before the rest of the Vale falls in line. He’s against the ropes right now (and being kept far from the tourney for a good reason I think), but he is the one that is most likely to wrest back political power from Littlefinger once Sansa is no longer his pawn. Then she would have powerful backing of her own. The trick is getting her to Yohn Royce and for that, she needs a persuasive reason and the confidence to flee from LF.

Where Sansa is in the story right now, I think she already possesses most of the individual puzzle pieces to what Littlefinger has done. She just hasn’t been able to bring herself to put all those pieces together into one complete, horrifying picture. There’s a lot of trauma and suppression of painful thoughts wrapped up in the things she’s seen and experienced. Things part of being Sansa Stark that will shatter the tenuous safety she finds in being Alayne Stone. She knows on one level that Littlefinger did something with Jeyne. She’s buried that memory and thinks about Jeyne only in more innocent times. She hasn’t dared to ask probably for fear of the answer and for fear of the repercussions from asking. And there’s the fact that she’s trapped with her abuser, who has muddled help and safety with exploitation and pushing her moral boundaries. She’s under a lot of pressure to marry HtH, which has been framed as her best and only chance to go home, even if it comes at Robert Arryn’s expense. All she has to do is let go of her empathy and see people as objects she can use to further her interests, and then she can not only feel safe but powerful and untouchable as well. No one will ever hurt her again. Littlefinger’s philosophy is terrifying, but there are parts of it that are very seductive to someone who has been made to feel powerless, stupid, and vulnerable. In a way, Sansa is being tempted with adopting a cynical worldview similar to what the Hound was for Sandor. Narratively speaking, what better person to bring her back from the edge of losing her humanity than by the person she inspired to reclaim his own? Sandor and Sansa have been saving each other all throughout their story. The first moment they met was defined by Sansa looking Ilyn Payne, the persona of death, in the face and falling backward into Sandor’s hands (ugh, my heart!). Many times he just seems to appear out of nowhere to catch her. So yeah, Sandor as a “hidden dagger” works really well not only for literally saving her life, but saving Sansa Stark’s identity and her core values. But that also comes with unpacking a lot of unpleasant things.

The missing piece of the puzzle and the one thing that will be the final straw should be learning that her father’s arrest and execution was orchestrated by Littlefinger. Sandor was a present for all that. He’s the best person to tell her, and yes, she would believe him. That forces Sansa to start looking at all puzzle pieces she has avoided putting together. Turning against LF will not just be a triumphant moment, but it’s probably going to be ugly and painful. Sansa has a lot of suppressed guilt and shame over what LF has made her complicit in. While she was never a willing participant and shifting responsibility on to her was a key feature of LF’s abuse strategy, Sansa has played a role to some degree in the cover-ups of LF’s crimes. Some people think the unkiss is a symptom of PTSD. Nope. This situation right here puts Sansa at risk for PTSD. It will be shattering to know she ever called Petyr a friend, trusted him, and sometimes helped him while he did awful things. There’s your dark night of the soul that a few people reasonably predict for each of our major POVs in TWOW, especially if an innocent like Robert Arryn dies (I’m 50/50 on that). She’ll need someone who can relate (think of Sandor’s dying anguished confessions of his sins), someone who won’t judge, and someone that can help guide her back to being Sansa Stark because right now, that identity comes with a lot of traumatic baggage. Just as being Sandor Clegane did. (UGH, MY HEART!)

I could go on about how similar both Petyr and Sandor’s backgrounds and origins are, how cynism plays into their world views, and the divergent paths they took. They don’t have to speak of each other or share a scene together, but they have always been opposing philosophical forces with Sansa between them. One embodying sweet lies and the other blunt honesty. But I think the most telling passage about these three is in Eddard VII:

Sansa said, "I knew the Hound would win."

Littlefinger overheard. "If you know who's going to win the second match, speak up now before Lord Renly plucks me clean," he called to her. Ned smiled.

Littlefinger bet against Sandor and lost. Daddy approved.

#ianxmickey #sansan meta #sansa stark #sandor clegane #littlefinger #petyr baelish #bluelemons speculates #twow speculation #sorta meta?#does emotional vomiting count as meta?

51 notes · View notes