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sebastianshaw · 3 years

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RP meme from "Chapter Four: Aspects and Renown" in The World of Darkness Ratkin Breedbook

"What you can actually do is far more important."

"The experience is little more than a challenging contract to prove one’s mettle."

"Not everyone can stand so much isolation and seclusion."

"Along the way, they work whatever scams and schemes they can to survive."

"After all, mavericks are known just as much for their quick wits as their stealth and subterfuge."

"Some do this to escape lives they cannot stand; others quest for ideals they may never achieve."

"If there’s a great place nearby to find food, adventure, or perils that threaten the young, a wise scout or spy will find them quickly."

"Relationships on the road are temporary and superficial."

" A scout or wanderer who hasn’t seen an old friend or lover in years immediately picks up the relationship exactly where it left off."

"Each year, they move from city to city, use and discard temp jobs like old clothes, and evolve a series of personas for different situations."

"Not all of them are impoverished and homeless; as long as you know where to find crash space, you’re never really helpless."

"They are fascinated by places inhabited by other creatures, especially humans."

"Some are smart enough to emulate the people they live near; others come up with bizarre explanations to explain human activity."

"Instead of a straightforward military report on the strength of predators in the area, the data must be condensed into a format even a small child could understand."

"When problems with the physical world grow too great, it’s tempting to just vanish into the ephemeral realms for a while."

"These alternate identities aren’t very flashy, just the sort of quiet identity that no one questions."

"It can also draw attention from police officers, irate merchants, and hostile humans."

"This isn’t my world. I just hide in it. If you’re looking for a place to run, talk to me."

"This isn’t my world. I just hide in it."

"If you’re looking for a place to run, talk to me."

"Seers are the keepers of ancient secrets."

"A human is still a human, and can never be trusted."

"Just because they’re victims doesn’t mean they’re virtuous; they’ll still rip you off when you least expect it."

"They seek wisdom the human race has discarded or left behind."

"They make their lairs in areas where the police fear to go, where the only law in both physical and spirit worlds is survival."

"Her body remains in the physical world; her spirit watches what transpires around it in the spirit world."

"You worry about fighting what you can see. I’ll worry about fighting what you can’t see."

"If they feel strongly enough, they will enforce their beliefs as they best see fit."

"Unfortunately, when passing judgment on their own kind, they have restraints placed on their activities."

"These harsh practices have millennia of precedent."

"They reason that it’s better to have a few small, secure ratholes to hide your equipment and yourself than to go to the trouble of defending a larger turf."

"Many secretly enjoy “pronouncing sentence” on anyone who offends them thoroughly enough."

" Justice is far more important. . . and unfortunately, far more subjective."

"Most know they can’t change the world by openly practicing violence; if anything, they’ve got to be really secretive about their revenge."

"Epic carnage is best left to less sophisticated creatures."

"The threat of one of the local politicians getting killed is usually enough to dissuade them from disagreeing any further."

"They do not disguise themselves when pursuing an assassination, as they will not apologize for what they do best."

"We had a contract. You broke it. Now I’m going to make your life a living hell."

"When rage flows freely, violence reigns."

"Some have the wisdom to choose their battles carefully; others don’t care who dies when battle lust seizes them."

"Peace is nothing more than a temporary cessation of the ways of war."

"Developing martial skill involves far more than just killing things — sometimes it involves crippling them, weakening them, or demoralizing them.

"These soldiers don’t just slay; they also use their knowledge of chaos to confuse their enemies, striking in the night when madness reigns."

"All of them pride themselves on discipline and composure. . . until rage overwhelms reason."

"Warriors of both sexes are mildly insecure, and feel the need to show off their martial prowess."

"What? Just because you’ve got an army surplus jacket and a pipe bomb, that makes you a man?"

"Any fool can pull a trigger."

"Saving the world requires true warriors."

"Technology isn’t evil, after all. It’s just in the wrong paws."

"Many are convinced that if they don’t watch their actions carefully, someone from a local laboratory will capture them and experiment on them to find out why they’re so smart."

"Wherever technology thrives, these rats will move in to scavenge it."

"Humans have a fetish about continually acquiring more stuff, newer stuff and cutting-edge state-of-the-art tech."

"The struggle begins with fierce discussions about technological innovations, and rapidly breaks down into name calling and slander."

"Two machines enter; one machine leaves."

"Whether they tinker with ancient computers or rusting cars, they have an insatiable need to fix anything that’s considered unsalvageable."

"Sometimes, she’ll spend the whole day collecting knickknacks just to see what she can build out of them that evening."

"Genius has its price."

"Each one has a physiological trait that identifies him as the gene freak he is."

"Dark powers tutor them in forgotten arts of destruction."

"He’ll be deposed by forces he’s summoned up, but can’t put down."

"Turn your head and cough. Oooh! I’ve never seen it that color before."

"Not all of them are swashbuckling heroes, but all of them are delusional about their origins and their heroic prowess."

"The conflict of egos can become so intense that bystanders get hurt from the fallout."

"Dueling etiquette demands satisfaction."

"Anyone who hears this tale will swear that it is true."

"My good sir, adventure is my middle name!"

"What? You don't believe me?"

"Keep her pointed in the right direction, and she’ll masterfully eliminate your enemies."

"If you’re not careful, she’ll blow up right in your face."

"Any place populated by the desperate, frustrated or down-and-out is another good choice — not only does it make for a good place to hide, but it has its share of potential allies seeking vengeance. . . or potential victims at which to vent your anger."

"They’ll need a really powerful common enemy to unite them; otherwise, each will suspect the other of conspiracy."

"Many come from criminal backgrounds, broken homes, abject poverty or the sort of banal borderline existence that breeds cynicism and contempt for just about everyone."

"Each one has a surprising degree of truth to it."

"It controls all forces of order."

"The balance of the world will not be restored until we destroy everything that smells of stasis, stability or the status quo."

"Hey, nobody saw me do anything. Besides, he had it coming. . . he pissed me off. What? You talking to me? You talking to me?"

"Hey, nobody saw me do anything. Besides, he had it coming. . . he pissed me off."

"Hey, nobody saw me do anything."

"Besides, he had it coming. . . he pissed me off."

"What? You talking to me? You talking to me?"

"You want a piece of me?"

"Chant the creed, kid, and learn. . ."

"I shall seek revenge against those who prey upon my kind."

"I will survive so that I may breed."

"I must respect strength and exploit weakness."

"I shall grow stronger through conflict."

"I will learn from the mysteries of the spirit world."

"I will revel in the visions the spirits grant me."

"I shall nurture, instruct and aid the young."

"I will trust my own kind before I trust outsiders."

"When someone is responsible for injustice, I will make sure someone pays."

"Legality is a subjective concept at best."

"Fighting to survive is difficult enough."

"What else could heal the world?"

"They’re doomed to self-destruct."

"The day that the buildings come crashing down, I’ll dance in the streets."

"Survival comes first."

"Mankind’s days are numbered."

"The strong breed. The weak die. Does that sound harsh? That’s evolution."

"Instinct will tell you when to kill, so follow it."

"We need an army to overwhelm our enemies."

"I still do not know if this is wise."

"If only the strong breed, then you must prove your strength before you can reproduce."

"Don’t be some addle-witted wharf rat who breeds with any half-dead body in the sewers. You, soldier, are the paragon of your race."

"Such egotism!"

"That is nature's way."

"That is nature’s way. If the population of creatures in any one area is too high, a few can be killed or a great number will starve."

“Property is relative. If I can take it, it’s mine. If you can’t defend it, you don’t deserve to have it."

"They buy far more than they need, go to great lengths to defend what they have, and insist that they have the right to determine who owns what."

"If you own more than you can carry, you’re wasting what others can use."

"Betray others before you betray your own kind."

"We’re running into the world together, kid, so we’ve got

to stick together. You ready to go? Um. . . you first. . .”

"You ready to go? Um. . . you first. . .”

"We’re running into the world together, kid, so we’ve got

to stick together."

"I just feel this rage in my blood that’s been there since the dawn of time. And I just feel like acting on it."

"Show me your true face, and it’s my call whether I want to slash it off."

#rp memes #rp meme #rp starters #roleplay meme #roleplay memes #roleplay starters #ratkin #world of darkness #werewolf the apocalypse #out of shirt #okay to reblog #will answer in morning

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ayearofpike · 6 years

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The Midnight Club

Pocket Books, 1994 211 pages, 9 chapters + epilogue ISBN 0-671-87263-X LOC: PZ7.P626 Mi 1994 OCLC: 28710742 Released February 1, 1994 (per B&N)

Orphaned, riddled with tumors, and unresponsive to treatment, Ilonka Pawluk has no place to go but a hospice run by a wealthy philanthropist. She refuses to give up hope, though, and in that vein she, along with a few others, found a late-night storytelling society. It helps (or maybe it just hurts more) that she is attracted to one of the other members, by a sensation that she has known him before and for longer than either could think possible. And he feels it too. WIth him, even as they race toward death, Ilonka gains new appreciation and understanding for life.

That sounded so corny, I know. But this one is not like anything else Pike has ever written. Well, there’s the connection to Eastern mysticism through a wise elder and the concept of reincarnation. But: no monsters, no villains, no aliens, no time traveling, and no murderers (unless you count cancer or suppressed immune systems). In fact, there’s not a lot of plot going on at all. It’s just a slice-of-life narrative, even as it comes at the end of one.

I have to wonder whether Pike wrote this out of obligation to somebody he knew or met. He’s mentioned being inspired by a Pike book club in a terminal ward, but I feel like it goes deeper than that. After all, the book is dedicated to “Ilonka,” and the story kind of goes out of its way to make sure we know she’s Polish by birth, even though Ilonka moved to the US as a baby and is wholly Americanized. Unless I’m misremembering, this is only the second character Pike has written who isn’t born in America or England, and he hasn’t even gone outside the country for a new person since 1988. Why all of a sudden does origin matter so much, if he’s not making a direct nod to someone he knew? Since Pike started answering questions on Facebook, he’s talked a lot about his process, but whenever this book comes up he says it’s a longer story that needs its own post. Which I have not yet seen. So I just have to speculate.

There’s nothing really wrong with the book itself. It maybe doesn’t devote enough time to thinking about mortality, but it’s also kind of more about exploring reincarnation and what lies beyond where we are and what we know. Still, if you jumped into this expecting space vampires or murderous vengeance, you might be disappointed. It certainly isn’t anything we’ve come to expect from this dude. Basically, five characters with terminal illnesses sit around a table and tell stories until nobody is left. In order of disappearance, we’ve got:

Anya Zimmerman, who battles bone cancer and has already lost a leg to it. She tells one story here, about a girl who makes a deal with the devil to split her into two bodies so that one can drink and party and bone and be irresponsible while the other stays in school. Of course, it doesn’t work out the way she hoped — in fact, both halves spiral down and out of control — and the only way out is to kill her selves.

Sandra Cross, who has Hodgkin’s disease but otherwise doesn’t belong. Ilonka says that the others were already friends, and they let Sandra “come along for the ride” (28) when they started meeting separately. It’s revealed that she has never told a story at The Midnight Club, and she still doesn’t until one night they get drunk and her entire story is about boning a dude she just met in a park.

Kevin, the object of Ilonka’s affection, dying of leukemia. Hey, I forgot to put his last name in there — but that’s because Pike never mentions it. Another shameless self-insert? Certainly another reason for me to suspect that he’s writing a more personal story. Kevin’s ongoing story is about an angel muse who is confined to the Louvre, but leaves it and gives up his immortality when he falls in love with a human woman. Of course they don’t know how to be with each other, and they fall apart, but fate brings them back together at the end of her life, where they remember the love that they shared.

Spencer Haywood, who tells everyone he has a brain tumor. Spence’s stories are a lot more rage-against-the-machiney, with one about a disfigured war vet who snipes civilians off the Eiffel Tower and one about a young magician manipulated into murdering his school by locking the gym during a big basketball game and setting it on fire.

And finally, Ilonka, whose cancer is never specified but it’s somewhere in her abdomen. She doesn’t make up stories, she says; instead, she tells tales of her past lives. One is about a woman in Egypt whose best friend’s daughter is murdered and how they comfort each other, and the other is a girl in caste-heavy India who insists upon marrying below her grade and endures ostracism for true love. Both times, she has a strong feeling that Kevin represents the partner of her personage, but she doesn’t tell him that.

Ilonka’s story at the first session includes a bit about one character packing the dead girl’s overnight bag, which gives the other hope that her spirit came back for her things. This gets them thinking about whether there is anything after death. They make a pact that the first one who goes will try to send the others a sign, though they’re not going to specify what just in case someone pulls a trick. Ilonka actually feels a little guilty, because she’s feeling better. She’s avoiding medication and focusing on natural remedies and thinks that she’s healing, enough that she asks the hospice director to schedule an MRI. It’s kind of against the hospice rules to seek treatment beyond just pain management, but he plays along.

Her conviction that she’s not dying isn’t enough to try to get Kevin’s girlfriend to leave him alone. She basically scares the girl off with talk of his death, and then confides in Anya that she’s worried about her motives. Anya, in turn, tells Ilonka about the only time she was in love, and the stupid mistake she made in cheating on the dude, upon which he broke a statue she was sculpting for him and walked out forever. Anya still has the statue, and she shows it to Ilonka. Spookily, the only thing that he broke was the girl’s leg — the one Anya is now missing.

The story session that night is the one with the wine, and Ilonka doesn’t enjoy drinking at all. In fact, she barely makes it back to her room before blacking out, and when she wakes Anya is dead in her bed. There are a lot of signs that she planned to die, but no way that she or the hospice director can determine she might have done it. So Ilonka goes to pack up Anya’s bathroom stuff — but it’s already gone, just like the girl in Ilonka’s story.

Ilonka doesn’t have a lot of time to worry about this, because all of a sudden this rumor starts flying around that someone was misdiagnosed and is not terminal. Since she’s the only one who’s seen a doctor recently, she knows who the lucky person has to be. She goes to tell Kevin, and then Sandra — only Sandra is packing a suitcase and singing. I told you she didn’t belong here. In fact, Ilonka’s tumors have gotten bigger and spread to other organs. So she freaks out and has to be sedated, and wakes up in her room around midnight.

And Kevin is there. He finishes telling her his story, and she confesses her love to him. And I guess part of him knows, as he’s always felt at home and relatable when Ilonka tells her stories, like it’s stirring some deep-seated memory. He says he loves her back and that they should make love right there and then. Of course neither one of them is in actual physical shape to do the dirty deed, but there’s lots of kissing and holding and sleeping (mostly implied) and then they wake up in each other’s arms and then Kevin dies.

Nothing to do now but get worse. So she does, and Spence does, and he wants to see her one more time. Which is where he confesses that he’s gay and is actually dying of AIDS and not a tumor. He talks about his lover, who has already died of the disease, which ... how old is Spence? I’m running into Pike’s timeline inconsistencies again. If he and Carl met when Spence was 15, but Carl is already dead and Spence needs a fake ID to buy wine, then this shit progressed quickly. Given the sequence of events, I’m not sure Spence should blame himself for Carl’s death, but he does — and it’s that blood on his hands that allowed him to smother Anya when she asked him to. He flat-out denies taking Anya’s stuff, though, and figures it must have been Kevin, because he’s pretty sure that Kevin saw the parallels in Ilonka’s stories before she said anything. So, not a sign, just a dude doing what he thought was right because of a literary allegory.

But then Anya’s ex shows up. Ilonka directs him to the packed box of her things, and the first thing he pulls out is the statue. Which is suddenly and mysteriously whole, like it was never broken in the first place. That’s got to be the sign, only Ilonka’s the only one alive and conscious to think so. (Spence has fallen into a coma and dies within a day.) In fact, she’s the only one Anya ever told about this guy and her regrets. Would anyone actually believe her anyway? We never find out, because Ilonka shortly follows her friends into that world beyond life.

Our epilogue shows a young space traveler named Eisokna and her new husband Karlen, off to colonize a planet in the Sirius system. She confides in him that though she loves Earth, she feels that everything is good with her and the planet and she is ready to leave. Does she know about the past lives? Who gives a shit?

I’m not sure how deeply or fully The Midnight Club really gets into the end of life actually being a rebirth. It feels like there wants to be a little bit more, only there was no way the publisher was going to let sexy-lizard-teens guy stretch out on existential metaphysics. If this really was a personal story, I can only imagine how hard Pike must have pushed to get it out, considering how different it is from everything else. Maybe he’ll actually talk more specifically about it in the not-too-distant future, like he’s been promising for six years.

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one-of-us-blog · 6 years

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Licence to Kill (1989)

Today Drew is forced to watch and recap 1989’s Licence to Kill, the sixteenth James Bond adventure. Bond’s goin’ rogue, baby! When a drug lord almost kills his good friend Felix Leiter, Bond takes it personally and sets out to get revenge. Will Bond need to dig two graves before setting off on this quest for vengeance?

Keep reading to find out…

Eli, it was so great to hear how much you enjoyed both parts of “Seems Like Old Times”! I agree that it was wonderful to see Dorothy again, and I’m really glad this was a positive experience for you. I’m also glad that we had some real talk about James Bond Jr., because you really saved me from falling into a rabbit hole. I had some big ambitions about tackling the whole series, but after watching those first ten episode I had the wind taken out of my sails in a major way. I love some cheesy cartoons as much as the next guy, but the idea of covering all 60 or so episodes of that show made me dread making a new post every time I thought about it. I feel like a bit of a failure for not being able to power through the whole series, but you giving me permission to abandon that little side project took a lot of weight off my shoulders. Now I’m ready to finish off the rest of the Bond movies, so let’s get to it!

Buttocks tight!

Screenplay by Michael G. Wilson & Richard Maibaum, film directed by John Glen

Bond and his good friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison) (I can’t believe we’re getting two movies in a row with Leiter in it, and this Leiter even looks a bit familiar!) are on their way to Leiter’s wedding (I wonder how Gordo will feel about his new stepmom?) when they’re snatched up by some dorks from the DEA. Turns out Leiter has moved on from the CIA and taken up a post at the DEA, and now his new friends want his help in rounding up a drug lord and all around loony Frank Sanchez (Robert Davi). Leiter only lets Bond come along as an observer, but this is Bond so naturally he’s got to get involved and also make the moves on Sanchez’s shaken and abused girlfriend Lupe (Talisa Soto). We get a brief aerial chase and we see Bond grapple down to hook Sanchez’s plane to the DEA helicopter, and with the drug lord successfully snagged Leiter and Bond are both able to parachute down to the wedding. We get a genuinely funny sight gag of some kids lifting up Leiter and Bond’s parachutes like they’re trains on wedding dresses and then we jump right into this movie’s title sequence.

Miss Gladys Knight herself belts out “Licence to Kill”, which is a solid bop, as we get some shots letting us know that a casino is going to be involved in this plot somehow. Were you worried that we wouldn’t get some silhouettes of naked ladies dancing around? Well rest easy, because the ladies are back and the same as ever.

To just about everyone’s shock, the bit we saw before the title sequence wasn’t inconsequential to the actual plot of the movie and we rejoin Sanchez as he’s being interrogated by DEA officers. Sanchez tries to bribe his way to freedom, but it seems Officer Killifer (Everett McGill), who shares a name with my sexy teen serial killer OC, can’t be bought. We jump back to that whole wedding thing, and Bond and Della (Priscilla Barnes), Leiter’s new bride, share several kisses because that’s the kind of friend to Leiter that Bond is. Bond goes to Leiter’s office and finds him talking shop with Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell). Bond chides Leiter for working while there’s a part going outside, but Leiter’s a real dweeb and would rather talk about Sanchez than get wasted at his own reception. Killifer shows up because I guess this is more important than cracking Sanchez, and that reminds me that I really need to get to work on finishing the ending for Killifer Krisch and the Case of Maul Madness (in which Killifer visits her local mall and gets into a competition with her rival Tuffany to see who can kill the most people before closing time). Killifer leaves immediately because everything he came to tell Leiter could have been said via a telephone call and Leiter goes out to finally cut the cake.

Killifer teleports back to the DEA so he can help transport Sanchez to jail or wherever, only it seems our beloved Killifer was not as innocent as he seemed (a similarly shocking revelation took place in Killifer Krisch and the Christmas Eve-il, in which Killifer reveals to her friends Tanja and Briff that it was, in fact, she who mutilated that Salvation Army Santa) as he immediately crashes Sanchez’s transport into the ocean and has a team of scuba diving friends of his scoop the drug lord up and doggy paddle him to safety. Bond is finally leaving Leiter and Della so they can get on with their honeymoon, and Della inadvertently stirs up some bad memories by tossing Bond her garter and pointing out the gross belief that a man who catches a bride’s garter will be the next one to be married. After Bond leaves Leiter lets Della in on the whole Tracy situation which I’d honestly kind of forgotten about at this point.

Leiter and Della prepare to leave, but they’re ambushed by Sanchez’s men. Sanchez’s henchman Milton Krest (Anthony Zerbe) wants to kill Killifer and make a break for it (a similar almost-double cross took place in Killifer Krisch and the Game of Truth or Die, in which Killifer’s friend Clairna attempts to sell Killifer out in order to survive the deadly sleepover they find themselves trapped at), but Sanchez is a man of his word and won’t leave without paying Killifer the money he’s owed. Sanchez’s personal henchman Dario (Benicio del Toro in the roll no one saw coming) lets him know Leiter has arrived and Sanchez goes to greet his friend from the DEA. Della is nowhere to be seen, and Dario implies that she’s been raped and killed. Sanchez arranges for Leiter to be eaten by a shark, and we see his leg ripped off. These movies sure are fun!

Bond’s at the airport and about to leave when he finds out about Sanchez’s escape. He arrives at Leiter’s bungalow and finds Della’s dead body waiting for him. He finds Leiter horribly mangled and barely alive. Leiter’s friend Sharkey calls and Bond tells him to get help for Leiter. Leiter’s in the hospital and Sharkey’s spirit bond with his namesake lets him know that it was a shark that got Leiter. A DEA agent arrives and says their case on Sanchez is somehow caput since Sanchez had all of Leiter’s notes destroyed, but Bond says he and Sharkey will take care of this themselves. Sharkey takes Bond to Krest’s aquarium and Bond knows Killifer is lurking around. That night Bond and Sharkey (by which I mean just Bond) break into the aquarium after almost getting attacked by an inflatable shark pool toy.

Bond finds drugs hidden in some maggots that were being fed to fish, then locks a guard in the maggot pit so he can be eaten alive (a similarly gruesome death took place in Killifer Krisch and the MRSA-cre of St. Joseph Hospital, which won both a Bram Stoker Award and a Hugo). Another guard starts shooting at Bond, which results in some tanks getting smashed and some fish who ain’t never done nothin’ to nobody dying. Bond kills the guard by yanking him into a tank with an electric eel and electrocuting him, because why not get goofy from time to time? Killifer arrives and holds Bond at gunpoint and prepares to feed him to the shark that bit off most of Leiter. Sharkey manages to pop up like a whack-a-mole and knock Killifer off balance, and Bond seals the deal by tossing Bond into the tank where he’s chowed down on by the shark. I haven’t been this shocked by a character’s early death since Tuffany got killed off in Killifer Krisch and the Battle for the Gore-eria! The DEA is unhappy about Bond taking matters into his own hands, and Bond is taken to see M and his army of cats.

M tells Bond to drop the Leiter vendetta, so Bond quits. As we all know, Bond absolutely loves revenge and doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with it at all. M revokes Bond’s license to kill and demands him to turn over his weapon, but instead he beats up M’s goons and flees. Aw, shit, y’all, Bond’s gone rogue! We get a disgusting scene with Krest gearing up to rape Lupe on a boat when he’s interrupted by some goon telling him their sonar is picking up something moving toward them. Krest says it’s just a manta ray, but it’s actually Bond in a manta ray fursuit. Bond manages to infiltrate Krest’s ship and finds more drogas stashed onboard. He holds a knife to Lupe’s throat and makes her lie to Krest when he comes to ask her if she saw anyone sneak aboard. Bond sees that Sharkey’s been killed by Krest’s men, and now he’s feeling like going roguer than rogue. He kills the guy that killed Sharkey with a harpoon and steals the man’s scuba gear as Krest tries to get a drug deal over with. Bond foils the deal by tearing open the bags of drugs underwater before they can get back to Krest (and presumably gets a bunch of fish high af in the process) and then after some waterskiing antics manages to get onto the plane that delivered the drugs, kill the two men onboard and fly away with about five mil.

Bond heads back to Leiter’s house and finds a disk that Sanchez’s men missed. It holds a list of informants, and the only one on the list who isn’t dead is Pam Bouvier. Bouvier had a meeting scheduled with Leiter, and Bond goes in his place. Bond barely has time to sit down before Dario arrives and joins them at their table. Bouvier plans ahead and has had a shotgun in her lap this whole time, which makes Bond’s pistol look a little inadequate. How’d she get into the bar carrying a shotgun, one might ask? Who cares! A barfight breaks out and Bouvier shoots a hole in the wall so Bond can shimmy out into a speedboat. Dario shoots Bouvier in the back as she joins Bond, but she’s wearing a bullet proof vest under her tank top. Bond condescends to Bouvier about almost getting herself killed, and she correctly points out that she saved his life back there. If there’s one thing Bong hates it’s a capable woman who doesn’t need him to save her, so he’s pretty miffed. The boat runs out of gas and Bond tells Bouvier that he’s going after Sanchez. Bouvier was an Army pilot, so he hires her to fly him into Sanchez’s compound. The two haggle over money and then have sex for no damn reason (a similarly unnecessary sex scene took place in Killifer Krisch’s Fifty Shades of Gray Matter, but in my defense the whole Fifty Shades thing was in full swing at the time and my publisher was really breathing down my dick to get something hot on the market).

Back in MI6, M chides Moneypenny for making typos or something and Moneypenny puts in a call to Q Branch. Bond and Bouvier arrive in Isthmus. Bond wants Bouvier to split now that she’s flown him in, but she insists on staying and getting revenge on Sanchez. Bond deposits the stolen drug money in a bank owned by Sanchez, and later he and Bouvier visit a casino also owned by Sanchez. I knew a casino was going to turn up sooner or later, but then again casinos have been on my mind ever since I finished Killifer Krisch and the Game of Texas Stab’em, in which Killifer, Briff and Tanja visit Las Vegas only to find themselves playing for their lives as the stakes get higher and higher. Anyway, Sanchez is busy being creepy with Lupe and smooching his pet iguana when he’s informed that Bond is betting a ton of money in the casino.

Sanchez sends Lupe in to take over as Bond’s dealer. Lupe recognizes Bond, and she tells him it would be best for him if he left. Bond demands that Lupe take him to Sanchez, and he ignores her protests and drags her into an elevator while Bouvier gets drunk at the bar. Bond is allowed to meet with Sanchez and tries to get himself hired as an assassin. Bond is sent away and he and Bouvier return to the hotel, where Bond is informed that his uncle is waiting for him. Turns out his uncle is none other than Q, who tells him he’s here at Moneypenny’s request. Q has all sorts of gadgets, including a Polaroid which fires a laser and takes X-ray images of both people and pictures of people.

Q poses as Bond’s chauffer and Bond leaves Bouvier at the bar once again as he poses as a waiter to get close to Sanchez. Sanchez is meeting with an international conglomerate of drug dealers, and one of them, Kwang (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), insists on being shown to Sanchez’s drug production facility. Bond plans to use some Q Branch explosive toothpaste to break Sanchez’s bulletproof office windows. Bond tells Q to get lost prepares to snipe Sanchez after blowing the windows. He spots Bouvier seemingly making a deal with one of Sanchez’s men and panics. He blows the windows, but before he can take the shot he’s ambushed by two masked martial artists who knock him out and drag him to a cabin in the woods. Turns out they work for Kwang, who’s a member of the Hong Kong Police here to infiltrate Sanchez’s business. They’re joined by Fallon, an MI6 agent sent to arrest Bond.

Fallon and Kwang prepare to knock out Bond so he can be taken back to London, but Sanchez’s men have followed them and fire on the shack with a gotdamn tank. Kwang, his sidekicks and Fallon are all killed while just trying to do their jobs, but Bond survives. Bond wakes up in the heart of Sanchez’s base, and Bond says Kwang and Fallon were trying to arrest him for being an assassin or whatever. Sanchez assumes they were responsible for his windows being exploded last night, and he sends Bond and Lupe off for a tour. Lupe tells Bond he should stay put, but then she helps him escape by distracting some guards long enough for him to sneak onto a speedboat. Q and Bouvier are just chilling at the hotel when Bond bursts in, tosses Bouvier onto the bed, climbs on top of her and shoves a gun in her face while asking if she’s working for Sanchez. Bouvier explains she was trying to set up a sting in Sanchez’s office, and Bond blew all that to hell by being the big dummy he is.

Bond makes a plan involving Bouvier, Lupe and Q. He withdraws all of his money from bank and then his crack team infiltrates Krest’s ship and frames Krest for the theft of the drug money by planting the money on the ship. The money is found and Sanchez kills Krest by locking him in a decompression chamber and ramping up the pressure. Bond tells Bouvier and Q to get lost for the hundredth time and goes off on his own to get back to Sanchez’s compound before Sanchez notices he’s missing. Now that Krest is gone there’s an opening in Sanchez’s inner circle, so he invites Bond in. After Sanchez leaves Lupe lets herself in and she and Bond have sex. The next day Lupe goes to Bouvier and Q and tells them Bond needs to get the heck out of there, which is surprising to Bouvier as she assumed Bond had left the country. Lupe lets slip that she and Bond banged one out last night, and I haven’t seen a character feel so betrayed since Killifer discovered the truth behind Briff’s parentage in Killifer Krisch and the Die-NA Test of Doom.

Bouvier is pissed that Bond slept with another woman, because she’s a normal human being and that’s how you feel about that sort of thing. Q tells her that’s just how it is on this bitch of an Earth, and they plan to help Bond. Bond is taken to Sanchez drug lab, and Bond barely escapes being recognized by Dario. Bouvier plane is being worked on, so she has to hitchhike to the religious compound façade located over Sanchez’s lab. Bouvier tricks the fake cult leader working as Sanchez’s middleman into letting her tour the facility, while in the lab the process of smuggling cocaine out by dissolving it in gasoline is explained. I have seen science this faulty since Killifer went on vacation to Transylvania and wound up in a game of cat-and-mouse with a mad scientist in Killifer Krisch and the Clones of Dr. Funkenstein!

Bouvier pulls a gun on the fake cult leader and locks him up. Dario recognizes Bond, so Bond causes a distraction by lighting the lab on fire and making a break for it. He gets caught by Dario and Dario tells Sanchez Bond is an informant and Bond gets strapped to a conveyer belt headed for an in industrial shredder. Bouvier manages to sneak into the facility as it’s headed toward meltdown and shoots Dario before he can knock Bond down into the shredder. Bond tugs Dario down into the shredder instead, and we get a shot of Dario’s legs being torn apart that would make the biggest Killifer Krisch fan blush. Bouvier saves Bond for the hundredth time and the two barely escape the facility before it bows. Bouvier steals a golf cart so she and Bond can pursue Sanchez at break-neck speed. They make it to a plane Bouvier stole earlier and Bond hijacks Sanchez’s tanker full of cocaína-flavored gasoline.

Bond uses his tanker to crash a different tanker, which then gets accidentally blown up by one of Sanchez’s men with a rocket launcher. I haven’t come across vehicular mayhem like this since Killifer snuck into a monster truck derby in Killifer Krisch: Fury Road! Bond’s tanker gets its tires blown out, but luckily Bouvier arrives to spray Sanchez’s men with a cloud of Roundup. Bond’s tanker falls off a cliff, crashing into a bunch of other tankers and causing them all to blow up. Sanchez drives off in the last remaining tanker with Bond in hot pursuit. Bond puts his truck on cruise control and manages to climb onto Sanchez’s tanker. Bond turns on the tanker’s spout, causing all of the cocaine gas to spill out. Sanchez blows a hole in Bouvier’s plane’s tail with a rocket launcher, and she has to make an emergency landing. I haven’t experienced aerial drama like this since Killifer had to fight for her life against a talking bear while visiting the seaside town of Cape Suzette in Killifer Krisch: TaleSpin!

Bond and Sanchez fight while the tanker drives off a cliff. Both men are badly injured, but Sanchez gets to his feet and prepares to kill Bond with a machete. Bond stalls long enough to get a lighter that Leiter and Della gave him after their wedding (that’s right, the married couple gave this dude a gift at their wedding!) and uses it set the gasoline-soaked Sanchez ablaze. We watch a man roast alive for a minute or so while Bond scurries away and the burning Sanchez causes the last tanker to explode. Bouvier arrives in yet another truck and she drives Bond to safety.

Bond calls the one-legged Leiter, who’s conscious now I guess, and Leiter seems to be completely done grieving for his one-day bride. Bond and Leiter both presumably bond over both having wives who didn’t survive long enough for them to reach their honeymoons, then Leiter lets Bond know M has a job for him. Bond’s not interested and hangs up on his mutilated friend. There’s a big party at Sanchez’s house and Lupe puts the moves on Bond. Bond tells her to go jump off a cliff and jumps into a pool near Bouvier. He pulls Bouvier into the pool, ruining her gown, while Lupe, Lupe’s new man who’s the president or something and Q look on. Bond and Bouvier screw in the pool while an apparently sentient fish statue watches them.

The End

~~~~~

Phew, that was exhausting! Jumping from people getting limbs ripped off by sharks, torn to pieces by a shredder or roasting alive to goofy truck stunts practically gave me whiplash! I really liked Bouvier, but I wish Bond hadn’t been such a dick to her. It was fun to see so much of Q in this movie, but I wish he’d actually had a reason for being there. I know Bond going rogue is a pretty common thing nowadays, but I think this was the first time that happened so that was fun. I think this movie took itself way too seriously most of the time, and it made up for its own lack of dramatic tension with an excess of explosions and goofy stunts. Giving Bond a personal motive for going after a villain is an interesting idea, but making Sanchez a glorified drug dealer makes him seem kind of lame compared to villains who wanted to start a nuclear war or flood the planet. The treatment of Della was completely disgusting and unnecessary, and it set a pretty gross tone that never quite went away.

Overall, I give Licence to Kill QQ½ on the Five Q Scale.

Up next Eli will be covering the next two episodes of The Golden Palace, “Just a Gigolo” and “Marriage on the Rocks, with a Twist”, and after that I’ll check back in with my recap of the next James Bond romp, GoldenEye.

Until then, as always, thank you for reading, thank you for exploding and thank you for being One of Us!

#james bond #One of us #007

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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A Barrage of Buffy

Because I am a great big geek, one of my personal goals is to read all of the novels inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is the second in a series of posts collecting relatively short reviews of these books. All of the following are set during the show’s third season.

Obsidian Fate by Diana G. Gallagher In 1520, a Spaniard conveying stolen Aztec treasure to a secret hiding place was killed by a mudslide while holding a particular obsidian mirror. Now, his remains have been found in an archaeological dig in Sunnydale. It turns out that the mirror contains the essence of the Aztec god of night, Tezcatlipoca, who quickly makes a graduate student working on the dig his High Priestess and adopts a jaguar form to prowl around and do some chomps. The gang must prevent his brainwashed followers from offering enough human sacrifices to empower Tezcatlipoca to banish the sun forever.

There were definitely things I liked about Obsidian Fate. I liked that Buffy is worrying about her friends leaving for distant universities and colleges and trying to figure out what she herself is going to do. I liked that Angel has begun to think about moving away to let Buffy live her life. I liked that Giles is still grieving Jenny. A lot of the characterization and dialogue was good—especially Oz, which is pretty difficult to do. Surprisingly, Kendra and Faith both get a mention, though the latter is nowhere to be seen (and this is all set before she goes bad). No Wesley at all. It’s also really neat that the Mayor and Mr. Trick are facilitating Tezcatlipoca’s rise!

But oh man, so many descriptions of temples and stones and boulders and pillars. It’s very tedious. Also, one of their fellow students has become temporary host to part of Tezcatlipoca’s essence and plans to sexually assault Willow prior to sacrificing her. Nobody, besides Oz, seems to be quite as pissed off about this as they should be. Lastly, a subplot about how one of Buffy’s prophetic dreams showed Angel’s demise offers zero suspense. Still, their reunion on the final page does produce a genuinely cute moment.

Is this one worth a read? Eh, it could be worse.

Power of Persuasion by Elizabeth Massie This was a bit of a clunker, I’m afraid. The awkward teen daughter of a culinarily disinclined restaurant owner grows fed up with catering to her incompetent father’s whims and, by chanting supplications whilst surrounded by random items from the restaurant’s pantry, somehow successfully summons a Greek goddess and her two muse daughters to help her change things. They proceed to compel a lot of female students (including Willow) to join their “womyn power” crusade, which mostly involves campaigning for girls to have the right to try out for the vacancies on boys’ teams that arise when male athletes keep turning up dead.

Many of these Buffy media tie-in novels have similarly mediocre plots, but are usually made more tolerable by the author having the ability to capture how characters speak and interact. Not so much here, unfortunately. I appreciated that with Willow, Giles, and Xander falling under the sway of the villains and Angel out of town, Buffy had to rely on Cordelia and Oz to help her. But, while Cordelia’s scenes were fine, much of Oz’s dialogue and demeanor seemed wrong to me. Also, some weird abilities are ascribed to vampires, like one scene where a struggling vamp leaves scorch marks where her heels have dug into the earth.

I suppose the best praise I can muster is, “It’s pretty lame, but at least it’s short.”

Prime Evil by Diana G. Gallagher Seldom have I read a book so starkly divided between enjoyable parts and excruciating parts!

Set after “Doppelgangland,” the plot of Prime Evil involves a witch attuned to “primal magick” who was first born 19,000 years ago and who keeps being reincarnated and gathering sacrificial followers in an attempt to access “the source.” Her current identity is Crystal Gordon, a new history teacher at Sunnydale High, and her latest crop of doomed devotees is composed entirely of students. Obviously, it’s the Scooby Gang’s job to stop her.

First, the good. Most of the scenes with the main characters are fun, with dialogue that I could easily hear in the actors’ voices. Anya and Joyce have significant roles, and there was notable awkwardness between the latter and Giles. Although this was presumably the result of their dalliance in “Band Candy,” I liked that the explanation wasn’t explicitly stated. I thought it was interesting that Crystal tempts Willow to join her disciples by promising a cure for Oz, and I did have to snicker at a scene in which Angel, for the sake of expedience in getting to safety, has to sling Xander over his shoulder.

The bad, however, cannot be denied. There are many tedious flashbacks to Crystal’s past incarnations and these quickly became literally groan-inducing. In addition, the theoretically climactic magical battle at the end is full of prose like “The great source-river of wild magick coursed in violent abandon through the orbits of comets so ancient and distant they had never been warmed by the sun” and succeeded only in making me profoundly sleepy.

In summation… zzz.

Resurrecting Ravana by Ray Garton A rash of cattle mutilations has the Scooby Gang suspecting hellhound activity, but when several people turn up eaten, after each has spontaneously killed their dearest friend, it’s clear something else is up. There’s more of a mystery here than these books generally offer, with a plot that features Hindu gods, an elderly collector of magical artifacts, his lonely granddaughter, and a certain statue that can resurrect a deity who will reward one richly for this service (and whose minions will kill everyone else).

Along the way, a new guidance counselor of Indian descent is introduced (replacing the guy who got killed in “Beauty and the Beasts”). At first, I thought this was going to be another one of those “Willow falls under the sway of a new female staff/faculty member who is secretly evil” storylines, but, refreshingly, that did not turn out to be the case. Willow just talks to her about problems with her relationship with Buffy, which come to a head in a couple of full-on brawls in the library. It takes a really long time for anyone to put together that their situation parallels the murders/devourings happening elsewhere in town, but it does lead to a nice final moment for the book.

Characterization is spotty. Pretty much each character has a moment that feels especially right as well as one that feels especially wrong. Xander and Cordelia’s bickering is even nastier than usual, and it’s never outright said that they’re being affected by the same creatures who manipulated Buffy and Willow. That said, I did enjoy all of Buffy’s interactions with her mother, particularly a late-night trip to Denny’s. All in all, Resurrecting Ravana wasn’t bad!

Return to Chaos by Craig Shaw Gardner Return to Chaos is a bit different from most of the other Buffy tie-in books I’ve read. Instead of a new big villain coming to town, the plot is mostly about some new allies coming to town. A quartet of Druids, specifically, consisting of an older guy named George and his three nephews, one of whom develops feelings for Buffy. George wants to enlists the Slayer’s help in performing a spell on the Hellmouth that will supposedly prevent bad things from crossing over, but he’s really vague about his plans, and it soon becomes evident that he isn’t in his right mind. The nephews genuinely are allies, though, which is kind of refreshing.

This book was written in 1998, and it seems that the author was not privy to much that was going to happen in season three. A couple of vague references are made to Angel coming back, and about Buffy trying to move on romantically, but Xander and Cordelia are still very much together as a couple. That would put this somewhere between “Beauty and the Beasts” (episode four) and “Lover’s Walk” (episode eight), except that it is very clearly spring and we know that “Amends” (episode ten) is Christmas. Oopsies. There are a couple of other small errors, too, concerning Buffy’s eye color and Giles’ glasses.

This is another book in which there’s more of Oz than I’d been expecting. Some of his scenes and thoughts are okay, and I appreciated that the author wrote a teensy bit about Oz’s family, but at other times he just seems far too verbose. (This, combined with the errors mentioned above, makes me wonder just how familiar the author was with these characters.) Cordelia has a subplot of her own, as well, in which she falls under the thrall of a former rival turned vampire. The Druids recognize that the vampire is using a “mastery” spell, which is likened to the power Drusilla exhibited when she was able to kill Kendra so easily. I thought that was kind of neat.

In the end, despite some flaws, it turned out to be pretty decent.

Revenant by Mel Odom In 1853, 35 Chinese laborers were killed in a mine cave-in on a site owned by some of Sunnydale’s forefathers. The incident was covered up and families were unable to provide their loved ones with a proper burial. Now, the unquiet spirits of those men want vengeance on the owners’ descendants and have managed to communicate with the troubled brother of one of Willow’s friends, who enlists her help. Honestly, this plot doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but there’s a rich importer involved (who’s receiving help from the mayor) and chanting and statues and dragons and warehouses what go boom and demons that turn into goop.

Sometimes, Odom has a bit of trouble with characterization—Oz’s dialogue often doesn’t feel quite right, and sometimes Buffy comes off as vapid, like an early scene where she’s worried about her hair while Willow is running for her life—but other scenes are spot-on. I particularly liked a moment where Giles is forced to hotwire a truck (“I was not always a good boy”) and the final scene wherein Xander attempts to parlay his latest romantic disappointment into Buffy’s half of a Twinkie they’re sharing. Odom also incorporates and elaborates on some of the issues characters are worrying about at this point in the show: Buffy ponders her future with Angel, Xander dreads being left behind after graduation, and Cordelia seeks to avoid trouble at home by helping with research. The action scenes are easy to envision, as well.

Unlike most other books set during this season, the brief Xander/Willow fling and its fallout are acknowledged. Like the others, neither Faith nor Wesley is mentioned, and the former’s absence is particularly glaring, given the evident difficulty of the big battle. Still, Revenant ended up being a pleasant surprise.

By: Michelle Smith

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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writingguide003-blog · 5 years

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World Cup 2018: Guardian writers pick their highs and lows

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/world-cup-2018-guardian-writers-pick-their-highs-and-lows/

World Cup 2018: Guardian writers pick their highs and lows

From Modrics magic and Pavards screamer to unwelcome theatrics and wearing the wrong T-shirt, our writers give their take on the tournament in Russia

Nick Ames

Match of the tournament Russia v Croatia had it all: a spectacular goal from Denis Cheryshev, unbearable tension during a see-sawing extra-time period, raucous celebrations when Mrio Fernandes equalised and then shootout heartache for the hosts followed quickly by an acknowledgment that they should hold their heads high.

Player of the tournament Luka Modric. He was influential from the first game but by extra time of the Croatia v England game it was impossible to take your eyes off him. Modric has played more fluently but the way he dragged himself and his team through against the odds was breathtaking.

Goal of the tournament It seems a long time ago now but Ricardo Quaresmas trademark trivela for Portugal against Iran was a luscious piece of skill that bears watching time and again.

Personal highlight It sounds a bit mawkish but watching the sun rise over Kazan Arena from my apartment, only a few hours after seeing France beat Argentina 4-3 there in a stunning game of football, gave rise to a feeling of immense gladness simply to be here. Nobody would take covering this tournament for granted.

Biggest disappointment That we did not see a more diverse tournament from the quarter-finals onwards. Europes primacy was disconcerting and, while we may have to wait to see if it is a trend, not entirely surprising. It was a regret off the pitch, too, because the vibrancy that tens of thousands of Latin American fans brought to the early stages was one of the aspects that made this month special.

Trickiest off-field moment The weight of responsibility has rarely felt heavier than when, having booked a minibus to take yours truly and seven colleagues from Kazan to Samara in time for England v Sweden, the vehicle arrived an hour and 20 minutes late. That was the good news. A confused driver, who had somehow got lost en route to our apartment, then emerged and explained that (a) the sound on his sat nav had packed in and (b) he didnt know the way to Samara anyway. At this point the risk of blank column inches across several of the UKs major organs looked severe but, with the help of our phones and a rotation of front-seat assistants, we just about muddled through the six-hour journey in time to cover the quarter-final.

Fondest memory of Russia Less a specific memory than simple pleasure that visiting supporters and locals interacted so joyfully and saw each others best sides. In regional cities such as Samara and Volgograd, particularly, one could see just how much it meant to people who had never experienced anything like this before; the only shame is that so few fans from western Europe, in particular, felt emboldened to join in.

What now for England? The good feeling of this summer must be bottled because normality will kick in soon and the reality is that, if England are to succeed, they need to ensure the best players are given a workable pathway to the top. The current crop are decent but not good enough to lift major trophies: until top clubs development processes tilt in favour of the players that will remain the case.

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Dominic Fifield

Match of the tournamentPortugal 3-3 Spain, a game which set the bar high for the tournament and probably gave both teams false hope as to their own capabilities in Russia. Cristiano Ronaldo was a force of nature, Spain pinged their passes and looked irrepressible and an upbeat tone was set for everything that followed. The World Cup, if not necessarily Spain and Portugal, lived up to expectations thereafter.

Player of the tournament Eden Hazard. The Premier League has long grown accustomed to the Belgians genius but here he was illuminating the world stage. He provided goals, assists and mesmeric dribbles and will have been privately disappointed to finish only third, even if his declaration that his time at Chelsea may be up was a sting in the tail.

Eden Hazard passes the ball during Belgiums World Cup third-place play-off victory over England. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/Guardian

Goal of the tournament Right-backs had some fun in Russia. Take your pick between Nachos goal, skimmed in off both posts, against Portugal and Benjamin Pavards stunning reward against Argentina.

Personal highlight Jordan Pickfords save from Carlos Bacca, and Eric Dier claiming a penalty shootout for England. Followed closely by the glory of The Motherland Calls and the Stalingrad memorial.

Biggest disappointment Argentina, who I had bafflingly suggested might win the tournament. There was no pace, no energy and far too much reliance on Lionel Messi. They were fortunate to escape the group and beaten more convincingly by France than the 4-3 scoreline suggested.

Trickiest off-field moment The flies, the flies, the flies of Volgograd, who swarmed all day off the Volga marshes. Oh, and the mosquitoes of Repino, who came out with a vengeance at dusk. My God, they loved me as much as I detested them. They will not be missed. That said, vanilla oil was a bit of a find, and more pleasant than DEET.

Fondest memory of Russia St Petersburg. An incredible city, a glorious blend of Paris, Vienna and Amsterdam, with a dash of Scandinavia thrown in. It was heartening to see Englands players making the most of their days off to visit its sights, from the Hermitage to the Winter Palace, via the fairground.

What now for England? For once England leave a tournament in a promising place. They have a plan, a manager with a vision and a crop of young players waiting in the wings to make their mark. The Nations League, which starts in the autumn, will not be straightforward but it could cultivate the renewed interest in international football. The World Cup was all about progress. Now they must maintain it.

Thomas Hitzlsperger

Match of the tournament Portugal v Spain.

Player of the tournament Eden Hazard.

Goal of the tournament Benjamin Pavard against Argentina.

Frances Benjamin Pavard hits his sumptuous volley against Argentina. Photograph: Kieran McManus/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock

Personal highlight Mbapps solo run against Argentina.

Biggest disappointment The Germany team.

Trickiest off-field moment Because England did so well and Gareth Southgate became so popular, I was asked to wear a waistcoat in the TV studio. The crew were really excited about it but I wasnt happy at all. I decided against it. Fortunately, they kept me on until the last day

Fondest memory I went to Volgograd before the World Cup and was overwhelmed, having visited the Mamayev Hill monuments and Rossoschka, a Russian-German military cemetery. It was a history lesson like Ive never experienced.

What now for England? Keep the team spirit alive and practise more possession and fewer set pieces.

David Hytner

Match of the tournament Belgium v Brazil. For Belgiums counterattacking masterclass in the first half and the breakneck drama after the interval. The pace and intensity were incredible.

Player of the tournament I loved the way Paul Pogba handled himself but Luka Modric was the stand-out performer. I have long thought he was the finest central midfielder in world football and he oozed class and control. Showed his courage to step up in the last-16 shootout against Denmark, having missed a penalty in extra time.

Goal of the tournament Toni Kroos v Sweden. OK, it seriously messed with me on deadline but the intelligence, technique and execution, with Germanys World Cup hopes on the line, were extraordinary. I thought it would spark Germany into life. I was wrong.

Personal highlight So many. Here are some. Watching Brazil live. Enjoying Tite (Cheechee). Being there for Mrio Fernandess equaliser. Having a stroll in Gorky Park and Neskuchny Garden. People watching on Novy Arbat. Being on a fan bus packed with Colombians when the Colombia team bus overtook. Meeting Carlos Valderrama. Finding out what a good bloke Dejan Lovren is. The emotion at the final.

Biggest disappointment Neymar was the coolest kid in the world at Brazil 2014. I remember him doing keepie-uppies as he strolled out for a training session and looking as though he did not have a care as 200 million Brazilians invested their dreams in him. The king turned into a princess here. His theatrics did him no credit.

Neymar reacts after a challenge in Brazils group game against Serbia. Photograph: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Trickiest off-field moment My first full day was in Rostov-on-Don, where I was covering Brazil v Switzerland. I had to get to the stadium for the press conferences. There was no tube. I could not get an uber, yandex or regular cab. I had not yet discovered the game-changer that was the Google translate app. I was completely stuck and it was a horrible feeling. I would be saved by a big-hearted couple, whom I had met the night before, and they drove me to the stadium. It set a good tone.

Fondest memory of Russia My take-away was the heartfelt desire of Russian people for their country to be appreciated. Every single Russian I met in every single city ran through the same questions. What do you think of Russia? What do you think of our city? And, invariably, what do you think of our women? It mattered to them that visitors departed with different perceptions. Moscow is now one of my top five cities.

What now for England? Quite simply, to enjoy the positivity for as long as it lasts.

Stuart James

Match of the tournament Belgium 3-2 Japan. I expected Belgium to stroll to victory but Japan were absolutely terrific. When Japan went 2-0 up, through Takashi Inuis superb goal, James Ducker, from the Telegraph, and I looked at each other in the press box as if to say: What on earth is happening here? Belgium, to give credit where it is due, responded brilliantly. What a way to win the match, too the best counterattacking goal Ive ever seen.

Player of the tournament Hard to look beyond Luka Modric, who has been so influential for Croatia in what will surely be his last World Cup, but lets not ignore the contribution of NGolo Kant, even if the Frenchman would quite happily go under the radar. Kylian Mbapp deserves a mention too he is going to be a superstar, if he isnt already.

Kylian Mbapp of France takes a corner in the group game against Peru. Photograph: Michael Regan/FIFA via Getty Images

Goal of the tournament Spoilt for choice. Benjamin Pavards strike against Argentina was tremendous. I also liked Nachos goal for Spain in their thrilling 3-3 draw with Portugal what technique again. But Im plumping for Denis Cheryshevs second against Saudi Arabia. Elegantly stroked into the top corner with the outside of his left boot, it was a thing of beauty and set the tone for this World Cup.

Personal highlight Watching and reporting on England in their first World Cup semi-final since 1990, when I was 14 years old. I never imagined for a minute that Id find myself in that situation when I left for Russia. And what a moment when Kieran Trippiers free-kick hit the back of the net. Lets just not go there with what happened later.

Biggest disappointment The amount of play-acting but in particular Neymars rolling around. It was embarrassing watching him at times and sad, too, given his talent. Hes not alone, though, and it has got to the stage where Fifa needs to confront the issue head-on. Sadly, it will probably ignore it.

Trickiest off-field moment I could write a book on this one. I got lost quite a lot and didnt master the metro in Moscow until day 30 (I went home the following morning). Getting in and out of the hammock in my apartment in Sochi was testing. And I somehow ended up with five courses after ordering soup for lunch in Saransk. Thank heavens for Google translate, which prevented more buffoonery like that and became my best friend.

Fondest memory of Russia So many to choose from but Id probably say walking to the Mordovia Arena in Saransk for Perus first World Cup game in 36 years. I remember turning this corner and seeing thousands and thousands of red and white shirts stretching as far as the eye could see. They were marching, singing, laughing and smiling having the time of their lives. It was an extraordinary sight and gives me goose bumps whenever I think about it.

What now for England? The balance doesnt feel right in midfield and that showed against Croatia, so Gareth Southgate has got some work to do there. But lets just be positive: theres a feelgood factor that hasnt been there for ages. Heck, Id quite like to take my son to an England game now and I never thought Id say that.

Martha Kelner

Match of tournament I watched the group match between Spain v Portugal in a poky hotel room in Volgograd on a 13-inch TV made at least a couple of decades ago. But even that could not dampen the enjoyment of a game for the ages. It lived up to all the hype. As for that Ronaldo free-kick at the end, he just knew he was going to score. Incredible.

Player of tournament Eden Hazard may not have reached the final but he was consistently brilliant for Belgium, turning in three man-of-the-match performances. He was still captivating his audience in the mixed zone after the third-place play-off, all but announcing that he wanted out of Chelsea.

Goal of tournament Might be slightly coloured by the fact I saw it live but Jesse Lingards 25-yard curler against Panama his first international goal was a stunner. Yes, the opposition were limited and England were already well on their way to a rout but after watching him having lumps taken out of him all afternoon it was a welcome, beautiful interruption.

Englands Jesse Lingard, second left, curls the ball into the net for Englands third goal in their 6-1 win over Panama. Photograph: Dave Shopland/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock

Personal highlight Being inside Spartak Stadium to witness England finally win a penalty shootout. You try to remain impartial as a journalist but you also report what you experience and its impossible not to have felt some of Gareth Southgates joy that evening. He said afterwards hed never get over the penalty miss at Euro 96 but you hope leading a team to a penalty shootout victory eased the burden.

Biggest disappointment That Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could not assert themselves more on the tournament. But that blow was softened by the emergence of another superstar in Kylian Mbapp.

Trickiest off field moment Getting stuck in some pretty epic match-day traffic in Kaliningrad before England played Belgium there. We were still for half an hour about three miles from the stadium with the clock ticking closer to kick-off. Cue abandoning my taxi, hiring a bike from a nearby shop and cycling to the stadium over the main highway, which mercifully they had shut for the afternoon.

Fondest memory of Russia Meeting a 17-year-old girl waitressing at a restaurant in Samara, a city 1,000km south-east of Moscow. When I told her I was from London, she could not contain her excitement. She wanted to know everything about England and were now friends on social media. In fact this whole trip has been a reminder not to confuse people with politics. Particularly the younger generation of Russians have been friendly, inquisitive and so welcoming.

What now for England? To continue progressing, to blood new talent such as Ryan Sessegnon and Phil Foden. And to use the knowledge that Euro 2020 will feel somewhat like a home tournament, with seven games at Wembley, to train their sights on the future.

Amy Lawrence

Match of the tournament France 4-3 Argentina. If your heart didnt soar at the sight of what Kylian Mbapp did here, youve no business watching sport (Argentinians excepted). The interweaving storylines, high emotions, brilliant goals, passing of batons and lurching drama made for an all-time classic.

Player of the tournament Mulling this over in the days before the final the cases for Luka Modric and Mbapp felt particularly strong. Not much changed there during the final both are absolutely deserving of the highest accolades but something about Paul Pogba, the way he has commanded games, made his mark, played his role so emphatically for the team, and influenced the final swung it.

Frances Paul Pogba holds the trophy as he celebrates winning the World Cup. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Goal of the tournament Welcome to the old screamer versus purity of technique versus team goal dilemma. Belgiums match-winner against Japan was seriously impressive especially in the context of a match they were trailing 2-0. Lionel Messis cushioned second touch against Nigeria is a thing of beauty in itself. Benjamin Pavards lasered volley just about gets my nod.

Personal highlight Away from the stadiums, being in the evocatively named Snob Bar in Kazan riveted to the 3-3 humdinger between Spain and Portugal accompanied by high-speed house music and a guy lolling around in a giant polar bear costume for no obvious reason. In the stadium, seeing the Swedes and Mexicans start an impromptu dance-off to their Bye Bye Germany song after the dramatic, topsy-turvy ending to Group F.

Biggest disappointment Not being able to lay my hands on a Rock Arsenal T-shirt Ekaterinburgs finest radio station, dont you know despite an extensive hunt.

Trickiest off-field moment Trying to survive 90 minutes of Japan v Senegal sitting next to someone who had absolutely no idea how to manage some seriously intense body odour.

Fondest memory of Russia Peruvians. They seemed to be everywhere I went. Watching the world go by from the banks of the Iset River in Ekaterinburg, somewhere I doubt I would have ever ventured to without this World Cup, was lovely and of course enhanced by little groups of wandering Peruvians.

What now for England? Creativity. Find it, nurture it, encourage it, use it. A culture of doing well in tournaments is now in place across the age groups. Adding finesse at senior level is the missing ingredient that could make a telling difference.

Sid Lowe

Match of the tournament Spain 3-3 Portugal, my first game, was quite a way to start a tournament in which I seemed to get lucky often (confession time: journalists dont always feel lucky exactly when games are dramatic and decided by late goals). Even Switzerland-Serbia, supposedly a nice quiet night, turned out grand. Argentina-Nigeria inside the ground was quite something. But the best games were not mine. Enjoyed Belgium-Brazil (and, unfashionably, I think Brazil were good). But my favourite was probably Belgium-Japan.

Player of the tournament Rakitic? Kant? Mbapp? Im leaning towards Eden Hazard and Luka Modric, not least because in true sports journalism style this judgment is being delivered before its actually over. In honour of this World Cup, could another rewrite be on the way after the final? Yes, it could. He may not have been the best but when it comes to what actually happened over the month, the things that players actually did, the impact they had, the effectiveness, the key moments, then Antoine Griezmann.

Goal of the tournament 1. Cheryshev. 2. Cheryshev. 3. Cheryshev. OK, OK, its actually Toni Kroos or, better still, Belgiums winner against Japan. Only its not for me: see also personal highlight, below.

Personal highlight Watching the brutal beauty of Edinson Cavanis goal against Portugal, a 100-metre one-two between him and Luis Surez, the ball smashed from one side of the pitch to the other and back again, before flying in off Cavanis face. Inside a stadium, Ive rarely been hit and it really did feel as if youd been hit by a goal quite like that. And then theres Felipe Baloy scoring for Panama. Wonderful.

Uruguays Edinson Cavani scores his sides opening goal against Portugal. Photograph: Andrew Medichini/AP

Biggest disappointment In a word: Spain. Also, from a cynical point of view, I cant help wondering what might have been for Belgium and Uruguay in the other half of the draw two teams I would have liked to see reach a final. Off the pitch: not really getting the chance to experience Moscow which, when I was all too briefly acquainted with it, looked great. Or England-Colombia, for that matter.

Trickiest off-field moment Being in A&E worryingly close to kick off on Englands semi-final but I had left Russia by then so that probably doesnt count. A cup, two tea bags, a tea spoon and no kettle: eh? The couple we thought had departed the restaurant and headed home returning just as we were borrowing the still almost-full bottle of wine they had (or had not) left behind. Or how about the very, very first moment? Land in Moscow late, switch phone on … Lopeteguis done what, now?!

Fondest memory of Russia

Match-day cakes in the hotel, of course. Football street lights. 2am sunrises and walking through St Petersburg at dawn.

What now for England? Carry on, while recognising the reality beneath the feel-good factor. (Englands World Cup record is actually remarkably consistent.) Play, and try to play: there is plenty to be positive about. Be nice still. Nice is good. And nice doesnt have to come last.

Nick Miller

Match of the tournament Maybe just because I was there, but I havent been more viscerally thrilled by a game for a long time than Belgium v Japan. If anything summed up the strangeness of this World Cup, it was a knockout game being turned round by Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli.

Player of the tournament Luka Modric. To play as well as he has would be remarkable under normal circumstances, but to do so with the looming prospect of a trial on his mind has been astounding.

Goal of the tournament Christian Eriksens against Australia was probably the best I saw live, but just because it was so unusual I loved Benjamin Pavards against Argentina.

Personal highlight The game wasnt hugely memorable in the end but I was at Brazil v Switzerland. Watching Brazil at a World Cup is like visiting some sort of venerated monument: often not that impressive on the face of it but the history and stories behind it are inescapable.

Biggest disappointment Morocco. I got swept up in gushing pre-tournament predictions and thought they might embarrass Portugal and/or Spain, but their performances turned out to be akin to a limp bit of lettuce.

Trickiest off-field moment It was broadly fine, other than the scandalous confiscation of my deodorant at the Luzhniki. Oh, and I was also stopped at a metro station and instructed to produce my passport, which I did not have on me. Brief visions of a future at Vladimirs Big House flashed before my eyes but my press pass turned out to satisfy the lust for admin.

Fondest memory of Russia People dancing in the Moscow streets after Russia beat Spain. The impromptu party that formed around a busking, instrumental post-rock band in a park was a particular highlight.

Fans in in Nikolskaya Street celebrate Russias victory over Spain. Photograph: Mikhail Pochuyev/TASS via Getty Images

What now for England? Heres a hot take for you: I genuinely dont know. In theory it should be bright, a talented young team due to be supplemented by further promising young talent coming through, but how often do theories work out in international football? I fear this will turn out to be one of those long, hot, strange summers that will feel as if it didnt happen in a few years.

Barney Ronay

Match of the tournament In the flesh, Spain versus Russia. Perhaps the most lop-sided match Ive ever seen and one of the oddest. Sensible people will point to the fact Spain lost their manager and just didnt play their system well. But still hard not to wax on about the limits of possession football and the weird agony of watching Spain pass the ball. Plus of course the hysteria of Russia and penalties.

Player of the tournament Luka Modric. Best player for a tiny nation in the final. Ran further, aged 32, than any other player at the World Cup except his teammate Ivan Perisic. But of course its about the craft with Modric and his ability to drag a game his teams way was of the highest class. Put him in five or six other teams here and they could have made the final too.

Goal of the tournament Ricardo Qaresma for the one-off trivela-style curler, a wonderful piece of individual skill he keeps on doing year after year. And Belgium in the last minute against Japan for the ultimate high-pressure team goal, made by Kevin De Bruynes laser-pass and Romelu Lukakus dummy.

Personal highlight The absence of any fighting or trouble, not to mention mind games, wars of words, handshake-refusals or anything much apart from the football.

Biggest disappointment Get a grip Brazil. This was once a team of tough guys, charmers and rogues. Nlton Santos, Jairzinho, Romrio, Lenidas and Carlos Alberto are turning in their graves watching the current diving, weeping lot. And half of them arent even dead.

Trickiest off-field moment After a lot of early running around five flights in three days, five games in six days I did briefly fall asleep on a stool in an airport departure lounge. When I woke up I couldnt remember with any real certainty what city I was in. I looked at my boarding pass, but I wasnt sure if it was the right one. Eventually asked someone.

Fondest memory of Russia Football, people, meat, beer, beetroot, wide streets, huge buildings, all-night bars, amazing supermarkets and the busking folk dance duo from some conservatoire who popped up on the street in Moscow one night and performed an astonishing routine for a few roubles in a hat. This is from someone for whom the words amazing folk dance dont exactly trip off the tongue

What now for England? Fifty years of hurt.

Andrew Roth

Match of the tournament Spain-Portugal kicked this tournament into high gear. Spain at moments played the best football of any country at the World Cup and both sides scored lovely goals, capped by Cristiano Ronaldo hiking up his shorts and curling that free-kick round the Spanish wall in injury time. Very satisfying draw.

http://www.theguardian.com/us

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franzieonfilms · 6 years

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Franzie's Mini Guide to Her Favorite Actor's Filmography

I have a huge crush on Jeremy Irons. This is no secret to anyone who knows me. Let's do this.

Please note this is limited to what I've seen.

● AND NOW LADIES AND GENTLEMEN - I found out about this movie via a book about mtf crossdressing in movies. That scene certainly didn't disappoint, but unfortunately the rest of this movie is a slog. It's a bad thing when you want the "nagging girlfriend" character to win in the love triangle because the woman you should be rooting for is so boring.

● ASSASSIN'S CREED - "How bad could this be?" I asked myself in the theater before the movie began. It's not terrible, but it's incredibly goofy. I have so many questions, mostly about the gigantic crane thing our hero uses in his time travel mind adventures. But Jeremy was hot and that's all I needed.

● BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE - I actually like this movie, especially the extended edition. This has caused people to give me the side-eye, to which I say "Sorry not sorry that my tastes differ from yours". I have not yet seen Justice League, but it's in my Netflix queue. But did it deliver on what I came for? Well, the extended edition did, certainly.

● BEAUTIFUL CREATURES - I'm not one for YA book adaptations, but I really enjoyed this. I liked all the characters, the sets and costumes are fantastic. Unfortunately, this movie flopped in theaters, so the remaining books won't be adapted anytime soon. I did actually read the book it's based on and it turned out to be pretty good as well.

● A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL - This movie gets my disapproval, that's for sure. Everyone but Anthony Hopkins is a jerk.

● DAMAGE - This is legit one of my favorite movies. It's a story about how cheating ruined a man's life and it's amazing. The book goes a bit further than the movie does (the scene in the Paris hotel room is VERY different), so I can understand why some things got changed. But my thirsty fangirl self loves this despite the melodramatics.

● DEAD RINGERS - Easily one of my favorites. I don't think I have to describe the plot much because it's so well known, but it's about twin gynecologists falling to drug addiction and paranoia. Bryan Fuller used some imagery from this in S2 of Hannibal. I own the Criteron DVD and the Shout Factory blu-ray as the special features on both are completely different.

● DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE - My favorite of the Die Hard movies, but not just for the obvious reason. I love Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson's scenes together and I love how the "terrorist" plot unfolds. Just a great movie all around.

● DUNGEONS & DRAGONS - Jeremy was in this because he had a castle to pay for. But he looks like he's having a good time hamming it up. This movie is completely ridiculous. Play it at your next D&D session!

● ERAGON - A movie so boring I forced myself to not turn it off after Jeremy's character died. Spoiler alert. I have never read the books.

● THE FOURTH ANGEL - This movie is SO BAD. But listen, when I learned there was a movie where Jeremy hunts down terrorists in a leather jacket while riding a motorcycle to get revenge for the plane hijacking that killed (some of) his family, I was sold. But yes this movie is ridiculously bad so that's why I keep my DVD.

● THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN - I'm not much of a historical drama person, but I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Because the book breaks the fourth wall regularly, the movie does a "movie within a movie" format, which works very well. I also enjoy seeing Meryl Streep in movies before she got the reputation of being Instant Oscar-Bait.

● THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS - This movie is an adaptation of a much longer book, so there are a lot of plot details missing. You can also say it's problematic to have mostly white actors in a story about Chileans. That does not stop this movie from being completely bonkers. Meryl Streep has psychic powers. Jeremy is a total asshole cheater until he mends his ways. There's creepy pedo half-brothers. There's a car getting exploded by a train and it's never mentioned by anyone. I need to read the book.

● THE LION KING - Do I need to say anything about this? I have a bunch of Scar merch, if that tells you anything.

● LOLITA - I have some bad news for Adrian Lyne: Lolita is not a love story, my dude. That being said, despite this movie being a bad Lolita adaptation, I enjoy it anyway. I recommend getting the DVD to see the sheer amount of deleted scenes alone. The acting is genuinely good from everyone. Nobody gets over Frank Langella as Quilty. Bonus: Jeremy reads the audiobook of Lolita. Why no I have not listened to it multiple times already, I'm not WEIRD. 😞

● M. BUTTERFLY - You can thank David Cronenberg for ruining my life. Apparently, this adaptation of the play was not well-received, but I still love it.

● NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON - No, I have not read the book of this, either. But Jeremy is very cute and that's all that matters. There is a scene I can't watch that involves cutting a piece of chicken out of a woman's throat.

● RACE - A pretty good biopic about Jesse Owens. It doesn't sugarcoat the discrimination he faced, nor his own flaws. The only issue I had was that it did try and make Leni Refensthal sympathetic (which...no, you can't).

● RED SPARROW - This was way different than I thought it was going to be and I loved it. It's a very subtle spy-revenge movie with rapists getting beat up. Fantastic.

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sherylwigfall-blog · 6 years

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Construction of a Useful Container House

The reputation of the diverse types of the container house is at the top in recent times. The methodology is regularly getting to be outstanding many of the full-size majority of the general population Pallet Furniture and severa individuals are looking for a slight path for constructing a residence. In these intense financial times, a container house is a price thinking about an alternative to fabricating a home. Additionally, a delivery holder must have the characteristic of environment-pleasant. Since the substantial majority of the manufacturers and originators are focused on this commercial enterprise, it's far some thing, however difficult to get help whilst constructing those varieties of houses.

How to Build a Container House

A guy ought to take into file the form of domestic, he desires earlier than starting improvement due to the reality that a house is a major and long haul speculation. The tremendous majority of the pallet furniture ideas overall population assembles a holder home and after a few years feel that they require an ordinary custom house. Subsequently, you should make sure whether you genuinely need a holder residence earlier than you positioned a big quantity of greenbacks in building the same.

Before beginning improvement of the house, you ought to check the close by codes and ensure which you agree to the codes. This will assure that the close by powers do not push aside your container house while it is underneath improvement. Before drawing closer the powers, take the help of an professional planner, transient employee, and design. Their diy pallet furniture vast exhortation will make certain that your field residence is encouraged by means of the powers. Reach them with the subtle elements of your own home set up so they can enjoy the association and test whether or not the education conforms to the close by codes.

The following component to remember is the extent of the house so that you can empower you to realize the wide variety of holders you have got to buy for constructing the house. The booths are generally less pricey, however it is actual that the value is an difficulty to transport them to the building website. It is right to keep away from obtaining applied holders as it'd include a few hurtful materials which may additionally have an effect on you over the long haul. Despite the entirety you want to buy utilized compartment, guarantee that the holders are wiped clean appropriately.

It is prudent to purchase new sending holders which are without rust. There are distinct locations available all over the global that offer new and applied holders and henceforth it's far something but tough to buy the only in step with the stipulations. It is enormously prescribed to make pallet patio furniture use of the box residence experts with a selected quit goal to have a well synthetic transporting holder home. This will make certain which you have a pleasantly planned box house for you to final greater.

The great manner to accumulate the maximum beneficial Container House that meets the global requirements is to make use of the services of the X-suppose as it's far up to the mark and available at a low fee.

Fat Girl Slimmer: Making the Move From ObeCity to Healthy Town

243 is a number I shall in no way forget.

243 turned into the wide variety I saw flash and groan across the LED display on my scale my first time stepping on it in years.

"I do not care how an awful lot I allow myself move, I'll by no means allow myself get over two hundred kilos!"

I said that to myself when the weight first commenced piling on when I became about 28 years antique. At 42, some thing Personal Trainer Miami went horribly wrong about forty three times. Obese, huge-boned, thick, overweight, pleasingly plump, heavy at the bass, BBW, all euphemisms that still amount to the one phrase everybody desires to keep away from, either on their bodies or popping out in their mouths - fat. No count number how I cut it, irrespective of how artfully pals and own family danced across the sensitive words that could make me feel awful, no matter how less-artful oldsters gave zero fats-fux about propriety and let insults fly out as they may, I become a biggun!

I attempted getting to know to love the skin I become in and spent years foregoing any exercise program, training a critical See-Food Diet lest I be like those afflicted with low shallowness. There are quite a few happy, heavy human beings. They're all over World Star. No be counted what even though, I become by no means satisfied inside the fleshier skin I became in. Weighing all those extra kilos made my body sense like a jail. Energy, spirit, movement, all on lock down underneath hundreds of cussed and lazy adipose.

It wasn't all approximately vanity or outward look both. I used to play Hide 'n Seek, as an adult. I'd be the best man or woman over the age of six roller-skating in her neighborhood. I'd installation and perform in badminton competitions on the park and seaside. Best Personal Trainer Miami I did those sports and extra before the load piled on, before eating meals have become the simplest competitive pastime I engaged in, competing best with myself.

Last year, after a few wake-up calls, I decided to pay attention to my personal heart and do some thing turned into vital to reclaim the old, used-to-be-satisfied me.

That intended I had to make a flow.

I needed to percent my saddle bags and spare tire, grab my love handles by way of the roll and say good-bye to ObeCity. All those different tries by no means virtually counted. The one time I have become obsessed on fasting for weight reduction and consumed nothing however H2O for twenty-seven days directly. I misplaced thirty- pounds and for a short 2d it became adios to obesity. One plate of nachos as my break rapid later, and days of swelling, bloating, and vomiting... It turned into like I never left. Oh Phen-Fen and different prescribed drugs. False wish in a bottle for as quickly as you stop taking those guy-made gold-mines, not simplest is your wallet tired, however the weight piles again on with vengeance. There were earnest attempts at losing weight, however life simply constantly appeared to get within the way, or if I did not lose thirty kilos in seven days I'd get off the coolest foot and make up for lost energy. This time round I determined might be my last but severe strive at chasing the numbers on the scale backward. I'm getting no younger, but loads wiser. I can not blame an unfulfilled lifestyles on every person but myself. If I want to live the existence of my desires, I'd better start doing what other successes practiced each day. Work my ass off!

Seventy kilos down and every desire to dig deeper to lose the thirty extra I dream of, my pass out of ObeCity feels actual now. My parent is changing. My wardrobe is converting. I'm playing Hide 'n Seek once more. People are taking word.

"Kim! What are you doing? How are you getting the pounds off?"

Invariably, I fumble and hesitate earlier than responding. I'm no longer clearly doing some thing besides what we have been advised to do since the populace commenced increasing many years in the past - taking much less meals in and greater strength out. I comply with no plans, restriction no food organizations, or drown myself in water. I've turn out to be certainly top at each being attentive to my tummy now and attempting my darndest to devour handiest when starvation dictates. I pass 'runalking' 5 days every week for 35 mins. I can not run for the whole 35 mins and this 'runner's excessive' factor I hear point out of nevertheless eludes me, however I'm running manner extra than I am strolling. After years of succumbing to gimmicks for my weight reduction needs, old style eat less, exercise more seems to be the right trick. No magic pills, persnickety menu plans, or insane exercising schedules this time round. Thank the celebrities!

A better question than how do you do it is how do you stick with it? There sincerely are no secrets to weight loss. It's simply uninteresting and nobody wants to take the scenic direction. When you have got masses of poundage to lose, like me, the preference might often poop out lengthy before weight loss dreams were reached. How to hold up healthy eating and exercising behavior as near three hundred and sixty five days a year as possible is the million dollar question. Food will usually be my weak point. I understand that. I will by no means be capable of study a buffet without jolts of electric joy and satisfaction sparking at some stage in my complete being. Luckily in my quest to discover happiness through way of weight loss, I found something even extra. A passion for writing.

While greed is the high-quality reason for my years of fatness (nothing was ever wrong with my glands), I become additionally quite unhappy with different components in my existence. I hated my job. Food turned into my handiest ray of sunshine after a terrible day at work, and since maximum days were terrible, ingesting become a manner of coping. I quit my job and floundered approximately a chunk thinking what to do subsequent. Pounds threatening to pile lower back on with the more time on my hand and global in flux, writing helped facilitate my permanent flow out of ObeCity.

Writing is all I've ever desired to do, but I never believed I ought to. Now that I'm into living the existence of my dreams and no person else's, I'm following my passion and writing full-time. Writing is ready the most effective pastime I've ever engaged in that makes the time fly by using and I assume nothing about food. My mind, heart, and soul are united in pleasure once I'm writing. Food, now not wished.

Tapping into my ardour is supporting me make the journey from ObeCity to HealthyTown. I wouldn't remember myself a weight loss fulfillment tale yet, however this is the first time I've ever felt it possible. When the cutting-edge food plan craze has executed not anything but drive you loopy with hunger, and losing weight is the best factor that'll make you a happier camper (you need to recognise you better than every person else, right?) attempt taking a while to discover a hidden passion, one that might personal trainer in miami likely update a false dependency on food. When you're satisfied and feeling worthy and fulfilled, nothing is sweeter. Not that slice of chocolate cake or even that bag of Lay's Limon Chips. Finding your Happy may be your price ticket out of obesity if this is your desire.

Happiness: The excellent eating regimen drug!

Want to study more about the many mishaps experienced on the adventure to happiness and self assurance? Check out my E-e book, Memoirs of a Fool in Love: The Misadventures of a Girl her Heart, and her Pooncy. Available on Amazon.

TEFL (Teaching English As a Foreign Language) Certificate Programs

For those wishing to have a career in language coaching, it's miles nice to have a good expertise approximately English. With the growing call for for learning English, many countries have installation institutes that provide training guides in English. The teachers in the institutes can also or might not be of English origin. Therefore, many universities, schools and language establishments provide licensed courses for instructors with a view to assist them to grasp the unique coaching techniques and techniques. A appropriate Online Tesol Certification teacher is the one who can beautify and increase the conversation abilities of the trainees or the scholars. It is simplest possible if the trainer is acquainted with all the different strategies and strategies which might be used whilst teaching a language. The main aim of the lecturers is to allow the scholars or the trainees to communicate in English with fluency and with self assurance. Thus, a instructor with true coaching abilties and knowledge in English may have many possibilities to have a successful career.

The coaching of the English language to college students whose number one language isn't English is referred to as Teaching English as a Foreign Language or TEFL. Teachers practising TEFL may additionally or might not be local audio system of English. Qualification required for TEFL may be exclusive for different universities or institutes. Many institutes host instructor education certified applications or publications, in which contributors can analyze and master the exceptional teaching strategies. If an person is able to talk English, it does no longer necessarily suggest that he/she is qualified to educate English. For a person to train the language it is very vital that he/she has the knowledge and expertise of its grammar, and is also acquainted with the language teaching strategies. Different styles of teaching techniques are used in TEFL. They consist of studying, communicative language teaching and mixed schooling. Reading is an crucial part in TEFL.

The instructor or the reader reads a e book while pausing among lines, so that it will explain the principles and phrases to the scholars. It enables the students to apprehend the pronunciations and lets in them to talk in a higher manner. Communicative Language Teaching or CLT includes institution paintings. It helps the scholars to expand fluency in speaking and communicating, and the proper application of grammar. It is executed with the help of sports such as position-plays. It also helps in growing their self belief. CLT particularly focuses on communication through interaction. A mixture of face-to-face coaching and on line take a look at that can be performed thru virtual mastering surroundings is referred to as Blended Training. By mixing existing publications with games, sports, listening physical activities, and grammar reference, teachers can educate the students in a extra innovative manner. This technique can be carried out to lecture rooms in addition to self take a look at.

Globalization has elevated the significance of English as a language. Most of the faculties, schools and universities encourage the use Tesol Certification of English language as part of their curriculum. Many companies have workplaces remote places, and the potential to speak in English is desired. Thus, a instructor with good command over the language may have many possibilities to teach English.

Fashion Made Simple In This Article

Many people don't have a clue when it comes to fashion. If you did not grow up reading Elle and Vogue like many people and still want to get into fashion, you are still able to do so. This article has a lot of useful advice you may use to boost your fashion sense, so read on.

Strap on a belt for a fast and fashionable look. cute girls hairstyles s You can choose the appropriate color to complement your look and style. Choose something bright to go with some skinny jeans, or tone it down and go with a more sophisticated look by wearing a black belt.

Sheer clothing is beautiful, but don't forget modesty. If you pick unwisely, you can run the risk of looking cheap, not classy.

Wearing white and black is classic and that is popular this season. The best part about these simple colors is that you can throw together an endless array of outfits. You can easily use these colors in your wardrobe like a black and white dress or a nice, white shirt with a pair of black pants. You can open many doors for yourself by choosing these colors.

You can dress up jeans by pairing them with a shirt that is more dressy and a pair of heels, but this is only acceptable if you plan on wearing black jeans. Save the other jean colors for a fashion statement that is more on the casual side.

There are endless accessories made just for hair. Accessories for your hair include scrunchies in a myriad of colors and fabrics, headbands, elegant barrettes, and even clip-on hair extensions. Focus on having several accessories available to you. For instance, if you are going for a sporty look, match a ponytail holder to your track suit for a great look and practicality. When going away, be sure to bring headbands that match your outfits.

A dark shirt paired with a dark skirt can help to slim you. Dark colors help emphasize your good parts and tone down the overweight extras you don't want people to notice. For extra comfort, try an elastic band around the waste.

Use the entire beauty product up before throwing them out. You might want to purchase a squeezer that can be used for getting every last drop out of products that come in tubes. To get the last drops of bottled products, store them at an angle, or even upside-down. Another tip is to remove the top of the bottle so you can reach into the bottle to get any remnants. Utilize all these cost saving tips to get the most out of your beauty products.

If plus sized clothing is what you typically wear, but you want to look smaller than that, do not wear floral patterns with large imagery. The large imagery puts attention on your size, which does not flatter you. If you want to wear a floral pattern, choose one with small-sized flowers.

Every woman should at least have a few key items in her closet. You should always have a couple of pairs of slacks and jeans that have a hem that fits with heels and other for sneakers. Also, you should always keep a black dress for formal events.

Become aware of your body's weaknesses and strengths. If you are someone who is petite in size, you will want to choose fabrics that are soft with styles that are fitted in order to lengthen out your body. Buxom women should wear noteworthy pants or skirts that draw others' eyes away from the bust. You can use lighter colors for shirts or blouses and darker colors for pants or skirts to balance out a pear-shaped body.

If you don't have much money to spend on fashion, it's okay to tell your friends about it. If you love a certain piece one of your friends owns, inform her that you would love to have it whenever she gets tired of it. That way, you get some great stuff for free.

Get the basics if you want to be fashionable. A well-fitting bra defines your figure and gives you a silhouette that is appealing. Underwear is meant to give you support and create a smooth fit. Choose a slimming undergarment if you want to hide some of the weight problems that you have.

A fashion tip that is often overlooked is to eliminate seldom-used articles of clothing; consider donating them mens long hairstyles . Doing this is beneficial in two ways. First, you are helping others. Secondly, you will find it easier to coordinate your own wardrobe if your closet is not filled with items you can't wear.

There is no need for fashion journals in order to develop your sense of style. As long as you can absorb and follow some simple fashion information, you should have no problem at all looking great in a little amount of time and with little money. Use these tips to get started.

Read This Before Trying To Lose Weight

There is much more to losing weight than just improving your appearance. Certainly, that is one aspect, but losing extra pounds can help improve your health and help you feel better as well. miami personal training This article will give you some weight loss tips that not only help you to lose weight but will help you become healthier in the process.

Cardio exercise should be done when you first wake up and before you eat. Studies have shown that doing cardio this way burns three hundred percent more calories than if you were to do cardio at any other time of the day.

If you want to lose weight the right way, make sure that you get a minimal amount of daily calories. Starvation based diets are very bad for your health for a number of reasons. One reason is that when you withhold food, your body slows its metabolism in order to try and hang onto your energy stores, which is another word for fat. This kind of diet also puts you at risk of binge eating, not to mention a fast return to your pre-diet weight once normal eating habits resume.

You're probably still going to want to dine out while you're on a diet. Know that portions at restaurants are bigger than what you need. It's a smart idea, for your diet and your wallet (bonus!), to ask the waitress for a to-go container and immediately put half your meal inside. Not only will you cut down on unnecessary calories, but you will also have the perfect lunch the following day.

Be sure to eat breakfast every day to promote a healthy metabolism and consistent weight loss. For some, this is obvious. For others, they believe avoiding breakfast will help them skip consuming more calories. It may cut back on calories at first, but skipping breakfast can cause serious cravings by lunch time. You might end up running to the vending machine before lunch even hits because you are so hungry.

Try to take photos of yourself when you start your weight loss routine so that you can compare photos over time. You can then see how much you've lost, instead of relying on scale numbers. It can also amaze your friends by showing them your progression over time.

Throw out clothes that are too big once you start shedding pounds. This activity gives you concrete evidence of your progress and makes you more confident. It gives you even more of a reason to keep the pounds off.

Set realistic goals when starting a diet. Always have a goal that is attainable to reduce the chance for failure. If you also try to drop a large amount of weight in an unrealistically short period of time, you are going to fail. Be wise, set a weekly goal that can be achieved. personal trainer brickell Try not to look at your ultimate goal too much. Try concentrating on things that you can achieve every week.

Find other things to do than just eat. Many people's favorite pastime is spending time in the kitchen and eating what they create. There's nothing wrong with that. Food can be quite enjoyable. Just ensure that you have other interests that you enjoy just as much or even more. Try finding hobbies which will also help you lose weight.

Stop eating fried foods if you intend to lose weight. You can cook tasty, healthy food in other ways. Examples include steaming, poaching, baking, and broiling. If you cook your food using these methods, you can literally cook your way to a slimmer waistline.

When pursuing a weight loss goal, you should always weigh yourself on a regular basis. This can help you see how you're doing. Record how much progress you have made in a journal. People who keep track of it have better results.

Monitor your calories. This will ensure that you know exactly what you are eating. This will provide you with the information to know if you can eat more or if you have reached your calorie intake for the day. You can do this with a regular notepad or make a spreadsheet on your computer.

Believe it or not, you have to consume fats to burn fat. There are a number of fats that are good for you, which include the various Omega fats. They are, however, not found in junk foods. However, these fatty acids that you can obtain from legumes and fish, nourish the cardiovascular system while cholesterol, both of which can aid weight loss.

These tips are all related because they will help you reach your weight-loss goals. There is no single secret to weight-loss. There are lots of little things you can do to lose some pounds. personal trainer wynwood Give a few of them a try and start creating the new you today.

Confused About Hair Care? Use These Tips!

One of the best ways to improve your appearance is to have great-looking hair. Your hair is one of the very first things others notice about you, and beautiful hair can distract people from other flaws. But how do you the kind of hair people can't help but compliment? Keep reading to find out.

A handy tip to leave you with hair that contains no knots is to comb the conditioner through your hair with a wide-toothed comb when you are applying your conditioning treatment. This will ensure the product is spread through the hair evenly, while removing any tangles you may have at the same time.

If you can, try not to blow dry your hair too often and do not color your hair frequently. Both of these can cause your hair to dry out, damaging it in the process. If these products have already dried your hair out, you can use coconut oil twice a week to add moisture.

Don't use your bristle hairbrush on wet hair. Always use a comb or pick on your beautiful wet tresses. A hairbrush encourages breakage and split ends. Just lightly towel dry your hair and remove tangles by gently combing through your hair with a wide-toothed comb, or even your fingers. Allow to air dry whenever possible to minimize heat damage.

While friends may be an easy source for help with your hair care, make it a point to visit a professional, regularly. Though the intent of friends or acquaintances may be well-intentioned, mistakes can happen, and will often cost more to correct, than what a professional beautician would have cost you, in the first place.

Avoid blow-drying your hair after your shampoo. Extreme heat can damage your hair shaft and cause your hair to dry out. Brittle hair will break easily. Instead, after you shampoo, dry your hair gently with a soft towel, and allow your hair to air dry naturally. This will help your hair to retain its natural oils.

If you have dandruff, try using a mild shampoo. Wash your hair as often as possible and make sure that you massage your scalp. If this does not work, get an anti-dandruff shampoo. You should also look for bad habits you should get rid of, such as, not getting enough sleep.

Choosing your shampoo and conditioner can seem overwhelming. Manufacturers spend a great deal of time and money coming up with formulas for particular hair types. Use the labels on the bottles to find the products that match your hair type. Match your conditioner to your shampoo and try different brands, if you are unhappy with the results that you get.

Hair products that you use to make your hair look nice can be doing more damage than you think. As you choose your products, avoid the ones that contain any alcohol. The alcohol will dry your hair out quickly. These products could also dry out your scalp, so avoid any contact with the scalp.

A healthy diet will show in your hair. If you eat a diet high in fat and cholesterol, your hair may appear dull and lifeless. For healthier hair, a well-balanced diet is best. Eat food that is low in fat and cholesterol, and high in anti-oxidants, protein, vitamins and minerals.

Use blow-dryers with caution. Blow-drying can be harsh on your hair, so if you must use one, make sure you are using it correctly. Always aim the dryer so that the nozzle points down the shaft of your hair, away from your scalp. Use a round brush to isolate individual sections of your hair for drying, and use the cool setting to set your hair when you are done.

Try not to stay under the water the whole time you are showering. Doing this can remove your hair of natural oils your scalp makes. As a result, your scalp's appearance can be harmed. If you want to get your hair clean while keeping it healthy, make your showers quick.

Hairstyles

Take care with brushing your hair if it is still wet. While hair is wet, it is weaker and more susceptible to tension and breakage. Allow most of the moisture to leave your hair before you begin brushing. Also, avoid creating too much tension on your locks from hairstyles that increase breakage over time, such as cornrows or high-tension braiding.

Hairstyle

A soft, smooth pillowcase can help you keep your hairstyle, as well as, your hair. Sleeping on a pillow covered in a textured fabric or low-thread count cotton pillowcase can actually pull your hair and cause it to fall out. Use a smooth pillow-covering, wherever you lay your head and help keep your hair where it belongs.

If your hair looks great, you'll look and feel amazing too. That's why it's so important to put real time and effort into your hair. Now that you've read these suggestions, you know what it takes to make your hair look beautiful. You just need to put the advice into practice.

Confused By Fashion? Here's What You Should Know!

Fashion seems to be different for everyone, Short hairstyles yet some people still seem to set the pace. Have you ever wondered how you could approach fashion in a whole new light. The internet is a great resource for you in this time of need. Consider the following helpful tips regarding fashion.

You are going to want to talk to your friends and coworkers about how you dress. They can help you figure out what you are doing that works, and what you might want to change about how you dress. Since they see you every day, they can be the ones you go to for advice.

If you have patches of gray in your hair, consider using a semipermanent dye. The gray will appear to be the same color as the rest of your hair and will last about two months. While you can't really lighten your hair with this tactic, you can choose to darken your locks if you want.

In order to make sure that you can fit into the latest fashion trends you are going to want to make sure that you are as slim as possible. Diet and exercise so you don't feel embarrassed because you can't fit into some of the latest trends that this season's fashion has to offer you.

A good fashion tip is to learn how to develop your own sense of style. You don't want to just mimic somebody else and copy their style. Think of what's important to you such as comfort or flair, and then slowly build on that so that your fashion sense is unique to you.

Accentuate the positive. Look for items of clothing that show off your attributes. If you have a great waistline, look for clothing that features an embellished mid-line or add an attractive belt. If have a great neckline, draw the eye in that direction with a fancy collar or fun necklace.

If you notice your nail polish is becoming too thick, do not despair. Try adding a few drops of acetone based polish remover into the bottle. Shake, and check the consistency. Continue to do this until it is useable again. You will extend the use of your polish, and save money in the process.

Save money by shopping online. If you are a fashionista on a budget, check online before you splurge on your wardrobe. There are websites dedicated to deals and coupons that can save you serious cash on clothes by your favorite designers. Shopping online also gives you an easy way to compare prices and ensure you are getting the most bang for your fashion buck.

Buy outfits that promote an hour-glass figure. No matter what the decade, that feminine outline is classic and always fashionable. This is why actresses like Marilyn Monroe are still considered beautiful even with the new model trend toward long and lanky women. Curves are always in as it implies femininity and fertility.

Do not be afraid to be unique. Although high school beats into our heads that everyone should be the same, the truth is that being unique is vital for success in any area. Lady Gaga is a prime example. Uniqueness is a good thing. You should never try to hide it.

Find the right balance between fashionable and comfortable. Pain doesn't have to equal beauty. Just because a pair of shoes or a lacy dress are aesthetically pleasing doesn't mean you should wear them. Don't just check to see if something fits. Before you spend any money, try to determine whether you will be able to wear what you are buying for extended periods of time.

Buy the right size clothing. Too many women wear shirts, skirts, and even bras that are too tight. This is very unflattering. Buying clothing that fits right will have you looking your best. It will also allow you to breathe and be comfortable in what you're wearing. Part of being fashionable is being at ease with your choices.

Although it may have been popular years ago, wearing clothing that does not match is not in style anymore. Whether you are wearing jeans and a top, a suit, or a skirt and shirt, be sure the top and bottom match. The same goes for the accessories you choose to wear.

Many people are under the impression that bright colors should only be worn in the spring and summer; this is not true. It is perfectly fine to wear brighter colors in the winter; it is just a matter of how you wear them. While bright sweaters are fine, bright pants are not!

You may not think so, but fashion is about keeping an open mind and allowing yourself to figure out more of who you are. There are many helpful resources to help you find out more about fashion. Remember the tips and advice you've read here as you work your way towards better fashion.

Fashion Tips For The Modern Person

You never thought you would find fashion Mehndi Design sense online in an article did you? Well you are going to figure out a lot about fashion, and you are going to feel good about the subject of fashion after today. This is why this article was designed, to help boost your confidence level when it comes to fashion.

If you have thick or very curly hair, using a gel product will help you to create the style you desire. Work the product into towel-dried hair and then style it as you want. You can allow it to dry naturally, or use a hair drier. This is especially helpful in humid weather.

Your beauty kit does not need an overabundance of makeup in it. Pick products in some seasonally appropriate colors that you like. Think about what you need for day versus night. Makeup, like many other products, can go bad once open. Bacteria can also form over time.

Be sure that you are being strategic when choosing how much skin you want to show. This is important because you need to be sure that you are not going past what is considered tasteful when it comes to the amount of coverage you have. A great way to judge this is to accentuate just one feature of your body.

If your hair tends to frizz out of control, avoid rubbing it dry with a towel after you wash it. This causes damage to your hair, making it more likely to frizz. Try wrapping it in the towel and pushing it to absorb the moisture instead. After a few minutes, you can remove the towel and finish drying with a hair dryer, or you can just comb it out.

Use your accessories to add color to your outfit. This is a great tip if you happen to have a large stock of earth tones or blacks and whites. Get a bright-colored tie, purse, or shoes depending on who you are and what fits you. It is a great way to stand out without having to be very brave.

Don't make fashion impulse buys. When you buy on impulse, you often make bad choices. The clothing may not fit as well as you hoped, or it doesn't truly work with anything in your closet. Before making the buy ask yourself if you really need it, and if you have items that can compliment it.

Avoid mom jeans! Aging is going to happen; however, your fashion sense does not need to age as well; it just needs to evolve. Incorporating extra, unnecessary denim, does nothing for your look. The key is to have jeans that fit at the waist, and accent areas that you are proud of.

One great fashion tip to try out is throwing on a scarf. This is a great tip because the scarf can almost be considered the ultimate add-on due to the amount of color combinations as well as how easy it is to put one on. They are also extremely portable.

When shopping for vintage clothing, don't make assumptions based on the size on the tag. A size 8 in the 1950s fits differently than a modern size 8, so save yourself some disappointments by always trying items on before buying them. Once you get a feel for how sizes have changed through the decades, you will have a better idea of what to look for.

You may like following fashion rules, but it's always nice to try new experiments. Without trying a look yourself, you'll never know whether it looks good on you. You should mix and match your clothes to try out different styles, colors and materials. This is a good way to put together a very personal outfit that reflects your personality.

An early fashion tip for you: quilted fabrics are making a comeback and will be in style this fall. You can find all types of clothing made from this fabric. While these items are not meant to be form-fitting, but careful of how you wear them so that you don't appear large.

You should have a minimum of three handbags in your wardrobe. The first handbag should be a standard, a leather handbag with classic lines for everyday wear. The next handbag should be a large tote-style handbag to use on those casual days when you need to grab and go. You should also have a small clutch for those special occasions.

When wearing shorts, make sure you can not see your socks. Kindergarteners can get away with this, but not an adult. Keep your socks cut to the ankle and your embarrassment under wraps.

From here on out it shouldn't be hard for you to figure out how to dress well any time of the year. Fashion is a big thing these days because of how much people look and judge you based on what you wear. Good luck with your fashion in the following years.

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garrisontownhall · 6 years

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01.02: Clara

Things hadn’t been right for quite some time with my family. We all watched my mother slowly sink into her ancient sitting chair, where she would blankly gaze at hazy daytime television shows until her eyes rolled back into her head, and we would come and shut her lids, and lay down grandma’s quilt across her. Father worked long hours at the mill, and would always come home coughing, then he’d start a pack of coffin nails, and walk out to his work shed without a word, his face and clothes always darker with dirt than the day before. Nobody was allowed to bother father. The doors to the shed stayed locked, and he wouldn’t leave until the whole house was sleeping. It was just me and my younger brother Jason, day after day, struggling to keep each other sane.

My father was respected enough within the town, as he continued working and showing up to church, but the people harbored hatred for my mother ever since the day she stopped leaving the house. Other kids wouldn’t speak to us in the schoolhouse, or on the street. They called our family a curse, and made up nasty ugly rumors, which they whispered just loud enough for us to hear. When I cried, my brother told me not to listen to the lies, but as he said so, I would wonder whether they were lies at all.

Gradually, mother became less and less. Her skin and muscle seemed to separate from the bone like slow cooked meat, sitting loose inside a bag of wrinkled tissue. All of her bodily fat seemed to slump off to her sides and melt into the gaps between cushion and chair. Terrified by my new reality, I allowed myself to be overcome with cowardice, and inaction became the tool by which I would deal with my circumstances. I stopped showing up to school, and though the office called home every day, nobody ever answered. Instead, I would wander the fields and woods between our house and Maine Street. I would write down a name for every critter I encountered, and draw pictures of them in my journal, until Jason got off the bus, and then he’d meet me in the clearing.

One afternoon, we were out in the woods together, playing games. Neither of us could stand to be inside our home, and we would often hide out for hours, in a silent sanctum detached from the nauseating fear, and burning anger that had swallowed up our normal lives. We went running over roots and leaves, and laughed among the trees, until that creature came to light out of the corner of my sight and brought my brother to his knees. Buried under sticks, which had mostly all been knocked away by weather and passing pests, festered the dismembered torso of a massive buck. It’s hind legs were attached, but mangled badly, held together with a yard of barbed wire, and both of it’s front legs were missing, blackened scabs marking the loss. The head was also gone, and in it’s place a broken, gnarled antler, stuck inside the open throat. It’s insides had been cleared out so it’s husk was all that rest beneath the shroud of overarching trees that wept like children for it’s death. And so did Jason, for he’d never seen such a horrible display of decay and destruction. It tugged at his stomach and left him curled up on the fallen foliage, spurting up his lunch and closing his eyes tight while I watched anxiously, unsure of how to help. When he finally regained clarity, all Jason could do was hold his knees to his chin with his back against a sturdy tree and rock himself. The sense of dread that had overwhelmed my spirit came not from the crass perversion of nature that lay before us, but at the thought of what kind of hell driven beast would be capable of such a thing, and the knowledge that this monster resided within the limits of my home town.

Hours passed before Jason could get back on his feet, and we emerged from the enclosure of forest into a night flooded with the watery glow of a moon covered in fog, unsettled and defeated, no longer safe in our only sanctuary. As we marched along the roadside, Jason running up ahead of me kicking a discarded can like a soccer ball, the owner of Garrison’s only fill station and convenience store, Billie G. Dennison eased up beside us in his ghastly green pick-up. Bill always made me feel a bit uneasy, even as a little girl, but he was known around town for being a helpful, handy sort. He rolled down his passenger window and leaned over the center console.

“What’re you two doin’ walkin’ ‘round here so late?” He lifted a cup from it’s holder and spit a wad of brown tinted sludge from between his lips.

“Just heading home Mr. Dennison,” I stuck my hands in my pocket and nervously dragged my shoe against the ground as my brother turned around to join me at my side, “Spent a long day playing outside and now we’ve gotta get home and have some supper.”

“Supper at 8:30?” Billie snickered to himself and pinched the end of his goatee, twirling it around a bit before he redirected his focus to us, “Your mother still make that shepards pie she always used to? Been a long while since we had some of that good home cookin’ down at town hall.”

“Mama hasn’t been cooking much of anything lately,” I stared down at the rocks and the leaves.

“Say, she up on her feet again yet? Heard that surgery they done on that knee put her out of comission for a while.”

“I really should be getting home Mr. Dennison. My dad’s gonna wonder where we are if we’re not back soon.”

“Well then why don’t I give you two a lift back home, little Miss Lamont?”

“I’m all set, but thank you Mr. Dennison. We were just enjoying the fresh Fall air, and besides, the exercise would do us well.”

He slid into the passenger’s seat and stretched his arm out the window to rest an oily black hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off and stepped away. He stunk fantastically of bottom shelf gin and his piggish eyes were rolling round in the sockets like catseye marbles on a wobbly table.

“You look an awful lot like your mama when she was a tight little pretty young thing,” A globulous trail of dirty brown drool running down from his chin to the window, “Why don’t you get in the truck Clara?”

He started sliding the strap of my dress off with his long hairy fingers and I froze in panic. Overtaken by a sense of distress and alarm, coupled with disgust at the thought of what might come, I closed my eyes and began to cry and as he reached for my face, Jason wound up and hurled a golf ball sized rock straight at his repulsive wrinkled face. It cut through the air and landed with an echoing crack right above his lazy left eye, splitting the skin of his brow, and Billie recoiled with a yelp that put Wilhelm to shame, holding his head as blood poured forcefully between his hairy knuckles.

“Fucking inbreds!” He shouted, scurrying back into the driver’s seat, spilling AC/DC and Motorhead tapes from the cluttered seat onto the much more cluttered floor, “You wait til’ the town hears about this you stupid little cunts!” Billie’s truck roared with the thunder of zeus, as it hastily swerved back onto the street and proceeded messily out of sight.

“Thanks Jay,” I re-adjusted my dress and tried to wipe the invisible residue of Billie’s awful touch from my shoulder, “You know I’ve always got your back too, right?”

“I know Clara.” He stared ahead with a demeanor of vengeance, fixated on the shadowy tunnel into which Bill’s truck had disappeared. Jason still didn’t look like himself, and I could tell that his thoughts were caught in the dissonance that had developed between what now existed, and the world we’d always known. His easy way and gentle nature appeared to have changed in the passing of a moment, as if he had grown ages in hours, rapidly becoming achingly aware of mankind’s depraved nature, and all the more resistant to it’s influence.

From that point, our moonlit walk had become overcast by clouds of unease and an fog of mistrust. For once, I felt eager to return home, just so I might hide for a while from the chilling cold and foreign fog that filled the streets which wound and twisted like the entrails of some great beast who’s been reluctantly provoked from out of sleeping. A sickening hum of burning telephone wires overhead rang out in a discordant chorus with the penetrating whistle of a distant railway train, plowing across some barren meadow, sounding out the wail of a harbinger of oncoming trauma.

(continued.)

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