#novelist with tentacles is also based too

[pancitmousse]

Ike Eveland in Luo Tianyi’s V3 outfit (with some modifications) 🪽

Someone had to take advantage of the resemblance eventually.

And that someone is me.

#Ike Eveland #Ikenography #novelist in skirts >>> #novelist with tentacles is also based too #miki’s art

[the-stoned-ranger]

Kakashi Hatake, Critically Acclaimed Author and Virgin Who Can’t Drive

Rating: Teen

Pairing: Kakashi/Tenzo implied

Summary: Stuck on a mission in the Russian winter, Kakashi gets a little literary inspiration. 

Kakashi shivered and threw another log into the old-fashioned wood stove. It crackled to life, temporarily flooding the tiny shack in the middle of the tundra with a blast of heat.

He warmed his fingers against the grate, watching Tenzo whittling another one of his little wooden animal figurines, a hawk this time. He’d already made a bear, bobcat, and wolf, all common animals in this barren part of the world--Tunguska, Russia.

Really, Tunguska was nothing more than a large crater, the suspected site of an ancient alien encounter. Kakashi wasn’t sure why Lady Tsunade had assigned two of her most elite ninjas to this mission--it was too cold and snowy to do much reconnaissance--but he had an inkling that it had something to do with the rumors about Vladimir Putin, the Kage of Russia, building military bases in the area with secret alien technology.

So far, there had been no sign of either construction or aliens. This far above the Artic Circle, there was only endless snow and darkness.

Yamato paused his whittling to raise an eyebrow at Kakashi. “Made any progress on your novel, boss?”

Kakashi turned back to his blank scroll with a sneer under his mask. Now that he was spending the winter in Russia, he had been eager to spend it like his favorite Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky, hunched over a glass of vodka and the manuscript of a literary masterpiece.

Only vodka made Kakashi throw up, and he’d barely managed to write a word of his novel.

He’d had a great idea for a novel, a love story as timeless and tragic as Anna Karenina with the moral pathos of The Brothers Karamazov, all underpinned by a generous number of sex scenes strategically placed for dramatic effect like Icha Icha. Although actually writing a novel was a lot harder than thinking about writing a novel. 

“No,” he sighed miserably, unrolling the scroll to reread the last thing he’d written.

He’d gotten stuck at the first sex scene. His own lack of experience in sex outside of books meant the character’s dirty talk wast stilted and odd, and Kakashi wasn’t even sure if the position he’d described was physically possible in real life (years of reading weird tentacle erotica had messed with his concept of what was and was not physically possible between two people in the throes of passion). 

“I still don’t understand why you’re doing this anyway,” Tenzo said.

“Look, Tenzo, connoisseurs of great literature such as myself--” Tenzo snorted, which Kakashi ignored (sure, he read a lot of weird porn, but he’d also read the classics, thanks very much), “know that Russian novels are considered masterpieces. And that’s because there’s fuck-all to do during a Russian winter except drink vodka and write,” Kakashi explained, biting on his mask.

“Vodka makes you puke,” Tenzo pointed out. “And you haven’t written a word of your novel in two weeks.”

Kakashi glared. He was well aware of those facts, thanks--he didn’t need Tenzo’s reminders. 

Tenzo put down his knife and his tiny hawk figurine. His large eyes flickered in the soft light of the primitive kerosene lamps. “You know,” he said, running his tongue over his lips, “there is something else people do during long, dark Russian winters.”

#hatake kakashi #yamato #tenzo #naruto #shameless self-promotion #i crackprompted myself again #the muse needs to put down the crack pipe #kakayama

[minettestan]

Uh oh!

It's Kat's Halloween Adventure Game list!

This is a list of 7 spooky and scary point n' click adventure games to play during the Halloween season!

I’m going to avoid Nancy Drew games since this is primarily a Nancy blog with Nancy followers.

All games on this list are a little spooky but I will rate games with 💀s based on scariness. I will also include content warnings for some games where I think they are needed (as far as my memory of the games in question go).

💀= Scary! game may contain violence, murder, blood, or supernatural scariness 

💀💀= EEK! Game may contain more intense violence, gore, or intense supernatural elements! 

Grim Fandango (1998) / Remastered (2015) $14.99

“ Something's rotten in the land of the dead, and you're being played for a sucker. Meet Manny Calavera, travel agent at the Department of Death. He sells luxury packages to souls on their four-year journey to eternal rest. But there's trouble in paradise. Help Manny untangle himself from a conspiracy that threatens his very salvation. ” 

A personal favorite! Extremely loveable characters, film noir atmosphere, and cartoon mischief. A fun time without any heavy scares or themes. 

Day of the Tentacle (1993) / Remastered (2016) $14.99

“Originally released by LucasArts in 1993 as a sequel to Ron Gilbert’s ground breaking Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle is a mind-bending, time travel, cartoon puzzle adventure game in which three unlikely friends work together to prevent an evil mutated purple tentacle from taking over the world!”

A classic game with spooky themes without heavy scares. Pure cartoon mischief! Also check out it’s predecessor Maniac Mansion.  

The Blackwell Series / Bundle of 4 games for $14.99

“Meet Rosangela Blackwell, an embittered writer who just found out that she is a medium and that it’s her mission, whether she likes it or not, to assist tormented spirits and investigate other supernatural goings-on. She is assisted by the sardonic Joey Mallone, a ghost from the 1930s.”

The Blackwell Series is a frequent recommendation by members of the Clue Crew myself included and its for good reason! These games are great (and spooky)! In general I trust any game from Wadjet Eye to be a good adventure game experience. 

⚠ Warning for some references to dementia, deteriorating mental health and mental hospitals. 

⚠ There are some scary (and sad) bits in each of the games (especially if you make it to the Blackwell Epiphany 😢) but nothing I would judge as exceeding a  PG-13, or T for teen rating.  

💀 Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993) $5.99

“The adventure of Gabriel Knight starts with gathering materials for his new book, and ends up becoming a fight for his very soul. He must face countless dangers in New Orleans, Africa and Germany, each bringing him ever closer to unraveling the mystery behind suspicious voodoo murders. Haunted by nightmares, he won't give up until he reveals the truth.”

Gabriel Knight what can I say about you? Nothing scratches the adventure game itch more than Gabriel Knight. Scary, spooky, charming, intriguing it’s great mystery game. It has a killer voice cast too. Also, it’s a Sierra game so make sure you save often and frequently. 

❗ This game’s portrayal of voodoo may be little problematic. Play at your own discretion. 

💀 💀 Phantasmagoria (1995) $9.99 

GOG.com doesn’t have a good description of the game so here’s mine:

Novelist Adrian moves to a remote New England mansion with her husband Don. The mansion was previously owned by 19th century magician and purveyor of phantasmagoria, horror theater, Zoltan "Carno" Carnovasch. As Adrian discovers Corvo’s secrets and the fates of his wives she begins to suspect all is not well in her new home.  

Did you think you’d get out of one of my game lists without a FMV game? This game lived in my 12 year old mind rent free (yes, my obsession with point and click games prevented my from relating to my peers). Yes, this game looks terrible. Yes, it is terrible. But I absolutely adore it. It’s scary, it’s spooky, it’s cheesy, it’s stupid difficult. It’s like playing b-horror. It’s an experience.

A blanket statement for the content warnings: The game is all around very goofy. The 3D settings looks ridiculous and the acting isn’t great. In my opinion this softens the blow of much of the scary and upsetting content. But play at you own risk use your discretion. Maybe, watch a Let’s Play if that’s your thing.

⚠ This game contains a scene of sexual assault. It was very controversial at the time of the game’s release. But it’s not very explicit. 

⚠ The game depicts several instances of spousal abuse both verbal and physical. 

⚠ There are several creative scenes where women are murdered. 

💀 💀 The Charnel House Trilogy (2015) $5.99

“A train's whistle sounds in the dead of night. Snow falls on deserted tracks. Somewhere, in the city, a woman prepares to leave on a journey that will change her life. Somewhere, in the country, a man drives to his final destination.”

This one has big Blackwell vibes (and a Blackwell reference keep your eyes and ears open for that one). It’s a quick play so I don’t want to give away too much. Effective scares and pretty disturbing content delicious if your a horror fan. 

⚠ This game references stalking and harassment

💀 💀 💀 Harvester (1996) $5.99

“Welcome to Harvest. It's a quiet little town with eccentric locals and traditional family values. Life moves at a slower pace in quiet Harvest without the hustle and bustle like you'd get in the big city. Don't forget to attend the annual PTA Bake Sale and keep in mind that the blood drive is mandatory.”

Oh Harvester you’re a horrible point of contention amongst adventure game fans. Like Phantasmagoria I’d describe Harvester as b-horror. It’s a completely ridiculous game made with the goal of being controversial and offensive on purpose. But by trying to be purposefully offensive it, in my opinion, completely fails to be offensive at all. It’s just really dumb. But, still pretty entertaining. It’s a 1950s town where the paper boys carry pistols and the meat packing plant is infested with cats. There’s a wasp woman? And an evil cult? It may be a flaccid attempt at a satire but it’s can be pretty bizarre and fun time if your a fan of bad horror.

⚠ Content warnings won’t be very helpful for this one because there’s just too much going on I’d never catch it all. But here are some major points:

⚠ There is implied sexual harassment and abuse. I don’t think it’s ever shown on screen explicitly. 

⚠ Part of the game implies child sexual abuse. 

[ayearinfaith]

𝗔 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟱𝟵: 𝗖𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗹𝗵𝘂

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn." "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘭𝘩𝘶

Cthulhu, generally pronounced /kəθulu/, “k-uh-thoo-loo”, is the most famous creation of the novelist H.P. Lovecraft. This post will be discussing Cthulhu in specific as well as the surrounding mythos and genre it is directly tied to: cosmic horror. While not at all religion, the imagery of Cthulhu and its nightmarish world have become a staple of the modern imaginary landscape, in short, a true modern myth and thus earning itself a slot in this series.

𝗖𝗼𝘀𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿

There is no true consensus on when and by whose hand the cosmic horror genre, sometimes interchangeable with “weird fiction” or Lovecraft’s own term “Cosmicism”, was born. It is generally placed around the start of the 20th century, though Edgar Allen Poe’s inclusion pushes it further back to the mid 19th. Other prominent artists whose work often falls under the cosmic horror umbrella include H.G. Wells, H.R. Giger, and Sam Raimi. Lovecraft was neither the inventor of or the most popular writer, but has nevertheless become a core standard. His works are not often read anymore, but are paid nigh constant homage and parody. Cosmic horror can be described as nihilistic science-fiction. At its core lies the concept that the universe is, literally, unimaginably huge and humanity is thus unimaginably small and inconsequential. Monsters like Cthulhu aren’t antagonistic beings actively pursuing the end of the story’s heroes or of humanity, they cause such a demise simply due to their immense scope, a metaphorical elephant not stopping to notice it has crushed a beetle. Despite that, the horrors and monsters themselves are often just background noise; Cthulhu himself never even appears directly in his own story (though the main character discovers a journal entry telling of a direct encounter). The true terror is simply the characters realization of their own profound powerless and insignificance, a realization that normally results in madness. Alien things and insanity are recurring themes in cosmic horror, and characters are often confronted by impossible geometrical structures and grotesque monsters which almost always have tentacles. Because the moment of realization or “pulling back the veil” is a critical aspect of the generic cosmic horror, the seeking of forbidden knowledge is also recurring motif, generally withheld by a conspiracy or cult or simply lying hidden in the historic record.

𝗖𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗹𝗵𝘂 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀

Lovecraft himself did not conceive of his stories as having a consistent narrative, though he did make common cross references for the delight and immersion of his readers. The term “Cthulhu Mythos” was coined by one of Lovecraft’s protégés, the author August Derleth. Lovecraft himself used the term “Yog Sothothery”, a reference to one of his monstrous creations, which was used in a comical sense. To Lovecraft, there was no need to construct a coherent universe, and indeed doing so would be counter to his themes of madness and incomprehensible universe. Additionally, Lovecraft did not retain sole ownership of the world he had created. With his blessing, many contemporaries wrote their own stories, fleshing out and expanding a world increasingly filled to the brim with unspeakable nightmares. A brief rundown of the universe and its more memorable monsters is as follows. At the peak of the Lovecraftian food chain are the “outer gods”. Not truly gods in the traditional sense, but enormous alien beings with far reaching powers. At their head is Azatoth, the “blind idiot god” who typifies Lovecraft’s nihilism, laying at the center of the universe creating meaningless music. Other outer gods include Shub-Niggurath “the black goat of the woods with a thousand young” and Yog-Sothoth who was the father of the titular “Dunwich Horror”. An order below the outer gods are the “great old ones” which constitutes the majority of Lovecraftian monsters, Cthulhu among them. Others are Dagon, a sea monster named for a real Sumerian deity, and Nyarlathotep, who despite its title as the “crawling chaos” generally assumes the form of a human. There is also a host of recurring alien races, such as the Elder Things, starfish-like aliens that colonized the earth a billion years ago before the collapse of their civilization at the hand of their slaves, the Shoggoths, blob things covered in eyes and, of course, tentacles who still roam the earth in the forgotten Elder Thing ruins. Perhaps most notable, aside from Cthulhu itself, is the Necronomicon, an ancient Arabian tome filled with the secrets of the aforementioned monsters.

𝗖𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗹𝗵𝘂 𝗜𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳

Cthulhu was first introduced in the 1928 short story 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘭𝘩𝘶, and would be referenced in many later works. The name is likely based on “chthonic” a Greek loanword meaning “subterranean”, normally used in English to describe mythological places and gods. Lovecraft imagined the name pronounced inhumanly, saying “the h represents the guttural thickness”. Cthulhu is described as a monstrous being, hundreds of meters tall, with a vaguely humanoid form with vestigial wings and an octopus head, possibly meant to invoke the Kraken, a giant octopus monster in Scandinavian folklore. Its skin is described as green, gelatinous, scaly, and yet also rubbery. In the mythos, Cthulhu has, for reasons unknown, been imprisoned on earth in hibernation. Its presence has had subtle impact on the psyche of all living creatures, the source of human fears and anxieties, as our subconscious minds can detect the powerful alien presence. It has been here since before the evolution of mankind and its “star-spawn” were the enemies of the Elder Things who ruled the planet a billion years ago. Its prison is a city located in the south Pacific Ocean called “R’lyeh” which is described as cyclopean and non-Euclidean. In 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘭𝘩𝘶 the main character is retracing the steps of his late great uncle, a professor who left behind mysterious notes. Among them is a small statue of Cthulhu itself, apparently created by one of the great uncle’s students based on a nightmare. The notes lead the main character to investigate stories of odd cults and mass hysteria across the world, all somehow related the figure of the statue. Finally, the character is able to get an account from the journal of a dead Norwegian sailor, describing how the stumbled upon the city of R’lyeh and woke Cthulhu. Though some of the crew escapes, they all ultimately go mad and perish. The story ends with the main character realizing that he now knows too much, and the cult will come for him.

Image Credit: Great Cuthulhu, 2014, Lawrence Jones, https://www.flickr.com/photos/16980840@N04/

#A Year in Faith #Cthulhu #Religion #Mythology #Day 59

[uomo-accattivante]

If there’s one thing for certain about Annihilation: it’s that it’s going to be really, really weird. It was an absolute certainty when I stepped on set last year and saw production stills of psychedelic mutations – plants shaped like people, decaying bodies merging into swimming pool tile, tentacle-looking black ‘growths’ filling every nook of a lighthouse… The imagery was more than spectacular – it was truly otherworldly. So it comes as no surprise that over a year later, Annihilation has run up against some studio hesitation, a recent Hollywood Reporter article suggesting less than desired test screening results prompted the nervous studio to release the film internationally on Netflix only (Annihilation, though, will still be released theatrically in the US). This news – while disheartening – actually fulfills the promise of the film I saw being shot: a singularly odd and bold exploration into alien mutation, genetics and marital dysfunction. The fact that Annihilation didn’t please every audience member at the Burbank 16 only makes the film seem all the more intriguing and singular.

Annihilation, based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer, follows five women (including Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tessa Thompson) as they journey into an environmental disaster zone where something otherworldly changes the genetic make-up of everything within. The film marks something of a departure for filmmaker Alex Garland – whereas his first feature, Ex Machina, was grounded in practical (albeit-distant) tech & science, Annihilation is far more rooted in the surreal. As Garland himself is wont to say – Annihilation, at its essence, is a “journey from Suburbia to Psychedelia.”

In my interview with Alex Garland, presented below, he discusses the surreal oddity of Annihilation, re-writing the script, breaking through sci-fi tropes and his thoughts on the international Direct-to-Netflix release. For the full interview, read below.

(Of note: a small portion of the interview was conducted on set; the rest conducted two days ago via phoner)

I just watched the new trailer, which looks great. How involved are you in the marketing materials and trailer?

ALEX GARLAND: I’m not really involved at all. I know some directors get very involved in trailers and posters. Some even cut their own. I stay completely away from it. I just see my job as making a film. I don’t trust my own judgment with trailers and posters because so many times I’ve seen a trailer and thought that looks fantastic and then the film bombs. Or I see a trailer and think that looks like a pile of shit and then the film does amazing. So I have no judgment. I just stay away.

Jumping back to the beginning — how did the book [Annihilation] come to your attention?

GARLAND: I had a story I’d wanted to tell for a while and I’d been discussing it with [producer] Scott [Rudin]. Then Scott said I should read this book, Annihilation. So I did and I could see how the novel and my particular fixation would dovetail.

What spoke to you about the book?

GARLAND: I thought it was really beautiful and strange and also genuinely original. Really original material is quite hard to find. It’s subjective but I just felt truly surprised and engaged. I found the process reading it to be a powerful experience.

Was there any theme in the book that spoke to you in particular?

GARLAND: It was partly this feeling of originality, but if there were something apart from that, it would be the atmosphere. It has a really particular dreamlike atmosphere and I found that really fascinating.

It looks like you’ve made a number of changes from the book to the film. What were those key changes?

GARLAND: It’s just a different set of preoccupations. I’ve worked on some very faithful adaptations that are like holding a mirror up to the source material. Never Let You Go – which I adapted a few years ago – was really a very faithful adaptation… I did another adaptation, Dredd, which was a semi-faithful adaptation. It was very faithful to a character but less faithful to the world. This is probably more of a free for all. It’s a very dreamlike, very beautiful novel and it worked well for my purposes. I loved what [author] Jeff [VanderMeer] had done but one thing I know… Years ago I used to work as a novelist and I know that novels & films are independent of each other.

The book is fairly open-ended. Does the movie answer any of the questions the book raises?

GARLAND: The movie has its own questions. Some of which… the fundamental questions that the film poses, it does answer. When I wrote this – I knew there was going to be a trilogy [of books] but I hadn’t read the other two books. They hadn’t been written so I saw this as a contained thing. I tend to think of stories as contained things, not necessarily requiring further stories. The novel, though, was written very consciously as the first part. It’s a short novel. Jeff very clearly had the intention that he would be unfolding the story as it went along. I had the intention of completing the story.

Now that there are two more [books], do you want to continue that story along with him?

GARLAND: I’m more interested in contained stories.

How similar was the initial draft of Annihilation to the eventual production draft?

GARLAND: I think probably like eighty percent or something like that… I’ve written [scripts] where things have changed hugely. The first draft of Ex Machina is extremely different than the finished film. That would be like 10% of the original draft stayed into the shooting script. On this, though, it was seventy-five or eighty percent…

What changed on Annihilation?

GARLAND: It was partly to do with how the conceit of the story is set up and it was partly to do with how the ending, approximately the last thirty or thirty-five minutes are executed.

Did you ever send a draft to Jeff VanderMeer? Or ask for his opinion?

GARLAND: Oh yeah.

What did he say?

GARLAND: Well – the film and the book are in some ways very closely related, but in other respects very different from each other. The truth is – you’d have to ask Jeff what he really felt, but what I felt was as a writer, [he] understood how and why the two things were different. He was very open minded about giving us creative permission as filmmakers to just go ahead and do the best we could.

How much impact did Jeff have after you sent him a rough script?

GARLAND: I always talk to people and listen to what they have to say. So he had that imprint and we discussed it quite a lot. We’d have two, three-hour phone conversations going through it all. And he’d say, ‘Tell me why you’ve done this? What’s the justification for doing this or that?’ So for example – a bit like the film Stalker – the characters in Jeff’s novel don’t have names and I, for tonal reasons, thought I’m going to have to give them names. In a film with this kind of execution, it would be slightly too arch if they’re saying, ‘Hey, Biologist, come check this out’ It makes it too other. This film is weird enough…

When Natalie, Jennifer and the rest of the cast join the film, do you polish the script to suit the actors?

GARLAND: What we do – and I always do this – is we do a two week rehearsal period. The rehearsal period is not actually to do with affecting performance, but it’s to do with making sure everybody gets why a scene exists and why the lines are the way they are. Then the actors have absolute open permission to say I’m not really sure about this line, it doesn’t really fit in my mouth, it doesn’t really feel right to me. Then with all of us sitting around the table, we work on it. We change it right then and there and put it in the script. There’s a lot of openness. As long as the meaning and the intention stay the same, it’s not really a problem for me. Really what you’re doing is you’re handing over the ownership of the character to the actor. So if the actor has a way they want their character to do something, you have to listen to that and make sure it’s accommodated.

How did the characters change during this rehearsal period?

GARLAND: Each of the actors made the characters more their own so that they… My approach to directing is to not do very much directing. I’m mainly interested in what the creative group individually and together are thinking. Whether it’s Tessa or Gina or Natalie or Jennifer – they’re all taking the character, thinking about it and morphing it into the performance they want to do.

How much research do you do into mutation and genetics for the script?

GARLAND: I did a bit. I have a friend who’s a geneticist. We would have long conversations about the nature of mutation and its role in evolution and its role in just our day-to-day existence. We talked about it a lot, but it’s not the same type of science fiction that Ex Machina was, which had very explicit concerns about consciousness and AI. This is a much more dreamlike and fractured landscape.

So would you say the movie is far more surreal than grounded in reality?

GARLAND: It’s definitely more surreal. The first conversation I had when I was meeting actors or having production meetings was that the film is about various things and various themes but the basic underlying principle is the journey from suburbia to psychedelia. We’re going to start in suburbia and end in psychedelia. That was the underlying principle.

How do you map that out so that there’s a gradual transformation from reality to psychedelia? What is the process to make sure that follows a linear path?

GARLAND: I think you hit it immediately – which is that you have to map it out. If you just begin in psychedelia, you get diminishing returns right away because you’re stuck in a deeply strange place and you stay in a deeply strange place and then you get acclimated to a deeply strange place and then its not strange anymore. So we didn’t want to do that. We wanted to build to it, from normality to something very strange and earn the strangeness. Then we discovered that you have to map it – because we knew where we had to get. What we discovered is that sometimes you have to put your hands on the story’s back and give it a shove. It’s like you’ve got a hundred miles to travel so you better start clocking up miles or else you won’t get there. [We needed] to give it these moments of propulsion where suddenly you drop down into another level of strangeness and then another level and just keep pushing it.

How cognizant are you of breaking traditional sci-fi and alien tropes?

GARLAND: I tend to say that I’m very cognizant of them but then you’ll say something and I’ll realize I’m not… But one of the things we were interested in on this was an experience of something alien that was truly ‘alien’. That had all sorts of elements to it – not just about how something physically appears, but also about what it is and how it acts and separating it completely from the way we act. [I didn’t want] to make human type assumptions about it in terms of motivation like it wants to steal our resources or take us back to the galactic federation or anything like that. We wanted to do something truly ‘alien’.

When a book or movie is called Annihilation – that gives the impression of being fairly pessimistic and cynical. Is that fair? Do you see the film as pessimistic or cynical?

GARLAND: It’s definitely not cynical at all. It’s actually quite heartfelt. It has elements of sadness and melancholy in it but there’s also a visceral propulsion to it.

How timely do you find the film given all the constant talk of nuclear war and annihilation?

GARLAND: Do you know what – I don’t think that’s timely. I think we’ve had a real problem with this for a long time. I grew up under the threat of nuclear war and people being very worried about it when I was a kid. That faded away for a bit and now it’s back. But there’s always some kind of existential thing that people are worried about for good reason.

Recently it was announced Annihilation would be released on Netflix internationally. What was your reaction to that?

GARLAND: Disappointment really. We made the film for cinema. I’ve got no problem with the small screen at all. The best genre piece I’ve seen in a long time was The Handmaid’s Tale, so I think there’s incredible potential within that context, but if you’re doing that – you make it for that [medium] and you think of it in those terms. Look… it is what it is. The film is getting a theatrical release in the States, which I’m really pleased about. One of the big pluses of Netflix is that it goes out to a lot of people and you don’t have that strange opening weekend thing where you’re wondering if anyone is going to turn up and then if they don’t, it vanishes from cinema screens in two weeks. So it’s got pluses and minuses, but from my point of view and the collective of the people who made it – [it was made] to be seen on a big screen.

Annihilation opens on the big screen in the US February 23rd.

#spoilers #oscar isaac #annihilation #alex garland #natalie portman #gina rodriguez #tessa thompson #tuva novotny #jeff vandermeer #southern reach trilogy

[bluntshroom]

Law And Addiction by Mike Papantonio

Story Summary:

Novelist Mike Papantonio Pulls Back The Curtain On America’s Deadly Opioid Epidemic In His Spellbinding Thriller LAW AND ADDICTION

Mike Papantonio is a novelist who knows his material only too well. One of America’s top plaintiff’s lawyers, Pap – as he’s called by friends and colleagues – has taken on the tobacco companies, the automotive industry, and more. His new legal thriller, LAW AND ADDICTION (Waterside Productions; April 2019), is based on his experiences fighting Big Pharma on behalf of hundreds of American communities devastated by the opioid crisis.

As the book opens, readers meet Jake Rutledge a week before his law school graduation. Jake is shattered. His fraternal twin, Blake, has died suddenly of a drug overdose. Devastated by the loss, Jake returns to his hometown of Oakley, West Virginia to discover that Blake was not the only one addicted to opioid pain killers. The entire region has been ravished by an epidemic insidiously planned and carried out by America’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.

Still wet-behind-the-ears, the newly-minted lawyer is determined to seek justice not only for Blake, but for all the victims of Big Pharma’s greed. He quickly discovers, though, that he can’t do it alone. The drug companies’ tentacles reach far and deep. The only hope is to entice a seasoned pro like the indomitable Nicholas “Deke” Deketomis to join the battle. A partner at one of the country’s most powerful law firms, Deke’s “as tough as a two-dollar steak” and well-known for his winning tactics against corporate wrong-doers. With just enough persistence, Jake coaxes Deke to visit Oakley to see first-hand why the once thriving town is now called Zombieville. Deke is overwhelmed by the devastation and agrees to join forces with Jake.

And that’s when the real heat begins. Death threats, bribes, unlawful property seizure schemes – all connected to the massive distribution of both legal and illegal drugs. Everyone is impacted from the highest levels of corporate America to corrupt local officals to their lackeys and hapless victims. The complexity of the schemes is overwhelming.

But there is hope. Working tirelessly, the lawyers begin to uncover the truth. Along the way, Jake falls for a local woman, a former high school classmate who’s succumbed to the power of opioids. With his support, she weans herself off the drugs and the future looks bright – until Jake suddenly disappears. Has he abandoned her and his crusade? Can the case against the drug distributors move forward without him? Will Oakley and its residents survive? Mike Papantonio has created a fast-paced thriller that will keep readers glued to the page. LAW AND ADDICTION is real drama about real life – a book that reveals the truth through expert story-telling.

Amazon Link - https://amzn.to/2XVdLDf

Mike Papantonio On What Makes Law And Addiction A Good Read

Review:

“As Papantonio lets the story unfold we are given an excellent parallel view of legal proceedings and personal drama. The balance is well maintained making the novel more than just a courtroom drama. Papantonio’s prose is swift, and he has a knack for writing dialogue moving the story forward rather than extraneous or overwrought description. One would expect as much since the author is a member of the Trial Lawyers’ Hall of Fame with deep experience not just in the courtroom managing clients and opponents but also in crafting succinct briefs cutting to the heart of issues.

Law And Addiction will not only satisfy readers who devour thrillers, but also stands as a testament on how to challenge and rollback the opioid epidemic still facing the nation.”

See full review

— Misanthropester Reviews

Author Bio:

Mike Papantonio is a crusader who uses fiction to entertain and inform readers about some of the most pressing issues of our times. In each of his legal thrillers – from Law and Disorder to Law and Vengence, and now LAW AND ADDICTION – he lays bare the conspiracies and white-collar crimes that hurt ordinary Americans. A senior partner at Levin Papantonio, he’s taken on Big Pharma, tobacco companies, and the automobile industry, among others. One of the youngest trial lawyers to have been inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, Papantonio is also a distinguished media presence as one of the hosts of the syndicated Ring of Fire radio show and as the host of American Lawyer on RT America network. A skilled musician and athlete, Papantonio is based in Pensacola, Florida. To learn more, visit: www.mikepapantonio.com

[fyrapartnersearch]

SMUT / NSFW BASED PLOT OR RP

Hello I am Miki, a 23 yr old female looking for a long term rp partner, preferably creative. I understand long term is hard to come by nowadays but maybe I could find someone who don’t mind being a friend and chatting with me while we do an rp. Now to business:

TIME ZONE:

GMT:+8:00 Singapore Time

METHOD OF ROLEPLAY

I only do MESSENGER RPS right now. No email, no docs, no Tumblr. I currently prefer Hangouts or Skype but I do have Discord. I do not have Kik and please do not make me make one. It’s hard balancing 3 messengers already.

PREFERENCES

I been roleplaying a lot of topics but sometimes you just want to rp nothing but NSFW after a while. Hence why I am here, specifically looking for an NSFW/SMUT based plot or rp. By that, I mean that I do not care if you want a plot but it has to have a lot of smut in it. I also don’t care if it’s purely just smut. As I said, I been rping a lot of different things and just wanna unleash my inner perv right now.  I also do OC rps right now. I have a fandom but not everyone likes it so it’s not something I bring up most of the time.

PAIRINGS

M x F, Futa x F with my role being for SUB Female. I have been doing too many dominant roles in both genders and I need to feel the other side of the coin. I do not mind being switch but I cannot guarantee that all my RPs will have me switch because I am craving to be a sub female. 

KINKS (in no particular ranking):

1. Monsters - This includes Aliens, Tentacles, Demons, Monster girls /boys 2. Incest - I like all incest PROVIDED the age is appropriate. Not looking for a Daddy x Daughter, Mother x Son unless you can give me a very interesting plot.  3. Sexual Training - (not rape BDSM training. More like teasing to be more adventurous or a couple who just wanna be rough) 4. Half Naked Smut 5. Creampie 6. Public Sex - (thrill of being caught. No audience) 7. Age Play/Age Gap 9. OCs 10. BDSM -(No blood, wounds, bruises or dismemberment and pain) 12. Oral Sex 13. Size Play - (Tall guy, petite girl)

LIMITS (Non Negotiable)

Beastiality, Bathroom Play, Scat, Violence, Abuse, Rape, Piss, Humiliation, Non-Con, Too Wide an Age Gap

POV

I only strictly rp in 3rd Person. Please do not contact me if you only do first. I am getting tired of people asking if its okay for them to do 1st but I do 3rd. Also not willing to negotiate on this. Rping in 1st person to me feels creepy. Like i am doing myself instead of a character.

POST LENGTH

I consider myself a literate person. I do not require my partner to be a novelist but just submitting 1 liners all the time can be boring. I do 1 liners too but not all the time.So if you do paragraphs, I don’t mind nor care. Just know that I have my moments where I will submit some one liners or a 4 sentence paragraph. My reasons being my fingers are tired from the long typing on my phone or my laptop.

WRITING STYLE

I also do narrative style in past tense. Flashbacks are kinda a specialty. I find linear style boring. I have to build up everything from scratch which tends to get annoying if it takes too long. I did specify I want a smut rp so I need some smut.

REPLY FREQUENCY

Frequency of replies, i usually have moments where I can be there to devote my time to the RP but nowadays, i sometimes drop off a reply or not. By that, I have moments still where I can be there a few hours to 1 hour to devote to RPing. Please note that I have life. I got a lot of things going on. I do have hours where I can be there but if I suddenly go away for a period of time, then Life came back and sucker punched me hard.

REQUIREMENTS:

I would like to know a few things in your email if you are interested in my AD:

1. Kinks 2. Limits 3. Your style of Writing 4. Example of an rp post you can do 5. Timezone and reply frequency

I wanna know if there is anything I need to respect, how your writing is, when can I expect you to be there so I can be ready and how much time you can give. I try my best to accommodate my partners so may as well know right off the bat if we are compatible or not.

I also look for if your posts and writing interests me enough. I have indeed encountered people who do not really give much effort and makes their posts extremely boring so I lost interest. So do please send me an example of your rp posts. 

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Please email me at [email protected] first before I give you other contact information to see if we are compatible. It is also my hangouts email if you like an IM discussion

#independent roleplay #oc rp #long term #messenger #smut rp #submission

[fyrapartnersearch]

Longterm Messenger NSFW RP partner

Hello, my name is Miki and looking for a roleplay partner that I can hopefully have as a longterm one. Introduction, I am a 23 year old female who has been roleplaying for nearly 9 years. I use to roleplay on forums but due to a lot of drama, I strictly only 1 x 1 in messengers.

I been roleplaying a lot of topics but sometimes you just want to rp nothing but NSFW after a while. Hence why I am here. Please note that this will either be a “smut based rp” or a world building with a hell of a lot of smut. 

My Timezone: GMT:+8:00 Singapore Time

Let’s get to what people really want now shall we?

PAIRINGS: M x F, Futa x F. I rather not do M x M as i done it for 5 years straight and I would like to do more hetero. 

ROLE: I prefer a sub. But I can do a dom but I been doing it a lot so i rather just do a sub. 

OPEN TO DUAL RP: I am usually open but it will take me slower to reply. 

KINKS: 1. Fantasy - Tentacles, Demons mostly being my favorites. Monsters can be a close second too.  2. Incest - Twincest, Mom to Son, Dad to Daughter. All that jazz. Twincest is accepted too.  3. Sexual Training - Some people call this Mindbreak but I sort of call it like those plots where a boy is teaching his girlfriend to be more adventurous in their sex life, sort of thing. 4. Half Naked - I often write my characters being banged to have some clothing still.  5. Creampie - Messier the better down there. 6. Public Sex - No audience. Just a public area to go. Just the thrill of doing it in a public area ya know? 7. Futanari - Shemale, Hermaphrodite  whatever. But I pair them with Females. Males will take some convincing but do not guarantee. 8. Age Play/Age Gap - more of a reasonable gap. Like 14 to 25 or so. I do not and will not rp 8 year olds with 72 yr old lovers. I know in Shota and Loli, the age is like 5 to 40 but come on, at least make the younger one have gone puberty already. 9. OCs - I don’t really feel comfortable rping Canon as I only have 3 canons I will absolutely rp. But not everyone likes them too so I better stick with OCs.  10. Dub-Con - This is basically like at first,  doesn’t want to then slowly loves it when it comes to the sex.

11. BDSM - i do like the flogs and whips and bondage but I do not like abuse and pain and wounds. 

12. Oral - Nuff said.

LIMITS: Basically, I do not need to explain. I just wont do it. Period.  Beastiality, Bathroom Play, Scat, Violence, Abuse, Rape, Piss, Humiliation, Non-Con, Pain

MIXED FEELINGS: - GangBang. This is something that…I often allow? But it depends. I can’t stand rape scenarios though.  - Anal. Mainly because I had a problem with a former partner who only wants to do this. I unfortunately do not really like it as much as vaginal but if possible that both types will be given equal attention then okay.  POV, Style of Writing, Frequency:  I only strictly rp in 3rd Person. Please do not contact me if you only do first. I am getting tired of people asking if its okay for them to do 1st but I do 3rd. Also not willing to negotiate on this.  Rping in 1st person to me feels creepy. Like i am doing myself instead of a character. 

I consider myself a literate person. I do not require my partner to be a novelist but  just submitting 1 liners all the time can be boring. I do 1 liners too but not all the time, mostly because I either am tired of typing due to a long day (i work a computer based job so it requires a lot of typing) or simply because im too tired.  I do narrative most of the time. I also like to do a lot of “past tense” in my writing, where we rp at the present time then we do some flashbacks or past tense or so. I do not like starting from 0 most of the time, to me it’s boring that I can’t even properly respond at times but I often manage to overcome that if my partner is good. 

Frequency of replies, i usually have moments where I can be there to devote my time to the RP but nowadays, i sometimes drop off a reply or not. By that, I have moments still where I can be there a few hours to 1 hour to devote to RPing. Please note you arent my only partner currently plus a lot of life style as well so I can take a while but i wont take more than a few days. I will update you naturally if I have to be away more than. Do not freak out if I do not respond for 15 minutes or so. I do have my moments where i take a while to think. So please understand that.  CONTACT INFORMATION:

I only do MESSENGERS. Do not make me rp over email, or anything else. 

Hangouts/Email: [email protected] Skype: mikifubuki07

#independent roleplay #oc rp #multiple paragraph #para #semipara #oneline #long term #messenger #smut rp #submission

[find-your-rp-partner]

Looking for NSFW Messenger Partner

Hello, my name is Miki and looking for a roleplay partner that I can hopefully have as a longterm one. Introduction, I am a 23 year old female who has been roleplaying for nearly 9 years. I use to roleplay on forums but due to a lot of drama, I strictly only  1 x 1 in messengers.

I been roleplaying a lot of topics but sometimes you just want to rp nothing but NSFW after a while. Hence why I am here, specifically looking for an NSFW/SMUT based rp. It can be smut based or a build up but with a lot of smut in it. 

My Timezone: GMT:+8:00 Singapore Time

Just to make it easier for those wanting to know my schedule. 

Let’s get to what people really want now shall we?

PAIRINGS: M x F, Futa x F. I rather not do M x M as i done it for 5 years straight and I would like to do more hetero. 

ROLE: I prefer a sub. But I can do a dom but I been doing it a lot so i rather just do a sub. 

OPEN TO DUAL RP: I am usually open but it will take me slower to reply. 

KINKS: 1. Fantasy - Tentacles, Demons mostly being my favorites. Monsters can be a close second too.  2. Incest - Twincest, Mom to Son, Dad to Daughter. All that jazz. Twincest is accepted too.  3. Sexual Training - Some people call this Mindbreak but I sort of call it like those plots where a boy is teaching his girlfriend to be more adventurous in their sex life, sort of thing. 4. Half Naked - I often write my characters being banged to have some clothing still.  5. Creampie - Messier the better down there. 6. Public Sex - No audience. Just a public area to go. Just the thrill of doing it in a public area ya know? 7. Futanari - Shemale, Hermaphrodite  whatever. But I pair them with Females. Males will take some convincing but do not guarantee. 8. Age Play/Age Gap - more of a reasonable gap. Like 14 to 25 or so. I do not and will not rp 8 year olds with 72 yr old lovers. I know in Shota and Loli, the age is like 5 to 40 but come on, at least make the younger one have gone puberty already. 9. OCs - I don’t really feel comfortable rping Canon as I only have 3 canons I will absolutely rp. But not everyone likes them too so I better stick with OCs.  10. Dub-Con - This is basically like at first,  doesn’t want to then slowly loves it when it comes to the sex.

11. BDSM - i do like the flogs and whips and bondage but I do not like abuse and pain and wounds. 

12. Oral - Nuff said.

LIMITS: Basically, I do not need to explain. I just wont do it. Period.  Beastiality, Bathroom Play, Scat, Violence, Abuse, Rape, Piss, Humiliation, Non-Con

MIXED FEELINGS: - GangBang. This is something that…I often allow? But it depends. I can’t stand rape scenarios though.  POV, Style of Writing, Frequency:  I only strictly rp in 3rd Person. Please do not contact me if you only do first. I am getting tired of people asking if its okay for them to do 1st but I do 3rd. Also not willing to negotiate on this.  Rping in 1st person to me feels creepy. Like i am doing myself instead of a character. 

I consider myself a literate person. I do not require my partner to be a novelist but  just submitting 1 liners all the time can be boring. I do 1 liners too but not all the time.  I also do narrative style in past tense. Flashbacks are kinda a specialty. 

Frequency of replies, i usually have moments where I can be there to devote my time to the RP but nowadays, i sometimes drop off a reply or not. By that, I have moments still where I can be there a few hours to 1 hour to devote to RPing. Please note you arent my only partner currently so I can take a while but i wont take more than a few days. I will update you naturally if I have to be away more than.  CONTACT INFORMATION:

I only do MESSENGERS. Do not make me rp over email, or anything else. 

Hangouts/Email: [email protected] Skype: mikifubuki07

#rp partner search #rp partner ad #rp ad #rp search #original #skype #other #submission