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the-fabulous-51 · 2 months

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im curious how you envision lightning ending up in radiator springs in the human-verse. i don't think you've mentioned it in any of your fics (except maybe that one chapter of whumptober). if you have put absolutely no thought into it that ignore this lol

I spent all day thinking about this

So. I have left.... .. Many things ambiguous cause I couldn't figure out how to make it fit exactly in the human!verse side of things XD

But I, like everyone else, have Thoughts:

Let's start with the trailers: so there are some very obvious differences in my human!verse and NASCAR, though I do take a lot of inspiration from irl racing (mainly the racing aspect itself). But where a lot of NASCAR drivers fly to their races, most of the guys in the human!verse here will ride in a trailer, either in the same trailer as their cars (basically a small room just for them tucked in the very back of the trailer closest to the truck part) or in a separate trailer that's very RV-like, depending on how much $$$ the sponsors want to spend. so, for example, Dinoco obviously would go the two-trailer way if not just outright flying the King out to a race if it's far (or with Cal's run, just opt to go the RV route since the two are family and live together easier than a lot of crew chief/driver combos can), where early on Rust-Eze isn't going to or has the money to spend on buying rookie Lightning a whole other trailer, especially if he doesn't have a crew chief sharing the space with him. So for his rookie year he's staying in a small, cramped trailer room that's very reminiscent of a small, pop-up camper room if you've ever stayed in one of those. It's got the bare minimum and the door opens along the side to the outside world or directly into the trailer where the car is.

my crude representation

The car, usually packed up by the pit crew, has to be secured by Mack this time, who is used to securing regular cargo from his past jobs and does not tie down the wheels correctly. there is no pit crew to double check and lightning, who does know how to do it properly, is too prissy to check it himself.

And lightning, being the drama (mc)queen he is, will sometimes opt to sit in the car in the trailer rather than the cramped bedroom (not that the car is any less cramped with the way the seat is but it's his happy place whether he'll admit it or not)

And same as the movie, he promises he'll stay up with Mack and falls asleep anyways, just in the driver's seat of the car (impressive, since those are Not comfy and he's still in his fire suit from earlier (stinky boy))

And same as movie, one of those toys on the shelves falls and opens the back door when Mack falls asleep behind the wheel and ends up in the rumble strips. The car, secured incorrectly, gets shaken out of the straps and starts creeping down the ramp until it ends up stock-still and facing backwards on an active highway.

Which is Bad news.

Lightning wakes to cars dodging him and he manages to start the car and whip it around in an adrenaline-fueled record time.

Mack is gone

And (because it's funny) Lightning's drivers licence is useless here (it's a Florida license and as someone who held a fl license for a while, in some places they do not give a fuck, they'll pretty much throw that thing at you and call for the next person) so it's been, oh, a few years since he's been behind the wheel of a car in a real road (I hc him as somewhere around 23-24 in the first movie) and between that and the adrenaline, he can't remember how to read the road signs to tell him where to go (and it's not like any of them are saying LA yet, theyre still a ways out.)

The rest of his chaotic journey through to RS is the same in the movie just cause that's my favorite scene in the movie and idc if it'd be impossible in real life. it's fun.

And I'm torn with Mack's side of things between not changing it and him stopping at a rest stop, getting something from inside, and as he comes back out seeing the back open and panicking bc he thinks someone stole the 95, only to then find Lightning missing and then thinking someone stole the 95 *and* kidnapped Lightning. Poor Mack.

So yeah. This was mostly me talking through the logistics of how trailers work in my human!verse but I feel like that's really important to how I imagine Lightning ending up in RS. Of course, after doc and everyone joins, Rust-Eze splurges on a whole other RV-like trailer for Lightning and Doc, with the others usually being put up in a hotel nearby or something. Rust-Eze not having an RV trailer is why in 'beginning another end' Doc and Lightning stay in a motel overnight. Even though Mack and the 95 trailer were still there, Lightning hates the little bedroom and opted to stay in a shitty motel room w Doc instead (also he has separation anxiety lol)

And in 'straight and narrow' lightning sits up in the front with poor Mack (who usually sleeps in the attached bedroom on the truck cab, which is not too dissimilar to Lightning's trailer room, just that Lightning has a smidge more standing room in his)

(So in my fics, when I say 'trailer' it's usually referring to something like an RV bus. Who drives it? Idk yall just roll with it lol)

Basically this puzzle boiled down to:

How does lightning end up separated from Mack and the trailer?

How does the car end up separated from the trailer?

How do the two get separated together?

How does Mack not notice until LA (or sooner, depending)?

I lean this way personally rather than the other popular version (also the movie writers' original version of events i believe) where lightning is accidentally left behind at a rest stop (which is also very valid!!) just because personally it doesn't answer more questions for me than it generates (but my alt events for Mack kind of pays homage to it bc it's still a very good version of events).

Lightning being separated with the car is important for obvious reasons and the og movie had a plausible swiss-cheese of events, so all I think it needs is some light tweaking before we got something just as (humanly ;)) plausible on our hands.

I have no idea if this answers your question or if I just went on the most unhinged ramble :)

#mine #cars fandom #i wrote this out on an early flight to Atlanta this morning and spent my afternoon doing the artists renditions lol #also yes the Swiss cheese model is safety is a thing!#i mostly hear about it in aviation safety (my special interest) as people literally refer to things as holes in the swiss cheese #which is very funny #the images all have alt text btw if that helps

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whitewolfmoving · 3 years

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Boston Burning Part Two

Explosion

Summary: Over breakfast, Nika recounts the events of the fire for Chris; afterwards, he reminds her that she is anything but useless.

Warnings: description of fire emergency, description of fire-related injuries, description of being trapped in a burning building, slight angst, description of non-sexual nakedness

Word Count: 2218

A/N: Chapter two is here! I had so much fun writing this chapter and developing Chris and Nika's relationship. For the sake of this part of the series, Chris and Nika's dynamic is just as important as Sebastian and Nika's dynamic. Happy reading!

Waking up in Boston the next morning was a breath of fresh air for Nika. While she couldn't get her mind off of the fact that she was out of work until her body healed, she had accepted the fact that she was pretty much on a paid vacation. And Chris had upgraded from his small studio apartment in downtown Boston to a fully furnished three-bedroom condo close to the firehouse since her last visit, so at least she wasn't putting him out.

It'd been days since she last talked to her brother, and Nika was more than content to continue her stay in Boston without his hovering. They had always been close, but Sebastian could be a bit overbearing at times, which was the last thing she needed right now. She wouldn't feel guilty for not checking in with him — she was a big girl, she didn't have anything to feel guilty for...

The scent of fresh waffles wafted through the air, finally pulling Nika out of bed. She stretched, grabbed her hearing aids from the nightstand next to her bed and shoved them in the pocket of her pajama pants. No use putting them in before she was ready, sounds of the early morning were a little too overwhelming for her and Chris knew sign anyway.

"Hey, there she is! Morning, Honeybee," Chris exclaimed once Nika had made her way downstairs. He pointed to his ear when she sat at the island across from him, she shook her head. He gave her a knowing smile. "I wondered when breakfast would get you out of bed."

"Not just any breakfast… I only get out of bed this early for your waffles." Nika laughed, stealing a strip of crispy bacon from the platter.

"How are you feeling? Sleep okay?" Leave it to Chris to make sure she was as comfortable as possible with her arm in a sling and bandages inhibiting movement even if it weren't.

She shrugged. "Slept okay for the most part, your guest bed is really comfortable. My wrist is sore but manageable, my shoulder and chest hurt more than I care to say."

Chris frowned. Nika was always an unstoppable, immovable force to be reckoned with; for her to admit to being in pain, even a little bit, things had to be worse than she'd originally let on. He took the last waffle off of the iron and set it on the platter with the others, then nodded to the dining table. "Go sit. I'll bring juice and your meds. Let's eat, then we'll see about relieving some of the discomfort on your chest and shoulder, okay?"

Nika had to hand it to him, Chris's hovering was much different than Sebastian's. Her brother often forgot that she was a grown woman who could take care of herself, that she didn't need him constantly looking out for her every second of the day like he had when they were kids. But Chris opted for a more hands off approach to everything — unless she outright stated that she needed help, he let her do her own thing for the most part. Coming to Boston was definitely the right choice.

As they sat down at the table, Nika slipped both hearing aids in and turned them on, setting the volume lower than usual since it would just be her and Chris. She took a deep breath and sighed, adjusting first thing was always the worst part. Once the ringing in her ears died down to where it was bearable, she smiled up at him.

"Why do you always make waffles and bacon my first day here?" she asked, dragging a strip of bacon through the syrup on her plate and plopping it in her mouth.

"Why do you always defile my prize-winning bacon like that?" Chris countered, scrunching his nose up in mock disgust.

"Because you make that face right there," she said, giggling around a mouthful of warm waffles.

"Because you smile that smile right there," he replied sincerely.

They'd had that conversation a billion and one times before, and each time their answers were the same.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Chris waved to get her attention. The distant look in her eyes told him that she'd been somewhere else, and he could already guess where. He poured a glass of orange juice and handed it over to her along with the medication she needed to take that morning.

"Do you wanna tell me about it?"

"Would you believe me if I said I don't?"

"Nope. You forget I know you just as well as Seb does. So, come on, out with it."

Nika exhaled deeply. "Dispatch routed Squad, Truck, and Engine to a four-story house fire on Main. By the time we got there, you just knew we only had enough time to get everyone out before the flash. Mackie and Nova went to vent the back and clear downstairs, I went up to the top. The main floor was clear, the second floor had two. Mackie got them out and I kept going to the third floor, it was also clear. Finally reached the top floor and called out, the smoke is so thick by this point that I can't see not two feet in front of me."

"Why didn't you wait for Mack or Seb?" Chris asked. He could tell where the story was headed before Nika had even started speaking again; a burning desire to kick the ass of whoever had done this to her welled up in his veins, but he held it at bay so she could finish.

"Sebastian was off for the night. We had to clear the building before the ceiling came down, Chris. What else was I supposed to do?" She wished he wouldn't look at her like that. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and continued. "I cleared the front bedrooms, the nursery, the bathroom. I kept calling out but no one responded. I made it all the way down the hall, the heat was unbearable, the smoke was dark and bitter. I could see just enough, and I only had one more room to clear when Chief Jackson made the call to evacuate, saying it was gonna come down. You don't have to tell me twice, you know? Me and Bas have been in enough flashovers to know when to get the hell out of Dodge.

I turned to leave, head back the way I came when the door to my left burst open. A body landed on top of me out of nowhere. He just kept shouting at me, saying someone had to pay for ruining his plan and that it was my lucky day. I kept trying to get him off of me but he wouldn't budge, he just kept looking up at the burning ceiling and counting down. He grabbed my helmet, my mask… I couldn't breathe, I couldn't call for help."

Chris reached across the table and took Nika's hand in his, giving her an encouraging squeeze. There was so much he wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come.

"The only thing I remember before waking up in the hospital is the whole thing coming down on top of me. I blinked and the guy wasn't there anymore; it was just me, alone, under piles of burning debris. I could feel the flames eating through my gear, burning away my skin. And I couldn't do anything except lay there helpless. Just before I blacked out I heard Bas calling me."

"What did he say?"

"What he always says whenever I'm too far away, Întoarce-te la mine, Micuță. And then I woke up in the hospital with a broken wrist and second-degree burns on my shoulder and across half of my chest. If anything else happened between the house coming down and me waking up in the hospital, I don't know."

Chris's fingers opened and closed around Nika's. He didn't have the words to express the mix of emotions running through his body, all he knew was that he wanted to get his hands on the man from the fire and make sure he didn't get to walk away again. He blew out a long breath and looked across the table at her.

"You can stay here for as long as you need to," he offered.

Nika stood, awkwardly clearing the empty plates from the table with one hand. "Thanks. But I don't know how to do this. I'm a firefighter, I don't know how to just be a regular person. Right now, I'm completely useless."

Chris couldn't believe what he was hearing. The pain etched on her face and laced in her voice was unbearable. He wanted nothing more than to take it away, and give her back that sense of purpose she always found in her career, but how could he? Until she'd fully healed, there was nothing anyone could really do. He couldn't imagine the thoughts going through her head.

He took the plates from her hand and set them in the sink, then led her from the kitchen to the bathroom. He may not have been able to change what happened, but he could help her relax.

"What are you doing?" Exhaustion settled deep within Nika's bones. It'd been the first time she'd told anyone what all she remembered from the fire, and she couldn't help feeling like she had screwed up somehow. Why else would someone have been able to get the jump on her so easily? Why else would she have gone down without a fight?

Chris stepped up behind her, positioned her in front of the mirror, and gently pulled her hearing aids from her ears. When she protested, he held his hands up signaling her to wait.

"The woman standing in front of me is far from useless." He grabbed the hem of the t-shirt she'd worn to bed, gently lifted it over her head and carefully pulled it from her injured arm. The unsightly bandages stuck out on her chest like a sore thumb, and he watched as she wrinkled her nose at her reflection in the mirror.

He slowly pulled the bandages away, the skin underneath was raw and bruised. She stood before him half-naked, a look of annoyance clouding her amber eyes.

Chris gently washed over the back of her shoulder and across the right side of her chest with warm water, careful not to agitate the wound too much. Nika's skin was warm to the touch, he often said it was because she had fire in her veins. He looked at her in the mirror as he rinsed the soap from her chest. "She's strong, she's courageous, she's stubborn, she's wild, she's a total badass."

Nika snorted, rolling her eyes. The burn would leave behind scarring along her collarbone, breast, and shoulder blade. Nothing about her currently seemed anything like what Chris had described. "Don't be stupid, Evans."

"I'm serious." Chris used a clean piece of gauze to pat the area on her chest and shoulder dry before bandaging it up again. He moved her hair off to the side and kissed the top of her head. "I see the woman who survived a freak accident, I see my best friend. She may be a little broken, a little bruised, a little scarred. But you are anything but useless, Nik. And you'll get through this."

"Being a firefighter is all I am, it's all I have," she explained sadly. She put her hearing aids back in and followed Chris from the bathroom.

"Somehow I don't think that's right, Nik. That's not all you are."

"And how would you know? You've never done anything else a day in your life either, Chris! You live and breathe being a firefighter just as much as I do."

"Maybe. But you're also my best friend, you're Sebastian's annoying kid sister. And you're a great chef, for one. You have other things you like to do in your down time. It's not the end of the world."

"Those are hobbies. Firefighting is my life. Without it, I'm nothing."

"You're talking as if you've already been told not to go back."

"We both know Bas won't want me to go back. The call was too close."

Chris sighed and pulled Nika into a hug. He didn't have the answer this time, but he wouldn't leave her to figure it out on her own.

Nika thanked whatever god was listening that she'd cried out all of her tears in the hospital bed. And maybe Chris was right. Just because she couldn't work right now didn't mean she wouldn't ever work again. And maybe the time off would do her some good, give her a chance to see what else was out there beyond the fast-pace of firefighting.

But when she thought of what the future had to offer her outside of the firehouse, that scared her more than rushing into burning buildings did. Firefighting lived in Nika's veins.

"Hey," Chris stepped back so he could look her in the eyes. He brushed a stray strand of hair from her forehead and smiled. "Whatever happens back home, you know you always have a place here at 64."

Till The End of All Things Taglist: @arrowsandmixtapes @pinknerdpanda

#boston burning #sebastian stan fanfiction #chris evans fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #firefighter au

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derl30 · 3 years

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ALTERED STATES REVIEW TIME!

OK, this tumblr is, today, a vehicle for me to review ALTERED STATES. And you (the one person who stumbled on this review two-hundred years from n- oh who am I kidding, when the aliens from A.I. who show up to thaw out Haley Joel Osment and the teddy bear who was the real hero of that movie find this) should be very excited about this. Because this movie is insane. And highly entertaining.

Yes, the movie poster looks like ass. If I told you this was a movie where William Hurt (not the William Hurt from that awful 90's Lost in Space remake, or the one who slept through an entire performance as Duke Leto in the Syfy miniseries of Dune. This is before the body snatchers got him) took ayahuasca and got in a isolation tank and it blew his mind so hard he started devolving into a neanderthal and creating dimensional portals and he couldn't stop because he was addicted to finding the truth of existence... Well you wouldn't get that from this poster, would you? So let's move on. Shall we?

The film opens in 1967 with William Hurt's character, psychopathologist Edward Jessup, already immersed in a sensory deprivation tank, whilst his colleague and “buddy” Bob Balaban (he's just Bob Balaban in everything I'm not giving you his character's name look it up yourself if it's bugging you so much) oversees.

Now, you may notice I put buddy in quotes. The reason for that is that Jessup is a self-obsessed ass who seemingly has no reason to be around other people unless he can expound to them one of his various monologues. Bob Balaban barely gets a word in edgewise throughout the entire film. Bob Balaban.

See, Jessup loves the sensory deprivation tank experience. Unsurprisingly, as it allows him to be completely alone with himself for hours.

Later, at perhaps the lamest party ever, a bunch of faculty are chilling out and listening to the Doors. Everyone we see is talking about Jessup. Why? Well, much as Jessup is obsessed with himself, everyone else seems to follow suit by being obsessed with him. One young woman, Emily, (Blair Brown) is introduced to him in this very shot below as he arrives at the party:

Notice how is framed in holy light? There is a closeup after, of him framed in blinding glowing light followed up with a zoom in on Emily's face, enraptured with this incredible dynamic man. So much so that the moment he tries to make a goddamn sandwich she starts grabbing his celery (get your mind out of the gutter) and flirting with him. Which for these two that means talking science, immediately. Talking more at each other than with each other. This is often the way with Paddy Chayefsky's scripts.

PAUSE

Paddy Chayefsky is doubtless one of the great American writers for the screen. He wrote Marty, The Hospital and Network (which is a fucking incredible piece of work). He got an Oscar for all three. He also wrote this movie (Altered States, remember? Good lord) and disowned it completely three weeks in to production. His scripts tend to have very intelligent, driven characters at the center, who monologue extensively at each other. These scripts are not attempting to sound naturalistic.

Ken Russell, however, directed the film. He, like Chayefsky, is top notch at what he does (Direct. I said he directed the film like a second ago, come on keep up). His films, like Women in Love, The Devils, (which was banned in several major countries upon release and has never been shown publicly in its full, uncut form (by the way it's a masterpiece)) the Who's Tommy, Gothic, and Lair of the White Worm are all fucking gonzo nuts. I mean like, when you gave this guy the reins, you were going to Overthetopsville and there will be no stops on this trip. And god bless! I love directors who GO for it!

You're getting the chance to make a movie. Stop hemming and hawing and hit me over the head with what you want to say! Film is a visual medium, USE IT!

I feel I might have made my feelings clear here. So, moving on...

Ken Russell and Paddy Chayefsky immediately started butting heads, right from the start. Chayefsky was a BIG deal, and he wanted control over the picture in a BIG way. Ken would listen to his suggestions on everything to lighting and set dressing, and politely tell him, “No.”, and continue being the director of the film. Chayefsky hated him pretty quickly.

He had much more control over films like The Hospital. Which, if you watch The Hospital, well, it shows. You've got great actors (George C. Scott, Dame Diana Rigg (Dame may be the greatest official title of all time)) saying great dialogue. But its just two very witty bitter people sort of expounding on topics and speaking at each other and suddenly admitting they are in love and discussing what drapes they will have to buy for their new home. It's utterly preposterous, and it doesn't work in the way Sidney Lumet got it to work in Network, by literally making one of the lead characters realize his life is turning into a ludicrous soap opera.

So of course Ken tried to humanize, naturalize, the dialogue sequences. And it works! The film feels more human than the Hospital or Network. Despite the fact that Jessup is literally becoming more and more inhuman throughout the film. One of the ways he does this is by having the character's eat, drink, and work on other things during the dialogue sequences. This is perfectly normal in film, it's called giving the actor “business” to do, during the scene. Chayefsky HATED this. “They are mumbling my precious dialogue! Chewing through it! Sucking it through a straw!” Sorry, Chayefsky buddy. It works for the picture. Chayefsky also felt the actors were too emotional with his dialogue. Right. See, they call that acting.

UNPAUSE

Which brings us back to the first meeting of Emily and Jessup at the party. They are eating during this important scene! I can just picture Chayefsky seeing this, and running to the studio brass to tattle and get Ken Russell fired (as he got Arthur Penn of Bonnie and Clyde fame fired before Ken Russell came on board).

Emily and Jessup are, true to Chayefsky form, extremely intelligent, driven people and hearing them discuss topics such as anthropology and schizophrenia is quite interesting. It's just that what is to come, film being a visual medium, will eclipse just about any dialogue, no matter how good, from our mind thingys.

The two give up on the science talk and go straight to banging on her couch. After, she asks what he was thinking about. His answer is priceless. “God. Jesus. Crucifixions.”

She smiles.

Bwahahaha! Oh Paddy Chayefsky, you sure know women.

He admits he used to have religious visions. She listens to him from the sweaty couch whilst he sits naked on the floor, and starts going on about his father's horrible death of cancer and his loss of faith. And he admits to her that he's a nut. Her response is to call him a fascinating bastard. I think Lucas may have taken notes for Padme and Anakin.

So naturally, they get married immediately.

But none of that matters because Jessup gets back in the sensory deprivation tank and has his first vision. A nightmare of his dying father and lost faith in christianity. It's pretty great, filled with foreboding hospital rooms, his father's face being covered in a burning Shroud of Turin, everything covered by horrible blood red clouds and then THIS FUCKING THING SHOWS UP AND ITS ALIVE AND WRIGGLING

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

excuse me...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

The many-eyed goat is slaughtered over a gold bible and suddenly Jessups screwing Emily again and we enter a blood vessel looking thing and the vision ends and he never mentions this again. Oh. Okay,

Emily continues on about what a nut Jessup is as they make marriage plans. Her monologue:

“You're an unmitigated madman. You don't have to tell me how weird you are. I know how weird you are. I'm the girl in your bed the past two months. Even sex is a mystical experience for you. You carry on like a flagellant... Which can be very nice, but I sometimes wonder if it's me that's being made love to. I feel like I'm being harpooned by some raging monk in the act of receiving God. (Emphasis mine)

"And you are a Faust-freak Eddie! You'd sell your soul to find the great truth. Well, human life doesn't have great truths. We're born in doubt. We spend our lives persuading ourselves we're alive. And one way we do that is we love each other, like I love you. I can't imagine living without you. So let's get married, and if it turns out to be a disaster, it'll be a disaster.”

It's a disaster.

As in, by the next scene. It starts off happy enough looking, they have kids and people are smiling. And hey, wow it's seven years later! But, well, see, whoops, they are getting a divorce. Well, not they. See, he is divorcing her because he considers the seven years with her a complete waste.

She still loves him, desperately. He doesn't give a shit about her or the kids. He tells Bob Balaban this, straight up. And then starts bugging him about deprivation tanks and Hinchi Indians in South America who have sacred mushrooms that can really fuck you up.

It's at this point you would like for Jessup to be hit by a Mack truck. But the movie continues on. By the way, this is one of the kids he doesn't give a crap about:

That's right. Drew Barrymore's first role is a kid that William Hurt doesn't give a shit about. Something that William Hurt would make a career out of with narcoleptic performances in Lost in Space and Syfy's Dune. So, Emily takes the kids to Africa for her anthropology work while Jessup goes to South America to go deeper into his own creepy mind.

The Hinchi Indians agree to allow him to participate in the drug ritual. They enter their holy cave.

This shot is beautiful. At this point the film becomes increasingly gorgeous. Ken Russell has started to go into overdrive, ladies and gentlemen. Buckle. Your. Seatbelts.

The Indians grab Jessup's hand and cut him, freaking him out. They pour his blood into the drug mixture. They begin to drink. Then he takes a sip. The intensity of the film here has quadrupled. The vision begins, fireworks going off all around him. He sees cave paintings of humans and komodo dragons and this:

The proper life he left behind with Emily. He's convulsing, sweating. The Indians are all around, masked. Snakes. He's laughing in pain. Energy spills from the void. A snake under the parasol strikes and begins to strangle him. He and Emily march toward a nuclear explosion as energy pours from the cut on his hand, becoming a lizard. From within a sandstorm, Emily watches him, naked. Jessup looks at her, entranced, as the soothing sands cover them both, slowly.

It's a beautiful sequence. A perfect film sequence. I can't overstate how strong the vision sequences are from this point forward. Great visual effects work and the madman mind of Ken Russell create something unforgettable, with it's own pace, independent from the rest of the film.

Jessup awakens with a komodo dragon laying before him, ripped to pieces. The Indians and the others all claim he killed it in rage. Jessup remembers nothing, takes samples of the drug to reproduce it, and goes back home.

Back home, Jessup keeps doing as much of the drug as he can and having Bob Balaban record results. They can't up the dosage any more so Jessup hops back in to the self deprivation tank to create a more extreme experience.

In his next session, Jessup states he is having a vision of early man, hunting a deer and killing it. Suddenly he states he is one of them, killing the deer. He begins to grunt like an animal. The two pull him out. He's incredibly pale, blood seeping out of his mouth. He can't speak, and has difficulty breathing. He insists they do an X-ray. It shows that there is a vocalizing lump in the front part of his throat. Jessup claims that his body had begun to revert to a simian state. The medical doctor agrees, stating the throat X-rays looks like that of a gorilla.

Luckily his throat returns to normal. So Jessup finishes up his day by having over a student of his and sleeping with her.

Our hero, people!

At this point we hardly feel sorry for him as his body suddenly begins to twist and bulge in the middle of the night, shifting in and out of neanderthal shapes. It's a horrific sequence, disturbing as hell. You certainly didn't expect the film to shift into body horror.

Jessup feels normal after a while. but sees visions of lava explosions, the birthing of the Earth all around him. Not a good sign.

He goes to pick up Emily from the airport the next day. She asks how he is doing.

“Oh, fine.”

Yeah right.

Emily has been told what Jessup has been doing and is worried, which of course pisses off Jessup even more. The guy is obviously obsessed with reaching the truth and root of existence, much as Emily surmised earlier, and we see he has no fear of even losing his own soul, again true to her word. The only thing that allows us to give a shit about him at this point is that Emily cares for him and she's decent people, okay?

So back Jessup goes into the tank with his ayahuasca or whatever it is. Alone. The tank door opens from the inside.

The hand that pushes it open is covered in thick hair. He's devolved.

Ape-Jessup escapes the tank room and chases a janitor around the building. Again, this scene is fucking freaky as hell. We can't get a good look at this screaming animal that was Jessup.

The janitor gets a guard to help and chases after him into the boiler room, where we finally get a good look at him when he assaults the security guard and escapes.

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ape-Jessup runs through the city at night, making his way to the zoo where he kills a antelope and eats it. The Ape-Jessup sequence goes on way too long, but is nonetheless unforgettable. The makeup is much more convincing than the above picture suggests, and whoever performed Ape-Jessup did an admirable job.

The cops find an unconscious Jessup in the zoo and bring him in. Emily picks him up and questions him. Jessup admits everything that he can remember. He also admits that he probably killed that security guard. And once again doesn't seem to give a shit. Prick. He calls it the most supremely satisfying time of his life.

Even Emily seems disgusted with him. But, she's also fascinated with what he's accomplished. As an anthropologist, his transformation fascinates her. And so, she agrees to help oversee his next session. Big mistake.

Before the big session Emily and Jessup romantically reconnect, and then into the climactic session we go!

Get your popcorn ready!

After a few hours in to the session, the video monitor shows Jessup begin to literally melt apart like goo, reverting to primordial ooze, the very beginning of existence. An attempt to open the isolation tank doors blasts everyone unconscious, as light and energy pour forth. Emily is the only one left. She sees Jessup's life energy pulse from within the tank.

Rain pours down around them. The pipes on the walls twist and turn like jelly. The ground is covered with a pool of swirling fog and energy. Emily advances toward the vortex of the tank.

In the emptiness of the beginning of everything, Emily seizes the energy before her and reconstitutes Jessup.

They take him home. While he sleeps, Emily rages over the fact that she loves such a insane bastard, and can't get over him. And, then, after Bob Balaban leaves, leaving Emily alone, Jessup wakes up.

He sweetly admits that the truth he learned was that there was no learnable truth, just unknowable horror, and all that's real is human experience. And he'll be a good boy from now on. Well too bad!

Because that horrible truth isn't done with him, and it's back to goo-Jessup! Emily tries to help him, grabbing him, but this in turn effects her, turning her into a shimmering lava form of herself. Both of them begin to self-destruct as Jessup, enraged, watching her in pain, struggles to retake his humanity, slamming himself into the wall, reforming himself through sheer will and physicality. He grabs her and brings her back, mirroring what she did for him during the final session. They embrace naked in the hallway. He finally admits, “I love you, Emily.”

Fade to credits.

Awww true love!

What can I say to sum up? Awesome 80's practical effects. Genius wacko go-for-it Ken Russell directing. Out of this world vision sequences. A awake and actually remarkable performance from William Hurt. An occasionally turgid but often fascinating script by the ever ornery Paddy Chayefsky. Whats not to like?

Well, the ending is a little rushed. The ape sequence goes on for a little too long and takes up perhaps too much of the films overall running time. The central love story is, well... a little hard to swallow, but hey, I guess there really is somebody out there for everyone. Even self-absorbed, deadbeat, cheating, sensory deprivation loving, ayahuasca dropping, Harvard teachers with a messiah complex!

And on that note, aliens from A.I. Artifical Intelligence, have a good day, and don't leave poor Teddy alone with no one to keep him company!

Sayonara!

#altered states #ken russell #movies #review #funny?

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jj-maybannk · 4 years

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i see red | r.c.

summary : you find rafe cheating on you with another kook

based on the song i see red by everybody loves an outlaw

this is also on my wattpad, which is maybankjj :)

1.1k words

warnings : angst, swear words, lowkey rafe being a dick but what's new

Did you really think

I'd just forgive and forget, no

After catching you with her

Your blood should run cold, so cold

a pouge with a kook was a rare sight to see. with the rivalry between the two it was very rare that the two would even get along. but with y/n and rafe, things were different. he was sweet and kind to the girl. he held her hand while driving and held doors open for her. he was the perfect guy for her. her friends didn't see eye to eye with the whole ordeal but if she was happy they were happy. that's what friends are for, right?

kiara was the first to find out rafe was cheating with a girl from his college english class. her name was kelsey and she looked like the exact opposite of y/n. rafe wasn't known for having a type.

jj found out next. kiara pointed them out to him at a kegger one night. y/n was helping john b fill up cups when rafe and kelsey snuck off with each other. he text y/n and told her he was doing a line with topper at his car.

john b and pope found out a little while after jj did. jj can't really keeps secrets and one night while y/n was on a date with rafe the beans were spilled. "you're kidding, right?" pope looked stunned as john b asked the question. he knew it would happen sooner or later, the kook king with a dirty pouge? it was bound to happen. everyone knew. y/n was just delusional as she fell more in love with rafe.

You, you two-timing, cheap lying, wannabe

You're a fool if you thought that I'd just let this go

it was a friday night at the boneyard. the annual end of summer kegger was being thrown as school would be starting soon. "have you seen rafe? he said he was with topper but topper is macking on a touron." y/n asked kie, who was currently dancing with sarah. kie was extremely drunk and sarah hadn't learned that her brother was cheating on one of her best friends. "he's probably macking on kelsey in his car." kie said with no expression as she continued dancing with sarah. sarah looked stunned as y/n laughed at kie. "who's kelsey? is that was he calls his coke?" y/n joked but kie looked awfully too serious. "no, it's that blonde chick from his english class, they've been hooking up for like 3 months." kelce jumped in and that's when kie started to sober up. "you knew too?!" she asked, y/n looked between the two with tears in her eyes as sarah was also staring at the pair. "well of course, i caught them and rafe paid me a grand not to tell anyone." he said nonchalantly and it felt like y/n's heart was about to burst.

Did you really just say

She didn't mean anything, oh

I'll remember those words

When I come for your soul, your soul

sarah and kie looked at y/n's face to see if she was showing any emotion. the party around them had seemed to stop as y/n screamed at the top of her lungs. "RAFE CAMERON! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU DIRTY BASTARD!" everyone turned to look at her but she didn't seem to care. she stormed off to find his gray truck, one she knew all too well. she passed jj and john b on the way there, jj trying to hold her back but she ripped out of his grasp. "let me go, jj!" she exclaimed, tears streaming down her face. jj quickly let her go as she ran off. rafe's truck was the nicest one to be parked in the cut, so it wasn't hard to spot.

"rafe cameron! i know you're in there!" she yelled as she slammed her fist against the window on the drivers side. she couldn't see inside from the fog being built up and the tinted windows. she heard movement from the inside and a minute later a blonde haired girl with tanned skin was being pushed out. her hair was a mess and her lipstick was smeared. just the sight of her made the tears fall faster but she knew she had to keep her composure.

rafe was the next to come out. he had hickeys on his neck and he was out of breath. "hey baby! i wasn't expecting to see you..." he trailed off as he scratched the back of his neck. y/n's arms shook as she sobbed. it was true. it was all true. "don't baby me! how long has it been, rafe? how long have you been cheating?" she cried, looking into his baby blues to see any sort of remorse. there was none. "i have no idea." he spoke before being interrupted. "it's been 3 months," kelsey said, rubbing her arms up and down to warm herself. she was wearing a nice tube top and cut offs with stark white air forces. she dressed so much cleaner than y/n. "he told me he had already broken up with you, if i knew he didn't i wouldn't have kept it going." she said. she sounded sincere but fire was burning in y/n and she didn't seem to care.

Know that you, you dug your own grave, now lie in it

You're so cruel, but revenge is a dish best served cold

"3 months rafe. 3 FUCKING MONTHS! what, would i come over after you got done fucking her?" y/n asked, her eyes burning red. rafe looked down at the gravel and she knew she was right. "you are disgusting, rafe cameron. we are done." y/n seethed, turning on her heel before turning back to him and slapping him across the face. "i should've known you were a piece of shit from the start." she spat, turning to the girl and giving her a tight lipped smile. "you're no better to blame."

y/n walked back to the party and took a random cup out of a tourons hand. she gulped it down in one sip and turned to find all her friends standing behind her, staring at her tear stained face. "are you okay?" kie asked, rubbing her back with her left hand as she drank her cheap beer. y/n gave them all a quick smile while she chugged her second cup.

I see red, red, oh red

A gun to your head, head, to your head, oh

Executioner style, and there won't be no trial

Don't you know that you're better off dead

All I see is red, red, oh red

Now all I see is

#jj maybank x reader #jj maybank smut #chase stokes #rafe cameron smut #outer banks fic #drew starkey #kiara carrera #rafe cameron x reader #pope heyward

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the-firebird69 · 2 years

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We have a lot more going on than just that is huge huge ships hello and tons of people are skanning for them and trying to see what they are it's very difficult and see a real big object and we're wasting them tons of them. Everyday about two quadrillion at each location minimum last night and today so far this is about 700 quadrillion visited rio and a bunch of them who know what they're doing said the topography has changed a little. And a little is enough for alarm they're a huge changes they said in the countryside along what looks like could be the edge of an object and it was about 100 ft change in some places and our sunset we should have Seabees since we hire we need to hire more to make sure that we put the topography back the same level over several weeks can we figure out something you can see that change though in space and he said it's probably a lot worse than that at first it was but you see these patches so doesn't have any solution for that except you make a patch you can a bunch that fits right in it it was green on top so you start doing that and it works still there's differences it was sensitive equipment they can find it so going after them today and we heard this we're going after your boy I'm going to use your s*** head and and they mean Trump, you said something to the trump in the future is horrified so there's too many of them too many have some voices helping them they're ruining you completely to turn you on me for mack, then he said who had to do it you had me do it. Turns around and says I don't have a gosh darn chance and hell and then you tell me that yep...our son says. Yeah really mad he said this other people he's done this to I said yeah like Sebastian you abusebja there's a list right now he made me like this and had him do this and it's like he hit his brother in the head and made him into a mutant called Tommy Allen and then he said a manifested this guy I'll send that figured out this is how it is he's doing it to all these people who are here yes are the rebels harassing me. What's around says wow I must have got to it says you have this fleet in your holding him off he told people you can't hold them off anymore and there's something else going on and it's still going to blame you for it ooh that's true they want to play mac daddy wants to blame you you can see his Mr bombastic so you got it he's going to thank God laughs as you have a few minutes out you'll remember and the truck got mad they go so I can't remember already

Video little sick cuz you start laughing a lot he said tattoos are wearing certain clothes or rebel clothes and you'll be accepted finally not all alone start doing it too people noted it and they accepted it and it said you could be doing this and started working and changed everything sorry trying to give us a hint he want some better clothes...

We can hear her what for why does that look like a bom I don't want to look like a bum. Hera is laughing but she is doing that so we have to look at that and ask her to stop that into join up with Amazonian and she needs some instruction from us old people our women. It says it's out of my hands and above my head that she's doing this and she probably doesn't feel great about it but she needs to feel great about it she's doing something like this so they say well it's not exactly right doing the right thing in this case if that's what you're doing just smiling and saying okay I'm still help see what once a week meeting with Amazonia minimum and they're arranging it.

We just got to take pretty bad there's nothing to do with anybody else but with us

UK becomes a nightmare for Max can you bring those two there it's a nightmare they don't think it's that severe so they bring George and some others and it becomes a nightmare and Jesus over here is rooting everything literally the place is fog to pieces yeah right after sopranos everything starts to sieze up north they try to come down and apprehend our son Mack and his son try resist and that's a lie they're the ones doing it and they get caught many times. And they get into a lot of trouble tons of movies and they get the crap beat out of them many times for the crimes against our son and us in Forgieners mainly the ladder

But rio is a huge deal it's gigantic now

In closing I would say her son's done a terrific job it has helped everybody on Earth and offers of our kind and enormous ways it is well above the call of duty he's doing it because this is what his life is he's a public servant but we need to help him he has basic needs and basic funding it is not in place and not from us it must be because these people are falling apart as you watch them they fall apart and become mental patients and become very dangerous you can't be trusted to do anything when they're in the state that Trump said is completely off the wall that's not who he is what he's doing just want stuff that's very dangerous and we see it I'm calling for people reinforcements too because Mac is encouraging it he's trying to threaten to blow up the Earth and he's putting bombs right now he's putting bombs out on Monroe huge ones or in the water 20 miles across and is trying to put them into the hole and they won't go in there until he opens it except for light up outside so we're going to go over there and see what we can do about it I have tons of agents there I'm saying what I'm trying to approach it it's threaten all over the planet. Just calling the emergency meeting and we've had one but we're going to be in the war room he says and we're bringing generals in I'm going to break these people as thry insist on it

We meet now and it's about Cape Verde I'm going to take care of business

Thor Freya

But to me now and we're going to take care of business I'm going to make sure this is right

Hera

All in in 15 minutes and we're going to prove that this is necessary to do this meeting and show you what we need he has a sense of urgency it's a little different and he's getting information from our spies for his and say we must listen. Since there's too many locations and it's too big for them to stop and they need us and we need to make this huge very fast and we need to invade they have huge threats on we're going to start invading so let's find out where and what

Olympus

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