Come Hell Or Highwater: Part 2

“We can start from the beginning, from when you first left the campus.” Did he introduce himself already?

Did he tell you his name?

Did you remember what he said or when he had even come into the room?

You were lost in your mind, you were distracted by your torrid thoughts barraging your nerves with the constant reminder that you previously had blood on your hands. You swore you could still feel the eerie warmth and the way it seemed to stick to your skin.

You could remember it all as it had just happened, from the smell of dank moisture that crept into your senses to the feel of wet concrete below your knees as you tried to help him. You can remember crawling out of your hiding place with adrenaline coursing through your body.

But you couldn’t remember his name.

You couldn’t remember asking for water or getting water. You couldn’t remember using so many tissues as you sat across the lawyer in this room, or why your voice was so hoarse. It was a blur, it felt like a blur to you, and yet you could remember the scene you happened upon while trying to do something nice for your roommate.

You could remember the phone falling from your hand when one of the officers at the station told you that the man the ambulance had taken to the hospital had died from someone screwing with his IV. You could remember the panic and fear, even the chill of the leather seat in the police cruiser as they escorted you to the station to answer a few more questions.

That had all been a lead-up to the moment you were transported further and set into this room, under the watchful eye of some federal agents since you were the only living witness to the crime that wouldn’t be completely unsolved.

You were the only living person who could have aided the case against someone you had never heard of, the man who ordered the hits had assumed it had gone off without a hitch until it was reported that someone was still living and someone was a witness.

It was just the two of you in the room although there was an audible and video motion capture camera hanging on the ceiling that was watching you. The room was bare and seemed dim despite the bright lights that beat down on the two of you.

You found yourself unable to focus on anything but the piercing blue eyes that were fixated upon you, the colour striking and bold. You couldn’t have been sure if you remembered his name correctly but those eyes…

“Y/N, I want you to know that you’re safe here. You’re safe.” He reminded you twice before, constantly reassuring you that nothing and nobody was going to harm you while you were here. His reassurance was stalwart and steady, it was as ironclad as you could have expected, almost as if it was his creed to keep you shielded.

“What’s gonna h-happen to me?” You were on the verge of tears again, your breath hitching in your throat as hot stinging tears obscured your vision.

You had wiped your tears and drew your hands back to the table, rubbing your fingertips over any wall scratch or chip that you could find.

Your mind was both your ally and your enemy, the testimony of that night was engrained and vividly being replayed in your mind over and over, and yet another part of your brain was telling you that you were going to meet your end. “I don’t want to die-“

“You’re not going to die,” he reached forward and rest his hand upon yours, his gaze soft and protective, “you’re not going to die. I promise you’re going to be safe.”

Your bottom lip trembled. Your breath had become strained and you turned suddenly in your seat, facing away from him as you bit down on your bottom lip to stop yourself from letting every verbal sound fall from your tongue.

You were riddled with fear, you were in a violent cycle of panic and anxiety, and the resulting surge of emotional weakness was grating to you. You didn’t know what to say or how to react, all you could feel was the acid in your stomach churning as if you were going to succumb to the feeling of nausea.

“Look at me, Y/N. You need to look at me so I can tell you what’s happening.” His voice was like honey, smooth and sultry. Slowly you turned to look at him through blurry vision and with your hands balled into your sweater, knuckles tucked under your chin.

“You’re going into the Witness Protection Program, you’re going to be relocated. There are two agents who are going to take you somewhere safe. There’s a whole story contrived and created to protect you and not raise suspicions about the three of you in one house.”

“I don’t…” You angled your head and wiped your cheek against your shoulder, the trail of tears that had rolled down your cheeks and neck had almost been dried before your latest bout. “What kind of place is this?”

“You’ll be moving there under the guise of a polyamorous marriage. It’s an easy way to explain two men and a young woman moving in together, no one will ask questions. No one would think anything of this situation you’ll be in.” His voice never wavered from comforting or supportive, his eyes had never once lost their comforting lustre or empathy, even as he dove into the explanation of what your temporary future would be and you were left feeling conflicted, he was kind.

His eyes, which you had been so enthralled by, had remained as light as when he first sat down. He had given you his entire attention, focusing and fixating everything on you. There had only been one instance when he stepped away to take a phone call, and even then he kept a watchful eye on you from across the room.

You were in and out of thought, either completely silent or quietly stewing and mumbling to yourself, a clear divide between acceptance of the mess you were caught in and disbelief.

“Y/N,” he spoke again after a bought of quietude, pushing his chair back to stand, “we have to go. They’re ready for you.”

The chair scraped against the floor with a sound that made your ears hurt, the squeal reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard and you’d visibly winced. You tried not to recreate the same sound when you pushed the chair out from under the table between you, your eyes flickering toward the movement you caught through the window of the room.

“I promise,” Andy stopped you from moving too far, holding you in place with his sturdy and husky rasp, “you are going to be okay.”

A knock sounded on the door, the rapping of knuckles was another indicator that your life was going to be uprooted and held in someone else’s hands. You were going to have to put your trust and faith, your entire future, into the people destined to keep you hidden and safe from the clutches of whatever devil wanted you dead.

“Ari, Steve.” Andy had greeted two men across the threshold of the room, standing at a half angle toward you, allowing the two guards you’d be relying on to get their first look at you.

You took in the stock of the men, you took in the similarities with wonder and mild confusion. You were already rattled, your mind already seemingly frayed and debilitated by what screwed-up mess you were in, and it had taken you longer than you would’ve liked to realize that they were almost direct carbon copies of each other.

“You’re triplets.” You mumbled, clutching the sleeves of your sweater as if it was some kind of comfort or shield for you to cling to, and your stipulating statement was confirmed correct with a nod from Andy.

With few differences like one of the triplets having a clean face while the other two had beards, and the man with a clean face having more blonde in his hair than not and the same blonde having more green, they were almost like clones of each other.

Although Andy appeared to be the smallest in physical size, he was no less tall than his brothers and the three of them had conductively made you feel like a rag doll compared to them.

“We have to leave,” the blonde spoke, holding the door open further for you, “Andy we’ll see you in a few weeks.”

You couldn’t stop staring at the ring on your finger, the foreign piece of jewellery carried weight that you hadn’t expected and it was with silence that you’d observed and studied the object. It was simple and minimalist, the metal carved and formed to look like branches made of rose gold that extended to the claws holding the gem that was at the centre of the ring.

The claws were set in forms of three all equally spaced around the centrepiece, holding it into place securely, giving the ring an ornate and unique design. It was smooth against the pads of your fingers as you played and toyed with one of the pieces given to you as part of this grand act you would be required to keep up.

The ring was just part of it, a small detail as you crossed into the unknown with the two men who were agents part of the witness protection agency. They were ex-Navy SEALs and had done tours in some of the most dangerous and deadly territories in the world, completing missions that were more than your imagination could handle.

They were your protection as you fled to a small polyamorous town to be shielded until you could face trial as a witness, the two of them would be your only hope in avoiding death by whatever means this faceless phantom had wanted for you.

You didn’t even know who was after you, you didn’t even know the man who ordered the hits that had wiped out two lives. You had only bared witness to the men who committed the crime and the orders that came from above their station were like a faceless monster hiding in the closet.

Steve, Ari and Andy knew although they wouldn’t tell you. They wouldn’t give you any notion of who wanted to eliminate you, and you wondered if it was because you were already dealing with enough as it was.

“You can ask later.” The statement given to you by Ari, the eldest of the three, had been a directive to what was temporarily hidden from you.

It was one of the few things they had said to you before you were given the keys to an older truck that would take you from the city to whichever small town you were destined for.

The truck itself was unassuming and heralded rust spots near the bumper and the wheel wells, giving the truck an aged appearance that wasn’t captivating enough to draw attention. You didn’t know much about vehicles beyond the basics, and you had no detailed opinions on the transportation that was part of the overlying picture.

To you it was another token that added to this story they were trying to convey, it was as fake as the passport and identification you had been given while your real ID was kept safe or destroyed. It was as false as the ring on your finger, as the marriage certificate that legally bound you to Steve and the ‘open relationship’ you were in with Ari and Andy.

For the time being, you would be putting on act. For the time being while you were under their protection, you were settled in this polyamorous relationship and your performance in this situation would either aide their efforts to keep you safe, or it would be one of the things that tore you apart.

“Ari’s back.” Steve’s voice had pulled you from your daze and your hands fell back to the seat, fingers gripping the seam when the other statuette man started walking back to the vehicle from the doors of the gas station.

His eyes were focused, his head was tucked ever so slightly to keep his face as disguised as possible from the cameras that had been set up for security in the parking lot. His long strides had brought him back to the driver’s side of the vehicle, before opening the door he had looked to the left and the right as another security measure.

The door popped open and he tossed one of the bags back to Steve without a word, a seamless action that didn’t require much thought. The plastic bag was snatched in one fell swoop and set on the seat beside him, tucked between the duffle bag behind your seat and his right thigh.

“I got you something to eat, I didn’t know what you wanted.” Ari had stolen your attention off of Steve by holding out another plastic bag for you to take, the thin material weighed down by a bottle of water and a container with a whole sandwich held between the folds of the container.

You reached out and grasped the handles of the bag, bringing it toward yourself with uncertainty, and then you rest it in your lap. You peered at the contents inside, studying the generic label on the water bottle and the nutrient contents of the simple ham sandwich with a lack of hunger that didn’t do much for you.

“Thanks.”

“You should eat something.” Steve leaned forward as he spoke, his fingers folding the handle of the bag down to peer inside. “There’s not much, you need to eat.”

“Is that an order?” You ripped the bag away from his, snapping at Steve with sudden and biting fire that was rooted in your helplessness. “Are you ordering me-“

“You haven’t eaten all day. We still have hours to go.” Steve hadn’t reacted with anger or aggression, he had almost seemed to absorb your anger and your irritation with ease, and not a single beat of retaliation had come from him. “You’re not doing yourself any favours-“

“I didn’t ask for this. I don’t want…” You yanked the bag into your lap and turned away, your eyes trained and fixated on the pillars of the gas station as Ari began pulling away, the rumble of the engine not overshadowed by the quiet crooning of the voice on the radio.

Music played as silence had fallen between the three of you again.

It had been a relatively quiet trip, even between the two who had switched out driving halfway through the trek. They made conversation with each other at times but you had never felt the need to enter into it. You seemed to be happier in your silence and quietude, thinking endlessly about your life and what you had to leave behind.

“I know you’re scared,” Steve spoke again, his voice and his attention on you even if you weren’t giving him the time of day, “Ari and I are going to keep you safe. This is our job.”

“I shouldn’t have done it, I should’ve told my roommate no. If I would’ve said no…if I would’ve gone straight home…” You whispered to yourself, your hands twisting the plastic bag while you watched the scenery morph from slight urbanization to rural again.

It was a far cry from the city, a far cry from the constant noise and steady stream of traffic and people who were involved with each other’s lives whether they knew it or not.

The concrete streets and steely buildings had given way to nature and greenery, to the dense and towering pillars of mountainous terrain that would be your home for the unforeseeable future. You were put in a position where you had to trust Steve, Ari and Andy because if you hadn’t you would end up dead.

“Y/N, this is not your fault.” Ari had relayed his own message of comfort and reached out with his hand to rest it on yours. “None of this is your fault.”

You bit down on the inside of your cheek and screwed your eyes closed. It was all playing out in your mind, relaying over and over again like a broken record. You were the cause of your own breakdown, or at least it had felt that way.

“You need to eat,” Steve’s voice was thick as honey and as comforting as a warm blanket, his directive sinking into your bones with a gentle demand, “do you need help opening anything?”

“No,” you reached into the bag and yanked the sandwich out, using your nails to tear the sticker off the enclosure, “I can do it.”

You returned to silence as you lifted one half of the sandwich out of the plastic, nibbling on the bread while the radio played in the background. You ate like they wanted, taking your time while feeling their eyes on you occasionally, their steady gazes delivering a sense of warmth and resignation that staved off some of the chill in your bones.

“We promise, sweetheart.” Your teeth dug into your cheek when Steve whispered a vow to you.

You knew you had to get used to the pet names that were standard for any relationship, you knew that when you arrived at this new place, people would be expecting you to be in love and recently married. It wouldn’t help your cause if you flinched or reacted negatively when they addressed you as their wife.

“We’re all here for you.”

All About You: Dean Archer (Part 2)

Tagging: @kmc1989 @mandy426 @helsinkibaby @hufflepuffgirl

Sequel to All About You (NSFW)

Dean pulls out all the stops tonight. He brings home dinner from your favourite restaurant, he runs you a bath. He even turns off his cell phone and yours, because tonight, he doesn’t want any interruptions. He’s taking care of his wife come hell or highwater.

Dean lowers the lights in the bedroom, he’s old fashioned and prefers dimmer switches because he likes to set the mood, it helps to settle him after a long day. He’s clad in his bedtime clothes, a navy blue t-shirt and pyjama bottoms.

When you step out of the bathroom you’re wearing the peach silk robe he bought for you on your honeymoon. Your skin is flushed from the heat, you look happy, relaxed, content. It occurs to him that this is probably the first time you’ve done something for yourself over the past few days, you’re always taking care of everyone else. The families of the people you have on your table, your interns and him, you’re always taking care of him.

He's already warming the massage oil between his hands, he noticed you were a little stiff when you’d finished ruining him this morning. He knows you carry a lot of tension in your shoulders and your lower back.

“I promised you I’d look after you tonight.” He tells you before tilting his head towards the bed.

“Lucky me.” You say as you allow the robe to slip from your body.

“No.” He says with an appreciative look. “Lucky me.”

It’s been a while since he’s been able to admire you in your full glory. The last couple of weeks your love making has been hurried and rushed, he doesn’t mind a quickie every now and then but he misses the sensuality that comes with being with you completely.

You lie on your stomach and Dean straddles your hips, distributing his weight into his knees. He starts at your shoulders, the heel of his palm pressing against the knot underneath the curve of your shoulder. You moan at the sensation and that sound, Christ, he’s hard already.

His hands sweep lower, massaging, caressing, teasing until your making those sweet little noises, the ones he loves to hear.

“Turn over.” He murmurs as he shifts off you. He picks up the towel he set aside, using it to wipe his hands as you do as he requests.

He takes his time loving you, his lips brushing over your skin until your fingers thread through his hair and your hips arch against his mouth. You’re close, so close he can taste it, his tongue delves lower, thrusting inside you and you fall apart completely. He coaxes you through it with tender, gentle kisses that draw out your orgasm before he works his way back up your body.

“I missed that.” You murmur as his lips trail over the curve of your throat. “I’d almost forgotten how good you were with your mouth.”

“We can’t have that.” Dean tuts as his thumb chases over the line of your jaw. “I’ll just have to find a way to keep reminding you.”

“How about we focus on the other thing I’ve been missing?” You tease as your fingertips trail along the waistband of his pyjamas.

“Oh.” Dean smiles against your skin. “I think we can certainly focus on that.”

Love Dean? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

now that it’s been a few days and i’ve Calmed Down from the initial release mania i wanted to collect my thots…. first thanks to everyone that left comments and genuine ratings/reviews and feedback on siren’s call! i appreciate it ❤️ i know it’s only been a couple days but in my experience interaction declines pretty quickly for me after the first 2 days, though that’s to be expected since i don’t really “market” my work.

this whole thing has been a bit of a learning experience… i’ve been writing publicly for about 3 years now but this was my first time publishing anything quite as “official” (at least that’s how it feels) it’s been really cool posting something tangible as a PDF. makes me feel legit hahahaha

it’s also been really exciting seeing other authors interact with my work. despite being on the “writing side” for a while now i still tend to get flustered when other authors acknowledge/read my work so that’s been pretty cool 🙈

anyways my ramblings under the cut

what i’ve learned:

i need to be patient. this is a problem i always have to be honest, i get too impatient and excited to share my work. i wish i had let it rest for a few more days because i ended up going in and editing it repeatedly the first like 24hrs of publishing it lmfao. i rushed into it with one day hike as well (tho that was more of an emotional rip off the bandaid moment) & i tend to do it with my IF updates so it’s just something i need to work on.

people will pay for free stuff. i decided on a whim to offer people to pay what they want and i was genuinely surprised that people did pay for siren’s call. the pay what you want model is how i plan to continue going forward with any other work like this, i like offering my work for free for the most part and i prefer not having set prices especially for my shorter works. my longer IFs, as long as they are demos, will remain completely free until final publication (we don't have to worry about this for a while...lol).

this is something i want to keep doing. when it comes to siren’s call, i am still interested in publishing the long form story, with the short story being a little companion piece down the line. i’m not sure when that will happen; there are a lot of things i still need to figure out for that story to truly work in the way that i want. but just know this is not the end of siren's call just yet :-) and i'm definitely interested in writing more short erotica (though probably not as short as this again)

this whole thing was completely just on a whim like i mentioned earlier. i was in the mood to write something in that vein and i ended up turning to familiar characters and revisiting Rome and Lucienne for the first time in a while. and then i decided to publish it on a whim as well because i thought it would be fun & interesting to experience that process, plus i just wanted to see if i could do it…. and i can! lmfao

it's kind of wild to see my progress from when i started writing tnp; i was insecure about a lot of my writing but especially writing sex.... i originally hadn't even planned to write it in tnp to begin with. now it's one of my favorite things to write lmfao. i've written a lot of it for my novel and i've written quite a bit for blood choke now, too. it's exhausting but fun.

i have another project, hell or highwater, that will most likely be next in line (not counting tnp or blood choke) i keep flipflopping about the medium, but i do think the interactivity will add something interesting to the narrative. it's a romance and also a tragedy... i like the idea of giving the player options to guide conversations and influence the main narrative, but it's a set main character and overall a linear story, with the player only able to do so much to guide Jamie (the mc) through it. i don’t see this being ready any time soon, especially since i want to finish the next bc chapter before nanowrimo… so it’s on the backburner for now.

my plans currently are to finish bc ch3 & then lock in and finish the blackwater route for tnp during nanowrimo. once i push both of those updates out i might shift focus onto hell or highwater a little more, and whatever other random shit i might decide to start writing between now and then lmfao.

anyways if you read this far thanks for being here and supporting me and reading my silly little stories!

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🌼

Okay, so just to clarify, these are only of the ones I've published, because otherwise I will take forever just figuring out the top ten, nevermind the top five. I will be explaining some of my reasoning, and if you want to know why fic xyz didn't make the list, feel free to ask. I crave interaction.

So.

What We're Fighting For. The second in the Young Enough to Try series, I feel like this one had the best character growth, not to mention the most of one of my favorite OCs, Charger. It also had some of the best bait-and-switch moments that I loved seeing y'all's reactions to.

Can't Escape the Fallout. Also the second in a series (I Believe That There Is Courage), this is currently unfinished (though I will finish it, come hell or highwater), and it's just. So angsty, and while the fandom is a bit niche, it also has some really good fans and I've made more than a few friends through that. Also I just feel like I did better with both the writing style and plot lines for individual characters. It's far from perfect, but I love it.

Before Something Breaks That Cannot Be Fixed. The first in the 'I Believe That There Is Courage' series, it also, in my opinion, had a really good story line, lots of angst, and of course, character development. I also feel like I handled some of the characters (namely, Gem) better than in the second installment, but I feel like I also neglected other characters.

I See It in Your Closed Eyes. This, like #2, is also unfinished, and it also is part of a series. However, it's the first part of the series, the rest of which is mostly planned but not at all published. Coincidentally, it's also the first fanfic I wrote for the Star Wars fandom, and the first one that I wrote with the intention to publish it. It has a lot of sentimental value for me, and I can't wait to share it with y'all

A Second Chance to Make Amends. The spin-off of #1, it takes place in the same universe, just things happen differently than in the original version. What's great about it is that all of my readers thought this was what was going to happen when I first published WWFF, and then I pulled a bait-and-switch, which, in my opinion was just as satisfying, though for different reasons. Anyway, it's great and I love it and if you've read the main canon series, definitely give this a read, it's worth it.

So, to address something that y'all might notice, there's only one of the three non-spin-off parts of the YETT series, which is statistically the most popular of my various published projects. That's because this is my favorite of my projects, and I have... issues... with the way I handled some things in the first and third parts of the series. So. If YETT #1 or #3 is your favorite, cool! I'm glad you like it. But they're not my favorite. I'm glad I wrote 'em, obviously, but if I had the time, energy, and otherwise general wherewithal to rewrite it, I almost definitely would.

Also I wish I could list my top like. Seven because I've neglected a couple of my projects that I love, but aren't in the top five because others have more sentimental value or just generally are better.

Movie Reviews

War of the Worlds (1953) (1.4/5)

Vanilla Sky (4/5)

Event Horizon (1.8/5)

Run With the Hunted (2.6/5)

Rosemary's Baby (1968) (2.5/5)

Identity (3.8/5)

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (3.5/5)

The Uninvited (2.7/5)

The Talented Mr. Ripley (4.1/5)

A Babysitters Guide to Monster Hunting (3.3/5)

Afflicted (3.7/5)

Agent Revelation (2.8/5)

Alone (1.8/5)

American Hangman (3.9/5)

An American Haunting (2.5/5)

Annabelle (2.1/5)

Ashby (4/5)

Ashoka (3.7/5)

Bad Santa (3.2/5)

Barbie (2.9/5)

Baywatch ('17) (3/5)

The Big Short (1.3/5)

The Bigfoot Trap (4.3/5)

Bitch Ass (2.8/5)

The Blair Witch Project (3.7/5)

Blair Witch 2 (3.5/5)

Blurt (4.2/5)

Boston Strangler (3/5)

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (4.2/5)

Boyhood (3.5/5)

Cadaver (2.4/5)

Cadillac Man (2.9/5)

Captive State (3.7/5)

Case 39 (3.3/5)

Cargo (4/5)

Case 39 (3.3/5)

Casper (3.2/5)

Cloverfield (3.5/5)

Clue the movie (4/5)

Coming to America (3.7/5)

Crawlspace (3.5/5)

Critical Condition (2.6/5)

Cursed Friends (2.9/5)

Deck the Halls (3.7/5)

Dinner for Schmucks (4/5)

Disappearance at Clifton Hill (3/5)

Disaster Artist (3/5)

Don’t Tell Mom The baby Sitters Dead (3.8/5)

Downsizing (2.9/5)

Dungeons and Dragons Honour Among Thieves (4.2/5)

Edge of Darkness (3.9/5)

End of Watch (1.2/5)

Ernest Saves Christmas (4/5)

The Estate (2.9/5)

Every Breath You Take (3.9/5)

Fear of Rain (3.8/5)

Fear Street 1994 Part 1 (4.2/5)

Fear Street 1976 Part 2 (3.2/5)

Fear Street 1776 Part 3 (3.7/5)

Fear the Night (4.4/5)

Follow Her (3.4/5)

Galaxy Quest (1.8/5)

The Giver (4.3/5)

Givers of Death (3.2/5)

The Good Son (3.8/5)

Grease Live! (4.4/5)

The Grudge (3.5/5)

Happiness for Beginners (3.7/5)

Haunt (3.7/5)

Hell or Highwater (3.2/5)

Hellraiser (-2/5)

Home Front (4.2/5)

The Host (4.2/5)

Hot Rod (2.9/5)

How High (2.4/5)

In and Out (3.7/5)

The Inhabitant (3/5)

I See You (3.7/5)

Inheritance (3.1/5)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1.3/5)

Jack Reacher (3.5/5)

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2.8/5)

Jules (3.8/5)

Keeping Company (2.7/5)

The Last Voyage of the Dementor (3.9/5)

The Lesson (2.9/5)

MA (4/5)

No Exit (3.3/5)

Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (4/5)

Past Lives (4/5)

Pixie (3.3/5)

Project Ithaca (2.6/5)

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (1/5)

Mindhunters (3/5)

Moon Manor (3/5)

Morning Glory (3.8/5)

Mother! (3.4/5)

Mousehunt (4.4/5)

No Country for Old Men (3.8/5)

Out of Office (4/5)

Out of The Furnace (2.3/5)

Rags (4/5)

The Ring (2.4/5)

Robotapocalypse (4/5)

Room 203 (2.2/5)

Sahara (1.9/5)

Saving Christmas (1.8/5)

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (4.3/5)

Scrooged (3/5)

Showing Up (2.6/5)

Significant Other (2.8/5)

Sleepwalker (4.6/5)

Smile (4.1/5)

Sonic the Hedgehog (4.5/5)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (4.3/5)

SOS (Survive or Sacrifice) (3.3/5)

Snipes (4.3/5)

Spiderhead (1.7/5)

Staying Alive (2/5)

Steel Magnolias (2/5)

The Strays (3/5)

Suburban Gothic (3.8/5)

Swindle (4.1/5)

Paranormal Activity Next of Kin (4/5)

Project Ithaca (2.6/5)

Talk to Me (4.2/5)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ('90) (3.8/5)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2007) (4.5/5)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)(4/5)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (3.2/5)

Texas Rangers (2.8/5)

Thieves (4.2/5)

This Is Where I Leave You (2.7/5)

Tramps (2.4/5)

Three Months (3.2/5)

Thunder Force (2/5)

Tucker and Dale Vs Evil (3.3/5)

Underwater (2.9/5)

Urban Cowboy (1.7/5)

Us (4/5)

Vacancy (3.4/5)

Vindicta (3.9/5)

War of the Worlds (2005)(4/5)

Watcher (3/5)

The Weather Man (2.2/5)

White Guys Cant Jump (4/5)

The Wrath of Becky (4.3/5)

Wonderful Time of Year (2.8/5)

World War Z (3.7/5)

X ('22) (1.2/5)

You Are Not My Mother (3.1/5)

Zoolander (3.8/5)

okay let’s talk about part ten:

“….slower than you usually make love, but he's determined to be tender. Because tomorrow, he knows, oh, tomorrow... he's going to break you down in the best possible ways. “

"I know, Daddy, thank you for keeping me safe and on track," you kiss him and he hides his face in your neck.”

“The leather smacks your ass with only the soft lace of your robe between your skin and the harsh smack.”

“You cling to him and he gently lays you down, looking down at you. He spreads your legs and watches you with a look that warns you of his intention: To devour you, hell or highwater.”

“You arch your back as much as you can and he angles his hips to continuously nail that spot inside you that makes your legs spread even more.”

“He holds your hand while he bows his head between your legs and licks you clean. You sigh into the familiar sensation, not knowing until he does it that this is what you've been needing most; this intimacy is what you crave and he appears to have needed it too.”

“He wants to give you what you need, you can tell. Austin, meanwhile, is so proud and so in love with you he could burst. The trust you've shown in him is astounding and he wants to give you the world... after pushing a bit more. He loves when you're fussy for him, and he can tell you're reaching desperate brat territory. “

"Yellow, Daddy, Yellow, please... why won't you look at me? I'm being so good, and I know I'm supposed to be a toy today but this hurts my heart..." It all comes out in a flood of gasping sobs.

“He hopes he has not fractured your heart irreparably, and he immediately stands up. The sounds of your growing howling sobs echo as you make grabby hands for him out of instinct.”

and the ending?! i love how soft and vulnerable both of them were. they were there to be each other’s comfort and understand how one another felt. i loved this story omg !!!

They are so in love it's honestly amazing and gross 😝 thank you so much for always supporting this work, bestie. Keep the ideas coming and I will always find a way to make it work for these 2!

Addickt [After Silva Hound’s Addict]

Silly sorta soft adaptation of this song because it has a lot of similar vibes to what my tiefling wizard and her girlfriend, an aasimar cleric, have. Especially since Candi has become a Warlock with Restraint as her patron. So I made this because combining hyperfixations is fun.

[VERSE 1: Candi] “Til death do us part” Though we haven’t yet said that phrase This is a brand new start And Restraint gives me lots of praise. For the way that I am Ignoring all that I’ve known Now I decide what is home.

I don’t give a damn Despite being temple grown, For now I’m a demon’s hoe. She gives me mantras, opened my eyes! She’s shown me that no one else can tell me what’s ‘right’! Guided by my demon, my passion ignites, a love between angel and fiend, and yet it’s so right [Chorus: (Candi) & {Res}] I’m addicted to the (freedome) {sweetness}. And it’s all thanks to my (sweet domme){angel} We’re forever gonna love each other, and our girlfriends! Let me leave my soul to Res and I’ll be hers till the end!/{Let me tease your soul my love, for you are mine till the end}. I’m addicted to the feeling, Getting treated like a goddess./ {Treating you like my own goddess} And we’re never gonna want this spellbinding love to end I’ll concede and give in to my loving girlfriend again [VERSE 2: RES] Yeah we fell in love, But I lied and I felt like shit. An angel from above, When I fessed up you forgave it. Didn’t want me to go. You said I still set you free, that I “ease [your] suffering.” So I’ll never go. So what if we misbehave If that’s what my Candi craves

She wants it, I’ll do it, treating her right!

I’ll be her Restraint each and every night! Her hand and her collar, They’re both mine!

A love between angel and fiend, and yet it’s so right~ [Chorus: Candi & {Res}] I’m addicted to the freedome. And it’s all thanks to my (sweet domme){angel}

[Candi] We’re forever gonna love each other, and our girlfriends! [Res] {Let me tease your soul my love, for you are mine till the end}.

[Both] I’m addicted to the feeling, Getting treated like a goddess./ {Treating you like, my own goddess} And we’re never gonna want this spellbinding love to end I’ll concede and give in to my gentle (demon){angel} again. I’ll concede and give in to my loving girlfriends again I’m addicted to the feeling, Getting treated like a goddess./ {Treating you like, my own goddess} And we’re never gonna want this spellbinding love to end I’ll concede and give in to my gentle (demon){angel} again. [Chorus 2: CANDI] I’m addicted to the warm glow, When my Restraint holds me so close. Yes, I know that she’s a demon, should be my enemy, but I’ve never met someone else who’s as in love with me. I’m ad-dick-ted, and I love it. Being owned by, my dear demon. and I know that Res will love me, come highwater or hell. Cause I’ve never had a lover who’s treated me so well.

Candi: Restraint:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulfeM8JGq7s

Loud House Reviews: The Purrfect Gig

The Sam/Luna trilogy comes to an end here, as we get to the most recent of their now annual episodes, each so far produced and aired toward the end of the season. That being said like last season Sam had at least one apperance before this as I saw her in the thumbnail to “Deep Cuts”, the OTHER Lunacentric episode this season. And while it sounded bad to me at first looking into it.. no. The writers, for the most part, gave almost every kid two episodes a piece, and last season gave each 3, so to the writers credit they TRY to ballance out who gets episodes.  

The exceptions are Lincoln, who has around 5 that don’t also feature the girls as a whole, and 2 of those are with Lana, Lori who has 4, 2 of them shared and justifed as she’s possibly leaving for College next season and thus her episodes outside of one focus ont hat, and Lana and Lola: Lana has 3, and Lola has 2, and both have one together. And really even with those imballances it’s really impressive the show juggles 14 leads, with the parents themselves getting 2 this year too, along with Clyde, not counting his ones with Lincoln. | And that’s WITH the baffling decision this season to have the first 5 episodes be “With THe Cassagrandes”, i.e. 5 episodes of the Casagrandes that are counted as loud house episode that weren’t produced over at the sister show for some reason. And I have nothing against the Cassagrandes, what i’ve seen it’s not a bad show: I already have gone on about how much I love bobby, and I also love CJ and new comer Sam. I love the fact it has plenty of representation and a diffrent kind of big family, I love the theme song and I love the fact Melissa Joan Heart is on it because she’s terrific and spent the last decade really not picking her roles well. She was the lead in Holiday in Handcuffs, aka the movie where she kidnaps Mario Lopez and holds him at gunpoint to pretend to be her fiance until he gets Stockholm syndrome for really flimsy reasons. But I dont’ feel i’ts fair to the show to wedge it into another show’s spot: The Cassagrande-Santiago clan has shown up in 2 half hour loud houses and 2 15 minute eps. The kids watching KNOW these characters, and reception of the loudest mission was positive enough to get a spinoff made. You don’t need to spend a huge amount of another show’s episode order to promote a show kids will likely watch because it has characters from a show that airs all the time and is uber popular and has a similar humor style, and fans of the Loud House will at least try becuase they like the mothership and have known was coming for years now. This show HAD an audience going in. I watched both American Dad and the Clevland Show because it was from the same crew as family guy which I liked at the time. Granted American Dad had a decent stretch and Clevland Show .. had David LYnch as a recurring cast member I guess? Seriously david, this and not gravity falls? The point is it feels insulting that they felt the need to try and promote the show more, and all they did was take up episodes of the loud house and confuse children, and possibly turn viewers off a show they would’ve watched anyways. And if your wondering why I took such a massive detour it’s simple: Other than noticing the fact they’ve been specifically making sure each sibling gets more than one spotlight episode, shared or not, and this dumb decision.. Season 4 isn’t THAT much diffrent than Season 3. It carries on plots started there  (Lori heading towards college, Luann and Luna’s relationship), but otherwise it’s basically just more shipping and shenanigans. But really. .that’s far from a bad thing, as I consider season 3 a highwater mark for the show, and it introduced a lot of neat new elements (Lynn’s Table, Stella, Leni having a job) that are still prevelant in season 4. It’s not bad and it’s even more understandable given that next season, every character is growing a year (thank you press releases), meaning they have tons of new plots to explore, and large status quo shifts with Lincoln going to middle school, which out of the four schools shown is so far the most underdeveloped and will need development, and Lori possibly moving out of the house and going to college, among many other things that have me chomping at the bit for next season. But that’s probably a few months away so for now, it’s time to get back on focus and with everything else out of the way, the actual review of this episode starts under the cut. 

We open with Luna sitting in bed sighing when her poster of Mick Swagger starts talking to her. Whatever she’s smoking I could really use some. Depression is a bitch. Anyways, her drug induced hallucination of her hero starts talking to her. I haven’t really talked about Mick yet since the show uses him sporadically but he’s exactly what you’d expect; The show’s version of Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger, only slightly younger.. maybe. I dunno. Maybe he’s been around since the 60′s and is just a timelord. Or a groovy robot. Or has a dorian grey thing going on. We haven’t really gotten into Dino Spimoni situation yet where Luna helps her idol and has to help him reunite with a partner or convince him to stop faking his death. Just a reminder that Hey Arnold is great and that if you think it’s odd his crooner dean martin based idol got talked out of faking his death by a 12 year old, keep in mind he also tracked down the daughter his vitamise neighbor gave up so she could go to america and have a better life, helped convince his neighbors not divorce, and had to save his pig from being eaten in a revolutionary war reinactment. Hey Arnold was far weirder than I remembered and i’m here for it.  Anyways, Hallucination Mick asks if Luna is coming to his concert this weekend, and she HOPES so she just dosen’t have the money for  VIP pass to meet the actual version and do drugs with the actual mick swagger for a change. He says you never know when opportunity will come a knockin and it does in the form of the McBrides! Clyde’s dad’s Howard, the skinny one voiced by national treasure Micheal McDonald and Wayne Brady whose also great.. and i’m not just saying that because i’ve seen this. Don’t be absurddddd....

Howard and Harold are Clyde’s dads... and while Clarence and Steven Universe beat them to having Gay parents in a children’s cartoon, their still the first interacial gay couple in a children’s cartoon, and on a nicktoon period, and even if they weren’t either of those it’d still be fucking great. Anyways the two are nice characters, while i haven’t seen EVERY ep with them their a loving couple, nice parents, and treat the loud kids as their own.. granted that goes too far in one episode, but still, thems good people.  Anyway Howards having a panic attack, respect, and as his husband calms him down, we find out why: the mcbrides are going to pick up nana for the annual family reunion, and their catsitter cancled. Hence Howard’s freakout and Harold worrying about the 20 pounds of amish potato salad in the trunk. So naturally their hoping someone can watch their cats, Cleopawtra and Nefurtiti for the day, and them going to the louds makes sense, both for the obvious of the Louds being their closest friends in the neighborhood, and the not so obvious of a previous episode I haven’t seen having established the older kids as the best babysitters in royal woods, meaning that in addition to knowing them they have skill and this likely isn’t the first time. Luna, not thinking about herself, admits Lori went to hit the golf course early and Leni is at work, a nice way to explaning why it’s Luna that gets the job: She was there and it was implied by the fact she was getting high and talking to her hallucination that Luann isn’t, so most of the other options they’d have without some reservations are gone with no contrivance necessary.  Anyways Luna’s Drug Fueld hallucination,  points out money can be exchanged for goods and services, such as VIP passes, and also mentions sam already has hers. Either Luna’s forgot or her hallucination can use her phone. Either is probable, and is backed up by Hallucination Sam, before both start playing their guitars and Luna air guitars with them. I”m unsuprsied by all of this. She offers and the McBrides take her up on it immeditley. I do like that it avoids the “I don’t know if your up to this” cliche that always happens in these types of scenarios, the McBrides have no reason not to trust her, so they just.. do. Hell Harold only sets out one rule: don’t invite anyone over.. and it’s not even because he dosen’t trust Luna to have anyone over or anything like that, he just knows the cats get anxious with a crowd, though their therapist is working with them on that. And of course the two rich men with a single child have a cat therapist. I would too if I were rich. Harold and Clyde throw and unconcious Howard into the car and their off, they’ll be back at 6. And TOTALLY won’t be home hours early for hyjinks. Totally.  Luna arrives to find a massive binder on feline care. Someone went to the Amy Santiago school of binders. It says to feed the cats at 10 sharp.. and it’s 10:02. Luna tries feeding them but the cats instead attack her in a full on psycotic rage and dump food all over her, so dinners on her. 

Anyways, Luna then tries walking the cats which goes as well as you’d expect.. not because she had to put harneses on cats and expect them to do anything at a certain time, but because they pull hard. I can relate to that with my dog.. not my cat. He just goes wherever he wants because he’s old and kind of an asshole.  Anyways, with the cats now messy from running over a guy with a cake, because of course, Luna looks up what to do next which is.. give.. them a bath. 

Who.. who does that. I know their messy, but use a rag or something. No animal likes being bathed but cats, esepcially one who this episodes shows aren’t declawed (And rightfully so but still), do not LIKE being bathed. Granted they wouldn’t like being cleaned off with a rag or something either, but it still feels less cruel to both them and any prospective babysitter to just hold one down and wipe it off then find the other and repeat. Look witht he walking thing I can see why someone would, in their case because their probably too skittish to let their cats wonder around, and in some cases because said cat is young. But this.. this even for a comedy contrivance is stupid. It’s not the worst uninetional cat abuse i’ve seen in media, Elmyra exists and the mother of the lead of get fuzzy tried putting her cat on a vegetarian diet, which Rob, said lead and a staunch vegetarian himself, not only found concerning but gave said cat the money for takeout.. keep in mind in this strip cats can talk and walk upright. Also I miss when Get Fuzzy was both daily and good. So Luna naturally ends up in the bathtub, soaked and depressed and not sure what to do when her friendly neighborhood sign that the drugs haven’t worn off yet comes by and tells her to shape up if she wants to go to the show with Sam. This gives Luna a great idea. LIke a Zack MOrris great idea it involves breaking the rules.. unlike a Zack Morris idea, it dosen’t involve sexual harassment or a zany scheme. She decides to call Sam, since she’s apparently great with cats and given we saw how she was with chickens last time, not a real stretch. She also pops Mick’s bubble which.. hurts him.. somehow. I dunno.  Anyway cut to Sam arriving. She arrived fast because she was picking a new character up from his gamer’s club meeting: Her brother Simon, who’d been mentioned in side materials but makes his first apperance here. I like him, he has a neat design and i’ts nice to give sam a family life of her own, and he’s a nice if glued to his not-nintendo switch kid. Frankly I hope he and LIncoln meet at some point. I mean he has an opening in his friend group starting next season there’s no way Rusty passes 5th grade. And even if he somehow does, it’s not like adding another member is too much of a stretch given, once they got past courting her, the rest of his group warmly welcomed stella in and it’d be an intresting dynamic having his sister’s girlfriend’s brother in the group. Also if your wondering if i’ll ever stop finding ways to bash rusty in these reviews even when he’s entirely absent..

Anyways, Luna slams the door in the kids face, which he takes in stride , and explains the situation, and after fred fliintstonning him is taken off the table, go with “Sneak him past the cats”. It works because cats never look up at the backs of a gay teenage couple sneaking a small child inside. Luna decides to leave Simon in the entertainment room while she and Sam watch the cats and he finds Clyde’s VR gear and asks to try it on, with Luna reluctantly agreeing as long as he’s careful.. which as far as we see.. yeah he entirely is. The Sharpe’s are good people. 

Cue a montage! Sam helps luna scrub the cats, with brushes as they should’ve done minute one, put them through spa type pampering which is also a call back to the first time we saw the McBride’s house in the series, take selfies, and then sing the cats to sleep, in a really sweet and really well sung lullaby, notable for being the first time Sam’s sung on the show and Allyson Stoner, who I haven’t mentioned but should’ve before this shame on me, does a terrific job and has done a terrific job as Sam in general. Luna thianks her for the help, Sam says no sweat they get to see the show together, and Sam ducks out... before realizing she forgot something. Her wallet... no wait she has that.. OH SHIT HER BROTHER. And before she can get him DOUBLE OH SHIT THE MCBRIDES ARE BACK.  Harold is grumbling about the potato salad... apparenlty Aunt Brenda brought some and wasn’t supposed to. I do like how both McBride dads have their own quirks:While Harold IS the more rational one, he can slip up just like anyone can. Luna prepares to leave.. only to realize oh shit her girlfriend’s brothers in the house still. Her not all complex scheme! She fakes having left something behind to get him out, and once sam calls comes up with a plan: Sneak Simon around back. Sam sneaks around with the bush she ducked into, and we get one of my faviorite tropes: A scooby doo doors sequence! Also the dads speak in unison. Dawww. We also get an adorable bit of Sam gesturing for Luna to hand her the boy. I couldn’t find a gif of it sadly, and I would’ve credited it, but I did find 50 tons of creepy Sam X LIncoln fanart. Just.. why. Why exactly. Why do you do this to me tumblr. And to be clear I have ZERO issue with shipping a character whose sexuality isn’t fully confirmed as just gay in canon with a male character, Bi and Pan representation is important. It’s why I get annoyed at the people who throw a hissy fit any time Della Duck is shipped with Launchpad. Here though I do because it feels like this ship is ENTIRELY a troll, especially since LIncoln has 80 other options, not at all including the icky incest ones, and that I cut and dry have every problem with, and is being done soley to annoy people who ship sam and Luna and are finally enjoying some gay/bi representation on children’s television. If this is a troll then kindly 

Thank you John. So anyways Sam does grab the boy and nearly gets him out the door.. only for the mcbrides to run into their bisexual catsitter shoving a small chubby child out their kitchen window only to have a lesbian fall out into their kitchen. Naturally Howard faints again and Harold is displeased... probably because his husband fainted again.. and you know the shenangians in his kitchen. The only time shenanigans are allowed in that kitchen are when Clyde is sleeping at a friends house for the night and only on the table dammit. They got reinforced oak for a reason.  We cut to the boys playing, which is a nice touch: Clyde being a nice kid dosen’t mind sharing, Simon has similar intrests, and the only time we’ve seen him be eh on sharing is letting Lincoln borrow his new console.. and he not only felt BAD for not wanting him to borrow it and having to try and get it back, but he only did so because the Loud house is insanley chaotic and understandbly he wasn’t sure it’d get back to him safetly. His dad’s rasied him well, he’s a good boy once he got past his ‘Stalking his friends older sister” phase and got into his “anything besides that “ phase.  Luna comes clean to the McBrides and.. Harold appricates the honesty. And both are impressed with how well they took them, with Sam and Luna giving each other credit. So instead of getting upset, especially since Luna was both honest and only called in Sam for help and Simon was an unexpected guest and they both did a fantastic job, they offer to split the money instead. Sam, in a really sweet gesture, then gives Luna her half with no hesitation or prompting from her girlfriend, Luna gives her a cheek smooch and they hug. Then Luna acciently wakes the cats, and we end on the girls singing the cats, Simon and the McBrides all to sleep. Also Luna’s hallucination is alsleep.. those drugs wore off hours ago after all.  Final Thoughts:  A really fantastic setup. Once again the show shows it’s slowly gained talent for taking stock plots (in this case a babysitting episode) and making them actually intresting, mostly by having the characters behave reasonably. While it didn’t really expand Sam’s character, it didn’t really need to , the previous ep with her having fleshed her out as a sweet, kind girl with a talent for animals, and Simon is a wonderful addition to the series massive cast of side characters that , unlike some additions , will hopefully show up again. Seriously half the reason I bitch about Rusty is that the show is great at making charcters, and improving them after a few bumpy episodes as seen with Clyde, Lori and Luann, but yet still uses him and dosen’t make him any funnier, while I can name handfuls of characters who either need more apperances (Girl Jordan) Or haven’t shown up again at all (Carol Pingery, Rocky, Maggie). And that’s not even all of them obviously, but my point stands. But given he’s the brother of one of the main characters girlfriend and would fit in with the main character well, I have a feeling we’ll see simon again at some point.  I also really liked seeing the McBrides, mostly because I haven’t seen many of their episodes, and found them to be delightful, helped by having wonderful va’s behind them as standard for the show and great chemsitry and it was a nice bonus to have the shows two main gay couples interact, without it feeling at all forced, and neither did Sam’s inclusion. And while we haven’t gotten a full on kiss with Sam and Luna, which really they should, CN beat them again on that, the cheek kiss and hug was still very sweet, as is the episode really. It’s funny, heartwarming, and really enjoyable. While itd osen’t have as much emotional weight as the last two eps, I like that it didn’t: For once the conflict was low key but understandable and now Sam and Luna are a full couple, they can just do cute couple shit and get into wacky shenanigans like any other couple on this show without any angst attached. It’s really nice. It also shows that no, a couple being together isn’t boring fuck off will they or won’t they, but i’ve ranted enough about stuff unrelated to this episode. I really liked it and hope to come back to these two someday.  For now as I sign off Pride Month is far from over... as next up I have multiple things planned, but one of the biggest is a FIVE PART series on Red Action and Enid from OK KO. Yes FIVE. All 3 of their romantic eps, and Red’s first two for proper context both for the finale, which uses both episodes as part of the plot, and for a proper view of her character arc and to ease readers into the series better. So be there for that, and a donald duck birthday celebration, and until then, later days! 

~Please click and/or open in new tab for better view! I had to combine all of these very large images due to the photo limit in posts and not wanting to make several posts >:/

Anyways, I’m finally done with what I've been working on for the past couple of weeks! Based on the posters from a previous drawing I did a while back I wanted to take the posters I had used for the background and make them actual posters! Each one also has a freeze frame from their cartoon correlating with the poster! 

I’ll put little descriptions for each one under a readmore if you’re interested; I hope you guys like these, they were fun to make but oh man my hand hurts lmao. Feel free to use to posters (not the cartoon frames) as long as you give credit! :) 

(please don’t repost or use specified parts without permission, and leave my description; thanks!)

1.       Tales of Trails

   Deciding to see what’s at the top of ‘Mount Doom’, Bendy decides he’s not scared of the challenge; but he quickly finds that hiking isn’t as easy as it seems, especially with a mountain named appropriately!

2.       Curtain Call

      Finding himself on the wrong stage in a place he certainly doesn’t belong, Bendy has to carefully perform for an audience of angels! One wrong move and he could be facing holy wrath; it’s a good think Alice is there to help guide him!

3.       Flower Fever

     To Bendy, spring fever has a whole different meaning; it’s time to grow and prune some monster plants that are sure to cause chaos in an already buzzing season!

4.       Killer Coaster

    Bendy and friends take a trip to an amusement park in Hell, only to learn there’s a reason nobody’s entering willingly; as the coaster tries to torment them, will they make it to the end in one piece?

5.       Runaway Roadie

     Based on the episode of nightmare run, Bendy stiffs a certain cab of their well-earned pay; as a result, he has to run for his life as the sentient taxi tries to get him to pay the tab… with his life!

6.       Western Wild Ride

   Everybody loves a good cowboy adventure in the wild west, but when it comes to being partnered with a bad spirited stallion, Bendy has to learn how to survive both the harsh desert and his harsh companion!

7.       Star Struck

      When a shooting star falls from the heavens, it really hurts! Hit by a falling star, Bendy soon finds strange things are happening to him because of its magic; if he could make a wish, it’d be for less of a concussion next time!

8.       Spotlight Envy

     Hogging all the attention, Bendy doesn’t realize he’s taking away Alice’s love of being her own star. As the two push a feud for who gets to perform, tensions rise in a battle of talent!

9.       Hell on Highwater

     The dastardly butcher gang are up to no good this time as a pirate crew who have kidnapped the lovely siren Alice and are using her as a mast piece. The daring buccaneer Bendy comes to save his friend and set her free, all to the frustration of Captain Charley and crew!

10.   Angel Wings

      Every angel has their story as Alice recounts her fall from the heavens; she longs for her wings to fly again but doesn’t mind her new life too much. Still, it’s hard to walk on land when you’ve touched the sky!

11.   Bar Bender

    Getting a part time job at the bar to sneak in some mayhem, Bendy torments patrons by purposefully mixing demonic tonics that cause all kinds of weird side effects! The butcher gang are no exception in Bendy’s list of victims!

12.   Miracle Maker

     Sometimes, being a famous demon with an infamous reputation gets you more than you asked for. Bendy soon learns that the cult following he’s gained is more work than luxury when having to repeatedly perform miracles for them!

13.   Museum of Mystery

      Having snuck into an exhibit after hours, Bendy longs to snatch a rumored prize diamond from its security. However, the diamond has powers nobody was prepared for, and certainly not the little devil either!

Come Hell Or Highwater

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Summary: You had witnessed something you never should have, you had been on the way home from work, wanting to walk on a clear night.

You witnessed the murder of a high profile businessman that was going to be a witness in an upcoming case. You were thrown into the witness protection program and given two guards that were meant to keep you safe, while your lawyer fought for you back home.

Under the ruse of a newlyweds, you were moved to a sleepy town in the foothills of the mountains with two massive and tactically trained men, with the third arriving evert few weeks to check in. Their job was to keep you safe, their job was to keep you hidden and safe under the ruse of needing a fresh start.

They were to act as your husbands, you their wife, in a picturesque town with an ideal American dream at your fingertips. It was meant to be fake, a falsified story to keep you under the radar until a slip up resulted in a small pink plus.

Ari Levinson, Andy Barber & Steve Rogers — triplets, two ex-navy SEAL’s and a highly successful lawyer were all that were keeping you from death. They were the rough and tough men who were as dedicated to their jobs as they were to you.

Come hell or high water, they were yours and you were theirs.

Animal Man

 “I didn't get my powers back just to get killed.” - Animal Man

Real Name: Bernhard "Buddy" Baker

Aliases:

A-Man

Gender: Male

Height: 6′ 0″

Weight: 185 lbs (84 kg)

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Blonde

Powers:

Conduit of The Red

Weaknesses:

Time Limit

Universe: 

Earth-One

New Earth

Citizenship: American

Base of Operations: San Diego

Parents: 

Frank Baker, Jr.; father

Phyllis Baker; mother

Marital Status: Married (Ellen Baker; wife)

Occupation:

Actor

Stunt-Man

First Appearance: Strange Adventures #180 (September, 1965)

Last Appearance: Justice League of America Vol 2 #59 (September, 2011)

Powers

Conduit of The Red: Later, Baker learned to draw abilities directly from the "Red", an energy field that connects every animal ever to have lived on Earth. Apparently the Red extends past earth and exists as a universal concept. In 52, Buddy experiences an upgrade that allows him to connect to the Universe's morphogenetic field, providing him unlimited access to all animals in the universe regardless of origin, making him one of the most powerful beings to ever exist. This power also extends to non-animal microogranisms but not to plants, which are part of The Green controlled by Swamp Thing or fungi and molds, which are connected to The Grey.

Animal Mimicry: Buddy can mimic any abilities of any animal as a result of his encounter with a crashed alien spacecraft. He does this by either focusing on a specific animal near him, or, as he learned later, by drawing power from the animal kingdom in general. The nature of these powers has been described in various ways, including the superficial "alien radiation" explanation of his early appearances, the reconstruction of his body by aliens with "morphogenetic grafts" at the cellular level, and currently, mystical access to a "morphogenetic field" created by all living creatures, also known as "the Red". He does not grow wings to fly as a bird, nor does he form gills to breathe underwater when mimicking a fish, but he has occasionally been known to mimic the actual appearances of animals, such as adopting the claws of a wolverine temporarily. His powers have changed considerably in the New 52, after he was killed and reborn by The Red into a body that takes on the aspects of the animals whose powers he is using at the time. This results in him changing into a chimera-like being. Buddy is also able to tap into more than one animal, e.g. during his second fight with B'wana Beast he channeled the regenerative powers of a salamander and the camouflage of a chameleon; this aspect of his power has been shown more frequently in his New 52 series. Among the "animal powers" Buddy has been known to use are:

The strength of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The flight of a bird.

The swimming ability of a fish.

The speed of an ant.

The sonic blast of a pistol shrimp.

The sense of smell of a moth.

The agility of a snake.

The durability of a rhino.

The electricity of an electric eel.

The regeneration ability of a worm.

The wall-crawling of a spider.

The stench of a skunk.

The color changing of a chameleon.

The reproduction abilities of protozoa.

The level of Buddy's abilities are not proportional to the size of the animal they are drawn from. Hence, drawing the jumping ability from a flea would allow him to cover great distances. However, taking the abilities of a larger animal does not result in diminished power for him.

Force Blasts: Tapping into the Red, Animal Man can also fire powerful blasts of force or unidentified energy. He can even use the primordial energies to start a new universe.

Animal Empathy: In addition to his mimic abilities, Animal Man can make contact with animals, empathize with, "talk" to and see their thoughts and memories. This ability to transfer his life essence has allowed him to survive even when his body has been killed.

Animal Control: Animal Man can, to a lesser degree, control animals by entering their minds. He can also transfer his mind to living animals of any kind, using their bodies as long as he wants to.

Weaknesses

Time Limit: Buddy can only absorb the ability of another animal for approximately 30 minutes before having to recharge his connection with that creature.

Origins

In his late teens, Buddy Baker was a happy hell-raising punk rocker. One fall afternoon he went hunting in the Adirondack Mountains and when he returned home, he had changed. Whatever it was, something in the woods had connected him to what is variously referred to as the Red, the Lifeweb, or the Morphogenetic Field - the force that binds together every living animal on Earth. Encountering some escaped animals from a nearby zoo, Buddy discovered that in the presence of an animal, he was able to absorb its special abilities. He was now the Man With Animal Powers.

Animal Man

At the suggestion of his best friend, Roger Denning, Buddy donned an orange-and-blue costume starting a minor career as the super-hero Animal Man. Partly for kicks, partly as a way to promote their rock band, Buddy actually managed to do several heroic deeds, ranging from foiling a few robberies at the local pet store, to battling actual space aliens and odd crooks such as the Mod Gorilla Boss.

After a few years of adventuring, Buddy retired his Animal Man identity, married his high-school girlfriend, Ellen Frazier, and moved to San Diego. Living on the salary from Ellen's work as an illustrator and Buddy's newly-started career as a movie stuntman, the couple mortgaged a house in the suburbs and raised two children, Cliff and Maxine.

Forgotten Heroes

Buddy thought his super-hero days were over, but that was about to change. After stumbling on an ancient golden pyramid, he was contacted by the mysterious Immortal Man. Joining up with other has-been adventurers - including Cave Carson, Dane Dorrance, and Dolphin - who had encountered similar pyramids around the world, Animal Man became part of the organization called the Forgotten Heroes. Under Immortal Man's direction, the group was able to destroy the pyramids, saving the world in the process. For a time, the group stayed together, opposing threats such as Vandal Savage and the Forgotten Villains. During the world-shattering event known as the Crisis, Immortal Man sacrificed his life, and soon after, the Forgotten Heroes disbanded.

Buddy returned to his family life, although the thought of superheroics was still nagging in his head. He wanted to make a difference, but had to support his family as well. Convinced that there was still a place for Animal Man in this world, Buddy resumed his full-time superhero career, battling villains such as the new Mirror Master and a delirious B'wana Beast. He also assisted in foiling the invasion of Earth by the Alien Alliance. Still not satisfied, Buddy made the decision to become a protector of animal life on Earth. He sabotaged foxhunting in England, dolphin slaughter on the Faroe Islands, and animal experiments all over the USA. He worked with Vixen to overthrow the government of M'Changa, and with the Freedom Beast to oppose the apartheid powers of South Africa. About this time, he learned from a scientist named James Highwater that his powers were greater than he initially had believed, due to his previously unknown contact with the morphogenetic field.

Justice League International

Becoming a member in good standing of the European branch of Justice League International, he was also able to draw a monthly salary. As part of the JLE, he battled the Queen Bee, the Time Commander, and the wrath of Dr. Irwin Teasdale. The media wrote lots about him and his popularity increased. Everything was going his way and then it wasn't anymore. After a fireman had accidentally been killed in a fire started by his animal activist group, a shocked Buddy began to reconsider the path he had chosen. Though still a convinced vegetarian, environmentalist and animal rights activist, he asked himself if superheroics and illegal sabotage activities were the right ways to go. Refusing to become a role model, he quit the Justice League and the activist group, attempting to hang up his super-hero costume for good.

Second Crisis and Grant Morrison

Then, when a corporate organization threatened to kill his family if he did not stop doing his deed, Buddy teamed up with the Mirror Master to oppose them. Suddenly, he found himself in the role of a hero once again, getting tangled up in saving the world from a second Crisis at the hands of the Psycho-Pirate, and ultimately, believe it or not, learning the fact that he was a comic book character. He even got to meet his writer, Grant Morrison, in person.

Alternate reality

Naturally, Buddy was not allowed to remember such revelations for long. Some time after these events, he woke up from a coma with amnesia. This would have been his return to normal life, had it not been for the fact that the world he woke up in was that of an alternate Buddy Baker. In this world, Ellen had divorced him, America was controlled by a right-extremist corrupt government, and Buddy himself had no control over his powers. After a series of weird adventures, Buddy could finally return to "his" world.

Antagon and Animal Masters

Once again a movie stuntman, Buddy continued as a part-time superhero, but his life was to get weirder still. His powers continued to malfunction; birds died when he was flying, he absorbed animal behavior and appearance unexpectedly, and animals around him acted strange. After his powers accidentally had killed every animal on the San Diego Zoo, Buddy and his family moved to Ellen's mother's farm in Pownal, Vermont. Later, it was revealed that the reason for this "animal weirdness" was the coming of a hostile Animal Antagon, a.k.a. the Shining Man. During this course of events, Buddy encountered a Native American shaman named "Stone That Cracked Open the Earth Like an Egg", who revealed that Buddy was one of a group of chosen people called the Animal Masters, destined to be the guardians of nature. Together with fellow Animal Masters Vixen and Tristess, Animal Man was able to defeat the Shining Man, who had already corrupted, possessed, and killed B'wana Beast, still another Animal Master. He also learned that his daughter Maxine was an Animal Master as well, developing powers similar to his own.

Apparent death and connection to the Red

Settling down at the farm in Vermont, Buddy's next mission was to fetch back his son Cliff, who had been kidnapped by Ellen's insane uncle Dudley. While looking for his son, Buddy was run over by Dudley's car and actually died. His life-force survived, however, and after many months living in the bodies of various animals, he was reborn as a hybrid animal and saved Cliff. Later, he was able to re-create his original body.

Still, Buddy was now legally deceased, which he did not really mind. He had become tired of city life and superheroics, being content to live in peace on the farm with his reunited family. Fearing that nature would inevitably get rid of the vermin called humans, he started thinking of ways to make them understand what they were doing to their planet. Ellen's mother's farm became something of an "ark", a refuge for outcasts who did not fit in anywhere. Among them were a woman named Annie Cassidy, who also stood in contact with the Red, and her daughter Lucy Cassidy, who started a relationship with Cliff.

More and more, Buddy felt the animal instincts in him taking over. Overwhelmed by the power of the Red, Buddy and Annie made love to each other. The strengthened connection to the Red made Buddy step over the line, and once again adopt the appearance of a hybrid animal. Flying in rage to Washington D.C. , he plagued the city with all kinds of animals, threatening humanity to change their ways or go under. At the end, the authorities captured him, but he was released soon after, partly due to a lot of compassion from many Americans, who believed this "Animal Man" had a point.

Then, Annie came up with an idea; Buddy wanted to change the ways of humanity, they all wanted to make a difference, and they already had many followers. Why not start a cult, or a religion, with Buddy as an "enraged prophet" and Maxine as the savior - the Life Power Church of Maxine? Though they met a lot of resistance from the authorities, the Church immediately grew in popularity, especially among young people. Ellen could not cope with all this, especially not after Buddy revealed that he had had kind of an "affair" with Annie. Alienated by their community, and the forces she did not understand, she finally broke up with Buddy - at least temporarily. Buddy, Maxine, Cliff, Annie, Lucy, and their followers traveled across the state, picking up countless new "disciples" and rebelling animals in a wild caravan on Route 66. Dubbed "the Red Plague" by the media, they finally settled down as a Church in Montana.

Cosmic Phase

After this, Buddy entered what we can refer to as his "cosmic phase". Once again, he died and was reborn, this time with white-and-black-striped hair. While his friends worked with the Church's activities on Earth, Buddy became less aggressive, making an odyssey through various realms in search for universal truth. He had many revelations from agents of higher power, among them a spiritual bulldog named Mister Cow Ultimately battling an evil called the Spider Queen, Buddy finally realized that the truth was inside him. Just as diamonds and coal are the same substance, so is the divine and the human. Buddy, as well as anybody else, was the Body of God and the Soul of the World. With this knowledge, he easily defeated the Spider Queen. Shortly after, Annie gave birth to his second daughter, supposedly a human incarnation of the World Soul.

The Gamesman

The next time Buddy appeared, a competitive supervillain called the Gamesman had kidnapped Maxine, just for playing a hunting game with Buddy. With the help of Aquaman, Buddy was able to defeat the Gamesman and save Maxine. In the process, he guided the temporarily blind Aquaman, making him realize he had elemental connections.

Adventures with the Justice League and Forgotten Heroes

Maybe this adventure was the spark that Buddy needed to return to his super-hero life, because a few months later, Animal Man appeared in public again, dressed in his old colorful garb, and once again with blond hair. He has assisted the JLA on several occasions, even helping them saving the universe in their battle against Mageddon. At the start of the new millennium, Buddy attended a party together with the Swamp Thing, Shade the Changing Man, Black Orchid, and other fringe heroes. Together they helped stopping the coming of a strange new world as envisioned by a Bernie Madden. He has also rejoined the Forgotten Heroes, joining the Immortal Man and Resurrection Man in battle against Vandal Savage and the Millennium Creature. Buddy remains a semi-active member of the Forgotten Heroes, joining up with other members when the need arises.

Murder of Sue Dibny

Animal Man was one of many heroes who helped search for the murderer of Sue Dibny.

Infinite Crisis

He was recruited by Donna Troy as part of a team journeying to New Cronos to try and help stop the threat of Alexander Luthor. During this adventure, he formed a mentoring friendship with the new Firestorm, Jason Rusch. He, along with most of the heroes in space, went missing.

52

Animal Man was stranded on a paradise-like planet with fellow heroes Starfire and Adam Strange after the battle. After several weeks, Adam was able to get his spaceship working, and they departed for Earth. Their ship, however, was attacked by Devilance, who they had encountered on the planet and who had pursued them into space. Lobo appeared just in time to destroy Devilance, and after some negotiation, agreed to help them out. During a battle with Lady Styx and her horde, Animal Man was killed by a necrotoxin, which caused its victims to rise again in the service of Lady Styx. Animal Man made Starfire promise not to let him come back as a zombie. At the moment of his death, Ellen, still on Earth, sensed it, and began to cry.

Moments after Starfire and Adam Strange left Animal Man in space, he came back to life. The aliens that originally granted his powers stood next to him, saying: "And so it begins." After plucking him out the timestream and repairing his body, they left him in outer space. Animal Man reached out to another life form in order to survive, and claimed the abilities of a group of Sun-Eaters, including a homing sense. He then observed his wife from a wormhole in space, pondering whether to return to Earth, or stay in space, as he saw her with another man and putting her grief behind her.

Return

Buddy finally returned, describing the marvels of space to his delighted family. Ellen held a party to celebrate his return, but some followers of Lady Styx appeared, bent upon killing the family. They were eliminated by Starfire, who had partially recovered from wounds suffered in space. She delivered Buddy's jacket and then fainted out of surprise when she saw him alive, leaving the family to care for her.

Fun Facts

Animal Man frequently break the Fourth Wall, and eventually had Baker meet Morrison.

Buddy tells Adam Strange that his favorite Star Wars film is The Empire Strikes Back.

Black Panther

It was okay.

-Just about every post or review I’ve seen of this has started with some variant of “I’m a white guy, so I can’t imagine what this means to black people,” which I find a little patronizing. If it meant a lot to you, I’m not going to denigrate that--although part of me thinks that some of that’s due to a cynical marketing campaign positioning this as the first movie that’s ever had black people in it. Just know that I can’t speak to how important a movie is to the black experience, either for or against, I can only speak to how I enjoyed it and what I thought of its various elements. 

-I liked most of the cast, I thought a lot of the way they visualized Wakanda managed to pull off the “grass huts and forcefield” level of technology Jack Kirby envisioned without coming off as cheesy--even if it doesn’t quite fit to the Hudlin, Wakanda has always been advanced, backstory (in the comics, there are giant panther mecha. In the movie, there are... rhinos with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads). I thought the Korea action sequence was good, as well as parts of the final battle--the action ranges from bad (the opening fight) to good, but I don’t think it’s ever as visceral as Cap and Bucky storming through a SWAT team, a throwaway moment that now comes across as a highwater mark in a genre of Homecomings and Ragnaroks.

-Some people have said that T’Challa was boring, I thought the character and the acting was fine in a story that didn’t give him a lot to do (see below). I’d rather have a quiet, Zen Black Panther then see Tacoma Whippits turn him into a joke machine, and the obligatory bits in the first half where he has to act like a dork so we in the audience “relate to him” or whatever are just the worst. You had Feige specifically comparing T’Challa to James Bond, but I don’t remember Sean Connery slipping on a banana peel to tell us viewers that he was a fun guy. Just make the guy a convincingly badass motherfucker, we’ll like him. It worked in Civil War. (This is half a petty nitpick since after the ‘Q’ scene, they knock it off, but still, first impressions are important.)

-Petty nitpick department: For a genius, you’d think Shuri would realize that it’d be a lot easier to launch jeep-disabling weapons from the jet instead of making them into tiny little beads that you have to throw as you fall out of a plane. Even Batman just goes ahead and puts a gun on the Batwing, you know.

-They make this big point of how advanced Wakanda is, but it really doesn’t seem that much more advanced than what SHIELD and Tony Stark have. Like, what’s the difference between a Quinjet and whatever Wakanda’s version of a Quinjet is? The Black Panther suit seems less advanced than Iron Man’s stuff. Yeah, you can store it in a necklace, but it can’t shoot repulsor beams, it can’t fly, you have to physically walk around in it instead of being able to pilot it by remote. And the heart-shaped herb is a good biomodification, but it seems on par with Captain America, and not really something that has a mark on the Hulk, Quicksilver, Extremis, or Spider-Man. Kinda seems like the whole country could be taken out by one of those advanced Helicarriers from Winter Soldier. I realize they don’t want to make these guys too op, otherwise the next Spider-Man would end with Peter calling in a Dora Milaje to take out Venom for him, but it makes the Wakandans come off as a bit sheltered. “My Vibranium armor makes me bulletproof!” “Yeah, we have this Luke Cage guy, his skin does that.”

-Half of the plot seemed kinda... pointless? This has been out three weeks, so I feel safe in discussing spoilers--why couldn’t Erik just show up in Wakanda and challenge T’Challa in the first five minutes? Hell, why didn’t he show up before Civil War and challenge T’Chaka’s old ass? Seems like that would’ve been easier, plus, that was the guy who actually killed his father. 

-I guess Killmonger’s plan was... and much of this wasn’t presented as such, so I’m just hypothesizing...

Phase 0: Wait for T’Chaka to die so Wakanda is vulnerable during the transition of power. Don’t, like, set out to assassinate him yourself, even though that seems perfectly doable. Just, you know, hope you get lucky.

Phase 1: Dangle Klaw in front of T’Challa’s face with a vibranium selling plot, then sabotage his attempt at capturing him to weaken T’Challa’s position within Wakanda. (No idea how T’Challa couldn’t find Klaw before when the Avengers and Ultron were able to do it with ease in AoU. I guess T’Chaka really was lying down on the job there.)

(-I’ve seen it suggested that T’Chaka let Klaw run free as a way of covering up N’Jobu’s death, but it seems like A. there’s no way Klaw could’ve known that much about it, B. it’d be far safer to just find him and kill him on the spot, and no Wakandan would question it.)

Phase 2: Kill Klaw himself to gain favor with the Wakandans, which will work, and cause T’Challa’s lifelong best bud to turn against him (even knowing that Erik was responsible for Phase 1).

Phase 3: Defeat T’Challa in battle. Phases 2 and 3 are now pointless since all of Wakanda is now honorbound to follow you.

-Speaking of, if you’re some superpowered guy in a supersuit, I should think you could pull off disarming some jabroni with a gun without stabbing him in the heart. I mean, Spider-Man does that five times a day, and he’s fifteen. I guess the implication was that they Jack Ruby’d him? But then Marvel doesn’t want to dirty up Wakanda that much, so...

-I get Erik’s dad smuggling vibranium out of Wakanda, but why would he partner with a racist psychopath like Klaw to do it? You’d think a prince pulling an inside job could set up something a little better. It’s the Marvel universe! There must be like fifty supervillains he could’ve called up.

-Didn’t like that T’Challa’s big fight with Klaw, his arch-nemesis, was Klaw getting in one hit that BP no-sold, then just winning. That’s John Cena bullshit.

-There’s no way in hell I buy that a week after her father is murdered in a terrorist bombing, the unbearable Shuri is making quips about her brother having a girlfriend, much less stopping a religious ceremony to crack wise. Imagine Princess Di interrupting a royal wedding to moon people. Now remember that Wakanda is supposed to be way more honorbound and traditionalist than Britain.

-The whole resurrection of T’Challa thing makes no sense. So, Erik has taken over Wakanda and burned all but one of the heart-shaped herbs. So, since only the royal family can take the herb and become a Black Panther, Shuri has to step up... no? She just kinda follows along while they take it to M’Baku to make him the new Black Panther? But conveniently he’s saved T’Challa so they can give him the herb and immediately repower him.

-And if M’Baku’s people are such Luddites, how come they’re able to take on the Vibranium weaponry of W’Kabi’s guys? Do they also have Vibranium weapons? If so, where exactly are they drawing the line? Is a sword that can cut through Iron Man okay, but not a flying car? (Yes, I know there’s an explanation about jabbari wood in the EU, but they could at least put in one line about it so we know how it works without reading the novelization.)

-For a country that’s apparently super committed to isolationism, Wakanda really easily gets on board with Plan Imperialism. I guess most of the Wakandan people are morally inferior to the Asgardians, since even in Ragnarok’s hatchet-job, most of them were depicted as either actively resisting Hela’s imperialism or being cowed by her army.

-And no, don’t say the Wakandans were honorbound to follow Erik, because T’Challa specifically shows up in front of everyone and says that the duel isn’t finished, so a whole parcel of them are deliberately choosing Erik over T’Challa, despite Erik being this outsider, out-of-wedlock, blasphemous murderer they’ve never seen before... who is also obviously a psycho.

-It just seems like Wakanda goes really quickly from being one hundred percent behind T’Challa to going “You’re weak! Erik is strong! We need a strongman to lead us otherwise we’ll get our asses kicked!” I don’t buy that the Klaw fiasco is enough to totally torpedo T’Challa and make Erik untouchable.

-I mean, it’s the same basic plot as the first Thor, only there it works because the Asgardians don’t know just how much of a weasel Loki is, plus he goes to the trouble of setting Thor up first. 

-I got it, the issue is that this is based on the Don McGregor storyline where T’Challa had been away from Wakanda for a long time, serving on the Avengers and macking on gaijin Monica Lynne, so all of Wakanda was pissed at him and willing to hear this Killmonger guy out. But in the movie, he hasn’t done any of that, so it comes off as forced and contrived that all of a sudden, Wakanda is telling T’Challa to get to fuck.

-In fact, wouldn’t it make sense for Killmonger to factor M’Baku into his plans and take advantage of that tribe in some way? Since that’s one of the few things he could conceivably know about Wakanda (he really got lucky that W’Kabi was the first Wakandan he came across and totally sympathetic to a coup by a complete stranger).

-I guess the implication is that W’kabi and a lot of other Wakandans want to take over the world as some mix of maybe well-intentioned extremism, warrior pride, and garden-variety ambition, and they’re just following Killmonger because he can sign the papers. Which, when you think about it, makes Killmonger the black Donald Trump and his followers the Republican Party--”yeah, sure, he killed one priest, but he’s passing our tax bill, so...”--but I guess we’re going to skip straight from that take to him being a weeb?

-(That’s not really an issue with the film so much as a lot of the audience--not black people, but, like, Tumblr in general--deciding ahead of time exactly how they were going to feel about the movie and all its characters, which seems crazy to me. Like, why even go see the movie? But, not the movie’s fault, fanthings bein’ fanthing.)

-I thought the whole Okoye/W’kabi relationship was underdeveloped--at the end, when she stands up to him, I was like “oh, yeah, those two are A Thing.” I can’t imagine how much more forced taking the time to say Ayo--who is pretty much just the third Dora from the left here--is specifically in a lesbian relationship would be. So that’s a free pass from me for this stupid “gay representation controversy”. Even the T’Challa/Nakia thing felt pretty half-hearted and obligatory. The character of Nakia is alright, I was just never sure why these two in particular are into each other besides him being hot and her being hot (especially when the one thing we know about them is that their worldviews fundamentally disagree). Maybe she’s just the only woman T’Challa knows who A. has hair, B. isn’t related to him.

-In fact, it’s weird how the entire conflict in the movie is really between isolationism and outreach, yet there’s really no character representing or arguing for isolationism, not even any of the villains. T’Challa, I guess, but obviously he changes his mind. It seems like there should be a ‘devil on his shoulder’ type deal arguing for tradition. I think M’baku should’ve been that--the guy who slinks off into the shadows at the end, warning T’Challa that he’s coming for his ass because he opened up the borders and fucked with resurrection. (Five points to whoever gets that reference.) Instead, the conflict is lopsided because everyone seems to be against isolationism, they’re just differing in how.

-Actually, the whole thing of Wakanda following Killmonger just because he’s won this bullshit trial by combat because it’s tradition, and T’Challa urging them to follow him because it’s the right thing to do, could’ve been an okay take on that conflict, but instead apparently Wakanda legitimately wants to follow Erik and take over the world. And they just don’t spend enough time developing that.

-I also think they don’t spend enough time on T’Challa being depowered and kicked off the throne. It seems like there could be a really cool movie where, in the first fifteen or thirty minutes, Erik Killmonger shows up out of nowhere, kicks T’Challa’s ass, takes over Wakanda, and for the rest of the movie T’Challa is forced to rely on allies like Ross and M’baku who he can’t completely trust or rely on, and he has to fight his own people who are just trying to do the honorable thing, and he has to rethink being the Black Panther and earn that position instead of just having it handed to him. I’m pretty much describing the Don McGregor storyline this was adapted from. But, you know, why would you take that and add all this filler with Klaw and South Korea and such, and then skimp on the actual dramatic material? It’s like a version of Iron Man 3 where Tony’s house doesn’t get blown up until an hour and a half in, and then he immediately calls in the Iron Legion and goes to kick the Mandarin’s ass.

-Speaking of Korea, it seems a bit hypocritical to make this big production of being woke, then to throw in this inaccurate and ‘exotic’ side mission. It just seems like it’d be more thematic for this deal to be happening in Haiti or Jamaica or any other African country, somewhere where they could further comment on the story’s themes and develop them more. Maybe have the setting reflect what some of the characters want in terms of their goals, or fear happening to Wakanda? We kind of get that with the Boko Haram guys in the opening, but they’re dealt with so glibly (like muggers in a Batman movie) that it’s hard to see them as credibly a factor in any character’s thinking. Is T’Challa worried people like that will drag Wakanda down? Is Nakia determined to stop them? Seems like it was just something BP dealt with in ten seconds so he could hang out with this girl he likes.

-It’s funny that they follow in the steps of Ragnarok and Doctor Strange by dirtying up the heroes’ forebears--almost like that plot point is part of some formula 🤔 🤔 🤔 --yet still find time to white-wash a lot of Wakandan society. The Dora Milaje don’t have the underage, wives-in-training aspect. M’Baku and Nakia go from supervillains to frenemy and love interest, respectively. (Yeah, they turn W’kabi into a villain, but he beat his wife in the comics, so that’s not much of a stretch.) And yet, the plot relies on much of Wakanda being horrible people--willing to conquer the world, but not accept refugees. It’s a weird mix of utopianism and ‘uh, yeah, we still need to have a plot where the villain isn’t immediately dogpiled by all the average citizens who don’t like hyperwar.” Again, the Don McGregor storyline makes a point of Wakanda being a flawed, imperfect society, so it makes sense that Killmonger can take it over, but the movie is making the exact opposite point--Wakanda is so advanced and it’s so wonderful--and the plot doesn’t work anymore.

-To go into fanfic territory, it probably would’ve worked better if there were a significant amount of Wakandans who were pissed at T’Challa for letting Zemo live, because traditionally, someone who’d killed the King of Wakanda would be done, so it’s another divergence between what T’Challa finds moral and his country’s traditions. Just have M’baku say “you let your father’s killer live!” instead of “you failed to protect your dad!” 

-I’ve also seen it suggested that Killmonger’s master plan could’ve involved finding Zemo, springing him from American custody, and then delivering him to Wakanda. That sounds a lot stronger, but it would also result in Zemo necessarily being taken off the board, and even a bastardized Zemo seems too important to the Marvel Unnie for that. Maybe he could have a cousin who’s really into their family history?

-I think there were a few too many characters in this story. Most of the ‘strong female characters’ just seemed to spend the finale getting their asses kicked by Killmonger, while Ross’s Top Gun moment seemed pointless when--if T’Challa won--it seems like he could just order the transport to turn back... what, were they going to start World War 3 the moment they left Wakanda’s borders?

-Like, did Angela Bassett actually do anything in this movie? 

-Shuri, for instance, I think was so clearly intended to be ‘the meme one’ and just ended up ill-fitting in the MCU’s realistic milieu. I mean, this is a universe where Peter Parker isn’t much of a science nerd, he has a ‘guy at the computer’ to do his hacking for him and an AI to help him out and all that. Then over in Wakanda, you have a sixteen-year-old super-genius that’s the best scientist in the country and it clearly clashes with the grounded feel of the universe, but they just plow ahead with it anyway because “oh, it’ll get women interested in STEM, it’ll show black girls can do anything.” And she actually gets the better of T’Challa and razzes him with her ‘witty one-liners.’ I just find it really condescending. She’s basically a black female Wesley Crusher.

-Petty nitpick department: The first stinger is a dog. They end the movie SHOWING that T’Challa is revealing Wakanda to the world and using its technology and wealth to help out the underprivileged. Cool, got it, very clearly established all of that. Then after the first set of credits, we get a scene of... T’Challa going before the UN and TELLING that Wakanda is being revealed to the world and yadda yadda. It seems like the more natural scene would be him going up to Tony Stark or whatever and saying “hey, I’m joining the Avengers, and the next time there’s a problem, count me in!” But they cheaped out on getting RTD, so instead it’s just a less visually interesting presentation of a plot point we’ve already covered. This in a movie that was already very long and apparently left out crucial plot scenes.

-It’s also strange to have him give this big speech about how we’re all one tribe and we all have to come together, but a lot of his team seems at least casually racist? Like, you don’t see T’Challa saying “hey, M’baku, Ross was being pretty polite in addressing you, you didn’t need to bark at him like a dog just because he’s white” or “hey, sis, Ross is actually a buddy of mine and a pretty cool dude, maybe you shouldn’t greet him by calling him a racial slur?” I’m just saying, you wouldn’t see an X-Men movie where Jubilee is an unrepentant homophobe and all of the other mutants are cool with it.

-They set up that BP’s big special move is absorbing kinetic injury and then blasting it back out again, only it isn’t really clear how much he can take before it starts hurting him, if it ever hurts him. Like, could the Hulk punch him, then he gets up and walks it off, or would that break every bone in his body but leave his suit all glowy? I get that Captain America’s shield is unbreakable, so is BP walking around in an entire suit of that? And wouldn’t that make him invincible/boring? And for such a tactician of a character, they don’t really have him find any clever ways of using it, he just gets hit, uses the blast, moving on. You’d think there would be a scene where he does something counterintuitive or painful, but it’s just him thinking three steps ahead and charging up this power so he can use it at a crucial moment. 

-It also adds to the video game feeling of a lot of the already pixel-y action scenes that he literally has a rage meter limit break thing.

-Petty nitpick department: The movie characterizes both Klaw and Killmonger as Joker-style wisecrackers, which makes me wonder what they’ll do for villains in a sequel, since that’s Reverend Achebe’s thing and he’s about the last big villain in Black Panther canon who isn’t either dead in the MCU or adapted into an ally. And three evil Cockney jokesters in a row seems like a lot.

(-I’ve heard Dr. Doom suggested for a villain, but I kinda doubt Marvel would job out T’Challa/Wakanda to him, and Doom really needs a W if he’s going to be Doom.)

-I also don’t think the movie really engaged with its premise of depicting an African society that had never been colonized. In the real world, racial dynamics vary enormously from America to Europe to Japan, but Wakanda pretty much has the same viewpoints that African-Americans would have: resenting white people, using American idioms (”Guess who just popped up on the radar?”), even quoting American memes. It seems like in real life, Wakanda would be more concerned with the rest of Africa instead of being obsessed with America. I mean, in the comic books, you had Wakandans with this sense of jingoism, who resent all outsiders, no matter their skin color. Them making a distinction between white Americans and black Americans (for instance) comes off like pandering.

-Like, they start off the movie with BP fighting Nigerian slavers who have taken a number of women hostage and conscripted child soldiers, and obviously BP is against that, but how does Killmonger feel about those guys? Zuri? M’baku? Black people oppressing black people in Africa seems like a more immediate concern than police shootings all the way over in Oakland, but the whole idea seems too complex to factor into this white oppression dynamic, so they just use them as action scene fodder and move on to black people oppressed, white people mean. Maybe that’s supposed to be Killmonger being hypocritical and prioritizing stuff that reminds him of his own suffering over other issues, but that needs to be played out in the text.

-Because it seems like a really obvious counterpoint to Killmonger that there are political situations much more complex than “evil oppressors vs. innocent oppressed”--just look at the Middle East--and hence his simplistically violent philosophy is doomed to fail. Instead, the movie kinda concedes that his position is right, he’s just going about it in the wrong way. Which I think is intellectually dishonest.

-Petty nitpick department: They have an entire bit about how Shuri has designed these soundproof boots for T’Challa, but he never uses them. In accordance with the rule of Chekov’s Gun, which states that if you show a gun in the first act, then in the third act, it should turn out that it’s only purpose was to be a dumb joke.

-Petty nitpick department: So this takes place immediately after Civil War, and Civil War ended with Captain America in Wakanda, but then they never mention him in this and he doesn’t seem to be hanging around. I guess he’s off freeing all his buddies from the Raft during all this? But then the stinger of this is Bucky having been revived, and he was frozen again in the stinger to Civil War. So I guess it goes Civil War >>> Black Panther >>> the stinger of Civil War >>> the stinger of Black Panther? Usually when continuity is this convoluted, Han is still alive.

Best Horror Movies to Watch on Shudder Right Now

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It’s safe to say that the world is a bit weird right now. Much to some people’s surprise, horror movies can often be a way for fans to make sense of things and confront their fears in a safe space. Streaming service Shudder offers a large array of horror movies, TV shows, and even podcasts covering the full spectrum of the macabre. But how do you know where to start?

We’ve put together a guide to some of the best films the service has to offer. The Shudder catalogue is always growing and changing so we’ll keep this updated – head back for the latest additions and new suggestions.

(All entries are available in both UK and US unless stated otherwise!)

Hammer

The Vampire Lovers (1970)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

After literally decades in which the classic Hammer Films library of horror titles was often difficult to see (especially in uncut, properly framed prints), the legendary studio’s catalog has been gradually trickling out in recent years via specialty home video companies and the streaming space.

Read more

Movies

13 Greatest Hammer Horror Monsters

By Marc Buxton

Movies

The Vaults of Hammer: 14 Unmade Hammer Horror Movies

By Marc Buxton

The Vampire Lovers — based on a story by Sheridan Le Fanu — was one of the films that marked Hammer’s turn from the somewhat staid films of the 1960s toward the more lurid material of the ‘70s, spiced up with more sex (especially of the woman-on-woman kind) and larger quantities of blood. Polish actress Ingrid Pitt gives a breakout performance as the vampire Carmilla and the movie is entertaining, but one can’t help but cringe at the leering approach to sexuality, no matter how beautiful the subjects.

Hammer

Countess Dracula (1971)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

Countess Dracula stars Ingrid Pitt in her second big Hammer role, this time as the title monster, who preserves and replenishes her youth by bathing in the blood of virginal young women. The story has nothing to do with Dracula, by the way, and is loosely inspired by the legend of 16th century Hungarian noblewoman Elizabeth Bathory.

Like other Hammer films of the time, Countess Dracula ramps up the blood and sex in an effort to keep up with the changing film marketplace of its era. It’s not one of the studio’s better efforts, but director Peter Sasdy (Taste the Blood of Dracula) lets the period details and Pitt’s unabashed charms do most of the heavy lifting.

Wake in Fright (1971)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

Ted Kotcheff’s nightmarish story of a school teacher who becomes trapped in an outback town after drinking too much and running up a gambling debt is highly unusual horror. This is a nihilistic and bleak view of outback life as the locals coerce the broke John (Gary Bond) into increasing destructive behavior and a full on descent into hell. Wake In Fright is grubby, brilliant and highly disturbing.

Black Christmas (1974)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

Stone cold classic slasher film where a group of Sorority girls are hassled by a stalker making obscene phone calls during the holiday season. Black Christmas is that rare beast, a stalk n’ slash which turns out to be actually scary, thanks in part to classy central performances from Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder, and the masterful direction of Bob Clark, who went on to make Porky’s.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

One of the true landmarks of ’70s horror cinema, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remains one of the most relentless and terrifying films of all time — even as it barely spills a drop of the blood that its title seems to promise. Its simple tale of a small group of hippie kids running smack into a houseful of rural cannibals spoke to the cultural divide roiling the country at the time, and its low-budget aesthetic gave the whole thing an air of documentary realism. A delirious masterpiece.

American International Pictures

Squirm (1976)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

There’s something inherently gross about earthworms which writer/director Jeff Lieberman milks to maximum effect in this low-budget 1976 chiller, one of that decade’s wave of “nature strikes back” horror movies that included efforts like Day of the Animals, Kingdom of the Spiders and Frogs.

This time, a downed power line sends an electrical jolt into the ground, causing hordes of eyeless creepy-crawlers upstairs to munch on the inhabitants of a small town. Rick Baker provided the gory make-up effects, which led the MPAA to demand numerous cuts to the film upon its initial release. There is some clumsy direction and acting, but the worms more than make up for the movie’s flaws.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Wes Craven’s 1977 cult classic sees an extended family become stranded in the desert when their trailer breaks down and they start to get picked off by cannibals living in the hills. It’s brutally violent but it also has things to say about the nature of violence, as the seemingly civilized Carter family turn feral. The film was remade in 2006 but the original is still the best.

Severin Films

Patrick (1978)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

This 1978 Australian shocker tells the story of a woman named Kathy (Susan Penhaligon), who works as a nurse and begins taking care of a comatose patient named Patrick (Robert Thompson). She soon discovers that not only is Patrick responsive to her, but he has unforeseen psychic powers that he can turn to murderous use against anyone who upsets him.

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Movies

Best Horror Movies on Netflix: Scariest Films to Stream

By David Crow and 2 others

Movies

The 20 Best Horror Movies on Netflix UK – Scary Films to Watch Right Now

By Rosie Fletcher

Patrick was a cult hit in its native land, spawning both a 1980 sequel and a 2013 remake, and it allowed its director, Richard Franklin, to get to Hollywood and direct the actually pretty good Psycho II. There is quite a large repository of horror and other genre efforts from the land down under, but Patrick remains one of its most entertaining examples.

The Changeling (1980)

A classic haunted house ghost story that frequently makes horror best of lists The Changeling sees a bereaved composer move into a creepy mansion that’s been vacant for 12 years. Vacant that is, except for the spirit of a little boy who met an untimely death…

An unravelling mystery with a sense of intrigue and pathos that draws you into the narrative, all the way to the sad and disturbing final act revelation.

Anchor Bay

Fade to Black (1980)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

This 1980 psychological thriller stars Dennis Christopher as a lonely, troubled young man who is obsessed with movies — and begins to kill those he feels have wronged him while dressed as famous cinematic characters.

It’s kind of surprising that no one has remade this over the years — the references to other horror movies and self-aware sensibility predate the Scream franchise by 16 years, making this an early example of the kind of post-modern horror that dominated the genre for several years. On top of everything, it’s a witty, crackling yarn with a terrific performance by Christopher (watch also for an early performance by Mickey Rourke as a bullying co-worker).

The Beyond (1981)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

Italian workhorse director Lucio Fulci dabbled in many genres, but was clearly most in his element with horror. His “Gates of Hell” trilogy may be the highwater mark of his career, and the second film, The Beyond, is a gruesome, surreal, Lovecraftian treat about a Louisiana hotel that may be a portal to said nether regions. It doesn’t always make sense, but the movie is a must-see and a Fulci favorite.

Hellraiser (1987)

Directed by Clive Barker based on his novella The Hellbound Heart, Hellraiser is an infernal body horror featuring S&M demons who’ve found a way out of a dark dimension and want to take you back there.

This is the movie which introduced chief Cenobite Pinhead (played by Doug Bradley) – who would return for seven more Hellraiser sequels. But the first is of course, remains the edgiest and the best. Hellbound: Hellraiser II is also available.

Society (1989)

This outrageous body horror satire was the directorial debut of Brian Yuzna. It stars Billy Warlock as a young man who suspects his family are into some weird stuff when his sister’s ex gives him a video tape showing seriously sinister activity. Part Stepford Wives-esque mystery part utterly bonkers gross out comedy Society is a cult classic which demands at least one watch.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

A cyberpunk hybrid of Eraserhead, Blade Runner, Scanners, and your worst nightmares about machines run amok, Tetsuo: The Iron Man was the first feature by iconoclastic Japanese filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto (who also stars in the picture). Surreal, shockingly violent, and unforgettably relentless, Tetsuo is a fever dream of orgasmic human/metal mating and murder that is almost indescribable and utterly strange. You can’t unsee this perverse triumph of twisted imagination

The Exorcist III (1990)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

Of the several attempts at a sequel, only this one by original author William Peter Blatty (who also directed) hits the mark. Woefully underrated at the time of its release, The Exorcist III puts a handful of secondary characters from the first story at the forefront of a chilling new tale that respectfully spins off the original in a new direction. And one central sequence (the hospital corridor scene) remains a minor masterpiece of sustained unease leading to a shocking payoff.

We wrote more about how great this movie is right here.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

It may not the precisely faithful retelling that the title implies, but Bram Stoker’s Dracula — filtered through the vision of director Francis Ford Coppola — remains one of the best versions of the story to date.

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Culture

The Bleeding Heart of Dracula

By David Crow

Movies

New Dracula Movie Coming from Blumhouse

By Tony Sokol

Gary Oldman is magnificently over the top as the Count, and it’s terrific to see characters from the book that were never realized onscreen before appear here. Best of all is Coppola’s insistence on practical, in-camera effects, old-fashioned camera tricks and a lush color scheme, making this not just a fine Dracula movie but a love letter to all the great Hammer and Universal films that came before it.

Ring (1998)

Hideo Nakata’s adaptation of Koji Suzuki’s novel is one seriously scary film which marked the height of the J-horror explosion into the West. It features a haunted video tape, which, seven days after you’ve watched it causes the viewer to die with a look of contorted agony on their face.

Iconic J-horror girl ghost Sadako has been riffed on and ripped off so many times by now that her incredible power may be somewhat diminished but this is still a masterful horror film that demands to be seen at least once.

Audition (1999)

Takashi Miike’s horror classic is a weird mix of melodrama, mystery, and excruciating torture as a widowed man fakes a casting call for a made-up movie in an attempt to meet the perfect woman and gets more than he bargained for. Frequently making it to best horror of all time lists, Audition is a beautiful nightmare of needles and piano wire that’s impossible to forget.

Ginger Snaps (2000)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

Ahead of its time in many ways, this cult Canadian favorite from director John Fawcett and screenwriter Karen Walton stars Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins as death-obsessed teen sisters whose relationship is put to the test when one (Isabelle) turns into a werewolf. Sharply funny and deeply insightful about the bonds of sisterhood, the fearsome power of female sexuality, and the loss of innocence, Ginger Snaps is a film well worth rediscovering.

Wendigo (2001)

Maverick independent producer/director/actor Larry Fessenden – who runs his own low-budget genre film factory called Glass Eye Pix – had perhaps his finest moment behind the camera on his third directorial effort, an eerie, low-key tale of a family from the city running into menaces both human and supernatural during a trip to the country. Fessenden is adept at blurring the line between what is real and not, creating a hallucinatory experience that is uniquely his own.

Dark Water (2002)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

Remember when J-horror was all the rage and you couldn’t move for long-haired, jangly pasty-face ghosts? Dark Water was one of the best of them.

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Sponsored

Best International Horror Movies: A Beginner’s Guide

By Don Kaye

Movies

Best Horror Movies on Hulu

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

Based on a story by Koji Suzuki and directed by Hideo Nakata – the team behind apex J-horror Ringu – it sees a mother and daughter move to an apartment which seems to have haunted water. Creepy but not gimmicky, there’s a family drama at the center of this chiller. 

A Tale Of Two Sisters (2003)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

Kim Jee-woon’s chiller sees sisters return to the family home after a spell in hospital to be tormented by their new stepmother, and troubled by ghosts in the house. Released at the peak of the J-horror/K-horror boom, this is a highly sophisticated and deeply scary addition sub-genre. It was remade in 2009 as The Uninvited but skip that, the original is infinitely superior.

Oldboy (2003)

Park Chan-wook’s shocking, twisty revenge thriller sees a man held hostage in a hotel room for 15 years with no idea of why. When he’s finally released he has just days to track down his captor and discover his motives.

The second part of director Park’s Vengeance Trilogy (which is also a standalone – though Sympathy for Mister Vengeance and Lady Vengeance are also available in the US), it’s packed with standout sequences like the infamous corridor hammer massacre and the eating of a live octopus. The ending is bonkers too.

Teeth (2007)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

Vagina Dentata is the mythical condition at the centre of this satirical horror that sees a virginal young woman bite back when she’s pressured into sex. A comedic take on the rape revenge trope, Teeth casts Jess Wexler as the avenging angel taking down the men who try to assault her in a cautionary tale that might feel even more satisfying post Me Too.

Let the Right One In (2008)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

Let the Right One In is a beautiful Swedish supernatural romance between a lonely bullied 12-year-old boy and a little girl (in the film) called Eli who looks 12 too, but most definitely isn’t. It’s a tale of companionship and loyalty but also murder and revenge. Delicate and nuanced, this is one of the most interesting vampire movies of recent years.

The House Of The Devil (2009)

Ti West’s authentically ‘80s looking homage to ‘Satanic Panic’-era movie making is a very successful slow-burn indie, which sees a young woman take a babysitting job and find herself in grave danger at the hands of her mysterious employers. Comes with a slightly bonkers ending but the attention to detail and great central performance should please genre nuts no end.

Buried (2010)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

Ryan Reynolds stars in this incredibly tense horror thriller from Rodrigo Cortes. Based entirely around a man (Reynolds) in a coffin with a phone and a lighter trying to work out what’s happened to him and why, it’s almost unbearably claustrophobic at times. Will he be rescued in time to save his life? What the devil is going on? And why are there snakes down his trousers? All is revealed over the course of 95 stressful minutes.

Absentia (2011)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

An early feature from Mike Flanagan, the man behind Oculus, Doctor Sleep and The Haunting Of Hill House this is low budget and not entirely polished at the edges but shows early signs of Flanagan’s deft hand at suspense, slow burn hills and emotional horror. The story follows a woman who’s husband has disappeared discover that a strange tunnel might be the key. Well worth checking out.

Antiviral (2012)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

Brandon Cronenberg’s directorial debut is a good-looking but icky body horror that delves into the world of celebrity obsession. Caleb Landry-Jones stars as a man who works at a clinic specialising in selling celebrity viruses. In this world super-fans can pay to be infected by their idols’ pathogens making them feel more connected. But warring big businesses want to control the rights to the hottest celeb diseases and a virulent black market has blossomed.

Following in his father’s footsteps, this is a smart sci-fi horror that’s not for the squeamish.

The Bay (2012)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

Oscar winner Barry Levinson directs this found footage eco-horror charting the spread of a deadly parasite in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay. Constructed from snippets of news reports, police footage, and personal videos it’s a nightmarish portrait of what might really happen to a town during an outbreak, which was praised for its realism.

Black Rock (2012)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

Directed by Katie Aselton from a screenplay written by her husband, mumblecore darling Mark Duplass, Black Rock is a taut tale of former friends on a girls weekend who are hunted by a group of men after a horrible accident. It’s a somewhat generic story elevated by the performances of Aselton herself, Kate Bosworth, and especially Lake Bell who goes full feral in the fight for survival.

The Pact (2012)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

A film of two halves that’s not always entirely successful, The Pact is worth checking out for several terrific scares that’ll have you jumping out of your seats (and then possibly thinking “wait, what?”).

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Movies

Best Horror Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now

By Alec Bojalad and 3 others

Movies

New Horror and Sci-Fi Movies Break Out at Fantasia Fest

By Don Kaye

Caity Lotz plays a young woman who returns to her childhood home after the death of her mother and disappearance of her sister who starts to experience strange phenomena in the house. Is it something supernatural, or could it be something scarier still? Not entirely consistent but when it works it really works.

Big Bad Wolves (2013)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

The second feature from Israeli directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado is a black-as-sin super-violent crime horror about a child killer, the cop who wants to bring him down, and the father of the latest victim. Released the same year as Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, it plays almost like a brutal and occasionally darkly funny companion piece.

The Borderlands (2013)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

The Borderlands is a British found footage movie with shades of The Wicker Man and Kill List which focuses on a small church in Devon which appears to be experiencing miracles. Men are sent by the Vatican to investigate and discover strange phenomena which could be related to former pagan worship in the area.

The Borderlands is a cut above your average horror movie for it’s great chemistry between the lead, dry sense of humour and an absolutely terrifying ending. Released as Final Prayer in the US.

We Are What We Are (2013)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

This US remake of the Mexican horror of the same name is a slightly different beast to its counterpart, and perhaps better for it (you can watch and enjoy both for different reasons). Cold In July’s Jim Mickle directs this suspenseful, bloody tale of a secluded family who indulge in violent traditions who become more visible to the world than they’d like after the matriarch of the family dies. Ambyr Childers and Julia Garner star in this nuanced cannibal tale.

It Follows (2014)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

A different kind of infection movie. David Robert Mitchell’s breakout horror hit is a terrifying tale of a sexually transmitted ghost – a shape-shifting ghoul that will relentlessly tail its victim at a walking pace until the curse is passed on. Maika Monroe stars as the latest to be tagged, trying to find a way to either pass the curse on or destroy it forever.

Deeply spooky, It Follows will stick with you long after the film has ended.

Starry Eyes (2014)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

This satanic horror takes a swipe at Hollywood as a nervous young starlet, Alex Essoe, sacrifices her body and soul in exchange for fame and fortune.

Starry Eyes is a #metoo movie ahead of its time, and a gross out body horror to boot. It’s directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer who went on to make the not-that-great remake of Pet Sematary from last year, but don’t hold that against them.

The Hallow (2015)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK

Corin Hardy’s directorial debut is a folk horror mixed with fantasy as a conservationist and his wife and son move into a woodland home only to discover there are strange creatures living in the forest. Some effective jump scares, memorable monsters and a weird wistful ending marked Hardy out as one to watch.

Better Watch Out (2016) 

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

Another Christmas horror movie, this one much more recent. Olivia DeJonge plays the young babysitter trying to protect her 12-year-old charge Levi Miller when intruders threaten the house. Or at least you’ll think that’s what the film is about for the first 20 minutes at which point the rug gets well and truly pulled. Violent, funny, fresh and with excellent central turns this is a fun horror at any time of the year.

Train to Busan (2016)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

Just when you thought the zombie genre was running out of gas, Train to Busan comes barreling down the track at full speed to give it a jolt again. Director Yeon Sang-ho wisely puts an endearing relationship between a father and his little girl at the heart of the movie, keeping audiences invested as the pair fight to stave off an undead invasion on their bullet train. The zombie action is familiar if also freshly orchestrated, but the movie is gripping to the genuinely moving finish. 

The Transfiguration (2016)

Loved Let the Right One In? Check out this similarly arthouse slow-burn vampire-adjacent tale about a troubled teenage boy obsessed with vampires who finds love and redemption through his relationship with an equally damaged girl. It’s set against a backdrop of violent crime in New York and plays like a social realist drama with genre tropes built in.

One Cut Of The Dead (2017)

Very much a film of three parts, it starts as what looks like a low budget Japanese zombie film gone wrong, morphs into an interesting meta movie, and ends with a final third that’s more joyful than you could possibly imagine. The fun is in the discovery so try to avoid reading about this, instead hang around until the end for a clever, funny, and uplifting love letter to indie film-making.

Terrified (2017)

A weird Argentinian horror with some extremely effective scares, Terrified is probably best avoided by anyone shut in alone prone to hearing strange noises in the house. Terrified begins with a couple who hear sounds coming from the sink and rapidly escalates into a story of multiple ‘hauntings’ by otherworldly creatures, and the paranormal investigators who are trying to crack the case. Non-linear and not exactly packed with logic or explanations, what Terrified does have is scares in spades.

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)

Issa Lopez’s horror fairytale is also set against a background of violence, this time in the Mexican drug cartels. We follow Estrella, a recently orphaned ten year old, who joins up with a group of orphaned kids. Estrella believes she has three wishes, but in her world wishes don’t often come true as planned.

Similar in tone to Pan’s Labyrinth, Tigers Are Not Afraid is a beautiful, lyrical fantasy, rich in imagination, juxtaposed against horrific real world events

The Witch In The Window (2018)

A creepy ghost story which sees a father and his estranged son attempt to fix up an old farmhouse which is haunted by its previous occupant, a malevolent spirit who only grows stronger as the house gets repaired. A family story with successful scares, The Witch in the Window could be a good pick for anyone craving an old fashioned chiller.

The Beach House (2019)

The Beach House is a quirky new Shudder original from debut writer/director Jeffrey A. Brown. It sees a young couple take trip to a holiday home but find friends of the young man’s parents are also staying there. Then as night falls a strange fog descends, bringing with it something strange from the sea…

Plot light, FX heavy body horror that’s slickly executed and well worth a look.

Gustavo Figueiredo/RLJE Films

Color Out of Space (2019)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

The works of legendary horror author H.P. Lovecraft have always been difficult to translate to the screen, since much of his prose is told from inside the crumbling minds of unnamed protagonists who sense — but often never actually see — the evil cosmic presences closing in around them.

Director Richard Stanley (Hardware) has an innate sense of what makes Lovecraft work, however, and Color Out of Space — about a family whose farm is infected by a nameless entity that crashes to Earth inside a meteorite — captures much of the otherworldly eeriness of one of the author’s most famous stories. But the movie also stars Nicolas Cage, who does his Nicolas Cage thing and occasionally ends up fighting the material.

Read our full review here.

Host (2020)

You thought there were no new movies being made during lockdown? Turns out you were wrong. This utterly ingenious horror was conceived, shot and completely in just 12 weeks during lockdown.

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Movies

Host Explained: How it was Made, Easter Eggs and all Your Questions Answered

By Rosie Fletcher

Movies

Host Review: Zoom Horror That’s Fresh and Frightening

By Rosie Fletcher

Host is a found footage film told via Zoom and it is comfortably the most current and relevant thing you will watch. It’s also extremely scary, in part because of how terribly relatable it is but also because of the excellent FX and stunt work which elevates this from a cool concept to a genuinely exciting and cleverly made horror that will almost certainly be the defining genre movie of the year.

Shudder

Spiral (2020)

ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US

Marketed as a gay-themed response to Get Out (and not to be confused with next year’s Saw spin-off using the same title), this Shudder original finds same-sex couple Aaron (Ari Cohen) and Malik (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) moving from the big city to rural Illinois along with Aaron’s teen daughter (Jennifer LaPorte) from his previous marriage. Once there, the family encounters not just plain old homophobia (the film is set in the mid-1990s) but other secrets hidden beneath the peaceful small-town veneer.

Bowyer-Chapman gives a strong central performance as Malik, a struggling writer who is the first to sense that all is not right, but your mileage may vary regarding the fairly obvious set-up and whether the social commentary is woven as successfully here as it was in Jordan Peele’s groundbreaking thriller.

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from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3eQbKA8

Rules! 1. Post these rules 2. Answer the questions given by the tagger 3. Write 11 questions of your own 4. Tag 11 people!

Tagged by: @neveronceintoit (Thanks!)

1. what are your current top 3 favorite fics?

(The Time It Takes) To Believe In Fate

Flames in the Ocean

Saved

(I cannot ever get the link to work :( )

2. what’s your biggest fear?

Death/losing someone close to me. 

3. if you had to pick one fictional character to be your best friend in real life, 

who would it be? why? Oh goodness. I want to say my favorite character but I don’t think my favorite character and I would actually be friends haha. I think Simon from Simon Vs and I would actually be really good friends. We have very similar personalities and interests.  4. who was your favorite musician/band growing up? Backstreet Boys haha 5. if you had to choose your last meal, what would it be? Lamb chops, raspberry souffle, I dunno really lol 6. what are your top 3 hobbies/favorite pastimes? Reading, painting, playing open world RPG games 7. would you rather live in the city or country? City 8. Do you feel like people in real life know the real you? I am generally a very secretive person, but sometimes people surprise me with what they see that I don’t realize I’m revealing. Someone from work yesterday made a comment where I felt extremely known for a few minutes and it threw me off for a bit.  9. is there a common thread with your favorite fictional characters? For the most part yes. The most obvious being most, if not all of them are male. But I tend to gravitate towards characters who are going through a rough time or are the way they are because of something that happened to them.  10. what’s one thing you wish you were good at? Oh, there is more than one thing. But the main thing I wish I was good at was art.  11. when’s the last time you cried? last time you laughed?

I laugh every day. I have zero laugh control and I am generally a positive person. I cried last reading the A Place Called Home fic. I sobbed like a baby.

Okay your turn

1. What is your favorite guilty pleasure book? 2. What did you want to be when you grew up when you were a kid? 3. What is your top OTP? 4. Physical book, ebook, or audiobooks? 5. What accomplishment are you most proud of? 6. Is there a common thread with your favorite fictional characters? 7. How do you organize your books? 8. Do you have any pets? 9. If you could meet any one person, who would it be? 10. What book/series does everyone seem to love, but you didn’t? 11. What is your favorite tv show?

@ronanlynchamiright @chemicalrejectboys @heartclover @two-of-swords-621 @come-hell-or-highwater @substanceparty @rock-the-cash-ball @paintedpolarbear @dollopheadsandclotpoles @survivablyso @7hir7een

🌊 Sea Witch Resources 🌊

🌊 a sea witch’s spell ingredients - common ingredients for hte sea witch

🌊 sea water replacement - recipe for making sea water at home

🌊 sea grounding - quick guide for grounding in sea water

🌊 sea charging - a guide for using seawater to charge energies

sea witchcraft spells 🌊 

jolly sailor bold - for drawing in a lover, or draw one back from leaving

soft shores bath spell -  for peace and tranquility in one’s life and energy

ariel singing glamour -  a glamour to help your singing voice be like a mermaid’s

mermaid’s breath -  a spell for the ability to survive in emotional or situational circumstances a bit out of your depth or comfort zone

what the water gave me - pop culture spell to relieve burdens of the mind

lapis water binding spell - to bind someone to a place they cannot escape

celestial bath spell - to bring in new, calm energies

a touch, a tempest -  for power in your hands, and enhance control of one’s life

sea foam latte -  bath spell and coffee scrub for motivation and clarity

come hell or highwater -  spell to prepare you for difficult times ahead, and give you the power to rise.

mermaid work  🌊

how to contact a mermaid - a basic guide

different types of mermaids - a short overview

various powers of mermaids

offerings for mermaids

mermaid tips - a few scattered tips

sea witch altar ideas

  🌊 part 1 🌊  part 2

an ongoing guide ............last updated 3/28/2017

To Video or not to Video? Fan Blog on David Duchovny Hell or HighWater Tour: (Second blog in series) I recently attended a book event and concert in Seattle and had intended to write one blog about the experience. I quickly came to the realization that I needed to write several blogs to do the experience justice. I decided the morning after the concert that one blog needed to be on my conflicted viewpoints related to the issue of taping, periscoping, phoning the concert. I want to begin with three contextual things to consider in terms of the experience. 1. Any live concert experience has the potential to be transcendent.. Seeing a performance live is different than a recording, a streaming, viewing concert footage. The concert experience includes the interactions with the people around you and how the artist responds to that audience. Certain artists make each concert experience unique which is why people will go to see one artist night after night in the same tour. At its heart, the best rock concert experiences are a communicative exchange of love and appreciation between the artist and the fans. The musicians’ performance is enhanced or worsened by the audience. Fan enjoyment of the music can be greatly increased by an artist, like Mr. Duchovny, who is working to interact fully with members of the audience. Fans who might have not known each other before the event might feel a special bond with each other because the experience is so magical and unique. I have seen this, for instance, with the Dead. Ever witnessed two Deadheads realizing they were both in Ithaca on the night of whatever in the seventies? Forty years later they are bonded, discussing the moment, heart beating as one. Mr. Duchovny made a statement in the book event in Seattle related to why he toured. He is motivated by the experience with the audience that exists only on that specific night. I’m an experienced concert goer. I have never experienced anything like my experience in Seattle in terms of being in the moment. 2. David Duchovny has a fierce, strong passionate fan base. Mr. Duchovny repeatedly says in interviews that he is not vain enough to think people are coming to see him as a musician but because of his fame. If they come and they don’t like the music that's valid, but if they like the music then that's valid too. I heard people in Seattle say “I just touched Mulder.” I get that. However, I am not sure if Mr. Duchovny and his band fully realize how things have changed in the last year within his fan base. I met in Seattle the Dutch Duchovniacs who, having seen him in Amsterdam, came to the US to see his Portland and Seattle shows. I am virtual friends with people who saw him in Europe who are here for the Eastern half of the tour. They don’t do that because they want to touch Mulder again. They are doing that because they love the music and because they love the concert experience which David Duchovny provides. Also, they come because they love one another: their fellow travelers in the Duchovny community. Much like the Deadheads, the fans of Mr. Duchovny’s music have formed a special bond. They are small but strong. I stood in the rain eating pizza with my friend Cathy to assure we were the first in the line for Duchovny’s Seattle concert. I had just met the man at a book signing. I didn’t stand in line for hours in the rain for a concert for any other reason than a sincere desire to see the musician/songwriter. I hope that David Duchovny recognizes that we didn’t do that because we are crazy for Mulder (although of course we are), but because we truly love the music and the experience –that he doesn’t see us as crazed fans, but as part of a community some call Duchovniacs who want him to feel supported and loved in his musical endeavors. We are grateful for his touring and giving us the experience. We know he has a day job acting and a side job novelist and he doesn't have to do this. Mr. Duchovny has a fandom for his music because of his music. This fandom is growing due, at least partially, to the efforts of this fan base. 3. Mr. Duchovny arrives here as a new musician already a mega star as an actor. That does change the dynamics of the experience. If he was any other musical artist at this stage of his musical career, the desire to take videos and pictures would be less strong. However,he is not. I cannot imagine what it is like for the private individual, David Duchovny, to exist in his day to day world of fandom obsession for Mulder and Moody.. I knew when he left Seattle on Monday. Not that I wanted to. It came up on my Twitter feed. I saw pictures of him on his day off between the West and East Coast tour. Is there anybody on the planet photographed more than him? Yet I’m the first one to say that the planet needs more photographs of him. (No, truly, we need more photographs of David Duchovny). The concert photographs of Duchovny are among the best. He hasn’t banned photography from his concerts. I hope he doesn't. He has at concerts, from time to time, asked people to put away their phones. As much as I love the videos and photographs, if Mr. Duchovny wants this one small aspect of his career to not be about filming his performance, but to be about the opportunity to have a interactive experience with him audience to artist that is in the moment-I’m all in for that. My Seattle experience on this topic. For the book discussion we were told photography was allowed but no flash and no photography for the signing portion. I videotaped a total of ten minutes of the discussion and Q and A. This was my contribution to the fandom now loaded on YouTube. It was various portions of the discussion. I am happy to have my friend’s Cathy’s question and Mr. Duchovny’s funny reaction, thoughtful and in depth answer. She will always have that and is able to share it with others. . I did not feel it was intrusive or would keep me from living the experience as it was happening. It was during this discussion/QA that David made the statement related to why he tours and then said that everyone has a fucking phone and then it's on YouTube and then it's forever. He did not sound happy about that. Therefore, I made the decision not to film any footage at the Seattle concert, not to tweet during the concert, but to be at the concert engaged. It was incredible. Add to David Duchovny’s many varied talents his ability to make everyone in a crowd of 500 feel like they had individualized interactions with him. Two memories are particularly strong from the concert. In Unsaid Unsung, his angry song, he was on the stage near us, bent all the way down so his face seemed within inches of ours when he singed /yelled “I said I’m done.” Then, something I had never seen in concert footage, still bending, his facial expression cold, he put his hands up so they were just beneath his eyes, held them as if in a fist, but not as if about to hit, more as if closing himself off, then backed away while maintaining eye contact. At least it seemed that way to me. I mean I don’t know how he could maintain eye contact with more than one person, but it felt like he was staring directly at me. It was so intense and so appropriate for the song. I can close my eyes right now and see that. Incredible! If I had been trying to capture the moment instead of living it I could not have lived it in the same intense manner. The other moment was during the encore when Mr. Duchovny came into the audience to dance. I was very near but did not move to dance with him. Instead I stood very close to the scene as an observer. Women surrounded him touching him and dancing. There was one moment when he kind of wiggled down and the women around him were wiggling down as well. There is an image framed in my mind’s eye of him with his eyes closed, butt out for a wiggle, hands up, and a facial expression of such joy. It was a beautiful thing to see and for me completely illustrates his reason for touring as stated in his book discussion. The interactive experience with the audience brings him joy. It brought the audience members joy as well. The next day, however, I was delighted when a friend sent me a screen cap from a video of David Duchovny singing with a picture of us looking up at him. Through out the day we found others. Someone near where we sat captured a couple of songs and we kept saying “ooh remember when he did that.” We saw a video of him and Keaton Simon together on stage from the other side of where we were and saw interactions we would not otherwise have seen. There is a video tape which clearly shows me moving out of the front row so another fan could be close for her favorite song and then that fan taking off her bra, throwing it on stage and displaying her breasts until Mr. Duchovny’s fatherly steen shaking of his head convinced her to cover them again. The best part of the video for me is seeing the look on Cathy’s face when it happened. That was part of our concert experience. Even though we were upset by that aspect of the evening at the time, it was certainly fun to watch it the next day. I was concerned about the young woman who had thrown her bra being in the picture, but she has tweeted herself a picture of her bra on stage. She owns the moment and does not seemed regretful. Those videos and photographs enhanced our concert experience. They allowed us to return to the moment in a different way. We watched the footage of “the weight” with David Duchovny and Keaton Simon on repeat. Cathy and I also discussed that without the Duchovniacs footage of the European tour we would likely not have had a desire to attend a concert. It is the fans footage that made us aware of how awesome this live experience might be. The original Duchovniacs have increased the fandom, increased the people who call themselves Duchovniacs, in much the same way the boot legged recordings of Dead increased the fandom of Deadheads. So there’s the dilemma. These videos enhance the post concert experience for those who attended. The videos are important to the fans who cannot afford to travel to the limited locations he is performing. The videos increase the fans desire to go and build the audience. Yet at the actual concert they distract from the experience and might actually impact the quality of the performance. No easy answers here. Mr. Duchovny would be within his rights to prohibit photography and filming. He hasn’t done that yet. He has asked people to turn off their phones during some concerts. One option might be to have each concert professionally videotaped and edited and offered for sale. If there was a video of the concert performance I saw, I would want it. Another option would be to have a section where photography and videotaping was allowed in the audience and ban it in other sections- perhaps in one section of the floor or a higher up section. Again no easy answers. I have conflicted feelings about the issue of whether or not to “phone” the concerts. Those conflicted feelings are also part of my concert experience from Seattle.