The Desert Fox: Separating the myth and the man of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains saves both.

- Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

War hero or Nazi villain? Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is, to this day, the subject of heated debate. He was the “Desert Fox,” revered by Allied Forces for his supposed chivalry, and allegedly implicated in the “Valkyrie” plot to assassinate Hitler.

But present day historians have increasingly come to re-examine the life and the legend of this most iconic of World War Two generals.

I first became interested in this question after reading Corelli Barnett’s magisterial account ‘The Desert Generals’ back when I was in Sandhurst. I read other World War Two books before then of course but it was only at Sandhurst did I first give serious consideration towards Rommel as ‘the Good German’ general. I read other books too like General Sir David Fraser’s ‘Knight’s Cross: a life of Field Marshal Rommel’ as a stand out one on military stuff but a very cursory examination of his early life and beliefs.

Rommel was a legend in the making.

Whichever side of the debate one falls on there is no doubt that Erwin Rommel, was one  of the most celebrated and respected generals of the Second World War  and indeed, some even say one of the greatest generals of all time. His prowess on the  battlefield earned him more than a battlefield earned him the  admiration of both his men and his enemies alike, with adversaries  lining up to pay tribute to their greatest foe in the field.

“We  have a very daring and skilful opponent against us, and, may I say  across the havoc of war, a great general,” said no less than Winston  Churchill himself of Rommel, just after the war ended in his book on the  conflict, The Second World War. 

When Churchill came under fire in the press for praising a man seen as a  Nazi, he doubled down, commenting “He also deserves our respect  because, although a loyal German soldier, he came to hate Hitler and all  his works, and took part in the conspiracy to rescue Germany by  displacing the maniac and tyrant.

For this, Rommel paid the  forfeit of his life. In the sombre wars of modern democracy, chivalry  finds no place… Still, I do not regret or retract the tribute I paid to  Rommel, unfashionable though it was judged.”

Indeed,  the extent to which Rommel was a Nazi is one of the great questions that has been asked since the war and one that is debated to this day. Rommel, while respected by those who fought him from afar as generals  and indeed, thought of a genius to many of those who fought beneath him  in the Wehrmacht, has often faced criticism of his tactics and his  decision making, with some post-war writers holding him up as a man  prone to erratic behaviour on the battlefield and a great sufferer from  the stresses of the job.

“Rommel  was jumpy, wanted to do everything at once, then lost interest. Rommel  was my superior in command in Normandy. I cannot say Rommel wasn’t a  good general. When successful, he was good; during reverses, he became  depressed,” said Sepp Dietrich, who fought under Rommel in France and  ended the war as the most senior figure in the Waffen-SS.

A  similar sentiment was expressed by Luftwaffe field marshal Albert Kesselring, a contemporary of Rommel’s and an officer of similar rank,  who later wrote: “He was the best leader of fast-moving troops but only  up to army level. Above that level it was too much for him. Rommel was  given too much responsibility. He was a good commander for a corps of  army but he was too moody, too changeable. One moment he would be  enthusiastic, next moment depressed.”

Who  was this great man then? We know him today as a great tactician, a charismatic leader, a respected general and the last German participant  in the so-called “clean war”. But how true are those assessments? Was  the Desert Fox as chivalrous as his enemies thought him to be?

Rommel was far from just a Second World War hero – he distinguished himself in World War One too.

Rommel  graduated from the military academy in Gdansk – then known as Danzig  and an integral part of Germany – in 1912 and was immediately posted back to his home region of Baden-Württemberg.

When war  broke out in 1914, Rommel was ready to face his first major conflict posting. As a battery commander within the 124th division of the German  army, he would distinguish himself and gain his first recognition from  the higher-ups.

Erwin saw his  first action at the age of 23 on August 22, 1914, near the French town  of Verdun. Rommel led his platoon into a French garrison, catching them  by surprise and personally leading the charge ahead of the rest of his  men, earning credits for bravery and ingenuity. He would be awarded the  Iron Cross, Second Class, for his actions, a promotion to First  Lieutenant and a transfer into the Royal Württemberg Mounted Battalion  as a company – rather than platoon – commander.

Rommel  would go on to fight in the German campaigns in Italy and Romania, with  particular note being taken by the German Army hierarchy of his conduct in the Italian campaign. The Royal Württemberg Mounted Battalion fought  at the Battle of Caporetto, the twelfth battle to be fought along the  Isonzo River in modern-day Slovenia, and one that would go down as  probably the largest military defeat in the history of Italy.

Rommel  would play a central role, leading the Royal Württemberg, with just 150  men, to capture an estimated 9,000 Italians, complete with all their  guns, for a cost of just 6 of his own men.

The  young Rommel used the challenging, mountainous terrain of Caporetto – now known as Kobarid – to outflank the Italians and convince them that  they were totally encircled by Germans, when in fact there was just one  battalion. Fearing that they were surrounded, the Italians surrendered  en masse and were surprised to find that so few men were able to capture  them.

The efforts of the German Army to break into the  Italian Front through the Slovenian Alps – at the time, part of Italy –  were vital in furthering an advance towards Venice, though the Germans  were eventually stopped and turned back.

Rommel  was awarded the Pour Le Merite award by the Kaiser for his leadership  at Caporetto, but also gained the respect and loyalty of his men, who  were not only impressed by the way in which his tactics had won the battle, but also by the way that he had stood up to the German Army high command and argued for more and better food for his men. The legend of Rommel was growing apace.

Rommel was an effective teacher as well as a military leader.

It shouldn’t be too surprising that Rommel was a capable teacher: his father had been a headmaster, while the ability to communicate his ideas  effectively in the field would lead to some of his most enduring  military victories. There was no point coming up with a revolutionary  tactic to win a battle if you couldn’t then inform and inspire your men  well enough for them to then go and carry it out.

At  the end of the First World War, Rommel was entering his late 20s and  had already been widely feted for his military prowess. While it might  have seemed a little dull compared to the derring-do on the Isonzo, the  role of the Royal Württenberg Mountain Battalion lay much closer to  home, with German society slowly disintegrating into civil wars between,  on the left, socialists who wanted Germany to undergo a revolution  similar to that which had recently occurred in Russia, and on the right,  groups such as the Freikorps, disgruntled ex-soldiers and nationalist,  anti-communist paramilitaries that would go on to form the kernel of the  Nazi Party.

Rommel,  recently promoted again to the rank of Captain, was ordered to use his  soldiers in a policing capacity, putting down insurrections all over  southern Germany. It was during this period that he showed some of the  sense of restraint that would distinguish his conduct in North Africa  during World War Two, trying to avoid the use of force against crowds of  civilians where possible.

After  the Weimar Republic took hold, however, the country somewhat stabilised  and Rommel found himself in Dresden, teaching new recruits. He had been  promoted in turn to Major, then Lieutenant Colonel, placing him in the  very highest echelons of the Treaty of Versailles-reduced German Army.

He  was recognised as one of the prime instructors in that army and wrote a book, “Infantry Attacks”, that furthered his theories on warfare and  explained his experiences in the Izonzo – it sold incredibly well and  increased Rommel’s personal fame, as well as bringing him to the  attention of Adolf Hitler, who was known to have read the book.

Rommel met Hitler in Goslar, Germany in 1934, while Rommel was posted as battalion commander. Hitler’s charisma and promises to reestablish Germany as a world power after the crippling results of World War I inspired Rommel to become a fervent supporter of the Nazi Party.

The two men had several encounters following this, and Rommel rose through the ranks on Hitler’s personal recommendation. But it was ultimately Hitler’s liking for Rommel’s book Infantry Attacks that led to his becoming the commander of Hitler’s personal guards during his tour of the Sudetenland.

By  the 1930s with Hitler fully secured in power, the German Army, for whom Rommel worked, and the Nazi state were more and more inseparable. It would be this coming together that prompted a major dilemma for  the career soldiers such as Rommel: did the duty lie to their country,  and whoever might be governing it, or to the party, that was coming to  define what that country was about?

Rommel was a committed Nazi and not the “decent face” of the German Army.

Rommel’s antagonism wasn’t so much against Nazism as it was towards the Nazis in leadership who led it. His committment to Nazism eroded as the war took a wrong turn and as Hitler increasingly became erratic in his military decision making that Rommel grew increasingly frustrated.

Just  how much of a Nazi Rommel was is one of the biggest questions that is debated about him to this day. It is largely due to the Rommel myth that  was perpetuated by the likes of Winston Churchill after the war that  Rommel was taken by the victorious Allies as “the good Nazi”, or the  honest general who happened to be being ordered about by the Nazis,  merely a career soldier who followed orders and stayed out of politics.

Let’s  put that one to bed, here and now. Rommel was an early adopter of the Nazi Party and a committed believer in the ideals of  National  Socialism, while also being an officer who regularly disobeyed orders –  making both commonly held assumptions wrong.

That said, he  is one of the few figures of that period who is still revered in Germany, who still has streets named after him and memorials in his  honour. It seems that the myth persists in his homeland too, despite  countless books and articles to the contrary.

One  such author attempting to shake this idea from the public consciousness is Wolfgang Proske, a historian and history professor from Rommel’s hometown on Heidenheim, who has written 16 books about his town’s most  famous son. “Rommel was a deeply convinced Nazi and, contrary to popular  opinion, he was also an anti-Semite. It is not only the  Germans who have fallen into the trap of believing that Rommel was  chivalrous. The British have been convinced by these stories as well,”  he told British newspaper The Independent in 2011 when a new memorial to  the Field Marshal was unveiled.

“At  the time when Rommel marched into Tripoli, more than a quarter of the city’s population were Jews,” Proske continued, “There is evidence which  shows that Rommel forbad his troops to buy anything from Jewish  traders. Later on, he used the Jews as slave laborers. Some of them were  even used as so-called ‘mine dogs’ who were ordered to walk over  minefields ahead of his advancing troops.”

While  Rommel was never a member of the Nazi Party, it is widely known that Wehrmacht figures, particularly high-ranking ones such as Rommel,  welcomed Hitler coming to power. Those, like Rommel, whose backgrounds  had shut them off from the highest ranks of the Kaiser’s forces, saw the  new government as one that would see them move to the top of the tree  and as such were generally in favor of it.

Goebbels  himself wrote in 1942, when Rommel was in the running for the role of Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht, that the Field Marshal was ”ideologically sound, is not just sympathetic to the National Socialists. He is a National Socialist; he is a troop leader with a gift for  improvisation, personally courageous and extraordinarily inventive. These are the kinds of soldiers we need.”

Rommel owes a large part of his fame to the fact that he made fools of opposing general - well almost (Patton would disagree).

Rommel’s  prowess as a general is unquestioned. On the back of his heroics as a low-level officer in World War One added to by his role teaching at the forefront of modern military tactics, he was perfectly positioned to lead the Nazi war machine into the second conflict.

When  the war began, he was leading Hitler’s personal protection battalion –  so much for a man who kept a distance from the center of Nazi power –  and thus was privy to the highest levels of discussions regarding  tactics, particularly the way in which to use mechanized infantry such  as tanks. After the early successes in Poland, Rommel moved with the  front to France and commanded Panzer units, before distinguishing  himself against the British at Arras and leading the drive towards  Dunkirk.

With the British  regrouping on the other side of the Channel after a crushing defeat –  which, lest we forget, Dunkirk was – the focus turned to North Africa, where Rommel would lead the newly-established Afrika Korps. He was the superstar of the German Army, a reputation largely built on his ability  to vanquish the British, whom he would now face again in the desert. It was at this time that his nickname, The Desert Fox, was coined by the  British press, who sought to create a figure against which the war could  be fought.

The legacy of Rommel as the acceptable Nazi could be seen to stem from this point when the media in Britain saw fit  to create a worthy adversary for their troops to combat. Rommel was  thought to be an old-style soldier rather than an out-and-out Nazi:  though we have seen that he was a Nazi, and he had arguably committed war crimes by summarily executing prisoners in France just weeks before.

Come  the victory of the British at Tobruk and El Alamein, the British propaganda machine had even more than a noble adversary. They had a  noble adversary against whom they had lost in Europe and then  subsequently defeated: when the characters of the British side,  Auchinleck and Montgomery, were spoken of, they needed someone of equal  weight to make their victories seem even more heroic, a role that fit  Rommel perfectly.

With morale at home low after the  Dunkirk evacuation, the victories in North Africa were vital to keeping  spirits up, and a glorious victory against an equally glorious enemy  sounded even better. Churchill himself called Rommel an “extraordinary  bold and clever opponent” and a “great field commander” in the House of  Commons in 1942 – after he had just been defeated.

Rommel’s reputation for chivalry in North Africa might not just be down to his own intentions.

Of  course, some aspects the Allied propaganda about Rommel – that he was a  fair fighter, that he respected the ideals of chivalry when other  Germans didn’t – were generally true.

It is undoubted  that, by and large, Rommel adhered to the rules of war when plenty of  Nazi generals didn’t, but it bears mentioning that the reason that so many German generals were so callous is that they were ordered to be  like that. Orders within the Nazi war machine came down from high and  were often brutal in their nature: summary execution of prisoners,  rounding up of Jews and other minorities, scorched earth policies. That  was just the orders aimed at enemies: often generals would be ordered to  stand their ground to the death when all military logic told them to  make a tactical retreat.

Rommel’s dedication to upholding the “war  without hate” as he called the more traditional methods of war is up for debate, but certainly, he did take measure to negate the harsher aspects. That said, there are other factors that question whether his commitment to the “war without hate” was intentional, circumstantial or ideologically-driven.

When most German generals were likely to commit acts of ethnic cleansing, Rommel  was not generally faced with the question. North Africa, where this reputation was developed, had hardly any Jews, for example, and other potential targets for Nazi aggression were protected by being citizens of Italy and Rommel was wary of standing on the toes of their allies.  That said, many within the North African Jewish community are reported  as having felt that they were spared from the horrors suffered by Jews  in Europe by the actions of the Afrika Korps, led by Rommel.

It  is also widely accepted that he refused to execute captured Jewish prisoners and hated the use of slave labour. As far as his own troops  were concerned, Rommel repeatedly refused orders directly from Hitler.  When, at the end of the second Battle of El Alamein, Hitler commanded  him directly not to retreat and to show his soldiers “no other road than  that to victory or death.”

Knowing that it was impossible for him to defeat the advancing British, who massively outnumbered his forces,  Rommel chose to ignore the letter from the Fuhrer and fled all the way  across North Africa to Tunisia rather than face death in the sand. While he was way too politically powerful to be censured by Hitler, actions  such as this were contributory to a wider feeling among the Nazi hierarchy that Rommel was not one of them.

He was a PR superstar in Germany, but was both respected and later suspected by the Nazi leadership. 

Rommel’s  reputation within Germany might well have made him untouchable for the  Nazi hierarchy, even when he did things that were in direct contradiction of the ideological and military strategy of the regime. They had invested so much time and so much weight in making him the  poster boy of their propaganda regime that, when Rommel turned out to be  less than what they had hoped for, they could not easily dispose of  him.

On paper, he was the perfect fit for their media machine: he was an early adopter of Nazism, already a hero from the  First World War and an excellent general, with victories aplenty. Moreover, they could cite the Allies reverence for him in their favor,  and Rommel himself was comfortable in the spotlight and relished the  attention.

Hitler was always wary of building up any one single figure too far – lest he be challenged  himself – but Goebbels, the chief propagandist, knew an opportunity when he saw it and Rommel could not be passed up. As Rommel’s media image  grew and grew, he became the darling of the public back home, but in the  corridors of power in Berlin, there were plenty of higher-ups who were  less convinced of his powers.

Even from the early days of the war in 1941, when Rommel was in France, some of those who fought  alongside him were doubting just how effective he actually was a  general. By the time that the war in North Africa had turned against him  in 1943, the German furthest expansions were contracting: the Battle of  Stalingrad had been lost in February and Rommel departed Tunisia in May.

It might have made sense if the Nazis had thought Rommel their best general, to send him to the  Eastern Front where the war was being lost. Perhaps, too, the brutal nature of the war on the Ostfront was seen as beyond Rommel’s nature:  this was not the time or place for “war without hate”, in the eyes of  the Nazi leadership.

Instead, he was dispatched to Italy. As Italy fell, Rommel was demoted from the head of the campaign to second in command to Albert Kesselring, alongside whom he had served throughout the North Africa campaigns.

Later in France, Rommel was the man in charge of building the Atlantic Wall that would protect Nazi-occupied France from Allied invasion: though he had warned heavily that his experiences in North Africa had  taught him that land and sea defences would be nothing if air supremacy allowed the Allies to destroy the Nazi army from above, Rommel was ignored.

After the defeat in North Africa, the retreat through  Greece and Italy and the failure to stop the D-Day invasions, his  reputation as a superstar general back home was in tatters.

Rommel’s reputation got a huge boost because of a 1951 film.

If Rommel’s reputation as a great leader was undermined by the  catastrophic defeats on the African, Italian and Western Fronts in the  last two years of the war, why was it that the so-called “Rommel Myth”  was so pervasive after the war? The theories are numerous, but one major contributing factor must be the success of the 1951 film, The Desert  Fox. Rommel was played by the iconic actor James Mason who won critical acclaim for his role.

Rommel was a  well-known figure in Allied countries and in 1950, the first biography  of the “good German” was released in the UK. Written by Desmond Young, a British brigadier-general who had himself been captured by Rommel during the war, “Rommel: The Desert Fox” was incredibly popular in Britain and cemented the position of the vanquished general as the acceptable enemy.  

His later involvement in the 1944 plot against Hitler did a lot to wash Rommel of the stain of Nazism – conveniently forgetting  the decade or so that he had spent close to the top of the regime – and  his position as the general who was beaten “fair and square” endeared  him to a British audience. After all, it’s much easier to build heroes of your own generals when they have beaten a general that you also  respect.

The 1951 film of The  Desert Fox further spread the myth and was widely popular in the UK. The  narrative of Rommel, the good German, being defeated by the heroic British in the clean war in North Africa was a far more palatable one in the burgeoning Cold War than one that emphasised the horrible destruction that had come through the Soviet victory in the East.

There  could be little appetite for a war with Russia when people were constantly being reminded of the horrific images that had emerged from the Eastern Front. Thus, the clean general of the fair fight in North Africa was an enticing idea.

The Germans, too, were all too pleased to go along with Rommel as their figurehead. Their army had been severely curtailed after their defeat,  but there was a clamour to de-Nazify the Wehrmacht and remove the stigma  from the German armed forces. The Bundeswehr, the new German army, was  more palatable to a post-war world when it could be seen as the legacy of good soldiers lead by bad politicians rather than an integral and vital part of the Nazi war machine.

Thus, the idea of The  Desert Fox was created and, to a large extent, still persists. He  remains the only Nazi to be lionised within Germany: public squares and streets bear his name, as does the largest barracks of the Bundeswehr.  Whether such a status is deserved, however, is still a question about which historians continue to argue.

During the first half of 2020 many countries have been reconsidering the roles of their historical figures - remembered in statue form - due to their controversial views or actions from today’s point of view.  In Britain, France and Belgium, statues of figures associated with the colonial past have become the target of public criticism in some quarters.  In the United States, not only statues of Confederate figures who defended slavery during the American Civil War were destroyed or even demolished, but also, for example, the discoverer of America, Christopher Columbus.

In Germany a similar process was also underway. The monument to the Wehrmacht Marshal Erwin Rommel in Heidenheim came under severe renewed scrutiny.

Germany's memorial to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is perched on a hillside overlooking the middle-class town of Heidenheim an der Brenz where he was born 120 years ago. The words inscribed on the white limestone monument describe the legendary Second World War general as "chivalrous", "brave" and as a "victim of tyranny"

The monument, which was built in 1961 by the German Afrikakorps Association, aroused long-term controversy and in the past was repeatedly damaged by inscriptions that called Rommel a Nazi.  In 2014, Heidenheim City Hall expressed its intention to contrast the monument with another memorial building. By 2020 those calls took on a greater momentum.

The German artist Rainer Jooss was brought in by the municipal authorities to re-interpret the existing monument without having to destroy it completely. Jooss took as his starting point to focus on other parts of Rommel’s legacy. It was little known that Rommel had large minefields laid during the campaign of German troops in North Africa during World War II.  In Libya and Tunisia alone, at least 3,300 people have lost their legs and another 7,500 have been maimed since the statistics were kept in the 1980s. So Jooss designed black silhouette cut out of a maimed child victim of war to complement the monument.

“The monument does not represent the truth, but encourages us to look for it,” said Bernhard Ilg, Mayor of Baden-Württemberg, at the presentation of the monument’s design unveiling in July 2020. Jooss was more stoic. Joos believed it would be a mistake to remove the Rommel monument altogether,"If we let grass grow over it, that would mean the end of the important task of dealing with history.”

The artist behind the modification to the Heidenheim monument said his statue was purposefully made to look small next to the impressive limestone bloc."I wanted to confront the monumental (features) of the original memorial with the fragility of a land mine victim.” Jooss wanted and hoped that it was up to “the next generations to make a picture of themselves based on factual histography.”

Yet eminent historians have since dismissed the fresh silhouette plaque as a transparent attempt to avoid addressing the deep seated questions about Rommel. Indeed Rommel’s privileged position to being seen as the ideal role model for the Bundeswehr (the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities). While recognising his great talents as a commander, they point out several problems: such as Rommel's involvement with a criminal regime and his political naivete. However, there are also many supporters of the continued commemoration of Rommel by the Bundeswehr, and there remains military buildings and streets named after him and portraits of him displayed.

The politician scientist Ralph Rotte called for his replacement with Manfred von Richthofen. Historian Cornelia Hecht opined that whatever judgement history will pass on Rommel – who was the idol of World War II as well as the integration figure of the post-war Republic – it was now the time in which the Bundeswehr should rely on its own history and tradition, and not any Wehrmacht commander. Jürgen Heiducoff, a retired Bundeswehr officer, had written that the maintenance of the Rommel barracks' names and the definition of Rommel as a German resistance fighter are capitulation before neo-Nazi tendencies. Heiducoff agreed with Bundeswehr generals that Rommel was one of the greatest strategists and tacticians, both in theory and practice, and a victim of contemporary jealous colleagues, but argued that such a talent for aggressive, destructive warfare was not a suitable model for the Bundeswehr, a primarily defensive army. Heiducoff criticised those Bundeswehr generals for pressuring the Federal Ministry of Defence into making decisions in favour of the man who they openly admire.

Rommel has had his supporters from this avalanche of revisionist criticism. Historian Michael Wolffsohn supported the Ministry of Defense's decision to continue recognition of Rommel, although he thought the focus should be put on the later stage of Rommel's life, when he began thinking more seriously about war and politics, and broke with the regime. Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) reported that, "Wolffsohn declares the Bundeswehr wants to have politically thoughtful, responsible officers from the beginning, thus a tradition of 'swashbuckler' and 'humane rogue' is not intended".

According to authors like Ulrich vom Hagen and Sandra Mass though, the Bundeswehr (as well as NATO) deliberately endorses the ideas of chivalrous warfare and apolitical soldiering associated with Rommel. At a German Ministry conference soliciting input on the matter, Dutch general Ton van Loon advised the German Ministry that, although there can be historical abuses hidden under the guise of military tradition, tradition is still essential for the esprit de corps, and part of that tradition should be the leadership and achievements of Rommel. Historian Christian Hartmann opined that not only Rommel's legacy was worthy of tradition but the Bundeswehr "urgently needs to become more Rommel". 

There are other historians who have tried to take a middle path on the continued controversy of Rommel’s legacy. Historian Johannes Hürter believed that instead of being the symbol for an alternative Germany, Rommel should be the symbol for the willingness of the military elites to become instrumentalised by the Nazi authorities. As for whether he can be treated as a military role model, Hürter writes that each soldier can decide on that matter for themselves. Historian Ernst Piper argued that it was totally conceivable that the Resistance saw Rommel as someone with whom they could build a new Germany. According to Piper though, Rommel was a loyal national socialist without crime rather than a democrat, thus unsuitable to hold a central place among role models, although he should be integrated as a major military leader.

Whether one is for and against Rommel such debates take place because he is dead in conveniently ambiguous circumstances.

Recovering from skull fractures in hospital, he missed the main event - the 20 July Bomb Plot 1944 - insitigated by other senior German army officers. Hitler survived the blast, and immediately set about executing the plotters.

While Rommel had lots of contact with many key conspirators and was generally aware of the movement(s) to assassinate Hitler, there is no direct evidence that he knew about the July 20th plot in advance, let alone was involved in any detailed planning. Several conspirators allegedly confessed during interrogation that he was involved and, like Speer, his name was found on Goerdeler’s list of possible participants in a new German government.

Rommel was listed among various possibilities for Reich President. Unfortunately for him, there was no question mark or other notation, as in Speer’s case, which indicated that he was unaware of the designation.

He maintained his innocence when confronted by General Burgdorff on the day he died and also told his wife and son that he had played no part in the events of July 20th. But ultimately, there’s no way to know what he was or was not aware of. He took that with him to the grave.

The list of members of the 20 July plot doesn´t name Rommel as part of the attempt to kill Adolf Hitler. But: Rommel was blamed of having known of plans to do so. So he was forced to commit suicide.

On 19 th October 1944 Rommel met two german generals at his home. They showed him pretended evidence about his paticipation in “operation valkyrie”, which he denied to be true. They accompanied him away from his home, where he swallowed a capsule filled with potassium cyanide and died. The two generals Wilhelm Burgdorf and Ernst Maisel , members of german court of military honour, who had handed over the capsule to Rommel, drove back to his home and contended that Rommel had died because of ramifications of an injury he received on 17th of July during an allied bombardement.

Given a choice between a trial, involving his disgrace, execution and his family’s impoverishment - and suicide - he chose the latter.

The story given to the public was that he’d died of wounds sustained in the air attack. He was named a “german hero”, was “honoured” with a state funeral an d buried in Herrlingen, Germany.

Had he lived who knows what his real fate might have been at the hands of the Allies. At the main Nuremberg trials, the two army generals prosecuted were Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel and General Alfred Jodl. Both were accused of conspiracy to commit crimes against peace; planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression; war crimes; and crimes against humanity. Both were convicted on all four charges and hanged.

The principal charge against Keitel was the infamous 13 May 1941 Barbarossa Decree, which condemned captured prisoners and ensured a high level of brutality by German soldiers against Soviet civilians. Jodl was the author of the Commando decree – ordering that any Allied commandos encountered in Europe and Africa should be killed immediately without trial, even if in proper uniforms or if they attempted to surrender. 

General Heinz Guderian is an example of a prominent German general who did survive the war but was not prosecuted for war crimes.

Another prominent example is Field Marshall Kesselring, who had commanded the defence of Italy after the Allies invaded. Kesselring was not prosecuted at Nuremburg, but did face a British military court in Italy. The Moscow declaration of October 1943 had stated that those accused of war crimes would be prosecuted in the country where they had committed their crimes. Although the trial was conducted in Italy, Italian judges did not participate as Italy was not considered an ally. Kesselring was prosecuted for the shooting of hundreds of Italian prisoners in retaliation for attacks on German soldiers. Kesselring was found guilty and condemned to death. British General Alexander, who had run the Italian campaign, and Winston Churchill pleaded for the sentence to be commuted - which it was. Kesselring was released in 1952 and lived until 1970.

By comparison Rommel was never accused of issuing similar decrees. Many felt that he was an honourable soldier. Nor was he ever accused of shooting prisoners in the way Kesselring was. Rommel’s military reputation is that of a highly professional soldier who carried out his duties according to a military code of ethics. His record is untainted by atrocities or unsavoury tactics against the enemy or civilian populations. He tended to live a charmed life early in the war.

Had he lived one can only speculate as to his fate and his legacy. Speculation regarding a possible role for him in the rebuilding of German forces for NATO, had he survived, is unrealistic. Rommel was never a strategically-minded commander. Indeed it is well known that Quartermasters hated him for his habit of outrunning his supplies on the battlefield.

The likelihood is he might well have been allowed to live without any kind of Allied retribution for war crimes as he was never guilty of any such departures from a strict military code of behaviour. But in trial - he would surely would have been put on trial even if he would be found not guilty - the messy details of his involvement with the Nazi regime would come to light. It would show that Rommel certainly benefited from the regime he served, and I think would have been considered guilty by association, even if his enthusiasm for Hitler waned in his final days.

Post-war, it would not have surprised me at all if the Allies had sought to build a West German government around Rommel. Staunchly anti-Communist, he nevertheless was seen widely as honourable and pro-West. But what role he would have been given - or what role the allies might have been able to make palatable to a war ravaged population - can only be speculated.

I suspect he would have served in some official capacity within the Bundeswehr before retiring to write his highly expected memoirs. It’s telling that Rommel’s chief of staff, Hans Speidel, drove the creation of the Bundeswehr and was the first to be named a generaloberst in that force. Later he was Supreme Commander of all NATO ground forces in Central Europe (which was almost all of it). It’s an intriguiing thought what Rommel might have played in a post-war Cold War Germany and Europe. Speidel and Rommel were inseparable and cut from the same bolt of cloth. Indeed it was Hans Speidel, who had been involved in the July 20 plot, wrote after the war that Rommel was a member of the resistance, (for which there is no evidence) that contributed towards Rommel and ‘The Good German’ Myth. 

Given all that was “overlooked” by both the Allies and the German people after World War Two. There’s no logical reason to think that Rommel would not have been as honoured, if not more so, after the war. After all, one of the main Bundeswehr barracks continues to be named after him in 1965.

To me he was a great general rightly lauded by his peers and military historians - but not the best. Rommel was a highly competent tactical commander, but there were many such commanders in the Wehrmacht. His prominence is due to a number of things. Firstly, he was always Hitler favourite; secondly Goebbels played him up in his propaganda; and thirdly he fought the British and Americans and thus received much more attention in the Western press and historians after the War than the German commanders fighting the Soviets.

Indeed an argument can be made that by fighting in the Western Desert in a sector that the British had logistical and material superiority (and thus difficult to defeat), Rommel essentially taught the British and the Americans Blitzkrieg tactics - essentially modern warfare. His very inflated legacy saved the British from admitting their military performance in North Africa was abysmal until the Axis forces overextended their supply lines and the American supply of goods was able to compensate for substandard British equipment. 

It’s also forgotten that Rommel also oversaw the building of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall which was essentially a fiction when he took over. Immense resources were poured into the project. The impact was to delay the Anglo-Americn invasion about 5 hours and only on one beach (Omaha).

And no matter how humane and honourable he was, Rommel was ultimately a weak man who chose to look away when it was convenient to his career to do so. Indeed I agree with many historians today that he was primarily bent on serving Hitler to advance his career. He was a man who believed he was serving a king and realises too late that he was a devil. I have little doubt that he was conflicted by that especially as it grew during the seven months of his life leading up to his death. Perhaps the best tactical military manoeuvre he made was to take the poison forced upon him and thereby save his family but also secure his legacy, even if that legacy remains mostly intact if a little more tarnished to this day.

Nov 15 Stream Timestamps

Timestamps from Technoblade’s “THE EVE OF REVOLUTION (dream SMP)”

Link to my youtube comment with all of the timestamps x

Timestamps with hyperlinks below

01:46  tagging everyone in the channel member discord / level 231 03:43  agenda book / revolution tomorrow / slept through stream time / sleeps twice a day for 4 hours 05:21  “I did not write 100 pages. Or did I. Maybe I have a traitor manifesto on the other 99 pages” / no steering wheel / coronablade jokes are very funny / went to the doctor and figured out his cough / “Stomach acid is useful for at least one thing” 08:47  can’t believe no one told him these things about post 1.8 / splash potions, regen, thorns / thorns aren’t intuitive and no one told him / youtube ads 12:50  “At least I didn’t insult the Ethans, the Ethans are everywhere” 16:02  “I was gonna talk about something on the way but I forgot. And now it’s gone forever” / “They found your base” “Well I have livestreamed it” 17:04 wants to buy a gong to be the ultimate sellout timer / “I would get kicked out of my parents house so quickly, but for the day it takes them to do that I would get so many subscribers” 20:31  thorns stacking 25:21  “There’s actually some pretty affordable gongs out there” 27:32  vc with BBH and Tommy / confusing Tommy and Tubbo / “Don’t you hate it when people just consider streamers an extension of their famous friends Tommy” / “I’m just the child from Technoblade’s videos 29:08  “Let's be allies. Can I have your helmet and boots?” / saying he’s rude for hijacking the call but forgetting to leave call / double sellout 33:55  “Me and Techno the leaders of Pogtopia” / “That is a fair assumption” / “I can’t believe Badboyhalo hates his fans” 34:57  BBH offering Tommy a bow / “Tommy you are so broke” / “Average sized man” / no one believes Tommy is 6’3” / Techno is taller in game 36:34  just wearing a face mask / “I do not support any of the views being espoused by this particular individual” / Tommy trying to imply covid but BBH asks if he’s talking about bigfoot 37:39  Techno hunting down BBH / Midair stabbing / “I’M SO GOOD AT MINECRAFT” / Tommy desperately trying to be included 40:41  “Oh Badboy halo~” / “It just doesn’t work when your name is 4 syllables” / detective work to find BBH 42:52  “So you want Tommy to be successful?” / “I wouldn’t go that far. I want my enemies to be unsuccessful” 43:58  battle ender chest plan / “I’m going to deafen. I don’t know why I’m explaining to you my pvp tactics” 46:15  “I would be absolutely furious if Tommy stole my 4th fastest horse. Tommy and I go way back” / being excited to see Tommy / Tommy could have sworn at BBH as an attack 47:34  “I guess I could spare a little bit of iron” / “I think that was a sarcastic joke that I didn’t understand” / Techno picked youtube over girls many years ago / Subpoena pet war 50:37  recruiting Techno to fight Sapnap / place where Tommy ran over Dream 55:22  vc with Tommy and Sapnap 56:51  “Sapnap I hate men so much. If I see a man in the street I grab a knife and plunge it into his neck” / “Wow surprise attack” / thought it’d be a real fight 59:09  needs Sapnap to come geared / “audience retention” / “I saw Sapnap fighting Punz earlier and they had potions and full netherite an it was fun” Tommy tries to suggest Techno sit the fight out / “You asked for me to be here” / “Tommy I’m stabbing someone with armour and it might just be you” 1:00:29  arranging a fight with BBH / “Not now sellout timer I haven’t earned it” / 161k / “New phone who this” (to Tommy) / 2v1 with BBH and Antfrost 1:04:38  hasn’t done a lot of fully geared 1.16 fights / trying not to make fun of Antfrost’s fire prot helmet 1:06:30  Sapnap and Tommy have worked out their differences and don’t need Techno 1:07:34  “I love my fans, I forgot to plug my cha nnel and they’re all reminding me” / “Only 1v2” “I could only find 2 guys” 1:09:25  “I’m so unbelievably lost” / “I have to have seen a location to add it to my human gps” / Techno hates the ugly pranks that take forever to fix 1:11:28  server losing connection / guy who Techno told not to drop out is going back to school 1:13:20  “That’s the thing about senior yearbook quotes, its right at the end of the year...the amount of time to beat you up is shockingly low” 1:16:24  offering Tommy assistance / the Dream Team has logged on / “I have to be quiet...My parents are threatening to turn off the wifi” / “You’re getting owned in every world” / Techno taking his sweet time 1:19:11  “We want to kill Sapnap” “agreed” / “Dream alliance pog” / “unless he meant to add a comma” / vc with Dream and George / Techno talking over Tommy 1:21:28  “I feel like Thunder is a werewolf” / Tommy questioning Dream and George / “I have my swag and no one has that” “Well they’d have that if they killed you and picked up your swag” 1:32:22  “You guys all work for me” / everyone killing Tommy / “anti Sapnap expedition” / “ask George ask George” “ask Dream” 1:23:54  stream crashes / and also his whole pc / asking for viewers to come back from Tommy 1:26:39  joining vc / Dream recap / cutting back on calling Tommy lame 1:28:01  photoshoot / “So much clout in this one picture” / Sapnap begging Tommy to kill his pets / “What if [the pets] belong to some god tier pvper” / S-L-A-V 1:30:12  “L-A-M-E” / “Shoutout to the slavs” / giving the fox a grapple 1:31:20  Dream taking off his leggings / fox eating the gapple / “Dream you are a highly unusual individual” / back to 125k 1:34:05  “People can’t yelling me for not roleplaying when Dream is mooning us in the background” / “You can disrespect my family, you can disrespect my religion, but you can’t disrespect minecraft” / “I hate this man” “NO” 1:35:40  Tommy challenging Sapnap a fight / Tommy trying to make Techno kill pets for him / Karl thirsting for the animatic 1:39:34  “If you make it out alive, give this to Sapnap’s cat for me” “If I make it out alive all his pets actually die” / Techno shooting the start arrow / “I’ll do the countdown...because I am an impartial mediator” / “You know how between those fight they have those sexy girl?” (Dream takes off his armor) / very engaging fight 1:42:31 post fight / “My chat’s spa.mming lame. It’s not my fault chat, Tommy doesn’t know how to crit” / “You might as well be naked” “Please don’t say that Dream” 1:44:28  “I wouldn’t say you’re that far from S-Tier” / “What tier am I in Technoblade?” “Who are you?” / “That was not an insult, I don’t know people’s voices” / “This entire server is just people that have killed Tommyinnit” 1:45:40  SMP Earth / “What country did you have” “I owned the world” / “A single country? (Dream) / trying to thorns kill Thunder / “Maybe if you die again the armor will come back” 1:47:12  Techno letting Karl trap him / Quackity tempting fate / snitch Dream / framing George 1:49:44  Dream complaining about trident flight / Techno bailing bc of boredom 1:57:19  Awesamdude leaving a potato trail / vc with Quackity and Sam / lying for content / complaining about getting free stuff 1:59:58  still lying to Quackity / “Quackity my entire chat is spa.mming lame, you’re going to need to pick up the pace” / heading to the jungle base 2:02:18  saturation stew is useful / “especially for content” / “If Carl dies I’d be okay with that, but not Andrew” 2:03:49  “Is Carl the orphan you said you were going to adopt” “Let’s go with that” / “If Carl dies I stop donating 2:04:31  Awesamdude snitching on Quackity / “I would be furious if I came back and Carl wasn’t in the exact block I left him” / lots of threats    2:06:41  “I’m not an orphan” “Not yet” 2:11:03  “It’s not an experiment, I’m just putting my hypothesis through multiple controlled trials where I adjust variables and record the results” / “I care about about the armor much more than the horse” 2:13:01  “Are you betraying anyone?” “No. I would never betray my personal ideals” / “What if the people you’re fighting alongside have different ideals?” “We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it” 2:17:28  Quackity’s failed forgery in chat

Completely Harmless Ch. 49

Completely Harmless An SSO SilverGlade Re-imagining Story (Or Fix it Fan Salt fic) By Ginny O.

When Lily and her friends wanted to buy horses and were directed to the Silverglade Manor and its myriad of problems, they didn’t expect to start a revolution. They were just a bunch a stable girls. Completely harmless. Right?

A/N: Things are only canon if I say they’re canon. Pre-Saving the Moorland Stables compliant for the most part. Posted in its entirety on my website. Posted in 2000 to 4000 word bits here. Rated T for Swearing Word Count 177,577

Chapter Forty-Nine The Lull Before The Storm

The food was proving to be very popular. (As were the floating lanterns, Kylie had to set up more stands at each beach party and recruit her friends to man them. She was making a killing.) So popular, that they had to get more supplies as the days went on. Loretta complained about having to go to Jorvik City to shop, but Lily just gave her a look. Loretta had volunteered for that part of the food.

That wasn’t all Loretta complained about. Justin and Alex also happened to be her next complaint. Loretta was trying to be the better person. Alex was just a phase. Justin would get over and come back to Loretta. Loretta loved him and always had.

Lily exploded. “You two were never together for him to come back to you.”

Loretta looked taken aback.

Lily took a deep breath. “Loretta, you’ve known Justin for a long time now. If anything was going to happen, it would have happened already.”

“You’re saying I don’t have a chance against Alex.”

“I’m saying that if you love him, truly love him, you’ll want him to be happy. Even if him being happy takes him away from you and to Alex.” Lily raised a brow at Loretta.

Loretta frowned. “But I want him to be happy with me?”

“Loretta, are you really in love with Justin? Or are you in love with the idea of Justin? Or even the idea of love?”

“We’re perfect for each other!”

“How?”

Loretta sputtered and rattled off a few superficial things about their riding capabilities, their looks, how they could be the Moorland riding power couple and win the Claymore Challenge and so on and so forth. Plus, Catherine Moorland had done the books like Loretta was doing now.

“That says nothing about Justin as a person.”

Loretta blinked. “What does that have to do with it?”

“Ohkay, your character is severely deficient. You aren’t bad, Loretta. You’re shallow. You don’t love Justin. You love the idea of being popular and being on top. You can be popular and on top by yourself. You don’t need Justin for that. You just need to be nice.”

Loretta looked at her blankly.

“You need to stand for something. Because right now, you don’t stand for anything at all. You don’t have any substance. You don’t care about Moorland Stables for more than it can give you, which is a tiny amount of power. The same goes for Justin, because he’s a symbol of the stables.”

“I don’t like you.”

“Mutual.”

The last day of the party came far too quick. A huge crowd gathered on the beach at the Dews Farm in Epona.

Maya had managed to drag her family from the Forgotten Fields for the event. Everyone was there, all the corporate sponsors, the Baroness. Even the Winterwell family and the Buttergoods had deigned to show up. The Li Family was hugging the Dews and chiding them for running off without explaining the situation to anyone.

Luciana had invited Ms. Drake of G.E.D. to come to Epona. She didn’t want Amelia’s cover blown.

Amelia and her club were making sure to not stick out in the crowd by wearing hats, sunglasses, and civilian style clothing they’d picked up over the week.

The atmosphere was jubilant.

Ms. Drake was brought up to the stage to join Luciania (proudly decked out in her Flying Fox Dressage Uniform), the Dew Family, Baroness Silverglade, and Baron Winterwell. The blonde woman in her sharp blue suit didn’t look pleased.

Not that the Baroness cared. She smiled sweetly at the younger woman. “Ms. Drake, on behalf of the Dew Family Race Challenge Sponsors and Event staff, we wish to present to you this money on the behalf of the Dew Family to cover their loans including interest towards the G.E.D. with the understanding that in taking this money that their debt to you is clear and their land is their own again.”

The crowd waited with bated breath as Luciana stepped forward with huge check to her.

Ms. Drake surveyed those on the stands and the crowd. She had no choice and been outmaneuvered. “I accept it gladly on behalf of the G.E.D.” she said her tone conveying that she wasn’t glad at all.

“This is the woman who sent a Rainbow Week card to herself,” Lily muttered.

Regina elbowed her.

Luciana handed the check over.

The crowd cheered.

Mrs. Dew burst into tears as her husband wrapped his arms around her to rock her back and forth.

Luciana grabbed another check.

“Mr. Dew,” the Baroness said kindly. “Not only were we able to raise enough money to cover your debts. We have enough to help you re-establish you in your rightful home.”

Luciana held the check out to them.

Mr. Dew took it with shaking hands. “I, I, don’t know what to say. You,” he gulped. “You didn’t have to do any of this. This is beyond any helped we cared to dream for our foolish actions.”

The Baroness sniffed.

“Thank you,” Mrs. Dew said hoarsely slapping her husband’s arm. “What he means is thank you.”

A group of girls ran up the stage. “Mr. Dew, Mrs. Dew,” they said together.

“We can help you. We want to be the riding club at your lovely farm,” they said. “Please?”

Mr. Dew looked overwhelmed.

Another group bounced up and down. “And we know animals, Mr. Dew. We can help at the other farm!”

The Baroness’ lips twitched. “What do you say, Matthew? I can tell you from experience these girls once they get the bit in their teeth give it their all and will do more than you ever thought possible. They also aren’t going to take no for an answer.”

Mrs. Dew beamed.

Mr. Dew swallowed hard. “We’d be honored to have help.”

The girls cheered jumping up and down. They smacked hands and hugged.

“Astro Monkeys!”

“Snoop Dogz!”

“Go!”

The Baroness leaned over. “I think the phrase is, roll with it.”

Mrs. Dew burst into laughter.

“All right everybody,” DJ Kai said through her microphone. “It’s time to celebrate!” She turned up the music. “Everybody dance now!”

It was an auspicious end to an auspicious week.

--

It didn’t take quite as long to take the decorations down as it had the last time during Rainbow Week. They were figuring out the routine. Everyone had so much fun with the Dew Family Race Challenge that there was talk of making it a permanent part of the Midsummer Beach Party.

Mr. Dew and Mrs. Dew were all right with that, but they were going to find some charities to give the money to instead of keeping it for themselves. The Astro Monkeys and the Snoop Dogz were working hard on cleaning up and opening up the two different farms.

“Not that they’re going to sell any horses,” Pauline said. “They don’t have the money to invest in stock like that right now.”

“I think we have enough options to choose from,” Lily rolled her eyes. She leaned against the fence and rubbed her neck. “Well, now what?”

Tyra leaned against the other side kicking her foot up lazily. “Agnetha says that we can’t put in the gardens for the race track until it’s done. And that looks like it won’t be done until after Happy Horse Week.”

“Which we need to plan for,” Lily said.

“Right. It’s a big event, but a completely different type of event,” Pauline nodded. “We celebrate Jorvik’s horses and Jorvik’s founding by Jon Jarl.”

Lily snorted. “As long as we aren’t celebrating that blowhard.”

Pauline’s brow furrowed. “How do you, no, never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“Jorvik Stables always has an open house.”

“Right, and we’re expanding that for every stable in the county.” Lily nodded.

“All the races are special races to show off the eventing capabilities of the county horses,” Pauline spun the shovel by the handle.

“Maybe we should do something educational? Like, do a lunging event while someone gives a talk about the history of the Jorvik Warmblood Sport,” Lily toed the ground with her boot.

“Ohhh, good idea,” Tyra nodded. She reached over and slapped Pauline’s shoulder. “Notes.”

“We’re going to need horse themed decorations,” Lily cracked her neck. “And we’ll need a cross country style event. Did we ever set up your races around Grape Mountain?”

“Nope,” Pauline popped her lips.

“Hmm, sorry.”

Pauline grinned. “We’ve been super busy, you know.”

“It’s important to you. So, thus, I’m sorry. Okay, a lunge event in the paddock to talk about the Jorvik Warmblood Sports, a dressage event and a showjumping event in the Riding Arena.”

“Since we have one.”

“And then we’ll set up some special cross country races around the Manor that won’t interfere with the Rose Garden Trail Ride too much, I hope.”

“At Jorvik Stables, they give beginning riding lessons.”

“We can use the Rose Garden Trail Ride for that then,” Lily waved her hands. “I take it this is going to be more hands on.”

“We can rotate shifts,” Pauline said her fingers flying over her phone as she leaned against the shovel.

“We’ll have to take pictures for Jorvikgram, and have a lost and found.”

Lily nodded.

“Moorland usually has another big feast and a huge cake,” Pauline said. “And we hide Golden Horse shoes all over the county.”

“And there’s the Light Ride over in Cape West.”

“We should do that together as a Club and include Linda and Alex,” Lily said.

They nodded.

“Okay, but this is in August and it’s June now.” Lily stretched her foot. “What are we going to do until then? I mean, we’re suddenly bereft of things to do and I don’t want to step on any toes by interfering with the other club’s domains.”

Tyra and Pauline just gave her looks down their noses.

“I like keeping busy.”

Tyra snorted.

Pauline raised a brow. “We could, I don’t know, train our green horses for the Claymore Challenge.”

Lily blinked. “Oh, right,” she blushed. “Um, how does one go about that?”

“Well,” Tyra drawled. “We have to earn ribbons.”

“There are three areas to the county,” Pauline said. “And every area has their events. In order to qualify for the Claymore Challenge, you need to beat a certain number of events in what they call the gold medal time.”

“I mean, for faults for showjumping it’s by not making any mistakes and under a certain time.”

Lily licked her lips. “So, we travel around the county earning ribbons and training our horses and if we have enough we make it to the Claymore Challenge?”

“Herman keeps track of it.”

“Or he’s supposed to,” Tyra muttered.

“We should um, make a route,” Lily scratched her head. “And a schedule so we don’t over extend the horses. Does that make sense?”

Pauline laughed. “Total sense,” she nudged Lily.

“Then let’s adjourn to the library and figure this out,” Lily rubbed her hands together.

They laughed and sent a text about a club meeting to the rest of the girls.

--

They were spending their time training around Jorvik for a couple hours each day and that meant they could check in with the other clubs, ask if they needed anything, or pitch in if the others seemed overwhelmed. Most the other clubs were doing the same. It was the Northern Golden Hills Valley, Firfall, and the Dews Farms that were rushing around trying to get things ready to show by Happy Horse Week.

They were grateful for the help.

It felt like a lull though before, something. No one was sure what. A shoe to drop, a storm. Something was coming.

Lily rode about with Alex to check the rune stones sometimes. Alex’s mother wasn’t doing so hot. She needed therapy and probably meds. Both of which were hard to get her.

“It’s why we all try so hard,” Alex sighed. “But she doesn’t want to accept the help.”

“You can’t force her. She has to want to do it. That’s the difficult thing. All you can do is love her and be there for her when she needs it,” Lily said.

“Are you speaking from personal experience?”

Lily shrugged. “I’ve seen it a lot growing up.”

“You don’t like to talk about it.”

“You don’t like talking about your childhood either.”

“Growing up poor on the wrong side of Jorvik City,” Alex snorted. “You don’t need to hear about that.”

Lily glanced over. “Alex, I’m a military brat. I’m lucky if I stay in a school two years. Stable doesn’t exactly describe my life and the towns that grow up around military bases aren’t known to be the safest.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “Woah. I mean, I guess I should have guessed or, I dunno.”

“By what? My love of legalism. My tendency to take charge, have schedules, or the love of mystery books and bad cop shows?” Lily laced her voice with sarcasm. “Dad’s an MP. Mom’s a nurse and works the military hospitals so that she’ll at least always have employment wherever dad is deployed. I’m lucky. They’re still together and don’t cheat. At least, as far as I know, they don’t.”

“The book thing?”

“You never know what you’re going to find drifting around a military base,” Lily shrugged a shoulder.

Alex turned back to the rune stone and concentrated taking the energy into herself. “Sorry, I assumed too much.”

“Because we don’t like to talk about it and most my clothes I’ve picked up here,” Lily rolled her eyes. “No offense taken, Alex.”

Alex finished with the stone. “I wish she’d get help.”

“She’s an adult,” Lily said. “And we teenagers aren’t supposed to be the ones with all the common sense.”

“Since when were we ever teenagers,” Alex drawled.

Lily nodded.

They rode in companionable silence.

“Thanks for listening, it helps.”

“Hey, if you can’t rant at me about Elizabeth, your crazy siblings, and your mother, who can you rant to? Linda? Maya? Justin?”

Alex huffed. “All right. All right. I get it.”

“Thanks for trusting me,” Lily nodded at her. “That means a lot. I mean, we weren’t predisposed to liking each other back when we first met.”

“I was worried you might be a stuck up like Loretta,” she paused. “Or Anne.”

“And I thought you were being a bit too hard and dismissive of your brother,” Lily sighed.

“As long as you didn’t think I was as conniving as he was!” Alex widened her eyes.

They both laughed.

“He’s a little shit,” Lily said. “But, he’s getting better.”

“Having his own horse that doesn’t take any excuses, helps a lot,” Alex grinned. “He adores that horse.”

“You think that they’re going to have all the hunting stuff ready for Happy Horse Week.”

“Definitely,” Alex nodded. “He’s even got these cute horse and dragon plushies on order.”

“I think the girls that like spiders have found most the babies,” Lily shuddered. “And tagged them with a GPS chip and IFRD chip tag, or whatever that acronym is. Just, no thank you.”

“The three of them are pretty driven about all these hunts,” Alex stretched out her legs. “All for the good, I think. It will give people who love exploring the area something to do and search for.”

Lily nodded.

Alex’ phone buzzed. She lit up in a huge grin. “Justin’s off work. See yah!”

Lily laughed. “Later alligator,” she called after Alex. She rolled her eyes. At least that seemed to be working out.

FOR THE ACCOMPANYING IMAGES PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE MY WATERMARK AND CONTACT INFORMATION. THANK YOU. I get it. Some of you might get excited and want to see this stuff in the game, especially the clothes, tack, and pets. However, the only way I want to see this in the game is if I get paid for it. If I see it in the game and I’m not paid for it, there will be hell to pay. You think I’m salty. I’d be angry. Personally, I’m not going to send this info to SSO. If you do, leave my contact information there! Don’t give them any excuses to steal.

Now, I’ll know you haven’t read this note if you leave me comments about how ‘salty’ I am about the game and if I hate it so much I should do something else. I am doing something else. It’s called Mystic Riders MMORPG Project. Mystic Riders however is a very baby phase game. You can check out our plans on the game dev blog. (Skills, Factions, Professions, Crafting, Mini-Games, 25+ horse breeds!) If you know anyone who would be interested and has money or contacts about game making, direct them to the blog.

Insight World -- Chapter 7

AO3 FF.net

Chapter 1 ● Chapter 6 ● Chapter 7

July 28th, 2010

Natasha put on an irritated look and snapped, “It’s a pacemaker. You know what a pacemaker is, right? People have them.” She shoved a file folder at the bored-looking security guard, who took it, opened it, and then immediately closed it and handed it back without apparently having read any of it. Natasha took it back without pausing in her angry muttering, and the two people behind their little group joined in, impatient at the delay.

“Fine, fine,” the guard grumbled, waving them through. “Get out of here.”

Natasha pushed the wheelchair forward, moving herself and Tony the rest of the way through the scanners. Clint straightened up from where he’d slouched against the edge of the scanner and followed, playing the part of the protective husband perfectly as he glared at the guard. The small device he’d left stuck to the scanner when they arrived was only visible to someone who knew it was there; as he stepped forward Steve noticed it nestled in a crack between the calibration controls and the Rapiscan brand name plaque.

Steve followed Clint through the scanner, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders slumped. The guard glanced at him and he shot back a discontented glare. To his surprise, he could practically see the moment the guard dismissed him to focus on the two men following their group.

“Well, that worked,” Tony commented as soon as they were outside the airport. “If you ever make me pretend to be an invalid in a wheelchair again, I am so out of this revolution.”

“You just had open heart surgery after five months of chemotherapy. Don’t sound so chipper,” Natasha hissed.

“And Cap, look more excited to see your uncle Tony,” Clint said. Now that he was no longer putting on a show for the security guard, his amusement at the situation was clear.

Steve pasted a fake grin on his face. It was the same one he’d used to pose for pictures with babies while men were dying.

“Stick with the sullen act. You’re better at it,” Natasha said.

A brown Volkswagen squareback pulled up in front of them and came to a stop. The door opened and a man in a suit jumped out. “Welcome to Lincoln,” he said. “Any hold-ups in security?”

“Nope,” Tony said. “Is no one going to mention how I managed to reprogram that virus to make the scanners overlook vibranium with no measuring equipment? No one?”

“Shut up and get in the car, Uncle Tony,” Natasha said. Clint grabbed Tony’s shoulders and made a show of supporting him as he climbed into the back seat of the SUV. Steve grabbed a bag off the back of the wheelchair and followed the other two men into the back seat. Natasha and the newcomer the wheelchair into the back and climbed into the front seats.

The man in the suit took the vehicle out of park and started to drive them out of the parking lot. “I take it this is the shield guy,” he said.

“That’s what you went with?” Clint asked. “‘Shield guy’?”

“Until we had some kind of identification, yes,” the man replied, his tone indicating that he would very much appreciate that identification now.

“Hey Natasha, grab the steering wheel. He’s going to have a heart attack,” Clint said.

“Cap, meet Agent Phil Coulson,” said Natasha. “Coulson, this is Captain America.”

“We got the Captain America theme,” Coulson replied. “Everyone did. Who is he?”

“Steve Rogers,” Steve cut in. “Good to meet you.” He caught Coulson’s eyes studying him in the rearview mirror.

“You don’t seem very surprised by this,” Tony pointed out, sounding almost disappointed.

“I’ve seen stranger,” Coulson said. “You should have been in New Mexico last year. How’d he get here?”

“I crashed into the arctic and froze.” The explanation didn’t sound quite as insane anymore as it had when Stanley had first explained it to him, perhaps because he had explained it himself so many times.

“Wow. Uh, wow.” Despite his lack of concern over the circumstances of Steve’s survival, Coulson seemed quite perturbed by his presence. It was an awkwardness Steve remembered encountering in ten-year-old boys. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

“This is all hideously embarrassing,” Tony interrupted. “I’m embarrassed for both of you.” Clint, who had almost been smirking at the exchange, elbowed him in the ribs. Tony grunted in pain and he immediately pulled back, giving him some space. Natasha glanced back at him, narrowed, calculating eyes taking in his every move. “I knew you liked Captain America, with the trading cards and all, but try not to be too much of a fanboy.”

“Trading cards?” Steve’s interruption served the dual purpose of satisfying his own curiosity and diverting the conversation from Tony’s involuntary sound of pain. Iron Man clearly wanted to cover up the fact that he’d gasped, and Steve didn’t see the point of drawing attention to it now. As he’d insisted in the apartment, his injuries would keep.

“They’re near mint,” Coulson said. Clint’s smirk returned, more evident in the crease of skin around his eyes and nose than in his mouth. “Some slight foxing around the edges. It took me a few years to collect them all. I’m only missing one.”

Steve nodded and looked out the window. The fields spread out for miles around in orderly rows of corn. He had never been to Nebraska before, though he had once claimed to be from Iowa on an enlistment form. “What are we doing in Nebraska?” he asked.

“Safest place to fuel a helicarrier,” Clint said. He continued without prompting. “The population in the Midwest is more spread out than it is on the coasts. There are fewer centers of power, and the communities are isolated and set in their ways. Hydra’s grip on the continent is weakest here. People won’t openly rebel, not after Fort Riley, but the oversight is less effective. People are more willing to overlook things they should report.”

“Fort Riley?”

This time Coulson explained. “Hydra took down the military first. Too many of them would never have sat back and let them take over, and they were armed. But they spared potential recruits. We think their play was threatening family members, tempting them with power and benefits. They have great dental, actually.” Steve turned his gaze from the fields to Coulson, waiting for him to continue. “It backfired at Fort Riley; a lot of the people they spared were thugs, but Hydra was too far for them. They took back the fort and a few miles around it. People that were being targeted saw it as a safe zone and migrated there like birds. Hydra sent one of the Insight Carriers and carpet bombed fifty miles all around Fort Riley. We looked for survivors, but we didn’t find any.”

Steve nodded, working the muscles in his jaw. He’d seen one of the Insight Carriers flying overhead while he was making his way through Montreal. People had ducked into the nearest building like that would somehow shelter them if it fired. He knew from the stories he’d heard that it would not; Insight’s targeting systems could read people through feet of concrete and punched through cinderblock like it was paper.

The car slowed and Coulson turned down a dirt road that led to a tiny municipal airport. He parked the vehicle at the end of the road and everyone got out. “Bring the wheelchair,” Natasha said to the group in general. Steve paused to pull it out of the trunk and then followed Coulson toward the northernmost building.

They rounded the building, entering the refueling area for small aircraft. A helicopter sat next to the refueling station, and as they approached it they were greeted by a black man with an eyepatch, who placed his hands on his hips and watched as the group approached. “I’ve got four seats in my helicopter and I’m seeing five people walking toward me,” he observed.

“Director Fury,” Coulson greeted with a smile as he stopped in front of the man. “This is Captain America.”

Fury shot a questioning look at Natasha. “We’re sure, sir,” she said. “He matches the DNA we have on file for Steve Rogers, and there’s unusual activity in his cells. I’d need more specialized equipment to be sure, but it’s consistent with the data we have on the serum.”

Fury looked at Steve for barely a moment before apparently gathering all the information he needed. “Welcome aboard, Captain,” he said, and then turned his attention to Tony, who was standing next to Clint. “You’re three months behind on your rent, Stark.”

“I wasn’t technically using that space,” Tony pointed out.

“Your cat was.”

A middle-aged man approached them from the shed. “Your tanks are full,” he said.

“Thank you, Mr. Yackley,” Fury said. “Your payment will come from the usual account.” He gestured to the waiting group. “Get in the helicopter,” he said. “And Stark. It’s good to see you in one piece.”

Chapter 1 ● Chapter 6 ● Chapter 7

Gotham 05X04, ‘Ruin’

I really could not care less about moralizing about Selina’s seeking revenge against Jeremiah, regardless of whether this moralizing comes from a Watsonian or a Doylist level. I probably won’t talk too much about that. This is Gotham.

- Are they just going to show the scene of Oswald stabbing Tabitha in every single ‘Previously On,’ now? It’s not like we’ve forgotten that happened.

- They went straight to burning teddy bear. This feels so exploitative, it’s not funny.

- Barbara can’t seem to bring herself to kill Oswald.

- Jim, the cop you’re manhandling may have a concussion. Please be mindful. (I know you won’t be.)

- Jim, Oswald isn’t responsible for every last bad thing that happens in Gotham City ever, and this really isn’t his MO. Mass murder is not his MO; it never has been. Why not think of Jeremiah?

- Mystery woman on the radio. Mystery woman is ineffectual.

- The Ungrateful Poor strike again!

- I’m sorry. My liveblogs are not at all eloquent this season, but Jim’s speeches are making me gag, and I just can’t.

- Bruce is still chained to the door. I really don’t care.

- Alfred has shown up. I really don’t care. I’m putting on the mute, because that’s how little I care. This show is not going to convince me that a girl seeking revenge against the guy who shot her is in any way an act of crossing the Moral Event Horizon when the heroes have all done worse.

- Barbara’s still wearing the bustier. Oh, fuck, that’s the outfit she was wearing in the hookup clip. I don’t want this I don’t want this I don’t want this.

- And of course Jim thought Barbara could have done it, too, even though it’s not remotely in-character for her, either. Jim, just because someone will do x crime, it does not necessarily follow that they will do y crime. You have all the critical thinking skills of a teenager running a discourse blog on Tumblr.

- And Oswald does something much more in-character for him, and puts his differences with Jim aside in order to unify against a larger threat.

- Handshake!

- We’re back to Ed, whom I did not miss. Is Tank still around? Does that box contain his body parts?

- No, it’s just empty.

- I think Ed’s heading to the GCPD.

- I don’t think they’ve found the Haven shooter, but they have found Victor Zsasz. Nice to see him again.

- Ed is literally walking into the GCPD with a blanket over his head. …These are the depths to which we have sunk.

- Lucius, smart, wonderful man, recruits Ed to help him figure out who bombed Haven, presumably to keep him from causing too much trouble.

- Lucius Fox, the last good man in Gotham.

- Zsasz is refreshingly funny.

- Oswald, honey, it’s Zsasz. I don’t think your particular method of tongue-loosening is going to have much of an impact.

- Back to Selina. I don’t care about the story that frames a female character’s pursuit for revenge as an irrevocable slide towards the Moral Event Horizon when plenty of the male characters have done worse and been allowed to come back from it.

Especially when Selina would probably be doing Jeremiah’s captives a massive favor by killing him.

- It’s hard to tell with the mute on, but yeah, Jeremiah and a blonde lady. Gag me.

- Why am I starting to suspect that Ed bombed Haven when he was on one of his late-night alter-ego sprees?

- Yeah, police brutality doesn’t really work on Zsasz.

- And Oswald is not buying that Zsasz is innocent, and is going to set up a kangaroo court to try him. Apparently he’s finally realized that far from being horrified by the idea of torture, Zsasz is probably into it.

- Why are Ed-Lucius interactions so good?

- Ed, tantrums are not going to help you.

- Gotta admit, the courtroom looks nice. Panopticon-ish, but nice.

- Obviously, I cannot condone kangaroo courts. They actually hold a special place of hate in my heart. In a climate like this, though, I can hardly deny that mob justice taking hold for at least a short time was basically inevitable.

- Another gag-inducing speech.

- And quite frankly, given Zsasz’s other murders and his place of infamy in Gotham City’s history as a serial killer and mafia enforcer, you really shouldn’t be surprised that the mob of Ungrateful Poor still want him dead in spite of Jim’s arguments to the contrary. I don’t know what he was expecting. Even if you take away the bombing, there’s still all the other shit we know he did. A mob who’s already been baying for blood isn’t going to stand down just because oh, he didn’t do this one thing.

- They have a guillotine and everything. With a basket. I suspect the French Revolution references are going to be as sensitive as the authoritarian regime references ever were.

- Yeah, I know they should be doing it on principle and all, but if I had to pick who I was going to take a stand for in an a fucking cynical show like this one, I wouldn’t make a stand for Victor Zsasz. Not first thing.

- Zsasz’s panache when he’s faced with the guillotine is admirable.

- Are we playing Russian roulette now? Are Jim’s suicidal tendencies rearing their ugly head again?

- Jim, Zsasz was right. We have the benefit of foresight, and we know he’s right. Gotham is always going to belong to the bad guys. You’re not the hero. Bruce is the hero, and even he is always going to be running against the wind, never making a dent that lasts longer than about thirty seconds.

- We’re back to Bruce and Alfred and I do not care.

- I liked Jeremiah’s old personality better. The S4, post-gassing personality, I mean. It was actually somewhat unique. This is just cheap. Poor Monaghan.

- Selina stabbed Jeremiah. Good. This is a fictional show with fictional characters, and after a certain point, you can say that killing is justified in fiction, because they aren’t real people. I’m putting the mute back on now.

- Huh, Ed really did blow up Haven. Maybe. The woman may have been paid by Other Ed to tell him as much.

- Jim’s having a stiff drink, only to be interrupted by Babs.

- Why would Barbara give him the time of day?

- Please tell me this is manipulation. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

- Oh, fuck, that sweeping music. GAG ME.

- And the ‘next time’ has Ed blaming Oswald for his behavior. Why am I not surprised?

Hello so I’m female, bisexual, either ship gender works for me. Could you do endless summer, the maze runner, and divergent?I am 5’9 I have black hair and brown eyes.I love to swim, practice shooting my B.B. gun, draw, sing in the shower NEVER in public , do photography, read,cuddle, go to the movies and get lots of candy, shop, binge watch tv, listen to music more like pop a lot.I keep my promises and stay loyal to others, at first I’m quite but I eventually come around to be sweet and caring.

I Ship You With…

E S T E L A   M O N T O Y A

• I ship you with Estela! Okay buckle up because this is going to be a tough, but fun ride. As you know, it takes a lot of time for Estela to open up, but when she does, it’s just so rewarding that it’s worth all the efforts you put into it. She’s actually a huge softie deep down, and I totally headcanon that you would be the first person she would ever fall in love with. She would be super awkward in her head about it, completely lost, and she would obviously not confide in anyone about it, not wanting to be judged or percieved as “weak” - because she believed her feelings and attachment to you made her weaker, since they could be used against her. She spent months stuck in that mindset, and it took her long hours of convincing that it wasn’t a weakness and it could actually make her even stronger than she already was. The first person who would know would actually be Jake, I think; he would discover it by accident, maybe because Estela would let something compromising slip and his arrogant wit would definitely piece it all together and figure out that she had feelings for you. He would get cocky about knowing at first, but she would make sure he understood that if he DARED spill her secret, she would personally rip his guts out, and he knew she was perfectly capable of doing so. That’s why he didn’t brag about it too much, and tried to hit on you for her as much as he could, though. It often led to awkward situations, but at least you would catch the drift pretty quickly, at least much more quickly than if Jake hadn’t intervened. Estela NEVER would have thanked Jake for doing something, but she was relieved, to be completely honest.

• There’s something in both of your personalities that makes me think that you would work so well together? Like you really remind me of her and I think you would teach each other amazing things. First of all, you would teach her how to shoot with a gun. I can see her being very good with spears (obviously) and knives and weapons like that, but kinda sucking at firearm. She would struggle quite a lot at the beginning, trying to replicate her uncle’s position that she had seen when she was younger - but what she didn’t take into account was that her uncle was much more experienced than her, and her memories were a bit foggy since the revolution had happened so many years before. You were patient with her, even when she got angry at not succeeding - something that happened often, despite her best efforts not to take out her anger on you. Not being the best was something that really, really frustrated her. You would also teach her how to draw! She would also get a bit impatient with it, because her first attempts were a little… hazardous, but you explained to her that drawing, just like any other art or activity, was something that you learnt through years of practice and couldn’t master in one setting only. It was still a bit irritating to her, but she understood perfectly, and came back every day to draw something. After a few weeks of training, she would wake up one day before you (just like every other morning), take her sketchbook and draw your sleepy figure, while you were unaware of it. She would spend hours perfecting the drawing, and letting all her emotions flow in a much less violent way than everything else she had been used to. Drawing was like a liberation: you were Estela’s liberation.

M I N H O

• I ship you with Minho! It would also be a bumpy road, but definitely an amazing one. You would compliment each other very well and with your sportiness, I can definitely see you being a runner in the Maze A. At first, Minho would be a bit wary of you, not knowing anything about you, and because he definitely couldn’t trust a girl, especially not one who had just arrived after only boys were sent for years. But you would prove your worth day after day, in the Maze and the Trials after, and Minho would quickly develop deeper feelings for you, ranging from admiration to incomprehensible lust - and then, he had to face the truth: he had fallen in love with you. You would be the hyperactive couple, always trying new activities and being super adventurous in general, fighting alongside each other and protecting each other. When Minho would get captured by WICKED, you would be the first one to leave no stone unturned to find him. Your strength was what kept him grounded in his period of captivity: he would cling onto the memories of the two of you and ask himself “what would Y/N do in this situation?”. That’s how he would end up making most of his decisions… sometimes stupid, yes, but always led by your voice in his mind.

• You would also teach him how to swim. After the eruptions, water wasn’t common anywhere in America, and especially not in the Scorch, but throughout your journey, you came across a few bodies of water and wanted nothing more than to clean off all the dust and sweat that you had been keeping in for weeks. Minho had never learned how to swim, being taken by WICKED at a very young age and right after the eruptions and the global droughts. You were older when WICKED took you in, so you had already learned, and that was when Minho timidly asked you if you could teach him. (and it would totally be an excuse to see you in your bathing suit, too)

E R I C

• I ship you with Eric! You would intrigue him as soon as his eyes would fall on you on the first day of training, at the Dauntless compound. You, the newest Abnegation transfer, in your old, crumpled gray clothes, but with such a fierce glint in your eyes that made you look a hundred times more intimidating than you actually were. Eric’s habits were to push every trainee to their limits, see their full potential, and eliminate the ones who couldn’t make it - it wasn’t a matter of being nice, it was a matter of deserving it. With you, however, he couldn’t quite tell if you, indeed, did deserve it, but what he would notice immediately was that you were damn willing to prove yourself and never abandon. You weren’t used to leave empty-handed, and your determination and combativity was something Eric admired in recruits, even if they weren’t Dauntless borns. You would notice him coming watch the combat training more often than usual, even if your Dauntless-born friends would tell you that he rarely showed up, having “better things to deal with”. Sometimes when you were sparring with some other trainee, you would notice with a quick glance his eyes fixated on you, him biting his lower lip and eyeing you up and down. You wouldn’t pay much attention to it at first: he was probably observing your strengths and flaws just like any other mentor would do. However, when you started snatching the first places of the ranking, his gaze would grow more insistant and more predator-like - finally, he would approach you a few days before your first time exploring the Fear Simulation. It would be the first time you would actually talk to each other and it would be clear he had started taking a liking into you: Eric wasn’t one to be shy about his feelings towards a pretty girl, especially not a pretty and badass girl.

• Thanks to your loyalty and your dedication, you would be the only person he would ever trust to show his Fear Simulation, a place he considered to be the most sacred of all, even if it wasn’t a physical spot. You would get used to his rather harsh and authoritarian tone, and even if at first it would rub you the wrong way, you would start to understand his bossy side. He, on the other hand, would soften it a little around you, because he would understand how precious your affection was and that it wasn’t something he could let get away. You felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to Eric, as cheesy as it sounded - and goddamn if he hated being cheesy -, and he wasn’t ready to let you go. You would soon start to take private fighting lessons with him, sparring, shooting, training with bladed weapons… he would teach you everything he knew, and you would also show him a lot of things in return. Those after-hours sessions allowed you to get closer… a lot closer ;) at least close enough for Eric to finally shut up all the contradictory voices in his mind, and pin you up against a wall to kiss you right after you won a sparring match and a cocky smile crept its way to your lips. He was more than happy to wipe it off with his own. And you were more than happy to finally have succeeded in making all the walls of the cold, distant Eric Coulter, crumble down.

Moodboard

Playlist

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can’t Stop

The Score - Unstoppable

Fox Stevenson - Trigger

Woodkid - Run Boy Run

ships are closed!

9 winners from Week 8 of the NFL season

Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Young wideouts balled out ... with a little help from trick plays.

You know who the losers of Week 9 were? Sure, the Bengals, the Broncos’ coaches, and anyone who wasted a prime fantasy football waiver wire spot on Detroit backup running back Ty Johnson (38 total yards). But mostly it was all of us, because we were deprived of a Patrick Mahomes-Aaron Rodgers showdown.

Mahomes missed his Sunday Night Football date with Green Bay thanks to a dislocated kneecap that threatens to keep him from the field until Week 10. Rodgers, fortunately, made sure the fans at Arrowhead Stadium wouldn’t go home without seeing at least one “how on earth?” play:

Unreal.@AaronRodgers12 magic on SNF! #GBvsKC | #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/OzFFykBX0A

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) October 28, 2019

Somehow Rodgers wasn’t throwing that ball away, and it gave Green Bay a late lead in a back-and-forth battle with backup quarterback Matt Moore, who was surprisingly game. The Packers’ QB threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-24 win, while Moore threw for 267 yards and two scores.

Neither was the king of Week 8, though. That title belonged to dominant wide receivers and defensive-shattering trick plays.

But that doesn’t include:

Not considered: Eddy Pineiro, who is a very Bears kicker after all

Chicago had a, uh, bold strategy late in its comeback effort against the Chargers Sunday afternoon. After a Mitchell Trubisky scramble put the ball at the LA’s 21-yard line, the Bears eschewed a shot at the end zone with 43 seconds left in a 17-16 game in order to ... take a knee and settle for a field goal instead.

That took the ball out of Trubisky’s hands and sent a rushing offense that had broken free for 162 yards to the sideline. That set up Pineiro, the hero of a Week 2 victory over the Broncos, for what could have been the second game-winning kick of his young career. He’d gone 2-of-2 with his 50+ yard kicks to start the season, and a 41-yard attempt was well within his range.

But as well as he’d kicked in Weeks 1-7, settling for a long-ish Pineiro field goal was still a big risk. He’d doinked a kick off the upright on a 33-yard attempt in the first quarter, and his three successful field goals Sunday all came from 25 yards or closer.

This all created a perfect and familiar storm for Bears fans:

oh no, Bears pic.twitter.com/1EDNWxSxOV

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 27, 2019

Chicago lost despite gaining 157 more yards than the Chargers and possessing the ball for 16 more minutes than LA. It’s almost an accomplishment to lose that way.

Now on to ...

Week 8’s real winners:

9. The Browns, who lost pathetically but at least tried something new

The less said about Cleveland’s “three turnovers in three plays” offense the better, but there was a little cause for optimism outside of Nick Chubb’s 131-yard performance Sunday. Trailing by 14 late in the fourth quarter following a field goal, the Browns swapped out placekicker Austin Seibert for punter Jamie Gillan for the ensuing kickoff.

The Scot uncorked a well-placed dropkick that skidded toward the sideline and was inches away from being only the second onside kick recovered by the kicking team in 2019:

the Browns used punter Jamie Gillan to break out the onside dropkick and it almost (almost!) worked pic.twitter.com/AO9YtJPC9L

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 27, 2019

It didn’t work, but it came close. And that’s a big deal, because the onside kick in its current state is broken. Gillan’s dropkick was an improvement over Justin Tucker’s poorly executed attempt back in September, and it could help bring a low-key revolution in the onside game as the league scrambles to find a way to fix an otherwise hopeless situation.

8. The NFL’s pass interference review rule, which actually worked on Sunday

The league made pass interference calls and no-calls reviewable in 2019 following last season’s debacle at the end of the Rams-Saints NFC Championship Game. While it’s given coaches plenty of opportunities to test their fortunes against back judges across the NFL, it’s led to little actual change. From Weeks 3-7, only one pass interference challenge resulted in the call on the field being changed.

But Sunday, late in a close game between the Colts and Broncos, that process worked to perfection. T.Y. Hilton’s third-and-5 crossing route turned into an incomplete pass after defensive back Coty Sensabaugh held his hand (literally) through the last half of his route.

no flag pic.twitter.com/srrvuax8ET

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 27, 2019

Colts head coach Frank Reich challenged the no-call and, in a relative rarity, the call was reversed. Indianapolis didn’t do anything with its new set of downs — it punted a few plays later before eventually rallying to a 15-13 win — but it’s good to see something useful came from this recent rash of rule changes.

7. Miles Sanders, who got his first career rushing touchdown against one of the league’s top defenses

Sanders had seen his role in the Eagles’ run offense diminish over the past few weeks. After starting off his rookie year with 10+ carries in his first four games, he’d gotten the ball only 18 times (for 42 yards) in his last three appearances.

That left the former Penn State star to plead his case for more responsibility against Buffalo’s top-10 rushing defense. He was pretty convincing:

Some serious MILES per hour. Miles Sanders goes 65 yards for his first career rushing TD! #PHIvsBUF @BoobieMilesXXIV : FOX : NFL app // Yahoo Sports app Watch free on mobile: https://t.co/a16R5wPShJ pic.twitter.com/skH2JQAp3A

— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2019

Unfortunately for Sanders, he couldn’t keep up this furious pace. He left the game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury, limiting his output to 118 total yards and a touchdown on six touches — three catches, three carries. Even so, he joined some lofty peers after gaining 250 rushing yards and 250 receiving yards in his first eight games as a pro — other members in that club include Marshall Faulk, Terrell Davis, Saquon Barkley, and Alvin Kamara.

Sanders says he’s “fine,” so expect him to capitalize on that momentum next week against another smothering defense. The Eagles face the Bears in Week 9.

6. Devon Kennard, who got revenge over the team that didn’t want to pay him

Kennard broke into the league with the Giants, starting six games in 2014 as a fifth-round draftee. He’d stick in the team’s linebacker rotation over the next four years, making 35 starts as a versatile Swiss Army Knife-style player in the second level.

But when it came time for a new contract in 2018, New York declined to offer him an extension and let him test free agency. The Lions made him a priority, swiping him from the East Coast as their first signing under head coach Matt Patricia.

It took a year and a half, but Kennard got a chance to make the Giants finally pay up.

DK doing DK things! @DevonKennard pic.twitter.com/88piPbfTaC

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 27, 2019

Daniel Jones’ latest implosion behind a slipshod offensive line resulted in a backward pass, and Kennard was there to clean it up. His first NFL touchdown came against his former team, giving the Lions an early 7-0 lead in a 31-26 win. His seven tackles tied for the team lead as the Lions climbed back to .500 for the season.

5. New MVP candidate Kirk Cousins and his new best buddy Stefon Diggs

I guess it’s time to talk about Kirk Cousins. In a good way, too!

The former Washington QB failed to make a major splash in his first season with the Vikings. The man with the $84 million fully guaranteed contract couldn’t exceed the standard set by Case Keenum in 2017. That combination of overpaid and underwhelming bled into the start of 2019, when Cousins threw for just 735 yards in Minnesota’s 2-2 start.

Then the calendar flipped over to October, and Cousins’ renaissance has been undeniable. In his last four weeks, the veteran has thrown for an average of 315 yards per game, has a TD:INT ratio of 10:1, and has recorded an absurd quarterback rating of 137.1. The Vikings have gone 4-0 as a result, winning each of those games by double digits.

For the season, Cousins’ 115.3 passer rating and 9.3 yards per pass are both career highs that currently lead the NFL’s crop of QBs. The secret to his success? Remembering Diggs plays on his team:

Diggs averages, Vikings games 1-4 (2-2): 3.3 catches, 52.3 yards, 0.3 touchdowns per game Diggs averages, Vikings games 5-8 (4-0): 6 catches, 124 yards, 0.8 touchdowns per game

That’s made Adam Thielen’s recent absence a lot more tolerable in Minnesota these past two weeks. Cousins had just three incompletions in 28 attempts Thursday.

4. Flea flickers (and other trick plays), which are pretty damn great

Week 8 was a banner day for unorthodox plays. It all started in New Orleans, where head coach Kliff Kingsbury and his undermanned Cardinals team got bold in their upset bid against the Saints.

Kingsbury, a man who spent five years trying to make his way in the Big 12 with recruiting non-powerhouse Texas Tech, is used to spinning hay into gold. His creativity in divining offensive strategies is what led him to Arizona after being fired by the Red Raiders. He put that on full display Sunday afternoon.

Made ya look. pic.twitter.com/fToZrd1m9i

— Arizona Cardinals ⋈ (@AZCardinals) October 27, 2019

Kingsbury brought his fight directly to New Orleans, dialing up some first-quarter trickery with a WR sweep to Christian Kirk that developed into a flea flicker deep ball to tight end Charles Clay. The only problem with the play was that it wasn’t designed to go to someone quicker; the plodding veteran was brought down inside the New Orleans 15-yard line, turning a potential touchdown into an eventual field goal for Arizona.

That worked well enough to convince Lions head coach Matt Patricia to run pretty much the exact same play a little later (I’m kidding. Patricia only watches Patriots games).

OMFG pic.twitter.com/QWSZaiyrv0

— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) October 27, 2019

That trickeration went to burner wideout Kenny Golladay, and it ended in a much-needed touchdown to shut down the Giants’ repeated comeback efforts.

But these weren’t limited to U.S. soil. The Rams, playing overseas in London, turned a handoff to Cooper Kupp into a touchdown catch for Cooper Kupp.

RAMS DOUBLE REVERSE ALERT @CooperKupp pic.twitter.com/QA3nYA8pyk

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 27, 2019

Quarterback Jared Goff took the snap and handed the ball off to his streaking wideout. He then pitched the ball back to Josh Reynolds, running in the opposite direction. Reynolds gave it back to Goff, who found Kupp tearing down the sideline as the Cincinnati secondary stumbled over its own feet trying to rectify the mistake. Then 65 yards later, the Rams were up 17-10 and the good people of London got a brief respite from a week when they were forced to deal with both Brexit and a Bengals game.

3. Deshaun Watson, who rallied the Texans to victory with one eye

With his Texans trailing Oakland late in the fourth quarter, Watson needed a touchdown. What he got was one of the most unbelievable plays of his budding career.

Deshaun Watson is UNREAL!@deshaunwatson | #OAKvsHOU pic.twitter.com/AInH5MDHR2

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 27, 2019

Watson spun out of a sack, got kicked right through the facemask, and slung the ball to tight end Darren Fells despite a bloody and rapidly swelling eye. That touchdown would prove to be the deciding points in a win that kept Houston in the thick of the AFC playoff race at 5-3.

So could Watson see his target after getting kicked in the eye? Nope! He was pretty much just running on autopilot.

“I kind of threw it blind,” he told reporters in his postgame press conference. “I kind of assumed where he was going, kinda adjusted, let my arm guide it. I didn’t even see the play till after the game.”

Deshaun Watson is so good that he can roast you with one eye or fewer. Legend.

2. Mike Evans, now officially the greatest wide receiver Tampa Bay has ever seen

No other player in Buccaneers history has more catches than Evans, who raised his career total to 433 with an 11-reception, 198-yard, two-touchdown game. That’s impressive — but not nearly as impressive as the fact it took him less than five and a half seasons to get there.

Evans was responsible for 100 percent of his team’s touchdowns in a loss to Titans. Without him, Jameis Winston’s stat line would have been a 10-of-31, 103-yard, two-interception crater.

His record-setting catch was a perfect fit for a wideout who has used his size and speed to consistently stand out as the Bucs’ biggest weapon. Evans drew single coverage at the goal line and ran a simple out route that looked easy but would have been nearly impossible for a smaller, slower receiver to haul in.

That's career catch 4️⃣3️⃣1️⃣ for Mike Evans, giving him the most receptions in Bucs franchise history.#GoBucs | #TBvsTEN pic.twitter.com/7WfazNh9LM

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 27, 2019

And somehow, this wasn’t the biggest receiving performance of Week 8.

1. Cooper Kupp, who boosted his jersey sales in the UK exponentially

Since 2010, 61 wide receivers drafted in the first round have failed to record at least 220 yards over the course of a season. On Sunday, Kupp hit that benchmark on his own.

The Rams-Bengals matchup wasn’t exactly a gift to the British Isles, but Kupp gave the fans at Wembley Stadium something to tell their grandchildren about. He finished his day with seven catches for a career-high 220 yards and a touchdown (the double-reverse flea flicker covered in No. 4 above). More absurdly, all those catches came in the first 33 minutes.

That was 2019’s biggest performance at wideout and a personal record for Kupp by 58 yards. He’s currently on pace for a 116-catch, 1,584-yard, 10-touchdown season — all of which would carve out his place in the uppermost tier of the league’s wide receiver pyramid.

25 Best Movies on Hulu Right Now (September 2019) | ScreenRant

Hulu has a lot of great movies - here are the 25 best films on the streaming service. In an age of options, less feels like more. While Netflix has an ever-expanding library, Hulu offers a more focused collection of great movies. Because volume isn’t the objective, Hulu succeeds in curating a batch of excellent films.

There are the iconic classics like The Matrix and Seven, the arthouse darlings like Sorry to Bother You and Let the Right One In, and the pure entertainment gems like The Fifth Element and Shrek. Hulu keeps it simple, and offers something for everybody. Here are the 25 best movies that you can watch on Hulu right now.

Related: The 25 Best Films on Netflix Right Now

Before we start, first a disclaimer. modern streaming libraries are like carousels, always moving and always changing. The films in this list are available on Hulu at the time of writing. We’ll be updating this top 25 list frequently, so keep an eye out for Hulu’s latest and greatest offerings. Also, the list isn't ranked from worst to best, so a lower number is not meant to denote higher quality. It's just a list of 25 great movies.

Last updated: September 5, 2019

25 Detroit

While it slipped through awards season without much hype, Detroit remains one of 2017’s best films. Rotten Tomatoes awarded it an 84% for its “gut-wrenching dramatization of a tragic chapter” in American history. Director Kathryn Bigelow tackles the 1967 incident in Motor City with aplomb, deftly guiding a sprawling cast (led by John Boyega and Will Poulter) through a maze of tension, bigotry, and survival. Detroit streams exclusively on Hulu.

24 The Fifth Element

One of the most unique sci-fi films of its decade, director Luc Besson's 1997 hit The Fifth Element served to launch the career of future Resident Evil franchise lead Milla Jovovich into the stratosphere, and is now on Hulu. Bruce Willis stars as Korben Dallas, a 23rd century cab driver who ends up unwillingly thrust into a quest to save the Earth when Leeloo (Jovovich) jumps off into a building into his flying vehicle. The two are opposed by Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman), a brash villain working on behalf of a great cosmic evil.

23 Seven

One of the most respected crime thrillers of the 1990s, Seven has style to spare, and was one of the films to first establish David Fincher as a director be reckoned with. Seven stars Brad Pitt as brash young detective David Mills, who partners up with soon to retire detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) in order to try and catch a serial killer who bases his murders on the seven deadly sins. Hauling in over $300 million at the box office on a $33 million budget, Seven was both a critical and commercial smash, and deserves to be revisited on Hulu.

Read More: 15 Awesome Facts You Didn't Know About Seven

22 The Matrix

One of the biggest pop culture phenomenons of its time, 1999's The Matrix put sibling directors The Wachowskis on the map. The Matrix's quite brilliant premise is that the world and everyone in it is in fact a computer simulation powered by the very humans that dwell there, after a catastrophic war between mankind and machines. One day, Thomas Anderson aka Neo (Keanu Reeves), a mild-mannered computer programmer by day and hacker by night, is woken up to the sad reality of his situation by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), leaders of a human resistance effort seeking to expose The Matrix to the public. Sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions are also available on Hulu.

21 Basic Instinct

While 1992's Basic Instinct is most remembered for a particularly scandalous scene involving Sharon Stone, the movie as a whole is quite the enthralling neo-noir suspense thriller. Directed by Paul Verhoeven, Basic Instinct stars Michael Douglas as detective Nick Curran, who makes the mistake of becoming romantically involved with murder suspect Catherine Tramell (Stone). Well, depending on one's definition of romance. One of the biggest hits of the 1990s, Basic Instinct made over $350 million, and is a Hulu pick definitely aimed at adults.

20 Lethal Weapon

Directed by 1980s mainstay Richard Donner, 1987's Lethal Weapon still stands as one of the quintessential examples of how to do a "buddy cop" action movie right. Mel Gibson stars as Martin Riggs, a suicidal sergeant with a short fuse and nothing to lose. Riggs gets partnered up with by the book lawman Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), leading to a slowly blossoming friendship, and one of film's most beloved duos. Lethal Weapon would spawn three successful sequels, and a TV reboot that aired on FOX. All are currently available on Hulu too.

Read More: Where Are They Now? The Cast Of Lethal Weapon

19 An American Werewolf in London

There are many iconic movies about vampires, ghosts, witches, and demons, but unfortunately, the werewolf tends to come up short in that department, starring in more stinkers than hits. Arguably the best werewolf movie of all time is 1981's An American Werewolf in London, directed by John Landis, and now on Hulu. Boasting amazing practical creature effects that hold up today, the film tells the story of David Kessler (David Naughton), an American backpacking in Europe that ends up surviving a werewolf attack that kills his best friend. Unfortunately, it's not too long before David realizes he's now cursed to kill during the full moon.

18 Ocean's Eleven

While director Steven Soderbergh might be better known for his award-worthy dramas, sometimes he stops being quite so serious, and creates the laid back chill of 2001's Ocean's Eleven. A critical and commercial ($450 million worldwide) hit, Ocean's Eleven manages to be both a thrilling heist caper and an amusing bit of ensemble fun, perfect for Hulu subscribers. Said ensemble boasts some huge names, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Bernie Mac.

17 Hellraiser

Any dedicated horror fan has surely had their soul torn apart multiple times by Hellraiser's Pinhead (Doug Bradley) by this point. Director Clive Barker (adapting his own novella) crafted one of the most enduring tales of terror to come out of the 1980s, spawning one of the longest-running horror franchises out there as well. Hellraiser may only have a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it's a certified classic of the genre, and needs to be watched by anyone who enjoys a good fright flick. Direct sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II is also part of Hulu's roster.

Read More: The Real Life Inspirations Behind 11 Horror Movie Icons

16 Frank

To some, Michael Fassbender is a young Magneto. To others, he’s a two-time Academy Award nominee. To a select few, he’s the gonzo pop musician and eponymous hero in Frank, the offbeat artist who became more famous for his oversized paper-mâché mask than his music. Directed by Lenny Abrahamson (Room), Frank earned a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score and remains a cult classic to adventurous Hulu viewers looking for a changeup in their visual diet.

15 Annihilation

One of Screen Rant's favorite movies of 2018, Annihilation is a visionary sci-fi film written and directed by Alex Garland, who previously made his directing debut with the equally arresting Ex Machina. Natalie Portman stars as Lena, one of the only survivors of an expedition into a realm called "The Shimmer," which serves as home to places and creatures beyond anything known to the natural world. Sporting an 89% RT score, Annihilation just arrived on Hulu, and also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac.

14 Training Day

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Training Day features Denzel Washington in arguably his greatest role, alongside an equally game performance by Ethan Hawke. Washingston stars as Alonzo Harris, a highly decorated but also highly corrupt narcotics officer, tasked with showing new recruit Jake Hoyt (Hawke) the ropes. Alonzo is a villain through and through, but damn is he fun to watch at work. Surprisingly, Training Day only holds a 72% on RT, despite earning Washington an Oscar and Hawke an Oscar nomination. Regardless of the lower rating, Training Day is still one of the best films on Hulu.

Read More: Ethan Hawke is (Sort Of) Right About Superhero Movies

13 Spaceballs

Made back in the days when director Mel Brooks could seemingly do no wrong, Spaceballs is a hilarious parody of the original Star Wars trilogy. While it wasn't quite a critical hit, Spaceballs has earned itself a gigantic cult following in the decades since its release, and features terrific comedic performances from greats like Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Joan Rivers, and even Brooks himself as the wise sage called Yogurt. Stream it on Hulu and get ready to laugh.

12 A Quiet Place

While John Krasinski might always be best known for playing Jim on iconic sitcom The Office, 2018's acclaimed sci-fi/horror film A Quiet Place demonstrated that he has just as much talent behind the camera. Directed, co-written by, and starring Krasinski, A Quiet Place centers on a family living in the aftermath of an apocalyptic alien invasion. The invading creatures are deadly, and hunt by sound, meaning that the Abbott clan has to spend most of their life in silence. Unfortunately, things eventually go wrong, and the monsters come calling. Krasinkski's real-life wife Emily Blunt co-stars in this prime Hulu pick.

11 Unbreakable

While 2019's theatrical arrival of director M. Night Shyamalan's latest film Glass didn't exactly set the world on fire, that doesn't diminish the greatness of its predecessors, the first being 2000's Unbreakable, recently added to Hulu. After surviving a deadly train crash without a scratch, mild-mannered security guard and family man David Dunn (Bruce Willis) comes to discover that he possesses powers beyond normal men, and that he's destined for greatness as a superhero. Guiding him down this path is Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), a mysterious man with secrets of his own.

Read More: M. Night Shyamalan's Films Ranked From Absolute Worst To Best (Including Glass)

10 Punch-Drunk Love

The fourth feature to be directed by perennial critical darling Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002's Punch-Drunk Love offered a showcase for comedy icon Adam Sandler's then-unknown dramatic chops as Barry Egan, a desperately lonely man with severe rage issues. Sadly, said chops have only been glimpsed a few times since, with Sandler mostly content to stick to his usual wheelhouse of slapstick comedies like Grown Ups. Still fans of Sandler the actor will always have this critically acclaimed film to remember him by, and stream on Hulu.

9 Airplane

Continually considered one of the funniest films in history, 1980 spoof comedy Airplane throws joke after joke at the audience with reckless abandon, and while all of them don't necessarily hit for everyone, most of them likely will. Granted, Airplane does contain some material likely to be viewed as a bit problematic by current standards, but when seen through the lens of when it was made, it's clear these jokes weren't intended to be malicious. Airplane might be best known for taking Leslie Nielsen, then primarily a dramatic actor, and turning him into a comedic force to be reckoned with. Anyone who hasn't experienced Airplane needs to take this flight while it's on Hulu.

8 Shutter Island

Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring his modern muse Leonardo DiCaprio, 2010's Shutter Island centers on U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, who's sent to investigate a mysterious disappearance at a mental hospital on the titular island. Unfortunately for Teddy, nothing is what it seems, and the mystery threatens to swallow him whole. The star-studded cast also includes Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, and Michelle Williams. Those looking for a thriller designed to keep them guessing should definitely stream Shutter Island on Hulu.

Read More: 10 Amazing Martin Scorsese Movies Everyone Forgets About

7 Shrek

The film that put Dreamworks Animation on the map, 2001's Shrek stars Mike Myers as the titular ogre, a creature gruff on the outside but caring on the inside. Despite not wanting to do anything but hang out in his swamp, Shrek is compelled to go on a quest to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) by the villainous Lord Farquad (John Lithgow). By his side is Donkey (Eddie Murphy), a fast-talking animal who can't help annoying Shrek with his constant chatter. Shrek spawned a franchise of three sequels and multiple specials, and is worth checking out on Hulu.

6 Rosemary's Baby

Although director Roman Polanski is quite rightfully disgraced nowadays for being a convicted rapist, but that doesn't mean his classic films are suddenly any less great. One of the best is 1968's Rosemary's Baby, a deservedly revered entry into the horror canon. Mia Farrow stars as the titular character, a young woman who sees her life get more and more unraveled after she and her husband move into a mysterious New York City apartment building. Before long, she begins to suspect that every single person in her orbit might be involved in a demonic conspiracy. Those who haven't seen it owe it to themselves to meet Rosemary's Baby on Hulu.

5 Vice

A biopic about former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney was always going to be a controversial, divisive prospect, especially one directed by Adam McKay with a sharp satirical edge. In the end, 2018's Vice ended up earning mostly praise from critics, and multiple Oscar nominations, including one for Christian Bale's eerily accurate performance as Cheney. Bale famously put on lots of weight for the role, and is almost unrecognizable at a glance. Vice's all-star cast also includes Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, and more. Vice is worth a stream on Hulu, especially during these current politically-charged times.

Read More: Christian Bale’s 10 Greatest Roles, Ranked

4 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

The Star Trek multimedia franchise has so far produced 13 feature films, but arguably the most iconic of those came early on, with 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, now on Hulu. For better or worse, The Wrath of Khan changed gears from the metaphysical, exploratory adventure that was Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and did its best to turn Star Trek into more of a space action vehicle. Thankfully, it succeeded with most, and William Shatner's Captain Kirk yelling KHAN! at Ricardo Montalban's titular villain has become the stuff of legend.

3 Sorry to Bother You

One of the most uniquely creative movies of 2018, director Boots Riley's debut is a thought-provoking look at American race relations, framed through a dystopian comedic lens. Sorry to Bother You stars Lakeith Stanfield as Cassius "Cash" Green, who gets a job as a telemarketer, only to discover that putting on his "white voice" is what gets the money rolling in. Sorry to Bother You is a film not really suited to being summed up in a paragraph, but its 93% Rotten Tomatoes score kind of speaks for itself. Check it out on Hulu.

2 Heathers

A darker than dark comedy, Heathers was written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, and sports a huge cult following, which is sure to only get bigger via Hulu. Winona Ryder stars as Veronica Sawyer, a high school student who runs afoul of former friends the Heathers, a trio of rich, popular girls that rule teen society with an iron fist. After being wronged by them, Veronica makes the mistake of teaming up with outcast bad boy J.D. (Christian Slater) in order to get revenge. Sadly, J.D.'s idea of revenge is straight up murdering his enemies.

1 Let the Right One In

Released in a decade where vampire cinema was dominated by the sparkly Twilight, director Tomas Alfredson's Swedish hit Let the Right One In was exactly what the classic creature needed to remind audiences that despite their affliction, vampire movies don't have to suck. Lina Leandersson stars as Eli, an ageless vampire with the appearance of a child, and Kare Hedebrant plays Oskar, the bullied young boy she enters into an unexpectedly sweet relationship with. The film was later adapted stateside by Matt Reeves, with Chloe Grace Moretz in the Eli role. That version is sadly not available via Hulu.

Next: 10 Best Shows You Didn’t Know Were On Hulu

source https://screenrant.com/hulu-best-movies/

Prompt#1: Lull of the Forest (part 2)

 The overwhelming pressure I typically feel inside the house appears to be gone and I’m not ready to leave this sanctuary so I roll onto my side to start scratching my fox friend behind the ears. The movement sends a couple flower petals floating down from my head. I reach up to find I circlet of entwined flowers perched on my crown.  “Strange.” I intone sleepily. But then what it this forest isn’t? “I should probably give you a name instead of referring to you as ‘the fox’ all the time, huh? What do you think of... Fen?”  The fox begins licking my hand in response and I take that as acquiescence. At this point, I notice a note on the nightstand, held there by my phone. I pick up the phone to see a message from Demeter saying that she would be staying the night in town and that she’d be back in the afternoon. I text a quick response back and grab the note.  In a tall, narrow, curving script it reads, “Keep the cloak for protection. Darkness dwells deep within your abode- it would be wise to make this space your own. May the light of the goddess help you find your way.”  Curiouser and curiouser. I feel as though whoever wrote the note is judging me for not erasing Dylan’s presence from the house.  “I’m not sure how to make it mine,” I murmur. I haven’t felt like myself in years. There are times where I don’t even feel like a person anymore. I get up and leave the room to wander the house in consideration, leaving the door open for Fen.

 What would I even do to make this place mine? I have my desk. I have my studio. Buying new furniture would be a waste- I actually like a lot of what was left behind. I could fill the place with books the way Demeter has with plants. Maybe I could take on some form of crafting.   I could knit a couch cozy or something. On second thought I’ve always thought they were hideous. Ships in bottles? Challenging, requiring more focus than I’m capable of, plus what will my aesthetic be then? A pirate? I’m going to dress like a pirate now. A ship’s wheel on the wall. My bed needs a mast.  Wait, how would that even work. “This is so stupid,” I mutter, clutching the sides of my head. While I would not mind the whole pirate chic look, that’s not me. I’ve never even seen the ocean.  I make my way to the studio at the back of the house. The sliding door leading into my space is stuck shut and icy to the touch. What the hell? I decide to try heading outside in order to go around but the front door won’t open either. I can’t breathe.  Panic digs its talons deep into my chest. The pressure in the air is back and stronger than ever.  “That’s it. I’m burning this fucking house to the ground.”  The aura of the house is so palpable and I feel as though it’s laughing at me. “You wanna play chicken with me, fucker?” I rush to the kitchen and start flinging paper towels everywhere. I know I need something more substantial but I’m at a loss. I make to light an entire roll with the stove but it won’t light.  “You think this will stop me?” I cackle, completely mad, and pull a lighter out of my pocket. “I’m a stoner. You think I didn’t come prepared to fucking party?” I’m screaming at the house, only mildly aware of how insane I’m acting.  I hear the sliding door slam open and am shaken from my state of mind. I head back to my studio to find the door open. I freeze when I see the canvas in the middle of the room.  In the same sloppy handwriting as Dylan’s letter, I see in bold crimson paint: Man. You go zero to a hundred real quick.  “Dylan?” No. Why me?  The brush floats up from the pallette and begins to scrawl. The one and only. I’m glad you came, Riley.  To say I immensely regret not burning the house down is a massive understatement of the grossest proportions. The lighter is still in my hand. It’s not too late. “Absolutely not. No. This is not something I can allow.” I did not sign up for this bullshit.  The brush makes it’s way over to the paint and I back hand it out of the air before kicking the easel to the ground and stomping on the canvas.  “Leave. Leave, now. I’m still ready to light this whole sucker up.”  A pencil starts scribbling furiously on top of the sheathe of papers I keep on my desk. I don’t bother looking. I go back to my room, grab my phone, my wallet, the cloak, the fox, and my backpack before heading back to the studio. The pencil starts writing again but I continue to ignore it. Fen is making some seriously unhappy noises and baring it’s teeth in the direction of my desk. I throw open the back doors and leave, straight for the forest.  I stop at the treeline to send Demeter a text.  Me: Dylan has not left the building .  D: what  Me: He’s. Fucking. HauNtiNG. OUR. HOUSE.  Me: I’m heading out. Let me know when you’re coming home and I’ll return.  D: Where are you going?  Me: The woods. Which, and I never thought I would say this, are safer. I’ve got Fen with me.  D: Who is Fen  D: And don’t go into the woods.  Me: This chill little fox that’s been hanging with me when I’m working on stuff outside. I think They sent her to watch over us. She’s curled up in my hood rn. So. Cute.  D: You’re already in the forest, aren’t you  Me: Of course! =D  D: Of course.

 I can practically feel her roll her eyes through the text.

 D: Just... Don’t do anything stupid  Me: That reminds me. There are papel towels all over the kitchen floor. I’ll take care of it when I get home.  D: I know I’m gonna regret asking how that happened but here I am. Please tell me it was a mischeivous vulpine.  Me: That asshole tried to trap me in the house so I was gonna burn it to the ground. Dylan caved as soon as I pulled out my lighter.  D: I wanna say that’s unreasonable and you know better but honestly  D: I don’t think I can  D: Don’t burn the forest down if you see something scary  Me: The only thing I’m lighting up is my holy green  Me: Anything scary is getting offered a joint. Maybe the things out here will have mercy on me if they’re high.

 Demeter sent me another text but I don’t read it- I’ve found my way into a meadow and in its center is the basket I’ve been bringing gifts out with. I move the cloth out of the way to find the basket full of all sorts of strange thing. At the top is a note with the same elegant handwriting as what was on my desk.  Wear me.  O...kay.... I move the note aside to find a large orange crystal in a filligreed silver holster attached to a large leather loop. Beneath that is... A witch’s hat?  It’s forest green velvet, matching the silk of the cloak I’m wearing. It’s quite a bit more squat than the costume hats I’ve seen and there’s a rust coloured feather sticking out of a matching band around the base of the hat.  “Why not.” I put the crystal necklace on followed by the hat. “I have never felt so bad ass and so ridiculous at the same time.”  Fen yawns in my hood.  I pick up the basket and pull the rest out. More crytals that look like they could be exchanged with the one on my necklace. Two packages wrapped in brown paper containing a mysterious book with blank pages and... a deck of tarot cards? What, are They new age hippies? A green velvet satchel I hadn’t noticed before was still at the bottom. I pulled it open to see rune stones held within and then pull the drawstrings to seal it again. “Yep. The forest folk terrorizing the town are really just new age hippies. Now this is the gay agenda I always wanted.”  I check the text Demi sent me.

 D: Who knows? You do seem to have a penchant for getting what you want when you focus. I mean, you just played chicken with a haunted house and it blinked first. Then again, maybe he didn’t think a suicide pact was a romantic enough first date.  Me: If I had died I would have turned the tables. Haunt him and kick his scrawny etherial ass. But listen, you’ll never guess what I found in the forest  D: Oh god  Me: I’ve been bringing food out in a basket and leaving it near the treeline. After a while it started returning with goodies in it. I just found it out in the forest and- hold on.

 I take a selfie and then a picture of the rest of the trinkets before putting them away in my bag and attactching the basket to it. I send the pictures and then keep moving while I wait for her response.

 D: You aren’t the new age witch they deserve but the one they need right now  Me: Crazy right? Who would have thought They would be a bunch of hippies, killing off the conservative small town in a ploy to improve society as a whole-the gay liberal agenda I do deserve and definitely need right now.  Me: Maybe they’re recruiting freedom fighters. I’ll go bitch slap some gun nuts in the face for fun, let alone a revolution. I wonder how they feel about guillotines.  D: I’m always down for nazi punching and lopping off the heads of the bourgeoisie  Me: Is it bad that I’m digging this look? It just feels so right.  D: I wonder if they provide essential oils with the enlistment package; I don’t care for infusers but I’ve kinda always wanted to try making bath bombs since discovering the wonders of Lush

 We continue our conversation as I wander further north. I feel more and more sets of curious eyes on me as I trek but sense no animosity. Eventually I reach a grassy knoll and sprawl out on it, staring up at the clouds as they drift by. Fen wanders off and I, for the third day in a row, fall asleep in a place that should terrify me. All manner of strange creature fills my dreams, but they are pleasant. In my final dream, the earth swallows me. I sink down into it, throwing down roots to grow into something more. Voices surround me but I am not concerned for I am safe in the earth’s embrace.

 “He’s waking up.” Is the last thing I want to hear when I awaken, and anxiety crawls up my spine like a particularly large centipede, digging it’s many feet into my flesh.  The first thing I see is a man leaning in way too close with bright green eyes, a cheerful expression, and a fiery halo of messy hair.  “You know, for someone from the village, you sure feel comfortable falling asleep in the forest. This makes the third time I’ve had to carry you off to safety, Riley.” He was jovial and it was a little unnerving. “Not all of us are nice.”  “I believe you have nice and kind mistaken, young man.” A woman with raven black hair and crimson eyes placed a slender hand on the man’s shoulder, pulling him out of the space he was encroaching on.  I breathed a little easier now that my space wasn’t being invaded.  “Who are you guys? Where am I? Wait. Are those... Fox ears?”  “In order: we are fae of the Seelie court. I am Queen Sylairia and this is-” The man cut her off before she could finish.  “You already know my name. These are definitely fox ears.”  “Fen?” I ask, bewildered.  “It’s Fenrir, but you were close enough.”  “Wait, Fenrir, like the wolf in norse mythology?” I called him Fen because it was short for Fennec.  “That’s the one.”  “But you’re a faerie that shapeshifts into a fox.”  “I fail to see the problem.”  Sylairia rolls her eyes and continues, “You are in the royal quarters of our domain, more specifically Fenrir’s room- and yes. Those are indeed fox ears as Fenrir just said. I am glad to see you are so very observant.” She says drily. “So, you are the changeling that caught my son’s eye.” She looks me over disapprovingly. “Spending so long away from left you with something to be desired. Several things, you are lacking in, in fact. Tell me, boy. Who is your mother?”  My face must have looked like a giant question mark because Fenrir spoke up. “I don’t think he knows, mother.”  “You at least knew you were not human, correct?”  “Uhh....”  The queen lets out an exasperated sigh, turns, and walks out muttering under her breath. “That boy... there’s no accounting for taste.”  “So, uhh. Question.” I say tentatively.  “Shoot.”  “Did you bring me this stuff?” I sit up, lifting my arms to gesture at myself.  “Yeah. The cloak is spelled with protections. The crystals grant various boons as well.”  “And the hat?”  “+ 5 to charisma?”  “What.”  “I just thought it was a good lynch pin for the whole ensemble- aaand I was right. Consider me spellbound.” He grins at me and there’s a wicked glint in his eye.  I throw the hat at his face, too flustered to respond, and he laughs as he’s putting it back on my head.  “The sexy warlock look suits you- though I would switch out the clothes under it for something more...” he pauses, trying to think. “I retract that. I’d switch it out for something less.” He says with a wink.  “Do I need to throw something heavier at you?”  The look on his face says he’s about to dig his grave deeper but he reconsiders and changes the subject, avoiding peril. “You know, I sense strong magic in you.”  “This better not be another pick up line.”  “Ooh, I just came up with a good one- but no. Come with me, and bring your bag.”  I eye him suspiciously.  “I already have you in my bed; this isn’t another flirtation.”  “Fair point.” I do as he asked and follow him out. “Where are we going?”  “I’m taking you to High Witch Magdelena. She’s the best teacher one could hope for.”  I’m about to ask more questions when my phone pings.

 D: You better still be in one piece.  Me: I’m alright. Boy do I have a story for you  D: I’m about to head back to the house. Meet there?  Me: Not yet. I might be in faerie hq rn  D: Riley, get out of there.  Me: Too late, getting magic lessons from a seelie high witch brb  D: Wait, Seelie? Are you sure?  Me: Faeries can’t lie, right?  D: ...  D: True. Do you think they’re gonna help you exorcise our douchebag of a ghost?  Me: I hope so. They seem to think I’m a changeling. Either way, I think you should stay away from the house for now. I guess I’ll let you know when I’m on my way back?  D: Be careful.  Me: Nah, I think I’ll just bumrush this whole situation. Maybe light the place on fire.  D: I know you think you’re joking but I’m betting you end up lighting it on fire  Me: I didn’t light the house on fire.  D: That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of you failing to set something ablaze  Me: first of all how dare

 I put my phone away just in time for us to stop at a large, ornate doorway.  “Wait out here, I’m going in to talk to her first.” Riley says, cracking the door open and disappearing through it.

The Prompt Part One Next

Brit Psycho: Part Two, an extended Ketch x Carter fic teaser.

Tagging: @kittycat-cas @plungerwhisk, @it-started-with-yellow-fever

Warnings for graphic torture.

There’s a poetry in it, Ketch thinks, twirling the blade in his fingers as it glints under the surgical lights. Demon doctor tied up on her own table, under her own scalpel. Seems a fitting way to gouge the thorn from the Men of Letters’ side.

He reaches down to pull up Carter’s bloodied shirt even higher, exposing more skin to carve at. It’s already so scarred, and he has to admit he’s a little taken aback by the sheer amount of white scar tissue criss-crossing her abdomen. Still. Won’t stop him from adding more.

He picks a spot between her sixth and seventh ribs, right side, and sinks the scalpel into her liver. She screams, throat raw and bloody as he carves.

“I can make this all stop,” he says, voice cold and calm above the shrieks. “Just tell us where Kelly Kline is and what your plans are for her child.”

Carter’s scream cuts off, strangled into a grunt, but then there’s silence. She stares up at the warehouse ceiling, eyes unfocused, breathing heavy.

“No?” Ketch prompts, trailing the scalpel over more of her exposed skin. The blade finds her throat, probes the artery. No pulse. Of course there isn’t, but now he’s intrigued. “Very well, then.” He slices, and she screams again, writhing making the cut worse as he pulls back a flap of skin. “All you have to do is talk to us, doctor.”

She continues to cry out, intermittent screams in between heavy breaths, almost sobs as her chest heaves. It gets louder, more pained as he drags the blade towards her clavicle. Her fists clench. “Fuck!” The word is raw. “Fuck fuck fuck.” Ketch smiles, starting a curve down across her chest, and then, “Yes!”

He pauses. The blade lingers, confused.

“No, don’t stop,” she pants out, eyes screwed shut. “Right there. Keep going.”

What?

This wasn’t expected. Tentatively, he tries dragging the blade again and for a moment it seems that she’s screaming in pain. Then she gets louder, and there’s no mistaking it’s laughter.

“You fucking idiot,” she eventually snarls. “You have an entire fucking dossier on me, yet you missed the main fucking thing.” Her eyes snap open. She fixes him with a glare, cold and menacing, and it takes him a heartbeat to realise he miscalculated. “I don’t feel pain.”

There’s no chance for him to reassess, evaluate. She moves. The restraints snap clean as her hand comes up, shockingly powerful, and close on his wrist to shove the scalpel away. He gasps at the tightness of her grip, instinctively trying to pull back, and then she’s rising like a demented Frankenstein from the table.

“Radiation sickness did a number on my nervous system,” she taunts, voice hard and oblivious to the wounds dripping blood. “You’re gonna have to do better than that.” His free hand grasps at the tray of instruments, searching for something he can use as a weapon, but she kicks it out of reach and twists his arm hard, leaving him with the choice of dropping to the floor or suffering a dislocated elbow. He goes down.

“You bitch,” he snarls, voice flooded with hate-fueled anger. She hadn’t just played him. She’d humiliated him too.

“Nah. I think you can be the bitch.” He hears the crunch before his body catches up with his brain, and he screams.

She’s crushed his wrist. Whatever superpowered alchemical formula she pumps herself with, it’s turned her grip into a vice capable of shattering bones, and his hand immediately goes limp.

He’s starting to realise there were a lot of mistakes in her file.

It’s no mercy when she lets him go, the change in pressure suddenly triggering a fresh wave of shock, and he can barely breathe as he clutches his hand to his chest. Through the waves of pain turning his vision red, he tries to get to his feet again, make it to the gun he’s left beside his jacket just a few meters away.

Behind him, there’s a mechanical hum and the rattling of chains as Carter’s found the controls for the warehouse loading gear he’d used to get the table here in the first place. Maybe this wasn’t the best location after all.

He’s practically made it to his weapon, hand closing on the handle of the pistol when he feels something heavy collide with his shins and he’s knocked off his feet. A chain’s wrapped around his ankles, tightening up to his knees as Carter manipulates the other end, then she hits the button for the pulley overhead to pull it taut.

The chain begins to drag him back roughly over the floor. Pain shoots through his body as he twists and tries to fire, most of the shots going wide, then with a jolt he’s pulled up and off the ground altogether. One bullet finds her hip, but all it gets is a look of irritation.

Carter stands with the control in her hand, waiting for him to be lifted upsidedown until his head is slightly below level with hers, then she shuts it off. She crosses to him with a scowl and wrenches the emptied gun from his hand. “Amateur,” she spits, tossing it away, then reaches up to unfasten his belt.

Ketch’s heart is pounding, blood quickly rushing to his spinning head. “Well, I have to admit, well played,” he pants between the waves of pain, though his composure is slipping quickly. “I really bought that little show of yours.”

“Yeah, well. I’ve caused enough pain to know what it looks like.”

She twists both his arms behind his back, good one and crushed alike, and secures them tightly with his own belt. He screams again, vision blacking out, and when it returns he can see the sadistic smile that’s settled on her lips. He knows that smile. Seen it reflected back at him in the blade of a knife enough times.

“Let me tell you, it looks something like that,” she says softly, then starts working at his shirt, unbuttoning it carefully before pulling the fabric back to expose his chest. “You reckon you’re a hotshot, but I have decades of experience on you.”

He watches her turn away, going to retrieve the scalpel from where he’d dropped it to the floor and wheeling the cart of instruments back over. She isn’t lying. It had all been there in her file: kept alive for decades by her own experiments in alchemy, and most of them spent in the business of torture.

“You know, my father was a Cossack,” she says, wiping her own blood from the scalpel on his shirt. “Fled to England after the revolution, but he taught me how to hunt. Small things like foxes and badgers at first, but it got bigger after we came to America. Bears, deer…that sort of a thing. Taught me how to skin what I catch too, and it looks like I caught me a Ketch.” Her lips twist, smiling at her own joke. “Let’s see if posh boys like you really do have blue blood…” The tip of the scalpel comes to rest in the soft space below his ribcage, almost teasing, as she watches it move with the frantic thrusts of his abdominal aorta.

His jaw clenches. He’s bested, and he knows it. And scared. “Alright,” he hisses out, chest tight. “What do you want?”

It was a mistake to assume he could bargain the same way he’d offered her. She leers. “I want you to scream.”

The blade skims down over his sternum, grazing enough to draw a trickle of blood, then she finds his left nipple. She teases at it, scalpel scraping until it hardens to a point, and he feels his stomach turn.

She only has one nipple. He’s seen it: the twisted mass of scar tissue where the other one should be, and for a moment he wonders if she’s going to carve him in her own image. Then the tip of the blade moves an inch or two towards his navel, digging in where his heart beats beneath the skin.

It lingers, the moment drawing out as he braces for the pain, and wonders if this is some technique to make him more afraid. Her expression is blank, save for the strange intensity of her stare fixated on that point on his chest.

His heart beats several more times, pain pricking his skin in time with his rapid pulse, then at length she sighs and turns away. Ketch blinks in confusion.

“When the master torturer of Hell came to recruit me, I told him to go fuck himself,” she says as she retrieves the control for the pulley. “I’m not breaking my streak for you.”

He’s still bewildered as she lowers him to the floor again, landing in an awkward pile, and can’t help but flinch as she moves to help him untangle the chains. She doesn’t look at him when she cuts the belt, and he lets out an involuntary whimper as he clutches his hand to his chest.

“What, gone soft?” he tries to taunt, but his voice trembles.

She fixes him with a blank stare, and even the unreadability of her expression is unnerving. “Let me take a look at your wrist,” she eventually says. “I’m a doctor.”

Bernie Wins No Matter What or Countdown to Armageddon ((wait, we’re here now?))

At our yearly house meetings, the central question is “What keeps you up at night?” and it’s difficult for those of us privileged enough to not have family tragedy, neighborhood blight or worse to report, to not be this side of self-obsessed in our honest answers. You only have to dig deep to come up with something a little more “usable” so to speak, but sometimes the question is very real, and the answer is “my past failures.” And we’re trained to ask for elaboration if it’s that vague. “Sorry, we definitely don’t have time for that, I’m quite sure. Suffice it to say that I could pick one and try to rotate monthly if I was organized about these thoughts, or I could choose a category for a night of the week.” I learned from Jordan Peterson that we’re not supposed to be obsessing about anything longer than, was it 15 or 18 months?, in the past... As promised (can you make a promise to the ether?) last week, this was written August 10th, and edited August 17, 2016 (Since I love parenthetical aside, all present (January 8th 2018) interjections are double parenthesized (()) AND italicized): History will see Donald Trump’s candidacy and potentially his presidency as the inevitable conclusion of myriad signs and signals and cultural zeitgeist. Connections will be made to the past 25 years if not more. It will either be regarded as the democratization of democracy if we persist to a Techno-igno-Idiocracy, (or at least until we are conquered, vanquished or destroy ourselves, and the writers of history will again be sane) or hopefully, a wake up call from the nightmare, the darkness before the dawn, the moment the United States of America as a nation saw itself in the mirror with a newfound realization, illuminating a long period of reform. I do think this is a turning point, but a strange one. I believe if Hillary Clinton is elected, we’ve eliminated, or at the very least seriously delayed the former, and the latter must happen, but is slow. If it’s Trump, however, then it goes either way, and fast. After all the Antichrist is supposed to only be in power for three and a half years.



The poisonous discourse in our nation for the past quarter-century, or maybe just since the useless 1998 Clinton scandal, or since Reagan (particularly the end of the fairness doctrine, so therefore maybe just since Fox news), or since the Republicans’ bitter plan of vengeance toward the Democrats for Nixon (or possibly since 1964, the birth of the modern Conservative movement), has created not only Trump’s candidacy, but much more importantly, and much more disastrously, Trumps followers. Remember the Tea Party? That’s them, now full on, with a leper-messiah. But it’s not just political zeitgeist, it’s cultural as well. I contend that certain unfortunate political realities unduly influenced culture, but the parts of our culture that Trump represents, (greed, crudeness, lack of accountability, shallow superficiality, ignorance etc. etc.)  both parties speak out against. Since the Republicans have nominated and now support Trump, I guess they were just kidding this whole time. And I purposely left off sexism, and racism by the way, speaking out and lip service are two different things. ((I’m not sure what that means))

Yet so many supporters are convinced of the opposite, that somehow this product of “me” is out to help his country, despite his history as a man, and his words as a politician, and his competence in interviews. This is somehow turned to virtue, because Trump believes in “winning?” It is inevitable, as Trump’s forerunner was the Charlie Sheen debacle. Yet the nation seemed to enjoy a joyous humiliation by Sheen’s winning. They decry the Charlie Sheen tirades and hissy-fits and glaring and offensive gaffs. But celebrate the same thing, when it accompanies a fake populist running for election of the leader of the free world. It is hard not to blame the demagogue for demagoguery, but, while the demagogue is the undeniably (merely) the source, the majority of the blame lies elsewhere. There’s the media, namely a fox news who has successfully brainwashed people I normally would prefer to hold in high esteem, like my mentor and my father, to prefer the increasingly abhorrent over time. My father always had a Catholic excuse before, now he does not. It is quite literally a crying shame. And ultimately it’s the people that make the demagogue, the despot, the antichrist - none of these folks exist without the weakness of the people to fall for them, then to follow them. 



It IS chicken and egg though, 21st Century tea-party/Fox politics are a disease, like alcoholism. Most of the time, you can sort of blame the disease’s victim for the start of it. We are usually educated enough to know that drinking too much is bad. Sometimes we are blissfully, or by fate, unaware of our family history and/or other factors that make us a target. (in Fox’s revolution, it’s about anger and dopamine, old age and whiteness, no one wants to admit these things make one predisposed) ((I learned a great phrase since then: willfull blindness)) Once it’s started, you have it, and you’re just a victim of a disease. We don’t go back to the point before the disease started and point it out to the victim to be perpetually shamed. Yet to end it, it takes a conscious choice and a constant, persistent and perpetual will. So, we can blame the little r republicans for supporting Trump now, but it’s useless. They fell a long time ago before that, for whatever reason, they were victimized. Trump is merely the logical conclusion to this journey. You have to hit bottom before you want to help yourself get out of the addiction. 

Maybe there should be a nationwide Fox-news Intervention movement. Maybe a Trump presidency is the only thing that will bring that out.

I might find myself believing that, fiercely, and preferring it even, but there’s no way that will bring me to vote for that. My conscience won’t let me do that. Just like all the good republicans voting for Johnson, whether they live in a swing state or not. Just like the good liberals, not voting Jill Stein if they do live in a swing state. 



Now, let’s start with that. And as a thought experiment let’s pretend everyone is loyal to one of the two parties AND intelligent. What I mean by that is let’s pretend all liberals/Dems in swing states vote Hillary, and all conservatives/GOPs in swing states vote for Trump. So not, completely intelligent, but know how presidential elections work according to their aforementioned feirce party loyalty. Also, let’s pretend in addition, non swing states go where they’re supposed to/are predicted to go. Lastly, and the most outlandish, pretend it doesn’t matter who wins the whole election. The beauty of this election is third party magic numbers (5%, thereby securing funding for the next election) by a massive increase in third party voters in solidly blue, and solidly red states. Personally I think libertarians are a bunch of crackpots, but only good can happen from more voices in power. If the libertarian party rises, gets attention and recruits, we can successfully split the Republicans into two. You’d have the Republicans that believe in using their brain on one side and Trump Republican/Tea Party on the other - more or less - the Racist Populist Frightened Center and the Right. Michael Moore on Real Time with Bill Maher did point out, undeniably accurately, that Trump is the third party candidate here. If the Green Party had the organization that the Libertarians did, we could hope for similar. I don’t think they can do it, but for argument’s sake let’s say they can. Here we would have the Dead Center Party, likely to be the most dominant of the four in the immediate future, and the Democratic Socialist Green Left. By the way, the Green and the Democratic Socialists have needed to merge for YEARS. They ought to right now to get to the magic number.

 

This, eventually saves our country, by allowing the narrative to change from what THEY tell us conservative and liberal mean. It realigns definitions, and brings reality to the fore. The reality that a great number of Americans are scared cowards that want to hide behind the military industrial complex, and that the majority of Americans leans socially Left compared to where it has been distortedly aligned for decades. The reason Trump has such numbers is the Republicans were off the rails on the right side compared to how many Americans feel. Or as a Johnson Republican once said to me, “Trump is really a democrat.” ((not that I buy that, or ever did, but so many of them feel that way, it’s the Twilight Zone)) If we realign, and foster a 4 party system, then we don’t have to feel like we have no choice, and most importantly we don’t have to nominate any cartoon characters for president, I think. 

Maybe the RPFC will really be the Cartoon Party, and that’s just what they’ll do. They’ll run Charlie Sheen next, maybe Tom Brady after that, at some point they’ll nominate Kanye, just to “prove” they’re not racist. He’ll discover the real source of ideas in the party eventually and it’ll be too late to quit. Maybe this is what’s happening to Trump.



Let’s do another thought experiment. Let’s pretend Trump is rational and intelligent. It is actually possible. He could, in fact, be exceedingly intelligent enough to use the American people’s right leaning bigotry to propel him to the top, to turn it all around and help improve their lives despite themselves. That’s what his followers want us to think isn’t it? He changes his mind on the wall of course, the minimum wage, he re-nominates Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court…..

((Jesus!))

10 epic sci-fi novels you should read before they become blockbusters http://ift.tt/2jM2N1D

It’s a good time to be a fan of science-fiction movies. Whether your tastes favor explosive, big-budget spectacles or subtle, thought-provoking stories that explore life’s biggest questions, the last few years have offered up something for everyone — and the same can be said for what’s headed to the big screen down the road.

Sci-fi literature has long been fertile ground for Hollywood, and with some of the cinema’s most popular projects beginning as novels or short stories that made the leap from page to screen, it’s easy to get ahead of the curve when it comes to sci-fi movies. In that vein, we’ve compiled a list of some of the sci-fi stories that currently have big-screen adaptations in various stages of development, so you can get an early peek at the next big things hitting theaters. We’ll periodically update this article as time goes on, too, so feel free to leave a comment with any projects you’d like to see added to the list.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

This award-winning 2014 novel followed a group of four female scientists — including a biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor — who set out to explore a mysterious region known as “Area X” after the previous 11 attempts to survey the area resulted in strange, terrifying results for everyone involved with the expeditions. The first book in a trilogy, Annihilation won the 2014 Nebula Award for the year’s best sci-fi novel.

Written and directed by Ex Machina filmmaker Alex Garland, the big-screen adaptation of Annihilation has an all-star cast that features Academy Award winner Natalie Portman (Black Swan) as the biologist and Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) as the psychologist, as well as Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin), Tessa Thompson (Creed), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), and David Gyasi (Containment). The film is expected to arrive in theaters sometime during 2017.

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The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Another Nebula Award winner, The Forever War tells the story of a soldier recruited to battle an aggressive alien species light-years from Earth in a two-year conflict, only to discover that traveling to and from the battlefield has actually caused several decades to pass on Earth. Coming home to an Earth very different from the one he left, he’s uncertain whether this new world was indeed worth fighting for.

Ridley Scott first announced he was adapting The Forever War in 2008, but the project eventually fell into development limbo until Warner Bros. Pictures picked up the rights to the story again in 2015. Prometheus and Passengers writer Jon Spaihts is currently penning the script for the film, and Channing Tatum is attached to star in it. There’s no release date set for the film at this point.

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Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman

Acclaimed storyteller Neil Gaiman and comic book artist Skottie Young collaborated on this 2013 story about a father who goes out to get some milk, only to get caught up in a wild adventure involving time travel, a stegosaurus piloting a balloon, and a volcano god, among other unexpected obstacles.

Back in 2015, it was reported that Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs the World filmmaker Edgar Wright was attached to direct Johnny Depp in an adaptation of the story, with Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords penning the script. That combination had 20th Century Fox in early talks for the rights to the film, but it almost seems too good to be true — which is probably why we haven’t heard anything about the project since that initial announcement.

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Logan’s Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson

This 1967 novel is set in a dystopian future with scarce resources for the human population, leading society to implement a rule that requires everyone over the age of 21 to voluntarily end their lives. When one of the agents tasked with killing citizens who “run” from the rule decides to run himself as his time comes due, it sets off a chain of events that shakes the very foundation of this dark new human civilization.

The novel was adapted into a 1976 film starring Michael York which was nominated for three Academy Awards and won one for its visual effects. A remake was first announced back in the 1990s, and an update in July 2015 had X-Men franchise screenwriter Simon Kinberg penning yet another draft of the script. The studio is also reported to be considering a female lead for the adaptation.

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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

The winner of the Hugo Award in 1967, Heinlein’s celebrated novel chronicles a Lunar city’s revolution after years of serving as a penal colony for Earth. The story follows the revolt from its earliest stages to its final outcome, and explores a future in which humanity must contend with the ramifications of extending its reach beyond Earth.

In March 2015, X-Men franchise director Bryan Singer announced plans to adapt Heinlein’s story for 20th Century Fox from a script by Arrow series producer Marc Guggenheim. The title of the film will be changed to Uprising. There’s no official release date set for the film at this point.

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ernest Cline’s debut novel is set in a dystopian future in which the majority of the population escapes from their bleak reality in a virtual universe known as OASIS. When the creator of OASIS dies, it sets off a wild treasure hunt that will give the winner control of the virtual universe and the creator’s immense fortune. The story follows a treasure hunter named Wade Watts who must use his encyclopedic knowledge of the ’80s — the OASIS creator’s favorite era in pop culture — to navigate the hunt and stop a sinister corporation from gaining control of OASIS.

The movie based on Ready Player One began filming in June 2016 with Steven Spielberg directing the adaptation from a script by The Avengers and Alphas screenwriter Zak Penn. The film is currently scheduled to hit theaters March 30, 2018.

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Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

Robopocalypse describes the origins, evolution, and culmination of mankind’s devastating, global battle with an artificial intelligence that takes over automated services and machines. Much in the same way World War Z chronicled humanity’s war with zombies through a collection of fictional accounts from the front lines, the story unfolds from the perspective of several characters in different locations around the world as they watch the world change dramatically — and often horrifically — in front of their eyes. The character eventually find themselves playing integral roles in the war that will decide humanity’s fate.

The book was optioned by Steven Spielberg in 2011 with the filmmaker planning to direct the adaptation himself from a script by The Cabin in the Woods screenwriter and director Drew Goddard, but the project was put on hold in 2013 in order to further develop the script and make it a more manageable production.

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Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

This debut novel tells the story of a young girl who falls through a weak spot in the ground one day and lands in the palm of a giant, mysterious metal hand. Years later, that girl is a physicist still trying to unravel the mystery of the metal hand, and her quest for answers sends her around the globe as the mystery deepens.

Neuvel’s self-published novel was optioned almost as soon as it was published. Spider-Man franchise producer Matt Tolmach is overseeing the adaptation and Jurassic Park, witgh War of the Worlds screenwriter David Koepp penning the screenplay. The big-screen version of the story was retitled The Themis Files and is envisioned as the first chapter of a trilogy.

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The Tempest by Julie Cross

Another story envisioned as the first chapter in a trilogy, Julie Cross’ 2012 novel is a time-travel adventure that has its teenage protagonist accidentally discovering his ability to move through time after he witnesses the murder of his girlfriend. That discovery puts him in the crosshairs of a shadowy government agency and in the middle of a time-spanning war as he struggles to save the life of the girl he loves without ripping apart the fabric of time.

The rights to the novel were picked up by producing partners (and brothers) Scott and Sean Cross — who aren’t related to Julie Cross — as well as Mimi Polk Gitlin, a former producing partner of Ridley Scott who teamed with Scott to co-produce the 1991 classic Thelma and Louise. There’s no official development timeline or release date announced for the film.

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Time Salvager by Wesley Chu

Wesley Chu’s 2015 novel unfolds in a future that has seen mankind depart Earth to colonize the stars, leaving behind a bleak, toxic planet. The protagonist is a convicted criminal whose psychological profile makes him the ideal candidate for an agency that sends people back in time to recover valuable resources and treasures from mankind’s history on Earth in order to prolong the species’ future. On his final mission he saves a female scientist destined to die, turning them both into fugitives in the future timeline.

Paramount Pictures picked up the rights to Chu’s novel before it even hit shelves, and Michael Bay is attached to direct the adaptation. There’s no word on when the project will go into production or what sort of timeline (pun totally intended) the studio is envisioning for it at this point.

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