#Adapting to Johnny Slaughter

[adaptacy]

Johnny Slaughter x Drunk!Virgin!Reader

It is angsty, and kinda sad, and very dub-con (practically non-con), and also just- Johnny with feelings? if streams of consciousness don't make sense, that's the point. also i'm tired so sorry for spelling mistakes or if i just use the wrong word sometimes LMAO

"Alright, I've gotcha." You were leaning all of your weight into him as he sauntered down the sidewalk, and you didn't let up even as he inserted the key he'd just received into the door, twisting the handle and opening it up into a half-assed room, typical for the cheap motel you were staying up.

"You really... mmbooked 'em just for... me?" You slurred, your head lazily flopping onto his bicep as he led you inside, closing the door behind him.

"Didn't tell me you were such a lightweight," the man sighed, helping you over to the white queen-size bed, which you didn't put up any fight against, collapsing onto the comforter and giggling. At what? You didn't know.

"We should, mhmhm, kiss." You blinked, slowly, up at him, seeing triple. Triple hot. Triple hunk. Triple gentleman. He was being so sweet. He carried you here, gave you a ride, he promised your parents wouldn't figure out that their golden child was getting wasted at some rural bar miles away from home. He was so caring.

Sure, you'd only known him for like two hours, but those two hours said so much. He didn't say much. Well, he did. Flirted a lot. Was he flirting? Did you misunderstand? No, no, he got you a motel room. Just for you. He was definitely flirting. He was like a guardian angel, wasn't he?

You made a mistake, a lot of mistakes, actually. A lot of shots. A lot of alcohol. Glasses and glasses of mistakes. But he was here to make sure you wouldn't be making anymore. He was protecting you. God, what a sweetheart. "What's your name again?" You mumbled, your tongue twisting around itself to form some terrible labyrinth.

"Johnny," he reminded, bending down over you and catching your lips in a kiss. His was gentle, but forward. Yours was sloppy, messy, hungry, dazed. You were sloppy. And messy. Oh, your parents would never forgive you.

"Johnny, I'm so... ugh, you're lovely," you complimented, your nose bumping against his as he tried to kiss you again, but you just had to let him know first. "So loving. We should get married," you giggled.

"Baby steps, darlin'."

"I'm your darling?" You hummed, smiling sweetly. Innocently. What the hell were you doing? No wonder the bartender warned you. But he paid for your drinks. He was just so generous. How could he possibly be single? You were so lucky to have him. "I think I love you."

"You're crazy," he laughed, the sound sweet and appetizing and so manly. You laughed too, because you wanted to be like him. Wanted to take care of people like he was. Wanted to be big and strong like he was. Wanted to be so sweet, wanted to kiss like he did. He was perfect. He kissed you again, and you kept giggling, your skin crawling with... excitement? nausea? you couldn't really tell the difference. "You wanna go through with this?"

With what? "Mhm," you hummed, closing your eyes for just a moment. Then you opened them again, and he was still there. All three- two? Four? All of him- them? Ugh. "Yuh-huh," you affirmed. If he wanted to, you'd do it. No clue what 'it' was, but he was a good decision maker. You were clearly, definitely, obviously, drunkenly not.

"You done this before?"

"Yeah." Done what? You'd done a lot of things. You hadn't gone skydiving. Or bungee jumping. What a funny word. Bungee. Bun-gee. "Bunnn, geeee," you announced, and Johnny squinted at you. You giggled. What'd he say?

"I'm gonna take yer shirt off now." He kissed your cheek, and you nodded. Was he going to get you into a bath? Oh, he was such a sweetiepie. Like a grandmother. But hot. and muscular. and young. and had a way deeper voice. and, actually, he wasn't like a grandmother at all. but he still made you smile.

He removed your shirt, and you tried to lift your head to kiss him, but your head was so heavy, and your muscles were so weak. Ugh, you wished you had muscles like him. he could lift your head. you definitely couldn't.

The best part was, he did lift your head. and he did kiss you. He was a mind reader, too? Was he even real? Men like this didn't exist. Not really. men as sweet, and loving, and gentle, and-

His hands were on your pants. Strange. He knew what he was doing. You trusted him. What was his name again? "Joey," you thanked.

"Johnny," he corrected.

"Mister Johnny," you slurred, brushing noses with him. He kissed you again, and he tasted like the bar. He'd been drinking too. He was like your drunk-buddy. Drinking buddy. And designated driver. A perfect package. Why are engagement rings so expensive?

"You alright?" His voice spoke again, and you blinked, finding that there were now only two of him. That you could see. Your vision was dark at the sides, but who needed peripheral vision, anyways? He was tugging your bottoms down your legs, and you looked up at him.

Somewhere, distant, faint, barely even present in your mind- somewhere, something clicked. Some puzzle pieces snapped together. You could make out the shape of the puzzles, the caves and the peninsulas, but they were blank pieces. There was no puzzle. It was blurry. Fuzzy. Like a puppy. Or a kitten. Or a squirrel.

"What?" you mumbled.

"Eyes on me, sweetpea. You alright?"

It was hard to focus on him since you'd have to focus on two images at once, but you tried your best. It only brought a headache. "Why... wouldn't I be?"

"You're awful' drunk."

"I'm knows," you scoffed.

"Do ya?"

"Obvs," you reminded, reaching up a hand and pawing at his face as you tried to boop him, grinning up at him. His hair draped over his pair of faces, and you wanted to bite it. Wanted to pull it. ugh, you were such a bad person. who made bad decisions. you hated alcohol. why'd you even stumble into that bar? your parents would be so mad.

Her eyes were almost crossed, and Johnny found it dizzying to try and gain her attention. She swatted at his forehead as she replied, and he pulled back ever so slightly. Gently, he pulled her hand down, trying to be patient with her. She'd been tipsy when he got there, but this was something else.

He tried not to think about it- This wasn't his first drunken sexual encounter, and wouldn't be his last. His lips pressed to her chest, his fingers caressing the insides of her thighs. She was warm, inviting, almost intoxicating. Then again, it could've been the potent taste of alcohol on her tongue. Stronger than his own. He swore she didn't have that much to drink, and she knew what to order- It wasn't her first time drinking, or so he assumed.

He'd hardly understood a word she'd bumbled on the way home. A ramble about her parents and treehouses here, another about college and service animals there. He didn't bother trying to decipher her codes. He was sure she didn't even have a clue what she was saying, so it wasn't his responsibility to figure it out.

Her fingers played with his hair, awkwardly tugging and scraping at his scalp, but he didn't mind. She mumbled something out, but the more time he spent with her, the less precise her words got. At this point, they were unintelligible, but she seemed happy while saying them. Oddly enough, it brought a smile to his face.

He reached down, unbuckling his belt. She continued with her string of corrupted vowels as he did so, and he ended his trail of kisses on her stomach before standing up straight once more. Her body was so... pristine. Shiny? It had this certain glow to it- a glow that her eyes lacked. They were stuck half-lidded, even feigning unconsciousness a few times, but he'd been proven wrong each time when she'd open her mouth to quickly inform him of how much she loved sunflowers, or to tell him an impossible-to-follow story about her first pet. He'd listened- not understood, but listened, to her, and then she'd fall back into silence for a few more minutes.

And even so, when she was so clearly destroyed by the liquor she'd been drinking like water, she looked so peaceful. She lay on the bed below him, completely flat, completely relaxed. Her arms casually positioned above her, her palms facing him. He wanted to hold her hand. So he did, and it brought a small smile to her face.

He wasn't going to stick around after this. He never did. He never wanted to. But she- she was so intriguing. So strange. He wanted to learn more about her, wanted to understand her. Wanted to listen to her stupid rambles and her whispered confusion. He wanted to see her frustrated, wanted to see her cry, wanted to see her confident, wanted to see her.

Shit. Maybe he wasn't all that sober. His hips leaned forward, and her eyebrows slanted, barely enough for him to notice. But he caught on, and his brows mimicked her movement. He was close to entering her, sliding between her folds, but he wasn't inside. Not yet. She looked confused.

"We're makin' love?" She asked, and Johnny narrowed his eyes, cracking a smile. That was a first. It was always fucking, or having sex, or getting laid, or some other degenerate nickname. Making love? That was for married people. Old couples. People with kids. People with commitments. Didn't she understand?

"Yeah, darlin', we're gonna make love," he replied, leaning down and kissing her neck. "Is that alright?"

"Mhm," she answered, and Johnny released a breath. She wasn't going back to his place. But he wasn't going to hers, either. Too innocent to be a victim, too drunk to be a partner. This was just another in his long list of mistakes. Another night that he'd forget after a few more bottles, a few more weeks, a few more stolen cigarettes, a few more kills. He always forgot them. He'd had too many. Needed a break far too much.

And she was surely the same.

And yet, when he pushed in, there was a tension, and then it broke. Something- something physical, something inside of her broke. And she whimpered, like he'd cut her. Her voice was light as she asked "What?"

Johnny couldn't move. He couldn't act. He couldn't continue. He couldn't speak. He wished he couldn't think, but that was all he did. When he looked down, his worst fears were confirmed. Dripping onto the white comforter were two marks of scarlet, and Johnny squeezed her hand.

No. No, no, no, no. No way.

Johnny held his breath. Wanted to wake up. He never felt bad. he never felt sympathy. He never regret things from his heart, only from his head.

but there was a singe in his chest. A poking in his lungs. And, despite her consciousness being continents away, she realized. Or, at the very least, picked up on his guilt.

"Please don't be mad," she whimpered, her voice breaking. And she cried. She held it back, but tears weren't easily disguised. He shook his head, trying to pretend that it was fine. Trying to pretend that this was normal, that he regularly took girls- drunk girls, pretty, innocent, completely wasted girls virginities.

But he didn't. And it showed.

"It's okay, I'm not mad," he assured, his jaw tight. He didn't know what to do. It was too late. Maybe she wouldn't remember in the morning. Maybe she wouldn't realize what she'd given up--

No.

What he'd taken from her. Stolen from her. Why would he assume? Why would he ever think this was a good idea? Why would-

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, and Johnny did something he'd never done before. Never even thought to do.

He leaned down, and he hugged her. She hugged him back- or, tossed her arms over his back, her drunken sobs hitting his chest like a goddamn bullet. He made girls cry on purpose. He made them scream, and sob, and bleed-

She was doing all of that. But he did not want her to. He shushed her, kissing the nape of her neck, running his hand over her back, all in an attempt to comfort her. He shouldn't care. He'd never cared. He had never shown any feelings towards anyone for any goddamn reason. He was not that person.

But he felt like a bad person. He'd killed people, but that wasn't the issue right now.

No, he was so much worse than that. She was sweet, and clueless, and couldn't handle her alcohol. She'd had a terrible night. No girl like her would be in a shithole bar if she hadn't. And he'd made it worse.

And come morning, she may not even be aware of it. She'd wake up, stranded, sore, sick, in a cheap motel, alone. She'd assume that she'd called a cab, she'd assume that she handled herself fine, but Johnny would know. He'd know the truth.

What was he doing?

Nancy was right. Running off and ignoring the family was a terrible idea. She'd sworn that he'd get himself into trouble, and while she'd definitely been talking about the law, or barfights, he felt like this was his karma. This was his trouble. Hell, it didn't even affect him. It shouldn't affect him.

But she was crying in his arms, and she didn't even fully understand why. And he held her, feeling a responsibility to care for her, to comfort her.

He was going to have to stick around, wasn't he?

Come morning, she'd wake up sore and sick, and with a stranger. And he'd be there. And he'd scare her, and stress her out, and hold her hair as she threw up tonight's mistakes, and he'd probably hug her again as she cried.

Johnny sighed, using his thumb to wipe her tears. She'd already fallen asleep. He laid her down, put her clothes back on as best as he could, and covered her up with the blankets. And he left the room.

He stood just outside, unpocketing a carton of cigarettes and putting one in his mouth, using a rusty black flip lighter to ignite the end.

He didn't know what he was going to do. But he felt a responsibility. An attachment. He didn't understand it. Maybe in the morning he'd lose all sympathy and be gone before she woke up, but he found that outcome unlikely.

He'd figure it out. He had to.

[greatstormcat-hiatus]

Sobbing i need the werewolf au but with them finding a feral werewolf and having em adapting to pack life omg i love these silly lil giys

This is actually how Kyle joined the Pack….

His original Pack had been wiped out by human trappers and hunters while he was still relatively young by werewolf standards, and he spent a long time living completely alone. He had needed to survive without the comfort and support of others like him, and had lost all trust and care for humanity. The slaughter of his family was burned into his brain, haunting his dreams and waking thoughts alike for years. He had been reduced and broken down to his component parts, more wolf than werewolf, and little man left, surviving on his instincts alone.

This was how Simon had found Kyle when he had wandered to the edge of the Pack's territory. He was thin, injured and close to death, drawn by the scent of a fresh kill and the burning in his gut. He hadn’t been able to hunt successfully on his own since being injured, so it had been too long since he had eaten. Kyle could smell the other werewolves, could smell the presence of two Alphas who would most likely kill him on sight, but he was too far gone to care.

Simon had spotted him first, muzzle lifted at the unfamiliar scent, and stalked the undergrowth until he came across the wretched creature. Snarls and barks greeted Simon when he found Kyle, hackles raised and foam flecking his maw as he prepared to defend himself from the huge Alpha. But no attack came, Simon simply sat down and regarded him coolly until Kyle stopped posturing, too weak to keep expending the energy.

When Simon eventually got up and moved closer, slowly but confidently, to better see his injuries, Kyle bared his throat in submission, whining softly. After that Simon had led him to the kill, to Price and Johnny, and he was allowed to eat his fill. Over the following months Price had allowed Kyle to stay, to integrate into the pack, and the two grew closer. Kyle fit in perfectly once his rough edges were dealt with, having lived wild for decades. Price and Simon were forced to scruff him like an errant pup on multiple occasions until he relearned his place and his manners. He soon learned to respect the Pack, but his youthful spirit never changed and made for great mischief with Johnny.

It took longer for him to learn to trust humans again, but with the unending and loving patience of the Pack’s human member he was able to understand that not every human was untrustworthy.

[tobiasdrake]

I was a huge Mortal Kombat nerd in my teenage years. I ravenously consumed every scrap of information I could get about the characters - which wasn't easy because this was in the Sega Genesis days when all the games had to go off of were bios, endings, plus little snippets of lore in strategy guides and comics and stuff.

But a byproduct of being obsessive about Mortal Kombat lore is that it means I get to constantly be disappointed by modern Mortal Kombat lore. XD Because it's never as interesting to me as the story that those little teensy-tiny glimpses implied.

All of this is to say, I want to talk about Raiden. And why his treatment in adaptation and reboot materials always leaves me a little underwhelmed. Like. He's nice. I don't dislike him. I just. I long for the Raiden I grew up with.

Raiden is probably the character that has been most completely rewritten by modern and adaptive canon, pretty much from the very first adaptation: The 1995 film. As the Protector God of Earthrealm, Raiden is the Big Good heroic patron who blesses our heroes to act in his name.

This is not entirely divorced from original canon; It's something that was first introduced to the games in Mortal Kombat Trilogy in 1996, following on the heels of the 1995 film. And I do like it. It's just. I also like what came before.

Raiden is a character who's undergone a trajectory throughout his appearances. In his first appearance in Mortal Kombat, Raiden was unrecognizable from who he is today. He was an arrogant god who looked down and saw all these mortals competing, and thought, "Pfft. These fuckers think they're cool? I can do better."

Raiden entered the Mortal Kombat tournament for the specific purpose of rubbing everybody's nose in divine superiority. He had a chip on his shoulder and wanted to prove that mortals ain't got shit on gods.

And here's the kicker: Raiden lost. He entered the tournament and somebody kicked his shit. Probably Liu Kang but it'd be funnier if it was Johnny Cage.

This humbling experience clearly had an impact on Raiden because, by Mortal Kombat 2, he'd gone from "HAHAHA Fuck Mortals" to a full-blown tsundere relationship with them. He shows up to warn everyone about Shao Kahn's new evil plan, then refuses to go with them even though he's planning to go into Outworld on his own anyway.

MK2 Raiden is just like, "Look guys, because I respect you now, here's the details of everything I learned with my God Powers. BUT I'M NOT COMING TO HELP YOU. We're just going the same way that's all. IT'S NOT LIKE I LIKE YOU OR ANYTHING."

Which then brings us to MK3 - Well, the Trilogy expansion. By this point, Raiden has fully come around and is Team Earthrealm. So much so that when the Elder Gods forbid him from interfering - by this point, something that's well-established as a thing Raiden likes to do - Raiden screams, "FUCK YOU, Mortals are cool actually and if I can't fight Shao Kahn as a god then I'll fight him as a human!"

This is a fucking amazing character trajectory. Raiden the arrogant, meddlesome god learns the value of humanity and goes from mocking their foolishness to sacrificing his own godhood to stand against Outworld as one of them.

It also sells his later transformation into Dark Raiden better when he was kind of shit to begin with. Like. it's so much easier to buy a transformation of

1 - LOL Fuck mortals I'm so much cooler than they are and I'm gonna prove it. 2 - Mortals are cool actually and I love them and I collect them like Gandalf collects hobbits. 3 - NOBODY fucking better mess with my mortals. I will slaughter anyone who dares encroach on my realm! These people are mine.

than it is with a Raiden who was the embodiment of good incarnate from day 1.

I don't have a problem with the Good Incarnate interpretation of Raiden. He's fine, and serviceable in the roles he's typically given to play.

But I do miss my Raiden. There was a very interesting and engaging character in the margins of those early games, that I feel has been lost to time.

[carriagelamp]

My September has been... so much. So it has also been a month of audiobooks and almost exclusively rereading Terry Pratchett novels. So like… if you’ve never read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, consider this my loving recommendation because they are, as far as I’m concerned, the Ultimate Comfort Novels

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Through a set of treaties, humans and fairies live in two very separate worlds, divided by a magical wall that is meant to protect humans from the almost unimaginable power and cruelties of the fairies who had previously kept them as slaves. While hunting for meat to feed her family though, Feyre ends up killing a fairy and therefore breaks the treaty. To make amends, Feyre must either risk the lives of her entire family, or enter the fairy world with its hidden power struggles and strange conspiracies lurking just under the surface…

I honestly didn’t love ACOTAR the first time I read it, but I kept going because my friend swore up and down that I’d love the next book. And hot damn was she ever right, A Court Of Mist And Fury was phenomenal. The narrative pivot? The completely logical but unexpected twist on the beauty and the beast theme? An actual serious look at trauma and recovery? So good.

This was my first time rereading ACOTAR since finishing the series, and I’m shocked by the fact that knowing the entire series made Book 1 so much more enjoyable. Knowing everything that’s happening under the surface rather than taking it at face value as a rather trite, lacklustre romance novel makes it so much more compelling and the characters so much more sympathetic.

Going Postal

And so my desperate rereading of Discworld novels begins…

Moist is one of my favourite protagonists in the entire series (possibly only rivalled by Vimes) and I love his arc from the depths of my heart. The humour and satire is just completely on point through out.

Going Postal is the first Moist Von Lipwig book, in which Moist, a conman, is hung by the neck until dead. …Or nearly dead. The city’s dictator has his life spared on the condition that he accepts the position of Post Master General and revives the city’s dead postal service. It seems like it should be an easy job, until Moist realises how many people have already died in the attempt…

Making Money

The second Moist book, and oddly enough the very first Discworld book I ever read, when I found it in our middle school library. I think everyone’s first book is probably their favourite, and this one is certainly mine, I can read it over and over and over.

In this book Moist has found himself pressed into another industry in the city — this time into banking when he inherits an old woman’s dog and winds up with an entire, powerful, vicious family out for his blood.

Only You Can Save Mankind

One of Pratchett’s children novels. I really enjoy the Johnny Maxwell trilogy, and this book is honestly very impressive. It deals with some really complex, heavy topics (the main character goes to research the Geneva Convention at one point in the middle of the story in order to try to come to terms with what he’s witnessing) while wrapping it in a very fun, approachable story.

Johnny Maxwell really just wants to sit and blast some aliens in his new computer game; he’s not prepared for when the aliens suddenly surrender! Or when they request safe conduct, and Johnny finds himself obliged to keep these little creatures safe from all the other human players that want to slaughter them.

Secret Path

This is a graphic novel that tells the real life story of Chanie Wenjack, a First Nations child who was a victim of the Residential School System in the 1960s. It follows Chanie’s attempt to escape the institution and return home hundreds of kilometres away. 

Canadian Musician Gord Downey wrote a concept album called The Secret Path about the tragedy, and it was adapted into a graphic novel. It’s a very emotional, heavy read, especially with the music, but it’s well worth it. With National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Day coming up, I highly recommend finding a copy, or watching the version they have uploaded on Youtube!

Thud!

More Discworld. One of the later books in Sam Vimes' arc, in which he tries to keep his city from dissolving into chaos as racial tension between the trolls and the dwarves continues to mount with the approach of Koom Valley Day, a day that marks an ancient war that exemplifies the hatred the two races have for each other. If that wasn't enough, they now have a dead dwarf, deep in the mines beneath the city, there's potential evidence pointing towards the trolls, and no one seems to be telling Vimes the truth, not about the murder, not about the hidden machinations, and not about the ancient evil that may or may not be lurking in the dark...

The Truth

More Discworld. William is another personal favourite of mine, I really love the newspaper trio, they’re such a bunch of chaotic assholes.

 William de Worde is just trying to live a simple life and get on doing a simple job. Estranged from his family, he uses his education to record some of the interesting events that happen in the city, and then sends out letters to various foreign dignitaries who pay to have these accounts made. Things change when he — quite literally — runs into a group of dwarves and their brand new printing engine with its moveable metal typeface. All of a sudden he finds that he’s accidentally started the city’s first newspaper and that there’s quite a few people who are profoundly unhappy to have someone sticking their nose into things in order to find the truth.

Unseen Academicals

More Discworld. This is a book that I feel doesn’t get the love it deserves. It’s technically a wizard book, as the wizards at the Unseen University suddenly find themselves obliged to participate in a game of football, but it feels much more like Nutt’s book imho. The story is partially about the modernization of football (soccer) and what it means to be a part of something — a community, a neighborhood, a team, the crush, the mob-think — but it’s also about the strange little creature, Nutt, who lives and works in the candle vats deep below the university and his efforts to accrue worth and knowledge and find away to fit in. Nutt, Trev, Glenda, and Juliette are such a lovable group, I really have a soft spot for them. 

Yarichin Bitch Club 1

…Oof. I read this because I had quite enjoyed another book by this mangaka (Neon Sign Amber) and my cousin suggested I try this. She billed it as “Ouran but horny” and like… she isn’t WRONG per se but also I was not prepared for what it actually is. It followed a lot of the yaoi tropes that I really don’t like and I spent the first book and a half really uncomfortable. I will admit that towards the end of book two things got a bit more interesting, and I may read the next one but like… I would not recommend this. Unless you want really undiluted and uncomfortable smut, there’s better options out there.

[lil-spider]

So Damn Pretty

Chapter 7

Part 6 : Part 8 :

Pairing: Johnny Slaughter X Female Reader

Summary: Johnny is sex starved and you’re very attractive, so attractive that he doesn’t want to kill you. Instead he finds ways to keep you around longer.

Note: Stockholm syndrome is in full play now and pls don’t hate me lol.

Warning: This is 18+ and please do not read if your sensitive to heavy descriptions of non/con and violence. Including bondage, blood, gore, assault, cheating, objectification and unsafe sex. For those who don’t mind, I hope you enjoy.

Many days have passed—about three and a half weeks since Johnny last touched me—and it has been driving me crazy.

We’ve been getting closer, taking nightly walks through the beautiful sunflower field. It became my favourite part of the day. After dinner, he and I would sneak off outside, talking to me about his interests or whatever he did for the day, and I would tell him mine. We chew on sunflower seeds and sit in a run-down car, watching the sunset fade into the night. We’re steadily learning more about each other; on rare occasions, he opens up to me, and during such times, I see him as a broken young man rather than a monster.

But now our walks have ceased, as has the sex. He’s been neglecting me, making me miss his cock and touch. I so desperately want to fuck him. We were having sex almost every day since I arrived, and now, nearly a month of no action has taken a toll on me. I've become increasingly frustrated and exhausted. 

It doesn't help that Nubbins has been pointing out that I look fatter around the stomach and chest, making crude remarks about how full my breasts appear, until Sissy smacks him on the back of the head for his rudeness. He just immaturely blows raspberries at her.

Nubbin's is right. I've noticed that I've gained some weight and that I've become considerably hungrier. Which has me concerned. At dinnertime, I've started eating more, going for seconds unintentionally, impressing everyone at dinner.

Johnny’s ban on leaving the house by himself has been lifted since I arrived; according to Sissy, he has been using his new freedom to drive up town to local bars. I know more meat has been stocked up after his nights out; I only see him bring back supplies or cigarettes; no bodies, thankfully. Most days, I know that he helps Drayton at the gas station. I overheard them one time talking about me working there with one of them. It honestly sounds refreshing to have some new scenery, even if I have to work.

My chores around the house are becoming more routine. Sissy and I spend all of our time together; she's come up with fun things to do, either playing some card games or listening to music on her record player. She’s been great, like a sister I’ve always wanted. We’ve been getting closer as Johnny’s been busy. I even spent time with Bubba outside in the gardens, planting some new flowers as he brought over the heavy soil, with Sissy teaching him. He is like a puppy, exploring his surroundings. I've actually started enjoying myself here, almost forgetting about my old life.

I'm currently lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. It’s peaceful in the early morning. Drayton, whom I've picked up the habit of calling Mr. Sawyer, drove off to the gas station a few minutes ago, waking me up with his grumbling downstairs as he left the house.

I have come to be attuned to the footsteps of everyone. Johnny is very heavy-footed, while Sissy and Nubbins are very quiet. Drayton scatters around while Bubba thunders up the stairs with no care. It helps me figure out what is happening around me.

I’m no longer locked in my room. Being here so long, working, and not bothering to escape has rewarded me with trust, and honestly, I'm not sure if it's even worth trying to leave. I've just adapted to my new environment so well that I don't see a point in leaving. especially since I don't want to disappoint Johnny either.

I’ll do anything to have him inside me again. The more I think about his thick cock,large muscles, and handsome face, the throbbing below increases. I move my hand down, sliding it under my panties, gently placing a finger in my engorged clit, rubbing it in small circles.

I breathlessly moan and pinch my left nipple while imagining Johnny. His cock stood tall as he stroked his hardness, sitting on his bed, waiting for me. I want to lick his throbbing tip and hear his groans. I picture myself sucking him off, taking his whole cock to the back of my throat. I go to climb on top of him, letting his fat cock slide inside me as I start riding him. My hands are on his chest as I bounce. The more I imagine, the faster I rub my clit. I squeeze my thighs together as my orgasm comes quickly. I pull my hand back while sighing in disappointment; it’s not as good. But it does the job.

Feeling a little relieved, I roll over and prepare to get some more sleep until I hear another truck drive up. It’s Johnny's. I lay there, listening to him slam his truck door and loudly enter the house. Like always, he chucks his keys on the kitchen table, but instead of going to his shed, I hear his footsteps go downstairs to the basement.

The familiar sound of the basement door opening and closing spikes my curiosity. He rarely goes to the basement, only if he needs to help Bubba, but it's too early for Bubba to be awake, so I'm desperate to know what he's up to.

I contemplate going, fear of consequences rousing, but my yearning for Johnny runs deeper. I get up off the bed and pull a short black, long-sleeved maxi dress over myself.

Choosing to go barefoot, I carefully open the bedroom door, not to awaken anyone, and cautiously descend the stairs, making my way to the basement. I glide past the red wall displayed with an arrangement of animal skulls. Arriving in front of the basement door, I gently slide it across the opening, leaving just a big enough gap for me to slide in. Leaving it open, I glance around the hellish pit of the household. A red hue cascades over the lair. Its pungent odour, with which I had found it vile, is now somewhat familiar.

I pick up his voice coming from one of the rooms they keep the victims in. I should turn back; it’s not my business, and I could get in trouble for putting my nose where it doesn't belong. Creeping forward, I forget my worries as I develop an itching sensation that can only be relived by finding out what Johnny is doing. Tip-toeing over to the door like a little mouse, I squat near the door and peek through the gaps. The sight before me made me realise I should have never left the bed.

A woman with long, shiny black hair who has her wrists tied behind her back with a zip-tie is crying out while voluntarily riding Johnny’s cock. My fingers dove tightly into my hands as I witnessed Johnny fuck another woman. He grips her shapely hips against him. Thrusting up into her as he lays back on an old, dirty mattress

The unknown woman throws her head back while increasing her moans. Johnny continues his restless pounding. I watch his thick cock slathered in their juices go up and down inside her. Her large chest was bouncing along. She’s moaning Johnny’s name with a sultry voice as she leans over him, pushing her chest into his face.

Mixed emotions take over: arousal, jealousy, and insecurity. I feel so hurt and betrayed, and yet I can’t look away. I’m finally seeing Johnny after so long. I squeeze my thighs together, rubbing them for relief as he moves his right hand off her hip, going between her legs and rubbing her clitoris. Uncontrollable tears leak from my eyes as I cover my mouth, muffling my whimpers.

They change positions; he sits up and pushes her down, sucking on her hard nipples while fucking her into the mattress violently. I’m unable to do anything. I want to snap her fucking neck off. My pussy throbs while embarrassingly soaking my underwear. I just want to shove her away and get fucked by him instead. She’s now obnoxiously yelling about how she's about to cum, and now I want to leave. I can’t watch this anymore. I don’t want to see Johnny finish with her.

I sneak back up the stairs, closing the metal door gently behind me, and rush back upstairs to my room. I go under the sheet and lay on the bed. My clit throbs, but I’m so jealous that I just want to curl up. I start to cry from all these overwhelming emotions, trying to take deep breaths to calm myself. I hug my pillow, biting into it out of utter frustration.

I take deep breaths, trying to calm down. Salty tears and snot drip from my face as I cry into my pillow. We were never together, but it still feels like I was betrayed. I worked so hard to fit in here like he wanted, and he fucks another woman! Is she the first? How many girls has he gone through? Is he going to replace me now? The idea of being replaced makes my chest tighten, and more tears spill out as I become more upset.

Wiping my face with the sleeve of my dress, I decide to go to one person who can give me some answers. To understand what’s going to happen to me. Getting up, I leave my room and go over to Sissy’s. I knock lightly on her door and wait for her while continuing to wipe my tears. 

She opens up with a bright smile, but it falters as she sees my red nose and weeping face. Sissy wraps her thin arms around me, enveloping me. I return the much-needed hugs as she brings me into her room.

“Oh sug', what’s got ya’ all blue?” She pulls me along to sit on her bed as she grabs a tissue, wiping my face.

 

I try to control my words, but I just stutter out what I witnessed in the basement with Johnny. I mention to her, in vague terms, what I saw. "I knew it wasn’t my business, but I got curious as he’s been so busy, but I didn’t expect that!” I exclaimed. 

Sissy nods her head in understanding, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as I sniffle. She holds my hands, squeezing them in reassurance. She tells me about how he’s always brought girls home. Goes out to bars and brings them back for the household.

“Ya’ have been the only one that he hasn’t killed; ya’ family, now he ain’t going to replace ya’ pumpkin.” As much as her words comfort you, your feelings don’t go away.

“It’s just.. he’s threatened it about to me before.” I say tearfully as she gets up off the bed and pulls you up with her.

“Don’t ya’ worry, Y/N; he likes ya’ trust me.” She smiles and hugs me again. After our little talk, Sissy and I started our morning chores early. It’s a good distraction, but awful scenarios keep replaying in the back of my mind, and it’s absolutely frustrating.

I hear Johnny coming up from the basement while I'm doing the dishes. I approach him to have a conversation, but he simply takes his keys and walks out the front door, shutting it behind him. His vehicle starts up, and he speeds away from the property. He did not even look at me. The distance between us stings. How cruel, having me live here and putting me through misery simply to neglect me for another woman. I storm into the backyard and start crying uncontrollably, telling Sissy what happened and she tries to console me. She just strokes my head as I cry my emotions into her shoulder.

After my little episode, I spent the majority of my day outside pruning the flowers. Sissy made me some lemonade and went off somewhere; she doesn’t need to babysit me all day anymore, so I spend most of my time outside gardening. It relaxes me. I finish trimming and gather an assortment of flowers for inside to liven up the place.

I returned inside after putting away the gardening equipment. It’s the afternoon, and supper is almost ready. I chose to use an old, empty glass vase I found outdoors in the tool shed to hold the flowers. I go to the kitchen to fill the vase, but just as I'm almost done, I'm startled to see Johnny, still as handsome as ever, grab my shoulder.

"Need ya’ to come with me." He says this, turning away and making his way towards the basement.

[sweeneyarts]

Little Sweeneys for you all. I've missed drawing him so much, and I never drew the others, so here they are. These are all the Sweeney adaptions I have seen and I love each and every one of them.

From left to right:

Tod Slaughter (1936)

Len Cariou (1979) and George Hearn (1982)

Ray Winstone (2006)

Johnny Depp (2007)

Please don't repost, use, or sell my art in any way without my permission!

[enbde]

nct 127′s villain origin story

Taeil - Came second place in a combination beauty/talent show and is still so mad about it he has set his mind on nothing but murder from here on out. Comes to be known as The Masked Singer due to his proclivity towards wearing masks during his killing sprees. 

Johnny - Johnny was raised in the Old West by a herd of wild horses and when they were all rounded up and sold to circuses he vowed to never let the culprits live it down. He’s on a 200-year old revenge quest and his bloodlust has not abated even after slaughtering the people directly responsible while robbing their train. Everyday he sees injustices against horses and everyday his vigor is renewed. The evil part is that because he’s an old being he can’t tell the difference between real horses and animated horses so he kills a lot of kids. 

Taeyong - Was abandoned in the woods as a kid after his mom was killed by the mafia and got adopted by furries. He’s evil now because unfortunately the furries were also murdered by the furry mafia. He’s now severely unhinged and his revenge quest has taken a left turn into just showing up at every single furry convention and wreaking absolute havoc. Seriously, don’t dress up as a cat on Halloween--it’s how Ten met his unfortunate end. 

Yuta - He was just bored one day. Figured murder might spice up his life a bit. He was right. 

Doyoung - It was a conscious choice for Doyoung to become evil. He chose the lifestyle because, aesthetically, it’s just much cooler and it garners him a lot more traction on his Instagram. 

Jaehyun - Was thrown into a vat of acid when he was in high school and while it did not affect him externally by all appearances, it did seep under his skin and alter everything inside. His brain chemicals were entirely thrown out of whack by the force of it and now he is overly emotional and cries acid tears. Accidentally killed his entire family after they tried to cheer him up one day with a group hug and now he’s just given up on ever being the nice guy again. 

Jungwoo - Was birthed in the viscous goo of his home planet where the concept of evil simply does not exist. As such, he comes to Earth and his intentions are massively misconstrued. Has to chance to adapt to human standards but chooses not to because he doesn’t like paying for food and would much rather steal it from the hands of strangers. 

Mark + Haechan were completed with NCT Dream. But they are doubly evil by merit of being grouped together. 

[aion-rsa]

Mortal Kombat (2021) vs. Mortal Kombat (1995): Which is Better?

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This article contains Mortal Kombat (2021) spoilers.

“Test your might.” These are the words of a minigame in the original Mortal Kombat arcade fighter from 1992. They were meant to signal an interlude between the simple pleasures of digitized sprites spilling buckets of blood. Yet they’ve also become synonymous with a franchise that’s arguably the most popular video game fighter of all-time. The phrase is also a pretty apt description for the various filmmakers who’ve attempted the challenge of taming this crazy dragon on screen.

More than any other video game series, Mortal Kombat has seen a plethora of live-action adaptations, from Hollywood movies to syndicated television. This weekend marks another milestone in that history, too, with Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema’s hotly anticipated Mortal Kombat reboot opening in theaters and premiering on HBO Max. It’s the third Mortal Kombat movie released under the New Line banner, but let’s just call it the second serious attempt at putting this universe on screen after the 1995 cult classic directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.

That ’95 movie holds the dubious honor of being generally considered the best video game movie adaptation of all-time, thanks to a tongue-in-cheek tone perfect for its mid-‘90s moment and maybe the greatest use of techno music in film. Genuinely, how many other pictures have the soundtrack scream the title of the movie over and over again, and it seems like a good idea?

The new movie took a different approach to the material, and certainly a bloodier one. While both adaptations share the same basic premise of chosen “Earthrealm” guardians protecting our dimension from an invading force via martial arts fights, the executions diverge radically. Here’s how.

The Story

The starkly different approach to storytelling in director Simon McQuoid’s 2021 Mortal Kombat is evident during the film’s opening scene. Beginning in 1600s Japan with a gnarly, brutal fight sequence between Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) and Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), this version of Mortal Kombat relies heavily on lore and world-building. If you know the video game backstory of Sub-Zero/Bi-Han, and how he was kidnapped as a child by the Lin Kuei cult so they could brainwash him into the magical ninja we now see slaughtering Scorpion’s family, the scene has a sense of fateful tragedy.

If you don’t, well Taslim and Sanada are such gifted martial artists that it still looks really cool. By contrast, Mortal Kombat of the ’95 vintage is pretty straightforward and to the point. This is basically an interdimensional version of the Bruce Lee classic, Enter the Dragon (1973), only with magical powers and the fate of the world at stake.

We’re introduced to three fighters in ‘95, Liu Kang (Robin Shou), Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby), and Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), who all get on a boat to the tournament for different reasons. And while Liu Kang was raised by his Shaolin monk upbringing to know what this tournament is, the other two act as our eyes and ears into this strange world of mysticism and Outworld menace. By the time they reach the island, they understand they need to compete with superpowered foes to save Earth in a structured tournament.

Conversely, Mortal Kombat (2021) is curiously both more secretive and open about its bizarre universe. For a much larger chunk of its running time, the new movie’s point-of-view character Cole Young (Lewis Tan) is completely mystified by the superpowered horrors happening around him while the viewer is keyed in early by scenes set in the evil dimension of Outworld. There we see the dastardly sorcerer Shang Tsung (Chin Han) scheme from a throne about killing Cole in order to prevent a prophecy vaguely connected with the movie’s prologue scene in the 1600s. So he sends Sub-Zero to kill Cole in his day-to-day life as an MMA fighter, slaughtering him before he understands he’s been chosen to participate in the sacred Mortal Kombat tournament, which is held in secret every generation.

In fact, there is no actual tournament in the new film. Rather the plot eventually becomes Shang Tsung’s chosen band of evil warriors attempting to cheat ahead of the conflict by attacking Earthrealm’s depleted champions before they even discover they have superpowers (or “arcanas”) and know what Mortal Kombat is. The film thus becomes a quest movie with Cole joining forces with other “chosen ones” (or chosen one-aspirants) to find the Temple of Raiden, a lightning god (played by Tadanobu Asano) who represents the interests of Earthrealm in the tournaments. From there the heroes must learn their powers and evade preemptive, cheating attacks from Outworld’s thuggish baddies.

Side by side, the approaches appear to be the differences between a traditional (if derivative) martial arts flick and a modern studio blockbuster that is trying to cram as much fan service and world-building lore into a two-hour movie as possible in the hopes of making fanboys happy. I hesitate to say the 2021 film is fully following the Marvel Studios template given its copious amounts of blood and (seeming) lack of interest in building a shared universe of interconnected franchises. However, the 2021 film was certainly released in a post-Marvel world where the focus in studio committee rooms is less on telling a single story and more on building a whole convoluted mythology filled with fan favorite characters who are begging to be explored endlessly by future movies. It’s less story-driven than it is content-driven.

As a result, it leaves the narrative lacking. Viewers know long before Cole or 2021’s Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) what’s going on, and all the anticipation for a tournament that never materializes feels anti-climactic. With its simple structure, the Anderson-directed movie in the ‘90s plays out much more satisfyingly with three heroes (plus poor dead meat like “Art Lean”) entering a tournament by choice or trickery and then trying to survive it while learning vanilla, if tangible, life lessons. Liu Kang needs to accept his destiny; Johnny Cage must look before he leaps; and Sonya has to accept she’ll be the film’s damsel in distress even though she kicks ass. It’s an Enter the Dragon knockoff but it still has more kick than fan service.

Round One goes to 1995.

The Tone

The tone and aesthetics are also jarringly different between the two movies. Released in 1995, the same year Pierce Brosnan became James Bond, and two years before Arnold Schwarzenegger chilled out as Mr. Freeze, Mortal Kombat (1995) is an unmistakably campy movie and it leans into that fact.

Working with a low budget for a Hollywood spectacle even before New Line Cinema cut his funds by another $2 million right before cameras rolled, Anderson directed a B-movie that accepted its limitations and had fun with it. Apparently stars Ashby and Christopher Lambert, who played Lord Raiden in the ’95 movie, improvised dialogue throughout the shoot and rewrote entire scenes. As a consequence, Lambert’s lightning god was more of a jovial trickster in temperament, reminiscent of Loki instead of Odin. Johnny Cage, meanwhile, was essentially the film’s Han Solo: a cocksure wiseacre next to the stoic hero (Liu Kang) and a no-nonsense woman who doesn’t like to be called princess (Sonya).

As again signaled by the almost funereal opening sequence of Mortal Kombat (2021), where Sub-Zero murders Scorpion’s young family, the 2021 film is going for a differing sensibility. There is actually quite a bit of humor still present, with the real reason the Johnny Cage character got cut becoming apparent the moment we meet Kano (Josh Lawson), a loudmouth smartass who takes on the comic relief role but with an added slice of thuggery. Hence his dialogue has a lot more F-bombs than it does cracks about $500 sunglasses.

Other than moments where Kano is allowed to steal scenes, however, Mortal Kombat (2021) plays it pretty straight. Asano’s Raiden is imperious and his fighters stoic. However, it’s also worth noting Raiden is played by a Japanese actor, as opposed to a white American-born Frenchman who was raised in Switzerland (Lambert has quite the international background). Indeed, one of the more admirable qualities of the 2021 film is the focus on a diverse cast that includes more roles for Asian actors and people of color, whereas the 1995 film whitewashed Raiden and left out the Black American character Jax for little more than a cameo.

The 2021 film also upped the gore quotient considerably. While the martial arts of the 1995 film were decidedly PG-13, the tone of the movie was only a few steps removed from Power Rangers in some respects, including its introduction of a horrible CGI creation known as Reptile. The Reptile in the 2021 film appears more convincingly, like the latest monstrosity out of a Jurassic World lab, and the violence he commits is visually gruesome (more on that later).

Honestly, preferences over the aesthetic differences between the two films comes down to a matter of taste. I prefer the tongue-in-cheek eye rolls of the 1995 film given how nonsensical this universe is, and how at the end of the day its target audience remains children. Yet I imagine many adult fans of the video games will prefer the blood-soaked earnestness found in 2021.

Round Two is a draw.

Chosen Players

Anyone who’s picked up a fighting game will tell you it’s all about finding a character or two you like and then training up with them. In 1995, Anderson had the advantage of primarily adapting the original 1992 arcade game with its limited collection of playable characters. Ergo, his film’s lineup easily focused on the three aforementioned heroes of Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya Blade, plus the ambiguous Princess Kitana (Talisa Soto), and Lord Raiden. Meanwhile he divided his villain screen time between the sorcerer Shang Tsung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) and Shang Tsung’s minions, who were essentially glorified Bond henchmen with individual gimmicks.

Fan favorites Sub-Zero and Scorpion are present in the ’95 movie—with much more colorful, game-accurate costumes—yet they’re relatively low-hanging fruit in the tournament’s brackets. Their rivalry is given lip-service but they are dispatched by heroes Liu Kang and Johnny Cage relatively easily. Meanwhile Trevor Goddard’s Kano is more a hapless comic relief baddie who Wilson-Sampras’ Sonya kills with a great laugh line. “Give me a break,” Kano pleads with his head pinned between her thighs. “Okay,” she shoots back before snapping his neck.

Still, the movie largely belongs to Tagawa who makes a meal out of the scenery as the big bad. The guttural pleasure he has in so naturally turning all the over-the-top commands in the video game into his dialogue—“Finish Him!;” “Fatality;” “Test Your Might”—is infectious.

The 2021 film relies on a much larger cast of characters and, unlike the 1995 movie, attempts to give them each a moment to shine in the way Kitana and the original Kano could only dream. This surprisingly begins with the introduction of a totally new character in Cole Young as our point-of-view protagonist. While fan favorite Liu Kang was the hero in ’95, the character is now a supporting player played by Ludi Lin in 2021. And he’s not alone. The new Liu Kang’s cousin, Kung Lao (Max Huang), also gets enough screen time to show off his character’s beloved razor-rimmed hat, which he dispatches one of the movie’s villains with.

There is also the new Sonya, who may have the most complete arc as she strives to be accepted as a champion for Earthrealm, and Jax (Mechad Brooks), who is Sonya’s partner with the chosen one birthmark and who gets a new nasty origin story for his metal arms. And then the new Kano spends as much time working with the good guys as he does becoming a villain in an entirely rushed and unconvincing third act plot twist.

Read more

Movies

Mortal Kombat Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

By Gavin Jasper

Games

Mortal Kombat: Biggest Changes the Movie Makes to the Games

By Matthew Byrd

There are even more villains, most of whom amount to glorified cameos, including Mileena (Sisi Stringer), Nitara (Mel Jarnson), and Kabal (Daniel Nelson). However, they’re all even more perfunctory than Sub-Zero and Scorpion were in 1995. At least the ‘90s ninjas each got a few minutes to show off before being dispatched. Even the ostensible main villain of 2021, the new Shang Tsung, is fairly underserved, left to state banal dialogue from a throne without a throne room, and he’s never allowed to dominate scenes the way Tagawa did so gleefully back in the day.

Unfortunately, this is because the 2021 film has so many characters that it lacks any sense of narrative focus or cohesion. Tan’s arc of wanting to learn his power/arcana to defend his family is as broad and serviceable a hook as Shou’s 1995 Liu Kang wanting to avenge the murder of his brother. But Tan’s Cole Young gets lost in the shuffle after the first act and until the movie’s ending. Character turns like Kano betraying the other heroes similarly feels hackneyed because there is too much noise on screen to really care about who’s making it. Even Kang Lao’s death falls flat. It’s admirable that it’s a good guy fans theoretically should care about (unlike 1995’s token Black character created by the filmmakers to die), but the 2021 movie fails to make the uninitiated be concerned.

Of course there are exceptions. Namely Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Even though Scorpion ill-advisedly disappears for nearly all of the movie’s running time after the film’s terrific opening 10 minutes, Sanada has such presence, and such strong chemistry with Taslim’s Sub-Zero, that their opening salvo leaves you waiting the rest of the movie for Scorpion’s revenge. Taslim is also able to give Sub-Zero some surprisingly tangible, if only hinted at, pathos even after he kills a kid in his first scene and is then forced to act behind a mask thereafter. He’s the real villain of the piece you want to see go down, and his death scene is incredibly satisfying as a result.

It’s probably enough for fans of the games to favor this kitchen sink approach. But overall, less is more.

Round Three goes to 1995.

Fight Scenes

If there is one realm where the 2021 movie truly excels in over the previous film, this is it. And yes, a big part of that is the gore quotient. Whereas the 1995 flick was produced with a PG-13 rating in mind (my elementary school thanks New Line for that), the 2021 movie was able to embrace the gross out charm that made the original game stand out at the arcade all those decades ago. Street Fighter might’ve been first, but only Mortal Kombat let you pull the other player’s spine out.

While that effect doesn’t quite happen in the 2021 movie, almost everything else does. Nitara goes face first into a Kung Lao’s buzzsaw hat, which cuts her cleanly in half; Sub-Zero freezing Jax’s arms and then shattering them in a stomach-churning effect; and instead of going off a cliff, Prince Goro is disemboweled by Cole Young—which almost makes up for the fact that Goro is reduced to a mindless mute this time.

It’s like a highlight reel of fatalities from the video game. But the reason why this film’s fight scenes really stand above the 1995 film isn’t the bloodletting; it’s the action leading up to it. With brutal fight choreography, the new Mortal Kombat shines whenever it lets actors who can actually do the stunts take the arena. That includes Lewis Tan, whose Cole Young mostly fights other MMA types or CG monsters. But it’s especially true for Joe Taslim of The Raid fame. As the villainous Sub-Zero, his moves are lightning quick, even if his powers leave opponents frozen stiff. So when he shares the screen with Tan or Sanada, the action reveals an auhentic flair.

In comparison, the 1995 film suffers a bit from the sin Johnny Cage is trying to dodge within the story: it relies on stunt doubles and tight editing to make the fights exciting. It’s a shame too since Shou is an excellent martial artist, and the one scene he got to choreograph—Liu Kang versus Reptile—has an edge. But much of the time, Shou’s constrained by the direction and editing. Ashby and Wilson-Sampras, conversely, are not actual martial artists, though credit must be given to Wilson-Sampras for doing all her own stunts when getting the role of Sonya at the last minute.

Still, the fights stand taller in 2021. It’s a bit of a shame though that the movie is so heavily edited that it too often hides this fact. Unlike the 1995 ensemble, most of the cast has the moves in 2021, but the editing still feels stuck in the past with its reliance on confounding quick cuts and coverage. During our current era of John Wick and Atomic Blonde this is both a bizarre and disappointing choice. Nevertheless, this is an easy call.

Round Four goes to 2021.

Ending

The final fight was relatively satisfying in 1995. Tagawa is a preening villain, and when the Immortals’ techno “Mortal Kombat” theme plays, it’s a pleasure to watch Liu Kang wipe that smug smile off Shang Tsung’s face. However, the ending keeps going with a Star Wars-esque sendoff to Liu Kang’s force ghost brother, and then the movie undermines its catharsis by immediately setting up a sequel.

In the picture’s final moments, our three heroes, plus Kitana, return to the real-life Thai temple that’s supposed to be Liu Kang’s home. Lord Raiden waits for them there, getting some final sideways cracks in before Outworld’s evil emperor Shao Khan appears like a giant specter in the clouds. He immediately threatens an Earthrealm invasion, despite losing the tournament.

I can attest that in 1995, this was a stunning cliffhanger for eight-year-olds everywhere. But then… Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997), one of the worst films of the late ‘90s, happened.

Meanwhile in the 2021 film, we have a much more satisfying death for its villain when Scorpion returns from hell to send Sub-Zero to the hot place. Their fight is much more technically satisfying, and the cliffhanger setup is a lot more subtle. After defeating Shang Tsung’s warriors, if not Shang Tsung himself, the heroes of Earthrealm saved us all without an actual tournament ever occurring. And instead of Outworld cheating in this moment by invading anyway, they retreat. It’s an odd choice since they’ve been cheating the whole film, so why start playing by the rules now?

Even so, it leaves a destination for a second movie to actually head toward. And to tease that fact further, it’s implied Cole Young will now travel to Hollywood to recruit movie star Johnny Cage for a sequel. It’s pure fan service, but the kind that leaves the possibility open for better things to come. Considering we know where the 1995 movie’s cliffhanger leads—to pits of cinematic hell worse than any faced by Scorpion in the last 400 years—this is a victory for 2021 by default.

Round Five goes to 2021.

Final Victor

Ultimately, neither of these films are high art nor do they aspire to be. In some ways, it’s a case of picking your poison between schlock or schlock. Each has advantages over the other, as laid out above, and each is a long way from a flawless victory. Nonetheless, due simply to narrative and tonal cohesiveness, and just more memorable lead characters, I’ll go with the one that actually gets to the tournament this whole damn thing’s designed around.

Game over.

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[johannestevans]

Livetweeting Hook & Smee in Barrie’s Peter Pan: Part One

Going from the Gutenberg edition for copy and paste ease. 

I’m gonna be separating this into parts because I get long-winded when talking about how I love these piratical homos, but I just want to state for the record in case you’ve never read Peter Pan before and think that you might want to based off of these two, like... 

Fair warning, Peter Pan was published at the beginning of the 20th century, and it is racist as fuck, particularly with anti-Black sentiment and some nasty stuff about Native Americans. The latter is not as bad as it is in the Disney adaptation, where they actually added in a lot of extra racism, but it’s still present.

With that said, I was raised on Peter Pan, and the queer vibes and gender vibes from the fairies were really positive for me, and I do still love it - what I don’t want is anyone to think “oh, this book Peter Pan looks fun” and then getting a gut punch when it has That Shit. The book is honestly not all that great, and Peter Pan himself is a violent serial killer and abuser disguised as an eight-year-old, so if you want to give Peter Pan a pass, you absolutely should.

So, first, their introductions!

...and the Irish bo'sun Smee, an oddly genial man who stabbed, so to speak, without offence, and was the only Non-conformist in Hook's crew...

I love Smee... so much. I love that he stabs without offence - Hook is very regularly described as evil and intimidating and scary, whereas Smee is constantly established as this kindly-looking uncle figure who is going to disembowel you with charm, and yes, that’s absolutely a contrast I have firmly internalised and that shows up regularly in my own work.

In the midst of them, the blackest and largest in that dark setting, reclined James Hook, or as he wrote himself, Jas. Hook, of whom it is said he was the only man that the Sea-Cook feared. He lay at his ease in a rough chariot drawn and propelled by his men, and instead of a right hand he had the iron hook with which ever and anon he encouraged them to increase their pace. As dogs this terrible man treated and addressed them, and as dogs they obeyed him.

This isn’t actually the initial introduction of Hook in the book - he’s initially talked about in conversation between Peter and the Darlings, where Michael just bursts into tears at the mere mention of the man.

Hook is terrifying, not just to children, but to his crew, who he kills so casually - there’s a lot to be said about why Hook is so frightening, because it isn’t just how easily violent he is, but his comfort in commanding others. Hook is a posh cunt who went to Eton, so he obviously lacks a soul in the way that people like that do, but conducts himself as though he’s the centre of the universe, and uses that to intimidate.

In person he was cadaverous [dead looking] and blackavized [dark faced], and his hair was dressed in long curls, which at a little distance looked like black candles, and gave a singularly threatening expression to his handsome countenance. His eyes were of the blue of the forget-me-not, and of a profound melancholy, save when he was plunging his hook into you, at which time two red spots appeared in them and lit them up horribly.

Someone get a Ouija board and tell Barrie that there are ways to describe scary people that don’t involve pointing out how “dark” they are, Christ

ANYWAY, I do think it’s interesting that Barrie presents the guy as looking like a corpse, while also being like “he was a bit of a ride though, like, he was handsome”. I’m also just... so obsessed with Hook’s eyes, because Hook is consistently described throughout the book - as well as in the good adaptations, like Hook (1991) - as being a man utterly consumed by depression, anxiety, and doubt. Like, he’s this deeply sad, unhappy man, and I’m obsessed with the idea that you can see that when you look in his eyes - the only time it seems like he feels anything other than crushing emptiness is when he’s killing somebody.

Sexy!

In manner, something of the grand seigneur still clung to him, so that he even ripped you up with an air, and I have been told that he was a RACONTEUR [storyteller] of repute. He was never more sinister than when he was most polite, which is probably the truest test of breeding; and the elegance of his diction, even when he was swearing, no less than the distinction of his demeanour, showed him one of a different cast from his crew.

“He was posh which, as you understand, reader, means that he was a monster and a sadist, and he was at his scariest when he was at his poshest.”

A man of indomitable courage, it was said that the only thing he shied at was the sight of his own blood, which was thick and of an unusual colour. In dress he somewhat aped the attire associated with the name of Charles II, having heard it said in some earlier period of his career that he bore a strange resemblance to the ill-fated Stuarts; and in his mouth he had a holder of his own contrivance which enabled him to smoke two cigars at once. But undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw.

I’m obsessed with the double cigar thing. Like, you know how Cruella de Vil’s whole thing is that she has her cigarette on one of those long cigarette holders? I wish that Hook’s insane two-pronged cigar smoker was as iconic a part of his character design as that is of hers, because it’s genuinely so funny and so unnecessary and also just...

Imagine how depressed you must be as a man to need that much fucking nicotine and tar in your lungs on one inhalation.

Hook fainting over his own blood, iconic, love it; Hook dressing himself in his red brocade and his long coats and with his calves on show because some guy one time told him he looked like a Stuart? Incredible. Adore it. Hook is literally a theatre kid with no self esteem to speak of.

Let us now kill a pirate, to show Hook's method. Skylights will do. As they pass, Skylights lurches clumsily against him, ruffling his lace collar; the hook shoots forth, there is a tearing sound and one screech, then the body is kicked aside, and the pirates pass on. He has not even taken the cigars from his mouth.

Such is the terrible man against whom Peter Pan is pitted. Which will win?

So this post is meant to be about Hook and Smee, not about Peter Pan, but I do want it said that while this is obviously a very horrible thing to do, especially because Hook killed Skylights for no reason than he messed his clothes up, Peter Pan traffics small children to Neverland and slaughters them in the woods, offscreen, when they’re too big to fit in his clubhouse anymore.

Tragically, huge spoiler, Peter Pan does win.

Anyway, ensues a description of stuff that doesn’t matter, and then the pirates find the hideout of the Lost Boys (Peter’s club of soon-to-be-lifeless-children), and the Lost Boys scatter, and the pirates want to find them so they can kill them, especially Peter.

“Shall I after him, Captain,” asked pathetic Smee, “and tickle him with Johnny Corkscrew?” Smee had pleasant names for everything, and his cutlass was Johnny Corkscrew, because he wiggled it in the wound. One could mention many lovable traits in Smee. For instance, after killing, it was his spectacles he wiped instead of his weapon.

“Johnny's a silent fellow,” he reminded Hook.

“Not now, Smee,” Hook said darkly. “He is only one, and I want to mischief all the seven. Scatter and look for them.”

Smee is so often described as pathetic, which he absolutely is, but - and Hook does later muse on this - although he is so pathetic and so not intimidating, he is completely content in himself and his life, whereas Hook is terrifying and very impressive, and wants to die all of the time with the depression, so who’s really winning here, James?

AND HE CALLS HIS SWORD JOHNNY CORKSCREW! HE IS SUCH AN ADORABLE UNCLE-ESQUE MURDERER!

“One could mention many lovable traits in Smee,” is so good, it delights me very time, because YES, one COULD, but you really should wipe your weapon, Smee, the blood will make the metal tarnish!

[adaptacy]

Johnny Slaughter Alphabet

Read drabbles for some letters on my AO3 site! There are also more Johnny fanfics on there.

Content Warning: (MDNI), blood, dubious consent, selfish lover, everything else that comes alongside seggs with a cannibal

┌── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──┐

A - Aftercare

While Johnny should have some form of southern hospitality to contribute to his aftercare, he’s also not the sweetest man. Like, he’s not against cuddles, but he’s not going to be all romantic and bathe his s/o and stuff. He exerts a lot of energy during sex so he doesn’t have much leftover when he’s done. But hey, being held in those massive arms is plenty enough to satisfy his s/o. Also, if he badly damaged them, like sliced them a little too deep or drew a bit too much blood, depending on the severity, he’d bandage them up afterwards.

~~~

B - Body Part

Both out of the bedroom (literally consuming others) and in the bedroom, the thigh is his favorite part of the body. He’s gonna be biting it, it’s his favorite spot to draw blood at, and it’s perfectly placed so that if he’s giving his partner oral, it’s right in reach. It’s also pretty easy to assume that his partner’s favorite body part is his arms. Have you SEEN them?? Like…. WOOF. They’re fun to hold onto, be held down by, be carried in, cuddle against, etc. A close second would be his butt, because that man is packing in the front and the back.

~~~

C - Cum

Obviously, Johnny loves few things more than finishing inside of his s/o. He also isn’t the biggest fan of condoms. Not because he thinks they take away from the pleasure, it’s actually a bit more twisted. He feels like they take away from his control. He wants to claim his s/o in as many ways as possible, and marking them outside and in is a fantastic way to do that. If his AMAB s/o is finishing, he wants it right back on their body. That way, he can lick it off right alongside cleaning up any remaining drops of blood from whatever bites or pinches he may have dealt out. And if there aren’t any, he’ll be sure to bite as he’s ‘cleaning’ his s/o off.

~~~

D - Dirty Talk

Favorite pet name by far is Darlin’, and I will not hear any disagreements or criticism. It is both southern and can be used condescendingly. What is Johnny if not southern and condescending? A cannibal, that’s what. And that’s why his second favorite nickname is ‘sweetpea’. Oh my god he is degrading his s/o. All the way. Like to a point where his s/o isn’t sure if he’s just caught up in the moment or actually trying to scare them. It is degrading all the way. -“Just can’t handle it, eh? Damn pet ain’t had it right yet.” -“It don’t hurt that bad. You just know I like seein’ you cry," followed by a cruel chuckle as he increases the aggression in his thrusts. (Spoiler alert: it does hurt that bad.) Threats, too, because he is the closest thing that the family has to a traditional serial killer. If he actually, thoroughly loves his s/o, he wouldn’t threaten to genuinely kill & eat them, cause… well, his s/o would know that he may not be joking. But still, other threats. - “I ain’t gonna cut you too deep. ‘Least, not deep enough to end ya.” - “I wanna see you bleed, Darlin’. Wanna taste you. Might hurt,” with a snicker after his words. (If he’s screwing a victim, yeah he’s gonna at least mention killing them afterwards.) As for his s/o… he loves hearing them beg. For their lives, for him, for more, anything goes so long as they’re begging. Bonus points if his s/o can barely manage a full sentence without it being interrupted by a sob or some other noise of desperation.

~~~

E - Experience

Okay this one is up to criticism and feedback but not for the reason you might think. He DEFINITELY has experience. That’s not the part that I need feedback on. Listen, in the game, there are multiple voice lines from Cook talking about how Johnny keeps bringing back girls and whatnot for the family to eat. ….Do y’all think he screws them before they’re killed? Like… cause, you would think that the family would be happy about Johnny bringing back dinner but they seem kinda pissed about it. What if they’re mad that he’s screwin' their food… LMAO ANYWAYS! Yeah, he has plenty of experience. He knows what he’s doing, otherwise he would not be very good at it. He doesn’t really care about his s/o’s pleasure most of the time, unless he’s very committed to them. If he’s committed to them, it’s a different story. Thankfully, because he does it a lot, he’s picked up on a few ways to make his partner enjoy it that don’t require much extra effort from him. It’s more so just like a nice side effect cause, if he didn’t have experience, he would not put in extra effort to make his partner enjoy it too.

~~~

F - Favorite Position

You know I have to bring his arms into this. I think I’d be committing a war crime if I didn’t. Full nelson. He has no trouble holding his partner up on his lap, restraining them with his arms as he puts an alarming amount of energy into driving them mad. His favorite perks of the position are: - He can see what’s happening below him and, even if he is behind his partner, he can still see their face fine. - Easy access to the neck. He might not completely cannibalize his s/o, but he will taste their blood one way or another. Rough bites on the neck are perfect for that. - His partner squirming doesn’t make a difference because of how tightly he can hold them in place.

~~~

G - Generosity

9 times– No, 99 times out of 100 he doesn’t care about his partner's pleasure. Chances are they ain’t living for long after the encounter. But on that one off chance, on the one chance that he takes a particular liking to someone enough to not want to end and eat them immediately, he might care a little bit. He’s not going to make it obvious, he’s not going to mention it, but if you compare the interactions, it’s easy to see. Most of the time it’s more of a ‘You’re cute, lets get it on real quick before I take you home to be eaten by my family’, whereas with that one person, he will spend as long as he can endure making them his. Keyword; as long as he can endure. Oh, you came four times already and you’ve lost your voice from screaming his name? Yeah, well he’s only finished once, and he’s aiming for his lucky number 3. Buckle up, partner. You’re in for a ride. That being said, he will actually be less aggressive in his threats, and he won’t inflict any life-threatening or potentially dangerous injuries. Just small nicks, bruises, and bites that draw minimal blood. He’ll make sure they’re satisfied by the end of it, though he won’t make that obvious. If he’s done before them, and doesn’t feel like he can do anymore, he’d give his s/o oral under the rouse of ‘wanting to taste them’. He definitely does want to taste them, but it’s also his silly little way of making sure all parties are satisfied by the end.

~~~

H - Hair

He’s not super hairy, but the hair that is there is quite dark, making it look like there’s more than what’s really there. He has a small happy trail, and his hair forms a small triangle at the base of his length. His legs are semi-hairy, and his arms are surprisingly smooth. Maybe it’s the muscles.

~~~

I - Intimacy

You already know how little intimacy there is in most of his pre-dinner interactions, so I’m gonna jump right into his s/o. For him, intimacy comes in the form of not inflicting deadly wounds. Tasting his s/o, whether via their blood or just giving them oral, is also a form of intimacy. Especially if that blood is from his bites. Love bites are his specialty, even if they are extremely hard bites, they still contain some form of love.

~~~

J - Jack Off

He only jacks off when he absolutely can NOT get pleasure otherwise. If he’s not in a relationship, that’s very rare, since you know this man gets more chicks than a poultry farm. In the off-chance that he does have an s/o, he’d have to be waiting for like 14-20 days before he finally gives up and just takes care of himself. He’d probably be getting off out of anger that his s/o either isn’t around to take care of the issue, or that they’re not able to, for whatever other reason. He’d be pissed that he has to do it himself, and he’d fantasize about all the ways he’d get back at them for making him wait. Yeah… if you left him long enough for him to feel the need to jack off, expect all of his pent up feelings to come in the form of a meticulously planned punishment next time you meet. His bites are a little harder, his thrusts a little deeper, his overall pace a little faster, and his words way harsher.

~~~

K - Kinks

He has plenty, I’m not even sure where to start. Honestly I should’ve done an alphabet for this. Maybe in the future. The biggest one is definitely his obsession with blood. He’s a cannibal. It’s one of two ways for him to taste a partner that doesn’t require him killing them. It’s either making his s/o bleed or giving them oral, and he’d prefer to do both. He also has a deep-rooted brat tamer inside of him. I mean, he hunts down attempted escapee victims, he’s practically made for putting people in their place. Especially his s/o. But god does he love to see them fight back first. After all, he can’t tame/break someone who’s already submitting.

~~~

L - Location

He’ll do it pretty much anywhere. He really doesn’t care. He won’t do it in front of his family, but he’ll do it around them. As in, his bedroom in the house or the backyard of the house where there’s a risk of them interrupting, but he will not outright do it in a place that his family frequents, like the living room or something. Any other public places, with strangers, he couldn’t care less about being interrupted. He’s a thrill hunter, and that doesn’t change when the clothes come off. He also would never voice this, but he highkey would love to do it in the basement. He may be selfish and all that stuff, but he knows that being surrounded by death and bones is a major turn-off for most. Still, seeing his partner helpless in such a dreadful place? Oh, brother. You know he’d be on top of that. On top of them.

~~~

M - Motivation

Power. Power 100%. He is obsessed with it. He is addicted to it. He gets off on knowing that he’s making sure someone else knows that he is above them in more ways than one. That is amplified if he gets to see his partner cry and beg, only adding to his narcissism.

~~~

N - No

There’s not a lot of things he wouldn’t do. One of those things is involve his family in any way. That is an absolute no. The family may be inbred, but Johnny does not need to resort to his family to get dates or attention. It’s also an important note to call out the difference between screwing someone he’s going to take out, and screwing someone he has taken out. To him, once life has left a victim, they are nothing more than food. He wouldn’t screw a pork sandwich, and he’s not going to do it with a dead body. Also, three ways are probably not in his interest. If his s/o even thinks about wanting to be shared between Johnny and another guy, that other guy’s head is suddenly defrosting in his sink. Same goes for girls, but he might entertain the idea for a while longer.

~~~

O - Oral

Surprisingly, despite how selfish he is in bed, he loves giving oral. (Side note, it’s not my thing personally, but he would absolutely not be turned away from eating an s/o out even if they’re on their period. I find it hard to believe that he’s okay with cannibalism and drinking the blood of his partner, but can’t handle period blood. Just a h/c.) As stated earlier, the only way he can taste someone without killing them is either via small portions of their blood, or eating them out. So those are his two favorite activities. As for receiving head, he loves it. And he is ABSOLUTELY a head pusher. That man does not care if you are choking, you’re gonna make him feel good because that’s what’s important.

~~~

P - Pace

He’s not necessarily fast, but oh boy is he rough. We all know how obsessed with his muscles we are. That man can deal some DAMAGE in the bedroom. No knives or teeth needed. He doesn’t have to work very hard to completely obliterate his partner, he has more than enough strength. So, even if he isn’t the fastest moving in the world, his roughness plenty makes up for it. That’s not to say he’s slow; he still keeps up a fine pace, frankly he could dial back on it a little bit, but he’s far from a woodpecker.

~~~

Q - Quickie

Yup. Absolutely loves them. That’s the only kind of interaction he has with to-be victims, and even with an s/o, he adores quickies. He doesn’t need very much time to break his partner, even if they are trying to be bratty. If he has the time and is really feeling it, he likes dedicating an entire night to punishment as well, but quickies are way more common than those.

~~~

R - Risk

With his libido as high as it is, Johnny is down for pretty much anything. If his s/o has an idea for something new to try, and it means he gets to screw them in order to try it, he’s game. He’d be a lot less willing to try things out that would include him having less power or taking a more submissive role, but he might make exceptions. Chances are though, he’s taking the power back pretty quickly.

~~~

S - Stamina

Listen, his endurance might be shitty in game, and while he gets pretty tired after [I'm running out of metaphors, i hate tumblr restrictions] because of how much effort he puts into it, this man can go at it for a relatively long time. He takes a little longer to finish than most, but it’s still a relatively average time. That being said, he can usually go for 2, maybe 3 on a good day, rounds before he’s tuckered out.

~~~

T - Toys

This man’s best friend is his knife, and that doesn’t change during sex. While it’s not technically a bedroom toy, he certainly treats it as such. Otherwise, he doesn’t personally own/buy toys, but if his s/o has one that they want to be used, he’ll do it. He’ll make them regret ever wanting to try it, cause he will exploit it as much as possible, but he’ll get good usage out of it.

~~~

U - Unfairness

He likes to tease his s/o, Johnny adores degrading as I’ve mentioned plenty enough, and that definitely counts as teasing. But he doesn’t just tease– With how often he’s down to, the teasing is usually followed up on with some form of relief. He’s also just really unfair during it as well- He doesn’t care if his s/o is crying from overstimulation (actually, he enjoys it), he doesn’t care that they’ve been begging for him to go a little easier, he doesn’t care that they’re going to be hurting for days to come after, he’s just living his life as he wants, and screwing his little heart out.

~~~

V - Volume

He talks a good amount, he loves degrading his partner and making sure they know their place throughout the entire activity. As for other noises, it’s a whole lot of grunts because he is an overachiever who’s aiming to be at least a little sore the next day. Nothing compared to the body aches that he’s pushing onto his partner, but he gets a good workout from it, so expect grunts of effort. He doesn’t moan very often, and when he does, he tries to hide it with a chuckle. Why he doesn’t like to moan, or be heard moaning, there’s no telling. Probably an ego thing.

~~~

W - Wild Card

This doesn’t just go for [tumblr no-no], it’s a thing all the time, but– Johnny has of course grown up around very southern people, as his family members all have a thick texan accent, and he’s never been outside of texas. Still, ever since he was a teenager, he wanted to be different, and so he started trying to sound less southern. He was in his rebel phase (when is he not?), and it actually stuck for a while. It was still very obvious that he was southern, but he went out of his way to fully pronunciate words. It actually stuck with him, though he stopped putting in so much effort eventually. He’s still far less southern-sounding than the rest of his family, but here’s the funny part. Whenever he gets particularly emotional (angry, frustrated, etc) his southern accent amplifies. He starts cutting the g’s off of certain words, sounds like he’s saying ‘fer’ or ‘yer’, etc. The same thing happens when he's making his partner regret that attitude of theirs, and whenever he gets really into it, the accent becomes really obvious and it’s both amusing and sort of adorable.

~~~

X - X-Ray

It is LITERALLY his knife. It’s a little over 7 inches, it’s got a slight upwards curve, I’m serious when I say that the package is the same shape as his knife. Like. You cannot tell me otherwise. It just makes so much sense. He’s also ripped, but we all knew that.

~~~

Y - Yearning

His libido is almost as big as his ego. Almost. It’s real close. He doesn’t require it, but he is always down for a good time. As stated in the jack-off entry, he can go up to two weeks-ish without it, but he likes to do it weekly at the minimum. He won’t be needy or clingy about it– If he’s craving it, he’s going to tell his s/o how it is, and if they refuse, he’ll get mad but he’ll be patient. Definitely going to go harder on them the next time they accept though, in order to make up for the rejection.

~~~

Z - Zzz

The over-effort he slams into his partner ultimately results in him falling asleep pretty quickly afterwards. He does his best to wait until his s/o is asleep first, and then he’ll go to sleep. He’s a pretty light sleeper though; it’s a trait he’s picked up from constantly having to be wary of victims trying to escape during the night.

[sasorikigai]

"So uh... read any good... books lately?" Johnny has NO idea how to start a conversation with the Grandmaster of the Shirai-Ryu, and as he himself reads little other than a script, the konversation will be a short one either way. [Scorpion]

Random Inbox Shenanigans || @bastardsunlight || always accepting

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ 🔥 || Features contort and locked tight, Hanzo Hasashi’s erect, composed posture turns from his zazen position. Once, spite had become such a powerful motivator, spite, wrath, and anger. As Scorpion, he wanted nothing, but slaughtering anyone who had a hand in the Shirai Ryu massacre, even those innocents that weren’t involved in such heinous act that would expose the malicious intention of the Netherrealm’s necromancer. It had been full of catastrophes, and even as Grandmaster Hasashi, he could still be coaxed into a malignant trance, as the Devil’s whispers become the very firestorm that would blacken and scorch anyone and everyone to face excruciating death. 

Maybe he had been experiencing a level of dissociation, maybe a dose of derealization. Now, with the Sun on his shoulders and wind in his hair, the smell of the flowers held in his splayed hand glued to his knees, he lets the lingering silence between them lengthen, as to gauge the intention of Johnny Cage’s attempt to strike up the conversation with the morose introvert. 

“You should read Sun Tsu,” the husky gravel of his voice breaks through the white noise of the Fire Garden’s multitudes of sonorous orchestral melodies, as the harsh lines of his countenance eases, lessens as the depth of his amber eyes gaze into the A-List actor. “His philosophy states, “Yield and overcome, empty and become full, bend and become straight." In other words, by adapting oneself to a situation, rather than rigidly holding to one’s preconceived ideas, one can recognize the variability of conditions and thus act accordingly and therefore more expediently.” Through his involvement with Mortal Kombat, Hanzo had intimately experienced the perilous danger and its volatility, for he was already a dead man from the inception of it, and he would feel the universe condemning him further and further, as he would reach his nadir and the torments and tribulations will seemingly multiply itself into a number incomprehensible by his finite brain. How the universe shrunk him, made him to feel exceptionally weak and inconsequential. Perhaps they did share such unscrupulous fate, of having their beloved’s robbed from their fingertips. 

Rarest sympathy and empathy oozes from the depths of his amber gaze, as his head ascends, finding verticality as to gently break away from his deep meditation. The ever-confident composure erects to match Johnny Cage’s rather awkward stance, as tenseness melts into leniency as a hand molds to encompass the actor’s bicep. “There is a way to shut out negativity from your mind, and by familiarizing Sun Tzu, the words of wisdom can show you how to turn your mind into your most powerful weapon. The Art of War will train you how to master your mind and defeat any battle that comes you way. For life can regularly be tough, lonely, or throw wrenches in our carefully devised plans as we both have lost the significant people of our lives.” ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ 🔥 || 

[anyathebox]

The 30 Best Movies for Kids on Hulu

This post is refreshed routinely to mirror the most recent films to leave and enter Hulu, which you can pursue here. *New increments are demonstrated with a bullet.

You're stuck at home, pushing the controller through such a large number of choices on your shrewd TV, searching for something, anything, that you can use to divert the children and not cause you to feel liable. Allow us to help.

In all actuality none of the web-based features are especially extraordinary at family alternatives now that Disney+ has cornered that advertise, however that doesn't mean there aren't some incredible decisions on Hulu. Here are 30 commendable movies to divert the little ones or timetable a whole family film night around (in the event that you have the vitality subsequent to self-teaching).

It might have some natural story components, yet this 2019 film has the absolute most exquisite visuals in any ongoing energized film, including an influx of blossoms and the plan of its adorable primary character, a Yeti who needs the assistance of a young lady and her companion to return to his home at Mount Everest.

The most unusual energized story of the beginning of the CGI structure was the opposition between DreamWorks with Antz and Pixar with A Bug's Life — two movies that the detail lives of the Earth's littlest animals in astute manners. Pixar appears to have won the more extended fight, yet there's a whole other world to like here than you included, a solid voice cast and fun visuals.

Nancy Meyers co-composed this cunning family satire about an effective lady who gets herself the sudden mother of a 14-month-old infant young lady when her tragically missing cousin leaves her the kid after her passing. This might be for the somewhat more seasoned children, and a portion of its sex legislative issues are dated, yet Diane Keaton keeps it moving with her expert planning.

Precisely which titles Disney permits to bounce from its web-based feature to others doesn't bode well, however here's the undertakings of a sweet trick canine named Bolt, the main puppy of this pleasant film from 2008. John Travolta voices the canine who accepts he really has superpowers, which permit him to take off on a crosscountry excursion to spare his proprietor, Penny.

Travis Knight of Laika notoriety (Kubo and the Two Strings) coordinated the best Transformers film in this suddenly glad side project of the monstrous Hasbro arrangement of movies. It's a film with a similar sort of family-experience soul as '80s works of art of the class, floated by fun exhibitions from Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena.

Recall when motion pictures were as basic as setting cats and canines in opposition to each other? This 2001 family flick has been practically overlooked by history, however it was really a truly success at that point. Perhaps you're mature enough to have some wistfulness for it or need to acquaint it with your little ones at this point. Which side will they pick?

We don't merit Aardman. The masters behind Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, and others made their greatest true to life sprinkle with this 2000 hit. A cunning riff on jail break motion pictures like Escape From Alcatraz (however with chickens!), this is really the most noteworthy netting stop-movement enlivened film ever, a title it's held for right around 20 years now.

Who doesn't cherish the Man in the Yellow Hat and his adorable primate? This is the 2006 dramatically delivered adaptation of the book arrangement by H.A. Rey and Margret Rey that have been mainstream around the globe for ages. With voice work by Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, Eugene Levy, and some more, it's a sweet experience story for the entire family.

This true to life transformation of the Nickelodeon animation has no option to be as interesting and astute as it may be. It helps that newcomer Isabela Moner is a wonderful lead as Dora, but at the same time there's a superbly mindful offhanded tone to this film, one that is interesting without each paying attention to itself as well. It's a sweet family experience film that works similarly for guardians and minimal ones.

Possibly trust that the genuine minimal ones will hit the hay first, yet there are unquestionably a few families that can deal with this story about growing up from the ace Steven Spielberg. Christian Bale stars in the account of a little youngster whose life is changed always when he turns into a captive in a Japanese internment camp.

It became something of a climax, yet this family film was gigantic when it was first in quite a while. Who can't identify with the narrative of attempting to free a ravishing creature like the orca that gives this film a name? It made over $150 million on a $20 million spending plan and propelled an establishment. Willy was liberated to run all over mainstream society.

From the overseer of Mad Max: Fury Road! The family movie producer side of George Miller coordinated this melodic satire about penguins who fundamentally need to stop the end of the world with their moving and singing. It's not on a par with the first, yet it has some smart visuals, amazing voice work, and some great tunes for sure.

Individuals frequently highlight the Toy Story films as the model for an incredible energized arrangement, yet credit ought to be given to the set of three of motion pictures about a kid named Hiccup and his winged serpent Toothless. The third and last film in this blockbuster arrangement is as of now on Hulu, and it's a ravishing, ardent, moving last section to perhaps the best establishment of the 2010s, energized or surprisingly realistic.

The LEGO Movie is one of the most innovative and pleasant vivified movies of the 2010s. The spin-off may feel a piece excessively jumbled now and again, yet it holds enough of that vitality to make it worth a look on Hulu, particularly as the entirety of our innovative resources have been decreased by the craziness of 2020.

This isn't the Danny DeVito–voiced late form however the 1972 short unique that disclosed on TV around a thousand times when you were youthful. One of Dr. Seuss' most adored books gets a caring variation in this work of art, an account of duty and natural thought that will never develop old, and should start a few recollections for guardians of the correct age.

See, a narrative! Truly, true to life movies can be family ones as well. Indeed, it was that cross-segment request to the account of the yearly excursion of sovereign penguins in Antarctica to locate their favorable places that made this such an astounding achievement, winning Best Documentary at the Oscars subsequent to making over $120 million around the world. Having Morgan Freeman describe consistently helps as well.

Will Ferrell voices the title character, the supervillain who needs to get a portion of the credit and worship of his hero partners. After really slaughtering his superhuman enemy, Megamind discovers that life does not merit living for a miscreant without a legend and winds up making a scoundrel far and away more terrible for him to overcome. A sharp parody of the hero kind that would rule the following decade of blockbusters, this film plays far superior now than in 2010.

We don't give Laika enough credit. They don't get close to as much cash-flow with films like Paranorman and Kubo and the Two Strings as organizations like DreamWorks and Pixar. Their most recent is as of now on Hulu, dropping not exactly a year after its dramatic delivery. It may not be their best, yet it's dazzling to take a gander at, uncovering the organization that made it as ostensibly the most outwardly intriguing enlivened studio around.

My Dog Skip

This family dramedy from 2000 adjusts the personal book of a similar name by Willie Morris. It's the narrative of a 9-year-old who is given a delightful Jack Russell terrier on his birthday, whom he names Skip, and some developmental parts of his life that he imparts to his puppy. It's a sweet transitioning film with included enthusiasm for canine darlings.

Tune in, this film is somewhat of a fiasco, yet it's consistently an entrancing debacle. Joe Wright coordinates this prequel recounting another cause story for Peter Pan and Captain Hook, played by Garrett Hedlund. Hugh Jackman, Rooney Mara, and Levi Miller co-star in this certainly abnormal blockbuster that is by all accounts increasing a reappraised following throughout the years. Why are individuals despite everything discussing Pan? Look at it on Hulu and report back.

The Pink Panther 2

We should just considerately call this one a passage to better things. The spin-off of the Steve Martin–drove reboot of the Pink Panther arrangement isn't impartially "acceptable," however it might interest your children enough to watch the splendid Peter Sellers motion pictures or even a portion of the first kid's shows. What's more, hell, regardless of whether it makes them need to see a greater amount of Steve Martin, that is likely something worth being thankful for as well.

This was the first DreamWorks highlight to be generally enlivened in 1998 and was a greater hit than you likely recollect. It's the tale of the Book of Exodus and how Moses went from being only the title character to driving the youngsters out of Israel. It's a pretty film outwardly and includes some great music too, yet history appears to have overlooked it in the wake of the amount Disney commanded the '90s.

Carnage Verbinski guided a standout amongst other energized films on Hulu, this Oscar-winning highlighting voice work by Johnny Depp ahead of the pack job and probably the most propelled visuals in any vivified film this decade. Rango is a chameleon who discovered a town considered Dirt in this creative riff on the Western kind that plays similarly to youngsters and grown-ups.

Smallfoot

Channing Tatum magnificently voices the lead character in this melodic satire from 2018. He plays a Yeti who plunges from his overcast mountain town and experiences a human — both understanding that different species thought them a legendary animal. The visuals are connecting with and the jokes are sufficiently astute to work for all ages.

Disney+ has taken practically all the superhuman motion pictures however Sam Raimi's unique adaptation of the webslinger is still on Hulu. Featuring Tobey Maguire, this blockbuster doesn't get enough acknowledgment for reviving the whole hero kind such that plays to the two guardians an

[tasteisntkind-blog]

RE: MY CLARICE STARLING.

born in west virginia, clarice starling was the oldest child and only daughter of a small-town night watchman and a chambermaid mother. after the death of her father during a robbery at a 7-11, she opted to move to live with cousins at their home in bozeman, monatana, as her mother could not afford to take care of clarice and her brothers. clarice’s cousins also ran a slaughterhouse. after running away with a horse after attempting to save a lamb from the slaughter, her mother signed away custody to the state of montana, where clarice was bounced from group home to group home until she received a full scholarship to the university of virginia from track and field

upon receiving a dual bachelors in PSYCHOLOGY and COMPUTER FORENSICS from UVA, she graduates summa cum laude alongside ardelia mapp, the first in their class. as part of an extended program at UVA, she receives her masters degree in psychology a year later with a certficate in spanish, which she’s been speaking alongside yiddish, english, and punjabi since she was a child. she meets jack crawford when she signs up for his criminology seminar in her junior year.

after working at the national center for missing and exploited children for two years, she enrolls in georgetown university and receives her second masters in three years in computer forensics. while enrolled in her masters, she works as a forensics fellow at georgetown, occasionally aiding in homicide both with local police departments and the FBI on a federally funded fellowship.  it’s at this point  ( clarice is 30 years old   )    that clarice decides she wants to apply for the FBI academy alongside ardelia mapp, who’s just finished law school at georgetown as well.  they both are accepted into the academy a year prior to the time SEASON 1 rolls around. noble pilcher, her partner at the time, encourages her to take the route of a special agent and specifically, to use her previous network with jack crawford to find herself in his orbit to advance her career.

it is because of noble that clarice ends up connecting with WILL GRAHAM. their friendship is low-key but a friendship nonetheless, and will proves to be one of the few genuine connections she has in the bureau outside of jack himself, as well as johnny brigham.

toward the date of her graduation ceremony,  and toward the beginning of SEASON 2, clarice finds herself working under paul krendler, who harbored a grudge against clarice for rejecting his advances and harassment from the beginning of her career as a fbi trainee. she deals mostly with cybercrime, and is the center of a tabloid frenzy when a bust on a human trafficking ring goes awry, killing johnny brigham and innocent victims and bystander. clarice takes the fall for the incident and a major blow to her career, but returns to the bureau in an unofficial capacity when will’s trial begins, hoping to help someone who she deems innocent.

when will graham is released,   clarice circulates between working in cybercrime  and where she desires to be assigned the most —  BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE.   while her trust in will graham slowly dissipates as he seemingly withdraws from all besides hannibal lecter,  she keeps chomping at the bit while only finding dead ends in the bureau that she seeks to serve.

after the events of the RED DINNER.  she finally works her way into behavioral science and with jack,  much to the chagrin of krendler,  who maintains a personal vendetta against her for her career merely skyrocketing after all attempts to rebuke her. killing buffalo bill, a notorious human trafficker and serial killer in the u.s. south after he kidnaps a u.s. senator’s daughter, brings her international fame. thereafter, clarice is promoted to assistant special agent in charge and then to mason verger’s murder. by this point, she and will have fallen out almost completely, despite his nearly grave injuries.

eventually, she becomes one of the agents in charge of the tooth fairy murders, which she consults will for alongside jack. despite her reluctance, she sets hannibal lecter loose, and is unsurprised but betrayed when will joins him, all at once.

shortly after the two of them escape,  jack crawford retires clarice is promoted to acting special agent in charge of behaviorial sentence. tabloid notoriety finds her once again when her affair with will comes to light again after his trial and after paul krendler plants an explicit letter from will to the national tattler. knowing her career at the bureau is in tatters, her only hope of salvaging it is bringing will graham in, and she sets her sights abroad instead.

note: i’m willing to tread into bookverse territory if need be, just know that i abhor c/lannibal and have no desire to write it at all, and therefore only acknowledge the silence of the lambs, if just the bones of it. the will graham i refer to is @eidetective​ and we’ve built this canon between us, for the most part. i certainly don’t expect anyone to ascribe to my canon for clarice; however, it is the only way i can see her being adapted into the nbc verse for her.

[anorakofavalon]

Missed Opportunities for Magic: Merlin & Morgana

(AKA: An Open Letter of [Constructive] Criticism to the Writers of Merlin)  

I wrote this essay when I contemplated how much more rich Merlin could have been as a show had the writers decided to romantically involve Merlin and Morgana. I decided to write it as if I was addressing them directly because it was just easier for me to sort through my thoughts and main points that way. Sorry it’s a little long, but I’d love to have a discussion about it!

---

As I did with the last Open Letter I wrote, I’d like to start off by congratulating the writers of Merlin: Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps & Co. I think that they created something truly wonderful in this show, magical even. To me, it’s one of the most charming of all the BBC shows I’ve seen so far, and most definitely one of the most underrated. Not only that, but it has created a truly worthy community. Many years have passed since the show has ended, and still the community is numerous and inviting and incredibly active. Immortal as Merlin himself. I can only hope to create something a fraction as impactful as this someday. And so any criticism I make, any observation I mention, do understand that it comes from a place of complete love.

That said, I think it’s time to get on with this little essay. I really hope I don’t come off as pretentious, but here we go.  I’m here to comment and critique one major lapse in the writing of the show, a major weakness that I find is representative of all the other writing missteps that occur in the story as a whole, though I will of course be going over some notes on how it could have been improved or adapted given the circumstances in-story. But I’m being a bit vague, and perhaps indulgent. Let’s begin with the biggest issue: You, the writers.

Before I scare you off, the issue do not have much to do with your writing per se. Perhaps a better way to state it would be the lack thereof, which is to say, I believe your fatal flaw has been inaction. This is in regard to a missed opportunity, the single biggest missed opportunity I have ever seen. That missed opportunity? Merlin and Morgana. I could not tell you what possibly motivated the exclusion of a romantic subplot between these two characters while you were working on the show. I wasn’t there, I am not you, and thus it is not my place to say. But I can say, from what I have seen, that all the cards were stacked and ready for you, as storytellers, to go in that direction. The actors were quite game, and in fact, Colin and Katie have absolutely wonderful chemistry on-screen and off-screen. Not only that, but they are two of the greatest dramatists ever to have graced the halls of BBC Studios. As is evident by more or less every single scene they’re in, both individually and together, they are beyond talented and able to convey great amounts of emotion with just their eyes. I’m very glad you and the directors chose to have close up shots of their eyes. It worked to great effect.

So why didn’t you take that route with Merlin and Morgana? I can think of a number of solid reasons, but among them I find three to be more prominent. The first possibility is that, as Merlin was a family show, you did not wish to indulge yourselves with a romance that is a little bit darker, perhaps more Shakespearean in nature. That is somewhat fair, but considering that you had Merlin kill very many people and ultimately make some very morally dubious decision throughout the show, including poisoning Morgana, I highly doubt that could be the sole reason.

I think the second reason, though a little bit more cruel of me to remark upon, is perhaps connected to the first. As a family show, maybe you were afraid to include something so risky and unexpected. It would have been a risky play. But you yourselves had eliminated the safe play, Freya, by having her killed off early in the show. I understand why, of course, from a thematic perspective it was important to do so in that episode, but I am obligated to comment on it. If you had wanted a safe story of love for Merlin, you had eliminated that possibility. You could have gone the risky route, but decided to go nowhere instead, in terms of romance.

The third potential reason is that you wanted to keep the general sweeping focus of the show solely on Merlin’s friendship with Arthur. Now this is a much more reasonable justification from a storytelling perspective. You might have considered a romance with Morgana at any point in the show to be, as mentioned earlier, both indulgent and ultimately useless. After all, she would turn evil, but Merlin would be by Arthur’s side at the end, so why not focus entirely on what is firm and stable? A romance with Morgana of any sort would have been, in the long view, futile. And as such you cut it out of the writer’s room. But I have a major contention: a romance between Merlin and Morgana would not have been useless or futile even if it led to the exact same ending.

As it stands, the Arthurian legend is, and always has been (at least since the days of Sir Thomas Malory), a tragedy. There is very little in the legends that is not tragic towards the end. Merlin and Nimueh. Guinevere, Lancelot, and Arthur. Mordred. Morgana herself. The fate of Camelot. In the show you recognized that completely and came through in that regard. But, at least where Gwen and Lancelot are involved, decided to deviate from that direction. You put the value of the tragedy on the fact that Merlin wasn’t able to achieve his destiny, that in spite of everything he had done he still failed and Arthur died. That magic never did return to Albion. That Albion never came to exist at all.

Assuming that this was always the planned ending for the show, that there be tragedy (which is reasonable, given the source material), then what harm could there possibly have been in making it more tragic? A romance wouldn’t have been futile at all. It would have been tragic. And that is exactly what it should have been. Both from a meta storytelling perspective, as well as a character perspective. In not including a romance early in the show, perhaps around season 2, you robbed yourselves of making the ending of the series an even more poignant and emotional one. You robbed yourselves of a subplot that could have multiplied the impact of any episode or decision or scene involving Merlin from season 3, 4, and 5. And all that would have occurred if you simply kept the current plot intact, with only a small subplot for Merlin and Morgana having been added. You tiptoed in that direction during the first episodes involving Mordred, or where Merlin and Morgana teamed up to save innocent people like Tom. And so I conclude this paragraph with some advise: don’t be afraid to do something risky, if you believe it will enhance the story.  Have faith in yourselves!

Now, that said, we ought to discuss the story itself, overall. It’s a great story, and the show is so incredibly compelling, but I have one very big issue with it. It’s nothing in the plot itself, except for an absence of a Merlin / Morgana romance, but something else instead. You did not fulfill your promise.

In every single story, the very first page holds a promise. In every script, the first five minutes. Because, consciously or not, writers have to make a promise to an audience. It’s the only way of grabbing attention in a meaningful way. Let us contemplate Harry Potter for a moment. The first few pages concern themselves with a matter that is absurdly plain and normal and totally boring: The Dursleys. Except… except there’s just one little thing that is off. The cat. The implication is, of course, that by the end of the story, or even earlier, we will have been exposed to something very much not absurdly plain, normal or boring. We will have been introduced to something absurd, and interesting, and compelling.

So what was the promise for Merlin? Given that it’s a character-driven TV drama that started with a scene of a man getting his head lopped off for having magic right in front of a protagonist who has a lot of magic in a city where having magic is a big no-no, I’d say the promise is the following: Merlin has to hide his magic from Arthur and the Court of Camelot. At some point he will reveal his magic to Arthur and the Court of Camelot. That’s the promise.

Whether you meant to or not, this was the wider implication of such a scene. It is what all the viewers waited for with baited breath. Every episode was tense. When will he reveal it? When will the confrontation between him and Arthur occur? Will Arthur turn him in or will friendship prevail?

We waited for a very long time. As a matter of fact, the promise was never delivered upon until the very last episode, but by then it was too late. It didn’t matter. Arthur could have passed away without ever having known that Merlin had magic and it would have made no difference plot-wise. Sure, it hurt to watch that. There was an emotional impact there. And perhaps it is part of the tragedy, that Arthur never understood who Merlin was and what he’d done for him until it was too late for it to make a difference. And while all of that is well and good, it left most fans heavily dissatisfied. We were promised a reveal, and we got nothing instead.  

A Merlin and Morgana romance could have delivered upon the promise and simultaneously multiplied the reveal tension. Not to push the point too hard, but had Merlin revealed his magic to Morgana, the promise would have been somewhat fulfilled. There would be someone in Camelot that knew. It would only be natural, since Morgana herself is magical and would understand. Moreover, she was at the execution as well. It would give Merlin someone to talk to, a way to show his character growth.

But when Morgana would inevitably become impatient and fed up with being on the sidelines of Uther’s actions, when she decides to stop the slaughtering of magic-kind by any means necessary, especially under Morgause’s influence, it would add tension. Would Morgana betray Merlin’s secret to Camelot? Would she tell Arthur? Would she turn away Merlin’s friendship, love, and tutelage for Morgause, her sister?

It’s a similar tension as in season 3, when Morgana holds it over Merlin’s head that he poisoned her. But this time, both of them would have more at stake. They would both be acting against love for one another in the pursuit of peace. Both wanting to succeed but not wanting to hurt. It’d have tied their hands behind their backs, which is the best thing to do for a character. Because it forces them to become better (or worse).

It would have made the characters richer, more interesting to behold. If Merlin and Morgana loved each other but disagreed on such a fundamental level on how best to pursue magical peace, it would simultaneously make their convictions more important and give them both plenty of internal conflict. It would give Merlin pause, cause to doubt Kilgharrah and Gaius. It would make Morgana perhaps doubt Morgause more. It would make it that much more painful when they both decided that their destinies were more important than their own desires. And that much more painful when, at the end, it didn’t even matter. Imagine the very powerful performance McGrath and Morgan could have delivered in a scene like this? Where they both have to choose something greater than themselves over each other.

It’s very easy to forget sometimes that romance isn’t just a plot device reserved for, well, romances. Romance is a very powerful storytelling tool because it has power over character. Romance is a plot device as well as a character device. As in real life, romance makes two characters learn and grow and challenge themselves and each other. It’s not a gimmick to be thrown onto a story, fun as it might be. It’s something that should be impactful. By putting Merlin and Morgana in a relationship, even if only briefly, you would have had the opportunity to raise the stakes further and higher than ever before. It would have pushed their character arcs.

The lesson here is to not be afraid to make characters doubt. Merlin only seemed to have contemplated leaving Camelot behind a handful of times. Often for love. Freya is an example of this -- and that’s considering he only knew her for a small amount of time. I can’t see why the same protective instincts that moved him to protect her didn’t also move him to guide Morgana and her magic. Regardless, imagine the sheer internal conflict you could have created by having him and Morgana fall in love, and then be faced with the ultimate choice. Because, ultimately, Merlin’s entire arc is about how much he is willing and able to sacrifice for Arthur’s sake.

That said, I have more or less exhausted my list of grievances with the writing of the show. There was very little wrong with the writing itself, but there was, at least to me, a very major gap that could’ve been filled with a romantic subplot. That is to say, there is nothing wrong with what is there, but rather what isn’t. In spite of all this, however, I must say that Merlin was a creative and charming and positively wonderful show that has changed my life for the better. And as such, I hope I didn’t come across as too harsh or pretentious. Because what you have managed to craft was nothing at all short of spectacular and I respect it very much. Which is why I wished to convey that having a Merlin / Morgana subplot would have enhanced the existing plot in more or less every single way. They’re mirror characters, and as you two said yourselves, “She is the darkness to your light, the hatred to your love.” Which is why perhaps, I hoped that there would be a little more love and a little less hatred in the show. Just to balance things out.

And with that, I conclude this essay. May destiny lead you to another property worthy of your writing. And in the words of Kilgharrah… your gifts were given to you for a reason.

[dweemeister]

49th Parallel (1941)

The Allies were losing the Second World War. In London in 1939 or 1940, the Ministry of Information (the propaganda house of the British government) met with film director Michael Powell and asked if he might want to make a film about minesweepers. Powell’s interest was piqued, but then he suggested making a film that might inspire the United States to abandon their neutral stance on the conflicts in Europe and Asia. His new partner-in-crime, screenwriter Emeric Pressburger (Pressburger would soon become Powell’s co-director on their subsequent movies), relished the prospect, hoping to “scare the pants off the Americans” with this newest project.

By the second half of 1941, the situation appeared dire. The Allies evacuated Dunkirk (their last foothold in continental Western Europe) the year prior; Nazi Germany was making advances in the Balkans; Fascist Italy was reclaiming the former African lands of the Roman Empire that it long sought; Imperial Japan had completed its military stranglehold on modern-day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was the most vocal in pleading with the United States to enter the war, but still Washington sat on the sidelines, adopting the policy of appeasement. Michael Powell’s 49th Parallel is an unusual propaganda feature film, and ultimately did not inspire the Americans to declare war on the Axis. Though released in the United Kingdom in late 1941, the film was not given a general release in the U.S. until April 15, 1942. By then, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor already provided the impetus for the Americans joining the Allies.

Powell and Pressburger’s newest work was no longer needed to scare the pants off any American. With 49th Parallel (originally released in the United States as The Invaders, which is also how it is listed in the records of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences), they introduced a narrative centering around Nazi soldiers looking to impose their values an ocean away from home. Many WWII-era propaganda movies have lost much of their watchability given time, but that is not the case here.

A German U-boat has surfaced in Hudson Bay in Canada. Six sailors are tasked by the captain to search for foodstuffs and supplies, but shortly after they reach land, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has destroyed the U-boat. The six Nazi raiders are now at large, looking for ways to return to Germany or to rally the Canadian people to their side and begin an insurrection. Their commanders, Lieutenants Hirth (Eric Portman) and Kunhecke (Raymond Lovell), push the men forward. The raiders soon terrorize a band of French-Canadian trappers led by Johnnie (Laurence Olivier with an atrocious French accent) and murder a local Inuit named Nick (Ley On; whose people is described by Hirth as, “sub-apes like Negroes, only one step above the Jews” – this line was cut from the American release to avoid offending segregationists). Kunhecke is killed by an Inuit marksman as their raiding party attempts to steal a floatplane, and becomes the first casualty as these six are picked off one after another. Their mission to return to Germany will encounter several stops, including a community of Hutterites (a Germanic Anabaptist group, similar to the Amish, that fled Europe in the nineteenth century due to religious persecution) that they will attempt to convert to Nazism and Banff National Park.

Also featured are: Hutterite leader Peter (Anton Walbrook), Hutterite villager Anna (Glynis Johns), writer Philip Armstrong Scott (Leslie Howard), and Canadian soldier Andy Brock (Raymond Massey). Rounding out the U-boat’s raiding party are Vogel (Niall MacGinnis), Kranz (Peter Moore), Lohrmann (John Chandos), and Jahner (Basil Appleby).

If 49th Parallel was not a propaganda film, it would be more commonly labeled a war thriller. Editor David Lean (1962′s Lawrence of Arabia, 1965′s Doctor Zhivago) was one year away from directing his first feature film, and his ability to string together frantic images in the handful of pursuit scenes means that 49th Parallel never needs spectacular violence nor masses of soldiers engaging in a firefight to send hearts racing. Lean’s future cinematographer for both Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, Freddie Young, is also involved. And though the widescreen camera lens of the 1950s and onwards had not been standardized yet (the film is in the typical 1.37:1 ratio for the time), his opening images of Canadian mountains and the nature photography found in the film’s second half are spectacular to behold. For eighteen months, the filmmakers traveled over 50,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean and Canadian wilderness to shoot this film. 49th Parallel is a cross-country, cross-continental effort. When put through the paces of Lean and Young’s work, puts into doubt the certainty of any propaganda movie’s ending – even for a few minutes.

Emeric Pressburger’s screenplay keeps the war thriller based in Western anti-authoritarian rhetoric. Pressburger, a Hungarian Jewish refugee who fled continental Europe and whose command of English was imperfect, allows the Nazi characters to spout dogma without challenge; their ignorance and contempt for anyone not like them obvious soon after the U-boat surfaces in Hudson Bay. Their victims are never entirely helpless, often challenging the Nazis with celebrations of Western democratic and classical ideas championing a person’s fundamental rights to free thought and to live the life they please. Unlike a typical, pure war movie, 49th Parallel is a Nazi struggle to escape North America contained within a grander ideological dialectic. The film makes no pretense on what side it is on (it should not in any case). Its messages are articulate, achieving its initial goals to disturb and terrify the audience with the mindsets of men willing to slaughter their way home.

Uneven performances are expected in propaganda cinema, and 49th Parallel is no exception. Established actors like Leslie Howard and especially Laurence Olivier are serving overcooked ham with their performances. By the midpoint, Eric Portman, as Lieutenant Hirth, begins to dominate the proceedings – all of the scathing and pedantic lines penned by Emeric Pressburger go to the unshakeable Nazi commander. As a result, Portman’s performance lacks any nuance or self-doubt, as he becomes the equivalent of a tea kettle that has been left on the stove whistling for too long. Nevertheless, Portman is also involved during 49th Parallel’s most blatantly political, yet most effective moment. At a community meeting, Lieutenant Hirth, believing that the German-speaking Hutterites are closeted Nazi sympathizers, begins to traffic slogans of racial superiority, shredding the Allied nations as unwilling, unmanly combatants. Hirth has misinterpreted the people who have offered them food and temporary shelter. The Hutterite community’s leader, Peter, played by future Powell and Pressburger regular Anton Walbrook (1943′s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, 1948′s The Red Shoes), dismisses the hateful rhetoric by invoking the history of his people – a history, defined by personal freedoms and the intolerance of others, that makes their existence a living refutation of Nazi doctrine.

Concludes Peter:

You think we hate you, but we don’t. It is against our faith to hate. We only hate the power of evil which is spreading over the world. You and your Hitlerism are like the microbes of some filthy disease, filled with a longing to multiply yourselves until you destroy everything healthy in the world. No – we are not your brothers.

One could say that Walbrook is over-explaining the film’s subtext here, but other propaganda films released from the Allied nations were far more heavy-handed than this to insensitive faults (see: 1944′s The Negro Soldier – an American propaganda piece meant to increase black enlistment which celebrates black cultural excellence, yet completely fails to mention slavery or racial segregation in its historical passages). Walbrook’s presence, however brief, electrifies the audience’s energies in the scenes that follow.

The individual whose work on 49th Parallel could be called transcendent is English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Those knowledgeable with classical music probably just read that last sentence in disbelief but, yes, Ralph Vaughan Williams composed for films. In fact, 49th Parallel contains the first Vaughan Williams score for a feature-length film. Decades earlier, Vaughan Williams studied under Impressionist composer Maurice Ravel (Boléro), and the Frenchman considered his English pupil among his most gifted. Influenced by English folk songs and Tudor-era modal music, Vaughan Williams’ rhythmically complex style did not cohere until shortly before World War I. He served in the Great War, returning home emotionally traumatized, his hearing permanently damaged. For 49th Parallel, Vaughan Williams wished to invoke musical nationalism in ways he believed no composer had yet accomplished in British cinema.

Recording with the London Symphony Orchestra, Vaughan Williams begins his score with the “Prelude” – a molto legato statement of an opening, meant to invoke the lyricism of Christian hymns that extol freedom and human fellowship. One can hear the influence of Ravel’s Impressionist roots in this music, rejecting Wagnerian leitmotifs and versatile enough to adapt to 49th Parallel’s shifting moods and settings. The majesty of the prelude shares few similarities to “Hutterite Settlement: Anna’s Volkslied” (“Volkslied” is German for “folk song”). Wandering flutes, wisping the rural landscape along with the solo German-language vocalist. It is a peaceful, somewhat elegiac cue – combining Vaughan Williams’ strengths of string-led pastoral stillness, pre-Baroque influences, and the sweep of North American music. Throughout, Vaughan Williams will alternate between non-resolving passages for the Nazis to juxtapose a musical uncertainty to their ideological rigidity, as if their experiences in Canada may be inspiring second thoughts; the early Hollywood musical-esque bustle of a large city; and an Englishman’s interpretation of Native American music. Much of the music is written not to respond to what is occurring on-screen, but to empower the images. It is a virtuosic composition from Vaughan Williams that sounds as fantastic within the film as when listened to independent from it. Vaughan Williams would work on ten more movies until The Vision of William Blake (1957), with his efforts for 49th Parallel displaying a remarkable musical versatility in style and in musical medium.

During production, Raymond Massey, Leslie Howard, and Laurence Olivier all agreed to half-wages during production to assist the war effort. An aberration the year of this film’s release, the remainder of the cast was not comprised of just English actors (more specifically, London-area or Southern English actors), but Scots (Finlay Currie) and Irishmen (Niall MacGinnis). Few British films had ever been made with such a stacked cast, let alone being set on a grand international stage. Lawrence of Arabia this might not be, but this is as close to being an epic film as any British film production was able to be by the 1940s. The film’s financial success across the West allowed for the creation of independent British film production companies like The Archers (Powell and Pressburger) and Cineguild (David Lean), among others. The face of the non-Alfred Hitchcock British filmmaking industry would be strengthened by the marvelous reception given to 49th Parallel, securing the nation as one of the greatest forces of world cinema.

With its value as propaganda ended due to the course of history, 49th Parallel should be watched as both a historical landmark for British filmmaking as well as an excellent, potent thriller. It may not have changed any of the military or political outcomes Powell and Pressburger and the rest of its cast and crew were targeting, but the positive impacts of this production – for audiences and within the film industry – have outlasted many other works of propaganda.

My rating: 8.5/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

[phantom-le6]

Film Review - Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge

Carrying on my between-series break of film reviews, I’m sticking with the world of Mortal Kombat but going back a year and from live-action to animated home release, and the first film adaptation of the game series to land an age certification of 18, or R-rated to go by US standards. This is my review of Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge.

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

In Japan, Shirai Ryu grandmaster Hanzo Hasashi and his young son Satoshi are ambushed on their way home by several ninjas from the rival Lin Kuei clan. Hasashi kills them all after discovering that the Lin Kuei have slaughtered the rest of the Shirai Ryu, including his wife Harumi. The Lin Kuei's Grandmaster Sub-Zero appears, uses his freezing abilities to restrain Hanzo in ice, and then murders Satoshi. He then impales Hanzo through the neck with an icicle, killing him. Deep below in the depths of the Netherrealm, Hasashi is mysteriously resurrected and meets with the sorcerer Quan Chi, who persuades Hanzo to fight for him in the Mortal Kombat tournament so that he can exact his revenge on Sub-Zero. Hanzo agrees, dubbing himself Scorpion.

 Meanwhile, the thunder god��Raiden and the Shaolin monk Liu Kang make preparations to defend Earthrealm by participating in the Mortal Kombat tournament, hosted by the aging warlock Shang Tsung. The tournament's victor will battle Goro to decide the fate of Earthrealm. The pair are accompanied by out-of-work Hollywood actor Johnny Cage and Special Forces agent Sonya Blade, with both having their own reasons for participating: Sonya is in pursuit of Black Dragon crime syndicate leader Kano, and Cage believes that he is participating in a film project.

 Upon arrival on Shang Tsung's island, Scorpion attempts to steal Shinnok's amulet on Quan Chi's orders, but Raiden persuades him not to follow through on the deal. Meanwhile, Cage, Sonya and Liu Kang witness Sonya's partner Jackson "Jax" Briggs being grievously injured by the tournament's champion Goro until Raiden intervenes. During the course of the tournament, Cage barely claims victory over Baraka before realizing he is in an actual tournament, Sonya successfully garrottes Reptile, and Kang fights Kitana, emerging as the winner when she yields. In an attempt to stop the Earthrealm heroes, Kano has his assassins infiltrate the island to kill them, but they are all killed by Scorpion. While the others are attempting to fight Kano, Sub-Zero appears and helps deal with the assassins, but a vengeful Scorpion attacks him and tackles him off a bridge into a spike pit, impaling them both and killing Sub-Zero. Cage and Sonya pursue Kano in order to rescue Jax while Kang rushes to Shang Tsung's throne room.

 Quan Chi appears before Scorpion and reveals that he was directly responsible for the slaughter of the Shirai Ryu, having disguised himself as Sub-Zero and manipulated the Lin Kuei into doing his bidding and that the real Sub-Zero had no part in the massacre. Enraged, Scorpion removes himself from the spike to exact revenge. At the climax of the tournament, Shang Tsung is revealed to have already known of Quan Chi's true intentions from the beginning, and Liu Kang almost suffers the same fate as Jax during his match with Goro. However, he is saved when Scorpion kills Goro with his kunai, while Cage, Sonya and Jax successfully kill Kano. Shang Tsung attempts to have Scorpion fight Kang, but the spectre takes the sorcerer hostage and willingly forfeits his status as a fighter, securing Kang's position as the victor of the tournament. After Tsung retreats to Outworld, the island begins to collapse, with the Earthrealm heroes evacuating to a nearby boat, while Scorpion succeeds in killing Quan Chi in combat before joining his family and clan in the afterlife. Later on the boat, Raiden then tells Lui Kang that it was not his destiny to defeat Shang Tsung but to defeat Shao Kahn.

 In the aftermath, Shang Tsung is tortured by Shao Kahn for his failure before being ordered to make preparations for the invasion of Earthrealm.

Review:

If there’s one thing I’ve come to notice about Warner Brothers, it’s that their animation department invariably does better adaptational work than those who make their live-action films.  The DC Animated Movie Universe being a more cohesive and true-to-source continuity that the DC Extended Universe that is the subject of live-action cinema releases is evidence to that effect.  It’s further evidenced by the fact that this film actually does a far better job of adapting the Mortal Kombat game series than the live action film that came out this year did, and I’m certainly looking forward to see the next MK animated film that’s due out at the end of this month.

 So, as I noted when reviewing the live-action reboot of the Mortal Kombat films, there are three key elements a Mortal Kombat film has to nail; the tournament that is the basis for the games being included and given sufficient exposition for new audience members to understand what’s going on, a respectable Fatality count to honour what Mortal Kombat is, and accurate representations of the major long-term characters.  Scorpion’s Revenge certainly does better than the recent live-action reboot on the first part.  Weighing in with 30 minutes less runtime, this animated film still provides just enough background information on the tournament for anyone to understand what is doing on, but again there’s not much context on why Outworld rule of Earth is a bad thing.  The title plot within the film for Scorpion carries more relatable emotional stakes than the plot for Raiden and his band of champions.

 On the second point, the kill count, it seems I mis-spoke slightly with regards to this animated film beating the live-action remake on the quantity of main character fatalities.  However, it does surpass the live-action films in the quality of these killing moments, which is where the film’s 18 certificate comes in. Not only does the film pay homage to the game with x-ray shots of certain moves, but the gore factor is ramped up so high that if anyone had tried doing this in live action, I’m honestly not sure the film would see the light of day.  It’s a more brutally graphic representation of the game lore than anyone else has dared to attempt, but it’s very much what the games have become as graphics have improved.

 The film also has a sense of humour about it that ties back into the game series to a degree, largely represented through the character of Johnny Cage, and I think that’s also a good move because not only is that necessary to off-set the violence and gore at times, but it also just adds to the idea that the film makers are really trying to respect the source material.  This then brings us to the film’s third area it has to nail; representing the characters well.  Quite honestly, the film does a superb job in this respect.  Scorpion and Sub-Zero actually look recognisable and there’s enough design similarity between them and the briefly-seen Reptile to honour their past as re-colours of each other, yet at the same time seeing them as distinct characters.

 The film also makes better use of Scorpion than the live-action film did, as it better acknowledges that he is ultimately the most popular character in the franchise, and I think even if this wasn’t a Scorpion origins story, this film would still have given him more screen-time than the live-action version did.  This film also adds a bit of an origin for his codename, which is a wonderful touch.  Throw in excellent performances by a well-selected voice cast and the film is almost perfect.

 So, where are the flaws in this film?  Well, aside from there still not being quite enough exposition to really understand the stakes of the tournament itself, there also appears to be virtually no organisation to the whole thing.  After the initial one-on-one bouts, it seems to just be a giant free-for-all and the first one to reach Goro and beat him wins.  Given that the game itself is inevitably more structured because you have to go level-by-level with your chosen fighter, I would expect a bit shown, even if only in a montage, of a round-by-round progression of warriors to a final bout with Goro.  Maybe that’s just me being drawn to organisational structures that I know and understand like those of major international football competitions and over-thinking things, I don’t know.  However, some evidence of a more orderly round-by-round structure, maybe occasionally forcing the Earthrealm fighters to fight each other and the same with fighters from Outworld, etc. that to me would improve the film a lot.

 Otherwise, this film is very good and does better to represent the Mortal Kombat games with less screen time than the recent live-action reboot did.  End score for this film is 8 out of 10.