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letterboxd · 4 years

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In Focus: The Mummy

Dominic Corry responds on behalf of Letterboxd to an impassioned plea to bump up the average rating of the 1999 version of The Mummy—and asks: where is the next great action adventure coming from?

We recently received the following email regarding the Stephen Sommers blockbuster The Mummy:

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to you on behalf of the nation, if not the entire globe, who frankly deserve better than this after months of suffering with the Covid pandemic.

I was recently made aware that the rating of The Mummy on your platform only stands at 3.3 stars out of five. … This, as I’m sure you’re aware, is simply unacceptable. The Mummy is, as a statement of fact, the greatest film ever made. It is simply fallacious that anyone should claim otherwise, or that the rating should fail to reflect this. This oversight cannot be allowed to stand.

I have my suspicions that this rating has been falsely allocated due to people with personal axes to grind against The Mummy, most likely other directors who are simply jealous that their own artistic oeuvres will never attain the zenith of perfection, nor indeed come close to approaching the quality or the cultural influence of The Mummy. There is, quite frankly, no other explanation. The Mummy is, objectively speaking, a five-star film (… I would argue that it in fact transcends the rating sytem used by us mere mortals). It would only be proper, as a matter of urgency, to remove all fake ratings (i.e. any ratings [below] five stars) and allow The Mummy’s rating to stand, as it should, at five stars, or perhaps to replace the rating altogether with a simple banner which reads “the greatest film of all time, objectively speaking”. I look forward to this grievous error being remedied.

Best, Anwen

Which of course: no, we would never do that. But the vigor Anwen expresses in her letter impressed us (we checked: she’s real, though is mostly a Letterboxd lurker due to a busy day-job in television production, “so finding time to watch anything that isn’t The Mummy is, frankly, impossible… not that there’s ever any need to watch anything else, of course.”).

So Letterboxd put me, Stephen Sommers fan, on the job of paying homage to the last great old-school action-adventure blockbuster, a film that straddles the end of one cinematic era and the beginning of the next one. And also to ask: where’s the next great action adventure coming from?

Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah in ‘The Mummy’ (1999).

When you delve into the Letterboxd reviews of The Mummy, it quickly becomes clear how widely beloved the film is, 3.3 average notwithstanding. Of more concern to the less youthful among us is how quaintly it is perceived, as if it harkens back to the dawn of cinema or something. “God, I miss good old-fashioned adventure movies,” bemoans Holly-Beth. “I have so many fond memories of watching this on TV with my family countless times growing up,” recalls Jess. “A childhood classic,” notes Simon.

As alarming as it is to see such wistful nostalgia for what was a cutting-edge, special-effects-laden contemporary popcorn hit, it has been twenty-one years since the film was released, so anyone currently in their early 30s would’ve encountered the film at just the right age for it to imprint deeply in their hearts. This has helped make it a Raiders of the Lost Ark for a specific Letterboxd demographic.

Sommers took plenty of inspiration from the Indiana Jones series for his take on The Mummy (the original 1932 film, also with a 3.3 average, is famously sedate), but for ten-year-olds in 1999, it may have been their only exposure to such pulpy derring-do. And when you consider that popcorn cinema would soon be taken over by interconnected on-screen universes populated by spandex-clad superheroes, the idea that The Mummy is an old-fashioned movie is easier to comprehend.

However, for all its throwbackiness, beholding The Mummy from the perspective of 2020 reveals it to have more to say about the future of cinema than the past. 1999 was a big year for movies, often considered one of the all-time best, but the legacy of The Mummy ties it most directly to two of that year’s other biggest hits: Star Wars: Episode One—The Phantom Menace and The Matrix. These three blockbusters represented a turning point for the biggest technological advancement to hit the cinematic art-form since the introduction of sound: computer-generated imagery, aka CGI. The technique had been widely used from 1989’s The Abyss onwards, and took significant leaps forward with movies such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Jurassic Park (1993) and Starship Troopers (1997), but the three 1999 films mentioned above signified a move into the era when blockbusters began to be defined by their CGI.

A year before The Mummy, Sommers had creatively utilised CGI in his criminally underrated sci-fi action thriller Deep Rising (another film that deserves a higher average Letterboxd rating, just sayin’), and he took this approach to the next level with The Mummy. While some of the CGI in The Mummy doesn’t hold up as well as the technopunk visuals presented in The Matrix, The Mummy showed how effective the technique could be in an historical setting—the expansiveness of ancient Egypt depicted in the movie is magnificent, and the iconic rendering of Imhotep’s face in the sand storm proved to be an enduringly creepy image. Not to mention those scuttling scarab beetles.

George Lucas wanted to test the boundaries of the technique with his insanely anticipated new Star Wars film after dipping his toe in the digital water with the special editions of the original trilogy. Beyond set expansions and environments, a bunch of big creatures and cool spaceships, his biggest gambit was Jar Jar Binks, a major character rendered entirely through CGI. And we all know how that turned out.

A CGI-enhanced Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep.

Sommers arguably presented a much more effective CGI character in the slowly regenerating resurrected Imhotep. Jar Jar’s design was “bigger” than the actor playing him on set, Ahmed Best. Which is to say, Jar Jar took up more space on screen than Best. But with the zombie-ish Imhotep, Sommers (ably assisted by Industrial Light & Magic, who also worked on the Star Wars films) used CGI to create negative space, an effect impossible to achieve with practical make-up—large parts of the character were missing. It was an indelible visual concept that has been recreated many times since, but Sommers pioneered its usage here, and it contributed greatly to the popcorn horror threat posed by the character.

Sommers, generally an unfairly overlooked master of fun popcorn spectacle (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is good, guys), deserves more credit for how he creatively utilized CGI to elevate the storytelling in The Mummy. But CGI isn’t the main reason the film works—it’s a spry, light-on-its-feet adventure that presents an iconic horror property in an entertaining and adventurous new light. And it happens to feature a ridiculously attractive cast all captured just as their pulchritudinous powers were peaking.

Meme-worthy: “My sexual orientation is the cast of ‘The Mummy’ (1999).”

A rising star at the time, Brendan Fraser was mostly known for comedic performances, and although he’d proven himself very capable with his shirt off in George of the Jungle (1997), he wasn’t necessarily at the top of anyone’s list for action-hero roles. But he is superlatively charming as dashing American adventurer Rick O’Connell. His fizzy chemistry with Weisz, playing the brilliant-but-clumsy Egyptologist Evie Carnahan, makes the film a legitimate romantic caper. The role proved to be a breakout for Weisz, then perhaps best known for playing opposite Keanu Reeves in the trouble-plagued action flop Chain Reaction, or for her supporting role in the Liv Tyler vehicle Stealing Beauty.

“90s Brendan Fraser is what Chris Pratt wishes he was,” argues Holly-Beth. “Please come back to us, Brendaddy. We need you.” begs Joshhh. “I’d like to thank Rachel Weisz for playing an integral role in my sexual awakening,” offers Sree.

Then there’s Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bey, a member of the Medjai, a sect dedicated to preventing Imhotep’s tomb from being discovered, and Patricia Velásquez as Anck-su-namun, Imhotep’s cursed lover. Both stupidly good-looking. Heck, Imhotep himself (South African Arnold Vosloo, coming across as Billy Zane’s more rugged brother), is one of the hottest horror villains in the history of cinema.

“Remember when studio movies were sexy?” laments Colin McLaughlin. We do Colin, we do.

Sommers directed a somewhat bloated sequel, The Mummy Returns, in 2001, which featured the cinematic debut of one Dwayne Johnson. His character got a spin-off movie the following year (The Scorpion King), which generated a bunch of DTV sequels of its own, and is now the subject of a Johnson-produced reboot. Brendan Fraser came back for a third film in 2008, the Rob Cohen-directed The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Weisz declined to participate, and was replaced by Maria Bello.

Despite all the follow-ups, and the enduring love for the first Sommers film, there has been a sadly significant dearth of movies along these lines in the two decades since it was released. The less said about 2017 reboot The Mummy (which was supposed to kick-off a new Universal Monster shared cinematic universe, and took a contemporary, action-heavy approach to the property), the better.

The Rock in ‘The Mummy Returns’ (2001).

For a long time, adventure films were Hollywood’s bread and butter, but they’re surprisingly thin on the ground these days. So it makes a certain amount of sense that nostalgia for the 1999 The Mummy continues to grow. You could argue that many of the superhero films that dominate multiplexes count as adventure movies, but nobody really sees them that way—they are their own genre.

There are, however, a couple of films on the horizon that could help bring back old-school cinematic adventure. One is the long-planned—and finally actually shot—adaptation of the Uncharted video-game franchise, starring Tom Holland. The games borrow a lot from the Indiana Jones films, and it’ll be interesting to see how much that manifests in the adaptation.

Then there’s Letterboxd favorite David Lowery’s forever-upcoming medieval adventure drama The Green Knight, starring Dev Patel and Alicia Vikander (who herself recently rebooted another video-game icon, Lara Croft). Plus they are still threatening to make another Indiana Jones movie, even if it no longer looks like Steven Spielberg will direct it.

While these are all exciting projects—and notwithstanding the current crisis in the multiplexes—it can’t help but feel like we may never again get a movie quite like The Mummy, with its unlikely combination of eye-popping CGI, old-fashioned adventure tropes and a once-in-a-lifetime ensemble of overflowing hotness. Long may love for it reign on Letterboxd—let’s see if we can’t get that average rating up, the old fashioned way. For Anwen.

Related content

How I Letterboxd with The Mummy fan Eve (“The first film I went out and bought memorabilia for… it was a Mummy action figure that included canopic jars”)

The Mummy (Universal) Collection

Every film featuring the Mummy (not mummies in general)

Follow Dom on Letterboxd

#the mummy #brendan fraser #stephen sommers #action adventure #fantasy adventure #action adventure film #the green knight #david lowery #dominic corry #letterboxd

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creepypasta-archive · 2 years

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Voicebox: A Ticci Tobi Love Story: Chapter 6

by Absolon-Resonance

The story is long enough to require spliting it in chapters

CW// sexual assault, incest, sexual harrasement, domestic violence, bullying, gore, cannibalism, implied pedophilia, fraticide, homicide, mutation, cheating, torture, eye trauma, improper teen behaviour, nudity, mental illness misrepresentation, cringe memes, Slendermansion

Click below to read the original unedited story

Chapter 6

The next morning after breakfast Toby and I invaded BEN’s room and “borrowed” a laptop so that we could look up the information on Voodoo shops and priestesses. Unfortunately we couldn’t find on within walking distance from our home. The nearest one we found was in New Orleans, Louisiana. So Toby and I went to get changed into our disguises and met back up at Father’s office. ‘Shayla, do not work too hard. I want you to have some fun too. I am sure that you and Toby would like some alone time together as well.’‘Thanks Sissy, but we only have today and tomorrow to finish getting what we need for the spell. Next week Toby and I will be able to relax a bit while Father does the preparations.’‘Alright, just promise me that you will not stress out too much during the wait. Father is quite good with using magic rituals and I know that everything will be alright.’‘Ok Sissy, I promise.’Father called us into his office and after Toby and I hugged him we all sat down to discuss what the plans were for that day. Toby told Father about the Voodoo shop we found in New Orleans that was run by a priestess. “Very well, I will transport you two to New Orleans, but first.” Father reached into a drawer in his desk and handed Toby and I each a cellphone. “New Orleans is too far away for a mind connection to work, so as soon as you finish your shopping you need to call me so I can come pick you up. My number is already programed on speed dial, so you only have to press one. I also programed the numbers of the other Creepypastas into the phones in case you need them.”“Thank you, Father.” I jumped up and hugged him again. I had never been allowed to have a cellphone before. Toby also thanked him, but this time he didn’t hug him. I guess he didn’t want to get on Father’s nerves by hugging him all the time. Father stood up with me still in his arms and wrapped a tendril around Toby.“Shayla, since this is the first time I will be transporting you, you should close your eyes. I will let you know when you can open them again.”“Ok Father.” I closed my eyes and held onto Father tightly. I felt a tugging sensation in my stomach and felt bone chillingly cold for a minute. Soon enough I was warm again and Father said I could open my eyes. I looked around and saw that we were now standing in a forested swamp area. I could see old Victorian houses and newer brick buildings that made up the city. There were thousands of people walking around and I could make out some very old cemeteries with high fences around them. I turned back towards father and hugged him goodbye. After he disappeared Toby stashed his goggles and mouth guard in his backpack with his hatchets and we headed out of the swamp and into the city.The streets were confusing, and it took us about two hours to finally find the Voodoo shop. If we hadn’t been paying close attention we would have missed it because it looked like a private house. The only reason we found it was because of a small brass plaque on the brick wall in front of the building. Toby and I entered the shop and were surprised that it looked like a normal wiccan store. I had expected to find a lot of creepy items in there like jars full of eyes or something, but it was really clean and smelled like vanilla.

As we looked around the owner of the shop came out. She was a tall African American woman with chocolate brown eyes and long hair who looked about 20 to 30 years-old. She wore a long multicolored skirt and an emerald green spaghetti sting shirt; her wrists were covered in hundreds of different colored bangle bracelets and two large silver hoops hung from each ear. She greeted us with a warm smile and gently shook my hand.“Ah, child. Aye knew that ye would be coming today. Aye sees yer sister’s soul is still safe.”“How do you know about my sister and how did you know we would be coming today?” At started twitching all of a sudden and I could hear Toby’s neck cracking like it does when he twitches.“The spirits told meh that ye would be coming, child. It has been over 65 years since Aye last saw someone from the other realm. Tell meh child, is mah old friend Laughing Jack doing well? Aye haven’t seen ‘im since Aye was a child meh self.”“Did the spirits tell you what we were coming for?” Toby asked as he twitched.“Yes, child. Aye have yer ceremonial dagger blessed, the scorpion venom is fresh from this morn, and Aye picked out mah fattest sacrificial chicken for ye. All Aye ask for in turn is that ye tell mah friend Laughing Jack that Saraphina says hi and that she runned out of ‘is candy fer the children about 63 years ago. If he wants meh to help ‘im Aye’m gonna need some more.”I looked over at Toby and shrugged as my twitching started dying down and I started giggling. He shrugged back before looking back at Saraphina.“We can do that. You know you look very young to be over 65 years old.” Toby remarked as I giggled.“Thank ye child, it’s an old secret ritual that was handed down in mah family. Aye won’t be aging again till Aye’m over 150 years-old. Not as long lived as ye from the other realm are, but not everyone is blessed or cursed with living ferever.” She turned and walked behind a curtained area in the shop. A few seconds later she came back with a small black plastic bag and a cage containing a very big, fat chicken. “There ye are children, now don’t be fergetting to give Laughing Jack mah message.”“We won’t forget and thank you for your help.” I promised as Toby and I headed to the door. “I’ll tell him as soon as I see him.”It took Toby and I another two hours to find our way back to the forested swamp where Father had dropped us off. I called Father since Toby insisted on carrying the chicken and the bag. A few seconds later Father came and we were back at the mansion. Father hugged me, reminded me that Toby and I had to go grave robbing tonight and took the chicken and the bags up to his office. Since it was only three in the afternoon Toby headed up to rest until dinner. I headed for Laughing Jack’s room to give him Saraphina’s message. Unfortunately Laughing Jack wasn’t in when I stopped by, so I wrote him a note and used his pile of candy to hold it down so it wouldn’t get lost. I then headed back to my room, grabbed the laptop I had “borrowed” from BEN and returned it.

He wasn’t happy to see that I had borrowed his laptop without asking, but he was too afraid of me and Father to make a big deal about it. After that I headed to my room to catch a nap before dinner. I knew it was going to be a long night, so sleep sounded good to me.That night after dinner Toby and I headed out to the cemetery with a body bag to retrieve Rebekah’s body. Since the cemetery was in the country side and Rebekah had been buried in the back corner we didn’t have to worry too much about being discovered. I cut out a big area of grass, rolled it up and placed it to the side of the grave. Toby and I took turns digging; he would dig for a half hour then I would dig for the next half hour. It took us a total of six hours to finish digging and Toby was nice enough to get Rebekah’s body it the bag so I didn’t have to see what she looked like after being buried for ten years. After Toby and I got the body bag out of the hole we quickly filled it back in with dirt and covered it back up with the strip of grass and stomped it down so that it looked like it hadn’t been touched. It was almost dawn by the time we finished at the cemetery so as Toby carried the body bag we raced the sun to the portal. We didn’t want anyone to see Toby carrying a body bag, though how he carried Rebekah’s body touched my heart. Most guys would have slung the body bag over their shoulder, but not Toby. He carried Sissy’s body as if she were still alive, gently cradled bridal style in his arms. Almost everyone was asleep when we got home, so we headed straight up to Father’s office. Father was waiting for us at the door and gently relieved Toby of Rebekah’s body. He then gave me a quick hug, sent us to take showers and told us to get some rest.Toby walked me to my room and gave me a gentle kiss before heading to his room of the night. I smiled as I gathered my nightie and took a long shower. The hot water eased my tired muscles and relaxed me enough that I was almost half asleep by the time I finished drying off and getting dressed for bed. I didn’t bother turning my light on was I stumbled over to my bed and laid down, snuggled under the covers with one hand resting on the skinner I kept tucked under my pillow. I was just about to fall asleep when I felt arms wrap around my waist and pull me into a hard male body. I was instantly awake and carefully pulled my skinner out of its sheath as I pretended to be asleep. With my eyes half way shut I rolled over and looked at the guy in my bed, with the way my eyes had changed I had no problem seeing in the dark room and I almost growled when I saw Jeff in my bed with a sleeping mask over his eyes. Slowly and carefully I moved my arm down until I had my skinner positioned right next to his crotch. I leaned in close and whispered in Jeff’s ear.“Stay still if you don’t want to lose something important to you.” I felt him stiffen as he woke up. “Tell me Jeff, why the hell are you in my bed?”“Aww, sweetcheeks. You know you want me.”“Stop calling me sweetcheeks. What the hell ever gave you the idea that I wanted you? Didn’t you learn anything from the talk Father had with you last time you tried to pull something with me?”“Come on, sweetcheeks, I know you’ve been checking me out. You don’t have to play hard to get with me.”“Jeff, get it through your thick skull, I am not interested in you like that.

I’m starting to doubt that I even want to be friends with you. I love Toby and Toby is my boyfriend so I want you to stop trying to win me. It’s not going to happen.” As I was talking to Jeff I could hear Father and Rebekah talking in my head. I knew that he would be here in a second to get Jeff out of my room so I just ignored his whining about how he would be a better boyfriend than Toby was. A minute later Father transported into my room and yanked Jeff out of my bed with his tendrils. He disappeared with Jeff and a second later there was a knock on my door. I answered the door and invited Toby in. It looked like he had just gotten out of bed and his goggles and mouth guard weren’t on.“Slender told me what happened, are you alright Shayla?” He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me to him. I nodded as I buried my face in his tee-shirt and wrapped my arms around his waist.“I’m ok, Toby. Thanks. He just pissed me off, that’s all.”“Are you sure? I could stay with you tonight if you don’t want to be alone.” I looked up at Toby and smiled as he blushed.“I’d like that, but I don’t think Father would be happy to find out that you were in my bed. I know that you wouldn’t do anything, but Father would still not like it.”“Alright, but you know where I am if you need me. Goodnight Shayla.” He hugged me tighter for a moment before letting me go.“Goodnight Toby.” I smiled at him as he walked out the door and blew me a kiss. That night in my dreams Rebekah and I laughed and talked about Toby and how she couldn’t wait to find a boyfriend of her own. Turns out she had never had one, but that’s not much of a surprise considering who raised us.It was one o’clock in the afternoon when I finally woke up. I quickly got dressed and heading to Father’s office to see if he needed me to do anything, but after he gave me a hug and told me that he had left pancakes and vocal cords in the oven for me he said he would be busy with the preparations for the rest of the week and that he just wanted me to have some fun. I smiled and hugged him again before heading to the kitchen for breakfast. Toby was in the kitchen when I got there and I gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before grabbing my food and sitting at the table. Toby sat with me and finished eating his pancakes. After breakfast Toby asked me if I’d take a walk with him. I smiled and nodded them ran upstairs to grab my running shoes. We walked together for hours, talking and laughing. Toby was so sweet; he lifted me over mud puddles and swept me into his arms when I got tired of walking. It was getting close to dinner time when we came to a meadow and I saw a picnic set up by a small lake. The blanket that was set up on the ground was orange and blue, there were two white candles in candle holders waiting to be lit and delicious aromas drifted on the air coming from a picnic basket sitting in the center of the blanket.“Surprise Shayla.” Toby said as he gently set me down on the blanket. I looked up at him and smiled as he sat down next to me.“Toby, this is so nice. How did you set this up?”“I asked Slender if he would mind setting this up for me. I wanted to take you out on a date, but didn’t want you to feel the need to hide yourself. Do you really like it?”“I love it.”

I watched as Toby lit the candles and dished out the food. Father must have put a lot of effort into making the picnic for us and I reminded myself to thank him when we got home. We had steak, baked potatoes with sour cream bacon pieces and shredded cheese, broccoli with cheese sauce, and sparkling grape juice; desert was triple chocolate black forest cake with vanilla icing. Toby and I talked and laughed the entire time and after we finished eating we laid next to each other and looked up at the stars. For me it was a perfect evening and I snuggled with Toby with my head on his chest was we watched a meteor shower. After a few hours Toby and I packed up the picnic and headed home. Toby kissed me at the door and headed into the kitchen to take care of the leftovers from the picnic. I headed up to Father’s office to thank him and let him know I was back. I knocked on the door and after a minute Father called for me to come in. I ran up and hugged him.“Thank you Father, for making Toby and I that picnic. The food was great.”“Well, I am glad that had a good time Shayla. I did not, however make the food. Toby made it before you woke up today; I only reheated it for you and set up the picnic.”“I didn’t know that Toby could cook.”“He does not tell many people, but his sister taught him when he was younger and there are times when he has had to do his own cooking during missions. I do not tell the others because it is quite amusing to watch Toby annoy Masky so that he will make pancakes or waffles.”“I can see how that would be funny. Maybe I can help Toby next time he does that. Well I’m going to head to bed now Father. I love you, goodnight.” I hugged Father again.“I love you too Daughter, sleep well.” I smiled up at Father before heading to my room. I had a quick shower and, after checking to make sure there were no uninvited visitors, I jumped into bed and went to sleep.The next week passed quickly, every day Toby and I would practice together in the morning and head out to do something fun together in the afternoon. He would surprise me by taking me to a fair in our dimension, or to Laughing Jacks carnival. He would take me on picnics and we would go swimming in the small lake in the meadow. At night we would go out and make a few kills, I would collect the vocal cords and the kidneys to take with me. I figured that I might as well help Eyeless Jack out with collecting since they weren’t going to need their kidneys anymore.Every night in my dreams Rebekah and I would talk about our hopes and dreams. She would give me advice about everything and we would even talk about what we had gone through together when our aunt and uncle were still alive. She never really told me what all happened to her, but by the advice she gave and the takes we had I came to the conclusion that what had happened to me had also happened to her. I didn’t want to ask her if it did, I figured that she would talk to me about it when she was ready. Finally Friday the thirteenth arrived. Rebekah and I were excited and nervous at the same time. Father hadn’t explained what all we had to do, though I did know that we would have to be there for the ceremony. Toby kept me company and calm all day. We watched movies together and snuggled on the couch. Finally it was time for me to get ready for the ceremony. I dressed in the black and silver silk flowing dress and silver sandals that Father had given me for the ceremony and headed out to the back yard.

There was an alter set up under a willow tree in the middle of a pentagram drawn with chalk; I knew Rebekah’s body was on it, but there was a black silk sheet laying over her so I couldn’t see her. I carefully stepped into the pentagram and stood next to the alter. Father then used the last of the chalk to draw a perfect circle around the pentagram. He lit the candles, incense and smudge sticks and placed them around the circle. He picked up the crystals and placed one of each on the circle at each point of the pentagram then started the spell.“Lux oritur tenebris mors ita vita pariunt.” (As light gives birth to dark, so let death give birth to life.)Father picked up the chicken and used the ceremonial dagger to behead it. Again he walked the circle letting the chicken’s blood cover the chalk. And as the circle closed again a purple fog like screen enclosed the me and Rebekah blocking off the view of everything outside of the circle.“Phoenix ortu, anima, sicut de reliquis reviviscat. (Like a phoenix rising from the ashes let the soul return to life.)Da huic formae Calamitosam animam presumpti omnibus quæ habebat. (Give this tragic soul taken too soon the form she should have had.)Et quasi in nocte, conversa est ad mortem, sic, quod sic, ut det vitam. (Like night gives way to day so must death give way to life.)Per vires terrae, aeris, spiritus, aqua et igni iubeo cogam. (By the powers of the earth, air, water and fire I compel the spirits to do my bidding.)Viribus solis et lunae, ac lux et tenebræ eam adducere corpus ad animam illius iterum vivere.” (By the powers of the sun and moon, the light and dark, bring the soul of Rebekah back to her body to live once more.)As Father spoke the last line I could feel Rebekah’s soul leaving me and it almost hurt when I could no longer feel her. I looked over towards the alter and saw a bright lavender light enclose it for a few seconds before Rebekah sat up and the sheet slid off her. She looked just like she had in my dreams, so much like me, but her eyes were still the same silver-blue I remember. She looked over at me and smiled. As the purple fog receded I saw Father breaking the circle of blood and chalk. Rebekah got up off the alter and hugged me, both of our tail swished back and forth in happiness.“Little sister, it is so good to be back with you. I have missed holding you so much, those dream could not compare to really feeling you in my arms again.”“Oh Sissy, I’m glad I don’t have to lose you again.” We both started crying as Father came and hugged us both to him.“I am delighted to finally have both my daughters back, safe and sound. I will never let anything happen to you girls again.”“Sissy, you should tell Father the new name you decided on. That way he can introduce you to everyone.” Rebekah smiled at my enthusiasm and nodded.“Father, Shayla and I talked about this and since she is now Voicebox to most people we decided I should have a new name as well. The name we decided on is Dark Phoenix.”

“Dark Phoenix, that is a very good name, Daughter.” Father hugged us tighter and then led us both back into the mansion. Rebekah stood behind Father and I as Father called everyone into the living room. Toby came and stood next to me with his arm over my shoulder. I snuggled into his embrace as everyone else sat down and waited for Father to speak.“Everyone, I have someone I wish to introduce you to.” He stepped to one side letting the others see my sister for the first time. “This is my other daughter, Dark Phoenix. I expect you all to make her feel welcomed.”Father, Dark Phoenix and I then spent the next two hours answering a ton of questions, like how she came back, why we looked like twins, and where she had been. It was three o’clock in the morning when Father sent everyone to bed. Father had fixed up the room next to mine for Sissy. Father and Toby walked us up to our rooms and Father hugged us both goodnight before heading to his own room. Toby hugged me and gave me a sweet gentle kiss before he said goodnight and headed to his room.I barely had the energy to shower and change. I made sure my room was empty and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out. Rebekah met me in my dreams; we found out that while we were no longer in the same body, after spending ten years together our minds had formed a connection. Like twins were rumored to have, we had developed telepathy between us. We were both happy that we were still connected and we spent the night talking about my birthday that was coming up in soon and how her birthday was only a month after mine. Finally we would both be immortal and we would never be separated again.

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#ticcy toby #romance #jeff the killer #creepypasta #jtk #story #horror #fanfiction

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myorberajourney · 3 years

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Day -1

Sunday the 3rd October.

All that I’m seeing is Mean Girl quotes and memes. You know where that African girl Cady get asked what the date is by her crush Aron Samuels. I love that film so much.

So it’s day -1. The day before my Orbera Balloon placement. I feel overwhelmed, scared and hungry as I wake up with my breakfast binge already laid out in my head. My wife and I trek to Weatherpoons for a “last meal” (well, my last FULL meal). She opts for 4 slices of toast because she’s poorly with the “phantom COVID” that’s circulating. I choose a hearty plate of 4 bacon rashers, 2 sausages, 2 hash browns, 2 fried eggs, 4 slices of toast, a pint of orange and a hot chocolate. I look at my order on my phone and hate myself for being such a pig but nothing I try and tell myself will encourage my hunger and willingness to binge to subside. Instead I honour it in the knowledge that in 24 hours I will begin to lose weight and regain control of my heating habits. I choose to do a little shopping before we head to the car and stop into Primark for some T-shirts and bits. I find a lovely grey coat. Size 20 but it’s oversized. I know this because I can never fit into a size 20 true to size.. never mind Primarks excuse for a size 20.

We’re off to see my niece in law. It was her birthday last Saturday but we work a lot and find it hard to find time to see family. I’m drinking a lot to prepare for tomorrow but I still lie and tell my family that it’s because I’m dehydrated and need to up my liquid intake. I’m sipping on sports drinks and taking all the tea I can get. Although it’s gargling around my stomach as I know I’m nervous for the next day. On the way home, the wife and I decide that dinner must remain small but still satisfying. We manage to nip into Tesco 13 minutes before closing time and grab a ready meal lasagne and some garlic bread. I also manage to grab a full pot of Ben and Jerrys Phish Food and a bottle of full fat Coke Cherry.

So much for eating small.

We head to bed, her asleep in seconds. Myself, drifts off about 3 am.

#MyOrberaJourney #MyFatLife #Hospital #WeightlossSurgery #BariatricSurgery #GasticBalloon

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nekomasmissingmanagers · 4 years

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hi!! could i get a match up? :0 i go by she/her and they/them pronouns and am bisexual! I'm an infp-t and an aquarius. I'm very much into psychology (and generally how the brain works and why tf we do stuff), music (making and listening), history, greek mythology, writing, drawing and running!! my hobbies are writing and drawing as of right now. i really like spiderman!! and I'm really into the pop punk and soft pop genres for music. it's all about the vibes >:0 i also like watching youtube/netflix/different anime!

appearance wise, I'm 5"8/176 cm and generally lean. I'm a lighter skinned african american and normally wear my hair straight. i wear glasses! i can't see much without them. my closet is filled with darker colors and geeky stuff. i normally wear jeans, shirt tucked into them, and converse! converse shoes are a staple in my style.

personality wise, I'm generally a quiet and reserved person. but I usually greet people i meet with kindness. I'm friendly but i enjoy my time alone u know? 😌 i can be pretty anxious upon meeting someone new, most likely laughing out of nervousness. but!! if we share the same interests, expect me to always want to chat with you about them!! (and share memes haha) I'm also a little meaner to my close friends, but it's out of love and just jokingly teasing. i do tend to hold grudges, and withhold info abt myself until i feel it's safe to share it. i have anxiety, depression, and inattentive add... so working on shit is hard, and i can be pretty scattered brained. i love,, giving gifts to people or helping my friends. just generally being able to make people smile makes me happy. i have trouble asking for help tho,, when i do become closer with someone, i tend to show more physical affection! :] I'm the kind of person who sends people wholsome memes and keysmashes when something chaotic happens haha.

i hope this was okay!! thank you for reading this!! <33

thank you so much for your request!

we match you with: kyoutani kentarou

→ when it’s nice out you and kyotani go on runs together. the two of you have a designated route that you follow when you go together and you’ll both have a side of a pair of bluetooth headphones so you can listen to music together.

→ kyotani doesn’t mind if you’re quiet and reserved since your kindness speaks volumes. he loves the comfortable silence the two of you have whenever you spend time together, and he’s appreciative of the fact that the two of you can just be together in the same space and feel connected.

→ you and kyotani will watch the spiderman movies together on date nights. after going through all the spiderman movies the two of you look through netflix to find other shows or movies to watch, you’ll switch off who picks each date night.

→ as a gift for one of your anniversaries, kyotani would get you a pair of converse with little doodles on the sides. he isn’t the best artist, but he would try to draw little doodles or write quotes that remind him of you or your time together.

→ kyotani loves when you give him little gifts though he probably won’t show it, but if you get him a little keychain he’ll make sure to put it on his bag as a good luck charm. same goes for if you make something for him, he’ll make sure to put it somewhere in his room where he can see it.

→ once the two of you start to grow closer, kyotani would joke around with you and jokingly tease you. if you jokingly tease him, he reacts in one of two ways: pouting in the cute way that the setters usually do or look away and have a soft smile on his face despite having just been made fun of.

→ kyotani isn’t big on physical affection but you can expect small touches here and there. these small acts will most likely come in the form of head pats.

admin rose’s second choice: semi eita

admin camellia’s second choice: sawamura daichi

#kyoutani kentarou #haikyuu matchup #haikyuu #matchup #request #manager matchups

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purplesurveys · 4 years

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914

Do you prefer bar or liquid soap? Liquid. I don’t like how a bar soap tends to slip out of my hands. What's the speed limit on your street? I live in a gated village with tiny streets and kids that can run out of their gates any time, so the maximum on our widest roads is 40 kph. In more cramped streets, it’s recommended to drive 15-20. When was the last time you wore your favourite article of clothing? With my favorite pair of jeans, it was at the start of the month. I don’t have a favorite top; I find them all nice. Do any of your family members have an upcoming birthday? I don’t know anyone in my family who celebrates their birthday in August. If there’s someone, I can’t place them at the moment. On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best, rate your last kiss. 5.

What is your favourite flavour of Jolly Ranchers? I don’t eat those. Where was your Facebook profile picture taken? It was taken in the basement of my college, which had been converted into a makeshift photo studio for a few days so that we could take our senior photos there. The basement has several rooms so most of them got used for different purposes like a hair and makeup room, a changing room, the actual photo studio, etc. Do your parents smoke? No. I think my mom mentioned experimenting with cigarettes when she was in college, but she didn’t like it, quit as soon as she started, and hasn’t had one since. My dad never smoked, period. Would you rather bake cookies or a potato? Cookies. It’s more nostalgic to me, which makes the experience more fun. Who was the last person to stay the night at your house? Gabie, probs. She’s the only one who sleeps over anyway. Do you live close to a park? We have our own tiny parks in our village; but no, this country is generally not public spaces-friendly. Is your favourite animal endangered? One of them is. Have you eaten pizza in the last week? Nah man, I haven’t had pizza in a WHILE. Not since February, I’m pretty sure. Who was the last person you added to your contacts list? I don’t remember. I think it was my hair and makeup artist for a test photoshoot that I did last December. How long does it take you to shower? 7-10 minutes. Do you prefer a brand of bottled water over others, or is it all the same? Sure. There are brands that have a slightest taste, and I try to avoid those. Have you used Wikipedia today? Yes. I read at least one article a day, whether on purpose or coincidental. Idk I think that despite the fact that it’s not a credible source to include on essays and papers, I still think it’s super informative and helpful and it’s at least fun to read through and spend hours in if I’m doing leisure reading. Are you better at writing fiction or non-fiction? Non-fiction BY A MILE. The idea of writing fiction terrifies me...I’ve never been able to reach that level of creativity. Do you know anyone who has moved to a different state? I’ve known people who have moved from one province to another (we don’t have states). But in terms of the US, I also do know someone who moved from one state to another. I went to school with this girl who migrated to Hawaii a few years back, then she moved to California last year. How many pens can you see from where you’re sitting? Zero. Have you ever dated someone one grade/year above or below you? Nopes, but I’d assume that’s pretty common.

What language do you think you’d be good at? Spanish for obvious reasons.

What language do you think you’d fail at? Russian. And the African languages that have click sounds in them; I’ve always found this SO fascinating, but I know I'd never be able to perfect those. Do you still have a landline phone at your house? Yes. I have older relatives who still prefer talking on landline, so we keep it around for them. What is your current desktop background? One of the default wallpapers on my laptop. I changed it recently though. My old one was a mountain shot that mostly had a pinkish hue; and my new one is still a shot of a mountain range, but now it’s orange-purplish-pinkish.

How big is the television you last watched? Haven’t watched TV in a while. Have you ever been stung by a bee or a wasp? NOPE, one of my biggest fears.

How many schools have you been to in your lifetime? Two. I went to my first school from kindergarten to high school and the only time I transferred was when I went to college. Are you of legal age in your country? Yes. I have been in the last four years.

Why did you last visit a doctor? I had been sick for days and I was convinced it was no longer just a fever because no medicine and amount of sleep were helping, so I got myself checked. Would you prefer an ice cream cake or a regular cake? Regular cakes. Omg I hate ice cream cakes...I was never sold on the idea of cake not only being painfully cold to bite, but also capable of melting and getting all liquidy. I’m not gonna hate on other people who are into those, but I honestly never saw the hype. How old is your best friend? Gabie’s 22. Angela’s turning 22 in September. What is/was your high school’s mascot? My old school doesn’t have a mascot. We have school colors but that’s it. Do you carry pain relievers with you at all times? No. I didn’t want to be too dependent on them (still don’t) when I was still in school, so I just left the pills at home. My headaches sometimes go away on their own, anyway. Where is your mother right now? She just went upstairs to settle in their room for the night. What was the last thing to make you smile? A meme Angela sent a couple of minutes ago. Are you currently saving up for anything? Not currently since I don’t have money coming in. I imagine I’d be saving up for Airpods and a new set of braces once I start having a salary, though. Priorities, hahaha. What’s the view like from your bedroom window? Not too impressive. I just see the houses behind ours. Generally speaking, do you prefer sweet or savoury? Savory. My cravings for sweet only come once I’ve had savory. What would you do if you got home and you saw your house had been destroyed? Check the scene and see if my dogs made it. I’d try asking neighbors and the guards if they saw what happened; and I’d be devastated and anxious as fuck, of course. When did you last go outside, and what for? I walked Kimi outside an hour ago so he can do his business. We’ve closed off the balcony for now (his usual spot) since it’s been raining all day and evening, so I walked him in the area of our house that’s under a shed. Who is your favourite Sesame Street character? Didn’t really grow on Sesame Street. I suppose I liked Big Bird most, but I was never too attached to the character. How often do you check your emails? Everyday at this point. Do you have any plans for this Thanksgiving? No. What colour is your backpack? Baby pink. Would you slap the last person you talked to for twenty dollars? It’s not completely off the table, but you’re gonna have to pay me a lot more for me to slap my girlfriend lol What search engine do you usually use? Google. How much did the shirt you’re wearing cost? Couple thousand bucks. It’s official WWE merch. Patrick Stump or Pete Wentz? I never compare members within the same band. I like them both. Do you know anyone who gives way too many hugs? Laurice. Not that that’s a bad thing. She hugs eveeeeeeryone, and she’s the sweetest for doing so. What time do you usually wake up on Sundays? 7-8 AM these days, like for all days. Have you whispered today? I don’t think so. What grade did you get on the last test you took? I never got to find out my grade in my Rizal exam since the lockdown happened shortly after. That’s the only test I got to take in the second semester.

#survey #surveys

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officialromaniantranslatiuni · 5 years

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If Riverdale was set in Romania

Well, firstly, it would be called Râureni.

Betty Cooper is nicknamed Veta not Betty and actually their last name is Cupru. So Betty Cooper is actually Veta Cupru and she wants to work for Adevarul when she grows up. Alice Cooper went from being a mom on Schimb de mame to presenting In premiera cu Carmen Avram . Hal Cooper is a PSD member, whose dad used to be a torționar back in old communist days. Her sister is still a teen mom, but instead of going to the farm, she just blogs about it and sells Avon products on Facebook.

Jughead (changed his name to Halbă, because Cap-de-Ulcior is a character Creangă would have inserted in one of his fairy tales) goes to every single Alternosfera concert and has Coma lyrics tattooed on his chest and lost his dad in Vama Veche in 2005. He still goes there every summer to find him, but ends up at an Alternosfera concert and drinking beers until he wakes up naked on the beach. So we can say that his search is going nowhere.

Veronica’s dad is probably Cristi Borcea and her mom went from owning gogoșerii to being a cashier in a gogoșerie, which also gives her more time to go to all the monasteries from Northern Moldova and Bucovina. Vero (not Ronnie ugh) was named after that Veronica (the one from the movie, not Micle) buys clothes only from Zara and has a collection of bland white Gucci T-shirts, which she bought for only 200 lei from some dude stealing clothes from Italy and selling them on OLX. She is the living meme of Liceul Central Râureni.

Archie Andrews (here Arsenie Andreiuș, because Archibald has no Romanian version and because the name I wanted, Eusebiu, does not allow the assonance to occur) is BFFs with Dorian Popa and he once appeared in one of his videos, playing football (as soccer football). He tried to get an autograph from Hagi once, but accidentally bumped into Gigi Becali’s bodyguard and ended up in a fight and went to prison. In prison, he met Vero’s dad.

Josie is that only African-Romanian girl in the entire town, whom everyone knows despite not actually knowing her. Her dad was a med student and her mom used to do his assignments, but fell in love when they tried to save a pot of sarmale from the rats and cockroaches living in their college dorm. Josie could be a great singer, but Andra was jealous of her and so she sabotaged her The Voice performance in order to get her kicked out of the contest. She also tried X Factor, but the other band members, Valerie and Melody, suddenly disappeared and no one knows where they’ve gone. Now she appears in the videos of various shitty YT stars.

Reggie is that guy who keeps sending every girl DMs and sharing Send Nudes memes.

The Serpents are just actual snakes we all have in our backyards.

The high school has its toilets somewhere outside.

The Farm is just a group of people who presumably keep the local bears under control. People don’t know that they actually train the bears to go into everyone’s yards and steal chicken and food in general. A bear once stole a car and was interviewed by Măruță.

@snakekingtm this is for you, y’bădițel

#riverdale #romanisme

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glvernal · 4 years

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Reflection

Back in March when I was trying to figure out what classes to take for the summer of 2020, a friend of mine told me about the Women's Writing Worldwide class. She gave a brief description of the class and what she learned, along with how the class was designed with interesting readings and cool tumblr posts. She described the class as an eye opening experience that allowed her to read interesting stories along with hearing speeches from breathtaking women defining the odds. My knowledge of the class was that it was going to be a different kind of set up for an online class but still be very informative, and it most definitely was. From the very first reading called “The Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, I was hooked on learning about the interesting lives of women all over. Through the different TED talks we heard about how one of the women was African American and people thought that when she came to college she would have tribal music on her Ipod, but in retrospect she had Mariah Carey. People get judged everyday for their physical features. And get treated differently and unfairly. Personally I wanted to learn about this issue because being a girl I have experienced different treatment due to my gender. I know that in my family the rules for me versus my older brothers are way different. Even though compared to them I was a better student in highschool, more involved, better athlete, and more mature/responsible. But still they were able to do more and get away with more. I am not saying that I live in a house of hell or anything, but as I have gotten older I have been able to see the unfair treatment. The hardest thing about this situation is that parents are always right so standing up can look to be disrespectful.

When we started doing the commonplace project with weekly posts, finding the right picture, meme, or video on google was so fun and also entertaining. But, it was also a struggle because I put so much pressure on myself to find the perfect picture that I wanted. I never knew finding a picture on google could take so much time and energy, but I was proven wrong. For my personal commonplace book project finding pictures for those was shockingly easier. I had the idea of exactly what I wanted so the distraction of other posts was not there. For my project my idea and focus was on “The Girl” after reading it I would always come back to it. I was so shocked at what it said I sent a picture of it to my friends saying “isn’t this just a lovely thing?” Because the short story really upset me. People in society see women as the one who does; the cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, raising of kids, and just being looked at as weaker. But I would like to think and hope that as time changes so do peoples' opinions. In some of my descriptions for my post I address how I take the short story as a to do list. A list that a mother would tell her daughter. I also imagine that if the story was rewritten today it would say something a little differently. Throughout my commonplace I address what it is like to be a girl, the treatment we receive, and how things will change in the future.

The phrase “like a girl” is a quote that people use when someone does something wrong or bad. For example if someone regardless of gender makes a bad throw, one will say”wow you throw like a girl” When girls are just as good or even better athletes than men. But the thing with treating others equally starts at a young age. Addressing the issue that anyone can do anything as long as they work hard in life. I also talk about how I wish that in the future when I have kids that the phrase “like a girl” is just not a thing that people say. The treatment that men receive makes me always question, What did they do that was so good? I mean for real what did men do that was so amazing that we allow this torture to happen. I am pretty sure that they have not done anything that is amazing or world changing that makes up for the treatment we receive on the daily.

The one prost from my project that really stands out to me is the tree part photo. The first photo asks what do women have in common. Then the second picture answers that with saying things like; breast, nurturing, sweet, breast, and chatty. But then the last photo says the other thing that we women all have in common. And the thing about women is that when men see us all they see is the physical features or the activities that the majority of women take part in. But the real thing that we have in common is; assault, belittled, raped, dismissed, harassed, and underpaid. Every woman has experienced two or more of those actions. These three photos really open a new perspective, I know it did for me. What people see about us women is not what they get. Like I stated in the beginning about the one female her ted talk addressed how due to her skin color people thought she listened to a certain type of music.

With addressing issues regardless of it is a big issue or a small one the most important thing is “voice.” I know personally that before this class I never really thought of women's issues, which I know is sad. However, after this class it is almost like there is a little fire that just got lit. And I have learned so much from listening to others voices, rather than being in a speech or reading something. I know that I complain about the treatment I receive in my household that I think is unfair. Come to find out there are women that have it a hundred times worse than I do. I will say that in one of my classes that I took last semester, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, I saw videos about different tribes and villages that do not allow a woman to have any say in who she marries. But with that being said, here in America we have the opportunity to have a voice, to stand up, show others what we are experiencing. Then why has there not been any kind of change for the treatment of women. The idea that women do the exact same job as some man but make less, just does not make any sense to me. It makes me think of a funny idea. What if for a year or two the payment rule was different where women made more and men didn’t. I know for a fact the men of America would be livid.

The other thing that women experience on an everyday basis is that we have to be safe everywhere we go, who we talk to, and what we wear. About a week ago I watched the movie Bombshell, which addresses the sexual harassment that women received working on Fox News. Going to work women are getting treated like animals. All we are trying to do is get through the day and collect a paycheck. But in the movie so many women were being sexually harassed and assaulted, for years and nothing was said. When did we lose our voice? How did we let that happen? So many questions, but there is not a straight answer to any of them.

The thing that I think is the scariest and the saddest, is we have allowed this to happen for so long. The belittling is nothing, being cat called nothing. I have been whistled at before (I was wearing a baggy T-shirt, and shorts not that fancy of an outfit) but I wanted so bad to turn around and say something like how dare you or just give them the beloved finger. This goes back to the short story The Gil, it is like at a young age our parents have told us to turn the other cheek, or walk away. But that does absolutely nothing to the unfair treatment. The next generation of young women should be told not to stand for unfair treatment and do not let anyone talk to you as if you are nothing. When will there be a change? When will men realize that they are not that great? Truth is without us women there would be no next generation. We destroy our bodies and experience awful pain for nine months, and what do we get in return? Oh I know, unequal pay.

After eight weeks of reading, watching, and annotating I can say that I walked away from this experience with a voice, a fire that is lit. And knowledge that being a woman is one of the most challenging things, but also the best. The thing about us women is that we are in this together. We are a team, all fighting to win the same game of equality.

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brotherhoodnovel · 4 years

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Lies (1999) is an obscure Korean film that I wouldn’t have heard of at all if a co-worker hadn’t been wearing a Korean t-shirt he randomly acquired around the library. An African-American customer who could read Korean (she knows several languages, I once tested her on our Google Translate device) recognized the Korean inscription which was, I believe, Gojitmal (there’s also a different spelling and name for the film too, which made it even more difficult to find/acquire) which has multiple meanings I think but is summarized as Lies, and which she recognized as this infamous film about the sexual relationship between a sculptor in his late 30s and an 18 year old college student in socially conservative South Korea. She had borrowed it from the library and seen it, but she cautioned me about watching it but did want to have a conversation with me about it once I did but was always warning me, and squeamish, about the content. I told her I had no problem with any content, not only do I love foreign films, but provocative Korean art/crime films are particularly up my alley. I couldn’t find it on Netflix, had difficulty locating it on IMDb and even the library’s two copies (thankfully they had it, since it’s almost impossible to get otherwise) didn’t easily appear on the catalog either. What was so licentious about this film that it was so difficult to get even in our very free age? Well, I got a chance to watch it in January 2020 before my cancelled foreign trip to Asia. While it is wall-to-wall filled with increasingly S&M sex, it’s nothing like the Marquis De Sade or films like 120 Days of Sodom, In the Realm of the Senses etc. Unlike those films, this is a low-budget production with only three main characters and simple sets, but like those films, this is no amateurish by-the-numbers porn flick, but a brilliant piece of filmmaking by a true master. The repetitive nature of the scenes and the evolving/devolving relationship is a simultaneous cry of rebellion and act of contrition towards an increasingly regimented and conservative age. A brief comment on the filmmaker (Sun Woo-Jang, who had made many previous films but apparently would direct only one more) on the film’s extras really brought home the message of the film. He said it was a “different point-of-view” given the fact that the IMF had recently “taken over” and increasingly corporatized the South Korean economy. I recall 1999 as being the year of the Seattle anti-globalization protests and similar protests worldwide. In this country the Glass-Steagall act had been repealed along with many banking restrictions that would eventually lead to the 2008 Financial Crisis. Companies were buying companies, wealth was being concentrated, independent filmmaking, once relatively easy to create and produce and at its heyday of fame in the mid-90s, was increasingly being squeezed out. 9/11 only added nationalism to the corporatism already built up. Social media initially increased voices, and still does, but now with more and more fake news, memes and political propaganda, and it being controlled by a relatively small elite, we face the same issues yet again. It’s interesting that such a short, obscure, low-budget film can provoke such thought in a person, but it did in me. And therein lies the insidious genius of Lies (1999).

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208995/

#cinema #film #korean cinema #globalization #sexuality

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good-americans · 4 years

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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208995/

#korean #cinema #independent #indie #globalization

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thenewwei · 4 years

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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208995/

#korean cinema #globalization #subversive #indie films #90s aesthetic

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spiritofmultitudes · 5 years

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This week in Armie Hammer #7 (April 21)

This week saw the end of Armie’s work on Dreamland in Montreal. His character is said to be an undercover DEA agent.

As a result there were a few posts on social media of Armie out and about with his children. A special mention here for the “Armie with Disney princesses” post recalling his role in Mirror, Mirror . It’s a meme waiting to happen. As usual he seemed game (with a wave of his elegant wand hand) ....See also Armie hammering on a Russian tv show, followed by enthusiastic Hammer time dancing on said Russian tv show. Then acting with mannequins of US presidents on John Oliver’s show and then the hallowed Twilight skit where he hammed it up as Edward Cullen.

Which makes me wonder why that wasn’t brought up at the Oscars round table when he and Robert Pattinson were at the same session. Opportunity lost ?

More commitments for May have been announced. In addition to reading at KAMP at the Hammer museum on May 19, Armie will be the MC for a gala for the Steppenwolf theatre company in Chicago on May 11.He has previously moderated a film discussion (link below). While appearing nervous he was clearly enthusiastic and the film’ subject seems inspiring. A Private War featuring the luminous Rosamund Pike and Jamie Dornan.

Given his movements in May, Rebecca’s preproduction may be starting in May so he may not be required on set till June. No word yet on who has been cast as Mrs Danvers which is the plum role in Rebecca, in my opinion.

Armie tweeted song lyrics by Open Mike Eagle - Relatable. The lyrics are melancholy. “I don’t wear a monocle. I don’t know which sequels are truly canonical. I promise I truly and really remember you. I’m feeling invisible. “

Armie is tweeting about once a month this year and twice they’ve been song lyrics. We know he’s a voracious reader and has beautiful penmanship. He also listens to a lot of rap. I miss his recommendations on books and films etc, but the lack of posting on social media is a good look. Especially for his family’s security and for a maturing actor.

Death on the Nile has cast Latetia Wright and filming may start in September. Will Armie be continuing his physical training? As neither Maxim nor Simon require it, it will be interesting to see how his physique changes now he has finished Dreamland. Perhaps he will be able to fit into more clothes so may be able to wear more than just 2 T-shirt’s?

Wounds may have been pulled from Netflix’s release schedule. Perhaps some reshooting or editing will be taking place?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hrJ4G9G9ezM

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2 final reflections: Ava Duvernay commented on Armie’s choices and what he is using his voice to give voice to. It’s certainly not straight white trust fund upper class males.

It’s Persian , African American, female directors and a first time Australian director (telling an incredibly movingly Indian story). His choices are up there with Gyllenhall and Pattinson , who’ve all been heart throb movie stars who’ve pivoted to independent films and interesting choices. It would be wonderful to see all 3 of them together (yes...nocturnal animals , I know).

Finally, Armie inhabits his characters and if you didn’t know him, you would be surprised to se him playing James Lord and Steve Lyft and Ilya. How is the same actor as the Lone Ranger also Oliver in CMBYN?

Wishing Armie a relaxing break with lots of mental health days. And all of you too.

Have a great week.

#if you have Armie facts you would like included please contribute!#Youtube

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girderednerve · 6 years

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okay so i reblogged that post about medieval ‘salamander wool’ garments made from chrysotile asbestos a bit ago with more information and a source, but i looked through the notes first and they bothered me so much i’m still thinking about it, so here’s more information about asbestos

people make mesothelioma memes now & that’s their prerogative & many of them are quite funny, but i am only okay with them if we are all on the same page about asbestos here. i did not know until fairly recently what mesothelioma is or what asbestos does, other than ‘cause cancer’ and ‘not catch on fire,’ so i have been doing a lot of reading lately & now i want to clear something up because this is going to bother me until i write it down. asbestos insulation, asbestos fabric, asbestos cement -- they don’t kill people once they’re installed unless they’re damaged. the omnipresence of asbestos has created risk, as these products have degraded over time, but deadly exposure is primarily occupational.

asbestos fibers kill workers who mine, refine, package, ship, and install asbestos, and now the workers who remove and dispose of it. asbestos-related diseases are still primarily occupational, and they kill mostly working people. environmental asbestos exposure occurs, primarily -- though not exclusively -- through airborne asbestos dust; incidence is particularly high around old factories and mines and the few that still operate (asbest, for example). in fact, the connection between asbestos and mesothelioma was first demonstrated by an epidemiological study of a south african amphibole mining township in 1960. mesothelioma is a cancer of the tissue lining the chest or abdomen, and it kills people quickly and painfully, usually within eighteen months. there is no safety gear which can entirely protect against asbestos fibers, and accordingly mesothelioma -- and asbestosis and asbestos-related lung cancer -- are occupational hazards. that’s why they’re more prevalent in men, although women’s incidence has gone up significantly in the last few years. asbestos-related disease has killed millions of people; in 2008, it killed around 90 thousand people worldwide, and the WHO estimates that around 125 million people are exposed to asbestos in their workplaces. the risk now acknowledged in the west has not prevented the use of asbestos in the third world, and there is no global ban: what this means is that there will be asbestos-related deaths by the thousands until at least mid-century, and because the risk of asbestos is now widely known, the workers who are involved in the industry are likely to already be vulnerable in other ways.

the point here is that the kings and emperors who had rare and priceless fireproof garments did not get mesothelioma, or asbestosis, or lung cancer. they kept their regalia like treasure -- they wore it rarely, perhaps only in death, and died regally of gout, infection, and old age. the people who were at risk were the miners and weavers, people who are always at risk. the joke that feudal lords got their just deserts along with their salamander shirts is still just a joke: that didn’t & doesn’t happen. the companies that installed asbestos and suppressed the connection between asbestos & lung cancer in the fifties, and then between asbestos & mesothelioma in the sixties, and lied about their safety standards, and refused to pay compensation, and kept selling record high amounts of asbestos in the eighties -- they’re fine. so are the government officials who let them do it. even if company stock plummeted, the people who worked in their offices can breathe. asbestos-related disease is class war. it has been class war this whole time.

read about it.

#look i'm the least funny person alive and i know that no one was taking that seriously #i'm just very bothered by how little i think people generally know about asbestos?#maybe this is just a grew-up-in-a-suburb problem in a state with no asbestos mining #i didn't know much about black lung either #but it frustrates me that asbestos is treated as though it's an equal-opportunity killer #it isn't. i have more sources but i linked defending the indefensible because it's readable & pretty wide-ranging -- a good starting point #this is just me screaming about injustice again #long post

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lobsters-on-their-heads · 7 years

Text

Cont. Travels of Cophine, Part 2.3

Tunisia.

Link for the entire work here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13525500

They arrived in Sousse in the afternoon, their last stop in Tunisia and the end of their Francophone African experience. If everything went well here, they would be in Libya in a few days, and Egypt after that. Cosima's energy level was partially recovered and the sinus headaches were gone, but she still had frequent coughing fits, and her voice cracked every couple of words. She now spent her time propping up Delphine, who insisted that she wasn't really all that sick.

“Delphine, I love you,” Cosima said, “but your eyes haven't opened completely for, like, two days. Your voice is an octave lower, and your sneezes have woken the dead. You are fucking sick.”

Delphine fell back on her bed beside Cosima. In Tunis they'd gotten a queen sized bed in their room, which was great at first, but a lot less appealing when both of them tossed and turned the whole night. Here in Sousse, they were back to separate twins, and neither of them had the energy to even comment on it.

“Okay,” Delphine said, “I'm sick. Are you happy now?”

“No. I just want you to stop pretending that you're fine. I want you to take care of yourself. I mean, I'm happy taking care of you, but you're not letting me do that, and you're pushing yourself too hard.”

As if to prove Cosima's point, Delphine rolled over to check the little beep her phone just made. “Dr. N'Jikam wants to postpone our meeting until Wednesday.” She pinched the bridge of her nose.

“And you don't have to be at the clinic until Wednesday morning, either, so tomorrow we can focus on getting rest, yeah? Maybe check out that sauna they're supposed to have.” With the chilly weather outside and the lack of heat in the hotel room, spending the day at a nice 180 degrees fahrenheit had a certain appeal.

“Mmm... maybe. We still have a lot of arrangements to make.”

Cosima rubbed her back through her sweater. “We do. But we're not going to help anybody if you're not healthy. So you need to rest. That's what you told me the other day!”

“I can't sleep, I've told you.”

The night before, Delphine had apparently been awake for five hours while Cosima slept like a log. She'd drifted off for an hour or so on the ride into Sousse, but good sleep still aluded her. “Take some more NyQuil,” Cosima said. “Or I'll get the bar downstairs to make you a nice hot toddy.”

She shook her head. “Then I'll be hung over all morning. Is there any tea?”

Cosima checked the little complimentary beverage station near the ironing board. “Um... yes, but it all looks caffeinated.”

“Then no.”

Another coughing fit hit Cosima then, doubling her over as she pounded on her chest. The pounding never helped, but it was better than doing nothing. Once it subsided, she straightened back up and fumbled around for some more water. Delphine stayed on her bed, watching her.

“Have you tried the throat spray again?”

“Um, no.”

“Maybe you should. It would numb your throat and...”

“It would make me vomit again. No thanks.”

“You might've done it wrong.”

Naturally, Delphine was able to use the throat spray with no problems at all. Cosima added it to the list of things Delphine did effortlessly.

Cosima picked up her purse and wrapped her scarf around her neck again. “If I did, I'm not willing to risk doing it wrong again. But I will get some more cough syrup. And some more tea.”

Delphine propped herself up on her elbows to return Cosima's kiss. “Can you get some soup, too?”

“Yup. Soup, syrup, and tea. I'll be back soon, love.”

Delphine nodded and sank back down.

* * *

They tried the sauna the next day, but found it packed with Scandinavian women who all knew each other and laughed too loudly at everything each of them said. Cosima got some tea loaded with valerian root and lemon balm, and Delphine drank mug after mug of it while Cosima did their laundry in the hotel's facilities and brought containers of brik and fricassé from the vendors across the street. In the evening, they drank more tea and watched the Arabic dubbing of Downton Abbey on the hotel television.

On Wednesday it rained, the first time since they'd arrived in North Africa. Cosima sat at the bar in the hotel's restaurant and watched it fall in sheets over the cars and cyclists and old men in traditional burnouses hustling around with newspapers over their heads. It was just after noon, almost time for midday prayers, when the locals on the street would clear off for a moment but the tourists in the restaurant would stay. She knew these things now. She was also starting to forget that she hadn't always dropped the “h” sound in “hotel.”

The restaurant was packed. Most of these tourists were here for the promise of a sunny beach-side vacation in a relatively progressive Arab country, the lone gunman attack of a few years ago now a distant memory. The rain, however, put the beach off limits. The business men were here too, but in fewer numbers than in Tunis or Algiers. Cosima wondered how many tourists would be in Tripoli.

Delphine was supposed to be back by now. The clone here in Sousse had been easy to find, unlike the one in Tunis who'd gotten married and changed her name since the Leda List was compiled. Cosima double checked the time and confirmed that this clone's appointment had been for 10:30, and then she texted Delphine.

Everything okay?

While she waited for a reply, she scrolled through her Facebook feed, finding very little that was new since that morning. Alison posted pictures of a black forest cheesecake from all angles; Cosima's mother posted memes that she thought were hilarious and Cosima had seen ten years ago; Scott cracked science jokes; her father ranted about Republicans. Same old, same old. She thought about reading the news, but she'd done that earlier and had no desire to repeat the experience. She was nervous enough about going to Libya without reading that the country was “mired in chaos” and ruled by “men with guns.” She wanted to keep her worries confined to the language barrier.

“Anything else?” The bartender gestured to her empty tea cup.

“Yeah. Another one. Thank you. Merci. Shukraan (شكرا.)”

He gave her an indulgent smile and got her more hot water and some fresh tea.

Instagram yielded no new results, either. Five of the Ledas were hyper active there, posting so many photos of their personal lives that Cosima felt closer to them than to most of her own cousins at this point, and was becoming personally invested in the little drama that was brewing in the love life of one of the Austrian sisters. All total, Cosima tracked 33 Ledas through Instagram and 34 on Twitter, 11 of which were on both. None so far had symptoms of clone disease that they were sharing on social media, though the Leda in Cape Town, South Africa, did seem to have a worrying rash on her torso that had nothing to do with being a clone, but probably with a swimming in the ocean.

Her phone buzzed. Difficult patient. Delphine said.

Cosima arched an eyebrow. That could mean many things. And?

A reply wasn't immediately forthcoming, and Cosima rubbed her face to keep from swearing. The restaurant was loud enough that she might've gotten away with it, but it was better not to risk it, even surrounded by foreigners. She tried to look out the window but a man pushed up to the bar and blocked the view. He was tall and broad, wearing what Cosima called the “I yell at my family in public” uniform.

“Hey!” he shouted. “Can we get a table, please? We've been waiting fifteen minutes!”

Cosima rolled her eyes and went back to her phone. No reply from Delphine, but another cake picture from Alison on Facebook – red velvet this time.

She pulled up Twitter and perked up again. A clone from southern California they hadn't made contact with yet finally posted something. She was in Cambodia, it turned out, and she had a long thread about politics and southeast Asian history that was actually quite fascinating. And then Delphine replied to her text.

Still trying.

“Still trying? That doesn't help, Delphine.” She tapped out her response. Do you need anything? Can I help?

She'd been at the bar for over an hour. She could have been up in their room, working on her thesis, or napping, or masturbating, or catching up on her reading. But Delphine had asked her to be here, to meet her after her 10:30 appointment at the clinic, because she was bringing one of her contacts from MSF, and this was an Important Contact. Cosima was wearing her nice shirt, for fuck's sake, and she'd ironed her pants. They were going to eat lunch together, their treat for this Important Contact, so Cosima had not eaten since 8:30 that morning.

She typed some more. Do you have an ETA?

Three minutes later, as she watched the loud man yell at his son for touching the floral arrangement on the table they'd finally gotten, her phone buzzed. Her excitement faded when she saw it was just an email from her mother.

Cosima,

Here's that dress company I told you about, based out of the City, very social-justice and queer oriented and I think right up your alley. It's pricey but we'd be happy to help you out if....

She closed the message without finishing it. “I am not dress shopping online, goddamn it,” she muttered. “How many times do I have to f.... ugh. Mother.” She rubbed her face again and checked the time.

12:40 pm. Five minutes since her last message to Delphine, and more than two hours since the appointment at the clinic started.

A bearded man in a West Virginia University sweatshirt sat down beside her, apologized when he brushed against her knee, and placed his order with the bar tender in Arabic. Once the bartender left, he laced his fingers together and turned to Cosima. “Heckuva weather we're having, yeah?”

“Yup. Sure is.”

“You know, I been coming here for ten years, and I swear this is the first time I've seen it rain.”

“Hm.”

He tapped the bar top. “Are those dreads you've got?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so! They look good!” He turned a little on his stool to face her more. “Usually white girls can't pull those off, but yours look really good!”

“Thank you.” She checked her phone again. 12:45, and no new messages.

“Can I ask, if you don't mind, what you did to make 'em stay so well? Like, my cousin tried dreads, and she's as white as me, and her hair stank!” He laughed and bumped into her knee again. “Like, it was just straight up matted and shit. What's your secret?”

She drained her tea and looked him in the eye. “I've been genetically engineered.”

He chortled. “Okay. Fair enough. I shouldn't have asked; I'm sorry.”

Cosima raised her eyebrows and did not respond. The bartender came with his order then – a steaming bowl of stew with a side of bread and a bottle of beer. The stew smelled amazing, and she still hadn't gotten any messages from Delphine, so she called the bartender back over and ordered a bowl for herself. While she waited, the cups of tea crept up on her and she slid off to the ladies' room, leaving her coat on the stool, pockets empty.

While she peed, she texted Delphine again. Is everything okay over there?

The clinic was on the same block as their hotel, and Cosima would have gone there herself an hour ago if they weren't terrified of accidental clone meet ups.

She also finished her mother's email about that dress shop in San Fransisco, which, Sally was keen to point out, also did tailoring for suits. Great.

Back at the bar, Cosima's coat was still there, along with her food and a fresh cup of tea. The WVU man was wrapped up in conversation with a guy to his left, thankfully, and now there was a different customer to Cosima's right – a woman with short wavy black hair, wearing a collared white shirt. As she walked towards her own seat, Cosima glanced down at the woman's shoes. Sure enough, Keens, or Keens equivalents. Cosima's phone buzzed.

Yes was all Delphine had to say. No ETA, no other information. Cosima put her phone back in her purse.

“Excuse me,” she said as she squeezed in between the two other customers to sit down.

“Sure, no problem,” the woman said, smiling at her. The WVU man did not seem to notice her return. “I hope no one was sitting here?”

“Oh, no,” Cosima assured her. “You're fine.”

The soup was delicious, but spicier than she'd anticipated, so she got a glass of water and another serving of bread to help it go down. In minutes her sinuses opened up and she needed extra napkins, as well. The woman beside her got a salad and a glass of wine, and smiled at Cosima when she drained her water glass.

“A bit spicy, is it?” She was British, or Irish, judging by her accent.

Cosima nodded. The water helped, but her eyes watered and her nose ran, and it was a damn good thing she wasn't trying to look good right now. She thought of Delphine's MSF contact and checked her phone again. It was 1:10. No new messages. “Whatever.” She dropped it back in her purse and gave the rest of her soup her full attention. When she'd finished, she wiped the bowl with some more bread and finished her third glass of water. Beside her, the dark haired British woman watched her, sideways.

“I guess it was good,” the woman said.

“Yeah. Delicious.” She pointed to the half-full salad plate in front of her bar neighbor. “Yours wasn't?”

The other woman shrugged. “I keep forgetting that I don't like tomatoes. I order them every so often, thinking that some dish looks rather good, and then I eat one, and remember.”

Cosima smiled. “I'm like that with oysters and clams. Someone will rave about how good they are, and swear they've got a good recipe, but it's always like eating a snot ball out of a shell.”

The other woman laughed at that, throwing her head back and showing off her neck in the process. “That is such an apt way to put it! They really are nature's little snot balls, aren't they? Tell me, have you read Tipping the Velvet?”

If she hadn't suspected this woman was queer before, she sure did now. More than suspected. Cosima blushed a little and grinned. “I read it when I was, like, twenty. So yeah, but it's been a while.”

“Well, I've read it several times, and every single time, when she's going on and on about oysters and how she prepares them and all that, I just have to shake my head, because I find oysters absolutely disgusting, just as you do.”

“Are they better or worse than tomatoes?”

“Worse. A thousand times worse.” She picked around the tomatoes on her plate, eating pieces of cheese and lettuce speared on her fork. “If I may ask, what brings you to Tunisia?”

“Oh, it's a, uh, a medical trip, of sorts.”

“Hm, I see. Like, medical tourism sort of thing? I've heard of that, and you're American, I take it?”

“I am, yeah. No, it's not for me. I mean, I'm not getting treated for anything.” She twisted her napkin between her fingers, trying hard to look nonchalant.

“You're doing the treating, then, perhaps?”

“Something like that.”

“Cosima?”

She spun around to find Delphine three feet behind her, frowning. “Oh, hey! When did you get here?”

“I got here a few minutes ago, as I said in my message. Did you get my message?”

Cosima dug in her purse for her phone. “The last message I got just said...” She looked at her phone. Sure enough, two new messages from Delphine, at 1:12 and 1:20. It was now 1:27. “Shit.”

“You haven't reserved a table, then, I take it.”

“They wouldn't let me unless I could give a more specific time!”

“Well, if you'd checked your messages, you would have had one. But now we have to wait.” She gestured over to the hostess stand, where a West African man in a linen suit waved and headed in their direction through the other diners. “He has a busy schedule, you know. He is a doing us a favor.”

Cosima gathered her coat and purse. The bartender had their room number to charge for the meal, thankfully. Fussing over credit card payments wouldn't improve either of their moods. “I do know that, and actually, Delphine, I've been checking my messages all day, and you weren't sending any, so maybe you should lay off a little bit?”

It was not the right thing to say, and it was not the right time to say it, but it came out of Cosima's mouth anyway. Delphine's eyebrows went up. She glanced over at the woman to Cosima's right, who was smart enough to pretend she wasn't listening. “Well,” Delphine said, “at least you made a new friend.”

The man in the linen suit reached them and gave Cosima a broad smile.

“Dr. N'Jikam,” Delphine said, “this is Cosima Niehaus, my research partner.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Niehaus. Dr. Simplice N'Jikam, from Médecins Sans Frontières. Dr. Cormier and I used to work together. Perhaps she's mentioned me.”

She put her best smile on for him and shook his hand. “Yes, she has. It's a pleasure to meet you, too.”

As dramatic as Delphine was about waiting for a table, they only had to wait five minutes to get one. Cosima sat across from Delphine, with Dr. N'Jikam to her left. Predictably, Cosima wasn't very hungry any more, but she ordered a carrot salad with hard boiled eggs and another cup of tea. Delphine ordered a lamb platter with couscous and vegetables. She must not have eaten since that morning, either. At least she seemed healthier than she had the day before.

Dr. N'Jikam started off the conversation as soon as they'd ordered. “So, you are going to Yemen.”

Delphine nodded. “That's correct.”

“When do you plan to be there, and for how long?”

“We're not sure exactly,” Cosima said. “It depends on how successful we are there. Right now, we have five days scheduled in early March, but that could change.”

The waiter brought their drinks – water for Delphine, coffee for Dr. N'Jikam, and mint tea for Cosima.

“And what exactly,” Dr. N'Jikam asked Delphine, “is your measure of success for this trip? What is your objective?”

“We've identified three women with a specific phenotype that puts them at risk for a terminal condition, and we plan to inoculate them against it, or cure them if they've already developed symptoms.”

His eyebrows rose. “What condition is that?”

“It's only recently been discovered, so there's not an agreed-upon name for it yet.”

“I see. And you've already identified patients already? How?”

“It's a long story. Some of our connections back in Canada gave us the information.”

The answer satisfied him, and he sipped on his coffee. For Cosima, though, the effects of her earlier bowl of soup and all the accompanying water became pressing, so she excused herself, meeting Delphine's “wtf” look with a wide eyes. Whatever. It would be worse to sit there bouncing and in pain, unable to focus. Waiting in line for the ladies room for the second time, she rummaged in her purse for her bottle of TUMS, and took two.

Back at the table, the food had once again arrived in her absence. Squeezed onto the table between the plates, glasses, silverware, decorative flower arrangement, and complimentary flatbread, Dr. N'Jikam had his tablet and a pad of line-free paper, which he and Delphine crouched over between bites. Delphine glanced at her when she sat down, and continued her conversation with Dr. N'Jikam in French.

Cosima ate her salad and listened, picking out about half of what Delphine said and less than a quarter of what Dr. N'Jikam said. She'd read that Cameroonian French was a little different than Canadian or Parisian French, but she hadn't expected such a great difference. But then, Delphine wasn't having any such difficulties. From what Cosima understood, they talked about the Yemeni refugee crisis, camps, transportation options, and money, and then Dr. N'Jikam said something that made Delphine laugh. Cosima raised her eyebrows at her, hoping for a translation, but none came.

At the end of the meal, Delphine excused herself to use the restroom, letting Cosima handle paying for the meal.

“How was it?” she asked Dr. N'Jikam.

“Pardon? Oh, it was excellent,” he said. He dabbed at his lips with the napkin and smiled at her. “Thank you.”

“You're very welcome,” Cosima said. The food and the rain made her sleepy, but she needed to keep up appearances. “So, uh, how long have you been with MSF?”

“A long time. Twenty years, almost. And I've been, oh, I've been everywhere.” He laughed at that, so she smiled along. “But we've been talking the whole time, and you've said very little. Tell me, Miss Nyehouse, is it Nyehouse or Neuhaus? I can't remember.”

“Uh, Niehaus, actually, but that's not important.”

“It's important to me.” Another grin. “So tell me, Miss Niehaus, how long are you working for Dr. Cormier?”

“Well, I've been working with her for about three years now.”

“Three years, okay. I've known her for almost five years, since right after her doctorate. I wasn't aware before that she had any students.”

“She doesn't.”

He paused, hand midair on its way to adjust his glasses. “No? I thought that...”

“Wait, did she tell you that I'm her student?”

Dr. N'Jikam did not miss the way Cosima leaned over the table as she spoke, and he leaned back to compensate. “Oh,” he laughed, “I don't remember! You know, as we age, ours minds are not so good.”

“Right. Okay.”

He left as soon as Delphine got back, shaking their hands again and repeating his best wishes and his pleasure at having met them both. Delphine promised to keep in touch throughout their travels.

At the elevators, Cosima told Delphine, “You know, if you didn't need me to be there, you could have just said so.”

Delphine rolled her head around on her shoulders. “What are you talking about?”

“You know I understood like, less than half of that entire conversation. You made it pretty obvious you didn't need my contribution.”

Delphine sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. An elevator at the end of the row dinged, and they hustled to get on it along with a gaggle of rain soaked tourists. They flattened themselves against the back wall. “He prefers speaking in French,” Delphine said.

“Does he really. English didn't seem to be much an issue for him when we first sat down, or after you'd gone to the bathroom.”

The elevator stopped to let some people off at the third floor, and replace them with a Japanese couple in bath robes, fresh from the third floor sauna. Cosima could have been at the sauna during that entire lunch, and it wouldn't have mattered. Whatever.

“How about our patient?” she asked. “You said she was difficult.”

“She refused the vaccination. Nothing I said, nothing her doctor said, convinced her, and she left without it. After talking my ears off about every medical problem she's ever had, and how doctors are responsible for every single one of them.”

“Oh sh... shoot, really?” That had never happened before. Usually, once the doctor explained it, the patient accepted the vaccine. The trick was often just getting them into the doctor's office to begin with.

“Really. She claims that vaccines made her infertile.”

The elevator stopped at the eighth floor and let out everyone else, then moved on up to the tenth, where Cosima and Delphine got off.

“The doctor is trying to bring her back the day after tomorrow,” Delphine said. “If she still refuses, though...”

“She won't. We'll think of something.” Cosima reached for her arm, but Delphine moved away to unlocked the door and push it open.

Inside the room, Delphine set up her papers on her bed, and sat in the armchair next to it with her laptop. “Dr. N'Jikam sent us both a list of other contacts we should talk to. Some are in Libya, which he doesn't know as much about, but cautions us against visiting.”

Cosima opened her laptop on the desk. She had had other ideas for the afternoon, especially since it seemed they'd be staying in Sousse longer than originally planned. Delphine was buried in her work, though, chewing on a thumbnail, so Cosima might as well follow suit.

“Great. Sounds like a perfect afternoon.”

* * *

That night, after pouring over Dr. N'Jikam's information, calling and emailing his contacts in Yemen, Libya, and a Jordanian refugee camp, and a last minute phone call with one of Art's Arabic translators, the walls of their little hotel room were pressing in against both of them. Cosima's eyes hurt from differentiating tiny Arabic words from other tiny Arabic words and staring at screens, but there was one more email to write.

Dear Dr. Lacrabére,

I was directed to you by Dr. Simplice N'Jikam of Médecins Sans Frontières because

“It goes the other way.”

“Huh?”

Delphine stood behind her, one hand in her damp hair. “It's Dr. Lacrabère, not Lacrabére. You need the accent grave, not aigu.”

“Oh. Shit. Thank you.”

Delphine walked on towards their suitcase and said, “It's not Spanish.”

“Yeah, I'm aware of that, thanks.” She finished the email, watching Delphine's eyebrows do that sarcastic little wiggle in her peripheral vision. “By the way, did you tell Dr. N'Jikam that I'm your student?”

“What?”

“He thought I was your student. Like, your graduate student or something.”

Delphine dug around her suitcase for a bottle of lotion. “I don't know why. I introduced you as my research partner. You were there when I introduced you, yes?”

“Well, yeah, but...”

“But what?”

“I dunno. It was just weird, that's all.”

“Okay.” She sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed lotion into feet. “You should take your shower now, so you're not up too late. I'm going to talk to the doctor at the clinic again tomorrow.”

Cosima refrained from replying with “yes, Dr. Cormier,” but she got up and gathered her shower things. At the bathroom door she turned back and saw Delphine massaging lotion into her left calf, her eyes closed.

The hotel bathroom was nice, with a bathtub and strong water pressure from the shower head. She let the water beat against her back, her head bowed. When she got out of the shower later, Delphine would probably be in bed. A different bed, because of course no one could know they were lovers, so they had separate twin beds. Again. Delphine's eyes would be covered, and she'd be turned away from Cosima because the light was on Cosima's side of the room. She would not want to talk, either about important topics or trivial ones. And then she would get up early in the morning to try convincing their sister here in Sousse that she needed a vaccine. And Cosima would.... what?

Maybe she'd stay in tomorrow. The forecast called for more rain, after all. She could work on her dissertation, enter more data and run some preliminary stats on them. She could go back to the restaurant and drink a couple more gallons of mint tea. She could stay in bed all day, and it wouldn't make much of a difference.

She turned off the shower and leaned against the tile wall. How long would it take for Delphine to wonder what she was doing in here, or what was taking her so long? Or was Delphine still so annoyed with her that she was happy to have Cosima out of the bedroom for a while?

The steam from the shower swirling around her, she slid down in the bathtub, her face in her hands. Tears pushed out of her eyes before she could stop them, and then she was sobbing.

A minute or so later, the door opened, and Cosima took some deep breaths to try to gain some control, hands still over her face.

“Cosima? Hey, hey, hey....” And then Delphine's hands were on her neck, and her arm was around her shoulders. “Shh... come here.”

She leaned onto Delphine's shoulder and cried some more, soaking her T-shirt and clinging to her arms with wet fingers. “I'm sorry,” she managed. “I'm sorry.”

“For what?”

“For not seeing your messages, for not knowing French better, for not helping you cure the Ledas, for everything.”

Delphine stroked her arms and her back and kissed her head. “Chérie, it's okay. I don't expect you to know French very well, and you cannot help me with the Ledas any more than you already are. You know that. You already do so much for them, anyway. And the thing with the messages was just a mistake, a misunderstanding. It's okay.”

“It didn't seem that okay earlier.”

Delphine's chest rose and fell as she sighed. “I was just... irritated earlier. That's all. I'm sorry I took it out on you.”

Cosima held on to her, nose in the crook of her neck. Delphine had some new jasmine-scented body wash that smelled okay, but didn't smell like Delphine. Cosima wanted her to smell liked Delphine again, goddammit. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I know. Je t'aime aussi.” She kissed her eyes, her lips, and the tip of her nose. “We should get you out of this tub, though.”

“Yeah, this isn't very comfortable.” She let Delphine help her out of the tub and into a towel. “Are you still mad at me?”

“No,” Delphine said. “I was, but I'm not anymore.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I was a little bit pissed at you, too.”

“Are you still?”

She shook her head and finished drying herself off. “No, not anymore. I... I can see why you were upset. I should've just kept my phone out the whole time so I'd see your messages, and...”

Delphine folded the towel in half and hung it up on the rod next to hers. “Maybe. I don't think I would've been quite so upset with you if you hadn't been talking to that girl, though, if we're being completely honest.”

“That girl?” Cosima smiled now as she pulled on her shorts. “She's, like, our age or older.”

“Oh? Is she?”

There was an edge in Delphine's voice, so Cosima put her hands on Delphine's waist. “I didn't ask, and she didn't tell me. There is nothing for you to worry about. I'm engaged to you, and nobody else.” She kissed her, but pulled back after a moment. “I mean, we are still engaged, aren't we?”

Delphine's laugh turned into a cough. “Yes, we are still engaged! Just because we can't tell everyone doesn't change that fact. Now come on, let's go to bed.”

Cosima tucked herself into bed and watched Delphine tweeze her eyebrows with the help of a pocket mirror. Delphine did that most nights, and some mornings, sometimes also yanking hairs from her nostrils in ways that made Cosima's eyes water just watching her do it. “What would your eyebrows look like if you didn't do that?” she asked.

“Euhh... let's not find out, okay?” She got one more hair from her left eyebrow and closed the mirror, then turned off the overhead light and sat on the edge of Cosima's bed, looking down at her. “I want to stay attractive for you as long as possible.”

“Yeah, same here. I mean, for myself. For you.” She wasn't terribly attractive at the moment, of course, but she wasn't going to bring that up.

Delphine rubbed Cosima's abdomen through the blankets. “I'm sorry the beds are so small.”

“It's not your fault. And it's not forever. Here.” She scooted all the way to one side and pulled the blanket back. “You can climb in for a minute if you want.”

“A minute.” Delphine stretched herself out under the heavy blankets and faced Cosima. “I think we're both very tired.”

“Yeah, and you're still sick, even if you're moving around better.” She linked her fingers with Delphine's. “I don't want you to think that I don't appreciate everything you do. For us, I mean. For all of us.”

Delphine kissed her eyes, damp again with tears. “I don't think that. I know that you do.”

“Good.”

“And I don't do any of it by myself. I couldn't do any of it by myself, and I would never want to.”

Cosima thought of Delphine earlier that day, spending hours trying to convince a clone that she had a condition that would kill her one day. “Do you want me to go to the clinic with you? To try convincing our skeptical Tunisian sister?”

Delphine gave an amused little huff. “I would like that very much, but I'm not sure it's a good idea.”

“Right. Probably not.” She tucked herself as close to Delphine as possible, angling her face so that Delphine wasn't breathing directly into her eyes. Delphine wiggled her arm so she could hold Cosima's hand between their faces.

“Of course she's allowed to refuse, but I have some ideas that might convince her.”

“Ideas that don't involve clone disclosure.”

“Of course.”

“Are we still doing our five day rule if she keeps refusing?”

Delphine groaned. “No. I think, if she refuses a second time, we let her refuse, and we move on. She'll have our information, we'll have hers, and we can always come back. I am not arguing with her for five days.”

“Fair enough. That sounds like a plan, then. We really do need to come up with a decent name for this disease, though. Maybe not tonight, but some time before we've cured everybody.”

“I've been thinking of one, actually. I thought of it today, when Inès was questioning everything I said.”

“Yeah?” Cosima propped herself up a few inches. “Can I hear it?”

“I was thinking we could call it Fitzsimmon's Carcinoma.”

Cosima remembered the chipper swim coach whose body had taught them so much about what their disease was and the ways that it couldn't be treated, and she smiled. “I like it.”

“I hoped you would.” She pulled Cosima closer and snuggled against her body. “I didn't want to name it without your permission.”

“Well, you have my enthusiastic permission to use it. I'll tell the sestras tomorrow.” She yawned into Delphine's chest and kissed her her collarbone. “Je t'aime,” she whispered.

Delphine giggled. “I love you, too. Very much.”

And with one hand tucked into Delphine's, and the fingers on her other hand hooked on the waist of Delphine's shorts, Cosima drifted off to sleep.

#my writing #continuing travels of cophine #cophine fanfiction

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