#animated and directed by Cameron Gray

[taxi-davis]

Now That's What I Call Christmas

[sapphyreopal5]

Who is Jensen Ackles an Incarnation of?

Hello, my name is Ellie. I am a psychic who mainly does divination work with a pendulum and printable ABC charts so I can get messages from deities, faye, and other benevolent beings. A lot of the information I get comes from my divination work. I've worked with several deities and have asked all of them to prove they are who they are (and when it's really them speaking and not an imposter). In this post, I am going to reveal the deities the actor Jensen Ackles is an incarnation of (yes, incarnations can have the essence of more than 1 soul/higher self). For a brief overview, Jensen Ackles is best known for playing Dean Winchester in the CW series "Supernatural". Some of his other roles include Jake Gray in the movie "Devour", Tom Hanniger in the 2009 film "My Bloody Valentine", Eric Brady on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives", Ben and Alec on the early 2000s James Cameron TV show "Dark Angel", and Jason Teague on the CW series "Smallville".

So who is Jensen Ackles an incarnation of?

Jensen Ackles is the earth incarnation aka soul created by the soul essence of 2 deities being "mixed", Hades Odin and Hermes Loki (it turns out deities sometimes go by different parts of their full names if they're part of multiple pantheons, which is for another post). I encourage you to read another post of mine where I discuss how incarnations work, so this will make better sense to anyone reading this and other celebrity readings I have like this one. To make things simple, I'm going to focus more on briefly discussing the information available on the deities Odin and Hermes in the next sections.

Odin Odin is the Nordic deity and All Father in Norse mythology and Paganism who is associated with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, knowledge, war, magic/sorcery, divination, poetry, and runes. He is said to be the ruler of Asgard home of the said Aesir deities and also ruler of Valhalla, where half of those who die in battle are said to go in the afterlife. He is the Norse deity accompanied by 2 ravens, Munnin and Huginn who are said to travel the world to gather information to send back to Odin.

Odin is often depicted as riding on his 8 legged horse Sleipnir. Sometimes when traveling or appearing to someone as the wanderer, he is seen wearing a blue-grey cloak. It's been suggested by some scholars that the concept of Santa Clause has its roots going back to Odin. It's said Wednesday is the day of the week associated with Woden/Odin.

Odin is known amongst Norse pagans as having a direct, stern personality who can sometimes be intimidating. As a god of wisdom, he is an intelligent man who has a lot to offer as a guide provided you are willing to listen to what he has to say. He also is said to have a strong fatherly or protector kind of vibe to him, which has proven to be true in my experience talking with Odin. He told me personally he does like fishing.

Some offerings for Odin include: Wolf, fish, eagle or raven objects, blue, grey or black colored objects, red wine, whiskey or other hard liquor (especially aquavit), time spent with him, handwritten poetry, citrine, amethyst, carnelian, smoky quartz, frankincense, lavender, dragon's blood.

Hermes Hermes is the Greek Olympian deity who is associated with heralds, athletes, travel, wealth, luck, animal herds, trade, fertility, sleep, language, and thieves. Hermes is the deity who is credited for creating fire, while Prometheus is the deity who is said to have stolen fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. He is also the Greek deity who is known for guiding souls whose physical bodies just died to the underworld; this is what astrologists equate to Mercury retrograde, The Roman equivalent for Hermes. As the messenger god, Hermes is known for traveling between Hades the Underworld, Earth where the mortals live and Mount Olympus where the Gods are said to live in Greek mythology. He is known for being eccentric, mischievous, and witty or "quick on his feet" in Greek mythology. In many versions of Greek mythology, Hermes was never married. A lot of Hellenistic pagans who work with Hermes say he is also quite flirty and even erotic at times, which does reflect my personal experience in speaking with Hermes. He also very much likes connecting to those he works with through divination, especially through a pendulum. Wednesday is said to be the day of Hermes.

Some offerings for Hermes include: gold and/or silver objects (he prefers gold), red wine or whiskey, honey, strawberries, money/coins, blue and/or black objects, astronomy, written stories or letters, dice, turtle, fish or hawk objects, feathers, amethyst, quartz, dream journaling, having a fire, frankincense, lavender, divination, and musical objects.

Traits of Hades Odin "Odin" and Hermes Loki "Hermes" in Jensen Ackles Jensen Ackles was born on March 1, 1978 in Dallas Texas, which was a Wednesday. Interestingly, both Odin and Hermes are deities associated with the day of the week Wednesday. Jensen also is known for liking sports and was an athlete when in school; he also has gotten into the music aspect of entertainment in recent years, both of which are affiliated with Hermes. 1978 is also Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac; it's also a year that ends with the number 8, which is a hint of his being an incarnation of Odin who rides the 8 legged horse Sleipnir. The dog Soccer who was the Jack Russell Terrier dog in the 90s show "Wishbone" Jensen guest starred in was actually an incarnation of Odin's raven Huginn.

The roles he's played on TV and on the big screen are part of Jensen Ackles' Akashic Records to give hidden messages to him as to who he is and even hint at possible future events. For example, he has played a few darker roles affiliated with death including Tom Hanniger the serial killer in "My Bloody Valentine", Jake Grey a Prince of Hell in "Devour" (I did mention that grey is a color affiliated with Odin earlier, right?), and Dean Winchester in "Supernatural", who is essentially Hermes as a mortal.

Coincidentally, Jensen first showed up as the new sheriff Beau Arlen in the show "Big Sky" on the season 2 finale titled "Catch a Few Fish", fish being affiliated with both Hermes and Odin for food offerings. Hermes is also the Greek god that is often portrayed as wearing either winged sandals or helmet to come and go between different realms more quickly interestingly enough. Several of Jensen's roles ended up either dying or the movie ending with his character remaining an unmarried man, including Jason Teague in "Smallville", Dean Winchester in "Supernatural", Tom Hanniger in "My Bloody Valentine", Jake Grey in "Devour", and Alec in "Dark Angel". This lines up with Hermes being depicted in many versions of Greek mythology as never having married. In quite a few of Jensen's roles, he wears darker coats, some of which are either grey or a blue-grey color. Hmm, just like Odin when he is traveling as a wanderer wearing a grey or blue grey cloak. On another note, Jensen stated in an older interview he loves Christmas time and that the mountains are a favorite vacation spot of his. This is interesting to mention because Odin is thought to be the deity who influenced the story of Santa Clause.

I believe Dean Winchester was a poorly written character who suffered from little character development; I believe there was a whole lot more to Dean that was left unexplored throughout the entire series but that's another discussion. Dean Winchester is known to be a flirty man who loves women, and is accused of being a womanizer by some people. Hermes is also known for traveling between the underworld, mortal realm, and Mount Olympus; this is synonymous with Dean having gone to Hell, Purgatory and Heaven on several occasions, and even the Faye realm on 1 known occasion. In Supernatural, a hunters' death consists of burning their body or a so called "funeral pyre" for fallen hunters. Funeral pyres were commonplace practices both in Ancient Greece and by the Vikings who worshipped the Nordic deities.

David Yost Another Hermes Incarnation Another incarnation of Hermes I want to briefly touch on is David Yost, who is best known for playing Billy Cranston/Blue Ranger from the 1990s TV Show "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" or MMPR for short. David Yost went to Graceland University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Dramatic Arts; Hermes is known for being affiliated with language, and was also known for being diplomatic.

There appears to have been some swapping around amongst the cast of MMPR prior to the start of filming. David initially auditioned for the Red Ranger but felt he couldn't cope with the leader role. Walter Jones was initially cast for the role of Billy/Blue Ranger but felt being the Black Ranger was more fitting for him. Jason Narvy initially auditioned for Billy but ended up being cast as Skull. It seems the gods insisted David be Billy and for good reason. In the MMPR episode titled "Something Fishy", Billy was revealed to have a fear of fish due to having been bitten by one doing an experiment with whirlpools in his childhood. Later on in this episode, he went on a fishing trip with Ernie and also went scuba diving with Jason.

When David left MMPR on a bad note, people were led to believe this was over a pay dispute. Some sources even say that the production crew claimed David was unpleasant to work with on the set; it turns out that the real reason was due to David suffering harassment over his sexual orientation. Things turned dark for David, as he went through the now debunked and heavily controversial conversion therapy for 2 years after he walked off the set of MMPR. This led to a mental breakdown for David where he was in a mental institution for a few weeks; he went to Mexico for a year where he learned to come to terms with his sexual orientation.

How are 2 seemingly different people incarnations of the same deity Hermes? On one hand, David Yost is openly gay and has endured much harassment for it on the set of MMPR. On the other hand, Jensen Ackles has been accused by some for being homophobic, due to "not shipping Wincest or Destiel". He at one point made a remark stating "I would say yes, but then Brokeback Mountain came out, and my desire to do a cowboy film completely tanked" when someone asked at a con if he would consider making a wild west film.

David got many questions regarding why he does not have a girlfriend as a gay man being pressured by others to become straight; Jensen has Supernatural and even Smallville fans that created fanfiction of him being romantically and sexually involved with either Jared Padalecki/Sam Winchester or Mischa Collins/Castiel (and even Tom Welling who was Clark Kent on "Smallville"), which is essentially pressuring Jensen to become homosexual or at least bisexual. I cannot ever advocate for pushing people to become something they are not or for doing things they're not comfortable doing period, even if it's simply for a TV, play, or movie role.

When Jensen made this statement about Brokeback Mountain, he was told by Hermes in his divine hearing "I am Hermes, one of your higher selves. I've come to warn you to not pursue any wild west movie roles, as there is a tamper in your divine blueprints [Akashic Records], where you die on the set of a wild west movie called Rust from a mysteriously loaded prop gun going off while being pointed at you and being fired off camera. The same person who made this tamper in your blueprints will prove to be unsupportive in your time of need but should be the most supportive [your wife], should you end up auditioning for this role and end up walking away from this set alive."

The messages people receive in their divine hearing often have a funny way of being misheard (or scarily enough in this case, not heard much at all). I myself do not believe Jensen to be homophobic at all, which is a term to me that is a rather convenient name to call him for not fulfilling their frankly creepy fantasies. I also believe homophobic is a convenient term people use to call those who are not supportive of the LGBQT community one way or another. I personally don't care what people do behind closed doors as long as no one gets hurts, which I believe applies to most people.

Message from Hermes and Odin for Jensen Ackles Both Hermes and Odin in my divination work have spoken to me about Jensen's heavy drinking. Even though they are deities who like alcohol offerings especially whiskey, they said Jensen needs to stop his drinking and reconnect with them in other ways. The path he is on is of great concern to them and know that the exhaustion, late night partying, and heavy drinking are taking a toll on his mental and physical health and in turn hitting his career.

They also both talked about how celebrating Dean Winchester's birthday is coincidentally (and unknowingly to Jensen) Hermes' birthday; however, Hermes admitted to me he does not like celebrating his own birthday. It seems fitting for critics to state that while it looks like Jensen is clinging onto a dead fictional character due to missing playing this role; however, on a subconscious level Jensen along with others are unknowingly giving an offering to Hermes (not one that Hermes is responding to the way Jensen is hoping?). Hermes did mention to me recently that Jensen needs to start wearing the blue and black necklace he made in honor of his friend who passed away from a drunk driving related incident when Jensen was in his early twenties. It seems that this is to serve as a reminder of what Jensen has lost in the past and the potential consequences of drinking left unchecked.

In Jensen's case, Hermes told me that he needs to start directly speaking with both him and Hades, as the path he is on now is one of self-destruction. With this being said, when a conversation he has with a stranger (who I am told is a woman that's a good bit younger than him) helps steer him off the current path, he will rediscover himself. Hermes and Hades Odin both also say that Jensen needs to return to his old ways, as the person he is behaving like now is not his true self and has become what he once said is what he fears most (losing himself and "becoming too Hollywood").

Jensen needs a lot more love and support in his life that is missing in his life now. They both stated and appears to be quite accurate that Jensen is surrounded by a lot of people who do not care about Jensen for who he is but for who he is portraying himself as.

For further reading: Sources (Odin) https://www.ecpubliclibrary.info/santa-is-odin/ http://www.northernpaganism.org/shrines/odin/writing/altars-and-offerings-for-odin.html https://vikingsonsofodin.com/odin-the-wanderer/ https://odindevoted.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/offerings/ http://nordicwiccan.blogspot.com/p/gods-goddesses-other-supernatural-beings.html

Sources (Hermes) https://www.athensjournals.gr/mediterranean/2022-8-2-2-Vinci.pdf https://www.greek-mythology-pantheon.com/hermes-mercury-greek-god-of-transitions-and-boundaries/ https://twelfthremedy.tumblr.com/post/621849449656942592/hermes-offerings https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/greek-gods-made-magical-2014-05-28 https://www.worldhistory.org/Hermes/

Sources (David Yost) https://powerrangers.fandom.com/wiki/Something_Fishy_(Mighty_Morphin) https://ew.com/article/2010/08/26/original-power-ranger-harassed-gay/

[zaynjmsource]

Musician Zayn Malik, Simone Ashley (Bridgerton), and comedian Mo Gilligan are among the stacked cast who will lend their voices to the new CG-animated family comedy 10 Lives from director Chris Jenkins (Duck Duck Goose).

Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) and Dylan Llewellyn (Derry Girls) round out the cast.

The flick is the story of a pampered and selfish cat who takes for granted the lives he has been dealt. After carelessly losing his ninth life, he begs to be given a second chance, an opportunity to show he can learn from his mistakes. Eventually, his wish is granted but with hilarious stipulations. GFM Animation will present first-look footage at AFM.

In the film, Gilligan voices Beckett, the pampered feline with a taste for fine food & lazy days who doesn’t know what’s about to hit him when he begs for a new set of lives. Ashley voices Rose, a dedicated and passionate research student intent on saving the world’s bee population. Malik voices two characters, Kirk and Cameron, twin brothers who like to think they are as tough as they come but who, deep down, want nothing more than to please their mum.

Okonedo voices Grace, an ethereal yet no-nonsense woman with the power to grant Beckett his new set of lives, and Llewellyn is Larry, Rose’s socially uncomfortable lab partner.

Producers on the pic are Guy Collins and Sean Feeney for 10 Lives Productions Ltd, with casting by Robyn Klein and Jeremy Ross. The animation studio is L’Atelier Animation in Montreal.

Mo Gilligan is repped by The UTC Group for worldwide management, Creative Artists Agency, Nelson Davis, and MBC. Simone Ashley is represented by Creative Artists Agency, Identity Agency Group and Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light. Zayn Malik is represented by Nicola Carson (ZenKai Management/Taryn Zimmerman). Sophie Okonedo is represented by Creative Artists Agency and Hamilton Hodel. Dylan Llewellyn is represented by Hamilton Hodell.

Other titles on the GFM Animation slate include A Greyhound of a Girl, based on the Roddy Doyle book & directed by Enzo d’Alo, and Sneaks, an animated adventure featuring the voices of Laurence Fishburne, Roddy Ricch, Ella Mai, Macy Gray, Swae Lee, and Chris Paul.

[fictionalnormalcy]

TBWASN Ch. 5

The Boy with a Strange Name

Rating: Mature (Graphic Depictions of Violence)

Fandoms: Fusion of the How to Train Your Dragon books and animated franchise

Additional Tags: jaded protagonist, modern day AU, moving somewhere new, fitting in, making friends, additional DreamWorks characters, back to hometown

Summary: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III has lived nearly seventeen years of life. In the span of those years, he’s moved twelve times. Five of those years his mother was alive. Then a tragic accident left Hiccup in the sole care of his father, Stoick Haddock. Berk was where he had been born. That much he knew.  Over every, single, move his father put him through, it wasn’t until he reached sixteen years old that Berk was the city in which the father finally decided to plant roots. At least, that was what he claimed. After years of being victimized at each school he attended, Hiccup was determined to keep a low profile at Berk High. His past is intent on preying upon him, deciding that Berk was perfect place to come back into the light. However, like all good things that came to him, there was always something to drag him back down into the pit of despair. A dormant secret, tied into his family history, was ultimately brought into the light when Hiccup settles on Berk. A secret tied with guilt and tears, and it all goes downhill from there. He discovered what his father truly did those long stretch of years, and finds he has a gift that had been nonexistent for centuries.

Ch. 5: No Lost Lunch

He had checked the weather as he walked to his locker. It would be too cold to eat outside. He wouldn't exactly get to enjoy the lunch food if there was cold winds to take away the warmth. He still hadn't decided on whether or not he should eat with the twins and Astrid. She said the offer stood, even if by some miracle someone else had approached him and asked him to sit with them. Since he hadn't been noticed in the past three classes, he could only think about sitting with the more friendly Berkians.

If he remembered Astrid's instruction correctly, the cafeteria had to be the next hallway over. He had to try it, he decided. He had to hope that the invitation wasn't a trick, and that they genuinely wanted to welcome the new kid. He also hoped he wouldn't get food poisoning from the meals provided. He followed the students crowding the halls in the direction of the cafeteria. They entered the double burgundy metal doors without hesitation, but he balked a few steps away. He remembered that once on his first day someone had dumped two entire cartons of milk on his head the moment he walked in.

"Hey Hiccup." Astrid came to stand next to him. "You give it any thought?"

"Your friends really won't mind if I join you guys?" He asked, barely even heard over the chatter of the other students.

"We'll get in line, get something to eat, you'll see what our group has to offer."

"I don't know," He managed to stutter out.

"Relax, Hiccup." She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "None of us bite. Well, Cameron does, but I'll hold her back for the first few days."

She held the door open for him as they walked inside. It was a large expansive room, with round and rectangle tables scattered about. Some had stools attached to the tables, while others had benches already taken with students. He could hear the sound of at least three radiators humming through the room. They approached the growing line of students waiting to receive their meals, and Astrid pointed towards a large sign. The meals offered for today were yak noodle soup, turkey club sandwich, and fajitas with rice and baked beans.

There were no minor options offered, which caused him to frown. Most other schools Hiccup had been to offered a salad in a plastic container, a pastry and a carton of milk, or a parfait with buttered toast included. Here at Berk High, it seemed those were your only three options. Granted, he would never eat those minor options, but he liked having choices.

"There, was someone," He kept his voice loud enough for only Astrid to hear, "who greeted me in my first period. Her name was Heather Oswaldson. Do you happen to know her?"

"She's my best friend." She turned to smile at him. "I texted her before classes started letting her know that you two were sharing a class. She didn't come on too strong did she?"

"No, all she managed to do was say hello."

"Well, you'll see her right now so you can have an opportunity to talk to her. That is, if you want to."

He chose to have the turkey club sandwich while Astrid asked for the fajitas. After they received their food he followed her to the condiment table. She handed him a few packets of mustard at his request, and he couldn't help but admire her guts for grabbing a few small containers of salsa de chile verde.

Meeting new people had its advantages, and its disadvantages. For one, Hiccup had usually made more bullies than acquaintances. If it wasn't either, it was being invisible. The tray trembled in his fingers as they took steps closer to the table area. Astrid weaved through underclassmen already stuffing forkfuls of food into her mouth. The table they seemed to be heading for was one with a combination of both benches and stools that seated ten.

"He actually came!" Regina shouted as they approached the gray and burgundy table.

The twins sat together, and each had the same meal on their trays. The girl from earlier, Heather, sat across from them. To her right sat a husky boy wearing a large dark brown coat. He had light blonde bowl cut hair, olive green eyes, and a pudgy face that seemed to wear a permanent grin. At the other end of the table sat another boy who had jet black hair that was crudely combed into irregular strands, and had baby blue eyes. He wore a gray long sleeve and a thin black vest on top. He had a sandwich on his tray as well, but there was a mountain of potato chips and pickle slices beside it.

When he and Hiccup locked eyes, the boy's eyes widened and he immediately averted eye contact with Hiccup. Beginning to hastily take bites of his lunch. It was funny, but Hiccup could swear he looked familiar.

Keep reading

[bensbuttercup]

After Hours (B.H.)

Summary: A noisy neighbor and a knock on a door may have Cameron biting off more than she can chew

Word Count: 7,816

Authors note: This may be a little piggy back off of Claire’s Office Hours and you should all go read it because it’s absolutely beautiful.

Cameron sighed as she set her mug of coffee down on the nightstand next to her bed, the now empty mug taunting her. She thought about walking to the kitchen to brew yet another cup but she deemed the time and effort it would take not worth the caffeine boost she would get. She pulled her caramel brown hair into a messy ponytail on top of her head before wrapping the rubber band that was once around her wrist around the messy mass of hair she had grasped in her right hand.

Midterms were quickly approaching and Cameron knew she should take her free Friday night to work on the essays she needed to complete before her tests. Her playlist for the night consisted of a mix of her favorite artists from when she was younger that she still held on to, a mix of Shawn Mendes and the boys’ One Direction solo hits had been on a continuous loop for hours now. 

It was nearing midnight and Cameron was putting the finishing touches on the research paper she was writing for her current events class, six hours had added up to fifteen pages of writing and three pages of sources. The almost completed paper was something Cameron was glad she had finished in just a number of hours, a testament to how hard she was working this semester.

After saving her word document a final time Cameron opened Spotify at the bottom of her computer, she saw her History of Rock Playlist under the current one she was listening to, she had a paper for that class also, and she knew she should probably work on it but that class was of little interest to her past the first essay she had written.

Minimizing Spotify Cameron turned back to the countless tabs she had open on the internet, quickly she closed all of them, the feeling giving her an odd sense of satisfaction and pride. Cameron yawned as she slowly slid out of her bed, finally deciding that the cup of coffee to tie her over wasn’t that bad of an idea. She padded into the kitchen of her apartment, two fuzzy socks on her feet, one blue with reindeers and the other pink with wolves on it. The slippery material of her socks easily glided on her tile floors allowing her to not have to lift her feet to move smoothly.

As Cameron waited for her coffee to brew she heard a crackling noise through her wall before loud music began to vibrate the counter she was leaning on. Watching the coffee that was already in the mug ripple to the beat of the rock music that was playing next door Cameron closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn’t know who her neighbor was but she knew they often enjoyed playing seventies and eighties rock at odd hours of the night. Often she could sleep through it but tonight Cameron was shocked when she heard the beat of a bass drum join in. The sound clearly wasn’t coming from the song but from a drum set.

As her keurig spit out the last of her mug of coffee Cameron picked the milk up out of her refrigerator, willing herself to keep calm while she made her coffee. She picked her backpack up from next to the kitchen table and retreated back to her room, her sky blue and black under armor backpack slung over one shoulder, her new mug of coffee in the other hand. Cameron began pulling her textbooks for her international trade laws class out of her bag when the sound of a cymbal from next door made her jump. The small startle caused Cameron to bump into her nightstand, she watched in shock as the full mug of coffee wobbled on the edge before settling flat again, only a few drops of the warm liquid running down the sides of the mug.

Cameron closed her eyes and took a deep breath silently thanking god the mug didn’t fall as she pushed it further back onto the small wooden table. She put her textbooks on the bed before carefully crawling back on to her soft mattress. She settled her brown throw blanket over her lap before pulling her laptop desk back to its place in front of her. She looked over the stickers on her laptop, various cute drawing of animals with funny sayings and stickers from her Hogwarts house covered the metal. She slowly opened the computer up and the sound of Shawn Mendes’ song “Particular Taste” filled her room.

The steady drumming of the bass next door picked up again and the music got even louder, Cameron sighed turning her own speakers up even louder. It seemed like a constant back and forth for half an hour, who’s speakers could be louder, who could cause the most problems for their neighbor.

Cameron knew the battle was pointless, that someone with a drum set in their apartment would be able to cause more havoc and disturbance than someone with a decent stereo set. Around one in the morning Cameron’s trade law essay still sat untouched, the google doc she was using open, the cursor blinking steadily. She noticed it was in time with the bass of the drum next door, and that annoyed her even more.

At one-forty-two Cameron pulled on her ponytail and groaned before pulling a hoodie on over her tank top, if she was going to confront her obnoxious neighbor she could at least be comfortable and covered.

With her feet clad in two mismatched fuzzy socks, her legs barely covered in a pair of blue Hawaiian print sleep shorts and a baseball hoodie from her ex-high school boyfriend covering her torso, Cameron set out on a mission. She quickly walked to the apartment next door and knocked firmly four times, the sound of her fist on the wooden door echoing through the empty hallway. She crossed her arms over he chest, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth as she heard the speakers noise cut off, the Queen song that was on left hanging in the middle of a line.

“Fucking finally,” Cameron let out a relieved sigh and turned to walk back to her own apartment, assuming her neighbor finally got the idea. Cameron was about to step back on to the tacky red carpet that ran down the middle of the hall when a deep voice from behind her caused her to jump slightly.

“Can I help you?” Cameron paused in the middle of the step she was taking and turned on the ball of her right foot. She went to throw a quick and sharp remark back at the individual who had the audacity to ask if she had a problem when he was the one blasting music at nearly two in the morning.

“Actually-” when Cameron locked eyes with who she thought was an obnoxious stranger who lived next door her breath got caught in her throat. “Hi Ben.” Cameron caught herself saying. Stood in front of Cameron was perhaps one of the most beautiful men she had ever seen.

Ben Hardy, or just Ben, as Cameron knew him, was her TA for her History of Rock Music class and he also led her discussion group. Cameron had never cared much for rock music but it was one of her older brothers favorite styles and with a space left in her schedule for one more elective she decided to take the class as a way to hopefully bond more with her brother.

She never knew though how attractive her TA could actually be until she had walked into class the first day. She was wearing a pair of ripped dark blue jeans and a hoodie from the school softball team she played on and she walked in feeling underdressed as she caught the TA’s eyes. He was wearing a pair of clearly ironed back dress pants with brown shoes and a maroon sweater. Ben was always dressed nice in classes and discussions, his hair tastefully messy on top of his head, and Cameron always felt underdressed in his presence.

However, tonight was different. Now Ben stood in front of her in nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants, the white band of Calvin Klein boxers poking out of the top of them, his happy trail dipping under the fabric along with his v-line. He wasn’t wearing any socks and his hair still looked damp, his bare chest on display in front of her.  Cameron looks down his arms, the veins popping out from between his muscles under his skin, a pair of drumsticks in his right hand, his left leaning on the doorframe.

“Miss Price!” Cameron watched a smile grow on Ben’s face when he realized it was her. Ben knew that Cameron was ogling him, and he wasn’t complaining about it. Cameron watched as Ben looked her up and down slowly, causing her to shift slightly uncomfortably on the balls of her feet. With a yawn he languidly pushed himself off of the doorframe and spoke. “Cat finally got your tongue, Miss Price?” Ben asked.

Cameron went to open her mouth to speak but nothing came out. “It’s- it’s Cameron,” she stumbled over her words, “you can call me Cameron.” She felt her cheeks heating up while Ben’s eyes continued to map her figure out, as if she wasn’t swimming in a hoodie too big for her.

“Well Cameron,” Ben twirled one of his drumsticks between his fingers as Cameron watched mesmerized, “If you want to come in for a drink to make up for me keeping you up so late I wouldn't mind.” Cameron stood in the hallway still, stunned. Ben, her TA, was asking her if she wanted to come into his apartment for a drink, and she was considering it.

Cameron wanted to say no but instead she found herself saying, “I’m not- I’m not old enough? And you didn’t keep me up I was doing work.” She squeezed her eyes shut after she admitted to the fact that she was still only nineteen. Ben would definitely make fun of her now, she should just leave while she still had some of her pride left. Ben laughed deep in his throat and ran a hand through his still damp curls, Cameron watching the way his fingers curled around the ends of his hair.

“As far as I’m concerned you’re legal where I’m from,” Ben shrugged, “and it’s not like I’m going to call the cops on myself for giving alcohol to a minor.” Cameron felt her already prominent blush spread further down  her neck and she was thankful her hoodie covered it.

She watched the way Ben’s biceps flexed as he turned around to walk back into his apartment, the muscles from his shoulders down into his hands rippling as he continued to twirl his drumstick between his nimble fingers.

Cameron shifted from foot to foot as she thought about just how nimble his fingers were, what they could possibly do to her. Besides her high school boyfriend she still kept in touch with and had the occasional hook up while they were both home Cameron was lacking in the experience department. However, she couldn’t help but find her TA attractive.

“If someone doesn’t think he’s attractive then they’re stupid,” Cameron mumbled to herself as she shuffled closer to the entryway of Ben’s apartment.

Ben set his drumsticks down on the counter in the middle of his kitchen and moved to a tall, thin, liquor cabinet he had next to a case of glasses and pulled out a bottle of wine as well as a shorter bottle of another liquor. Ben’s back muscles flexed and pulled under his skin while he had to reach up to pick a wine glass off the top shelf of the cabinet, his muscles relaxing again as he reached for a shorter glass that was directly in front of him.

Wearily Cameron slid her feet slightly closer to the molding that separated her from the threshold of Ben’s apartment and watched as he pulled the cork out of the wine bottle and tilted the glass slightly while the red alcohol flowed into the clear glass. After re-corking the wine bottle and setting it aside Ben opened the other bottle which already had some of the liquid missing and added a small amount into the shorter glass. He lifted the shorter glass to his lips and took a small sip before setting it down again.

After setting the glass down Ben looked over to where Cameron was tapping her foot against the ledge of the slightly raised molding before raising his eyebrows at her. That was the first time Camerin noticed the slit in his right eyebrow, he definitely had a scar there where the hair couldn’t grow anymore, and she wanted to know why. Suddenly Cameron found herself wondering everything about her TA. Hell, she didn’t even know how old he was, all she knew was that he was attractive and was inviting her into his apartment for a drink.

“I’m not gonna kill you y’know?” Ben laughed as he picked his drumsticks up again. “Sorry I’ve already had a drink tonight,” he admitted. “I am nowhere near intoxicated, juse loose.” Cameron nodded slowly, her bottom teeth between her lip as she slowly slid her left foot over the molding and on to the hardwood floor of his apartment. She noticed how his floors were a shade lighter than hers and his carpet was an off white instead of the coffee brown her carpet was. Other than that their apartments seened nearly identical. Soon after realizing she could be just as comfortable in his space as she was in hers Cameron slid her right foot into the apartment also and found herself shuffling in a few feet further.

“You want to close the door?” Ben asked from his seat at his drums, “don’t want anyone to walk in and steal you.” Cameron rolled her eyes at the teasing and reached her right foot back to close the white wooden door, the click of the lock securing itself stirring up a feeling on uncertainty inside of her. “Thanks, love!” Ben added once he knew the door had closed, “oh and the wine’s from a fresh bottle if you want to try it. Something my mum sent me after I got the TA gig.”

“Your mom sent you it?” Cameron felt her smile grow as she walked towards the kitchen, slowly reaching for the glass of wine on the counter. Somehow it was endearing to her that Ben held on to a bottle of wine his mom had sent him in celebration of his new job.

Ben adjusted himself on the stool in front of his drum kit before speaking, “yes she did,” he stepped on the bass pedal twice. “You should feel special that I opened it for you,” he nodded to a beat he had in his head as he airdrummed over the actual ones. Cameron smiled as she lifted the glass to her lips, tilting it and let a small amount of the wine slide into her mouth. She quickly swallowed it while nodding.

“I do feel special,” she moved closer to where Ben sat at his drum kit. She was becoming increasingly comfortable in his space and was thankful she didn’t let her nerves get the best of her this time. “Maybe you can show me something?” She asked quietly looking over to where Ben still sat at his drums, observing her.

“Yeah” he nodded, this time pulling his own bottom lip between his teeth for a moment. “Yes, definitely,” he paused for a moment looking around his apartment, “maybe go set your drink down and come back?” Cameron easily complied and quickly made her way back over to the kitchen, setting her wine down on the counter a few feet from where she had picked it up. Just when she was about to turn around to walk back over to Ben a stack of sheet music caught her eye, the words ‘My Blood’ were poking out from under a few other papers.

Carefully, Cameron moved the papers above the sheet music aside to see the full title, ‘In     My Blood’. She smirked with her newfound information before happily walking back to Ben in the middle of the living room. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. “So,” she said quietly watching as Ben dropped his arms to rest on his thighs when she walked back in, “what do you want to -- teach me?” The last two words came out slightly more suggestive than Cameron intended them to and she bit her tongue hoping he wouldn’t comment on it.

Ben sat up straighter and nodded looking up at the girl who was standing in front of him, “oh teach you,” he cleared his throat, “right.” Ben looked around the room for a moment, obviously thinking about something but Cameron wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for. Suddenly he held up a finger as he stood up and walked over to a closet in the corner of the living room. He opened the door and wheeled another drum stool out and guided it with his foot over behind the other.

“I use that closet for all my extra blankets and seasonal clothes,” Cameron mumbled as she wondered what else Ben had in there. It was also odd to her that their apartments were nearly identical yet they both led such different lives in the two spaces.

“I have towels and blankets in there also,” he commented after hearing her, “it just happens to be the easiest  place to keep my extra stools.” He reached forward and patted the leather of the stool he was originally sitting on, “you gonna come over or-” he trailed off at the end.  

“Oh right!” Cameron laughed as she walked over towards Ben. He was so close to the stool in front of him that she had to pick one leg up and move it over the stool before almost straddling the seat trying to get comfortable. “What’s next?” She hummed in question.

Cameron felt Ben lean in closer to her and her breath hitched when he spoke lowly next to her ear, “want a pair of drumsticks? Or do you want me to show you how it’s done first?”

“Maybe - maybe you could play something simple?” She asked trying to focus on the drums in front of her and not the beautiful being who was sitting behind her.

“Simple,” Ben spoke lowly behind Cameron as he shifted so his legs were spread slightly open, his knees on either side of her waist, “I can do simple.” He shifted slightly so his foot could comfortably reach the pedal to the bass drum on the floor, his knee brushing along her thigh in the process. Cameron couldn’t help the involuntary shivers that climbed up her spine at the slight touch.

“You okay?” He asked her quietly before he started pressing his foot down steadily on the pdeal, beginning to keep time.

“Mhum,” Cameron mumbled as she drew her bottom lip between her teeth again, a nervous habit. Ben nodded, satisfied with the response before he snaked his hands around either side of her, a stick in each hand as he began to tap out a simple rhythm on his drum kit. She intently watched each flick of his wrist as his foot still kept a steady beat on the bass, truly mesmerized by the amount of focus and control it must take to do that many things at once.   

She was shocked when she felt his chin come to rest on her shoulder a few seconds later, but she kept her eyes focused on his hands, trying to distract herself from just how close he was to her. She could feel the heat of his body radiating through her hoodie and she wanted to sink back into him and be completely enveloped in his warmth. “You see how I’m just keeping the time with each of my hands?” Ben asked knowing she was still watching his movements. Cameron just nodded, not feeling the need to speak in the moment.

“That’s all you have to do, nothing too crazy, just simple,” he spoke slowly his voice getting lower and lower with each word, “one, two, three, four.” Ben kept repeating the numbers as he kept his hands steady while he played, not wanting to show Cameron how nervous she was making him. “You want to try?” Ben pulled his arms back and rested one on each of her thighs, the first true skin on skin contact they had.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing her heart rate to slow slightly. His skin was so warm against hers and it was a feeling she didn’t want to give up. “I don’t think I’d even be half as good as you,” she mumbled looking down to the drumsticks in his hands. Ben laughed lightly from behind her, the breath he let out ticking her neck slightly.

“It’s not about being good, it’s your first time playing,” he pointed out, bouncing his right hand steadily on her thigh while he spoke, “it’s about learning.” He tapped her left hand with the drum stick, silently telling her to take hold of it. “Good,” he smiled as her hand wrapped around the slim wooden stick, “just hold it firm,” he carefully moved the stick so it was positioned correctly in her hand. “Just let your wrist be flexible, it really is all in the wrists.”

“Gotcha’, all in the wrists,” Cameron noticed how the drumstick was still warm in her hand from where he was holding it just seconds earlier. “Can I have the other?” She asked quietly.

“Nope,” Ben shook his head behind her as his right hand began tapping out the same rhythm he was earlier, “just follow me.” Cameron easily kept up with Ben whose foot was still keeping time with the bass drum. “You’re getting it already!”

“Yeah,” she nodded watching their hands hit the drums in sync, “I am!” It was a small victory for Cameron as she often found learning new things exciting and fulfilling. It was all apart of learning and growing while she was away at college. “Can I try the other?” She spoke with more confidence. In the short time she had been in Ben’s apartment he had done nearly everything to make her comfortable and besides the obvious flirting between the two of them, she couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend the morning hours of a Saturday.

“Well,” Ben hummed craning his neck to look up at her face, “I think first something has to go.” Cameron went to ask what when she felt Ben’s free left hand trail up her thigh and under her hoodie. She accidently let out a surprised squeak when his fingers brushed against the strip of exposed skin between the waistband of her sleep shorts and her tank top, Ben raising an eyebrow and laughing at the noise.

“What was that?” He asked as he pressed his lips against her neck. Any other time Cameron would have assumed the act was meant to be sexual but the obvious smile he had on his lips led her to believe it was meant in a more playful and affectionate manner. “If I wanted to hear a squeak toy I’d ask my mum to send me a video of our dog back home.”

“Your hands are cold!” She argued as he moved her hand over the fabric of her tank top, his fingers pressing gently into her side trying to see if he could get the same reaction out of her again.

“I’m warming them up,” Ben dropped the drumstick in his right hand and it bounced on the floor a few times before settling flat. Cameron was distracted from watching the drumstick when his right hand slipped under her hoodie also, his lips moving steadily against the skin of her neck, “not my fault you’re ticklish.”

Cameron let out a content hum and moved her head to the right allowing Ben more access to her neck. Ben’s hands brushed down her sides to rest firmly on her hips as he let his teeth scrape over the skin of her neck before closing his mouth over where he had just nipped, his tongue soothing the area while he sucked gently.

Cameron couldn’t help but let out a quiet moan at the feeling of his quick and nimble lips on her neck, skillfully dancing around her skin sucking what she assumed would be hickeys into her skin. Surprised by her own moan Cameron’s eyes snapped open and she went to pull away from Ben. However, when she tried to move his hands kept her firmly anchored to the drum stool.

“What’s wrong?” He asked against her skin. Despite her embarrassment Cameron still kept her neck moved slightly to the side, hoping the feeling of Ben’s skin on hers wouldn’t disappear completely. She shook her head sighing out a quiet “nothin’’ as her eyes fluttered shut, the light of the apartment suddenly too harsh for her.

Suddenly Cameron’s eyes snapped open and she straightened her neck out, “actually I want to play more,” she mumbled.

“Yeah?” Ben mumbled as his hands started pulling her hoodie up slowly. “This okay?” His hands stilled, the fabric of her hoodie still bunched in his hands as he waited for Cameron’s approval to remove it.

“If it helps,” Cameron swallowed thickly when Ben removed his lips from her neck to pull her hoodie over her head. Her arms lifted and the fabric was easily removed from her body and discarded on the floor next to them. One more soft kiss was left on the back of Cameron's neck before she felt him back away from her completely.

Cameron knew her outfit was quite skimpy and tried not to blush as she felt Ben’s eyes trail from her neck that was now covered in blooming hickeys and down her torso. She had just expected to ask her neighbor to turn their music down so had opted not to put a bra on and her spaghetti strap tank top left little to his imagination. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to get used to the new chill of the apartment as Ben backed away to pick up the drum stick that he had dropped earlier.

He handed her the second stick and she gripped it in her hand, her eyes following his foot as it went back to rest on the pedal of the bass drum. Ben began to keep the same time he had earlier and rested his chin on her now bare shoulder, the warmth of his skin contrasting how cold hers now was. “You wanna just experiment a little bit,” Ben spoke matter of factly, “do what feels natural.”

“What feels natural,” she nodded as her shaking hands started messily tapping along to the rhythm of the bass drum that Ben was tapping out with his foot. After she had played along to the beat for a few seconds Cameron felt his hands come around her front to rest on either one of her knees, she could feel his breath ghosting over the shell of her ear.

“Keep playing,” Ben spoke lowly as his hands began to run up the inside of her thighs. Cameron’s hands stuttered as his fingers keep dragging further and further up her legs, a low chuckle sliding past his lips. Cameron tried her hardest to stay focused, to ignore how gently his fingers were tapping the same rhythm she was supposed to be playing into the soft skin on the inside of her thighs. Despite Ben’s efforts to encourage her to keep playing Cameron found herself dropping one of the drum sticks out of frustration, out of frustration in herself for being so easily affected by him.   

She tried to close her legs around his hands but Ben had other ideas, “you gotta be good,” he mumbled pulling lightly on her earlobe with his teeth. “It’s okay of you can’t keep playing but you have to tell me what you want then,” he added. Cameron let out a shaky sigh as her head fell back and rested on his shoulder, her eyes shutting as his lips started working over her neck again.

“What is it that you want dove?” Ben hummed as he nipped along the side of her throat.

“I- I don’t know,” Cameron replied trying not to get totally lost in the pair of arm lips that were on her neck.

“Oh no,” he laughed against her skin, finally pulling away, “you have to know.” Ben pulled away from Cameron’s nack completely and he reached up to gently pull the rubber band that was holding her ponytail up out. With her hair now free Ben’s fingers began to gently run through the smooth strands, trying to avoid any knots he found.

“I really don’t,” her hazel eyes opened to meet his blue ones, “I’ve only been with one boy,” she made sure to use that word, “and he doesn’t care much about more than just getting off.”

“How old was he?” Ben was genuinely curious how old her ex-lover had to be to not know how to properly please a woman.

“He’s my age, nineteen now,” she easily replied, “we still umm- see each other when we’re both home.” Ben felt his breath catch in his throat realizing with the only other person she had been with was nearly ten years younger than he was. Maybe it was the lack of experience in college that had her ex hitting a roadblock in the pleasure department. He hadn’t properly learned himself until he was with a girl three years older than himself in college.

“I’m twenty-eight,” Ben felt the need to share the information incase Cameron was uncomfortable with being with him due to the age difference they had.

“Don’t look it,” was the response he earned form the girl who was sitting on the stool in front of him. Her head still rested on his shoulder, her eyes again closed as her fingers gently tapped the beat from earlier into his knees.

Ben let out a small laugh, “I’ll hope that was a compliment, but if you are comfortable I wouldn’t mind taking this a little bit further. I could show you how a man is really supposed to treat you.” He watched as her eyes opened again, rolling the same way they did in discussions when he tried to make a joke that wasn’t at all funny. It was her small attitude that had Ben attracted to her in the first place, she was always ready to bite back with a sharp remark and she often said how she felt regardless of how it came across.

“A man?” She asked looking up into his eyes again, “you’re still in school yourself, don’t get too far ahead buddy. Wait,” she paused, “what are you in school for anyway, I wasn’t paying attention the first day.”

“I’m going for my masters in Ethnomusicology,” Cameron’s eyes grew slightly larger upon learning the name of a degree she never knew existed. “Why are you in my class anyway?”

“First off rude,” she leaned up to start kissing down the front of his throat to occupy herself as his hands came back down to run up and down her thighs. “I’m double majoring, Accounting and International Business, and I’m in your class,” Ben let out a low moan when she found a particularly sensitive spot on his neck, “because there’s this bullshit in the curriculum about having to take non-business electives.”

“So you’re saying you were forced to take my class?” He asked while she added a new hickey to his growing collection. “To fulfill your Visual and Performing Arts credit? Like so many other students who don’t care about my class.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” she nodded sitting up and turning in the stool to face him. As she turned around Ben stood up and adjusted the band of his sweats. “Where are you going?” She wondered if she had said something wrong.

“Just to get another sip of my drink,” he replied as he wandered into the kitchen, “relax!” Cameron weighed her options before standing up, following him across the room and to the kitchen. She easily slid on to the tiled kitchen floors and over next to Ben who was finishing his glass off, she picked her glass of wine up and took a small sip before setting it down again.

Just as she set her glass down Ben walked over to her and trapped her between his body and the counter with his arms. Cameron let both of her hands come up to rest on his triceps and squeezed gently while tipping her chin up to brush her nose along Ben’s cheekbone. She saw him take a deep breath in and smiled, kissing his cheek. “You nervous or something, Mr. Hardy?” she teased with the name some of the students would often use.

“Y’know I hate that,” he replied before turning his head slightly to the side. She felt his breath brush over her lips and closed her eyes, waiting, hoping. Cameron was grateful he had taken the hint when she felt his soft lips cover hers. She didn’t immediately kiss him back but instead took a moment to learn which way he tilted his head and if he wanted to take the lead or not. Once he urged her to join in with a small pull on her bottom lip Cameron found herself moving a hand from his tricep up to cup his jaw.

“Wow,” Cameron let out a small laugh when she pulled away from him, a blush now coating his face and neck, slowly spreading into his chest also. Ben’s hands found her hips and he started to push her up his counter. Cameron took it as a hint and reached behind her to brace both arms on the countertop helping Ben push her up.

“Thank you, Dove,” he hummed in response placing a gentle kiss on her lips before stepping back. It was then that Cameron looked down and realized that Ben was half hard in his sweats, the outline was very visible. “You gonna let me show you how a lady should be treated now?” He wondered.

Cameron looked down again before looking up to meet his eyes, “but--”

“But nothing,” he cut her off, “it’s a simple yes or no. If you’re uncomfortable we can stop here and I’ll make like an oven pizza or something.” She couldn’t help but laugh at his offer but shook her head at the same time.

“I want to,” she assured him, “I just don’t want it to be bad?” It came across to Ben as more of a question than an answer. He moved forward again, his hands gently spreading her legs so he could stand between them, flush against the counter.

“It couldn’t be bad,” he reached up to rest his hands under her tank top, his thumbs sliding under the waistband of her pajama shorts. “You don’t have a lot of experience so you’re still learning. I wouldn’t consider that bad though. Here,” he started working her shorts down slowly, giving her time to stop him if she needed. Cameron pushed herself up with her hands so he could finish pulling her shorts down and watched as the blue fabric fell to the floor in front of her. “Ever had someone make you come with just their fingers?”

Cameron took a sharp inhale through her nose at his words, they sounded too natural flowing past his lips but in her mind they should have sounded dirty and vulgar. “Umm-” she hesitated, “my ex once,” she pulled her lip between her teeth, “other than that I’ve never really been able to so--” she didn’t need to finish her answer.

Ben stayed silent as he trailed his fingers up the inside of her thigh closer and close to the edge of her panties. He watched his own hand as it toyed with the elastic of her purple panties with teal flowers, the colors no where near matching her pink tank top or blue pajama shorts. “Ben,” her whispering his name snapped his out of his daze and he leaned in to connect their lips again.

The kiss wasn’t rushed or rough, it was slow and passionate as Ben’s fingers slipped into her panties. His right hand cupping her heat before he slid two fingers between her slick folds. “Fuck,” he mumbled pulling away from her, “you’re soaked already.”

“No shit,” Cameron’s eyes were squeezed shut as she dropped her head to Ben’s shoulder. His index and middle finger gently stroked up and down her heat from her opening to her clit over and over until she was practically shaking under his touch. A few seconds later he slid his index finger inside of her, he had been with enough girls to know how to have Cameron a pile of putty in his arms. He carefully let his finger prod inside of her for a few moments while he trailed his lips down her jawline and to the front of her throat.

He turned his hand to get a better angle and pulled his finger our slightly before bending it a ‘come hither’ motion to find the soft ridged spot inside of her. When he felt a sharp intake of breath enter Cameron’s body followed by a low and long moan he knew he had found what he was looking for. “Can you take another?” he asked against her skin.

“Can I-” Ben brushed his finger along the spot again knowing she was about to give another sarcastic response, “fuck please,” she gasped. Smirking against her skin Ben let his middle finger join his index finger, his thumb coming to rub slow circles on her clit.

“Ben--” Cameron gasped, mouthing along his shoulder, her eyes still shut tight as he felt her clenching around his fingers.

“That’s it,” he coaxed, “you gonna come for me? All over my fingers,” he moved to kiss her forehead. “You can, I got you Dove.” Ben smiled to himself when he felt one of her hands grip on to his free one and he squeezed back gently as his name started to leave her mouth mixed with a string of curses. Ben looked down to watch his fingers slide in and out of her and had to stop for a second, telling himself it was about Cameron right now and that his pleasure could come later.

“Ben, I’m almost there-” she mumbled pulling on the ends of his hair with her free hand. She bit down lightly on his shoulder and Ben smiled to himself knowing it would most likely be bruised in the morning, it would still probably be bruised Monday for class. His thumb on her clit started moving faster at the thought of watching Cameron fidget throughout class Monday, her neck still covered in the hickeys he had left. She would probably wonder if anyone else in the room knew who left them there, if anyone noticed the marks on their TA’s neck and hers and was able to put the two together.

Mixed up in his own thoughts Ben didn’t realize that Cameron was on the edge of her orgasm until she clenched unusually tight around his fingers, “that’s it,” he mumbled kissing her cheek as he heard her let out a series of quiet moans and gasps. “I got you,” he reminded her, he had picked up on the fact that she loved being praised and told she was right in class. Whenever she got an answer right or he or Professor Lee agreed with one of her opinions her face would light up.

“Ben,” she cleared her voice her voice a little hoarse, “stop I’m sensitive,” she added. Ben’s fingers stilled completely inside of her before he carefully pulled them out. He brought them up to his lips and slowly sucked them inside his mouth, his eyes closing at the taste of her. He moaned around his fingers for the effect and pulled them out, wiping them dry on his sweats leaving a wet spot on the gray fabric.

His eyes opened when he felt three fingers gently drag down his stomach and grip on the waistband of his sweatpants, the hand shaking slightly. Ben looked down and saw Cameron’s hand, which was much smaller than his, gripping his sweats right above the string that held them up. “Y’know,” Ben started, “you seem so much more confident in class and discussions, and based on your writing I would say that you were gifted with all the confidence in the universe--” he trailed off.

“But?” Cameron wondered as she looked up into his eyes.

“But,” Ben reached up to cup her jaw, his thumb running over the peak of her cheekbone, “you need to learn how to me more confident in yourself. Where’s that girl I saw the second day of class?”

Cameron raised an eyebrow trying to think back to January, the third day of classes? “The one who had her backpack over one shoulder after class and walked straight down to me and Professor Lee to tell us that she would be doing her album review on Shawn Mendes’ self titled album because he was basically a modern day Frank Sinatra. You held yourself with such confidence.”

“She’s different,” Cameron shrugged as she was now playing with the tie on his sweats. Her fingers were perfectly manicured in a silver sparkle color, pulling at each end of the bow.

“She shouldn’t be,” Ben replied tilting her chin up to connect his lips with hers. He rested his hands on her hips and rubbed gentle circles into the skin there. He wanted her to take the lead on this kiss and hoped she realized that.

She was slow, unsure but started adding more pressure to the kiss once she realized that Ben wasn’t. Soon he felt her hands pull at either end of his sweatpants’ string with a purpose the knot coming undone, the two ends falling from her hands. “I--” she looked up to him.

“You?” Ben asked pulling away from her enough to see her face.

“I want this,” she nervously tugged the band on his sweats lower, “I just want it to feel good for you too, it doesn’t have to be all about me.”

“But what if I want it to?” Ben asked playfully raising an eyebrow as he poked her sides to make her smile. “I like to know that they girl I’m with is enjoying it,” Ben leaned closer to Cameron’s ear, “it kinda turns me on even more.”

“Ew!” She laughed pushing him away from her, but his hands still kept a tight grip on her hips. “Don’t talk like that!” She said referring to the purposely over seductive voice he had just used. Ben smiled as he buried his face in the crook of her neck leaving gentle kisses there as he allowed her to relax in his hold. “Can we,” she trailed off trying to find the words she wanted to use, “can we go to your room maybe? If it’s not too much, I’d just be more comfortable.”

Ben smiled and took Cameron’s hand allowing her to slide off the counter, her still sock clad feet hitting the floor as he led her towards his bedroom.

Once inside Cameron realized it was the same size as hers, with the same furniture and the same bed frame. His walls were covered in family pictures that weren’t organized in any specific way and a brown comforter was on his unmade bed that definitely had too many pillows.

“It’s really soft!” Ben let go of Cameron’s hand and flopped down on the mattress. A loud and over exaggerated ‘oof’ slipping past his lips as his back hit the bed causing her to smile and quickly pad over to the side of the bed he didn’t just flop down on. She sat on the edge and wasn’t sure what to do until Ben reached over and pulled her down into him, her head hitting his chest.

“It is really soft,” she mumbled rubbing her feet together nervously, unsure of what to do now. Hoping he wouldn’t mind if she got comfortable she skillfully pulled her socks off just using her feet and kicked them off the edge of the bed. While she was making sure they had landed on the floor Cameron caught sight of the clock, it was nearly three-thirty in the morning, she hadn’t realized she had already been over that long.

She went to sit up and Ben looked at her confused, “where ‘ya going?” He asked with a long yawn.

“Home,” she replied, a hint of sadness evident in her tone, “it’s late.”

“Exactly!” Ben sat up and wrapped his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder again, just like it had when he was showing her how to play earlier. “It’s late and I can’t let you walk home at this hour,” he turned his face into her neck and smiled into the soft skin there.

“Really?” She sighed reaching a hand back to run it through his now dry hair. Ben nodded into her neck and she allowed her muscles to relax into his hold, she felt him squeeze her gently before  pulling her to lay down with him again.

Without words he allowed her to get comfortable, her leg swinging across his hip as his hand came to curl around her bare thigh. His thumb brushed across the stretch marks on the curve of her ass before she trailed gentle kisses down his jaw. “I never--”

“Another time,” Ben let his eyes close, “I’m too tired and I know you are also. Just stay the night and let me make you breakfast when we get up and then we can talk about going all the way another time.

“Okay,” was the simple response Cameron gave before her hand came to rest on his bare chest, fingers drawing shapes into his skin. Once her fingers stilled and her breathing came slow and even against the skin of his neck Ben pulled the blanket over the two of them and placing a kiss on the top of Cameron’s head, before closing his own eyes. The two falling asleep, limbs tangled around another person for the first time in months.

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND September 20, 2019  - VILLAINS, BLOODLINE, DOWNTON ABBEY, AD ASTRA, RAMBO: LAST BLOOD

It’s hard to believe that September is almost over, and we’re just sailing through the September festival season with the New York Film Festival starting (for real) next week.  There are three wide releases, but I will only have seen one of them before writing this, so instead, I’ll talk about a couple genre movies opening Friday, both of which played at Lincoln Center’s “Scary Movies XII” last month.

I remember writing quite extensively about VILLAINS (Alter/Gunpowder and Sky) when I was over at the Tracking Board, mainly about the casting of Bill Skarsgard from It, Maika Monroe from It Follows, as well as Jeffrey Donovan and Kyra Sedgwick. It’s the new movie from Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, who directed the horror sequel The Stakelander and have written a pretty amazing comedy-thriller twist on the home invasion movie. Skarsgard and Monroe play a young couple who hide out in a seemingly abandoned house after robbing a store. They soon learn that not only is it not abandoned, but there is a young girl chained in the basement. The owners of the home, played by Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Donovan, then return and things go sideways for the young couple as they find that maybe their petty crimes make them the good guys in this scenario.  Villains is getting a fairly hearty release into roughly 100 theaters across the country, so check your listings to see if/where it will be playing near you. (It mainly seems to be playing in Regal theaters across the country.)

Another interesting genre film opening Friday is Henry Jacobson’s psychological thriller BLOODLINE (Momentum Pictures), starring Seann William Scott as Evan, a high school social worker with a secret – he’s also a serial killer who tries to help his patients by ridding them of their issues. Evan is also experiencing a new baby with his wife, which might keep him from his killing habits, except that his mother (Dale Dickey) has shown up to help them, and she was the one who taught him his ways. This is a really dark and gory film that I quite enjoyed in a similar way as some of my favorite serial killer thrillers, from Hitchcock’s Psychoto Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer and others. It honestly can’t be a better time for this with all the true crime television we’re getting, and I was pretty blown away by Scott’s performance in this. Bloodlineisplaying at the IFC Center for Friday and Saturday late night screenings and probably will be available On Demand as well.

You can read my interview with Seann William Scott and the directors of VILLAINS over at The Beat, the latter posting Friday.

The one wide release I have seen this weekend is Focus Features’ DOWNTOWN ABBEY, a continuation of the PBS series with an absolutely amazing British cast that includes Dame Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton and so many more that I won’t name all of them. I feel that I’m not the best person to properly review the movie since I haven’t seen a second of the series, but I generally liked what I saw and might give it a look if I can find a good streaming source on which to binge it. I actually liked the movie enough to recommend it without having any previous knowledge of the series.

Probably my biggest disappointment of this week is that I didn’t have a chance to see James Gray’s AD ASTRA (20thCentury Fox), starring Brad Pitt, before Thursday night, because I wasn’t able to get to the press screening. It’s been one of my more anticipated movies of the year, mainly because I generally love outer space movies, but I also have been interested in seeing what Gray and Pitt do with the material, especially with such a great supporting cast.

Another movie that I only got to see just before this column posts is Sylvester Stallone’s RAMBO: LAST BLOOD (Lionsgate), which I reviewed over at The Beat. I had very few expectations for the movie, as I’ve never been a huge Rambo fan. I’m not sure why, but I guess I just never got into the Rah! Rah! USA! Stuff that permeated the United States in the ‘80s, and I was more into music than movies at the time. Reading my review, it’s obvious that Stallone’s latest attempt to revive a franchise didn’t do much for me.

You can read what I think of the above’s box office prospects over at The Beat, as well.

LIMITED RELEASES

I’m not quite sure why there are so many limited releases this weekend –I count almost 30 (!!!!) over on Rotten Tomatoes– but I’ll see what I can get to this week since I’m already a little behind. If you missed, Rob Zombie’s 3 FROM HELL on Monday and Tuesday night and more importantly, missed my scathing review of it over at The Beat, well, then you’ve missed it since this column is posting after it played its last night before its blu-ray release next month. Sorry!

A fantastic documentary opening at the Metrograph this week is Jacqueline Olive’s directorial debut ALWAYS IN SEASON (Multitude Films), a stirring film about the history of lynching, circling around the death of 17-year-old Lennon Lacy from Bladenboro, North Carolina, which is ruled as a suicide but his mother Claudia is convince that her son was lynched. Olive’s powerful film provides a background for how lynching became so prevalent in the early part of the 20thCentury, including an eerie annual reenactment by the town of Monroe, Georgia that wants to make sure that the county’s atrocities aren’t forgiven or forgotten.  Narrated by Danny Glover, Olive’s directorial debut is powerful and moving and a film that must not be missed – maybe it’s no surprise that it won a Special Jury prize at Sundance Film Festival for “Moral Urgency” earlier this year. I was pretty shaken up when I saw it at this year’s Oxford Film Festival.

The Metrograph is also screening two National Geographic shorts, Alexander A. Mora’s The Night Crawlers and Orlando von Einsiedel’sLost and Found, over the next week. The Night Crawlers looks at a group of Filipino journalists known as the “Manila Nightcrawlers” who seek to expose the truth about President Duterte’s war on drugs and the number of people who lost their lives over it. Lost and Foundi s a new doc short from the director of the Netflix doc The White Helmets which looks at the Myanmar’s ethnic violence against the Rohingya people through the eyes of a man in a refugee camp seeking to reunite children with parents.

Japanese animation house Studio TRIGGER’s first feature film PROMARE (GKIDS) will get a limited release on Friday, following Fathom Events showings on Tuesday (already passed) and Thursday (tonight). It will then be opening in New York at the Metrograph and AMC Empire on Friday for a one-week run. It’s an apocalyptic sci-fi thriller set in a world thirty years after a race of flame-wielding mutant beings called the Burnish set half the world on fire an the battle between the anti-Burnish Burning Rescue and Lio Fotia, leader of the aggressive new “Mad Burnish” mutants.

Paolo Sorrentino, director of the Oscar-winning The Great Beauty and its follow-up Youth, returns with LORO (Sundance Selects), about a young hustler named Sergio (Riccardo Scamarcio) managing an escort service who sets his sights on the egotistical billionaire Italian ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (Tony Servillo) who is trying to bribe his way back into power. It will open at the IFC Center Friday.

A couple other docs opening this weekend, the first two opening at New York’s Film Forum…

Now playing is Hassan Fazili’s Midnight Traveler (Oscilloscope) about how the filmmaker received death threats from the Taliban in 2015 for running Kabul, Afghanistan’s Art Café, a progressive meeting place, so he, his wife and two young daughters must travel 3,500 miles over 3 years across four countries to get to Hungary, a journey documented via mobile phone cameras. It will open in L.A. on October 4.

Then on Friday, there’s Matt Tyrnauer’s new film WHERE’S MY ROY COHN? (Sony Pictures Classics) looks at the lawyer and power broker who was part of Joe McCarthy’s anti-Communist activities and who was pivotal in molding a young Queens developer named Donald Trump. I wanted to like this movie more because Roy Cohn is such an interesting human being in such a despicable way, but this doc really didn’t do much for me.

Opening in New York (Cinema Village) and L.A. (Laemmle Glendale) is DIEGO MARADONA (HBO Sports), the new doc from Asif Kapadia (Amy, Senna), which will show on HBO on October 1. If you don’t know international football (or soccer), the Argentine Maradona is one of the most famous footballers of all time, a bit of a legend since signing to Naples in 1984 for a record-setting fee. I haven’t watched this yet but hope to soon.

Opening at New York’s IFC Center Friday is Max Powers’ Don’t Be Nice (Juno Films), focusing on the Bowery Slam Poetry Team as they head to the national championships, and there will be QnAs almost every night in its week-long run, and then it will open in L.A. on September 27.

Completely unrelated but also at the IFC Center is a full-week run of National Theatre Live: Fleabag, screening a pre-recorded performance of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s one-woman show that inspired her hit Emmy-nominated show from the Soho Playhousein London’s West End. Heck, I might try to get to one of these since it won’t be on television or any other format for at least a year.

After opening for “one night only” on Tuesday, Louie (The Cove) Psihoyos’ new movie The Game Changers will get a release on New York this Friday and L.A. the 27th. Exec. produced by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan, it explores the rise of plant-based eating in professional sports along with Special Forces trainer James Wilks and features segments on Schwarzenegger, Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton, tennis player Novak Djokovic and NBA star Chris Paul.

Demi Moore, Ed Helms, Karan Soni (from the “Deadpool” movies) and Jessica Williams star in the horror-comedy Corporate Animals (Screen Media), the new comedy from Patrick Brice (Creep, The Overnight) about a corporate team-building adventure that turns to cannibalism when an office group find themselves trapped in a cave system. The movie has a great cast but the strange concept and weak screenplay really keeps the movie from delivering.

Other movies out this weekend include James Franco’s Zeroville (MyCinema), co-starring Megan Fox and Seth Rogen; Nicolas Cage’s new movie Running with the Devil (Quiver DIstribution), a drug thriller co-starring Laurence Fishburne, Barry Pepper, Leslie Bibb and more; and the award-winning Chinese drama Send Me to the Clouds (Cheng Cheng Films), opening in L.A., NY, Toronto and Vancouver.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Maybe the movie I’m most excited for this week is Zak Galifianakis’ BETWEEN TWO FERNS: THE MOVIE (Netflix), which I’m sure is going to be silly, maybe even stupid, but I’m still amused by his style of humor. I also haven’t seen the new Netflix doc Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates, and I also no absolutely nothing about the movie other than what’s in the title.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

On Tuesday, the Metrograph began a series called “Bleecker Street: The First Five Years” running through Thursday withsingle screenings of Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace, Sebastian Lelio’s Disobediance and Brett Haley’s I’ll See You in My Dreams with talent doing QnAs. On the weekend, the theater has special screenings of the dance film The Red Shoes   (1948) on Saturday with an introduction by Jillian McManemin – I honestly have no idea who that is. On Saturday, the Academy is back with its monthly series, this month showing Milos Forman’s 1979 musical Hair with actor Treat Williams and Annie Golden in person. On Sunday, there’s a similarly special screening of Martin Scorsese’s 1990 crime classic Goodfellas with producer Irwin Winkler and screenwriter Nick Pileggi -- $35 tickets, a little pricey for me. You also have just two more days (today and tomorrow) to see Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress on the big screen.

This weekend’s Welcome To Metrograph: Redux offering is Jean Vigo’s 1934 film L’Atalante,  Late Nites at Metrograph is showing Fantastic Planet(again) and the Japanese horror film Hausu (1977). This weekend’s Playtime: Family Matinees is Alfonso Cuaron’s fantasy A Little Princess (1995)

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

The Alamo is also celebrating “Arthouse Theater Day” on Wednesday with Robert Downey Sr.’s Putney Swope. They’re also doing a “Rambo Marathon” on Sunday to tie-in with Stallone’s latest Rambo movie -- $35 for all five Rambo movies. Now THAT is a great deal, and there are a few tickets left. On Saturday afternoon, the Alamo is showing Almodovar’s 2000 classic All About My Mother to celebrate the Spanish filmmaker before the release of his newest film Pain and Glory.  Monday’s “Out of Tune” is Lars von Trier’s 2000 film Dancer in the Dark, starring Bjork. Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is the amazing Vera Farmiga thriller Orphan from 2009, and the Alamo is also playing Almodovar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown from 1988. Next week’s “Weird Wednesday” is 1995’s Tank Girl, starring Lori Petty.

AERO  (LA):

Wednesday is (or rather, was) a screening of the 1969 film Putney Swope as part of Art House Theater Day 2019, Thursday is a screening of the 1984 adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s 2010: The Year We Made Contact. In honor of Downton Abbey (I guess?), the Aero is beginning a series called “Upstairs, Downstairs,” beginning Friday with a 70mm print of 1993’s The Remains of the Day, starring Anthony Hopkins an Emma Thompson, then Saturday is a double feature of Hitchcock’s Rebecca  (1940) and Carol Reed’s The Fallen Idol  (1948), and then on Sunday is a double feature of Ruggles of Red Cap (1935) and By Candlelight  (1933), as well as a separate free member screening of Downton Abbey with some of the cast in person.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Robert Altman’s classic 1975 film Nashville will screen as a new 4k restoration for the next week with screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury appearing on Saturday night. This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is Howard Hawk’s 1940 movie His Girl Friday, starring Cary Grant.  Joseph Losey’s Holocaust drama Mr. Klein ends on Thursday.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

The Quad is back with another great series called “Laws of Desire: The Films of Antonio Banderas” beginning Wednesday, showing so many films starring the Spanish actor who is likely to get nominated for his first Oscar for Almodovar’s Pain and Glory.  It will even show Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming The Laundromat, which premieres on Netflix next week. Instead of going through all 13 of the movies, click on the link above and get ready to be Banderasized!

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Weekend Classics: Staff Picks Summer 2019 is Tony Scott’s vampire flick The Hunger (1983), chosen by “Todd,” Waverly Midnights: Staff Picks Summer 2019 is the anime classic Akira, chosen by “Katie,” and Late Night Favorites: Summer 2019 is Satoshi Kon’s Paprika(again?)

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

This weekend begins a “See It Big! Ghost Stories” series with the Japanese horror Ugetsu from 1953, then Saturday is The Phantom Carriage (1921) – this is with live piano accompaniment! --The Ghost and Mrs. Muir(1947), and then Sunday they’re screening Olivier Assayas’ more recent Personal Shopper (2006) with Kristen Stewart.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

Although Lincoln Center is preparing for next week’s New York Film Festival, this weekend it’s holding special screenings of two Gershwin films, Otto Preminger’s 1959 musical Porgy and Bess on Thursday (with panel) and then Vincente Minelli’s An American in Paris on Friday.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

“The Purpose and Passion: the Cinema of John Singleton” ends on Friday, but there are screenings of his 2000 Shaft movie, starring Samuel L. Jackson, and another screening of Boyz n the Hood before then.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Thursday night is a screening of David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai  (1957), but the rest of the weekend is the “Guadalajara Film Festival.”

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

Friday night’s midnight offering is John Waters’ 2004 movie A Dirty Shame, starring Tracey Ullman, Johnny Knoxville and Selma Blair.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The New Bev continues its “time out” at the bottom of this section as long as Tarantino uses his repertory theater to show Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, and currently it’s booked through the end of September. Since this week’s column is late, you already missed the 1952 film The Narrow Marginas the Weds. matinee, the New Bev will also show the Hanna/Barbera animated feature Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear (1964) as this weekend’s “Kiddee Matinee.” Tarantino’s Jackie Brown is the Saturday night midnight movie, and then on Monday, the theater will show David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive  (2000) in two matinees (the 2pm is already sold out).

A quieter week with only one wide release, the Universal/DreamWorks animation fantasy-adventure Abominable.

[itsstephaniexx]

According to some theorists, the shift from physical film to digital has induced a period of comprehensive change for the cinema industry, even grief. Through an analysis of one film, examine the consequences of this shift.

With the advancement of digital technologies, the film industry has seen a revolution. Prince (1996) argued that digital technologies have transformed almost all phases of the contemporary film making the process, including storyboarding, shooting and editing. On the other hand, Bolter (2000) raised that remediation is a defining feature of digital media that digital technologies often remediate on the basis of old technologies. Similarly, Elsaesser (2016) proposed that cinema is a bricolage industry that new inventions often serve as byproducts of other discoveries. The essay is going to draw on Ang Lee’s feature film “Life of Pi” to discuss the impact of digital technologies on the cinema industry. It proposes that “Life of Pi” uses 3D technologies and special effects on the basis of traditional technologies. Rather than a revolutionary change, technology is used to create better simulacra for the audience.  

Ohanian and Phillips (2013) cited James Cameron that the art and technology of visual entertainment video production have been undergoing a revolution. It has brought such profound changes to the way that we make movies and other visual media programs. There is a debate in the film industry regarding the role that technology plays in the development of cinematography. On the one hand, André Bazin proposed the concept of total cinema that the concept of film is equivalent to the complete reproduction of reality; the aim is to reproduce the illusion of a world that is established by sound, color, and three-dimensionality (Bazin and Gray, 2005). Bazin’s total cinema theory perpetuates the significance of technology as digital technologies have the capacity to faithfully reproduce the illusion of a world. On the other hand, Arnheim (2009) proposed that due to the development of film technology, the mechanical imitation of natural will soon develop to the extreme. The trend in the film industry is making the museum's wax figure gradually replace creativity in art. Bazin and Arneheim’s views represent the positive and negative judgment over the role of technology in cinematography.

Ang Lee represents a director whose adoption of technology does not undermine his creativity. As a director who developed in the period of technological change, Ang Lee's film creations showed a very clear technical timeframe. After Ang Lee officially entered the film industry as a creator, he experienced the technological transformation from the traditional film era to the digital era. Around 2000, with the rapid development of digital technology, special effects films began to be highly sought after by the film market. And Ang Lee, who was a Hollywood frontline director during this period, his film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hulk" embodied his initial exploration and experimentation of cutting-edge digital technologies.

The film " Life of Pi" released in 2012 is the first 3D movie directed by Ang Lee. Because of the rapid development of technology, the uncontrolled and unregulated application of film technology has become more and more common (Prince, 1996). Especially for special effects, as Prince (1996) argued, it represents the most visible application of digital film technologies. In the application of film technology, Ang Lee did not use it in an unrestrained manner in pursuit of special effects. His approach demonstrates the philosophy that the performance of film technology and the expression of art should be complementary, which shows a promising way to incorporate technology in a film.  

"Life of Pi" tells the story of a 17-year-old boy and a Bengal tiger float in the Pacific Ocean for 277 days. It has thrilling plots such as killing, suffering from loneliness, and inter-dependence. According to Prince (1996), there are mainly two categories for the application of digital imaging, including digital-image process and photographic imaging. The former removes the unwanted elements from the frame and the latter create realistic images that look like real objects in reality (Prince, 1996). Jean Baudrillard (1994) proposed in “Simulacra and Simulation” that because the simulacra and simulation of things replaced the real and original objects, the world has become simulacra-like. In “Life of Pi”, Ang Lee created exciting simulacra using the second category of special effects.

According to Bill Westenhofer, the visual effects supervisor of the film, Ang Lee wants to better express the dynamism of the story through 3D imaging and feels that this will enable the audience to get stronger emotional resonance (Reed, 2012). At the same time, he also believes that 3D imaging can better express the waves of the ocean and make it look more intense. Highlighting the loneliness of “Pi”, 2/3 of the scenes in the film are at the sea, so the director decided to use 3D and CGI technology to shoot the whole film. The intention is to use technology to create simulacra that are authentic and even more impactful than reality.

Take the scene of the town of Munnar as an example. The lens that shows the town Munnar is all made with CGI. The image shows the coexistence of the three religions in Mona, so that a church, a mosque, and a Buddhist temple are shown in the same scene. These religious buildings all exist in real life, but the film has made adjustments to the style of the real scene and uses CG to makes the three religious buildings more conspicuous. "Life of Pi" also makes full use of the characteristics of the natural landscape and phenomenon in the grasp of the 3D visual effects. When the protagonist is rafting on the vast sea, the sea, the sky, and the seafloor interact with each other. Whether it's the splendid glory of the clear sky, the vast expanse of the night, the huge sea whale with a dreamy fluorescent body crossing lifeboat, or the illusion of disaster, countless deep-sea creatures leap into the eye, they are covered with mysterious awns, and the protagonist's inner deep anxiety and helplessness and confusion are excavated. With the help of digital technology, the viewers seem to be able to experience the protagonist's five senses as well as his inner world. Digital technology adds another level of simulacra to reality that the constructed reality is larger than that in the real world.

In "Life of Pi", the Bengal tiger is a key character and simulacra in both the world of the Pi and the world of the film. In the movie, Ang Lee's portrayal of the tiger reached an unparalleled reality. As Walia (2016) described, digital technology allowed a tiger sit in proximity with a human being throughout the film. Walia (2016) cited the film’s Bill Westenhofer that the tiger is 85 percent digital and 15 percent real. Although the real tigers account for only 15% of Richard Parker's scenes, the footage of these real tigers provides an effective reference for animators who make CG tigers. Eight weeks of real tiger shooting gives the animation team the opportunity to closely observe the tiger's movements and behavior (Walia, 2016). After a long period of analysis of the real Bengal tiger, the visual effects team began the project of the synthesis. Through digital technologies, the sharp teeth, smart eyes, strong posture, and even every tiny look and movement make the image of the tiger come alive.

In the process of creating simulacra of the real world, both old and new media are used. The combination of old and new media coincides with Bolter’s idea that digital media is a remediation of the old media. The film shot four real tigers and the actor had never been on the same boat with the tiger. When the actor Suraj Sharma, who played Pi, needed to interact with the tiger, the stuntman or Rhythm & Hues' senior animation director Erik de Boer will wear a blue leotard and play the tiger for him (Walia, 2016). The process is different than any shooting processes in traditional film industry. "Life of Pi" divides its animation team into two groups: one is the basic group, in which the animators make skeletal muscle animation for the Bengal tiger according to the scene scheduling and the movements determined by director Ang Lee. This step creates keyframe animation, and it often requires frame-by-frame modification based on the action of the real tigers. The second group is the technical animation group, and the animators add new layers of control for the tiger such as the controller for the flesh and fur. As Elsaesser (2016) argued, digital images rarely create fundamentally new effects. But they significantly enhance the level of control over the images.

To conclude, the essay uses Ang Lee’s "Life of Pi" as an example to demonstrate how technology has fundamentally transformed the film industry. As Baudrillard (1994) argued, simulacra and simulation have made the world like simulacra. In the film, technology uses its capacity to create powerful simulacra that offer even more dimensions than the real world. A tiger can sit close to a human being on a boat for 227 days; the designed landscape and the inner world of the protagonist can be convincingly presented. Working with old media, new film technologies have enhanced cinematography in a way that better film simulacra are created for the audience.

[lady-adventuress]

Books I Read in 2017

Alphabetical list here, reviews under the cut in chronological order:

Almond, David: A Song for Ella Gray

Bardugo, Leigh: The Grisha Trilogy, Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom

Cline, Ernest: Ready Player One

Cloonan, Becky, Brendan Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl: Gotham Academy Vol. 1-2

Cluess, Jessica: A Shadow Bright and Burning

Coulthurt, Audrey: Of Fire and Stars

del Duca, Leila and Kit Seaton: Afar

Dragoon, Leigh and Jessie Sheron: Ever After High: Class of Classics

Flores, Chynna Clugston, et al.: Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy

Gaiman, Neil: American Gods

Gaiman, Neil and Chris Riddell: The Sleeper and the Spindle

George, Madeleine: The Difference Between You and Me

Gilmour, H.B. and Randi Reisfeld: T*Witches #1-10

Hale, Shannon: Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World

Hicks, Faith Erin: The Nameless City, The Stone Heart

Jensen, Michael and David Powers King: Woven

LaCour, Nina: We Are Okay

Larson, Hope: Chiggers, Mercury

Lubar, David: Sophomores and Other Oxymorons

Riordan, Rick: The Trials of Apollo #1-2, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #2-3

Shea, Lisa: Ever After High: Once Upon a Twist: Cerise and the Beast

Stewart, Cameron, Brendan Fletcher, and Babs Tarr: Batgirl Vol. 1

Stoker, Bram: Dracula

Sugiura, Misa: It’s Not Like It’s a Secret

Turtschaninoff, Maria: Maresi

Weir, Andy: The Martian

West, Hannah: Kingdom of Ash and Briars

I also listened to a lot of audiobooks as I was working this year, but since I have terrible audio comprehension, I stuck to books I’ve already read and know I like:

From Tamora Pierce, Alanna: The First Adventure and the Trickster series, read by Trini Alvarado. The Protector of the Small series, read by Bernadette Dunne. The Immortals Quartet, Sandry’s Book, and The Will of the Empress, Full Cast Audio narrated by Tamora Pierce. All of them were good, but I especially loved hearing the Trickster series and all of the Full Cast books. I absolutely recommend them. Immortals was my favorite.

From Eoin Colfer, the Artemis Fowl series, read by Nathaniel Parker. I liked it a lot. It’s nice being able to hear the accents and remember that Artemis is actually Irish.

T*Witches #1-10, by H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld. Twin witches who were separated at birth meet at age fourteen and must learn magic to protect themselves from their evil uncle. This is a series from my childhood that still holds up in a cheesy nostalgic way. I always found the attempt at teen slang baffling, but at its core the story is still about family and girls supporting each other and trying to do the right thing. Excellent and complicated relationships between both biological and adopted families, excellent and complicated supporting characters.

Dracula, by Bram Stoker. An ancient vampire brings death and evil to England while a group of mostly-bumbling protagonists try to stop him. It’s hard to read a book like this without being influenced by the cultural interpretation, but one thing that really threw me off is the importance of characters that seem to get really downplayed in adaptations. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the book, but I did enjoy how ridiculous parts of it was.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World, by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. A fourteen-year-old girl tries to make new friends while keeping her squirrel tail and superpowers a secret. I love Shannon Hale’s children’s books. Squirrel Girl had the charm of her Ever After High work, surprisingly without being as over-the-top. Doreen isn’t the type of protagonist I tend to relate to and I always get a little weirded out with anthropomorphized animals, but the book was fun and funny with distinct voices and an appropriate amount of camp. Also, footnotes.

The Difference Between You and Me, by Madeleine George. The closeted popular girl and school outcast are on opposite sides of school politics, which causes problems in their secret relationship. I feel like there are tons of fanfictions like this, so I was glad when this book didn’t run into the overused tropes. Unfortunately, it didn’t really have much in the way of conflict at all, which was surprising when it seemed like every single character’s opinions were meant to be deliberately polarizing. I thought that situations and characters were set up really well, but none of it really came together in a satisfying way.

Chiggers, by Hope Larson. Graphic novel. A girl navigates summer camp drama and befriends the girl no one else likes. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Hope Larson, but I couldn’t like this book even though I was trying to. It felt like nothing was happening for most of the story, and I’m not sure what was accomplished in telling it. The elements of magical realism were interesting, but it wasn’t enough to carry the story, and neither was the mundane drama. There wasn’t enough time to invest in the characters.

Mercury, by Hope Larson. Graphic novel. A girl’s experience with a mysterious gold prospector affects the life of her modern-day descendant. The story was thought-provoking, even if it took me a while to get into it, and the magical realism was well-integrated. I don’t love Larson’s cartooning style, but I thought it was much more readable than Chiggers without sacrificing its uniqueness.

The Nameless City, by Faith Erin Hicks. Graphic novel. A boy befriends a native girl in the city his people conquered. Hicks’ visual storytelling skills are excellent, and I love how her characters and expression can be both subtle and cartoony. The story was thoughtful and deals with political realities in a way that doesn’t demonize or alienate anyone. Jordie Bellaire’s color palettes are beautiful.

Unfortunately, the sequel The Stone Heart doesn’t quite live up to the first book. The art is still excellent, but the pacing and plot seemed less well-planned, especially since the story now seems to be heading in a more predictable direction. There’s a third book forthcoming, so maybe that opinion will change.

Batgirl Vol. 1: Batgirl of Burnside, by Cameron Stewart, Brendan Fletcher, and Babs Tarr. Trade paperback. A college student tries to reinvent her vigilante identity while dealing with being the personal target of a mysterious villain. This was definitely not a bad book, but it also didn’t feel like a Barbara Gordon book. If you’re writing for characters with decades of history, that legacy deserves to be respected, and I’m not sure Stewart and Fletcher accomplished that in the writing. Separate from preconceptions, the plot was solidly set up with good dialogue and distinct characterization, although I thought Barbara’s arc had a weak resolution. Tarr’s art is great, though, and I can definitely see why this series is so popular.

Gotham Academy Vol. 1-2, by Becky Cloonan, Brendan Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl. Trade paperbacks. A girl investigates a haunting at her school, which is connected to a mysterious summer experience she can’t remember. Kerschl’s character acting is excellent, and the relationship between the protagonist Olive and her ex-boyfriend’s sister Maps is immediately compelling. The cast is well-rounded and interesting, and I enjoyed reading a comic set in a superhero world without being a superhero book. Plot elements are set up from the first issue, and the story is a lot of fun overall.

A Song for Ella Grey, by David Almond. A modern version of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth is told from the perspective of Eurydice’s best friend. Almond is an excellent writer, but I felt like this was a story that didn’t need to be retold, especially with his addition of a tragic unrequited queer romance. The protagonist doesn’t have any agency within the storyline so it felt like a series of events happening in sequence rather than a narrative. I did think the formatting shift at the turning point was interesting, but the myth dragged unnecessarily in order to fill the length of the novel.

The Trials of Apollo #1: The Hidden Oracle, by Rick Riordan. The Greek god Apollo is sent to earth as a teenager as punishment for his arrogance and is bound to the service of a young girl. It’s hard to enter into the Trials of Apollo series without prior knowledge of Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus, and even as a fan of the other books in the universe, I had a hard time engaging with Apollo as a protagonist. The narration fit the character well, though, and Riordan deals with serious subjects without resolving anything prematurely. I liked that each chapter was introduced with a haiku rather than a title.

The second book in the series, The Dark Prophecy, is similar in tone to the first. I would say the biggest change is the addition of Leo and Calypso from the prequel series to finish off the classic trio of heroes. That dynamic was interesting, and I also really enjoyed the appearance of my favorite Percy Jackson character.

We Are Okay, by Nina LaCour. A girl deals with grief over her grandfather’s death and reconnects with her best friend during winter break of her first year of college. It was a slow start and I had some trouble keeping up with shifts in the narration, but I ended up liking this book a lot. The writing is atmospheric and captures the protagonist’s thoughts well. The setup for the mystery is subtle and doesn’t take focus from the characters.

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. After three years in jail and his wife’s death, a man takes a job that involves him in a war between old and new gods. I really like Gaiman’s writing, and Shadow is a protagonist that is engaging despite his relative passiveness. Even so, I wouldn’t say this was a book I actually enjoyed all that much, and plot twists were well-developed to the point that they weren’t particularly surprising or satisfying. I’ve seen a lot of stories modernize gods, so Gaiman’s treatment didn’t seem as unique as I’d been led to believe. That being said, maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I’d read it earlier.

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor, by Rick Riordan. A teenager resurrected as a Viking warrior goes on a quest to retrieve Thor’s hammer. This series in particular seems to depend on pop culture references, so while I liked the writing, I wonder if it will stay as relevant as Riordan’s other books. I did really enjoy the cast and the expansion of their backstories, and this book sets up what seems to be more of a crossover with the Percy Jackson series.

Book three, The Ship of the Dead, was also really fun. The closing of The Hammer of Thor was a little misleading in that the crossover elements were limited to the beginning and end of the story as usual, but by this time the characters are more than capable of standing on their own. It seems like this book is the last of the series, and it managed to close out the plot pretty well.

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo. Six teenagers are hired to break a political prisoner out of a foreign country. Not only is this an excellent heist story with a really detailed plot, but each of the characters are fully developed and they all have their own arcs throughout the books. Bardugo’s cast is inclusive and intersectional without feeling like she’s checking off a list and the writing is witty with clear voices. Both the characters and plot drive the story. I can’t say enough good things about this duology.

The Grisha Trilogy, by Leigh Bardugo. A teenage soldier discovers an elemental power and becomes part of a plan to overthrow a corrupt monarchy. This trilogy takes place before Bardugo’s Six of Crows books, but it was disappointing in comparison. I really disliked the protagonist, and there was a lot of focus on a frustrating romance, to the point that it overshadows the interesting worldbuilding. The plot dragged in places, despite being too thin to fill three books. Even so, there are a few really great supporting characters that almost made it worth it.

Sophomores and Other Oxymorons, by David Lubar. After a successful freshman year, a teenager’s overconfidence causes problems at his high school. This is the belated sequel to Sleeping Freshman Never Lie, which is one of my favorite books. Sophomores seems more self-referential and has a subplot that doesn’t seem to fit the tone as well, but for the most part it had the same witty charm that I loved about the first book. Of course, the best part of the series is still Lee, the female lead.

Maresi, by Maria Turtschaninoff. An abbey novice discovers her calling when a new girl with a troubled past arrives. This book was originally published in Finnish, I believe, but I think it must have lost something in the translation. The narration is distant, and even though parts of the world are described, it was hard to picture any of the setting. Overall it didn’t really hold my interest.

Kingdom of Ash and Briars, by Hannah West. After gaining magic powers and immortality, a girl becomes responsible for ensuring peace throughout three kingdoms. I really didn’t like this book. It treats the female characters poorly, especially the antagonist, and although the plot is ostensibly about duty, it’s heavy-handed, relies too much on tropes, and is really obviously motivated by romance. A lot of this can be overlooked if it’s ironic or just done well, but it never came together and ended up being very frustrating.

Of Fire and Stars, by Audrey Coulthurst. As she enters an arranged marriage, a princess has to hide her magic and her attraction to the prince’s sister. Even though the two protagonists are supposed to have equal weight, I ended up almost actively disliking one of them. The plot isn’t terribly engaging, but because I couldn’t get behind one of the characters, the romance couldn’t carry the novel for me. It wasn’t bad, but I wish it was better.

Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters, by Shannon Hale. A commoner-turned-princess takes an unattractive job to teach court manners to three royal sisters. This book is the third in Hale’s Princess Academy series and it is just as excellent as the first two. The plot is set up well across multiple books, and Miri is an excellent and flawed protagonist who is capable without overshadowing the other characters. The romantic plots don’t feel forced and the narration accomplishes a lot of interesting worldbuilding. Another book with girls supporting one another despite not necessarily understanding each other.

The Martian, by Andy Weir. An astronaut is stranded on Mars after an early mission evacuation and must survive until he can be rescued. I was skeptical about the premise, but everything is well thought out and clearly explained, without sacrificing either reader engagement or scientific accuracy. The protagonist has a great voice, but as soon as the perspective shifts away from his first-person mission logs, it’s easy to tell that Weir isn’t a very experienced writer, since the other characters and third-person narration are not nearly as well-defined. Overall, though, it was still a good book.

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. A high-schooler who is desperate to escape a dystopian future dedicates his life to solving a virtual reality puzzle and becoming the heir to a video game empire. There were two things that I really disliked about this book, the first being the protagonist, who seemed like a terrible person for most of the book. The second is that, despite being ostensibly a celebration of pop culture (and especially 80s pop culture), the overall viewpoint seemed really rigid and judgemental. The writing was fine, and there were some really interesting puzzles, but in the end I felt like it was male nerd entitlement in novel form.

Ever After High: Once Upon a Twist: Cerise and the Beast, by Lisa Shea. The daughter of Red Riding Hood and the son of King Charming are forced into the roles of Beauty and the Beast in order to escape their midterm exam. Cerise and Dexter seem like an odd pair, which sometimes works in the Ever After High universe, but didn’t really here. Part of this I think is because this book is written for an even younger audience than the original so the characters lost a lot of their nuance. The only part of the story that surprised me was almost immediately negated by a soap opera-worthy plot device to prevent the status quo from changing.

Afar, by Leila del Duca and Kit Seaton. Graphic novel. A girl tries to fix problems caused by her newfound ability to project herself into different worlds, while keeping her younger brother out of trouble. There is a lot of visual worldbuilding here, which I thought was very well done. Plot wise, it felt like the protagonist’s arc was maybe just the first act of a much longer book, but the characters were solid all around.

Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy, by Chynna Clugston Flores, Rosemary Velero-O’Connell, Kelly Matthews, and Nichole Matthews. Graphic novel. The ensemble casts of Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy work together to free their teachers from a girl’s attempt to relive a disastrous birthday. I think this book is set up more for fans of both series, and since I’ve only read a little of Lumberjanes, I felt like I was playing catch-up for some parts. I did really like the parts that showcased the Gotham Academy characters, though. I felt like the art was missing the lushness and texture of what I remember of the regular series, which was disappointing.

Ever After High: The Class of Classics, by Leigh Dragoon and Jessi Sheron. Graphic novel. The children of popular fairy tales learn more about their parents by using magic to relive parts of their high school experience. This book was very disappointing compared to other parts of the franchise. The art is minimal and flat compared to the webseries, and all but one of the anthology-esque stories felt like retreading old ground. I also really disliked the narrative hoops the audience was expected to jump through just to keep anything significant from changing.

It’s Not Like It’s a Secret, by Misa Sugiura. After moving from Wisconsin to California, a Japanese-American girl struggles to build a life she is happy with while keeping secrets that could ruin her family. This book was a bit surreal to read because specific parts of it were identical to my high school experience, while other parts were completely foreign. Still, the writing is solid and thought-provoking, and I liked that there is no easy answer to the protagonist’s problems.

A Shadow Bright and Burning, by Jessica Cluess. A newly-discovered sorceress takes on the role of a prophecized savior in a fight against enormous apocalyptic monsters. I found it a little difficult to get into the characters, especially since there is only one girl in a large group of boys and the gender difference is a large part of their interactions. I disliked the romantic subplots, which seemed to take over the narrative, even though the worldbuilding and political aspects of the plot were really interesting.

The Sleeper and the Spindle, by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell. A queen postpones her wedding to deal with the sleeping curse that threatens to spread from the kingdom next door. The story begins as a mix of archetypes from Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, but Gaiman’s atmospheric writing elevate it even before the surprising finale. Riddell’s illustrations and other visual choices for the physical book are beautiful and tell the story meaningfully. Highly recommended.

Woven, by Michael Jensen and David Powers King. After his murder, an aspiring knight goes on a quest with a spoiled princess to stop the universe from unraveling. This book had an interesting premise, but its execution filled me with rage. Although it pretends to have dual protagonists, the princess is treated horribly by the narration without any kind of self-awareness. She is given a thin veneer of fighting ability but no agency in the story and is constantly being rescued without payoff. The writing and pacing also seemed flat. Overall extremely frustrating, especially because of the hints of interest.

[riichardwilson]

CGI-Created Virtual Influencers Are the New Trend in Social Media Marketing

Brands try creating their own influencers to control their messaging.

Free Book Preview No BS Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing

The ultimate guide to – producing measurable, monetizable results with social media marketing agency.

July 31, 2020 5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

With more than 1 billion people using social media all over the world, it’s more difficult than ever for brands to stand out from the crowd. Thus, the rise of the influencer, which has been one of the most significant changes in marketing agency in the last decade.

Some creative marketers have decided to to find an alternative to the typical approach to influencers and instead create their brand ambassadors themselves using artificial intelligence. These virtual influencers are computer-created fictional characters whose “personalities” are entirely fictional. They’re paired with animated images from digital artists to accurately re-create the subtle features of human faces. Some companies are building their own influencers from the ground up, creating their own character that they can control every aspect of. 

Lil Miquela and friends

Instagram users have already seen creations like 19-year-old Lil Miquela release music while going through a carefully scripted drama that kept her 1.6 million followers riveted. Lil Miquela, created by the L.A.-based firm Brud, can be said to have started the CGI influencer phenomenon in 2016, when she blew up on Instagram. Now she’s a regular face in fashion magazines and fronts a wide range of lUXury brands. More than 80,000 people stream Lil Miquela’s songs on Spotify every month. She has given interviews from Coachella and shown off a tattoo designed by an artist who inked Miley Cyrus. Until her creators revealed her true provenance, many of her fans were convinced she was a flesh-and-blood teenager.

Just like Lil Miquela, Blawko was created by Brud. Sporting streetwear style and tattoos, he describes himself as a “young robot sex symbol.” He’s perhaps the most mysterious of all the virtual influencer stars due to the mask that covers half of his face. He has become popular among users for his laid-back nature and on-off relationship with Bermuda, another CGI-created influencer.

The virtual Colonel and others

Intended to parody the lifestyle of Instagram influencers, KFC’s virtual Colonel shows the ridiculously good-looking Colonel Harland Sanders living his best influencer life. The uncannily human character posts from KFC’s official account, which has 1.3 million followers. It identifies him as a virtual influencer who is chasing the dream, selling chicken and based out of Louisville, the company’s headquarters. He sports the Colonel’s signature gray hair, black-rimmed glasses and white suit, but instead of a pudgy old man, this version is a modelesque hipster, complete with a torso tattoo that reads “Secret Recipe for Success.” He frequently collaborates with other brands, including Dr Pepper, Old Spice and TurboTax.

In fall 2018, French lUXury fashion house Balmain launched a campaign starring three digital models. Two of the models are exclusive to the Balmain brand, while the third, Shudu Gram, is a free agent popularly known as the world’s first digital supermodel. British fashion photographer Cameron-James Wilson created Shudu, who has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram and blurs the line between digital and reality. She can’t talk, nor is she artificially intelligent, but with Wilson’s help, she shares her message of empowerment and diversity in the fashion industry. 

Will it last?

“Only a few years ago, the idea of social media influencers was in its infancy, so their popularity is a sign of how quickly the trend took hold of the public’s imagination,” says photographer and online marketer Katerina Leroy. She says using virtual influencers benefits brands because it gives them full control, saves time searching for the right human influencers and reduces the risk od negative feedback. On the other hand, it could be another marketing agency experiment that fades away, “not one that will alter the course of influencer marketing,” she says.

Harry Hugo, co-founder of the Goat Agency, says virtual influencers will be unavoidable in the next 12 months. “They can be available 24/7 and have a personality molded to be exactly what you want. They can literally be whatever you want them to be. These things are massive plus points for brands because they make the perfect ambassador.”

According to HypeAuditor, “Virtual Influencers have almost three times more engagement than real influencers. That means that followers are more engaged with virtual influencers content.” The piece suggests that novelty is a key element in their current popularity, and as digital models become more commonplace, they’ll lose some of that interest. But will they? Will we even know who’s real and who’s not in future? The stats here would suggest that it’s likely to become a bigger point of discussion.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/cgi-created-virtual-influencers-are-the-new-trend-in-social-media-marketing/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/625226697775661056

[scpie]

CGI-Created Virtual Influencers Are the New Trend in Social Media Marketing

Brands try creating their own influencers to control their messaging.

Free Book Preview No BS Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing

The ultimate guide to – producing measurable, monetizable results with social media marketing agency.

July 31, 2020 5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

With more than 1 billion people using social media all over the world, it’s more difficult than ever for brands to stand out from the crowd. Thus, the rise of the influencer, which has been one of the most significant changes in marketing agency in the last decade.

Some creative marketers have decided to to find an alternative to the typical approach to influencers and instead create their brand ambassadors themselves using artificial intelligence. These virtual influencers are computer-created fictional characters whose “personalities” are entirely fictional. They’re paired with animated images from digital artists to accurately re-create the subtle features of human faces. Some companies are building their own influencers from the ground up, creating their own character that they can control every aspect of. 

Lil Miquela and friends

Instagram users have already seen creations like 19-year-old Lil Miquela release music while going through a carefully scripted drama that kept her 1.6 million followers riveted. Lil Miquela, created by the L.A.-based firm Brud, can be said to have started the CGI influencer phenomenon in 2016, when she blew up on Instagram. Now she’s a regular face in fashion magazines and fronts a wide range of lUXury brands. More than 80,000 people stream Lil Miquela’s songs on Spotify every month. She has given interviews from Coachella and shown off a tattoo designed by an artist who inked Miley Cyrus. Until her creators revealed her true provenance, many of her fans were convinced she was a flesh-and-blood teenager.

Just like Lil Miquela, Blawko was created by Brud. Sporting streetwear style and tattoos, he describes himself as a “young robot sex symbol.” He’s perhaps the most mysterious of all the virtual influencer stars due to the mask that covers half of his face. He has become popular among users for his laid-back nature and on-off relationship with Bermuda, another CGI-created influencer.

The virtual Colonel and others

Intended to parody the lifestyle of Instagram influencers, KFC’s virtual Colonel shows the ridiculously good-looking Colonel Harland Sanders living his best influencer life. The uncannily human character posts from KFC’s official account, which has 1.3 million followers. It identifies him as a virtual influencer who is chasing the dream, selling chicken and based out of Louisville, the company’s headquarters. He sports the Colonel’s signature gray hair, black-rimmed glasses and white suit, but instead of a pudgy old man, this version is a modelesque hipster, complete with a torso tattoo that reads “Secret Recipe for Success.” He frequently collaborates with other brands, including Dr Pepper, Old Spice and TurboTax.

In fall 2018, French lUXury fashion house Balmain launched a campaign starring three digital models. Two of the models are exclusive to the Balmain brand, while the third, Shudu Gram, is a free agent popularly known as the world’s first digital supermodel. British fashion photographer Cameron-James Wilson created Shudu, who has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram and blurs the line between digital and reality. She can’t talk, nor is she artificially intelligent, but with Wilson’s help, she shares her message of empowerment and diversity in the fashion industry. 

Will it last?

“Only a few years ago, the idea of social media influencers was in its infancy, so their popularity is a sign of how quickly the trend took hold of the public’s imagination,” says photographer and online marketer Katerina Leroy. She says using virtual influencers benefits brands because it gives them full control, saves time searching for the right human influencers and reduces the risk od negative feedback. On the other hand, it could be another marketing agency experiment that fades away, “not one that will alter the course of influencer marketing,” she says.

Harry Hugo, co-founder of the Goat Agency, says virtual influencers will be unavoidable in the next 12 months. “They can be available 24/7 and have a personality molded to be exactly what you want. They can literally be whatever you want them to be. These things are massive plus points for brands because they make the perfect ambassador.”

According to HypeAuditor, “Virtual Influencers have almost three times more engagement than real influencers. That means that followers are more engaged with virtual influencers content.” The piece suggests that novelty is a key element in their current popularity, and as digital models become more commonplace, they’ll lose some of that interest. But will they? Will we even know who’s real and who’s not in future? The stats here would suggest that it’s likely to become a bigger point of discussion.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/cgi-created-virtual-influencers-are-the-new-trend-in-social-media-marketing/

[laurelkrugerr]

CGI-Created Virtual Influencers Are the New Trend in Social Media Marketing

Brands try creating their own influencers to control their messaging.

Free Book Preview No BS Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing

The ultimate guide to – producing measurable, monetizable results with social media marketing agency.

July 31, 2020 5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

With more than 1 billion people using social media all over the world, it’s more difficult than ever for brands to stand out from the crowd. Thus, the rise of the influencer, which has been one of the most significant changes in marketing agency in the last decade.

Some creative marketers have decided to to find an alternative to the typical approach to influencers and instead create their brand ambassadors themselves using artificial intelligence. These virtual influencers are computer-created fictional characters whose “personalities” are entirely fictional. They’re paired with animated images from digital artists to accurately re-create the subtle features of human faces. Some companies are building their own influencers from the ground up, creating their own character that they can control every aspect of. 

Lil Miquela and friends

Instagram users have already seen creations like 19-year-old Lil Miquela release music while going through a carefully scripted drama that kept her 1.6 million followers riveted. Lil Miquela, created by the L.A.-based firm Brud, can be said to have started the CGI influencer phenomenon in 2016, when she blew up on Instagram. Now she’s a regular face in fashion magazines and fronts a wide range of lUXury brands. More than 80,000 people stream Lil Miquela’s songs on Spotify every month. She has given interviews from Coachella and shown off a tattoo designed by an artist who inked Miley Cyrus. Until her creators revealed her true provenance, many of her fans were convinced she was a flesh-and-blood teenager.

Just like Lil Miquela, Blawko was created by Brud. Sporting streetwear style and tattoos, he describes himself as a “young robot sex symbol.” He’s perhaps the most mysterious of all the virtual influencer stars due to the mask that covers half of his face. He has become popular among users for his laid-back nature and on-off relationship with Bermuda, another CGI-created influencer.

The virtual Colonel and others

Intended to parody the lifestyle of Instagram influencers, KFC’s virtual Colonel shows the ridiculously good-looking Colonel Harland Sanders living his best influencer life. The uncannily human character posts from KFC’s official account, which has 1.3 million followers. It identifies him as a virtual influencer who is chasing the dream, selling chicken and based out of Louisville, the company’s headquarters. He sports the Colonel’s signature gray hair, black-rimmed glasses and white suit, but instead of a pudgy old man, this version is a modelesque hipster, complete with a torso tattoo that reads “Secret Recipe for Success.” He frequently collaborates with other brands, including Dr Pepper, Old Spice and TurboTax.

In fall 2018, French lUXury fashion house Balmain launched a campaign starring three digital models. Two of the models are exclusive to the Balmain brand, while the third, Shudu Gram, is a free agent popularly known as the world’s first digital supermodel. British fashion photographer Cameron-James Wilson created Shudu, who has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram and blurs the line between digital and reality. She can’t talk, nor is she artificially intelligent, but with Wilson’s help, she shares her message of empowerment and diversity in the fashion industry. 

Will it last?

“Only a few years ago, the idea of social media influencers was in its infancy, so their popularity is a sign of how quickly the trend took hold of the public’s imagination,” says photographer and online marketer Katerina Leroy. She says using virtual influencers benefits brands because it gives them full control, saves time searching for the right human influencers and reduces the risk od negative feedback. On the other hand, it could be another marketing agency experiment that fades away, “not one that will alter the course of influencer marketing,” she says.

Harry Hugo, co-founder of the Goat Agency, says virtual influencers will be unavoidable in the next 12 months. “They can be available 24/7 and have a personality molded to be exactly what you want. They can literally be whatever you want them to be. These things are massive plus points for brands because they make the perfect ambassador.”

According to HypeAuditor, “Virtual Influencers have almost three times more engagement than real influencers. That means that followers are more engaged with virtual influencers content.” The piece suggests that novelty is a key element in their current popularity, and as digital models become more commonplace, they’ll lose some of that interest. But will they? Will we even know who’s real and who’s not in future? The stats here would suggest that it’s likely to become a bigger point of discussion.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/cgi-created-virtual-influencers-are-the-new-trend-in-social-media-marketing/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/07/cgi-created-virtual-influencers-are-new.html

[notoriousgrd]

Shocktober Days 1-28

Ok, it’s Sunday and I’m not at the folks’ as usual because my brother’s working today, so taking the time to update my Shocktober log post. This is a long one so fasten your seatbelts,

The Devil Rides Out (1968) - been meaning to watch this for over twenty years, finally did and loved it. Christopher Lee and Charles Gray are excellent and I can see how the whole chalk circle bit influenced me at of Doctor Who:Battlefield.

Hotel Transylvania (2012) - I’d planned on another movie but with real world being so horrific that day, changed plans and watched this really fun animated movie.

Dr. Terror’s House Of Horrors (1965) - not the first portmanteau movie I ever saw (that’d be Twilight Zone:The Movie) but the first Amicus one and definitely my favourite. Cushing and Lee, DJ Alan “Fluff” Freeman Vs plants, Roy Castle and his voodoo trumpet, Michael Gough and Donald Sutherland as a doctor. Cushing and Castleford reunite later that year for a certain movie involving Daleks.

Quatermass And The Pit (1967) - last Quatermass I saw, having seen all the television versions and other movies over the years. Much like the Doctor Who/Daleks movies nicely compresses three hours of black and white telly into an hour-and-a-half of glorious colour. I hadn’t seen this when I saw Doctor Who:The Daemons so the parallels were not apparent to me. Andrew Kier is an excellent Quatermass, just behind John Mills in the 1979 telly story.

Christine (1983) - I hadn’t seen this in a long, long time, enough that I completely forgot Harry Dean Stanton and Robert Prosky were in it. Been even longer since I read the book, so can’t say if it’s a good adaptation, certainly a good movie though, the non-cgi car repairing effects still look awesome.

Deep Red / Profondo Rosso (1975) - the only Dario Argento movie I’ve seen and decided to rewatch after Mr Ash mentioned it. Looks lovely, an awesome soundtrack,

Deep Star Six (1989) - One of a few horror films rushed ahead to try and cash in on all the hype for James Cameron’s The Abyss. This one sees many of the people behind Friday The 13th doing an underwater m onter movie. It’s daft fun, I like the monster and it’s got one of my favourite actors, Miguel Ferrer in it.

Ghosts Of Mars.(2001) - One of the three John Carpenter movies I’d not seen, seems to get a lot of stick, but again, a fun action horror movie, with a really good cast (Natasha Henstridge, Pam Grier and Jason Statham) and a nice way of telling the story.

AvP:Requiem (2007) - we were kind of on a trash train for a bit, as this is another movie decried as the worst thing ever when it’s a perferctly competent horror movie with some really nice deaths and a nice basic concept. Take eighties slasher movie environment, add alien death machines.

Life (2017) = This was really, really good. a relatively realistic sci-fi horror that starts off a bit Andromeda Strain but end up Alien. Another great cast, and kudos for a certain point for having a disabled character who’s treated the same as any other crew member right until the moment they fall into the tired trap of his disability leading to his death. Other than that though, really enjoyed this, some really nasty deaths and nothing really set off my “SPace doesn’t work like that!” sense.

Leviathan (1989) = The other movie trying to cash in on The Abyss hype. Another good, fun underwater monster movie with a great cast (Peter Weller, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Richard Crenna, Ernie Husson, Meg Foster), a great Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack and some nice effects work.

The Rezort (2016) - recommended to me by Mr Ash of the Hammered Horror podcast, low budget zombie movie with a great premise, that being that they got the zombie plague under control and have actually set up an island where people can pay to go and shoot zombies on a kind of undead safari. This is also used to try to help people who were traumatised by the zombie event. Of course, this being a horror movie, things rapidly go sideways. Barring a couple of moments, the small budget doesn’t show and the premise is a nice change from most zombie movies.

Waxwork (1988) - I’d seen the sequel to this years ago, when in 1994, my then local Blockbuster was having a massive sell-off of ex-rental tapes wuth no covers for a couple of quid each. Me and my flatmate at the time bought a pile of them, probably fifty tapes between us and this was one of them, a very silly hoor movie with a premise that lets them do little horror vignettes as part of a bigger story. This does that too, it’s another fun romp, with some lovely distinguisdhed actors (David warner, Patrick Macnee and John Rhys Davis) havnig fun with the material.

Friday The 13th Part IX:Jason Goes To Hell (1993) - I’d made my way through the first eight movies a while back, but as always got distracted and forgot to go back and finish off. So with it actually being Friday The 13th, I decided that day to fix that. This is…not great. Jason is killed and becomes a body surfing demon. Really only notable things are Kane Hodder;s wee cameo as an FBI agent, the Book Of The Dead form Evil Dead being being found in the Vorhees house (and thus being what brough Jason back from the dead at some point) and Erin Grey.

Friday The 13th Part X:Jason X (2001) = This one however, is a huge amount of fun, Jason is captured and the plan is to put him in cryogenic status to stop him from killing again as it’s obvious at this point, he can’t actuaslly be killed. Of course, things go sideways and him and the doctor responsible for freezing him are found hundreds of years later when Earth’s a wastland and taken back to a spaceship. Yes, this is Jason Goes To Space and takes a lot of cues form other sci-fi things, space marines, holodecks, evil corporations etc and uses them to make a fun action horror romp that never takes itself too seriously.

Mr Vampire (1985) - One of my all time favourites. Saw it in the mid-nineties when Channel 4 had a seasib if Hong Kong action movies, many with a spooky side to them. This movie introduced me to the Jiangshi, Chinese hopping vampires and this movie is a fun, action comedy with plenty f great action scenes, slapstick and scares.

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970) - As mentioned above, I’d only ever sene the one Dario Argento movie, so decided to fix that. His directorial debut is a mirder thriller where the main character witnesses an attempted murder and soon finds himself in danger with plenty of twists and turns along the way. Great stuff.

Until Dawn (2015) - this is a game for PS4 rather than a movie and with the length it could easily count as between four to six horror movies. It’s an interactive adventure game with excellent motion captured performances, a great plot, great setpieces and with the choices you can make, anywhere between everyone and no-one can survive. I made it out with only two deaths and I know how those can be avoided. One of the best horror games I’ve ever played and highly recommended. Virtual Peter Stormare in particular veeres into the uncanny valley on several occasions. Great stuff.

The Raven (1935) - on the title cazrd it says “suggested by” Poe’s poem, but all that amounts ot is the name and a character who’s a bit Poe obsessed with nods to a couple of his other works in there. Has Lugosi and Karloff, is okay as these things go.

The Car (1978) - was surprised to find most review sites think this is a load of bollocks. I enjoyed it as a kid and still enjoy it now. It’s basically Jaws with a car that appears to be possessed by the devil. Been so long since I saw it, forgot James Brolin and Ronny Cox were in it. there’s some nice direction at points and it’s definitely not as bad as its reputation would have you think.

The Raven (1963) - Another part of my plan is to watch the ROger Corman Poe adaptations, I picked this first because it has the trio of Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and boris Karloff in it and the last movie I watched with them all was Comedy Of terrors which was a blast. I could happily watch Price and Lorre mucking about for hours, the first half-hour is mostly the two of them sparking off each other. It’s a tale of warring wizards, everyone looks like they’re having so much fun and I had a grin on my face throughout. Lovely and highly recommended.  Also has a young Jack Nicholson in it.

The Fall Of The House Of Usher (1960) - Corman, Price and Poe again, a far more sombre affair but again really good. Vincent Price is one of those actors I can watch in anything.

Suspiria (1977) - Back to Argento with weird goings on in a prestigious ballet school. The plot is not really important, you watch Argento mivues for the visuals and amazing soundtracks. Really enjoyed it.

Phenomena (1985) - Argento once more, with Donald Pleasance (with a lovely Scottish accent), JJennifer Conolly in her movie debut and a chimp with a razor. The usual sumptuous visuals, great soundtrack (with Iron Maiden and Motorhead showing up at points) and the usual twisted plot. Had one of those rare monets I really go “Ooooh!” and curl up a bit when someone gets stabbed in the hand with scissors.

The World’s End (2013) - probabl;y the worst of the Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun Of THe Dead and Hot Fuzz being thew others) but still a brilliant movie. It starts off as a middle aged man trying to recapture his youth by getting his childhood friends to finish a pub crawl they never managed as teens, then turns into Incasion Of The Body Snatchers/ Great all-star cast and two of my favourite fight scenes in horror movies, the one in the gents toilets because of the wrestling moves and thew one in the pub a combination of Nick Frost (I love big lads kicking arse) and the remix of Silver Bullet’s Twenty Seconds To Comply backing it.

Attack The Block (2011) - I had difficulty with this first itme I watched it, I live on a council estate and the main characters weere a bit too true to life for me to begin with. This time though, no problem. Premise is a load of big gorilla wolf motherfuckers crash land in a council estate in London and a bunch of ASBO kids and a nurse take them on. It’s notable for having John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker who would both go onto much bigger sci-fi things with Star Wars and Doctor Who. It looks great, sounds great, the creature design is unique and this time round I spotted little references like the tower block being Wyndham Towers and it being near a Ballard Street.

[megadarkbouquettidalwavethings]

Is Your Dog Ready to Be an Instagram Star?

What conclusions may be drawn? For one thing, Instagram puts a premium on superficial dog traits like cuteness over ones like intelligence or obedience.

“Instagram and social media is impacting everything, and influencing all kinds of lifestyle and consumer decisions, so it makes sense that it would influence what kind of dog people choose,” said Cameron Woo, the publisher of The Bark, a dog-culture magazine based in Berkeley, Calif. In that way, Instagram is like television was in an earlier era, Mr. Woo said. “Lassie” inspired a mid-century collie boom; “Frasier” propelled a Jack Russell terrier moment in the 1990s.

That was certainly the case with Aleksandar Gligoric, a dog breeder from Serbia who named his online dog store Frenchie World, in part because of Instagram. “People are considering Instagram worthiness in all aspects of their life,” he said. “I felt that the Frenchie would be the next big thing on Instagram.”

Almost Human

So, what dog traits are favored by Instagram users? Well, for starters, they like dogs that look like them.

Breeds like pugs and Boston terriers “really resemble humans, or babies,” Mr. Woo said. These so-called brachycephalic breeds, with their shortened heads, flat faces and barely there noses, “are very photogenic with their large, forward-looking eyes,” Mr. Woo said. “They appear to be grinning or smiling,” never mind that the “smiles” are often caused by breathing difficulties native to their breeds.

Pug owners don’t disagree.

“With their smushed-in faces, all the rolls, and their funny tails, pugs are the least doglike dogs,” said Leslie Mosier of Nashville, whose pug, Doug (@itsdougthepug), is one of the most popular pets on Instagram, with 3.2 million reputed followers. “They are more like humans-slash-pigs-slash-dogs.”

The breed’s almost-human face makes it easy for owners to anthropomorphize their pets with costumes. Ms. Mosier routinely plays off Doug’s perma-frown by dressing him — wrapped in towels, say, with cucumber slices over his eyes, looking like a moneyed divorcée taking refuge at Canyon Ranch.

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As actors or models, pugs are the canine equivalent of hams. “They were bred in China to sit at the emperor’s feet and entertain,” Ms. Mosier said.

A dog’s popularity can increase exponentially when it has a signature style flourish, the canine equivalent of Anna Wintour’s sunglasses or Pharrell Williams’s hats. Case in point: the Gene Simmons-length tongue of @marniethedog, a Shih Tzu rescue that at this point may be more famous than the real Gene Simmons, thanks to an explosively popular Instagram feed.

And if the canine flourish isn’t genetic, there’s no stopping the owner from creating one with careful grooming. Take Agador (@poochofnyc), a maltipoo with teddy bear looks who has appeared in ad campaigns for Google and a teaser for Katy Perry’s “Bon Appétit” video.

Agador’s explosive orb of copper-colored frizz is routinely gussied up into a spherical confection atop his head. It is a look that conjures the Bob Ross, the TV painter who died in 1995. And who isn’t going to follow “the Bob Ross of dogs,” as Agador is billed on Instagram.

“It makes him instantly recognizable,” said Allan Monteron, one of his owners. “People stop us on the street and say, ‘I follow that dog on Instagram!’”

Exaggerated features are a plus, too. Take corgis, those squat-legged canine courtiers to the queen. They are certainly hot on Instagram, with accounts that have “corgi” in the user name rising 200 percent over the past year, according to Instagram, and that cannot all be attributable to the breed’s occasional cameo on “The Crown.”

Every feature of the corgi works as a visual punch line: those oversize Yoda ears, the squat “Honey I Shrunk the Collie” body, the 50-percent-off appendages, which make the corgi’s movements particularly comical on social media.

The same may be said of bulldogs, the one breed that appears in the top five of both Instagram and the American Kennel Club. Outside of social media, bulldogs’ popularity will be assured so long as there are Anglophiles, Marine Corps veterans and college football fans in the state of Georgia.

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And on Instagram, where user names that include “bulldog” have seen a 60 percent surge in the past year, bulldogs check multiple boxes: They look like people (specifically, grumpy old men), have inherently comic features (the volleyball-size head, the tiny bow legs) and are easy to anthropomorphize.

The breed has also reaped a windfall of “it dog” publicity from celebrities, including Brad Pitt, Jessica Biel and David Beckham, for whom these homely little bruisers seem to make the perfect foil. The message seems to be: “Do not hate me because I am beautiful, since my dog is not.”

Mutts and Tripods

Because of their associations with the queen and the British Empire, however, both corgis and bulldogs seem out of step with the current vogue for rescue dogs and less rarefied breeds.

These days, pointedly aristocratic breeds tend not to pop on social media as much as dogs with quirky features or compelling back stories, said Elias Weiss Friedman, a New Yorker photographer who spends his days snapping pictures for The Dogist, a dog-centric street photography site that has a rabid Instagram following.

“I’ve found that people prefer the more real, natural dogs,” Mr. Friedman said. “Poodles seem to give off a pretentious vibe, especially if they have the classic poodle haircut. The older generations love them, but I think the younger generation sees that style as fake, undogly.”

Indeed, his two most popular posts have been a mixed breed puppy with funny ears named Larry and a 12-year-old Labrador with vitiligo named Rowdy. “People crave relatability, and see dogs as individuals with similar life challenges to themselves,” he said.

The right kinds of mixed breed — they were once called mutts — play well on social media, particularly if their features are camera worthy. A husky-malamute-wolf mix called @loki_the_wolfdog has become one of the 10 most popular pets on Instagram, thanks in part to his rugged “Call of the Wild” aura and head-turning looks (including mismatched eye colors and a silky coat that changes color with the seasons), that his owner, Kelly Lund, uses to poetic effect in his shots of Loki in the snow-dusted Colorado wilderness.

Many dog owners interviewed also said they see mutts, rescues and disabled dogs as a more ethical choice.

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“I think the most difficult question posed to us is always ‘Where did you get that dog? I want to get one exactly like it,” said Francis Bott, who owns Agador with his partner, Mr. Monteron. “It is simple enough to provide the breeder’s name, but we are big proponents of adopting rescues whenever possible.”

(They opted buy a hypoallergenic poodle mix from a breeder, Mr. Bott said, because their previous dog, a rescue Shih Tzu/Bichon mix, aggravated their allergies.)

Rescue organizations like the North Shore Animal League and the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition blanket social media with heart-rending photos of doe-eyed animals looking for a home.

Such social media efforts to raise awareness have led to a demand for differently abled dogs and so-called tripods, or those missing a limb, said Jennifer Nosek, the editor of Modern Dog magazine. One such unlikely Instagram star was Smiley, a golden retriever born without eyes, and with a form of dwarfism, in a puppy mill, who went on to become a widely publicized service dog in nursing homes and hospitals. (Smiley’s death last year, after a battle with cancer, was covered by the news media.)

“Perhaps it’s an antidote to all the bad news we’re so often bombarded with,” Ms. Nosek said. “These accounts remind us that there are people, and dogs, out there doing good.”

Either that, or such dogs just provide a break from the pressure that the rest of us feel trying to look too perfect for Instagram.

Take @chloekardoggian, a gray-whiskered 13-year-old rescue Chihuahua in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, with huge eyes and 153,000 followers. “Her ears go up, her nose goes right, her tongue goes left, and her eyes each go in different directions,” said Dorie Herman, her owner. “Everyone has felt like Chloe looks at some point in their lives.”

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ALEX WILLIAMS

The post Is Your Dog Ready to Be an Instagram Star? appeared first on dailygate.

[martens-movie-reviews]

Release Date: June 14, 2013 Running Time: 2 hours 23 minutes

“With the imminent destruction of Krypton, their home planet, Jor-El and his wife seek to preserve their race by sending their infant son to Earth. The child’s spacecraft lands at the farm of Jonathan and Martha Kent, who name him Clark and raise him as their own son. Though his extraordinary abilities have led to the adult Clark living on the fringe of society, he finds he must become a hero to save those he loves from a dire threat.”

Because of the anticipated release of Justice League on Friday November 17, I’ve decided to write reviews of all of the movies that make up the DC Extended Universe so far. There have been a lot of talks about how long this franchise will last, but as a comic book fan, and huge lover of movies, I never want movies to be bad. I’m hoping that it’ll be amazing. You can find the dates for when the reviews for the other DCEU movie will be released at the link here. I wrote the review for Wonder Woman around the time it came out, and it can be found here.

DC Extended Universe – Source: Warner Brothers Entertainment

Man of Steel Trailer: Source – Warner Brothers Entertainment

Cast & Crew

The director of Man of Steel was Zack Snyder, whose work includes films that I enjoyed such as ‘Watchmen’ in 2009 and ‘Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole’ in 2010, as well as films that I didn’t enjoy so much such as ‘Dawn of the Dead’ in 2004, and ‘Sucker Punch’ in 2011. The film that in my mind, he’s the most known for is ‘300’, which while visually amazing, was more of a meh kind of film for me. He has since directed the sequel to this film ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’, and most of ‘Justice League’ before having to step away due to personal reasons.

Man of Steel was written by David S. Goyer, based on the story that he and Christopher Nolan wrote. Nolan’s work as a writer includes ‘Memento’, his ‘Batman’ trilogy, and ‘Inception’ prior to working on this film. He has since wrote ‘Interstellar’ in 2014, and ‘Dunkirk’ in 2017. Goyer’s previous writing jobs includes the ‘Blade’ trilogy from 1998 – 2004, working with Nolan on the ‘Batman’ films previously mentioned as well as the sequel ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ in 2011 prior to working on Man of Steel. He’s since wrote the ‘Constantine’ television show, as well as ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ in 2016. He was recently announced to be one of the writers for the ‘Green Lantern Corps’ that will be coming out in 2020.

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Cast includes Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Ayelet Zurer, Russell Crowe, Antje Traue, Richard Cetrone, Mackenzie Gray, Laurence Fishburne, Christopher Meloni, Richard Schiff, Cooper Timberline and Dylan Sprayberry.

Review

The character of Clark Kent / Kal – El was played by Cooper Timberline, Dylan Sprayberry and Henry Cavill, with the latter also playing Superman. I feel like all three of them did a good job at playing the Clark Kent character, and I was surprised at how consistent they were in terms of character. Cavill’s acting in the role of Kal – El was rough at first, with some very wooden delivery of some lines, however that could also be the script or the direction that he got. I enjoyed the portrayal that we got, even if it was a ‘darker’ and ‘broodier’ version of what he is supposed to be, I still thought it was well done at the end. Cavill’s Superman still needs some work, but seems to have a lot of potential, and I was pleased with the improvements in the character in the follow up film.

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The character of Lois Lane was played by Amy Adams, in which she did an alright job with what she was given. I didn’t enjoy what they did with her character overall, but I will go into more detail about that further below. I feel like Adams was a good choice for the role that they put her in, but didn’t give off the Lois Lane vibe that I remembered from the few comic books that I read of Superman(read both Marvel and DC as a kid, but enjoyed Marvel more).

Michael Shannon as General Zod was a good choice in my mind for the role, as he demands the attention when on screen, and you need someone with a presence to portray Zod. I feel like the character could have been used a lot better, but from I enjoyed the performance that we got from Shannon. It demanded more than what we ended up getting.

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The Kent parents were played by Diane Lane and Kevin Costner, who I feel was really well cast in those roles. I would have prefered a lot more from Costner’s character, and the way he died was just stupid, but from the acting standpoint, I really enjoyed that Lane was able to capture Martha Kent’s essence of trying to connect with Clark on the emotional level, while Jonathan Kent was the moral compass of doing what’s right at the right time. I didn’t enjoy the fact that they made him say the word ‘maybe’ when asked if Clark should have let his classmates die.

The Kryptonian parents Lara Lor-Van played by Ayelet Zurer, and Jor – El who was portrayed by Russell Crowe was a mixed bag of emotions for me throughout this film. I loved everything about Zurer’s performance from the flashbacks to Krypton, and the struggle to send her child away for a chance for survival. It’s something that I wish would be explored more in the future, with the A.I. Jor – El talking about his wife to their son. Russell Crowe’s performance was a problem for me in this role. I don’t think he fit the role of Jor – El, whatsoever, and I didn’t like that they made him capable of beating General Zod in a fist fight. That was one of the problems with certain characters in the film.

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One thing that was really unexpected in the movie, was that it opens with the birth of Kal – El, literally Lara in labour, the first time that a natural birth happened on Krypton for centuries. I enjoyed what they did with the movie, in a way to make Kal – El ‘special’ in that sense, however I really wish that they will elaborate on the Codex. That is something that would be very interesting if ever they were going to have a new Krypton eventually in the universe, however I feel like they’ve already forgotten about it.

Seeing Krypton was absolutely amazing. I thought that the scenery and the animals in that sequence was very much inspired by James Cameron’s movie ‘Avatar’. The cinematography in general for this movie was beautiful. I thought that the way that they captured Krypton, Smallville, and the Arctic was extremely well done. It’s one of the better looking films in the past 5 years, and part of that quality is thanks to the cinematographer of the film – Amir Mokri. His work includes ‘Coyote Ugly’ from 2000, ‘Bad Boys 2’ in 2003 and ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ in 2011 prior to Man of Steel.

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The score for this film was put together by one of the most well known and fantastic composer since the early 2000s. Hans Zimmer‘s work has sadly been given a lot of slack in recent years for the loud ‘BWAM’ that marketing people love putting in trailers, which have become annoying, I have to admit. In my opinion, his work is on the same level in terms of quality and how memorable they are as other great movie score composers such as John Williams, Howard Shore and Danny Elfman. Zimmer’s work in this film was strong, hopeful, and sometimes inspiring while still having those epic moments that is required in big budget films.

Movie scores are what I listen to while I’m working at my desk, or writing these reviews, or when I was studying while in school. I just looked at my ‘instrumental’ playlist that I’ve had and been adding to it for the last 10 years and Hans Zimmer has 61 out of the 250 songs on that playlist. His work includes such soundtracks as ‘The Lion King’, ‘The Prince of Egypt’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’, ‘The Last Samurai’, ‘August Rush’, ‘Sherlock Holmes’, and ‘Inception’. I really enjoyed the music in this movie, and I know that a lot of people were disappointed when the Superman theme was never incorporated into the score, however I feel like Zimmer added a sense of wonder and grandness that was needed for this version.

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The flashbacks in Man of Steel was very much hit and miss for me. I feel like the two younger version of Clark Kent did a good job in their portrayals, and I was happy to see that they were providing some backstory to who he is, while at the same time not lingering too much on it.

One of the stupidest death scenes that I’ve ever watched was the flashback scene of Jonathan Kent being swallowed up by the tornado (twister, not entirely sure of the difference, if you know, tell me in the comments below) while telling Clark to stay where he was, and stupidly sacrificing himself. I feel like Clark could have easily saved him, but they wanted to make the film ‘darker’ and make Clark go on this long and arduous journey to find out what his place on Earth is, and to find out what kind of man he wants to become, but I was pissed off at that death scene.

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One of the bigger mistakes in this film was that Lois Lane was made to be an integral piece of the film. She was involved in everything, and while I know that she’s a reporter and loves getting information, the fact that she took a picture of cliff face, and saw a man enough to know to zoom in, then can somehow scale a mountain, and thinks she can escape the authorities after being called is funny. I feel like they should have kept her as a supporting character rather than one of the leads in the movie. I’m not happy that they made her find out that Superman is Clark Kent right away, as there’s a lot less in which they can explore and do in further films.

A small problem with the movie, is the magical appearance of the suit, with the crest of the house of El on it, that just happened to be on a spaceship that crashed on Earth 18 000 years ago, while also having one of the passengers on that ship survive and get out of their sleeping pod. Where are they? I don’t think we’ll ever find out.

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One of the most amazing things in the whole movie was that they were so casual with the destruction of Metropolis, and causing so much damage to the city, and they cry out that Superman is a hero. Yes, it wasn’t entirely his fault, but from the look of it, he did very little to save anyone, going as far as throwing Zod towards buildings full of people.

I enjoyed the nice touches of the greater plans that they might or might not have been planning towards the DCEU. Including the Wayne satellites, and the LuthorCorp trucks.\

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The most controversial part of the movie – the death of General Zod, is one of the most hated things about this movie, and I’m still upset about this to this day. Superman does not kill, yes, he’s killed Zod once in the comics, but that was one story that they had out of thousands of different stories. I feel like the circumstances of the death was stupid as well, I would have much prefered if Zod had gone into the Phantom Zone with everyone else when the ship collided with the World Engine. It would have been a much satisfying ending, rather than the whole air punching fight scene that caused so much damage to the city and to the Superman character as a whole.

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Overall, I feel like this was a solid film that had amazing music and cinematography, a little shaky on the characters and the acting, with an ending that is extremely divisive amongst the fans. I love Cavill’s performance as Superman, but there’s still a lot of room to grow. At the end of the day, I don’t have much more to say about this film, and I would end up giving this movie a final score of 7.5/10.

What did you think of Man of Steel? Are you excited for Justice League? Let me know in the comment section below!

Thanks for reading,

Alex Martens

Man of Steel Review Release Date: June 14, 2013 Running Time: 2 hours 23 minutes "With the imminent destruction of Krypton, their home planet, Jor-El and his wife seek to preserve their race by sending their infant son to Earth.

[malte1mj-blog]

2010 Movie Awards

Best Picture: Black Swan Blue Valentine I Am Love Rabbit Hole The Social Network HONORABLE MENTION: A Prophet, True Grit, Toy Story 3, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Dogtooth, The Kids Are All Right, Inception, Mother, Tiny Furniture, Never Let Me Go Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan Jacques Audiard, A Prophet Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, True Grit David Fincher, The Social Network Luca Guadagnino, I Am Love HONORABLE MENTION: Banksy, Exit Through the Gift Shop; Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right; Derek Cianfrance, Blue Valentine; Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture; Bong Joon-ho, Mother; Giorgios Lanthimos, Dogtooth; John Cameron Mitchell, Rabbit Hole; Christopher Nolan, Inception; Mark Romanek, Never Let Me Go; Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3; Edgar Wright, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network Colin Firth, The King's Speech James Franco, 127 Hours Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine Tahar Rahim, A Prophet HONORABLE MENTION: Javier Bardem, Biutiful; Jeff Bridges, True Grit; Michael Cera, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World; Leonardo DiCaprio, Inception; Stephen Dorff, Somewhere; Aaron Eckhart, Rabbit Hole; Keir Gilchrist, It’s Kind of a Funny Story; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jack Goes Boating; Aaron Johnson, Nowhere Boy; Ben Mendelsohn, Animal Kingdom; Christos Stergioglou, Dogtooth; Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter Best Actress: Kim Hye-ja, Mother Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole Natalie Portman, Black Swan Tilda Swinton, I Am Love Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine HONORABLE MENTION: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right; Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture; Isabelle Huppert, White Material; Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone; Lesley Manville, Another Year; Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right; Carey Mulligan, Never Let Me Go; Aggeliki Papoulia, Dogtooth; Noomi Rapace, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit; Emma Stone, Easy A; Hilary Swank, Conviction Best Supporting Actor: Niels Arestrup, A Prophet Christian Bale, The Fighter Armie Hammer, The Social Network Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech Miles Teller, Rabbit Hole HONORABLE MENTION: Kieran Culkin, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World; Matt Damon, True Grit; Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; Edoardo Gabbriellini, I Am Love; Andrew Garfield, Never Let Me Go; Andrew Garfield, The Social Network; John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone; Bill Murray, Get Low; John Ortiz, Jack Goes Boating; Flavio Parenti, I Am Love; Christos Passalis, Dogtooth; Sam Rockwell, Conviction; Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right; Justin Timberlake, The Social Network Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, The Fighter Marion Cotillard, Inception Melissa Leo, The Fighter Mia Wasikowska, The Kids Are All Right Dianne Wiest, Rabbit Hole HONORABLE MENTION: Marisa Berenson, I Am Love; Helena Bonham Carter, Alice in Wonderland; Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech; Barbara Hershey, Black Swan; Anna Kalaitzidou, Dogtooth; Keira Knightley, Never Let Me Go; Chloe Grace Moretz, Kick-Ass; Chloe Grace Moretz, Let Me In; Maria Paiato, I Am Love; Daphne Rubin-Vega, Jack Goes Boating; Kristin Scott Thomas, Nowhere Boy; Tessa Thompson, For Colored Girls; Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom; Olivia Williams, The Ghost Writer Best Original Screenplay: Blue Valentine - Derek Cianfrance, Joey Curtis & Cami Delavigne I Am Love - Barbara Alberti, Ivan Cotroneo, Walter Fasano & Luca Guadagnino Inception - Christopher Nolan The Kids Are All Right - Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko A Prophet - Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri & Nicolas Peufaillit HONORABLE MENTION: Animal Kingdom, Black Swan, Dogtooth, Easy A, The King’s Speech, Mother, The Other Guys, Somewhere, Tiny Furniture Best Adapted Screenplay: Rabbit Hole - David Lindsay-Abaire Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin Toy Story 3 - Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich True Grit - Ethan Coen & Joel Coen HONORABLE MENTION: The Ghost Writer, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, How to Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Let Me In, Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours, Tangled, Winter’s Bone Best Ensemble: The Kids Are All Right Rabbit Hole Scott Pilgrim vs. the World The Social Network Toy Story 3 HONORABLE MENTION: Animal Kingdom, Black Swan, The Company Men, Dogtooth, Easy A, The Fighter, For Colored Girls, I Am Love, Inception, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, The King’s Speech, Shutter Island, Tiny Furniture, True Grit, Youth in Revolt Best Limited Performance - Male: Gabriele Ferzetti, I Am Love Michael Gambon, The King's Speech Frank Langella, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Barry Pepper, True Grit Douglas Urbanski, The Social Network HONORABLE MENTION: Dan Byrd, Easy A; Michael Caine, Inception; Chris Cooper, The Town; John Doman, The Company Men; Ralph Fiennes, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1; Derek Jacobi, Hereafter; Joseph Mazzello, The Social Network; Yum Ou-hyung, Mother; Pete Postlethwaite, The Town; Garry Shandling, Iron Man 2; Timothy Spall, The King’s Speech; David Threlfall, Nowhere Boy; Eli Wallach, The Ghost Writer; Eli Wallach, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; Jonathan B. Wright, Youth in Revolt Best Limited Performance - Female: Sally Hawkins, Never Let Me Go Rooney Mara, The Social Network Elizabeth Marvel, True Grit Sandra Oh, Rabbit Hole Imelda Staunton, Another Year HONORABLE MENTION: Patricia Clarkson, Easy A; Patricia Clarkson, Shutter Island; Macy Gray, For Colored Girls; Ellie Kemper, Somewhere; Lisa Kudrow, Easy A; Juliette Lewis, Conviction; Charlotte Rampling, Never Let Me Go; Nathalie Richard, Never Let Me Go; Winona Ryder, Black Swan; Merritt Wever, Tiny Furniture Breakthrough Performance: Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone Noomi Rapace, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit Miles Teller, Rabbit Hole HONORABLE MENTION: Marcela Alvarez, Biutiful; Christina Aguilera, Burlesque; Portia Doubleday, Youth in Revolt; James Frecheville, Animal Kingdom; Greta Gerwig, Greenberg; Alex Karpovsky, Tiny Furniture; Jemima Kirke, Tiny Furniture; Ellen Wong, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Best Film Editing: Black Swan - Andrew Weisblum I Am Love - Walter Fasano Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Jonathan Amos & Paul Machliss The Social Network - Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall True Grit - Roderick Jaynes HONORABLE MENTION: Animal Kingdom, Blue Valentine, Dogtooth, Exit Through the Gift Shop, The Fighter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Inception, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, The Kids Are All Right, The King’s Speech, Marwencol, Mother, Never Let Me Go, 127 Hours, A Prophet, Rabbit Hole, Tiny Furniture Best Cinematography: Black Swan - Matthew Libatique I Am Love - Yorick Le Saux Inception - Wally Pfister 127 Hours - Enrique Chediak & Anthony Dod Mantle True Grit - Roger Deakins HONORABLE MENTION: Animal Kingdom, Biutiful, Blue Valentine, Dogtooth, The Fighter, The Ghost Writer, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, The King’s Speech, Let Me In, Mother, Never Let Me Go, A Prophet, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Social Network, Somewhere, The Town Best Original Score: Inception - Hans Zimmer Never Let Me Go - Rachel Portman 127 Hours - A.R. Rahman Rabbit Hole - Anton Sanko The Social Network - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross HONORABLE MENTION: Alice in Wonderland, Biutiful, Despicable Me, The Ghost Writer, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, How to Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist, The King’s Speech, Let Me In, A Prophet, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Toy Story 3, True Grit Best Original Song: Burlesque - "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" - Diane Warren Despicable Me - "Prettiest Girls" - Pharrell Williams Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - "Black Sheep" - Emily Haines & James Shaw Tangled - "Mother Knows Best" - Alan Menken & Glenn Slater Waiting for "Superman" - "Shine" - John Legend HONORABLE MENTION: Burlesque - “Show Me How You Burlesque”; Country Strong - “Coming Home”; Country Strong - “Country Strong”; Despicable Me - “Despicable Me”; Greenberg - “Oh You (Christmas Blues)”; How to Train Your Dragon - “Sticks & Stones”; 127 Hours - “If I Rise”; Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - “Garbage Truck”; Tangled - “I See the Light”; Tangled - “When Will My Life Begin?”; Toy Story 3 - “We Belong Together” Best Art Direction: Black Swan - Therese DePrez & Tora Peterson Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - Stuart Craig & Stephenie McMillan I Am Love - Francesca Balestra Di Mottola & Monica Sironi Inception - Larry Dias, Guy Hendrix Dyas & Doug Mowat True Grit - Jess Gonchor & Nancy Haigh HONORABLE MENTION: Alice in Wonderland, Dogtooth, Iron Man 2, The King’s Speech, Made in Dagenham, Never Let Me Go, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Shutter Island, The Social Network Best Costume Design: Black Swan - Amy Westcott Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - Janty Yates I Am Love - Atonella Cannarozzi The King's Speech - Jenny Beaven True Grit - Mary Zophres HONORABLE MENTION: Alice in Wonderland, Dogtooth, Get Low, Inception, Iron Man 2, Made in Dagenham, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Sex and the City 2, Shutter Island, The Social Network Best Makeup: Black Swan Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 A Prophet Shutter Island True Grit HONORABLE MENTION: Alice in Wonderland, Barney’s Version, Burlesque, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I Am Love, Kick-Ass, The King’s Speech, Let Me In, 127 Hours, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Runaway, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Best Sound Mixing: Inception 127 Hours Scott Pilgrim vs. the World The Social Network True Grit HONORABLE MENTION: Alice in Wonderland, Black Swan, Burlesque, The Fighter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, How to Train Your Dragon, Iron Man 2, Kick-Ass, The King’s Speech, Let Me In, Mother, A Prophet, Shutter Island, Tangled, The Town, Toy Story 3 Best Sound Editing: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Inception 127 Hours A Prophet True Grit HONORABLE MENTION: Alice in Wonderland, Black Swan, Despicable Me, Hereafter, How to Train Your Dragon, Iron Man 2, Kick-Ass, Let Me In, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Shutter Island, The Town, Toy Story 3 Best Visual Effects: Alice in Wonderland Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Inception Iron Man 2 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World HONORABLE MENTION: The A-Team, Black Swan, Hereafter, How to Train Your Dragon, Kick-Ass, Let Me In, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Shutter Island, Toy Story 3 Best Foreign-Language Film: Biutiful - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Dogtooth - Yorgos Lanthimos I Am Love - Luca Guadagnino Mother - Bong Joon-ho A Prophet - Jacques Audiard HONORABLE MENTION: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Illusionist, White Material Best Documentary: Best Worst Movie - Michael Stephenson Exit Through the Gift Shop - Banksy Marwencol - Jeff Malmberg Restrepo - Tim Hetherington & Sebastian Junger Waking Sleeping Beauty - Don Hahn HONORABLE MENTION: Catfish, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Gasland, Inside Job, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The Tillman Story, Waiting for “Superman”, Waste Land Best Animated Film: Despicable Me - Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud How to Train Your Dragon - Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders The Illusionist - Sylvain Chomet Tangled - Nathan Greno & Byron Howard Toy Story 3 - Lee Unkrich HONORABLE MENTION: Megamind, Shrek Forever After Every 2010 Film I've Seen: Ranked

[lurkofficial-blog]

Chapter Seven

~~~ Nightfall's POV ~~~ The demonic girl sits in one of the higher boughs of the tree, poised, as if she's an owl benevolently gazing down upon the dark forest below. Her bright, bloodshot eyes, with only her cross-shaped pupils creating a silhouette against them, gleam and shine with the few rays of sunlight that can pierce the forest's darkness. She likes these woods she's found. It's quiet and dark, what with the canopy being so thick, and the only civilization nearby is a secluded little town. It'll make finding normal human food a bit harder, but oh well! She can live with it! Just so long as she has a safe place to hide from the media. That darn media! It's always following her everywhere! When it comes to serious things like the human press, this is the only way in which she can stand to think about it.

She looks around, sniffing the air to pick up scents. Unfortunately, it seems she's not alone. Other lurks are in the area. The closest one smells like a fox passive. Oh, how cute! She loves foxes. And there's a wolf shade, too! Oh, what if they're both little baby ones? she thinks in excitement. If they are, maybe I could pet them! I love puppies! She giggles to herself and continues to search for scents. There's a last one, one that's just a bit past the fox and the wolf: a demonic. Hopefully a nice one who wants to make friends! She suddenly picks up a separate scent and decides to give it some attention, too; it's closer to her. It's another passive. And it smells......vaguely familiar. She spots the blind lurk hardly a second after she recognizes his scent. As he runs directly into the tree where the girl is perched, he falls back, spreading out like a starfish on the ground, and looks up at her, though his eyes are white and sightless. "Hey, candy corn and fireworks... Is that you, Nightfall?" he calls up to her with a big smile. "Is it really you, dude?" Nightfall grins widely as she recognizes the scent of her old friend, showing every one of her frighteningly long and sharp teeth. "Cameron!" she exclaims, swiftly jumping down and landing right next to him. "It is me! And it's you, too!" She scoops him up off the ground and pulls him into an enormous bear hug, laughing and twirling in a circle as she does so. "I haven't seen you in a whole year, Cam-Cam! A whole year!" "Yeah! So much has happened!" the small boy replies cheerfully. "I was traveling a bunch all over the country on a motorcycle, but only now did I ram it into a tree! Talk about luck, right?" He snickers. "What about you, Nighty?" Nightfall sets the much smaller passive bull down, being careful not to get one of his long horns caught in her hair, which is thick, curly, and bright pink. "I've been traveling, too! Except I've just been city-hopping like a frog! I raided tons of Seven-Elevens, Cam, tons of them! Still didn't get to see what I look like, though, but....Hey! Guess what?? There are other lurks here, too! I smelled some close ones!" She speaks with a slight lisp. "Small world," Cameron replies, snickering again. He puts one of his hands on Nightfall's arm, being too short to reach any higher. His hands are a light blue-gray, covered in fuzz. They're missing two fingers. "Nighty, y'know I'd tell you what you looked like, but..." He taps his cheek. "Look on the bright side! At least you don't see bleak black nothingness all your life! Haha!" He pauses. "Though we really should introduce ourselves to those lurks. Maybe they're friendly?" "Oh, yes, that's just what I was thinking!" Nightfall exclaims. "I know what types they are, too----A wolf shade and a passive fox! I bet they're both little cutie pies!" Her long, plated tail swings over in excitement, but one of the bladelike spikes lining it accidentally gets stuck in the bark of a small tree nearby. "Whoops!" She tugs it free before taking one of Cameron's small, three-fingered hands in her gnarled claws and pulling him towards the scents. "Come on, let's meet them!" Cameron sniffs the air strongly, making his large nose ring flip up as he jerks his head back. "The shade and other passive are pretty close... Hey!" he exclaims with a sudden idea. "How about I go find that demonic and befriend him, you go talk to the closer ones, and we can meet in the middle in one big friendly group?" Nightfall nods enthusiastically, letting go of Cameron's hand. "Yes, that's a great idea! Just make sure you don't get hurt on the way, little bull blue!" Nightfall giggles and nudges him in the direction of the demonic, away from her. She waves, grinning widely. "See you in a bii-iiit!" Cameron waves blankly towards her, very slightly off to the right. He turns around, swiveling on his foot, walking in the direction of the demonic's scent. His long fuzzy tail flicks back and forth behind him before he leaps into a bush, out of sight. Nightfall turns and scurries up the side of a wider tree, soon getting lost in the branches above. She crawls through the nest of leaves until she's directly above the origin of the shade and passive scents. As she gazes down at them, she gasps. "Wooow, look how small they are!" she whispers to herself. She then flips over backward, hanging upside down, and grins at the two lurks, flashing her vicious fangs. "Hi there!" she shouts. The fox passive--who looks much more human than Nightfall anticipated--lets out a small yelp as she stumbles and falls backwards with her hands caught in her pockets; she doesn't have enough time to pull them out and catch herself. She lands and hits her head on a rock, temporarily disorienting her. She mutters a barely audible curse to herself and puts her hand on the back of her head, rubbing it. The girl looks up and meets Nightfall's eyes, flinching noticeably when she sees her. The wolf shade, on the other hand, quickly covers his mouth with his plump hand, letting out a muffled scream. He stumbles back until he trips on a twig and falls backwards onto a tree, scraping the middle of his back on the bark. He winces, sinking to sit on the ground. He looks up at Nightfall for a brief second before quickly turning away again in horror. Nightfall giggles and drops down to the ground, making the two lurks flinch again, and rolls onto her back before getting to her feet. When she draws herself up to her full height, she ends up being a little over a foot taller than the passive girl. She looks between the two of them, beaming. "Awwww, hi there, you little cuties! I thought you'd be the animal type instead of the marked type, but, ohh, you are both still just soooo cute!" She turns to the shorter, chubbier wolf shade, who still looks terrified. She grins at him and starts to walk towards him, her long-clawed hand outstretched. When he only whimpers and curls up against the tree, she slows down, trying a more gentle approach, and speaks more softly as he looks up again. "Awww, don't worry, little pup, I'm not gonna hurt you! I just want to be your friend! Can I pet you?? Whoa, you're fluffy, can I pat your head??" She gingerly leans down and sets one of her claws atop his head. She then starts stroking it in an effort to calm him down. Once he realizes she isn't going to hurt him, he relaxes a bit and meets her eyes with his wide ones, his tail beginning to thump lightly against the ground. "Your hair is so sooooft," she whispers. Nightfall then turns to the passive fox girl, setting her free hand on the ground and ruffling the wolf boy's hair with the other; he seems to like being petted. She softens her uncomfortably wide smile and sits down on the ground so as not to scare the fox with her towering height. "Don't worry, Foxy, I won't hurt you, either! Why would I do that?" The fox girl quickly scrambles to get up, but does not reply immediately. She stares and the demonic for a moment before letting out a slow breath. "God, what is it with you all? Why are there so many?" Nightfall gets to her feet, now smiling sadly as she peers down at the lurk girl. "I'm just a kid from an experiment, but the rest of them must be either from the one before mine or marked." Her voice is a bit deeper as she speaks of this, and she holds her more melancholy smile. "Don't worry, little fox. Even if I don't look like it, I wouldn't kill you. How could I kill a couple of sweet little cuties, especially when they're just other kids?" She looks back to the boy, whom she's still patting on the head, and her grin widens to return to its happy state. "I just want to make friends, that's all! My friend does, too!" Nightfall's long, rather batlike ears perk up as she picks up Cameron's scent gain. "In fact, I think he may be close by! Say, don't you have a demonic friend? I smell him, too!" She springs past the passive girl and points in front of her. "They're this way! Oh, I can't wait, he'll be so excited to meet the two of you! Come on, I'll lead you there!" She looks back and sees the shade boy looking a bit disoriented and disappointed now that she's stopped petting him. She smiles at him and waves him over, but he hesitates, exchanging an anxious glance with the passive girl. Nightfall tries to reassure them. "Don't worry, he's only a passive, and he's a real sweetie! Come on, let's go!" The two smaller lurks exchange glances once again before the wolf takes a few tentative steps forward, waiting for the fox to follow. She shrugs tensely and does so, closely following the boy. Nightfall continues to grin as she looks back at them. "Come on, little ducks all in a row, follow me!" ~~~ Cameron's POV ~~~ Cameron confidently marches through the forest, occasionally running into a tree here and there. He shakes himself out each time. Finally, he remarks to himself, "Man, I've really gotta work on my other senses before I give myself another concussion." He snickers at his own comment. The passive bull continues to wander through the woodland, a happy smile on his face. He's extremely glad to see Nightfall again, since he hasn't seen her since last year. He's also excited to meet the three other lurks, since he absolutely loves new people. Cameron takes another big sniff of the air, hitting himself in the face with his nosering as he jerks his head. He narrows his blank eyes, finalizing the scent in his mind. "Pine trees, caramel popcorn, and clothes straight out of the dryer..." The small Mexican boy leans up against a tree, feeling his way slowly around it. He trips on a root, and, completely caught off-guard, is launched down a hill he didn't know existed before. He laughs the whole way down before speeding in at the bottom of it, rolling through a bush and slamming himself into the ground hard. "What the---?" a deep voice says from above him. Cameron immediately leaps up and waves at whoever's in front of him. "Guten tag, bonjour, hola, greetings! How are you?" he gives a big grin and stares forward into blank black nothingness. "I'm... fine, I suppose," the apparent demonic replies rather hesitantly. "What are you doing in my forest?" "Your forest?" Cameron's head snaps back towards the deep yet gentle voice. "Last time I checked, bub, nature made the trees and therefore cannot be claimed!" "It was a figure of speech," the lurk mumbles. "Plus, you haven't answered my question yet." Cameron rubs the back of his head, messing up his blue-green hair. "Well, I'm Cameron Berling Di'Algerez, and I'm the coolest uncool kid you'll ever meet!" He pauses to get back on topic. "I ran into a tree on my motorcycle and it blew up, so I'm here now," he says. "To put it in the simplest of explanations." "How did you manage to do that?" the demonic says back. Cameron can tell by how he speaks that he's holding back laughter. "I'm blind, excuse you," the bull boy replies sassily. "You're blind?" the demonic replies, a bit surprised. "Is that a result of being a lurk or just a natural thing?" "Natural," Cameron replies, getting bored of the conversation... and fast. He lets out a whine like a puppy begging to play. "I'm a marked lurk type, if you couldn't already tell. I obviously can't." He scoots a little closer towards the demonic's voice, eventually reaching him and touching his stomach. "I wonder what you look like..." "Uh..." The lurk trails off, tensing up as Cameron rubs his belly before grabbing hold of his arms. They feel muscular with big pulsing veins, and Cameron pokes around at them a bit. "Do you... do you mind?" Cameron's fluffy bull ears perk straight up as he hears a sudden sound from behind him. He steps away from the much taller lurk. "Ooooh, Nightfall is back!" His tail begins to lash back and forth as turns his head towards the sound and faces a bush. "Who's Nightfall?" The demonic replies hesitantly. "Wait, are you two here together? Was this planned?" Cameron smells Nightfall's familiar sweet scent and hears a mighty thump follow after it. He assumes she's jumped out from somewhere. "Hellooooo!" she exclaims. "Oh, oh, are you that demonic I smelled? Oh, good, you've met my friend Cameron already! That's great! I'm bringing the two smaller ones over as well, so they can meet him, too, and we'll have so much fun!" "I assume that you're Nightfall?" the demonic says immediately. "What is this fun you're talking about?" "It's just such a nice thing to meet other lurks!" Cameron's friend exclaims in return. "Ooh, perhaps we can travel in a great big band together? Or, maybe, we can all settle down here!" She laughs. "I don't have bad intentions, trust me, I really just do love meeting new friends! Now I have four of them, woohoo!" She giggles again before something evidently catches her attention. "Oh, good, good, they've followed me! Cameron, Cameron, come here, here are the other two! They're adorable, come meet them!" "The other two??" Cameron replies, his tail flicking wildly. He swivels himself around towards new scents. In one cluster of smells, there's berries, cheesecake, and fresh paper. In another, there's firewood, an entire Thanksgiving dinner, and some lemon zest. He supposedly walks towards the two, but instead runs directly into another tree, causing him to step back. "Fourteen years, and I'm still not used to blindness," he snickers. he turns back around, rubbing his nose and messing with his nosering. "So, what's up with you two? Wanna start a cool gang?" "Cool gang?" A young, quiet voice says. This puzzles him; he'd imagined both the wolf and the fox to be less scared-smelling. "Um----I'm not all that cool, but----wait a second, I'm just, uh, really confused--You seem nice, but--who even are you guys?" "I think I'm better at explaining this than you, Nighty," Cameron says before his demonic friend can reply. "Y'know how LASED made lurks in the first place, right? Well after that whole experiment was a bust, some idiot decided to test four human children with each type of lurk. It was called Project Nightfall. I have barely a clue where Poussin and Kile went, but here's Nightfall and I! I'm the passive, as you can tell, and she's the demonic." He shrugs. "That's it, really!" "Oh, so---you came from a lab? And you escaped? And---you're, uh----just k-k-kids, like us? I can't believe they did that---experimented on human kids, I mean," the weak-sounding boy timidly replies, his breath catching in his throat. Cameron senses movement. "Umm----nice to meet you, my, uh, my name's Colin." Cameron stands there with a smile. "I'm Cameron Berling Di'Algerez, and I'm the coolest uncool kid you'll ever meet!" Man, does he love saying that. Colin seems to hesitate before something hits him. "Uhh, I was going to---shake hands," he says, a bit embarrassed. "Oh!" Cameron exclaims, reaching out and slapping Colin across the face. "Whoops, that's your face." He pokes him down the neck, down his thick arm, and finally reaches his pudgy hand. "Aha!" He shakes it. "There we go, all formal-like." He hears Colin mutter a quiet "ouch" before moving away. Cameron hears more hesitant movement coming from just behind the shade. The dinner-and-lemon-zest smell gets a tiny bit more pungent. "And, uh----This is Ren," Colin says, introducing her awkwardly. "She's my very good friend." Cameron stands there, his expression never shifting. "Oh! Cool. I'd shake your hand, too, but I don't want to risk slapping someone else, so..." He finger-guns towards wherever he suspects Ren to be. "...Yeah, finger-guns are good enough! Haha!" Nightfall chuckles. "Classic Cameron!" she exclaims, her lisp especially strong on 'classic'. "Oh, I should have introduced myself before, but my name's Nightfall! Well, not really, of course, but everyone's called me that since I led the rebellion a year ago, when I was fourteen! Boy, that sure was fun!" Cameron senses her leaning down over Colin and Ren, observing them some more. "You two are still just the cutest little things," she says to them. "You're both so much shorter than me! Especially you, Wolfy," she giggles. Cameron assumes she's saying this to Colin. He notices her spinning around to face someone else: the demonic he met. "Oh, and what's your name, tall guy?" "I'm Exxy," says Exxy in a somewhat less hesitant way. "So, what's this 'cool gang' you two are talking about?" "What we're saying is, we should all band together!" Nightfall squeals in an excited, high-pitched voice. "Then there will be five of us, and we can all live together and be happy! There aren't many humans around here, right?" Cameron hears the sound of shifting feet coming from where Colin's standing. "There's a town close by," Colin's timid voice says, "but----they're usually pretty, uh, scared of---monsters and things in the forest, and they probably won't bother us. It's dangerous to go into the forest, they say, so---we won't if we can help it." He pauses for a moment as if he's realizing the flaw in his statement. "I mean---they won't." "Wow, nice!" Nightfall says, sighing contentedly. "I sure like it here. Do you live here? Hmmmm, you know---Besides Cameron, of course---how old even are you? Are you kids, too??" "I'm sixteen and yeah, I live here," Exxy says simply. "Have for the past ten years." "O-Oh," a stuttering, more feminine voice speaks up shyly; Cameron guesses that this is Ren's voice. "I, uh- I'm s-sixteen. I was only just m-marked about a dayish ago." "Wow!" Cameron exclaims. "By the way, you smell, it's more like... eh, twelvish days or so. How were you marked, exactly? That usually affects how fast the mutation is." Ren presumably moves; Cameron can hear the soft rustle of fabric. "I just w-was scratched here," she says. She hesitates, then clarifies, "Oh! Uh, I mean, I was scratched a little bit on-on, uh, my neck and a-around my collarbone." "Yep, that's going straight to your heart and aaaaaaaall around your system," Cameron replies matter-of-factly. "Oh," Colin says quietly. "Uh---well, I just turned fourteen about a couple months ago, but----I got marked about five days ago. Mostly just this bite on my wrist," he mutters. Cameron senses movement; he assumes he's holding up his arm. "There's, also, uh--a bunch of little scratches on the, uh, left part of my stomach, and they're all deep, and they hurt," he adds, pausing for a second before continuing hesitantly. "Does it---Does it make it worse that there are so many?" "Definitely," Cameron replies. "The more scratches or bites you have, the more DNA goes into you. The more in the bloodstream, the faster the mutation. Simple, really," he finishes. "Ohh, gee," Colin mumbles worriedly. A short silence follows before Nightfall's singsong voice speaks up in a rather hushed tone, though it slowly grows in volume. "Caaam-eroon," she muses, "Guess whom I smell nearby! It's the guy who took us away, remember him? Haha, of course you do! Don't we all?" Her voice rises to a shout, and Cameron hears her raking her clawed feet through the dirt. "He's nearby-y!" Cameron's eyes widen, staring at nothing. "Really? Wow, I've been searching for him for so long! Y'know, about over a year??" He digs his foot into the ground like a bull about to charge. "Oh man, let's go take him down memory lane!" "Not so fast," warns Exxy, placing a large hand over Cameron's chest. He puffs out his lower lip before taking a step back, ears folded as if he's pouting. Exxy continues anyway. "Let's not jump to conclusions here. I didn't trust him any more than you two at first, but from what I've experienced, he's getting better. He might be a friend to us." "Woah woah woah, let me get this straight," Cameron growls, raising his weird hands. "You're trying to ally with him? We're talking about the same guy, right? Doctor Stephen Miya? High up in LASED? In charge of every single experiment even slightly related to lurks? Made the species in the first place? Ally with him??" "Y-Yeah," Colin stammers, stepping back a bit when Cameron starts acting more irritated; the bull can smell his fear. "If we--I mean, you---kill him, the place he works at----LASED or something, right?----will come looking for him, and, well, I don't want them to find us," he whimpers, his voice quickly softening. "I'm afraid they're going to do something horrible, and I don't want that to happen, so---we could maybe make friends?" "Lemme tell ya something, short stuff," Cameron grumbles, swiping at the air before reaching an arm around Colin's neck, hand dangling over his shoulder. Though he said short stuff, Cameron is clearly shorter, and he knows it. "It's obvious that you believe in the whole people can change shit, but Dr. Miya is something different. He can't and won't change. I know it." He waves his hand in dismissal. "Give up on him before you get attached, or else you'll be the one getting hurt. Anyone messed up enough in the head to genetically advance--" He draws quotation marks with his fingers. "--both animals and children, putting them through undoubtedly painful experiments just to make another pointless U.S. weapon..." He pauses for dramatic effect. "...cannot change. End of story." Colin pulls away from Cameron's embrace. "But---w-what else are we supposed to do? We can't kill him, that'll only make it worse! Are you sure he can't change? It seemed like he regretted things plenty!" He pauses. "Can we go see him in the treehouse? M-Maybe you could---talk to him?" Cameron blinks, surprised. "Talk? Was he actually talking to you before? Not just trying to kill you?" "I---Yeah, he did," Colin stammers, still sounding rather intimidated. "He---Came here with a stunner, but---uh, he----backed off once he realized we were marked ones. He ap-apologized for, uh---scaring me." He pauses to take a few shaky breaths. "He d-didn't hurt me." Cameron doesn't crack another smile. He knows Dr. Miya just as well as Nightfall and the two others. He knows how horrible of a man he is. Why would he, of all people, apologize? He turns towards Nightfall's scent with a frown. "Nighty?" Nightfall's high-pitched voice rings with anger and hatred. "He kept me cut off from my friends in a room by myself with my arms and legs chained down so I couldn't escape," she snarls. "If that wretched scoundrel really has come around, I'll have to see it with my own two eyes!" "There's your answer," Cameron says finally. "I guess we can talk to him, though I highly doubt what you're saying here, guys." "He said we could find him in the treehouse if we needed anything," Exxy chimes in. "I assume he's still there." "Lead the way, X-man!" Cameron brightens up the mood and salutes him. As soon as the pine-smelling lurk begins moving, he follows close behind. He doesn't want to run into any more trees.