#i'm actually really looking forward to seeing the creed movies

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

up at 2 this morning, then 5, then finally began my day at 6 (this is just what it’s like when i’m off ADHD meds and then go back on them, i have some days at first with only 2-5 hours of sleep.). 

but with my favorite coffee (ilu @bethanyactuallyactually) and new pretty yarn (i'm grateful to @actuallylukedanes for that because their nonstop cheering of my new hobby means i always feel like i can buy cute yarn if i want to, even if i don't 'need' it) i'm facing the day.

once caffeine kicks in i'll be working on movie reviews or editing or both, and later i have to watch both ant-man movies because tomorrow i get to go see the new one, and i know i'll hate the cgi but i'm sooooo excited about the cast, especially jonathan majors. i can't wait.

(and yes, most people probably would not have bought a ticket to the third movie in a franchise when they don't actually know if they like the franchise yet. i am not most people. just like with the creed movies, which i also have to catch up on to see the new one, i'm gonna support jonathan major's movie career either way--plus michelle pfeiffer's in the ant-man world somewhere, my lifelong crush, and who doesn't enjoy paul rudd?)

so despite my inability to sleep well lately, i'm determined to make it a good day. coffee and crochet and podcasts is a good start.

[teddybeartoji]

i have a questionnnnn

do you like video games?

and do you know baldur's gate 3 and final fantasy 7?

i got into those during my last vacations and idk why it never occurred to me to ask you even tho i am obsessed with astarion and sephiroth (it's always the white haired guys my taste is so predictable) and cloud but that's another thing

the characterization in both of those games is soooo good especially if you watch almost everything ff7 related like i did (takes a while though)

anyways i felt you could do them justice if you were to write about them, especially astarion. ngl i was very disappointed when i went on socials, as usual, to consume content about the media i just watched and i was very shocked in a bad way

not by the quality, there's just tons of thirst edits for example and while i agree his character is pretty and everything, it kinda hurt cuz it just went against his WHOLE character arc ... i was very disappointed with the fandom haha

same with sephiroth, though i didnt resent as much cuz his story isn't about the fact of being sexualized against his will

UGH I LOVE BOTH OF THEM SO MUCH. SORRY FOR THE RAMBLING -

anyways yeah i love media in general, series/movies/games you name it as long as there's a story or just one character that i rlly like i'll love it

so i was wondering what games you liked... or media in general at this point, except the movies you posted about

also no pressure but is there a system with asks? are they removed from your inbox if you answer them? are they automatically deleted after some time? just to know cuz i haven't gotten an answer to mine and i'm scared i might've said something bad! esp since i read badly your rules and didn't see a negation and maybe said smth about looking forward to a next part :') smh

HELLOO NONNIEE:3333 I LOVE VIDEO GAMESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i have only heard abt baldur's gate and final fantasy sadly!!!! i have nothing against them they just don't necessarily seem my type of games.. BALDUR'S GATE CHARACTER CREATION SEEMS SO FUCKING FUN THOUGH OMFGGG

and i've definitely seen and heard a lot of astarion!!!!!!!!!! i've also seen some stuff abt him being really overly sexualized right????? his character seems so cool i would love to get to know him better wahh i really do wanna try baldur's gate one day!!!!!!! and unfortunately i only know sephiroth by name too:((( i'm sorry to disappoint u nonnie baby:(((

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH VIDEO GAMES I LIKEEEE!!!!! my all time favourite is definitely the last of us part 2!!!!!!!!!!!! i am on my like... sixth playthrough on that lmao i'm doing it on grounded so yk wish me luck!!!!! anywayy i ofc like the first one too but man.. the second one hits harder for me tbh. then i really fucking love ghost of tsushima, i'm actually replaying it rn too hehe.

honorable mentions go to rdr2, until dawn, the newest dead space remake, god of war, disco elysium, the resident evil games, assassin's creed (i know a lot of ppl don't like these all that much but idk i think they're really fun!! esp black flag and odyssey)(ok i am biased bc these were like my first games ever lmao), days gone (this is another that most think is rather lame but again.. i think it's really fucking fun i have nothing against it) aaaand death stranding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaahh so many games damn i might've forgotten some but these are some that i really love!!!!!!!!!!!! i have played almost all of them multiple times too lmao that's crazy

for overall media i'd just give a lil shoutout to the 'mindhunter' series on netflix!!!!!!!!!!!!! i absolutely fucking looove that show!!!!!!!! i've seen that multiple times too i love the characters and just the way it's done overall!!!!!!!!! also 'manic' i think that's a netflix one too.. that's a really short one but idk it changed me okay i think it's fucking great

OMGG AND WAAAHHH TRUST THAT I STILL HAVE YOUR ASK!!! I AM JUST REALLY SLOW WITH ANSWERING THEM SO I AM VERY SORRY ABT THAT!!!!!!! and you definitely haven't crossed any lines either, so it's one hundred percent on me!!!!!!!!! the thing is that i get a bit overwhelmed when i have to answer things which sounds ridiculous bc I LOOOOVEEEE TALKING TO YOU GUYSSS my brain just sucks okay i'm sorry

[at-thezenith]

thank you for tagging me @vcaudley! back from holidays so time to get back into things :)

A scent you love: jasmine!

What's something you're looking forward to this week? my friend is hositng a starfinder game tomorrow and i'm excited to start playing! my character is a very nervous brenneri (otter-esque humanoid) and i love him. his name is safety pin.

What's a book you're currently reading? i am finally reading little women! i haven't really read a lot of classics for fun since university, so i thought that since i loved the film so much (and planning on watching the 1994 and 2017 adaptions) i would get the book on my kindle. have been tearing through it on the trains and so far adoring it.

What's a game you're currently playing? i am working my way (still) through assassin's creed: valhalla. with games, i do have to limit myself with times because i am apt to spend hours on them and forget that i should be doing other things, oops.

What's the most recent movie you watched? i watched the perfect find on netflix last night. absolutely do not recommend. it could have been so good, had workplace romance, age gaps, mid-life crises, and yet... i'm not an advocate for 3 hour movies, but i felt like this movie needed at least another hour to answer all the questions i had.

Are you watching anything on TV or listening to any shows? i have two shows i want to watch - good omens season 2 and heartstopper. i have been dodging spoilers like nothing on earth these past few days and i think i have to just turn my phone off and watch asap. i'm listening to the off menu podcast at the moment, surprisingly really engaging since i adore james acaster.

Favourite season? - autumn. dear god i cannot wait for the proper weather to wear cute outfits and jumpers. i would have enjoyed summer more if it hadn't been raining 24/7, but all it's doing is making me crave september.

What's something you've learned recently? i found out from a podcast recently that people actually live full time on cruise ships. not particularly mind-blowing, but it was to me. what do you mean you've turned travelling on the sea, not seeing land for multiple weeks at a time, the inherent homoeroticism of the bond between you and your crewmates, into something so entirely boring??

Have you had any water lately? yes i have, i am trying to fend off a cold and drowning the germs in the finest british tap water.

gently tagging: @sarah-sandwich-writes, @fleurtygurl and @silvertalonwritblr! hope you have more exciting facts than me

[lifeofkaze]

When Stars Ignite - Chapter 22

A/N: Welcome back to part 3/5 of the madness that is our Rockstar AU! I hope you buckled up, because you're in for a ride. The lovely KC belongs to @kc-and-oc

General Warning: This whole fic has a general warning of being NSFW / 18+. We will give specific warnings for every chapter in itself, but several adult themes will be more or less present in every chapter, may it be explicitly or in mention. These include sexual topics, drug abuse, (ab)use of alcohol, smoking and a whole lot of cursing.

Specific Warning: none

~~~

Find the masterpost here, the previous chapter here and the next one here. The songs featured before every chapter can be found on this pretty badass playlist here.

~~~

This work is a collaboration with @the-al-chemist

Taglist: @slytherindisaster @night-rhea @carewyncromwell @thatravenpuffwitch

Cause the light I shine on you

Is what you gave to me

I'm a crystal clear and true

I'm your cairn and creed

~ Kamelot - The Light I Shine On You ~

It felt good to be back in Manchester again.

Ever since Orion had seen the schedule for their U.K tour, he had been looking forward to going up north; after all, what else could better help form their path into the future than revisiting their past?

He remembered the night he and Merula had played on an open stage on the campus of the MMU, where he had studied philosophy at the time.

It had been just the two of them, like it had always been. Their performance had been really good; good enough to spark the interest of a certain girl with a bad reputation, colourful hair and a family name to open every door in the music industry with a snap of her fingers.

Skye had introduced them to her roommate Lizzie, and the rest, as they said, was history.

Orion had hoped a return to their roots would relieve the increasing tension that had been growing between the members of the band. What had started in London with Everett being unhappy about Orion’s new role on stage had developed into an issue on their way through Birmingham and Liverpool.

It wasn’t like Everett would openly complain - as the creative mind of Equinox Orion had the bigger influence and both of them knew that - but his resentment was clear to see from the unfriendly looks he was giving Orion whenever Ethan wasn’t there.

The general tension wasn’t helped by the fact that the show they were to play for some of the label’s execs was drawing nearer. There wasn’t a time in the day where Ethan didn’t stress how their performance that night was of the utmost importance; everything would have to be perfect.

The only ones mostly unperturbed by the strained atmosphere were Lizzie and Orion. Where the others were constantly reminded of what was at stake, they had their own ways of distracting themselves from the increased pressure.

Lizzie had told Orion about Andre’s remark on their last morning in Birmingham, and a part of him couldn’t help but agree; they should be taking more care to not get caught. Orion was aware that they were acting unprofessional, but he couldn’t help himself either.

Lizzie’s bright spirit had become addictive to him; when he was with her, he felt at ease with himself, and his doubts and dark thoughts he usually poured into his music were all but forgotten.

They were spending most of their nights together these days, and even if they weren’t sleeping with each other, they would just watch a movie together, or read, or talk the night away.

With Lizzie next to him, the bad dreams Orion had had ever since he was a child had stopped; and even if the amount of time he actually slept these days was greatly reduced, Orion had never felt so rested before.

The fact that so many people knew about them by now had worried him in the beginning; but after his first moment of apprehension had died down, Orion had come to appreciate the perks of it. With most of their friends being more or less in the picture, things were a lot less complicated than before.

Although neither Merula nor Skye were particularly keen on the situation, neither had commented any further on it. Orion knew Merula was only protective of him, and while he did feel sorry for putting Skye in a conflict of interest with her father, he was thankful she had chosen to keep Ethan out of it.

What had surprised him was an off-hand remark Lizzie had made about Charlie the other day; Orion had had no idea Lizzie’s old friend had known about them in the first place.

“We used to spend most of our free time together. But since I’m with you all the time and he’s busy taming Artemis, we haven’t seen a lot of each other lately.”

“So you just told him?”

Lizzie had merely shrugged, obviously more comfortable with the thought than him. “He asked.”

Orion and Charlie had known each other for a long time but they weren’t particularly close. Lizzie was happy with the situation, though, so it had been enough for Charlie to not dwell on it any further.

The only ones not in the picture of the state of things seemed to be Ethan and Everett.

Judging by the looks Everett was giving them at times, Orion wouldn’t have bet his money on him not guessing it, though; but if he suspected anything, he didn’t let it show. And even so, Orion doubted it would have stopped Everett from acting like he always did; if anything, it would have incited him even further.

As if to prove his point, Orion’s eyes wandered over the stage where they were currently going through their soundcheck.

Lizzie and Everett were standing side by side, both of them waiting for their turn in checking their instruments.

Everett was talking to Lizzie with a self-confident smirk on his face and standing a lot closer to her than Orion would have liked. Lizzie was trying to keep a friendly face, but when she caught Orion’s gaze, she briefly rolled her eyes.

With his focus trained on Lizzie, Orion didn’t listen to any of the questions Murphy was asking him about the sound quality of his in-ears. His attention was brutally brought back to the game when a grumpy looking Murphy fiddled with a regulator on his switchboard and a high-pitched sound pierced Orion’s ear drums.

He ripped the tiny monitors out of his ears and glared at his friend, who was making his way over to the stage. “What was that for?”

“Seeing as you weren’t responding to my questions at all, I figured turning up the sound by a good 150 % might help. Just in case you couldn’t hear me,” Murphy answered with a smirk. “And lo and behold, I got your attention and was right. I’m always right.”

“No one can always be right.”

“95.4 % of the time I am,” Murphy dismissed Orion’s remark with a wave of his hand.

Orion made a noncommittal sound in response, his attention already elsewhere; Charlie was done with working on Merula’s keyboard and had wandered over to free Lizzie from Everett’s approaches.

“Proving my point, it seems like I was right again when it comes to the cause of your uncharacteristic loss of focus,” Murphy said, the corners of his mouth twitching.

Feeling called out, Orion averted his eyes, heat creeping up his neck. “The way Ev won’t leave Lizzie alone is concerning,” he muttered under his breath, so that Murphy had to lean forward to hear him.

“In a way, his will to achieve what he sets his mind to is admirable, but with Lizzie it is thoroughly misplaced. A dance without a partner willing to join in is not a dance but a mirror of yourself,” Orion frowned, “He shouldn’t hit on her like that.”

Murphy chuckled. “You’re not really in a position to be mad at anyone for flirting with her. You’re not…” Murphy trailed off, something that Orion had only seen him do a handful of times. A series of emotions flickered over Murphy’s face - realisation, followed by astonishment, and then something a lot softer Orion couldn’t immediately place.

He tilted his head and watched Orion with this curious expression for a moment. Exhaling slowly, he waved over to the raised platform in the auditorium where KC was in the process of programming the lightshow. When she saw her husband motioning to her, she shut her laptop and came over to them.

“What’s the matter?”

Murphy looked at her seriously. “We need someone with a little more experience here.”

“I’m as experienced as they come, my love,” she grinned at her husband, “but mindreading is not one of my many talents.”

Murphy’s eyes flickered to Orion, who was watching the exchange with a calm curiosity; he had no idea what Murphy was on about.

“I think Orion might have gone a little too far,” Murphy told his wife in a serious voice.

KC looked at him with the same confusion Orion felt before comprehension got hold of her.

“Oh,” was all she could say.

Her big blue eyes flicked between her friend and the platform where Lizzie and Charlie were working; the look in them was soft and almost the same Orion had seen on Murphy earlier. But this time he realised what it was: Pity.

Not quite sure what was going on, Orion furrowed his brow. “I know the two of you share a bond so close I sometimes wonder whether you are, in fact, able to read each other’s minds,” he said slowly, trying to make sense of the apprehensive look shared between his friends. “But I am exempt from this connection, I’m afraid. Would any of you care to tell me what is troubling you?”

Murphy looked at KC. “You do that, that’s your kind of thing.”

“Sweetie, can it be that this ‘friends with benefits’ thing might have outgrown you a little?” KC asked carefully.

Orion tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“How do I put this,” KC sighed. She looked at Murphy for assistance, but the soundmanager only shrugged. “Could it perhaps be that you have started developing feelings for Lizzie?”

“Absolutely not,” Orion said firmly.

“Looking at it objectively - which you know I always can be counted on to be - the signs are all there,” Murphy jumped to KC’s side. “The way you look at her has changed from how it was before, and the duration of time you spend watching her is significantly longer, too. I’m not the only one who has noticed that you are a lot more balanced lately, for lack of a better word, and if there’s one thing I’ve never seen on you before it is being annoyed at how Ev is talking to her.”

“He shouldn’t bother her all the time. I’m just worried about her,” Orion tried defending himself, but Murphy wasn’t impressed by his weak argument.

“Ev has been hitting on her pretty much since the beginning of time. It never mattered to you, but it does now. What happened to ‘she can handle herself’?”

Murphy’s words were spurring Orion’s thoughts, and as much as he tried pushing them aside, they kept returning to the forefront of his mind. They were like a chest so full that it was close to overflowing, and Orion was trying to keep the lid secured on top. He did not want to open it to see what it would contain; certain things were better left unstirred.

“Orion, we know you,” KC gently said, “there is no shame in falling for someone you’ve been with for quite a while now. That happens more often than you think. I’m surprised it worked out for you as long as it did, to be honest. Not that we discussed probable time spans or anything like that, of course.”

Orion inclined his head, his fingers lightly drumming on the neck of the guitar he was still holding.

“I see why you are coming to this conclusion,” he said very slowly, choosing his words carefully. “And while I’m not saying your assumptions are correct, just for the sake of the argument… what if they were?”

KC smiled indulgently. “Talk about it with her, openly and honestly. That’s the only thing you can do, it’s why you made up your rules in the first place. Sleeping with your friend doesn’t work when there’s feelings involved. Someone is bound to get hurt that way.”

Her eyes wandered over to Lizzie and she smiled sadly. “That’s something I want for neither of you.”

What KC was suggesting sounded reasonable enough, but Orion wasn’t entirely sure bringing this topic up between Lizzie and him would be a good idea. It would probably spark an argument he didn’t want to have with her.

Orion’s gaze had followed where KC was looking, and despite his best efforts he felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Lizzie and Charlie were done setting up her kit and she was playing some of her favourite fills to test the sound on her in-ears. Charlie must have said something to her over the wireless lying next to her, because she stopped playing and burst out laughing, the clear sound carrying over to them.

Orion’s eyes got caught on the dreamcatcher he had given to Lizzie ages ago; she had kept it fixed to the stand of her hi-hat ever since.

Orion heard KC say something, but her words didn’t register with him. Out of nowhere a melody had popped into his head which was now stuck in his ear. Fragments of it had been coming to him over the last few days, but now it was fully there in all its glory.

“Thanks, I’ll think about it,” Orion mumbled absentmindedly, not even knowing if that was an appropriate answer to what KC had just said. He took off his electric guitar, laid it across Murphy’s lap without even looking, and grabbed his acoustic guitar that was sitting in its holder next to him.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to write something down.”

Without waiting for a reply, he wandered past them and off the stage, humming the melody under his breath so he wouldn’t forget it.

Back where he had left them, KC and Murphy were staring after him with worried expressions. KC shook her head and laid a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “I don’t know about you, but I think we might be in for trouble.”

***

After the soundcheck had been over, most of the crew and band made their way back to the hotel.

Lizzie and Skye were among the ones still lingering behind; they had been in Manchester for several days now and still hadn’t found the time to revisit one of their favourite pubs from their uni days. Since they would probably be out of the arena too late to pay a visit, they figured they might as well go and have some late lunch there now.

While Skye was waiting at the exit, Lizzie had returned to the bowels of the arena to look for Orion. No one had seen him since the soundcheck and she wanted to check up on him, partly to know if he wanted to join them, and partly to see if he was alright.

She was just passing one of the empty dressing rooms when the familiar sound of Orion’s guitar stopped her in her tracks. She opened the door, quietly enough not to disturb him, and glanced inside.

Orion was sitting on a chair in the far corner of the room, one of his feet propped up on a second chair. He was strumming something on his guitar, stopping after every few chords to scribble into his notebook; after he was done, he returned the pencil to its place behind his ear.

He was so caught up in his music that he hadn’t noticed Lizzie, so she took the chance to listen to him for a little longer. She knew the melody he was playing, or at least parts of it; it took her a moment to remember why.

Orion had been humming the tune under his breath for days on end now; absentmindedly when he was about to fall asleep, cheerfully when they were setting up their instruments, or very, very softly when he was stroking her hair in the morning, thinking she was still fast asleep.

Lizzie never let him know he was always waking her up; she relished the gentleness of his touch and the feeling of peace it gave her too much, and didn’t want him to stop.

She slipped into the room and closed the door behind her. The sound of the lock clicking had Orion stop playing and look up. A smile spread on his face when he saw her; he was about to put the guitar away but Lizzie shook her head.

“No, please, don’t stop. That was beautiful,” she smiled back at him. “Is this for the new album?”

“I don’t know, maybe,” Orion shrugged. Out of habit, he ran his fingers along the lengths of the guitar’s neck. “It’s very different.”

It was true; from what Lizzie had heard, the vibe was much softer than Orion’s other songs, but not in a bad way. It had a lighter feeling to it, and the tune was already firmly stuck in her ear.

“Will you play it for me?”

“It’s not done. There are no lyrics yet.”

The sudden uncertainty showing on Orion’s face astounded Lizzie. He always let her hear his music first, even if it was unfinished; she wasn’t much of a songwriter herself, but so far, Orion had always valued her feedback.

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

Orion was considering her and eventually nodded in agreement. He took a moment to place his fingers properly before he started to play.

Lizzie’s first impression had been correct; it was a soft and gentle song, not sad or bittersweet like Orion’s ballads so often were.

She sat down on the ground and leaned her back against the wall.Closing her eyes, she let herself sink into the beautiful melody and Orion’s warm voice humming the tune he had no words for yet.

Lizzie made it to the second verse before she just couldn’t resist anymore; fully immersed into the music, she started drumming a basic rhythm on the top of her legs, adding more depth to the song as she and Orion were jamming along together.

Lizzie knew how Orion liked to structure his songs, so she stopped in time for the last chords, giving his voice and guitar the final moments until they, too, stopped and made way for silence again.

She smiled at Orion, who was looking down to where she was sitting somewhat apprehensively.

“What do you think?”

“You’re right, it’s very different, but in the best way. It would be a shame if the world never got to hear it.”

A warm smile spread on Orion’s face, reaching up into his dark eyes and lighting up his features; it was this exact smile that Lizzie loved to see on him, and she couldn’t help but smile along.

As he sat there, guitar across his knees, the pencil stuck behind his ear and his fingers ever so softly plucking at the strings, he was looking so beautiful it almost took her breath away.

“Maybe one day the world will hear it,” Orion told her, “but not today. For now, this little song will stay between you and me.”

Lizzie laughed lightly. “If you say so.”

She got up from the floor and stretched her arms. “I’ll have to go meet Skye now, she’ll be wondering where I am by now; if she hasn’t left without me,” she chuckled. “We’re going to the Hog’s Head for lunch, for old times’ sake. Do you want to come?”

“No, I want to work on this song some more.”

“Alright, see you later backstage.”

With that she left him sitting there, but Lizzie couldn’t resist raking her fingers through his black hair as she walked past him, smiling to herself as she felt him leaning into her touch.

***

It took Orion more than a few moments to regain control over his heartbeat after Lizzie had left.

It was what the touch of her hand was doing to him these days, no matter if it was skin to skin when they were alone together, or something more innocent when they were spending time with the rest of the band.

His fingers had almost slipped when he had watched Lizzie listening to him playing his new song, and even before she had started drumming along, Orion had known that she would do it.

The music was in her blood just as much as it was in his; it was what made him feel so deeply connected to her. Lizzie understood how his mind was working, she had an idea about just how much of himself he was pouring into his music for the world to see.

But this particular song wasn’t meant for the world, and for the first time in forever, Orion had felt very vulnerable when he had played it.

KC’s words came back to him; suggesting to just come clean with Lizzie - and himself, for that matter - was an easy thing for her and Murphy to say; they didn’t understand.

They were married, and whether they were together or not was no one’s business but their own. Orion couldn’t help but feel a touch of wistfulness at the beautiful simplicity of the relationship they were sharing.

How could he possibly tell Lizzie that what they had wasn’t enough for him anymore?

They had set the rules of their agreement from the very beginning. It had never been meant to be more than sex; no obligations, no feelings attached. No one was ever supposed to get involved.

How could he tell her that he had broken the first and most important rule of all of them without the risk of losing her?

[thecriticalbuck]

Movie Review - Malignant

*This review contains story spoilers for the film Malignant.*

Okay, let’s get this out of the way: this movie is terrible and absolutely insane, and I had a blast watching every moment of it.

Malignant is the latest film from famed director James Wan and stars Annabelle Wallis as Madison, a young woman who is increasingly haunted by grizzly visions of murder committed by her childhood “imaginary friend” Gabriel. Yep, that’s the concept. And if you’ve watched any amount of horror cinema in your life, you probably have a good shot at predicting what’s really going on. Before delving into the later insanity of this movie, let’s get the obvious out of the way. The acting is average at best across the board, with plenty of soap-opera worthy deliveries. The plot is almost nonexistent, the mystery ranges from painfully obvious to mind-blowingly ridiculous, and the “scares” don’t pack any punch whatsoever.

This movie reminded me a lot of the 2006 remake of Black Christmas: a lackluster horror piece that’s trying really hard to be taken seriously, but ultimately succeeds in being a goofy entertaining mess. What makes Malignant so weird? That’s where I have to dive into spoiler territory. So last fair warning before moving forward.

The big twist in the movie is that Gabriel is not Madison’s imaginary friend, but a former parasitic twin whose body was surgically removed from her when she was young, but still shares a brain with her. He is unleashed in her adulthood after Madison sustains a head injury during a confrontation with her husband. So he can take control of her body and commit murder against anyone who he sees as threats to his existence or autonomy, such as the doctors who tried to excise him in the past or Madison’s unborn children. Yeah, he’s that kind of evil.

What makes this reveal all the stranger and more entertaining is how he manifests. Gabriel literally reveals his deformed face on the back of Madison’s head and uses her body to commit his crimes, technically moving around “backwards.” And somehow this makes Gabriel a trained ninja, because once he’s in control, he’s flipping around and killing anyone he gets his (or rather Madison’s) hands on like he’s straight from the latest Assassin’s Creed video game. How does this character suddenly gain the fighting prowess of Batman? I have no idea, and clearly neither does the script. But by this point, I had already stopped caring. This concept is entirely bonkers, and watching the stunt work for Gabriel is both hilarious and thoroughly enjoyable.

The ending tries to throw some last-effort meaning into the movie about what family is really about, but is completely unnecessary. This movie’s biggest flaw to me is that it’s trying to take itself seriously. And whether that’s because of the script, Wan’s direction, the performances or the combination of those elements, trying to watch this as a serious horror/thriller is a fool’s errand. Nothing in this movie really works, but if you’re looking for something to mindlessly watch while having a drink, then you got a winner in Malignant.

*EDIT*

So, I actually rewatched Malignant in theaters, and I have to be completely honest, the film works significantly more upon a second viewing. So much of the little foreshadowing techniques that went over my head the first time around were far more clear and very clever. And I have to give special kudos to the stunt choreography and the stunt work for all the action moments. Having a stunt person do all of Gabriel's fighting actually backwards? An incredibly fun idea.

I still think this movie barely works as a horror movie, but I'm more on board with the idea that James Wan and the other writers were fully aware of the ludicrous nature of what they were making. Have to give credit where credit is due. Not as much a trainwreck as I had originally believed. Or at least, a fully intentional one.

Technical rating: 4/10

Actually rating: 10/10, will happily watch again

[movienotesbyzawmer]

April 10: Rocky II

(previous notes: Rocky)

When this movie came out I was a little kid living in Northern California, and we used to go to huge drive-in movie complexes that had like six screens. No matter what movie you were watching, you could see other movies from your lot. I don't remember which movie we were watching at the time, but I remember being distracted by a nearby screen showing Rocky II. I totally watched the ending in suspense. It was eventually on cable a lot so I was able to see it for real, but still like 40 years ago.

Anyway, I wonder if this movie will have the effect of dulling the charm of how the first movie ended, so climactically and with appealing suddenness.

Also, is this the only one of the first four movies that doesn't have a rollicking hit song emerging from its soundtrack?

Stallone famously wrote each of these movies all by himself, and starting with this one he is the director of a bunch of them as well.

Same kind of intro with the fanfare, except the music sounds very clearly, to me at least, to not be playing on real horns. I think it's synths. "Modern".

We're now just watching the end of the first movie. We get to relive the intense experience of seeing Adrian's face in closeup closing her eyes for one and a half seconds. The drama.

The whole first five minutes is the whole last five minutes of the first movie. That's weak. Cheap.

Then the whole opening credits follows, and it's following the ambulance that's taking Rocky to the hospital because of all the punchplay. Not a good use of this time. But more importantly: are they going to address the eyelid situation.

Rocky and Apollo confront each other in wheelchairs in front of the press at the hospital. They're still fired up.

After Rocky gets out of the hospital he rambles a lot and it's like an amateur improv scene where he's figuring out on the spot some things to say about where they are. He gets the idea to have Rocky propose to Adrian, then when she accepts he does a Tarzan wail. What a cheeky clown that Rocky is.

His eye seems fine now.

0:18:20 - the a cappela street musicians are still at it, still not very complex with the harmonies. Isn't Sylvester Stallone's brother a singer named Frank, and does he look like the guy in this scene? I bet it's him.

I'm pretty bored of this movie so far. It's like the people were clamoring for an answer to the question, "what happened after the fight", and Stallone's enthusiastic answer was "just regular stuff like you'd guess!!!!!"

Oh my. It's their wedding night and they talk like dumb, uninspired newlyweds and then kiss, and it's like the director, who remember is Stallone, directed the two of them, one of whom is also Stallone, to perform slow, exotic lip dancing and no one told him that's a thing called kissing which is normal and common.

Rocky has some money now so he and Adrian are looking at buying a house. The realtor is all "this whole place is supported by solid steel" and Rocky is all "yo Adrian that would be a great spot for a radio". It's like porn stars that have been told to ad lib for a few minutes in the beginning of the scene. Except that we aren't about to be rewarded with porno.

0:28:05 - Adrian is pregnant! They talk about it. They talk about it in small talk. "What if it's a girl" "Oh a girl I didn't think about that can you imagine".

So one of the adventures of post-the-first-movie Rocky is that he gets to do a commercial. They show the filming of that and that it doesn't go well because of his Rocky personality. And the next scene he has realized that he needs a white collar job so he's at an employment agency office and asks for a job where he gets to sit. But he's not a good fit there. So he goes and gets a job at a butcher place. He promised Adrian he was done with boxing so now we have this boring part of the movie which isn't short enough.

Okay it's definitely going in a direction of not-boxing-is-sucky-for-Rocky, because he lost the butcher job and had to sell his car to Paulie. He said "it's a great car, buckle up for safety!" Do you think Stallone actually scripted that line or did he improvise it and the director, who you may recall is also Mr. Stallone, thought it was really good and kept it in

0:46:30 - He goes to visit Burgess Meredith at the gym. BM is not helping Rocky's morale, tells him he's washed up POI-manently. He begs for a job doing menial tasks at the gym and BM tells him everyone will think he's a loser but okay. Stallone does okay looking humble about that.

When he comes in to the gym everyone is laughing at a very stupid editorial cartoon in the local news publication, it shows Apollo doing harm upon Rocky-as-a-chicken with the ingenious caption "APOLLO CREED VS THE STALLION CHICKEN". It was clearly "STALLION CHICKEN". That does not make any sense.

BM was easily persuaded by Apollo's cockiness and so he then shows up at Rocky's nad easily persuades him to accept the rematch deal. Feels like movie formula but at least it's about to be less boring.

I like BM's voice.

They're doing a thing going back and forth between Rocky training and Apollo training. Apollo's is going better, partially because his facility is kind of luxuriously spacious. Then they stuck a scene in the middle of that of Adrian working at the pet store all preggo, but having trouble lugging a weighty thing and listen my friends, I think Talia Shire acting is not good acting.

We're in a long sequence that's about how Adrian had the baby prematurely and she slipped into a coma or something, and it's made clear that she had health problems because she was stressed out and overworked because of the heavy things at the pet shop and the husband who went back to boxing. Big old guilt trip taking up a lot of the middle of the movie. Adrian is in a coma. They don't show the baby. It's all just sadness about comatosity of Adrian.

But! She eventually wakes up! And after the first ever conversation they've ever had about what to name their newborn son, Adrian inexplicably changes her tune and tells Rocky she wants him to win. "Win!" That's what she tells him. Then she says it again. Stallone writing, Shire acting, what more could you want.

Now an upbeat training montage that's more hopeful and he's obviously high energy. He must be hitting the punching bags better because just look at how confident he looks.

1:29:35 - It is the sequel to the famous running montage from the first movie. The inspired updates include a new recording of that same song but with children singing "flying strong now" or whatever, and also children following him on his majestic dash to the steps of that municipal facility. Someone probably said "do the running scene again just exactly like in the first movie", but no. Stallone was not satisfied. "We will change it a little," he proclaimed. And lo.

Oh I hope there will be a sequel to the shot of Adrian closing her eyes for considerably longer than a blink. Do you think when people stop her on the street they're like "do the eye close thing do the eye close thing! My friends will all ask if you did the eye close thing and I need to tell them yes she did I saw it and it was even better in person"

We're at the fight now. It's about to start. It's all going as expected. I truly believe that everything will be okay.

Before it starts, Apollo tells Rocky, "you're going DOWN". So maybe it will NOT be okay after all…

Seems like the shots of this fight are not as varied or interesting this time, and they're relying more on the announcer commentary telling us what to think compared to the first movie.

Now the obligatory montage to show us the rounds moving forward and them still going at it. Not the same style as the first movie, but whatever it's working fine. I'd maybe watch a boxing match if it were shot and edited like this so that it's just ten minutes.

I swear I remember seeing this imagery from across the drive-in way back in the 70s, I don't care if you believe me or not it's the truth.

Look, I know I don't know nothin' 'bout boxin' but it seems like you're supposed to use your forearms as shields kind of, and Rocky doesn't do that like at all.

The dialogue is telling us that Rocky is maybe losing going into the final round. I wouldn't have thought so… thanks dialogue!

"YOU'RE GOING DOWN" repeats Creed. Such writing I tell you. Rocky II - A Film By Sylvester Stallone.

I will never forget the carefully choreographed climax of the movie. They both crumble onto the floor and the one-to-ten countdown all slow-like as they maybe try to get back up and Apollo doesn't and Rocky barely does so he is the new world champion. Then the last couple minutes of the movie is the same basic energy as the first movie. It's like the first movie's ending was a template and they just replaced a couple of things.

They kept making more of these movies! I'm going to keep watching them! I'm going to do this notes-about-them thing!

(next: Rocky III)

[bewareofchris]

"Anything where a character dies for motivation, or ratings, or a dirty attempt to upset someone." I've heard this many times and it kind of makes me nervous to kill characters. I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but what's a good enough reason to kill a character? How do you make it so it doesn't seem cheap?

Well, any discussion of tropes should be prefaced with acknowledging that even the most overused, ridiculous, least liked trope can be well done.  Also that you can’t learn how to use something if you don’t jump in and try it out for yourself.

Have I killed characters for the drama?  I have.

Have I killed characters to provide motivation for my hero/villain? Yes I have.

(Have I killed characters because they annoyed me and I wanted them to die?  Yes.)

And also, I love discussing writing.  There are no stupid questions.  All writing advice that isn’t strictly a discussion of accepted grammar usage is opinion anyway.

But a couple of things to ask yourself when you’re about to kill a character and/or create a murdered relative.

Does anyone care about this person? The first example that comes to mind is Assassin’s Creed games.  I’ll go with the first one because it’s example is best.  In the very beginning of the game you meet Kadar, who gets like 4 lines and then gets killed because of the ridiculous actions of the eventual Hero.  Kadar gets killed as a cheap attempt to give you the idea of the cost of the Hero’s arrogance that you can easily identify with.  And his surviving brother’s anger toward the Hero therefore makes sense and can guide your emotional journey toward the Hero’s eventual redemption.  But it’s bullshit because I don’t care about Kadar.  I met him for a half a breath.  More importantly, NONE OF THE CHARACTERS in the entire game actually, actively care about this character.  He’s just something they bring up occasionally to let you know that now is the time to have a feeling.  If you must kill a character, and you want this to have an emotional impact on the story, you need to convey that there was someone that loved this person.  That there has been a loss.  That the loss isn’t a one episode event but a constant process of acceptance.  Readers will care about someone’s death if your characters do.

Am I only doing this to move the plot forward? I mean, you see this in movies and TV shows all the time.  I was just recently watching Bones (the TV show) and I stg you could set your watch to when they were about to kill someone off.  “things are getting a little too predictable, my friends, time to shoot someone in the heart and upset the whole crew for half an episode.”  Please don’t.  Unless you’re writing a crime drama where deaths lead to a resolution and/or something else where more deaths are expected and the goal is stopping them.

Am I only doing this to provide motivation to the hero/villain? This is the one that annoys me the most.  Think like every Disney princess, all the comic books heros, everyone ever.  This is the one that’s been done to pieces.  That’s not to say it can’t be done well.  But tread carefully.  And if possible, consider a different motivation.

Have I prepared the audience for this death or am I doing it for shock value? Personally, I’m against shock value.  That doesn’t mean you need to tell your readers someone’s going to die.  But foreshadowing and context clues and just the general idea that it is possible in the tone of your story will make it easier to handle and make it seem less jarring and out of place.

Does this death fit with the tone of my story? Look if a serial killer showed up on My Little Pony, I don’t know that I’d be surprised and I’d definitely kick Pinkie Pie into his path, but also it wouldn’t make sense if they couldn’t defeat him with Friendship. 

How will my (surviving) characters react to this death? This is the IMPORTANT thing to think about.  Look, if some rugged, world-weary, mysterious Hero Man was drinking liquor in a cleverly lit setting and just randomly started telling me about how he found his dismembered mother laying in the kitchen one day and that’s why he became a cop...  THIS WOULD NOT MAKE ME TRUST HIM.  I would probably be like: this bitch got issues.  Why are we giving him a gun?  Why are we just letting him do this thing?  Why has nobody else taken a step back and thought to themselves, maybe it’s not a good idea to hang out with this guy anymore???  But also, you cannot control your audience’s reaction so you should not try.  You can guide them if you have given them a character they have a connection with that is noticeably and convincingly affected by someone’s death.

Will replacing this death with another Tragic or Unexpected or even Traumatizing event work just as well? I’m just saying my Mom used to tell me that I couldn’t sing so often that to this day, I won’t even try singing in the shower.  Now that’s a bit of an overreaction on my part but these things happen and maybe your super-villain had an older brother he really idolized who got accepted to a college across the country, and suddenly all that sense of safety he had that his tiny pre-teen world wouldn’t change was destroyed at the exact moment he started going through puberty and his Mother who loved him but thought he was a little Over The Top told him to stop complaining and whining about his brother leaving because that’s just how the world works, and Super Villain to be was just looking for an outlet that made him feel better about being lonely and left behind.  So he ends up making friends with wild dogs and discovers a new feeling of belonging but then, as these things often go, his Mom won’t let him bring them home so they get taken to the pound and adopted to other families so your Super Villain’s life of crime starts with hacking into the pound’s database to find his best friends, and breaking and entering to kidnap dogs, and maybe he ends up in Juvie because of it, and there he meets other Tough Kids and they start a gang that becomes a Super Gang that become Super Villains when all your Super Villain needed was therapy.  I’m just saying, life happens.  People get angry and stay angry about a lot of things.  People want to be cops for a lot of reasons.  People would be heroes for a lot of reasons.  I sincerely doubt that every firefighter in the world is out there fighting fires because his grandma spontaneously combusted in front of his/her eyes and he couldn’t put her out in time because all he had was the gold fish water.

But also, do what you want.  Kill off those characters if you want to.  You’ll either figure out how to do it in a way that feels real and meaningful to you or you’ll figure out that it’s not something that you like.  Either way it ends up, it’s good practice.

[kisstheassassins]

Hey! Thanks for being so cool with me about the AC Games. I'm definitely looking forward to exploring their stories more. I'm gonna probably look into starting with #1 and mess with it until I get the hang of it. On a semi-related note, have you watched the Assassins Creed movie, and is it any good? I haven't yet, but I'm curious to know if it can hold itself to my expectations 😂

YES

But the best one I’ve found was that Arno Dorian makes a brief appearance

The fight scenes are great. I believe Michael did the stunts all on his own. And the Leap of Faith you see in the movie isn’t CGI, it’s an actual stuntman diving off a platform. They just add in all the backgrounds and stuff later to make it look real. I thought that was a really cool scene, probably one of my favorites.

The movie has had bad reviews but it’s hard to make a movie based off video games and make them relate to what’s already happened in the games. I think they did a good job with the history within the movie about involving the other Assassin’s in some way. I think they did a great job with it

It is on DVD, or I’m sure you can find it online. Give it a chance, I think you’ll enjoy it :)

[builder051]

27, 14, and 1 if you please.

27--your favourite flavour and brand of tea

I love the Republic of Tea, and I'm enthralled with the Star Wars collection. I prefer caffeinated/black tea, and I really like the Mandolorian Mysterious Black Tea

14--an artist (of any kind) whose work you look forward to seeing

Ummm, not quite sure how to answer this, because I feel like the context is referring to 'new' work. When I was younger (like, 13ish) I used to be a big countdown-the-days person (though I probably picked up this habit from just, like, being alive in the thick of the midnight book/movie release madness). Now I'm more like, ok, cool thing coming out? When are we free? Slap it on the calendar so I can forget about it until the day before...

There IS a magical alignment (actually 2 of them) coming up in March, where A Bad Wolves/Papa Roach tour is coming through the next city over, and then, like, a week later, Greta Van Fleet are playing the same venue. We've seen both before (not Papa Roach, but Greta twice, and Bad Wolves I believe this will be our either third or fourth go), but all have released new tracks since we last saw them.

1--your favourite playlist (made by yourself or someone else)

I make playlists for a lot of my writing projects, like my novellas, novels, some of my sorter stuff...

I really think I've kind of outdone myself for Keeping Safe (the book I can never seem to finish). I'll throw down the tunes so you can look them up and get a little bit into my headspace:

Ashes of Eden (Breaking Benjamin)

Lightning Crashes (LIVE)

Roses (The Chainsmokers)

Sign of the Times (Harry Styles)

Age of Man (Greta Van Fleet)

Love it if we Made It (the 1975)

The Light (Disturbed)

The Final Countdown (Europe)

Walk (Foo Fighters)

Higher (Creed)

Far from Home (Five Finger Death Punch)

21 Guns (Green Day)

Up in the Air (Thirty Seconds to Mars)

[nekosabina]

I'm actually very excited for the Mary Poppins sequel coming next year, but...

i’m also very scarred. I think no matter which media, book, movie, Disney parks or musical, Mary Poppins will be magical and bring a smile to my face. And even if Julie andrews will always be the practically perfect Mary Poppins, i also know that there are many actresess that did a fantastic job while playing Mary, may it be in the Disney Parks or in the musical. I’m sure emily Blunt will do a great job as well as the rest of the cast (like Maryl Streep or Lin-Miguel Miranda). And i also look forward to see Mary Poppins revisiting the Banks family and i’m very excited to see how Mary will interact with them after not seeing eachother for 20 years and on which adventures she will take them this time. There are so many possiblities for laughter but also for tears.

But i also fear that it will provide the last blow to sink the Mary/Bert ship. I mean i have always and will always ship them no matter what, but since this new movie will feature a new character that will be a companion to Mary, just like Bert in the original Movie, it might mean, that Bert will only play a minor role in this movie (if he even appears, but that would be a bad decision, because even if they don’t have a romantic relationship, it’s still established that they have a very tight bond like BFFs and it would be weird if Mary comes back to London and never meets up with her best friend) and it could be stated or implied that they can’t be together because Bert ages and Mary doesn’t or that their relationship is basically the same level of platonic as her relationship with Jack. To be honest story wise i don’t even understand why there has to be this Jack character instead of Bert to be her companion unless it is established that Mary is immortal and Bert isn’t so he can’t go on so many adventures anymore (however he wouldn’t be extremly old he would actually be 40 or 50)

But right now i still believe that Bert has magic himself to some amount and has been her companion for a long time because he is also immortal or at least doesn’t age as fast as normal people do. I mean think about it: In the original movie Mary and Bert seem to know each other for a very long time and have this very tight bond even though Mary goes away from London a lot and appearantly only comes back after many years. So why does it seem like they know each other so well inside and outside and have such a tight relationship even if they don’t get to see eachother so long? Some people theorize that Mary has also been Berts nanny but that would make it awkward that they are so close. I think the answer is that they know eachother longer than anyone that looks so young like they do would be able to know someone. I think Bert has some magic too. I think the reason why he couldn’t jump into the chalk picture himself is because when he said you have to think, he meant you have to think about what you want and he thought about Mary joining them. and i also think the reason why he is always at the right spot at the right time having exactly the job that is needed is because he can do magic. I think he also can talk with animals and knew Uncle Albert was on the ceiling again because he also heard it from Andrew (He said “I came as soon as i heard” but there is no human around who could have told him only animals might have known since animals like dogs can actually sense when someone is in trouble). So in my mind there is no reason why it wouldn’t be possible for Bert to be Marys companion in the new movie. Only the movie make probably wouldn’t agree with me or want to make it clear that Mary and Bert don’t have a romantic relationship.

Also i know that the author of the original book,Pamela L. Travers never wanted them to be a couple but i recently did read the books and i don’t understand why she thinks they aren’t supposed to be a couple. I mean the second chapter of the first book is already Marys first day off and who does she spend it with? Bert! And it’s said that they often or nearly always spend her day off together! Actually, they always go out and have tea and eat rashberry cakes together. Or they jump into a chalk drawing where, expect for a waiter or other service people, are completly alone and have a, well a Jolly Holiday together, just the two of them, having what others would call fantastic romantic date. From the way Bert acts around her and actually spoils her it seems clear that he has feelings for her. And it also seems like Mary has feelings for him, since she has many friends and acts very sweet torwards them and differently than she normally does with the children but when she is with Bert she completly loses her stiffness and coldness (remember in the book her character is more firm and even cross than in the movie) and even has moments where she blushes at certain occassions. So if Pamela L. Travers really thinks that there is no romance in the air than i think she is in denial.

And while they had to make Marys and Berts relationship in the movie platonic because of the author, they did try to make it as romantic as possible. There were even plans for a romantic balad for Mary and Bert. And as it is now it really seems like they do have feelings for each other. They always dance together, they flirt and tease eachlther, Mary gets jealous when Bert talks about other women, they share many cute looks and the whole Jolly Holiday number is pure romance (probably why P. L. Travers hated it so much besides the animation). Yes, everyonein the chalkdrawing says they love Mary, but they all have basically been created by Bert, who wants to show Mary how much he loves her. Yes, Mary sings “You’d never think of pressing your advantage. For bearance is the hallmark of your creed. A lady needn’t fear, When you are near. Your sweet gentility is crystal clear!“, which can mean, that he’d never push himself on her when she says no using his advantage as her friend to make her do something she doesn’t want, which makes him a true gentlemen. But it doesn’t have to mean that it’s a never and that she put him into the “friendzone“. It does mean, that he respects her boundries and only comes as close as she is comfortable with (which is already very close and she accepts that he gets close to her and sings to her because she is already very comfortable with him. She feels very safe with him) They let their relationship evolve at it's own pace.

Even in the musical there is some romance apparant between them. At the end she even kisses him on the cheek after they say goodbye.

And yes, i hear all of you scream “Does Mary need to be in love?” and “Can’t a man and woman just be very close friends?” Well i wouldn’t want to ship Mary with anyone if it weren’t for Bert. A man and a woman can be friends. Mary can have a very close friendship with Jack. But Bert is different. When she’s with him there are sparks flying all around them. So friendship is possible but if it’s the right person it is the right person. 

 Okay but enough of the rant now. Here is a link about my theories how Bert could actually appear in the sequel.