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Open: May 1 Prompt from @calaisreno
The cloud-covered gloom that neutralized the moon's incandescence doubled the chill of the early morning air, and the indifferent glow from the streetlamp did little to illuminate the surrounding area of damaged roadway and pavement. John pressed his back with care against the crumbling wall of the building furthest away from where it stood, holding his body completely still as he strained to pick up any sounds to factor into his calculations. Discerning nothing, he slid down the night vision glasses atop his black knit cap to rest on the bridge of his nose, and almost imperceptibly turned his head from side to side, scanning the street in measured increments, until he caught a glimpse of a body crossing a threshold a block away on the other side of the street.
He drew in a sharp breath at the sight of Sherlock, whose body language would appear to be nonchalant to a casual observer, which John was not; he could read the tension in the way the forefinger of Sherlock's right hand pressed against his thumb. Sherlock turned to step away opposite from the direction where John was placed, pausing briefly to shake out his hand, and then smooth it over the worn surplus jacket that covered his torso. After his first footfall there was a slight hitch in his next step when the forward movement placed him in a spot from where the shadows had fled, when the clouds suddenly abandoned the moon.
John's focus crystallized, knowing there were only seconds left to take cover and maneuver for an open shot. Moving swiftly, he crouched next to the rear wheel of a battered sedan, one knee on the ground, and the other bent, allowing him to set his elbow on it and aim his rifle. There was no need for a silencer; he would have one shot, and one shot only, and if the trajectory was true, then in the immediate aftermath of the surprise of the hit, he would melt away backwards, unnoticed, slipping around the corner of the building to the alley just beyond. He tamped down the fury that threatened to rise up as he spied a movement from inside a parked car a block ahead of Sherlock, where an assassin behind the wheel was placed at an angle beyond Sherlock's immediate line of sight. John breathed in, and on a count of three, pulled the trigger, sending the bullet flying through the windscreen, shattering the glass into crystal fragments, and exploding the head of Sherlock's adversary into a halo of blood.
John knew that Sherlock would have stopped and instinctively leaned toward the scene of the hit, and then immediately have pivoted in reverse, to deduce from where the shot had been fired. But there would be nothing to see, as John would have vanished, leaving no trace of his presence.
One more city; one more mission; one more night which Sherlock would survive, as the long, tedious, and painful untangling of Moriarty's web continued to unspool.
@calaisreno @totallysilvergirl
#mayprompts2024#calaisreno#sherlock bits and bobs#may prompts 2024#johnlock#not sure if I did this right (?)#sigh
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To Be a Man - Hangman
Pairing: Hangman / Wife!OC (Sophie)
Word Count: 2.2k
This work, all my works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only
Warnings: Secret Marriage; Non-Traditional Family Dynamics; Mentioned Death of Minor OCs; Marriage of Convenience/Necessity; Mentions of Type 1 Diabetes; Third Person POV, Named OC kids and Wife, No Physical Descriptions of Any OCs
Summary: Hangman is married. And it’s no one else’s business.
Prologue Part 2 Part 3
Master List
A.N. Disclaimer - I don’t have Type 1 diabetes and so this is purely based off of a little research and what I’ve seen my friends with Type 1 do.
“You’re married!?”
Hangman turned around at the accusation to find the rest of the Daggers, save for Coyote, who he was talking to before they were so rudely interrupted, staring at him like he had grown a second head. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, not sure why it was any of their business.
“Yeah, what’s it to you?”
“Who the hell are you married to?” Rooster asked, earning a condescending smirk from Hangman.
“My wife.”
“Well, no shit Sherlock.”
“Where’s your wedding ring then?” Payback questioned, leaning on the table to inspect Hangman’s left hand. “I’ve never seen you wear one around.”
“It’s on my dog tags, dipshits,” Hangman replied, pulling out the chain to show them, even though he didn’t have to do that. “That a crime?”
“Why do you flirt with other women then?” Bob inquired, sharing a look with Phoenix. “Two women gave you their numbers last night alone.”
“Did you see me calling either one of them?”
“Well . . . no, we didn’t, but—”
“—When did you get married?” Phoenix intervened, tilting her chin up and narrowing her eyes a bit. “And where is she?”
“Two years ago. And she’s driving here right now,” Hangman stated, checking his watch. Pulling out his phone, he looked up his wife’s location before turning back to the Daggers. “She’s about five minutes away, if you want to be specific.”
“She’s staying here with you?”
“For a while, yeah. Like anyone else’s spouse would,” Hangman retorted, getting a bit annoyed with all of the questions. “Why?”
“Well, we’ve got to meet Mrs. Seresin,” Rooster drawled, folding his arms across his chest. “Since we’ve heard so much about her.”
“Do you even have a picture of her?” Fanboy questioned, causing Hangman to shoot him an annoyed look.
“Yes.”
“Well, are you going to show it to us?”
“No,” Hangman snorted, shaking his head. “No, I’m not.”
The Daggers continued to list of questions that Hangman half-answered, half-gave bullshit responses, before Hangman spotted a familiar silver car rolling into the lot. Ignoring the Daggers, he set his drink down and got up from his seat, slipping around the railings on the back porch of the Hard Deck to greet his wife. Coyote was about to take a sip of his drink when he found five sets of eyes trained on him.
“I’m not telling you guys anything,” Coyote stated, shaking his head. “They’ll be here in five seconds.”
“So, you knew the whole time that Hangman was married?” Payback questioned, causing Coyote to nod in return. “And you never thought to mention that?”
“Not my business to tell.”
“Jake!” a shrill voice that definitely belonged to a little kid broke through the air.
The Daggers all quickly pivoted from Coyote to the boardwalk where a girl, probably around six, sprinted down the wooden path. Hangman picked up his pace and scooped her into his arms, lifting her off the ground effortlessly. And if the Daggers weren’t confused and befuddled before at Hangman’s personal life, they sure were now.
“He’s a dad!?”
“What the hell is he doing with a kid!? This is Hangman we’re talking about, right?”
“She called him Jake, dumbasses,” Phoenix pointed out, though she watched the interaction closely. “What kid calls their dad by their first name?”
Hangman kept walking with the girl in his arms, chatting excitedly with her. Then another kid, a boy probably three or four years old, jumped up onto the boardwalk and raced towards Hangman as well. The Daggers grew even more confused. Hangman leaned over and scooped him up like he weighed nothing, pressing a kiss to the side of the boy’s head.
A woman finally stepped out from in between two cars and pulled Jake in for a tight hug, which he tried to return as best he could with two kids in his arms. The Daggers watched their interaction like hawks but gave each other confused looks when the woman, who they presumed was Jake’s wife, pulled away with just a kiss pressed to his cheek.
“That’s his wife, right?” Rooster asked Coyote, who nodded. “They’re not that affectionate?”
“Maybe five strangers staring at them makes them a little uncomfortable,” Coyote suggested, taking a sip from his beer.
Hangman eventually led his family to the back of the Hard Deck, dreading the conversation that awaited him. Jake’s wife glanced up at the Daggers, who were clearly waiting for them, before turning to Jake. Nudging him gently with her hip, she jerked her head in the direction of his squad.
“Did you tell them anything?”
“Nope,” Jake replied, shaking his head. “Not a single thing.”
The family of four made their way up to the back deck. Setting Leila on the ground and taking her hand as they walked up the stairs, Hangman finally turned to face the stunned and even more curious Daggers. Leila hid a bit behind his leg, always a bit shy around strangers, but he rested a hand on her shoulder to remind her that he was there and that it was all alright.
“Everyone, this is my family. Family, these are the Daggers,” Hangman introduced, half-assed, earning an immediate poke in the side from his wife. Gritting his teeth slightly, Hangman restarted. “Daggers, this is Leila and this is Tyler and this is my wife, Sophie”
After Hangman introduced her, Sophie waved politely in greeting to the Daggers, who awkwardly waved back to her. Withholding an eyeroll, Hangman started on the introductions in the other direction.
“Guys, that’s Bob, Phoenix, Rooster, Fanboy, Payback, and you already know Coyote,” Hangman listed off, pointing at each Dagger as he spoke.
“Javy!” Leila called, running over to greet him.
“Hey, Firecracker,” Coyote joked, picking Leila up and setting her on the stool that Hangman had been sitting on before.
From there, the awkwardness slowly dissipated. Very slowly, but it did dissipate just a bit. Leila and Tyler were running around on the back deck, laughing and stretching their legs after the long car ride down from Lemoore. Hangman had switched his beer for a water and returned from inside the bar with a drink for his wife, whose order he knew from heart.
They were in the middle of a conversation, though Hangman thought that it was bordering on an interrogation with some of the other Daggers when Sophie’s phone started to buzz with a weird ringtone. In an instant, Jake turned to where Leila and Tyler were playing.
“Tyler, come over here,” he called, causing them to stop.
Hangman picked up his wife’s phone and tapped it, causing Tyler to pout. Tyler begrudgingly trudged over to where Jake and Sophie were sitting and Jake quickly scooped him up and sat him on his lap. Meanwhile, Sophie had been rifling around in her purse, pulling out a separate bag.
“Fruit snacks or the granola bar?” his wife asked Tyler, holding out both items.
Tyler quickly leaned over and grabbed the fruit snacks before turning around to hand them to Hangman. Taking them without hesitation or delay, Hangman ripped the package open and poured the fruit snacks into his hand for Tyler, who started to slowly eat them one by one. The other Daggers seemed a bit confused, though Bob instantly recognized the situation.
“He’s Type 1?” Bob guessed, causing Sophie to nod sadly.
“Yes, he is,” she replied, checking her phone again. She showed Jake her screen, causing him to encourage Tyler to eat the remaining fruit snacks in his hand, before turning back to Bob. “You know someone with Type 1?”
“No, my dad has Type 2. My sister has the same set up on her phone,” Bob explained, causing Jake’s wife to nod slowly.
Tyler seemed a bit upset, though resigned to his situation, but Hangman did his best to try and make it enjoyable for him. Teasing Tyler for his choice in fruit snacks, hiding them and pretending to find them in random spots, and other very un-Hangman-like actions that caused most of the Daggers to grow even more confused at the situation, Hangman blocked all of that out and just focused on Tyler.
“Alright, just hang on for a second, bud,” Jake told Tyler, who clearly wanted to play again.
After they were sure that Tyler’s glucose levels were stable, Hangman set Tyler back on his own two feet. Leila, who had been chatting loudly with Coyote and Fanboy, let out a shriek and started to run after her brother again as if nothing had happened to disturb them in the first place.
“How long have you known that he has it?” Rooster asked, watching Leila and Tyler play.
“About two years now,” Sophie explained, folding her arms underneath her as she rested them on the picnic table. “He was only a couple months old when his doctor suspected something. Took some time to get an official diagnosis.”
“He doesn’t seem to let it get him down,” Payback commented, watching Tyler laugh and run around Coyote.
“No, he doesn’t,” Sophie replied with a soft smile. “He’s like my sister.”
“Your sister has Type 1 too?”
“No . . . she didn’t,” Sophie stated softly, her tone earning a few confused looks.
“Leila and Tyler are her niece and nephew,” Hangman supplied, gently resting the outside of his thigh against his wife’s own to remind her that he was there for her.
“My sister and her husband died a few years ago,” Sophie continued quietly, shifting a bit in her seat. “I got custody after they passed and after Jake and I got married, he adopted them.”
And suddenly all of the pieces were starting to fall into place.
Leila eventually came running over, asking if they could go down to the beach. Sophie got up to take them down herself, not trusting two kids who grew up in desert territory to know anything about ocean water safety. And when they were gone, all eyes fell on Hangman. After a long, drawn out sigh, he slowly narrowed his eyes at his squad mates.
“If any of you fuckers even think about going to the brass about it,” Hangman vowed, pointing menacingly over at the gathered Daggers.
“Dude, no one here is looking to take insulin from a little kid,” Fanboy stated quietly.
It wasn’t exactly uncommon for service members to get married for the benefits. And hell, you would have had to have been a completely selfish, heartless, brown-nosing government lapdog to try and get someone in trouble for making sure that a kid with a treatable condition lived happily without bankrupting his family.
“How did you meet your wife then? You knew her before the kids’ parents died?”
“Yeah. We were in a long term . . . situation-ship at the time,” Hangman recalled, earning familiar looks from his teammates. “And she told me that it was a lot to handle and she didn’t expect me to hang around, especially because I was deployed at the time. I came back home to visit her and saw how stressed she looked—she was crying, Tyler was still in the hospital at that point, Leila was barely talking . . .” Jake trailed off, a dark expression coming over his face. “I didn’t think. I just told her to marry me and I’d get it figured out. And I did. They live up with me in Lemoore now.”
“And you guys have an open relationship?” Rooster guessed, earning a sharp glare from Hangman immediately.
“No,” Jake replied bluntly.
“Not even a little?” Rooster asked, alluding to Hangman’s flirtatious personality.
“No,” Hangman stated, folding his arms in front of him. “We’re not.”
“But you’re not in love, are you?”
“That’s complicated,” Jake responded, loosening his posture a bit sheepishly.
“Yes, they are,” Coyote called back, earning a look from Hangman.
“Yes, they are what?” Sophie called out, strolling forward with Leila and a soaked Tyler beside her.
“What happened?” Jake asked, standing up from the table.
“Leila thought that it would be funny to push her brother into the ocean,” Sophie returned, shooting her niece a look. “She thought wrong.”
“He kept pulling on me!” Leila whined, stomping her foot on the ground. “I told him to stop! And he didn’t listen!”
“Well, that’s no reason to try to drown him. Go, sit on the bench right there. Now,” she ordered, causing Leila to huff but follow her order.
“I’ll take him,” Jake offered, walking forward to grab a soaked Tyler from his spot next to Sophie. “Come on, Ty, let’s get you dry.”
Jake reached out his hand for the keys, which his wife handed over without even a look in his direction. It was that smooth, that natural. Jake held Tyler, who had started to shiver despite the warmth, in his arms, not caring in the slightest that some of the ocean water was now soaking his own clothes. Coyote seemed rather amused at the shocked expressions on his teammate’s faces, which Jake blatantly ignored as he strolled away.
“What?” Sophie asked, spotting their confused expressions.
“Nothing,” they all echoed back to her.
Prologue Part 2 Part 3
#top gun fanfiction#top gun maverick#top gun: maverick#top gun#tgm#tgm fanfiction#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin#hangman fic#jake hangman fic#hangman seresin#hangman top gun#hangman fluff#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake seresin fic#jake seresin x oc#jake seresin fanfiction#jake seresin imagine#hangman x oc#hangman fanfiction#top gun hangman#hangman
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WIP Wednesday Polychromatic Wrapping
My December fic is just around the corner. Each chapter is wrapped in different colours, so to speak, hence the title. It’s literally bits and bobs of Sherlock’s and John’s past and present lives, with some new funfacts to boot.
Some teasers for you: a trip abroad - a challenge between brothers - a place called Malta (not the country) - nature shows its beauty and ferocity - they are so in love.
The prompts I’ve used are from the blog @fluff-cember
@totallysilvergirl @keirgreeneyes @calaisreno @helloliriels @raina-at
@meetinginsamarra @safedistancefrombeingsmart @gregorovitch-adler @topsyturvy-turtely @jolieblack
@meandhisjohn @a-victorian-girl @brandiwein1982 @bs2sjh @221beloved
@lhrinchelsea @missdeliadilisblog @7-percent @thegildedbee @acumberlockedgirl
@ninasnakie @shy-bi-letsfuckingdie @ilovegayangels @oetkb12 @mydogwatson
@willamholmeswatson @gay-ass-bitch @whatnext2020 @jawnscoffee @jonkwatson
@peanitbear @salmonsown @elizabethhood @redmondcollege @givemesherbet-blog-blog
@couldbecannibal @2old2b-fangirl @dw91165 @riversong912 @xmengal03
(Tell me if you want to be tagged or removed from the list)
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early draft Bob Velseb Fanfic
(im still working on a small comic to accompany this fic before i release it officially, but i would appreciate the feedback, so dont hesitate to comment as it encourages me to make more art for the au. This comic takes place after the events of this post.) For reference, the woman in this image next to bob is Mary-Anne

then in this image, from left to right (no including Bob in the middle) we have Roxy, Greta, Sparrow, Ash, Trixie, Jane (who's the bar's manager and doesn't appear in the fic), and Billie (who is the bar's bouncer)
Fic is below the readmore. And I kinda recommend looking back at the images every so often to keep track of who's who, cus there's a lot of lesbians hanging out chatting in this fic.
Hanging out in the mismatched collection of old sofas in the lounge area of the local lesbian bar, some of the bar’s regulars were having a casual chat. When another of the regulars, a woman named Mary-Anne, excitedly came up to the group with a laptop in hand. Mary: “Hey you girls wanna see my latest true crime theory?! I think I've got a really good one this time!” Sparrow: “YEEEEAAAAHhhhhhh! Lemme see it! Show us what detective work ya been up to!” Trixie: “Did you finally see if I’ve done any murders I didn't know about? You said you’d check.” Mary: “Yeah I know, and I'll get to it eventually, but I found something way more interesting…… Barbra.” Sparrow: “Barbra?” Mary: “Yeah!” She sets up the laptop on the table, the women all crowding around to get a look, as Mary-Anne puts on a dramatic, though still a bit joking, tone and pose.
Mary: “Barbra, could secretly be, the notorious serial killer…. Bob Velseb.”
Ash: “Who?” Sparrow: “No fucking way! The Halloween cannibal from that other town down south? How’ed you make that connection?”
Roxy: “Excuse me, Cannibal?!”
Ash: “That’s pretty metal actually. Wish looking into me found connections to crimes that sick.” Greta: “Ummm, isn’t that man dead?”
Sparrow: “Wait yeah good point. The news said he got caught and killed by police last Halloween night. Shouldn't that be like, disqualifying for what hypothetical crimes you think your friends might have committed?”
Mary: “Wellllll…. yeah, supposedly he even had an autopsy and everything. But It fits too well if you just ignore the whole being dead thing!”
Roxy: “Hey! Don't you buncha freaks go just comparing Barbra to people like that. She hasn't even been around that long. Don't need you scaring her off with your true crime detective mess when I know you didn't even ask if she was okay with it first!”
Mary: “But it's suuuuuuuch a good one though!”
Trixie: “Yeah lighten up, I doubt she's gonna mind. I mean it's not like Barbara is actually gonna be a DEAD criminal. And especially with those morbid jokes she likes, she'll probably think it's hilarious.”
Roxy: “Nuh-Uh! I don't care how funny it is. She's still doing this without asking! It's one thing for her to look into yalls lives like a creepy stalker when you ask her to. But don't you go encouraging her with that spying into people's business shit without permission!”
Mary: “Aww come on.”
Ash: “Okay, I'm actually gonna agree with Roxy here. I mean what if one day, I really have to murder someone? I don't need Sherlock Holmes getting on my trail ten minutes later. You could at least ask first.”
Sparrow: “Come on, that's different! I'm sure you'd have a good reason if you did ever murder someone. And she'd be more likely to help you bury the body than turn you in. We all would.”
Roxy: “Nuh-uh, I still don't like this biz. Plus, isn't Barbra a trans woman? You'd probably end up hurting her feelings more by comparing her to a dead MAN than to the whole criminal thing.”
Sparrow: “Wait, since when was Barbra trans?”
Ash: “She was kinda making it obvious with that wig she always wears.”
Sparrow: “Wait really? I thought she was wearing the wig because she had some grizzly scar or something on her head from the car crash and didn't want to call attention to it. I mean they did say she had a bad head injury. Like it's why they said she's always wearing the sunglasses even when inside. The concussion like, messed up her ability to look directly at bright lights or something.”
Ash: “...Yeah okay that's a fair point I didn't need to immediately jump to her wearing the wig being to make her pass better. But like, there's still a lot of stuff besides that. Plus Caprica admitted to it. Barbra definitely used to be a dude.”
Greta: “Doesn't really matter if she's trans regardless, since she only ever really flirts with Caprica.”
Trixie: “I'd fuck her even with a dick like are you fucking kidding me? She's hot as hell.”
Sparrow: “Oh my god same! I swear Barbra is wasted on that woman.”
Roxy: “Yeah, but like, I ain't gonna pretend I wouldn't get a massive crush too if some lady pulled my fat ass out of a burning car wreck and lemme stay at her place while I recover like Caprica did. That's like some fairytale relationship shit.”
Trixie: “Exactly! if I got my life saved all dramatically by someone who's not just gay, but gay AND single ANNND they let you stay at their house for free? I wouldn't even care if they were hot or not. You'd have to be a real big piece of shit to be getting rid of me anytime soon. I'd be grabbing on with both hands. Maybe not as hard as Barbra seems to be, but still.”
Greta: “Umm, I meant more that she's not pressuring anybody, so it wouldn't matter either way what she has.”
Mary: “We're getting off topic! I wanna talk about my cool theory!”
Ash: “Right, right, let's hear it.”
Roxy: “Let's NOT hear it! She didn't ask Barbra for permission!”
Sparrow: “Well since she's already put it together, the least we could do is go over it and let her know if it'd be a mistake to tell Barbra and hurt her feelings. Like if it is something really insulting, it would be better to act like it never happened right?”
Roxy folds her arms and grumbled, but otherwise stops complaining. Letting Mary-Anne get on with it.
Tapping on her laptop for a second before turning it around to show a PowerPoint style compilation of research and pictures, starting with Bob's prison mugshot, which the ladies leaned in to see.
Mary: “So here's what I found. So we've got this Bob Velseb guy right? Notorious cannibal serial killer, captured on Halloween night a few years ago and put in prison.”
Billie: “....Did you really make a whole presentation for this?”
Mary: “I told you, it's a really good one! And I had to keep my evidence somewhere anyway. So it's like a digital scrapbook, and I just cleaned it up some to show you.”
Trixie, with a bit of a teasing tone: “Becha wish you could make a whole corkboard setup with red yarn instead.”
Mary: “I sooooooo would, but it’s just too hard to fit that sort of thing in my car and drive it around. You all gotta come meet at my house so I can have the excuse to set up a real one!” Billie: “....Amateur detective potluck.” Mary: “Omg yes. With like a bunch of detective based desserts! Sparrow: Chalk outline chocolate cookies!
Ash: “Halloween coleslaw.” Roxy, through half muffled snickering: “Girl, the fuck is halloween coleslaw??” Mary: “We’re getting off track! Back to what I was saying…”
She switches to the next slides showing clips from newspapers and the like.
Mary: “So he stays in prison for awhile. But then last year, he escapes from prison with a few other small time criminals.
And he spends a few months killing people, like 8 or 9 bodies being found, all with the same M - O. Until Halloween night comes around again. He goes after the same family he got caught while trying to kill that other Halloween. And it leads to an encounter with the police who kill him in a shootout. Where he's brought to the morgue for an autopsy and has the cause of death confirmed…..
BUT!!!”
She changes to the next slide, which was talking about a car crash, a man found dead, and had a map with some areas marked in mspaint.
Mary: “The next day after the news report of Mr. Velseb’s death goes out, we have this weird little event happen. So there’s this man, who was supposedly on his way to a hunting trip? He's found stabbed to death on the side of the road here.”
She zooms in on the map, showing the road between this town and the weird little town where Bob comes from, and points to the marked location just past the outskirts of Bob's town.
Mary: “Now wild animals had gotten to the corpse before it was found, so it was pretty mangled, but he had definitely been stabbed. Which is a bit of evidence that could link to the knife wielding serial killer. Bob Velseb, also known as the devil butcher, so named because he used to be a butcher and ended up feeding his victims to his patrons.”
Roxy: “Oh, no, ew why'd you have to go and tell me that?”
Mary: “Well I had to give you the context that this is a guy who stabs people, so we should be looking for stuff like this where the victim was stabbed.”
Roxy: “You could've just said he stabs people!”
Mary: “Well, he also tends to butcher and eat people so we gotta keep an eye out for…”
Billie, in her slightly monotone, but firm voice: “Maybe cool it with the gruesome details.”
Mary: “Alright alright. It's not super relevant right now anyway, since it looks to me like the guy was in too much of a rush anyway to actually butcher anyone. Because the interesting thing for us…. is this man's truck.”
She points to a location further down the road, on the outskirts of their own town/small city and close to one of the parks.
Mary: “His truck… was found here. Crashed into a ditch, blood all over the inside of it, but no body. So if it had been a regular crash, then the hunter's body should have been right here with his car, not all the way back here covered in stab wounds. So according to the evidence, he was stabbed to death here, had his car stolen by someone who looked to be pretty injured themselves, which was then driven all the way here… to our town.”
Roxy: “Guuuurl…. Shut the hell up! That is sinister as fuck! You're telling me we've got somethin coming up from that creepy ass missing kids town, to over where we live? Man I don't even care if it happened the day after some big time serial killer died. That should still be a big ass problem!”
Mary: “Don't worry, it gets even better!”
Billie: “I think you mean worse.”
Mary: “Yeah! It gets even worse! So in the days after this body was found up until now, the number of murders went way up for about a month or so. With the bodies matching Bob Velsebs usual modus operandi. Showing up stabbed and mangled with pieces missing. With even a few cops getting killed in that time!
And then after that, even though there weren't any more bodies being found, the number of missing persons still stayed higher. Almost like a murderer who used to work out in the open…. was now covering his tracks.”
Trixie: “That's spooky as hell! Why's this the first time I'm hearing about somebody out there killing people??”
Billie gave a bit of a knowing look as she explained: “Because what we're listening to is a conspiracy. She's not seeing the evidence and working from it, she's made a theory first and is putting together all the information that supports the theory. That's how these true crime conspiracies work. It's good for a spooky campfire story, but there's a reason why the actual detectives aren't saying the same thing and telling the local news to spread the word.”
Roxy: “Man, you're just gonna be working me up over nothing then.”
Mary: “Not REALLY nothing, this stuff has actually happened.”
She then pitches her voice low and spooky for emphasis.
Mary: “And who knows, maybe there really was a cover up with the serial killer not actually being killed.”
Sparrow: “Yeah! Don't be a spoilsport! So like, so…. Like… uhhh… so how does this stuff have anything to do with Barbra though? Like you're saying the death of this Bob guy was a cover up, but how does this connect to Barbra?”
Mary: “Well first up, their descriptions are very similar. Barbra has the right height and build for…”
Billie: “How tall did they say this Velseb guy was?”
Mary: “Uhhh….”
She flipped through the presentation back to the mugshot
“6 foot 4.”
Billie: “Yeah, that's about right for Barbra.”
Showing her experience as a bouncer with being able to judge people's height from comparing them to their ID's.
Mary: “Right! Hair color, skin, build, even the accents match too.”
Sparrow: “Cool! That's already way better than when you tried to link me to any murders!”
Mary: “I know right!”
Greta: “Still, that's just looking like a dead serial killer. If you're only going based off of just happening to know someone who matches the description, that could still lead to hurt feelings.”
Mary: “But that's the thing, it's not only looking the same. Like for instance, think about how Barbara and Caprica said they met.”
Billie: “.... A car accident.”
Mary: “Right! And what started off this whole uptick in violent crime? This guy getting killed, getting his truck stolen, then whoever stole it crashing the truck into a ditch on the outskirts of the town.”
Trixie: “That's not the same type of accident they described in how they met though.”
Mary: “Yeah, but any good cover story has an element of truth in it.”
Ash: “So you're basically saying, that Caprica pulled somebody out of a wreck, who turned out to be a cannibal serial killer that the cops covered up the death of. And who instead of cannibal serial killing her, fell head over heels in love, and now…. what, they're like a serial killer power couple or something? So is Caprica secretly a serial killer now too?”
Mary: “Weeeeeeeelllllllll…. Kinda? Yeah? I mean, turns out, Capricas actually kinda legit been through some horrible stuff in real life. Buuuuut I'm not so sure about talking about that stuff since it, you know, actually 100% happened to her.”
Trixie: “Shit, so you're saying she actually has some kind of excuse for how trying to make smalltalk with her, makes her look like she's offended you even thought to try and speak to her?
It's not like… you know. Because of some guy…. Right?”
Mary: “No, no, nothing like that.”
Greta: “Well… you might as well tell us since we've come this far.”
Mary: “....Okay. Just a sec.”
She goes to the laptop, clicks open a web browser, and takes a moment to look up the right event.
Mary: “Okay, so over a decade ago, there was this thing that happened at a campsite near here, where this big elk supposedly ate something bad, like old rat poison from the 70s or something, which made it freak out and go on a violent rampage where it gored a bunch of campers to death.”
She steps back to show an old newspaper clipping with a picture of Caprica and a bunch of young scouts.
Mary: “Caprica was one of the few survivors, who also saved a bunch of cub scouts by having them climb a tree where the elk couldn't reach them.”
Sparrow: “Hold on, I actually recognize this one! That's the state record for the single most people killed in a single day due to an animal attack! So Caprica was one of the people involved in it the whole time? That's wild!”
Ash: “From hero to serial killer….. That's pretty brutal of her…. Nice.”
Sparrow: “Of course the lady who still dresses goth every day even though she's pushing 40 would have that be the takeaway here.”
Ash: “I know what I'm about.”
Trixie: “That still seems like a bit of a reach though.”
Billie: “I’ll reiterate. This is a conspiracy theory being made up for fun. It's going to be full of reaches.”
Trixie: “No I mean, Barbra is absolutely crazy for that girl. Like remember that one time? (comic about bob drowning his sorrows in liquor because caprica had to go to a doctors appointment and he couldn't come along.) Trixie: “It just seems disproportionate to fall that hard after a life of murder and cannibalism, to Caprica of all people.”
Sparrow: “You literally just said a few minutes ago if you were in Barbara's position getting your life saved, they wouldn't be able to get rid of you if they tried.”
Trixie: “What, am I suddenly not allowed to embellish a little? But I mean, come on, haven't you seen the two of them enough? Heck, starting out I was more worried that Caprica was like… like she didn't even want to be in a relationship?”
Ash: “I always got the opposite impression personally, like she was taking advantage of Barbra. She's always acting so mean to her. Like with us she's at least trying to be polite, but not so much with Barb. I've been trying to keep an eye for any other red flags like that, but Barbra’s never seemed to mind soooo….”
Greta: “Hey now, let's not start implying Caprica is abusive. It's clear she's done a lot for Barbra, however begrudgingly. Even coming to the bar all these times. It's clear Caprica isn't doing it because she enjoys clubbing. Barbara's always been the one having the most fun.”
Roxy: “Yeah, let's not have this get out of hand with all these accusations.”
Mary: “And more importantly, I want better feedback on my theory! I mean of all the reasons why it could be wrong, I'd hope for better than something like “Barbra is acting way too crazy to have POSSIBLY been a deranged cannibal serial killer.”
Sparrow: “That Barbra is a certified freak 7 days a week and I love that for her.”
Roxy: “Forget about Barbra, I still don't like the thought that some cannibal serial killer has come over from that town with all the spooky shit going on and is around here terrorizing people!”
Billie: “Once again, she's not following the evidence, she's inventing a ghost story and then finding scary evidence to support the narrative while leaving out any conflicting evidence or context. If it were genuinely something to worry about, this wouldn't be your first time hearing about it.”
Trixie: “Plus it can’t actually be the cannibal serial killer guy, he's super dead.”
Mary-Anne, with a bit of a mischievous tone as she leaned in back to her presentation: “.....You know, I actually found some cell phone video of the guy getting run over I can show everyone.”
To which Billie the bouncer stood up sharply and said: “Nope. Putting my foot down. New rule. No snuff films in the bar.”
Before closing the lid of the laptop.
Mary: “Awwww what? No!”
Trixie: “Killjoy.”
Ash, clearly sarcastic and kidding around: “Yeah, no watching the brutal deaths of serial killers in a bar? What are you, homophobic or something?”
Mary: “It's actually a pretty funny video without much gore or anything. The guy gets run over by a car like 4 times in a row. Like a loony toons character.”
Billie: “I don't care how funny it is, that's the sort of stuff that can get the business in trouble.”
Roxy: “But can't we make an exception this time? I'd feel a lot better for sure knowing that guy is dead.”
Billie replies as she straightens out her pants and shirt: “It's almost time for me to start my shift, so might be best to just call it quits here.”
Mary-Anne went back to the laptop to scroll through the list of images she'd gathered for people either missing or dead.
Mary: “Awww, but I didn't even get a chance to go through the list of victims yet.”
Greta: “No, she's right. I think we've seen enough. I doubt this is anything we should be letting Barbra see. Let's just stop here before…”
Sparrow: “Wait. Scroll back up.”
Mary-Anne did as asked, scrolling a bit up again and upon seeing it Sparrows eyes got wide, and she covered her mouth in shock. Prompting a few of the others to look as well. Getting a similar look of surprise.
Ash: “Oh, wow.”
Mary: “What? What is it?”
Ash: “You weren't there that day. So you wouldn't know. But that one?”
She points at a certain picture of a man on the screen.
Ash: “That's one of the guys who grabbed Caprica that day.”
The silence hangs in the air for a moment.
Mary: “This guy?”
Ash: “Yep.”
Trixie: “Okay that's spooky. But one guy going missing is a coincidence at best. Especially the kind of guy who'd behave like he and that other jerk did. I bet he's asking for a fight everywhere he goes. So let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe if they both went missing that might be a…”
Mary: “Well let's see! What did the other one look like?”
She said with a bit of excitement, scrolling through the rest of her list of missing persons.
Billie:“.... He looked like that.”
Mary: “Huh?”
Billie stepped over, and used the laptop trackpad to scroll a bit upwards, then pointed at a specific picture in the list of missing persons. The picture of the second guy who had tried to hit on Caprica that night.
Mary: “Thats him.”
The air hung still for a moment, the weight of the realization sinking in. Trixie Being the first to break the silence with,
Trixie: “..... Well shit, Barbra and Caprica might actually be some kind of serial killers.”
Another moment of silence, until
Ash: “.....Good for them.” The humor of the response breaking the tension with an indignant, though slightly giggly response of Sparrow: “Ash! Oh my god!”
Ash: “What? Am I supposed to be upset that a pair of creeps who snuck into a gay bar and try to sexually harass the shortest lesbian they could find in the club, and right in front of her girlfriend no less, have gone missing? Good riddance if you ask me.”
Sparrow looked between the women nervously before her gaze settled on Billie: “For real though, should we… call someone about this?” Mary: “What happened to helping bury the bodies?”
Trixie: “Would probably be burying Barbra if you sent the police after her.”
Sparrow: “What?” Trixie: “Seriously, what the fuck do you think would happen if we called up the police and told them that a lesbian trans woman MIGHT be involved in the disappearance of two men? And not only that, but that we’re suspicious of her being involved in their disappearance because she got into a fight with these two dudes when they tried to “correct a woman from the deviancy of homosexuality”. You might as well be broadcasting “Hey dudes! Free target practice over here! Feel free to shoot this woman as many times as you want, because no jury is going to condemn you for murdering a butch trans woman!” to almost every trigger happy misogynist dirtbag in town.” Greta: “I knew this was going to be a mistake….”
Billie let off a sigh: “Trixie is right. We could easily be putting Barbra’s life at risk based on a coincidence she had nothing to do with. Whereas it would be a roll of the dice if it even mattered to law enforcement if she were actually guilty or not.”
Sparrow: “....I guess you’re right.”
Roxy: “Man I told y'all this was gonna be a bad idea. Now yall are speculating about turning Barbra over to the police. But you know what? I’m with Ash on this one! Even though Mary-Anne’s been trying to freak us all out trying to link all these murders to Barbra, the only real evidence we have is that two wannabe date rapists who happened to get into a fight with Barbra have now gone missin. And even if Barb and Caprica did off those two, then good on em for actually being proactive in getting rid of creeps like that. Long as they’re sticking to cleaning up trash like that, and aren’t going after any of the people I care about or who have the good sense to just be minding their own business, then I couldn't give less of a shit.” Trixie: “I hope Barbra and Caprica did kill those pigs though. Fuck the cops, I wish more of them had been killed.”
Greta: “.....I think it might be best for everyone if we just change the subject and forget the whole thing.”
Mary: “........Do you think maybe Barbra and Caprica might have room for one more in their relationship though?” Sparrow, through laughter: “OH MY GOD!” Ash, also trying to stifle a chuckle: “Dude, don’t go trying to be some couple’s third wheel just because you think they might be serial killers.”
Trixie: “Yeah, what if they say yes and then you find out they’re actually super boring and you just end up being disappointed?” Mary: “A girl can dream can’t she?” Roxy, clearly not taking it seriously: “I’d be more worried about you thinking the worst case scenario here would be them NOT being serial killers.” They continue chatting for awhile about various things before eventually going their separate ways, having all agreed not to tell Barbra or Caprica about this conversation.
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🦂🏍
Shared good ch.1 bez/academy, 2.8k words
They are a bit tipsy, chatting about complete nonsense and sex.
And Bez is laying with his head on Luca’s lap and his legs over Pecco’s.
And Bez is thinking how they all had their fun with him one way or the other, and they are now discussing sex, and kinks and shit like that because that’s what they always do.
It’s Luca that brings it up, understably so, freshly divorced and not used to being alone in certain moments, same situation going on for Pecco, even though he never got to the wedding day, because the guilt of lying to Dudi about his sexuality was eating him alive.
“Do you know what free use is Marco?”
Pecco chokes on his drink like Franky, and Bez raises his head to look at him.
“Kinda? I am not sure tho” “I think you’d be the perfect fit for it, don’t you guys?” “I can bet my car he’d love that” “Mig come on, think bigger, I’d bet my house”
Franky gets elbowed in the ribs by Pecco, who’s still red from Luca’s question before.
“Care to explain why you’re betting so much on me?” “It’s about sex, that I think you know” “No shit Sherlock” “You get to be ours, we can fuck you, finger you, have you blow us, fill you up and you have to always be ready to take us, wouldn’t you like that?” “Practically like you already do but instead of you choosing when you want one of us we take control, so you don’t even have to use your brain and tire it” “Franco you are rude to our Bez today” “I’m honest, am I not?”
Pecco blushes again, Cele has barely looked over to them, too focused on keeping his thoughts in check, because if he listened to his will he’d jump over where Bez and Luca are talking and make out with both of them.
“So I’d be like a toy to you? Whenever you want to you fuck me?” “Yeah”
He gets up from his position, turning towards Pecco, staring at him in his eyes.
He stares for a few seconds, before scooting closer.
“What do you say Franci? Would you like that? Have me ready whenever?” “Mhmh” “You get so blushy it’s adorable”
He then turns towards Mig and Franky, pointing at both of them, repeating the question.
“Fuck yeah” “I’d be fucking crazy to say no”
Cele holds his gaze for something like two second, then he nods harshly and whispers “yes”
Luca is last, his stupidly blue eyes watching every move Bez makes, urging him on to ask, but his question to him is different than that to others.
“When do you want to start with this?” “So you accept?” “Of course I do, free sex and always available? It’s a dream” “What about tomorrow?”
Pecco’s eyes widen, like yeah he’s fucking thrilled at the idea but starting the day AFTER they agreed to it it’s - woah.
Bez looks over to him, as if he’s asking if it’s ok tomorrow, and Pecco nods, as all the others do, and Bez can feel Pecco’s hard on through his jeans.
Before he can talk to him though, Pecco gets up and goes back to his room, and pretty quickly it’s only him and Luca still on the couch. Luca has this undecipherable smirk on his face, he probably wanted to propose this thing before, and he knew Bez would be down for it.
“Oh look, it’s midnight” “So our little agreement just started right?” “Yes Marco” “Do you want something from me?”
Bez starts teasing Luca through his jeans, tracing with his finger the outline of his dick, slowly.
“Suck me off”
Bez climbs down the couch and slides on the floor, knees against the carpet as he unzips Luca’s jeans and tugs both those and the boxers down to free his dick. Marco can’t lie, it’s always a sight, Luca is big, and apart from that, he’s really good at everything, when he fucks his mouth Bez thinks he could suffocate and not care cause it’s so hot he’d be glad to die from that.
He opens his mouth and swallows him almost completely, making Luca throw his head back with a groan, and immediately tug at Bez’s hair, pushing him down more, just to remind him it’s him the one who holds the power. Not the other way around, then he lets go and Bez starts bobbing his head up and down, a few tears already forming in the corner of his eyes.
Luca moves his hips up, choking Bez on his dick, keeping him there, and Bez doesn’t complain, he likes that, the feeling of air getting taken away from him, the feeling of not having an ounce of control over what’s happening, and Luca knows, so he lets him choke on it, tightening the hold in his hair and moaning his name. Bez looks up at Luca, almost daring him to do that again.
“I want to fuck your pretty mouth Marco can I?”
Bez lets go of his dick, coughing a bit at it sliding out his mouth.
“Yeah, yes you can” “Good boy”
The younger opens his mouth again, staring at Luca directly in the eyes, and takes out his tongue, while Luca stands up and pushes his dick in, holding his head still as he starts fucking his mouth, a rough pace from the beginning, his fingers tugging at Bez’s hair, keeping a steady and fast pace as Bez keeps on gagging on his cock, making such an unholy sound he’s sure the others will come downstairs check what the hell is going on.
Luca can’t keep his own moans at bay, because Marco is just too good and he’s just too horny for what they talked about.
Free use Bez. Basically a dream come true.
“I’m going - fuck- to come down your throat yeah? You better get used to this Marco, I’ll do this every fucking time I need to get off”
Bez moans, sending shivers down his dick, and Luca laughs.
“You can’t fucking wait for us to treat you like that can you? Make you our pretty personal whore so you can get fucked and filled up anytime?”
Bez moans again, palming himself through his sweatpants, at this point his tears are falling from his eyes uncontrolled, and Luca finds him extremely hot.
He chokes a bit when eventually Luca finally comes down his throat, the bitter taste of his release quickly going away.
Luca pulls out, pulling his clothes back on, and making Bez stand up to kiss him harshly, pushing his hand down his pants, past the waistband of his boxers, and starts stroking his dick, already half covered in precum, slowly stroking faster and faster, still making out with him to shut his moans up a bit, as Bez feels his legs trembling as the orgasm comes closer, almost collapsing once he gets his release, Luca barely holding him up as he stains his boxers with cum.
“Go shower Marco, I don’t think the others would appreciate finding you all sticky tomorrow” “You can come shower with me if you want Lu” “I would, but I really want to sleep so I’m sorry I’m not fucking you tonight” “Boring”
Luca rolls his eyes and pulls Bez in for a kiss, then lets him go, and as he turns to walk towards his room he gives him a light slap on the ass, making Bez yelp a little.
When Bez goes back to his room and locks the door he’s honestly happy, he likes this idea, even if from an outside perspective it may be dehumanizing almost, but getting almost used like that…yeah no one will hear him regret his decision.
But he really wanted Luca to fuck him, damned be his tiredness because he was really feeling it tonight.
Well, too bad for him Bez thinks, he'll get off alone, he’s got plenty of toys so he doesn’t have to rely solely on his hands and fingers.
He gets on the bed and gets naked, opens one of his drawers, takes out a blue box and opens it, then he grabs the lube as well.
He squirts a bit on his fingers and then pushes one inside his hole, slowly, just to feel it getting in till the knuckle, moving pretty quickly because he’s horny and he doesn’t give a fuck if he’s not stretched enough to take it.
In a matter of a few minutes he’s adding a second finger, scissoring them slightly, already looking for the prostate, finding it after just one try, moaning against the hand he’s got covering his mouth.
“Ah fuck yes god”
Bez keeps cursing, then he adds a third finger and he knows from then on it's a matter of not even a minute before he’s gonna use his toy to get his release.
He thinks how hot it will be, when one of the guys will just drag him to a not so secluded corner to rail him and leave him stretched and ready for the others to take their turn. Or maybe just straight up fuck him in a place where the others can see them, or maybe even two of the boys wanting him at the same time.
“fuck fuck”
He takes the dildo out of the box, it’s one he bought not long ago, purposefully using Mig’s credit card just to get him horny and angry once he found out and get fucked in his motorhome in Sepang.
It’s not exaggeratedly big, he didn’t really check the length when buying it, but judging by sight it shouldn’t be more than what he’s used to.
He pushes the toy in and immediately starts thrusting it in and out trying t get his release as soon as possible, he is stroking his dick simultaneously to the pace he’s fucking himself with, and pleasure is reigning over his brain, he wants to come, and he wants to do that as soon as possible because it’s already late and they’ve all got training the next morning, and he can’t be tired it the guys decide they want him during the day.
Yes this agreement is probably the best thing he could’ve hoped for, he knows how each of them fucks, how rough or considerate they are, where they place their hands and what they like. He arches his back and moans a little louder than before, he can’t help it, he’s so close.
And that’s when he hears the door to his room swing open and shut close behind whoever just got in, he can’t make him out in the dark.
“Enjoying yourself Marco?”
Franky. He whimpers as he pulls out the toy, patting the place beside him on the bed, as the older one turns on the bedside lamp on the other side of the bed.
“Wanna help me? Luca said he was tired” “Oh so I’m the second choice” “If you stuck around earlier you could’ve been the first” “Mh really?”
Franky gets on the bed, Bez panting and so close to his orgasm, looking at him begging for his help.
“Don’t just watch do something please” “Since you ask so politely”
Franky gets his shirt off, Bez enjoying the view as Franky gets his pants and boxers off as well.
Once he’s done Bez rolls over, and starts licking at the tip, precum starting to come out.
Franky is not difficult to get hard he found out, a few licks at his tip, pressing the tongue in his slit and going up and down just a small amount of time and he’s a fucking rock, and that’s exactly what happens.
“Marco I want to fuck come on” “Can’t fuck me if you don’t get hard no?” “You tease when you do that” “And you like it”
Franky has many qualities but patience is not amongst them, so it’s really not that surprising when he sits up and grabs Bez by the hips, placing him on his lap, getting a hand in his hair and pulling him in for a kiss.
When they break away Bez is completely empty of his oxygen, and he starts rubbing their dicks together, getting Franky even more impatient.
“Stop teasing Marco and do what you agreed to” “You are demanding today I love it”
Before Franky can reply again Bez lifts his hips up and sinks down on his cock, biting at his lip to keep quiet a bit, keeping a hard hold on the older’s shoulders as he does. He curses a bit and then begins riding him, moaning at every movement as Franky caresses his hips, eventually moving his hands to Bez’s ass and cupping it to have him moan louder.
His dick is leaking with precum, he was already so close before with his toy and this well fuck it’s complicated to hold back right now, especially because Franky is - yeah - maybe not bigger than Luca in length but he’s surely wider and he stretches him while he fucks him and it makes his head spin like a fucking beyblade.
“You’re holding back Marco, what is it you can’t cum more than once?” “I already did before ah with Luca” “Well I’m sure you can do three times”
And with that he wraps a hand around Bez’s dick and starts stroking it, quickly, much quicker than the pace Bez is riding him at, making him try to fuck his fist and get off quicker. And Franky lets him, because a desperate looking Bez chasing his orgasm as if it’s a Championship is nothing less than amazing.
A litany of “fuck” and other curses flows out Bez’s mouth before he comes all over Franky’s fist and abdomen, shaking as he gets his orgasm out, and Franky just smiles, because he fully knows how much more sensitive Bez gets after he just came. So he really meets no resistance when he slaps Bez’s ass and tells him to get on all fours, and even less when he pushes Bez’s head against the mattress and his dick in his hole, keeping one hand on his ass and one oh the nape of his neck to keep him glued to the bed, starting to fuck him again, moaning at every thrust and Bez doing the same.
Bez keeps moaning, probably louder than he should, he does it consciously of course, and Franky too, Bez just wanting to tease him and the others, Franky sorta showing he was there first.
“You’re putting on a show eh? You like this idea much more than us I’m ready to bet on it” “Well of - god - of course, you all want me and I get to have all of you I’d be an idiot not to like it” “Fuck you’re something else”
Bez doesn’t stop moaning and Franky just gets closer with each thrust, same as Bez, who’s practically melting now, hot lava running in his veins instead of blood.
The hand on his ass is surely leaving a mark, and he knows he’s going to wake up tomorrow with a sore ass and aching legs but fuck it will have been worth it.
Bez’s brain is so far gone he barely registers the moment he comes again, for the third time, in just two hours, and he just realizes once Franky lets go of his neck and ass and slips out, but before Bez is able to move he hears him moaning again, and he turns his head just in time to see Franky jerking off and coming all over his back.
It’s honestly really fucking hot, especially when Franky takes his phone from the sweatpants he discarded when walking in and waves it asking for permission to take a pic, and fuck yes Bez lets him do it, who knows, maybe he’ll show it to the others, and they will want to one up him, maybe he’ll keep it and jerk off to it when they can’t see each other, maybe he’ll send it to him as a reminder of tonight.
“You were amazing Marco, as always, really fucking good” “You too I know I’ll walk funny tomorrow” “They’re gonna be jealous, you know? Pecco and Cele the most” “Mh yeah I know, but it was worth it”
Franky smiles and dresses back up, while Bez gets up from the bed to go have a shower and result somehow presentable for the morning.
Under the stream of water Bez washes and rinses his hair and he thinks once again, technically he agreed only with the boys to do this, but. But what if he was to agree as well?
What if Vale was to say “yes” to this? To him? Now that’d be a fucking dream come true.
#alice writes#my fic <3#bez/academy#free use! bez#motogp smut#motogp rpf#motogp fic#bezluca#bez/franky
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hi !!
my name is lenja and I'm 15, my birthday is the 16th of September. I'm half German and half Irish and live in Ireland :) this blog is just random things i feel like posting, a bit like an online diary, maybe. Here are some things I like :
♡ movies:
---------
• scarecrow [1973]
• american psycho [2000]
• the virgin suicides [1999]
• brokeback mountain [2005]
• fight club [1999]
• king creole [1958]
• jailhouse rock [1957]
• dog day afternoon [1975]
• donnie darko [2001]
• HWY [1970]
• batman begins [2005]
• the godfather [1972]
• the godfather part II [1974]
• the lego batman movie [2017]
• kill bill vol. I [2003]
• scarface [1983]
• the doors live at the hollywood bowl [1968]
• pulp fiction [1999]
• red dragon [2002]
• forrest gump [1994]
• a clockwork orange [1971]
• grease [1978]
• the dark knight [2008]
• venom [2018]
• saturday night fever [1977]
• a streetcar named desire [1951]
• breakfast at tiffanys [1961]
• ...and justice for all [1979]
• valley of the dolls [1967]
• night on earth [1991]
• once upon a time... in hollywood [2019]
• lolita [1997]
• jennifers body [2009]
• inglorious basterds [2009]
• girl, interrupted [1999]
• primal fear [1996]
• the silence of the lambs [1991]
• dinner in america [2020]
• amélie [2001]
• on the edge [2001]
(...sorry there's a lot)
꩜ books:
-----------
• american psycho - brett easton ellis
• JIM MORRISON collected works
• breakfast at tiffanys - truman capote
• lolita - vladimir nabokov
• red dragon - thomas harris
• hannibal - thomas harris
• sherlock holmes and the highgate horrors - james lovegrove
• the bell jar - sylvia plath
• a streetcar named desire - tennessee williams
• fight club - chuck palahniuk
• a clockwork orange - anthony burgess
❀ music:
------------
• lana del rey
• the doors
• hole
• bob dylan
• elvis presley
• april march
• alice in chains
• CCR
• the beatles
• babes in toyland
• the rolling stones
• stevie nicks
• nirvana
• HIM
• david bowie
• chuck berry
• nancy sinatra
• lesley gore
• fleetwood mac
• led zeppelin
• jimi hendrix
𐙚 some other things that I like:
------------------------------------
• jim morrison 🤤
• playing red dead redemption 2
• writing (journaling, letters, poetry, etc)
• 50s, 60s, 70s, 90s and y2k fashion
• stickers !!!
• discussing movies
• collecting dvds and books
• christian bale
• philosophising
• doodling
• redecorating my room
• making things out of paper mache
• hearing about people's interests
• regretting not being alive in the 60s
• listening to poetry vinyls (also collecting vinyls)
• sims 4
• vintage dolls
<𝟑
don't be afraid to dm me, I'll talk about literally anything !
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The way Watson in Victorian-era canon says "oh, god, yes! Take me to one of your dangerous cases!" goes like this:
“Well, I don’t like it, but I suppose it must be,” said I. “When do we start?”
“You are not coming.” (Said Sherlock).
“Then you are not going,” said I. “I give you my word of honour, and I never broke it in my life, that I will take a cab straight to the police-station and give you away, unless you let me share this adventure with you".
The way Sherlock in Victorian era canon says "I need a partner!" and like this:
"I think that I had better go, Holmes." Said Watson.
"Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss it."
"But your client --"
"Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best attention." (...)
"If not, I should much prefer to communicate with you alone." Said the client.
I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say before this gentleman anything which you may say to me."
And other:
With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door behind me.
"You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson," he said cordially.
"I was afraid that you were busy."
"So I am. Very much so."
"Then I can wait in the next room."
"Not at all. This gentleman has been my partner and helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." [explains Holmes to the client].
The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his eyes.
"Try the settee," said Holmes to Watson, relapsing into his armchair and putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own little adventures."
#sherlock holmes#dr john watson#i love the way they interact with each other#they are so cute#Every time reread I see new nuances in their partnership#I love it#best duo ever#sherlock x john#johnlock#acd canon#The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton#A Scandal in Bohemia#The Red-Headed League
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Shoscombe Old Place / Part 2 - Sherlock & Co From the diary of ASoulWithADream…
I'm so excited that we're getting a three-parter after three-parter. They're brilliant and as the production quality increases exponentially, these drawn out adventures holding more content are so important to me.
Live Soul Reaction (my little on-the-spot commentary):
The episode sub-title just makes me think of Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. "🎵 You've got a fast car, I want a ticket to anywhere,"
John explaining the stupid social hierarchy, state-till-8's, the little 'I dunno's' of doubt, as if he still feels a bit confused or insecure about the whole situation with Carrie and him. The way he phrases it makes me think of superficiality.
"Like some big slobbery traitor!" I like how the roles have switched to Sherlock defending Archie from John.
Again with the card references!
Gary Lineker's mate. That's the second time HE's been mention. There's been an awful lot of emphasis on repeating motifs. Makes me wonder what else from last week's episode will feature today.
"You're invaluable, Watson!" "Awh." "Cheers!" <33333333
"Ah! Goodness! Hello Bob- UH, Robert Knob- Robert Norbertson! Ugh, spit it out, John."
"Just what she needs. Just… what she needs." Bobby you are not making yourself look more innocent you smoldering drama queen.
Sherlock swallowing a fly 😭
Lineker again!
Jump in the river. Jumping into a body of water. This is the third time. For fuck's sake.
"World's colliding. New friends, meeting old friends."
Who's calling John a twat on the internet???
Ash. Ash on the leaves, on the nettles, on the bark of the trees. Didn't Sherlock mention smoke? From the house, Shoscombe? Last week, he said it very explicitly. Smoke.
"It's a house for the dead." "A mausoleum." "Yes, a very tired one."
I SEE DEAD PEOPLE.
"Sherlock." "Yes, Watson." "Quick question." "Fire away!" "Are we… trapped? In a… four-hundred year old mausoleum?" "Trapped is a rather subjective term. We did CHOOSE to enter." "Sherlock." "Yes actually, I think we are."
Pick a tomb, mate! COS' I AM GOING TO KILL YOU >:(
"Brings a certain perspective, doesn't it? Being in here, with the long dead."
The way John realises that he's snapped just immediately forgives and dismisses Sherlock as the cause of their predicament really goes to show the bond they share, how they're able to adapt and just remain sane in their situation.
"What… feels like home?" "Baker Street." <3333333333333
"Rivers are just as doubtful, Watson. Just as unsure. They take the course they find easy, through the soft earth. That's why their paths are winding and splintered. They look for the easy way. Only the most determined bore through the hardest rock. Overtime, much, much time." More water, which could mean nothing. But seriously speaking, I love Sherlock's perspective on things, and how he reassures Watson with these beautiful metaphors, connecting their surroundings and the information he has consumed to describe his dear friend. <3
"Even the torrents that seem so wondrous to us will reach their end in a sea, a lake… a waterfall." HE SAID IT. Before I thought I was being delusional! Anything could be water, but the hesitation, the torrent he speaks of being a metaphor for both himself through John's perspective and the adventure that Moriarty will pose for them both, but especially for Sherlock Holmes!! I'm freaking out!!
"Shout out to Pro- ooh, Professor!" I AM DEAD. I HAVE TO PAUSE. IT CAN'T BE. WHAT I WAS JUST JOKING BEFORE. I'M BEING DELUSIONAL.
PROFESSOR JAMES MORIARTY.
JAMES MORIARTY.
MORIARTY.
WHO IS LISTENING INTENTLY, TO EVER WORD.
WHOEVER THAT ONE TUMBLR POSTER WAS WHO SAID "haha what if he got a shoutout" YOU WERE RIGHT. I'VE TRIED TO TAG YOU BUT I CAN'T FIND THE POST, BUT YOU WERE RIGHT. FUUUUUUUUUU-
"I can hear the corpses from the seventeenth century crying into the mic! I've lost my mind!" I doubt you're as much in shock as I am right now.
I was trying to appreciate their little pre-crypt banter and pep-talk, but I can not stop thinking about the ballistic missile which was the waterfall-shoutout section. Absolutely bonkers, and balls to the fucking walls. The balls are everywhere.
I better not see "42 - The Final Problem - Part One" on my Spotify on the 16th of July in the Year of our Lord 2024.
#sherlock and co#sherlock & co#sherlock holmes#john watson#jonk watson#william james moriarty#professor moriarty#shoscombe old place#live soul reaction
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mayprompts2024 #16, experiment
Read parts 1-11 on AO3 here
Part 12 only on tumblr so far
++++++
The Perfect Place - Part Thirteen
John put the skull back on its place on the mantelpiece and pointed at the dagger Sherlock had stuck into the wood to keep several letters in place. He frowned and gave Sherlock a disapproving look.
“You shouldn’t keep such a sharp dagger in the wood.” John chided.
Oh dear, here come the admonishments, Sherlock thought.
He braced himself against what John was likely about to say. “It’s dangerous to keep a sharp object here. People could get hurt.” Or “You’re destroying the wood, it’s difficult to repair damage like this.”
John continued. “It’s really bad for the blade, it’ll get dull, you know? Also, the tip might break and get stuck in the mantelpiece. It would be a shame to ruin such a fine dagger.”
“Erm, okay?” Sherlock stuttered, surprised, “Yes, will do.” Not what I expected.
When John peeked under the sofa, he pulled out the Turkish scimitar that Sherlock had already missed.
“Oh, great, you found it! I’ll be needing it tomorrow.” Sherlock called out happily.
“What for?” John brandished the scimitar and made some thrusts into Sherlock’s direction. “You going to waylay guileless travellers?”
“No, of course not.” Sherlock decided to test John’s sense of humour. “I’ll need it to chop the remains from the latest flatmate-candidate. He insulted Billy and therefore he had to die.”
John looked Sherlock straight into the face, utterly deadpan. “Good then that I didn’t. Also, you’d better use this letter-holding dagger for precision cuts through the corpse’s joints.”
They stared at each other for three long seconds before they exploded into raucous laughter.
For the next ten minutes, Sherlock watched John hopping excitedly around the sitting-room, ogling things, pawing bits and fondling bobs.
It was an amazing sight of utter joy.
Sherlock was reminded of a toddler experiencing their first Easter egg hunt in a magical wonderland. He suppressed the urge of handing a basket to John so that he could put the found treasures inside for later perusal.
(Others might have been reminded of a squirrel suffering from dementia, getting excited over and over again about finding the same nuts it had hidden juts several minutes ago, thinking they were new.)
(And yet others would have thought of a cuddly hedgehog searching for windfall like apples and pears to gain weight for the next winter.)
John commented on every mysterious, unusual, weird or quirky object that he picked up, showing it to Sherlock and silently asking for more information, data that Sherlock was more than happy to provide.
“Are you needing a cup of tea as bad as I?” John asked after a lot of talking, “I’m parched.”
(Also, his throat was terribly dry from all the dust he had inhaled while scrutinizing Sherlock’s things.)
“Let’s make some,” Sherlock offered, “and you could have a look at the kitchen.”
Sherlock put the kettle on while John first commented on the lovely choice of green tiles on the kitchen wall and then asked about the array of chemistry equipment on the kitchen table.
“I’m doing a lot of experiments here,” Sherlock explained, “to gather data and evaluate clues in order to solve the crimes that I consult on.”
(This was true, of course. Also, it sounded much better than the whole truth. Namely, that Sherlock followed mostly some whims he had when he was bored and just experimented with whatever was available to him. He had produced mountains of laboratory journals with millions of spreadsheets of data that nobody would ever use. Like one of his latest obsessions when he had tested the durability of mummified Guinea pig embryos after being exposed to various kinds of acids and then thrown against a bed of nails.)
“What is it you’re currently experimenting on?”
“I’m measuring the coagulation of saliva after death.” Sherlock replied and poured the hot water over a teabag.
“Interesting.” John said. “I’ll get us some milk.” He reached for the handle of the fridge.
Sherlock suddenly remembered where the saliva had come from and an electric shock of terror struck him.
“No, don’t open…” he began to shout.
But it was already too late.
“… the fridge.” Sherlock whispered.
John’s shriek reverberated in the deadly silence that followed.
+++++
tagging some people @calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @lisbeth-kk @peanitbear @raina-at
#mayprompts2024#calaisreno#number 16 experiment#my sherlock fanfics#the perfect place#no beta we die like (wo)men
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Sold to Boygenius - A story

Warnings: Too much fun.
Boygenius Fanfiction
You doomscroll on your favorite app: Tiktok. When suddenly you hear your door swing open with the force of Hulk himself. You sat up quickly but before you can process anything you vision goes black, and you fall asleep for what feels like forever.
You awaken, your eyes adjusting to the bright hospital like lights. "H-hello... is anyone there?" You shriek your voice wavering with pure horror. You went to stand up, but you found you ankles being held down by chains. "Shes awake." You heard a familiar voice say, one that catered you before you were born... your mother perchance? "M-mom?" You question back, still the room was empty. "Yes, that is I honey." She speaks back; you turn your head to the side to see your mother. But not only was it your mother it was also a short fine bae that almost immediately became your huzz. Anyways, the woman was holding a phone up so you can see the screen. She was facetiming, too lazy to actually witness the kidnapping of her own daughter. "What is this?" You query, "your new home" she starts a dark chuckle leaving her visibly dry lips. "I sold you, courtesy of facebook marketplace" she said with a shrug. "I needed money immediately, for things I will not discuss but I'll give you a hint: adamsandeve.com" "Mom! what the actual shit!" You yell back, really for adamsandeve? But wasn't their stuff like relatively cheap...? why did she need to sell you for that? "I was short five bucks and these lovely ladies decided that you being sold for 5 bucks was a steal so... here you are." what.... there were multiple people. The woman held her pointer finger up like he was about to say eurika! But instead, she simply introduced herself. "Hey... I'm JB one of the few people that invested in you... " she said with a smirk that was giving hey...hey! hm... hey! "JB? Like Justin Bieber?" "No... like Julien Baker?" she said with a little bit of attitude. Oh...... "Where are the others?" You ask already bracing yourself for the worse. "Come on out boys" Julien said, then walking in was another two fine shyts. But there were no boys? "I think those are girls I'm ngl...." You say, like no shit sherlock. "Uhm no shit" says one with a white bob, oh she ate. NOW THATS WHAT I CALL FINE! heh... anyways. The room falls silent when the sound of your mom hanging up broke it, Julien cleared her throat. "I'm Phoebe" said the girl with a white bob. "I'm Lucy" Said the other with long black hair, ayyyy fire! Another fine huzz on my roster. Then you realized they were all wearing suits. "Heh. what's the occasion?" You say nervously they all just look at you. After they glanced at each other before turning back to you "Well...."
TO BE CONTINUES
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Box: May 2 Prompt from @calaisreno
“You wished to see me,” Mycroft says, looking not at John, but down at his own left hand, where his thumb is rubbing across the fingers curled into his palm, making clear that the sentiment is not returned.
“No,” John replies, impassively.
“And yet,” says Mycroft, making a sweeping gesture with his right arm, ending with a careless flick of his hand in John’s direction, “here you are.”
“Well-spotted. There’s that famous Holmes intellect at work.” John shrugs his shoulders with eloquent disdain. “Needs must when so many devils are doing the driving.”
Mycroft lifts the corners of his mouth in an insult of a smile.
Each man looks the other in the eye, unblinking, the hands of the three-tiered gilded clock on the mantel the only moving objects in the room. After a moment it is quarter past the hour, and the timepiece – which John would have been unsurprised to learn had belonged to a Qing dynasty emperor, were its current owner to share the information – softly chimes.
John leans forward, pressing his fingers into the edge of the massive Victorian partners desk behind which Mycroft sits.
“Sherlock is not dead.”
Mycroft slowly shakes his head. “Not so, Dr. Watson. Are you telling me that you do not believe the evidence of your own eyes and hands at the physical damage sustained by Sherlock's body?”
“And yet there is evidence otherwise," John counters.
“I do hope for your sake that you have shared your thoughts with your therapist or another medical professional, so that you can receive the care that you so clearly need.”
“Petty taunts, Mycroft. No need to unsheath the rapier if there’s no danger in sight.”
“I am a busy man. Do get to the purpose of your visit so that it can be concluded. That is, if there is a purpose, beyond letting time pass as you sit here engaging in fantasy?”
John sits back, and nods. “Very well. I want to be assigned to help protect Sherlock as he engages Moriarty’s network.”
Mycroft scoffs. “Were that even true, there would be no reason for me to acquiesce to such a request.”
“To prevent the release of the evidence I have to the contrary. And it's not a request. It is a demand."
Mycroft arranges his features into a simulcram of pleasantness. “And what evidence would that be?”
“I have no desire to reveal my hand on that score just yet. Not until I hear the word 'yes'.”
Mycroft purses his lips and picks up a fountain pen and points it at John's chest. “It would be unwise to engage in threats, Dr. Watson. I can press a button and have you detained in an instant, therefore placing any mythical information under lock and key as well.”
John snorts. “Not my first rodeo, Mycroft. If I don’t give a particular signal three hours from now, the evidence will be released to the press. From multiple sources.”
In a deliberate motion, Mycroft inserts the pen into a repurposed bronze inkwell. “And what if, in releasing this alleged information in a misguided attempt to soothe your distress, you should increase any danger to Sherlock, and the effect would be to cause him harm? What then, doctor?”
“With all due respect, Mycroft . . . if Sherlock is dead," John smiles, "then the release of my information will have absolutely no effect at all. None whatsoever."
“Do not box me in, doctor. You will regret it.”
“Oh, I have regrets, but that is not one that will be added to the list.” John narrows his eyes at the man opposite, and then says briskly, “Time to demonstrate your diplomatic skills, Mycroft -- time to negotiate. Chop chop. End of story.”
......................................................... @calaisreno @totallysilvergirl .........................................................
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Movies of 2024 - My Summer Rundown (Part 2)
10. BOY KILLS WORLD – Turns out this was a really GREAT SUMMER for action cinema, and the first genre entry here is EXACTLY what you’d expect from the true master of anarchic movie mayhem, Sam Raimi, here producing the feature debut of ambitious young German visual effects artist-turned writer-director Moritz Mohr. The newcomer’s crazy PERFECTLY compliments our veteran’s crazy, because this is like if The Raid movies had been made by Don Coscarelli (see John Dies At the End for reference) – basically a geeky love letter to classic 90s 16-bit beat-‘em-up video games, it follows the bizarre misadventures of Bill Skarsgard’s “the Boy”, a traumatised deaf-mute orphan raised and trained to become a lethal living weapon by a mysterious (and genuinely WEIRD) jungle shaman (The Raid’s own Yayan Ruhian) in order to avenge his family’s brutal murder at the hands of the Van Der Kroys, the bloodthirsty organised crime family holding their dystopian city under a cruel thumb of violent oppression. The film has been described as a “fever dream”, and honestly that’s a pretty accurate assessment – this is a COMPLETELY FUCKING MENTAL film, frequently spiralling off on surreal flights of fancy as its already pretty bonkers plot starts to unravel in truly WEIRD directions, but thankfully this adds to the unique charm a lot more than it ever threatens to alienate the viewer, sticking to JUST the right side of satirical parody while delivering a consistently winning line of jet black comedy. Besides, the MAIN attraction here is EXACTLY what most viewers come to this kind of film for, and Mohr EASILY delivers in this venue – the action sequences are INCREDIBLE, flawlessly executed even as they frequently become as downright INSANE as every other aspect of the film, and without pulling ANY punches to deliver some of the year’s most gratuitously GRAPHIC blood-and-guts. Skarsgard is, like always, thoroughly BRILLIANT throughout, effortlessly proving what an incredibly expressive physical actor he can be since he never speaks a word throughout the entire film … but that doesn’t mean the Boy doesn’t get his point across just fine, the film delivering a pretty ingenious conceit by having him speak to us through his “inner monologue”, using the announcer voice from his favourite arcade game when he was a child (voice actor extraordinaire H. Jon Benjamin, star of Archer, Bob’s Burgers and Dr Katz, Professional Therapist). Then there’s the top-notch supporting cast, featuring the likes of Michelle Dockery, Stranger Things’ Brett Gelman, Sharlto Copley and Famke Jansen as the uniformly despicable Van Der Kroys, Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day and its sequel) as their lethal enforcer June 27, and Andrew Koji (Warrior, Snake Eyes, Bullet Train) as Basho, the affable oddball resistance fighter the Boy befriends and enlists into his crusade along with Benny (the Old Spice Man himself, Isaiah Mustafa), a mighty warrior with a thick beard and moustache who provides some of the film’s biggest belly-laughs (for reasons it’s best for you to find out for yourselves, trust me). Relentlessly ridiculous, unflinchingly messy and frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious, this is definitely one of the year’s most unapologetically ODD films, but also definitely one of the most FUN too, as well as a spectacular showcase for the talents of a VERY fresh new filmmaking talent who is doubtless destined for great things in the future. Just be forewarned, it definitely AIN’T one for the faint-of-heart or weak-of-stomach …
9. THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE – Once again Hollywood is making it ABUNDANTLY clear they just DON’T LIKE Guy Ritchie any more, and I have NO IDEA WHY … despite 2020’s The Gentleman becoming a modest box office hit and signifying what many considered a triumphant return to form for the man who brought us the likes of Snatch, RocknRolla and the Sherlock Holmes movies (although personally I never thought he actually really fell off, despite what Swept Away and Aladdin might have made us think), his subsequent releases all got largely BURIED online – granted, some of it was down to COVID, but even after everything started to get back to normal the inexplicably disrespectful treatment continued, with Wrath of Man and The Covenant, both impressively well-executed and evocative cinematic features in their own rights, getting released straight to streaming with frustratingly little fanfare to drum up the attention they clearly deserved. At least this one made it into theatres, but with a lacklustre advertising campaign and stiff competition from much more high profile fare it sank like a stone, almost like Lionsgate didn’t even WANT IT to succeed. Even worse, for some unbelievably stupid reason it didn’t even RELEASE
in the UK, meaning I had to wait until it subsequently hit Amazon for me to finally get to check it out. The most frustrating part, though, is that the critics CLEARLY feel the same as I do about the film we actually received – this is a TOP DRAWER piece of work, further proof that Ritchie never actually LOST a step, another genuine belter of a flick which takes a brilliant premise and crafts an offbeat and deliciously entertaining cinematic caper than really deserved to be seen by a really big audience on a proper big screen. Taken from Winston Churchill’s declassified WWII files, it follows the true life exploits of special forces commando Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill) as he put together a covert team in order to execute a highly classified raid on a German U-boat outfitting operation in the hopes of crippling the subs long enough to help bring the Americans into the War. The only problem? March-Phillips was a disgraced loose-cannon, a fiercely independent troublemaker with a reputation for going off-mission and a major dislike of authority figures … he was also the original inspiration for James Bond, then mid-ranking SOE-officer Ian Fleming using him as the basis for the mercurial protagonist of his best-selling spy novels (and the rest, of course, is history). Needless to say, it looks like this will be the closest Cavill’s ever gonna get to actually playing Bond, and he really sank his teeth into this opportunity, clearly having the time of his life investing the character with his trademark twinkle and roguish charm (as well as an amusing appreciation for fine men’s fashions); he’s the ironclad backbone of the film, driving the action and story with typical aplomb, and is ably supported by a winningly motley collection of misanthropes, the gang of miscreants March-Phillips put together to execute Operation Postmaster brought to life in pitch-perfect performances from Alan Ritchson (Reacher), Alex Pettyfer, Eiza Gonzalez, Henry Golding and more, while there’s an enjoyably NASTY turn from Inglourious Basterds’ Til Schweiger as the film’s dastardly big bad, SS Commandant Heinrich Luhr, and Ritchie regular Cary Elwes brings his classic stiff-upper-lip to bear as the operation’s top CO, Brigadier Colin Gubbins, while an all-but-unrecognisable Rory Kinnear portrays a suitably gruff Winston Churchill. Ultimately, Ritchie delivers an enjoyably fiendish heist movie masquerading as a war flick, the plot snaking with crafty glee through a series of expertly executed set-pieces and ingenious little twists before finally landing a brilliantly cathartic climax which pays winning respect to the real life heroes that inspired the film, along with one of the greatest espionage thriller franchises OF ALL TIME. That alone should have won this movie some respect, at least enough to raise its profile, and it’s a criminal shame it’s been treated with SUCH glaring disrespect. Here’s hoping it earns the cult classic status it deserves, that might redress SOME of the balance …
8. THE FALL GUY – Stuntman-turned-director David Leitch’s latest film (following on from well-deserved previous successes co-helming the first John Wick film before striking out on his own with Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw and Bullet Train) is not only a genuinely EXTRAORDINARY big screen adaptation of one of the classic old school action adventure TV shows I grew up watching (alongside Knight Rider, The A-Team and Airwolf), but also raises one of the great unanswered questions of cinema – why isn’t there an Academy Award for stunts? Anyway … turns out that Ken, in last-year’s runaway hit Barbie, wasn’t the only role that Ryan Gosling was born to play – he’s equally perfect for the role of Colt Seavers, the seasoned “unsung hero” who makes all those action hero movie stars look so awesome, at least until an on-set accident left him with a near career-ending back injury which forced him into semi-retirement. He’s brought back into the game, however, when the action movie star he used to double for, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), disappears midway through the production of the debut directorial feature of his former lover, camera-operator Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). On paper he’s here to fill in for Ryder, but he’s really been brought in to find the missing star before the studio gets wise and shuts down production, but as he delves into what turns out to be a pretty tangled mystery it becomes clear that Colt might not really be the right man for the job … unfortunately he’s all they got … Gosling may be a master of understated performance, but as I’ve learned over the years (particularly from the criminally underappreciated The Nice Guys) he’s ALSO a master of comedic acting, and he’s really firing on all cylinders for this one, frequently damn near stealing the show from a high class cast who are nonetheless all equal to the task. Blunt is, as always, as flawlessly charming as she is STUNNINGLY beautiful, while Taylor-Johnson is clearly really enjoying playing a supreme douchebag of a preening self-promoting prima donna, Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddington frequently walks off with her scenes as supremely oily producer Gail Meyer, and Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Stephanie Hsu and the great Winston Duke both hold their own admirably as Ryder’s put-upon personal assistant Alma and Colt’s long-suffering best friend, stunt coordinator Dan Tucker. Needless to say, Leitch has long since proven that he is a MASTER of on-screen mayhem, effortlessly ushering in some of the very best action sequences we’re going to see in the cinema this year, but he also once again proves he’s ALSO a master of big screen comedy, bringing the pitch perfect screenplay from Drew Pearce (who previously wrote Hobbs & Shaw, as well as Iron Man 3 and his own directorial debut Hotel Artemis) to effervescent primary-coloured life as a gleefully anarchic and thoroughly irreverent celebration of action cinema excess and the gruelling hard work that it takes to actually make it all possible, all done with barely ANY digital trickery at all. All round, then, this was some of the most fun I’ve had at the cinema this year (so far), and once again, it really does raise that all-time great question – why isn’t there an Oscar for stunt work? Gods know this one would definitely have been a shoe-in next Awards season …
7. MARS EXPRESS – My animated feature of the summer is a pretty singular work which came out of leftfield and really took me by surprise, a science fiction murder mystery thriller of rare vision, inventiveness and beauty which is tempered with a fascinating and more than a little troubling thematic message which raises far more questions than it answers. Marking the feature debut of French writer-director Jeremie Perin (Crisis Jung, Lastman), it chronicles the investigation of two very unusual private investigators – world weary former soldiers Aline Ruby (Lea Drucker of Fox’s War of the Worlds TV series) and Carlos Rivera (The Crimson Rivers’ Daniel Njo Lobe), the latter of whom is now a kind of simulant android whose recorded consciousness was uploaded into an robotic body after he was killed in action – on a colonised Mars as they hunt for the cause of a supposedly harmless robot’s sudden malfunction and subsequent violent rampage. As they tumble deeper down an alarmingly perilous rabbit hole, they uncover a terrifying clandestine conspiracy involving corporate malfeasance which may include their sometimes employer, tech billionaire Chris Royjacker (the great Mathieu Almaric), rogue AI and a looming technological revolution which could spell disaster for the Red Planet … this is a genuinely INTRIGUING film, Perin and co-writer Laurent Sarfati (who previously worked with him on Lastman) weaving a seductively labyrinthine detective story which works magnificently well as an ingenious sci-fi take on the classic Noir formula, but also delivers an equally fascinating Philip K. Dick-esque treatise on the potential dangers of the unchecked development of artificial intelligence and far more fundamentally challenging questions about what it really means to be alive, and to be human. It’s also genuinely THRILLING, propelling the story at a furious pace generously peppered with a string of intensely full-blooded action sequences, as well as a genuinely GORGEOUS work of animated art, the exquisite mixture of 2D and digital animation (looking like a slicker version of Titmouse’s work on Scavengers Reign) rivalling some of the best anime I’ve seen but nonetheless somehow carrying a conspicuously FRENCH vibe. Altogether this is a magnificent achievement for an up-and-coming filmmaking talent whose work I will DEFINITELY be keeping an eye out for the future, as well as a BREATHTAKING masterpiece of this cinematic artform. I highly recommend hunting it down.
6. TWISTERS – Back in 1996, Jan de Bont’s man-against-nature action thriller Twister turned out to be one of the most undeniably enjoyable summer blockbusters of the 90s, and it’s one of those rare CGI-heavy features from the fledgling digital days that STILL holds up impressively well today. It also DEFINITELY worked perfectly well on its own merits, with no need for a sequel and CERTAINLY not a remake … so when it was announced that there was going to be one after all, like many I was suitably dubious. I mean the story was told perfectly well in the original, there’s nothing new that could really be said in a follow-up, right? Turns out there actually IS, though, and I’m pleased to report that Minari director Lee Isaac Chung’s new film lives up to its predecessor in fine style, thanks in no small part to him and screenwriter Mark L Smith (The Revenant, Overlord and The Midnight Sky) clearly taking the lessons of the 1996 film very much to heart and bringing us a fresh serving of everything that worked so well last time round while carving impressive fresh ground for a genuinely rewarding original story moving forward. That being said, the greatest strength of the original wasn’t the effects anyway – it was the wonderfully well-rounded, fully-realised characters we followed into the film’s myriad dangers, and this one definitely pulls off the same feat, introducing a new generation of tornado chasers out to pioneer new scientific tech and hopefully save the lives of people living in the strife-torn environs of America’s Tornado Alley. Glen Powell (hot off major career-making turns in Top Gun: Maverick and Hit Man) may be the heavyweight star power in this particular cast, and he’s definitely great, scene-stealing fun as Tyler Owens, the self-proclaimed “Tornado Wrangler” of YouTube, but the true heart of the film is Daisy Edgar-Jones (Fresh, Where the Crawdads Sing, Normal People) as meteorologist Kate Carter, who’s looking for redemption for past mistakes which led to the deaths of most of her old storm-chasing team, while Anthony Ramos (Hamilton and In the Heights) is certainly the soul as Javi, Kate’s former colleague who’s looking to help her realise her goal through his new tech venture Storm Par; there’s also hefty support from the likes of Brandon Perea (Nope), Sasha Lane (American Honey, Daniel Isn’t Real), David Corenswet (soon to be the new Superman in James Gunn’s DCU reboot) and even my girl Katy O’Brian (Love Lies Bleeding, Z Nation, The Mandalorian)! They’re all just as fleshed out as Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt’s crew were back in the day, a compelling collection of lovable misfits we’re happy to go on this crazy death-defying adventure with, which of course does SO MUCH of the heavy lifting with regards to the tension-building because we get so deeply invested in them all. That being said, the film definitely doesn’t scrimp on spectacle, the visual effects work having improved SIGNIFICANTLY on what was already impressively high quality work back in ’96, leading to some truly TERRIFYING set-pieces that would definitely surprise anyone who only knows Chung for his critically acclaimed and award-winning dramatic work (but less for anyone familiar with his work on The Mandalorian), which means I am VERY curious to see what he’ll deliver this Christmas on the highly anticipated Star Wars-based Skeleton Crew TV series. This is a far cry from just pure by-the-numbers summer blockbuster fare, then, a heavyweight event pic with a surprising amount of substance and a hefty dose of proper FEELS to go with all that adrenaline and eye candy, and it’s MORE THAN worthy successor to an already rightly beloved classic.
5. FURIOSA – 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road was not only one of the greatest films of the last decade, but was also the undeniable MASTERPIECE of director George Miller’s career, even managing to (almost) eclipse his classic FIRST sequel, The Road Warrior. It was a triumph of visual storytelling, two hours of furious all-action mayhem with barely any digital trickery in evidence, and brought us one of the greatest female protagonists of all time in the irrepressible warrior woman who managed to overshadow Max Rockatansky himself – Imperator Furiosa, perfectly brought to life by an ON FIRE Charlize Theron. It was, quite simply, A PERFECT FILM. So did it really NEED a prequel, chronicling the story of what led such a badass lady to undertake the gruelling crusade of that most exceptional of cinematic extravaganzas? Honestly? Not really. But does that matter? No, not at all. As soon as Miller started touting this as a project those of us who flipped out SO HARD over Fury Road IMMEDIATELY started frothing at the mouth at the possibilities ��� it was just that the more pragmatic among us were also a little worried that he might not be able to capture lightning in a bottle all over again. Well, we never should have doubted him, Miller was definitely equal to the task – Furiosa may not be QUITE as good as the film it chronologically precedes, but as an origin story it is MAGNIFICENT, a sprawling, gruelling, exhausting post-apocalyptic action epic that definitely does flawless justice to such an incredibly strong character. I don’t want to give too much away plot-wise, it’s better to just jump in and ABSORB it all, suffice to say that this does indeed reveal how the child Furiosa was stolen from her seemingly idyllic life in an oasis in the middle of the radioactive Australian wasteland, dragged out into the middle of a brutally hostile desert filled with warfare, insanity and SERIOUSLY POWERFUL VEHICLES and forced to forge herself into an indomitable, merciless and uncompromising living weapon in order to survive, thrive and find her way back to her long lost Green Place. Anya Taylor-Joy is a fine choice indeed for a more youthful Furiosa, subtly nuanced and filled with simmering intensity buried under a haughty mask of righteous untouchability,
but she doesn’t even TURN UP until the midway point of the film, the lion’s share of the work to establish her unbreakable character through her lost childhood ultimately going to The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart’s Ayla Browne (who previously performed for Miller on Three Thousand Years of Longing), and she is nothing less than a TOTAL FUCKING REVELATION in the role. Chris Hemsworth frequently steals the film as the best villain the franchise has EVER HAD (and that says a lot in a series that includes Hugh Keys-Byrne’s Toecutter), self-aggrandising preening peacock Dementus, who gleefully tips from adorably camp to chillingly monstrous to pompously flamboyant at the drop of a hat, effortlessly holding court over the likes of Nathan Jones’ spectacularly ridiculous Rictus Erectus and Romper Stomper’s Lachy Hulme as a more youthful incarnation of his tyrannical father Immortan Joe, while The Musketeers’ Tom Burke is equal parts heroic and stoic as Praetorian Jack, the doughty War Rig commander who takes Furiosa on as his protégé, and model-turned actress Charlee Fraser (Anyone But You) rules over the opening scenes as her ferociously protective mother, Mary Jabassa. Miller delivers in fine style on the action like always, the War Rig chase in particular sure to go down as the year’s most memorable action sequence, and once again there’s a pleasing reliance on physical stunt-work, practical sets and good old fashioned elbow grease over CGI throughout that does its predecessor proud. That being said, this one is NOT a breakneck movie-long chase, its more leisurely, sometime quite introspective pace instead going a long way to let the story breathe and the peerless world-building develop, although there is still a characteristic relentlessness to the tale which means that, despite its two-and-a-half-hour runtime it never feels overlong or outstays its welcome. Then again, it once again deploys Fury Road’s secret weapon – another throbbing, propulsively atmospheric score from Tom Holkenborg – to create another very pleasurable ride through the irradiated hellscape of Miller’s Outback. I for one would be very pleased to return to it someday …
4. KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – Matt Reeves is a tough act to follow, even before The Batman he was already blowing us away with his star-making directorial breakthrough helming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and its follow-up War For the Planet of the Apes. The conclusion of that latter film put a very definitive exclamation point on the franchise as a whole, making ANY attempts to continue the saga a tough prospect indeed, and something that even a seasoned filmmaker might balk at. But when I heard the proposed new trilogy, set hundreds of years after the events of War, would be directed by Wes Ball, I breathed a big sigh of relief – he did an INCREDIBLE job with the sci-fi trilogy adapting YA novelist James Dashner’s popular Maze Runner series, so I knew the saga was in very good hands indeed. Having come up in visual effects, Ball’s always maintained a very strong balance between physical and digital filmmaking, so he was certainly up to the challenge of bringing a new generation of photorealistic, vitally ALIVE super-intelligent talking apes to the big screen, as well as putting his flesh-and-blood actors through their paces with similar skill and flair. Most important, though, this film introduces a new lead protagonist who’s definitely got what it takes to succeed Andy Serkis’ mesmerizing Caesar in a new story, Owen Teague (It, I See You, Inherit the Viper, Black Mirror) thoroughly impressing in his first lead role as Noa, an uncertain young chimpanzee from an isolated tribal clan forced to grow up fast when his people are stolen in one terrifying night by masked ape raiders, leaving him to follow their trail with only intellectual orangutan Raka (The Orville’s Peter Macon) and an unusually smart “echo” (basically what humans have become since they lost their speech and intelligence) named Mae (The Witcher’s Freya Allan) to count as allies. Macon is a thoroughly endearing presence throughout, while Allan delivers a fascinatingly complex performance that fuels many of the film’s most interesting twists (although I’m sure you can spot one or two coming ahead of time); and then there’s Kevin Durand, who’s clearly having a whale of a time getting his teeth into a rewardingly robust screen villain in the form of Proximus Caesar, an ambitious bonobo warlord who’s using a corrupted version of his namesake’s teachings to build a tyrannical empire of oppressed apes – he’s not quite as compelling an antagonist as Toby Kebbell’s Koba, but he serves most admirably indeed here. Altogether, this film definitely had A LOT of heavy lifting to do to even APPROACH the heights of Reeves’ tenure on the franchise, and Ball and screenwriter Josh Friedman (War of the Wolds, Terminator: Dark Fate, Avatar: The Way of Water) have risen to the task in fine style, delivering a thrilling, affecting and inventive epic action adventure which skilfully builds on the framework provided by the previous trilogy while courageously forging ahead into the future, leaving room to venture forward into exciting further instalments. Ultimately this isn’t QUITE as good as Dawn or even War, but with this the saga remains as rewarding, compelling and majestic as ever before, and I see great things indeed in its future. I can’t wait for whatever comes next …
3. A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE – It’s interesting, most of the time when you get a really great movie that becomes a big hit and spawns a franchise, THE LAST THING it needs is a prequel, and oftentimes when it DOES happen it feels like a shoehorned mess or even a total disrespectful retcon (they can’t ALL be Furiosa, after all). A Quiet Place was never one of those – right from the start it was clear that how it all began was going to be JUST as interesting as where the original story was going, a fact which was DEFINITELY reinforced when Part Two dropped that TERRIFYING flashback cold open. So when this finally arrived I was FIRST in my local queue, raring to go and so unswervingly excited that anything less than amazing was liable to be a disappointment. Thankfully it turned out to be EVERYTHING I was hoping for – this is a super trim 99 minutes of knuckle-whitening terror with a (by now, not really all that) surprising amount of emotional power packed in, one of those films that brings you to tears when it’s not scaring the living bejeezuz out of you, just like the first two. Lupita Nyong’o is a breath of fresh air as our new lead protagonist, Samira, a world-weary young New Yorker who’s been beaten down by a life of tragedy and chronic pain from the very same kind of advanced cancer that killed her beloved father, only to find a reason to stay alive (at least for a few more days) when the sound-seeking murder-beasts crash-land in the middle of the loudest city in the world and instantly go apeshit from all the noise. Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn, meanwhile, puts us through the emotional wringer right from his entrance as Eric, a timid Brit law student whose anxiety is going THROUGH THE ROOF as this all goes off around him, forced to find inner reserves of courage he never knew he had after he latches onto Sam as she makes her way across the city in search of the last slice she’ll ever be able to get from her favourite Harlem pizzeria. There are equally heartfelt turns from Alex Wolff (Hereditary, Jumanji, Pig) as Reuben, Sam’s put-upon hospice nurse, and Djimon Hounsou, showing how his character started his own apocalyptic struggle as Part Two’s Henri, but perhaps the biggest stars of this film are, unsurprisingly, Nico and Schnitzel, a pair of tuxedo cats who perfectly portrayed the role of Frodo, Sam’s service cat, who’s probably THE MOST CHILLED-OUT feline I have EVER SEEN in a movie, and definitely one of the cutest. Ultimately this is an absolute TRIUMPH for its breakout writer-director, Michael Sarnoski, whose INSANELY impressive feature debut Pig already made him one to watch back in 2021, and he definitely did the original property justice while carving his own equally impressive path in the franchise. The end result, then, is a welcome addition to an already INCREDIBLE horror movie series, and definitely a strong contender for the genre’s movie of the year.
2. DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE – Damn … if ever there was a movie that I really can’t say much of ANYTHING about for fear of dropping spoilers, even if most of the fandom has already gone to see it … this is an IMPORTANT MOVIE, maybe the most important of the year, because the MCU has been on the rocks of late, despite Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 going a long way to setting its fortunes back on the right track (but then that one has very much been considered a BLIP, really), and this one looks to have SINGLEHANDEDLY knocked the whole mess back on the right track while simultaneously mercilessly ripping the piss out of the whole debacle. No, I mean IT REALLY DOES, there isn’t A SINGLE STONE that the Merc With a Mouth leaves unturned in his quest for meta-fuelled irreverence here (except maybe that dead Celestial poking out of the Pacific that nobody seems to be talking about after Eternals … or maybe I missed a joke somewhere). Anyway, this is EVERY BIT as good as James Gunn’s third and final feature for the franchise, as well as another SUPER-solid entry in what was already Fox’s now expired X-Verse’s most popular series, but most importantly it’s also an EXTREMELY successful bridging film between that and the flagging Marvel Cinematic Universe, the perfect way to bring Mutantkind into the franchise with the least amount of fuss. That being said, the BIG attraction here is, of course, getting to see two of Marvel’s biggest heavyweights going head-to-head in one movie, and of course beating seven shades of shit out of each other while they’re at it. If you will … yeah, if you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want to get spoiled, you really should jump off at this point and just GO SEE IT while they’re still milking it for every cent they can in theatres, safe in the knowledge that it’s a fucking AWESOME movie and you won’t be disappointed. Now SHOO!!! Be off with you … okay, still here? Right, then, watch me try to be as spoiler-light as I can moving forward … as much as Wade Wilson and Logan may be the very EPITOME of chalk-and-cheese onscreen, behind the scenes Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have got on like a house on fire for a while now, ever since the former started lovingly teasing the latter in the first Deadpool movie and started his long-running campaign to lure the original Marvel Movie superstar into a big screen team-up, so it comes as NO SURPRISE that they’re both clearly having the time of their lives working together now. Their chemistry in this is OFF THE CHARTS, the pair trading razor sharp quips, dirty looks and well-deserved face-punches with gleeful abandon from their first scene together RIGHT to the end, while the incredibly strong screenplay from Reynolds, series regulars Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Robot Chicken’s Zeb Wells and the film’s director Shawn Levy (who previously worked with Reynolds on Free Guy and The Adam Project, as well as Jackman on Real Steel) definitely gives them a really big Multiversal playground to let loose in, all while doing a really beautiful job of taking the baggage that the current condition of the MCU property’s left the franchise in and stuffing it all into what’s always been a much more stable if also far less RESPECTFUL cinematic sandbox. There are easter eggs galore, both overt and a whole lot more subtle
throughout, especially during an extended sojourn into the Void (the TVA’s pruning dumping ground) which not only introduces a few fun new faces (including at least one X-Men franchise missed opportunity AS WELL as the VERY welcome return of my very favourite Marvel mutant of them all – so nice to see you back, Laura! Sure hope you get to stick around for more) but also a bunch of fan favourites from across Fox’s Marvel pantheon, and as far as I’m concerned there ain’t a single bum note in the entire symphony here! Certainly this is BY FAR the funniest Deadpool movie so far (which is saying something), but that’s not really surprising since Shawn Levy has consistently proven to be one of the VERY BEST cinematic comedy directors out there (especially with his consistently high quality Night At the Museum series), so this is just another day at the office for him, and he definitely delivered something TRULY SPECIAL here. This is THE MOST I have laughed at the cinema so far this year, but thankfully like its predecessors it’s also got plenty of feels on offer too, meaning that it definitely fits in JUST FINE with the best that its new peers in the MCU have to offer. Topping this off with a selection of genuinely BRILLIANT inspired soundtrack needle-drops (particularly in the thoroughly irreverent and MASSIVELY disrespectful opening title sequence which sees Wade mercilessly desecrating one of Marvel’s most sacred cows) and a genuinely moving closing credits farewell homage to Fox’s Marvel legacy, the filmmakers have done their material so very proud as well as opened the door to so much fresh possibility in the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward, and I for one hope this is a sign that things really are FINALLY back on the right track for the series. Now if they could just get that Blade reboot out of Development Hell (wink wink) …
1. ALIEN: ROMULUS – Ultimately landing JUST BEHIND a certain other major genre heavyweight entry on my list for the year so far, my (current) number TWO science-fiction film of the year is also easily one of the SCARIEST movies I’ve seen so far this year. It’s also a very interesting and IMPORTANT film in that it goes A LONG WAY to knocking yet another major cinematic franchise back on track after spending a long while spiralling further and further out of true alignment. Okay, I admit it, I LIKE Prometheus a whole lot as an actual FILM, but even I can admit that IN UNIVERSE its attempts to connect with Ridley Scott’s own original masterpiece and James Cameron’s (even better) follow-up were clunky at best and downright EMBARRASSING at worst (and in the end, the less said about Alien: Covenant the better, really). So I guess it’s actually A GOOD THING that Scott took a step back into more of a producing role to allow somebody else to take the reins of this sort-of soft reboot, and it turns out that Fede Alvarez, writer-director of the first Evil Dead remake and Don’t Breathe (as well as the CRIMINALLY underrated The Girl In the Spider’s Web), was the PERFECT CHOICE for this job. Fitting in somewhere between the events of Alien and Aliens, Romulus sees the dastardly Weyland Yutani Corporation find the blasted remains of the Nostromo floating in deep space, as well as traces of the original xenomorph itself, which they then transport to the film’s eponymous space station, in the orbit of the colony world of Jackson’s Star, in the hopes of exploiting the organism’s unique properties for their own gains. Something clearly goes HORRIBLY WRONG in the interim, because when a gang of opportunistic young colonists, looking for a chance to jump ship to a freer life in another system outside of Corporate control, sneak onto the station in the hopes of scavenging some cryogenic resources for the journey, they find it derelict and ravaged by some kind of horrific disaster. Then their poking around sets loose some of the fruits of the scientists’ biological labours, and before they know it they’re neck-deep in facehuggers and more than a few of their bigger brethren too …
Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla, Civil War, Bad Times At the El Royale) makes for a surprisingly robust action heroine in the classic Ripley mould as Rain, her diminutive size belying her character’s feisty determination and wily resourcefulness; Archie Renaux (Shadow & Bone) and Isabel Merced (Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Dora & the City of Gold, Turtles All the Way Down) are both extremely likeable as Tyler and Kay, respectively Rain’s ex-boyfriend and best friend, while Spike Fearn (Tell Me Everything) is kind of a prick as their cocky cousin Bjorn, and newcomer Aileen Wu is standoffish but precocious as talented young pilot Navarro. The real breakout star of the piece, however, has to be Rye Lane’s David Jonsson, who delivers a spectacularly complex, multifaceted turn as Rain’s adopted brother Andy, a former Weyland-Yutani android dug out of a scrapheap and reprogrammed to protect her by her late father. They’re all put through hell by the events that unfold within the faltering station, Alvarez turning the screws and fraying our nerves with his characteristic masterful skill as their situations progressively go from bad to worse to truly fucked, all while paying loving homage to the first two movies while also creating something new and fresh for the series if they do decide to move forward from here. Best of all, though, as he’s always done in the past he largely eschews digital effects, preferring to do as much as he possibly can with physical effects, which makes the impressively icky creature work and seriously NASTY gore all the more delightfully gnarly throughout, with the film’s ONLY bum note being a particularly problematic “resurrection” choice which has already had a great deal made of it in the press, but which I, ultimately, found was actually handled surprisingly well in the end, so that it really didn’t detract very much from my personal enjoyment of the film as a whole. Rounded off with an evocative and enjoyably old school score from Benjamin Wallfisch (who clearly had a great time channelling both Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner here), this is a rousing success for me, a phenomenal return to form for one of my very favourite sci-fi cinematic franchises and yet another standout offering from one of the very best fresh talents working in horror cinema today. If he does indeed choose to stick with the property, I think Alvarez could well keep this series fresh and exciting for a fair few years yet.
#2024 in movies#boy kills world#the ministry of ungentlemanly warfare#the fall guy#mars express#twisters#furiosa#kingdom of the planet of the apes#a quiet place day one#deadpool and wolverine#alien romulus
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May prompts
Today's prompt: familiar.
The Luckiest Girl in the World (chapter 3)
Summary: A trip to the seaside leaves a vivid memory, forever etched into Rosie's mind palace.
Three Years Old
My first memory I remember vividly, occurred when we were at the seaside. I do recall bits and bobs from before this particular memory, but it’s a bit of a blur, not crystal clear like the one at the seaside near Brighton.
The pebbles fascinated me endlessly. How they sounded when we walked on them, the different shades of colour, their shape, the salty and stony taste.
I was trying to find flat pebbles to build a tower, and that’s when I heard Dad speaking. He uttered the same words to me on a daily basis, but not in that tone of voice.
“I love you.”
It was hushed, sincere, and I felt a warmth set in my chest. I was about to turn my head to reciprocate, when Sherlock spoke. His voice was deeper than normal.
“I love you too, John.”
Can a three-year-old be as considerate as I picture me in my mind? If my memory serves me right, the answer is yes.
Dad and Sherlock didn’t realise that I turned carefully to watch them, and when they came back to reality, I had continued my tower creation.
What I saw, is forever etched in my mind, and sometimes that, by now familiar image, brings tears to my eyes. It always makes me happy, so yes, the tears are the happy kind, or sentimental if you will.
Dad was sitting on the blanket and had his arm slung around Sherlock’s shoulders. Sherlock’s hand cupped Dad’s face and the look in his eyes was so soft. It was reminiscent of how he looked at me, but there was more to it. Another kind of love, I realised later. He closed his eyes when his lips met Dad’s in what looked like a soft kiss, but there was nothing chaste about it.
Somehow my instincts told me that this was a private moment, so I turned around to give them privacy. I managed to stack six pebbles before the tower fell. My cry of frustration made the two men in my life come to the rescue.
We walked down to the water to throw pebbles, and Dad managed to make his pebble bounce five times before it sunk. He was quite proud of that. Particularly because Sherlock only managed three.
I think I had decided to keep my mouth shut about catching Dad and Sherlock kissing, but can a three-year-old keep a secret? Clearly not me. Evidently, subtlety wasn’t quite my forte either. Every single person in the train carriage learned that I, Rosie Watson, had caught the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, kissing my dad, Doctor John Watson.
“But that’s ok. Because they love each other!” I exclaimed with a flourish, not unlike one of Sherlock’s gestures.
“It’s the West End next for you, young lady,” Sherlock stated dryly, seemingly undeterred, while Dad blushed profusely.
“What is West End?” I asked, curious about my next destination in life.
“Antics and escapades,” Sherlock murmured, which left me none the wiser.
Also available on AO3
Taggings in the replies, for reasons...
#may prompts 2024#may 3: familiar#sherlock fandom#rosie watson#sherlock#john watson#johnlock#bbc sherlock#sherlock fanfic#ao3 fanfic
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If you're looking for a bit of gentle escapism after this week, can I interest you in some of the radio shows I grew up listening to?
(Because, as my spouse has said many times, I grew up in the 1940s by way of the 1980s)
Bob and Ray are great for a giggle.
And Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce make for a wonderful evening with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Turn on the recording, turn off your lights, and curl up with a hot beverage for the full Daisy's childhood experience.
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Strap in folks, i'm thinking about meta (spoilers for red-headed league under cut).
I've not seen anyone comment on the little clip sherlock plays for john with that one actor in it who pretended to be the owner (?) of the fake studio. @ishouldbedoingalright was so kind to transcribe the sequence:
man: I work alone. I've always worked alone, god damnit.
woman: I'm not asking you to work with me, I'm asking you to love me.
man: arggh how can you love a loose canon like me, huh? I'm just a guy from the wrong side of the tracks. And you've led this lunatic straight to us, and you tell me that you love-
The following WILL be absolutely mental logic, but i think it's SUUUPER INTERESTING they chose this little clip to play.... not to bring bbc ******** into this but there's a quote in it saying "alone protects [sherlock]" and in fact in the 1st enola holmes film lestrade emphasises that "sherlock holmes always works alone". Both statements are presumably based on what we know about acd holmes' past: "I was never a very sociable fellow, Watson ... I never mixed much with the men of my year." Sherlock worked alone for a few years before meeting watson which is delicious to most writers i guess because it makes watson Special as he's such a juxtaposition to most other things in sherlock's life (whichever universe you look at). Sherlock and co is no exception to that! Sooo based on this information the audio clip transcribed above made me VERY quickly prick up my ears. Not to assign john the damsel in distress role in the dialogue but the man wanting to "work alone" and the woman being like "i don't want to work with you, i want to LOVE you" just fits a little too neatly for one not to read into it... and it comes at a really interesting point in their relationship as well: we've moved on from the getting to know each other awkward phase and have moved into the phase where they have a reliable rapport, start to predict each other's actions and overall flesh out their relationship to a more substantial extent that goes beyond just "work colleagues". Dare i say, it's absolutely the time to introduce little bits and bobs that the characters don't pick up on yet but the listeners do. And why not let that be a slowly simmering romance between, oh no they've come to take me away-
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Okay I want to be more fair this time for the game: Maybe Lollipop?
Every half-decade or so something triggers me to listen to the Framing Hanley cover of Lollipop 10 times in a row while simultaneously bobbing my head and scrunching my nose up in mild disgust the whole time. Such is the millennial lot in life, I suspect. So thanks for that. 🤣
I don't have this, so I was gonna give you one with "lick" instead, but the only one where "lick" actually means "lick" as opposed to like "fire licking at blah-blah-blah" is a bit too spoilery. 😅 So I've written five new sentences and here is one of them:
Sherlock kisses at his throat and waits for him, thinking he can almost hear the cogs turning in that wonderful brain just above him.
Thank you!!
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