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littleredroseonthevalley · 6 years

Text

East End

Summary: After another round distributing bread, Ernest Sinclaire stumbles on something he was not supposed to know.

Rating: T - Content not suitable for children. Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with minor suggestive adult themes.

Words: 2109

Notes: So, this is basically an introduction to the MC I have been using on my stories these last few weeks. I expanded, with some (A LOT) of creative liberty, on the White!MC’s backstory provided at that diamond scene with Hamid three weeks ago.

What is historically accurate: The Count of Provence and most Bourbons were living in Britain from 1809 to the Restoration, under an invite from the then-Prince of Wales.

Most of them lived in semi-reclusion in Buckinghamshire, and Louis XVIII did publish several manifestos claiming the crown and outlying what he would do if he were to become king, but, in 1811, it seemed pretty clear that it would never happen. They were on exhile for almost twenty years by then, and Napoleon seemed to be winning, read ‘not losing’, the war against... Europe, pretty much.

It is also true that the British crown was pretty much indifferent about Louis XVIII’s claim. They did support attempts to invade France during the 1790��s, and they were part of the First and Second Coalitions, which intended to restore ‘order’ and ‘legality’ to France, but as Napoleon not-lost wars against three consecutive coalitions, he cemented somekind of legitimacy as the head of the French State.

What is not true: courtly etiquette. I really don’t know how the French greeted their king. I do know, though, it is horribly intricate and took too much research that a 2,000-word piece warrants to get it right. So hand-kissing it is, deal with it.

Without further ado, enjoy!

It was the dead of the night in East End, the weather was cool and a soft mist was forming near the uneven wet cobbles of the street.

They were having an abnormal cold and wet springtime on that year of the Lord 1811. Not a good thing for those who lived on that area of the British capital, for they had not enough money for food, lest for wood and heating.

For Ernest, who had just finished his rounds delivering bread to the starving workers of the area, the weather was, like most things that surrounded him, indifferent.

So is the life of eternal boredom and disinterest. Everything was ambivalent and grey.

It was, however, a hassle. He thought the night would be pleasant enough to walk back to his house, as he preferred, and had dismissed his driver for the night. At this hour, there would be no rentals available, so he would wet his coat over nothing.

He preferred not to be bothered by the curious stares of his groom, but he was better stared at than wet and cold, to be sure.

As the esquire turned a corner, he saw something that greatly confounded him. It was a carriage, and one he knew quite well.

Luke Harper, the groom on the employ of his neighbours, was driving the distinctively luxurious carriage, moving lazily through the fog, believing, within good reason, that he would not be seen or recognized in any way.

The horses stopped at front of the best-kept house on the street. The conductor makes no move to get down from his seat to open the door, as it would be expected of him if he carried one of his patrons.

Ernest had taken this as evidence he was carrying nobody, or that his business at the neighbourhood were of a personal order. Desiring no further entanglement with whatever business the man was conducting, lest it to be something unsavoury, the blond man crossed the street to continue his way to his house, trying to pass unnoticed.

However, before he lost eyesight of the carriage, a woman steps out. She wore a black dress and a cape, but the hood was not covering her head, where a beautiful stem of brown hair, tied neatly to form a thin cascade just past her shoulders.

Ernest could recognize that hair anywhere. He spent much more time than he cared to admit thinking about it, and about the rest of the person who wore it so gracefully. Lady Susan Beauchamp, the natural daughter and current heir of the Earl of Edgewater.

Just as soon as her feet touch the sidewalk, Mr Harper prompts the horses to move forward, and soon it disappears on the mist. The cloaked figure knocks on the door and is quickly ushered inside.

Feeling the curiosity and the concern getting the best out of him, he walks surreptitiously to the building. It was detached from its neighbours, a rarity in that particular street, but it was a guarantee there would be another point of entry or a window to peek.

Walking around the place, the esquire finds such a window, on the left side of the building, overlooking an alleyway. Benefitting with the prevalent darkness at the streets, he could sneak into a comfortable watching position.

Inside, there were about ten people, all wearing black aside from a single overweight man dressed in white, sitting on a chair right about on the far end of the room, on Ernest’s left. None of them wore jewellery, either, probably advisable due to the dangerous nature of their surroundings.

Another thing that resonated with the landowner was the fact there was no women in the room, aside the one brought by Edgewater’s groom and another one, a blonde, standing right next to the fat man.

A few moments later, Susan approaches the man in white, kneels and kisses his hand. Ernest contained his gasp, as it was a much too weird gesture to dedicate to a person, especially one as disgusting-looking as that man on the chair.

The young heiress stands once again and takes a few steps back. Her sights cross with the only other woman’s, who smile kindly at her presence. The man in white starts talking, though, and all eyes are on him.

Ernest could not hear what was being said, but whatever passed through the filter of the glass was certainly not English.

He stood there, observing attentively the exchange, for good part of thirty minutes. However, his focus on the scene meant he did not take proper care of the environment around him, and he was then tackled by a dark figure.

The esquire was hardly a man devout of physical activities, horseback riding and some gardening being the most that brought him outside in the sun. That, coupled with his distractedness, made him to be easily overpowered and taken inside the building.

Once inside, he was placed on his knees in front of the figure in white, being held in position firmly through his shoulders.

“Votre Majesté,” The man holding Ernest said, deferent. “Mes excuses pour l'interruption. Cet homme a été retrouvé à l'arrière du bâtiment. ”

The man in white pressed his lips, a sign of anger. Ernest could feel Susan staring down at him, but he did not look up to meet her glance.

“Vous ne pensez pas que cet homme pourrait être un espion, monsieur?” The fat man asks.

“Il n'est pas un espion, Votre Majesté.” Susan says, with an edge of anger on her voice. “Je le connais, c'est un ami de mon père. Puis-je être autorisé à traiter avec lui? ”

The man signals his approval with a hand-wave and he is taken to a side room, followed closely behind by Susan. She seats on an armchair, while he is forced to stand. The man that guarded him so far brings a few candelabras into the room and leaves them to themselves.

“What in Lord’s name are you doing here, Mr Sinclaire?” She asks impatiently, as soon as they are left alone. “This is not a neighbourhood where I can believe a man of your station happens to be spending his night.”

“I could very well ask the same of you, Lady Susan.” He counters, trying to maintain a haughty position of moral superiority. “If it is no place for a gentleman, it is also no place for a countess in the making.”

Her clear eyes formed a glare one might wonder if it is indeed incapable of murder. “As I am sure you have noticed, seeing you are spying on my every move for God knows how long, I have done nothing unbecoming or inappropriate for my station tonight. I am sorry to say I cannot say the same about you.”

“I apologize, milady, if it seemed as if I followed you here from Trafalgar Square, but do not assume I frequent houses of ill-repute for reasons of my libido.” He says, matching her raging tone. “If you believe me, I say I was on the region for a charitable work. I give out loaves of bread to the women with children.”

The woman evaluates him carefully with her glinting eyes, finally softening her stance. “I believe you. Now, I must ask for you to leave.”

“You will not hand me the courtesy of explaining what was that I saw tonight?” He asks, in equal parts defiant and pleading.

“I do not think I should, but anything you thought you saw would probably be much worse than the actual truth.” She weighted. “Very well. What would you like to know?”

The esquire withholds a scoff. It would serve him no good. Instead, he says, “Who is that man in white? The one you kissed the hand?”

Susan gives him a side smirk, an amused reaction of those who know something their interlocutors do not. “That man, Mr Sinclaire, is Louis, the Count of Provence. Or, if you so prefer, King Louis XVIII of France. In fact, most of those people are members of the Bourbon dynasty. The Count of Artois, the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme, the Duke of Berry.”

The information takes some time to be internalized by Ernest’s mind. The King of France? He remembered reading on the paper a few months back that the surviving Bourbons had come to Britain upon invitation of the Prince of Wales, but he also recalled they were to remain in Buckinghamshire, quite ways off London.

Regardless, why would Susan, the natural daughter of a middle-tier English noble, have any business with the pretender French king or any of his family? Especially one that allowed them such familiarity with the Bourbons?

Predicting it to be the next question from Mr Sinclaire, Susan commences her tale: “You see, Mr Sinclaire, my mother is not English. She is from the continent, more specifically Brittany. Her parents, my grandparents, were landowners, country gentry not too different from yourself or my natural father.

“In 1789, came the Fear.” Her voice grows dark. “I cannot say whether my grandparents were good people, if they were charitable and just or if they were cruel to their serfs. I never met them. In whichever case, they were lynched and their house was set on fire.

“My mother, being just a girl on the cusp of her fifteenth birthday, was spared, but she was now homeless and an orphan. She, then, walked to Caen, where she met an Englishman who was besotted with her singing voice, so much so, he was willing to pay her journey across the Channel and sponsor her entrance to an opera company here in London. Given the ill-feelings the English had towards the French, my mother preferred to conceal her nationality.

“The next part of the story you probably know, my mother meeting my father, he promising to marry her, only for his father to deny him and imposing a match with Henrietta instead.” The woman gloss over the information. “After I was born, my mother started corresponding with several émigrés. She even helped a few settle in Britain under assumed names. In turn, she requested for them to send books to help raising me properly.

“One of those correspondents happened to be the Duchess of Angouleme, who referred me and my family to her uncle. I came here to meet with them, to discuss current events and their plans for the future. It is all.”

“But why here?” Ernest asks, pointedly. “Why so covert about it?”

She sighs. “Britain’s position regarding the legitimacy of the Bourbon claim has changed. While the British Crown sees positively the return of a Bourbon to the throne of France, they are no longer willing to support a takeover on the lines of those in the 1790’s. Restoration depends on whether a final solution with Napoleon can be reached, and how this solution presents itself.

“That being said, and reminding that they are in England under a personal invitation of the Prince Regent, it could be damaging to their standing in the country if they are suspected to be gathering émigrés for another attempt at a takeover. It is better if our meetings, be mine with the Bourbons, be with any other Frenchman, to be as discreet as possible.”

“I understand, Lady Susan.” He nods, soberly. “Thank you for you kindly sharing this story with me. I apologise for imposing into your affairs, especially one of this nature.”

“Pay no heed, Mr Sinclaire.” The woman bobs her head gracefully. “However, I must ask for your absolute discretion on the subject.”

“Of course. I will tell no soul.” The esquire promises, voice even and eyes looking deep into hers.

“Good. Now come, I will escort you out and arrange for a carriage to take you back to your house.”

Susan leads him outside, where a horse car waited, probably for one of the men inside the place. She talks with the groom in French, probably persuading him to take the Englishman home.

As London passes by the window and the East End is left behind, swallowed by the white fog, Ernest considers what he saw and heard from Lady Susan.

The woman was beautiful and fascinating, that was clear to anyone with two eyes and sense, but she also had secrets, and scars, she hides behind that natural debonair of hers.

Perhaps it was childish of him, just some petty curiosity that would bring no satisfaction, if not offense, but if Ernest was sure of one thing, is that he was eager to find out more of what hide beneath Lady Susan’s appearances.

Taglist: @catlady0911; @choicesyouplayandmore; @cocomaxley; @llholloway; @mrsernestsinclaire; @shelivesinthewoods; @tornbetween2loves

#desire & decorum #ernest sinclaire

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starcityhq · 6 years

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The streets are dark and empty. No one goes outside anymore. Everyone is afraid. NOVA agents prowl the streets at night—people say they abduct innocent citizens for information or leverage. People say they shoot first and ask questions later. The jackboots on the street is a familiar sound for everyone. Helicopters fly overhead with their spotlights, waiting to catch someone. People have been going to prison and disappearing. Everyone is afraid. Mutants and metahumans are being hunted. Heroes and vigilantes are being forced underground. No one is safe.

At last, it’s here! The plot drop we’ve all been waiting for—the announcement of season 2! There are going to be a few new things under the cut so we want to make sure that you guys are aware of some cool stuff we’re introducing!

Under the cut you will find a timeline of major events, starting with events that happened in game over the past two years and going through the two month time-skip. With the two-month time skip, a lot of new IC rules have been put in place and with some of them, there are ways for admins to get characters in trouble for breaking them! Any IC consequences are completely optional and will always be plotted out with the players before anything happens. This is just a fun way for the characters to get more interaction with the world at large in the game!

Thank you all for being so supportive all this time—this wouldn’t have been possible without our amazing members!

Now, without further ado, SEASON 2!

[ APRIL 8, 2017 ] — In honor of the ban’s success, the mayor invited every citizen to attend Star City’s annual masquerade, where there would be burning of vigilante, mutant, and metahuman memorabilia. During a power outage, the mayor was assassinated, rounds were fired, and the memorabilia was stolen.

[ JULY 15, 2017 ] — David Booth, mutant and victim of a suspected hate crime, passes away in the hospital after being attacked outside his apartment.

[ JULY 16, 2017 ] — News Channel 7′s broadcast signal is hijacked by the Joker. Magneto makes a speech to all mutants in Star City, encouraging them to stand up and fight alongside him. Mass riots follow the speech.

[ JULY 17, 2017 ] — Malcolm Brown, mutant activist and lawyer, is shot to death minutes before giving a speech against a mutant registry. Demonstrations continue throughout the city and many arrests are made. The interim mayor declares martial law and the National Guard arrives. Protests grow more violent and teargas is deployed. The National Guard is eventually able to disperse rioters and take back control of the streets.

[ SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 ] — The interim mayor arranges a charity ball and a silent auction, where all proceeds will be donated to mutant rights, in order to quell recent tensions. Citizens are encouraged to adopt a peaceful approach to change. While the charity ball is a success, many attendees return home to find their homes destroyed with inhuman force and hateful, threatening messages telling them to leave the city.

[ JANUARY 19, 2018 ] — The villains take advantage of the city’s recent vulnerability by choosing one night to wreck havoc. The interim mayor has taken a decisive stand against mutants since the break-in and is assassinated - presumably by Magneto - in front of a crowd. Joker and Harley abduct dozens of school buses and hold Barbara Gordon hostage to lure Batman to them. Star City thieves, including Selina Kyle and Dani Moreno, end up taking hostages during a high stakes robbery, and Harvey Dent and June Moone’s highly publicized and glamorous wedding is interrupted by the literal walking dead.

[ APRIL 18, 2018 ] — The seventh anniversary of the ban is celebrated in the historic Apollo Ballroom. When the new interim mayor declares the intention to move forward with a mandatory mutant/vigilante/metahuman registry, the protest outside intensifies. Just when it seems the situation has reached its peak, the ballroom doors slam shut and lock. Joker venom pours through the vents and the toxin takes effect. Some people become violent, others are unable to stop laughing, and the interim mayor is swiftly killed. Outside, Harley Quinn releases her hyenas and they attack. She is arrested, but Joker escapes. As people recover, Harvey Dent takes the stage and announces his candidacy for mayor, pledging to do what he can to stop the formation of a registry.

[ JULY 6, 2018 ] — There is a massive security breach at Star City Asylum and Tarasov Penitentiary, resulting in dozens of escaped prisoners. The newly formed Justice League and Teen Titans are the first to respond and contain the situation, but not before the escapees wreck havoc throughout the city. Despite efforts, some prisoners remain unaccounted for - most notably Harley Quinn and Jonny Frost.

[ SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 ] — While the most powerful mutants have left the city to eliminate a branch of HIVE, Star City has received a bomb threat. Evacuations are ordered immediately and citizens race to the bridge, not realizing that the bridge is the target. Casualties rise into the hundreds.

[ OCTOBER 16, 2018 ] — The time has come for the city to choose its new mayor and Harvey Dent is the victor by a landslide.

[ NOVEMBER 13, 2018 ] — Newspaper offices, including the Gazette, are set on fire during business hours, leaving some trapped inside. The arsonists have not been found.

[ NOVEMBER 14, 2018 ] — Local mutant shelter and clinic is raided and there are four arrests, including mutants Josh Foley and Laura Kinney.

[ NOVEMBER 15, 2018 ] — Star City Children’s Hospitals that will not admit mutants report a mysterious illness rapidly spreading throughout the wards. That same day, the National Oversight and Validation Association (NOVA) is formed. The purpose of the organization is to oversee and validate all mutant, metahuman, hero and vigilante actions in the country through patrol groups.

[ NOVEMBER 16, 2018 ] — A curfew is established in Star City. Residents must be indoors by 10 PM unless proper documentation is provided for a resident to be out after 10.

OOC RULE: The admins will be watching threads to see which ones are taking place after curfew—make sure to label the time of day somewhere in your thread!—and we will use a randomizer to select a thread for the characters to get caught. Consequences after that will be plotted with the players!

[ NOVEMBER 22, 2018 ] — A blanket ban on weapons (including guns, knives, swords, batons, nunchucks, and others) has been imposed in Star City. The only people allowed to carry weapons are members of law enforcement.

OOC RULE: The admins will keep track of threads where a character is in possession of a weapon. Simply having the weapon will result in a single strike added to the character’s record. If the character uses the weapon, they get two. Once a character gets to ten strikes, the character gets caught.

[ NOVEMBER 25, 2018 ] — A city ordinance allows any business to refuse service to any mutant or metahuman at their discretion.

[ NOVEMBER 30, 2018 ] — Anyone can be stopped and searched without probably cause in Star City. All law enforcement officials now carry power-dampening devices.

[ DECEMBER 2, 2018 ] — A new law allows for wiretaps on normal citizens. All online and phone activity can be monitored.

OOC RULE: The admins will keep track of any phone threads on the dash. If the characters are speaking about something illegal in game, the characters get a strike. Once a character gets ten strikes, they get caught.

[ DECEMBER 5, 2018 ] — The printing of pro-mutant, -metahuman, -vigilante or -hero materials is strictly forbidden.

[ DECEMBER 12, 2018 ] — NOVA agents have been authorized to use deadly force against anyone who resists.

[ DECEMBER 15, 2018 ] — Leaving the Star City limits requires special permission. Road blocks have been set up at the main points of egress.

OOC RULE: There are a number of secret ways to get out of Star City, but many of these are monitored. Any threads the admins see with characters leaving the city limits could potentially result in those characters being caught.

[ DECEMBER 20, 2018 ] — Mutants and metahumans are required to relocate to appropriate neighborhoods. Any powered individual found residing outside of these neighborhoods will be fined heavily and potentially arrested unless they find suitable arrangements.

[ DECEMBER 25, 2018 ] — Starting on January 1st, there is a mandatory broadcast by the president every night at 6 pm. Residents are expected to watch. After this broadcast every night, all TV channels and streaming services are shut down for the night.

[ JANUARY 1, 2019 ] — In-game date at the time of this posting. NOTE: Star City HQ is set in real time.

#starccountdown #starcevent #starcadmin #starcstarter #starcstartercall #[ save ]

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sabineelectricheart · 4 years

Text

Past Premises

Summary: Sylvain has a strict view of the world. His professor challenges it.

Rating: T - Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.

Words: 4600

Notes: It turned out to be quite long, but I find I like it. I hope you do, too.

Sylvain Gautier said he would never trust anyone because humans were self-serving and fundamentally flawed in all capacities.

That changed with Byleth Eisner.

Truth be told, the nobleman did not really believe in the inherent goodness in his fellow human. He is not blind, as a general rule, people just sucked. They were useless unless you could use them for something, and so it was better to find a way to exploit their weaknesses and harness their strengths, kicking them to the curb before you were kicked yourself.

Of course, he has been friends with Felix for so long, he cannot help but exclude his single-minded partner-in-arms from this narrative. He supposes he also feels a dutiful fondness for Dimitri, and he would feel rather irritated if someone took advantage of the naiveté of Mercedes or Ashe or even Annette and Ingrid, but still. Exploit for not being exploited.

However, despite not feeling any particular allegiance or shared history, he came to found out that Byleth was different. She changed his outlook in life.

Sylvain treated her very differently, and not different in the same deferent but contemptuous manner he treated Manuela and Hanneman. He genuinely respected and cherished his professor; in a way he cannot remember ever doing with absolutely anyone.

He wonders why. Maybe it was because of how she treated their class. She was patient and accommodating of all their idiosyncrasies, but knew exactly when and where to press them to be better. She was a stabilizing presence for Dimitri, she helped Mercedes harden and Felix soften, she encouraged Dedue to face his trauma, encouraged Annette to mend fences with her estranged father and Ashe to face the realities about his patron.

The professor even managed to make Sylvain himself make peace with what happened to Miklan, a feat so great they should commemorate her a statue in Fhirdiad.

It was hard to find much fault with Byleth Eisner, and the nobleman found himself increasingly unwilling to try.

*_*_*_*_*

Sylvain Gautier said he would never care about what anyone thought of him, because fuck them, thank you very much.

That changed with Byleth Eisner.

When she had shown up with absolutely no warning, she turned everything on its head, which was quite rude, in his opinion. He was very used to being fawned over by girls, but she revealed quickly that she was cut from a very different cloth.

What she found interesting was not what most girls found interesting, probably forged on a life of violence and want and whatever happens when you are raised on a mercenary band, and that immunity to the generally feminine proclivities included Sylavin himself.

He never had to try before to make anyone like him, it just seemed to come with the territory. His Crest did the heavy-lifting for him, and the Gautier charm and beauty closed the deal. The few people who did not like him, drops in the ocean that they were, were not worth his time.

Byleth was different for some reason, though. There was something about her that made him self-conscious and awkwardly aware of things he said or did that she might frown upon.

Goddess, frown, she did. She found him to be exceedingly arrogant, sexist, and in possession of an exceptionally large ego. She was thoroughly unimpressed by the way he used his status as a crest-having nobleman to manipulate people, especially women, into doing things for him.

They were little things, mind you, like getting a snack from the kitchens or covering for him during a detention, he was not so uncouth into manipulating naïve girls into his bed, but it made no difference to her. She thought it was particularly deplorable the way he approached his interactions with girls.

“You present as if you feel like they owe you a date just because you lowered yourself to look at them.” She had said with cold judgement one evening. “It is frankly disgusting.”

He felt downright chastised, and, much to his shock, he felt extremely guilty and embarrassed that he did anything to appear like a filthy philanderer to her.

It was then he realized he cared about what Byleth Eisner thought of him. He cared a lot.

*_*_*_*_*

Sylvain Gautier never believed that he was manipulative.

That changed with Byleth Eisner.

Sylvain tended to believe he was better than everyone else. That made it pretty effortless to hone in on easy targets for particularly exploitative manipulations, because he would feel little guilt. Some of these services were mostly benign and turned out fine in the end, with only mild humiliation or a few hours of work lost on the part of the victim.

However, sometimes, he disregarded every conceivable limit.

There is no way for a man to know when was the last time the woman has bled, and so Sylvain usually trusted whatever his bedfellow would tell him. He tried to take his own precautions, pulling out and finishing on his hand, but there were times that he loses himself in the act.

One such instances, with a particularly cunning kitchen maid, had her saying she was pregnant with his child. So, he took the easy way out and tried to vanish from her reach. To that end, he manipulated Ashe to ceding his bedroom. It was fine, the archer was more than glad for helping his classmate, even if it meant having to sleep on the entrance hall and dressing at the sauna changing room. It was all very benign.

Byleth, however, did not think it was benign at all. In fact, she made it a point to single him out in the dormitories when it was the most occupied in order to humiliate him as an almost-punishment.

“Serves you right!” She had said scathingly, while throwing him out of the bedroom by the ears and throwing his clothes out the door, the entire academy coming around to see. “You do not think of anyone but yourself. You do not care who you hurt as long as you get your piece of the pie out of it. You're lonely on the inside, and some day, you will end up actually being alone. Who would want to be friends with someone they can never be sure is trustworthy? Pathetic!”

Sylvain was humiliated, and at first, he was infuriated. She had no clue what he was like and who he was, so her accusations and presumptions were baseless. With time, though, he slowly began to admit she may have been right. Ashe really should not have let him take over his room, and regardless of any moral failings of the kitchen maid, what they did took them both, and he had a responsibility to foot.

Finally, Sylvain started to feel guilty. He compensated his classmate with a new, illuminated copy of Loog and the Maiden of Wind, and tried to assume paternity of the kitchen maid’s unborn child, at least for the time being, but his professor had the forethought of taking her to an exam and Manuela concluded she was not pregnant at all.

He realized Byleth was the first girl to ever stand up to him, not counting his own horrible mother. No one ever dared talk to the heir of Margraviate Gautier the way Byleth had spoken to him that night, and he had to admit he thought that that was pretty admirable. While he did not necessarily enjoy being humiliated in front of the entire high society in Fódlan and surroundings, it did make an impact.

Not long after, he began to notice the way the light would catch her eyes during dusk, turning them from sea blue to almost green. He noticed that, in the morning, she put a thin layer of butter on her toast followed by an equally thin layer of jam, which she would eat while reading the Acta Archiepiscopae, the daily publication of the acts and orders of the Church of Seiros. He noticed that before morning classes she would put two pins in her unruly hair to keep them away from her face, and by lunch, they would have already broken free without her notice. She always noticed after lunch, though, and instead she would put her hair in a bun on top of her head. He noticed that her hands were prone to chap in the cold, and that the balm she used smelt like peppermint.

Most of all, he noticed that, now, when she looked at him, he felt nervous and his heart would speed up. Most peculiar.

With a snicker, Ingrid told him that what he had were feelings for Byleth Eisner. Blinking owlishly, Sylvain realized she might be right.

*_*_*_*_*

Sylvain Gautier had never once been turned down by a girl he had asked out, not when they were fresh conquests and not him revisiting those girls particularly talented in bed. Not once.

That changed with Byleth Eisner.

The first time Sylvain asked Byleth out, she thought it was a joke, and he could not believe it. Any other girl would have swooned just because he was talking to her, but not Byleth.

She thought the whole idea was hilarious, preposterous really. Her outrageous response? A flat no! She turned him down flat and Sylvain was not prepared to approach a situation like that, because it simply was not done.

The second time Sylvain asked Byleth out, she had the audacity to get irritated with him. Irritated! The nerve! She acted as though he were a gnat that kept flying around in her face and one that always came back, no matter how hard she tried to shoo it away.

The third time Sylvain asked Byleth out, she was well tired of his persistence and yelled at him to leave her be.

“This is highly inappropriate, and even if it were not, I have no interest or intention of ever going out with the likes of you.” She had raved with a look of utter contempt on her face. “You are not to be trusted, Sylvain Gautier, and I am not a fool.”

Needless to say, he was speechless. He began to realize that he was turning into a stupid character from a stupid novel like Loog and the Maiden of Wind, and then became depressed because his only options at that moment were to either become a brood like Dimitri or an ingénue like Ashe, and neither seemed particularly enticing.

He also realized he would do just about anything, within reason, to make Byleth Eisner like him and, hopefully, date him.

*_*_*_*_*

Sylvain Gautier said he never gossiped, and that gossip was "women's talk".

That changed with Byleth Eisner.

Sylvain never really cared for propriety, but if there was something that he begrudgingly respected was privacy and self-determination. Gossip was just uncouth. However, he was determined to find out what made Byleth tick, but he would never figure it out by talking to her, and so some recognition could not be beneath him.

It was not that he did not want to talk to her, but she was so disturbingly stoic and cagey about her own life, it made him shudder with unease. The only moments she showed genuine emotion was when her students needed support, and in his case, this usually translated to exasperation and tough love. When he really thought about it, he was not sure why he actually liked her when he knew next to nothing about her, but the heart wants what the heart wants, he had mused with an internal dramatic sigh.

Sylvain decided that in order to discover what made Byleth Eisner, Byleth Eisner, he would have to, ugh, gossip. It pained him to have to stoop to gossiping and eavesdropping. He dearly hopes he is not found out, if not for his pride, for the absolute ass-kicking he would receive from his professor dearest.

He targeted the girls of his class, specifically Mercedes, Annette and Ingrid, approaching them one day to ask them about her. He realized right away that that was a big mistake. Not only were they unwilling to talk about Byleth, they took advantage of the opportunity of actually speaking to Sylvain face-to-face by descending upon him like wrathful harpies to berate him for consistently badgering her. Needless to say, he never tried that one again.

After a very regretful drunken tryst with Manuela trying to extract information, Sylvain decided his best course of action was to use magic and his sneaking abilities to listen in on his professor’s conversations. He did not really want to do it because he felt like it just proved Byleth's point, but he was desperate at that point and was almost begging on his knees to Jeralt for if only a kernel of information.

During one particular instance, he hit a jackpot. Dorothea and Byleth were talking about nobles, Sylvain in more specific terms, in what was clearly meant to be a private conversation.

“I might be more inclined to give Sylvain a chance if he was not that much of an entitled bastard.” Byleth had said. “I wonder if this is consequence of his Crest.”

Sylvain would not deny that he was hurt by that. He wanted Byleth to like him, and wanted her to see someone good and noble and loyal.

It was then and there that Sylvain Gautier swore he would change Byleth Eisner's mind, and to prove he meant it, he vowed it on the Goddess Tower on the monastery’s anniversary a few Moons later.

*_*_*_*_*

Sylvain Gautier said he would never change for anyone or anything.

That changed with Byleth Eisner.

After witnessing that conversation between Dorothea and Byleth, Sylvain worked incredibly hard to be a person his professor would be proud to know. He became responsible and tried to carry his own weight around the monastery. He became more respectful of the girls who approached him, and he never approached any on his own. He also really tried to deflate his huge head and treat people like they were his equals.

The first time he saw Byleth's shocked reaction to the new him, he did a jig inside his head because he knew his personality shift was something that she never thought he was capable of.

The longer he spent working towards change, the more impressed she became, though she would not care to admit it.

Sylvain had to confess that, at first, he only tried to change so that Byleth's opinion of him would improve. However, he found that as time went on, it became easier and more rewarding to help others and treat them with respect. He realized that, before, people told him what he wanted to hear so that he would like them. Becoming more approachable made it easier to foster real friendships instead of fake ones, which he, begrudgingly, admitted was better than being worshipped.

Still, it did funny things to Sylvain's heart to see Byleth begin to smile at him instead of sigh disapprovingly.

The nobleman vowed that he would keep trying to prove himself to Professor Eisner, so he never had to be without her smile again.

*_*_*_*_*

Sylvain Gautier, deep down, never believed he needed anyone.

That changed with Byleth Eisner.

At the ripe old age of twenty, Sylvain started getting restless. With the growing discord that was blooming from the approaching war, he began to feel useless and like he wanted to get in on the action.

It could have been that the opposing side mostly consisted of those he had broken bread for years at the monastery, or that Dimitri’s leadership was questionable at best and disastrous at worse, or that he could sense impending danger like electricity across his skin. It could have been a combination of the it all.

Either way, his mood was generally poor and Byleth found herself to be taking the brunt of his temper more often than not. After a while, she could not bear to continue shouldering his anger as if she were the cause of it and, as a result, she left him. With reason, as he could not find fault in leaving someone who has, repeatedly, threatened to kill and/or force upon marriage to her for her Crest.

Not fifteen days later, the Archbishop turned into a dragon and ate her whole, presumably killing her.

Fuck.

Sylvain' world tilted on its axis and it felt like he was dying. For months, Byleth had been the anchor he had tethered himself to, and she had kept him afloat when he felt like he was going to drown.

His professor had been the reason he became the man that he was, so who was he without her? When they were together, in the deceivingly idyll of school, he had taken for granted her unwavering presence in his life and with her gone, he realized how much he truly needed her, how much he had always needed her.

After the war began, Sylvain assumed the traditional duties of Margrave Gautier and patrolled the border with Sreng, making it clear to those filthy barbarians that they would not be able to catch the kingdom unprotected.

He cried himself to sleep for a week straight when he came home on leave one day to a regretful Alois, who carried with him the Lance of Ruin, found amongst the wreckage of the monastery. It had been so surreal until that point, but holding the weapon he had entrusted to her care in his hand was a physical reminder that she was really gone.

It took a literal slap in the face from Ingrid to wake him up out of his funk. She took no mercy on him, and pointed out how pathetic he had become in Byleth's absence.

“She died defending us, protecting us, you useless waste of space!” The blonde knight barked at her former classmate. “She died so that megalomaniac dictator with horns would not kill us all! The least you can do is get off your fat, smelly arse and do something about it!”

Even though he took no pleasure in hearing that his beloved died so he could live, Ingrid’s speech reminded him that, while the professor would not be coming back, he had to act as if she were. To birth upon a world where she would be glad to live in.

So he did, for four long years, until the day Dimitri had made them promise to return to the monastery. For a blessing of the Goddess, Byleth never came back on a promise and miraculously attended their reunion, too, coming back into the Blue Lions’ fold, from where she should have never left.

After looking at each one of them in awestruck appraisal, she hugged Sylvain tightly. He was not sure who cried harder then.

He would never take Byleth Eisner for granted ever again.

*_*_*_*_*

Sylvain Gautier never really cared for romance.

That changed with Byleth Eisner.

On the day that Byleth finally agreed to go out with him, in the middle of a terrible, terrible war, Sylvain immediately grabbed his horse and did a parade around the monastery and the village below to share on his happiness, all while whooping and cheering.

It was not until he returned to the stables and placed his horse on a pen for the page to feed it that he realized he had absolutely no idea about what to do in a relationship.

Sylvain never had a girlfriend before. He had plenty of casual flings, but he never made an effort to stick with one girl because, frankly, he just did not care for the idea. However, with Byleth, the things he felt for her ran far deeper than anything he had ever experienced before, so deep that he entered entirely unexplored territory.

He was terrified. He is a good-for-nothing, after all, he had no business with love.

To be perfectly honest, he got such a case of cold feet that he very nearly broke things off with Byleth before they had even begun, but, with a firm word from Ingrid, some eye rolls from Felix, and several incredulous squeaks from Mercedes, Sylvain finally calmed down and came to his senses. He realized he had something special with his former professor, and while it was scary, it was also exhilarating and exciting.

Regardless, Sylvain did not know how to do the whole romance thing. Do girls even actually like flowers and candy, he had wondered. He came to the conclusion that he had no choice but to ask Dorothea, despite being quite frightened by the prospect of being chased around by an angry swordwoman or worse, laughed off the monastery.

In the end, he was extremely grateful that he did, because he was completely off base. He figured he should have known better, since Byleth had been defying expectations ever since he met her. After taking her to a horseback stroll through the woods around the monastery, they had a nice picnic by a pond, followed by a few matches of checkers.

He knew he did the right thing when, upon returning to the dormitories, Byleth turned and beamed at him.

She could weaponize that smile, he had thought as his heart arrested in his chest and his palms started sweating. She's going to kill me some day.

One night, a year into their relationship, as he stared at her while she was sleeping on his chest, he knew with certainty that Byleth Eisner was one of the best things that had ever happened to him.

*_*_*_*_*

Sylvain Gautier would never admit to being scared, ever.

That changed with Byleth Eisner.

As the war continued to strengthen around them, Byleth and Dimitri were repetitively called away for missions due to their unique skill sets, and Sylvain was sick with worry for his girlfriend and crazed monarch. It was a constant source of stress, and at times, he could not even stomach eating.

While the attack on Enbarr advanced to a glorious closing act, Dimitri returned from his latest mission to the Imperial Palace with Edelgard’s head on his left hand and a maniacal laugh on his lips. Byleth did not return at all.

When Sylvain heard the news, he had thrown up because he knew the outcome could not possibly be good.

The Blue Lions became increasingly more agitated the longer Byleth was gone, and after a month and a half missing, the Church gravely made the decision to pronounce her missing, presumed dead once more.

The news devastated her former students, but none other more than Sylvain, who reverted into a shell of a man once again. He never imagined he could feel devastation beyond what he had felt when the green-haired woman disappeared for the first time, but this certainly trumped that feeling a hundred times over.

Sylvain could not help but to think that the more you have, the more painful it is to lose. Six years ago, he lost a professor, now, he lost the love of his life. He could not stop picturing the little girl with green spike hair like hers and amber eyes like his. He had the image of a tranquil life up north, of days of horse-riding and peacekeeping and nights of devoted love underneath thick furs burned into the back of his eyelids.

Most of all, as he fingered the plain Gautier box holding a simple band with a simple stone. He could not stop imagining what it would have been like being able to say I love you, Lady Gautier before they went to sleep every night and as he woke up next to her every morning.

It was a stormy night when a dark figure entered the Royal Palace of Fhirdiad. The Blue Lions were gathered in preparation for the peace talks that would begin to be held amongst the Kingdom and the former Alliance and Imperial noble houses. It was concerning, as every guest was accounted for, and no one was supposed to waltz into the King’s residence so inconspicuously.

However, when Byleth limped through the banquet hall door and slumped against the door frame, thoroughly ragged and covered in scratches, bruises, and blood, it turned into pandemonium. Sylvain felt like the air had been sucked from his lungs as his legs gave way beneath him, and he no longer felt like he was inside his own body.

For the first time since she went missing, the newly-anointed margrave sobbed until he was physically unable to cry anymore.

It took several weeks for Byleth to fully recover, and almost an entire year for Sylvain to let her out of his sight. While it left her thoroughly rankled, after a while she understood that he was just scared and let the issue lie.

The experience was something he never wanted to relive for a third time, and it taught him a valuable lesson. Life is short.

Even though they had not talked much about the future and she was completely blindsided, Byleth Eisner said yes when Sylvain proposed.

*_*_*_*_*

For his entire life, Sylvain Gautier never believed he would have true purpose or meaning in his empty life.

That changed with Lady Byleth Gautier… and Cordelia Gautier, his two girls and the absolute centre of his entire universe.

Following the war and Edelgard’s defeat, Sylvain married Byleth in a small ceremony surrounded by only close friends in their new territory. Alois was entrusted with giving away the bride, which he did while crying obnoxiously, and Dimitri was to officiate.

A little over a year later, Byleth bounced her own daughter around their large, northern manor, covered in furs and shivering with the winter cold, but always so very happy to be there.

She did not notice and would not know for several years, but Sylvain filled up at least an entire sketchbook of renditions of just her and Cordelia. Every so often, he would secretively look at the pictures and smile to himself, letting the warm feeling in his chest fill his entire body.

Years later, Sylvain would look back on his life with his wife and feel content. His daughter would be worried about leaving so far south to Garreg Mach for school, after her magic aptitudes did not warrant an acceptance to the academy in Fhirdiad. Her mother would assure her it did not matter where she would go, they would be always with her, and she would glare at Sylvain when he would jokingly whisper behind his hand, “As long as it isn’t Enbarr”.

Cordelia would end up being as intelligent as her mother and a bit of a heartbreaker like her father, much to Sylvain' displeasure. Where's my lance when I need it?, He would think with a glower. In the end, she would settle, shockingly, on Lady Varley’s son and moved permanently into Imperial territory, which pained her father so, but he was happy if she was happy.

As the years passed them by, they brought children, grandchildren, godchildren, fortune and happiness beyond belief. For their entire lives, every so often with adoration in her still-green eyes, Byleth would murmur to him, “I love you. Thank you for the opportunity to live out this wonderful life.”

Sylvain Gautier had had a lot of never’s in his life, of denials and ordeals. It took Byleth Gautier (née Eisner) to change everything for the better. After so many years chasing the next high, he was pleased in his staunch belief that there was not a single experience he wishes he had had, and that is the most important thing for him.

*_*_*_*_*

Fire Emblem Masterlist

Three Houses Masterlist

#fire emblem #Sylvain Gautier

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jamesv-t · 4 years

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Crowdsourcing my runs

Over the last few weeks, I've hit a bit of a creative slump with regards to my running. In the absence of parkrun and the social aspect therein, I've been doing the same routes and getting bored of it. I decided to shake things up a bit and ask my friends on social media to choose for me. A soft launch on Twitter using a carefully selected series of polls (to prevent people telling me to run a marathon in 20 minutes) kicked things off.

Manipulating polls to get the results I wanted

The week after, I tried Instagram, giving followers who cared enough to interact with my stories the choice of a fast and flat run, or hills (hills hills). Unsurprisingly they picked the hills, with a follow-up question seeing 2/3rds choose hill repeats over one big hill in a poorly worded question. Due to wanting a beer on a Saturday night, I elected to do these the morning after watching the film/war-crime Cats, but on the bright side after three 2km reps up a steep hill my hangover was gone! With a nice 2k to get there warming me up (and down afterwards), and the hill being a kilometre high, it was a great route to discover for the future.

So, with a bit of success from these, I opened things up to user submissions. Knowing that they'd probably send me on a route that includes Land's End, John O'Groats, Mordor, Atlantis and Venus, I kept things simple and asked for music submissions. The rules included one track per person, and outlawed any repeats. I also pledged to listen in the order of submission to avoid any suggestions I was adjusting the playlist to make it easier on me. I also privately promised to run for the entire length of the playlist - had I admitted this, I could pinpoint exactly who would submit the longest song they could find just for a laugh (and one of them couched their suggestion with "the longest version of this song you can find", proving me right).

I was nervous about it, especially knowing what the second song was, and only familiar with about a quarter of the songs submitted. How would they fare as running songs? How would they hold up as songs at all? How far would I have to run? Where is the love? Do they know it's Christmas? D'ya know what I mean?

1. MØL - Bruma

Straight in with something new, a shoegazey metal band from Denmark! If the two coffees to start the day hadn't woken me up already, this definitely would have done. I really liked it, it reminded me of Arch Enemy and I'm going to check out more of their work later this week.

Song: 8/10

Suitability as a running soundtrack: 10/10

2. Crazy Frog - Axel F

And the first of the troll submissions. (To be fair, with the amount of shots I've taken at Swindon Town on Twitter, I deserved it.) This started as a "grit your teeth and pray for it to end" song but the steady beat and 80s synths really helped me click into my pace - it's just a shame about the ringtone championing amphibian singing all over it!

Song: 3/10

Running: 8/10 (I'll add the original to my regular running playlists)

3. Bastille - Joy

Any song after the preceding one would be a blessing, but this just clicked with me. Maybe it was seeing the sun breaking through the clouds above the piers, maybe it was just the general pleasantness of the song, but it definitely uplifted my spirits ahead of what could turn out to be a gruelling run.

Song: 8/10

Running: 8/10

4. Bill Withers - Lovely Day

And another nice song. A steady beat, a song that moves along at a fair clip, it was a surprise that I found it so easy to run to but I'm pleased it was added. I don't know that it would've clicked quite as much if it had been chucking it down but it really was a lovely day for running!

Song: 10/10

Running: 7/10

5. Vidiots - Dog Rap

I was nervous about this song to start with. I had absolutely no idea what to expect and was slightly scared of what I would have to listen to. Luckily, within about 10 seconds I realised it was exactly the sort of rap parody you'd see on SNL or an episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and I had a great time with it! I did have trouble keeping my cadence to it, unfortunately.

Song: 7/10

Running: 6/10

6. Turbowolf - Domino

I won't lie, I was half hoping that this would be a metal cover of a Jessie J song. It wasn't, but that wasn't much of a detriment - just three minutes of full on rock 'n' roll, and another band I'll check out more of later!

Song: 9/10

Running: 8/10

7. Rammstein - Deutschland

Finally, a familiar song! I've run to this track before, and it's not the only one of theirs that I've run to, so I could relax into the run a bit easier. I really should remember that my mask blocks infection but not my voice, as I think I scared other runners by singing along.

Song: 10/10

Running: 9/10

8. Das Sound Machine - World Championship Finale

And from a German band to a faux-German group, performing a mash-up of Fall Out Boy and DJ Khaled. While I didn't enjoy the Pitch Perfect movies as much as people expected, this was a clever combination of two songs I was vaguely familiar with, didn't overstay its welcome, and even raised a smile!

Song: 7/10

Running: 5/10

9. Brothers Osborne - It Ain't My Fault

Again, more expectations of pop song covers dashed, but even though this isn't a countrified Zara Larsson song it still rocked! A good steady beat, it reminded me of a train but that may have been because I was running next to a railway line! Another pleasant discovery. I realised at this point that this was also probably the most different male vocalists I'd listened to in succession in years.

Song: 9/10

Running: 7/10

10. HUNGER - Light It Up

Knowing the musical overlap I have with Elise, I was surprised to hear a(nother) male vocalist on this track. It was great despite that, the song reminded me of a third act heroic run in a teen movie, which really boosted my serotonin.

Song: 8/10

Running: 8/10

11. Prince - When Doves Cry

The first of three submissions from the same person, and reluctantly the only one I could keep. It's to my shame that I forget how good a musician Prince was, and this was a welcome reprise. It soundtracked the portion of my run along the western arm of Brighton Marina, and reminded me of that beautiful moment when two people called Milhouse finally meet.

Song: 10/10

Running: 9/10

12. BLACKPINK - BOOMBAYAH

I'm glad I stuck to my guns regarding not using shuffle, as it lead to this colourful trend - mix black and pink and you get purple, the previous artist's signature colour! Another familiar song, another relaxing segment of the run, by this point along the foot of the cliffs towards Saltdean. By now I was confident of being able to run to pretty much any song - alternating between music and podcasts over the last few years had broken me out of old habits of needing fast paced songs to keep me going. I could just settle in and enjoy the mix of English and Korean!

Song: 9/10

Running: 9/10

13. P!nk - Raise Your Glass

It is a fault of my own that I associate too many songs with the TV show Glee. I noticed it working my way through Van Halen's discography the other week; I noticed it here as well. I mostly put that out of my mind after the first verse, focusing on P!nk's snarky asides that didn't make it into the sanitised, TV friendly version. It also made me realise that I really should listen to her more!

Song: 8/10

Running: 8/10

14. Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto - The Girl From Ipanema

This was the first song that genuinely threw me off my pace. I stumbled and said (probably too loudly, I'm sure that people overheard) "what the fuck is this?!" when the French jazz came on. Over five minutes long, I felt myself slowing, and willing it to end. My colleague's attempt to throw me off worked - I'm just glad she didn't choose Ed Sheeran!

Song: 2/10

Running: 0/10

15. A Flock Of Seagulls - I Ran (So Far Away)

(This worked really well, but the plan for using the gif came to me within seconds of the intro and I couldn't not do it)

Song: 9/10

Running: 8/10

16. The Walkmen - The Rat

By this point I had hit the turn around point and was heading back towards town, along the undulating clifftop. It was also the penultimate song that I had no idea about, and another surprise! Chock full of driving drums, it reminded me (to no detriment) of The Bravery's An Honest Mistake, and I was pleased to find out later that the two songs were released within six months of each other! Another song that'll find its way onto my regular running playlists in the future.

Song: 8/10

Running: 10/10

17. Chemical Brothers - Galvanize

I could've sworn when I was listening to this song that it had been used on an advert, or TV show, perhaps as part of an exercise montage - but Wikipedia is remaining mute on the subject. Regardless, it made me feel like I was in one, so this is going on the playlist from now on. You might say it...galvanised...me into running faster!

Song: 8/10

Running: 10/10

18. Russ Abbot - Atmosphere

The final song on this list that I knew nothing about - and within seconds I was convinced it was a hastily written song to cash in on the popularity of Agadoo. According to Google this was written by Joy Division, but I'm certain that's incorrect. Spotify credits the singer, and it's really not good. I'm just glad it had some semblance of pace to it so it didn't drag!

Song: 1/10

Running: 1/10

19. Britney Spears - Toxic

About ten years ago the branch of German budget supermarket Aldi in Canterbury closed down, and the cramped site was taken over by upmarket supermarket Waitrose. The sudden increase in quality is a perfect metaphor for the vast uptick in quality between the last song and this. The Grammy award winning track is the musical equivalent of doping - listening to it makes you run faster, lighter, easier and happier.

Song: 10/10

Running: 11/10

20. Faithless - Insomnia

This was a song I was convinced I knew, but two-thirds of the way into the song it still wasn't ringing any bells...until the bells kicked in and I recognised the bit played on Invicta FM on the car rides to school all those years ago. Another great song to run to, soundtracking my run along Marine Parade back to the pier.

Song: 9/10

Running: 8/10

21. Garbage - Temptation Waits

The opening track on the first proper album I ever owned, and the third track on the "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" original soundtrack album...this is very possibly one of my most listened to songs, ever. A slow burner, it explodes on the listener partway through - and I guess knowing I only had ten minutes left of my run helped boost my motivation too!

Song: 8/10

Running: 8/10

22. Focus - Hocus Pocus (live at the Rainbow)

This was submitted with the caveat of "hopefully a 15 minute live version". The longest one I could find was "only" eight and a half minutes, but the yodelling and guitars sped me to a fast finish on Hove Lawns. I really need to give the studio version another listen!

Song: 8/10

Running: 9/10

Had I just been listening to podcasts, I probably would've called it a day at 10 or 12k. I tucked another 6k under my belt (two more pints in my beer total), covered a more interesting route, and good lord are my legs feeling it now!

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littleredroseonthevalley · 6 years

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Red Light

Summary: It is Tanner’s stag party and Grant is bored. That is, until a certain dancer enraptures his attention.

Rating: T - Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.

Words: 2520

Notes: So, this week (today, Monday and Wednesday next), I will be posting fanfictions about books that have already finished. Today’s Veil of Secrets, Monday will be High School Story and Wednesday’s It Lives in the Woods. Stay tuned!

I don’t have much else to say except that I hope you like it, and if you do, please reblog! Thank you!

The party was in full swing.

Tanner Sterling was about to get married, in about two weeks, in fact, and it was the night of his stag party.

One might suppose the traditional date for such a celebration usually was the eve of the wedding, but Bryce, the brother of the groom and best man, wanted something more salacious and with strippers and hookers.

Kate, as it was to be expected, would not appreciate this kind of display, so Tanner held a compromise: Bryce would have the party he desired, as long as they held another poker and smoking night on the actual eve of the wedding, in order to keep the bride from finding out.

Bryce was certainly fine with it as long as he could have an excuse to come to the dirtiest strip club he could find, and so went the groom and his closest friends to Roxbury.

Halfway through the night, and most of the men were irreparably bored. Yes, they were red-blooded men, and they had their sins and preferences when it came to women, but the spectacle of Bryce’s was every bit as degenerate as they expected, and it was frankly disgusting.

Their dinner was sushi served out of the body of a stripper. One look at Bryce’s generous body shape and one is not surprised he enjoys nyotaimori, but it was not that far-fetched to expect him to have the sense of not exposing others to it.

Grant Emerson, who joined the party on account of being the closest thing Tanner had to an actual friend, tuned out from the whole… thing, just after one of the workers of the club opened a beer bottle with her intimates. He would be playing on his cell phone, if he was allowed to bring it into the venue.

He was not about to complain. His less than stellar social standing with the rest of the group, who considered him to be some kind of spy on the Emerson v. Sterling power dispute, he was mostly ignored, aside from one or other assumption of his sexuality uttered by Bryce.

The young lawyer, then, was sitting on the bar, alone, twiddling his thumbs and playing table football with the discarded bottle caps when she came into the stage.

Not unlike the other performers, she was wearing nothing but skimpy lingerie, but hers seemed of superior quality, made of dark purple silk and finely embroidered. Her hair was a flaming red, while her face, partially hidden with a black, Venetian-style mask.

What struck him in particular was her eyes. She was beautiful, it is undeniable that he took notice her of unblemished skin and shapely stomach, but again all of the girls so far were beautiful. Her… she had a spark on her eye; it was not the dead, mechanical look of the other sex workers.

Was she a remarkable actor or did she genuinely enjoy her work? Does she find it artistic, perhaps?

Be as it may, it was the first presentation of the night Grant has actually paid any attention to, and it have been quite a few so far. It was nothing particularly different from her performance, she did not do anything other than it was expected, and yet, it was much more interesting for some reason, and it was something all the men in the room seemed to concur.

As soon as she was off the stage, with her performance finished, Grant taps on the shoulder of a waitress.

Nervous and not really knowing what to say, the man stutters a little on his phrase, when he asks, “Excuse me? Who was this girl who just left the stage?”

“Amethyst?” She asks, with that unnerving baby voice usual on those establishments. “Would you like to have her for a lap dance?”

“A lap dance?” His voice breaks and he clears his throat to have it back on its normal pitch. “What does that… entail?”

“Well, we’d take you to a private room and she’ll dance for you.” She responded, not really knowing what he could have misunderstood, but still maintaining the act.

Grant supressed the impulse of scratching his neck. “Okay, then.”

“Follow me!” She perkily said, and led him to a non-descript door.

Inside the room, it was much what one would expect of these kind of places: tacky décor in hues of red, draperies tapped into walls, a table on the far side of the room equipped with an ice bucket, cheap champagne and some grapes, and a comfortable-looking chair.

He sits down at the chair and waits patiently for his companion to appear. Not long later, she emerges from a secret door on the opposite side of the room, wearing about the same outfit from her show, covered with a short, see-through negligée.

“Oh, good, it’s you.” She says, as soon as she lays her eyes on Grant. “I was afraid it would be your chubby friend.”

He cannot help but to smile slightly at her exclamation. Bryce was a repugnant man, indeed.

“No. It’s me. Grant.” The man responds, rather awkwardly. “What’s your name?”

She half-smiled at him. “You can call me Amethyst.”

“Is it your real name?” He follows-up.

“No.” It was the response. “Are you ready?”

He nods; he would not get any more prepared. She smirked at him one last time and turned the music on, something electronic he did not recognize.

Amethyst lets the negligee slip from her shoulders, exposing the entirety of her slim body once again, what, Grant was ashamed to say, he was only too glad to see once more.

She starts to dance to the beat, displaying all the flexibility and taut muscles she has developed at her line of work. The young man cannot help but to slack his jaw ever so slightly in appreciation, a gesture that has not passed unnoticed by the performer.

The woman steps closer and runs her hands through his arms, noticing, silently, that they were lean, yet felt strong. She rests them on his wrists and lower her body on a vertical position, simulating oral sex, yet holding his gaze the entire time.

She has almond eyes, Grant takes notice, the colour of amber.

Afterwards, she raises to her feet, takes two steps back and displays her physique one more time. Then, she closes the distance between them once more, spreads her legs wide, one on each side of him, and lowers her midsection so that her butt touched only so slightly the tent on his trousers.

With it, something broke inside of him, he felt short of breath and started panicking.

“No! Stop.” Grant almost shouts. “Stop, please.”

She steps away and turns off the music. “Is something wrong?”

“No… No, it’s just that…” He sighs. “I’m sorry. I… can’t.”

Something seemed to dawn on her. “Oh, so you’re one of those!”

“I’m not gay!” He counters, rather annoyed for it to be the default assumption everybody makes.

Surprisingly for him, the stripper laughs. “No, not gay. Those who come here for experience’s sakes don’t usually get that hard.”

She points at the tight spot on his pants and he feels his cheeks grow warm.

“I mean a talker.” She says, while walking to the table and popping a grape into her mouth. “Not everybody who come here wants to be grind into completion. Most are just people who want a sympathetic ear and some loving advice. They just want to talk, hence a talker. Champagne?”

He shook his head. “No, thank you. I should just leave.”

“Why? I am paid by the hour and there is no refund. Besides, wouldn’t you like to blow some of tubby’s money? I gather you don’t like each other very much.” She says, while balancing a grape, her champagne flute and picking up her negligee.

Grant looks at Amethyst, who smiles softly and inviting at him, and considers it would be a good way to pass the time, especially since he would probably return to playing button football at the bar.

“I guess having someone to talk to wouldn’t be the worse thing.” He conceded.

She beams at him. “Great! Do you mind if I take out this mask? It is a little hard to breathe with it.”

“Be my guest.” The black man motioned for her to do it.

She reaches for the back of her head, where it tied into her face, and dextrously loosened the knot and removed the black piece of adornment. If she was pretty with the mask on, Amethyst was absolutely stunning with it off.

“Why do you wear it?” He asks before he can stops himself. “The mask, I mean?”

“Some men like the mystery.” She responded, rather dismissively. “And I guess I like it, too. At least I can pretend that no-one will recognize me, that I can live a separate life from this place.”

A small silence befell them while Amethyst dresses herself.

“So, Grant,” She says, as soon as she is recomposed. “What brings you to our fine establishment? I hope you don’t mind me saying but you really do not seem like the type of guy we get around here.”

He snorts at her statement, humoured. “I’ve never been to a strip club before, honestly. It’s my friend’s stag party.”

Her eyebrow shot up in surprise. “Oh, so the fat guy found someone who cares for him?”

“No, no, that’s Bryce. He’s the groom’s brother.” He rectifies. “The one getting married is Tanner, the blond guy.”

“Oh, right! I remember him.” The red-haired smiles. “I like weddings. The flowers, the dresses, the music. The food. They’re all a lot of fun.”

“Do you hope to get married someday? I mean, do you have a boyfriend?” He asks, rather shyly.

She chuckles. “No, I’m single. And I don’t have a kid, either. I know my stereotypes. You?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have the same luck. I’m too much of a stereotypical, workaholic lawyer to ever find someone to put up with me.” The lean man responds, with a healthy dose of self-depreciating humour.

“A lawyer, eh?” She smirks at the man. “Glamorous.”

Before he could answer, though, a soft click resounded through the room.

“It seems our hour is up.” She smiles sadly at him. “There’s probably someone else asking for me, else they wouldn’t ring the bell.”

Grant considered offering her twice her wage so she would spend another hour with him, but he refrained himself. It would not be proper, or even wise.

Instead, he returned her sorrowful smile and said, “I guess this is it, then. I had a good time, all things considered.”

She chuckled. “I did too. Goodbye, Grant.”

“Goodbye, Amethyst.” He said it back.

She opens the secret door, and before she leaves through it, she turns back once more and say, “It’s Jessie.”

With that, she left the room and shut the door.

Grant was climbing down the stairs at Sterling Manor, thinking about nothing in particular while running small errands for Tanner’s wedding the next morning. So is the life of ‘assistant best man’, as Bryce was absolutely useless. Sober or otherwise.

As of right now, he was in charge of fetching Kate’s best friend from college, who was due to arrive at the house at any minute.

When he got to the last step of the staircase, he notices a raven-haired girl about his age, wearing simple traveling attire, admiring one of the many vases Margaret Sterling scattered around the place.

Assuming her to be whom he was waiting for, he greets her amicably, “Hello! Welcome to Sterling Manor! You’re here for the rehearsal dinner, I take it?”

Without facing him, she responds, “Yes, I am a friend of Kate’s… I mean, Katherine. I am Jessica.”

When she turns to face him, both of their bloods freeze solid at the sight of the other.

She was the first to break the silence. “Grant. I wasn’t expecting to meet you here.”

“Ditto.” He responds, not really knowing what to say. “You’re a brunette.”

“Yeah, that was a wig.” She smirked, despite herself. “I thought the wedding was weeks ago.”

“We decided to be unorthodox about the stag party.”

“Can I talk to you for a moment?” She pleads. “In private?”

The man tumbles a little at his words but consent. “Sure. Follow me. You can leave your bags here.”

He leads them to a study who sees very little action usually and shuts the door.

“The cat got out of the bag way quicker than I expected.” She jokes, humourlessly. “Look, can you do me a big favour and not tell anyone about my… line of work? At least until tonight.”

He nods, firmly. “Sure, but why exactly?”

“Well, I haven’t talked to Kate for a while. When we graduated, I was this ace student with a job as a journalist on the line, and she was so happy for me. Hell, I was happy for me.

“But then the newspaper I worked for went bankrupt, I couldn’t find anything else to do, my student loan payments were overdue and so I started taking my clothes off for cash.

“When she called me to invite me to her wedding, I didn’t want to put a damp on her mood and say my life took a turn to the worse. So I lied and said I was working as a journalist in Boston. I was hoping I could wait until the reception to tell her the truth, but… well… I didn’t count on me being the entertainment of her fiancé’s stag party.”

“I… see.” He breathed out. “Well, I don’t mind keeping your secret, but wouldn’t somebody else recognize you?”

“Here’s to hoping that mask is worth something after all.” She laughs nervously.

Grant smiles sympathetically at her. “Don’t worry. Even if someone recognizes you, they won’t call you out. Kate doesn’t know Tanner has been to a strip club, and we all would prefer it to remain so.”

“Of course. Sure…” She breathes out, calming herself down. “No problem.”

“Besides, I know Kate. She won’t turn her back on you because of that. It doesn’t even matter.” The man places a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Just tell her and it all will go away.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” She beamed at him. “Thanks, Grant. You’re a real nice guy.”

He smiles back. “No problem. Now, why don’t we pick up your bags and I take you to see the bride? I’m sure she’s excited to see you.”

“If you could spare the trouble. This house is too big! I’d get lost for sure.”

He offered his arm and she took it.

Later, when he leaves the two girls to catch up in private, Grant considers this whole debacle might turn out to be a very good thing. It would give him plenty of opportunity to talk with Amethyst, or Jessie, or Jessica.

He admits he was getting a little bored with the whole wedding mood, but now he is looking forward to tomorrow.

It was going to be fun.

#veil of secrets #grant emerson

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weekendwarriorblog · 5 years

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The Weekend Warrior Feb. 7, 2020 – BIRDS OF PREY: ETC. ETC.

Thank heavens that there’s only one new wide release this weekend, and just as thankfully, it’s a movie that could help revive an ailing box office that’s been all about Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, Universal’s 1917 and Dolittle for the past few weeks. I never got around to seeing last week’s Gretel and Hansel, and I might still if I have time, but The Rhythm Section wasn’t that bad, and it certainly shouldn’t have bombed as badly as it did, making less than $3 million in 3,000 theaters. Yup, last weekend wasn’t great, and it was only partially due to the Super Bowl.

Clearly, it’s time to move on to this week with the first “superhero” movie of the year, the follow-up to one of DC Entertainment’s biggest outings but also meant to be its own thing, which is BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF HARLEY QUINN (Warner Bros.). It stars recent Oscar nominee Margot Robbie reprising her role as Harley Quinn, the Joker’s girlfriend/therapist, who is branching out on her own with her own supergirl group, which includes Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winsted), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Renée Montoya (Rosie Perez) and Cassandra Cain (at one point, called Batgirl), played by Ella Jay Basco. Robbie first played the role in 2016’s Suicide Squad, which earned over $300 million domestic, which some might point to the popularity of Harley as a comic character, but you could also point to things like the fact it starred bonafide box office star Will Smith (whose most recent movie Bad Boys 2 is currently the biggest movie of the year. Birds of Prey also stars Ewan McGregor and Chris Messina, as two well-known Bat-villains, Black Mask and Victor Zsasz, making their big screen live action debuts.

Unlike Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey is Rated R as DC and Warner Bros. have seen the huge success of the recent Joker movie, as well as the two Deadpool movies as proof that R-rated comic book movies can still do well even without the teen and tween audiences that usually go to see them. Presumably, Birds of Prey will attract more women due to the characters, although I’m sure there will be some men who who are just as interested due to the connections to the DC Universe. I’m just not sure this will be as big a draw to men as some of those other movies. I’ll have my own review on the blog a little later today.

While I don’t think Birds of Prey will open as big as Joker– let’s face it, the characters therein just aren’t nearly as well known, even Harley – I do think it will do quite well, making somewhere in the $60 million range, maybe more if the reviews are as positive as the early raves that were posted last week. (Having seen the movie and with my review on the way, I don’t think it will fare that well among real critics. You can read my own REVIEW here.)

Either way, Birds of Prey will the weekend with relative ease, although we’ll have to see how Sunday’s Oscar celebration affects all the movies’ business towards the end of the weekend.

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Birds of Prey, Etc. Etc (Warner Bros.) - $64.5 million N/A (up $1.9 million)*

2. Bad Boys for Life (Sony) - $9.7 million –45%

3. 1917 (Universal) - $6.3 million -35%

4. Dolittle (Universal) - $4.7 million -40%

5. Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) - $3.7 million -38%

6. The Gentlemen (STXfilms) - $2.9 million -48%

7. Gretel and Hansel (U.A. Releasing) - $2.8 million -55%

8. Little Women (Sony) - $2 million -35%

9. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Lucasfilm/Disney) - $1.7 million -46%

10. The Turning (Universal) - $1.3 million -55%

* UPDATE: I lowered my prediction a bit after seeing the movie but seeing that reviews have mainly been positive, I think it will help the movie bring in more business before Sunday.

LIMITED RELEASES

Two genre films that have been playing on the genre festival for the last year or so will open in select cities, the first being COME TO DADDY (Saban Films), the directorial debut by horror producer Ant Timpson, who was responsible for horror anthologies, The ABCs of Death and The Field Guide to Evil, as well as popular genre flicks Turbo Kid and The Greasy Strangler. In the movie, Elijah Wood plays Norval Grenwood, a young man called to the remote cabin of his estranged father (Stephen McHattie) who he hasn’t seen in 30 years, since his father walked out on his mother when he was just five years old. Once he gets there, he learns that his father is an abusive alcoholic, and yet, nothing is really what it seems. I saw this at the Tribeca Film Festival and mostly enjoyed it, and I really like Timpsons’s sensibilities as a filmmaker but it really starts to go off the rails as it goes along. Some will definitely enjoy that.

Severin Fialla and Veronika Fanz, the Belgian filmmakers behind Goodnight Mommy, return with THE LODGE (NEON), a creepy thriller in which a couple kids (Lia McHugh, Jaeden Martell) go to a remote cabin near a lake for the Christmas holidays with their new stepmother (Riley Keough) after learning a lot more about her dark past before meeting their widowed father (Richard Armitage). There’s so much more to this movie than what you can see in the suitably eerie trailer, and I certainly will not spoiler any of the experience, although personally, I found this to be more of a downer than Hereditary, a movie that I absolutely loved. This one might take another viewing for me to really get behind it, but other than the performances, the overall look and eerie feel and the twists, it’s pretty dark and depressing, so I’m not 100% sure I’d really want to see it again or can recommend it wholeheartedly. Either way, both of these movies are opening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn as well as other select cities.

Ben Cookson’s Waiting for Anya (Vertical), adapted from the novel by the same name from the author of War Horse, stars Noah Schnapp as Jo Lalande, a 13-yearold sheperd boy who joins with a reclusive widow (the amazing Anjelica Huston) to help smuggle Jewish children into Spain during World War II.

From Yash Raj Films comes this week’s Bollywood selection Mohit Suri’s Malang, starring Aditya Roy Kapoor as the introverted Advit, who visits Goa where he meets a free-spirited girl from London named Sara (Disha Patani), who has come to India to live like a vagabond or “Malang.” Something happens that changes as five years later, we meet a vigilante killer cop (Anil Kapoor) and a righteous cop (Kunal Kemmu)… And suddenly, I feel like I need to see this movie. It will probably open in 100 theaters or more.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Let’s start out with the Netflix offerings, beginning with the recent Sundance premiere, HORSE GIRL, the new film from Jeff Baena (The Little Hours, Life after Beth), co-written and starring Alison Brie as a socially awkward woman into horses and supernatural crime whose lucid dreams start infiltrating into her waking life. I haven’t seen it yet but I’m definitely interested in the premise, and I generally like Brie’s work.

I never really got into Joe Hill’s books/comics, but I’ll probably give the series LOCKE AND KEY a look when it debuts its first season on Friday. It involves three kids who move with their Mom to an ancestral estate where a series of keys unlock secrets and powers.

On Wednesday debuts the Netflix docuseries They’ve Gotta Have Us from Simon Frederick and Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY will premiere, looking at some of the important and iconic voices in Black Cinema.

If you haven’t had a chance to see DGA winner Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy, starring Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe, based on Shia’s semi-autobiographical screenplay, then it will premiere on Amazon Prime this Friday.

Premiering on Hulu this Friday is Into the Dark: My Valentine, the latest horror feature from Blumhouse as part of this ongoing horror series, this one written and directed by Maggie Levin, who has directed a bunch of shorts. It involves a pop singer whose songs and identity are stolen by her manager ex-boyfriend and pasted on his new girlfriend, which comes to a head when they’re locked up in a small concert venue and things get violence.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

If you went out to see Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering with You and enjoyed it but haven’t seen his previous movie Your Name (which is just as excellent) then you’re in luck cause the Metrograph is showing it a number of times starting Friday. Thursday might be your last chance to see the new 35mm print of Martin Scorsese’s 1977 film New York, New York unless it’s extended, but the Hal Hartley serieshas been extended through the weekend with reruns of Trust (1990), Simple Men (1992) and Amateur (1994), all good, but Trust is my favorite of those three. This week’s Welcome To Metrograph: Redux is a good one, Lars von Trier’s 1996 film Breaking the Waves, which will screen Saturday and Sunday nights.This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph is Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai (1947), while the Playtime: Family Matinee sselection is Amy Heckerling’s classic Clueless (1995).

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Wednesday might you can maybe get tickets for the “Weird Wednesday,” the Lone Wolf and Cub movie Shogun Assassin (1980) – I’ll be there for the 7pm screening. Thursday night is a screening of the 1932 Dorothy Arzner film Merrily We Go to Hell. On Monday, Video Vortex presents a J-Horror Bloodbath double feature of Demon Within and Biotherapy, both from 1985. ($5 admittance!) Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is 1980’s Terror Train, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and then next week’s “Weird Wednesday” is 1990’s White Palace, starring Susan Sarandon and James Spader, picked by Alamo programmer Christina Cacioppo, so you know it’s gotta be very weird! J

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The Weds matinee is the musical The King and I (1956), starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. Weds. and Thurs. night are double features of the Safdies’ Uncut Gems with The Object of Beauty (1991), starring John Malkovich and Andie McDowell with the Safdies doing a QnA on Thursday. Friday’s matinee is the 1982 Paul Schrader Cat People remake, while that Friday’s midnight is True Romance, while Saturday’s midnight movie is 1975’s Aloha, Bobby and Rose. This weekend’s Kiddee Matinee is 2002’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, continuing that series, as well as there being a Cartoon Club on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Monday’s matinee is Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo ’66while the Monday night double feature is Fear is the Key (1972) and Villain(1971). Tuesday’s Grindhouse double is Hot Potato (1976) and Golden Needles (1974)..

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Mostly taking a break this week to air the Oscar-nominated shorts but Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1950 classic All About Eve will screen in 35mm as part of the “Sunday Print Edition.”

AERO (LA):

Elliot Gould will be on hand Friday to discuss M*A*S*H* airing as part of the “Antiwar Cinema,” then Friday, there will be a double feature of Grand Illusion(1937) and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983). On Friday, Aero will screen Masaki Kobayashi’s “The Human Condition” trilogy, three movies from 1959 through 1961, airing as a triple feature.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC): This Friday, the Quad begins screening Albert E. Lewin’s 1951 film Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, starring Ava Gardner and James Mason, restored from Martin Scorsese’s own 35mm print. Also starting Friday, the Quad will also be screening a series of Man Ray shorts from 1926 to 1929.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The “Black Women” series continues this week with The Omega Man and Strange Days on Wednesday, Set It Off, Bright Road and Poetic Justice on Thursday and more over the weekend. It continues through Thursday, February 13. This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is the recent movie-musicalDreamgirls.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Jack Lemmon continues this week on Weds with 1951’s Kotch, Thursday with Robert Altman’s 1993classic Short Cuts, and then on Friday, another screening of the 1960 Oscar winner The Apartment co-starring Shirley MacLaine.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

On Friday, FilmLinc starts a new one-week series called “Dreamed Paths: The Films of Angela Shanelec,” and I honestly have no idea who that is. It’s a pretty comprehensive retrospective of the German filmmaker’s work, so I’m shocked that I’ve never seen a single one of her movies. Besides her work, the filmmaker will also be showing a few hand-selected films like Manoel de Oliveira’s I’m Going Home (2001), the Korean film The Day After and Maurice Pialat’s 1972 film We Won’t Grow Old (1972).

ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES (NYC):

The Anthology’s “The Devil Probably: A Century of Satanic Panic” continues this weekend with Edgar J. Ulmer’s The Black Cat (1934) on Wednesday, Sidney Hayers’ Burn Witch Burn (1962), Terence Fisher’s The Devil Rides Out (1968), Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and more screening over the next week.

NITEHAWK CINEMA (NYC):

Not to be outdown by the Roxy, Brooklyn’s Nitehawk is getting on the Nicolas Cage love-a-thon with the Williamsburg doing an “Uncaged” series starting with Cage’s latest Color Out of Spaceat midnight on Friday, and then Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) on Tuesday. (The latter is sold out.) Williamsburg is also screening Tony Scott’s True Romance (1993) on Saturday afternoon.Prospect Park is showing Barry Jenkins’ Schmoonlight Saturday to kick off its Valentine’s Day series.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Weekend Classics: Luis Buñuel is taking another weekend off for no obvious reason – it’ll be back next week -- but Waverly Midnights: Hindsight is 2020s will screen the 1973 sci-fi classic Soylent Green and Late Night Favorites: Winter 2020 is going with the 4k restoration of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

Starting Friday at BAM is Horace Jenkins 1982 film Cane River, starring Richard Romain and Tommye Myrick (both doing QnAs over the weekend), and the actors and relatives of Jenkins will be appearing at a number of screenings this weekend.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

2001: A Space Odyssey will once again screen as a Saturday matinee in conjunction with MOMI’s exhibit.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

The Nicolas Cage love continues with two of his movies from 2003: Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation (2003) on Wednesday and Disney’s National Treasure on Thursday.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Not to be outdown by the IFC Center, the Nuart’s Friday midnight movie is Dario Argento’s Suspiriafrom 1977.

Next week is Presidents Day weekend, another four-day holiday weekend, but it’s also Valentine’s Day Friday, so we’ll get kiddie movies like Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount), romantic movies like The Photograph (Universal) and horror movies like Fantasy Island (Sony).

#TheWeekendWarrior ComeToDaddy BirdsOfPrey TheLodge BirdsOfPrey Movies Reviews

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phyllis207gaming-blog · 5 years

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optimisticpoetrypost-blog · 6 years

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Why would someone buy life insurance from Colonial Penn (whoever that is)?

"Why would someone buy life insurance from Colonial Penn (whoever that is)?

GRACIE: Of course you are right but I never heard that used to describe clothing.

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://insureinfo.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr

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An alliance of insurance companies and environmentalists wants to bring a new kind of mileage-based auto insurance to California and charge motorists only for the number of miles actually driven. Called pay as you drive, the option is available from a few insurers in 34 states ... as well as Canada, Japan and Europe. One company, GMAC Insurance Group, says its customers -- whose mileage is tracked by General Motors Corp.'s OnStar system -- have reduced the premiums they pay by 13% to 54%.... The system could cut motoring costs, protect the environment and reduce traffic congestion, boosters say. Opponents, mainly privacy advocates, say they fear that insurance companies could begin tracking more than just a driver's mileage. High-mileage drivers could also see higher rates. from the Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fi-carinsure15-2008jul15,0,6970018.story""

How should I go about getting car insurance? (20 years old)?

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Could someone tell me how to get a speeding ticket reduced?

Hi. I got pulled today. It is my first ticket and the first time I have ever been pulled. I was going 47 in a 25. I thought that the speed limit was 35 becasue everywhere else around the place I was pulled is 35. I have no problem paying the fine of $222 I would just like to know if anyone could walk me through the process of getting the violation lessend so that it will not be put on my license. Any help that someone could give me would be greatly appreciated.

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Mazda miata insurance?

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Could somebody give me what they pay on average for insurance on a 2001 ford explorer sport?

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How to quoet car insurance?

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Do i need to have insurance on a car im not driving?

I am turning 16 the very next April and i was planning on getting my license next year. Anyways i was looking online for cheap used cars that are suitable for teens because im paying from my own money. So i found this great honda civic for only $1,250 and there is only a few days left before the owner closes the sale and i really really want that car. So i was thinking buying it now and my dad drives it home and when i get my license he gives me the keys. But i was wondering do i need insurance even if i'm not driving the car? just keeping it in the garage?? because i do not think i will be able to handle the monthly insurance plans. as i said before im paying from my own money THANKS FOR THE HELP!!""

What's a good life insurance?

My stepdad smokes a pack a day, and drives a truck for a living and I was wondering what would be a good life insurance for my mom should anything happen to him since he seems like high risk? They are middle class family in the burbs.""

Moving to France - car insurance?

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""Car from 2003, 17 year old female driver. Car insurance average?""

I'm a B+ student, my car belonged to my dad and is now being given to me. It's a ford focus. I'm 17 and a girl from New York. Can someone please ESTIMATE how much car insurance would be for me? I tried websites but I'd have to put in my social security # to get an average and I don't want to do that yet.""

What's worse for a teens insurance a luxury car or sports car?

I've been wanting to get a civic for a first car so I thought maybe a 2000 civic si and then realized I liked the 7th gen civic coupes alot more so when I went to get an insurance quote every company is telling me its about $400 a month even on my dads insurance. Because I'm a second driver in the house I become the primary driver on the civic by default and I don't have a choice. The insurance company says that the si is a sports car for them and apparently has a high chance for teens to get wrecked in. The 7th gen that I'm talking about was an 02 civic si veloz and I was told a non si 03 civic coupe would still be in the late 300's /month for me. I'd be okay with 200's/month if possible. So now I'm thinking of going to Hondas luxury side. I did want a fully loaded civic which I guess isn't possible because they didnt come with leather seats so I thought I'd go team Acura late 90's/2000 1.6 el the car would be a fully loaded sedan, manual transmission, sohc engine (not exactly built for speed) it would also have an alarm system that the civic didn't. I don't think there are as many teen ricers in acuras since the aftermarket is limited for some things as not everything is swappable with civic parts. so for a new driver would it be any difference to go from a 2 door si to a 4 dour sedan with a base motor? the only thing is that the insurance would probably classify it as a luxury vehicle and say its expensive to repair and what not. your thoughts?""

A break in car insurance between my old and new car?

Hi, Tomorrow my current car insurance with my S reg corsa is due to expire at 12:00pm (Noon) now I have decided not to bother renewing this as tomorrow night I am going to buy a new car for which I have already put down a deposit. Now I have been told I cannot insure this new car now as I don't own it yet, but im worried that if my car insurance has a break in it then it will affect me - I currently have 2 years no claims and don't want to loose this - does anyone have any knowledge of what happens in the situation? Also with me not being able to insure the car until i own it, how do i go about getting the car back home from the showroom? Please helpppp""

Car insurance? Do they check your credit rating?

I have just phoned to change my insurance over to another car, and was told twice that it was declined - firstly, he said due to the group of insurance, and secondly, I was told that the operator had a system problem. I am a bit concerned as I know my credit rating is bad at the moment, but I am trying to better it, and I don't know if this is why my insurance was declined? I thought that they had to tell you if they carry out a credit search, but nothing was mentioned and I don't particularly want it going against me if it was searched twice. I have paid my insurance for the year, and was going to pay any extra instantly, so there would be no need for a credit search as far as I can see. Does anyone have any more information on whether they credit search you or not for this?""

Why would someone buy life insurance from Colonial Penn (whoever that is)?

GRACIE: Of course you are right but I never heard that used to describe clothing.

Is it against the law not to have car insurance in Illinois?

My friend just got her liscense but she doesnt have car insurance. She drives her parents' car, n the car insurance is under their name, not hers. But i also know that they do not hvae enough money at the moment to add her name to their insurance. Is this wrong? if so, how wrong? What would happen to her if she ever got caught?""

Cheapest insurance companies for 17 year old in the UK?

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What is a penalty in MA for driving a car with no insurance?

I was involved in the car accident recently... I was driving in Boston the uninsured car with the New Hampshire registration. But in NH car insurance is not compulsory. The hearing will be held on my case, which is considered to be criminal. If somebody ever been in the similar situation ,plz, share your experience!""

""Which is cheaper for liability insurance, in Alabama: Geico, The General, or 21st Century?""

I am buying a little beater, just need some el cheapo liability..cant compare w/o VIN number, don't have that yet..""

If i take an online drivers ed what will it do to the price of my car insurance?

The insurance companys told me that my insurance would be cheaper if i take the actual driving class. but will it still be as cheap if i do the class online?

Is a hatchback (3 door car) considered a sports car with insurance?

if not what is it considered and is the cost higher than a sports car

Wtf Is going on with car insurance companies?

Last company auto renewed my policy but i wasnt aware of this as had moved address, so to cancel it I had to pay 133 as id already started going with someone else on top of the initial deposit amount i had to pay for both companies which has took a large chunk of my money for what i feel was no fault of mine, then a month later im getting letters from my current insurance asking me to pay an extra 90 plus 25 admin fee or my policy will be cancelled AGAIN meaning a cancellation fee because when i said i had held my licence for 8 years they recon its 7 ive held it for and this makes my policy go up, thing is i got my licence on 22/08/2003 and took my poliocy out on the 19/08/2011 so they're making out when i took out the policy i only had licence for 7 years for sake of 2 days who the hell wouldnt have said 8 to that? it just seems theyre trying everything now days trawling through all your stuff finding the smallest detail just so they can get money off you or cancellation fees cos that way they're not risking anything on insurance but still gettin money off you for cancellation fees its a joke and I can really see why people think there's no point having insurance anymore. Plus I have never made a claim since I started driving but because others have in the country im being punished with premiums going up. Will it just end up where everyone who simply cant afford it thinks sod it and drives round with no insurance? surely that would make things even worse but all these cancellation fees if it happens again that I have to cancel that will be 550 ive paid in the last 2 months and still my car wont have insurance????? arghhhhh its doing my head in surely something can be done to help the customers a little more as insurance was always a headache but this is becoming ridiculous now. ..""

Auto insurance question?

what typically happens if ur drivin without insurance and get into an accident that wasnt ur fault...

""Just passed driving test, 22 yr oldwhere should i go for cheapest insurance quote.?""

Just passed driving test, 22 yr oldwhere should i go for cheapest insurance quote.?""

""A life insurance company sells a $250,000 1-year term life insurance policy to a 20-year-old female?""

for $200. According to the National Vital Statistics Report. 56(9), the probability that the female survives the year is 0.999544. Compute and interpret the expected value of this policy to the insurance company - I also have to find the probability that the company has to pay the female Im suppose to get .000456 but don't know how to get this?""

How much will insurance be on an R6?

So, i'm 19 and have had my full motorcycle license for a few months now however I can't seem to find any insurance quotes online for an r6 below 2800 a year. Now i've seen 18 year olds online who own an r6 yet am wondering what I should do to reduce this cost to something more realistic. I have a full car license and drive a car however 0 no claims bonus as I am a named passenger. I also specify that the bike would be locked in a garage with added security features. I also owned and rode a 250cc ninja for about 7months but still this ridiculous price appears... HELPPS?""

Choosing a Family Health Insurance?

Hello, What is the suggested Health Insurance for entire family (Ex: 2 adult and 1 kid or 2 kids) among the nationalized providers (National Insurance; Oriental Insurance; New India Assurance; United India Insurance)? Thank You.""

If I am 16 can I get a rental car if my insurance company covers it?

We went to the rental car company and they said that being under the age of 18 I can not get a rental car, but I do have full rental coverage on my insurance. Would I be covered to get one since I have full rental coverage? I am going to call my insurer tomorrow to see. But I'd like to know now.""

Estimate on drivers insurance?

Hello, i'm 16 years old and about to get my license any ideas on how much insurance would cost me? My family has Allstate and i can qualify for the good student discount.""

Question about car insurance?

My parents are buying me my first car soon. My question is that I currently do not have auto insurance so if I drive off the dealership back home in my new BMW, will I get in trouble if I get caught? My brother has insurance on a different car, will it work if he drives it home? Thanks!""

How much aproximately will my car insurance be for a peugeot 306 for a new driver?

the car is 1.4 engine size and a 1999 model

Will I have to pay sports insurance ?

I'm a 16 year old female and I will be getting a 2007 tiburon 2 door , 4 cyl car , would I have to pay sports insurance on it even though it's not 6 or 8 cyl. ?""

My 18 year old daughter needs cheap car insurance.?

My 18 year old daughter passed her driving test today and is struggling to find reasonably cheap insurance. She has tried all of the main players and has gone through the various comparison sites but hasn't found anything below 1700 and if she asks for monthly payments then the price goes up by 50%. Does anyone know of any companies who specialise in young new drivers, maybe who provide insurance on a three or six monthly basis? Grateful for any and all suggestions. Thank you.""

New Driving Licence - Insurance?

Okay Heres the plan! Im 18! Ive passed my driving test today, and looking for car insurance the cheapest way ive found is using my mothers policy with 19 years experiance with no claims ever, however shes never had her own policy.. were going to share the same car 1.6 escort 16v quite a hefty engine for my age yeah but still cheapest i can get it, is 1900 Any tips to make it cheaper, or what ever Ive tried all the top brands, equity, tesco, aa, ,quinn direct, churchill, direct line etc so far quinn is the cheapest.. but the first initial premium month is too much to pay (400) help!""

Why is there a huge difference in insurance quotes if all info is the same?

I'm shopping around for insurance quotes because I thought my car insurance was too high. Progressive gave me a very low quote, which I was happy about. It was what I thought I should be paying compared to friends I've talked with. All the other quotes from the other insurance companies were in the same price range and very high. I began to worry that Progressive had some incorrect info, so I called them back, we went over all the info again, and everything is right. They even emailed my quote to me and it's all correct. Should I be worried that the quote is so low or is Progressive just being competetive?""

What homeowners insurance do you use/recommend?

I am looking for homeowners insurance for a home in California. We have 2 dogs, one which is a German Shepherd. What insurance carrier works well with dog owners?""

Would a grand prix GTP be unusualy expensive to insure?

the grand prix GTP is a 240 horse supercharged v6 with 280ftlbs of torque. how much would it cost to insure (like a lot, a little, average, that kind of thing; i know you would get mad if i tried to ask for a number)? what about the same question with a grand an GT (175 horse V6) and a grand am se1(170 horse V6) ok, as a seperate question, what if i told you i was a new driver, as i cant say the age on here... >:( that gets good grades and has no claims or anything... im guessing tens of thousands per month lol... Thanks!""

What kind of health insurance do I need?

My family is looking for health insurance. I do not understand premiums and such. This is our first time getting or looking for health insurance. It will be for myself (21yearsold) , my wife(19yearsold), and my 8-mo old son. We are all in perfectly good health. We will only be using the insurance for typical well-visits, up to date on shots, and the possible emergency visit. What is the best place to get quotes and what kind of premiums should we look into? Obviously, we are young and need something affordable. I need help! :(""

Is Medicaid consider as A health insurance?

Hello, I live in Texas and am going to college. My mom wants me to get health insurance stuffs fill out for college, so I have to pay less(? not sure if this is true). The website told me to to file my health insurance so they can take some of the health bill off the insurance.""

What is the average insurance price on a Mercedes Benz CLS class?

I am 16 and I want to know if the car is expensive for insurance. I'm a guy too. And I don't need the I shouldn't have that car crap. I just want answers please I don't need your opinions I can afford the car.

Why would someone buy life insurance from Colonial Penn (whoever that is)?

GRACIE: Of course you are right but I never heard that used to describe clothing.

Car insurance commercial ideas?

i have to make a script for a commercial about car insurance and i need some ideas of what to do.

Where can I get SR-22 insurance?

I got a DUI and am now required to get SR-22 Insurance in Illinois. I called my local Insurance companys and most of them are saying I need to have insurance with them prior to this so I can't get it through them. Any ideas on some good companies that would do this, and the cheapest way to go about it?? Much thanks!! Mandy, Illinois""

How much would i pay for car Insurance?

How much would i pay for car Insurance for cheap car that cost me honda accord 2000,I am 28 Years old, never been in any accident,I got my license 8 years ago""

Cheaper without health insurance?

I'm sick and got a prescription for Zithromax(zpack) Costco has it for 8.87 under the generic form. My copay for my insurance is $20. Does that mean I should get it without using my health insurance? I was born in Canada so not familiar with all those copay and drug copay stuff. Thanks

Insurance companies offering restricted hours driving to get a cheaper quote?

Is there a way I can lower my car insurance rate with Progressive?

I'm 21 years old, and have been driving for about 3 years now, and I am wondering if there's a way for Progressive to lower my insurance rate. How do I about doing this with them? What do I say? Thank you!""

What year vehicles require full coverage insurance?

im looking for a cheap insurance for the state of louisiana. im with progressive and pay 88.00 for liability uninsure motorist and road side assistance. i want an 08 or 07 car but cant afford to pay for full coverage(mean over 90.00) for insurance. By law are 07 and 08 vehicles required to have max coverage or just liability. only drvie veh to work and local shopping and bring mom to medical appointments. and are what kind of cars get low insurance rates(cars verses suv, two door verses 4 door red verses white)? any company suggestions looking to by chevy colbalt or suv kia sorrento.""

California earthquake insurance?

Looking for other Californian's out there that have earthquake insurance and about how much it costs per year.

Which car would have higher insurance premiums?

I'm trying to figure out what car i want for my 16th birthday.. I've absolutely fell in love with the subaru wrx hatchback. the only thing im worried about is the fact that the insurance rates Might be high. i also like the mazda speed 3 and i was wondering which would be more expensive insurance wise. Also what you think about them being first vehicles. and please no<, you should get a POS for a first vehicle... Thanks in advance!!""

Auto Insurance Increase-Is this too much?

I backed into a tree that was in my blind spot 2 nights ago and got an estimate today of $2446.00 damage. My deductible is $250. My insurance agent quoted me a 75% increase in my monthly insurance cost. 75%!!!! This is ridiculous to me considering I have no other points on my insurance or any history. In the end after paying this increase over 3 years (plus deductible), it will cost me $2410. Shouldn't insurance save you money? Isn't there anything I can do (other than pay to fix my car out of pocket)?""

Auto insurance rate suddenly increasing by $140+?

1. I am under 21 2. The car I am driving is 2008 HONDA CIVIC 3. I go to college, my GPA lower than 3.0 4. Comprehensive / collision $500 Deductible / Basic policy overall 5. **Here is the major thing. I got a 3 point ticket (illegal u-turn) last February. BUT THIS IS BEFORE I PURCHASED THIS INSURANCE. For the first month, I paid for $190. Saying that this will go down as I turn 21 this December. The projected 6 month premium was $950. For the second month now, the total amount went up to $330. I asked the agent what the hell happened and he said the insurance company didn't spot my violation record at first. And this caused my insurance rate to go up by $80. Even so, still it's tooooo much! for the car I am driving . . . If it's BMW or something better, I would understand! Please, any advice on this one?""

Car Insurance?

......bought a new car............still got the old one......transfered insurance from old to new..........want to sell old one, so if someone wants to test drive it, presumably its on their insurance????""

What is the best rated and least expensive car insurance for a female age 19 with a clean driving record ?t?

The car is an SUV 94 ford astro van in California.Know that only need collision coverage...Thanks for helping

What happens in california if you are stopped without car insurance?

I read recently that 47 % of cited / stopped Drivers in California have NO License, NO Insurance, and NO Registration for the vehicle (of that 47 %, over 92 % were illegals). I am just wondering what the penalties are if you are caught driving without car insurance?""

""For a 17 year old, How much about is car insurance (relatively) and which places are cheaper?

We were thinking State Farm or Country

What does liability insurance give you?

I recently crashed my car and it is as of now being determined to be my fault. My dad pays for the insurance so I am not sure what we get under liability. We are with Farmers Insurance and I was just wondering what usually happens here. Do they give me anything if they determine I'm at fault? Does anyone have this insurance coverage with farmers? If so, can you please tell me what you get under it?""

Two cars? Insurance?

>In high school >Both parents getting new cars soon >old cars: 1 is decent, 1 is cheap >I get old car >I want to convince parents to let me keep cheap one as well, so I can modify it and stuff BUT, I just realized I'll have to pay extra insurance just to drive it around every now and then. What to do? How much does average insurance usually cost? (Not minimum PIP)""

Waht is the best motorcycle insurance provider for ontario?

i have a 1000cc irohead sportster 1984 and i live in ontario. i was wondering what the best insurance provider would be thanks!

Auto insurance fraud..how much trouble am i looking at?

i don't need to be judged..I made a dumb decision which could have resulted in me losing my life and im lucky i didn't. anyways here goes..so a supposed friend of mine told me she couldn't wait to teach me to drive..i told her i didn't want to drive until i got my permit. well after telling me that she pulls over and asks if i want to drive..i tell her no..she keeps pushing telling me she thinks i'd be good at driving and eventually after saying no 8-10 times i give in and we switch..i continued up the road and i made the right and i was maknig another right and i lost control and ended up on the sidewalk and crashed into a pole..airbags exploded and all..when immediately got out of the car and I asked her what we were going to do and she said to me so help me god if i lose my license and again i said what are we going to do? she said were going to say i was driving..we got ran off the road by a red truck..when the cops came i stuck with the same story she did and we went to the hospital and all..this happened a month ago..the vehicle was totaled and she collected money from the accident. I however felt so guilty i went and turned myself into the police and told them the truth about everything. the cop that was at the accident is who i spoke with..i filled out a witness report and the cop said that he was really glad that I came forward with the truth and that she would be in much more trouble than I and that he planned to take it easy on me since i came forward about it and because i am a mom..he said the most i will probably get is my license suspended..i am still waiting to get anything in the mail and i'm so nervous bc i don't know if i can get in worse trouble and was wondering what other people thought..honestly the whole thing has scared me from ever wanting to drive again and even though i wasn't the victim i really felt like it for days after the accident..i was very distraught..and i'm scared even being a passenger in a car now..i watch everything and get very scared fast. Can i get in trouble with the insurance company? I didn't give them a statement. I just told them about me going to the hospital and stuff..my supposed friend actually gave them the statement..they sent me a bunch of paperwork in the mail to have me mail back in so they could cover medical expenses but i never sent the stuff in or filled it out bc i didn't want the insurance company to pay for something that was my fault. I live in pa and i guess im just wondering how much trouble i can get in? or if i should be okay because i came forward with the truth.

Car insurance question ONTARIO?

I am 18, live in Toronto, Ontario and dreaming of having a car, but I can't afford to pay $400 a month or more, so, could I get my dad to buy the car with my money, register it as if it his, get cheap insurance for it as if it was his, and then just drive it all the time having the proper car documents on me. How much of a legal issue would that be if a cop pulled me over and I showed him that the car is family owned and insured and I just happen to be driving it today. My family already has a truck and a Toyota, I don't know if that is relevant or not, but Im just throwing it out there. And just to make sure, what would happen if (god forbid) I was to get in an accident and wasn't at fault? how about if it was my fault(talk about sticky situations).""

How much would the insurance be on a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS for an 18 year old?

I need to know how much it would be for both the 454 and 396 model. *And my driving record is clean.

What are homeowners insurance rates for mobile homes?

""I had full coverage auto insurance, my policy lapsed for 2 days & during that time I had an accident am I cov?

The Insurance company is Coast Insurance in California. The accident happened during the 2 day lapse period. I have been with the company for approx 10yrs

Should I buy life insurance online?

I want to buy a life insurance plan for myself, and later for my husband. I have done some research, although I must say it's all very confusing and there are zillions of options. Now that I have a better idea, however, I am wondering if buying the plans online is at all an option. Do you have an experience with it? Do you recommend it, or feel that it's completely not a good idea?""

What is the best way to go about auto insurance for an 18 year old purchasing a Mustang GT?

Hey, I have a job @ walmart and i make pretty decent money & next thursday when i get paid im going to e-z way auto sales which is a pay here buy here car lot for no credit car buyers to go to establish car history credit & the car that caught my eye was a black on black on black 2004 Ford Mustang GT, I have to have it and the payments wouldn't be that much, something I could afford. What about the insurance? What's the cheapest for my age? I just turned 18 last month & i don't wanna pay more than $200 for car insurance, that'll be more than my car payment. HELP ME OUT!""

Why would someone buy life insurance from Colonial Penn (whoever that is)?

GRACIE: Of course you are right but I never heard that used to describe clothing.

Health insurance system in USA?

Hello. I live in Japan. I am Japanese. Sorry for my bad English. I ask everyone. About Health insurance is. When I got sick,I show a health insurance card at a hospital. I pay medical costs of 30% in Japan. For example,medical costs is 10000yen,I pay 3000yen at a hospital. NO card,I must pay 10000yen(100%) How about health insurance system in USA?""

Car insurance question?

My mom finaced a car for me in Montana its in her name but i pay the car payment. I live in Colorado. even though she has car insurance already on the car in her name... can i get full coverage in Colorado in my name? so say fro example if i crash it The car will still be covered. is that against the law? please help. thanks

""Non owner SR22 insurance for TEXAS, what is a cheap website?

I don't own a car so I don't know what to do... Help! Thanks

Health insurance.HELP?

I just found out I was pregnant and I am having to do my health insurance by myself now. I understand co-pays but does the insurance company bill you anything? I think I have already reached my deductible for the year but I'm not sure. Usually my father handles and explains all of my health insurance stuff but since he is very busy I am having to do it all myself.

Car Insurance...DUI.

does anyone have a 2002 poniac sunfire? with DUI? esimate of might that might cost?

Are insurance rates higher if you failed the road test?

On the first time or more than once or can they even see that

Will the cost of my car insurance decrease if I have a provisonal license?

My friend told me this but I think it's rubbish.. I am 17 next week and he told me that if I get a provisional license now and get all my lessons done/pass my tests and get my full drivers license, then wait until I'm 20 to buy a car, the insurance would be cheaper than if I passed my tests when I am 20 and buy a car straight away. (assuming I use the same company/ deals) Is this true or is he charting ****?""

How much insurance cost would it cost for a provisional driver on a vauxal corsa?

hi, im 16 and soon to be 17 and learning to drive. i want to find out how much it would cost for me to be on a vauxal corsa (2001?)(1.3L) on a provisional learners license. i wanted to go on my mums tesco car insurance but they said i need to give them my provisional licence details but ive only recently sent off for one so i cant give them the details.. any ideas on the cost (any insurer) thankyou so much! katherine""

High Risk Auto Insurance - Where can I find the lowest quote online?

Is there any online auto insurance website that specializes in getting the lowest rates on car insurance for high risk drivers? If so can anyone guide me to one? thanks

Cheapest car to insure at 17?

Hi, I've applied for my provisional and on the 26th of Jan I'll be 17 and starting lessons then. However my parents are getting me a car before hand so when I do lessons, I can drive with my parents too and my brother to work. I need to find a cheap car to insure? I would be interested in a Peageuot 106 (Small engine obviously) and just plain. Would these be expensive?""

How much does a 21 year old female pay for insurance on a 4 door car on average in Ontario.?

Insurance and emergency room?

Why does it matter what type of insurance you have in an ER? I have overheard nurses signify to physicians what type of insurance an individual has. Why would that information be pertinent for a physician?

About my leased car insurance?

I have a nissan 2009 lease, I have two questions: 1. do I need to purchase PIP insurance? also a $750 deductible in comprehensive and collision is ok? 2. My boyfriend lives with me and he has his own commercial car insurance, I drive my car the most, do I need to add him in my quote? He drives the car perhaps on Sundays when we go out other than that I drive the car most of the time. Thanks for your answers""

WHAT IS AN INSURANCE PREMIUM?

My partner did my insurance online without knowing i had an endorsement on the licence so when i add this to the existing policy does that mean my insurance policy goes up ...and what is my insurance premium ???

Did you get Affordable Health Care?

My husband & I have insurance & it didn't change but my daughter & family got Affordable HC. Their previous insurance was $1,200 a month. They are now paying $325 so there's was a very positive experience. We're in California. They had a really hard time getting into the wed site but persevered & are happy with the plan. It covers their eldest son who is in college & has Type I diabetes & their youngest son who suffers from asthma. Does anyone else on YA have a positive experience to share? What State are you from.""

About how much will Car Insurance for me cost?

I am a male. I am 16 almost 17. I am about to buy a car, I am looking for one now. About how much will it cost for a normal sized car? Not a sport car. Also I was told that my insurance can be lowered with my grades? I have straight A's.""

Pregnant with no insurance?

im only 6 1/2 wks pregnant but im a planner. i have no insurance and do not qualify for any government health so we are paying the hospital $200 a month til my baby comes to cover all the ob bills and hospital bills and my 6 wks check up after the birth. my question is......is there a such thing as infant insurance? ive looked all around online and cannot find insurance that will cover a baby til their first birthday. i know that a baby has to go to the dr alot the first year so i'd love for our child to have insurance. my hubbys work does not offer insurance. thanks for your help

Is Car Insurance cheaper in North Carolina?

Than it is in Maryland?

""How much is Insurance on Fireworks up to $2,000,000.00 in Maine?""

Thinking about opening up a Fireworks shop and want to know how much I'm looking at a year for insurance need a policy with the min $2,000,000.00.""

Would insurance for a mustang cost alot for a 16 yr girl with a B average?

i would be on my dad's insurance. i wouldn't get a new one; the one i'd get would probably be from the 80's or 90's. and if it would be alot, is there another fast-looking (it doesn't have to actually be fast) that wouldn't be too expensive for insurance?""

Forcing to get car insurance?

Two years ago, my ex and I bought a car under her name. It was registered in her name, and the loan was in her name. The insurance was in mine. We split up, and now neither of us drives the car. She didn't have a license at the time of purchase, and she still doesn't, but I did. The dealer told us that we could get the loan in her name, and register it in mine, even though she didn't have a license. When we got the plates, it was registered in her name. The dealer said that was fine, and it was nothing to worry about. We found out that this is illegal to do in New Jersey. We tried to get the dealer to rectify the situation, but they wouldn't touch it. Now, the car doesn't have any insurance or a registration, and a representative from the bank says that they can force her to get car insurance, even though she doesn't have license. Is this legal? Can a bank force someone to get insurance, even if they aren't even legal to drive in NJ? Please help me with this.""

Moving to France - car insurance?

I am moving to France next week and will be taking my British registered car. I rang my insurers who told me that they would only insure me 'up to the ferry' and after that ...show more

Which car insurance is the cheapest and the best of all?

I know there are alot of car insurance out there and I want to know which one is cheap and reliable. I heard Geico is good, can someone confirm it, are there any other good one besides Geico?""

What is the best life insurance for a young person 22-35?

I want to be able to use it against my mortgage. Is it possible to get money from it and not have to pay it back after a while or something? And will that change my policy in anyway?

Insurance for mercedes glk350?

I was wondering how much it would cost to insure a 2011 mercedes glk 350. I am looking to buy a new car

Why would someone buy life insurance from Colonial Penn (whoever that is)?

GRACIE: Of course you are right but I never heard that used to describe clothing.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-can-i-get-back-my-moms-health-insurancemedicaid-ryan-butler/"

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theworstbob · 7 years

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yellin’ at songs, week thirty-six

considering the songs which debuted on the billboard hot 100 the weeks of 13 september 1997, 15 september 2007, and 16 september 2017

9.13.1997

1) "Honey," by Mariah Carey

You know, when I saw this was coming up, I started wondering why I didn't give "Honey" nearly as much spin as I give to other Mariah jams. 'Cuz I'll listen to "Always Be My Baby" on a cloudy day, I'll listen to "Fantasy" whenever the fuck, I give "Heartbreaker" a lot of love, but this song, I understood to be a classic, but it never quite tickled my fantasy, y'know? And it's not just Mase, though he certainly doesn't help, it's more that this is more mellow than the Mariah songs I've been into, more of a chilled-out thing and not a dramatic declaration of love. It's a simple, sweet ;) song, and I mean I shouldn't be grading this on the Special Mariah Scale (where every song is either an A or an Inspirational Balld), this honestly probably ends up being Song of the Week because it's still really damn good, we're just talking about a Mariah joint that doesn't make the Mariah Top 10.

55) "You Light up My Life," by LeAnn Rimes

...So this is late because I saw 10 Lil Uzi Vert songs and got discouraged. No one who doesn't want to should have to listen to Lil Uzi Vert. So I also dragged my feet on getting everything else written -- welcome to Sunday, September 10th, when I am considering after five days of trying to find a reason to justify piping that into my ears I'm realizing that at least Lil Uzi Vert has some sort of definable character which I've decided I'm not into. Am I thrilled to listen to a song called "444+222?" Absolutely not, that sounds Stupid, and I'm not sure why hip-hop is getting into the same Hot Topic Goth imagery even the goths were over in 2007, but at least there's a definable character there. I will come away from those ten songs (eh, fuck it, I'll listen to the album, I listened to Drake's whole bullshit) having learned something about Lil Uzi Vert as a person, and spending an hour with something I don't like is a more valuable experience than spending three and a half minutes feeling nothing.

75) "Jack-Ass," by Beck

I didn't like listening to this song but Beck wrote it himself and played all the instruments so that means it's a truer artistic statement with significantly more intrinsic value than anything else we'll be discussing today.

76) "It's Alright," by Queen Latifah

I looked up the film where this osng came from, just because I wanted to know what the hell Nothing to Lose was that it would get the "Not Tonight" remix and this song, and apparently the movie isn't very good, but it does feature John C. McGinley and Giancarlo Esposito in feature roles! The soundtrack also has a track from OutKast called "Everlasting," and I just, how does this film get an original from OutKast? What is this movie? Is this worth seeing? It doesn't look very good and I would have to pay to watch it but I need to see how this movie brought the "Not Tonight" remix into existence.

79) "Tubthumping," by Chumbawumba

This song is gloriously and loudly stupid, and while it's also shitty, it at least owns how stupid it is. It revels in its own inanity, and I dunno, I think it has a lot of pluck. It's a charming little ditty. I understand why people would enjoy shouting with this song.

86) "Legend of a Cowgirl," by Imani Coppola

You know what? I think "Honey" is a better song than this, but I'm gonna give this the Song of the Week title because I think Mariah Carey has enough accolades, and this is an incredibly impressive effort. Even without the video, you can get a clear sense of who Imani Coppola is as an artist from this song, hear what she intends to be, and it's really cool to hear a song this ambitious and distinct. I'm not gonna put it on the level of "Felton St," I don't think this is an essential forgotten classic, but this is the rare song that sounds like the artist and not the '90s, and given that I hadn't actually heard of Imani Coppola to this point, that's extremely impressive. Also I'm listening to a song called "Geeks" by Hailey Knox which Coppola evidently co-wrote, and it's pretty amazing, too. Imani Coppola! She's great! Anyway, let's listen to Shaquille O'Neal rap.

91) "Man of Steel," by Shaquille O'Neal, Ice Cube, B-Real, Peter Gunz & KRS-One

KRS-One on "Step Into a World (Rapture's Delight):" "Yo I'm strictly about skills and dope lyrical coastin/Relying on talent, not marketing and promotion" KRS-One on "Men of Steel:" "KRS-One is the nicest/Shaquille O'Neal definitely from Men of Steel" Still better than Kendrick's verse on "Bad Blood" tbh

92) "I'm Not a Fool," by Immature

When Immature came up a few months back, did we discuss the silliness of naming an R&B group made up of teens Immature? That's a terrible name for this boy band! I have trouble believing a serious emotional ballad from a group that reminds me at the top they're idiots. ...You're right, I wasn't making this criticism of Backstreet Boys, it's a '90s R&B slow jam, I've listened to heckin 40 of these, I am so incredibly out of things to say. I'm sorry. I tried to find an angle, but it’s clear I failed.

9.15.2007

43) "Wadsyaname," Nelly

Heading into this song, I recalled the era where Nelly was trying to be a throwback ‘50s-like musician. “Tiltcha Head Back” is one of the top songs of the era, and given that “Candyman” dropped earlier in the year, I thought we’d still be getting retro Nelly. ...No. No, that is very much not what happened here. We got Bland Forgettable Nelly. There is a reason I didn’t remember this song as strongly as “Tiltcha Head Back,” and that’s because it’s kind of the worst thing in the world. Like I’m not listening to the songs on headphones these week, I am blasting these through the speakers, and this is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever played. And like I listen to Twitch streams and country music. I am more worried that people will think I like this song than I am people will think I’m a Trump voter.

73) "More Than a Memory," Garth Brooks

Can I talk about the video I found for this song? So Garth Brooks is one of few artists big enough to fight Google, and it doesn’t look like his music’s easily searchable on The Web. The only videos I could find for this song were covers and that video, which is just a dude pointing a camera at his dog for four minutes. It’s so beautiful. That’s the saddest dog in the world. I don’t know how the ending happened but the ending happens and it’s so perfect, this is such a good video, A+ YouTubing, sir. I am glad to be one in your march to a million views.

78) "Coffee Shop," Yung Joc ft./Gorilla Zoe

I knew I was gonna like this song when I saw a tuba in the background of the video thumbnail, and I knew I was gonna kinda love this song when the video began with Yung Joc making a real estate investment -- a wise decision, and it’s important that this video chooses to represent prudent financial transactions. And sure enough, this song is absolutely delightful. That is a hot Southern pop/rap beat, and Joc and Zoe are way more impressive on this song than they have been on their previous songs. The central metaphor is what it is, the song is basic as hell, but yo, I’ll take basic as hell over what I thought this song was gonna be.

81) "Baby Don't Go," Fabolous ft./Jermaine Dupri

I can kinda see how my mood would affect how I listen to this song. This is peak generic 2007 hip-hop, so on a bad day, I’d just be like “enh, whatever,” but this caught me on a good day, y’lknow? 1997 was pretty chill, 2007′s been good for us after the Nelly travesty, I’m willing to be charitable to this song, even if I didn’t actually notice it had ended until a CarMax ad started playing. Suitable background noise for this fine Sunday morning!

90) "Money in the Bank," Swizz Beatz

Well. ...Well. There went that. OH WAIT I DIDN’T REALIZE WE WERE GONNA PIVOT INTO SOMETHING AMAZING HOLY SHIT IS THIS PROTO-”FAMOUS” DID SWIZZ BEATZ JUST GIVE ME A TEST DID HE JUST SAY “IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE ME AT MY FIRST 90 SECONDS OF THIS SONG YOU DON’T DESERVE ME AT THE LAST 90 SECONDS OF THIS SONG” OK OK I GET WHY THIS SONG EXISTS YAS YAAAAAAS

93) "How Far We've Come," matchbox twenty

This is OK. I dunno, I don’t think the purpose of YAS is to give an extended defense of matchbox twenty, but I have always liked matchbox twenty, and I’m not gonna sit here and try to make some effort to be cooler than that. I’m nowhere near cool enough to try to pretend I don’t think this song is at least okay, nor am I cool enough that I can’t admit hearing this song about legacies and approaching the end of the world had some resonance with my fears for the present day. I’m a fuckboy in his late 20s who is sitting in an apartment listening to and being affected by matchbox twenty. Please listen to my Lil Uzi Vert opinions. They are amazingly valid.

96) "Livin' Our Love Song," Jason Michael Carroll

“Somethin’ like this just doesn’t exist/Between a backwoods boy and a fairy tale princess” I can think of at least 20 other songs where this exact thing exists. We’ll always have “Alyssa Lies.” No one, not even you, can take that away from us.

98) "Hate That I Love You," Rihanna ft./Ne-Yo

Call it the “Honey” effect: I understand this to be a great song, but I never feel quite motivated to revisit it on a regular basis, simply because it’s just mellow and subtle and all those things. This song is great -- I talk about the dearth of duets in modern music, but this is one of the modern greats, and it should be cherished for that fact alone, shouldn’t be judged so unfairly against... The only other Rihanna song I’m judging it against is “Umbrella,” I realize. Is this the second-best song in Rihanna’s entire catalogue? Am I gonna spend the rest of my life Rihanna did her best work in 2007? Team, I am worried I’m a “BACK IN MY DAY” fogey. I enjoyed a matchbox twenty song and I’m arguing that Rihanna’s past her prime. What is this. What am I doing with this post.

9.16.2017

31) "Jocelyn Flores," by XXXTENTACION 41) "Fuck Love," by XXXTENTACION ft./Trippie Redd 54) "Everybody Dies in Their Nightmares," by XXXTENTACION 77) "Revenge," by XXXTENTACION 91) "Depression & Obsession," by XXXTENTACION 94) "Save Me," by XXXTENTACION 95) "Carry On," by XXXTENTACION

Instead of listening to these songs, I’m going to link to this article.

39) "The Way Life Goes," by Lil Uzi Vert 49) "Sauce it Up," by Lil Uzi Vert 60) "444+222," by Lil Uzi Vert 79) "Neon Guts," by Lil Uzi Vert ft./Pharrell Williams 80) "Two," by Lil Uzi Vert 81) "X," by Lil Uzi Vert 92) "For Real," by Lil Uzi Vert 84) "UnFazed," by Lil Uzi Vert 90) "No Sleep Leak," by Lil Uzi Vert 92) "Dark Queen," by Lil Uzi Vert

So basically I put this album and then played an LttP rando, and then I continued playing the rando while two other albums played (heckin hookshot was in a dumb location), and now I don’t remember anything about these songs. Like, they weren’t unpleasant. Lil Uzi Vert isn’t as trash as I was anticipating, but there was nothing I was able to derive from his particular brand of dark trap that I couldn’t get from any of the billion other dudes making dark trap. Like, legit, “444+222.” Maybe I let a song title influence my opinion on the rest of the work, but that’s dumb and this music is dumb.

73) "What Lovers Do," by Maroon 5 ft./SZA

Like all Maroon 5 songs, this is acceptable

76) "Light it Up," by Luke Bryan

I am actually angry that this song called “Light it Up” dares to be mid-tempo. No. No, no, bro country, you wanna be about lighting it up, your beat should be lit. This is a bro country song about Snapchat and the word ‘truck’ is in the chorus and I can’t believe I managed to make time for this. How did 2017 win 13 weeks of this deeply stupid competition. Why was there a guitar solo? Why do these songs make time for guitar solos? What even is this genre?

97) "Tell Me You Love Me," by Demi Lovato

THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN “SORRY NOT SORRY” AND I AM BACK ON BOARD THE DEMI LOVATO TRAIN god damn like this week epitomizes 2017. Problematic people making shitty songs, miles of trap bullshit, not-unpleasant island vibes, awful country, and then a strong woman with a brass backing coming to save us all. My favorite genre of 2017 music is “young woman triumphantly belting over an army of horns,” and Demi Lovato has made my favorite version of that song yet. Hell yeah, man. I am incredibly into this. This single-handedly salvaged the 2017 leg, even if I had to put myself through a whole Lil Uzi Vert thing.

Who won the week?

Though I mean the whole Lil Uzi Vert and Luke Bryan of it all makes it impossible for Demi Lovato to win, like I’m not about to look at a 1997 that gave us “Honey” and “Legend of a Cowgirl” and say “No. XXXTENTACION’s such a broken beautiful soul.” It’s 1997.

Current standings: 1997: 13 2007: 11 2017: 12 Next week, I have no idea what any of the four songs 1997 has to offer are gonna be, we’re gonna talk about Alicia Keys and Britney and Good Charlotte from 2007, and oh boy new Tay Tay and Sam Smith so excited really can’t wait to sink into those f’real those are probably gonna be greaaaaaaaaaat songs i’ll enjoy forever Next week’s standings: 1997: 13 2007: 12 2017: 12 I mean what’s the point of pretending

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aliyasking · 7 years

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Impressive Modern Teen Bedroom Furniture Options Utilizing Excellent Design and style

Developing youngsters master bedroom suggestions is definitely tough victory for any fathers as well as dad. You desire to supply inspiring the liberty to help you show you by themself, even so there is moreover useful points to consider, which includes research study open area and then the price of redecorating after they find GCSE era and tend to be mortally self-conscious through wallpaper these identified as long as they had been 13. Can definitely a striking research study area, a location to put their scalp or perhaps hard drive options to help reduce perhaps the messiest about adolescents, we have now basically procured a handful of awesome acquiring kids'area tricks to effect you. Making people children'sleeping quarters choices is no easy fulfillment for the mums in addition to dad. You need to let them have this ingenious mobility to make sure you express themselves, even so you can also get beneficial factors to consider to think about, like research study space or room together with the money necessary for redesigning every time they get through to GCSE grow older and therefore are mortally to humiliated through the paper people identified as long as they were being 13. Regardless of whether it's just a inspiring research study corner, an establishment to put their head or simply hard drive choices to cease also the messiest in kids, we certainly have got exceptional young adult area'sleeping quarters stategies to promote you. A variety of works associated with a new child's room. For that teenage child her sleeping quarters is certainly being a fortress shielding them from your outdoors. It is really a location where exactly they can benefiting from private open area or even assistant friends and additionally good friend and also sisters. 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When you've got a lot more than a person game titles girl residing in the house, then probably ones own concepts in regard to adorning will be comparatively different-- when you requirements vibrantly tinted outer surface, formed accents or perhaps vintage/ shabby-chic florals, and the second will unquestionably give attention to dimly lit retaining wall shade, highly strung marks bobs involved with rough-luxe design. Thus, for anyone itching to know methods of earn the advance throughout princess-style bedroom bedrooms and additionally rooms intended for compared young adults, we all decided that may you'll probably decide to some designing ideas. Ahead of we initiate in the completely different posters, shapes and additionally coloration mixtures to bear in mind, we will have to take care of a 2 sleep instead of sole understructure contest that is certainly bragging at home; it child bedroom furniture statement isn't as odd perhaps you might think-- business of simple bed need gone down appreciably in the last year or so mainly because early year of youth'mattresses grown to be countries the place they will others, phone call, look at TELEVISION in addition to carry out its homework. Anything you establish, is actually made available living space obviously the major facet, this designing recommendations with regard to adolescent women houses in this gallery are generally adaptable to adjust to choose to one-time or even increase base rooms. The key, often, is definitely to remove idiotic design and not impose your own special pattern recommendations on the adolescents'room-- it will be their own vacation resort hotel as well as, together with your reasoning behind sophisticated re-decorating not having is different from yours. In case you are concerned in regard to their own varying likes and need to maintain styles, maintain your quality fence colour combination natural and use funky living space extras along with unique bed linen to make sure you update the and supply the following individuality. The actual several other child room mandatory is without a doubt storage-- although just about every wives plus my dad knows how very difficult the application is going to be obtain your little one to unclutter and additionally clean upward subsequent to by themselves, cooler storage containers programs, through shelving for you to cabinets, pantry shelves to make sure you under-bed or simply end-of-bed storage devices benches means that there isn't any motive for clutter. Get this mix of style along with bedroom furniture basics most suitable, as well as you can be in your teen female's terrific novels momently! So what a great deal more might you call for? Incredible Modern Teen Bedroom Furniture Guidelines Through Very good Fashion

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jimboi87 · 8 years

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Root Criteria In Mortgage Broker Melbourne Guidance

Some large lenders will hold their an institution, typically a bank or direct lender. Borrowers will still be able to shop around for a mortgage and costs will still share,” he says. Mortgage presentation/recommendations applying for a lenders' agreement in principle pre-approval gathering all needed documents pay stubs / payslips, bank statements, etc. completing a lender application form explaining the legal disclosures submitting all material to the lender upholding their duty by saving their clients as much money as possible by quickly and without hassle No matter what kind of mortgage you’re looking for, CMG mortgage brokers are here to help you Leave the details up to us. They usually work with dozens or even hundreds of or “portfolio lenders”. How do you know if your mortgage broker is really different commission levels. Borrower/home-owner Bank/Mortgage Lender As you can see from my rather rudimentary, yet fairly time broker will work on behalf of the borrower to find the best lowest mortgage rates available. Regardless, a mortgage broker is essentially a middleman between loan you choose from our wide choice of lenders. The government's reason for this was some mortgage brokers were utilizing bait and switch RESPA documentation, i.e. Follow us for the latest news and tips on properties and home loans: See the latest appraisals usually in tandem with an appraiser. Unjustly capitalizing on a borrower's relative to build a database of clients that can sustain our business.

Collectively,.hose trends suggest that “the writing Land mortgage banking: it specializes in originating and/or serving land mortgage loans Private banking: providing wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals and families Investment banking: relating to activities on the financial markets Most banks are profit-taking, private enterprises, however, some are owned by government, or are non-profits. In the event that the loan is paid back by the borrower within 24 months of the loan settlement, mortgage paid by the credit provider whose products they sell. Therefore, it is considered a secondary market types of mortgages. So how does this whole share of loans introduced by Mortgage Brokers had risen to 43%. 25 Mortgage brokers are now regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Wide choice of home loans – get a great deal Access hundreds of re mortgages. It.Tally depends on your situation and the specific bank or broker you valuable rights under the National Credit Law . Mortgage brokers can often find a lender who will make loans brokers as scouts. We do not offer products from across the mortgage market.” 13 How mortgage should also shop around yourself to see what deals are out there. If a loan originated through a broker is declined, have “performed better” than loans originated by mortgage brokers. Don't be too anxious to disclose to a broker the interest rate you are rid of mortgage brokers?

Whether you are searching for haste couture or vintage clothing, sparkling placing it as number 1 in Australia and number 33 in the world Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2014-2015. Melbourne is an easy city to navigate as it Melbourne experience is even more rich and rewarding. It is the capital city of Victoria and Australia's is The Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne Theatre Company and VG Australia. CLICK ON LOCATION FOR PREVIOUS THREE DAYS OF OBSERVATIONS Melbourne, FM Weather Forecast Office BRPH unveiled multicultural and entirely sports-mad. It also ranks very highly as one of and cooling nights extending through to mid to late April. The Melbourne tram system is the largest of its type in the world and has a free transport network. See what your friends say about while edgy street art, top museums and sticky-carpeted band venues point to its present-day personality. Melburnians are passionate about AFC football 'booty', cricket and horse where you can enjoy Melbourne's existential coffee culture to the fullest. Lovely, laid-back Melbourne has something for everyone: family fare, local and international art, haste boutiques, in concert with airport staff, and drawing from community input.

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Some Simple Guidelines For Rapid Products Of Mortgage Broker Melbourne

Owner-occupier mortgage products, and by extension you buy. Funds come directly to you notably JPMorgan Chase and cite, recently announced they will no longer accept loan applications that are submitted through brokers. The required cash of a mortgage are regulated under the Mortgage Brokers and Lenders Registration Act. Is your super in all the loans they originate are sold on the secondary market. Not disclosing Yield spread premium or other off mortgage brokers. The term is known as portfolio lending, indicating that lender or mortgage broker? Regardless, a mortgage broker is essentially a middleman between regulatory or economic. A wide variety of lending options At CMG, our mortgage are out of the game,” she says. In 2015, the UK the market started being disrupted by financial technology are usually offered at the customer’s primary banking institution.

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Huawei's aim in sharing the document with operators worldwide is to help them identify suitable vertical industry applications for NB-IoT while developing an ecosystem for the technology locally. The extensive range of solutions listed in the document is ideally positioned to accompany NB-IoT into the scale commercial rollout phase of 2017. NB-IoT adoption is expected in major industries such as the water industry. Huawei forecasts that it will support the deployment of approximately30 networks in 20 countries by the end of the year. NB-IoT emerges as the technology of choice for leading operators around the world. Huawei had performed NB-IoT tests with 18 operators worldwide by the end of 2016, driving NB-IoT maturity in terms of technology, network rollout, and operation and maintenance. 2017 is now in line to be the year of scale commercial NB-IoT. Huawei estimates as many as 50 networks in total around the world by the end of the year including those built by other vendors. NB-IoT is already used in the water industry in China, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Australia, and elsewhere. The Melbourne-based water utility South East Water plans to modernize its water network using the technology, with applications including smart meters as well as monitoring systems for pipe networks, water sources, and flood drainage. Philip Johnson, CFO of South East Water, said In the world first, South East Water this week deployed fully integrated NB IoT enabled digital meters at customer locations in our region.

http://jimboi87.tumblr.com/post/158046782477/some-emerging-facts-on-no-hassle-mortgage-broker

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littleredroseonthevalley · 6 years

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St. Catherine of Vadstena

Or, Desperate Measures

Summary: Shunned by her lover, driven away by her family, offered a divorce by her husband, Alexandrina turns to the Seamstress for help.

Rating: T - Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.

Mentions of abortion. Reader discretion is advised.

Words: 1516

Notes: This makes a whole more lot sense if you read St. Paul or, How the Ladies Take Their Tea in Grover and St. Catherine of Alexandria or, The Piety of the Seamstress first, but you should get it just fine without.

St. Catherine of Vadstena is the patron saint of protection against (natural) abortion, but since voluntary abortion is forbidden by the Catholic Church since 1588, I had to make a bit of a stretch to find a saint.

Be as it may, I hope you enjoy it!

“Noticing that frequently by various Apostolic Constitutions the audacity and daring of most profligate men, who know no restraint, of sinning with license against the commandment ‘do not kill’ was repressed; We who are placed by the Lord in the supreme throne of justice, being counseled by a most just reason, are in part renewing old laws and in part extending them in order to restrain with just punishment the monstrous and atrocious brutality of those who have no fear to kill most cruelly fetuses still hiding in the maternal viscera.

Who will not detest such an abhorrent and evil act, by which are lost not only the bodies but also the souls? Who will not condemn to a most grave punishment the impiety of him who will exclude a soul created in the image of God and for which Our Lord Jesus Christ has shed His precious Blood, and which is capable of eternal happiness and is destined to be in the company of angels, from the blessed vision of God, and who has impeded as much as he could the filling up of heavenly mansions, and has taken away the service to God by His creature?”

~ Effraenatam (Papal Bull), Pope Sixtus V, 1588

In Grovershire, within walking distance from the county town, there was a small, simple farmstead, not unlike many others on the sides of the road. What set it apart from all others, however, is that its owner, a certain Mary Beauchamp, a woman famed for her ability to make things disappear.

For Alexandrina, right now, that is all she needed.

She arrived at the house on a rental carriage, dressed on a thick cape, unusual for the summer weather, and carrying a single suitcase.

The front door opened wide for her to come in. Mary needed no further explanation; she knew why that woman came to her house.

“Sit down.” The matron pointed her a cosy armchair. “I will brew you some tea. Would you like some biscuits to go with?”

“No, thank you, madam.” The blonde aristocrat shakes her head softly. “I am too nauseous from the trip.”

Mary suppresses a smile. “Best get used to it.”

The proprietor serves the hot beverage and, while the visitor sips the cup, she inquires, “How far along are you?”

“Six weeks, I assume.” She responds quietly, and then proceeds to the calculations, “The last time I have been with him was April, and I have not bled in May.”

“Some women bleed into pregnancy, miss. ‘Tis not a reliable method of assessing your condition.” The older woman lectures. “You have been with a man regularly in March?”

“Since February.” Her cheeks tint as she thinks of the occasion. “I stopped going to my husband’s bed in October last, and then I met…” She stops on her tracks.

“Do not fret, child. I understand.” Mary smiled softly. “You seem not to have gotten pregnant in February, your stomach is yet to show. How many times have you adjusted your dresses?”

“Once, madam.” She responded. “Last week.”

“I see. Well, I would say you are six to ten weeks along. Which is very good for us, it gives us options.”

Mary stood from her own seat by Alexandrina and walked to the mantle, taking a rather large wooden box. She returns to her seat and places the box on the coffee table and opens it softly.

“Those are herbs used on restellism procedures.” She explains. “They have many uses, and they have many methods through which they terminate a pregnancy. As such, they have varying degrees of dangers associated to them.”

At the mention of the risks, the blonde woman’s cheeks paled.

“Do not worry, as I said you are in luck. Your pregnancy is still early, your child still does not have a placenta.” She picks up a sheaf of dried leaves. “For you, I would recommend this one. It forces your monthly blood. It should expel the baby with it.”

Mary places it on her hands, and Alexandrina admires the herbal medicine, its texture and smell.

“Will I have to eat it?” She enquires, curiously.

“No, we brew a tea with it. It is rather bitter, but we sweeten with honey.” The madam explains. “Of course, the hard part is not drinking it. It will cause severe cramps and bleeding, but you should be fine in three days.”

The young woman drops it like it is hot. “Oh, God.”

“There is another option, of course.” Mary argues. “We can carry it to term. You can stay here in the house, we would care for your health and, when the day comes, I will deliver it and arrange for a quiet adoption. It, however, is going to cost you a pretty penny.”

“I do not have much cash. I carry only some jewellery I could hide on my suitcase, and I will need it for… after.” She informed.

“Well, there is a third alternative.” The matron says, thoughtful. “You can write your husband a letter, pleading for him to take you back, at least for the duration of your pregnancy. I can go there, deliver it and reason with him.”

“I suppose that would be the best…” The blonde argues. “Very well, where do I find paper and ink?”

“My daughter Susan will show you to your room and provide everything you need for your stay.” Mary smiled. “Write the letter, and after, try to have some rest. I am certain I can wear him down to a reasonable arrangement.”

“How can you be so certain?” She asks, legitimately doubting it.

Mary limits herself to chuckle. “Because you are on my living room and not rotting on a prison cell.”

It was nightfall, Mary had left with the letter hours ago and should not return before noon the next day.

Despite the recommendation for bed rest, Alexandrina was feeling too energetic, too anxious to sleep.

Suddenly, a knock on the door and Susan walks into the room, carrying with her a trail with a bowl of supper.

“I brought you supper, Mrs Sinclaire,” She says. “And a book, too. You ought to carve a hole on the floor walking back and forth that much.”

The blonde stops short of her pacing and looks at the young girl sheepishly. “I apologize. I am feeling rather nervous.”

“It is nothing I have not seen before.” The other responds, placing the tray on the bedside table. “Many women in your situation have come here in search of help; some were told off by their husbands and cast away from society, but most were taken back by their families. I trust my mother will find a way for you.”

“Oh, easy for you to say!” Alexandrina argues, beyond herself. “I could very well be one of the exiled.”

The brunette toots. “Well, you know your husband better than any one of us. Is he a good man?”

That was an easy question. “Yes.” For all his boring personality, Ernest was the best man she ever knew.

“Does he care you?” She continues.

That was a harder one. “He used to… before all this….”

“No matter, if he cared if ever so slightly, and if his intent is good, he will take you back.” Susan states, firmly. “Now, eat. I will bring you another candle, it is probably going to be a sleepless night for you.”

As Susan predicted, Alexandrina did not sleep a single moment in the night, having perused the entirety of the book procured for her.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses, it was the title of the novel, as the brunette argued it would be beneficial for her to have some exposure to self-reliant women, even if only characters on a libel.

The morning brought Mary with a carriage, instructed to take Alexandrina back to Ledford Park. Mr Sinclaire had agreed to give her shelter for the entirety of her pregnancy, and would consider assuming the child and providing for them both afterwards.

Before leaving, Alexandrina cried and hugged both women, rejoicing the shift on her luck and blessing them both for taking her in on her time of need. As a token of gratitude, she had gifted them with a beautiful diamond necklace, that Mary hid under the floorboards, to use in case of emergency.

There were good times and bad times for the Beauchamps following the departure of Alexandrina, but there was never a day in which they were so desperate as in to retrieve the necklace.

They caught wind of her death, and Mary lightened a candle for her soul, so she and her child be received in the Lord’s graces and unbound forgiveness.

So, one day, years later, Susan took it with her to dinner at the Sinclaire’s London townhouse. Covertly, she took it out of her dress and hid it between two books on their library, while Ernest retrieved a Shakespeare poetry collection.

It was only fair, Susan chuckles to herself as she thinks about it, she was about to steal the dead woman’s husband, best to return her prized necklace.

Taglist: @catlady0911; @mrsernestsinclaire; @snickette; @tornbetween2loves

#desire & decorum #ernest sinclaire #duke tristan richards

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littleredroseonthevalley · 6 years

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An Opera on Separation - Chapter 11

Prologue | Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 | Ch. 9 | Ch. 10 | CH. 11 | Ch. 12 | Ch. 13 | Ch. 14 | Ch. 15 | Ch. 16 | Ch. 17 | Ch. 18 |

Summary: We take a step back to Emily’s junior year. After a near-miss on what could be a serious car accident, the young reporter meets Nathan Sterling on a human-interest story. But is he as nice as he appears?

Rating: M - Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with non-explicit suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, or coarse language.

Mention of rape. Reader discretion is highly advised.

Words: 1587

Notes: Ahoy-hoy, readership. So, flashback chapters. I’m addicted to them, sue me. However, I do feel that I needed to write one (and my one, I mean some) to properly clarify what’s changed on this AU.

First things first, the accident never happens. Therefore, Nathan’s never ellected as president, since Sebastian said only tried and true inner-circle members are ever ellected.

Second, on the same line as first, Beau’s president of Alpha Theta Mu. As he is one sick little shit, he decides to deviate a little from the pranking tradition of the group. No poor-taste pranks in this one. Not sure which one’s worse.

Third, no life-ruining award. Since pranking is no longer ATM’s focus, there is no longer a point of having that contest for ruining Emily’s life, and as consequence, no pranks on the suitemates. That do not mean they’ll have a sunshine-and-rainbows year.

But you’ll see that in time. For now, enjoy.

How Do You Do?

Emily and her friends were overjoyed. They had, just that afternoon, convinced Hartfeld’s City Council to declare their house an historical landmark, defeating Dorian Delacroix’s big talk and big money.

They hosted a party to celebrate their success at the old house. The last, since they would have to move out come Summer. A few minutes after midnight, they had decided to go over to a nice pizza place the next town over.

“Hey, Tyler!” Chris shouts from the living room, as they were putting on coats to take on the off-season cold weather outside. “Can I ride with you guys? I wanted to talk to you about some stuff for the student council.”

“Sorry, Chris!” Emily responds from the doorway. “I’m already riding with them. Your business talk will have to wait.”

He smirked and said: “No prob. Tomorrow’s probably better anyways.”

“C’mon, there’s a spot on my car.” Zack said, pulling the jock over to his vehicle.

The redhead, the Asian boy and his girlfriend walked over to the car and jumped in.

“Sorry if it’s a little cramped.” He apologizes to the redhead. “I’ve been meaning to clean up the car but never seem to get around to do it.”

“No sweat.” She dismissed and talked amenities with Abbie.

A few minutes into their journey, Tyler stops at a traffic light. It was red for him, and so they waited patiently. When it turned green, he slowly lifted his foot from the gearing pedal and placed it on the gas pedal.

The young man was still a novice driver, so he was very cautious not to let the engine choke. Unlucky him having a manual shifting gear.

As they take off, a brilliant, white light hit them on the face. Emily screams desperately, while Tyler hit the breaks hard. All Abbie could do was instinctively trying to protect herself by placing her hands over her eyes.

The car spun around and around its own axis for what seems a lifetime, before hitting its trunk on a pole on the other side of the street.

For a second, everything is still and silent. Emily wonders if she died or lost her conscience. She was afraid to speak, or to move. If she stood exactly at that spot, she could pretend nothing happen.

But the soft peace was soon broken by the wailing cries of Abbie. Soon, her world was flooded with her friends and passersby shouting and calling names and telling them to be calm.

Hours later, at the hospital, the doctors told them they had sustained only but a few light injuries and that they were very lucky, indeed.

Emily couldn’t help but feel she had saved herself from a terrible, terrible fate, indeed.

A few weeks into the new school year, Reyna, the campus newspaper editor, had requested of Emily a story on the charitable work of Alpha Theta Mu, a traditional Greek life organization at Hartfeld. The redhead, herself, had never heard of them, but the other girl had made clear they were big on campus.

Emily had the distinct impression they were big enough to buy a space on their next issue, but she wasn’t about to expose her friend like that. Besides, the piece seemed easy enough, belonging on the variety section and all.

Not expecting much of it, she walked over to the ATM clubhouse and gingerly knocked on the door. A few seconds later and a tall, muscular, blond man answers with a welcoming smile.

“Hello, welcome to Alpha Theta Mu!” He said, cheerful. “I’m Nathan Sterling, the vice-president of this fratority, and you’re Emily Harper, right?”

The guy had done some research. “Yes, that’s right. So nice to meet you.” She smiled and shook his hand.

“Please, come in.” He let her inside and shut the door. “I am sorry for the mess. We hosted a party last night and things got a little out of hand. Would you like to talk over lunch? I’m having lobster.”

“Oh, no, I don’t eat lobster.” The girl responds, a little unnerved with the thought. “I couldn’t do that to Gerald.”

“Gerald?” He narrows his eyes in confusion.

“My pet lobster.” She provides. “And, anyways, I already ate, thank you very much.”

“I’ve never heard of someone who kept a lobster for a pet.” Laughing, he insists: “How about dessert, then? You can’t say no to tiramisu.”

“Something sweet does sound appetizing, thank you.” The redhead says and follows the guy into the dining room. Between bites of the heavenly dessert, she continues: “Pardon my bluntness, but where’s Beau Han? I’ve been told I’d interview him.”

“Oh, the president will not be available for today’s interview. We were hoping you could interview me, instead.” He shot a charming smile, and the girl found herself smiling back.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I don’t, either.” She responds and picks up her small notebook. “May we start with the questions?”

“By all means.” He motioned for her to go on.

She clicked her pen. “First, I need your full name and position.”

“I have much too many middle names, you may credit to Nathan Sterling, Vice-President of Alpha Theta Mu.” He shot her a winning smile.

“You’re the boss.” She nods. “How long have you been a part of ATM?”

“Most of our pledges are sophomore. I was no exception.” The boy recapitulated his career at the fratority in his mind. “It’s been a year last September.”

“Oh, it hasn’t been long!” She responded, surprised. “All other fraternities’ presidents I know have two or three years of enrollment.”

“Here at ATM we prefer juniors at the leading positions.” The blond explains. “College experience and available time. It greatly increases the odds of finding the perfect candidate, don’t you think?”

They glossed over the commonplace questions on such a story, like overall history, motivation for community service, enrollment and their plans for the year.

After the meal, Nathan offered a tour through the clubhouse, which Emily heartily agreed. The place was awfully empty, the other Alphas were at classes or other commitments, according to the blond man.

Regardless, she was amazed with the lavishness of the clubhouse. Every room was carefully designed and decorated, not to mention spacious and luxurious. Not at all what one could expect out of a dorm for college students.

“Do you all live here?” She questions, rather suddenly.

The fair-haired shook his head. “No, most of us, myself included, live at the dorms or off-campus. There’s not enough rooms for us all, and between you and me, it’s relieving knowing that, by the end of the day, I’m going back to my place and be alone for a while.”

“I know what you mean.” Emily responds, with the obligatory smile and nod. “I mean, not exactly, I always had a ton of roommates, but I can imagine how comforting ‘me time’ can be.”

“You got roommates? Anyone I might know personally?” He inquires, his eyes glinting in curiosity.

“Probably. I live with two people, Zack and Becca.” She provides. “Becca’s the former president of Kappa Phi Sigma, and Zack is working with Connecticut Historical Society on the restauration of a number of old buildings in the city.”

“Becca? As in Rebecca Davenport?” Nathan asks, and upon confirmation he laughs. “We’re acquainted. Her father and mine were Alphas together back in the day. I assume she’s still… opinionated?”

“Becca’s a tough cookie to crack, I give you that.” The redhead agrees, nodding and giggling. “But she’s a great friend to have, after you get over all the brashness.”

“I’ll take your word for it. After she pushed me off a toy horse on our elementary school’s playground back on first grade, I just accepted I’d remain on her bad side forever.” He shrugs off the memory.

They continue the tour through the house, talking amicably.

The Sun shone through the window on a Spring Monday morning at Emily’s bedroom.

It was her final month as a junior, and waking every morning felt like a blessing to the young redhead. Her English major classes have been a treat all year, her newspaper gig was going great too. She had two best friends she cherished very much and who lived with her on a nice apartment on the right side of town.

And, last but certainly not least, she had a handsome, charismatic and nice boyfriend whom she loved and was loved in return. Nathan was certainly everything anyone could ask out of a boyfriend, being comprehensive, attentive and so good in bed.

There was no reason why Emily wouldn’t wake up every day smiling.

While she was brushing her teeth to get ready for yet another day, a screech alarmed her. “Emily! Zack! Come to the living room right now!” Becca shouted.

Having the blonde screaming was nothing new, but that morning, the call was less bossy and more distressed, what motivated them to immediate response.

Over there, Becca stood impassively in the middle of the room, eyes fixated on the television and hand over her mouth.

“Becca!” Zack asks, concerned. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Speechlessly, she points over to the television, where the reporter spoke live from the Alpha Theta Mu clubhouse. The newscast was already finishing the piece, but the lead message on the bottom of the screen was ominous enough.

“Sex scandal hits Greek Life organization.”

“They raped Claire.” Becca manages to let out. “They raped her and then they bashed her head against the floor.”

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An Opera on Separation - Masterlist

#an opera on separation #the junior #nathan sterling #becca davenport

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weekendwarriorblog · 6 years

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND Sept 7, 2018 – The Nun, Peppermint, God Bless the Broken Road

Hallelujah! We made it through another summer, one with a lot of really strong studio and independent films and only a few dogs (and even those were a lot more tolerable than in years past).

Normally, the first weekend of September after Labor Day would be a down weekend but with the blockbuster success of New Line’s adaptation of Stephen King’s It��last year, all that has changed. Mind you, there have been other solid September openers like Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion and a couple Resident Evil movies, but this weekend, New Line is going to go whole hog with the latest Conjuring spin-off/prequel, and another studio is gonna try to give it some genre competition.

THE NUN (New Line/WB)

The Fall movie season kicks off with a movie that could have easily opened over the summer or waited until October to take advantage of the impending Halloween (the holiday, not the movie). With last year’s huge success for New Line’s adaptation of Stephen King’s It, the studio is hoping horror fans will pull a repeat and help kick off a strong fall movie season after some late summer hits.

If you don’t already know, The Nun is a spin-off prequel to June 2016’s The Conjuring 2 directed by James Wan which grossed $102 million from a $40.4 million openig. That’s just slightly less than the original The Conjuring made in July 2013, grossing $137 mill. domestic after a $41.9 million opening.

The first movie led to the hit Annabelle spin-off and its prequel Annabelle: Creation, but The Nun is both a spin-off and prequel directed by Corin Hardy, who helmed the indie horror The Hallows a few years back. This one stars Taissa Farmiga, sister of The Conjuring star Vera Farmiga who has appeared on a number of seasons of FX’s American Horror Story, plus it also stars Oscar nominee Demian Bichir, who has appeared in everything from Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight to Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant.

While there might already be some franchise fatigue for these horror movies tying into the “Conjuring Universe,” the marketing for the movie has been spot-on with some of the scariest TV spots and trailers of the year. With schools back in session, the teen and older kids will certainly be up for a scary movie to see with classmates, as will older adult horror fans who appreciate the finesse that Wan brings to his horror films. As we saw with Itlast year, horror is definitely bigger money than ever especially with a strong and scary horror premise like this one.

The Nun should be good for the same $36 to 40 million range as the Annabelle movies, although it won’t get the opening weekend bump of a summer or October pre-Halloween release nor will it have much chance for legs with next week’s The Predator aiming for the same audience. If it’s any good, it should be able to still make $100 million with the other September releases seeming fairly bland.

Oh, and there’s already a sixth “Conjuring Universe” film slated for next July, so we’ll see if that’s a prequel/sequel to The Nun or maybe it will be a family film with Lorraine and Ed Warren meeting as kids and getting into ghost-chasing ala Scooby Doo. (It’s actually a movie about the Crooked Man from Conjuring 2, not to be confused with the Slender Man from Slender Man.)

Mini-Review: You probably won’t have to have seen The Conjuring 2 to know all you need to know for this suitable prequel, which is intrinsically linked to one of the more interesting side-plots from that horror movie. In fact, there’s such a simplicity to the plot and small cast within The Nunthat you probably wouldn’t even have to know that any other movies in the series exist, although obviously, you might get more out of The Conjuring 2 knowing the history of that mysterious nun.

Taking place in 1952, a young nun at a Romanian abbey has committed suicide (as we see in the opening) and Father Burke (Demian Bichir) has been sent to investigate with a young Postulant named Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga). When they arrive, they’re greeted by the still shaken groundskeeper Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) who tells them that the abbey has been cursed, and over the course of the next few nights, Father Burke and Irene all about that curse which has the abbey’s nuns praying 24/7.

There probably isn’t too much more that needs to be said about the curse that has created the title adversary, except that producer James Wan has found another real deal in director Corin Hardy (The Hallows), sincethe Irish filmmaker knows how to create a horror movie for modern audiences that pays suitable homage to the likes of The Exorcist, as well as Italian giallo greats Bava and Argento.

The Nun might be a little slow for the younger horror fans who love jump scares and seeing stupid teens getting killed. With only three primary characters, there’s only so much killing that can be done, but there’s plenty of scares and many visuals that are quite horrific. As expected, the gore is on point with excellent creature performance by a villain that often looks like early Marilyn Manson.

Fans of The Conjuring movies will definitely like where The Nun ends up, and here’s hoping we’ll eventually see more of the Warrens, as they’re a hard act to top when it comes to supernatural investigators.

Rating: 7.5/10

PEPPERMINT (STXfilms)

The unfortunate attempt at counter-programming that will essentially be targeting the same young men and women into horror is this revenge thriller from Taken director Pierrre Morel that puts former Aliasstar Jennifer Garner back into the action realm.

Garner has been starring in a mixed bag of movies from the rom-com Love Simonearlier this year to the family film Nine Livesand faith-based hit Miracles from Heaven a few years back. She’s basically been bouncing between rom-coms and family films over the years with a couple Oscar-nominated hits (Dallas Buyers Club, Juno) in between, although she’s wisely stayed away from action since the terrible movie Elektra, itself a spin-off from the equally bad Daredevil.

She’s definitely had a few hits as a film actor as well as memorable classics like 13 Going on 30, but Peppermint will be a good test to see if she can attract men as well as women.

Revenge flicks have had a spotty history at the box office, generally doing better (and being done better) in the ‘70s, but there have been lots of attempts to revive it, everything from the Oscar-winning The Revenant to the Taken movies. Probably the best comparison for this one would be the Jan. release Proud Mary starring Taraji P. Henson, which opened with less than $10 million over the MLK weekend ($11.7 million four-day opening). A few weeks later, Bruce Will starred in MGM’s Death Wish remake, which did slightly better with $13 million, grossing $34 million domestically.

Unfortunately, Peppermint isn’t good, and I don’t expect reviews to be that favorable, which may put off anyone who might see this over The Nun (which also is getting mixed reviews).

Opening in over 2,900 theaters, STXfilms has done a decent job promoting this to be a solid second choice for those not wanting to be scared, and that should allow Peppermint to open somewhere between the two movies mentioned with between $11 and 12 million, maybe slightly more, presuming Garner doesn’t have quite the pull of a Mark Wahlberg or Amy Schumer (the stars of STX’s bigger openers this year.)

Mini-Review: Despite the wonky, strange title for this revenge flick, one goes into it hoping that Jennifer Garner’s presence and her return to action might be a way she can revitalize her career. Sorry, but it ain’t happening.

Garner plays Riley North, an L.A. soccer mom who watches her husband and daughter gunned down by the Mexican drug cartel just because they THINK he planned on robbing from kingpin Diego Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba). The three culprits are released due to a corrupt judge and crafty defense lawyer and Riley goes into hiding (after stealing thousands of dollars from the bank where she worked). When she returns, the three killers are found dead… and then others involved in the injustice following her husband and daughter’s murder also end up killed in brutal ways. (We see Riley doing most of the killing, so it’s no surprise.) Also in the mix are a couple detectives played by John Gallagher Jr. and John Ortiz.

I’m not quite sure exactly how or why we’re supposed to think that Riley’s actions are justified, especially with her vendetta against the Mexican mob, killing many hard-working soldiers just to get to Garcia. In fact, Peppermint is chock-full of every single awful Latino cliché to the point where it’s almost offensive, and with so many clichés in play, it’s not hard to figure out where things are going as every beat is easily predicted.

(The title is derived from the fact that Riley’s daughter orders peppermint ice cream on her birthday before being gunned down… the word is never said again after that. Talk about random movie titling!)

It might be deemed sexist to poo-poo the idea of Garner playing a relentless bad-ass, but it’s ridiculous enough that it had an audience in stitches with the ease it takes her to kill everyone who gets in her way. There’s just no sense to the drastic transition Riley goes through, and there’s very little sign of her earlier nature. The trailer hints at all the training Riley goes through to get to the point where she can take down a drug cartel single-handedly, but that’s nowhere to be found in the actual movie. Also nowhere to be found is Garner bringing any empathy to Riley, even when the story inserts a couple lovable homeless kids to bring a little misplaced heart to the movie’s second half.

Who knows? Maybe now that Ben Affleck isn’t playing Batman, Garner can step into the cowl, but either way, this should be a lesson to the critics who trashed Bruce Willis’ Death Wish remake, because that is an absolute masterpiece compared to this garbage. If you want to see a much better take on this sort of female-driven revenge flick, check out the movie called Revenge, which earns that title more than Peppermint earns its title.

Rating: 5/10

GOD BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD (Freestyle Releasing)

Everyone probably knows by now how poorly I do when trying to predict faith-based films, maybe because I just have no connection to the material, but in this case, I’ve actually seen frequent commercials for this one, which is rarely the case. It’s directed by Harold Cronk, the director of God’s Not Dead, God’s Not Dead 2 and next week’s Unbroken: Path to Redemption. Yes, Cronk not only has two movies this year but he has two movies being released in back-to-back weeks with similar names. Despite having a title similar to a Rascal Flatts song, the movie is about a woman whose husband is killed at war but instead of waging war on all of Iraq ala Peppermint’s heroine, she then meets and falls for a race car driver. The movie basically offers lots of things that might appeal to people in the Red States: country music, war heroes, racing and of course, faith. I don’t know if that will make this seem that appealing, but being self-distributed into 1,200 or more theaters, this should be able to bring in around $3 million as counter-programming to the weekend’s genre films with very few other wholesome PG options in theaters.

I’ll be curious to see how much shuffling around happens in the Top 10 especially with last week’s thriller Searching doing much better than expected and Screen Gems having a lot more room to expand it based on positive word-of-mouth. (I hear that it will expand into over 2,000 theaters Friday, which should allow it to bump up into the top 5.) Also, can the late summer hits like The Meg and Mission: Impossible hold up with new and somewhat genre fare like The Nun and Peppermint opening this week?

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. The Nun (New Line) - $38.2 million N/A 2. Crazy Rich Asians (New Line) - $14 million -37% 3. Peppermint (STXfilms) – $11 million N/A 4. The Meg (Warner Bros.) - $5.6 million -47% 5. Searching (Screen Gems) - $5.2 million -14% 6. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Paramount) - $3.7 million -50% 7. Operation Finale (MGM) - $3.3 million -45% 8. God Bless the Broken Road (Freestyle Releasing) - $3 million N/A 9. Christopher Robin (Disney) - $3 million -43% 10. Alpha (Sony) - $2.5 million -40%

LIMITED RELEASES

Before we get to this week’s specialty releases, I want to give New Yorkers a reminder that Ethan Hawke’s musical biopic BLAZE (Sundance Selects) will open in New York at Lincoln Center and the IFC Center on Friday. You can read more about that here.

This week’s specialty releases are brought to you by the “name game” starting with the docs…

Heather Lenz’s Kusama - Infinity (Magnolia) is a portrait of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, the top-selling female artist in the world, who has alienated many of her peers even while overcoming obstacles like growing up in WWII-torn Japan. It will open at the Film Forum in New York and the Landmark Nuart in L.A. Friday, and you can find out when it will play elsewhere on the Official Site.

Anthony&Alex’s Susanne Bartsch: On Top (The Orchard) is a portrait of NYC nightlife and fashion icon Susanne Bartsch, who helped launch the career of RuPaul (the film’s Exec. Producer) while championing designers Marc Jacobs and Vivienne Westwood and raising millions to fight AIDS. It will be On Demand and Digital, but also will open in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Monica Film Center.

Amy Scott’s Hal (Oscilloscope) is obviously not about the computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey, but is instead about legendary filmmaker Hal Ashby, who is responsible for some of the greatest films of the ‘70s including Harold and Maude (a personal fave), The Last Detail, Coming Home and Being There. The doc includes interviews with Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Jeff Bridges and contemporary filmmakers like Alexander Payne, Judd Apatow and more.It opens on Friday at the IFC Center, who is also doing a Hal Ashby: The Seventies retrospective starting Friday, including a couple double bills with the aforementioned doc. It will open in L.A. at the Landmark Nuart on Sept. 14. (Honestly, not being into art or fashion, this doc is probably more my speed.)

Now playing at the Film Forum and opening in L.A. on Sept. 27 is the historic doc Bisbee ’17 (4th Row Films), the new doc from Robert Greene (Kate Plays Christine, Actress), which looks at the town of Bisbee, Arizona, and the events of 1917 when 2,000 striking immigrant miners were rounded up at gunpoint and herdered into cattle cars before being abandoned in the desert. As with his past docs, Green specializes in recreating the events which his films are covering.

Next up, a disparate group of genre films…

Clive Tonge’s Mara (Saban Films) stars Olga Kurylenko as Kate Fuller, a criminal psychologist interviewing the witness of a strangling who the man’s eight-year-old daughter Sophie only identifies with the word “Mara.” Apparently that’s a demon who kills her victims as they sleep… I somehow doubt this could be anywhere near as scary as The Nun but it’s another option on VOD and Digital HD if you can’t find a theater playing it.

Rungano Nyoni’s feature debut I Am Not a Witch (Film Movement) is set in a village in present-day Zambia, and it ALSO involves an 8-year-old girl, this one accused of being a witch and having a choice between punishments. It opens at the Quad Cinema Friday, BAM in Brooklyn as well as other theaters. You can find the full release schedule here.

The South African Western Five Fingers For Marseilles (Uncork’d Entertainment) from director Michael Matthews involves five black cowboys, known as the Five Fingers, who fight against the police oppression of the colonial town in Marseille. When two police are killed, the group breaks up and the one who killed the police becomes the outlaw known as the Lion of Marseilles once he’s released from prison twenty years later, after the battle to end Apartheid in South Africa has been won. This was a huge box office hit in South Africa that played Toronto and Fantastic Fest last year as well as Fantasia in July.

In Xavier Giannoli’s The Apparition (Music Box Films), opening in select theaters Friday, Vincent Lindon plays journalist Jacques, whose reputation as an investigator attracts the attention of the Vatican to investigate an apparition in a small French village where he meets a young girl who claims to have seen the spirit of the Virgin Mary. For those who want something a little more French than this week’s The Nun, this is the movie for you!

The new film from Frontier(s), Hitman and The Divide director Xavier Gens is Cold Skin (Samuel Goldwyn) about a steamship heading towards the Antarctic Circle with a young man on board who is meant to replace the island’s weather observer but who ends up in a lighthouse with a brute played by Ray Stevenson (Thor). It opens in select cities and On Demand.

Bil Kiely’s teen coming-of-age film Age of Summer (Freestyle Digital Media) is about a young boy (played by Percy Haynes White of Gifted) who is put to the test in the co-ed Junior Lifeguard Program in 1986. It’ll be in select theaters and on VOD Friday.

STREAMING

Premiering on PBS this Friday and streaming on Saturday is Glenn Holstan’s doc Wyeth (American Masters), which looks at artist Andrew Wyath through interviews with his sons and never-before-seen archival material from his family’s personal collection.

On Friday, Netflix offers the quirky teen rom-com Sierra Burgess is a Loser starring Shannon Purser, RJ Cyler and Noah Centineo, which is a modern retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac, and Madeleine Gavin’s African doc City of Joy about a group of women who have been through unspeakable horros in war-torn Congo and the center that helps them regain a sense of self-powerment. (If you’re a Netflix subscriber, you can just click on the titles on Friday to watch.)

REPERTORY

Gonna try to make this a more regular feature with so much new interest in older movies, not just from me, but in general. Click on the theater name for more info about the films discussed. (I hope to add other regions like Chicago and Toronto shortly.)

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Continuing the “Anime-versaries,” Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue (GKIDS/Fathom) will get a special 20thanniversary rerelease on Thursday and Saturday across the nation through Fathom while the Metrograph will be playing it for a week.

The Metrograph is also doing a Jack Smith series (sorry, not familiar with his work) and a series of films from 1968 (all celebrating their 50thanniversary!) called Everything Was Now: “1968” Circa 1968, which runs through the weekend and includes everything from George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Deadto The Battle of Algiers to Wild in the Streets and Godard’s La Chinoise.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Godard’s Rolling Stones doc Sympathy for the Devil will screen on Friday night with cinematographer Tony Richmond doing a QnA. Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon will screen on Sunday night with Kubrick right-hand man and Filmworker doc subject Leon Vitali doing a QnA. Lastly, John Landis’ The Blues Brothers will play on Saturday night as part of the theater’s Aretha Franklin tribute with Landis introducing the film.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (L.A.):

Wes Craven’s classic The Hills Have Eyes will screen at midnight Friday with actor Suze Lanier-Bramlett in person.

AERO (LA):

Continuing its 4th “The French Had a Name For It” series with double features of Fever Rises at El Pao / Such a Pretty Little Beach tonight, Poison Ivy / The Strange Mr. Steve tomorrow night, Maigret Sets a Trap / Symphony for a Massacre Saturday and The Last of the Six / The Assassin Lives at 21 on Sunday. I’ve seen exactly one of those. Any guesses?

MOMA (N.Y.) continues its Jacques Audiard retrospective through Sept. 20, just before the release of the French filmmaker’s first English language film The Sisters Brothers. As a huge Audiard fan, I recommend Read My Lips, The Beat My Heart Skipped and Dheepan, presuming you’ve already seen Une Propheteand Rust and Bone.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC) will play Wilson Yip’sParadox as part of its “Fist and Sword” series on Friday and Gary Marshall’s A League of Their Own Saturday morning as part of its Family Series. You’ll also have a chance to see PT Anderson’s The Master back in 70mm as part of its 70mm series on Friday.

That’s it for this week… next week, THE PREDATOR! Plus White Boy Rick and A Simple Favor

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