#this is the best one i've found

[jacquelinemerritt]

Thanksgiving Films You Forgot: The Ice Storm

Originally posted November 16th, 2015

It’s November, and because it’s the most thankful time of the year, I’m taking a look at the Thanksgiving films you either didn’t see, or forgot existed. This week, I’m looking at The Ice Storm, which was directed by Ang Lee and stars an ensemble cast of Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Henry Czerny, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, and Adam Hann-Byrd.

The Ice Storm takes a very deliberate approach to its story; it’s a character drama at its heart, and Ang Lee takes his time progressing through the story. The first half of the film focuses on the few days before Thanksgiving, and follows two major stories: Kevin Kline’s affair with Sigourney Weaver, Christina Ricci’s relationship with Adam Hann-Byrd and his younger brother Elijah Wood.

Kline’s affair is a fairly simple story; he and Joan Allen are married, and he’s seeking sexual satisfaction with his neighbor Henry Czerny’s wife, Sigourney Weaver. Lee shows us that this simple arrangement isn’t quite what we might predict however, when Kline begins babbling to Weaver about his problems at work.

It would seem he’s seeking emotional fulfillment more than sexual fulfillment, and Weaver refuses to reciprocate his outpouring of emotions, telling him that if she wanted to hear about his problems, she’d just go speak to her husband. Later on, she abandons him, leaving him in his boxers with free reign over his house, sending the message that she’s not even interested in him sexually any longer.

The relationship between Christina Ricci and Adam Hann-Byrd is a complex one as well. They’re both fourteen year olds, going through the beginnings of puberty, and they’ve begun to experiment sexually, keeping this hidden from their parents. Ricci’s character is particularly sexual, and steps out of the bounds of their relationship to show herself off to Elijah Wood, Hann-Byrd’s younger brother.

Wood’s character, though tangentially interested in sex, is actually repulsed by Ricci’s exhibitionism, and responds appropriately, calling for help and getting his mother, Weaver, to kick Ricci out. When Hann-Byrd discovers this, he’s slightly dismayed, but as soon as Ricci exhibits sexual interest in him again, he forgets his concerns, and the two of them begin to experiment in his parents’ basement.

The second half of the film focuses on Thanksgiving night, which follows Kline and his wife Joan Allen as they attend a cocktail party, Ricci as she sneaks off to spend the night with Wood. At this point in the film, the stories begin to parallel one another, with each exploring themes of sexuality and personal connection in different but similar ways.

At this point in the film, Joan Allen has discovered that Kline is having an affair with Weaver, and their relationship has taken a significant toll as a result. This toll is intensified when they arrive to the cocktail party to discover that it is a “key party,” or a party wherein the men leave their keys in a bowl for the women to select from at random to determine who they will be going home with. Allen and Kline quickly get into an argument about this, with Allen eventually deciding to let Klein do whatever he wants, and throwing his keys into the bowl for him.

At the end of the night, when the women all select the keys, Allen chooses near the end after her husband has passed out drunk, and decides to go home with Czerny. They attempt to have sex, but Czerny is deterred, lacking the confidence to move forward, despite the fact that Weaver left early on with another man. Where Allen is ready to surrender to her physicality, Czerny refuses, letting his need for honest emotional connection supersede his desire for sex.

While her parents are away at the cocktail party, Ricci sneaks off to meet Elijah Wood at his house, and upon arrival discovers that his brother has left to go to an abandoned swimming pool in the forest. She and Wood decide to go up to his bedroom and lie in his bed together naked, but once they’ve stripped down, they don’t engage sexually. Instead, they talk, and lie in bed together, reveling in an honest emotional connection. It’s a very sweet and innocent moment, and it reveals that Ricci’s hypersexuality is a tool she uses; it scared off Wood, but not Hann-Byrd, and through this, she was able to determine that Wood was genuinely interested in her.

The parallels between these storylines are most clear when examining the way sex is used as a tool by these characters. Weaver most clearly uses sex as a tool, and she does so for no other reason than her own sexual pleasure, rejecting the intimacy of sex altogether. Ricci uses sex as a tool to test people, but she also uses it as a way to gain acceptance.

When she finds someone who isn’t interested in her for sex alone however, she recognizes her need for intimacy, and embraces a moment of non-sexuality. Finally, Allen, at the end of the film, attempts to use sex as a tool of revenge, wanting to sleep with Czerny only to upset her husband. But Czerny ultimately isn’t interested, desiring only the intimacy that comes alongside sex, and wanting to keep that intimacy between him and his wife.

Finally, Kline himself uses sex as a tool to gain intimacy; he sleeps with Weaver in order to try and have an emotional connection with her, and he spirals out of control when he doesn’t get that connection from her, ending up making a fool of himself at the cocktail party when Weaver leaves with someone other than him.

Ang Lee’s exploration of intimacy in this film is brilliant and subtle, showing the many ways people use sex to gain intimacy. The only real “complaint” I have about this film is that its setting around Thanksgiving is mostly incidental; this story could have happened at any point in the year, and its themes don’t line up with the themes of family and appreciation that are inherent to Thanksgiving. Still, ‘The Ice Storm’ is an excellent film, and you likely won’t find a more interesting film to watch this Thanksgiving (assuming you also require it be set around Thanksgiving).

[stargirl230]

thanks for the light

I was just trying to figure out how procreate works but then the op brainworms got to me and 35 hours later here we are! can you tell I miss home-cooked meals :')

(no reposts; reblogs appreciated)

[cerise-on-top]

Alright, I just had another sweet idea that I wanted to post about:

Johnny knows Scottish Gaelic. Sometimes, he looks for an excuse to speak it, even if that excuse is just trying to annoy you since you can't understand him. He's very proud of his heritage. However! You can ask him to sing for you! His voice is kind of rough, and it cracks here and there, but he will sing to you if you ask him to. He actually loves singing you some cheesy love songs in Scottish Gaelic. Will gently hold you while singing and look at you with as much love as he can muster, always finishing off his songs with a kiss to the top of your head. It doesn't matter if you're taller or shorter than him, a kiss is the law. If you tell him that you love it when he sings to you, he'll actually do it more often! If you need some comfort, then he'll hold you close and just sing to you. It may not seem like much since he really doesn't have a very nice singing voice, but to someone, who's never been sang a lullaby before, it's the thought that counts. Johnny hopes he can make you feel at ease, if just a little bit. He wants to shield you from this cruel and unyielding world, and if him singing you a small lullaby in Scottish Gaelic can help with that, then he's more than willing to learn the sweetest songs out there!

[essektheylyss]

You know what's hilarious, if Ludinus was indeed a young man being traumatized by the end of the Calamity. Deirta Thelyss is almost certainly older than he is.

This is not relevant but I think Essek should bring this up, just to be a bitch about it.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

First and Last appearances of Poorly-Drawn-MDZS Season 1!

[dorothygale]

i made some more banners bc i love the funny ones but i thought it would be nice to have more simple options as well. so of course they're eras themed

[peasant-player]

Elrond with dramborleg

"His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars."

This drawing was for @armenelols and @polutrope post about elrond using a family heirloom "dramborleg".

Oh boy I had so much fun.

My main thought while painting this was " what would be different about elrond?"

And the answer is alot but a the same time nothing.

Elrond is in a way a sad character he kind of lost everything and the only constance in his life is the heralded past of his ancestors/family and friends.

He almost can't remember his parents but he can read about them even maglor is ,despite being a kindslayer, described as strong imposing and a mighty warrior.

His own brother,who chooses mortality,is a revered king!

This elrond that I depicted here is not the lord of Riverdale. Not married yet.

This is a elrond who will stand between evil and his folk.

Just like his ancestors did.

He is holding a legacy of strong unrelenting men who did change the tides of war who done the impossible no one else did before them!.

This is also elrond who found out that his brothers legacy Numenor is at the bottom of the sea - because of sauron.

This is a elrond who becomes a lord for many different kind of elves because he is a different kind of elve.

[hood-ex]

Me when I start to write a negative post but then remember I'm supposed to be more conscious of my words, thoughts, and actions so that I can maintain a positive and loving disposition:

The New Teen Titans (Vol. 2) #32

[becca-e-barnes]

Ok but what about submissive!dbf!bucky with a praise kink? Maybe one found accidentally? In the drabble where the reader wanted to say he was beautiful, what if she does and he just moans?? What if the word the reader is looking for is pretty? Imagine calling an older man pretty and he nearly finishes just from that?

Back to my current favourite, submissive!dbf!bucky bc I can't get enough of him rn, I have so much I want to talk about

Because ohhhh, I love the thought of him being so totally obsessed with going down on you, to the point that he'd almost do anything just for a taste of you.

And maybe he'd seen you in a pretty little dress at a get-together at your house. Maybe a birthday party or something. You had both been keeping up appearances, pretending nothing is going on between you because he's your father's best friend but he'd taken the risk and approached you, leaning over and whispering in your ear. "Next time I get you alone, I'm going to lick from your ankle to your cunt." That's all he says, his hand rests on your lower back and you barely feel the heat of it through your dress before it's gone again. God, you hope that's a promise.

Of course it is. As soon as he gets a chance to sneak away from everyone else the two of you are tiptoeing up the stairs to your bedroom. After a fierce few minutes of intensely making out, he's laid you gently onto the bed, pushing the skirt of your dress out of the way. He doesn't waste a second, his lips on the inside of your ankle, humming contently as he kisses his way up the expanse of bare skin.

For a man who's kissed every inch of your body, he never seems to get tired of it. His slight scruff scratches your skin and it's lovely to be reminded of how intensely he's worshipping your body.

"You look. So. Fucking. Breathtaking." The words are muffled against your skin, his lips trailing hungry kisses up to your knee. One of his hands holds your leg, keeping you still while the other slips higher under your skirt.

You brace yourself for the groan you know he's going to grace you with and when it comes, it doesn't disappoint. The fingertips of his index and pointer finger trail lazily across your bare sex, gliding easily thanks to the evidence of your arousal.

"No panties?" His fingers keep teasing you, trailing from your fluttering entrance to your clit and back again, giving himself time to decide where he wants to start.

"I took them off after you told me your plan and so far you've let me down." If this were any other night, he'd probably tell you to watch your mouth before he fills it but tonight is not that night. Tonight he's desperate to taste you; to walk back down those stairs, look you in the eyes for the rest of the evening, knowing he made you cum against his mouth and no one else in the room can tell. Then jerk off to the memory tonight when he's back in his own bed.

He wastes no more time after that, flattening his tongue against your ankle and purposefully trailing it up your leg to your knee, then on up your thigh. At the same time, he eases his two fingers inside you, curling them against the soft, velvety wall of your cunt.

You hold the skirt of your dress out of the way so you can see him latch his mouth onto your clit, sucking gently and flicking his tongue while he curls his fingers inside you.

This is fucking magical. You know his mouth is flooded with the taste of you, your fingers tangled in his hair to keep his mouth pressed against you. "Fuck, that's perfect." It's the only way to describe the sensation of his mouth and fingers working you in tandem.

He's lost in it. His eyes are closed in concentration, determined to give you what you need. He needs to please you and it's not a need you've instilled in him. It's one he's always had.

"You're so pretty, do you know that?" It's bouncing around in your head and you feel like you need to say it.

He groans against your sex and you don't think anything of it until he mumbles "Please don't call me that. Not right now." His fingers work you faster but your hazy, pleasure addled brain still manages to ask him why.

" 'Cause sweetheart, I don't want to cum in these trousers. I don't have a change of clothes. Didn't even know I was into that." He sounds smaller, almost pleading with you, palming his cock through his dark jeans.

"But you're gorgeous, Buck. You have no idea how pretty you are with your head between my legs." The moan he emits is so rewarding you swear you could get off on that alone, never mind his renewed need to make you finish quickly before you get him to a point of desperation.

[kirby-the-gorb]

[positivelyapunovexponent-good]

Once I come up with a killer band name all I'll need to do is actually learn how to sing or play an instrument!

(Honestly this thought exercise is actually a really fun coping mechanism for rejection of any sort I highly recommend it)

[sherlock-is-ace]

Bill Masters as a character generates four distinct reactions within me:

Jesus Christ, he's a piece of shit I want him murdered.

Omg nooo, you poor babie ily, come here

Pathetic wet cardboard of a man

Damn he's so gorgeous

And i think they're all very correct

[a-bird-dreams-of-wings-feathers]

As a sophont in need of fics i can relate extra hard to i need more pov characters that get wings and feathers. I need a scene where an affini preens their pet's wings. I need to know how walks for flight capable sophonts work. If a bidepal winged sophont wore a collar would it be on their neck or their ankle like they tag birds? If I had the capacity to sit and write them myself I would oh stars I would

[valyrfia]

exactly if I wanted best friends I would be into piarles which is probably the charles ship i'm least interested in even tho pierre is very obviously the driver charles is closest to in real life

I'm simply not compelled by Piarles, but I've never been compelled by friends to lovers type ships because that's not what I enjoy. I think Piarles makes for an excellent friends to lovers, as does Maxiel but considering my taste in ships outside of F1 is all Rhaenicent, Drarry, Stevetony–Lestappen was going to be a no brainer for me. If I thought their dynamic was just 'best friends', I wouldn't enjoy it. Simple as.

[the-final-sif]

"Structural criticism poses that we are the way we are because of complicated forces, some intentional and many not, that have compounded and morphed over generations. There’s no plan, no template, and no goal. The world won’t just magically morph into a better place as a function of its existence: we are responsible for confronting the past, fixing the present, and shaping the future. QAnon, and not just QAnon, many people, many many people, want to believe that things are the way they are because someone has deliberately crafted it to be that way, that there is a natural order to the world, and we need to just trust the plan. Climate scientists, trans and queer activists, women’s rights, reproductive autonomy, racial justice, protests against police brutality, protests against generational wealth inequality, and protests against the increasing transfer of the public good into the hands of corporations for privatization and exploitation, all of them interlocking, systemic issues. These are, inarguably, disruptions of the status quo, confrontations of deep-rooted complexities that intersect the lives and futures of billions of people. And it is that disruption, not the underlying injustices, not the underlying conflicts, that make QAnon anxious, that make QAnon feel like the world has gotten too complex. They don’t want those complexities to exist, and by talking about them you make them exist. It’s a form of magical thought. Talking about police brutality wills police brutality into existence. A disruption of the status quo is seen as a disruption of the natural order. The problem they see is that no one has made those people shut up. That is what they want: someone to come in and make those people shut up and go away, to put things back “where they belong”.

From Dan Olson's/Folding Idea's "In Search Of A Flat Earth'' which has been on my mind a lot lately.

[yayforocs]

I Have Once Again Been Consumed By A Fic (Redstone and Skulk by @silverskye13