#tristan bates

[stairset]

Dustin Bates is truly the greatest singer cause he's the only one where you can have a collection of pictures consisting of Guy Who Kinda Looks Like Edward From Twilight, Guy Dressed Like Jack Skellington, Guy Who Looks Like A Hot College Professor, Guy Who Looks Like He Lives In A Post-Apocalyptic Desert Wasteland, and Guy In Space Armor That Looks Like It's From Star Wars Or Halo Or Something and it's all just the same dude at various points in his music career over the last 13 years or so

[lcnelyghost]

christmas at the cortez//ahs hotel ☆

pairings; small mentions of liz taylor x tristan duffy

rating; pg!

warnings; slight harsh language, dark humour, gore

“Alright, everything’s almost done here. What do you think?” Liz asked Miss Evers, smiling brightly. The Cortez was now fully styled with the most beautiful Christmas decor. Now normally, the ghosts weren’t too fussed on doing anything for the most festive season of them all, as they say. But this year, everyone had different ideas for Christmas time.

“It’s wonderful! Just wonderful!” Miss Evers practically squealed. Her eyes sparkled when she watched Liz turn the lights on. Not a single spot in the hotel was missing decorations.

“Gotta say, you guys sure as hell have outdone yourselves with all this.” Sally said, now sitting at the bar lighting a cigarette.

Liz poured some beverages for the three after she’d finished adding some last touches around the bar. Iris soon walked in with yet another tray of her homemade baked goods.

“Christ Iris I don’t think we’re all that bad..” Liz laughed, taking a glance at the amount of food set out.

“Trust me, the men in here eat like horses. You’re Tristan is one of ‘em.” Iris chuckled.

Miss Evers looked at everything with pure amazement. She’d never seen such a glorious sight for a very, very long time. From what she remembered, no one back in her day put this much effort in. It was a lovely change of scenery.

“Oh.. didn’t you not bake mini slices of the lemon, custard cake?” Miss Evers questioned Iris. Liz barely stopped herself from letting out a giggle. Of course the lemon custard cake slices had vanished. Tristan’s ultimate favourite, might I add.

Iris let out a loud gasp when she realised they’d disappeared. “THOSE LITTLE SHITS!!!” she yelled, storming back downstairs. Earning a slight snigger from Sally. Liz and Miss Evers both looked at each other and cringed. Iris’s obvious assumption had been Holden and the rest of the blood infected children who were current residents in the Cortez.

“I’m surprised the Countess hasn’t given those kids an ass whooping yet,” Sally scoffed.

“Speaking of the Countess..” Liz said, sipping her martini. They all watched the Countess strut down in her heels to the ground floor, with what they assumed was her new ‘boy toy.’

Her outfit was full of the colour red and they had to admit, the dress was dazzling.

“Heading out to get laid.. again.” Sally’s eyes followed her until she was right out the doors. Liz just shrugged her shoulders and began fiddling with her rings.

Will suddenly approached them all with the biggest grin on his face. He’d dug out one of his sharpest suits for tonight. He was a man who greatly enjoyed Christmas time. Though, his smile fell when he looked around to see barely anyone here.

“Where the hell is everyone?” He shrieked. They’d demanded he came to the annual Christmas Eve party down at the bar, so he wondered why no one else had shown up and if it would just be him.

“Most probably getting ready. The place will be full of the majority of us soon.” Liz stated.

“Everyone but the Countess.” Miss Evers added in, Will just rolled his eyes and snuck behind the bar for a drink.

Soon enough, Tristan, Alex, and a few other ghosts had decided to show their faces. Iris also returned and had baked some more treats.

“Uh, where’s March?” Tristan blurted out, chewing on a mouthful of food. Miss Evers had to cringe at that name. A name that was once music to her ears. Now, it was a distant memory.

“Well I suppose it wouldn’t be a proper party in the Cortez without her dearest creator!” James smiled smugly as he appeared out of thin air. He signalled for Liz to fish out the absinthe.

“Oo, bring out the tequila shots whilst you’re at it!” Will beamed with excitement, winking at Sally who was now grinning wickedly. James sat down as he slowly tapped his foot to the beat of ‘Rocking Around the Christmas Tree’ which was currently playing in the background. He hated modern music, but surprisingly, the modern Christmas songs that had been made weren’t too bad for his liking.

Miss Evers shifted uncomfortably in her chair, feeling less confident now that Mr March was here. She hated the times where he’d stare intensely at her, forcing her to look right back into his dark, daring eyes. After everything he’d done, he still had the nerve to try and intimidate her.

Tristan watched closely as Will went through multiple tequila shots, immediately darting his eyes elsewhere when Will caught him looking.

“I’ll give you ten bucks if you drink five in a row.” Will challenged him.

“I’m dead, what the fuck would I spend it on. And no, because i’m saving more room for food..”

“Of course you are!” Will giggled, slurring his words. He was clearly pissed already. It didn’t take too long for him to get wasted when it came to unlimited drinking.

James stared at him blankly, wondering why the man was already so drunk.

The speakers had just changed the music over and Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas’ had began to play. Will gasped loudly and jumped out of his seat.

“Will.. please don’t..” Liz begged, knowing EXACTLY what was coming next.

“I.. DON’T WANT A LOT FOR CHRISTMAS..”

“Oh for fucks sake..” Iris muffled whilst covering her face with her hands.

“THEEEEREE IS JUST ONE THING I NEEEED!!!”

Mr March and Sally shared the same confused look, guzzling down their drinks as they stared at the ex fashion designer in shock.

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE PRESENTS..” Will climbed up onto the bar, kicking over James’ drink which spilled all over the now raging ghost.

Liz’s hand flew to her mouth as she saw the look on Mr March’s face as he slowly stared up at Will.

“UNDERNEATH THE CHRISTMAS TREEEEEEE..”

“Dude, for the love of god fucking stop..” Tristan winced as Will kept getting louder and louder, now stomping his feet on top of the bar.

“I JUST WANT YOU FOR MY OWN..” He sang cheerfully, pointing multiple fingers all around the room for no reason whatsoever.

Miss Evers watched as James struggled to clean his suit with a handkerchief. She was slightly tempted to help her former boss, but stopped herself and just began to laugh at the helpless ghost.

“MOOOOORE THAN YOU COULD EVER KNOW!”

Tristan stuck his fingers in his ears and groaned miserably. Sally giggled maniacally and pulled out her phone, quickly pressing the record button.

“MAKE MY WISH COME TRUUUUUUEEEEOOOOOOEEEEOOO…”

The other ghosts looked at Will with disgust, sighing at his horribly high pitched notes.

“ALL I WANT… FOR CHRISTTMAAAAAAASSSS.. IIIIIISSSSS…”

They all stared in horror as Will’s feet were dangling off the edge of the bar. He was waving his arms around in the air as he just managed to get through half of the last words to the intro of the song.

CRASH!

And with that, the drunkenly current hotel owner fell straight to the floor, multiple glasses flying off the shelves on the wall as he bounced right off the lot of them.

Tristan and Sally burst into a fit of roaring laughter when they realised it had all been recorded.

Liz and Iris rushed to help him, James just scowled sourly and instructed Liz to make him another drink. He scowled even further when all the worried barmaid did was help pick up Will from the floor.

They managed to get Will sat down, surprised he hadn’t knocked himself out. Iris went to go fetch some ice for his now bruised eye whilst Tristan and Sally were still sat sniggering.

It was even closer to midnight now. The ghosts knew that they’d countdown til the very last second of the twenty fourth of December. Happily wishing each other a very Merry Christmas with some fresh drinks. Perhaps even James’ absinthe..

The Countess had returned from her little Christmas night out.. alone. She headed straight to the bar in desperation of provoking the spirits in the Cortez.

“Oh.. you’re back,” Liz smiled sarcastically. James fumbled for his handkerchief once again to cover the stain on his suit. Which unfortunately for him, was right at his crotch. Slightly indicating he’d pissed himself.

“Darling!” Mr March spoke out nervously. The Countess only looked in his direction before frowning and looking away again.

“Where’s you’re, uh.. plaything.” Tristan spat, looking her up and down with disgust. She only smirked and that gave him his answer.

She noticed the missing glass bottles, wondering if they’d been used or had smashed. Perhaps Will’s black eye would explain it..

The room was silent. Everyone just slowly drank whatever glasses of alcohol they had, not making much eye contact with one another.

“Not even a simple ‘hello’ for you’re finest Christmas entertainment?” The Countess tutted teasingly.

Tristan and Iris were the only ones to look up, giving her a harsh, cold glare.

The ghosts hadn’t noticed just yet, but a guest had waltzed in through the front doors, noticing all the people that were hanging around in the bar. No one was at the front desk, so the poor woman had no choice but to go up to the bar and ask if anyone had seen any of the staff.

“Hello..” the woman called out, catching everyone’s attention the minute her voice echoed throughout the Cortez.

“Hi..” Liz replied back, offering the young lady a drink.

“Do any of you work here at all? I know it’s Christmas tomorrow and some places aren’t open.. but I was wondering if you guys had anything at all for the night?” Everyone looked at one another, grinning and putting their attention back on the soon to be, deceased female.

“Oh honey, we’ve got plenty of room for you. Are you sure it’s just the one night?” Liz grinned, staring at Tristan who began to giggle softly.

“Yeah, just one night if that’s alright..”

“You know, you can always become a permanent resident, perhaps it would be much more fitting..” The Countess smiled, licking her lips.

The woman furrowed her brows in confusion, growing quite uncomfortable.

“No, no.. I don’t really want to stay for longer than just a night..” the girl fired back. James sat up and walked towards the young woman, his shoes lightly tapped on the marble flooring.

“Well my dear, it seems you don’t have a choice..”

Everyone launched themselves at the girl, brutally stabbing and beating her with anything they could find. Will still sat on his chair, his head slowly spinning in small circles as he began to feel dizzy.

Just then, the timer went off for midnight. All the ghosts stared down at the corpse of the Cortez’s newest resident. Smiling at each other with crimson blood trickling down their clothes and soft skin.

“Merry Christmas!!!” They all cheered.

They turned around to the loud creek of Will’s chair, and seeing him ready to pass out.

“And a very.. very.. happy fucking new year.” He said, his eyes rolling back in his head as he fainted and landed harshly onto the cold flooring.

[user9898657876655667]

WE HAUNT THESE HALLS, BITCH - tristan duffy x liz taylor (angst)

CW: mentions of transphobia, homophobia, transphobic slurs, hate crime, violence, smut references, blood

SUMMARY: when liz is targeted by the being of a young transphobic man, a few of the other ghosts step in to make sure he does not walk away free and unharmed.

“Any plans for when the next show will be?” Liz asked Will. He’d hosted so many fashion shows within the past few months and atleast every single one had been successful, even Tristan was considering working for him again.

Will sighed. “Eh, maybe a month from now. I think I just keep getting lazier and lazier when planning them..”

Liz chuckled softly. Most of the hotel’s residents had taken part in modelling for the shows. And those who attended just LOVED them. Both Liz and Will could tell Sally had been enjoying it greatly. The audience adored her and her style. Every single show had her face lit up when she spotted a few familiar faces in the crowd from her social media platforms.

Will guzzled down the last of his drink, proceeding to pout at Liz. “Just one more?”

“Christ you’ve had seven already..” Liz scoffed. “How are you not out cold by now?”

Will grinned, quickly taking a sip of the refill Liz had just previously handed to him. “If you know me, you’ll know that seven glasses is barely enough to get me intoxicated.”

“Fair enough.”

The two of them were met face to face with a young man in a leather jacket, he flashed Will a warm smile but the second he saw Liz the man scowled sourly.

“Hello,” Liz said, ignoring the look he had just given her. “What can I get you?”

The young man looked her up and down skeptically. “Um, just a quick glass of whiskey.. I guess..”

“On it!” Liz beamed.

The man snorted before hopping onto the stool beside Will. “Hey, ain’t you that fashion guy or whatever?”

Will began to giggle. “Yeah, I am actually.”

“Knew it.” He laughed. “My girlfriend fucking loves your work.”

“Aw, that’s great. You know we actually host a lot of the fashion shows here. Well, the ones I attend that is. You guys should stop by one time.”

The young man thought for a moment, looking towards to Liz and then back at Will again.

“Yeah, we might pass on that..”

Will took another sip of his drink. “Oh, don’t worry, I get it. It’s really expensive to get a seat. It’s not even me that controls the prices, it’s my new manager.”

He winked at Liz who had now came back over with the man’s whiskey. “Well, I did tell you! Will here makes the most divine clothing for young men and women. Those who manage to get in for one of his shows should expect it to be pricey.” Liz smirked.

Whilst Will was flattered by another one of Liz’s heartfelt comments, the young man didn’t look so satisfied.

“You know, people just want to get the chance to come by and meet their ‘idol’ as some would call it. But they can’t do that because of shitty managers like you who bump up the prices.”

“Oh no I didn’t mean it in a bad way or anything-” Liz stated.

“Yeah, Liz is just trying to be a little precautious. We’ve had a few people sneak into the hotel occasionally, so it costs more seeing as we had to pay security guards to drop in on show nights.” Will said, trying to calm the guy down a bit.

“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes.

“Hey, if you’re girlfriend is really interested, I can give you one of these little discount cards I carry in my pocket. That’s if she wants to use them to buy our clothing online. I usually give them out to fans whenever I can. Or.. I can give you an autograph?”

The man burst into a fit of roaring laughter. “No need to toot your own horn man. I said she was a fan of your work, not you in general..”

“Right, sorry..” Will smiled awkwardly, putting his head down.

Liz was getting a little pissed off now. This jackass had been giving the two of them nothing but odd looks and extremely impolite comments.

“Okay..” She began. “I don’t know what’s going through your mind right now, but all I can ask you is this. Are you alright? Because i’ll tell you something honey… i’m not loving this attitude.”

The man slammed down his glass on the bar, making Will slightly flinch. “Yeah.. yeah there is actually. Of all places I chose, I decided to come to fucking Los Angeles, where I actually thought it would be good. And now i’m stuck in this shitty hotel, getting served by a goddamn man in a dress with makeup smeared on his ugly fucking face!”

Will slowly turned his head around to face this asshole yet again. He was appalled. Truly, appalled. It was bad enough going off to Liz about her appearance. But misgendering her? That’s… well that’s just fucking rude!

“His face?” Liz spat through gritted teeth.

The man leaned forward. “Oh, you heard me alright.”

“I’m a woman.” Liz shook with anger.

The man’s horrendous fit of the giggles continued on. Will just sat in horror, still trying to process what had been said.

“You’re in the wrong profession. You should be a comedian! You sure as hell know how to make a guy laugh, though you certainly can’t satisfy his needs..”

“Excuse me?”

“What? You tryna say you have a boyfriend?? Listen man, us men, aka yourself, want a real woman who knows how to please us. Not some freak who likes to play fancy dress up because it’s supposedly fun to you weirdos nowadays.”

Liz paused for a second, confused on why she felt this way. Usually, if someone were to treat her this bad, she wouldn’t hesitate to take a blade to their throat or ignore them, knowing that she was far more better and mature. She was used to pricks like him bashing her constantly. So why did this time feel.. different? After hearing his words, she hurt. Badly. When Liz had finally changed, she felt free. Happier. And all her confidence had came straight back to her. Surely she wasn’t starting to grow insecure again, right?

Will angrily stood up from his bar stool. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

The man stared at him from below, and jumped back as Will took a bottle of champagne, smashing it against the bar.

Liz was still froze, taking a few seconds to be in her own head, the shittiest thoughts popping in and out of her mind.

Tristan had just waltzed in on the situation, confused on why Will was ready to slash the guy in front of him.

He quickly ran over, removing the bit of broken glass from Will’s grip. Tristan knew that Liz, Mr March, and Iris were adamant that all killings should now be stopped.

“Woah!” Tristan said wearily, looking between Will and the young man in the leather jacket. “The hell is going on here?”

He glanced at Liz, noticing how zoned out she was. Even from a distance, he could see how her eyes were tinted with a watery lining, obvious tears threatening to fall.

“You know how PATHETIC you are?? Judging a woman for being a woman? This makes me wonder, what kind of cruel shit do you say to your girlfriend behind closed doors..” Will sneered.

“Oh please! That,” The man snapped back, pointing at Liz. “Ain’t a woman.”

Will watched as Tristan’s piercing blue eyes sparkled with anger. His sudden flare to go along with his mood was extremely threatening, and this idiot had noticed that. Yet, he was still running his mouth.

“You think putting on lipstick and some sparkly dress makes you a woman? Well i’ll tell you something Cleopatra.. nobody wants that!”

“We don’t need your shitty advice. I can tell you’re some lost little Christian boy.” A voice said from behind, both Will and Tristan immediately turned their heads, noticing Sally’s presence.

“Oh dear fucking god, what is with this place? Junkies, gays, tra-”

Sally threw herself forwards, pinning the young man down whilst caressing his cheek with an incredibly sharp dagger. “I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I was you, asshole.”

The man breathed heavily, surprised at Sally’s unexpected movement.. but he wasn’t scared just yet.

“Yeah? And who the fuck are you? In fact, who the fuck are all of you?” He questioned.

Liz snapped out of her thoughts, walking out from behind the bar. Her heels tapped against the glass, marble flooring. She’d had enough of this guy. She’d had enough with all guys like this!

She came closer to them all, passing Tristan and slowly moving her hand across his shoulder, making the ex model purr.

The man stared on in disgust, a little shocked that someone like Tristan had decided to pair himself with a so called ‘riot’ like Liz.

She kneeled down in front of what was most likely going to be Sally’s next victim, looking up at the young man through her now wrathful soul.

It took everything in Tristan’s power not to charge at this sad fuck like a raging bull. He’d never asked Liz if experiences similar to these had happened in the past, because quite frankly, he already knew the answer.

“We.. are the ones who haunt these halls, bitch.” Liz smirked wickedly. The man gave her a confused look, trying his best to escape from Sally’s grasp. He wanted nothing more than to leave this hellhole already.

“And for the record,” Sally began. “We are more than welcome to fuck who we want, blow who we want, and gut who we want. You finally got that?”

“Fine, just let me go now..” He said bitterly.

Tristan was right beside him in no time, roughly placing a hand on the man’s shoulder. He was incredibly tempted to rip his throat out for the shit he had caused tonight. “Whatever you say,” He grinned evilly.

Both Tristan and Sally ripped the man from his seat, grabbing him by the neck and marching down to the ground floor. The man cried out in agony as they dragged him along the carpet, multiple burns beginning to appear on his skin from how rough the material was. Tristan finally flung the bastard out of the hotel with incredible force.

The ghosts knew the couldn’t get beyond that point, but a sudden familiar face stopped them from returning back inside so quickly.

“Ah, fuck! Miss, miss.. call the goddamn cops! These fuckers are crazy!” The man yelled, a beautiful black woman stood above him, staring down hungrily.

“Aw baby..” She tutted. “There’s no need for that.”

“Fuck this..” He said, crawling forwards as he moved further away from the hotel. The man screamed as the woman placed her foot on his back, her heels sharply digging into his spine.

Liz appeared from behind Sally and Tristan, ushering them to return to the bar. “Come on, let Ramona handle this.”

“You bet on it, sweets.” Ramona winked.

Both Tristan and Sally cackled, heading back up to the bar. Liz gave Ramona a thankful smile before following the other ghosts inside.

“Now you, Momma’s gonna make you beg.”

She quickly tucked in and laughed as the man’s blood sprayed all over her precious body.

“You’re a messy one alright..”

***

Tristan lit himself a cigarette as Liz was in the bathroom, getting ready for bed.

He watched as she approached him, getting under the covers and reaching over to switch the bedside lamp off.

“Liz?” Tristan said softly.

“Mm?”

He sighed, putting out his cigarette on the ashtray nearby and pulling Liz closer. She practically melted into his touch, placing her head on his warm, naked chest.

“I know I wasn’t there that long for half of the shit that went down tonight, but.. I gotta ask. You’re alright aren’t you?”

She giggled a bit before also sighing herself. “Yeah.. yeah I suppose so.”

“It’s just,” Tristan bit his lip. “Before Sally did what she did.. I just.. you know.. well..”

Liz looked up at him, raising a brow.

“Well I.. I just.. I don’t ever think i’ve seen you that emotionless yet still distraught before.”

Liz sat up, turning away from her lover for a moment.

“It wasn’t him. Well, what he said was shitty. I know. But, it’s the whole ‘not being a proper woman’ thing. It’s the fact that asshole made it out as though I wasn’t woman enough for any kind of man. Including you..”

Tristan placed a finger below her chin, slowly pulling it up a tad bit higher. She was forced to look into those eyes, those beautiful ocean eyes.

“You, Liz Taylor.. are a woman enough for every fucking man in the world. I’m damn lucky to have you. That guy knows jack shit. When I met you, you made me feel comfortable. You didn’t eye my body hungrily like the Countess did. And I finally felt as though I wasn’t some sex toy waiting to be played with. I felt loved. And that was all thanks to you, sweetheart. You’re the first woman I truly fell in love with, and you’ll be the last for that matter.”

Liz closed her eyes as very few tears slowly began to fall. Tristan was a godsend. An angel from heaven, sent to be her forever saviour.

He pulled her in for a kiss, his hands smoothly moving up and down her body. He soon sunk deeper into the bed, drifting off to sleep with Liz still wrapped tightly in his arms.

She smiled as she listened in to his small, gentle snores. She’d been waiting a long time for him, and finally, he was here. Hers.

“My boy… forever.”

[flowur-the-weirdo]

Pose Pack #20: Iconic Horror Poses Pt 1

It all started with a request from https://www.instagram.com/gbfrenchchic for the Bates Hotel pose and that pose just inspired me.  I have a lot more poses coming in this series, but I didn't want to make the packs too large. I do get a bit carried away in that respect. Anyway enjoy! 

Download SFS and Curseforge for free (as always) here  

(As always there may be some clipping. Should be able to be used with both male and female sims.)

You will need Andrew's Pose Player or WW Poses and either the Sim Transporter or MC Command Center.

TOU: Please don't alter, claim as your own or redistribute.

@ts4-poses

💗🌸👽🌸💗

I hope you enjoy! Feel free to tag @flowurtheweirdo (Twitter, FB and IG) or @flowur-the-weirdo (Tumblr) I’d love to see what how you use them.

Check out my Instagram stories:

🧬Thirteen🧬 , 🗝️The Secrets of Ravenwing Manor️🗝️ 

🃏The Mystery of Sorrowbrook🃏 📸Tristan Hendrix RP/Storytelling📸 and ❄️Frost de la Strange❄️

🌼Don't forget to check out my 🎮Sims 4/Gaming🎮 YouTube channel and my 🧩Jigsaw Puzzle🧩 YouTube channel!🌼

[ninjastormhawkkat]

Matthew wasn't sure if he should be so surprised by how resilient his son was. Hugh though wasn't looking very pleased. His expression was one of absolute exhaustion and worry. Gene of course picked up on this, honestly feeling slightly guilty over putting the alien through so much stress in such a short time. Matthew had shared that same worry over the mad scientist, knowing just how little time his son had to recover. Yet he couldn't say no. What would've that done? Make Gene all the more stubborn and make him do something just as rash as he did? No. He knew better than to do so. “As long as you don't overdo it. Of course. I don't think your friend could take much more of our recklessness.” Gene gave him an apologetic expression as he knew what his father said was true. “I know. I'm sorry Hugh. You know I have to do this. I'm not going to just stay in bed while all this goes down. I'll stay in bed rest after this all you want. I promise.” Hugh sighed, crossing his arms. “You wouldn't listen to me anyway. Don't you get yourself hurt during this or I swear I will strap you down and leave you like that while you heal up.” Gene couldn't help but let out a little laugh at that. He knew that the alien would absolutely do that. His eyes went back to the silver falcon in his hand. The mad scientist was still slightly worn out but he's never felt so revitalized like this. Given life anew in a strange way. It didn't take long for the mad scientist to get himself dressed. Alex and Tristan had wanted to intervene and keep him from joining but they knew that would've encouraged him more as well. Though that couldn't stop either of them from helping Gene. He gave them both a look that showed he wasn't going to let them coddle him. He's never let them do so before. Even when he wore himself down to the bone when Becky went missing. That thought had made him stop and looked around for her. Having lost track of the girl during his identity crisis. No one else seemed to have noticed until they heard a whoosh and saw Becky nearly tackled her father over. She hugged onto him, holding something with one hand. “Hey, kiddo. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you again. I'll be fine, I promise. Confused but fine.” Becky looked up at him, still not quite believing him. She quickly then placed another item within his hand. It was the goop ray he had left behind during the chaos. She had gone back to find it to give it back to Gene. He stared down at it. “Aw, thank you for getting this for me.” In another city, they were unaware that there was another gathering. The mayor of Newport had just finished giving the heroes the go ahead to storm the B.E.A.W Labs near their city. They were met with a riled up crowd filled with villains, civilians and other heroes alike. They didn't appreciate that these people were messing with their heroes as well. Ones they've grown to love over the years. They were just as inspired by Maddrixs broadcast. Sure they were a bit more on the bloodthirsty side but they were nowhere near the level of Darius. He had angered them so much they've put aside their differences temporarily. Having a bigger goal to accomplish first before resuming the status quo. It was unsettling just how quiet they went when they had seen the heroes step out. Waiting with bated breath for them to give them instructions on exactly where to go. Hydro had been surprised to see an old friend among the crowd. J.J. the villainous jester. There were a few others they've recognized. The circus themed villains that loved to team up with the jester. A certain doll who was once part of the villain roster of Fair City. They were going to bring every single one of them to the facility. To wait for Maddrix the malicious to take lead and destroy the hellish place. Taking down all those who willingly worked within there. Experimenting on innocent lives. They weren't going to stand for it at all. Even Atomic Steele knew to finally put aside his fury whether he liked it or not. He still despised him but he trusted his friend despite what happened. He still cared.

It still felt weird to Atomic, learning all that he did about his father's biological relationship to Maddrix. From what that woman Margaret told him, it made the hero think back to moments of his childhood before the massacre. How his dad never talked about his grandfather only telling the boy he had one who died. His dad only talking in details about his grandmother. There were times his dad seemed sad and frustrated about something, when a younger version of Max tried asking his dad what was wrong, all his dad would say was that he was just worried about and missing someone. At the time Atomic had no clue his dad was referring to an estranged cousin. The last time Atomic saw his dad alive, before he told the young hero to stay put and safe, was when his dad was watching the television and seeing what was going on. Atomic clearly remembered his dad having a horrified look but also a pained and guilt ridden expression. Although Max still hated Matthew, there was a part of the young hero that took some pity on Matthew and his father's past. A part of him that was strangely glad his grandfather perished by Maddrix's hands. Gene was ready to leave with Matthew and the others to head back to city hall. He had finished assembling his gear and putting on his attire for battle. Hey this was a serious matter but Gene didn't want to look like a bum going into battle. He also was kind of unsure about putting on his old Dr. Two Brains attire, which was just his work clothes. So Gene decided to make a compromise combining his former villain attires with his own spin. With Alex's and Tristan's help, the two aliens gathered a new lab coat for Gene along with a new change of clothes. These clothes were in clean and pristine condition. They also helped him gather a top hat and a silver mask, something similar to his old Professor Terror outfit. He didn't have the original clothing since he burned his outfit after the massacre. There was also no time to add some special sequins or elegant designs to his clothing much to Gene's chagrin. Gene looked into the mirror one last time before he left with Matthew, Alex, and Tristan. Gene's still white hair was pulled back into a ponytail. This earned an odd reaction from Becky as she muttered "no sandwich words" which made Gene recall Becky once telling him about the Chucktopia incident. Becky otherwise reassured her dad that she wasn't bothered by his style. Gene's silver mask was similar to how his old one was. It was an eye mask with embedded designs. The top hat Alex got him was definitely something similar to a Victorian era top hat but with modern designs. Gene had kept his gloves as his hands were still altered. He had gotten rid of his usual goggles as he saw no reason to wear them over his mask. As Gene held his old staff in his hands, the one thing from his Terror days he could never part with, an eerie feeling went down his spine. He recalled memories of his past, when he first joined his dad into the field of villainy, when he lead his own rebellion of villains against his father, and when he took down Atomic Steele. That wasn't Squeaky in action nor was it connected to his old Two Brains gimmick. That was all him. Gene let out a sigh and small smile. He had no idea what he was going to do after everything was over. Gene definitely planned to give Steven back his name and identity since he was going back to his old name that had been established on official, yet forged, documents. Gene wasn't sure if he was going back into the field as a villain or take a break after everything he had been through. One thing that was for sure, Gene was going to determine his own path and no sabotaged experiments or crazy animals and people was going to affect what he wanted to do with his life from now on. Meanwhile back outside the hallways of the medical clinic, Matthew was learning one of the most shocking things in his life. "You were in the mafia!" Matthew exclaimed in a shocked tone. @dualnaturedscientist

[cantsayidont]

Sometimes, I think about the huge number of DC properties that will never see media adaptations beyond the Easter eggy variety (like the DC SHOWCASE animated shorts or guest appearances on something like BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD) due to corporate dysfunction — not the big-name superhero stuff, but things like:

KAMANDI, which could make a magnificent animated series.

ATOMIC KNIGHTS, which is less stupid than FALLOUT and has giant mutant Dalmatians the characters ride as steeds.

SILVERBLADE, a charming mid-80s "Maxi-Series" by Cary Bates and Gene Colan about a retired movie star who gains the supernatural power to transform himself into any character he's ever played.

STANLEY AND HIS MONSTER, a delightful kids' comic about a boy who adopts a huge red shaggy monster that his parents (who never actually see the monster) patiently assume is his imaginary friend.

CAMELOT 3000, a sci-fi spin on the Knights of the Round Table with King Arthur reincarnated in a high-tech 31st century world and transgender Sir Tristan.

Then I remind myself that at best, they'd just be reduced to the same hackish nerd show pablum as the various Arrowverse shows (probably by the same hacks), and that, as with STAR WARS and STAR TREK, an abundance of crap can very easily make something too infuriating to even bother hate-watching. So, maybe it's for the best.

[meta-squash]

Squash's Book Roundup 2023

Last year I read 67 books. This year my goal was 70, but I very quickly passed that, so in total I read 92 books this year. Honestly I have no idea how I did it, it just sort of happened. My other goal was to read an equal amount of fiction and nonfiction this year (usually fiction dominates), and I was successful in that as well. Another goal which I didn’t have at the outset but which kind of organically happened after the first month or so of reading was that I wanted to read mostly strange/experimental/transgressive/unusual fiction. My nonfiction choices were just whatever looked interesting or cool, but I also organically developed a goal of reading a wider spread of subjects/genres of nonfiction. A lot of the books I read this year were books I’d never heard of, but stumbled across at work. Also, finally more than 1/3 of what I read was published in the 21st century.

I’ll do superlatives and commentary at the end, so here is what I read in 2023:

-The Commitments by Roddy Doyle -A Simple Story: The Last Malambo by Leila Guerriero -The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell -Uzumaki by Junji Ito -Chroma by Derek Jarman -The Emerald Mile: The epic story of the fastest ride in history through the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko -Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks -The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington -Sacred Sex: Erotic writings from the religions of the world by Robert Bates -The Virginia State Colony For Epileptics And The Feebleminded by Molly McCully Brown -A Spy In The House Of Love by Anais Nin -The Sober Truth: Debunking the bad science behind 12-step programs and the rehab industry by Lance Dodes -The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima -The Aliens by Annie Baker -The Criminal Child And Other Essays by Jean Genet -Aimee and Jaguar: A Love Story, Berlin 1943 by Erica Fischer -The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov -The Mustache by Emmanuel Carriere -Maldoror by Comte de Lautreamont -Narrow Rooms by James Purdy -At Your Own Risk by Derek Jarman -Escape From Freedom by Erich Fromm -Countdown: A Subterranean Magazine #3 by Underground Press Syndicate Collective -Fabulosa! The story of Britain's secret gay language by Paul Baker -The Golden Spruce: A true story of myth, madness and greed by John Vaillant -Querelle de Roberval by Kevin Lambert -Fire The Bastards! by Jack Green -Closer by Dennis Cooper -The Woman In The Dunes by Kobo Abe -Opium: A Diary Of His Cure by Jean Cocteau -Worker-Student Action Committees France May '68 by Fredy Perlman and R. Gregoire -Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher -The Sound Of Waves by Yukio Mishima -One Day In My Life by Bobby Sands -Corydon by Andre Gide -Noopiming by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson -Man Alive: A true story of violence, forgiveness and becoming a man by Thomas Page McBee -The Artist's Reality: Philosophies of Art by Mark Rothko -Damage by Josephine Hart -Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai -The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector -The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock n Roll by Simon Reynolds and Joy Press -The Traffic Power Structure by planka.nu -Bird Man: The many faces of Robert Straud by Jolene Babyak -Seven Dada Manifestos by Tristan Tzara

-The Journalist by Harry Mathews -Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber -Moscow To The End Of The Line by Venedikt Erofeev -Morvern Callar by Alan Warner -The Poetics Of Space by Gaston Bachelard -A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White -The Coming Insurrection by The Invisible Committee -Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson -Notes From The Sick Room by Steve Finbow -Artaud The Momo by Antonin Artaud -Doctor Rat by William Kotzwinkle -Recollections Of A Part-Time Lady by Minette -trans girl suicide museum by Hannah Baer -The 99% Invisible City by Roman Mars -Sweet Days Of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy -Breath: The new science of a lost art by James Nestor -What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund -The Cardiff Tapes (1972) by Garth Evans -The Ark Sakura by Kobo Abe -Mad Like Artaud by Sylvere Lotringer -The Story Of The Eye by Georges Bataille -Little Blue Encyclopedia (For Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante -Blood And Guts In High School by Kathy Acker -Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton -Splendid's by Jean Genet -VAS: An Opera In Flatland by Steve Tomasula -Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want To Come: One introvert's year of saying yes by Jessica Pan -Whores For Gloria by William T. Vollmann -The Notebooks by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Larry Walsh (editor) -L'Astragale by Albertine Sarrazin -The Decay Of Lying and other essays by Oscar Wilde -The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot -Open Throat by Henry Hoke -Prisoner Of Love by Jean Genet -The Fifth Wound by Aurora Mattia -The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx -My Friend Anna: The true story of a fake heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams -Mammother by Zachary Schomburg -Building The Commune: Radical democracy in Venezuela by George Cicarello-Maher -Blackouts by Justin Torres -Cheapjack by Philip Allingham -Near To The Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector -The Trayvon Generation by Elizabeth Alexander -Skye Papers by Jamika Ajalon -Exercises In Style by Raymon Queneau -Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein -The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson

~Some number factoids~ I read 46 fiction and 46 nonfiction. One book, The Fifth Wound by Aurora Mattia, is fictionalized/embellished autobiography, so it could go half in each category if we wanted to do that, but I put it in the fiction category. I tried to read as large a variety of nonfiction subjects/genres as I could. A lot of the nonfiction I read has overlapping subjects, so I’ve chosen to sort by the one that seems the most overarching. By subject, I read: 5 art history/criticism, 5 biographies, 1 black studies, 1 drug memoir, 2 essay collections, 2 history, 2 Latin American studies, 4 literary criticism, 1 music history, 2 mythology/religion, 1 nature, 4 political science, 2 psychology, 5 queer studies, 2 science, 1 sociology, 1 travel, 2 true crime, 3 urban planning. I also read more queer books in general (fiction and nonfiction) than I have in years, coming in at 20 books.

The rest of my commentary and thoughts under a cut because it's fairly long

Here’s a photo of all the books I read that I own a physical copy of (minus Closer by Dennis Cooper which a friend is borrowing):

~Superlatives and Thoughts~

I read so many books this year I’m going to do a runner-up for each superlative category.

Favorite book: This is such a hard question this year. I think I gave out more five-star ratings on Goodreads this year than I ever have before. The books that got 5 stars from me this year were A Simple Story: The Last Malambo by Leila Guerriero, Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher, The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko, The Mustache by Emmanuel Carriere, The Passion According to GH by Clarice Lispector, trans girl suicide museum by Hannah Baer, The Fifth Wound by Aurora Mattia, Mammother by Zachary Schomburg, and Blackouts by Justin Torres. But I think my favorite book of the year was The Fifth Wound by Aurora Mattia. It is an embellished, fictionalized biography of the author’s life, chronicling a breakup that occurred just before she began her transition, and then a variety of emotional events afterward and her renewal of a connection with that person after a number of years had passed. The writing style is beautiful, extremely decadent, and sits in a sort of venn diagram of poetry, theory, fantasy and biography. My coworker who recommended this book to me said no one she’d recommended it to had finished it because they found it so weird. I read the first 14 pages very slowly because I didn’t exactly know what the book was doing, but I quickly fell completely in love with the imagery and the formatting style and the literary and religious references that have been worked into the book both as touchstones for biography and as vehicles for fantasy. There is a video I remember first seeing years ago, in which a beautiful pinkish corn snake slithers along a hoop that is part of a hanging mobile made of driftwood and macrame and white beads and prism crystals. This was the image that was in the back of my head the entire time I was reading The Fifth Wound, because it matched the decadence and the strangeness and the crystalline beauty of the language and visuals in the book. It is a pretty intense book, absolutely packed with images and emotion and ideas and preserved vignettes where reality and fantasy and theory overlap. It’s one of those books that’s hard to describe because it’s so full. It’s dense not in that the words or ideas are hard to understand, but in that it’s overflowing with imagery and feelings, and it feels like an overflowing treasure chest. Runner-up:The Mustache by Emmanuel Carriere. However, this book wins for a different superlative, so I’ve written more about it there.

Least favorite book: Querelle de Roberval by Kevin Lambert. I wrote a whole long review of it. In summary, Lambert’s book takes its name from Querelle de Brest, a novel by Jean Genet, and is apparently meant to be an homage to Genet’s work. Unfortunately, Lambert seems to misunderstand or ignore all the important aspects of Genet’s work that make it so compelling, and instead twists certain motifs Genet uses as symbols of love or transcendence into meaningless or negative connotations. He also attempts to use Genet’s mechanic of inserting the author into the narrative and allowing the author to have questionable or conflicting morals in order to emphasize certain aspects of the characters or narrative, except he does so too late in the game and ends up just completely undermining everything he writes. This book made me feel insulted on behalf of Jean Genet and all the philosophical thought he put into his work. Runner-up: What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund. This graphic designer claims that when people read they don’t actually imagine what characters look like and can’t conjure up an image in their head when asked something like “What does Jane Eyre look like to you?” Unfortunately, there’s nothing scientific in the book to back this up and it’s mostly “I” statements, so it’s more like “What Peter Mendelsund Sees (Or Doesn’t See) When He Reads”. It’s written in what seems to be an attempt to mimic Marshall McLuhan’s style in The Medium Is The Massage, but it isn’t done very well. I spent most of my time reading this book thinking This does not reflect my experience when I read novels so I think really it’s just a bad book written by someone who maybe has some level of aphantasia or maybe is a visual but not literary person, and who assumes everyone else experiences the same thing when they read. (Another runner-up would be The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, but I think that’s a given because it’s an awful piece of revisionist, racist trash, so I won’t write a whole thing about it. I can if someone wants me to.)

Most surprising/unexpected book: The Mustache by Emmanuel Carriere. This book absolutely wins for most surprising. However, I don’t want to say too much about it because the biggest surprise is the end. It was the most shocking, most unexpected and bizarre endings to a novel I’ve read in a long time, and I absolutely loved it. It was weird from the start and it just kept getting weirder. The unnamed narrator decides, as a joke, to shave off the moustache he’s had for his entire adult life. When his wife doesn’t react, he assumes that she’s escalating their already-established tradition of little pranks between each other. But then their mutual friends say nothing about the change, and neither do his coworkers, and he starts spiral into confusion and paranoia. I don’t want to spoil anything else because this book absolutely blew me away with its weirdness and its existential dread and anyone who likes weird books should read it. Runner-up: Morvern Callar by Alan Warner. I don’t even know what compelled me to open this book at work, but I’m glad I did. The book opens on Christmas, where the main character, Morvern, discovers her boyfriend dead by suicide on the kitchen floor of their flat. Instead of calling the police or her family, she takes a shower, gets her things and leaves for work. Her narrative style is strange, simultaneously very detached and extremely emotional, but emotional in an abstract way, in which descriptions and words come out stilted or strangely constructed. The book becomes a narrative of Morvern’s attempts to find solitude and happiness, from the wilderness of Scotland to late night raves and beaches in an unnamed Mediterranean city. The entire book is scaffolded by a built-in playlist. Morvern’s narrative is punctuated throughout by accounts of exactly what she’s listening to on her Walkman. The narrative style and the playlist and the bizarre behavior of the main character were not at all what I was expecting when I opened the book, but I read the entire book in about 3 hours and I was captivated the whole time. If you like the Trainspotting series of books, I would recommend this one for sure.

Most fun book: The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko. This book was amazing. It was like reading an adventure novel and a thriller and a book on conservationism all wrapped into one and it was clearly very passionately written and it was a blast. I picked it up because I was pricing it at work and I read the captions on one of the photo inserts, which intrigued me, so I read the first page, and then I couldn’t stop. The two main narratives in the book are the history of the Grand Canyon (more specifically the damming of the Colorado River) and the story of a Grand Canyon river guide called Kenton Grua, who decided with two of his river guide friends to break the world record for fastest boat ride down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The book is thoroughly researched, and reaches back to the first written record of the canyon, then charts the history of the canyon and the river up to 1983 when Grua made his attempt to race down the river, and then the aftermath and what has happened to everyone in the years since. All of the historical figures as well as the “current” figures of 1983 come to life, and are passionately portrayed. It’s a genuine adventure of a book, and I highly recommend it. Runner-up: Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton. It asks “What if Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was actually a trans woman?” Actually, that’s not quite it. It asks “What if a trans woman living in poverty in southwest America believed to an almost spiritual level that Brian Wilson was a trans woman?” The main character and narrator, Gala, is convinced that the lead singer of her favorite band, the Get Happies, (a fictional but fairly obvious parallel to the Beach Boys) is a trans woman. Half the book is her writing out her version of the singer’s life history, and the other half is her life working at a hostel in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico, where she meets a woman who forces her out of her comfort zone and encourages her to face certain aspects of her self and identity and her connection with others. It’s a weird novel, and definitely not for everyone, but it’s fun. I was reading it on the train home and I was so into it that I missed my stop and had to get off at the next station and wait 20 minutes for the train going back the other way.

Book that taught me the most: Breath: The new science of a lost art by James Nestor. In it, Nestor explores why humans as a general population are so bad at breathing properly. He interviews scientists and alternative/traditional health experts, archaeologists, historians and religious scholars. He uses himself as a guinea pig to experiment with different breathing techniques from ancient meditation styles to essentially overdosing on oxygen in a lab-controlled environment to literally plugging his nose shut to only mouth-breathe for two weeks (and then vice-versa with nose breathing). It was interesting to see a bunch of different theories a laid out together regarding what kind of breathing is best, as well as various theories on the history of human physiology and why breathing is hard. Some of it is scientific, some pseudoscience, some just ancient meditation techniques, but he takes a crack at them all. What was kind of cool is that he tries every theory and experiment with equal enthusiasm and doesn’t really seem to favor any one method. Since he’s experimenting on himself, a lot of it is about the effects the experiments had on him specifically and his experiences with different types of breathing. His major emphasis/takeaway is that focusing on breathing and learning to change the ways in which we breathe will be beneficial in the long run (and that we should all breath through our noses more). While I don’t think changing how you breathe is a cure-all (some of the pseudoscience he looks at in this book claims so) I certainly agree that learning how to breath better is a positive goal. Runner-up: The Sober Truth by Lance Dodes. I say runner-up because a lot of the content of the book is things that I had sort of vague assumptions about based on my knowledge of addiction and AA and mental illness in general. But Dodes put into words and illustrated with numbers and anecdotes and case studies what I just kind of had a vague feeling about. It was cool to see AA so thoroughly debunked by an actual psychiatrist and in such a methodical way, since my skepticism about it has mostly been based on the experiences of people I know in real life, anecdotes I’ve read online, or musicians/writers/etc I’m a fan of that went through it and were negatively affected.

Most interesting/thought provoking book: Mammother by Zachary Schomburg. The biggest reason this book was so interesting is because the little world in which it exists is so strange and yet so utterly complete. In a town called Pie Time (where birds don’t exist and the main form of work is at the beer-and-cigarettes factory) a young boy called Mano who has been living his childhood as a girl decides that he is now a man and that it’s time for him to grow up. As this happens, the town is struck by an affliction called God’s Finger. People die seemingly out of nowhere, from a hole in their chest, and some object comes out of the hole. Mano collects the things that come out of these holes, and literally holds them in order to love them, but the more he collects, the bigger he becomes as he adds objects to his body. A capitalist business called XO shows up, trying to convince the people of Pie Time that they can protect themselves from God’s Finger with a number of enterprises, and starts to slowly take over the town. But Mano doesn’t believe death is something that should be run from. This book is so pretty, and the symbolism/metaphors, even when obvious, feel as though they belong organically in the world. A quote on the back of the book says it is “as nearly complete a world as can be”, and I think that’s a very accurate description. The story is interesting, the characters are compelling, and the magical realist world in which the story exists is fascinating. Runner up: trans girl suicide museum by Hannah Baer. This is a series of essays taken (for the most part) from Baer’s blog posts. They span a chunk of time in which she writes her thoughts and musings on her experience transition and transgender existence in general. It is mostly a series of pieces reflecting on “early” stages of transition. But I thought it was really cool to see an intellectual and somewhat philosophical take on transition, written by someone who has only been publicly out for a few years, and therefore is looking at certain experiences with a fresh gaze. As the title suggests, a lot of the book is a bit sad, but it’s not all doom and gloom. A lot of the emphasis is on the important of community when it comes to the experience of starting to transition and the first few years, and the importance of community on the trans experience in general. I really liked reading Hannah Baer’s thoughts as a queer intellectual who was writing about this stuff as she experienced it (or not too long after) rather than writing about the experience of early transition years and years down the line. It meant the writing was very sharp and the emotion was clear and not clouded by nostalgia.

Other thoughts/commentary on books I don’t have superlatives for:

I’m glad my first (full) book read in 2023 was A Simple Story: The Last Malambo by Leila Guierrero. It’s a small, compact gem of a book that follows the winner of an Argentinian dance competition. The Malambo is a traditional dance, and the competition is very fierce, and once someone wins, they can never compete again. The author follows the runner-up of the previous year, who has come to compete again. It paints a vivid picture of the history of the dance, the culture of the competition, and the character of the dancer the author has chosen to follow. It’s very narrowly focused, which makes it really compelling.

The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington could have easily won for most fun or most interesting book. Carrington was a surrealist writer and painter (and was in a relationship with Max Ernst until she was institutionalized and he was deported by the Nazis). In The Hearing Trumpet, an elderly woman called Marian is forced by her family to go live in an old ladies’ home. The first strange thing about the place is that all of the little cabins each woman lives in is shaped like some odd object, like an iron, or ice cream, or a rabbit. The other old women at the institution are a mixed bag, and the warden of the place is hostile. Marian starts to suspect that there are secrets, and even witchcraft involved, and she and a few of the other ladies start to try and unravel the occult mysteries hidden in the grounds of the home. The whole book is fun and strange, and the ending is an extremely entertaining display of feminist occult surrealism.

Sacred Sex: Erotica writings from the religions of the world by Robert Bates was a book I had to read for research for my debunking of Withdrawn Traces. It was really very interesting, but it was also hilarious to read because maybe 5% of any of the texts included were actually erotic. It should have been called “romantic writings from the religions of the world” because so little of the writing had anything to do with sex, even in a more metaphorical sense.

Every time I read Yukio Mishima I’m reminded how much I love his style. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea almost usurped The Temple of the Golden Pavilion as my favorite Mishima novel. I’m fascinated with the way that Mishima uses his characters to explore the circumstance of having very intense feelings or reactions towards something and simultaneously wanting to experience that, while also wanting to have complete control and not feel them at all. There’s a scene in this novel where Noboru and his friends brutally kill and dissect a cat; it’s an intense and vividly rendered scene, made all the more intense by Noboru desperately conflicted between feeling affected by the killing and wanting to force himself to feel nothing. The amazing subtle theme running through the book is the difference between Noboru’s intense emotions and his desire/struggle to control them and subdue them versus Ryuji’s more subtle emotion that grows through the book despite his natural reserve. I love endings like the one in this book, where it “cuts to black” and you don’t actually see the final act, it’s simply implied.

In 2016 or 2017, I ran lights for a showcase for the drama department at UPS (I can’t remember now what it was) that included a bunch of scenes from various plays. I remember a segment from Hir by Taylor Mac, and a scene from The Aliens by Annie Baker. In the scene that I saw, one of the characters describes how when he was a boy, he couldn’t stop saying the word ladder, and the monologue culminates in a full paragraph that is just the word “ladder.” I can’t remember who was acting in the one that I saw at UPS, but that monologue blew me away, the way that one word repeated 127 conveyed so much. This year a collection of Annie Baker’s plays came in at work so I sat down and read the whole play and it was just incredible. I’d love to see the full play live, it’s absolutely captivating.

Narrow Rooms by James Purdy was a total diamond in the rough. It takes place in Appalachia, in perhaps the 1950s although it’s somewhat hard to tell. It follows the strange gay entanglement between four adult men in their 20s, who have known each other all their lives. It traces threads of bizarre codependency, and the lines crossed between love and hate. The main character, Sidney, has just returned home after serving a sentence for manslaughter. On his return, he finds that an old lover has been rendered disabled in an accident, and that an old school rival/object of obsession has been waiting for him. This rival, nicknamed “The Renderer” because of an old family occupation, has been watching Sidney all their lives. Both of them hate the other, but know that they’re destined to meet in some way. Caught in the middle of their strange relationship are Gareth, Sidney’s now-disabled former lover, and Brian, a young man who thinks he’s in love with The Renderer. The writing style took me some time to get used to, as it is written as though by someone who has taught themselves, or has only had basic classes on fiction writing. But the plot itself is so strange and the characters are so stilted in their own internality that it actually fits really well. Like The Mustache, this book had one of the strangest, most intensely visceral and shocking endings I’ve read in a while. It was also “one that got away.” I read it at work, then put it on my staff picks shelf, and only realized after someone else bought it that I should have kept it for myself.

The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector blew my mind. I really don’t want to spoil any of it, but I highly encourage anyone who hasn’t read it to do. The build in tension is perfect and last 30 pages are just incredible. Lispector’s style is so unique and so beautiful and tosses out huge existential questions like it’s nothing, and I love her work so much.

Moscow To The End Of The Line by Venedikt Erofeev was another really unexpected book. It’s extremely Russian (obviously) and really fun until suddenly it isn’t. The main character, a drunkard, gets on a train from Moscow to Petushki, the town at the end of the line (hence the title), in order to see his lover. On the way, he befriends the other people in his train car and they all steadily get drunker and drunker, until he falls asleep and misses his stop. Very Russian, somewhat strange, and I was surprised that it was written in the late 60s and not the 30s.

Dr. Rat by William Kotzwinkle was what I expected. Weird in a goofy way, a bit silly even when it’s serious, and rather heavy-handed satire. The titular Dr Rat is a rat who has spent his whole life in a laboratory and has gone insane. The other animals who are being tested on want to escape, but he’s convinced that all the testing is for the good of science and wants to thwart their rebellion. Unfortunately, all the other animals who are victims of human cruelty/callousness/invasion/deforestation/etc around the world are also planning to rebel, connection with each other through a sort of psychic television network. It’s a very heavy-handed environmentalist/anti-animal cruelty metaphor and general societal satire, but it’s silly and fun too.

Confessions Of A Part-Time Lady by Minette is a self-published, nearly impossible to find book that came into my work. It’s self-printed and bound, and was published in the 70s. It is the autobiographical narrative of a trans woman who did drag and burlesque and theatre work all across the midwest, as well as New York and San Francisco, from the 1930s up to the late 60s. It was originally a series of interviews by the two editors, who published it in narrative form, and it includes photos from Minette’s personal collection. It’s an amazing story, and a glimpse into a really unique time period of gender performance and queer life. She even mentions Sylvia Rivera, specifically when talking about gay activism. She talks about how the original group of the Gay Liberation Front was an eclectic mix of all sorts of people of all sexualities and genders and expressions. Then when the Gay Activists Alliance “took over”, they started pushing out people who were queer in a more transgressive or unusual way and there was more encouragement on being more heteronormative. She mentions Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson, saying “I remember Sylvia Rivera who founded STAR – Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. She was always trying to say things – the same kinds of things Marsha P Johnson says in a sweeter way – and they treated her like garbage. If that’s what ‘order’ is, haven’t we had enough?”

Whores For Gloria by William T Vollmann was exactly as amazing as I thought it would be. I love Vollmann’s style, because you can tell that even though the characters he’s writing about are characters, they’re absolutely based on people that he met or saw or spoke to in real life. The main character, Jimmy, is searching for his former lover, Gloria, who has either died or left him (it is unclear for most of the novel). He begins to use tokens bought from sex workers (hair, clothes, etc) to attempt to conjure her into reality, and when that doesn’t work, he pays them to tell him stories from their lives, and through their lives he tries to conjure Gloria. This novel’s ending had extremely similar vibes to the ending of Moscow To The End Of The Line.

Prisoner Of Love by Jean Genet was a lot to take in. It was weird reading it at this moment in time, and completely unplanned. It’s just that I have only a few more books to read before I’ve made my way through all Genet’s works that have been translated into English, and it was next on the list. Most of the book focuses on Genet’s time spent in Palestine in the 70s and his short return in the 80s. He also discusses the time he spent with the Black Panthers in the US, although it’s not the main subject of the book. Viewing Palestine from the point of view of Genet’s weird philosophical and moral worldview was really interesting, because what he chooses to spend time looking at or talking about is probably not what most would focus on, and because even his most political discussions are tinged with the uniquely Genet-style spirituality (if you can call it that? I don’t know what to call it) that is so much the exact opposite of objective. It’s definitely not a book about Palestine I would recommend reading without also having a grasp of Genet’s style of looking at the world and his various obsessions and preoccupations, because they really do inform a lot of his commentary. It was also written 15 years after his first trip to Palestine, partly from memory and partly from journal entries/notes, which gives it a sort of weirdly dreamlike quality much like his novels.

Blackouts by Justin Torres was so amazing! It blends real life and fiction together so well that I didn’t even realize that most of the people he references in the novel are real historical figures until he mentioned Ben Reitman, who I recognized as the Chicago King Of The Hobos and Emma Goldman’s lover. The book follows an unnamed narrator who has come to a hotel or apartment in the southwest in order to care for a dying elderly man called Juan Gay. Juan has a book called Sex Variants, a study of homosexuality from the 1940s which has been censored and blacked out. Back and forth, the narrator and Juan trade stories. The narrator tells his life story up until the present, including his first meeting with Juan in a mental hospital as a teenager. In turn, Juan tells the story of the Sex Variants book and its creator, Jan Gay (Ben Reitman’s real life daughter). The book explores the reliability of narrative, the power of collecting and documenting life stories, and of removing or changing things in order to create new or different narratives.

Again, Clarice Lispector rocking my world! Generally I can read a 200-ish page novel in somewhere between 2 and 4 hours depending on the content/writing style. Near To The Wild Heart took me 9 hours to read because I kept wanting to stop and reread entire paragraphs because they were so interesting or pretty or philosophical. The story focuses on Joana, whose strange way of looking at the world and going through life makes everyone sort of wary of her. This book is so layered I don’t really know how to describe it. So much of it is philosophical or existential musings through the vehicle of Joana. Unsurprisingly, it’s a beautiful book and I highly recommend it.

I’m just going to copy/paste my Goodreads review for Skye Papers by Jamika Ajalon: This book had so much potential that just…fell short. I could tell that it was written for an American audience but the way the reader/Skye is “taught” certain British terms and/or slang felt a bit patronizing. The characters were fleshed out and interesting and I liked them a lot but the plot crumbled quickly in the last half of the book Things sped up to a degree that felt strange and unnatural, the book’s pacing was inconsistent throughout. Perhaps that was deliberate considering the reveal at the climax, but if it was, it should have been utilized better. If the inconsistent pacing wasn’t deliberate, then it just made the book feel strange to read. There were moments were I felt like there should have been more fleshing out of certain character relationships. Even with the reveal at the end and the explanation of Pieces’ erratic/avoidant behavior, I wish there had been more fleshing out of the relationship or friendship between her and Skye at the beginning, when Skye first arrives in London. Characters who seemed cool/interesting got glossed over and instead there was a lot more dwelling on Skye walking around or busking or just hanging out. I could have gone without the last 30 or so pages after the big reveal, where Skye went back through everything that happened with the knowledge she (and the reader) had gained. It dragged on and on and at that point I felt like the whole story was so contrived that I just wasn’t interested anymore. A friend who read this book before I did said she thought it was an experimental novel that just hadn’t gone far enough, and I completely agree with her. I think if the style with the film script interludes went further, into printed visuals or more weirdness with the interludes, more experimental style with the main story, or something, it would have been really good. It just didn’t push hard enough.

The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson was a fun little true crime novel about a young flautist who broke into a small English natural history museum in 2009 and stole hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of preserved rare bird skins dating back to the 19th century. He was a salmon fly-tying enthusiast and prodigy, and old Victorian fly designs used feathers of rare birds. The book first goes through the heist and the judicial proceedings, then examines the niche culture of Victorian fly-tying enthusiasts and obsessives, and then chronicles the author’s attempts to track down some of the missing birds. It was a quick, easy read, but fun and an unusual subject and I quite enjoyed it.

In 2024 I don’t plan on trying to surpass or even reach this year’s number. I’m going to start off the year reading The Recognitions by William Gaddis, then I’m going to re-read a number of books that I come across at work or in conversation and think Huh, I should reread that one of these days. So far, the books I am currently planning to reread: Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, The People Of Paper by Salvador Plascencia, Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, The Mustache by Emmanuel Carriere, McGlue by Otessa Moshfegh, Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neil, Acid Snow by Larry Mitchell, and Nightwood by Djuna Barnes.

[100gayicons]

GAY ICONS - ALAN BATES

Alan Bates appeared in one of the most homoerotic scenes in movie history - wrestling nude with Oliver Reed in “Women in Love” (1969) - but I never considered he might be gay or bisexual… until…

Recently I watched “Tea With the Dames” (2018) a documentary where Maggie Smith and Judi Dench gossip about their careers. When talking about Shakespeare’s “Anthony and Cleopatra”, Maggie off-handedly mentions that Alan Bates would have preferred to play the role of Cleopatra!

That remark sent me off researching … and sure enough, several sites mention that Bates, although he was married with twin sons, had several male lovers throughout his life. This was confirmed in a biography “Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates” which was written in cooperation with Bates’ surviving son Benedict.

In the 1960s, Bates starred in a string of international hits, including “Zorba the Greek” (1964), “Georgie Girl” (1966), “King of Hearts (1966), and “Far from the Madding Crowd” (1967).

What was unknown by the public at that time, Bates lived with and was in a 10 year relationship with actor Peter Wyngarde. (Wyngarde himself was outed in 1975 when he was arrested for 'gross indecency' with a truck driver in the toilets of a bus station.)

But Bates was attracted to women as well. In 1964 Bates met actress Joanna Pettet when the both appeared on Broadway in “Poor Richard”. According to Pettit the two had an affair during the run of the show.

In 1970, Bates married Victoria Ward who was pregnant at the time. She gave birth to their twin sons the next year. From all accounts their relationship was rocky. They separate but both were involved in raising their children. Tristan, one of the twin, died of a suspect overdose in 1990. His mother Victoria couldn’t recover from the shock and she died in 1992.

In 1972, Bates met actor Nickolas Grace while they both were performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Grace was 25 at the time and described the relationship as:

“very close and very loving, in an intense affair that was one of the most important relationships of my life"

Bates denied to Nickolas that he was homosexual.

“(Alan) was free and happy, and … he took me to meet his family in Derby, where we had lovely weekends. But at other times he was reserved and frightened… he didn't want me to be seen with him.”

Bates later had a two year relationship with English Olympic skater John Curry. Curry was outed prior to the 1976 Olympics but the international press largely ignored it. In 1987 Curry was diagnosed with AIDS and died in 1994. It’s been reported that Bates helped to care for his former lover and was with him when he died.

Bates had relationships with other men and women but the ones I mention above seemed the most significant.

Bates and Maggie Smith were reunited in Robert Altman’s “Gosford Park” (2001), the movie that inspired “Downton Abbey”. The next year Bates was knighted by Queen Elizabeth when she bestowed him with a CBE. The same year Bates rekindled his friendship with Joanna Pettit and she moved from the US to live with him. They had a common bond - her son had died of an overdose as well.

Bates needed hip replacement surgery in 2003. While recovering doctors discovered he had pancreatic cancer. And the final insult, a stroke. Alan Bates slipped into a coma with his son Benedict and friend Joanna Pettit by his side.

[perfectlyfinespacebacon]

nancy drew ending - ramblings

goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, you were bigger than the whole sky

i found nancy drew in the pandemic. i was bored and always loved cw shows growing up and the emma roberts nancy drew and thought i'd give it a whirl and boy was i impressed. i binged the first 2 seasons and was waiting with bated breath for season 3 to come out and when it was over tbh, knowing the cw's history + it being sold i was convinced that it wasn't going to get a season 4 and we wouldve have never found out about the ending of nace but when it got picked up i was like FUCK YES!

re season 4 like some people, i did find that this season was a little messy even with knowing the last couple episodes had to be restructured into a finale which is very impressive.

tristan was not a strong character and personally i think partially because of henry not being a super strong actor against the power houses of the drew crew. obviously it is hard to be added into a group after they've been established for three seasons but like at one point in the finale i swear i saw henry looking down at his mark when he pulled kennedy aside in one of the scenes. i just think he wasn't selling the spooky ooky supernatural stuff as well as the others and i just think his chemistry with kennedy was lacking. with all the other potential suitors: owen, tamura, park, EVEN GIL!, they all had believable chemistry but with tristan it was just dull and flat

the pacing was kinda off this season and maybe that had to do with the restructuring of the last episodes but what i loved about the earlier seasons (most memorable for me being season 2 with the wraith) was that each episode was able to stand alone but was cohesive at the end. this season pulled us into many different directions and i don't think it worked too well. i was happy that we got to see more of the drew crew's personal lives outside of solving mysteries but it just felt incohesive to me at times.

despite my criticisms i loved how they ended the show. it gave me marvel runaway hulu vibes if anyone watched that and how they ended their show. (another josh schwartz + stephane savage show) in the end as much as i loved nace and their endgame, the found family endgame of the drew crew really warmed my heart. i loved how nancy's two dads also got a last moment with her and the last frame of the show GUTTED me. knowing that theyll be in each other lives forever even as the show is done UGHH NOBODY TOUCH ME!

biiiiiig props to the writers (WGA strong!), the crew + everyone involved behind the scenes above and below the line and obviously to kennedy, alex, leah, maddison and tunji (SAG-AFTRA strong!), thank you for 4 seasons of pretty kickass television

[coopermorrow]

Who I Write For

Hi! My name is Cooper and I am hoping to be a writer one day so I thought what better way of starting off than by writing about my favorite celebrities and characters? I am in many fandoms but not all, so if you don't happen to see one of your favorite celebrities or characters on my list you can still ask me to write about them and I'll do my best!

American Horror Story:

Tate Langdon

Violet Harmon

Nora Montgomery

Lana Winters

Kit Walker

Sister Mary Eunice McKee

Queenie

Madison Montgomery

Zoe Benson

Cordelia Goode

Misty Day

Kyle Spencer (pre and post death)

Dandy Mott

Tristan Duffy

James Patrick March

Elizabeth/The Countess

Kai Anderson

Winter Anderson

Michael Langdon

Mallory

Brooke Thompson

Xavier Plympton

Montana Duke

Harry Gardner

Slashers/Horror Characters:

Michael Myers

Jason Voorhees

Billy Loomis

Stu Macher

Bubba Sawyer

Vincent Sinclair

Bo Sinclair

Lester Sinclair

Tiffany Valentine

Baby Firefly

Doomhead

Brahms Heelshire

Darry Jenner (Jeepers Creepers)

Norman Bates (Bates Motel)

Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal)

Art the Clown

BTS:

Kim Seokjin

Min Yoongi

Jung Hoseok

Kim Namjoon

Park Jimin

Kim Taehyung

Jeon Jungkook

Jackass:

Johnny Knoxville

Steve-O

Ryan Dunn

Bam Margera

Chris Pontius

Rachel Wolfson

Marvel/Avengers Characters:

Loki Laufeyson

Thor Odinson

Tony Stark

Peter Parker

Natasha Romanoff

Steve Rogers

Sam Wilson

James "Bucky" Barnes

Bruce Banner

Wanda Maximoff

IT (2017 and 2019):

Richie Tozier

Bill Denbrough

Eddie Kaspbrak

Mike Hanlon

Stanley Uris

Ben Hanscom

Beverly Marsh

Patrick Hockstetter

Henry Bowers

Reginald "Belch" Huggins

Victor Criss

What's Eating Gilbert Grape:

Gilbert Grape

Arnie Grape

Harry Potter:

Harry Potter

Ronald Weasley

Hermione Granger

Luna Lovegood

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Draco Malfoy

It's Always Sunny In Philadeplphia:

Charlie Kelly

Dennis Reynolds

Deandra "Dee" Reynolds

Ronald "Mac" McDonald

The Last Of Us (show):

Joel Miller

Ellie Williams

Wednesday:

Wednesday Addams

Morticia Addams

Xavier Thorpe

Miscellaneous:

Javier Pena

Kevin Khatchadourian

Jay (Jay and Silent bob)

Jareth the Goblin King (The Labyrinth)

Mort Rainey

Victor Van Dort

Tarrant Hightopp/The Mad Hatter (Alice In Wonderland)

Edward Scissorhands

I will not write rape, 18+ content for underage characters, or anything where the character is another species. I will not take requests containing pedophilia, ablism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, or any other form of bigotry. Comfort imagines for things such as depression, eating disorders, and anxiety are fine as long as you do not want them to be very descriptive and/or explicit. Please make formal requests through my ask as I will not take comments as formal requests. I write for multiple genders but only smut for afab people as that is the anatomy I am most understanding of. I do take "x reader" requests. I can try to write crossovers, though I'm not too experienced with them and I do write for celebrities as well.

Requests are open now so if you do decide to make one, please include the character(s) you want and at least a small description of what you would like the plot to be. Thank you! <3

[stairset]

I know Dustin Starset has said he's too shy to record audio versions of his books but with all due respect I think he should get over it and do it anyway. Partially because his voice is sexy and literally no one would complain about listening to him narrate for like 10 hours or however long it'd be. And partially cause for a band that didn't make any songs with explicit lyrics until over a decade into their career, those books have a surprising amount of swearing and I wanna hear Dustin say the word cock and have to stop myself from laughing at work again. Consider it Dustin.

[theworldangel447]

Alissa Chris Malcom willingly put shit on me when LEE TOLD U FEDERAL WAS HAPPENING

At Flora Lindsay Lainy Baylee brooke Caroline pinned things on basket to put on me when basel confronted Lee W THE ABSOLUTE FUCKING NONSENSE none of this made ..

Marcus after yesterday took it off of me and shake admitting perjury through Laing for willingly taking her nudes and meeting up fucking and drugging lainy .. per Lee request ( cause he’s BLACK dark skin)

Chris been knew that willingly took bait so we don’t care about him tried to put shit on Myron t dough as Correy c and Dre cause a jealous piece of shit of those dudes also they’re telepathic and he knows this ..but the weakest scared one of the crew ..and also a sociopath in the head a nigga w NO STREET CODE ETHICS OR MORALS WOULD SET ANYONE ONE UP AND GAS LIGHT THEN HOW ALEX GOT IN TROUBLE ..Chris being STOOPID make sense nigga u was always on some weird shit like Gregory at 54 .. Alex nurse for Chris on some dumb shit and Chris put that on Myron / Correy c t dough seen what happened .. why ya ass really ran to the south “for school” to partnas don’t like you niggas setting u up for they lick back imma help them get it.

Ian can confirm. District boyZ n Ian from a different plain / VERSES past life version of Tristan Ian and Harrell and t dough …Correy c is me .. Jo-Jo is me .. djuana .. guys I don’t really care about her BITXH tried to set me up so 🤷🏽‍♀️ ded

Anyways Alissa fat payout to get me to fuck my family / have a baby by someone NOT MY RIGHTFUL TWIN FLAME THIS LIFE AT HOWARD REQUEST .. u took the bate at Tyler poking holes in my condoms .. lmao this gotta be fucking fake …

THIS HOW YALL LETTING ME COME OUT AS ME?? YO THIS SOME WEAK ASS SHIT.

OBAMA U GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW LIKE BE SOOOOO FUCKING FRFR AINT NOOOO FUCKING WAY THIS REAL LIFE.

Yal weird case n point. I know what I need to know. YALL WEIRD.

I said I’m having two husbands on the blog Lee Howard for Lee tried to “get me pregnant” by one of yal outside of my rightful ones to JUST HOW EARGER LOOSE MORALS YAL ARE. ALL WHO PARTICIPATED CAST AWAY AT MALCOM WEIRDO UR 5 ..why tf would I want ur child or to sleep w u

Who tf flora said my parents snuck me a phone when they came to visit around their Hawaii / Delaware trip .. um 😕 guys be sooo fucking Dr then that makes u a shit support and Baylee a shitty ass liar but also like a shit person to care over kids lmao poor Scarlett .. it’s like u don’t want her .. why get pregnant by Basel miss doing drugs w Ashley in the house / sd OD Emily 🤯

LIVES ON REPEAT. ETERNAL DAMNNATION. 😈 on a different planet. Good luck fightING in the war soldiers. ALL OF CLARITY HOUSE EXCEPT CAILTIN CAUSE SHE ADMITTED / ALERTED BASEL AND DISNT DO THIS WEIRDO SHIT THANKS SISTR .. EMAN INFORNMANT. DEAD. FUCK THAT LYING AS NARCISCO BITCH KILLED HER OWN BROTHER AND TOLD NO one. Also SHE KNEW THE DAY SHE WALKED OUT SHE WAS FUCKED. CAUSE SHE WAS GOING TO SELL HER SOUL SHE DID. AND HER BROTHER GAVE HER THE VOICES FOR KILLING HIM AND NOT ADMITTING IT TO ANYONE .. oops revenge on everyone mom is DEATH. permanent. Okay sorry ramzi, I don’t care. Taylor psycho hate her death lied about psych ward to do drugs Baylee signed off on it Erin can ATest..eyes in the sky to the fuck shit

I gotta go about everyone in this??

Marcus death don’t care

Shake make right don’t care handle w Ian and Tristan

Harrell I like u battle it out w bay but he’s get baby

Yal niggas really fr? Rn ? This real life … where’s the “THIS A JOKE” sign cause no way ..

Ian death by perjury thru Lee Alissa Morris I’m just kidding 🤷🏽‍♀️ idk yal just tell me I’m just writing it at papa 👴🏻

Kk over the “proving I’m telepathic “ ITS NOT GOING NO WHERE Lee how u still think I’m lying but guilty of knowing I’m not lying about that

Yal gone tell me this was ONE BUG FAMILY GAME U WIN WE LET U FREE .. I just 🙂🖕🏽🤯

Yal doing this cause the amount of fucking drugs she put me on .. and fried my spleen n brains .. 🤷🏽‍♀️ a bitch be walking every day .. not retarted a little slow and HIGHLY FUCKING HIGHLY PISSED KIM PLAYING MICKY AND IM STILL IN THIS FUCKING CAR NIGGAS COULD HAVE GOTTEN ME A FUCKING HOTEL YAL SOME CHEAP BAGS OF DICKS.

[theblackguywhotips]

BDS 505: Tristan Caught Cheating Again

Rod, Justin and Karen discuss listener feedback, Tristan Thompson suspended, the Bucks head coaching turmoil, Wizards coaching turnover, Draymond won’t be on Team USA, Tyreek Hill divorce filing, Amazon buying Bally Sports, Emoni Bates suspended for running into the stands, Chandler Jones doesn’t believe in CTE, Kevin Porter pleads to lesser charges, Jasmin Brown looking forward to being a mom,…

[diarioelpepazo]

Theoscar Mogollón González Nueve temporadas tuvo que batallar en ligas menores Andruw Monasterio para que finalmente pudiera ver acción en Grandes Ligas. El caraqueño acaba de cumplir su sueño más importante como beisbolista profesional y todo ha sido gracias a la confianza que le han dado los Cerveceros de Milwaukee. El equipo que dirige el manager Craig Counsell evitó una terrible barrida ante los Gigantes de San Francisco, ya que el tercer encuentro de esta serie quedó a favor de ellos por 7-5 gracias a otra notable actuación de William Contreras. Si bien no empezó en la alineación titular, Monasterio saltó al terreno de juego para sustituir en segunda base a Owen Miller, que en la baja del cuarto episodio había sido golpeado por un lanzamiento cuando consumía su tercer turno al bate. Ya para el cierre del sexto inning, y con un out, el criollo se paró en el cajón de bateo por primera vez para enfrentar al lanzador Tristan Beck. El duelo estuvo reñido y tras cuenta de tres bolas y dos strike, Monasterio se ponchó sin tirarle. Asimismo, cabe agregar que el infielder venezolano viene de tener una estupenda temporada en Triple-A con Nashville Sounds. Allí ha dejado un promedio al bate de .271 producto de 38 indiscutibles en 140 turnos, con cuatro jonrones, 19 carreras impulsadas, 26 anotadas y 11 robos de base.   Para recibir en tu celular esta y otras informaciones, únete a nuestras redes sociales, síguenos en Instagram, Twitter y Facebook como @DiarioElPepazo El Pepazo/Meridiano

[intheember]

"Why are you still here?" - tramp

@dogmovesout

“That’s funny, I’ve been wondering the same about you. Given the whole family drama and the mafia business you’ve been stuck with, it just makes sense that you’re gonna bite the dust soon.” Ember quickly caught on to the way time moved much slower for the undead. Like she had all the time in the world, which she did and used to her full advantage. In this case, her attention lately was fully engrossed in Tristan’s shitty life and watching it all unfold like a tv show, waiting with bated breath for its series finale. “You could only hope to die a quick and painless death but with the luck and karma that you’ve been building over the years now, I really wouldn’t count on it.” She paced around his apartment, floating through the walls before landing right in front of him as she continued her speech. “Especially with that guy, Hopper, probably planning right this second to put your head on a stick, you definitely should be scared of death. So until that day comes, I’ll be here. Making sure life owes you bits of torment along the way on behalf of myself and everyone you’ve ever fucked over.”

[themovieblogonline]

Top 100 Movies Based On Books

Well, today is the official opening day of "Twilight". A very highly anticipated movie... not because of the marketing campaign (which has been average at best), but because of the rabid and loyal following that the book series has. With that in mind, I thought it would be an appropriate time to put together a top 100 movies list of movies that were based on books. Whenever I hear of a new movie coming out based on a popular book or comic book or a sequel, I instantly hear naysayers complaining about a "lack of creativity in hollywood". "Why not write something original" some will say. But I say thank goodness gifted screenwriters adapt novels into movies! As you can see from my list, some of the greatest movies in the history of film were adapted from books... films that I can't even imagine what the world of film would look like today if they never came to be. A world without any of these classics or Hallmark movies is a world I'd rather not experience. So I spent a couple of weeks putting together this list with three purposes in mind: 1) To highlight the important role books have played in the movie world 2) To draw attention to some fantastic movies that some of you may have never taken the time to watch before 3) To draw attention to the fact that these movies are indeed based on books, which may encourage you to try reading them (which I confess is a little hypocritical of me since I've only read a fraction of the books here.) Now let me emphasize this next point very explicitly. THIS LIST IS NOT A LIST OF THE BEST BOOKS OR WHICH MOVIES DID THE BEST JOB ADAPTING FROM THE BOOK. It is a list of the best movies which happen to be BASED on books. Also, while I did not include Graphic Novels or Comic Books in this list, I do include short stories or novellas since they are usually a part of a single issue collection. Like all movie lists, this one is subjective and in no way authoritative. The main purpose of which is to spark discussion and maybe interest in seeing some of these fantastic films again, or for the first time. So now I present to you The Movie Blog's Top 100 Movies Based On Books:

#100 - THE JOY LUCK CLUB Rottem Tomatoes Rating - 90% Synopsis: Through a series of flashbacks, four young chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China, explore their past. This search will help them understand their difficult mother/daughter relationship. John's Thought: Yes, I am a heterosexual male... and I loved this movie.

#99 - THE MAMBO KINGS Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 78% Synopsis: Musician brothers Cesar and Nestor leave Cuba for America in the 1950s, hoping to hit the top of the Latin music scene. Cesar is the older brother, the business manager, and the ladies' man. Nestor is the brooding songwriter, who cannot forget the woman in Cuba who broke his heart. John's Thought: No Antonio! Too sexy! Too Sexy!

#98 - STARDUST Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 76% Synopsis: "Stardust," based on the best-selling graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, takes audiences on an adventure that begins in a village in England and ends up in places that exist in an imaginary world. A young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) tries to win the heart of Victoria (Sienna Miller), the beautiful but cold object of his desire, by going on a quest to retrieve a fallen star. His journey takes him to a mysterious and forbidden land beyond the walls of his village. On his odyssey, Tristan finds the star, which has transformed into a striking girl named Yvaine (Claire Danes). John's Thought: Easily the single most underrated and under appreciated film of 2007

#97 - FRIED GREEN TOMATOES Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 82% Synopsis: A heartwarming tale of family, friendship and murder in rural Georgia. In a Southern nursing home, a feisty resident and old local fixture named Ninny Threadgoode (Tandy) befriends Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates) a depressed housewife and stirs her to action with an inspirational tale. She tells the story of a transcendent friendship between two young women living in Georgia in the 1930s, Idgie Threadgoode (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Ruth (Mary Louise Parker), who forge a powerful bond after witnessing a terrible tragedy together. The two women open a cafe (where fried green tomatoes are a house specialty) together in their small Southern town of Whistle Stop and manage to survive the hardships of life, despite racism, prejudice and the pressures of trying to live their lives as individuals in a strict and close-minded Southern society. John's Thought: Powerful cast, powerful story. An honestly moving film.

#96 - THE SHINING Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 86% Synopsis: A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future John's Thought: Iconic film with some of the most quoted one liners from a horror film in history.

#95 - PATRIOT GAMES Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 80% Synopsis: Jack Ryan, the hero of Tom Clancy's techno-thriller series, returns in the sequel to _The Hunt for Red October_. Ryan is on vacation in England when he spoils an assassination attempt on an important member of the Royal Family. Ryan gets drawn back into the CIA when the same splinter faction of the IRA targets him and his family. John's Thought: Once again proving you CAN change actors and still make the franchise work. Ford in his prime and my introduction to the brilliance of Sean Bean.

#94 - WAG THE DOG Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 84% Synopsis: When a Firefly Girl accuses the president of sexual misconduct in the Oval Office less than two weeks before the upcoming election, White House official Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) is told to bring in Conrad Bream (Robert De Niro) to fix the situation and save the president's chances for reelection. This mysterious "fixer" fabricates a conflict with Albania in an effort to detract attention from the sex scandal, bringing in legendary Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman) to "produce" the war. When the CIA foils the initial plot, the creative team turns to a new story line, creating the saga of a U.S. soldier left behind enemy lines whom the president vows to find and return to American soil. John's Thought: Especially funny watching this movie now after the events of the last 8 years. Hard to go wrong with Hoffman and DiNero before he started sucking.

#93 - CHARLOTTE'S WEB Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 74% Synopsis: Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen. John's Thought: Loved this as a kid, still love it today and will leave it on whenever I stumble across it channel surfing. Much better than the Julia Roberts voiced one from a couple of years ago.

#92 - PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1940) Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 88% Synopsis: From the classic novel by Jane Austen about the morals and mores of the class system in early Georgian England. The intelligent and spirited Elizabeth Bennet is one of 5 daughters -- which, during that era, meant trouble: because women cannot inherit, upon her father's death her family's home will become the property of their nearest male relative. Only marriage, preferably to someone wealthy, can ensure her security. But the proud young lady instantly takes offense when Mr. Darcy, a promising newcomer in town, doesn't seem quite admiring enough, and she spurns his advances. Slowly and painfully, Elizabeth realizes her error, but not before it seems she has lost him forever. John's Thought: Easily the best adaptation of this book ever done. Not taking away from any of the other ones... but Olivier rules.

#91 - THE NOTEBOOK Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 51% Synopsis: The movie focuses on an old man reading a story to an old woman in a nursing home. The story he reads follows two young lovers named Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun, who meet one evening at a carnival. But they are separated by Allie's parents who dissaprove of Noah's unwealthy family, and move Allie away. After waiting for Noah to write her for several years, Allie meets and gets engaged to a handsome young soldier named Lon. Allie, then, with her love for Noah still alive, stops by Noah's 200-year-old home that he restored for her, "to see if he's okay". It is evident that they still have feelings for each other, and Allie has to choose between her fiancé and her first love. John's Thought: I avoided seeing this for a couple of years because it had "chick flick" written all over it. My loss... turned out it's an exceptional film.

#90 - FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 82% Synopsis: A straight arrow coach leads his team to the 1988 Texas state semifinals in the west Texas city of Odessa, where high school football is king. Expectations of classmates, coaches, family, and community members exact a toll on the athletes central to the story. Economic and racial undertones pervade this adaptation of H.G. Bissinger's book by the same name. John's Thought: My first thought is that we've seen this movie 100 times already. Wrong. This is a special film, and a reminder that despite taking a lot of junk roles, Billy Bob Thornton can act his ass off sometimes.

#89 - BRIDGET JONES' DIARY Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 80% Synopsis: Bridget Jones is an average woman struggling against her age, her weight, her job, her lack of a man, and her many imperfections. As a New Year's Resolution, Bridget decides to take control of her life, starting by keeping a diary in which she will always tell the complete truth. The fireworks begin when her charming though disreputable boss takes an interest in the quirky Miss Jones. Thrown into the mix are Bridget's band of slightly eccentric friends and a rather disagreeable acquaintance who Bridget cannot seem to stop running into or help finding quietly attractive. John's Thought: I've yet to meet a woman who hasn't seen this flick... and there's a reason for that.

#88 - THE COLOR OF MONEY Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 91% Synopsis: Eddie "Fast Eddy" Felson, a former pool player forced into retirement by gangsters (as seen in "The Hustler",) finds himself, self-respect, and finally, redemption when he enters a relationship with young pool player Tom Cruise very similar to his own early career. As they travel together, Fast Eddy realizes how much he had lost, and can see the inevitable finale of their relationship as history begins to repeat itself. In an effort to avert tragedy, Eddy severs their relationship, and returns to his first love, pool. Finally, in a big Atlantic City tournament, Cruise returns the favor, and teaches Eddy the final lesson that allows him to finish his quest of re-discovery. John's Thought: Hey, remember back when Tom Cruise wasn't a raving lunatic? Yeah, those were good days.

#87 - MINORITY REPORT Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 92% Synopsis: Based on a Philip K. Dick short story, Minority Report is about a cop in the future working in a division of the police department that arrests killers before they commit the crimes courtesy of some future viewing technology. John Anderton has the tables turned on him when he is accused of a future crime and must find out what brought it about and stop it before it can happen. John's Thought: Spielberg and Curise are an unlikely couple, but man it worked well for this flick.

#86 - APOLLO 13 Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 95% Synopsis: A movie based on what was to be the third lunar-landing mission. This film shows the trials and tribulations of the Apollo 13 crew, mission control, and families after a near-fatal accident cripples the space vehicle. A mission that couldn't get TV airtime because space flights had become routine to the American public suddenly grabbed the national spotlight. This is a tale of averted tragedy, heroism and shows a testament to the creativity of the scientists who ran the early space missions. John's Thought: A solid cast highlighting yet another brilliant performance by Tom Hanks.

#85 - CAPOTE Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 91% Synopsis: In 1959, Truman Capote, a popular writer for The New Yorker, learns about the horrific and senseless murder of a family of four in Holcomb, Kansas. Inspired by the story material, Capote and his partner, Harper Lee, travel to the town to research for an article. However, as Capote digs deeper into the story, he is inspired to expand the project into what would be his greatest work, In Cold Blood. To that end, he arranges extensive interviews with the prisoners, especially with Perry Smith, a quiet and articulate man with a troubled history. As he works on his book, Capote feels some compassion for Perry which in part prompts him to help the prisoners to some degree. However, that feeling deeply conflicts with his need for closure for his book which only an execution can provide. That conflict and the mixed motives for both interviewer and subject make for a troubling experience that would produce an literary account that would redefine modern non-fiction. John's Thought: Most avid film fans already knew Philip Seymour Hoffman was stupidly gifted... this film just sort of introduced him as an "A" lister to the rest of the world.

#84 - ACCIDENTAL TOURIST Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 84% Synopsis: After the death of his son, Macon Leary, a travel writer, seems to be sleep walking through life. Macon's wife, seems to be having trouble too, and thinks it would be best if the two would just split up. After the break up, Macon meets a strange outgoing woman, who seems to bring him back down to earth. After starting a relationship with the outgoing woman, Macon's wife seems to think that their marriage is still worth a try. Macon is then forced to deal many decisions. John's Thought: Nominated for best picture and best screenplay. Geena Davis actually won best supporting actress for this one.

#83 - TRAINSPOTTING Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 88% Synopsis: A wild, freeform, Rabelaisian trip through the darkest recesses of Edinburgh low-life, focusing on Mark Renton and his attempt to give up his heroin habit, and how the latter affects his relationship with family and friends: Sean Connery wannabe Sick Boy, dimbulb Spud, psycho Begbie, 14-year-old girlfriend Diane, and clean-cut athlete Tommy, who's never touched drugs but can't help being curious about them. John's Thought: I still think this is Danny Boyle's best film

#82 - THE VERDICT Rotten Tomatoes Rating - 96% Synopsis: Frank Galvin is a down-on-his luck lawyer, reduced to drinking and ambulance chasing. Former associate Mickey Morrissey reminds him of his obligations in a medical malpractice suit that he himself served to Galvin on a silver platter: all parties willing to settle out of court. Read the full article