#Phantasmagoria Universe here we come!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sercphs · 8 months

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On the topic Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort and The Abyss.

To start this off, let's make the first comparison of importance, one that will have impact through this entire breakdown.

Immernachtreich is the Abyss.

"Every good, bright and noble thing must eventually fall to inexorable entropic destruction, and the final destination of the universe is the realm-in-waiting of the Prinzessin, Immernachtreich." (Flowers for Princess Fischl: Phantasmagoria, Fischl Friendship Level 4)

Immernachtreich literally translates to "Ever Night Empire," and can be more fluidly translated as "Kingdom of the Eternal Night" - a place where all things will go when the universe itself comes to an end, a form of all-consuming darkness that can only be controlled by those who are chosen to do so - or are strong enough to impose their will upon it.

The Abyss is described as the darkest corner of the world, and is home of "the true sky" of Teyvat. It is described as actively damaging to that which cannot control its energies, though it is a powerful tool to those who can endure/manipulate it.

This theme of entropic erosion that the Abyss brings is similar to the ultimate purpose of Immernachtreich: When erosion and entropy eventually bring all things to succumb to them, the only place that properly stands as immune to this decay is the darkness at the end of the universe, a Kingdom of Eternal Night, under which the True Sky exists.

However, it is also worth noting that the Abyss is also very capable of fundamentally changing people that it interacts with, and is capable of manipulating them to an extent. Though not directly paralleled, Immernachtreich in it's mirage manifestation during the Immernachtreich Apokalyse arc of Summertime Odyssey is subject of enticing and manipulating others to ensure that it is not without worldly connection.

When Amy refused to confront Immernachtreich and her own connection to it out of fear of what she would find, Immernachtreich created a stand-in to ensure that it remained in place: Immernacht Fischl (who will be referred to as Nacht going forward).

Nacht: You of all people should know about this. Why does it always rain in the Immernachtreich? Why isn't there any music in this so-called paradise? Fischl: ...Because of you! It's all because of you! Nacht: How pathetic! No, dearest Amy, you, not I, are the one responsible for all of this! Fischl: Ugh...! Nacht: You dreamed up a vast kingdom, but you can't bear its weight. Swayed by fear, you can't face the very world you've created. You may try to avoid it, but the fact is: You can't change yourself. Nacht: I came here in your stead precisely because you failed to show up. The Immernachtreich is now mine, and it is not your place to tell me what to do! Fischl: I... I... Nacht: Amy, you are but a weak fool who does not deserve this world. Begone.

While this is intended as Amy facing her fears, conflict, and doubt - it is notably comparable to a Kingdom of Eternal Night ensuring that it does not go without a leader, no matter the circumstances. This particular comparison and interaction are important due to the recent story of "Caribert."

For this section of comparison, we will look at the Parallels between Immernachtreich and Khaenri'ah.

Nacht came to be when Immernachtreich was without a leader, due to Amy's refusal and negligence - refusing to acknowledge the world she created and exists within. In Chapter III: Act VI "Caribet," at the very end of the story the Traveler is addressed by Chlothar for hypocritical of calling the abyss "sinister and dangerous," and that the fate of Khaenri'ah very reasonably ties to the Sibling's failure to uphold the beliefs of the people in their ability to guide the nation into a bright future atop the world with the Abyss under their control.

In the absence of the Sibling in the aftermath, the Abyss touched another's mind with a need to fill the vacant seat: Chlothar. An agent in the real world, one capable of guiding the Abyss forward in the physical world. This of course leads to the Abyss order, and the Sibling joining it - attempting to amend their past.

Though Nacht and Fischl are not a one-to-one comparison here, it is still reasonable to acknowledge the similarities. One fails to uphold their duties, and thusly another is brought into the scene to ensure that the duties are not left incomplete. Ultimately in both situations, the one who failed to uphold returns to their duties under a sense of responsibility and some degree of guilt.

Both claim the throne in the end.

The connection and comparisons between Immernachtreich, Fischl's story, and Khaenri'ah are not simply limited to that, however.

"When the lone pilgrimaging princess reached the kingdom of eternal twilight, the fate-resisting royals chose to deny everything in their desperation. "They refused to recognize Fischl's noble stature and mission as the princess of the Immernachtreich; denied their 13,000-year lineage as a branch of the royal family; and forsook their own nobility and restraints as humans... devolving into clumsy and vicious beasts. "In the palace of Twilight and amidst the teeth of the beasts, the princess shed her sacred blood on the ancient emblem. "At the moment of her peril, the dark wings of the night ripped the trapped, wounded princess from her despair and took her under its wings. "Following the scent of her noble blood, Ozvaldo Hrafnavins, the King of Ravens came to the princess and pledged his eternal loyalty." (Character Story 3 "Flowers for Princess Fischl [I]: End time Zersetzung," Fischl Friendship 4)

While the large majority of this text is as expected of the story, the bolded portion is particularly noteworthy.

"They refused to recognize Fischl's noble stature and mission as the princess of the Immernachtreich; denied their 13,000-year lineage as a branch of the royal family; and forsook their own nobility and restraints as humans... devolving into clumsy and vicious beasts."

It is not difficult to look at this and similarly draw comparison between Khaenri'ah and the aforementioned nobles - humanity that refused to worship the gods and were subsequently cursed in a manner that resulted in the Hilichurls: those who have lost their humanity at the hands of a curse and of regarded by many as "clumsy and vicious beasts."

This ultimately culminates in a different point that is the ultimate point of this essay: Fischl, and subsequently Amy, are directly connected to the Abyss.

While Fischl herself is left largely ambiguous in the larger picture, what is not left as ambiguous is her companion: Ozvaldo Hrafnavines.

Ozvaldo is introduced in which he saves Fischl's life when she "shed her sacred blood on the ancient emblem," and ultimately resulted in him pledging his eternal loyalty to Fischl. In the Preliminary Volume of "Flowers for Princess Fischl" that can be purchased from the Yae Publishing House, the very first point refers to Ozvaldo Hrafnavines.

Ozvaldo Hrafnavines is "the might lord of the Nachtraben," standing in line with his title presented during Fischl's 3rd character story as "King of Ravens." This same point discusses that Ozvaldo Hrafnavines is decidedly strong than Fischl:

[...] If Fischl's strength in battle might be considered a ten, and the Beasts of the World should have an average of fifteen, then Ozvaldo's strength may be considered thirteen. His great power was on display when he destroyed Dämmerung in Volume 1.

However, this point is then followed up with the following:

Aside from this, the title "Prince Nachtraben" is not a particularly high-flown one, considering that the night ravens have always been known for being conspirators and bearers of curses. Ozvaldo likely insisted on this title, for how could a mere "King of the Night" call himself thus before the Immernachtreich?

When brought into it's own as a point, Ozvaldo is directly subservient to Fischl because - even though she herself is not as strong as he is - she is the Sovereign of Immernachtreich: one capable of accessing and controlling that Kingdom of Eternal Night.

A creature of the Abyss may yet be powerful, but what is a creature of the Abyss before one who can control it's power?

And then, what does this have to do with Amy?

At a glance, and as I have repeatedly mentioned before, Amy appears to be an extremely powerful allogene - capable of elemental manipulation on a scale so powerful that she was able to manifest an entirely separate and sentient entity: Oz.

However, when we look at this situation more closely, the waters get a bit more muddied. Amy does not appear to have final say in her elemental manipulation, in spite of how much is at her disposal - and how effectively she can manipulate it. Amy is capable of completely transforming herself into pure electro energy to take on Oz's form.

She is able to call upon Oz to manifest himself out of nowhere - is able to manipulate swathes of elemental energy through her familiar in potentially incredibly destructive ways!

But therein lies the catch: All of her abilities are not her own. All of her abilities key off of Oz, and exclusively Oz. The abilities of Amy's extensive elemental affinity is reduced to just shy of nothing - capable of coalescing energy around an arrow at most - when Oz acts independently of her.

During Immernachtreich Apokalypse, Oz defects to serve under Nacht during the final chapter of the story - and though he ultimately says that this was because he believed in Fischl to overcome that which plagued her and burdened her - it brought the ultimate point into view.

Without Oz, Fischl's elemental manipulation is practically nothing, and he is able to act entirely independent of her - outright ignoring her will and command. During the sequence, it is shown that Fischl is incapable of any large-scale elemental manipulation without Oz serving as a focus for such manipulations.

This can be drawn as a mirror to Tartaglia in Act IV: Chapter 1 - the Harbinger is capable of extremely complicated and precise elemental manipulation, but due to what can most effectively be described as "interference" in the operation of his vision (likely as a consequence of his own Abyssal connection), his ability to manipulate Hydro energy fell to practically nothing.

It is thusly inferable that the Abyss is capable of interfering directly with an allogene's vision and its operation, and subsequently this plays into the final major note of this essay: Oz.

Oz could very realistically be a mirage of Ozvaldo that is woven through Amy's vision into what she perceives as a true companion. However, there is a certain degree of uncertain depth to Oz and his role in Amy's interactions, most namely that he is the most anomalous thing about Amy's entire persona.

As mentioned earlier, the Abyss and exposure to it are capable of manipulating people and altering their personalities - potentially even their memories or perception. This is ultimately is brought into light when we face the following text:

So, is Oz just an imaginary friend who only exists as a figment of Fischl's subconscious? Our story begins with the royal heirloom, Edelstein der Dunkelheit — that is to say, Fischl's Vision. When her wish was acknowledged, the raven Oz and her Vision both appeared before her eyes. That night, at dinner, Oz got on most well with Fischl's parents: "Ah, mein Kaiser und Kaiserin der Verurteilung, forgive mine overstep, but the beans in your house are too delicious." "Oh, then please, help yourself. This is the first time little ▉▉▉ has met a friend she can bring over for dinner since she turned fourteen. This is a special occasion." "W—What are you saying! I... One does not simply cavort with the plebeians!" —And that's what happened. For all intents and purposes, it seems that the Kaiser und Kaiserin der Verurteilung could both see Oz, and both believed Oz to be the Prinzessin's first friend. [...] (Vision Story, Fischl Friendship 6)

Amy returns from the Library she received her vision in, Oz manifesting at the same time. Despite being an incredible feat of ability from the will of someone who just received a vision -something that is established still requires training and practice - there is not even a shadow of hesitation or doubt relating to Oz's existence. He is treated immediately as just anyone else, in spite of the fact that just earlier in the same day Amy's family has effectively told her that it was time to grow up.

Additionally at this point in time, Amy's family seemingly entirely drops all discussion of Amy needing to change behaviors or actions, as if their minds had suddenly been changed for them.

This potential link of the Abyss through Amy is further supported by the fact that Amy's family are confirmed adventurers of decent skill, and that they were regularly away from home. Amy herself was raised in no small part by the stories she raised, but there is also a chance that her family came into contact with the Abyss in some capacity during their adventures.

And as we all know, children are impressionable and malleable, if given the right influences. For the young girl, a life-long companion and literal manifestation of everything she craves would certainly work well, no?

And to bring you to the final conclusion of this, I must implore you to look upon the following:

"[...]The Prinzessin will then set her own heart ablaze, and the universe shall be born anew in its immortal light.[...]" (Flowers for Princess Fischl: Phantasmagoria, Fischl Friendship Level 4)

"Let us meet again in the new universe and the pure sea of tranquility." (Enigmatic Page [XIII])

Additionally, within the "???" point of interest accessible through the Book of Esoteric Revelations, the world we enter into bears some notable similarities to Immernachtreich from a visual standpoint.

Within this unidentified location, it is notable that it bears much more direct resemblance to the Abyss as we have seen - a deep abyssal blue and purples, falling into a void. However, the sky shattering is a symbolism shared between this location and Immernachtreich.

The false sky shall crumble under the weight of revelations, and the Kingdom of Eternal Night shall bring salvation unto all things.

tl;dr: Immernachtreich is analogous to the Abyss, Oz is analogous to the Whale, and the Abyss really likes to manipulate children.

#das selbst durch die linse .. ooc #.. musings #.. saved #Hi I have a LOT to think about from yesterday.#I will never be the same again and neither with Fischl.#Am I possibly on the worlds most potent copium? Yes.#But I have to make do.#If hoyo won't give Fischl screentime then I'll do it myself.

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meiizumi · 9 months

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sorry followers, i'm going to curse you guys to see longer posts about my new hyperfixation: Ancient Yaoi VNs

Anyways, lately I've been trying really hard to find as much information as possible about this lost yaoi game. It was cancelled but I'm dying to know what the game could have looked like and why it could've been canned.

It's called "Torus Zero" or "0-TORUS" or "トーラス・ゼロ" and it was being developed by CORE, known for titles like Messiah and Fanatica. I can't vouch for if those games are good; my opinion is that they look extremely camp and representative of the gothic horror fad in early-mid 2000s anime. Art was done by CARNELIAN, who tumblr users might know as the one who illustrated the original "let's take ibuprofen together" pink girl. She was also known for other visual novels by Orbit, aka CORE's parent brand. Orbit had a bunch of sub-brands for different kinds of visual novels and CORE was their branch for BL. Of all of Orbit's games, the most known one might be Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito, which got an anime adaptation. The silver haired dude in the above photo is named Arya and he appears in that game.

The plot of this was supposed to be that the blue haired dude, Riku, wakes up with no memories in the alleys of "March City" or "三月都市" (at some point this was changed to "Full Moon City" or "満月都市"). He learns that he is a human who is in a world where humans shouldn't exist. All the other characters are nonhuman mythical creatures or animal-people, I think. I don't know. Then he ends up working as cleaning staff at a brothel that hosts male prostitutes. How and why did he end up here? What are the mysteries behind the city and the reason for his existence?

As far as my low Japanese level can see, news of its existence dates back as far as 2002. B's Log magazine, a japanese magazine that provides information on games targeted at female gamers, featured Torus Zero on their second ever issue released in summer of 2002.

There are two versions of an official Torus Zero website on the Wayback Machine. Part of it was because Orbit's entire website went through a renovation but it appears that at some point in development they majorly overhauled this game. It turned from a ADV + simulation game to an ADV + SRPG. They even lowered the age rating from 18+ to "all ages", and this change came with an apology (?) letter from Miss CARNELIAN herself that was linked on the webpage. Part of me thinks this might have been CARNELIAN's passion project. It's a shame it didn't come into fruition even though I don't think it would've aged well at all like most Yaoi from the early 2000s. As a fan of her art though I would've at least liked to see her vision...

2002 vs. 2006. shoutout to the emo ass platforms

Speaking of which, CARNELIAN recently revealed that she was working on an all new 18+ BL game called "Tokyo Phantasmagoria" or "東京幻燈". Before I knew anything about it though, I saw a teaser on the latest issue of Cool-B (BL game-focused magazine) that she was cooking a new BL project and thought, "Could you imagine if it's Torus Zero. Holy shit". I don't think we are ever going to get this game but I will continue to look at its concept as a part of fujo history. My artifacts from my Yaoi Archaeology research at BL University are coming out pretty well I'd say

#txp #bl game #I also ordered three more yaoi game magazines today. U have to kill me

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gemkun · 22 days

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@vulune said : bifocal optics, one ensconced behind the lure of a monocle, behold the man before him with tacit curiosity. for all the variables in the universe, for all the calculations that screwllum might provide, the behaviors of humanity prove to be the most fascinating. in their prior encounter - veritas ratio had been a dubious outlier, a quiet force aboard the space station that had saved countless lives under the thin veil of scholarly worth. screwllum, for his part, found such a genius fascinating - for ratio was a genius, despite what he might say, or what nous might ignore. where the other member's of the society fell almost predictably within his calculations - ratio had that additional variable, that one outlier that kept him from acting perfectly within screwllum's frame of reference, and subsequently... from calling nous' gaze. " observation: you are not tending to yourself as you should. " in the expanse of the reverie, screwllum's private suite is more secure than ratio's own, for here the genius society is regarded far more pleasantly than any association with the guild and ipc. even still, there is the curious whir of machinery, noble 'bot with hands folded behind his back, paying no mind to the effervescent lepidoptera that has taken to flitting between the doctor's dark locks in screwllum's presence. " addition: the events in the dreamscape have haunted you. your empathy has once again exceeded my calculations. " from somewhere, the genius produces an apple - red, round, shiny and perfect, and sets it on the desk before the good doctor. " conclusion: you need sustenance and rest, mr. ratio. all organic life forms must tend to their needs. " that same butterfly has come to rest on ratio's laurel pin, bright expansive wings fanning lazily in the room's dim lighting, " i can conduct your research in your stead, and demonstrate my findings in the morning, after you have acquired your requisite 7.5 hours, if you so desire. "

⸻ although , there is undeniability that the concern of the screwllumite stems from a place of genuine distress , the good doctor must respectfully decline his extended assistance. out of principle and out of allegiance. he does so , with a meagre shake and a retrieval of unattended documentation — outlining the ins and outs of the current ongoings occurring in this wasteland , blanketed behind a veil of phantasmagoria.

❝ your consternation is warranted , but there is no real reason to fret. ❞ flicking through bundled sheets , his eyes glide across presented findings. covering the matter of ❛ dormancy ❜ , unbeknownst to the rest of penacony — as a result of ignorance and deliberate deprivation. ❝ a surplus awaits me once we depart from the land of dreams. for now , it is critical i utilise the limited time available to ascertain what i have sought. ❞ and a sigh extracts with a dip of a chin. ❝ unfortunately , that relies on a variable i have no control over. ❞

to think the stellaron . . . ah , and speaking of the cancer of all worlds. setting down neatly piled records , with the winged insect as his companion , he returns to the mechanical lifeform’s side. to provide an evidently tiresome demeanour towards one indeterminate by all dimensions , aside from the inner machinations that formulate emotive tone. ❝ in less than 24 system hours , order will be restored , then these minor issues can be addressed. until a resolution has been reached , my sacrifices are negligible. ❞

and here , he ponders on whether he should disclose significant intel , negotiated from the revered leader of penacony himself. perhaps , he should conduct data collection before handing off valuable investigations. ❝ i imagine you have found greater success with your enterprise. if it is not overstepping , from one academic to another , would you be willing to share your discoveries ? ❞ whether out of scholarly curiousity or something more , only the whir of bifocals could glean his intention.

#* ✦ 𝐈𝐈. ❮ asks ❯ ⸻ ❝#* ✦ 𝐕𝐈. ❮ muses ❯ ⸻ ❝ 「 veritas ratio 」#* ✦ vulune #* ✦ vulune | screwllum #they are so big brain #i still need to go into the workings of ratio's tome because like he can materialise things so easily and that's where he pulls out the inf #but like what's the extent of it #hoyo tell me #also the butterflies around him are so

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studioazroykusanagi · 7 months

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Ultra Galaxy Fight

Phantasmagoria

by Azroy Kusanagi

This is purely fanfiction

Synopsis

An ominous threat from out of nowhere has risen to destroy everything.The Land of Ultra may have little chance against it.Even with help from neighboring planets nothing can stand against it.Who might be able to combat it?.Is there a speck of hope lingering around the Land of Ultra?

Prologue

At Planet Tenebris, a cabal of evil aliens come together to discuss something.They are Satan Bizor, Bizorm, Kyrieloid, Zog, Reiblood, Alien Bat, Gransphere, Alien Muzan, Yapool, Hipporit & Mensch Heit ."Aaahh, my friend Yapool.Long time no see.", greeted Bat."Likewise, Bat.Why are you here?", Yapool asked."Let us find out, shall we?.", Bat spoke."Very well.", Yapool spoke.The aliens walked towards the ruins of Ultra Dark-Killer's base where other evil aliens have already gathered.

"Who are you?.What are you doing here?", Bizorm asked.Hipporit approaches Bizorm and greeted Bat & Yapool."My comrades!.Long time no see.", Hipporit spoke."Aaahhh, comrade.Likewise.", Yapool spoke."What brings you here, Hipporit?.", Bat asked."I don't know why am I here.What about you two?", Hipporit said.Hearing this, Bizorm pushed the aliens away and say,"This is VIP only!.Why are you here?"."Calm down, my son.They might have something to our advantage.", Satanbizor calming Bizorm.

Kyrieloid glances towards them and announces, "Greetings.We are here because the most despotic aliens have summoned us for one grand quest.Meet Reiblood, Zog & Mensch Heit."Then, Alien Reiblood, Zog & Mensch Heit appear from water ripple before the aliens."You!!.Why are you here?.What do you want from us?", Bat spoke angrily.Zog laughed and said, "We are here to avenge our loss against the Ultras."."Ultras are our sworn enemies.Why don't you do it yourselves?", Hipporit said."Don't you love Empera so much?.", Zog teased."Of course we are!.", Yapool exclaimed.Mensch Heit says, "We may help you with that.Join us and we shall become true masters of the universe!".Bizorm says, "What would these brats can do about that?.You say ghostly beings like us are sufficient already.".Reiblood says, "We must have extra power to make the universe ours again.Your own brethren may go against you in this."."Very well then.", Bizorm gives in.

Chapter 1

Somewhere in Nebula M-78, everything is normal at Galaxy Rescue Force HQ when suddenly mini Bizorms appear and blast everything.Gukulushima, the red-maned lion retaliates but to no avail.The Bizorms manage to possess it and continue wrecking the HQ.Queen Izana tries exorcising Gukulushima consuming most of her energy.Then, the Bizorms merge into one and strangled her and Sora.Luckily, Ultraman Ribut and Regulos show up blocking Bizorm.It resists with energy sword but blocked by Ribut's Blocker Effect.Regulos blasts Bizorm with everything picked up from Spica and Master Alude, knocking Bizorm away.

"Hahahahahahahaha!.Resistance is useless!.Surrender to us or your land perishes!!.", Bizorm gleefully spoke."Yamero!!", screamed a gleaming silver hand grabbing Bizorm's neck.Bizorm is thrown at the side by it."That light.Is it?", Sora wondered."Long time no see.", mocked the gleaming hand revealing an Ultra."You?!", Bizorm spoke in surprised manner.Everyone especially Izana stunned by the reveal."Who is he?", Sora questioned."He is an Ultraman from another universe.He is among a trio of Ultras with amazing skills and as awesome as Ultraman Brothers, albeit stronger.",Ribut said."Really?", Sora said."Yes.They are what some call 'Essence of Phantasmagoria'.He is also among the Ultras who help curbing my evil sister's quest of cosmic domination.", Izana spoke."Their powers are embedded in Ultraman Z's medals.", Sora added."So, why would Leo never mention about them?.", Regulos wondered."As far as I know, Leo is a loner.Astra might have met them but never mention it.", Ribut spoke."I see.", Regulos said.

Bizorm gets back on feet and challenged the Ultra."I will destroy you at once!"."Fine then!.".They exchange blows and attacks with the Ultra gaining the upper hand.He blasted Bizorm with five rounds of blue Liquidator forcing Bizorm to escape.The Ultra turned to everyone and treated Gukulushima with his purification blast."Are you guys okay?."."Yeah.Who are you actually?", Sora questioned.".I'm Gaia, Ultraman from another universe.You guys may know about this thing called Radical Destruction Bringer(R.D.B.), right?"."I may know some.I'm Izana, nice to meet you again."."You must be the one deitified by your people right?.", Gaia said."Yeah.Actually I'm not.", Izana said."Are you guys want to meet your superiors?.", Gaia questioned."Yes.", everyone said in unison.".Then count me in.", Gaia said.

At Planet 0-50, 4 Ultramen are training as usual when a portal cracks, blasting them.The portal reveals aliens Hipporit, Yapool and Muzan.Then a trio of Choujuu;Vakishim, Baraba and Velokron come from the portal.Ultraman Fuma steps forward and say, "What are you doing here, bro?.".

"The universe will be ours again!.Die, you scums.", Muzan said.Fuma blasted the evil aliens, managing to hurt Muzan.Ultramen Rosso and Blu come aiding Fuma and manage to hurt the other aliens.Then Baraba slashes all of them forcing Grigio to strike the beast with Zero Kick but to no avail.Muzan gets back on his feet and gleefully said, "Hahahahaha!.Useless.You stand no chance against our might.Mwahahahahahaha!.".Then, a gleaming sword slashes the aliens with Orb Flame Calibur and Orb Ground Calibur.A shimmering silver body appears before them revealing the famous Ultraman from planet 0-50."It's him.Orb-san!", yelled Fuma.

Reeling from the scars made by Orb, the aliens ordered the Choujuu attack Orb but already killed by him when he swiftly activates Emerium Slugger mode by throwing his sluggers.He proceeds towards Muzan and Yapool but only manage to wound Muzan severely.Yapool is forced to escape via his signature portal along with Muzan.Hipporit attacks the Ultras but severely slashed by Orb.Orb glanced and approches Fuma, Rosso, Blu and Grigio."Are you guys okay?", Orb asked."We're alright.Thanks.", Grigio answered."We must go to the Land of Ultra right away.I have received news that those scums have ravaged Victory's homeland.", Orb spoke.Upon hearing it, the others are stunned and fly together with Orb to Land of Light.

At the Land of Ultra, Ultra Father, Ultra Mother and the Ultraman Brothers have gathered at the podium waiting for someone's arrival."I have sensed something ominous emanating somewhere around here.Do you guys feel the same?", Taro asked.Zoffy spoke out, "I have received news that Ultraman Ribut have suffered heavy damage.Let's hope the others are okay."."Look!.The Galaxy Rescue Force are here.Who is that Ultra they bring along?", Ultra Mother pointed to the Galaxy Rescue Force (G.R.F) entourage.The squad along with Ultraman Gaia landed in front of the Ultraman Brothers, Ultra Father and Ultra Mother.Ultraman Ribut along with the rest approaches their superiors with Gaia standing behind them."The Galaxy Rescue Force are here reporting the recent situation.", Ribut spoke out.Ultra Father approaches the team and say, "Aaahh!.Ribut, report to us what really happened."."Our base has been damaged badly by ghostly alien named Bizorm who managed to possess one of our own.Luckily, we got help.", Ribut reported."There is an Ultra named Gaia who managed to quell that scum away.", Sora interjected."Gaia?.Where is he now?.Is he and Bizorm have something in common?", Ultra Father voicing curiousity."I am Gaia, the one who helped them out recently.", Gaia approached and spoke out to Ultra Father."So, you are the one who quashed the entity named Radical Destruction, right?", Ultra Father asked."It is team effort.I am just doing my part.", Gaia humbly responded.They shake hands.Ultra Father glanced to the other Ultras and spoke, "We must discuss this right away.This situation has gone dire."

Chapter 2

Somewhere at Neo Frontier Space, Ultraman Justice is flying casually when she saw flashes of light clashing each other.Curious, she flies towards it revealing a silver-blue-red Ultra and a silver-red-lavender Ultra clashing against imitations of them.She lands and astounded to see Ultraman Tiga and Dyna having trouble against their evil imitations.The Ultras fell and tried to stand up.She ran towards them and helped them out by blasting the imitations."Are you guys okay?.", Justice asked.Dyna said, "We're not good here yet still okay.Are you with Cosmos?"."Cosmos is busy with issues at Juran due to Spheres and some maniac named Kyrie…", Justice spoke."That asshole?!.We must help Cosmos at once.Thanks for coming.", Tiga spoke out."Alright then.Let's settle things here first.", Dyna interjected.The Ultras then blasted the imitations revealing Apathee and Alguros.The enemies of Gaia and Agul manifest tridents and arm-bazookas blasting the Ultras.They charge towards the vile liquid aliens with energized fists and triple kicks directly hitting the aliens.The Ultras then fire their Kousen sending the vile aliens to oblivion."We must hurry.", Justice said.Tiga and Dyna nodded and fly with Justice to Planet Juran.

At Planet Juran, Ultraman Cosmos aided by Ultraman X, Geed and Z are busy fighting Kyrieloid and Sphere Kaijus Neo-Darambia, Giralen and Gaigaraid who run rampant.Ultraman Geed activates Solid Burning mode killing Neo-Darambia, Ultraman Z with Beliarok in Delta Rise Claw mode kills Giralen and Ultraman X kills Gaigaraid with his Bemstar and Eleking armours powering Xanadium Beam.Meanwhile, Ultraman Cosmos in Corona mode has trouble with Kyrieloid possessing Juran but manage to purge him out with Prominence Artillery.Kyrieloid is forced to engage Cosmos in close combat with Cosmos gaining the upperhand.The vile enemy spew fireballs and fly upwards spinning dangerously towards Cosmos.Cosmos is astounded by the scene and tried to avert it and survived.The other Ultras engage Kyrieloid in combat and manage to gain upperhand.Kyrieloid spew fireballs and spin horizontally but averted by Ultraman Z's Lightning Generade and X's Eleking armor strike.

Geed comes to Cosmos and ask, "Are you okay, senpai?"."I've been through worse.", Cosmos said."We must get some help.There's no way we can deal with them.", Geed said."No way!.We can deal with this ourselves!.", X angrily voice out."You never deal with ghostly aliens, right senpai?", Z questioned."That's right, moron!.You are so into kaiju yet so naive and aloof, just like your Victorian friends.", Kyrieloid mockingly said.Angrily, X activates his Exceed mode and slashed Kyrieloid with X-Slugger.The alien spew fireballs knocking X hard.He fell to the ground and tried to stand up.Kyrieloid summons Spheres and possesses X with Spheres falling on him like goo.X is in excruciating pain when suddenly white spikes with black trimmings pop out from his body turning his eyes red.He swiftly attacks the Ultras forcing them to defend themselves.

Suddenly, travel spheres come blasting corrupted X knocking him down.The spheres fade revealing Ultraman Tiga, Dyna, Agul and Justice standing before Cosmos, Geed and Z.The corrupted X stood up and charge towards the Ultras but restrained by Geed and Z.They try to purify X aided by Cosmos and the new coming Ultras.It is successful attempt with X slowly recovering to his normal self.Kyrieloid and Spheres merge into a being of gory amalgamation and spew green fireballs.They manage to block it and charge towards the being.The being blocks them only to allow Tiga and Dyna to strike hard against the being.All Ultras present fire their kousen imploding the being away.Exhausted, X stumps down and aided by Z."Are you okay, senpai?", Z asked."I'm still able to fly.Let's meet up with the others.", X spoke.Then, all Ultras present fly towards the Land of Ultra.

At Planet U-40, Ultraman Taiga and Titas are sparring with Ultraman Joneus when Zog in her true form only in 200 meters tall and Bat show up.The aliens blast the Ultras knocking them down."Hahahahahaha!.You fools.Prepare to die!.", Bat mockingly spoke.The Ultras charge towards the invaders and blast them away.The invading aliens retaliate but manage to wound the Ultras lightly.They engage the aliens in close combat with them gaining the upper hand.Zog with her front legs broken by the U-40 Ultras' immense strength tried to retaliate but to no avail due to expert aversion of her shockwave balls by Ultraman Taiga in Photon Earth mode.She fired eye lasers but slashed by Taiga right at her eyes.Sensing this, Bat rushes to help Zog but failed by a sudden flash of light ramming him.The light fades revealing an all-blue Ultra."Alright!.Help has arrived.", Taiga yelled.

The blue Ultra rushes towards the battered Ultras."Are you guys okay?", he asked."We're good here.We've never seen this monstrosity.This is totally atrocious!.", Titas spoke.All Ultras present stand up and rush towards the invaders, engaging them in close combat.The invaders blast the Ultras but nimbly dodged by them.They blast the invaders forcing them to retreat.

When the dust settles, the blue Ultra glances towards the others."So, you must be the legendary hero from the Land of Ultra, huh?", Titas asked."I am not from the Land of Ultra.By the way, I'm Agul.Nice to see you guys.", Agul answered.Taiga spoke out, "I only know the alien named Bat but who is that horrific alien?.I never seen it before."."That is the malevolent monstrosity named Zog, the best agent of an entity called Radical Destruction Bringer.You guys may know something about the entity, right?", Agul spoke."We U-40 Ultras do know something about that Bringer.We must join forces.", Joneus spoke out."Agreed.We must go to the Land of Ultra.The others are already there.", Taiga voices out.

Chapter 3

At Planet L77, Ultraman Zero is busy training with Ultraman Leo and Astra under watchful eyes of Ultraseven & Ultraman King when invaders appear from Yapool's trademark portal."Hahahahaha!.We're back.", Alien Raybeak announced.With Yapool, Zoiger and Kaiser Dobishi at their side, they ambush the Ultras forcing them on defense.They trade energy blasts and blows one after another.Eventually, the Ultras gain upper hand with Zero imploding Zoiger and Kaiser Dobishi with Twin Zero Sword and Leo and Astra killing Raybeak with their signature death kicks.Upon this, Yapool tries to retaliate but grabbed by Ultraman King telekinetically."You're coming with us!.", King threatened.The Ultras there then fly to Land of Ultra.

At Ultra Training Ground, Ultraman Mebius and Ultraman 80 are busy with training when Taro summons them to an emergency summit.They cancel training and attend the summit together with other Ultras from Nebula M-78.Before the summit began, Ultraman King, Zero, Leo and Astra has arrived with Yapool restrained via telekinesis.Moments later, the greatest Ultra trio:Tiga, Dyna and Gaia (TDG) has arrived together with Agul, Cosmos, Justice and all New Generation Ultras."Ultramen, all and new ones.We are here due to an ominous threat has come to our land beyond our horizon.They are here purely for destruction.I have captured one of them.", King announced."Wahahahahahaha!.Puny beings of light.How naive you are!.You shall witness your doom!.Wahahahahahahahaha!!", Yapool spoke out and vanishes.

All Ultras present are stunned by it and murmur among themselves."Calm down, everyone.We must not give up no matter what!.We can be afraid but never delve into it for so long.We are Ultramen, Ambassadors & Warriors of Light!", Ultra Father convincing everyone.

Then, the renowned Ultras gather around discussing this pressing issue."Ace, status report!.", Ultra Father ordered."Me and Z have received news that swarms of demonic bird kaiju and insectoid kaijus with scythe for hands ravaging three planets surrounding Juran and Juran itself.", Ultraman Ace spoke."I have news about smoke-dispensing kaijus rampaging Ultraman Victory's homeworld and also X's.They are barely able to defeat those maniacs.", Ultraman Hayata reported."Me and Mebius have encountered kaijus with insane power-ups rampaging our neighbours.Ours are next we presume.", Ultraman 80 reported."Mmmmmm.We must act accordingly and immediately.Where are the others?.", Zoffy spoke out.

The trio with some new generation Ultras walk towards Ultra Father.Ultra Father glances towards them and say, "Do you have some knowledge about the recent reports?."."About the kaijus covering a planet with smoke, that must be Gatanothor and Mururoa.They are the only kaijus capable of such feat.About the kaiju in swarms wreaking havoc, it must be the Zoigers and Kilazee.They are the most notorious examples of kaijus if such kind.", Z spoke out."I am certain Kilazee is not kaiju living as swarms.It must the abomination named Dobishi.", Ultraman Hikari interjected."Oh, I see.Sorry for my Ultra-stupidity.", Z spoke."What about the kaijus with insane power-ups 80 reported?.", Ultra Father asked."Our intel discovers something terrible about the attack.Those are Arindo, Dobishi and C.O.V.Their skins have vein-like markings akin to Grand King's.", Ribut reported."Our friend Melos have been battered badly by a demonic alien who managed to wound Neos and Seven 21 so bad.", Ribut continued."What?.That must be Mensch Heit.He is the one who drove the Zamu aliens to extinction.", Ginga interjected."The Greatest Trio!.We need your say upon this matter.Would you share something we may miss?", Ultra Father asked.

Tiga, Dyna, Gaia and Agul approach Ultra Father with Tiga spoke first."I can help out about Gatanothor.I have dealt him before.The same goes with Zoiger.He is the best and staunch agent of that psychotic mollusc.I can deduce that the megalomaniac beast Zaigorg has returned or his brethren has appeared to wreak havoc.Zaigorg is the only kaiju capable of insane power-ups to any kaiju."."He's right.I have first-hand experience against Zaigorg before X did.That kaiju manage to destroy three planets alone.", Dyna added."We can help out with Dobishi.They always live in swarms and manage to obliterate a planet themselves.", Agul spoke.

After a long silence, Gaia spoke up, "This must be Radical Destruction's doing.We must bring the battle to it!."."Agreed.We should strategize right away.", Zoffy added.

Afterwards, all Ultras are busy with training to strengthen themselves.Amidst intensity and seriousness of their training regime, some of them seem enjoying themselves while training at the same time.This is evident among Ultrawoman Grigio, Ultraman Zearth, Ultraman Nice and Ultraman Boy.Somewhere, Tiga is sparring with Ultraman Hayata in an erratic manner troubling Hayata."Are you okay, pal?", Hayata asked."Yeah.", Tiga simply nodded."Is there something bothering you?.You can talk to us.", Hayata spoke concernly."You see, I've been dreaming about someone from my past who keeps coming to me.", Tiga replied nonchalantly.They stopped sparring with Hayata rubbing his chin and spoke, "Hmmm.We must consult Ultra Father, Mother and Ultraman King about this.It might be some sort of goading tactics from our adversaries."."I want to see them right now!.", Tiga spoke out."Bring your comrades along.They may have their opinions about that.", Hayata responded.

Chapter 4

At Planet U40, Ultraman Joneus and Gaia are busy discussing about the recent threat during sparring while Agul is sparring with Titas, Fuma and Taiga."You say your people have some knowledge about R.D.B.Share with us.", Gaia said."Eons ago, R.D.B invaded this land with an army of kaijus with sickles for hands, horns blasting lightning and a gigantic eye with a pocket dimension inside.They manage to ravage us but fail due to our efforts and help from our allies.As far as I know, that entity is malicious and menacing at the same time.", Joneus elaborated."That must be Cosmic Organism Vanguard (C.O.V.), Pazuzu and Mokulan.I never thought R.D.B has nefarious campaigns across far reaches of the universe.", Gaia replied."Sometimes, that entity do help another entity named Delacion invading planets with civilizations with marauding robot army of gruesome weaponry.", Joneus added."Nani?!.That's totally atrocious!.", Gaia replied shockingly.

Hearing that, Fuma asked Agul, "Nii-san, do you guys always meet rogue machines like those of King Joe?."."We don't fight those similar to King Joe because that robot is benevolent in our land.Usually robots like Sigma-Zuigul and those made for so-called 'cleaning the environment' are the ones we fight regularly.", Agul answered."I see.That R.D is so douche, is it?", Fuma added.Agul chuckled and spoke, "You can say that, ninja boy.Arigato for calling me nii-san.Watashi personally enjoy that.".Fuma cackled lightly upon the statement.Taiga and Titas are just chuckling upon the scene.

Suddenly, a wormhole opens revealing a demonic alien with C.O.V and Pazuzu on tow.The Ultras present are stunned and already in a fighting stance."Bwahahahahahahahaha!.Prepare for your doom!.We are true masters of the universe!.", the alien announced."Who is that?", Titas asked."That is Mensch Heit, the harbinger of extinction who fought Neos and Seven 21 to their near deaths.They won due to the sacrifice of the last living Zamu alien.", Taiga answered."Those two kaijus are C.O.V and Pazuzu, the menacing heavy hitters of R.D.B who ravaged my land eons ago.", Titas elaborated.Then, C.O.V and Pazuzu charge towards the present Ultras and trade blows and blasts with them.Eventually, the Ultras manage to batter the evil kaijus forcing Mensch Heit to act.He recharges the kaijus revealing a darker shade of themselves with vein-like markings all over their body.All Ultras are stunned upon the reveal.Mensch Heit orders the kaijus to attack the heroes but failed due to their swift reflexes.

"We have to split up.This must not be prolonged.", Gaia spoke."Agreed.Let's do it.", Joneus replied.Gaia with Titas and Joneus fight the powered-up C.O.V while Agul, Taiga and Fuma fight the powered-up Pazuzu.They are badly battered by the kaijus but gained the upperhand eventually.C.O.V is killed by Gaia's Quantum Stream and repetitive Palanium Blast by Titas and Joneus, Pazuzu is killed by Agul Saber with repetitive energy shuriken strikes by Fuma and Taiga's Strium Blaster.Upon this, Mensch Heit charges but averted by repetitive Liquidator strikes forcing him to retreat."This is just a prelude.More menacing stuff are coming.We must strike them first.", Titas voiced out his concern.The others merely nodded.

At Planet L77, Regulos and Astra are sparring each other while discussing the recent issue."So, do you really meet the trio from the other universe?.Why don't you tell us?.", Regulos asked.Astra answered after a short silence while trading fits and kicks with Regulos, "I always meet Dyna and Gaia yet sometimes meet Tiga.Dyna and Gaia do visit Izana regularly while Tiga sometimes meet our king and the legendary and enigmatic Ultraman Nexus yet rarely meet Izana.He always hang out with our pal Melos and other Andro such as Andro Mars, Andro Wolf, Andro Flor, Hayata and sometimes Leo.Those three are exceptional martial artists albeit deadlier than you, me and Leo"."So that's why you never mention anything about those three.Are they deadly?", Regulos voicing his curiousity."Yes.A flying kick right at the enemy's neck is lethal enough than my own death kick.I even tried to practice their signature triple kicks numerous times but to no avail.", Astra elaborated."Why?.Is it difficult?.We learn combat from numerous masters before.It doesn't have to be that hard.", Regulos spoke startledly."Honestly, I'm too methodical and aggressive for that stuff.Even Leo has difficulties mastering that.Hayata does it effortlessly.So does Mebius.", Astra spoke.Regulos is dumbfounded upon the statement.

At Planet King, Ultraman Tiga, Ultra Father, Ultra Mother, Ultraman Zoffy, Ultraman Hayata and the King himself converge discussing the recent issue."I heard that you had dreams recently, Tiga.Is it true?.", King asked."Yes.Someone from my past has come to me via dreams.I tried to ignore it but it is insistent.", Tiga answered."I can deduce that it maybe your first love coming to aid you in this.It may also be our enemies' goading tactics just like what Ultra Father said.", Hayata voices his opinion."Really?.Is that possible?.How?", Ultra Mother voices out her curiosity."You can't be serious!.She's already dead, right?.", Zoffy questioned."Sometimes allies do come from those yearning redemption and repentance.I need you to come with me personally.We maybe able to come up with something.", King spoke honorably."Really?.", Tiga queried."Absolutely.I have already asked someone about this.", King spoke assuringly.

At Planet K76, Ultramen Ribut, Max and Xenon are training with Dyna while Sora and Izana watching idly."So, are you the one who helped Izana kill Queen Bezelb?.What is she like?", Ribut queried."She's okay.Kinda awesome as a queen.You're lucky enough she enlists you as a member of G.R.F.", Dyna jovially replied.

"Really?.Man, no wonder Izana is the G.R.F commander.", Max added."I almost forgot, I am among those who killed that creep.Orb does most of the job.So does Izana.", Dyna added."That's great.Why do you agree training with us anyway, Dyna?", Xenon queried."I enjoy making friends along the way.Besides, sharpening my skills do help out a lot.", Dyna continued.Sora and Izana are chuckling upon the scene."So, Dyna is awesome you're saying?", Sora queried."Yeah.He's always in full spirits no matter how insurmountable the odds.I am so inspired by that.", Izana sweetly answered.

At the Land of Ultra, the other Ultras under supervision from Zoffy, Ace and Taro are training rigorously.Suddenly, a booming voice with echo disrupts their training followed by a cracking portal revealing Yapool, Mensch Heit and Hipporit cackling madly."Puny so-called heroes!.This universe will be ours again!.Your doom is near!.", they spoke in unison and laughing maniacally closing Yapool's signature portal.

Chapter 5

At Planet King, Ultraman King,Tiga and Nexus in Anphans mode converge with Hayata standing behind."Aahh, my friend.Long time no see.", King greeted Nexus."Likewise.Looks like there are pressing matters requiring my part.What is it?", Nexus replied.Tiga spoke out, "I have a recurring dream about someone from my past.I don't know what to do about it.".Pondering this, Nexus thinks for a long time before coming up with an answer, "It must be some sort of goading tactics by Kyrieloids.They are truly hooligans of the universe, way worse than Barossa yet at the same league as the Bizorms.It might also be your first love coming back to aid you specifically since she yearned shimmering light as much as you do.", Nexus deduced.Astounded, Tiga is processing the information and queries,"What should I do about it?.How can a dead Dark Giant can come back?"."The multiverse are truly under The One Above All's will.There are things beyond an Ultraman's comprehension.If she does come back, it maybe a sign for you to do what is supposed to be done long ago.This is purely from my experience.", Nexus elaborates.Silence looms the scene when Tiga spoke up, "Okay.If I must share my light with her, then so be it."."That's the spirit.Light is something must be shared.Experience taught me.", Nexus voicing his agreement."Allow me to help.", Ultra Mother voices her willingness to help.

Suddenly a menacing alien appears from a ripple in front of the Ultras present."Gahahahahahahahaha!.", Mensch Heit laughed maniacally and blasting the Ultras present.Then, Muzan, Kyrieloid and Satanbizor appear with Spheres floating around them.All Ultras present prepare for combat.The aliens charge and trade blows, kicks and fists with the Ultras.Ultraman Nexus in Junis Blue gains upperhand by brutally slashing Muzan and Mensch Heit forcing them to absorb Spheres but failed due to King's efforts.Ultra Father and Hayata trade blows with Kyrieloid and Satanbizor yet failed due to the ghostly aliens' ability to split into several mini bodies.Tiga with Ultra Mother aids Hayata and Ultra Father and manage to quell the enemies' efforts.With his pitfall blast amplified by energies of Ultra Mother and Ultra Father, they manage to quell the threat.The aliens tried to retaliate when a blast similar to Zeperion Beam and Solgent Beam hit them so hard.

When the dust settles, an Ultraman similar to Tiga with golden bands and a sword fly down towards everyone followed by two Ultramen similar to Dyna with one in silver and lavender while the other in silver, red and blue."Are you guys okay?.", asked the Dyna-like Ultra."Sorry we're late.", the Tiga-like Ultra spoke."We're all okay.Thanks for coming.", Hayata thanked them."I'm Decker.He's Trigger.That's our friend, Dinas.", the Dyna-like Ultra introduced himself, the lavender variant of himself and the Tiga-like Ultra.King approached the vile aliens voicing out menacingly, "We are already coming for you!."

Chapter 6

At the Land of Ultra, mass hysteria erupt when female Ultras red and blue are vandalizing everything in sight.All Ultras present are clueless upon the situation.The situation gets worse when Gatanothor and Mururoa appear blowing smoke engulfing the Land of Ultra.Then, Shibito-Zoiger, Dobishi swarms and Spheres appear marauding the Ultras present and merge into dozens of Zoiger, Kaiser Dobishi and Arindo.Things gone worse when wormholes appear and portals crackling revealing Zaigorg, Baraba, Velokron, Vakishim, Doragory, Lunaticks, Ace Killer, C.O.V, Pazuzu, Reiblood, Mensch Heit, Zog in her true form and height, Hipporit now with Yapool's eyes, Yapool, Bat, Muzan, Gatanothor, Mururoa and Gransphere now in Sedna size.

"Oh no!!.This is Ultra-crazy!.", Z exclaimed.Ultraman Ace approaches his terrified nephew, "You must not surrender and give up!.That is Ultraman!.".Z is relieved upon hearing the words from Ace.He immediately go to Ultrawoman Beth who has been hysterically vandalizing and cure her with his own energy.It worked temporarily with her pushing Z so hard forcing him to activate Gamma Future.He entered Beth's Color Timer and vanquished the source of the hysteria with his energy amplified with Beliarok and Lightning Generade.Turns out it becomes a wave of rainbow spreading across the Land of Ultra curing all Ultrawomen present.With that, ghostly figures float out of the Ultrawomen revealing Kyrieloid, Bizorm and Satanbizor.All of them suffer excruciating pain due to the wave's effects.

The cabal and Ultramen are facing each other exchanging glares."Aaahahahahahahahahaha!.Your doom is imminent!.Once your land is gone, we will certainly become masters of the universe!.Mwahahahahahahahahahahaha!", Reiblood gleefully spoke up.The battle commences with both sides exchange blows and blasts of energy.

Lunaticks face Ultraman Leo, Astra and Regulos with it badly beaten by the champions of space martial arts;Doragory and Baraba face Zoffy, Ultraman Hayata, Ace and Jack.Ace Killer, Velokron and Vakishim face Ultraman Max, Xenon and Ribut with both sides beating each other.Ultraman Taro, Mebius and Hikari try to clear the smoke pumped by Gatanothor and Mururoa with the Ultra Bell aided by Ultraman Chuck, Scott and Ultrawoman Beth.80, Yullian, Ultraseven and Ultraman Zero are protecting the rest of the G.R.F with Ultraman Nexus who is guarding a machine similar to Plasma Spark emanating fore field similar to the Metafield.The four Ultras are badly beaten by the Zoiger, Dobishi and Arindo onslaught yet manage to kill them.

The Tri-Squad with Joneus are struggling against Muzan and Pazuzu who wreak havoc ruthlessly yet manage to kill them.Tiga, Dyna, Gaia and Agul struggle against the smoke pumps;Gatanothor and Mururoa who manage to gain the upperhand yet beaten hard by the combined efforts of Ultraman Ginga, Victory, X and Orb.Geed, Rosso, Blu and Z are busy with Spheres merging into Neo-Geomons and C.O.V and manage to kill them.Upon this, the ghostly aliens, Zaigorg and Mensch Heit descend into the scene with the rest of the cabal.When the Ultra Bell clears the smoke, Agul, Gaia and X kill Mururoa with X's Eleking armor aided by Agul's and Gaia's Beam Barrage while Gatanothor is killed by Tiga's Timer Flash Special powered by energies of Dyna, Ginga, Victory and Orb.

Suddenly, the TDG are blasted by the remaining cabal with Tiga lie unconscious.The Ultras beside him try to retaliate but blasted by Zaigorg.The cabal's top guns blast the rest of the Ultras but foiled by some tough Ultras.Outside the scene, Ultra Father, Ultra Mother and Ultraman King with Grigio, Zearth, Nice and Boy levitate calmly watching the battle.Ultraman Trigger and Decker appear beside them. ''We can't just stand here!.I have sensed something off from Tiga.'', Trigger voicing his concern.Decker nodded with the rest when Ultra Mother fly down to the scene chased by Trigger.Decker follows them with the rest.

The battleground fades revealing the barren landscape of Planet Ferant upon their descent.The cabal are gleefully celebrating the moment when Bat realize something off."Oh no!.This is a trap!.They lured us here!.Gaaahhhhhh!", Bat voicing his realization."Curse you, Ultras!!", Yapool spoke out.Then, Mensch Heit face off with Neos and Ultraseven 21 aided by 80 and Yullian.Zog faces off Ultra Father and Ultraman King but to no avail.Bat and Yapool face the Ultraman Brothers minus Mebius who is tending Ultra Mother's efforts with the unconscious Tiga.Hipporit faces Grigio, Zearth, Nice and Boy who rather play a mean peek-a-boo with some beating against the villain.The rest of the Ultra face the ghostly aliens who somehow manage to beat hard Ginga, Victory, X and Orb.

In a void, Tiga wakes up wondering around."Where am I?.", Tiga queried.A voice spoke out in reassuring manner, "It's okay.You're not dead yet."."Reveal yourself.", Tiga spoke threateningly."Chill.It's me.", the voice calms Tiga down revealing his first love.Äppalled, Tiga backs away yet approaches her carefully."Camearra?.Aren't you dead already?.", he queried.Giggling, Camearra spoke out her honesty, "Yeah I am.Somehow I have been told to come back in your life.Look at me now.".Surprised, Tiga stared her entire visage revealing Camearra in her usual colour scheme."Look, you said you want light.I'm sorry for giving it to you before your death.It's because light is something that must be embraced willingly, everyone has it.It can't be tainted by enjoying somebody's suffering.", Tiga spoke out."Yes I do but you don't see it!.I'm sorry for being too selfish!.", Camearra cried hard.Clueless, Tiga approached her when a gleaming hand pats him."Ultra Mother.", Tiga spoke.Ultra Mother nodded and glanced to Camearra, "Are you really his first love?"."Certainly!.I also yearn light the same way he does.", Camearra screamed.Pondering and wondering, Ultra Mother answered, "Tiga told me everything about him and you.You already said sorry to him, right?.Are you really honest in this?.", "Of course I am!!!.", Camearra cried out angrily and sobbing at the same time causing her body bathed in glittering golden light, startling everyone including herself.Everybody paused when another gleaming light appears revealing Trigger.Ultra Mother glanced to Tiga and spoke, "She's serious about this"."I have known everything about you and senpai.If you are serious about this…", Trigger continued.Tiga approaches his first love and reaches out his palm, "Alright.My variant has done this before.Okay, here goes nothing.".His palm glows brightly startling the sobbing Camearra."Smile, smile.", Trigger spoke his mantra to Tiga and Camearra.She looks up and is ecstatic upon it.She raises her palm and touches the glowing palm."Forgive me for my mistakes.Will you do the same?.", Tiga asks.Camearra nodded and answers,"Forgive me for my mistakes.Second chances, right?.".Tiga simply nodded.The void is gone, consumed by the glittering golden light spreading across the battlefield.

When it dissipates, Tiga awakens with black markings along with his usual silver, red and lavender color schemes.His Tector becomes a variant of Ultraman Z's in his Gamma Future mode.At the same time, a glittering light appears revealing Camearra in silver, red and lavender color schemes with yellow trimmings and a yellow variant of Agul V1's Tector shocking everyone.Trigger and Ultra Mother stepped aside and glance towards everyone."Wow!.You're handsome there, Tiga-kun.", Camearra voiced her awe."You're amazing, Cammy-chan.", Tiga replied.Camearra sheepishly averted her gaze.The couple then gaze towards the cabal, already in fighting stance.

Chapter 7

Everyone except Trigger and Ultra Mother are stunned and appalled upon the emergence of Tiga's new mode and Camearra in her new look."Since when he has Truth mode?", Decker queried.Trigger shrugged and spoke, "I have Truth mode due to a vagabond bonding with my former self.He has it due to him ignoring what his first love really yearns.".Decker is dumbfounded upon the answer.Ultra Mother breaks the scene by speaking in commanding manner, "Enough kids!.Let's finish those creeps now.".Ultra Father nodded and asserted, "That's right.".Then all Ultras rush towards the cabal with the couple follow suit.

Tiga, Camearra and Trigger face off the space hooligan Kyrieloid with the villain desperately gaining footing and killed by Zeperion Burst:Trigger and Tiga's Zeperion Beam combined with Camearra copying her first love's signature attack with hers;dark energy blended with golden light in lefthanded L-style.Dyna, Decker and Dinas face off Satanbizor with them gaining upper hand rapidly and kill Satanbizor by breaking his retractable claws and impaling it with them continued by the trio performing Solgent Beam killing it.The five Western Ultramen face off Zaigorg dumbfounded by their aggressiveness blended with goofiness yet manage to kill it with their beams.Gaia, Agul, Cosmos and Justice face off Zog who becomes irritated by Cosmos's cleverness and Justice's endurance blended with teamwork from Gaia and Agul and die by their hands.Mensch Heit trades blows and blasts with Ultraman Neos, Seven 21, Ultraman Zero and Ultraseven who somehow manage to inflict wound on the villain and kill it.Bizorm faces off Ultraman Max, Xenon, Ribut, Regulos, Leo and Astra with the alien seriously on the brink of losing and die by their hands.Yapool faces off the Ultraman Brothers with them pushing the alien on the brink of losing.Alien Bat faces off the remaining Ultras excluding Ultra Father, Ultra Mother and Ultraman King who are helping Ultraman Nexus cleaning up the rest of Shibito-Zoiger, Arindo and Dobishi swarms added with Spheres messing things around.Luckily, the G.R.F are known for their quick-fix skills somehow manage to fix the machine now set for instant energy replenishment.

The cabal, desperate for victory, retreats leaving Zaigorg and Gransphere struggling alone.The remaining Zoigers, Dobishis and Arindo are killed by Gukulushima aided by Melos, Joneus and Tri-Squad."Bwahahahahahahahahaha!.This is not over yet.Prepare for the real ones!.", Yapool, Hipporit and Bat spoke in unison.Bat steps forward chanting spells performing magic upon the remains of their monsters with Yapool and Hipporit follow suit.Suddenly, the remains levitate and fuse with Gransphere, remains of the ghostly aliens, Zaigorg and Zog producing an eerie and gory abomination.The Ultras are appalled and stunned by the scene."What is that?.", Dinas and Z queried in unison."The monsters we killed before have become more gruesome!.Heh, now the real fight begins!", Dyna and Zero respond in unison.

The abomination has Zog's head with Zaigorg's mouth and Pazuzu's horns, Arindo's sickles and Mururoa's head as left hand, C.O.V's head and scythes as right hand, Kyrieloid's face and Bizorm's eyes on it's chest, Zog's wings, Velokron's spikes covering it's body, Satanbizor's claws as toenails, Vakishim as it's skin, faces of Doragory, Baraba and Lunaticks as it's belly and Muzan as it's tail.It has four legs akin to Zog's and Sphere's protrusions all over it's body.Zoiger, Gatanothor and Dobishi become it's cells.Everybody are appalled and stunned by the scene.

The original TDG, Trigger, Decker and Dinas step up but paused when Camearra shows them something.They glance towards the one she pointed.A dark portal pops up revealing Trigger's first love approaching them."You?!.Hey!.Buzz off, whore!.", Dinas threatened the oncomer but restrained by Decker.Trigger approaches Dinas, "I'll deal with this personally."."Carmeara?.What are you doing here?.", Trigger asked."You showed me warm light isn't bad after all.I am here to return the favor.", Carmeara answered.Trigger is stunned by the answer and spoke, "So…"."Calm down, Trig.I'm serious.Sorry for robbing your light in the first place.I only want to be with you all the way.", Carmeara spoke, making her bathing glittering light.Tiga and Camearra approach the couple with Camearra spoke first, "She means it.She yearns what you enjoy now.You always say that thing, right?"."You did help her find somewhere she belongs, right?.", Tiga spoke assuringly.After a brief silence, Trigger spoke up, "I forgave you long before I became what I am now.".He solemnly reaches his glittering right palm to his first love who instantly reaches it with her glittering left palm.The scene turns into a blinding display of light replenishing energies of all Ultras present and the machine set by G.R.F.

It fades revealing Trigger in Truth mode and Carmeara in Trigger's color scheme blended with hers.Her ribbons are now red on the right and blue on the left.All Ultras including King and Nexus are astonished by the scene."Wow!.Truth mode without that vagabond's help.", Trigger voicing his astonishment."Smile, smile.", Carmeara spoke his mantra in assertive and calm manner.The cabal are instantly enraged by the scene threatening, "Enough!!!.Everything Ultra is gone today!!!.".The four powered-up Ultras step forward with Tiga assertively spoke first, "Peace, truth and justice are here to stay.Whatever you throw at us, we do everything we can to crush it!."."Love bounded by what he said means everything.", Camearra and Carmeara spoke in unison."Smile is what bounds everything we cherish!.", Trigger spoke assertively.

Chapter 8

The abomination angrily spew numerous shockwave balls, eye laser beams, green lightning and green orbs identical to Sphere's towards the Ultras.They dodge and retaliate with beam barrage.Ginga and Victory activate their Strium and Knight modes, Ultraman Brothers fuse into Super Taro, Mebius activates Fire Brave and Hikari summons Arb Armor, X activates Exceed mode with Betaspark Armor, Geed activates Ultimate Final, Orb activates Orb Trinity and Tri-Squad activates Taiga Tri-Strium charging head first towards it.Gaia and Agul activate Supreme Version with Cosmos activating Future mode and Justice activating Crusher mode following suit.They trade beam barrages, blows, punches and kicks with the abomination returning them with slashes from it's feet and smoke pumped from it's left hand.All Ultras are disoriented due to it.

It cackled diabolically but beaten by Zero in Wild Burst mode.Geed sees through Zero's act and lends capsules to Zero allowing him to activate Beyond mode.Moments later, the abomination blasts him but averted by his Bulky Chorus.His Beyond mode fades forcing him to retreat.Leo, Astra, Regulos, Ribut, Max and Xenon try to aid him but blasted by the abomination's shockwave balls and green fireballs.Everybody are clueless and stressed out due to this."We can't give up!.We are here for all about truth and justice.We are Ultramen, Ambassadors of Light!.", Cosmos spoke up.Justice nodded assuringly and glances towards Cosmos, "You may have to repeat what you did with him and the other guy.Our combined powers may have futile effects on that thing."."Nani?.Why?.", Cosmos questioned Justice."Let's fuse together first, shall we?", she replied assuringly.

They fuse into Ultraman Legend and bravely attacks the abomination.Both sides trade blasts and blows with the Super-Ultra gains the upper hand.The abomination charges energy with it's mouth producing a shockwave blast laced with green flame towards Ultraman Legend but fail due to Legend absorbing the blast, redirecting it towards the abomination.It screams pain and tries to grab the Ultra but failed.Upon it, the rest of the Super-Ultras rise up and challenge the abomination forcing the remaining cabal to attack them.Legend sees that and redirects the energy blast fired in unison by the cabal towards them with a cost.He falls down and fades into Cosmos and Justice in their standard modes.Dyna, Decker and Dinas rushed towards them followed by Zero.'Are you guys okay?", Dinas asked."I have enough energy to fight alone.He maybe able to fuse again.", Justice answered.

Decker summons kaijus Miclas and Windom to help G.R.F protect the machine while he and the rest except Dinas rush towards the cabal.She stays with the G.R.F, Miclas, Windom.Dyna, Cosmos and Zero face off Alien Bat who goes chaotic brutally attacking the trio, eventually explodes due to the trio blasting kousen to it together.Tiga and Trigger face off Hipporit pushing it to the brink of defeat and killing it with Double True Zeperion Beam.Camearra and Carmeara face off Yapool who shows off gender bias while trading blows and blasts with the Dark Giantesses but to no avail due to their expertise with energy whip.They impale the vile alien with Camearra's energy sword and Carmeara's energy baton and implode it with Camearra copying Orb Supreme Calibur with her sword and Carmeara copying Ultraman Ribut's Spreader Rod Beam with her baton.

The rest of the Ultras including Decker in Dynamic mode trade blows and blasts with the gory abomination.Eventually, the Ultras gain upper hand with Mebius performing Mebium Burst and Burning Mebiuspin Kick incinerating the abomination's left front leg, Ultraman Hikari blasting it with Blade Beam, Knight Shot and Hot Load Beam, Super Taro with Cosmo Miracle Beam, Supreme Agul and Supreme Gaia performing Quantum Stream, Ginga performs a combo of Strium Beam, Metallium Beam and Hurricane Beam, Knight Victory performs Victorium Slash and Knight Victorium Flash, Geed performs Crescent Final Geed, Rosso and Blu as Ultraman Ruebe perform Shin Vortex Buster, Orb Trinity performs Trinitium Break, X performs BetaSpark Arrow and the martial arts extraordinaire Ultra trio:Leo, Astra and Regulos perform .Decker summons Ultra Dual Sword while Tiga, Trigger, Camearra and Carmeara rush towards it and repeatedly breaking it's knee by tapping into Power Type and dropping it.Upon it, Decker performs Triple Decker Scram aiming at the abomination's chest.He then aims Flash Type Calibur at its tail, destroying it.The abomination screams painfully.

Super Taro becomes exhausted together with Hikari's Arb Armor fades and Mebius reverts to default mode.The TDG assembles while Zero, Leo, Astra and Regulos uniting their death kicks aiming at it's horns but failed due to it blasting shockwave balls nullifying them.Agul flies high, performing energy kick directly breaking it's horns and drills himself penetrating it's belly making it groan maniacally.TDG fly high and aim their kicks at its neck, seriously wounding it.Ribut, Max and Xenon rush to the scene but blasted by it's green fireballs.Max summons Max Galaxy and Ribut summons Spreader Rod, simultaneously firing energy beam from their weapons.It only manage to disfigure the abomination's left hand making it blast green fireballs laced with shockwave.The trio are battered by it, saved by Ribut's Blocker Effect.

The abomination roared angrily, gleaming in evil energy slowly evolving into a scarier, gorier and more gruesome form.It has Alien Reiblood as the body and head with Zog's mouth, Gatanothor as chest, Bat as belly with eyes from Satanbizor and Bizorm, tentacles consist of the heads of Mensch Heit, Hipporit, Yapool, Mururoa, Arindo, Zoiger, Muzan and Galgaraid, wings melded from Kyrieloid's Zog's and Mensch Heit's, Bizorm, Satanbizor and Kyrieloid as skin.The Ultras and benevolent aliens of G.R.F are horrified upon it.When the gleaming fades, the abomination's new form is revealed:a composite of the members of the cabal albeit more distorted and uglier than U-Killer Saurus with red veins and Sphere Obelisks as spikes.It roars distortedly and laughs diabolically, levitating on the skies of barren Planet Ferant.

Chapter 9

"Oh no!!!.Ultra-scary!!!.", Z voicing out his concern."Fret not, kiddo.Let us handle this.Go with the rest.", Nexus assures Z.Zero immediately activates Ultimate Shining but stopped by Cosmos."Why do you that?", Zero questioned."There is another way.We must fuse together as one to combat this.", Cosmos answered.Dyna nodded in agreement."I'll stay with the rest.", Justice spoke out.The New Generation Ultras, in their default forms are exhausted yet able to express their horrificness strategize."Is anyone have some energy left?.", Ginga queried."Me, X and Geed still have some.What about you guys?", Victory spoke."We have enough for fusing as one.", Orb answered.Upon it, the exhausted Titas, Fuma and Grigio step back and head towards the G.R.F allowing the New Gen Ultras transfer energy to Taiga via his horns becoming Ultraman Reiga.Upon it, Dyna, Cosmos and Zero fuse into Ultraman Saga and Nexus reveals his true form:Ultraman Noa.

Mebius and Hikari attempt to fuse but paused by Super Taro."Why don't we fuse together?.", Super Taro asks."Are you crazy?.It's too dangerous!.", Hikari protested."We have to try.There's no options left for us.", Mebius assures the blue knight scientist.''Don't worry.My super mode has enough juice for this one.", Taro spoke encouragingly.Hikari relents and crosses hands with Mebius and Super Taro, the trio gleams in glittering light granting Mebius an immensely powerful mode:Infinity Phoenix Brave.He has Phoenix Brave color schemes with his armor blended with Infinity mode's black linings, Knight Brace on the right hand and Mebium Brace on the left hand.

The rest of the Ultras excluding Tiga, Trigger and the reformed Dark Giantesses step behind to guard the G.R.F wishing good luck to them.They nod and glance towards the abomination.The abominable beast roars and blasts rainbow beams of dark energy.Reiga steps up first by performing Reiga Photon Blow wave-style followed by Saga performing Saga Triple Slash while teleporting erratically.Noa performs Noa Spark while levitating hitting the abomination so hard.

The giantesses conjure energy whips simultaneously hitting the abomination with slashes and thrusts from Izword and energy baton in between.It retaliates by extending tentacles towards them but dodged by them.They destroy two tentacles with Hugust and Hudrast performed in Runboldt-style, irritating the abomination.It spews Dobishi swarms from the Arindo tentacle but thwarted by simultaneous Liquidator from Gaia and Agul.Carmeara grabs it with her ribbons and crushes it.It spews Shibito-Zoiger and Arindo swarm from the Zoiger tentacle but crushed by Camearra and Carmeara performing Carmeara Energy Spark.Tiga and Trigger grab the tentacle and burn it with their energized hands.They nod and reach the abomination's body.It shoots Satanbizor's fingernails from it's belly yet countered by Tiga's energy kick charged at some of it catched and piled by him aimed at it.Trigger catches the obelisks shot by the abomination, turning it into Delacium ball and throws it aimed at it's head.The abomination screams pain and conjures claws from it's fingers and shoots them rapidly.Trigger nimbly dodges it and counters it but failed, saved by Carmeara shielding him with her ribbons.She performs I-style Zeperion Beam at it."You're okay?", she asked."I'm okay.Thanks.", Trigger answered.

Gaia and Agul each perform Photon Edge complimented with Photon Crusher crashing it's remaining tentacles.They perform Shining Blade wounding it's lower body severely.Camearra and Carmeara slash the abomination repeatedly aided by Gaia and Agul utilizing Agul Saber, Saga with Saga Cutter and Mebius with repeated slashes of Mebium Blade and Knight Blade.It screams agony and spits greenish-orange fireballs the size of Mebium Fireball.The Super Ultras dodge them erratically except Camearra and Carmeara who aim lefthanded Spacium Beam at it after absorbing it's fireballs in Nexus' Generade manner.

The abominable beast energizes itself, enveloped in dark energy with Sphere energy signature with it's mouth growing a dark energy ball and hands crackling red lightning and orange flame, ready to kill them one last time.The Super Ultras perform their final strikes enveloping themselves in glittering light:Reiga performs New Generation Dynamite,Infinity Phoenix Mebius performs Infinity Phoenix Crash, Tiga, Trigger and the Dark Giantesses perform Glitter Zerades, Supreme Gaia and Supreme Agul perform Burst Stream, Noa performs Lightning Noa and Saga performs Saga Maximum.They aim the attacks towards the beast and tear it clean.The monster explodes, torn into chunks of crystalized flesh with astral forms of Yapool, Reiblood and Hipporit levitate in agony.Reiblood spoke first in forlorn, "Not again!!.My soul is eternal!."."So is mine!", Yapool spoke too.The Super Ultras telekinetically lift the flesh chunks and encase the vile aliens with it.

Saga performs Saga Rect Wave, his version of Cosmos' Full Moon Rect, Gaia and Agul perform Gaia Healing done in Photon Stream style and Tiga, Trigger, and the Giantesses telekinetically lift the chunks complimented by Noa's Noa Inferno and Reiga performing Sealing Barrier encasing the villains' astral forms into a crystal with the flesh chunks.The villains scream defeat and whisked away in the wormhole.

Chapter 10

After the incident, the Super Ultras fade and split into their components and Tiga, Trigger, Camearra, Carmeara, Gaia and Agul fade into their default forms while Noa fades into Nexus Anphans.They are extremely relieved yet exhausted after the daunting battle.They gather just nearby the machine set up by G.R.F with the rest of the Ultras.

"That was Ultra-mazing!!.", Z spoke first.The exhausted Ultras chuckle upon his words of amazement.Tiga glances at Camearra voicing his amazement, "That was a gift I ever had before.".Giggling, she replied, "You look sexy in that.Why don't you stick with it?"."I rather stay with what I have.You do look amazing in that.", Tiga replied.She playfully spanked him and spin cutely.Tiga blurts playfully and spoke, "How do you tweak their finishers with mine?"."Aww, common.Is that what you do best, master?", Camearra replied.When they are about to bicker, Trigger and Carmeara approach them, "That was amazing from your part.You do fight similarly like mine.", Carmeara spoke first."Hehehe.I'm just doing my best.So do you.By the way, I''m Camearra.", Camearra replied."Hey, we both have almost similar names.I'm Carmeara.Call me Carrie.What should I call you?", Carmeara queried.".Camearra answered, "Call me Cammy.".Trigger spoke intriguingly, "Why can't we call you both Mera?"."No way!", the giantesses answered simultaneously.Tiga chuckles upon the scene.Camearra irritatingly pokes Tiga saying, "So, you do enjoy regal modesty, right?.Well, I'll show it soon, my master.".Trigger and Carmeara with the rest of the Ultras and G.R.F laugh upon the scene."You do look amazing in my colors.", Trigger spoke to his first love."Mmhmhmhmhm!.It's nothing, I'm just strutting my stuff.", Carmeara answered."By the way, do you have spare time?.", "I do have spare time.What for, Carrie-chan?", Trigger replied."You see…", Carmeara spoke while tilting her head and flipping her ribbons.

Gaia and Agul are laughing mildly upon the scene.Zero approaches Z saying, "So, my best student.Why don't you meet them?.You always spoke about that, right?"."Of course, shisho.Right away.", Z answered sheepishly.The TDG simply laugh and approach Z."That's the spirit.You do have potential as Ultra.", Tiga spoke first.Dyna simply gives thumbs up."Here's our parting gift.", Gaia spoke.TDG transfer some of their energy to Z via Z-Riser.The riser glows brightly in phantasmagoria manner."Ultra-awesome!.", Z spoke excitedly."Thanks for your lending hand.We hope we can work together again.", Sora and Izana spoke."It is my pleasure.", Nexus replied.He approaches Ultraman Z saying, "Here's my gift.".Z shows his Riser to Nexus accepting energy transfer from him.It glows brightly, bathing Z in azure light."Ultra-mazing!.Arigato gozaimasu.", Z thanked Nexus happily.He glances towards the G.R.F saying, "Nice thing you have here.Take good care of it.".The G.R.F nodded.He glances towards Z saying, "Keep up the good work.You might be the beacon of hope someday.".

At the Land of Light, all Ultramen converge attending Ultraman King's victory assembly listening attentively to his speech.The Dark Giantesses listen to it via live broadcast in G.R.F base accompanied by non-Ultra members of the team.King spoke valiantly and calmly, 'Today!.Once again we have quelled an ominous and malevolent threat yet succeeded.We must strengthen ourselves anyway we can so that we are fully prepared to face more threats in the future.This is what we are, Ultramen!!.".All Ultras cheer loudly upon listening to it.The G.R.F inside their base are cheering upon the speech while the reformed Dark Giantesses chuckle.

After the speech, the Ultramen gather at Ultra Training Ground honing their skills.Hikari is busy with science projects aided by Sora, Mebius is sparring with Grigio, Zero, Geed and Z spar each other, Trigger and Decker spar with Ribut, Dinas is joking with Zearth, Boy and Nice, Tri-Squad are sparring with Joneus, Rosso and Blu, Leo and Astra are training with Regulos, Agul and Zoffy spar each other, Tiga spar with Hayata, Dyna spar with Orb and Gaia spar with 80.

Somewhere in the multiverse, the crystalized chunks with the villains's astral forms are merged into a Jupiter-sized planet in mysterious manner.A booming distorted voice belonging to Radical Destruction Bringer and Delacion chastises them, "You all are fools!.Don't you realize what you have been doing for so long?.Aaahahahahahahahahahaha!!"."You will pay for this!.You will pay!!.", spirits of Yapool, Bat and Hipporit replied angrily in unison.

Epilogue

At Planet King, Ultraman King, Nexus, TDG, Agul, Trigger, Decker, Dinas and the Dark Giantesses converge at a valley.King spoke first voicing his happiness, "Thank you for your willingness to help us.We deeply appreciate your help.".Humbled by it, Camearra replies, "It is just a bit of effort from our part.Thank you for accepting us."."Same like hers.Thank you, your highness.", Carmeara spoke, bowing lightly to King."Just call me Sir.", King said.

Suddenly, the Dark Giantesses drag their first lovers to somewhere witnessed by the others awkwardly.The giantesses reveal a form where Camearra dons the black dress she worn in her human form modestly tweaked with flowing cape and Carmeara dons the black dress she worn in her human form modestly tweaked with black ribbons on the back flowing freely.They both dance and spin gracefully making their first loves simp.Moments later, Tiga spoke first, breaking the simp, "Wow!.You're gorgeous, sweetie."."Thank you very much, my master.", Camearra replies.She sultrily added, "Now I understand why you chose her in the first place.Okay, I'll take a bit of it and tweak it my way.Don't you?.".Tiga simply nodded and grunts."Sooo, wanna join me on my new home, Trigger-kun?.", Carmeara sultrily asks.Trigger sheepishly answers, breaking the simp, "Nope.I am already at home in Mars.I can bring that thing along if you want.".Cheekily laughing at his answer, Carmeara spoke, "That flower you're growing everyday?.I do want to see it.My new home may not be feasible for it.".Dyna goes perverted yet spanked by Dinas.Decker simply rolls his head and rubs his forehead due to Dyna's act.Gaia and Agul simply crossing their arms chuckling while King and Nexus gaze towards each other amused.

Just outside the G.R.F base, TDG accompanied by Camearra, Carmeara, Agul, Trigger, Decker and Dinas converge."Wow!.How beautiful the Land of Ultra is.I've never seen it before.It's soothing.", Camearra expresses her amazement."Yeah!.I wish to see it again, but we can't, right?.", Carmeara added.Camearra nodded in agreement."King said you two can visit his planet anytime you want.He does enjoys visitors.", Dyna spoke assuringly."Certainly.He is glad to have ones like you both.He, me and Trigger will personally accompany upon visiting the Land of Light.", Tiga added."Arigato gozaimasu, shisho.", the Dark Giantesses thank Tiga in unison.

Gaia and Agul added, ''I personally want someone like them as my wife.They are pretty awesome.", Agul spoke out."I also do but experience told me, they may not be suitable as my wife.I'm too noble for someone like them.'', Gaia replied."I see.", Agul spoke.Decker and Dinas casually witnessing the scene.Carmeara whispers something to Trigger, "So, can I join you at Mars?"."Why not?.There's nothing much I can do there.", Trigger answers.Carmeara playfully pokes Trigger making him groan mildly.

Izana approaches Dyna asking, "I want to be like you, always in high spirits.Can you teach me?"."Well…I can do that.", Dyna replied.Izana grimaces upon the answer.The rest are chuckling about it.Ribut approaches TDG saying, "Thanks for coming.We are glad to have you guys here."."We appreciate your reception towards us.Can you teach us your moves?.", Tiga spoke first."You three are way above my league.I'm so humbled by it.".Dyna chuckles and gives thumbs up to the Silat Master Ultraman."Don't overthink.The four of us do enjoy sharpening our skills.Your moves are pretty awesome by the way.", Agul spoke."Woss!.Oh man, now I'm sounded like Master Ace's nephew.", Ribut spoke back.Everybody in the base amused at him."We may cross paths again.Godspeed.", Gaia spoke to Ribut.They then exchange Cross Touch.After exchanging goodbyes, TDG, Agul, Trigger, Decker, Dinas and Dark Giantesses fly leaving the G.R.F headquarters.They exchange Cross Touch and depart to their homeworlds with Twinkle Way done by Dyna and Decker.

At Neo Frontier Space, Tiga, Dyna and Camearra fly to Earth when they see a monster similar to Raksasa Halilintar with spikes similar to those corrupted by Spheres are rampaging a Malaysian city but fought by two Ultrawomen;one is an amalgamation of Ultrawoman Beth and Ultrawoman Amur in silver, red and blue and the other is an amalgamation of Ultrawoman Aura and Ultrawoman Yullian in silver, red and lavender.Both have heart-shaped Color Timer.

Tiga and Camearra gaze upon the scene pondering something.He glances towards his first love asking, ''So, you're saying there's unfinished business?''.She nods and flies towards the scene followed by Tiga."What is it they are talking about?", wondered Dyna while following them.

#blogs #blog #blogger #blogging #fanfic #ultraman

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seasideretreat · 1 year

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Phantasmagoria

The greatest things we do are generally the most spectacular, in a constant battle for recognition. Nobody understands the simplest things in the world, the things that don't matter in the slightest, but that nonetheless seek to overpower the defenses of pure reason. Whatever we can do to improve our lot in life, the work we have done for the benefit of our happiness has proven to be useless on time and occasion, leaving us blinded by the light et cetera.

In the modern age the work we do is off-set by a certain defense against terrorism. We mustn't be terrorists, but it is very hard to always spread love wherever we go. When someone comes up to us with armaments of fear, the best thing we can do is our best, but that will not lead to any immediate action, that is to say action that uses activity against some evil. Here we see the danger of the crazy water. There is a serious risk of not dropping our nets in the crazy water, which leads us to not knowing what is real and what is not real in the vast indifference of the universe, which makes us doubt the very existence of things, in general, and makes us ponder the meaning of life in such a way that it leaves us immobilized for a while. If we all believe in the things you believe you're seeing/Oh, we'd never drop our nets in the crazy water, crazy water.

There is no escape from popular culture, in this sense, and for this reason we are consistently threatened by the notions of oneness and being chosen. The election, such as we must call it, is a serious threat to one's happiness. When one is a forceful warrior one can disintegrate the varieties of happy existence, such as when one seriously feels there is a threat to one's own identity. This is a constant situation that expands and notifies one's personal identity in a very real way. However, one can also be horrified by the notion of a teacher that takes one up and lifts one out of the limitations of pure election, making one just a unreasonable phantasmogorius of the entire world, leaving one to his own defenses in the vast indifference of the world. Here, then, there is the higher notion of institution, such as with organized religion, and when people feel election in the institution, we can wonder how sincere they really are: after all, the phantasmagoria of pure existence make one notice the excesses of pure existence, making them feel the true extent of one's extensationality in the wider world, and therefore they will hope for a purer and more resolute ending to the entire world. In this way, the notion of election is just a reasonable election, not a virtual one, and one is left not as a phantasmagorius, but rather as a liar or obscenity.

#crazy water #blinding lights #reformation

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okimargarvez · 4 years

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Gif sets

GARVEZ

How we started ; Shades of garvez ; The someone ; Difference (12x17 / 15x4) ; Smiles ; Evolution of a relationship ; 10 things man does when he likes/loves/is in love with a woman ; Walls ; Lancelot and Guinevere ; The way they look at each other ; Crime scene photos ; Same distance ; The best ; Weird parallelism ; Asking a date ; Garcia is always cold with Luke ; Luke typical face when he sees Penelope ; Before you ; Meteorology ; Last words (garvez, shea, delquesne) ; Same attitude (Luke vs Walker) ; Frame ; Men do not grow ; What they were ; Happiness is just a facade ; Why Luke is fucked ; Alvez ; Why Penelope is fucked ; You are the best (2) ; Work or personal life? ; Never realized ; Get out / come in ; Take back ; Brick by brick ; The right one ; The way Luke listens PG ; Easier ; Slight chink ; Intimate ; Evrrything happens for a reason ; Series: Garvez + quotes ; Find someone ; Garvez story ; Times ; Parallelism ;

They all know: Matt ; JJ 1- 2 ; Rossi ; Emily ; Tara ; Spencer ;

Garvez & flowers : Part 1 ; part 2 ; part 3 ; part 4 ; part 5 ; part 6 ; part 7 ; part 8 ;

Garvez & Shea : Love is not perfection ; Ways to say I love you without saying I love you ; Just married

THE GOOD DOCTOR

Until I met Lea ; Jordan & Danny ;

Garvez & Calleigh x Eric : Different blonde, same attitude ; Garvez / Calleigh-Eric ; Eric vs Luke

GENERIC

I’m pregnant ;

CRIMINAL MINDS

ALL BAU love interests; CM first apparition ; Favorite CM ships ; Heroes ; Goodbye ; Sergio & Roxy ; Pain is an universal language ; Wheels up ; First and last episode together ; Zugzwang ; Sweet dogs ; The glue ; Double date or disaster dinner ; The Bunker ; The Fantastic Three ; Friendship ; We’re family ; Saturday ; Little profilers in training ; So much love ; If she makes you smile ; Definition of family ; Dangerous ; Don’t change (Hotch-Garcia)

Who are you? Penelope ; Spencer ; Emily ; Luke ; Rossi ; JJ ; Derek ; Hotch ; Tara

LUKE - Roxy ; Protective and caring Luke with BAU ladies ; I’m here (JJ / Penelope) ; Luke Alvez hugging people ; All Luke shades ; Luke Alvez, the profiler in training ; I belong here ; It’s a sundial ; Lone wolf ; Desk ; Behavioral Analyst ; - Luke dark shades: one ; two ; three ; four ; five ; six -Favorite Luke scenes: 12x1 (1) ; 12x1 (2) ; 12x17 (1) ; 12x17 (2) ; 12x21 ; 13x7 (1) ; 13x7 (2) ; 14x6 (1) ; 14x6 (2) ; 14x6 (3) ; 14x6 (4) ; 14x6 (5) ; 14x6 (6) ; 14x6 (7) ; 15x5 (1) ; 15x5 (2) ; 15x5 (3) ; 15x5 (4) ; 15x5 (5) ; 15x5 (6) ; 15x5 (7) ; 15x5 (8) ; 15x5 (9) ; 15x5 (10) ; 15x5 (11) ; 15x5 (12) ; 16x4 (1) ;

PENELOPE & SPENCER - You really are afraid of the dark ; Brain challenge ; Fit test 1 Fit test 2 ; I’m crazy for cryptograms ; Penelope and Spencer hugging through the years ; Magia - Penelope: Garcia was shot? ; All Penelope shades ; Nervous whistles ; Sam ; Living at the BAU ; Anything left ; Prison ; Beige ; Esther ; Hospital ; Garcia is a Latin surname ; Hugs ; Bat-cave ; Jealousy 2 ; Favorite emotional moment of S15 one - two - three - four - five ; Be soft ; Happiness is just a facade ; The love you take ; On the field ; Funeral Outfit ; - Spencer (with moreid hints): Sarcasm ; Two guns ; Coffee ; Why Reid always winning? ; Age ; Yale ; Music is math ; He has a point ; A mother knows ; E equals MC squarred ; Handshake ; Don’t judge a book ; Bulls ; Medico della peste ; Phantasmagorias ; Sweet goodbye 1 ; Inside the mind of a genius ; Prison ; Father

DEREK / morcia - Morcia / Garvez ; Work call (morcia vs garvez) ; Why I shipped morcia ; Gomez ; In love with a hero ; Smarter ; Rewrap, wrap, unwrap ; Let go ; Sweet goodbye 2 ; The genie and her lamp ; Latin girls are the best ; Jealousy - Same attitude : On the field ; Remote control ; Kind ;

HOTCH - Hotch’s brother ; Smarty pants ; I work the case ; She makes him smile

EMILY & JJ - Willifer / Prendoza - JJ: Roslyn ; Marry me - Emily: Take a decaf ; Prendoza one - two - three - four ; You are not alone

ROSSI - Breaking news ; Never again ; Papà Rossi ; Rain ; Rossi & Carolyn ;

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blogdemocratesjr · 3 years

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Norham Castle, on the River Tweed by J.M.W. Turner

Aries, Idealism

Again, there may be other persons who speak as follows. Around us are matter and the world of material phenomena. But this world of material phenomena is in itself devoid of meaning. It has no real meaning unless there is within it a progressive tendency; unless from this external world something can emerge towards which the human soul can direct itself, independently of the world. According to this outlook, there must be a realm of ideas and ideals within the world-process. Such people are not Realists, although they pay external life its due; their view is that life has meaning only if ideas work through it and give it purpose. It was under the influence of such a mood as this that Fichte once said: Our world is the sensualised material of our duty. [ Note 2 ] The adherents of such a world-outlook as this, which takes everything as a vehicle for the ideas that permeate the world-process, may be called Idealists and their outlook: Idealism. Beautiful and grand and glorious things have been brought forward on behalf of this Idealism. And in this realm that I have just described — where the point is to show that the world would be purposeless and meaningless if ideas were only human inventions and were not rooted in the world-process — in this realm Idealism is fully justified. But by means of it one cannot, for example, explain external reality.

Capricorn, Spiritism

Again, there are people who, owing to a certain inwardness, are naturally predisposed to see in all that is material only the revelation of the spiritual. Naturally, they know as well as the materialists do that, externally, the material world exists; but matter, they say, is only the revelation, the manifestation, of the underlying spiritual. Such persons may take no particular interest in the material world and its laws. As all their ideas of the spiritual come to them through their own inner activity, they may go through the world with the consciousness that the true, the lofty, in which one ought to interest oneself — all genuine reality — is found only in the Spirit; that matter is only illusion, only external phantasmagoria. This would be an extreme standpoint, but it can occur, and can lead to a complete denial of material life. We should have to say of such persons that they certainly do recognize what is most real, the Spirit, but they are one-sided; they deny the significance of the material world and its laws. Much acute thinking can be enlisted in support of the conception of the universe held by these persons. Let us call their conception of the universe: Spiritism. Can we say that the Spiritists are right? As regards the Spirit, their contentions could bring to light some exceptionally correct ideas, but concerning matter and its laws they might reveal very little of any significance. Can one say the Materialists are correct in what they maintain? Yes, concerning matter and its laws they may be able to discover some exceptionally useful and valuable facts; but in speaking of the Spirit they may utter nothing but foolishness. Hence we must say that both parties are correct in their respective spheres.

—Rudolf Steiner, Human & Cosmic Thought: Lecture II

On Representatives of the Grail

Today a Message alights upon the Grail governing its highest virtue, for today is Good Friday, when one can infallibly see a Dove wing its way down from Heaven. It brings a small white Wafer to the Stone and leaves it there. The Dove, all dazzling white, then flies up to Heaven again. Every Good Friday, as I say, the Dove brings it to the Stone, from which the Stone receives all that is good on earth of food and drink, of paradisal excellence—I mean whatever the earth yields. The Stone, furthermore, has to give them the flesh of all the wild things that live below the aether, whether they fly, run or swim—such prebend does the Grail, thanks to its indwelling powers, bestow on chivalric Brotherhood.

As to those who are appointed to the Grail, hear how they are made known. Under the top edge of the Stone an Inscription announces the name and lineage of the one summoned to make the glad journey. Whether it concern girls or boys, there is no need to erase their names, for as soon as a name has been read it vanishes from sight! Those who are now full-grown all came here as children. Happy the mother of any child destined to serve there! Rich and poor alike rejoice if a child of theirs is summoned and they are bidden to send it to that Company! Such children are fetched from many countries and forever after are immune from the shame of sin and have a rich reward in Heaven. When they die here in this world, Paradise is theirs in the next.

—Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival

#J.M.W. Turner #wolfram von eschenbach #Aries #idealism #Capricorn #Spiritism #Anthroposophy #spiritual science #Parzival #the holy grail

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cinemavariety · 4 years

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Cinema Variety’s Top Favorite Films of 2019

To quote Principal Duvall from the 2004 teen comedy classic Mean Girls: “I just wanted to say that you’re all winners, and that I couldn’t be happier the year is ending” 2019 was both a super difficult year personally, but even more so, I feel as if it was one of the weakest years for cinema in recent memory. Thankfully the last few months of the year have made up for it with a surplus of absolutely incredible cinematic experiences, many of which are reflected in this year’s rankings. I present to you my favorite films of 2019. Check out my rankings from previous years by checking out the links below:

Top Picks of 2018 List Top Picks of 2017 List Top Picks of 2016 List Top Picks of 2015 List Top Picks of 2014 List Top Picks of 2013 List

Honorable Mentions: Midsommar Uncut Gems Parasite 3 From Hell The Death and Life of John F. Donavan **THIS LIST IS IN ORDER AND CONTAINS SOME MILD SPOILERS**

#16 - Ready or Not Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

Ready or Not looked entertaining enough from the trailers, but it certainly wasn’t anything I was dying to go see. Especially in a movie theatre. However my brother convinced me to go with him and it ended up being one of the most consistently fun and entertaining theatrical experiences of 2019.

There were a lot of similar plot elements to the brilliant 2013 horror film - You’re Next (which by the way is one of my favorites). The plot is about a young girl, who grew up an orphan, marrying into an insanely wealthy family. The family has a tradition of playing a game on the wedding night, and she ends up choosing a game of hide and seek. Unbeknownst to the bride, the family is actually planning to hunt her down and murder her in order to perform some type of satanic ritual.

Horror comedies only work for me about half the time, but his film has enough graphic violence and intense situations to counterbalance all of the humor throughout. They complemented each other well and the result was a super funny and super bloody cat and mouse hunt of social classes.

#15 - Doctor Sleep Directed by Mike Flanagan

Helming the sequel to The Shining is no easy undertaking whatsoever. Kubrick’s arthouse horror masterpiece will forever remain not only one of my favorite of his films, but also as one of my favorite genre pieces in general. I was immediately relieved when I discovered that Mike Flanagan signed on to direct the adaptation of Stephen King’s sequel - Doctor Sleep.

I already knew beforehand that Doctor Sleep was more of a fantasy story than a direct horror, and also wasn’t one of the most popular of King’s works. The film ended up being a pretty epic fantasy thriller. Flanagan excels in creating his own universe while also honoring the source material, as well as paying homage to Kubrick’s film. However, it shines more when it does its own thing instead of trying to be nostalgia porn.

Most of the film worked for me, some of it didn’t. The recasting of Jack Torrance’s character left a slightly sour taste in my mouth. Ewan McGregor does a great job as the recovering Danny but it is really Rebecca Ferguson who steals the show with her villain character Rose the Hat.

Doctor Sleep proves that Flanagan has become one of the most consistent horror directors working in the industry. There’s always a pulse to be discovered in the foundations of his storytelling.

#14 - High Life Directed by Claire Denis

Claire Denis, one of the most polarizing French auteurs, debuted her first English language film in 2019 with High Life. I had the pleasure of seeing the film on a big screen, and even though I felt a little underwhelmed as an initial reaction to the finale, the film seemed to linger in my subconscious like a haunting unresolved dream. It held up even better on a re-watch, which you can view for free if you have Amazon Prime.

It’s definitely unlike any space film that I have ever seen. The premise surrounds a group of prisoners on death row who are sent to the farthest depths of space on a doomed voyage. All of the occupants are corralled by Juliette Binoche’s character, who plays some type of mad space scientist, is obsessed with collecting their semen in order to create new life in the abyss of the cosmos.

High Life is a slow burn, often minimalist film, which relies more heavily on atmosphere/score/visuals than it does on dialogue or forced plot elements. It’s bewilderingly nihilistic in how it depicts human behavior gone horribly awry. Robert Pattinson gives an understated performance and seems to provide the only glimmer of what seems to be hope by the end of the film.

#13 - Too Old to Die Young Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Too Old To Die Young finds the celebrated auteur, Nicolas Winding Refn, sharing his view of humanity and society at its most despicable. Hate seems to seep out of the cracks of every neon-soaked frame in the limited series. Amazon gave Refn free reigns in creating his phantasmagoria.

All of his usual motifs and creative decisions are employed in full force with Too Old To Die Young, sometimes to an almost unbearable degree unless you are a truth Refn aficionado. His long takes, infinitesimal silences between lines, neon lighting, synth score and characters belonging to a criminal underworld are all utilized to great affect within the series.

I won’t lie, I found it to be some of Refn’s most challenging work to date. There are so many aspects to be found within this series that went over my head, it is art that demands a re-watch. And while I believe that Refn’s sensibilities are best conveyed through a film medium, the limited series allows Refn to explore what he wants to convey like an artist adding layer upon layer of colors onto a blank palette.

#12 - Age Out Directed by A.J. Edwards

A.J. Edwards returned in 2019 with his sophomore directorial effort - Age Out (originally titled Friday’s Child). Edwards has served as one of many creatives who worked on the editing team of Terrence Malick’s films in the last decade. Malick’s influence on the director is quite noticeable. Edwards directed his first film in 2014, The Better Angels, which was a decent debut. Whereas The Better Angels oftentimes felt too close of a mimicry of Malick’s style, Age Out utilizes certain aspects of the style while also allowing Edwards to have his own authorial voice.

The film centers around a young man named Richie as he is about to “age out” of the foster care facility in which he was raised - a frightening reality for countless youth in America and around the world. Richie is left to navigate the difficulties of the adult world at a mere eighteen years old, without any family or parental figures to help him along the way. He makes friends with a seedy townie who revels in delinquency and causing ruckus. Also, there is a romantic subplot between Richie and a girl named Joan, portrayed tenderly by Imogen Poots. This relationship seems to be the only saving grace in Richie’s life. However, a turn of events soon reveal that Richie’s traumatic past has gotten the better of him and threatens to doom his entire future.

Edwards shoots the film in a boxed style with a 1.33 : 1 aspect ratio. This aids with the sense of claustrophobia and paranoia that invades Richie’s life. As aforementioned, many of Malick’s motifs are used here: a floating steadicam guiding the audience along, hushed dialogue, montages with classical music, and even some voice overs. However, this aesthetic isn’t heavy handed in any way. In fact, it’s a joy to see directors whose work can almost go into the Malick canon as the auteur has had such an influence on a lot of young, upcoming directors. Age Out is both a coming of age story and a cry of warning for unhealed trauma.

#11 - An Elephant Sitting Still Directed by Hu Bo

An Elephant Sitting Still now holds the spot as the longest running film that I have ever seen. It sits in at just under four hours, and it completely delivers without ever feeling like it drags on unnecessarily. The film technically premiered in 2018 and is considered a 2018 film among critic circles. However, the epic didn’t get a widespread distribution in the U.S. until this year, so I am overlooking this discrepancy. The film was marked with somewhat of a controversy after the director Hu Bo took his own life right after post production was completed. Hu Bo is an author turned director and An Elephant Sitting Still marks his first foray into cinema. It’s one of the best directorial debuts I have ever seen.

The film centers around four different characters during the span of a single day. All of these characters are marked with some sort of tragedy, and many of their stories intertwine in a synchronistic fashion. It reminded me of other masterpieces such an Inarittu’s Amores Perros or Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. The film takes place in the industrial regions of Northern China, and the barren landscapes reflect an inner emptiness that emanates from all the characters.

There is a hollowness to these people as they navigate through life. An Elephant Sitting Still is nothing short of nihilistic. It’s an angry, desperate and hauntingly beautiful cry of pain from a director who was most certainly haunted by his own inner demons. It manages to be both an odyssey of human cruelty and a swan song from a young man who didn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.

#10 - Joker Directed by Todd Phillips

“It’s getting crazier out there, isn’t it?” These are some of the first lines to be uttered in Todd Philip’s pitch-black satire on society. These lines are what best exemplify the themes that Philip’s was pushing: our society is profoundly sick, everything seems to be getting worse, we have no saviors in sight and hope isn’t always on the horizon. Just from these first utterances, it is clear that Philips is taking all of the political and socioeconomic turmoil of the last four years and has created a problem child that is Joker.

Joaquin Phoenix turns in one of his most disturbed and flawless performances yet - which is no surprise. However, I have yet to see him embody a character so genuinely as he did in The Master. But this isn’t Paul Thomas Anderson, this is Todd Phillips. And the fact that the comedy director even created this piece of art is something that still has me scratching my head. Subtlety is never at play in the film, and there are quite a few plot points that are a little too on-the-nose, even for me. However, all of the other elements redeem it and make this one of the best films of the year. The cinematography is pleasing for the eyes, and the menacing cello scores echoes an existential loneliness that I felt permeate my very being.

The last thirty minutes are exactly what I was hoping from this film. It’s a breath of fresh air to see Hollywood actually stick to creating a nihilistic film that doesn’t once try to water itself down.

#9 - Luce Directed by Julius Onah

Director Julius Onah decided to really step up his game with his latest film Luce. After the dumpster fire that was The Cloverfield Paradox (seriously, thanks for completely ruining what was becoming a dope anthology franchise), Onah has proven that he can be a master of his craft with the proper source material. In regards to the story being told, every element of the film works to its advantage: editing, performances, direction, and most importantly - the screenplay. It’s one of most well written screenplays I have come across in 2019. I immediately could tell from the dialogue that this movie must have been adapted from a stage play, and sure enough upon searching, I found out it was. Not all stage adaptations work, in fact I’d say more than half don’t end up being too effective, but this one stuck its landing and then more.

The story revolves around an overly concerned teacher who contacts Luce’s parents after he writes a paper that comes off as threatening. The paper in question seemed to hold a sentiment in which violence was called for in order to overcome colonialism. It’s important to note that Luce was a child soldier in his native country before being adopted by his parents - played by Naomi Watts and Tim Roth who both gave stunning performances. The rest of the story is an investigation into who their son actually is, which eventually results in moral debates regarding race and identity.

Luce is also a film that effectively helps the audience empathize with the main character, while at the same time questioning whether his intentions are genuine, or a coy to hide something much darker. The truth isn’t always black and white, and this was my biggest takeaway from the movie.

#8 - Monos Directed by Alejandro Landes

Monos felt like a hybrid of elements inspired from great works such as Lord of the Flies, Aguirre: The Wrath of God and Apocalypse Now. This is only the third film to be directed by Alejandro Landes, however it looks and feels as if it was created by a seasoned veteran of the industry.

A group of children guerilla soldiers hold base on a mountaintop where they keep a hostage, watch over a prized cow, and act as a defensive force against an unbeknownst group of enemies. There is little to no exposition in the film. Landes drops the audience off right in the middle of the chaos.

We aren’t exactly sure what these children are risking their lives to fight for, or why they are doing it, but it goes to show the conditions in which they were raised for them to find normalcy in the violent lifestyle of a guerilla soldier. The landscapes are absolutely gorgeous, and there are even a few scenes where I questioned how they accomplished such shots/stunts with a low budget.

#7 - The Beach Bum Directed by Harmony Korine

The Beach Bum might not be the best film that Harmony Korine has directed (it’s certainly no Spring Breakers), but it is easily the most fun. It’s been almost seven long years since Korine’s last project, and I had been waiting in eager anticipation to see what he would do next. He was originally going to do a gangster crime drama called The Trap, which is what I was really hoping from Korine, but that fell through and he ended up making one of the best stoner comedies I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

The Beach Bum is probably Korine’s most accessible and audience-friendly film he’s ever done. I say that lightly though, because it still remains just as highly divisive as his other work. The plot is loose. It follows the misadventures and antics of Moondog, a washed up poet and complete burnout. He is soon sent to rehab for all of his illegal activities, in which he breaks out with the help of Zac Efron’s character, who might have just been my favorite character of the film. Korine seems to have a consistently solid knack to create dirty, seedy and absolutely enthralling characters.

I am really happy that he decided to keep a very similar visual aesthetic to his previous masterpiece, Spring Breakers. Benoit Debie, who is the king of neon lighting and discombobulating camerawork, does a masterful job at creating the textured and visual world of The Beach Bum. Hell, it’s probably one of the main reasons why I decided to see it twice on the big screen.

I’m not the biggest fan of comedies, mostly because I have a very bizarre sense of humor and find most of them to be completely hollow. But Korine’s darkly nihilistic sense of humor suits my sensibilities perfectly and I found myself laughing out loud at various points throughout The Beach Bum. It’s a fun, and even slightly endearing film at certain points thanks to the presence of Isla Fisher’s character as the wife. I look forward to whatever Korine decides to do next. At this point, who knows where he will decide to go with his career. I just hope I don’t have to wait another five plus years to see more of his work.

#6 - A Hidden Life Directed by Terrence Malick

Malick isn’t “back” - he never left. A Hidden Life isn’t a “return to form”. His form has always been there, it’s been evolving since The Tree of Life. In fact, the structure and flow of this film is extremely reminiscent of his past three films.

How far are you willing to walk the path of righteousness, even when the path is marred with pain and unanswered sufferings? How long are you able to cling to your faith when it feels like all hope is lost? How do you fight for what is good, when everyone around you is telling you to submit to forces of absolute evil? These are some of just many questions explored in Terrence Malick’s newest tour de force. As with many of Malick’s recent work, these aren’t questions that are necessarily outright answered during the film. They are instead questions of morality meant to be repeated throughout the story, almost like a mantra or an ode to pure faith.

A Hidden Life is Malick’s first return to chronological and narrative-driven filmmaking since The New World. It has garnered praise almost universally among critics, and is regarded as his best film in ten years since The Tree of Life. While I am in the few who don’t exactly agree that this is Malick’s best film in a decade, I might even dare say that it is among my least favorites of Malick’s recent output, I am still not denying the sublime mastery instilled in every single shot of this film.

A Hidden Life tells the noble true story of Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian conscientious objector, who refuses to fight for the Nazis in World War II due to his religious beliefs and is eventually executed for it. He is decades later deemed a martyr by the Church - all the more telling as to why Malick decided to tackle this story. The heart of this story is told through letters that Franz and his wife Fani exchange throughout his period spent as a political prisoner. Fani seems to be one of the only people in Franz’s life who sticks by his side. No matter how soul crushing Franz’s decision is for Fani, she understands him well enough to know that death is a better option than spoiling your soul and humanity. “Better to suffer injustices than to do it,” as one character painfully states in the film. And while I wasn’t as emotionally wrecked as I thought I would be by this film, I instead feel inspired by Franz’s commitment to his innate goodness. The back and forth perspectives of Franz and Fani are well executed - we as an audience get reprieves from the dreary confines of a prison cell to the majestic grandeur of the Austrian mountainside. The mountains and surrounding nature are characters within themselves. Near the finale, as Franz is face to face with his mortality, his mind wanders back to riding his motorcycle through the village on a sunny day as the mountains loom in the background. These are the final desires of a doomed man, something as simple as having the freedom to go outside and feel the grass beneath his feet - to experience the wonders of nature that most people don’t think twice about.

As mentioned earlier, it is far from my favorite of Malick’s oeuvre, and is not without its slight misgivings. It was stated that this was Malick’s return to “narratively focused” filmmaking. But he still utilized his signature elliptical style, and for me these moods oftentimes clashed and kept me at a distance emotionally. I rarely say this with a Malick film, but more of a reliance on dialogue would have worked wonders for me. There are quite a few sequences in which Malick opted for montage instead of a more fleshed out scene, which I believe would have further added to the power of the story.

These are all slight issues, and I myself might be a harsher critic than most simply because I hold Malick to such a high standard. Once you can give yourself to the film, A Hidden Life becomes a true zen experience. It managed to instill a sense of serene presence within myself. I felt very grateful for the most basic and common details of my life and this world. Malick’s work can be such a sensorial rush, and making even mundane objects and rooms look absolutely gorgeous, that it’s as if “everything is shining” in my own life after seeing the film. I look forward to returning to The Church of Malick very soon.

#5 - Ad Astra Directed by James Gray

Ad Astra got a lot of unwarranted hate this year in my opinion. It truly is a shame because I believe that James Gray has struck gold once again. While I don’t adore it to the same degree as I did Gray’s previous feature, The Lost City of Z, Ad Astra succeeds in being one of the most understated space films made in the 21st century.

It’s not exactly a wholly original story, or a plot that is something that we haven’t seen before. It’s the way Gray goes about telling this story and exploring these themes that makes it so very special. It’s not forcing any overreaching philosophical or ethical message onto the viewer, it’s not overly complicated or overly long, and rather than trying to present completely senseless physical explanations to the audience, it just accepts the fiction aspect as “science fiction”.

Hoyte Van Hoytema is a brilliant Director of Photography and he crafts some of the most breathtaking space shots in recent memory. He really captures the breathtaking enormity of the cosmis abyss. The scenes that take place near Nepture during the finale are jaw dropping. We see two characters wrestling each other while suspended midair and the camera pulls out to reveal their absolutely terrifying ordeal while splashes of Neptune’s purple color emanates behind them. What I enjoyed most about the film is this sort of serene, zen atmosphere that Gray creates through the visuals, the score and Brad Pitt’s heartfelt but quietly somber voiceover.

Pitt portrays a lonely, broken and existentially conflicted astronaut. He finds the quiet infinitude of space to be a reprieve from the chaos of conflict happening down on Earth. He feels more at home among the stars than he does on the planet in which he was born. His perspective reminds me of the blue God from Watchmen, Doctor Manhattan, when he’s dwelling peacefully on Mars and laments his feelings toward Earth and all the people on it: “I am tired of Earth. These People. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives.”

James Gray’s Ad Astra, much like his previous two films before this, detail the pains and tribulations of undaunted pioneers as they explore foreign territories. The final monologue of Pitt’s washed over me like a gentle breeze: “I will rely on those closest to me, and I will share their burders, as they share mine. I will live and love.”

#4 - Anima Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Interprative dance, experimental film, and visual albums are three of my absolutely favorite art forms. The real MVP of modern cinema, Paul Thomas Anderson, has collaborated with one of the real MVP’s of modern music, Thom Yorke, to create a fifteen minute long music video on the power of human connection.

Thom Yorke plays a sleepy commuter, a passive bystander, a human sheep, a functioning cog in some great machinery. He makes brief eye contact with a pretty woman on the train, and notices that she leaves behind a briefcase. The rest of the short details his efforts as he dodges through obstacle after obstacle trying to find the woman and return the briefcase to her. I couldn’t believe my eyes as Anderson concocts the innermost desires of being seen, understood, and loved. The results are strokes of flashing light projections on concrete walls, bodies undulating as they separate and conjoin simultaneously, giddy humans running through fog, and lovers meeting in the union of hearts.

The final section, Dawn Chorus, is one of the most gentle and blissful experiences I have ever witnessed, let alone one in a film distributed by Netflix. Paul Thomas Anderson and Thom Yorke’s project had me understanding why I fell in love with this medium in the first place.

#3 - 1917 Directed by Sam Mendes

1917 takes the spot as my favorite war film of the decade. Personally, I found it to be one of the best war films ever made in general. What director Sam Mendes and DOP Roger Deakins have created is nothing short of a miracle. It’s the first “single take” war film to ever be made, mainly because this is a feat that is far from easy to pull off. Mendes and Deakins shot the movie in extreme long takes, and spliced them all together to make the whole movie come off as a seamless single take. These tracking shots never leave the side of the characters, we are in their footsteps on the journey the entire time.

1917 has a pretty simple premise: two young British soldiers are given a near impossible mission to cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on over 1,500 soldiers - one of them being the brother of one of the two soldiers sent on the mission. The familial aspect contributes added emotional gravitas to the plot overall.

1917 is more of an experiential war film than it is a action or battle focused war film. It’s best to be seen in an IMAX because the sound design and the invasive tracking shots make you feel as if you are walking along these two soldiers as they face grave perils on their quest to deliver the message. I very much so enjoyed that they kept the plot small and intimate, without resorting to constant firepower to keep the audience engaged. That isn’t too say that the movie doesn’t have more than enough of its fair share of nail biting action sequences, and also plenty of gruesome shots depicting the carnage that World War I brought. These soldiers have to army crawl over rotting corpses, while rats and crows are seen pecking and chewing through the remains. The filmmaker doesn’t turn a blind eye to the horrors that war produced. To me, this is one of many reasons why I believe 1917 is superior to other popular recent war films such as Dunkirk. I don’t want my war films to be sanitized. War needs to be portrayed as it truly is - acts of complete inhumanity.

Dare I say that 1917 is Come and See for the 21st century. While Come and See is most definitely the superior film, there were echoes of the classic Soviet Union masterpiece that ring throughout 1917. Maybe it’s the expertly crafted tracking shots, maybe it’s the maddening use of sound design/editing, or maybe it’s the shell shocked expression that is engraved on one of the main characters faces near the finale.

1917 does an amazing job of being very loud, but also utilizing silence in certain scenes to great affect. The juxtaposition is most expertly crafted during one scene that involved flares popping off in the sky, lighting up the ruins of a city, as one the characters runs away from enemy fire. It’s an absolutely exhilarating scene. I ended up bawling by the end of the movie, mostly just because of all the pent up anxiety and distress I felt throughout. You don’t see many films that take place during World War I anymore. But 1917 shows it is not a time period to be forgotten about.

#2 - The Lighthouse Directed by Robert Eggers

I had been eagerly anticipating Robert Eggers’s follow-up film after he released The VVitch back in 2016. At first it was reported that he was going to be doing an adaptation of Nosferatu, which I still think would be a great story for Egger’s to adapt, especially after witnessing what he instead decided to make - The Lighthouse.

Shot gorgeously in black & white on gritty 16mm celluloid, the film looks like it comes from a completely different era (the dialogue as well). There were many shots that had a similar look to some of Bergman’s early work on the Faroe islands.

The Lighthouse has a fairly simple plot. Robert Pattinson plays Winslow who goes to work for a seasoned lighthouse keeper named Thomas who is played by Willem Dafoe. Winslow is new to being a wickie and Thomas takes him under his wing to show him the ropes. Thomas orders him about incessantly in a brute and abusive manner.

There is a minimalism to the plot, however all of the other elements are done so perfectly that the daily grueling routines of these wickies becomes nothing short of hypnotizing. The sound design and score ratchets up the harsh conditions of the island. Wind sounds like its constantly shrieking outside - a reminder of the unease that seems to be building to an overflow. The dialogue, diction, and accents are all completely authentic to the time period and setting that the story is taking place in. Eggers commitment is second to none when it come to detail and authenticity with aspects such as the character’s accents and inflections. A real case of cabin fever befalls the two men who both seem to become obsessed with the mystical light that emanates at the top of the light house.

While I really enjoyed The VVItch, I absolutely adored The Lighthouse and find it to be a much stronger work from Eggers. I think what I vibed with most about it is that the movie doesn’t feel the need to be confined to one particular genre. Whereas The VVitch was literally about a witch bringing misery to a Puritan family, it was constricted to be somewhat of a horror film. However, The Lighthouse manages to be many different tones: a fever dream surrealist film, an arthouse horror, a slapstick comedy, and a nautical retelling of many ancient sea myths. And all of these different tones worked together and bounced off each other in perfect harmony.

I found myself both laughing and completely repulsed by the images I was seeing - especially within the last act of the film which succeeded in shaking me up and making me feel both bewildered and slightly nauseated. It ends up being a gritty, dirty, and uncompromising journey into total psychosis. By the conclusion of the film, the audience comes to the same realization as the two characters - there really was enchantment in the light after all.

#1 - Waves Directed by Trey Edward Shults

Waves is an operatic cry for people to be better to one another. It is by far my favorite film of the year, and I truly believe it to be one of the finest films ever made. It earned itself a well deserved spot in my Top 25 Favorite Films of the Decade.

Trey Edward Shults started out his cinematic career on a strong note with Krisha. He delivered once again with his sophomore debut - It Comes at Night (even if I do find it to be easily the weakest of out the three he has directed). But for me, Waves is where Shults really experiments with his style to such a fine tuned degree that we find the director not calming down his vision or becoming more “grounded”, instead he expands upon his prowess with one of the most powerful family dramas I’ve ever seen.

Shults is another director who made my list this year who is somewhat of a protege of Terrence Malick. Shults worked as an intern for Malick on both The Tree of Life and Voyage of Time. It is quite clear the influence that Malick has on Shult’s vision. But Shults, even more-so than Edwards who also made my list this year, has taken Malick’s inspiration and created something wholly his own.

Shults has created an experiential rollercoaster of actions, consequences and the toxic fallout than can come from such actions. Waves is essentially two films in one. The first half is the energetic, chaotic and traumatic first half in its depiction of toxic masculinity taken too far, to the eventual accident that changes all of the characters lives. The camera is constantly floating in this portion, or shall I even say flying through the air and around the characters. The camera has no limits in what it can do and that along with the editing, and most noticeably the insanely perfect soundtrack/score, this portion ends up feeling like one prolonged anxiety attack.

The second half of the film switches character POVs masterfully. There’s a psychedelic shift of perspective from the brother’s eyes covered in flashing lights from the back of a police car to his little sister’s eyes in the back of their parent’s car (you have to have seen the film to completely understand what I am referring to of course). This second half of the film is where the camera slows down a little. This portion is more character focused and less interested in being flashy through its aesthetic. We get more dialogue, more character details, and a lot more tears in this half. It’s like a long cathartic release after experiencing an hour of trauma and abuse. It succeeds in tearing you apart, to only slowly piece you back together.

As mentioned previously, Shults’s soundtrack decisions were the cherry on top for me. Tame Impala, Animal Collective & Tyler the Creator are three of my favorite artists and their music is utilized perfectly within the story. What made this film so special to me, other than the fact it all takes place in the state in which I grew up in, was that no other film has better reminded me of my own humanity in years. This film makes me want to be a better brother, a better friend, a better son, and a better person in general. You never know when a single moment can shatter your entire world. In the end, it left me with a strong message that struck me to my core: appreciate what you have in life, and tread carefully.

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dinoandrade · 4 years

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“DRACULA”: BOOK vs. MOVIES

Part 4: Novel Details

Welcome to part four of my five part essay comparing Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula” to those film versions most commonly referred to as those “faithful to the novel.” To understand why I wrote this please check out parts one through three.

BUT FIRST...

This essay is NOT spoiler free. And whether you love or hate any of the films being compared here is beside the point and a subject best left to posts dedicated to film critique. This essay is SOLELY about which films are the most faithful to the novel... period.

Reminder: those versions most touted as “faithful” that I compared are:

“Nosferatu: a Symphony of Horror” (1922) aka “Max Schreck Version”.

“Count Dracula” (1970) aka “Christopher Lee Version”.

“Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1973) retitled “Dan Curtis’ Dracula” aka “Jack Palance Version”.

“Count Dracula” (1977) aka “Louis Jordan version.”

“Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) aka “Coppola version”.

And now...

PART FOUR: NOVEL DETAILS

A STOLEN BABY AND OTHER FIDDLY BITS

In the novel Dracula stops his brides from feeding on, and presumably killing, Johnathan Harker yet satiates his hungry brides by feeding them a baby stolen from a local village. The next day the mother arrives at the castle crying and begging for the baby to be returned. In answer, Dracula compels a pack of wolves to descend upon the poor woman. No version shows the mother or the wolf attack but the baby being fed to the brides is seen in the Christopher Lee, Louis Jordan and Coppola versions.

In the novel Dracula casts no reflection in mirrors. Which Johnathan Harker discovers as he’s shaving and Dracula enters his room. This is depicted in the Christopher Lee, Jordan and Coppola versions. But not in either the Max Schreck or Jack Palance versions where it never comes up so we actually don’t know.

A crucifix repels vampires in the novel as well as all versions except the Max Schreck.

Before escaping Castle Dracula Johnathan Harker finds Dracula’s tomb and attempts to kill the Count with a shovel to the head but the shovel’s blows have no effect. This is depicted in the Christopher Lee and Louis Jordan versions. While in the Jack Palance version Harker makes the attempt with a stake before being attacked by Dracula’s Gypsy minions.

Upon escaping Castle Dracula Johnathan Harker in the novel is found delirious, emaciated, half-crazed and suffers a long recovery in a Budapest convent. Harker never escaped Castle Dracula in the Jack Palance version. In the Max Schreck Version he is found and recovers in a hospital. In the Christopher Lee Version he is found and recovers in an asylum NOT ran by Doctor Seward, but by Van Helsing (here, Seward only works there). Harker recovers in a Budapest convent in both the Jordan and Coppola versions.

Once getting to England, in the novel Dracula keeps a cache of boxes filled with Transylvanian soil at the English estate he purchased (Carfax Abbey) with many more such boxes hidden all over London. Van Helsing and the vampire hunters find and destroy all the boxes forcing Dracula to flee London with his one remaining box. No version shows a hunt for boxes all over London. The Louis Jordan, Coppola, and Jack Palance versions all show the vampire hunters destroy the boxes at Carfax Abbey.

Van Helsing in the novel attempts to purify Mina by blessing her with a Holy wafer held to her forehead, but instead of blessing, the wafer burns and scars Mina. This is seen in both the Jordan and Coppola versions. These are also the only versions to show Mina being used as bait to lure Dracula’s brides so they may be killed by Van Helsing.

WINNER FOR MOST RIGHT: a tie between the Jordan and Coppola versions

PERIOD ACCURACY

“Nosferatu” resets the story in Germany and was atmospherically brilliant. The Christopher Lee and Jack Palance versions look like the most successful of Hammer films where the sets and costumes look so cool that no one would either notice or care if anything is inaccurate.

Coppola had a more original approach, foregoing any pretense of authenticity in favor of a fanciful, artificial soundstage look, intentionally evocative of the classic Universal Horror films. Added are surreal visual influences from both the silent German “Expressionist” films of F. W. Murnau and the French silent films of George Milies. Combine all that with an art direction and costume aesthetic that was pure gothic fairy tale and Coppola’s film becomes a work of true phantasmagoria. But was this the most faithful approach?

Not even close.

It is the BBC Produced Louis Jordan version that painstakingly went for absolute historical accuracy regarding the sets, locations, art direction and costumes. They even shot in some of the very same seaside locations Bram Stoker used in his Novel. For example the Whitby seaside steps Mina and Lucy are seen descending are the very same steps described in the novel, which are the very same steps Stoker himself often strolled up and down during his life. Steps that I understand still exist to this day.

Winner (no question): Louis Jordan version

OVERALL PLOT FLOW

The Max Schreck and the Jack Palance versions both follow the book rather closely in their first halves but then veer off to become their own works, with the Palance version at least remaining truest between the two to the spirit of the novel’s plot.

Both the Palance and Coppola versions add basically the same backstory for their Counts. Despite not giving the Count any definitive personal backstory in the novel, it is pretty much known that Bram Stoker used the historical figure of Vlad the Impaler as his inspiration for Dracula.

Jack Palance version screenwriter Richard Matheson was the first to take this knowledge and use it as a Dracula backstory and also added the new wrinkle of Mina as a reincarnation of Dracula’s long dead wife. This I believe inspired James V. Hart who expanded greatly on both Matheson concepts in his screenplay for the Coppola version. So for you folks who heaped praise (or criticism) onto Coppola for the Vlad/Mina “Love Never Dies” backstory... sorry, Matheson came up with it first.

On the other hand, the Christopher Lee and Louis Jordan versions pretty much follow the plot with only a few alterations mostly involving character inaccuracies. The Christopher Lee version however severely truncates the story probably for running time as the Lee version is 97 minutes while the Jordan version is almost an hour longer. As such, the Jordan version is just packed with little details from the novel that I’ve never seen in any other filmed version.

For example there is a sequence in the novel where Mina and Lucy are watching an oncoming storm while resting on a bench on the edge of a seaside graveyard. An old retired sailor happens along and makes a rather distasteful joke about the nearby grave marker of a suicide victim, a joke which appalls the two women. A day later the old sailor is found dead, drained of blood. Dracula’s first victim as he arrived in England that night in the storm. While this sequence is marvelous for building the mystery in the novel, it does little to advance the plot cinematically, thus it is left out of every filmed version EXCEPT the Louis Jordan.

So, between the Christopher Lee and the Louis Jordan versions, when it comes to following the plot, the Jordan version is essentially the book put on screen.

Winner: Louis Jordan version

Coming tomorrow, the essay conclusion...

PART FIVE: THE FINAL BATTLE & THE DEATH OF DRACULA

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chiseler · 4 years

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A Week of Kindness in the Rue Morgue

From Bela Lugosi’s Mackie Messer in the beginning to the final moments of an ape bounding over the rooftops of a pasteboard Paris, Robert Florey’s 1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue is an unselfconscious adaptation of Max Ernst’s great work, Une semaine de bonté. Ernst’s book was published two years later, so it would be even more curious to know if he saw this film – especially given the Surrealists’ bent for valorizing junk.

A wild contraption mixing sci-fi super science, eugenics, and Guignol jungle horror with European postwar exoticism, Murders rattles on for little over an hour, employing several amusing devices along the way. Viz: a send-up of Françafrique colonialism with Karl May-like Indians bedeviling a crowd of bourgeois pigs; a series of funny gags on language, nationalism, and food that break up the foggy Krafft-Ebbing carnality; Lugosi’s unboarded mad doctor, part carnival barker and part Francis Galton (Lugosi’s Brechtian pedagogy is interrupted by a gleeful sadism and misogyny, which is the real point of his supposedly ‘hammy’ line readings); phantasmagoric ‘exteriors’, beautifully exposed by the great Carl Freund, giving a moving panorama background to the essentially vaudeville goings-on. Florey’s film is a stew of pulp and pulp critique, with the requisite dynamo speed and a true populist delight in dirty innuendo.

The picture was not a great success upon release (Universal’s Carl Laemmle Jr. was hoping for a second Frankenstein – which Lugosi turned down in ‘31, both as monster and doctor). But the real casualty of the picture was Arlene Francis, pictured above on the cross being adored by a monastic Béla (this blasphemous altarpiece was partially mangled by edits for the general release, but remains in press stills). For promotional material, the crucifixion scene was reproduced in life-size card mock-ups and displayed in theater lobbies around the country – which enflamed the Presbyterians and also Miss Francis’ father, who successfully petitioned Universal to remove the offending cut-outs (the family’s actual last name was Kazanjian, which is Armenian; the grandparents were victims of the Genocide, with the remnant moving to the US soon after). The ancillary activities in this Rue Morgue are almost as fascinating as those of Ulmer’s Black Cat, which makes a strong case for a profound revision of the entire Lugosi constellation.

Aside from the ape, the only real Poe characters to appear in the film are a far more dashing version of Auguste Dupin, the great father of all neurotic detectives, and a bumbling police prefect (who is clearly the Inspector ‘G’ of the three canonical Dupin mysteries). Dupin lives in the kind of artist’s garret Arlene Francis’ father knew during his years as a painter in the real Paris, c. 1896 – or at least he would have registered it as a soapy parody of that time. Dark and unforgettable, Miss Francis had lucked into her small silent role in the film, and it damped her subsequent career. She did later become well-known as a regular on What’s My Line, but anyone who saw her ragdoll body and necrophiliac sexuality in Murders couldn’t possibly have forgotten her. And there is racism too: her agent recommended a nose-job after this film, doubtless because she looked too ‘Asiatic’ (Jewish). She complied – needing work, like we do.

Closest scene to Ernst: the ape’s arm lolls out a carriage window in the mist, as Dr Mirakle (Lugosi’s preposterously-named heavy) summons him to carry off the comely Sidney Fox (a second subject for devolution after Arlene Francis dies). The ape appears also as a great shadowy hand, an actual ape in facial close-up, and as a shaggy clump loping in long shot. Though it is simian blood Lugosi injects into women in his quest to breed supercreatures, the audience easily reads ‘bestiality’. Perhaps here too, we can see the paranoia of French who suspected a devilish plot between Oriental doctors with near-Yiddish names and noirs? Dreyfuss and his Apelings?

WWI Europe thrilled American servicemen, even as it destroyed their minds. Stateside horror films of the period are strange reflections of battlefields and louche flâneur, Puritanism, VD, and slipping borders. The unreal cities of occupation and prostitutes are essays of wandering Yanks, flashed in stark documentary and astral bodies; dirty reels of malaprop, anachronism, and funhouse fantasy contra the phantasmagoria of czar and kaiser lands fast falling into particle dust. The Universal or PRC cheapie is an unholy conspiracy between the homeless Euro sophisticate and the American canine – a junk and junkier art where plot is subservient to scene, as the new medium technically demanded.

Along with the static, hallucinatory Dracula’s Daughter and Karl Freund’s gamy film of The Mummy (1932), Florey’s flick is one of the most sensual of early Universal horrors and probably the sleaziest. The Hays Code was not strictly enforced until 1934, but it was gaining traction all the while. It succeeded in removing some of Francis’ bound body to make up for letting Zita Jahnn dance for Pharaoh and Karloff a year earlier. But in 1936, Dracula’s daughter’s lesbian fling with a model missed them completely, even though they monitored horror like hawks. Despite the bloody lips and ripped blouses of the later Hammer or hippie cult shows, horror was a truly Modernist organ in these 1930s workingman’s shows. Requiescat in pace

Post-Watergate, even the most interesting genre pictures could muster only an amusing retro-viral pastiche or guilt about the human body as real estate. As in economics, neoliberalism and its discontents emerged triumphant after a time of monsters. But perhaps the story isn’t over yet, and the ape will ignore liberty and again go straight for the throat.

(watch here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21gvsx )

by Martin Billheimer

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starfish-sims · 6 years

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GET TO KNOW ME TAG

Rules: Post a picture of your simself with your traits and answer the questions!

I saw others do this and thought it was a cool idea! Granted, my husband said that something about my Sim Self’s face wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t tell me what, so for now, she’ll have to do!

I tag anyone who wants to try this! :-D

1. What is your full name: Michelle P.D.

2. What’s your nickname: Michi (my chosen name in Japanese) or Seb (my former gamertag)

3. Birthday: 22nd of July, 1993.

4. What is your favorite book series? The Ranger’s Apprentice!! It is my comfort food book series.

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? I definitely believe in aliens. I believe it conceited to think that we’re the only intelligent life the universe could come up with. Ghosts, I’m not so sure...

6. Who is your favorite author? John Flanagan (writer of the Ranger’s Apprentice-series.)

7. What is your favorite radio station? I don’t listen to radio, but I am a radio host at my grandmother’s radio station, so I’ll pick that one, lol.

8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? Coconut – I have a coconut moisturizing cream. It’s delish.

9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? Awesome or Great? I’m boring like that, lol. In Japanese, I really like using 最高 (saikou).

10. What is your current favorite song? Power of Dream by LOL (the newest opening of Fairy Tail).

11. What is your favorite word? ‘Phantasmagoria’ for English’, ‘きっかけ’ for Japanese. (kikkakke)

12. What was the last song you listened to? Not sure... Definitely a K-pop song, but I was listening to the playlist while driving, so I stopped listening for the individual songs at some point, lol.

13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? Doctor Who or Haikyuu!!

14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? I don’t watch movies... Except Marvel movies, in which case, I’d choose Doctor Strange, but that’s just because it’s my favourite.

15. Do you play video games? Yes!! SO MANY VIDEO GAMES!! My favorite genres are JRPGs, and my favorite video game series are Mass Effect and the Atelier-franchise.

16. What is your biggest fear? Living life without anyone thinking they’re happy I’m here.

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? My honesty. I’m honest to a fault, something which my family often complains about, but I’d like to think it’s one of my better qualities. (Fun event; when my sister and I were little, we went to buy candy at the local mart. My sister put huge marshmallow dolphins into a bag. They’re about 30 cent a piece, but the shopkeep weighed them like normal candy, so she got all three of them for like 45 cent or something. I was livid, and kept bugging her to go back and pay full price, lol.)

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? My inability to cope with criticism. I don’t get particularly defensive, most of the time, because I know that criticism is someone’s way of telling me that something needs to be improved. What I do find difficult, however, is keeping in mind that the criticism isn’t directed at my person, but at the piece of work I am performing.

19. Do you like cats or dogs better? CATS. I AM SO SAD. MY HUSBAND IS ALLERGIC. THERE’S A VOID IN MY LIFE.

20. What is your favorite season? Early spring.

21. Are you in a relationship? Yes. (see question 19)

22. What is something you miss from your childhood? My cat, Kit. I found her as a kitten when I was 12 years old, and she died from cancer when I started University.

23. Who is your best friend? My childhood friend, Simone.

24. What is your eye color? Blue-ish Gray, I think.

25. What is your hair color? We call it liver paste in Denmark, lol. In Japan, it’s blonde.

26. Who is someone you love? My husband, my best friend and my biological younger siblings.

27. Who is someone you trust? (I read this as someone you can tell anything and everything) My husband and my best friend.

28. Who is someone you think about often? My mother and my grandmother. They don’t talk to each other, and I often worry about them, hoping they can patch it up before my grandparents are gone...

29. Are you currently excited about/for something? Oh yes! I am going on my second internship at the end of January! I can’t wait. (Also, the release of Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists in March <3 )

30. What is your biggest obsession? Writing stories. I am really bad at it, though. #Writer’sBlocks

31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? Winx Club, lol. I still like it a lot.

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? My husband.

33. Are you superstitious? I don’t believe I am, no.

34. Do you have any unusual phobias? Cygnophobia, a fear of swans. When I was three years old, me, my grandmother and my baby sister (who was 1 at the time) were chased through the local park by a swan. It was nesting season. I don’t remember it, but I’ve always been terrified of the bird.

35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? Behind it – I hate my smile/teeth.

36. What is your favorite hobby? Writing stories and playing video games.

37. What was the last book you read? School books – probably ‘The Bible, the Torah and the Quran’.

38. What was the last movie you watched? Fantastic Beasts – the Crimes of Grindelwald.

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? None, but I used to play the Organ.

40. What is your favorite animal? Cats or Snakes.

41. What are your top 5 favorite tumblr blogs that you follow? @goneril-capp, @racingllama, @calisimgirl, @gerbits and @storylegacysims.

42. What superpower do you wish you had? Teleportation. As a commuter, travel times are killer.

43. When and where do you feel most at peace? When I’m alone at home.

44. What makes you smile? Working with children, and rewatching my favorite episodes of TV series.

45. What sports do you play, if any? None. I really like to swim though.

46. What is your favorite drink? Coconut Lemonade or Pinã Colada.

47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? Last week? I use pen and notebook in school, so I often write small notes to my classmates.

48. Are you afraid of heights? If I can look straight down, then yes. I don’t mind standing on a balcony and looking out over a city, but rides that throw you straight down, or looking down from a window terrifies me.

49. What is your biggest pet peeve? When someone leaves the TV on while doing something else -___- IT’S SO ANNOYING. If you watch TV, you watch TV, you don’t run around the house doing other stuff. Using the TV for music is fine, but leaving on a the TV and going back and forth between that and something else is so annoying to me.

50. Have you ever been to a concert? Once or twice. I went to a WINNER concert when I was in Japan. It was an amazing experience!

51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? Nope.

52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? An archaeologist or astronaut.

53. What fictional world would you like to live in? I’m not sure if it counts, but I’d love to live in the world of Doctor Who. It’s basically just our world but with a time traveling alien jumping around saving the world on a frequent basis.

54. What is something you worry about? Economy. All the time.

55. Are you scared of the dark? Not particularly.

56. Do you like to sing? I love it!

57. Have you ever skipped school? I skipped every Sports Day in grade school, and I’ve skipped school a couple of times when some new video games I really wanted came out.

58. What is your favorite place on the planet? Japan, definitely.

59. Where would you like to live? Denmark, for economical and cultural reasons.

60. Do you have any pets? No. I REALLY WANT A CAT. But once my husband and I move into a house in a few years’ time, we’ve agreed to get dogs.

61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? Definitely a night owl. There’s (almost) nothing I hate more than waking up early.

62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? Sunsets.

63. Do you know how to drive? No. I don’t trust myself nearly enough to drive a car responsibly, so I’ll leave that to my husband.

64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? Headphones.

65. Have you ever had braces? No... But now that I’m older, I wish I had.

66. What is your favorite genre of music? Kpop all day, every day. And if that fails, then Jazz.

67. Who is your hero? Hmm... Fictional or Real? If Fictional, then the Doctor. If not, then Stephen Fry, which is basically the same thing, really, lol.

68. Do you read comic books? Occasionally.

69. What makes you the most angry? Racists, Xenophobes, Homophobes and generally, people who live in their own little piece of the world and believes that that is how everyone should live.

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? Electronic Device. I’m very forgetful, so I always end up placing real books somewhere I’ll never find them again.

71. What is your favorite subject in school? Currently? English or History. Among all the subjects I’ve ever had? Japanese Conversation Classes.

72. Do you have any siblings? I have two biological, one half, four step and one adopted.

73. What was the last thing you bought? A bottle of Marzipan shots. Delicious.

74. How tall are you? 169 centimeters.

75. Can you cook? HA! I can burn water.

76. What are three things that you love? Smoothies, Dreams and my Duvet.

77. What are three things that you hate? Racists, Politicians and Parmesan Cheese.

78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? Equal, I think? Maybe slightly more male?

79. What is your sexual orientation? Heterosexual.

80. Where do you currently live? Randers, Denmark.

81. Who was the last person you texted? My husband.

82. When was the last time you cried? Two days ago.

83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? Plenty of different ones: Outside Xbox, Outside Xtra, TearofGrace, ChristopherOdd, SimSupply and Simlicy are my current tops.

84. Do you like to take selfies? Absolutely not.

85. What is your favorite app? Tumblr or Otome Amino.

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? I have no relationship with the man who donated the sperm that eventually became me. My relationship with my mom and my dad (her new husband) is great, although a bit rocky at times because of my intense honesty, lol.

87. What is your favorite foreign accent? … I don’t like accents, lol. I like dialects a lot! I like the Southern dialect of American English, and the Kansai dialect of Japanese.

88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? The Valley of Kings in Egypt and China.

89. What is your favorite number? 7.

90. Can you juggle? Lol, nope.

91. Are you religious? I believe there is something we can’t explain or see or fathom, but I don’t particularly care about what it is, and I don’t buy into any of the current world religions. I find religions hella fascinating though!

92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? Outer Space. I’m afraid of the deep ocean, lol.

93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? Not even close.

94. Are you allergic to anything? No.

95. Can you curl your tongue? Don’t know what this means, lol.

96. Can you wiggle your ears? That I cannot.

97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? Depends. I don’t like admitting I was wrong when arguing with my baby brother, but with everyone else, I usually fess up once I’ve calmed down a bit.

98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? The beach.

99. What is your favourite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? I don’t think I was given the advice rather than figuring out for myself that that was how I wanted to live my life, but John Barrowman once said something that really struck a chord with me: “Never apologize for being nerdy, because unnerdy people never apologize for being assholes.”

100. Are you a good liar? I suppose I’m good at white lies? But I never think they’re lies, lol. It’s like, my husband will ask ‘did you do the dishes’, and I’ll instinctively answer ‘yes’ because I thought I did it, and then I’ll realize I’m not done yet, and I’ll rectify myself.

101. What is your hogwarts house? Hufflepuff Forever!!

102. Do you talk to yourself? In a manner of speaking. If I’m alone, I like to walk around and talk out stories I’m planning like I’m in a play. Like, I’ll imagine I’m in a part of the story I haven’t planned yet, and then talk out what the characters are saying to see if I can get the story to move forward.

103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Hmm... Don’t know?? I used to be an extreme introvert, but when I started University I decided that I wanted to talk more with my classmates, and now I’m sort of in the middle, I think??

104. Do you keep a journal/diary? Nope. Used to though.

105. Do you believe in second chances? Absolutely.

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Find the owner – if that doesn’t work, hand it in at the police station.

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? Definitely.

108. Are you ticklish? Very much so. My husband likes to cuddle, but I frequently push him away, because his cuddles tickle me... It’s a struggle.

109. Have you ever been on a plane? Yes, close to ten times, I think.

110. Do you have any piercings? Just my ears.

111. What fictional character do you wish was real? The Doctor. I myself hate humanity at the best of times, so watching a timeless alien who sees the best in our race despite all of our failings is very inspiring.

112. Do you have any tattoos? Yes, I have a sibling tattoo with my two biological siblings. It’s three arrows over cross, that point to each of our birth years.

113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? Getting interested in Anime back when I was 12 years old, I think. It led to me meeting my best friend at the age of 14, learning one of the coolest languages in the world, meeting my husband, going on exchange to Kobe for the best four months of my life and making tons of friends I’d never have met otherwise.

114. Do you believe in karma? Yes.

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Nope, my vision is perfect for the moment.

116. Do you want children? Absolutely, and as soon as possible too.

117. Who is the smartest person you know? Depends on the subject matter? We’re all pretty smart with our own things, I believe. I’m the best in my class when it comes to Grammar, for instance, while the others are great at other parts of our classes.

118. What is your most embarrassing memory? Getting my first scooter at the age of 16 and driving straight into the side of car after leaving the dealer’s. I’ve never ridden another automatic vehicle since then.

119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? Oh yes, so many times.

120. What color are most of you clothes? Greys and blacks.

121. Do you like adventures? Reading about them? Definitely. Going on them? Nope.

122. Have you ever been on TV? Yes. Me and a classmate of mine were interviewed in high school because we were two of the first students to take Chinese as an elective subject at the school.

123. How old are you? 25 years old.

124. What is your favorite quote? “Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway” – the Third Doctor, “Planet of the Daleks”, 1973.

125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? SWEET. I have such a sweet tooth, half of it would be enough.

#non sims #get to know me #simself

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thegraftedbranch · 6 years

Text

Gravity Falls and Childhood.

Greetings and salutations, Gravity Falls fandom. My best contributions to you have been niche metas, here and here, on Ford’s arc in all its abjected glory. And now for something completely different. Something way broader.

Us late-stage Millennials (early Gen Z?) are supposedly all (re)learning that “growing old doesn’t mean growing up”, and all that Holden Caulfield kind of crap. I wouldn’t know; I outgrew my “kids’ media are whack” phase in elementary school. But I do know that Gravity Falls captures childhood uncommonly well.

“Wkhuh zdv d wlph lq pb ghphqwhg brxwk/Zkhq vrphkrz L vxvshfwhg wkdw wkh wuxwk/Derxw vxuylydo diwhu ghdwk zdv nqrzq/Wr hyhub kxpdq ehlqj: L dorqh/Nqhz qrwklqj, dqg d juhdw frqvsludfb/Ri errnv dqg shrsoh klg wkh wuxwk iurp ph.” ―Yodglplu Qdernry, Sdoh Iluh

This show presents the duality of one childhood summer. Much to its credit, Gravity Falls is secret society insignias and sun-dappled pinewoods and stargazing. It’s conspiracy boards, urban decay, and a sleepy town’s whisperings of the dangerous unknown... among other (and Other) phantasmagoria. But Gravity Falls is also neon 80s/90s kitsch and tourist trap grotesqueries and pop culture references (to Disney Channel’s 2000s movie lineup, even!). It’s friendship bracelets, glitter, and watermelon residue. That’s all nostalgic too... though hardly in keeping with the show’s rustic aesthetic.

I’ve praised the first half of this duality for presenting kid-friendly darkness and nuance we don’t see anywhere else... but the show’s next-biggest strength is its reinvention of tropes we see everywhere else. Of course its charming characters can revitalize anemic cartoon stock plots... but so can its heaps of absurdity. Because like, backwoods towns would legalize woodpecker marriage and elect mayors through some farcical avian ceremony. New Jersey would have Glass Shard Beach in its Lead Paint District. Conman caretakers, prosperity-gospel psychics, and robot-engineering hillbillies would exist in one town. The show helps today’s kids fathom our modern cultural melting-pot by being the pastiche my generation needed when we were younger.

Gravity Falls reflects the way kids mythologize the unique rules and rituals they use to navigate a world whose silliness is Serious Business. Dipper’s fixation on what is “technically a teen”, and Mabel’s on how much trick-or-treating they have left (also, the genetically-engineered boy band joke) in particular were directly stolen from my childhood. Trufax. Adult stability destabilizes this certainty, and children’s rituals are allways dangerously at odds with adults’ rules. Kids would explore abandoned convenience stores or “steal a pie off a windowsill”, in 2012 or “nineteen-sixty something”, because at no age in history or life does anyone obey the “No Loitering” signs at the existential or coming-of-age thresholds.

(I surely don’t need to debate you fine people on whether universal patterns underlie rites of passage, amirite? Joseph Campbell’s: Mm Mm Bliss.)

“brx nqrz djdlq wkdw ehklqg wkdw zdoo, xqghu wkh xqfxw kdlu ri wkh zloorzv/vrphwklqj vhfuhw lv jrlqj rq, vr pduyhorxv dqg gdqjhurxv/wkdw li brx fudzohg wkurxjk dqg vdz, brx zrxog glh, ru eh kdssb iruhyhu.” —Olvho Pxhoohu, “Vrphwlphv, Zkhq wkh Oljkw”

Growing up shifts one’s faith from imagination to information, and the show rightfully validates both. Just look at “Not What He Seems”, the pivotal episode about how lying to kids for their protection makes them imagine the worst of limited information until imagining better (“I trust you”) leads them to the truth. Danger is as necessary for growth as it is inevitable, and repressing it only enables it. Look at Stan and Ford’s arc, where two stubborn adults reconcile through childlike open-mindedness and mature compassion. Imagination and information have equal capacity for harm, and the truths their syntheses reveal are never simple... at least in my tunnel view. I’m cut myself on Occam’s Razor.

Easy answers collapse vis-à-vis mystery, a mortal draw universal and particular. We all want to be elsewhere, whether we admit it or not, so I’m glad this show’s elsewhere coincides with mine: urban legends, conspiracy, unreality, ghosts, cryptids, aliens. The gorgeous backgrounds are for those of us who love the Pacific Northwest, or nature in general. The Transcendentalists knew What Was Up, fam. Gravity Falls straightforwardly conveys the greatness of all these things I liked before I had the words to explain why, because my frame of reference was wire-thin and gender roles sure suck. Adulthood is sorting out the universal of the childhood moment from the particular, appreciating both all the more.

Did this show convince me to ~live in the moment~ before it’s gone forever? Not really. But it did take me back to those evening car rides where I’d chase my eye floaters across the rolling landscape and wonder what I couldn’t perceive beyond them, or astral project to some nonexistent neighborhood or woods or beach under the same sunset. Somewhere kids could play after hours, even after the hours extended into lifetimes. Maybe even after those hours, too,

“Dw qljkw, L jr rq erdug dqg vdb/Jrrg qljkw wr doo pb iulhqgv rq vkruh; L vkxw pb hbhv dqg vdlo dzdb/Dqg vhh dqg khdu qr pruh.” —Urehuw Orxlv Vwhyhqvrq, “Pb Ehg lv d Erdw”

Growing up doesn’t mean growing out. It’s not razing the childhood framework, but staying grounded in it as its resonance changes yearly and you gravitate toward higher things -which puts the “fall” in Gravity Falls. In the paracosmic scheme of things, I’ve seen no better children’s cartoon except Over the Garden Wall. Summer’s over, but this meta series isn’t.

#gravity falls #gf meta #long post

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haveyouseenmymind · 6 years

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Phantasmagoria

Yay, it’s Trek Fest 2018! All thanks to the lovely @outside-the-government for this great event. :)

I have finally broken through my fluff phase and wrote something a bit differently to my other fics. (At least I hope so?) Of course it’s McKirk, that seems to be my muse lately, but it’s not too heavy on the relationship part, as it concentrates mainly on Jim. That’s why I thought this would be perfect for his special week.

However, I hope you guys like it, cause I wrote this over the weekend instead of doing uni stuff. :D

For general info and better orientation, this takes place during the end of STID.

Fandom: Star Trek AOS

Pairing: McKirk

Warnings: angst, mentions of child abuse (once), kind of mind fuckery

Words: 3115

Phantasmagoria: random series of associative images, illusions or phantasms as in dreams or under feaver.

He remembers this place. Not only the house, but also the farm surrounding it. The dry dirt dusts up into the air as he takes step for step, coming closer to the old farmhouse. He has been here before, but when?

Curiously, he steps up the porch and knows before he actually hears it, that the second tread will make a horrible squeaking sound, alarming whoever lives here of his presence. He flinches at the noise, hates it, always has.

He remembers being forced to avoid it while sneaking back into the house, but also getting caught once due to his carelessness. And the thorough beating he got for it. After that he had learned his lesson, so he had found a way back into his room over the roof and his window. Frank had never caught him again after that.

His eyes grow wide. Of course, Frank.

He’s in Iowa, back home. Back at the farm he had hated so much when he was a child, where his mother had left him and his brother back in the care of the pathetic excuse of a stepfather.

Why is he here? Isn’t he supposed to be somewhere else?

“Jim.”

Someone is calling him. A man. Does his voice come from the inside? Why does it sound so familiar?

He’s in front of the door, and he’s not sure if he wants to go inside. What will expect him in there? Empty rooms? Or Frank on the couch, surrounded by dozens of beer bottles, and his glassy eyes, hazy from too much alcohol, glued to the vidscreen? Giving a shit about Jim coming back?

No... Frank doesn’t live here anymore. He’s long gone.

Jim’s thoughts are growing messy, his head is spinning while trying to gather the right memories. He has to close his eyes, take steadying breaths to calm himself down, as he can’t afford to panic now.

When he feels calm enough to face whatever awaits him, he opens his eyes, and reels back immediately.

He’s inside the house, but how? Just a second ago he was still standing outside, and he can’t remember moving an inch away from his position in front of the door.

What the hell is going on?

There are noises coming from the kitchen, but it’s not Frank, can’t be Frank, so who is in there? He slowly starts moving, wariness mingling into his confusion, and when he steps into the room, sees what’s in front of him, he stops right where he stands, too shocked to say anything.

His mother is standing at the stove, with a silly pink apron, the ribbon, sitting on her lower back, neatly bound. She’s humming as she stirs the content of one of the pots on the stove plates with a wooden spoon, not looking up, but instead completely entranced with whatever she’s cooking.

It’s wrong. So, so wrong and Jim has no idea what’s going on, cause this can’t be his mother.

Winona Kirk is a messy cook. Jim knows this from his own experiences, the last one made at an awkward attempt to bring the family back together, to amend her wrongdoings from his and Sam’s childhood.

When he had been back after… after what? Images flash through his head, a planet destroyed, a ship exploding, and Jim tries to remember, but the memories flee away from his mind’s grasp.

But he remembers setting foot back on earth, his mother waiting for him with Sam by her side. Days later they were back at this house, the kitchen a mess and no aprons with pretty ribbons.

She suddenly looks up, turns around and spots him standing in the door, and he stares at her. She looks the same as that day, same clothes plus the apron, wrinkles around her eyes, made of worries and old, ineradicable grieve that’ll never grow out of her heart, no matter how much she tries, how much she runs away from it.

But she smiles at him, looks even happy?

Suddenly Sam rushes into the room, straight towards the coffee pot, but his mother is still looking at him contently, until her eyes stray away from him, move towards the kitchen table.

“Look George, Jim is back home.”

Every muscle in his body tenses as he goes immediately rigid, cause she is not talking to Sam. He turns towards the table, afraid of what he’ll see.

Jim must have gone crazy, cause indeed, there’s he sitting, not a day older than 29, looking the way Jim knows him from uncountable holo pictures his mother had tried to hide from him at the attic.

George Kirk, his father, looks up from his own mug of coffee, staring at Jim and scrutinizing him with a calculating gaze.

“You’re not supposed to be here, son.”

It’s too much. Jim can’t handle this, can’t cope with what’s happening here, as he must have lost his mind. He whips around and starts running, runs to get away, to get out of here, and suddenly he hears the voice again.

“Jim, you need to come back.”

It’s leading him towards the outside, so he runs for the front door, stumbles through it, only to be blended by bright light.

He closes his eyes for a second, and when he opens them again, he’s not on the farm any longer.

Instead he finds himself in a desert of ice, no living soul to see far and wide. He looks down on himself, and again he’s taken aback. His clothes have changed somehow, he is clad in a dark grey parka, it’s hood drawn tight around his head, protecting him from sharp storming wind whipping snow into his eyes, making it hard for him to even see his own hands.

It should be cold, freezing as hell, but he can’t feel it. He doesn’t know why, but nothing so far has made any sense.

Looking around, he can’t see anything but ice and snow. What is he supposed to do now? As he has no better idea, he starts walking into whatever direction. He can’t orientate himself, there’s nothing to hold on in this barren landscape, but he has to do something and waiting for anything to happen won’t do him any good. He has to get away.

Jim doesn’t know how long he’s walking, if it’s minutes or hours, as his sense of time is completely lost to him.

But suddenly, he sees a dark figure in the distance so he’s mending his pace in hope that this person knows how to get away from this horrible wasteland.

He’s getting closer, and faster than anticipated he stops behind the figure, who turns out to be a man, standing at the edge of an icy cliff.

The man turns around to him, and Jim recognizes the old wrinkled face.

“James T. Kirk.”

Spock. The old Spock, stranded in this universe, cut off from his own timeline and suddenly Jim remembers the planet.

Vulcan. Destroyed, from the inside out. Billions of lives lost.

Remembers the ship, the Narada, steered into it’s doom by a madman craving for blood and revenge.

He’s on Delta Vega, this is where he met the old Spock, though not like this. Jim knows that he should have stumbled into a cave, where Spock scared a monster with only a torch away.

But still, he had turned around the same way, greeting him with the exact same words.

Why was it different this time?

There is no time to wonder though, with Earth in danger, and every other planet belonging to the Federation.

“Spock, we need to go! Nero, he’s after the Earth. We need to find Scotty!”

But the old Vulcan doesn’t move from his spot, just turns back towards the edge of the cliff and looks up in the sky.

“It’s too late, old friend.”

Jim feels a pang of sympathy, of course he does, not only did the man lose every way back home but he also had to witness his planet dying. His gaze follows Spock’s up, to where a red planet should be seen, but is gone now.

And he’s right, Vulcan is not there, but in its place is another planet.

Jim feels nauseous, cause this is his planet, it’s Earth, but that doesn’t make any sense, as it should be light years away from here.

He keeps staring, and sees how his home slowly crumbles down, collapses with the outside getting sucked inside, and then - it’s gone.

Rage fills him, this is not how it had happened, they were supposed to save his planet, the whole Federation and not stand by, watching the catastrophe without being able to do anything.

Tears fill his eyes, so many more lives lost, and it’s his fault, Spock’s fault, Nero’s fault.

He roars at the Vulcan, gaze still caught on the now empty sky.

“Spock!!!”

And he lets the anger consume him, overtake his mind as he launches himself at the old man, ready to throw punch after punch.

But Spock suddenly vanishes, there’s nothing left but silent air, so he stumbles over the edge, rolls down as he falls and falls and falls.

This has to be it, he thinks. He wants it to end, wants it to stop hurting, wants to believe that his planet, his home, his friends are not gone, lost to the endlessness of the universe.

He can’t stop it, maybe he can escape this somehow, and in a last attempt of desperation, he closes his eyes and hopes.

It seems to work, as he feels that his falling has ended, but he also feels dizzy, all his senses overworking until everything stops at once.

He lets out a harsh breath, tries to calm down once more, and slowly opens his eyes again. Looking up, he sees the white ceiling of a room and realizes that he’s lying on his back on a couch. Ice and snow are gone, but he has stopped wondering and second guessing his mind. Maybe he should just accept that he’s gone crazy.

“Are you finally awake, sleeping beauty?”

His head whips around, to see who’s there.

Christopher Pike is sitting at his desk, scribbling down on his PADD, and not looking up. There’s this smirk on his lips, the one that always sneaks up on his features when he’s teasing Jim, or when he thinks that he has outwitted him.

He sits up and realizes that he’s wearing his cadet reds, that he’s in Pike’s office at Starfleet’s campus.

By now he has given up to find any logic behind all of this, he’s tired and just wants it to end.

“You know Jim, I really approve of your hard work, but you also need to look after yourself. There are these things called sleep and food, you really should try them sometimes. I heard they are supposed to work miracles on exhausted minds and bodies.”

The Captain finally looks up from his work and grins smugly at Jim.

But Jim doesn’t find it in himself to smile back, as he sees images of a broken man flashing through his mind, remembers his hand squeezing a lifeless body, desperation welling up in him. Hatred blooming in his heart, pouring through his veins, the cause another monster unleashed onto the world, who killed Pike and so many more.

He remembers their last conversations, and finally breaks down.

“Sir, I’m so sorry. Oh god, you were right. So right.”

Pike frowns, as if he doesn’t know what the blond is talking about.

And Jim buries his head in his hands, can’t look at him, can’t stop the tears streaming down his face, and he’s ashamed for losing his composure in front of the older man.

But Pike says nothing more, he just raises from his chair and sits himself down next to Jim.

He lays his hand reassuringly on his shoulder, but Jim doesn’t feel the touch. It nearly drives him crazy, he wants to feel it, needs to. Needs it as proof that Pike is really here, alive and well and his soul not lost between fire and debris in the ruins of Starfleet’s Headquarters.

Pike smiles softly at him, as if nothing is wrong, as if he hadn’t died an unneccessary death that could have been avoided so easily.

“It’s going to be ok, son.”

And Jim swallows his next heaving breath, cause Pike is mirroring his own words uttered not long ago in a seedy bar where Jim was trying to drown his sorrow on the bottom of a glass of bourbon.

Jim thought he had felt miserable that day, but that is nothing to the pain and devastation he feels right now, cause this is just his mind playing tricks on him. It can’t be anything else. He’s tormented with the image of this man he respected and admired, and Jim wishes nothing more for this to be real, to be more than just his own delusional wants.

“It’s ok Jim. You did your best. But now it’s time. You have to go.”

He lets himself be pulled off the couch and shoved towards the door, though he doesn’t want to go. This time he wants to stay, cause Pike’s office is safe, is right, is…

He turns around when he’s through the door, opens his mouth to speak, but when he looks back the scenery has changed again and he’s staring at the warp core of the Enterprise. With a pang in his heart he remembers what happened, his ship falling out of the sky and the sacrifice he had to make in order to save his crew.

The core is aligned, so all that’s left is crawling back through the Jefferies tube leading towards the entry of the chamber.

“Jim, don’t do this to me.”

The voice is back again, starting to sound desperate, and Jim tries moving faster towards the direction he believes it to come from.

He knows that he should be in agony, cause he remembers it, white hot searing pain running through him, but again he feels nothing.

He finally reaches the end of the shaft, closes the door that seals off the radiation and separates it from the rest of the ship.

Someone is waiting for him. It’s his Spock, the on from his own universe, crouched down on the other side of the glass, and again his mind doesn’t get the memories completely right.

But that doesn’t matter now, as he starts growing tired, slumps down in front of the Vulcan and looks at him.

A single tear is running down his cheek, and Jim, who has never seen his first officer this devastated, tries to console the grieving man, as he presses his hand in the Vulcan salute against the glass. Spock mimics him, looks at him while more tears threaten to fall and follow the first one.

“You need to wake up, Captain. He’s waiting for you.”

Jim has to close his eyes, can’t hold them open any longer when it’s the most exhausting thing he’s ever done.

He’s afraid of closing them, fears where he’ll find himself next, but in the end it’s too hard to stay awake and so he gives in.

The world turns dark, and Jim feels like he’s floating, caught between sinking and rising up towards the surface.

But what surface? Where is he? And who is waiting for him? Who is he?

“Jim don’t you think you have slept long enough now? Come on kid, let me see those pretty baby blues of yours. Please, Jim.”

There is no doubt, Jim knows this voice, the man it belongs to. And his heart is aching, can hardly stand how broken he sounds, wishes he could comply to the pleading.

“You know, you even made Nyota cry. Don’t you think you owe it to her to wake up?”

Oh he wants to. So badly and with every fiber of his being, but he’s still floating, doesn’t know how to move, how to leave this dark and endless void.

“Spock keeps coming every day. I don’t know if it’s me or him who’s more uncomfortable about him sitting here in silence and staring at you. It’s kind of creepy, so do us a favour and save us both from the awkwardness.”

The voice keeps talking to him, creeps into his thoughts and mind until the urge to rise is unbearable and Jim needs to move, needs to get away from here.

“Scotty is blaming himself. Every time he comes to visit you, he keeps apologizing and how he should have stopped you. I think he needs you to wake up even more than I. Do him the favour, that man is not supposed to be this mournful.”

He doesn’t understand everything, only snippets reach him but they are enough to make him want to fight.

“Sulu and Chekov came to see you today. Do you know how hard it is to look into the kid’s sad puppy eyes? I told them you’re going to be ok. So don’t make me a liar, Jim.”

Jim holds onto the voice, on the man behind it, that his mind is desperately trying to remember. He’s important to him, that’s a natural given and the only thing he can be sure of in this otherwise maddening silence.

The man keeps talking, telling him about people, their life without him. About his little girl waiting for her uncle Jim to wake up and answer her letters. How he’s going to take Jim back home to Georgia with him so that they both can recover and escape to a save retreat for a while, until he’s fit to go back to duty. About how Jim will make his life miserable by whining and complaining how bored he is, but he’ll take that over Jim being unconscious and still for the rest of his life.

And suddenly Jim remembers.

He starts fighting for real, cause they all were right, he needs to get back to him, can’t let him wait any longer.

Other voices start to mingle with his, they interrupt him, his parents, Pike - their words an infinite loop that help him rising closer to the surface.

And then it happens, he’s waking up.

His eyes snap open, the voices are gone and his senses start working again. He feels sheets prickling on his skin, and he wants to sob in relief, cause finally everything is real and he knows, that he is right where he's supposed to be.

He turns his head to the right, as he hears someone shuffling around, and there he is.

Bones.

tags: @thevalesofanduin @medicatemedrmccoy @toosouthernforspace @reading-in-moonlight @feelmyroarrrr @0dannyphantom0 @eyeofdionysus @bsotstory @neon-green-bra @loststarlight @imoutofmyvulcanmind

Non-reader: @mishacolyte

Star Trek: @theartofeheheh

If anybody else wants to be added to or removed from my tag list, or has special wishes for being tagged, just let me know. :)

#trek fest 2018 #star trek aos #mckirk #james t. kirk x leonard mccoy #james t. kirk #leonard mccoy

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