By:  Midnight Writer Shadow and Ivory Byrd

Somehow to Ciarán, the school year was progressing much, MUCH slower than normal. He figured it was because in a sense to him, he was doing twice of the amount of work. For one he had his regular school day, and then on the other hand he had to just be friends with Stephen in front of everyone. This drove him bonkers in a few of his classes where kids were kissing before and after class. Lunchtime though he was able to spend time with Stephen, was hard cause there were times he wanted to hug, kiss, or cuddle his love. God was he happy that his next class was lunch.

Ciarán left his class after the bell and actually stopped back at his locker instead of going right to the music room like normal. He thought he was going to be smart and surprise Stephen at his locker, once he was done at his own. He stopped before fully rounding the corner and hid so not to be noticed. There was a girl… Ciarán didn’t know her name but seen her around school… And she was talking to Stephen at his locker.

Stephen hadn’t noticed anyone around other than the girl, she was a bit cute but only by the standards of most his age. He ignored her rambling as he pulled his things from his locker for the next class and this girl was being too distracting.

“So Stephen… I was wondering…. Well since you do not have a girlfriend and all… Will you go to the dance with me?” Lore figured it might be a shock to him that someone asked, but he would still accept. Ciarán was driving himself nuts. He figured if he went up that he would make it look like they were more than just friends, especially with a girl nearby. But he cared and loved Stephen too much, so he just stayed around the corner and glanced at the two. Other students didn’t even pay attention to what Ciarán was doing.

He gave her a look of disdain and kind of wished he would have agreed to just come out, he got a few girls here and there asking him out. He glared and turned his head. “No..” he said lowly and turned back to his locker.

Lore made him turn around and face her, “Why not?  Even if you don’t like me, you might find someone else there you like.  But I think you will still fall for me.”  Ciarán was trying to listen, but decided that it wasn’t right.  He needed to trust Stephen.

“Screw off.” He said, “You are full of yourself if you think I would fall for someone like you..” he whispered and turned back around.

Lore grabbed him and turned him around to face her.  She wrapped her arms around him like a lover would and kissed him.  Ciarán’s eyes went big and he dropped what was in his hands.  No wonder he didn’t want people know we were more than just friends.   He grabbed what he dropped and took off towards the music room to hide.

Stephen shoved the girl away and threw a book at her when she landed on the floor. He saw the edge of Ciarán’s coat as he left and sighed, but didn’t see where he went.

Lore looked at Stephen, “What the hell was that for?!”  Ciarán sat in the music room and calmed down.  He wanted to cry, but he knew he couldn’t because he would just get beat up more.    He opened up his violin case and gently stroked it thinking of Stephen.

“Don’t touch me ever again.” he threatened. “Just go away!” He finally yelled and slammed his locker shut.   In the music class the teacher stepped out of his room and saw Ciarán. “What’s my first chair violinist doing in class early?” he said smiling. Mr. Reagen was tall, his white hair was always in his face and he wore tinted glasses due to bad eyesight.

Lore got up and stormed off.  The young vampire looked up to his teacher, “Having a very bad day.”  Ciarán sat his violin down and walked up to his teacher, “Can I please… If it is possible just stay in here for the rest of the school day?”  He lowered his head as he took off his shades.  Then looked back up with a sad looking puppy dog face, hoping to get his way.

Mr. Reagan smiled and it was almost was identical to Stephen’s smile. “You can, I don’t mind, your class is the last one I have for the rest of the day, you can do what you need.” he said and walked back to his desk.

Ciarán almost burst into tears when he saw the smile but tried holding it together, “Thank you so much.”  He went back to the chair he always sat at and picked up his violin.  He played a bit of what was coming to his mind.  The music sounded as if the violin was sad and crying.  He needed to get this out of his system before the day was over.  The young vampire did not want his parents in his business.

Mr. Reagan watched Ciarán and couldn’t help but feel remorse for the boy, when he finished the piece he stood up. “Is there something bothering you Ciarán?” He asked. “Friend problems?” he asked.

Ciarán sat the violin on his lap, “No friend problems.  Actually… As weird as it sounds compared to my mood, the only friend I have finally got a girlfriend and I am happy for him.”  Ciarán was so thankful he put the shades back on cause his eyes watered a bit.

“I would say you should feel happy for that person but I know what you feel…” he said and sat in the chair in front of him. “That he won’t have time for you… and things change… But they don’t have to.”

“They won’t 100% change, but now… I will kind of be a third wheel.  I mean it is not like I can hang out without feeling that way.  I have no one to bring myself.”  Ciarán took a deep breath, “I’ll live I know.  I know I will get over that feeling with time.”

“It sounds like it’s a bit more important than him getting a new girlfriend…” He said, “Who is your frie-” He was going to ask something else when the doors flew open and Stephen rushed in and looked a bit flustered and upset.

Ciarán looked back and saw Stephen, before turning around to face his teacher.  “Stephen is my friend… My friend that does not have your class.”  A tear fell from under his shades and onto his hand.  Then another fell onto his violin.  He took a deep breath trying to hold it in.

Mr. Reagen looked up at Stephen and eyed him. “Ah Mr. Rathers…” he said smiling and walked around and went to Stephen. “It’s unfortunately you aren’t taking up any instrument, I am sure you would be good at it.” he said softly then looked back at Ciarán. “I think you two need to talk.”    Stephen looked at Mr. Reagen and then away, he was shaking lightly. “Ciarán…”

Ciarán bared his fangs but not on purpose.  His one safe haven, he was tracked down in.  “I do not need to talk.  I am happy for him and his….”  He visibly shook, “New girlfriend.”  He took a deep breath, “What I NEED is to not think about it right now.”

Stephen blinked and looked down. “Girlfriend? I don’t… she…” He sighed and turned around and walked back out.   Mr. Reagen blinked and sat back down. “You ok?” he asked. “I am sorry if it was uncalled for that I suggested you two talk… you can stay here all day, I will write a notice to your other teachers.”

Ciarán shook his head, “I feel like crap honestly.  You did the right thing as both a teacher and an adult.”  He sighed and retracted his fangs, “Thank you Mr. Reagen…. For everything.”  Since the other students did not come in, Ciarán took off his shades, forgetting that his one eye was crimson, and wiped at his eyes trying to get the tears to stop altogether.

Mr. Reagen smiled and patted Ciarán’s back and shoulder.  “Things will get better, trust me…” He said softly and stood up again. “Ciarán… just remember through everything you two have been through… he will come back to you…”

“He’s probably still outside.  I’ll be right back Mr. Reagen.”  Ciarán left his messenger bag and violin and got up.  He took a deep breath while walking and put his shades back on.  He stood at the door and didn’t want to go through.  The image of that girl and Stephen kissing was killing him.  He decided to open the door just to check to see if he was there or not.

Stephen was sitting on the other side of the hall on the floor with his knees against his chest. He didn’t look up when Ciarán opened the door.   Mr. Reagen followed a bit and watched over. He bent closer to Ciarán and whispered. “Just ask him what is going on with him, let him talk or he will shut you out forever…”

“Understood.”  Ciarán walked across the hall and sat next to Stephen, “I am sorry for yelling like that.  So… What’s going on with you, Stephen?”  Ciarán bit his lip some so not to yell.  He bit it harder than he wanted to since he tasted blood.

“She asked me out, I said no, she insisted, I said I hated self centered girls like her, she forced herself on me… that’s all that’s been going on with me..” he said, not looking at Ciarán.

“I wish I knew… More than assuming what I did.  I would have pulled you away from her.  I am very sorry.”  Ciarán was going nuts.  He wanted to put an arm around Stephen and comfort him and knew he couldn’t.

“Stephen?” called out Mr. Reagen. “You shouldn’t hide the fact that you have a relationship with Ciarán… you don’t want to end up in someone’s wardrobe do you?” he asked lowly and stood up straight from leaning. “No more problems Ciarán?” he asked.

Ciarán looked at Stephen and whispered, “I promise I did not say anything to Mr. Reagen except that I was going to feel like the third wheel.  That was only because I thought you and her were together now.”  He took a deep breath and spoke so his teacher could hear, “No more problems.”  But besides lunch… He still wanted to hide for awhile in the music room.

Stephen shook a little and he looked as the teacher walked away from them. Stephen looked at Ciarán. “I don’t know… how he knows…” he shook his head. “Are you… mad at me?” he asked. “We don’t… have to keep it a secret anymore..”

“I am not mad at you.  It was not of your own free will.  It is up to you if you wish to keep it secret or not.”  Ciarán got up and helped Stephen up, “While you think about that… You and I are going to figure something else out.”  He took Stephen’s hand and pulled him in the music room.  Ciarán blocked the door, “Mr. Reagen… Be honest… You are not human are you?”

Mr. Reagen turned his head. “I never said I was… but most in this school aren’t.” he commented as he went to his desk and looked at the two. “Is that all you had to ask?”   Stephen fidgeted and remained quiet, trying to hide his face. He didn’t know why but every time he was around the teacher, he felt ashamed.

“Please… Tell us what you are.  You know things you shouldn’t know.”  Ciarán took off his sunglasses to honestly look his teacher in the eyes, the only teacher he ever did it for.  Mr. Reagen had a trust from Ciarán that only Stephen gained.  Deep down Ciarán also wanted to know why Mr. Reagen was always willing to help him and hardly any other student.

Mr. Reagen smiled. “White demon, and I know these things because they are obvious… plus it was partial guessing… students tend to talk and seeing his reaction to a rumor I have overheard kind of gives it away…” He said. “I mean no threat to you two, the rest of it is sort of obvious, I am an adult, and I know how high school goes.”

Ciarán unblocked the door, “Take as long as you wish to decide if anyone should know or not, Stephen.  I’ll talk to you after school.  I am still staying here till school is over.”  Ciarán hurt but he waved and tried to smile.

Stephen blinked and nodded looking down, knowing he screwed up. “Ok… talk to you later.” He whispered, turned, and left the room.  Once Stephen was gone Mr. Reagen leaned back, “You look like you have more questions.”

“Why do you treat me like you do?  I am not complaining, but I mean you treat me special.”  Ciarán truly smiled, “It actually means a lot.”

“I love your playing; I haven’t seen good talent like that in a while.” He was actually a bit relieved looking after hearing that. “I am sure you could get a scholarship to a lot of academies and go on to be in an orchestra past high school.”

Ciarán smiled ear to ear, “Would you come and see me if I got in an orchestra?”  He tilted his head.

“Yes I would…” he said smiling. “Just do your best…” he said encouragingly.

“Thank you Mr. Reagen.”  Ciarán actually hugged his teacher.  Afterwards, he let go and went back to his chair.

Mr. Reagen had the same smell, or at least very similar to Stephen’s and it resided some even after Ciarán stepped back. “It’s my pleasure.”

Ciarán looked up, “Mr. Reagen…. You know you smell a lot like Stephen.  Are you sure you are what you are?  I mean he is human.”

“I am one hundred percent white demon.” he said and pulled off his glasses, his silvery gray eyes lightened up to a more silvery blue.

Ciarán smiled showing his fangs a bit, “That is cool.  I should probably stop getting in your business.  I mean I am a student.  You are a teacher.”

“Exactly.” He said and sat down at his desk. “Oh and you should push Stephen more… it will do the poor boy some good.” he said and went to work.

Ciarán closed his eyes and played.  He ended up playing all the tunes that Mr. Reagen always loved.  It was a way of trying to say thanks for everything.  He never missed a single note.

Stephen came back at the end of the day, he didn’t want to go in so he knocked on the door of the music room.

Ciarán quick put his violin away, then grabbed his case and messenger bag, “Have a good weekend, Mr. Reagen, and thanks again for everything.”  He smiled and made sure his sunglasses were pushed up before going to the door and opening it.

“Have a good weekend Ciarán…” He said and waved.  Stephen smiled at Ciarán as soon as he came out of the music room and though there were tons of students behind him he stood up taller to Ciarán and kissed him on the lips.

Ciarán really was not expecting it and ended up dropping both his messenger bag and violin.  He was overly excited that Stephen picked to come out.  After kissing back for awhile, he parted to give Stephen air.  He softly whispered, “I love you a lot and I always will.  I will protect you from anyone… I promise.”

“I love you too… and I will protect you too…” Stephen smiled and was still shaking, he had taken all his courage and had done it and now he was afraid what was going to happen. He looked around and noticed no one had even looked at them.

In “The Good Doctor,” Director Lance Daly and Screenwriter John Enbom have created a film that will make people think twice before checking into a hospital for treatment. Martin Blake (Orlando Bloom) is an ambitious but anxious young British doctor who has just started his first year of residency at a Southern California hospital. Blake wants desperately to be a “good doctor” – but only because he craves the respect and resulting self-esteem boost that he thinks this will give him. Handsome and outwardly charming, Blake proves himself to be morally bankrupt and incapable of living up to the doctor’s creed to “do no harm.”

When Diane Nixon (Riley Keough), a beautiful 18-year-old, is admitted for a kidney infection, Blake steps in and gets the self-esteem boost he craves. But then he crosses the line and falls in love with his young patient. Attraction becomes obsession, and as Diane’s health improves, Blake goes to unconscionable extremes in order to keep her next to him in the hospital. Blake tampers with her treatment and makes one seemingly small decision that, domino style, leads to a long string of problems.

“The Good Doctor” also stars Rob Morrow as Chief Resident Waylans; Troy Garity as self-assured fellow intern Dan; Taraji Henson as no-nonsense nurse Theresa; Michael Pena as the orderly, Jimmy, who discovers incriminating evidence against Blake; J.K. Simmons as a police detective; and Molly Price and Wade Williams as Diane Nixon’s parents. The drama thriller, which is rated PG-13, is scheduled for a limited release in New York on August 31, 2012 by Magnolia Pictures.

Rated PG-13 for synchroshipping and language.

[[This is chapter two of...the Baby sequel. Changed the name to be less of a mouthful]]

I stared up at the calm skies.

It’s a nice day to start again.

I sensed Yusei step up behind me, his arms slipping around my waist, gently but firmly pulling me to rest against his body.

“You know, tradition states that the to-be-wed shouldn’t see each other until they are at the altar.” I teased gently, tracing my fingers over the crimson dragon mark on his arm. Since it was summer, we had opted for short sleeved informal suits instead of tuxedos.

“Tradition can take a long walk off a short pier.” He snorted into my hair, pulling a chuckle from my throat.

“Considering how you seem calm, I assume everything is ready?” I asked, resting my head back against his shoulder, his arms tightening around me.

“Just waiting for the judge to arrive. To be honest, I’m kind of wishing that we had gone on and let Jack get his ordination online but too late for that now.” He sighed. I reached a hand up to stroke his face.

“We have the rest of eternity to be together, no need to rush.” I chided softly. He cradled my hand in his and moved it so that he may kiss my palm.

“I want to be with you now, Atem.”

“Horndog.” I laughed even though I knew the deeper meaning to that. I turned in his arms, looking up at him. His eyes were dark with emotion. I cupped his face in my hands and leaned up for a soft kiss. Even now, they were slightly chapped, no matter how many times I slipped chapstick and various lip balms into his pockets. I didn’t care too much. It was just another facet of the man I loved. “I waited over 5,000 years to finally meet you, 3 years to gain your affection-what’s another few minutes?”

Neither of us heard Tea slipping in to tell us the judge had arrived. The rest of world will have to be the ones who waited this time.

—————————–

After a very lovely honeymoon in Tahiti, a wedding gift from Kaiba, the plane tickets paid for by Yugi and Co., we settled into our new lives comfortably. I had decided to just move in with Yusei and the shared income made things a bit easier for us both. Yusei was well on his way of opening a mechanic shop and I was getting in a comfortable place in my contractual work as game tester.

It was an easy time and around us things changed. Jack broke up with Carly when their daughter was 4, only to get with Seto a year or so later. The reason why was….interesting…

Seto wanted to have a child.

While everyone else buzzed about it-two men having a baby?!- I was lost in thought. In the realm of magic, it wasn’t impossible. But Seto rejected magic with all of his being so that means…he was looking for a highly scientific way to do it.

I smile a little as I shuffle through my deck. Seto has given the gaming department a 5 month paid vacation while he works on his dream. I had nothing much to do. I babysitted my niece, Yugi’s adorable little girl, Yusagi. But right now she was down for a nap, soundly asleep on the futon I had laid out on the living room floor. Next year, she will be starting kindergarten. Â I smile a little at the thought of how fast she’s growing.

What if she was mine?

The thought stills my hand.

What if I had my own child?

I hadn’t much considered it. I didn’t dislike children nor did I long for one of my own. I was too busy saving the world and other things. My mother, before her death, begged me to give her grandchildren but there was never time. I would spend the day dealing with politics and banishing monsters to the Shadow Realm and endless planning, planning, planning that by the time I got to bed, I would pass out in exhaustion.

But now I had no such problem. Both Yusei and I have stable jobs that aren’t to busy and I can easily change to working at home if I needed to.

Do I really want to raise a child with Yusei?

What’s more, would Yusei want to have a child with me?

—————————————

I find myself looking up spells online in my spare time and trying to pay attention when Yusei tells me about advances Seto makes in his research. The latter was hard, a confusing mass of scientific terms that flew over my head. But the way Yusei’s eyes would light up…

“What if we had a kid too?” I asked before I could stop myself.

Yusei stared at me wide eyed for a second before looking away, his hands stilling from working on his d-wheel. So he had been considering it. I wasn’t too surprised. Yusei was great with kids and I didn’t doubt that if he wasn’t with me and with some woman like say, Aki, he would have a bunch of kids by now.

My heart hurt a little at the facts but at least I was being honest with myself. Aside from magic the only way Yusei and I could possibly have children was via adoption or a surrogate mother.

Was I standing in the way of his desires?

As if he knew my thoughts, he pulled me into his arms, kissing me softly on my forehead.

“Then we would have kids. There is nothing stopping us from adopting or otherwise.” He said softly, his eyes warm. “Right now, I’m just fine with loving you.”

How did he….how did he always know just the right thing to say every time? Every single time?

—————————

Months passed by and we watched Kaiba’s successes and failures in creating life.

Secretly, I started to look into the adoption process.

I could already see from here that it would be difficult, with my only rudimentary levels of identification and Yusei’s more shaky one. We could get by with getting out of the country, sure but I knew neither of us would pass the full background checks the agencies would do. In the legal world, we barely existed, nameless wraiths in the world where report cards, yearbooks, witnesses upon witnesses were required.

I had the small comfort in knowing we would pass the drug tests but I digress.

Looking for a surrogate was about the same and worse there were horror stories where the mother changed her mind and wanted to keep the child instead resulting in lengthy legal battles for custody.

I didn’t want to go through that just for a baby.

I wasn’t sure if Yusei wanted to either.

So I started looking up spells. The few years I had spent getting my mage license was worth it. Not only I had a more powerful network of friends to call upon when I was in trouble but I learned quite a bit and my textbooks were very helpful in times like these. Leisurely, I looked through my books.

I paused at the gender change spells and tried to imagine Yusei as a girl.

….

That was interesting. Not interesting enough to turn me into a bisexual but interesting nonetheless. Imagining myself as female only made me dissolve into laughter. At least Yugi would be amused. Yusei, I’m not too sure.

Wiping a few tears away, I went to the spells for male pregnancy. It still involved implanting a womb and the results, if done wrong or right, were gruesome. I shuddered a bit when I came to the page about hellborns-children born of dark magic imbued rape.

Another possibility was involving an incubus but not only will that lead to the child being spirited away when it turns 6, I rather not involve anyone [or anything else] in this endeavor.

It looks like I will just have to wait and see if Seto’s attempt will be successful.

——————————-

A few years passed and finally, Yusei came home with the news that the baby Kaiba was working on was well on it’s way to being real. He explained to be how the embryo [modified from Seto's sperm...somehow] and sperm had successfully joined and was ready to be implanted.

“That’s great. Who is the mother going to be?”

Yusei went quiet for a few beats.

“Seto.”

Unbidden, an image of Seto in his battle city outfit and duel disk with a very pregnant belly popped into my mind. I gaped at Yusei and he was determinedly was looking away from me.

“Seto.”

“Yeah.”

“Seto Kaiba? CEO of Kaiba Corp. Seto Kaiba?” I said my voice cracking near the end. Yusei was starting to shake a little, himself.

“Y-yes.”

He finally looked at me and we burst out laughing until we were on the floor in tears. It was just beyond ludicrous that Seto would subject himself to something like that…not that we could see Jack doing it either. That thought brought on another wave of hysterics.

“I just…I just have this image of him demanding I draw my next card so he can sit down because his ankles were swelling.” I strained, causing another wave of laughter.

“Oh god. I won’t be able to look him in the eye anymore now that you’ve said that.” Yusei panted once we calmed down.

“Seto does some amazing things now and again but this…this takes the cake.” I wheezed. I noted that we were at least by the couch by now.

“Well I hope he’s successful. Jack looks excited as is Carlise.” Yusei said, referring to Jack’s energetic daughter with Carly.

“Even if he is and we can do it too, can we like have the baby grow in a test tube or something?” I asked, finally calm. Yusei smiled.

“Deal.”

“Whether you call this a reboot, extension, evolution or a spin-off, I’m thrilled with where this franchise can go.”
-Jeff Bayer, The Scorecard Review

I went into this movie not expecting much. Why should I? Who wants a Bourne movie without Bourne? But as it turns out, I do. It surprised me quite a bit how much I enjoyedThe Bourne Legacy. Putting on his best performance since 2008′s The Hurt Locker, Jeremy Renner shows that he has the action chops to continue this franchise, one that has now proven to have many more stories to tell.

More of a spinoff than a sequel, Legacy largely occurs tangentially to the events of 2007′s The Bourne Ultimatum. This is one of the films strong points, as it not only strengthens Legacy, but also adds depth to the franchise as a whole, fleshing out previous plot points and backstory. Ultimatum was essentially about Jason Bourne exposing government secrets to the public. Legacy is about the consequences of those events.

Legacy does a lot of things right, casting being one of them. Rachel Weisz does a more than convincing job as a research-scientist-on-the-run, teaming up with Renner’s super soldier Aaron Cross out of shear survival instinct. The chemistry between the two actors is palpable as they fight for their survival throughout a series of exotic locales. And just for good measure, Edward Norton shows up, doing his best “morally ambiguous government operative” impression. Plot is another plus here, as writer/director Tony Gilroy expertly expands on the most interesting story elements from the three prior films. As fun as the plot is, pacing is often a problem here as the action beats aren’t quite seamless with slower scenes of dialogue or explanation. The final 30 or so minutes ends up being one long chase scene that could have used a moment or two to breathe.

The original three films are pretty much required viewing in order to fully appreciate The Bourne Legacy. It’s not a perfect standalone action film so I would probably stay away from it if you’re not invested in seeing all four. But, if you’re a fan of the franchise, this is a definite must-see.

FilmFire review:
3.75/5 forms

I will admit to not having to seen either Batman Begins or The Dark Knight. Like I may have mentioned, I prefer Marvel over DC. That said, I may have to reconsider after watching this movie. The plot took me on the ride of my life, throwing me curveballs in every scene. The movie is certainly the type to keep you on your toes and on the edge of your seat. To top it off, the movie truly is an emotional one. I admit to shedding tears during the climax scene. Even without having any prior knowledge of Bruce Wayne or his companions, I became completely invested in the cast by the end of the movie.

I don’t know much about Christian Bale’s character in the other movies in the trilogy, but I’ll speak briefly about his character in this movie. Not having seen the earlier movies, I was able to infer much of his story despite my lack of knowledge in his backstory. From what I could tell, The Dark Knight Rises is the story of his redemption and rebirth as a hero. He rises from his own ashes, falling back into place as a hero after withdrawing himself from society.

Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Officer Blake was the perfect addition to the franchise. If The Dark Knight Rises is the story of Batman’s heroic rebirth, it’s also the story of the birth of a new hero: Blake, the soon-to-be Robin of the next movie. I became attached to his character throughout the duration of the movie. He’s the perfect everyday hero to Batman’s superhero. Blake was without a doubt my favorite character in the movie and I can’t wait to see him in future movies.

Anne Hathaway did a much better job than I expected being the good bad guy. She reminded me quite a bit of Rachel McAdams’ character in Sherlock Holmes transplanted into the modern day: the too-smart-for-her-own-good jewel thief and a hero underneath it all. Cat-Woman and Batman’s relationship was confusing throughout the most of the movie, however. It’s hard to tell what they are to each other. For most of the movie, I thought they were grudging partners-in-crime. Their subsequent romantic relationship is just another of those curveballs the writers decided to throw our way, especially given Miranda Tate’s presence in the movie.

Bane’s backstory makes him a perfect villain because it gives him a reason to be the way he is. He has reasons for his evil, which makes him far more believable. Believable villains can make or break a superhero movie of this kaliber. He isn’t too evil or too mad for a real-life equivalent to exist, which is exactly what made him scary. He creates the perfect footprints for the next villain in the film to step into.

The only part I found confusing was the time spent in the underground prison. It looked to be in the Middle East, which wouldn’t make any sense if Gotham is an American city. If this is the case, how did Bane take Batman to this underground prison so quickly? How did he return to the city so quickly? The whole setup and existence of the prison didn’t seem to make sense, and while Bruce Wayne’s time in the prison and the discovery of the mercenary’s child through it was a major plot point, it still left me a bit confused.

On the whole, the movie is a fantastic watch. It’s dark and without Marvel-style humor, so be prepared for that. Otherwise, it was the perfect movie. The casting was great and the cinematography amazing. Perhaps I’ll start watching a few more DC movies. Speaking of DC, Man Of Steel comes out soon! Don’t miss that!

Run Time 2:44
Rated PG-13

MAN, this person is really talented!!!! O.O

“Casting and visuals are an upgrade, but we get far too many action sequences and not enough of the mind games.”
-Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com

“The movie is relentless in its narrative monotony. It especially devotes an ungodly amount of screen time to a series of endless chases — so many, in fact, that I had to wonder if the performers were being paid by the mile.”
-Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing

“Colin Farrell is the blandest of leading men; a credible actor, but charisma-deficient – no matter how many times the studios tell us he’s a star.”
-Corey Hall, Metro Times

The above quotes sum up my opinion of this film pretty well. First, I’ve never really understood why Colin Farrell is consistently cast as the leading man, he just doesn’t have the screen presence to command these types of roles. Despite the miscasting, the film actually starts off pretty well. I was on board for at least the first half hour and really enjoyed the initial setup of the “Federation of Britain”, the Colony and the elevator shaft through the Earth’s core. Eventually, though, everything gets muddied up into one too many set pieces and scenes of people chasing or fighting each other through various locations, including: floating cubes, elevator shafts, hovering cities and helicopters. Pretty exhausting.

It’s confounding why director Len Wiseman chose to replace all the fun sci-fi elements of the original with scene after scene of chases and semi-incoherent action. All of the charm of the original is lost in translation as the script tries to shoehorn in most of the iconic moments and classic characters from Paul Verhoeven’s film, coming across as complete fan-service. To top it off, Bryan Cranston (Cohaagen) and Bill Nighy (Matthias) are completely wasted here, neither doing much of anything until the second half of the film. Richter and George/Kuato (the best characters in the original) are nowhere to be found.

The action stinks and the plot is non-existent, but at least the visual effects are pretty great. The dystopian version of Earth we see here is rich with the hustle-bustle of citizens, machines and the robot police force going about their lives, commuting to and from the colony for work. Speaking of commuting, “The Fall” is the most interesting element of the film. With the majority of the planet uninhabitable, citizens travel between “The Federation” and the Colony by way of an enormous elevator through the Earth’s core. The clever way the elevator rotates to account for gravity is a nice touch.

Other than some slick visuals and a cool setpiece or two, this is a mostly unecessary remake of the Paul Verhoeven classic. If you absolutely have to get your Total Recall fix, skip this and rewatch the original.

“No Arnold, no personality.”
-Christian Toto, Big Hollywood

FilmFire review:
2/5 forms

Ben

The Amazing Spider-Man was a massive improvement over the original trilogy, with Avengers-style depth, complexity, and reality in the characters and more faith to Stan Lee’s comics. And, just like The Avengers’ Joss Whedon, Marc Webb isn’t afraid to make the action  movie also a comedy, adding laugh-worthy moments throughout the entirety of the film. The element of comedy makes the movie lighter and much more fun to experience. The first thing I noticed I liked about the movie was that Peter Parker was a teenager and still a hero. They didn’t make him out to be anything but a teenage boy; in fact, he was a constantly sassy little shit throughout the whole of the movie. This factor was endearing, especially compared to Maguire’s first film, in which Parker is some sort of heroic child with a man’s soul. It helps the young audience better identify with the lead characters. Despite the overplayed high school stereotypes, even as you got deeper into the brainless bully Flash, you discover the person within. Each character had an element of truth from Peter Parker to Curt Connors down to the littlest extra parts such as Jack, the boy caught in the flaming car on the bridge after the Lizard’s first attack. The chemistry between the characters on screen was amazing. It might help that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone date in real life, but the relationship between their characters was tangible and I found myself rooting for them throughout the whole movie.

Of course, aspects of the Maguire franchise were kept, such as the death of Uncle Ben and Peter’s subsequent quest for revenge. The way in which he was forced to grow up after the tragedy was similar. His relationship with Curt Connors developed in a similar way as his relationship to Norman Osmond in the first movie and the Lizard seemed to share the same internal qualms as the Goblin about battling Spiderman after the revelation that he was Peter Parker. They kept the conversational style of the villain’s good and bad sides arguing out loud, which I found interesting. The parallels were obvious between Connors and Osmond. They were basically the same characters with different names.

I prefer Gwen Stacy to Mary Jane Watson for many reasons. Firstly, she loves Peter Parker first and not Spiderman, which is refreshing. I found MJ irritating as well as his fascination with her because she really didn’t care about him as a person. She cared about his hero status. She was a nice girl who never would have noticed him were he not Spiderman. She did never notice him as Peter Parker, at least in the first movie. Secondly, and just as importantly, Gwen was no damsel in distress. While MJ constantly needed rescuing, Gwen took care of herself, blasting a flame thrower at the Lizard when he found her hiding place in the lab. She’s just as heroic a character as Spidey himself in several ways. She refuses to run away from the danger when she realizes her city faces annihilation by genetic weaponry. Instead of opting to evacuate with the rest of the building, Gwen Stacy locks herself in the laboratory and fixes up an antidote to cure New York of the biological disease Dr. Connors plans to inflict upon it.

The CGI, of course, was hugely more advanced and so much better. It blended almost seamlessly. I didn’t find myself laughing at the poor graphics like I do when I watch the original Spiderman movies, not that that could be helped. The technology wasn’t exactly the same when it came out almost ten years ago. That was nice that I could take it seriously, though. I was legitimately scared of the Lizard, which was also a nice feeling. I could not take the Green Goblin seriously in the original franchise, so it was great to be able to look at a monster and think oh, that’s actually pretty terrifying instead of wow, look at how his elbows move; that can’t be natural.

Lastly, the movie was more faithful to the comics I know. In the original Marvel comics, Peter develops web devices himself. They aren’t something that come with his spider bite. He builds the superhero out of his new powers instead of being a ready-made hero ready to take on villains as soon as he figures out what he’s doing. Beyond just his science brain and construction of his suit, the movie is more faithful to Parker’s comic persona. I hope they stay faithful to the comics and put Garfield as Peter Parker in The Avengers 2, since in the comics, Spiderman is in fact one of the Avengers. I hope the reason he wasn’t in the recent Avengers was the reboot movie that had yet to come out.

In short, I loved the movie. I’ve always been a superhero geek (I prefer Marvel to DC) and I was highly impressed by the film. I could see the comic book frames as the movie rolled on, an aspect I liked during The Avengers. The movie was easily ten times better than Tobey Maguire’s origin story of Spiderman. It’s still in theaters, so don’t hesitate to go see it!

Run Time 2:16
Rated PG-13

Reblogged from Gifs, Gifs and More Funny Gifs from Senor Gif:

The male version (which I kind of like better than the original cause it sounds more powerful):

And here’s the remix! :

Who else has ever listened to this song and it just out of the blue (LITERALLY) just starts RAINING? It’s happened to me more than once…it’s kind of creepy…O.O haha

“The biggest surprise may just be how satisfying Nolan has made his farewell to a Dark Knight trilogy that many fans will wish he’d extend to a 10-part series, at least.”
-Bob Mondello, NPR

The Dark Knight Rises…the final chapter in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. The world has collectively been waiting for this film since we first saw Batman run into the shadows at the end of The Dark Night. It’s finally here, but is it worth the wait? Of course it is. As the last theatrical Batman film we’ll see for a while, it does nearly everything we could ask for. While it may fail to reach the highs of the original Dark Knight, it delivers a heart pounding and satisfying conclusion to Nolan’s vision.

I love nearly everything about this film. Sure, it runs a bit long and might pack a bit too much plot into it’s 2 hour and 45 minute runtime. But for me, more Batman is better and I soaked up every last second. The Dark Knight Rises solidifies the series as not only the best comic book adaption to date, but one of the best film trilogies ever made.

Rises is the perfect end to this story. It has its own distinct style but fits right in with the trilogy. Bane is chilling! Catwoman is great! The gadgets are cool! The action and set pieces are epic! Alfred is old! Stuff happens! There’s not much more to say. Batman is cool and so are the movies he is in. You probably already have, but if not, go see The Dark Knight Rises!!!

“TDKR completes on the great trilogies in movie history.”
-Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com

FilmFire review:
4.75/5 forms

Ben

Now to get onto what this post is about! My first anime (and honestly the ONLY one) that I have watched is “Cowboy Bebop”. Cowboy Bebop takes place in the future (2071) where humans are able to live on Mars and other planets other than just Earth It’s about two bounty hunters named Spike Spiegel and Jet Black that live on a spaceship called the “Bebop”. And you should know that it is rated PG 13 (just in case there are younger audiences reading this…) ***SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT AND ON!!!! ANYONE THAT IS CURRENTLY ALREADY WATCHING THE TV SERIES WHO HAS NOT BEFORE DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!!!!***It’s just Spike and Jet until in the second session (they call them sessions instead of episodes) when they adopt a dog named Ein because of what happens in the session and then in the next session they meet Faye Valentine who has money debts because of cheating and losing at MANY casinos. At the end of the session she decides to become a bounty hunter and basically forces Spike and Jet to let her live with them. Session 5 is a BIG session because it’s the first session that you learn about Spike’s past (which is a VERY sad past…T_T). All you learn from this session is that Spike used to be part of a syndicate along with his best friend (now enemy) Vicious. Also, three years ago Spike “died” (aka he faked his own death). Another thing you learn is that Vicious had a girlfriend and during a mob battle Spike got injured very badly and went to her place where she took care of Spike and they fell in love. It isn’t until session 8 that you meet the weird, funny, “Radical Edward” (who by the way, is yes, a girl! ^_^ Spike, Jet, Faye and the people who watch CB usually question if she’s a girl or a boy cause you can’t tell.) who is the ULTIMATE comic relief for the show! Here are some clips showing her awesome, weirdness! ;D

In the next session, you learn about Jet’s past with a women named Elise and also, he used to be a cop with the nickname “the Black Dog” cause once he bites he never let’s go. The next session “Toys In The Attic” is one of my favourite episodes cause…well…you’ll just have to watch the session to find out! ;D Session 12 is the first 2 parter of the show and it’s called “Jupiter Jazz”. It was quite good, but a particular part at the end kind of freaked me out… -_-” (**SPOILERS** The part about Gren…-_-” *nervous/awkward cough*) Asides from that…awkward part…it was pretty good!! This is the first session that you learn more about the woman in one of Spike’s flashbacks in the 5th session and that her name is Julia. Vicious was back and he asks the leaders of the syndicate (which is called the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate) if he can sell red-eye (which is a drug that makes you invincible for a period of time) on the moon of a planet called Callisto. They let him, but someone from the syndicate named Lin has to go with Vicious just in case Vicious tries anything (aka betray the syndicate). Meanwhile Faye has run off with all of the Bebop crew’s money and their antifreeze that makes the ship cool. Ed (who, by the way is a pro hacker ^_^) tries to find Faye through her (‘her’ being Ed) computer, but instead of finding Faye she finds a signal for codename “Julia” from the “Blue Crow” on Callisto. Before Ed finds out who’s sending the signal the signal gets cut off and Spike runs off because he believes that they’re talking about his Julia and he sets out to find Julia. Meanwhile, Faye is actually ON Callisto and she catches a cold and decides to go to “The Blue Crow” which is a bar where someone is playing the saxophone. ‘Mr. Saxophone’ (as Faye likes to call him) finishes his jazz song and decides to talk to Faye. Faye finds out that ‘Mr.Saxophone’s’ name is Gren and he warns her that she’s the only women on Callisto so men will be interested in her, but Faye just says that she can fend for herself (which she can). Faye takes off looking for some guys to fight because she wants to ‘have some fun’, but Gren comes along and “saves her” (even though she does NOT need his help with fighting people) and takes her to his apartment. They talk for a bit and then Gren decides to take a shower leaving Faye alone to snoop. She finds a picture of Gren and Vicious and on cue the phone rings and because Faye doesn’t pick it up it goes to voice mail and the caller is…Vicious. Faye, knowing that Vicious kidnapped her and tried to kill Spike, takes out her gun and goes to where Gren is showering and she pulls back the shower curtain to reveal…something that I won’t tell you guys! You’ll just have to watch CB to find out! Meanwhile, Spike is on Callisto and he asks around and people are telling him to talk to someone named Gren. He runs into a gang who mistake Spike for Vicious (which is a REALLY bad move considering how much Spike hates Vicious…O.O) Spike attacks the gang and learns about the Red Eye exchange between Vicious and Gren. Spike searches for  Vicious and finds him in a snowy field with Lin (who was friends with Spike when he was with the syndicate). Spike draws his gun, while Vicious draws his sword (called a katana), but Lin goes in the middle of them and draws HIS gun pointed straight at Spike. Spike talks to Lin trying to tell him NOT to shoot him and other things, but Lin has to protect Vicious because of his orders from the syndicate and he shoots Spike. That’s the end of that session and I won’t tell you what happens in the next one! MWAHAHA!!! Sorry, I just want you guys to WATCH CB instead of reading this, so if you’re already hooked just go onto YouTube and they have 16 of the 26 sessions in english (unless you speak spanish…) and if you want to continue watching the series, just go on Google and search “Cowboy Bebop Session (whatever session/episode you’re on or wish to see) English Dub”! EDIT: YOU CAN ONLY FIND ENGLISH DUBBED VERSIONS OF CB UP TO SESSION 5…-_-” Sorry guys…The last thing I would like to talk about before I end this post is about the last two sessions “The Real Folk Blues: Part 1″ and “The Real Folk Blues: Part 2″ which are the saddest episodes I have seen in a TV show EVER let alone anime…(and NO I’m NOT saying that it IS in fact THE saddest in all history of TV shows because I of course have not seen ALL of the TV shows ever made!!!O.O) T_T All I can say is that if you like Faye and Spike…I’m not to sure you’ll like the last two sessions…you won’t really HATE them, but…you’ll cry… :`( Here are some pictures and some videos of CB from YouTube if you’re STILL not interested in Cowboy Bebop!!!!

Cast (In order: Jet Black, Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, Radical Edward, Ein)

Commercials for it:

First Session to get you guys started!

There was a movie it was so famous! But…it’s rated R…-_-”

ONE of the MANY amazing songs from Cowboy Bebop plus the scene it plays in from Session #5 “Ballad of Fallen Angels”. The artist of most of the songs created her OWN language which is a mixture of Latin and English (from what I’ve heard anyways…)

Thanks for reading and watching these videos and if you haven’t already watched CB I hope I convinced you to! I just have two more things to say…”See You Space Cowboy…” and…………………. “Bang…”

“It is an entirely unnecessary remake, but a good one.”
-Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope

The Amazing Spider-Man comes just 5 short years after the final entry in the last Spider-Man film series. The first question on everyone’s mind is: Why reboot this franchise so soon? Money, for one thing. The previous franchise had gotten too big and expensive to continue being profitable enough for Sony Pictures (Tobey Maguire alone would have cost $50 million to retain). In addition to the financial issues, director Sam Raimi began to demand more creative control after pesky studio interference frankly destroyed Spider-Man 3. Of course the solution to this is to reboot everything and start fresh with cheaper actors (Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone) and a young, up-and-coming director in Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer). Another reason for the timing of this reboot has to do with how the rights to Spider-Man were sold to Sony Pictures by Marvel Studios in the 1990′s. No one seems to know for sure, but a “reverter clause” is said to exist, that returns the license to Marvel if Sony isn’t demonstrating use of the property.

So, that’s WHY this movie exists. Now let’s get into the real question: SHOULD this movie exist? Let’s explore. The film begins as young Peter Parker (Garfield) is whisked away to live with with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May due to some shady things happening with his Fathers research in genetic engineering. Flash forward to Parker as a high school student. Investigating the details of his estranged Fathers work leads him to the infamous Oscorp, where Peter runs into future love interest Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), meets one-armed scientist turned mutant Dr. Curt Connors (Rhy Ifans), and of course, gets bit by a genetically engineered spider.

Following the trend of “darker and grittier” superhero movies, Spider-Man is mostly successful. It is essentially the same origin story told in 2002′s Spider-Man, but told in a different way. Ifans as The Lizard makes a much more inspired villain than Raimi’s rogue’s gallery of poorly executed baddies: Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, Sandman, Venom. Although the choreography of the action in The Amazing Spider-Man might not be as finely tuned as the previous installments, it is the character work that really shines here. Garfield and Stone have chemistry bursting at the seams and play off each other with perfection. As the romantic duo that drives the heart of the film, they put Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst to shame. There is a slight issue with the tonality of this film, as it mostly aims for a certain realism and edginess but sometimes comes across as over-the-top, including an incredibly cheesy scene towards the end of the film in which a group of blue-collar New York City workers band together to give Spider-Man a hand.

The Amazing Spider-Man, while perhaps not a necessary reboot of the franchise, is a great improvement on Sam Raimi’s trilogy of the early 2000′s. Although not a lot of new ground is broken story-wise, the acting, direction and emotional center make this an excellent entry in the Spider-Man franchise, as well as comic book films in general.

FilmFire review:
4/5 forms

Ben

See? Titillating sans tits.

I really do mean this as a gentle reminder, even though I sound like an asshole no matter how I reword it: The White Trash Gourmet is rated PG-13 (or 12A for my UK following). This means I only drop one F-Bomb per post, film my nudity from the back and keep most of my killings offscreen. Make no mistake, I’m not trying to run a classy joint here, nor preserve whatever dignity I think I secrete (not with these farts), I just think vulgarity is too easy. When I did my knockers for the troops bit, I made sure to keep it boobalicious without letting it delve into nippletastic.

In other words, I firmly believe in “less is more” and “everything but.” Spielberg’s got my back on this, so don’t fuck with me. When he was offered Jaws so many years ago, he agreed to direct on the condition that the shark not be shown during the first hour of film. By letting our imaginations fill in the blanks, the creature became many more times impressive than whatever grey, rubbery turd his effects team could build. Similarly, whereas porn uses a sledgehammer to entice, burlesque uses a scalpel—as the latter knows an implied labia is much sexier than a labia-labia.

And this type of teasing is exactly what I want from the community my blog generates. I adore my loyal subjects (all three hundred of you), so please don’t make me moderate your comments, or outright block you from enjoying my wares. Whatever you do with my pictures is between you and Jesus—I don’t need it narrated to me. I’m not speaking about any one incident, I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page. Yes, I bring this crap on myself. I mean, look at that chick up there. She must be asking for it, huh? No, stupid men. Sit politely at the dinner table, keep your hands where I can see them and stop playing footsie with your penis.

Even Quinoa’s Better Dressed

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives
• 1/4 cup oil packed sundried tomatoes
• handful fresh basil
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350˚. Rinse quinoa and add to a sauce pan with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed. Set aside to cool. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until opaque. Add olives, tomatoes and basil to a food processor and chop until a paste is formed. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients. Press into glass baking dish and bake for 20 minutes or until the top is browned. This is a great side dish for just about anything done on the grill, plus it’s gluten free and vegetarian.  

Labia. Heh.

TWTG says, “Why is that sun so fucking bright!?”

Though it is very different from the other one, Peters finds a clue why his parents disappeared when he was young. This path puts him on a course with Dr. Curt Connors, his father’s former partner.  At Oscorp, where Dr. Curt Connor works, is where Peter gets bitten by the spider and now known as Spiderman. As Spider-man, he has to stop Connors alter ego (the lizard) from destroying the world.

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