Washed up actor Charles Freeman, former wrestling champion Rocco (Jake LaMotta), and drug dealer Buddy are approached by wealthy beatnik Virginia Marcus. Virginia notes that each of them has been acquitted of murder and offers them $100,000 if they can survive being hunted by her for 24 hours through the streets of Manhattan. Each of them agree and are given a check post-dated to the next day before leaving the building.

Virginia uses her connections to secure a last minute acting job for Charles who is unable to resist the opportunity, after the performance is over he is ambushed and shot with an arrow. After many taunting phone calls Rocco meets Virginia (dressed as a matador) in her apartment, where he is stabbed with two toreador spears by manservant Bi before being killed by Virginia. Buddy manages to evade his hunter after being wounded and hides at sex-fueled party of his clients but desperate for a fix he leaves the party to buy drugs, only to be killed when Virginia hits him with an arrow.

Virginia's brother Anderson is contacted by her psychiatrist about her increasingly erratic behavior, and he returns from Africa. He arrives home to find the three bodies in the freezer. The film ends with Virginia screaming as she is restrained in a straight-jacket.

After a global catastrophe nearly wipes out humanity on Earth, Earth's elites fled to Kepler-209 space colony. A young astronaut named Blake from the Kepler colony returns to Earth with fellow astronauts Tucker and Holden. Their mission is to test whether Earth is suitable for human habitation and reproduction. Kepler-209 residents have modern technology and space travel but they have become infertile from heavy radiation there. This is the second attempt to return to Earth.

The space capsule lands roughly on a tidal flat near a weather beacon that broadcasts telemetry data back to Kepler-209. Holden is killed, while Tucker commits suicide after a band of fertile humans, nicknamed "The Muds", wounds him and captures him and Blake, and removes technology from the shuttle. Blake is imprisoned by the Muds and nearly drowns, but she is saved by a girl named Maila.

The Muds are invaded by a hostile group that kidnaps all of them. They are taken to a cargo ship that rises above the frequent floods and storms. The aggressors are led by a former Kepler-209 resident named Gibson, who was a survivor from a previous Earth mission led by Blake's father, once thought to have no survivors as its capsule was destroyed along with its communication equipment.

Blake realizes she is fertile, and she meets the children of the Muds, whom Gibson is educating. Gibson claims the Muds killed Blake's father, but Blake learns that he has been locked away because he sided with the Muds, believing that Kepler residents should never return to Earth. After a brief reunion, Blake discovers the girls are being held captive for Gibson's future breeding plans. She sides with the Muds, attacks the guards, and releases the girls and their families.

She tries to stop news from Earth being broadcast back to Kepler-209, but Gibson sends the data. Blake strangles and drowns Gibson, almost drowning herself, but Malia's mother rescues her and revives her. Blake and her father rejoin the Muds and they set out in a tugboat. A closing scene shows a habitation on the tide flats and a group of children playing.

Spanish instructor Cariño logs on for an online lesson with a student and is surprised to discover her student, Adam, was unaware of the lesson. To their surprise they learn that Adam's husband Will purchased the lesson as a surprise to help him, who was raised in various countries in Latin America, brush up on his Spanish.

Adam is further surprised that Will signed him up for 100 lessons. Despite some awkwardness he goes along with the lesson. Cariño learns that through his marriage to Will, Adam is extremely wealthy. He decides to continue with the lessons, promising to return in a week.

Cariño logs on for their second lesson and finds Adam still in bed. He reveals that Will died the night before, having been hit by a car while jogging; he has still not told anyone else about what happened. When Adam begins to panic Cariño helps calm him down by showing him the gardens near where she lives, eventually lulling him to sleep. Cariño continues to reach out sending Adam video messages and offering a homework assignment and some tips for self-care. At first Adam declines the assignment as he is still in grief but gradually he takes it up and resolves to continue learning.

For their third lesson, Cariño’s video appears not to be working due to poor Internet reception. They chat about Will’s passing and Adam reveals that prior to their relationship he had been married to a woman and in denial about being gay. During their discussion Cariño accidentally turns her video camera on, revealing her badly bruised face. She claims the bruises came from falling off her bike and becomes offended when Adam offers to buy her a new one. He later records a message for her, apologizing for making her uncomfortable but also revealing that he knows her bike story is a lie.

At the start of their fourth lesson, Adam asks how Cariño is doing, but she gets straight into the lesson, wanting to work on his grammar. Adam prefers that they just talk candidly as they have in the past, but Cariño insists, wanting to maintain a more professional relationship. He asks why she didn’t respond to his earlier messages, and she defensively replies that she just forgot to, continuing with the lesson.

Adam later gets a call from a drunken Cariño at 2:30 AM; she plays him guitar and sings him happy birthday. He asks how she knew it was his birthday, and she admits she stalked his social media as she wanted to know more about him. As they talk, Cariño reveals that she isn’t actually certified to teach Spanish and that she is recently divorced. The next morning, Cariño records a message for Adam apologizing for the late call and canceling their future lessons as she is dealing with personal issues; however, she deletes it without sending it.

During their next call, Cariño again tries to maintain a professional distance with Adam, but he presses on, asking her directly if her ex-husband beat her and offering to help. After Adam tells Cariño he loves her, she mocks him for making assumptions about her personal life. She tells him that she hasn't seen her ex in years and the bruises came from a bar fight with a stranger. Still sensing there is something wrong, Adam asks Cariño what is happening with her. She reveals she suspects she has cancer as she found a lump and both her mother and grandmother died of the disease. Adam offers to support her, but Cariño says it would be best if they ceased all contact and logs off.

Adam sends Cariño a video message, offering to fly her to Oakland and help her with her medical bills. If she doesn’t want to, he still thanks her for being a good friend and helping him through Will’s death. He sends another message some time later, apologizing if he offended her and admitting he misses her and just wants to talk. As he records the message, Cariño appears behind him, suitcases in hand, having decided to accept his offer; they embrace for the first time in person.

Harold is sitting on the side lines at a college football match. He is dismayed when a player is injured and the coach says h has to play. He removes the cushions from his pants. He uses the excess space to secrete the ball and has to run fast the whole length of the pitch when the whole opposition chase him. The crowd is elated when he scores a touchdown and Nina comes to embrace him, to the anger of Donald her boyfriend. Harold's mother embraces him also.

We are told Nina's father had to have a big house to cover his big cellar. We see a beautiful two storey mansion. Harold is being introduced to Nina's father. He requires any prospective son-in-law to "clean up the street"... He gives him a note to get a job with the City Engineer. The "engineering job" is as a street cleaner in New York City the camera pans out to show Times Square.

We are told that Harold is working his way through college. He has a job cleaning the streets in Chinatown, where he wears a very white uniform with a pith helmet. He brushes some bricks down an open manhole and predictably hits a man on the head. He uses a spike to pick up paper and spikes a policeman in the calf and gets beaten on the backside as a result. The manhole man throws a brick to hit Harry and hits the policeman instead, who thinks Harry threw it. The policeman is arresting him when Harold's mother comes along carrying her Bible. Harry tries to hide behind the policeman, in shame. He escapes into a crowd rushing onto an underground train. He is marked in the moving crowd by his broom held aloft. When he gets to the train he holds the broom horizontally barring his own entry (and the crowd behind). He ends up on the floor pinned by the broom handle over his neck, with people standing on each end. He accidentally pulls the conductor's trousers down. When the crowd rushes off at the next station he is freed momentarily before a new crowd rush on. The next stop is Mott Street. Harry stands at the wrong side of the carriage to get off and misses the stop. He decides to bolt the door for new passengers getting on. As the conductor unbolts it he opens the door on the opposite side and the crowd pass straight through.

He emerges in Chinatown here there is an ongoing Tong War between the Wa-Hoos and the Pa-Jonggs. A group of police beckon Harry over. He runs and hides in a doorway. Someone passes a note from inside: it is in Chinese. He asks a passing Chinese man to translate and the man runs off in horror. A second man does the same but an older man is more polite until Harry shows him where he got the note then he runs off too.

Harry starts cleaning the street. When he bangs his broom on his dustbin the tong gang inside think it is their enemy's gong and bang their own gong. On the street things go crazy and things fly out of the windows messing the whole street. As Harry takes cover a guided tour of Chinatown in a charabang passes through. The tourists are ushered into a building to see the horrors of an opium den. Harry is hiding inside. His mother, Nina, her father and Donald are among the tourists and are shocked, but his mother forgives him. A Chinese man with an axe chases the tourists out for making fun of he Chinese. Nina gets left behind nd Harry is sent back to find her. He is chased off by the man with the axe. He goes up the fire escape and falls through a secret door.

He enters a temple-like room and picks up a spear. Carrying the spear over his shoulder he does not see that he has speared a dummy. He thinks he is being followed and attacks it. When the head comes off he realises his mistake.

A Chinese monk appears and starts putting small bowls of burning incense under a line of papier mache heads on a table... Harry is the central head. A Chinese man comes in to pray to Buddha. Harry hits him with the back of the axe and is chased around the table. The man throws the axe and hits a large vase which breaks - revealing Nina inside. Harry and Nina fall through a trapdoor and slide down a chute and land on her father. The father shakes his hand and Harry and Nina kiss.

Zanthodon is envisioned as an immense circular cavern five hundred miles wide, one hundred miles beneath the Sahara Desert, a refugium preserving various prehistoric faunas and antique human cultures that have found their way into it throughout the ages.

When Professor Percival P. Potter, who has discovered an entrance to Zanthodon, is saved by adventurer Eric Carstairs from thugs in Port Said, Egypt, the two team up to explore the legendary realm. Traveling by helicopter, they descend into the subterranean world through a volcanic tunnel, only to crash when they reach their destination. They are now effectively marooned in Zanthodon.

After witnessing a conflict between a triceratops and a mammoth they are captured and enslaved by Neanderthals together with a number of native humans. These include Darya, daughter of a tribal king, Jorn, a hunter, and Fumio, a villainous chieftain. Eric leads a slave revolt, freeing the others, but is himself retaken. On the plus side, he saves the life of Hurok, one of his captors, thus befriending him. Meanwhile, Potter and the rest of the freed captives are attacked by corsairs.

The author provides as an appendix "A Stone Age Glossary" at the end of the book, enumerating the various prehistoric animals used, together with their supposed native names.

The plot takes places during the second World War and shows the war through the eyes of one character, taken from the novel.

A young man called Troy (Gillies) grieving from the loss of his wife, is asked by his Aunt Hilda (Hershey) to build her a porch on her house in a desert community in Arizona, where he interacts with the colorful locals and tries to find reconciliation.

Eight year old Nelly has just lost her maternal grandmother. Her parents retreat to her mother's childhood home in order to empty it out. Nelly's mother is deeply upset by the whole process and leaves during the night without saying goodbye to Nelly.

Going out into the woods to play, Nelly meets a girl her own age building a fort. The girl, Marion, is extremely friendly and invites Nelly to help her. When it begins to rain, Marion takes Nelly to her home. After Nelly explains that she is visiting the area after the death of her grandmother, Marion tells her that her own grandmother, also named Nelly, died recently. Going through the house, Nelly realizes that it is her grandmother's house and Marion is her mother. Alarmed, she flees and is relieved when she returns to the house and finds her father in the present.

Nelly returns a second time to the woods and sees her mother again. They continue to build the fort. Nelly learns that they are the same age and that in three days, Marion is set to have an operation to prevent her from developing the same illness as her mother. Returning repeatedly, Nelly is able to spend time with her grandmother and learn things about her mother such as she harbours ambitions of being an actress.

The day before departure, Nelly reveals to Marion that she is her daughter and comes from the future. To prove it, she brings Marion to her grandmother's house where she reveals to Marion that her mother dies when Marion is 31 and that Nelly loved her deeply. The two are interrupted by Nelly's father, who tells Nelly that he has finished early and wants to return in time for her mother's birthday. Marion asks Nelly to sleep over and Nelly convinces her father to let her stay an extra night so she can spend more time with Marion.

Nelly and Marion celebrate Marion's ninth birthday during the sleepover. The following morning, Marion prepares to go to the hospital. Nelly reassures her the operation will be fine. Nelly also reveals that her mother is a sad person and she often wonders if it is because of her. Marion reassures her that she does not think this is the case. The two hug before Marion leaves for the hospital and Nelly returns home for a final time.

Returning to her grandmother's house, Nelly is surprised by her mother who has returned for a final viewing of the house. The two embrace, as they say each other's names.

Maia, a single mother, lives in Montreal with her teenage daughter, Alex. On Christmas Eve, they receive an unexpected delivery: notebooks, tapes, and photos Maia sent to her best friend from 1980’s Beirut. Maia refuses to open the box or confront its memories, but Alex secretly begins diving into it. Between fantasy and reality, Alex enters the world of her mother’s tumultuous, passionate adolescence during the Lebanese civil war, unlocking mysteries of a hidden past.

Emi Cilibiu, a history teacher at a prominent Romanian secondary school, films a sex tape with her husband Eugen, in which they engage in some sexual activities. Eugen uploads the video to a private fetish site, from which it is downloaded and repeatedly posted to public porn sites. The staff at Emi's school, as well as the parents of her students, are scandalized by her behavior, and they call her to a parent-teacher conference in the evening on a day soon after the video is widely circulated. Emi spends the day before the conference running various errands and growing increasingly frustrated at the sexist, nationalist, and consumerist aspects of Romanian society, as well as the additional social stressors imposed by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A montage follows, depicting the director's definitions or thoughts on various related concepts or objects. Some observations are humorous (for social distancing, a clip of a traditional Romanian folk dance modified to comply with distance regulations is shown), some are more bitter (for the French Revolution and the Romanian Revolution, violent scenes from the events are depicted followed by shots of commercial products named after the events), and some are outright caustic (for efficiency, a 24/7 funeral home is shown, open and attracting a long line, directly opposite a hospital, presumably one that houses coronavirus patients). A few of the definitions involve depictions of graphic nudity or unsimulated sex acts.

Emi arrives at the parent-teacher conference, where she is informed by a sympathetic administrator that the parents and teachers will be voting on whether or not the school should continue to employ her in light of her supposed "moral transgression;" if a majority vote against her, she will be expected to resign. The parents, among them a retired Romanian Army lieutenant, a jet pilot with fascist political leanings, a socially conservative priest, a "nice guy" who defends Emi in an attempt to ingratiate himself to her, and a woman who has previously offered bribes to Emi in exchange for higher grades, are generally critical of Emi's actions. In condemning Emi's behavior and teaching style, the parents express vulgar and sexist attitudes towards women, Romaphobia, anti-semitism, and question historical evidence Emi invokes to contradict their points.

The film concludes by presenting three alternate endings in sequence. In the first, Emi is "acquitted" by the parents and teachers, leading to a physical confrontation between her and another parent. In the second, she is "convicted," and resigns without incident. In the third, she is again "convicted," but transforms into a superhero resembling Wonder Woman. She traps the parents and teachers within a net and forces those who had most harshly opposed her during the conference to fellate a dildo.

Charles Wharton visits Anthony Reynard, the recently widowed husband of Wharton's sister Janine, in his Victorian mansion, the appearance of which unsettles Wharton. Reynard tells Wharton that Janine died by falling off a ladder while dusting the mansion's East Room, breaking her neck. When Wharton asks to see the room, Reynard refuses, telling him the door to the room has been plastered over. When Wharton protests, Reynard's elderly housekeeper Louise explains that the East Room – which has a floor made entirely out of mirror glass – is regarded as "dangerous". At Wharton's insistence, Reynard gives him a trowel and allows him to reopen the East Room, refusing to watch. Upon entering the room, Wharton is quickly disoriented by the mirrored floor; fancying that he is standing in mid-air, he panics and calls for help. Reynard finds Wharton's body lying in the middle of the room; he removes it using a pole hook, leaving a small pool of blood on both the floor and ceiling. As he prepares to once again plaster the East Room shut, Reynard wonders "if there was really a mirror there at all".

Dr. Alma Felser, an archeologist, arrives at a dance club where an employee introduces her to Tom. Alma quizzes Tom with a complex math problem and on trivial details about his favorite poem, and he answers readily. Tom then invites Alma to dance but suddenly begins repeating himself; he is quickly carried away, revealing him to be a robot.

The employee apologizes, noting that Alma is one of only 10 experts asked to evaluate their robots, reassuring her that they will fix the glitch and she can proceed with the three-week project the next day.

Alma then visits Roger, her department head at the Pergamon Museum, ridiculing the many tests she went through to be presented with her "ideal man," mocking Tom and saying she's ready to write her evaluation. Roger reminds Alma that she agreed to the 3-week assessment and that he needs her expert input, as he is on an ethics committee that will decide if the robots will be given some human rights. Roger tells Alma that if she goes through with the experiment, he will allocate funds for her and her team to visit Chicago to see certain cuneiform tablets in person.

Afterwards, fellow museum worker Julian invites Alma to his housewarming party, to meet his new girlfriend Steffi.

Alma visits her father, an elderly man showing signs of memory loss. She later takes Tom home and, over the next few days, resists his romantic gestures. Julian arrives at the apartment one morning to collect a picture, indicating that he and Alma were once in a relationship.

Alma then brings Tom with her to the museum. Tom is introduced to her team's work and suddenly alerts Alma of another researcher who has already written a paper about the subject they're researching. Alma reacts angrily and later gets drunk. At her apartment, Alma confronts Tom about whether or not he can feel anger, and questions how he is programmed to respond sexually. Rather than getting sexual, Tom puts Alma in her bed and leaves her there, saying she needs sleep.

The next day, the employee arrives for an evaluation. Alma says Tom's programming is "good" but gets irritated when the employee challenges her for treating Tom like a machine. Alma then realizes that the employee is also a robot and orders her out of her apartment. She apologizes to Tom for her behavior the night before.

Alma takes Tom to visit her father. She and her sister, Cora, review old photos and remember a childhood friend named Tom whom they met in Denmark, and with whom they were both in love. Tom and Alma then go to Julian's housewarming party. Steffi faints and Tom prevents her from hitting the ground. Alma talks to Julian privately, asking if Steffi is pregnant, which he confirms.

Back at her apartment, it’s revealed that Alma had previously suffered a miscarriage. Tom realizes Alma's fears of growing old alone like her father and Alma leaves the apartment, upset. She spies Tom coming out of the building, calling her name and looking for her. Alma follows him to the museum where they both sneak in, and they have sex in the shadows.

The next morning, Alma says she cannot continue with the charade of interacting with a machine and that she is going to stop the experiment early. When Tom repeatedly asks what will become of him, Alma says she cannot send him away and that she needs him to do it for her. Tom then leaves.

Alma records her evaluation for Roger, noting that having your every need fulfilled is not healthy for humans. She is then visited by the employee for another evaluation and realizes that Tom did not go back to the factory as she assumed, and he is now missing. Alma then takes the ferry to Denmark and finds Tom sitting in the spot where she had met her childhood friend, having waited three days for her. Alma tells the story of how she used to sit in that same spot with her eyes closed, imagining the child Tom next to her, but whenever she opened her eyes he was never there. She closes her eyes.

10 October 1985. Hollywood, California. Orson Welles' heart has just stopped. We enter his mind in this moment, on the threshold between life and death. In the liminal zone between life and death, Welles' thoughts flow as a stream of consciousness that loops back on itself, like a Möbius strip. Those thoughts are articulated by three avatars: the first represents the past, the memory of his youthful wunderkind self; the second represents his vestigial self-image as a swashbuckling mid-career artist, bemused to be crumpled on the floor in his bathrobe, dying; the last, represents his spirit, ''out of time''—what Heidegger called an ''ecstace''. On its face, the audience is presented with a series of essays about how opera and film overlap. The relationship between a man and the roles that he has played is examined—Falstaff, Othello, Brutus, Ahab, Kane, Quinlin (from ''Touch of Evil)'', and himself.

In stream of consciousness dramatic beats, he first surveys his relationship to the works of Shakespeare, then revisits the accidental drowning of Manoel Olimpio Meira during the filming of ''It's All True''. He contemplates the sound of his own heart; and then lashes out, reliving the pain of his repeated loss of creative control in the editing of ''The Magnificent Ambersons''. He recalls Marc Blitzstein at the piano the night that ''The Cradle Will Rock'' debuted before rolling into a rollicking remembrance of the high-octane life he led, reliving the giddy joy of careening across Manhattan in a rented ambulance (to better cut through traffic) at the top of his game on his way from a ''Danton's Death'' rehearsal to the ''War of the Worlds'' radio broadcast.

His thoughts turn to his despair at the recutting of ''Touch of Evil'', which he repurposes in imagination as the realization that he is dying. He thinks back a few hours to his appearance that afternoon on ''The Merv Griffin Show'', imagining himself as a manic marionette dancing for others’ amusement—the humiliation in having started at the top with ''Citizen Kane'' and having ended up doing wine commercials. He contemplates the solitary nature of existence before recalling his eighth birthday—the last time that he saw his mother. He asserts that his life's greatest mistake was that, when his mother asked him to make a wish before blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, he forgot.

He repurposes Shakespeare's great Falstaff credo as he mulls over Chimes at Midnight and the role of love: ''Maybe I did forget,'' he closes, poignantly, before having a vision of Rita Hayworth and singing a tender paean to domesticity and fatherhood. A passionate social activist, Welles' last thoughts are of the future: with the foresight available only to the dead, he mourns his country as the words of a xenophobic reality television president are intercut with Emma Lazarus' hymn to liberty. But the body gives out even though the spirit is still willing: it is no longer Welles' problem, it is ours. The avatars join together in a secular hymn: ''Our songs will all be silenced,'' they sing, ''but what of it? Go on singing. Go on. Go.'' And he does. We do.

Alexis, who has recovered her hearing after witnessing the brutal murder of her family at the age of ten, has synesthetic abilities awakened in her and starts a journey of self-discovery through the healing music of brutal violence. In pursuit of a career through experimenting new sounds, Alexis enlists the help of her loving roommate, Marie, who is unaware of the dark purpose behind Alexis' actions and the part she is unknowingly playing. Faced with the likelihood of losing her hearing again, Alexis begins a rampage to create her masterpiece, not letting anything, not even love, get in her way.

In the fictional ''WandaVision'' program, now set during the late 1990s to early 2000s, Wanda Maximoff wants to spend Billy and Tommy's first Halloween together as a family. However, Vision says he is going to patrol the streets with the neighborhood watch. "Pietro Maximoff" offers to take the boys trick-or-treating, causing mischief with his super-speed, which Tommy is revealed to have inherited. Maximoff questions why "Pietro" looks different, but he assures her that he is her brother. He later reveals that he knows Maximoff is controlling the town, and he is okay with it. He continually asks Maximoff how she did it, but she says she does not know. Meanwhile, Vision explores further away from their house and finds residents of Westview standing frozen in their positions, including Agnes. Vision speaks to Agnes's real self, and she tells him that he is dead and Maximoff is controlling them. Vision restores her entranced state.

Outside Westview, S.W.O.R.D. director Tyler Hayward is preparing to attack Maximoff, but Monica Rambeau, Darcy Lewis, and Jimmy Woo warn him against antagonizing Maximoff as it would only start a war they cannot win. The director orders them thrown out of the S.W.O.R.D. base for questioning his authority, but they sneak back inside to figure out what he is hiding. Hacking into Hayward's computer system, they discover that he has been tracking Vision's vibranium signature. They also find that he has Rambeau's bloodwork, which reveals that her cells are changing on a molecular level due to her going through the boundary twice. Lewis stays behind while Rambeau and Woo go to meet a friend to help Rambeau get back inside the Hex to help Maximoff.

Vision tries to push through the static wall but begins disintegrating. Lewis begs Hayward to help Vision, but she is handcuffed to a car. Billy senses that Vision is dying and tells Maximoff, who expands the static wall. The new boundary restores Vision but also envelops Lewis and several S.W.O.R.D. agents and turns them into circus performers. Hayward, Rambeau, and Woo manage to flee.

A claymation commercial during the ''WandaVision'' program advertises Yo-Magic yogurt.

The game is set in the fictional and totalitarian city Nova Polemos in Europa in 2030. Mordred Foley and Hera Kairis are private investigators and before the events of the game, they sent two of the most dangerous serial killers ever, Jennifer Kingston and Robert Herrington, to the electric chair. However, after their execution, their agency underwent an investigation for falsifying the evidence presented during the case, which completely destroyed its reputation. Now they want to restart their careers and lives, while dealing with their past traumas. Soon, Mordred is caught up in several cases that all led him to believe that the dreaded serial killer named Pandora has returned. In order to solve these cases, both Mordred and Hera have to face their pasts and fears, all while a racist political party is about to make the lives of refugees in Nova Polemos even worse.

Julio Blanco, the charismatic and manipulative owner of a family-run factory of industrial scales in a Spanish provincial town, meddles in the lives of his employees in an attempt to win an award for business excellence.

Tom Branson, the Earl of Grantham's widowed son-in-law, marries Lucy Smith, the illegitimate daughter and sole heir of Lady Maud Bagshaw, Queen Mary's lady-in-waiting. Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, astonishes the family by revealing that years ago she was gifted a villa in the South of France by the Marquis de Montmirail. She is leaving it to her great-granddaughter, Sybbie, Tom's daughter with the late Lady Sybil Crawley, as her other great-grandchildren have their own inheritances.

A film production company wants to use Downton to shoot a silent film called "The Gambler". Robert initially declines until his eldest daughter and estate manager, Lady Mary Talbot, convinces him that the offered fee is enough to replace Downton's leaking roof. The household staff are eager to see the film stars, but lead actress Myrna Dalgliesh's haughtiness offends them.

The new marquis invites the family to visit the villa. The ailing Violet is unable to travel, but Tom and Lucy, Lady Bagshaw, Robert Crawley (Lord Grantham) and his wife Cora, and their daughter Edith (the Marchioness of Hexham) and her husband, Bertie Pelham (the Marquess of Hexham), accept. Lady Mary remains at Downton to oversee the filming.

Montmirail welcomes the family to the villa. His mother, Madame Montmirail, however, wants to contest Violet Crawley's ownership but the marquis insists the villa is legally Violet's. He stuns Robert by implying that Robert's birth date, nine months after the Dowager Countess visited in 1864, could mean they are half-brothers. When Cora reveals she may be fatally ill, Robert breaks down at the prospect of losing his mother, the Crawley name, and his wife in short succession.

At Downton, the studio cancels "The Gambler" because silent films are no longer profitable. Lady Mary suggests dubbing in the dialogue for the completed scenes. Actor Guy Dexter's voice is suitable, but Myrna Dalgleish's regional accent is inappropriate for her upper-class character. Mrs Hughes suggests that Lady Mary could dub Dalgleish's voice. Humiliated and fearing her career is ruined, Dalgleish quits, but Downton servants Anna and Daisy persuade her to complete the film. Former Downton footman Mr Molesley, who can lip-read, reconstructs the dialogue for the dubbing process, and suggests additional scenes.

The family returns to Downton while filming continues. Lady Mary rebuffs director Jack Barber's flirtations, although her husband Henry's prolonged absence for a car rally has strained their marriage. Downton's closeted butler, Thomas Barrow, accepts Dexter's offer to manage his Hollywood house and be a travelling companion. Dr Clarkson diagnoses Cora with pernicious anaemia, a treatable condition. Cora helps Dalgleish develop an American accent, potentially saving her career. Edith, unfulfilled and constrained as a marchioness, intends to resume working at her London-based magazine. Newlywed servants Daisy and Andy scheme to romantically match Daisy's former father-in-law, Mr Mason, and Downton cook Mrs Patmore. When the financially troubled film's unpaid extras walk out, the Downton staff replace them, ensuring its completion. Barber offers Molesley a lucrative deal as a screenwriter. Molesley then proposes to Miss Baxter, unaware that he is overheard on an open microphone.

Violet assures Robert that the late Lord Grantham was his father, and says that nothing happened between her and Montmirail. Violet's health deteriorates further and she dies soon afterwards, surrounded by loved ones. Mary asks Mr Carson to train footman Andy as the new butler. Months later, Tom and Lucy return to Downton with their infant. In the main hall is a new portrait: the late Dowager Countess.

Medical student Lisa and soccer player Giorgi happen to meet twice on the same day in the Georgian city of Kutaisi. Already the first brief moment is enough for them to fall in love with each other. In the evening they meet a second time and arrange to meet in a café the next day. On the way home, Lisa is warned of a curse she has fallen victim to by a seedling, a security camera, a drainpipe and the wind. Her roommate Maya tries to calm her down and gives her a black amber ring to protect her at night.

When Lisa and Giorgi wake up the next day, they realize that they look completely different. The curse is to ensure that they do not find each other again. Both also lose their greatest talent – ​​Lisa the medical knowledge she learned at university, Giorgi his footballing qualities. Maya tries to calm Lisa down. She advises her to call in sick at work and still meet Giorgi at the café as intended. If he actually liked her, he would understand the truth. Giorgi, on the other hand, is shocked by his transformation and is not recognized by his football coach, who expels him from the sports field as a stranger. Lisa and Giorgi go to the café that evening, as agreed, but don't recognize each other. Both assume that they were transferred by the other.

Lisa has to give up her job at the pharmacy. She finds a new job at the coffee shop where she originally intended to meet Giorgi. Giorgi also starts working for the café owner. He is supposed to guide guests into the café with sporting bets on a remotely installed pull-up bar. Although Lisa and Giorgi see each other every day, they don't recognize each other. When the soccer World Cup begins abroad, the café owner wants to attract more guests with a screen, but business is bad. Lisa's visit to a music teacher, who is said to be able to remove curses with the help of coffee and cards, is also unsuccessful. By chance, Lisa and Giorgi are cast as lovers for a film. This brings them closer to each other. When the film is presented in a cinema, both see their real faces on the screen and thus recognize each other.

In the end, the narrator questions the "strange" subject and the film itself. The work says nothing about society and is "useless," but such incidents do happen, albeit rarely.

In 1931, Jakob Fabian works as a copywriter for a cigarette company in Berlin. He aspires to become an author, while his hedonistic best friend, Stephan Labude, wishes to work in academia. The two often spend their evenings visiting brothels and clubs. Fabian holds a nihilistic view on love and life, having been traumatized by his experience as a soldier in World War I.

During one of his outings at an underground club, Fabian meets Cornelia, an aspiring film actress. He falls in love with her and they begin a romantic relationship; although she cares for Fabian, Cornelia shows some ambivalence about whether the relationship will last. Fabian, Cornelia and Labude begin to spend time together. At one point, they swim in a lake despite Fabian's weak swimming skills. They also stay at Labude's father's countryside home, where Cornelia makes Fabian sign a contract stating that he will not impede her career no matter what.

In the midst of soaring unemployment and poverty in Germany, Fabian is laid off from his job. In contrast, Cornelia's career begins to take off as she acquiesces to sexual advances from Makart, an older film producer. Fabian argues with Cornelia about her actions, though she promises that it will help “to make things work” for them. They express their love for one another, though she abruptly moves out of her lodging the next morning.

While his relationship with his fiancée crumbles, Labude submits a thesis to Berlin University, hoping that it will be accepted. He has an antagonistic relationship with Weckherlin, the chancellor's assistant. With the Nazi Party on the rise and beginning to impede on German life, Labude is arrested for his support of communism and holding rallies for dockworkers. He is soon bailed out by his father.

Fabian visits a film studio where Cornelia is auditioning for a film role. She performs a heartfelt monologue, which impresses Makart and the other producers, and they give her the leading role. The monologue is in fact a letter to Fabian, imploring for them to meet again at a nearby café. When they meet, Fabian is cold towards her, arguing that the contract she had coerced him into signing was for her to commit infidelity without guilt. This upsets her, though Fabian soon apologizes and the two renew their continued support for one another.

Labude is declared missing, with his father and Fabian searching for him in Berlin together. Some time later, Fabian finds Labude on a binge at a nude art studio. The latter has received a letter from his university, but has not yet opened it.

Shortly after, Fabian is contacted by the police, who drive him to Labude's fathers’ residence. There, he is shocked to discover Labude dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. After confirming Labude's identity, Fabian reads his suicide note; Labude laments his failed relationship and his rejection by the university, declaring that he is not good at anything else and implores Fabian to “live a better life” than his. An upset Fabian confronts the university chancellor about the rejection letter, who is confused as he had actually accepted the thesis. Realizing that Weckherlin had forged the letter as a prank, Fabian lunges at him and beats him almost to death before being restrained by witnesses.

With no ties left to Berlin, Fabian returns to his hometown in Dresden. As he slowly recovers from his grief, he sees Cornelia in a magazine, having become a film star. He reaches out to her and she calls back, confiding in him that although she has become successful, she is not happy. The conversation becomes light-hearted and they make plans to meet at a café in Berlin.

Excited to see Cornelia again, Fabian packs a suitcase and walks to the train station. On his way there, he sees three boys playing in a lake, reminding him of his time with Labude and Cornelia. He spots a boy standing on a bridge, appearing to attempt suicide. Fabian calls for the boy not to jump, but the boy does not hear him and falls into the water. Instinctively, Fabian jumps into the lake to save the boy. He is unable to pull himself out of a current and he drowns. The boy survives and emerges onto the shore, seeing Fabian's belongings strewn everywhere but remaining unaware of what had just occurred. In Berlin, Cornelia waits for Fabian.

Mina's life is turned upside down when she learns that her husband was innocent of the crime for which he was executed.

Episode 1: "Magic (or Something Less Assuring)"

During a taxi ride back from a photo shoot, model Meiko hears about her best friend Tsugumi's new love interest. After Tsugumi is dropped off, Meiko takes the taxi back to an office, where she confronts her ex-boyfriend, Kazuaki, who she gathered is the same person Tsugumi was talking about. She relates things Tsugumi told her, including that Kazuaki could not get over his ex-girlfriend. After arguing, he hugs her, and Meiko runs away.

While Meiko and Tsugumi are at a cafe, they see Kazuaki outside and Tsugumi beckons him inside, insisting that Meiko stay to give her opinion on him. Meiko immediately demands that Kazuaki choose between them, resulting in Tsugumi running away and Kazuaki chasing after her, but this is quickly revealed to be a fantasy. Instead, Meiko excuses herself, and Kazuaki plans to take Tsugumi someplace after the cafe.

Episode 2: "Door Wide Open"

A professor's class is interrupted by a student loudly begging and prostrating himself before another professor, asking him not to fail him, as it would derail his future as a news anchor. The professor, French instructor Segawa, only responds unsympathetically. The student, Sasaki, is later at his apartment with his friend-with-benefits, married mother Nao, and learns from the news that Segawa has won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for a novel he has written. Sasaki coerces Nao into seducing the professor in order to create a scandal.

Nao enters the professor's office, introducing herself as his former student, closing the door behind her, but the professor insists that it stay open. She gets his autograph and requests if she can ask him questions about the novel. She reads aloud an erotic passage about a character getting his testicles sucked and ejaculating. The two have a heart-to-heart conversation. Nao reveals that she was recording the professor the entire time, and he requests that she send him the audio. She agrees but only after making a request that he "touch himself" while listening to the recording of her voice, and he verbally agrees to do this. Once home, Nao accidentally sends the email to "Sagawa" at the university, having misstyped the name.

The misspelling of a single letter in the name directs the recording to another person at the university who is an administrator. Segawa's reputation is ruined when the audio file becomes public, and Nao's husband divorces her. Years later, Nao runs into an estranged Sasaki on the bus. She is working as a proofreader, and him, an editor, with both leading separate lives. Sasaki does not show any remorse for ruining Segawa, and Nao grows annoyed by his talking. She appears to experience some remorse in recalling the 'recording' affair and its outcome. Sasaki mentions that he is getting married. As Nao reaches her stop, she gives Sasaki her business card and suggestively kisses him as she steps off the bus.

Episode 3: "Once Again"

In 2019, a virus resulted in computers inadvertently divulging their data, resulting in everyone reverting to using telegrams and the postal service. Natsuko attends her all-girls high school reunion, finding that she does not fit in nor remember her classmates' names. Later at the train station, she recognizes a classmate she was close with and is invited to her home. The two reminisce, and Natsuko asks her if she is truly happy. Realizing that Natsuko is about to let heavy feelings off her chest, the classmate admits that she has forgotten Natsuko's name. The two learn that they've mistaken each other for former classmates, not even having attended the same school.

An embarrassed Natsuko tries to make excuses and depart but is convinced to stay. Natsuko reveals that the person she mistook the lady, Aya, for was her first love and that the two of them broke up in college. Aya offers to role-play as her ex-girlfriend from 20 years ago, helping Natsuko to vent her many unresolved feelings for her old college friend. As they eventually return to the train station, Natsuko learns that Aya mistook her for a classmate she used to play the piano with, and Natsuko role-plays as her in turn. The role-playing now helps Aya to resolve past feelings which she had not been able to previously resolve. As they eventually part, Aya changes her mind and runs back to catch up with Natsuko before she gets on her train back to Tokyo. She tells her that she has finally remembered her old classmate's first name which had eluded her for the last several hours. The two hug each other recognizing that they have each been able to at least partially resolve past issues which they had previously thought had passed as unresolved with the passage of time.

Several years after the end of the Civil War Jeb (Donald Cerrone) and Hattie McAllister (Gina Carano) struggle to raise their adolescent son Will (Rhys Jackson Becker) and infant daughter in the wilds of Montana. Hattie expresses her desire to return to her families own land against Jeb's wishes to be self reliant and to be capable of raising their family on the own. After Jeb leaves to go to the town to look for work, four strangers arrive and ask Hattie for some food and water—although, once she sees they have collected scalps and are killers, she kicks them out. However, the outlaws do not go far. Instead, a stand-off emerges after repeated attempts to break into the McAllister cabin are foiled by Hattie and Will.

In the night, Hattie realizes that the reason that the outlaws are unwilling to leave is that they are looking for Jeb (who is still in the town) and they want to use her and their children as bait. Jeb, meanwhile, after failing to find any work and spending the evening in a tavern, recognized the men on wanted posters and rushes back to the cabin. After killing one of the outlaws (Gabriel-Kane Day Lewis) Hattie and Will break out with the infant and escape into the surrounding wilderness.

While Will manages to hide with his younger sister, Hattie is captured by the remaining outlaws. Jeb arrives to try to save her, and it is revealed that the reason the outlaw captain (Nick Searcy) has been hunting Jeb is because Jeb accidently killed his daughter in the final days of the Civil War after having originally been on the same side as the men but left due to ideological differences. The captain brings Hattie and Jeb back to their cabin, planning to kill Jeb after a show trial. However, Hattie tricks him into allowing her to be left alone with one of the outlaws, whom she quickly kills with a knife. Hattie then remerges and, after a shoot out, she kills the Captain and Jeb kills the remaining outlaw. The film ends with the McAllister' rebuilding their cabin with money from the bounty from the men after it was badly damaged in the fight.

In a prologue scene, a woman calls the police to report a domestic dispute before confessing to her husband that she recently received a letter inviting her to an anonymous sexual encounter in a hotel room; she went through with the offer and realized she's no longer happy in her marriage. The husband, incensed, stabs her twice before throwing her to her death from their apartment balcony.

Jordan Hines (Jim Cummings) is a Hollywood agent who works for a talent agency, APE. Although six weeks away from his planned marriage to his fiancée, Caroline Gates (Virginia Newcomb), he constantly finds himself distracted by attractive women. One day, he receives a purple envelope with an invitation from an anonymous admirer to a no-strings-attached intimate encounter at the Royal Hotel and a form for him to fill out his sexual interests. Although he dumps the letter in the trash, thoughts of the invitation dominate his mind for the remainder of the day and while sleeping. The following day at work, Jordan fills out the invitation and sends it off. While meeting with a potential Chinese client who later berates him for his agency's practices being obsolete, Jordan receives a second purple envelope with a hotel room keycard. Worried about his job, Jordan goes to the hotel room, puts on a blindfold, and has sex with an anonymous woman who is also blindfolded. He receives a burst of confidence after the encounter, but soon becomes paranoid that someone else knows what he's done.

As Jordan obsessively investigates the source of the anonymous invitation and the identity of the woman he slept with, his Chinese client is revealed to have accepted a similar invitation and had sex with another man; the client's wife shoots and kills him, and his anonymous partner's wife poisons him as well. As Jordan investigates and hears about the two murders, as well as the murder from the beginning of the film, he encounters a delivery person whose bag is filled with anonymous letters in purple envelopes who tells him the person who operated the app he works for most likely sent the invitations. He investigates one of the addresses and finds the recipient is dead. Jordan's friend PJ theorizes that someone with access to people's social media data, such as recent engagements and having liked photos of people they're attracted to, may have found the addresses of people who fit the right demographic and sent them letters to connect them for anonymous sex; he suggests it would be inexpensive and very lucrative to set up.

Jordan and his fiancee, having drifted apart as he becomes obsessed with his secret, go to a cabin in the woods for a weekend to reconnect and have sex after arguing and reconciling. However, Jordan recognizes the woman he slept with in a wedding planning office, but despite his pressure, she does not reveal her name and claims not to recognize him. Jordan resumes his investigation and, impersonating a federal agent, investigates a print press that printed the purple envelopes. The owner, Michael, tells Jordan about a bulk order for the envelopes three months ago, and Jordan reverse-searches the name of the individual to find his address.

Jordan attacks and confronts the individual behind the letters, Johnny, who confesses to sending them based on addresses from The Sony Hacks and further social media scrubbing. Johnny realizes that Jordan never received the third letter, which would have asked for $5,000 in an anonymous wire transfer in exchange for the identity of the woman he had sex with. He mocks a now-shaken Jordan for being a nobody and being suckered into cheating on his wife, and Jordan leaves.

Caroline catches Jordan burning the evidence of his encounter in their parking garage while holding a pair of scissors. Jordan breaks down and confesses not only to sleeping with another anonymous woman, but drinking, smoking, and living a lie. He accepts that Caroline is going to kill him, but she instead forgives him, silently revealing that she also received a purple letter and had sex with an anonymous partner.

Jordan and Caroline decide to take time off and work things out between them away from home. The couple then go to a diner near the border, where Caroline holds her belly for a moment, suggesting that she is pregnant (with Jordan’s child or someone else's), and also reads news that eight more people have been killed as a result of confessing their indiscretions with the purple envelopes. As the couple leaves, a waitress pens down her number on the bill and hands it to Jordan.

The Hogan family sit and debate their idle son - Harry. The men one to throw him out but Mrs Hogan hopes he will be a great musician one day.

Harry does not realise his own shortcomings as a music student, whose instrument of choice is the double bass. He attempts to play My Wild Irish Rose and his professor asks him to play "one tune at a time' as he is no "Super-Hooperdine". A note is pushed under the door - a complaint from the neighbours regarding the terrible noise. Harry succeeds in playing something which his professor recognises and his awarded a diploma, as the professor just wants to get rid of him.

At home, his family kick him out to try to make his own way in the world. They show no interest in his diploma.

He finds a bug-infested room in the city an goes out looking for work - with his double bass. Harry's landlord will not let him take his double bas out until he pays the rent. Harry lowers it out of the window but onto a sales area for an instrument shop below. He argues with the shop owner as to who owns it. Another man gives him $10 for a fiddle, thinking he owns the shop, and Harry uses that $10 to buy his own double bass back. At first he joins an international street band, headed by Prof von Tempo - but they decide he is not what they want. Von Tempo gives him his fee back and rips up his diploma.

Then an overly-stereotyped Jewish junkman offers him $2 for the instrument. But he wants a demonstration of how it sounds so Harry plays My wild Irish rose again. A man above throws a small metal paraffin heater at him. The junkman realises the potential of stuff thrown out of windows at Harry (to make him shut up) as this can be collected and sold. He gives Harry $5 to keep playing.

They return with a bigger cart and a protective cage around Harry to protect him from the thrown objects.

Harry finds a piano but a man owns it. The junkman offers $50 for it.

Next Harry drives up in a huge steam roller and accidentally crushes the piano. The junkman cries.The steam roller owner arrives and thinks his steam roller ran off on its own, H compensates Harry with $300 for the piano. He shares it with the junkman.

He goes home in top hat and tails. He says he made his money "fiddling around".

In the earth pony town of Maretime Bay, Argyle Starshine teaches his daughter Sunny Starscout about tales of old Equestria when earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns lived in harmony. Although most earth ponies dismiss these ideas as myths and now live in fear of the other races, Sunny hopes that all races can make amends and live in harmony.

Years later, Sunny continuously tries to change the minds of the other earth ponies, disrupting a showcase of anti-pegasi and unicorn technology by factory owner Phyllis Cloverleaf. Hitch Trailblazer, Sunny's childhood friend and sheriff of Maretime Bay, pulls her away and prepares to send her back home with the warning that she is jeopardizing their friendship with her activities. Suddenly, a unicorn named Izzy Moonbow wanders into the town. While most of the earth ponies flee, Sunny befriends Izzy and quickly takes her to her home to hide from Hitch and his deputy Sprout, Phyllis' son. Learning from Izzy that unicorns have lost their magic and that the pegasi may be to blame, Sunny travels with her to the pegasi’s home in the city of Zephyr Heights in order to ask for their help. The two elude Hitch and flee town, and Hitch leaves Sprout in charge while he pursues them. Sprout names himself sheriff and eventually becomes a dictator-like leader, turning the residents of Maretime Bay into a hostile mob and commandeering his mother’s factory to construct a war machine.

Sunny and Izzy are caught in Zephyr Heights and taken to meet Queen Haven and her two daughters, Pipp Petals and Zipp Storm, who seem to be the only pegasi who can fly. When Sunny starts asking about magic, Haven has them imprisoned in the castle dungeon. Zipp secretly visits them there and tells them that the pegasi have also lost their magic and cannot fly, and the royal family uses wires to give the illusion of flight. She helps them escape and takes them to an abandoned transit station that Sunny realizes was used by all pony races in the past. Sunny finds a set of stained glass windows depicting two crystals – one of which is set in Haven's crown – that may fit together and bring back the magic. The three concoct a plan to steal the crown during Pipp's performance that night. Hitch's arrival triggers a series of mishaps that reveal the royals' inability to fly; Haven is arrested, and the sisters are forced to flee the city with Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy. Hitch overcomes his own prejudices and offers to help Sunny in her effort to reunite the pony races.

Izzy escorts the group to her home in the village of Bridlewood and disguises them as unicorns before leading them to Alphabittle, who holds the unicorn crystal. Sunny wins it from him in a dance competition, but loses her disguise as she celebrates. As the group flees with the two crystals, they come across Haven, who has also escaped. Sunny and Izzy try to put the two crystals together, but they have no effect. Dejected, Sunny gives back the crystals and returns to Maretime Bay with Hitch.

While packing up her childhood toys, Sunny finds a third crystal intended to join with the other two, built into a lamp her father had made for her. As she races to tell Hitch, they discover that Sprout has turned the entire town to his side and is piloting his war machine to attack the other pony races. Sunny and Hitch rush back to her home as Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, Haven, and Alphabittle arrive. Gathering the crystals, Sunny, Izzy, and Pipp try to put them together while Hitch and Zipp hold off Sprout's machine. Phyllis orders Sprout to stop, but he refuses and crashes into Sunny's home, destroying it and the frame in which the crystals must be set. Phyllis, Haven, Alphabittle, and Sunny's friends put aside their differences and come together to comfort her amid the rubble. In response, the crystals activate and lift Sunny into the air, temporarily transforming her into an alicorn and restoring magic across the land. Sunny and her friends celebrate as the ponies of all three races cooperate to fix the damage done by Sprout and a new era of peace begins.

Zanthodon is envisioned as an immense circular cavern five hundred miles wide, one hundred miles beneath the Sahara Desert, a refugium preserving various prehistoric faunas and antique human cultures that have found their way into it throughout the ages.

As the novel opens, protagonist Eric Carstairs, Professor Potter, and their Zanthodonian companions have been separated, and must separately face the menaces of Kairadine Redbeard, corsair captain of the ''Red Witch'', the dwarfish Gorpaks, the Gorpaks' leech-like masters the Sluagghs, and the Neanderthal Drugars. Overcoming these various antagonists, the heroes are reunited in the end only to be taken captive by the Minoans of Zar, while Achmed the Moor makes off with Eric's love interest Darya.

The author provides as an afterward "The People of Zanthodon" at the end of the book, enumerating the various characters and groups appearing therein.

April 4th, 1968. The Panathenaic Stadium (then Olympic Stadium of Athens) is abuzz, with thousands of people gathered and millions listening through their radios. The FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup final between AEK B.C. – Slavia VŠ Praha has just begun and is attended by 80,000 spectators, the Guinness World Record attendance for a basketball event.

A girl in love is dreaming of her wedding day, while the future husband becomes more desperate with every Greek ball going through the hoop. An elderly husband and wife remember the home they left behind. A young communist prisoner cheers from his jail cell and a PROPO betting shop becomes the place where old and new wounds resurface.

Years before this night, three Constantinopolitans seeing Greek refugees from Constantinople arriving in Athens as part of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey following the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) decided to create an athletic union, eventually named AEK, that will tell their story. At the end of this night, Greek history will have changed forever.

This is the third time that Vik and his family have moved to a different city. Vik is a shy child who finds it hard to make new friends, and whenever he finally does start to open up to someone, his father's job inevitably causes the family to relocate to a different part of the country, and Vik has to start all over again. Luckily for him, this time he soon meets Mai and Oto in the city park.

The enthusiasm and energy with which they play end up attracting the attention of a magical being who lives in the park: Yoko. Every day, after school, Vik runs to the park to meet his friends and go on amazing adventures, thanks to which he finally starts to feel that he's found his place in the world. Vik is happy at last, until one day his father is offered a job in another city.

For Victor Pelevin's short prose the main cycle-forming principle is the subjective mystical-philosophical orientation common to all the stories.The title of Pelevin's first collection was given by the story of the same name ''"Blue Lantern"'', where the image of the blue lantern acts as a mystical symbol of the netherworld, or rather the illusory border between the two worlds. The image of the blue lantern is found in most of the stories in the cycle.

The common philosophical theme that unites the majority of the stories in the cycle is the understanding of death as the beginning of a new life. In the story ''"The Blue Lantern"'' the characters playfully pose serious philosophical questions: what is death, who is called a dead man and who really is a dead man? However, the expected denouement at the end of the story does not happen: neither the heroes nor the author receive answers to the questions posed. But in the tradition of Russian classical literature for Pelevin is more important not to get an answer to the question, but the formulation of the question itself.

If in the story ''"Blue Lantern"'' the author leaves these questions open, in essence only poses these questions, then in the story ''"The Life and Adventure of Shed Number XII"'' the life story of the main character serves in part as an answer to the questions posed about the meaning of existence. The main character in the story is the shed who undergoes an inner evolution that leads him to the spiritual freedom that allows him to realize his cherished dream of transformation. His dream of becoming a bicycle. Spiritual improvement, natural giftedness, subtle inner organization of the protagonist in the perception and understanding of the world around him leads him to the realization of the long-awaited dream. Thus, death in the story is understood as a peculiar step in achieving spiritual freedom, the beginning of true and real life. It is noteworthy that in this case Pelevin's hero is an inanimate object - a shed. If in the first story children asked eternal questions, here the object is inanimate, far from poetic, but the author gives it the possibility not only to think, but also to dream, the father-in-law not simply spiritualizes, but creates a model of a thinking and deep being.

The composition and plot of the story are built in the tradition of a magical or domestic fairy tale: the heroes are inanimate beings who are endowed with the ability to think and reason like humans, and in the finale there is a long-awaited transformation into fairy magic. Along with this, however, the metaphorization and philosophical orientation of the narrative somewhat transform the fairy tale in terms of genre and give the text a parable rather than a fairy tale proper. Moreover, inanimate objects exist in this parable-fairytale space along with people, whose lives run parallel and independent of the life of the shed.

The unity of the texts of Pelevin's cycle "Blue Lantern", his mystical worldview are supported not only at the level of fairy tale character system, but also with the help of folklore motifs. Thus, in the story ''"Crystal World"'' the names of the main characters Yuri Popovich and Nikolai Muromtsev refer to the names of the heroes of Russian bylina, who are the patrons of the Russian land, Alyosha Popovich and Ilya Muromets.

The story ''"A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia"'' throughout the narrative continues to develop the folklore components of the Pelevin cycle, and again unobtrusively but insistently meets folklore images and motifs. First of all, the hero named Sasha, drawn by an unconscious desire, goes on a long journey in search of a certain vision (the view from the photo in the encyclopedia). And this desire correlates with the actions of the fairy-tale-folklore hero of Russian folk tales: to go there without knowing where, to see that without knowing what. In Pelevin's story, the hero is destined to become a chosen werewolf, a werewolf hero. The magical transformation of Sasha into a werewolf is described as a process of the hero's comprehension of the truth, previously unknown to him.

In the story ''"Mardongi"'' through the theory of a certain philosopher Antonov about the nurturing of the inner dead by each living person continues to implement Pelevin's idea of eternity and the single essence of the human spirit and flesh, the living and the dead in the universe. According to Pelevin's Antonov, from the moment of birth every living person begins to nurture death, a corpse, because continuation of life leads to inevitable approach to death. Life and death in Pelevin's philosophy turn out to be communicating vessels, those two entities that are inseparable from each other. Despite the author's ironic stance, the underlying meaning of Pelevin's story turns out to be far from humorous. The popular phrase about the duality of light and darkness, right and left, life and death finds its philosophical realization in the author's text.

The hero of the story ''"Sleep"'' Nikita Sonechkin is not aware of the boundary (or gradually loses the idea of the boundary) between dream and reality.

The interchangeability of sleep and wakefulness, life and death, birth and death in Pelevin's stories loses its tragic intensity and becomes an objective component of human existence as a whole: it is impossible to understand whether life or dream, death or dream, day or night (dream time) is more real in the world of Pelevin's stories.

The interchangeability of sleep and wakefulness, life and death, birth and death in Pelevin's stories loses its tragic intensity and becomes an objective component of human existence as a whole: to understand what is more real than life or sleep, death or sleep, day or night (dream time) in the world of Pelevin's stories is not possible.

In the writer's stories not only sleep, delirium, drugs or alcohol are the means of transition into an otherworldly state; in his post-Soviet space this role can also be played by television, the speech of a lecturer, the media, and a whole slew of other media.

In most of the stories in this collection the protagonists' perception of the world is ambiguous; familiar, objective reality is represented as a dream or death, a dream/death replaces reality, and reality, in turn, is deprived of its usual contours. For some of the stories in the collection, in which the author ironizes the Soviet state system, it is the Soviet reality that the heroes are a monstrous dream. For example, the heroes of ''"News from Nepal"'' are in a similar state of sleep-forgetfulness, ruled by some demonic force and equated with hell.

As in most of the works in the collection, in the story ''"Uhryab"'' the main character at a certain point realizes the meaninglessness and emptiness of the world around him. And he must come to terms with it. But to come to terms with it not because he is a victim of the Soviet system, but because for Pelevin and his hero, who accepts the world in all its manifestations (life = death, life = dream, dream = death, day = night, dream = reality), there is no other way out. The exit in the usual sense is impossible because at any outcome Pelevin's hero will find himself only in the same world, only with a different name.

In the story ''"The Ontology of Childhood"'' Pelevin continues his search for answers to the eternal questions stated in most of the stories in the collection. The adult protagonist in this work is vividly alive those childhood impressions, when as a child he enthusiastically perceived reality, and the overwhelming thirst for comprehension of the world around him seized him. For the hero, the resurrection of the emotions of childhood is his only happiness. As a child, he is free and easy to contemplate his surroundings, to understand the world as God (it seems) created it, but as he grows up, he realizes that gradually the colors of the world around him fade. Pelevin's reflections on the meaning and truth of existence lead him to the idea that the measure of happiness does not depend on man, it is inherent in being. Thus, and in this story, Pelevin actually arrives at a Buddhist understanding of the meaning of existence to the absence of all rational meaning: life for the sake of life.

The author's mystical-fantastical twoworld is realized in the stories of the collection not only in the recognition of the heroes false and finding true reality, or awareness of the illusory edges between realities. The author forces the reader through the contradictions and searches of his characters to doubt the present, which is based on materialism and pragmatism, he reminds the reader of the true purpose of man, who can exist in harmony with himself only in the awareness of its inseparable connection with the forces of cosmic reality.

The film begins at a tall hotel, "The Venus Arms" and we zoom in to a window. Inside Harry Doolittle nurses a hangover with an empty bottle by his side. It is his wedding day and we next see his bride-to-be, Betty Brief. She is with her two bridesmaids and she telephones Harry. He struggles to find the phone. He does not say much and goes back to bed. A butler comes in and starts making breakfast. Harry tells him to go, but the butler says his "wife" asked for it and clarifies that he got married last night at his party.

A woman opens a curtain and appears. Harry is shocked and lies back. She kisses him and he says he never saw her before. She starts crying and hugs him.

Betty and her mum arrive at his door. The mother asks "who's she?". He hands her a revolver and says "they say it's my wife". Betty stops her mum from shooting him. He reveals to the audience that he has a metal tray protecting his chest. It falls out of his pyjamas and the mother shoots him in the backside. Luckily he has a second tray there. His new wife starts throwing things, including a large sword which splits the door. An item leaves the room via the window and hits a policeman below. She awaits the policeman holding the sword. Harry knocks her out with a bottle but then revives her with a glass of water. As he goes to lie her on the bed he decides to get in himself instead.

A crowd has gathered outside the room. When the woman goes to strike Harry in the hallway she hits the butler instead and several people fall down the stairwell, hitting the policeman again. In the room the woman accuses Harry of being a wife-beater.

Betty and her mum go to her father Judge Brief to ask for advice. He is a very stern looking fellow. The policeman brings Harry in and the judge puts him in jail. Still in his pyjamas he is put in the lock-up with several burly men already there. They make fun of him and al skip off apart from a bobble-nosed drunk talking to a drawing on the wall about the sardine situation in Denmark. The man seems drunk and attacks an invisible rat before continuing the conversation with the drawing. Harry then also stamps on an invisible rat, a bigger one. The man congratulates him and introduces him to Napoleon (the drawing).

Betty comes to visit him and reminds him they were to marry that day. As he kisses her through the bars a man with a broken arm kicks his backside and tells him to get to work. He starts mopping the kitchen floor. The man (now holding a cleaver) tells him he is mopping the floor with the soup - cream of tomato. Five men play dice in a corner. Harry gives one man tips, losing him a lot of money. Harry runs off and falls down an elevator shaft which brings him out to an alley.

On Friday, Betty, her mum, the new wife and the butler go to the judge with the policeman. The woman says Harry means nothing and she was just trying to stop the butler stealing his money. Betty is elated and her father tells the policeman to release Harry. When he phones he is told he escaped that morning and the judge orders the entire police force to search for him.

Harry, unaware of his pending release has disguised himself as a cabman and stands beside a horse-drawn hansom cab. Harry sees a wanted poster for a criminal with a $5000 reward. The man standing nearby looks like the photo on the poster. Harry tries to double check. As Harry returns to his cab the man rips the poster down. A policeman puts up a new poster with Harry on it. Meanwhile Harry has found a different policeman and brings him back to look at the now-gone poster and criminal. Harry runs off. While hiding behind a bush he fails to notice he is on a plank for workmen and he is raised into the air. The police appear at an upper window. The plank falls as Harry goes in another window then he falls too.

He hits a car roof and ends in the back seat. He jumps onto his own cab just as a fare arrives: two chinamen smoking pipes. They ask to go to the Mah Jongg club. Harry starts to get affected by the rising opium smoke. At the traffic light he goes for a walk along the car roofs. He ends up on top of the police Black Maria which is carrying Betty and her mum in their search for him. It pulls up next to his hansom cab and he swaps over. Betty and her mum get off too. They tell him that the woman confessed and they get in the cab and tell him to hurry to the minister. En-route the horse sits down and Hary has to entice it. He throws something and all goes too far.

The game follows a worker's uprising in a future year of the 21st century that begins in Factory Town, an industrial town in a fictional country. After the uprising takes over Factory Town, they begin pushing through Bootlick Bayou, a logging town, Dockyards, a port and finally the Bowling Green Estates, a wealthy neighborhood which is the capital of this country. The uprising grows in size as it proceeds through each level in each area, inspiring more and more workers along the way. The game concludes with the workers overthrowing their government, implying that an anarcho-syndicalist government is formed in its place.

The ''Love'' Hotel is the most beautiful place to spend Valentine's Day. And suddenly the former classmates gather there and the meeting reinforces their old feelings.

In 1874 Montana, Native Americans attack a group of settlers, leaving a young Dave Carson and a colt named Rex as the only survivors. Rex is tortured by two Indians, but he escapes. The two later grow up, with Rex becoming a stallion who tramples Indians to death and acquiring the nickname "The Devil Horse." Carson becomes an army scout who is stationed at a fort commanded by Major Morrow. Carson and the Major's daughter Marion meet at a creek but, a group of Indians led by Prowling Wolf kidnaps Carson in a failed attempt to kidnap Marion to make her his wife, but she escapes. Rex, remembering Carson from his earlier years, frees him, and the two become friends. Prowling Wolf goes to the fort, and supplies Major Morrow with false information in another attempt to make Marion vulnerable enough to kidnap her. He is successful this time. However, Carson, Rex, and Major Morrow rescue her. The Indians attack the fort the next day. The army puts up a good fight, but it appears they may lose after they run low on ammunition. Carson and Rex are tasked with the dangerous task of retrieving more from a wagon train some distance away. During the mission, Morrow quarrels with Prowling Wolf who knocks him unconscious. Rex then tramples Prowling Wolf to death. Just as the Indians begin to infiltrate the fort, Rex, Carson, and the Wagon train make it back in time to scare the Indians off.

Chester walks through a forest of huge trees with a double-headed axe over his shoulder. He encounters Big Bill Reardon, the boss, organising the felling of a very large tree. The tree narrowly misses Chester who then begins chopping something off screen. A tint tree falls. He finds a normal sized tree marked with a white "X" for felling. His axe bounces off.

A girl appears, Hazel Wood, Bill tells Chester to keep away but Hazel likes Chester and tries to kiss him. Bill gets jealous. He tricks him into sitting on a large log on a log-slide but gets caught himself and dragged along behind. At the bottom Chester gets catapulted off, and lands perched on an upright log. Bill beats him up.

Chester arrives battered and bruised in a small logging town. Bill and Hazel are in a room discussing Chester. Chester enters and traps Bill in the centre of a sliding table. He leave with Hazel who then gets a job "at a higher salary and lower altitude" - as a cashier in a saloon. The boss says her new boyfriend, Chester, can have a job as a dishwasher. Harry hurries over and the saloon owner inspects him. He offers him a shot of spirits for luck. Hazel tells him to accept it.

After he gets up he goes to the kitchen to meet the cook who is chopping meat with a big cleaver. The cook also offers a shot of spirits for luck and Chester sits on the floor to drink it (in case he falls over again). The cook then gives him a huge pile of plates, 50 or more, to be washed. Chester struggles to lift the weight and they sway. The existing dishwasher drops a cup and breaks it. The cook beats him up. Chester decides to put the swaying plates back where they started but they continue to sway.

In the saloon a rough character asks a waiter when will he get his soup. He doesn't get the answer he wants and he punches the waiter launching him into the kitchen. Chester tips an oil lamp over and it lands in the soup. He is asked to wait and the rough character still wants his soup. Chester looks to camera and raises his eyebrows. He offers beans instead. Hazel sees the predicament and in front of the tough customer tells the boss that the waiter has six notches on his gun. The boss warns the tough guy that he had better eat whatever the waiter brings. However, the tough guy says he loves the soup - until he suddenly collapses and runs out.

Back in the kitchen the cook tastes the soup and sprays it back out, almost starting a fire. He finds the lamp in the soup and starts chasing Chester. A tin drops on the cooks head so he cannot see that a mule kicks him... he thinks it is Chester's punch. He begs for mercy and runs off. Everyone stands back from Chester who is given the nickname "The Crying Killer".

In a corner a poker game is going on. Chester is now the bouncer. Tough Mike is told to beware of him. Mike shows his shooting skills. Chester has objects in the room wired up to look as if he shoots them when he pulls a rope behind the door. He is impressing people then the dishwasher pulls all ropes at once as he fires. Tough Mike thinks he has a magic gun as it hit everything in the room at once. He examines the gun. He gets scared and runs off.

Big Bill comes in and sees Hazel. He punches the waiter who has tried to intervene. Chester comes up. Bill knocks his hat off and kicks him. Chester punches Bill and one other man in the ba, then the lights go off. A fight goes on in the dark and when the light returns only Chester is standing. He chalks up his victories on a chair. He gives Bill whiskey to revive him but when Bill pulls his gun he hits him with the bottle and walks off with Hazel.

A television director with little experience appears with his entire crew to face the casting for his version of José Zorrilla's Don Juan Tenorio. However, all kinds of mishaps happen throughout the process.

A $100,000 jewel robbery has taken place the victim being Mrs Cecile Rhodes (a pun on Cecil Rhodes). The four crooks (aka the "Ferret Gang") have breakfast together in a boarding house. The oldest member passes a diamond necklace to Vernon Dent to be pawned as quickly as possible.

The landlady's daughter Rosie has a knock on her door and a hand passes a rose to her. It is her boyfriend - the very innocent Harvey. She beckons him in and asks him to sit with her on the window-seat. He moves to her chai by chair. She moves onto his lap and he sits awkwardly. Mrs O'Grady her mother goes from the breakfast room into Rosie's room and looks sternly at the pair. Harvey stands and Rosie falls off his lap. The mother sends Rosie away and interrogates Harvey. She asks what he does and he proudly flashes his detective badge. Having duly impressed her he negates the effect by clumsily pulling the curtains off their rail and he promptly leaves.

Back in his office two repo men take his desk away as he arrives. He gets a telephone call from Cecile Rhodes. She offers him $10,000 (10%) if he can recover her jewels. He goes to see Rosie and shows her the promissory note.

Meanwhile at the pawnbrokers shop the pawnbroker not only declines he jewels but also calls the police as son as the crook leaves.

A tall detective walks passed Harvey and Rosie and Harvey walks alongside him to his detective agency "Polky Roman". Harvey shows him his badge just as the police turn up an they all arm themselves with shotguns and jump in an open top car. Harvey gets out a tiny revolver and loads it. he gets the car to stop at Rosie's to tell her that he is on a raid. They get to the pawnbroker and Harvey runs ahead to say there is a raid. The crook slips the diamonds into Harvey's pocket, punches some people and runs off. Harvey stands in the middle of a smoky pistol fight between the crook and the tall detective. He starts throwing bricks at the crook but accidentally its the detective and knocks him out. The crook then chases him to recover the diamonds. The crook thanks him and they go back to the boarding house together.

He gets introduced to the gang and they say with his innocent face he will be able to safely pawn the jewels. Just as he leaves (with the diamonds) Rosie arrives and wants to cuddle Harvey on the couch. She tells the gang that he is a hero and flashes his badge. Harvey looks very worried. The crooks glare at him. He hides the diamonds while they look away.

He adjusts the gas lamp so it is putting out gas. He starts to stagger around. He falls behind the couch and disappears just as the police burst in to arrest the gang. Mts O'Grady comes in and starts to scold him. He shows Rosie the diamonds and they both fall over backwards on the couch with their legs in the air.

A steam train travels through the night. Onboard in a sleeping carriage are Mr and Mrs Newlywed: Harry and Marcie, in separate bunks. Marcie has rags tied in her hair to make curls. Harry is in the upper bunk.

A different woman tries to get in and the conductor says she is at the wrong berth. Harry drops his belongings into the central aisle and goes down to pick them up. He does not spot the woman moving the steps to the next berth so when he goes back up he is in the wrong berth. She pushes him out and he kicks the guy opposite. The guard directs him to the correct berth and he checks below that his wife is there. He goes to get some water and trips over a foot. The guard shows him back. He goes to the far end of the carriage and opens the door: a fierce wind blows in, disturbing everyone.

Last breakfast id called. The men all share a washroom and shave side by side. Harry is shaving with a straight razor. he uses a hand mirror to shave the back of his neck... but instead shaves the back of the neck of the man behind him.

Marcie waits in the main carriage. She is reading a letter from Uncle Bill saying he can give Harry a job if she brings $500. Maddie sits to the side with loudmouth Frank who spots Marcie as she counts her money to pay Uncle Bill. Harry pushes passed the guard to sit with Marcie and a few seconds later the sheriff sits down handcuffed to Dangerous Dan McGrew. Dan tries to outstare Harry. Dan's accomplice comes alongside the train, bobbing up and down on a railway handcart. The sheriff handcuffs Dan to Harry while he goes with the guard to try to arrest the accomplice. Dan rolls his trousers up to reveal a revolver strapped to each leg. He gives one to Harry and announces that they are now partners.

A pistol fight starts with Dan using Harry as a human shield. His tie gets shot in half. It is then reduced to a quarter then shot off totally. In the confusion Frank pickpockets Harry and the $500. Dan jumps off just before the station.

Lacking the $500 Harry returns to his old job as a policeman on the beat. The chief is on the other side of the road. He e echoes his stiff walk. He waves but the Chief does not wave back. The Chief puts out his hand as if to shake before crossing the road but walks passed Harry to two women instead.

Harry sits under a telegraph pole to eat his packed lunch - a sandwich. A worker above accidentally drops something into the sandwich just before Harry starts to eat. Harry chews uncomfortably before spotting his mistake. He feels ill and sees double. He crawls into the middle of the road and is almost run over. He appears to be vomiting off-screen but we then see he is drinking from a drinking fountain.

Harry is on night shift and is scared of the noises, including owls and howling dogs.

Marcie is working as a seamstress for Maddie. Maddie steps outside and asks Harry to make the dog stop howling. He goes round the back and hides beside the pool. Dangerous Dan appears and shines a torch across the pool.

Inside Maddie asks Marcie to stay for a party. Frank is there and drops Harry's wallet. Marcie puts on one of Maddie's gowns. Frank consoles her just as Harry comes in. Marcie is actually just stealing Harry's wallet back and tells him to go as soon as she gets it. Harry climbs to the roof. He sees Marcie through a window. She pulls the blind and he sees her silhouette as she takes her gown off to go home - he fears the worst and falls into the pool.

Frank realises the wallet has gone and demands Marcie gives it back. Dangerous Dan comes in with two bombs. He throws one at Frank who ducks. It goes out of the window into the pool and blows Harry onto the balcony. Dan and Frank are fighting inside. Harry threatens them with the second bomb, they step back and fall off the balcony. Marcie show she has got the wallet back but then the second bomb goes off. They are blown across the sky and land on the telegraph pole above the Chief of Police.

At 1864 , Chizuru Yukimura is a young woman who went to Kyoto to look for her father, Kodo Yukimura. When she was chased by a pair of ronins, the ronins were killed by mad samurais with white hair and red-eyes. She was saved by Toshizo Hijikata, Okita Souji, and Hajime Saito from the Shinsengumi. Chizuru is taken to the Shinsengumi headquarters for questioning. Upon learning that Chizuru is Kodo's daughter, the Shinsengumi chief Isami Kondo allows her to stay at Shinsengumi as Hijikata's page in exchange for her help in finding her father and keeping quiet about what she saw last night.

One night, Chizuru is sent as a messenger for the Shinsengumi who are conducting an operation to apprehend the rebels. While protecting Okita, she is injured by a ronin working for the Satsuma, Chikage Kazama. Hijikata's arrival chased Kazama away. Returning to the compound, Chizuru finds her wound mysteriously healed with Hijikata secretly watching. The next night, Keisuke Sanan reveals to Chizuru about Rasetsu, humans who are turned into insane bloodthirsty killers in exchange for enhanced strength and power after drinking Water of Life brought by Kodo. Desperate to heal his arm, Sanan drinks the vial to become a Rasetsu and nearly kills Chizuru, but Chizuru's inhuman power renders him unconscious. Hijikata questions Chizuru for her healing ability, but Chizuru herself knows nothing other than she already has this ability since she was young. Hijikata agrees to keep her secret.

Soon, several Shinsengumi members who disagrees with Kondo leaves the Shinsengumi with Kashitaro Itou, including two captains Hajime Saito and Heisuke Todo. Taking the opportunity of the lack of manpower, Kazama and his two companions Kyuju Amagiri and Kyo Shiranui attacks the compound to kidnap Chizuru. Kazama reveals that they and Chizuru are in fact descended from pureblooded Oni clans. However, the Shinsengumi's persistence and Chizuru's rejection forces Kazama to retreat.

Saito returns to Shinsengumi, revealed to have been a spy planted by Hijikata and Kondo to observe Itou's movement. Discovering Itou's plot to assassinate Kondo, the Shinsengumi kills Itou first, causing Itou's followers to swear vengeance, starting with Heisuke who is forced to become a Rasetsu to survive his fatal injuries. While the Shinsengumi are preparing for war against Satsuma and Choshu, Chizuru is escorted by Kaoru Nagumo to meet her father, only to learn that Kodo intends to create army of Rasetsu to overthrow the government and restore the Yukimura clan that was annihilated years ago. Chizuru is saved by Hijikata, Saito, Sanosuke Harada, and Shinpachi Nagakura, forcing Kodo and Kaoru to retreat.

On his way back from a meeting, Kondo was shot by Itou's remaining followers. This prompts the desperate Okita, who is suffering from tuberculosis, to become a Rasetsu and kill the people responsible behind the shooting. Kaoru reveals himself to be the one who advised the attack and then shot Okita with silver bullets, preventing his injuries from healing.

During the Toba-Fushimi war, Chizuru and Genzaburo Inoue are tasked to get assistance from the Yodo clan, but discovers the Yodo has betrayed them. Inoue is killed, but Hijikata arrives on time to save Chizuru. Kazama appears and reveal that Satsuma-Choshu alliance has become part of Imperial army, deeming the Shogunate, including the Shinsengumi as rebels. Kazama demands for Chizuru once more, leading to a fierce fight against Hijikata. Gravely injured, Hijikata drinks Water of Life and becomes a Rasetsu, allowing him to fight equally against Kazama. Their fight is stopped by Amagiri, forcing Kazama to leave. Hijikata and Chizuru are immediately surrounded by enemies, but Chizuru is not afraid as she and Hijikata fight together.

Further encouraged due to a strained relationship with his mother Dayu, Hasan left his rural Central Java home to pursue a career as a psychologist in Jakarta. He has a wife, Nina; and two children, Tasha and Ryan. Nina had just lost his mother from illness, but believes she decapitated herself with a knife. Dayu's caretaker informs Nina that Dayu's dementia is worsening supernaturally. Upon Nina's request, who fear that her mother's fate would be that of Dayu's, Hasan reluctantly brings the entire family there to take Dayu to Jakarta. However Dayu rejects, and Hasan leaves his family temporarily on work grounds. Paranormal activities, such as Dayu alleged to hearing someone say "Ari Kibar" and a shadow standing randomly, occur. Dayu also attempts to slice herself. One day, she drinks a ginger tea Nina made and inexplicably dies.

One day, Nina sees the caretaker going somewhere. She follows her, who enters a remote house, meaning she is not a real caretaker. Inside, Nina sees news clippings revealing that Hasan had a friend named Dimas. Furthermore, she learns that "Ari Kibar" means "Arah kiblat" ('Qibla heading'); in Dayu's home, the heading faces a tree, and buried in it are human bones. Upon return, Hasan reveals that he and Dimas used to obsess on impressing Dayu with their skills. Amid a fight, he kills him with a knife. Dayu secrets this from Dimas' family. Raging, Nina brings her children to flee without Hasan, who then has an epiphany to kill Nina. While Nina is packing, he strangles her, but she is saved by a neighbor related to Dimas who eavesdropped the confession, killing Hasan with a spade. He and Dimas are properly buried by dawn.

Jalkador lives in Rarhikhal village with his parents and siblings; he has one brother and one sister who are named Abju and Moyna respectively. Though his family is well-off in the village, Jalkador comes from a farming background; his father is a farmer and he is a cowboy who raises cattle who does not go to school and speaks local dialect of the Bengali language. He grows up gradually but his penis remains uncircumcised, circumcision is compulsory according to the village rituals. When monsoon comes, Jalkador sees flood, their whole village is affected by the flood, flood also attacks their house. As Jalkador’s family is well off, flood-affect recovery is easily done in their house.

Jalkador sees canoe sprint and kabaddi game in their village, he takes part in the kabaddi game. His friend Majid teaches him to smoke cigarette and they talk about when to get circumcised, they see each other’s penis secretly. From Majid Jalkador learns basic knowledge about sexuality.

Autumn season comes, Jalkador learns to masturbate, before it he faces nocturnal emission; he is already a teen-ager during this time. He gets sexually aroused seeing female snake-charmers.

While eating dinner in Boston, Craig Dixon - a "turbulence expert" - receives a phone call from his "facilitator", who instructs him to join a flight from Boston to Sarasota later that evening. Dixon reluctantly agrees; he considers running but is convinced his employer will catch him and potentially execute him. On the flight, Dixon is seated between Mary Worth, an elderly widowed librarian, and Frank Freeman, a gruff businessman. Dixon experiences severe apprehension about the flight. He reflects on his lifestyle, which includes a high salary and living in high-class hotels.

As the plane passes over South Carolina, it encounters a severe patch of clear-air turbulence. Dixon closes his eyes and experiences a vivid vision of the plane crashing, after which the plane rights itself. Worth tells Dixon that she was sure the plane was going to crash, saying "I saw it".

In Sarasota, Dixon is met by a stretch limousine that will take him to a hotel. After seeing Worth standing on the curb, he offers her a lift to Siesta Key. During the journey, Dixon explains to her that he works for an unnamed organization that is capable of predicting clear-air turbulence, which is a far more serious phenomenon than the public believes. "Talented" individuals such as Dixon are required on flights that will encounter clear-air turbulence, with their terror triggering telepathic abilities that prevent the plane from crashing. Remembering that Worth was also terrified and also believed the plane would crash, Dixon invites her to join the organization, privately noting that once she joins she will never be able to leave and that recruiting her will enable him to retire two years earlier.

The story ends with Worth being contacted by Dixon's facilitator, after which she is seen acting as a turbulence expert on a flight from Boston to Dallas.

The protagonist of the story awakens in a munitions factory; he is unable to remember his name or anything else. Seizing a gun, he demands that another worker tell him who he is; after the worker ignores him, he clubs him with the gun. After a man on an overhead catwalk flees from the protagonist, he shoots him; the wounded man sounds an alarm. As the protagonist attempts to flee, he is intercepted by men wielding "energy guns"; he shoots one of them before being hit with "energy beams". The story ends with the protagonist being loaded into a truck. A watching man notes that "one of them turns killer every now and then", with another man musing that "they're making these robots too good", revealing that the protagonist was a robot.

In the woods, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) kills a reanimated Whisperer and talks with Judith (Cailey Fleming) about Michonne. On the road, Maggie is confronted with the sight of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) as a free man for the first time since returning; she is stunned. Negan assures her that he didn't escape; after staring at him for a bit, Maggie walks away without saying a word, leaving Negan worried. Maggie later learns that the Hilltop Colony, Maggie's former home, was destroyed by the Whisperers. At the site of the burned community, Carol (Melissa McBride) reveals to Maggie that she released Negan and that he infiltrated the Whisperers, accompanied them in the Hilltop attack, and murdered Alpha. Carol then returns to Alexandria, while Maggie, Daryl (Norman Reedus), Kelly (Angel Theory), and two of Maggie's people, Cole (James Devoti) and Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari), head off to find the rest of Maggie's group (The Wardens) at a rendezvous point.

With nightfall approaching, the group find shelter in a shipping container. Maggie tells Daryl that her son, Hershel (Kien Michael Spiller), has been asking her about the man (Negan) who murdered his father and that she refuses to have him live in Alexandria while Negan is there. The following morning, Kelly is discovered to have abandoned her post while on watch; the group find her in the woods searching for Connie. Later, upon arriving at the rendezvous point, they find that the camp has been burned down and is empty. Cole suspects that this was done by the Reapers, a hostile group that destroyed their former home; the group begin searching for any survivors, including Hershel.

Soon after, Maggie reunites with three members of her group, but all three are swiftly killed by a lone Reaper (Mike Whinnet) using a silenced weapon. Daryl and Maggie engage with the Reaper, but the unknown assailant gets the upper hand; Maggie is caught in a snare trap and Daryl is tossed into a tree. Amidst the chaos, Maggie is able to free herself and Kelly manages to wound the Reaper using Daryl's crossbow; the group surround the attacker. Maggie then furiously questions the man about his identity and his group, but he only taunts Maggie by simply saying "Pope marked you", before committing suicide by detonating a grenade as the others dive for cover. Afterward, Daryl and Maggie search the woods for Hershel, who soon reveals himself hiding in a tree and reunites with his mom. With nowhere else to go, the group travel to Alexandria, only to find it under repair since it was trashed by a horde of walkers, led by Beta, after the residents evacuated and took shelter in a nearby hospital.

The story opens with John Bracken, a hitman, in the James Memorial Park of an unnamed town; he is waiting for Norma Correzente, who is due to walk home from a casino through the park at 11:00 PM. Bracken has been paid $50,000 by Norma's husband, the 78 year-old Mafia Don Vittorio "Vito the Wop" Correzente, to rape her as punishment for her compulsive gambling. Correzente considers that ordering this deed will show him to be "a man with a belly".

After a violent struggle, Bracken rapes Norma in the park, then passes on Correzente's message that he now considers "that all debts are paid and there is honor again". Norma subsequently persuades Bracken to escort her to her secret second apartment, where they have consensual sex. Afterwards, Norma sets out her hatred of Correzente. The following day, Norma offers Bracken $100,000 of her own money to impregnate her so she can trick Correzente into believing she is giving him an heir, leaving her free to gamble (and enabling her to "kill him with the truth" in the future). Bracken agrees to the deal, and 10 weeks later Norma tests positive on a pregnancy test.

Seven months later, Correzente's consigliore Benito "Benny the Bull" Torreos summons Bracken to Correzente, who is dying and wishes to ask Bracken a question. Torreos informs Bracken that Norma has died in childbirth. Knowing that he will be hunted down if he refuses, Bracken visits Correzente, who informs him that he suffered a stroke while attempting to impregnate Norma, then later suffered a second, larger, stroke while arguing with her. Norma in turn injured herself while running to get him assistance, leading to her own death during labour. Correzente expresses suspicion that the baby - which is in an incubator - has blue eyes, when both he and Norma have brown eyes. Bracken rejects the implication that he is the father, saying "I have my own belly. Do you think I would take my own leavings?" and that the baby's eyes will turn brown, though Correzente will not live to see it.

After her mother Li Huanying is fatally injured in a car accident in 2001, grief-stricken Jia Xiaoling finds herself transported back in time to the year 1981, where she becomes her mother's close friend. Jia Xiaoling feels that she has not been a good enough daughter in the present, so back in 1981, she does all she can to make Li Huanying happy, including setting her up with a factory manager's son, Shen Guanglin, in the hope of giving her mother a better husband, a better daughter, and a better life than she had the first time around.

A gang of forgers falsifying university degrees selects their clients from among young talented people, whom they help distinguish themselves, so that later, through blackmail, they can snatch their production secrets. However, Minerva Tutovan, a former math teacher turned major, manages to trick the gang, exposing their destructive tactics.

Diabolik is a master thief with a deep knowledge in many scientific fields, including chemistry, mechanics, and computers. He has a set of lifelike masks which he uses to fool his opponents, assuming every identity at will. He was raised as an orphan on a secret island hideout of a criminal organization known as the Brotherhood, where he learned all his criminal skills; as a baby, he was found abandoned on a boat by King, the leader of the organization, and welcomed into his home like a son. Dane, King's legitimate son, never accepted him as a brother. Years later, Dane, jealous of Diabolik, framed him for a crime he didn't commit (the murder of a man, the father of Diabolik's future partner Eva Kant), and Diabolik remained in prison. Five years later, after King's death, Dane became the leader of the Brotherhood and organized the rescue of his brother, but that was all a cover for his brother's murder, his real plan. Diabolik survived the assassination and swore that he will destroy the Brotherhood and his brother. Together with his partner Eva Kant, who also got personal vendetta against Dane and the Brotherhood, Diabolik manages to make life miserable to Dane and his organization, while being pursued by Inspector Ginko.

Liu Cheng-Hao (Wu Kang-ren), producer of a supernatural tv show, is successful in both life and love: not only is work going smoothly, but him and his fiancee (Nikki Hsieh) live together happily. After Cheng-Hao picks up a strange red envelope in the park, however, he begins to have recurrent nightmares about an old house.

Senior high school student Yin-Yin (Vera Yen) has had the Yin and Yang eye ( ); since she was little, she has been able to see things that are not really there. However, recently the monstrosities appearing before her have become increasingly severe.

All clues point to the old house deep in the mountains that has been forgotten long ago.

''Dear Martin'' follows Justyce McAllister, a high school student living in Atlanta and attending a predominantly white preparatory high school on a scholarship. Justyce is thrown to the ground and handcuffed by a white police officer. After the incident, Justyce attempts to make sense of life as a black teenager in the current political climate and begins writing letters to the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, asking himself, "What would Dr. King do if he were alive today?".

The story is narrated by Eddie Johnston of Sauk City, who impulsively joins Farnum & Williams' ''All-American 3-Ring Circus and Side Show'' as a roustabout. Johnston enjoys circus life, but fears Mr. Indrasil, the fiery tempered lion tamer, who is rumored to have only nearly killed a roustabout who angered him. Mr. Indrasil in turn fears the circus' tiger, Green Terror, who once attacked him, leaving a scar on the back of his neck.

One night in Steubenville, Mr. Indrasil berates Johnston for not cleaning a cage properly. After Johnston protests, Mr. Indrasil attempts to hit him, but is stopped by a stranger, Mr. Legere. Later, other members of the circus tell Johnston that Mr. Legere has followed the circus from the Midwest to Little Rock nearly every year for the past two decades, and that he shares an unknown past with Mr. Indrasil. Mr Legere attends every performance by the circus, always standing next to Green Terror's cage.

During the following days, the circus experiences a heat wave, heightening tensions. On one night, Johnston witnesses Mr. Indrasil baiting Green Terror by jabbing him with a pike until being frightened away by a mysterious green-eyed shadow.

Events reach a climax in Wildwood Green, Oklahoma. Mr. Indrasil's act goes poorly after Green Terror roars at an inopportune time, resulting in one of the lions attempting to attack Mr. Indrasil. The evening performance is cancelled after the United States Weather Bureau issues a tornado warning. Johnston struggles to put Green Terror in his wagon; after he approaches Mr. Indrasil for help, a drunken and crazed Mr. Indrasil threatens him, saying he has no "juju" or "grisgris" to protect him, then begins rambling about his "nemesis", who he claims turned Green Terror against him and who "always had the power more'n me". After Green Terror begins roaring, Mr. Indrasil approaches the tiger's cage, where he is confronted by Mr. Legere. Mr. Legere releases Green Terror from his cage, and both men seemingly attempt to command the tiger using their willpower. Mr. Legere ultimately prevails; as the tiger advances on Mr. Indrasil, Johnston sees him fold-in on himself. As Johnston watches, he is lifted off his feet by the tornado and knocked unconscious.

When Johnston awakens, he learns that there is no sign of Mr. Indrasil or Mr. Legere, but Green Terror and another unknown tiger have fought one another to death. Johnston is told by a witness to the fight that the second tiger had a long scar on the back of its neck, implying it was a shapeshifted Mr. Indrasil.

The titular main character, Omori, awakens in the "White Space", a small white room he has lived in "for as long as [he] can remember". He enters a door to the vibrant world of "Headspace", where he meets his older sister Mari and his friends, Aubrey, Kel, Hero, and Basil. They look through their shared memories through Basil's photo album and then decide to visit his house, with Mari staying behind. Along the way Kel and Aubrey scuffle, damaging the album. When the kids arrive, Basil comes across an unfamiliar photo from the album and panics. Omori is suddenly teleported back to White Space alone. He stabs himself with his knife, revealing the previous events to be the dreams of a teenage boy, Sunny.

Waking up in bed, the player discovers that Sunny is moving out in three days. He goes downstairs for a midnight snack, but is confronted by a nightmarish hallucination symbolizing his fear. He is able to dispel it by taking deep breaths and returns to bed. Awakening once again in White Space, Omori reunites with Aubrey, Kel, and Hero. They discover that Basil has gone missing and set out to rescue him. The four explore the various regions of Headspace in search of Basil, with Mari assisting along the way. The group is continuously diverted from their search by various situations, leading their memory of Basil to gradually fade away.

Meanwhile, in the waking world, Mari had committed suicide four years ago, which led to the friend group diverging. Although Kel and Hero have managed to recover to a limited degree, Sunny became an estranged shut-in, Aubrey left after feeling betrayed by the group's apparent indifference to Mari's death, and Basil became neurotic and paranoid. Kel knocks on Sunny's door in an attempt to reconnect one last time. The player can either ignore Kel or answer the door: if they choose the former, Sunny stays inside for the remaining three days, immersing himself in housework and his dreams.

If the latter option is chosen, Sunny and Kel venture outside to find Aubrey and her new friends bullying Basil. The two find out that she had stolen Basil's real-life photo album, ostensibly to stop him from vandalizing it. After fighting Aubrey again they retrieve the album and return it to Basil, though some photos are missing. As he believes Sunny needs it more, he lends the album to him. While eating dinner together, Basil becomes mortified as he learns of Sunny's impending departure and rushes to the bathroom. Sunny finds him in the midst of a hallucinatory panic attack similar to his own, but refuses to help despite his distress. The next day, Kel and Sunny find Aubrey's gang surrounding Basil in their old hangout spot; after confronting her, she pushes Basil into a lake out of frustration. Sunny dives in to rescue Basil despite not knowing how to swim, and the two are saved from drowning by the arrival of Hero. In headspace, Omori and his friends return to Basil's now-dilapidated house. Omori jumps through a hole in the floor into the more disturbing "Black Space". Basil appears many times within it, repeatedly attempting to talk to him about something before dying gruesomely. In the final room, Omori kills Basil and places himself atop a throne of massive, red hands.

On the last day before Sunny's departure, the others reconcile with Aubrey and find the missing photos. Coming to terms with Mari's death, they decide to spend their final night together in Basil's house, despite him refusing to leave his room. In his sleep, Sunny confronts the truth in his dreams: in an argument before their recital, he accidentally pushed Mari down their staircase, killing her. In denial that Sunny did it, Basil helped him frame the death as suicide by hanging her corpse. As they left, they glanced at Mari's body and saw an open eye staring back at them, shaping their subsequent hallucinations. While Basil was consumed by guilt and self-loathing, Sunny's suicidal depression made him create Headspace and his dream persona Omori to repress his trauma. To hide the truth, Omori reset Headspace every time memories of the incident escaped from Black Space. Sunny then wakes up in the middle of the night, leaving the player with the choice of either confronting Basil or falling back to sleep.

Endings

If the player chooses to confront Basil, the latter cordially greets Sunny in his room. However, he quickly loses his temper over Sunny's absence after Mari's death, and the two boys enter a delusional state and start fighting. After Basil stabs Sunny with his garden shears, both of them pass out. While unconscious, Sunny recalls his childhood with his friends and Mari, giving him the strength to face Omori. Refusing to die, Omori defeats Sunny, causing the player to receive a game over screen.

• If the player opts to try again, Sunny gets up and performs with Mari for their recital, and Omori hugs him before disappearing. In the real world, Sunny wakes up in the hospital. He heads to Basil's room and encounters his friends inside, and it is implied that Sunny tells them the truth about Mari's death. Additionally, if the player watered Basil's garden daily in Headspace, an after-credits scene will depict Basil waking up to the sight of Sunny in the hospital. The two smile at each other and their hallucinations disappear.
• Should the player choose not to continue, Sunny disappears rather than Omori. After waking up in the hospital, he commits suicide by jumping off the balcony.

Alternatively, if the player ignores Basil on the final day, Sunny and his friends will wake up to discover that Basil has committed suicide. Depending on the player's choice, Sunny can then either kill himself with his knife or move away with his guilt still unabated as sirens ring out in the distance. If the player initially chooses to remain inside and avoid Kel, only a variant of this ending is available.

A mobster named Tae-gu is offered a chance to switch sides with his rival Bukseong gang, headed by Chairman Doh. Tae-gu rejects the offer that results in the murder of his sister and niece. In revenge, Tae-gu brutally kills Chairman Doh and his men and flees to Jeju Island until he can move out of the country to Russia where he meets Jae-yeon, a terminally ill woman and her arms dealer uncle, Kuto. Tae-gu's boss, Chairman Yang conducts an attack to wipe out the remaining Bukseong Gang's lieutenants to finally end the gang forever but without Tae-gu's leadership and efficiency, along with the revelation of Chairman Doh's survival, the plan failed. One of the top brass of Bukseong gang, Executive Ma, is mercilessly hunting Tae-gu to take revenge. Yang is forced to betray Tae-gu to save his life by choosing to hand him to the Bukseong gang. He also calls Tae-gu in Jeju, feigning a desire to escape to Russia with him in a week's time.

Kuto later on is killed during a firefight against his buyers who want to go against the weapon deal on the orders of Bukseong and the buyers are killed by Tae-gu and Jae-yeon. They then go on the run, crashing at a motel, where they commiserate on their misfortunes over alcohol.

Later on, Tae-gu arrives at the airport to meet his boss as planned. He unexpectedly receives a call from one of his underlings, Jin-sung (who he had previously failed to contact) revealing Yang's betrayal. Tae-gu is spotted by the gangsters leading to a prolonged chase in which he escapes. He heads back to the motel, finding Jae-yeon missing. She is revealed to be held hostage by Director Ma, who gives Tae-gu an hour to arrive.

Tae-gu indeed arrives and is subject to brutal torture under Ma's men. Ma reveals the truth: the killing of Tae-gu's sister and niece was ordered by Chairman Yang, who feared Tae-gu crossing over, along with all of his underlings, leaving him powerless. Enraged, Tae-gu attacks Yang, but is finally held back and finally stabbed to death by Ma's men, with the killing blow dealt by Yang. Jae-yoon, who could only watch the events unfold, is released as per Tae-gu fulfilling his end of the deal.

Jae-yoon calmly ambushes the gangsters at the restaurant where she and Tae-gu first met, killing them all. She then retreats to the beach and points the gun to her head. The film fades to black with a loud bang in the background.

''Nemesis'' explores the destruction of a unique train station in Zurich, and the construction of a new prison and police centre in its place. From the perspective of the filmmaker's window, and with testimony from prisoners awaiting deportation, the film probes how we deal with the extinction of history, and its replacement with total security.

Part 1

Thuy Linh - a beautiful, innocent girl that is pampered by her parents has realized her dream of coming to Korea to study and satisfy her passion for K-pop and Korean culture. Linh entered an independent life in a foreign country starting with winning a scholarship at a university in Seoul. Incidentally sharing the inn with Khanh, Mai and Junsu - the son of the beautiful but rebellious hostess, Linh has had many difficulties when Junsu is the star who always brings trouble for her. It was thought that as many people with different personalities and preferences living under one roof would not be reconciled, but all four of them and other friends overcame all disagreements and had a good time. Remember with full of happy and sad memories, so that when we look back, everyone will not regret having lived their best in their youth.

In Korea, Linh and Junsu gradually develop feelings for each other and after that, they fall in love. Junsu does not realize Miso's feelings. Meanwhile, Linh did not know that Khanh was liking her. An incident occurred that caused Linh's family to go bankrupt, her home was lost, her mother was in a coma because of a brain hemorrhage, so Linh had to go back to Vietnam urgently without meeting again. Junsu was shocked but couldn't do anything because he decided to pursue his career.

Part 2

Linh brought Junsu back to debut with her parents. At first, they were very angry and strongly opposed; however, after that, they become sympathetic towards Junsu. Turns out again when Junsu has a traffic accident and loses his memory. He was forced to go to America for surgery and there, he met Cynthia. The two began to date each other in the pain and helplessness of Linh. She was forced to stop with Junsu because she wanted him to live well in the present.

Linh got into work and she was transferred to Danang. There, she happens to meet Junsu again after 4 years and Cynthia — Junsu's previous fiancee. His indifferent attitude towards Linh made Linh very suffering. Besides the love story, Linh also has trouble in her relationship with director Phong. Phong gradually fell in love with Linh while Cythina learned of the love story between Linh and Junsu through Khanh's story, and started to "be alert" to Linh. Private romantic relationships become more complicated.

. The story takes place in the Vermont home of Andrew Newsome - the world's sixth richest man - who has been bedridden in chronic pain since a plane crash two years prior. Newsome is attended by a private nurse, Kat MacDonald, who privately believes that Newsome is too cowardly to undergo the necessary pain to rehabilitate himself but says nothing as she is being paid a handsome salary. Newsome receives a visit from Reverend Rideout, who claims that his pain is caused by a "demon god". Rideout offers to expel the demon god - a process that will place his life at risk - in return for a fee of $750,000, which he intends to use to rebuild his church in Titusville, Arkansas which has burned down.

After Newsome accepts Rideout's offer, a frustrated Kat accuses Newsome of being lazy and Rideout of being a fraud. Newsome initially fires her, but Rideout persuades him to allow her to watch the expulsion of the demon god, suggesting that Kat has become complacent to the suffering of her patients due to never having experienced severe pain herself. Rideout gives Kat a broom and Newsome's assistant Jensen a canister of pepper spray, instructing them to stun the creature and capture it in a specimen jar. The expulsion is also witnessed by Melissa (Newsome's housekeeper) and Tonya (Newsome's cook).

Rideout begins the expulsion, and a small, spikey, "bladderlike" green creature (which Kat likens to a Koosh ball) is expelled from Newsome, whose pain immediately ends. The strain of carrying out the exorcism gives Rideout a fatal heart attack. As the creature emerges from Newsome's mouth, a power cut throws the room into darkness before a backup generator activates; Jensen accidentally pepper sprays his own eyes, while Kat misses the creature with the broom. The creature attaches itself to Melissa's eye, causing her agonising pain until Kat hits it with the broom and stamps on it. The story ends with the generator failing, plunging the room into darkness, with Kat then feeling the creature crawl onto her hand.

In the story, the author reveals the anthropomorphic essence of objects that can think and suffer. The protagonist, shed number XII, undergoes an inner evolution leading to spiritual freedom and partially obtains answers to questions about the meaning of life.

The protagonist of the story is shed, who undergoes an inner evolution that leads him to the spiritual freedom that allows him to realize his cherished dream of transformation. Shed's lifelong dream is to become a bicycle.

He likes the feeling most of all, the source of which were bicycles, he realized this in his early childhood, when he was not yet a shed, but a set of planks.

Sometimes, on a hot summer day, when everything around him hushed up, the shed would secretly identify itself with a folding Kama or Sputnik (brands of bicycles popular in the USSR) and experience happiness.

In this state he could find himself fifty kilometers away from his present location and ride, for example, across a deserted bridge over a canal in concrete banks or along the lilac shoulder of a heated highway, turning into tunnels formed by bushes sprouting around a narrow dirt path, so that, after riding over them, he could take another road leading to the forest, through the forest, and then resting on the orange stripes above the horizon. He could probably drive it for the rest of his life, but he didn't want to, because that was what made him happy.

Spiritual perfection, natural giftedness, subtle inner organization of the main character in the perception and understanding of the world around him lead him to the realization of the long-awaited dream. Thus death in the story is understood as a peculiar step in achieving spiritual freedom, the beginning of true and real life.

It is noteworthy that in this case Pelevin's hero becomes an inanimate object - the shed. The object is inanimate, far from poetic, however the author endows it with the possibility not only to think, but also to dream, that is not simply spiritualizes, but creates a model of a thinking and deep being.

Choosing a point of reference not a living entity, but endowing a crude object with life, Pelevin thereby accentuates the idea of the unity of the living and non-living world, expanding the boundaries of the familiar surrounding society, including into it those entities and objects that were usually outside the limits of average everyday consciousness.

Pelevin's world turns out to be more capacious and more meaningful, and his characters themselves become sources of eternity, its signs and creators.

The basic principles of the Buddhist doctrine to which Pelevin appeals open to his hero the way to the truth, and, subject to prolonged further efforts in this direction, to the ultimate goal of the Buddhist beliefs. The composition and plot of the story are built in the tradition of the fairy tale: the heroes are inanimate beings who are endowed with the ability to think and reason like humans, and in the finale there is a long-awaited transformation into fairy tale magic. Along with this, however, the metaphor and philosophical focus of the narrative somewhat transform the fairy tale in terms of genre and give the text a parable rather than a fairy tale proper. The life description of the main character is an answer to the question about the meaning of existence.

Police artist Jack Whitfield (Fahey) is chasing a serial killer who seems to be unstoppable. The only surviving victim is Emmy O'Conner (Cox), who is blind. At first Jack is skeptical but she describes her attacker in uncanny detail and Jack becomes closer to catching the killer. But this man will stop at nothing to kill Emmy, the one who revealed his identity.

The main characters of the story are two broiler chickens named Hermit and Six-Toes, who are raised for slaughter at the Lunacharskiy poultry plant. As the narration reveals, the community of chickens has a rather complex hierarchical structure depending on their proximity to the feeding trough.

The plot of the story begins with Six-Toes's exile from society. Having been expelled from society and the trough, Six-Toes encounters Hermit, a chick philosopher and naturalist, wandering between different societies within the combine. Thanks to his remarkable intellect, he independently managed to master the language of the "gods" (i.e. Russian), learned to read the time by clock and understood that chickens hatch from eggs, although he did not see it himself.

Six-Toes becomes a disciple and associate of Hermit. Together they travel from world to world, accumulating and summarizing knowledge and experience. Hermit's highest goal is to comprehend a certain mysterious phenomenon called "flight". Hermit believes: having mastered flight, he will be able to escape beyond the universe of the combine. It is the achievements of gifted loners, contrasted in the literal sense of dense collectivism, leads to an optimistic end.

In the story, the author is very careful to point out that there are two reasons for becoming hermits: either one must be a Hermit, that is, a solitary thinker, or one must be a Six-Fingered Man, that is, a philistine who is no different but has six fingers, so society rejects such (society in the story is all the other chickens).

The author's metaphor for religion can be noted in the story. Hermit realized that if the chickens want to survive and come in for a second round in the hatchery, they don't need to eat. They would then be too dry and pale, and they would be sent out to eat again. And he preaches ascesis, preaches renunciation of earthly goods. As a result, everyone fasts and everyone is sent on another round of fattening. There's also a wonderful metaphor, by the way, where the two characters are thrown out of society, thrown out of the incubator and thereby saved. "Society," Hermit explains, "is a device for overcoming the wall of the world."

Critics have noted Pelevin's parody of all religious philosophy. "Where do we come from?" - Six-Toes asks. "You know, only at very deep levels of memory does that question get answered," answers the Hermit. - "It seems to me that we emerge from white orbs." "And where do the white orbs come from?" - Six-Toes asks. "Good for you," says Hermit, "it took me much longer to ask that question. I suspect that these white orbs are emerging from us."

The hero of the story needed first to get out of "society" and get rid of the oppression of dogma in order to understand the illusory nature of the prevailing system, its unlivability. The world of the henhouse is divided into two camps: "society" and the outcasts. Society lives without thinking about life, guided by rules and norms, but as soon as one leaves it and becomes an outcast, the ability to look at life from the outside and think about it begins to emerge. Few, like the Hermit, leave society voluntarily, for the system is organized and everything in it is subordinated to a single idea.

The story bears a resemblance to George Orwell's "Animal Farm". Six-Toes's expulsion from society leads him eventually to the realization that all of the inhabitants here are doomed to death and ultimately to salvation. The circle of samsara is clearly embodied in the work: containers move on a closed conveyor belt, where chickens are fattened after hatching, then slaughtered on their way to shop number one, after which the cycle repeats itself.

On Christmas Eve, dentist Alexander "Alex" Löfström (Felix Herngren) and Anna Löfström (Mia Skäringer) announces to their friends Fredrik "Fredde" Schiller (Johan Rheborg) and Mikaela "Mickan" Schiller (Josephine Bornebusch) that they will divorce. Fredde and Mickan question their choice, eventually leading to Anna revealing that she has met someone else, causing Fredde to become enraged and leave. Several months later, Alex and Fredde are on a golf course where Fredde tries to convince Alex to not divorce, although Alex insists to divorce and that it was a mutual choice.

The film cuts to Alex's childhood friend, Ove Sundberg (Henrik Dorsin), and his wife, Annette Sundberg (Malin Cederblad), who have been unsuccessfully trying to conceive another child and are visiting a hospital to find out why they can't get Annette pregnant. They meet doctor Matilda Beckman, who tells them that Ove has become sterile. Meanwhile, Fredde and Mickan are out grocery shopping when they run into Anna. Trying to avoid an awkward conversation, Mickan invites Anna and her new boyfriend to dinner on the nearest Friday, which Anna accepts.

After parting from his kids for the week, Alex heads off into his new apartment, where he's visited by Ove. Ove decides that he and Alex will go out on a single mingle, and although Alex is hesitant, he eventually agrees. Back at Fredde and Mickan's house, Fredde calls Alex and gives him access to their security system, encouraging him to spy on Anna's new boyfriend, David Grimborg (Henrik Schyffert), during the dinner. After this, Anna and David arrive, causing Fredde to recognize David as a former co-worker at Carnegie Investment Bank.

At Alex's dentist office, Alex meets with Bella Sjölander (Frida Hallgren), who he recognizes from a party he was outside while waiting for Ove the day before. After going back to his apartment, Alex calls Bella and they decide to go watch a movie and meet at a movie theater. However, before entering, they run into Bella's boyfriend, Uffe (Jens Sjögren), who angrily confronts them. Saddened, Alex walks off and goes back to his apartment.

Fredde takes his son, Viktor Schiller (Leonardo Rojas Lundgren), out fishing. After Viktor shares some socialist beliefs, Fredde drives to Ove's house to find his estranged left-wing father, Mauritz Schiller (Sven Wollter). Fredde confronts Mauritz, asking him to stay away from Viktor. Mauritz states that he has had "interesting conversations" with Viktor while helping him study. Mauritz then asks Fredde and his family to come to visit him at his summer house in Torekov the coming summer, causing Fredde to once again ask Mauritz to leave Viktor alone, before driving off.

Back at Alex's dentist office, Alex is again visited by Bella, who informs Alex that she has broken up with Uffe and invites him to watch a movie again. The two then begin dating. Back at the Schiller's house, Fredde and Viktor argue on whether or not to visit Mauritz in Torekov. Mickan, hearing that Mauritz has a summer house in Torekov, eventually manages to coerce Fredde to go. After the Schiller traveled to Torekov and met up with Mauritz, the film returns to Ove and Annette talking with doctor Matilda Beckman again, where they decide to begin looking for a sperm donor. Ove and Annette asks David to be the sperm donor, which he considers, leading to an argument between him and Anna.

In Torekov, Mickan invites several local socialites and celebrities to a drink, while Fredde finds out that Mauritz has heart problems and may not have long to live. When confronted, Marutz explains he did not want to use his illness as a bargaining chip, as he wanted Fredde to visit him of his own free will. in Solsidan, Alex and Anna are saying goodbye, before they kiss and eventually have sex. Later, Alex receives a call from Fredde, inviting him, Bella, and Alex's kids to Torekov for Mickan's drink. At the drink, Ove asks Alex to become their sperm donor, although Alex refuses. Ove then tries to solicit other guests as sperm donors, much to their discomfort.

At the same time, Anna and David are out kayaking to an island, where they continue to argue about David potentially being a sperm donor for Ove and Annette. Anna, getting increasingly fed up with David, ends up calling Alex at the drink, saying that she misses him and wishing that they could get back together. Their conversation however soon turns into an argument and Alex tearfully tells Anna off, saying he is with Bella now. Afterwards, Anna angrily breaks up with David.

After a while, the drink ends and the Schiller family is preparing to drive back to Solsidan. Before driving off, Mauritz thanks Fredde for visiting and asks him to forgive him for being a bad father. Fredde is visibly touched, but says nothing to Mauritz and instead drives back to Solsidan. The film cuts forward to sometime later, showing that Mauritz has died and his funeral is held, which is attended by the Schiller family, Alex, Bella, Ove, and Annette, among others. Fredde is saddened that he never made up with his father, but Mickan comforts him, saying they at least got some form of closure. As they grieve Mauritz's death, they are interrupted by Annette crying loudly. They confront her, resulting in her revealing that Mauritz had agreed to be their sperm donor. After the funeral, Alex admits to Bella that he had sex with Anna, but she forgives him.

A few days later, Alex wakes up in the middle of the night to Bella crying. Bella reveals that she had slept with Uffe, similarly to Alex, and that she felt guilty for not telling Alex. The two then mutually decide to break up. After his and Bella's break-up, Alex and Anna decide to get back together. The film ends on Christmas Eve at the Schiller family's home, making the film go full circle. Everything goes well until Alex asks Fredde when his "baby brother" is due, leading to an awkward silence.

The son of a Japanese billionaire is injured in an abandoned steel mill he bought in a Pennsylvania town. The police discover it might not be an accident when they start questioning the people in the town.

In the center of the narrative - the werewolves living in Russia. A character named Sasha, driven by an unconscious desire, sets out on a long journey in search of a certain vision he saw in an encyclopedia illustration.

Throughout the story, folkloric imagery and motifs persist throughout.

And this desire correlates with the actions of a fairy-tale folklore hero: to go there without knowing where, to see that without knowing what. Moreover, once there (who knows where), Sasha finds himself in a movie, in a certain (almost fairy-tale-like, mysterious) half-empty hall, in the company of a grandfather, whose whistle had something of a nightingale-robber, something of the departing ancient Russia. Looking for a place to spend the night, the hero comes to the conclusion that the grandmothers who let them spend the night usually live in the same places as the nightingales, bandits and koshchei, although the kolkhoz "Michurinsky" is not a less magical concept, if you think about it.

Like a fairy tale hero, Pelevin's character unnoticeably finds himself at a crossroads. As in a fairy tale, the hero is faced with a choice: you go right... you go left.... And this choice, as in a traditional fairy tale, serves as a kind of sign of the importance of those events that will happen to the hero, an important, but not yet known to him goal. In Pelevin's story, the hero is destined to become a chosen werewolf, a werewolf hero.

The magical transformation of Sasha into a werewolf is described as a process of comprehension of the hero of the truth, previously unknown to him. It was at this moment that Sasha realized that his whole life was nothing more than a dream. Through transformation into a werewolf, the hero is reborn, gaining the true meaning of existence. All his previous worldview is perceived as a meaningless dream.

It is no accident that the author places his hero in the middle belt of Russia, and it is not only a geographical term (the narrative begins with the fact that Sasha finds himself in the village of Konkovo near Moscow), but also philosophical, the hero is shown in the middle of his life journey.

The author brings the reader into the mystical world gradually. The hero notices "a faint, uncertain nature of light," moonlight. The word "moon" in Pelevin's text is capitalized, as the name of some deity personifying the otherworldly force. It is worth noting that the word "moon" appears initially with a small letter in the text, and only when Sasha finds himself in the clearing with the verwolves does it appear with a capital letter. We can assume that the author wanted to emphasize that only next to werewolves the hero got into another world, where the moon is the supreme force.

Soon Sasha turns into a werewolf. He becomes a full-fledged member of the pack when he defeats the werewolf Nikolai, who led an unworthy wolf lifestyle, in a duel. As a result of becoming a wolf, Sasha's self-consciousness undergoes a change. He realizes that his previous life was only a dream, and now he has awakened. Sasha achieves harmony with the world around him. At the end, it turns out that he was predisposed to such a transformation from the very beginning (he was looking for a picture of a wolf).

It is worth noting that the Werewolves are positive characters in the story. They are at odds with the owl-werewolves, who represent evil.

The author touches on interesting questions that have already been asked before in Russian classical literature. The hero of his work makes an attempt to realize his purpose, the purpose of modern man in the modern world. He asks the questions "What am I", "Who are we", "What is this world"? But the author does not give answers to these questions, he through the interaction of the two worlds, real and fairy tale, through the clash of the mystical and folklore, creates a picture of his modern world. And the main character of the story, Sasha, in the image of a werewolf - a man-wolf - for a moment (or now forever) reaches an understanding of the world and harmony with it.

Joe Valencia is a comedian and struggling actor in Los Angeles, known for his beer commercial series. He is also a single father to his son Junior, though his work schedule often comes first.

Joe's agent Nick obtains a sitcom audition, but when the producer learns he is half-Filipino, the role turns stereotypical. The audition also causes Joe to miss a school meeting with Junior and his teachers. To compensate, Joe resolves to take Junior with him to his family's Easter Sunday celebration in Daly City for the weekend.

Joe and Junior arrive and meet with Joe's mom, Susan, and his sister, Regina, his cousin Eugene, his aunt Yvonne, uncles Arthur and Manny, and aunt Theresa (who is feuding with Susan). The family goes to church, where Joe learns Eugene wasted an investment meant for a taco truck on a "hype truck" selling useless merchandise.

Joe learns Eugene borrowed from a gangster named Dev in order to pay for the hype truck merchandise. They attempt to get money from a wealthy acquaintance Marvin by pawning off Manny Pacquiao's boxing gloves from his fight with Oscar De La Hoya, which Eugene stole from Dev. Marvin refuses, knowing Dev's ruthless reputation.

Joe and Eugene go to the mall with Junior, who runs into Tala, his crush, at her workplace. They find out Tala's boss is Dev, who spots them and chases them out of the mall. Joe and Eugene go to a mysterious man, "The Jeweler", who can help buy Pacquiao’s gloves. The Jeweler ends up being Lou Diamond Phillips, who agrees to give them the money they seek later.

On Easter Sunday, the family is preparing for dinner, but Nick informs Joe that he booked him a flight back to Los Angeles to meet with a producer for the show, and assures the role is guaranteed if Joe plays to stereotype, but Joe refuses. The flight also happens to be at the same time as the dinner. Junior invites Tala to the dinner, and everyone teases Junior about possibly having a girlfriend. Susan and Theresa keep bickering, which is revealed to have begun when Theresa called Susan a bad mother for supposedly not taking care of Joe. As Joe calms them down, Junior sees Joe's texts from Nick about the show, prompting Junior to call Joe a hypocrite. He storms out, and Tala runs after him. As the dinner grows more tense, Joe gives a speech about family and brings everyone together to sing karaoke, cheering everyone up. Susan and Theresa appear to reconcile, just as Dev and his goons arrive.

Susan and Theresa try to pay Dev back, but Dev takes Junior as a hostage. Arthur distracts Dev while Joe puts on the gloves and runs outside. He punches Dev, knocking him out, and they wait for the police. Vanessa, Joe's ex and now an officer, shows up to arrest Dev. When the family goes back inside, Joe finds that his video chat was on and Nick and the producer were watching. Before Joe can explain himself, he suffers a panic attack and faints.

Joe wakes up in the hospital with the rest of the family at his bedside. The producer tells Joe he wants to create a sitcom centered around Joe and his family rather than the one from the audition. Joe agrees, and the family celebrates.

The book starts with a chapter of Rowley's book. The main characters in the book are Roland and Garg the Barbarian, with their real life counterparts being Rowley and Greg respectively. One day it was snowing outside, Rowley went to find his mum, but she was not there, Roland's neighbor Mrs. Nettles said that his mum was kidnapped by the White Warlock, so Roland and Garg went to save his mum.

After the chapter finishes, Rowley gave his mum to look at it, his mum said she was impressed, but Greg said there is tons of mistakes that needs to be fixed.

In chapter 2 of the book, after the bought the map, Greg thought this could make them a lot of money by making action figures and other toys. Following that, they are ready to out, then they stumbled upon a village, which made them do chores. Greg was mad about this chapter, said they were suckers doing chores for others, and that they should include some monsters too. So Rowley went with his idea. Once they left the Village, they found a colony of pixies who gave Garg a club, but they want to give Roland a sword but it is lodged in a stone, only people with a pure heart can pull it out, Garg tried, but it wasn't budging, Roland pulled it out, just like that. This scene is very like the story of Excalibur, is a element in the Matter of Britain. They encountered some trolls and they made the pixies promise not to dump any trash downhill to the trolls.

They passed a cave in the Razor Range, They found statues of various people and characters from books. Thor, Minotaur, Huckleberry Finn, Cowardly Lion, Sherlock Holmes, and Garg were all turned into stone by Medusa. Rowley found a One-Eyed Witch and turned all the statues to normal, so they added them to the mission. They encountered ogres, eagles, leeches, and dwarves afterwards. They thought maybe the could sleep in an abandoned castle nearby, but the found a vampire, Christoph, in the castle's watchtower. Now, since Christoph joined the group, they can't travel in the sun or the light.

In the morning, Roland found his map missing, after they discovered it's Shae'Vana, an elf that joined in the Razor Range. The Ghost of Bampy, which is Rowley's grandpa, helped them out of the corn maze. Lefty, a big hand summoned by the One-Eyed Witch, helped them over the lava river, but was sunken by a lava geyser. Roland met a mermaid that gave them narwhals to go down the river to find the Ice Fortress.

Roland finds the entrance to the Ice Fortress, and found that the One-Eyed witch hypnotized Mrs. Nettles, and Roland mum wasn't missing. The White Warlock was Santa. Rowland used the power of his sword to turn The one-Eyed Wizard to a nice person again. And Roland was knighted as Roland the Kind. Shae-Vana and Christoph go on a vacation together, whilst Roland, Garg, The One-Eyed Wizard, Roland's Mom and Santa fly back home on his sleigh and enjoy Christmas ending Rowley's book.

After he finishes his book, he saw Greg couldn't care less of his story as he'd fallen asleep. He leaves Greg's house and he presents the book to his parents, having it read to him before going to sleep.

Set in a fantasy world of magic and mysticism, the story follows a Dragon Knight, Davion, who hunts and slays dragons to make the world a safer place. In a battle between demons and the dragon race of Eldwurm, the dragon Slyrak merges his soul with Davion. Along with the sun princess Mirana, Davion pursues a journey to stop the demon Terrorblade, who wants to kill all dragons and collect their souls.

While on a walk, Mario discovers a mysterious black sludge M (resembling Shadow Mario's logo from ''Super Mario Sunshine'') in the Mushroom Kingdom. After being absorbed by it, Mario finds himself in an archipelago of cat-themed islands called Lake Lapcat that have become overrun with black sludge. Upon his arrival, Mario encounters Fury Bowser, a dark version of Bowser that has grown to colossal size. Mario collects a Cat Shine, causing Bowser to retreat. Bowser Jr. appears and pleads for Mario's help restoring his father to normal, and Mario reluctantly agrees.

The two travel across Lake Lapcat in order to obtain Cat Shines, aided by Plessie the aquatic dinosaur. After obtaining a certain number of Cat Shines, Mario gains access to the Giga Bell, a super-powered variation of the Super Bell. The Giga Bell transforms Mario into Giga Cat Mario, a colossal version of his regular cat form, allowing him to battle Fury Bowser.

After using the Giga Bells to fight Fury Bowser several times, Bowser is drained of the sludge which transformed him. Despite this, he remains colossal and out of control, and steals the three Giga Bells. Mario manages to retake the bells, using all three to turn Plessie to a giant and crush Bowser. Bowser is returned to his normal size, and Bowser Jr. breaks off his alliance with Mario as the two retreat. Mario and the cats of Lake Lapcat celebrate their victory atop the still giant Plessie. A series of paintings by Bowser Jr. shown during the credits explain that he was responsible for accidentally creating Fury Bowser, having painted Bowser's face with his magic paintbrush while he was sleeping as a prank.

Robots have conquered Earth and have enslaved humanity. Instead of forcing labor and work, the minds of people are transferred into robotic skeletons. Using these robots, the ruling robots pit them against other fighting machines for their own entertainment, similar to a Colosseum fight.

Rebellious Brooklyn teen Summer Torres (Sky Katz) is sent to live with a family friend in the tiny town of Shorehaven on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia. Despite her best efforts, Summer falls in love with the town, the people and the surf.

Set in Madrid in the 1940s in an old neighbourhood tavern, on every first Friday of the month at nightfall Moor Hauma organizes a unique and secret card game.

Sarah is a teenage carer to a mother with mental health issues and two younger children, holding the family together by various means including financially by a part-time job. The film develops increasing pressures with caring, school and work on Sarah; who resorts to increasingly desperate measures to juggle conflicting requirements. Her drama teacher's end-of-school showcase as the film’s climax leads her to choose between life as a family carer and her newly discovered stand-up comedy talent.

Life takes a sudden turn for May (Brea Grant, After Midnight), a popular self-help book author, when she finds herself the target of a mysterious man with murderous intentions. Every night, without fail he comes after her, and every day the people around her barely seem to notice. With no one to turn to, May is pushed to her limits and must take matters into her own hands to survive and to regain control of her life. Written by Brea Grant, directed by Natasha Kermani (Imitation Girl).

In 2043 Stephen Samson, a representative of the Miracle Meal Corporation, comes to visit the Rev. Malachi Pennyhorse, whose rural church in Wiltshire, England, includes the remains of a now defunct monastery. Samson's company proposes to set up a factory for Miracle Meal, a meal-in-a-can product, using the old buildings, as part of his company's policy to provide a beneficial environment for workers while fitting in with the landscape. Observing them are the ghostly remains of Brother James and Brother Gregory, who perished from plague in the 12th century. Brother Gregory is intelligent and learned, and has used his ability to physically manifest himself to study from the local village library. He speaks of their confinement to the earthly plane in scientific terms, while Brother James has only read ''Lives of the Saints''.

After production begins, the two hatch a scheme to sabotage it. Brother Gregory has realized that they have the power to send objects back in time. After each day's production they send the entire batch back to when they were alive, much to the gratitude of the monks then, who regard the sudden appearance of delicious nutritious food as a miracle. They live in the time of the Anarchy, when rival claimants to the throne sent their armies across the land, disrupting society and the food supply. The miraculous appearance of the food causes thousands of people to come to the monastery.

Rev. Pennyhorse, who has long known of the ghosts, is not surprised at the mysterious happenings. The company sends in a scientist, Sidney Meredith, who has enough equipment to detect the ghosts, something Brother Gregory quickly realizes. They establish communication of a sort, and Meredith is able to understand how they sent the food back in time. As he relates to the Rev. Pennyhorse later, he persuaded the Brothers to stop interfering by pointing out that their ability could be harnessed in a different way. Acting together, they warped space and time to become, as Brother Gregory put it, "Translated". They roam free among the stars, where Brother Gregory occupies his time observing "the integration of helium".

The series focuses on the relationship between a mother and her daughter. Iravati arranges for her daughter Sanika to be married to Saket. All's well with them until Sanika finds out about Meera, who lives in Saket's house. Iravati must come to terms with her feelings about the daughter she believed dead.

After their loss at the battle of Toba-Fushimi, Chizuru and the Shinsengumi continues to fight against the Satsuma-Choshu alliance. During one of the battles, they are surprised to discover an army of Furies that able to move during daytime, forcing them to retreat. Disagreeing with the way Kondo fights, Harada and Shinpachi decides to leave Shinsengumi to fight their own way. The next night, during a night patrol, Sanan and Heisuke hunts down a Tosa Domain Furies that suddenly turned into ash. Amagiri reveals that each time Furies uses their powers, the shorter their lifespan becomes.

The Shinsengumi decides to move to Aizu before the Satsuma-Choshu forces attack, but Kondo decides to stay behind and surrender himself to buy some time for them to escape as he doesn't want to risk Hijikata's life. As planned, Kondo surrendered, allowing Chizuru and the Shinsengumi to escape, much to Hijikata's grief. Before moving to Aizu, Hijikata leaves Chizuru behind, not wanting to drag her into danger any longer. A month later, Chizuru heard that Kondo would be beheaded, so she departs to Aizu. On her way, she meets Okita who is on his way to rescue Kondo. Despite his condition, Okita still insists on going, but arrived too late to stop the execution. Chizuru meets Ryunosuke Ibuki, an old friend of the Shinsengumi, who then takes her to see Harada. Understanding Chizuru's wish to follow after Hijikata, Harada helps Chizuru passing through the Fury army by using himself as distraction with Shiranui's assistance and is eventually killed.

Chizuru falls from cliff on her way to Aizu, but is saved by Kazama. Together with Kazama, they head to Aizu, but make a stop at the remains of the village where the Yukimura clan used to live. Kaoru, revealed to be Chizuru's older twin brother, tries to convince Chizuru to join him and Kodo to get revenge on humans, but Chizuru's refusal leads her to be captured and taken to Nihonmatsu where Kodo is. Heisuke, who happens to be spying on the castle, rescue Chizuru from her cell. Sanan speaks with Kodo, who reveals his intention to build a Fury kingdom and was the one responsible for the destruction of the Yukimura clan so he can get Chizuru and use her to breed Fury-Demon children. Sanan protects Heisuke from Kodo's shot and dies, forcing Heisuke and Chizuru to handle the remaining Furies. Kodo made his escape, but is then killed by Kazama. After escaping the castle, Chizuru and Heisuke informs Saito about the incoming Fury army.

The next morning, Chizuru heads to Ezo where Hijikata is, while Saito and Heisuke stays to buy time for Hijikata's rally. During the battle, Heisuke used up all of his power and dies after protecting Saito. Okita then arrives to help and confronts Kaoru. Okita manage to kill Kaoru, but eventually succumbs to his illness and dies. Being the only one left standing, Saito drinks Water of Life to become a Fury and begins to fight the remaining enemies. Meanwhile, with Kazama's help, Chizuru reunites with Hijikata at Ezo. Realizing how much they want to be by each other's side, Hijikata and Chizuru professes their love for each other.

After the supply line to the fortress has been cut off, Hijikata and Chizuru departs to help. Hijikata is shot and heavily wounded, so Chizuru made him drank her blood to speed up his healing process. They uses a back route to return to Goryokaku, only to be confronted by Kazama who challenges Hijikata for a rematch. Hijikata accepts, starting a fierce fight between the two, with Hijikata emerging victorious. Acknowledging Hijikata as a true Demon, Kazama gives Hijikata a demon name, Hakuoki, and allows him to live his remaining life as he pleases. At the end of war, Hijikata remembers his deceased comrades and determines to live his remaining time together with Chizuru before following them.

Gerda and the charming weasel Luta rush to the aid of all those in need in their land. Gerda's pilgrimage from the Kingdom of Eternal Frost has ended as she safely brings home Kai. However they tag along an inquisitive little girl - Icy, the of the Snow Queen. In the ordinary world, Icy has trouble adjusting her magical powers of frost. Gerda, Kai and Icy are transported into an ordinary world. However each of them wield extraordinary superpowers. Icy is able to freeze objects, Gerda has control over the North Wind, and Kai invents various kinds of mechanisms.

In the new world, Icy has opportunities to improve her socialization and balance her powers as they explore a world that suddenly turn into difficult situations. Gerda, Kai, Luta and Icy turn into superheroes at their headquarters as they become their community's justice league known as the Keepers of Wonders. Gerda becomes the guardian of the magic of the North Wind. Her special ability grants the ability to move object in the air. Icy will naturally use her frost powers.

A struggle of magic by the practitioners of Gerda and Icy collide with the practitioners of science by Harald, the megalomaniac genius inventor of the battle robot. Alfida, the leader of the pirates also pits against the Keepers of Wonders. Sometimes Gerda and Icy realize magic won't stop the villains. That is where their secret weapon, Luta the small but very brave weasel becomes their secret superhero point of attack. Even more beneficial will be the good inventions of Kai that compete against the inventions of Harald. Even though most of the inventions of Kai doesn't work they can be adapted for something else.

When little Icy disappears Gerda and Kai go to their headquarters and transform into Keepers of Wonders. They get acquainted with the fairy Florida and her magical garden. They learn Florida will try to use magic to create an army of plants and turn the planet into a botanical garden. Next time, the brave four help solve the mysterious theft of paintings from the royal gallery, because without it, little Icy will not be able to participate in the artist competition, where she was going to present her drawings. The characters use ingenuity to cope up with the dangers. Eventually they realize friendship, kindness and a little magic can truly make them into invincible super heroes.

The relationship between Jodi and Dunkleman begins on a lovely note, with the two sharing romantic moments. Jodi has become one of the popular kids at school as a result of her speech at the Homecoming dance, who high-fives other students instead of staring down the hallways.

Her newfound fame and her new desire of appearing in the Spring musical, however, prove to be huge roadblocks in her otherwise smooth relationship with Dunkleman. She finds herself fighting her own fears and dealing with anxiety attacks. After landing the lead part of Kim in the musical ‘Bye Bye Birdie’, Jodi is bewildered. Her insecurities are calling to her through a voice within her head. Tommy plays the lead opposite Jodie in Bye Bye Birdie and is a possible new love interest of her.

Jodi deals with typical adolescent issues. She carries a lot of weight on her shoulders between the boy she’s dating, her friendships, bullying, the musical, and her uncomfortable parents. She is under a great deal of stress and feels completely overwhelmed.

By focusing on her confidence, Jodi eventually discovers a means to filter out that negative voice. She makes the decision to govern her mind rather than the other way around. Her parents go above and beyond to ensure that their children succeed.

Meanwhile, others are struggling with their own insecurities, while Jodi is battling negative thoughts in her head.

Harper, Jodi’s sister, is attempting to prove that she is capable of more than just competing in beauty pageants. Fareeda wishes for her parents to believe in her goals of becoming a fashion designer. Dunkleman’s connection with Jodi is often questioned.

Jodi has been troubled by an inner voice that tells her she’s not good enough since the beginning of rehearsals, as well as the bully Kimmy, who she beat to the lead role and is now determined to ensure Jodi flakes out.

Kimmy wants to enlist Schnipper in her plots, but he refuses since he has a crush on Jodi as a result of their kiss in the first film. Kimmy finds out that she doesn’t have to do much to upset Jodi, and her first week of rehearsals doesn’t go as planned, despite Tommy’s assurances.

The strain eventually takes its toll on Jodi’s relationship when Jack, who, after promising her she can skip their anniversary dinner to rehearse, becomes enraged when she actually does. They part soon after, and Jodi becomes close to Tommy, with whom she shares a kiss one night.

Jodi appears to reconcile with Jack, but when she admits that she kissed someone while they were still together, Jack reacts angrily, and the two break up for good. He makes a contract with Stig’s sister Stella, who is going through her own break-up, and swears to never see her again.

Jodi participates in the pre-show practice of a “burning ceremony”, which purges the cast of any negativity before the performance. She intends to set fire to the shoes Jack gave her in the first film, but she changes her mind halfway through. Kimmy is the one who saves them from the fire, which marks the beginning of her bully redemption.

Despite the fact that he is interested in her, Jodi admits to Tommy that she is still not over Jack, and the two agree to merely be friends.

Jodi gives Fareeda her blessing to date Stig at the pre-opening night celebration, and Jack appears to give Jodi a pep talk. Stella also gives him a long-overdue scolding for his reaction to Jodi’s kiss with Tommy.

Despite her parents’ guidance on how to deal with nervousness, Jodi is still having trouble with her inner voice on the opening night of the show. Kimmy completes her redemption by declining Jodi’s offer to take her place on stage, instead telling Jodi that she will wait in the wings and provide signals if she forgets anything.

Opening night is a success, and after the show, Jodi finally silences her inner critic by reminding herself, that she is good enough to do this. When Jack arrives, he discloses that he has been photographing in the lighting booth all night.

Jack confesses his love for Jodi, and the two reconcile and kiss, ensuring that everyone lives happily ever after.

Bart is down on his luck and has to take a job writing product descriptions for a medical-supply company. He moves into the garage of his best friend, Doug, and his wife, Rachel, and their two kids. He is broke and depressed; his novel failed to make any money, his girlfriend broke up with him, and he’s ignoring his psychiatrist's phone calls.

He gets drunk and falls asleep in a movie theater. A girl named Vienna Wales him, telling him the movie is over. They start talking and hit it off, going on a date at a bar and then having sex in Vienna's motel room. Barry learns that Vienna's mother has cancer. His own mother died from it years earlier, and he was inspired to write his novel after she grew more concerned about his happiness in her last few months. After she died, Bart had a mental breakdown.

As Best and Vienna Downs more time together, she continued to be vague about her circumstances. She has no phone, and carries large amounts of cash. When Bart asked her to tell him more about herself, she either changes the subject or gives vague answers, such as claiming that she works for the government.

Bart's old apartment is in the process of being sold and the new tenants are moving in, but they go there to have their discussion in private. She finally tells Barry that she is from the future, working for a secret government branch that has discovered time travel in 2052. She says she has gone back in time to buy stocks that will earn enough to pay for her mom’s cancer treatment.

Bart tells Doug the next day, who advises him to get Vienna help, just as Doug helped Bart after his own mental breakdown. Bart and Vienna become even more attached, growing to trust each other enough to open a safe deposit box together where Vienna keeps her stocks.

They spend a night camping in the desert, and Bart to wakes up to Vienna down the road, crying. She later tells him that staying in the past too long changed one's brain chemistry, and that she must soon return. As they have an at-home pasta dinner date later on, she starts moaning in pain and finds it hard to breathe. Bart gets scared and heeds Doug's advice by taking her to the hospital for an assessment the next day. As she's about to walk to the doctor's office, Bart has a nosebleed and faints.

He wakes up in a hospital bed with bandages on his head and Doug by his side, who explains to him that he had a brain tumor, but the doctors were able to remove it. Bart asks Doug where Vienna is, and Doug tells him that because of how the tumor affected his brain, he imagined Vienna—she was never real. Realizing this, Bart breaks down in tears, and Doug tries to comfort him.

Having accepted that Vienna was an illusion, Bart finally moves out of his old apartment. However, when he goes to withdraw cash from an ATM, he discovers that someone has deposited over $89,000 into his account. He then remembers the safe deposit box he and Vienna opened together. When he checks the box, he finds photos that he and Vienna took in a photobooth, proving that she was real. On the back of the photos is a message from Vienna, along with a little hint about the future of his favorite sports team. He smiles and laughs ecstatically.

''Nomad''’s published plot outline is: “The story follows Nellie, a stifled city girl who has never traveled outside her hometown, as she discovers Ben, a mysterious nomad with a bizarre condition that rips them inexplicably across every corner of the earth. Every day is a fight for survival in the harshest and most beautiful environments on earth. As they travel, they grow closer to each other, while the strange forces of Ben's condition seek to rip them apart.”

In 1977 Soviet Union, the owner of a German Shepherd named Palma flies abroad. But Palma hides at the airport and waits for her owner. She meets a boy named Kolya Lazarev, who has lost his mother, and they become best friends.

In a late 2000s setting, Wanda Maximoff decides to have a day to herself. Agnes agrees to babysit Billy and Tommy and takes them to her house. Vision wakes up in a circus run by S.W.O.R.D. agents who are under Maximoff's spell. He finds Darcy Lewis, frees her from the spell, and learns about his death and the events that led to the current situation from her. Maximoff sees various parts of her house constantly reverting to prior iterations from older 'episodes' and is unable to control them. Vision and Lewis's journey back to his house is continuously interrupted at a junction point, leading Vision to assume that Maximoff is preventing him from returning home. However, he also realizes that his wife needs him and flies the rest of the way, leaving Lewis behind.

Outside of Westview, Monica Rambeau and Jimmy Woo meet with S.W.O.R.D. personnel who are loyal to Rambeau's late mother rather than Director Tyler Hayward and obtain a vehicle that should be able to cross the barrier. The mission is unsuccessful, as half of the vehicle transforms into a truck. Rambeau decides to enter herself since she has already passed through the boundary twice. She passes through the static wall and emerges with glowing eyes and having gained powers. She goes to warn Maximoff about Hayward. Maximoff does not believe her and attacks, but Rambeau can withstand her assault due to her new powers. Their confrontation is interrupted by Agnes, who asks Rambeau to leave and takes Maximoff to her house.

Agnes tells Maximoff that the twins are in the basement, but when Maximoff goes to look for them she finds a mysterious lair. Trapping Maximoff, Agnes reveals herself as Agatha Harkness, a powerful witch. She shows Maximoff a vision of her manipulating events, revealing that she killed Sparky and sent "Pietro Maximoff" to Maximoff, which is presented as a new fictional program called ''Agatha All Along''. In a mid-credits scene, Rambeau discovers Harkness's lair but is caught by "Pietro".

A commercial during the ''WandaVision'' program advertises Nexus anti-depression drugs.

Artwork from "In a Half-World of Terror" from issue #2 of the fanzine ''Stories of Suspense''. The story takes place in the (fictitious) district of Belwood, California in 1962. The narrator, Danny Gerald (amended in the rewrite to "Gerad"), was orphaned at the age of 13; at the age of 18, he is conned out of the last of his inheritance, forcing him to drop out of college. While drowning his sorrows in a bar, Danny meets Rankin, who recruits him to work for his employer, the cadaverous Steffen Weinbaum. Visiting Weinbaum's Victorian mansion, Danny learns that the job entails procuring corpses for Weinbaum to use in his experiments. Desperate for money so he can resume his education, Danny reluctantly agrees.

Two days later, Danny and Rankin visit the Crestwood Cemetery at night, where they dig up the body of the recently deceased Daniel Wheatherby and take it to Weinbaum's laboratory. While driving home, Danny witnesses a man dragging a young woman into a panel truck; his intervention leads to the truck crashing, killing the man. The girl, Vicki Pickford, explains that the man was her uncle David, her legal guardian, who she was running away from due to his drunkenness. While on a date with Vicki, Danny receives a call from Rankin urgently summoning him to the mansion. Danny brings Vicki with him to the mansion, where she reveals that David began drinking heavily while working there, with Danny realising that he was recruited to replace David.

Leaving Vicki in his car, Danny finds the laboratory ransacked, with a broken glass tank, green liquid on the floor, and a blood trail leading into the garage. Following the trail into a tunnel, Danny finds Rankin dead from a head wound. At the end of the tunnel, Danny finds Weinbaum standing above a pit containing an unseen "mewing" creature. Hearing Vicki scream, Danny returns to the laboratory, where he finds two more tanks have broken. Taking Weinbaum's revolver, Danny follows a trail left by Vicki and a large pursuer into the woods. Finding Vicki in a gully, Danny determines that three creatures have escaped from the tanks, with the first having been trapped in the pit by Weinbaum and the second now trapped in the gully, leaving one unaccounted for. Returning once more to the mansion, Danny finds Weinbaum being attacked by an enormous maggot made up of millions of smaller maggots. As the giant maggot kills Weinbaum, Danny kills the maggot by setting the green liquid on fire, then flees with Vicki.

In the epilogue, Danny reveals that the ensuing fire destroyed 15 square miles of the surrounding land. Returning to the mansion after the fire, Danny discovers Weinbaum's diary, which reveals that after he exposed corpses to gamma rays, the maggots in the corpses grew and eventually formed three giant gestalt creatures. While feeling guilt over the death of Rankin, Danny resolves to move forward with Vicki.

Malik and Imani are a young black couple who move into a new house in Harvey Hill, a suburb of Atlanta, next to the home of Harvey Hill Homeowners Association president Karen Drexler. Karen is quick to introduce herself to Malik; she refuses to shake his hand, makes a callous comment about not "having any cash" in her home, and installs a security camera in the direction of their house. Although Malik and Imani are perplexed by Karen's behavior, they decide to ignore their concerns and focus on settling in.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, Karen is virulently racist, with Neo-Confederate memorabilia in her home and a reputation for abusing her power as president to target local black residents, often recruiting her equally racist brother, patrolman Mike Wind, to help. She soon starts harassing and stalking Malik and Imani, trying to find something she can use to get them out of Harvey Hill. She discovers that Malik smokes marijuana and catches her son watching the couple have sex in front of an open window, but when she brings the issue up at a meeting of the Association's executive board, the other members are disturbed by her bigoted remarks about African Americans and decide not to take any action.

After learning that Malik and Imani are holding a housewarming party for their friends, Karen convinces Imani that she wants to make amends and receives an invitation. At the party, she quickly offends everyone present by trying to argue that black Americans are being too "angry" and saying that if they dislike America, then they should just "go back", which infuriates Malik as he makes her leave. The next day, Karen comes across three young black men, and demands that they present her with identification. They refuse, and she calls her brother, lying that they are threatening her physically. Mike arrests them, but the men are quickly released after video footage surfaces of Karen's phone call. The Association then fires her as president after the father of one of the young men sues them.

Karen gets Mike to pull Malik over while driving home from work by revealing his history of marijuana use. Mike finds no marijuana in his car, so he plants a bag of weed in the trunk, resulting in Malik spending the night in jail. Karen then visits Imani the next morning, telling her that she and her husband should leave the neighborhood if they do not want any more trouble. Imani defiantly responds that she and Malik will not be leaving anytime soon. That night, Mike arrives with a search warrant and arrests Malik again, while Karen cuts the power to their house and breaks in with a gun. The siblings threaten Imani at gunpoint before Karen seemingly shoots her dead. Mike's partner rushes in, and a standoff ensues until Mike and his partner shoot each other; Mike is killed while his partner is only slightly wounded. Karen prepares to finish him off, but a still-alive Imani grabs Mike's gun and kills her in self-defense.

Malik is released, and he and Imani receive a full apology and compensation from the city of Atlanta for what they went through.

The story is entirely devoted to the problem of dream-reality. The main character, Nikita, a student with the surname Sonechkin (literally translated from Russian as Sleeper), suddenly realizes that for most of his life he has not been fully aware of himself and the world around him. He "lives in a half-dream" in which there is no room for difficulties, but only a quiet existence. Nikita does not think about the goals of his actions, the motives for his actions, just like everyone around him: friends, parents, passersby-all immersed in a dream. This postmodern chronotope, based on the "junctions between realities," allows the author to consider the problem of power over the human consciousness, because the people around us, ordinary everyday people, sleep peacefully while the authorities do whatever they want.

Sleep in Pelevin's story has certain gradations (steps and degrees): "night" and "day," "death" and "wonder," and so on.

The author's mastery of the characters' transition to the beginning of life in the "collective-unconscious" mode occurs gradually and in stages in the story. Based on the text, we can conclude that this process is individual and can begin at different times and under different circumstances: in the family in kindergarten, at school, or belatedly, in high school, as it happens to the main character of the story.

The author conveys the metaphor of transition through the dream state. The protagonist becoming part of society and submitting to its laws, gradually realizes that being in a state of sleep is more comfortable and psychologically easier. At the initial stage, he still worries that the moment may come when he ceases to understand where the dream and reality are. However, at the end of the story, he throws away the pin that he used at the beginning of the story in order to get out of the dream state when necessary.

According to Pelevin, an important lever of influence on the personality in the "outer world," in society, is "emphilosophy," i.e., the Marxist-Leninist doctrine and principles of communist (collective-conscious) coexistence, then, according to the writer, the television, "the blue window to the universe," becomes a means to influence the human consciousness within the home and family.

In order to recreate the atmosphere of the Soviet era, Pelevin introduces into his stories a large number of typical, recurring situations for that time. A striking example of the Soviet scenario, the subject of jokes, but also a kind of symbol of the time is the queue. In the text of the story there is a "slow line" for seaweed. It is known that at the time seaweed was one of the cheapest products. But in the story, even for a product that is not in short supply, a line forms.

The story begins in the era of Brezhnev's stagnation, when the course of Marxist-Leninist philosophy was taught in all universities of the USSR. The final temporal boundary of the story is the mention of Boris Yeltsin.

The key theme of sleep in the story is revealed in different ways. The rich literary and philosophical tradition refers the reader to the interpretation of sleep as a human life in captivity of illusions. Each character in the story, as Nikita guesses, exists in his own dream, and the content of this dream remains a mystery to others, as well as the true, objective reality beyond the dream is fundamentally unrecognizable. On the other hand, the dream becomes a metaphor for the ideologically passive state of the citizen in Soviet society and, more broadly, in the world in general.

In the story The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Pelevin translates it into the Soviet language. The heroes of the story are dead, and they are read an instruction book on how to behave for the first forty days.

In the story, the author is ironic about the Soviet state system, according to Pelevin's idea it is the Soviet reality is a nightmare dream for the characters. The action of the story takes place as it seems at first glance in reality, but gradually the reader begins to understand that the world is actually a fiction.

The story begins with a description of an ordinary working morning of Lyubochka, a rationalization engineer at the trolleybus park. She jumps out of the door of the trolley bus right into a puddle and walks to work. Gradually details creep in that make you doubt the realism of the action, as well as the heavy mood of the story is built up.

The heroes of the story are in a state of sleep - oblivion, which is controlled by a certain demonic force and which is equated with hell, the author at the beginning of the story declares the hopelessness of the situation of people, about their powerlessness before this force.

The description of the dirty street and the gloomy weather also play a role in creating a mystically gloomy environment. Even the heroine of the story, Lyubochka, smiles not as a result of sudden feelings, but because she is forced to: "and when she smiled, it was obvious that she does it with effort and as if performing the only service action she is capable of." The usual Soviet-era lifestyles of the protagonist, who works in the trolleybus park and runs errands for the director, are disrupted by strange events. First, she attends a conversation with her colleagues in which it is revealed that electric current can flow through the air. Then Lyubochka meets two strange strangers in "long nightgowns," one of whom answers her question, "aren't they cold?" that they are dreaming about the whole thing.

As the narrative continues, strange mystical signs occur more and more frequently, adding to the heavy mood of the story.

Soon the story's protagonist discovers a memo in her pocket about the "Many Faces of Kathmandu," telling of a paradisiacal life in Nepal. In the memo, Pelevin describes a kind of socialist paradise that the author believes is taking shape in the minds of some Soviet citizens.

In the end, during a work team meeting, the bitter truth is revealed - it is the first day of the story's characters after death in the parody afterlife, when, according to orthodox dogma, the so-called airy publicities (torments) begin - the characters experience about the same as they did when they were alive. The story ends as it begins, perhaps influenced by the stories of Vladimir Nabokov, one of Pelevin's favorite writers. The black stripe on the heroine's white blouse turns out to be a tread mark. Having realized her own death, Lyubochka rushes to the door, but it turns out to be the door of a moving trolleybus.

In the story "News from Nepal" the author sneers at the Soviet reality, which has become for the characters a horrible dream, close to hell. From the very beginning it speaks of the hopelessness of people's situation in this world. The truth that the heroes are already in another world is presented in the form of political information by the radio announcer.

The title of the story is an allusion to the title of the novel "What Is to Be Done?" by Nikolai Chernyshevsky, where the main character's name was also Vera Pavlovna and the description of her four dreams was part of the novel.

Solipsism occupies a significant place in the works of Victor Pelevin: in addition to this story, the writer in one form or another addressed this topic in his other works. But the story "The Ninth Dream of Vera Pavlovna" is most closely associated with solipsism. One might say that solipsism is the main "hero" of the story.

The protagonist of the story, Vera Pavlovna, is in all likelihood a member of the Soviet intelligentsia. She reads Ramacharak and Blavatsky, watches films by Fassbinder and Bergman, and is a cleaner in the men's public toilet, which makes her image somewhat caricatured.

One day, a curious thought occurs to Vera: if you know the secret of existence, then the question of the meaning of life disappears on its own, because knowledge of the secret of life allows you "to control existence, that is, to really stop the old life and start a new one, not just talk about it - and each new life will have its own special meaning.

And Vera recognizes this mystery of life. The mystery of life is that the one who knows it can influence and create things around him: "I'll try something simple to begin with. For example, so that pictures could appear on the walls here and music could play.

Perestroika begins in the country, and Vera knows that the source of this change is herself. Soon thereafter, the toilet was privatized, its appearance greatly improved. After some time a picture appeared on the wall, then the director of the toilet brought in a tape recorder and loudspeakers. Music started playing in the building. The morning began with "Mass" by Giuseppe Verdi. Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" was followed by melodies by Mozart.

A little later, Vera becomes a janitor in a store that has replaced the public toilet. The improvement is evident.

The main character kept her friendship with Manyasha, the cleaner of the nearby women's restroom. The friend very often interfered in the life of Vera Pavlovna and constantly gave her advice. It was Manyasha who told her friend that only a person's desires determine his life. According to Pelevin's idea, Manyasha is the second part of the main character's soul.

Soon the restroom building was rebuilt as a store. And Vera Pavlovna began to feel that both goods and visitors stank of excrement. The woman began to blame Manyasha in her thoughts. And in one of her meetings, Vera Pavlovna struck a terrible blow with an axe on Manyasha's head, figuratively killing the part of her soul that connected her with reality.

In her hallucinations, the woman found herself at the Last Judgment, where she was sentenced to eternal imprisonment as one of the heroes of a realistic work of Russian literature. But it turned out that there were no vacant seats there. Then the judge decided to place Vera Pavlovna as the protagonist in Chernyshevsky's "What Is to Be Done?"

Richard Otto and his wife, Mabel, have a joyful marriage and live in a spacious home. They have a three-year-old boy whom both parents adore. One day, Mabel says to her husband: "Five blissful years of marriage, a beautiful home, a tender husband, and a darling baby — surely God has been good to me." Richard and Mabel Otto decide to throw a big reception to celebrate their good fortune. The couple sends invitations and places an announcement in the local newspaper.

The scene shifts to a local park where a drifter named Tom Willis sits on a park bench. While reading the local newspaper, he notices the article announcing Otto's reception. The item contains a picture of Mable Otto, and he recognizes her as someone from his murky past. He believes Mabel was his former partner in crime when they traveled in the criminal underworld. At some point, she left him, and Willis never saw her again. Seeing Mabel's picture stirs up old emotions, and he wants to reconnect.

Mr. and Mrs. Otto's reception is in full swing. Several guests are doting on the young boy when his bedtime arrives. Mabel takes the boy to his bedroom and puts him to sleep. When she returns to the party, she tells Richard all the tricks the little one had learned. However, the young boy still can't sleep and rings the bell for his mother. Both parents dutifully leave their guests and try to put the boy to sleep. A domestic enters the bedroom and informs Richard a caller was waiting at the front door. He leaves to greet his guest.

Richard opens the front door and immediately recognizes Tom Willis. Willis was a man whom Otto had once helped with a small loan. Willis tells Otto he is down on his luck again and needs another loan. Richard invites Tom into the house. After they are comfortable, Willis tells Richard a story about his past relationship with a woman in the criminal underground. After describing how deeply in love he was, he states he would do anything to win her back. Richard seems to sympathize with Tom's story of lost love. Willis then tells Otto the love story's mystery woman is Mabel Otto. Richard reels in shock and tells Tom—they have a healthy marriage, share a son, and have a wonderful life. Then Otto emphatically tells Willis he should never come to their house again or ever attempt to meet his wife.

Willis had checked out the house and its contents during their previous conversation. He leaves Otto's home but returns later to steal valuable jewelry. During the attempted burglary, Mable and her son stumble upon the attempted theft. Mable sees Tom and remembers him from her past. Hearing the commotion, Richard rushes to the room. The tension rises, but when Willis sees them all together, he takes one last glance at Mabel and flees without saying a word.

Richard tells Mable the man had asked for money and then concocted some cock-and-bull story about her being an underworld member. He also mentioned Willis believed Mable was part of that past underworld connection. Richard states he never accepted the Willis story and completely believed in his wife's version of her past. Her husband's faith in his wife's version of her past prevailed.

After five years overseas, star actress Tamae returns to Japan to reunite with her daughter Shigeko, whom she left behind with her then husband Atsumi in favour of her career. In her absence, Atsumi has married again, and the bond between Shigeko and her stepmother Masako has grown as strong as between a blood-related child and mother. When Atsumi's company goes bankrupt and his family is forced to move to lower-class surroundings, Tamae sees her chance to lure Shigeko away, but eventually has to accept that her wealth can't compensate for Shigeko's and Masako's mutual love.

Lakshya (Season 1)

It is a story of Police team named ''Unit 8''. The team solves a new case and tactfully battles it out with the criminals. The team members shared a common goal to eradicating crime and they will go to any extent to ensure that justice is served.

Nave Lakshya (Season 2)

It is a story of Police team named ''Unit 9''. It revolves around a competent police team. It will show the police team trying to solve crime cases and several social cases to make the lives of the people in society better. It will focus on how a dedicated team of police shall bring about justice in an area using their skills and resources.

The series centers around a "college student who signs up for a clinical trial", which begins a "wild, harrowing, mind- and reality-bending adventure".

''This summary relates to the version of the story coauthored by Stephen King and Brian Hartz.''

The story begins with the unnamed narrator recalling the outcome of an event that took place 12 years prior when he was aged 11: "there were twelve of us when we went in that night, but only two of us came out – my friend Kirby and me. And Kirby was insane." The narrator recalls the Skybar Amusement Park, which closed down after a series of deaths that began with seventh grade student Randy Stayner falling 100 feet from the top of the "SkyCoaster" rollercoaster, with his body rolling into the Skybar Pond and never being recovered.

One night two months following the Park's closure, the narrator's friend Brant Callahan - who is known for his dangerous and outlandish dares, such as persuading the group to stand facing railway lines on which bullets have been placed and await an oncoming train - persuades the group to sneak into the Park and climb up the tracks to the top of the SkyCoaster. Although initially reluctant, the narrator and his friends Dewey Howardson, John Wilkenson, and Kirby agree. They are joined by seven members of the "White Dragons", a local street gang.

11 of the boys begin the 100 foot climb to the top of the rollercoaster track, with Kirby remaining on the ground. The rollercoaster track comprises twin rails with only occasional crosspieces, which the narrator compares to "a ladder without rungs". Climbing with his eyes closed, the narrator is alerted by screaming and splashes, followed by the sound of a rollercoaster car moving along the tracks towards him. Sliding to the bottom before the car can hit him, the narrator flees with Kirby. After looking back over his shoulder at the rollercoaster car, the narrator abandons Kirby; they are reunited outside the Park.

It is revealed that the other 10 boys who climbed the SkyCoaster jumped or fell to their deaths, and that when the narrator and Kirby looked back at the rollercoaster car, they saw the maimed corpse of Randy Stayner emerge from the car to pursue them. The narrator has dreams of the sight from which he wakes screaming, while Kirby has been confined to a psychiatric hospital.

Franciszka Maj (Agnieszka Dygant), 30, loses her job at the bridal shop run by her would-be fiancé, Daniel Jarosiński (Wojciech Medyński/Artur Dziurman). As a cosmetics saleswoman she offers the goods at the Skalski family's house, at a time when the search for a babysitter for the children of a wealthy television producer, Maksymilian (Tomasz Kot), is on. She eventually gets the job, becoming the nanny of the widower's three children: the reserved Zuzia (Emilia Stachurska), the rascally Adaś (Roger Karwiński) and the shy Małgosia (Maria Maciejowska).

While taking care of the children, the employer and the nanny fall in love with each other. Their relationship is all the more difficult because they share class differences and views on various issues, and often cannot get along. The family is accompanied by a butler, Konrad (Adam Ferency), who often demonstrates greater shrewdness and intelligence than his employer. Maximilian's co-worker Karolina Łapińska (Tamara Arciuch), who unsuccessfully seeks Skalski's affection, is constantly the object of the butler's malicious jokes and insults.

Episodes

After the city of Chattana was ravaged by the Great Fire, plunging it into darkness, it falls under the rule of the Governor, who is able to create magical orbs that are the city's only sources of light and power. Pong, a nine-year-old boy who was born in Namwon Prison and who has spent his entire life there, escapes by hiding in a garbage basket. He longs to live freely in Chattana, though his prison tattoo identifies him as a fugitive. When Pong is caught stealing food from a monastery on the outskirts of Chattana, the senior monk Father Cham vouches for him and takes him in, and helps him conceal his tattoo.

Four years later, the monastery is visited by the family of the former warden of Namwon Prison, who was dismissed after Pong's escapes. Pong narrowly flees after he is recognized by Nok Sivapan, the warden's daughter, who vows to bring him to justice to restore honor to her family. Pursued by Nok, Pong returns to Chattana, where he reunites with his former friend from prison, Somkit, and becomes involved in a movement to protest the social inequality in the city. Somkit knows how to make his own orb lights, which he will show the people at protest to show that they don't need the Governor's light. Nok attempts to warn the Governor about the planned protest, but is harshly rebuffed; she begins to question the Governor's motives and eventually comes to realize the oppression and tyranny in the city. She unites with Pong, Somkit, and the other protestors in the march, which successfully results in an end to the Governor's rule. Though the future seems uncertain, the people of Chattana can live more freely, and begin learning to create their own light.

Taro Sakamoto used to be an unrivaled hitman, earning legendary status in the underworld. But one day, the unthinkable happened. Sakamoto fell in love. He started dating, retired, got married, and had a kid, growing overweight as a result. Though now working as a humble convenience store owner, the world of hitmen still follows him. Sakamoto, along with Shin, a young man with telepathy and employee at his small store, will protect his humble life and family, or die trying.

Season 1

Linda and Romeu have always been best friends – and singers in rival bands. When he turned 18, Linda declared her love, showing him a song she wrote about them.

The two got involved, but soon after Romeo went on tour with his father's band, and he was seduced by one of the singers - the sexy Vanessa.

Later, Linda decides to seek Romeu and after a fatal accident with Romeu's father, they decide to run away.

But the plan changes when Vanessa discovers she is pregnant of Romeu's father, with whom she was also involved with. Duly instructed by her mischievous sister, Angela, she reports Linda to the police.

Thinking she has been betrayed by Romeu, Linda goes to Luxembourg. While the heartbroken Romeu accepts Angela's proposal to become a great singer, if he marries Vanessa and takes the baby that Romeu believes to be his.

Months later, Linda attends one of Romeu's concerts, where he proposes to Vanessa and dedicates the song she wrote, when they were 18, as if it was written by him. That night in the exact same hospital, both Linda, who is pregnant with Romeu's child, and Vanessa go into labour. A failure on the hospital's electrical system will cause a swap of babies, and without knowing anything, Linda ends up raising the daughter of the woman who stole the great love of her life.

Twenty years will pass until Linda and Romeu cross paths again. He is now the king of Portuguese popular music and together with Ângela, his sister-in-law, they launch new singers into the music industry, including Romeu and Sandy, Vanessa's daughter. Coincidently, Sandy's partner will find the next musical prodigy, Linda's daughter – Melanie.

Romeu will invite Melanie for an audition, but Linda forbids her to attend it. When she realizes Melanie ran away to Portugal, Linda will come after her.

It is in Portugal, where everything started, that after seeing Romeu perform the song she wrote, Linda exposes him to the public.

Season 2

Romeu and Linda are married and at the height of their success. She is now an established artist while he signed with a Spanish label to get into the Latin market. For this purpose, the label is filming a documentary on Rormeu’s life with plans to show it in cinemas worldwide. Ângela, now reduced to being a petty merchant at local fairs, refuses to be left out of her ex brother-in-law’s story. Her, of all people, who made him a successful singer over twenty years ago. But luck seems to be on her side... One day, while selling at the fair with Cajó, Ângela sees a familiar face among the crowd. Bela is a woman who, twenty years ago, Ângela paid to stop her pregnancy from Romeu’s baby. As she sees her now with Ricky by her side, a boy of around the same age as the child would be by now, Ângela quickly realizes that Bela didn’t go through with it at all and kept quiet about it during all these years. When confronted about it, Bela ends up admitting that Ricky really is Romeu’s son, which will turn into Ângela's biggest asset.

Desperate for the COVID-19 vaccine, Mr. Mackey and Thomas Adler visit a Walgreens to find a long line outside. They and everyone else in line are denied entry, as only senior citizens are admitted. At school, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick play a prank on their teacher, Margaret Nelson, that involves her sitting on a packet of ketchup so that she appears to be menstruating. A humiliated Nelson quits when the prank is carried out, revealing that she has not been vaccinated.

Mr. Garrison, having finished his term as President, returns to South Park with his assistant, Mr. Service, to resume his profession as a teacher, being hired in Nelson's place. Many of the townspeople oppose Garrison's return; the White family are among Garrison's few supporters, and appeal to him about preventing vaccinations. Bob White interprets a dismissive remark by Garrison as a coded instruction to spread QAnon's conspiracy theories among children. Bob forms a private company, Tutornon, to indoctrinate the children, whose indignant parents hire them after withdrawing their children from Garrison's class.

Facing backlash over their prank, Cartman, Kenny, Stan Marsh, and Kyle Broflovski decide to make amends by obtaining vaccines for their teachers, under the pretense of forming the Kommunity Kidz. The boys gain entry to Walgreens by bribing an already-vaccinated elderly woman; upon being found out, they escape with a tray of vaccines, with several townspeople in pursuit. Cartman wants to sell the vaccines online, Stan wants the boys to take the vaccines themselves, and Kyle is pressured by his parents, Gerald and Sheila, to deliver some doses to them. The boys put aside their differences to deliver the vaccines to the school, but are impeded by the Lil' Qties, a group of children indoctrinated by their tutors. A fight ensues between the two groups, which is joined by members of QAnon and other townspeople wanting the vaccines.

Garrison confronts the White family, who tells him of QAnon and its conspiracy theories about the elite. Bob urges Garrison and Mr. Service to join him in opposing the elite. The three are inexplicably transported to a polar landscape, where Bob is toyed with by the elites. Garrison desperately calls out to the elites, pleading with them to return his life to normal; he is answered by Mr. Service's transformation into Mr. Hat. Meanwhile, Cartman, Stan, and Kyle start discussing a new plan to enter the school but are distracted into discussing increasingly elaborate schedule plans with Kenny, their friendship broken by mutual mistrust. Garrison returns and, having partnered with the elites, arranges for a plane to arrive with enough vaccines for everyone. Cartman, Stan, and Kyle finally enter the school with the teachers' vaccines. However, by that point, Nelson has contracted COVID-19 and dies from it. At her funeral, the townspeople celebrate being vaccinated, and life in South Park returns to normal.

Love moves mountains...

When Fátima – a young woman from Serra da Estrela – meets Tomás – the son of a burel factory’s owners – the connection between them is undeniable. However, Tomás is engaged to the girl who has been her rival since they were teenagers – Mariana – and is being blackmailed to stay away from Fátima because of her brother’s (Artur) death.

Devastated by the loss of Artur and her father’s imprisonment, Fátima wants justice, and she will find it, even if she has to go against the most powerful family in Serra. Yet, she will bump into a terrible secret that involves not only the whole village she lives in, but also Carlota, Mariana’s mother, who is going to do everything so that truth never comes out.

Star Hill is a rural telenovela set in the mountains, in a remote village from Serra da Estrela, Portugal, where everyone knows each other. Remoteness and the hard life they have makes them feel part of a community. A plot that stands out for its mountain’s scenario and invite us to return to nature through characters that portray the search for beauty, security and Serra’s tranquility. A story about love and fight for justice, where the simple and genuine protagonist will be surprised with a breathtaking passion, but also with the secret of a collective crime, covered by people that she knows well: friends and enemies, rich and poor, good and bad. Most people in the village work and depend somehow on Pereira de Espinho’s family business, who run the most famous hotel in the mountain and are also Mariana’s parents, the antagonist. Fátima will cross path with Carlota, a powerful and dishonest woman, who has everything to lose with our heroin’s investigation. Star Hill is a narrative framed by mystery, where two women that could not be more different, fight for the love of one man.

Main character Akari Sagami has lived a meandering lifestyle ever since she graduated high school. However, one day, her father tells her, "If you're not interested in getting married, you need to get a part time job", so she must get a part-time job. As Akari goes out on the town in search of part-time work, she witnesses someone who seems to be her former high school classmate Yuichiro Kashimiya walking with a flamboyant woman. She loses sight of him on that day, but in the following days sees him once more. She follows him, arriving at the host club Akari's parents manage, which is scheduled to close down - Gorgeous.

After graduating from college, Serika Andou works as an editor for a fashion magazine. One day, she meets Reiji, who lives in the same apartment building, in a state of starvation to the point he cannot move. Afterwards, invited by a senior at work, Serika visits host club Gorgeous and meets Reiji working as a host, which changes her lifestyle.

Two female aliens land in the Philippines and hijinks ensue.

Two groups of people live in the same village, the Aloes and the Veras. There is a harsh rivalry between them that endures even with the children and each side is marked by their own trademark color. When the children of the town leaders', Aloewin and Veraline, fall in love they must find a way to bring the two communities together despite the animosity. The community later on become one as result of the relationship between the two.

Set in modern-day Benin city, ''Enakhe'' tells the story of Epa Iwinosa, father of the Eponymous character and the leader of “the association of friends” also known as “the table”, a small brotherhood that rules the underworld in Benin. Epa moved to crime after his friend's child died due to a lack of funds. It also tells the story of Enakhe who is kind, unassuming and ignorant of her father's dealings. Enakhe is unfit for a life of crime but in spite of this, she is destined to rule after Epa who is unexpectedly killed. Enakhe grows to know about her father's dealings and is forced out of her shell to embrace her father's ruthlessness and fearlessness.

Seventeen year old Korean-American Rachel Kim is ready to put everything on the line for a chance to be a K-pop sensation. Recruited into one of South Korea's biggest music labels DB Entertainment six years ago, Rachel is well-versed on what it takes to make it as an idol in the making—train at every possible minute, don't let anyone see you mess up, and don't date.

But at seventeen, her window to make it is narrowing quickly. When rumors start circulating around the company that DB Entertainment is planning on debuting a new girl-group soon, Rachel sets her sights on that final line-up. She knows that if she misses her shot here, there's little hope she'll be around to get another one in six years.

Rachel understands knowing the rules isn't enough when she has forces going against her. Fellow trainee Choo Mina, the daughter of one of South Korea's most powerful chaebols, is out to get her after an unfortunate misunderstanding over seniority occurred on her very first day as a trainee. That, and the CEO Mr. Noh's supposed preferential treatment towards her, has left Rachel with the persona "Korean American princess".

Rachel's mother proves to be an obstacle herself, pushing Rachel to put more focus on her school work and less on training. As a former sports-star, Rachel's mom knows all about the pressure competition puts on young people. She doesn't want Rachel to put all her attention on a dream that might not come true. Thankfully, Rachel's dad and her sister Leah are a lot more supportive, though Rachel still has to juggle hours spent training with classes at Seoul International School.

And then Rachel bumps into Jason Lee and she's faced with another obstacle. Jason is DB Entertainment's golden boy. He's the lead singer of Next Boyz, the label's latest hit boy-group. The more she sees Jason, the closer they become, until Rachel seriously has to confront the fact that pursuing a relationship like this could rob her of her dream.

When her audition for the female part in DB Entertainment's upcoming duet is sabotaged by Mina, Rachel looks for another way to stand out. She goes to her mentor Chung Yujin for help and they concoct a plan to make a viral video of Rachel singing. But when she gets to the jazz club Yujin directs her to, Rachel realizes she won't just be singing, she'll be singing a duet with Jason.

The plan works, but with an unexpected twist. The higher-ups had already chosen Mina to perform the duet with Jason, but Rachel's video impresses them so much that they decide to make all three of them sing together. The song's success sends the trio on tour across Asia and North America. Mina and Rachel's relationship becomes even more complicated on tour. Just when she thinks they're bonding, Mina accuses Rachel of sabotaging her, after she slips on stage wearing the heels she'd lent her. Things get even worse when Rachel discovers a paparazzi photo of Mina and Jason looking suspiciously close.

But it's all a publicity stunt. Not just Mina and Jason, but also Rachel's relationship with him. She discovers that all their secret dates were really just orchestrated to promote Jason, who wants to leave Next Boyz to go solo. Except while Mina had known it was all fake, Rachel hadn't. Though Jason insists that his feelings for her are real, Rachel breaks up with him. She learns then that the world she's so desperate to enter is even more cutthroat than she thought and that she needs to be even more careful to avoid getting burned.

Now, to the outside world, Mina and Rachel are vipers while Jason is portrayed as the innocent party, a young man left heartbroken. But despite all this, Rachel is determined to keep going, especially when she gets chosen to be in the long-awaited girl-group ''Girls Forever''. No matter what gets thrown her way, she's going to fight for her time in the spotlight. So after Mina attempts one more sabotage by blackmailing her with a video of Rachel and Jason kissing, Rachel doesn't hesitate the next time she sees Mina flaunt her phone and its secret contents. Right before their debut stage, Rachel grabs it and destroys it on the spot. And then, she walks out on center stage, with eight girls trailing behind her, and steps right into the spotlight.

The story is about the life of a sociology university lecturer and his daughter pre 1979 revolution, during the revolution and after it.

The film is set in Frederick, Maryland, during the American Civil War. As described in film magazines, young Barbara Frietchie (Minter), just turned eighteen, lives with her grandmother and namesake (Whiffen) in a town occupied by Northern troops. She falls for Captain Trumbull (Coombs), a Union officer, to the disappointment of her father (Sealy), but her grandmother supports the match. When the Confederate forces re-take the town, Captain Trumbull is shot and severely wounded by Barbara's brother (Scott), a Confederate officer. Although he is carried to the Frietchie home and cared for by Barbara and her grandmother, Captain Trumbull dies from his injuries. Both Barbaras are devastated, and wave the stars and stripes from their balcony in defiance of the passing Confederate soldiers. One of these soldiers, Jack Negly (Fraunholz), a suitor whom Barbara had rejected in favour of Captain Trumbull, fires a single shot at the balcony. The bullet hits the younger Barbara, and she is re-united in death with her Union sweetheart.

The film is described in the Pathé catalogue as a Grand comic scene in 15 tableaux from the Romance by Cervantes. 1. Scene: He starts out to defend the oppressed. 2. Scene: Thrashed, Knighted. 3. Scene: Fight against the windmills. 4. Scene: Imaginary foes. 5. Scene: Receiving the thanks of liberated convicts. 6. Scene: Sancho loses his Ass. 7. Scene: Fight against leather wine bottles. 8. Scene: Gamaches wedding feast. 9. Scene: He smashes the Marionettes. 10. Scene: Drowning in the Ebre. 11. Scene: Enchantment of Dulcinee. 12. Scene: A knight's test. 13. Scene: Sancho Pansa as Governor. 14. Scene: The Tournament. 15. Scene: Death of Don Quixote.

The plot of the story is simple enough, the boys on vacation in a pioneer camp tell terrible stories to each other. During the discussion, the teenagers ask questions about the meaning of existence, life and death, but the answers to the questions raised are ambiguous. Confronted with "philosophical and mystical questions," the young narrator prepares for a literary encounter: he either recalls the encounter or contemplates the end of his "horror story".

Not named by name, the boy is noticeably different from the others: he participates in the entertainment against his will to dispel the oppressive atmosphere.

The synthesis of the light coming from the electric light-the "blue lantern" - and from the moonlight brings to the story an element of mystery characteristic of postmodernism. The blue color is identified in the narrative with something scary and frightening.

After one of the stories, the youngest in the group, Kolya, confusing play with reality, runs to the teacher in terror.

The last story finally connects fiction with reality - the children in the ward finally fall asleep, just like the pioneers discussed in the sixth "story. Reality triumphs over the mystical, but the "eternal questions" (who we are, where we come from... where is the difference between life and death, who has the right to consider himself truly alive) remain unanswered (in the tradition of Russian classical literature)".

The image-symbol of the "blue lantern" loops the story, "testifying to the immutability, truth, absoluteness of its impact on the fates of the characters in the story. All the stories listed in the story are nothing more than a child's tales in a pioneer camp at night. Pioneer horror stories with Soviet roots conveying the spirit of late Soviet times, with little refinements and nuances that could only be in the USSR. But the blue lantern that shines outside the window shines with a kind of metaphysical light. And the pounding of the train outside the window is a mysterious, metaphysical pounding. And in these tales of the Soviet book-reading child there is some whiff, some whiff of the unprecedented.

Particularly noteworthy is the "two-worldness" of the artistic picture of the world. The writer does not simply work with "ordinary" postmodern simulacra. Next to the "real" worlds he creates there are "virtual" worlds, so that they interpenetrate into each other, one is replaced by the other, and as a result it becomes unclear which world is "real" and which is "virtual. It is as if Pelevin is playing with the reader in Postmodernist games, riddles, creating additional difficulties for the perception and interpretation of the test.

This story can be attributed to the so-called mystery stories, in which initially it is impossible to determine the essence of what is happening, to identify the characters and unambiguously read the plot episode. Only as the reader perceives, at one point or another, will the reader receive directions and details that allow him to adequately understand what is being portrayed and finally understand the main idea that the author has laid down.

A brilliant man, Professor Lawrence Doner, is dying of leukemia. He is offered an opportunity for immortality by having his brain pattern used as the model for a computer program.

The story is constructed in a pseudo-historical form and is a deconstruction of real events. And it is a reference to the Chinese Tang dynasty story "The Governor of Nanke". The author himself dubbed this short work "A Chinese Folk Tale". Or, the setting is a communist utopia in an alternate China.

According to another opinion, the story resembles the construction of short stories by the famous Chinese writer Pu Songling from the collections "Monk Magicians" and "Tales of Extraordinary People".

The title of the story is "Tai Shou Chuan USSR". From the Chinese literary language, "Chuan" can be translated as "a collection of stories, essays, or legends." The character "Tai Shou" is more polysemantic, it translates as "commander of the army in the provinces" or simply "chief", "leader". Consequently, the title of the story should be understood as "A collection of essays by a certain leader about his life in the USSR.

In the Chinese story, which Pelevin has looked up to, there is a strong influence of Buddhism and Taoism. In particular, the key theme is the Taoist ideologeme "life is like a dream. The Chinese "Tradition" tells of Chun Yukun's adventures in the unfamiliar land of Sophora. One day Chun Yukun got drunk and fell asleep under a sophora. He was then sent to the country of Sophora, where he married a princess. There he obtained a prestigious government position. After many years of a successful career, however, a turning point comes in his life: the death of the princess, the king's suspicions, and repatriation. After this, Chun Yukun wakes up and it turns out that he has been sleeping in his yard under a sophora, and it is still the same day. Finding the anthill, Chun Yukun recalls everything.

In the story "Tai Shou Chuan USSR" instead of the knight Chun Yukun is the bum Zhang, who in the virtual world becomes one of the leaders of the USSR. Pelevin refers to the leader of the USSR as "Son of Bread" and Zhang as "Sausage". In this way the author sought to emphasize the predominance of materialism and utilitarianism in human nature. One gets the impression that the Soviet state under Zhang's rule is powerful and prosperous. In reality, however, statehood exists there only nominally. Mentioning the former viceroy, who hid the fact that his head was cut off, the author satirically shows the numbing of the workers and their sinking into a world of illusions.

"Tai Shou Chuan USSR," like the Chinese "Tradition," is imbued with the ideas of Taoism. An important part of both works is the image of the anthill. And if in Chinese philosophy the ant is a symbol of universal life and is able to build a state on a rational basis, then Pelevin identifies the anthill with a totalitarian society with rigid centralization, complete unification and obedience of individuals. The anthills are also dealt with in different ways: Chun Yukun in The Legend asked his friends not to touch him, while Pelevin's Zhang "diluted chlorine in two buckets and poured it on the anthill.

The story is a philosophical-satirical pseudo-review by Victor Pelevin. It is a parody of religious studies, a satire on religious-philosophical movements and sects, a "canonization" of "ideologies, works, and great men.

According to the author's thought, the word "mardong" is Tibetan and denotes a whole set of concepts. Originally, it was the name of a cult object, which was obtained this way: If a person in life was distinguished by holiness, purity or, on the contrary, represented, figuratively speaking, "the flower of evil", then after death, which, incidentally, Tibetans always considered one of the stages of personal development, the body of such a person was not buried in the ground, but made of it "mardong" – a place of power and religious worship. A sect is forming around the so-called "mardongs" in Russia in the early 1990s.

The essence of the story is a pure reflection of the sect's views, its theoretical works and its main figure – Antonov, after whom it was named, the attributes of the members of this movement, etc.

A peculiar cult of death is created in the sect; all life, called in the sect "primordial mortality," is seen as preparation for death . Spiritual practices are developed in the sect, in particular the chanting of the mantra "Pushkin is great". The image of the poet plays a major role in the sect of the Antonovs. Another practice is the study of ancient Russian culture. Thus, matryoshka becomes supposedly a system of embedded dead people.

After Antonov's "self-realization" (in ordinary parlance, death), his "mardong," that is, a specially treated corpse turned into a statue, becomes a place of pilgrimage for the sectarians.

In the story, through the theory of a certain philosopher Antonov about the lifetime nurturing of the inner dead by each of the living people continues to embody and realize Pelevin's idea of eternity and the single essence of the human spirit and flesh, the living and the dead in the universe. According to Pelevin's Antonov, from the moment of birth every living person begins to nurture death, a corpse, because continuation of life leads to inevitable approach to death.

Life and death in Pelevin's philosophy turn out to be communicating vessels, those two entities that are inseparable from each other. According to Pelevin (or according to the conviction of his hero), the entire spiritual life [of man] must be oriented toward his "mardong," the dead man that we carry within us, for he becomes the transitional state of man from one being to another.

For all the ironic stance of the author, the underlying meaning of Pelevin's story turns out to be far from humorous. The popular phrase about the duality of light and darkness, right and left, life and death finds its philosophical realization in the author's text, which makes us think about the justice of his character's dialectical judgment.

And in this sense, Pelevin's creation of the word-neologism "mardongi" is almost on a par with the notion of Buddhist nirvana. It is as if the writer creates his own version of "Russian Buddhism", trying oriental truths on to the national mentality. That is, time, space, memory, sleep, life, death become in Pelevin the categories of one series, one philosophical system.

An alcoholic factory worker, Bill Kilcoyne, becomes the president of the local union, rises to national prominence, and becomes involved in corruption and racketeering. He is called to testify before the U.S. Senate where he tells his story.

Jerry and Louise Shoemaker are newlyweds who met at a lonely hearts club and rush into marriage.

A student nurse at a large hospital tries to help a patient scheduled for surgery and who declines to cooperate with the doctors. She is caught in a conflict between modern nursing practices and patients' need for human and emotional involvement.

Set in December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, a military doctor takes over a Franciscan seminary in Bastogne and tries to convert it into a hospital.

During the American Civil War, a Union scouting party kills a man and his teenage son as they attempt to defend their plantation. A soldier discovers a young girl hiding inside the mansion.

A woman converts a house into a home for unwed mothers and tries to help a teenage girl decide whether to keep her child or agree to an adoption.

An American soldier in postwar Japan has an affair with a Japanese woman. When he seeks to break it off, she tells him that she broke off her engagement to a Japanese man and that she expects him to do the same with his American fiancee.

A woman is offered a movie contract but prefers to stay at home with her children. Her husband pressures the woman to act and moves the family to Hollywood where she becomes a star.

The Harman Corp. is the subject of a takeover attempt by a corporate raider.

A young Spanish boy, Tanguy, is deprived of childhood by World War II. He is left in France when his mother returns to Spain to oppose the Franco regime.

The film takes place in the idyllic town of Solsund, where Per Haug lives. He is a pharmacist, bachelor, amateur painter, and leader of the political opposition in the city council. One day he rushes home from a stormy city council meeting and angrily paints a portrait of Mayor Abrahamsen. Haug's anger is not only due to different political views, but also to the fact that Abrahamsen is trying to seduce Haug's housekeeper.

One day, Haug is visited by a childhood friend from Oslo. When the friend travels home, he takes the portrait of their old school teacher painted by Haug. Haug learns that painting has become the sensation of the year at the Autumn Exhibition in Oslo.

Maggie (Lauren Cohan) is walking with her son Hershel in Alexandria when she meets Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), sharing a tense stare with him. Carol (Melissa McBride) observes this, and shortly after takes Negan to Leah's cabin, claiming the Alexandrian council voted to banish Negan so that he could live away from Maggie. Negan suspects this is Carol's doing and not the councils'. At night, Negan has hallucinations of his old antagonistic self and begins to debate himself. The next day, Negan returns to where he was defeated by Rick Grimes at the end of the Savior War, recalling how Michonne told him that his baseball bat "Lucille" was never recovered afterwards. Negan searches and digs up his long-lost bat as a walker approaches and he reflects on his past.

At the apocalypse's onset, Negan is a deadbeat husband to Lucille (Hilarie Burton-Morgan). Having lost his job as a high school gym teacher he spends his time playing video games. He recklessly spends money on items, including what would soon be his signature leather jacket, and has been having an affair with Lucille's friend Janine. At some point shortly before the apocalypse, Lucille is diagnosed with cancer and discovers Negan's affair, though she chooses not to tell him that she knows about the latter.

Seven months later, after society has fallen to the walkers, Negan continues to treat Lucille with scavenged medicine, attempting to follow a schedule provided from her doctor. After a walker is attracted by the noise of their generator, Negan turns it off, hoping that the walker will lose interest and leave; however Negan falls asleep without turning it back on, spoiling Lucille's medicine which is stored in a fridge. Devastated, he vows to find more medicine, but Lucille reveals she learned of his affair with Janine and knows that he is trying to make up for it; she insists that he has already made amends, and asks her to be with him as her inevitable death approaches. Negan refuses and leaves, unwilling to let her die.

Six weeks later, he encounters doctor Franklin (Miles Mussenden) and his adoptive daughter Laura (Lindsley Register). They give him his needed medicine, as well as Laura's baseball bat for defense. In unseen events Negan is captured and beaten by motorcycle gang Valak's Vipers, led by Craven (Rodney Rowland). Negan reluctantly gives them Franklin's location, and upon capturing Franklin and Laura the gang lets Negan go with the medicine. He returns to Lucille to find she had killed herself. A devastated Negan wraps the baseball bat in barbed wire, dons the leather jacket, and burns their house down. He returns to the bar Craven is based out of and takes out most of Valak's Vipers, helping Franklin and Laura go free; at some point later, Laura reunites with Negan and becomes part of what would soon be the Saviors. Negan then uses the bat, which he names "Lucille" to kill a subdued Craven.

In the present, the walker tries to attack Negan, but he kills it with Lucille. The blow combined with the bat's brittle condition after being buried and exposed to the elements for years causes Lucille to splinter and break beyond repair. That night, Negan memorializes his wife and apologizes to her for everything before burning the bat. At peace with his past, Negan returns to Alexandria, where Carol warns him that Maggie will likely try to kill him if he stays. She admits taking him to the cabin so his death would not be on her conscience – but now that he has returned, she will feel no guilt if he does die. Negan accepts whatever fate befalls him, and walks back into Alexandria, answering Maggie's hateful stare with a smirk.

In the early 20th century, Kate Croy moves into the London home of her wealthy aunt. The aunt forbids Croy from seeing the writer whom she loves.

Set in a small town on the wild and rugged coast of County Clare, Val Ahern, a devoted mother, is determined to protect her family and particularly her three daughters—Jenny, Anna and Grace—at any cost. When Val's husband Denis is found dead at the foot of a cliff near their home the morning after a family party, Val attempts to investigate the events that unfolded the night before.

Miho, mistress of married professor Keijiro, has been managing the Ginza bar owned by him and his wife Ayako for years, hoping that some day she might be made the owner as appreciation for her efforts. Instead, Ayako mortgages the bar for a new acquisition, leading to a conflict between the women. Keijiro avoids taking sides, continuing his affair with Miho. Encouraged by friends, Miho hires lawyer Minami to claim a severance pay. When her hope to win the case fades, she decides to fight for custody of Keijiro's children Hiroko and Susumu, who are her natural children, raised by Keijiro and the infertile Ayako as their own. In a final confrontation between Keijiro, Ayako and Miho, the children learn that Miho, who had always been introduced to them as their aunt, is their true mother. Hiroko scolds the adults for their insincerity, refusing to get involved in their schemes. Some time later, Hiroko has moved in with a student friend, disappointed with her parents. Miho, compensated with a small sum, plans to open a street food shop, while Ayako contemplates a divorce.

The story follows Jack as he works to join a rival soccer team after his father, a former soccer star and current club owner, cuts him from the team. Matters are complicated by the fact that his brother is also on the team he is forced to leave and eventually compete against.

In Japan, a VR-accessed multi-player online fantasy role-playing game named ''Leadale'', which offers a very liberal customization system, has become immensely popular in recent years. A young girl named Keina Kagami, rendered permanently paralzyed and on constant life support, uses this game from her hospital bed to interact with the rest of the world. When she unexpectedly dies after her life support shuts down during a power outage, she finds herself reborn into the game world of Leadale, in the body of her personal avatar Cayna. To her surprise, she also finds out that 200 years have passed in Leadale since she last logged into the game, a period in which the seven nations she knew were devastated by war and re-organized into three new kingdoms.

As Cayna begins making her way in this new world and meeting the three NPC children she had adopted in the game, she finds out that her death ruined ''Leadale's'' reputation, causing the game's shutdown. However, several other players ended up trapped inside the game as well, some of them for years, and the kingdoms of Felskeilo, Helshper and Otaloquess are increasingly plagued by attacks from high-level monsters, all stemming from ''Leadale's'' abrupt cancellation, which made them go rogue inside this world. What's more, one of the trapped players - a powerful one - seems to have set his sights on Cayna herself as his future bride.

A woman barrister at a prestigious London chambers tries to save a young man accused of murdering his wealthy aunt.

A troubled teenage boy, Raymond Austin, meets a Ellie, a provocative teenage beauty who introduces him to delinquents and youthful "beatniks".

The kitten Vaska and the puppy Bulka, thanks to the magic Crow move from snow-covered Voronezh to sunny Australia. There Vaska gets acquainted with kangaroos, koalas, wombats, ostriches and escapes with all his might from sharks and crocodiles. And then he invites new friends to his native Voronezh. The main characters will plunge into a whirlwind of incredible adventures and dangers, but also find new friends, and most importantly, they will understand that there is no better place like home on whole of Earth.

In Atlanta, thirty-somethings Peter and Emma are each dumped by their respective romantic partners: Peter's girlfriend Anne feels stifled by the complacency of their six-year relationship, and Emma's boyfriend Noah is discouraged by her lack of responsibility. Peter and Emma are both heartbroken, but after a chance meeting they become friends and try to help one another navigate their breakups. Emma confides in Peter that she considered Noah her "airplane safety mask person": the person she loved so much that she'd put on his emergency airplane oxygen mask before her own, which Peter dismisses as a silly thing to ever do. One desperate night, Emma and Peter devise a strategy to win back their exes by breaking up their new relationships: Emma will seduce Anne's new boyfriend Logan, and Peter plans to befriend Noah to convince him to breakup with his new girlfriend Ginny.

Peter gets Noah to be his personal trainer, while Emma volunteers for Logan's middle school production of ''Little Shop of Horrors''. Peter and Emma also grow closer; he reveals his dream of opening his own nursing home and she admits her lack of ambition is due to her father's terminal illness. Peter and Noah bond, while Emma successfully impresses Logan by pretending to share his love of theatre, stunning him with a passionate performance of "Suddenly, Seymour". She also helps a troubled student, Trevor, by providing him with guidance for navigating his father's extramarital affair.

After visiting a nightclub together, Peter convinces Noah to go home and take MDMA with three girls, only to learn the girls are minors. After fleeing, Noah tells Peter he is going to propose to Ginny, to Peter's dismay. Peter breaks into Ginny and Noah's to plant fake evidence of Noah's infidelity but can't do it, and instead witnesses Noah's heartfelt proposal. Meanwhile, Emma manages to talk an eager Logan and a hesitant Anne into attempting a threesome, but Anne ultimately expresses her discomfort and leaves, having decided she wants to get back with Peter. Reconvening, Peter tells Emma of Noah's engagement and, because he is resuming his relationship with Anne, remorsefully cuts contact with Emma, who is left heartbroken.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Peter and Emma are both invited to Noah's wedding in Savannah and they bring Anne and Logan as their dates. As Peter and Emma awkwardly reconnect, she reveals that she has moved out and is studying to become a school counselor. An embarrassing encounter ensues between all, and Peter realizes Anne never believed in him, while Emma did, leading him to confess his love for her in front of everyone. Emma reveals they conspired to break up each other's new partners, but does not reciprocate feelings for Peter. Anne and Logan break up with Peter and Emma while Ginny demands they leave the wedding and Noah punches Peter. At a hotel the following morning, Peter and Anne reconcile and agree they aren't meant to be together. Emma apologizes to Noah, finally realizing they were not compatible. Peter and Emma take the same flight home, when heavy turbulence causes the oxygen masks to fall, and Peter rushes out of his seat to help Emma put her mask on first before his. As the turbulence subsides, Emma and Peter smile at one another.

After losing his beloved wife, Alba, in a riding accident during her early pregnancy, Diego, Duke of Castamar, has become reclusive, refusing to end his mourning period two years later. The King of Spain, along with Diego’s mother, Mercedes, are concerned and want Diego to return to service with the royal council. The King convinces Diego to throw a party at Castamar to mark the end of his mourning, and Mercedes, along with Marquis Enrique de Arcona, conspire to make a match between Diego and a young woman named Amelia Castro. Mercedes invites Amelia to stay at Castamar, hoping that her son will fall in love with her. She is unaware that Enrique has Amelia under his control, and is hoping to use her as an inside woman to bring down Diego, whom he hates for marrying the woman he loved.

Meanwhile, Clara Belmonte, an orphan who has suffered agoraphobia since her father’s death in the war, is advised by Fray Juan, a monk and friend of her father, to take a job in the kitchens at Castamar - she has to use laudanum to make the journey without being overcome by fear. She befriends Rosália, a ward of Diego’s with a learning disability. Shortly after Clara’s arrival, the housekeeper catches the head cook having an illicit affair and fires her; Clara, who has loved cooking all her life and is extremely talented, takes over. The meal is impressive, and Clara is promoted to head cook. Upstairs at the party, Lady Sol Montijos continues her affair with the young Francisco Marlango under the nose of her elderly husband; Diego’s friend Alfredo also continues an affair with Ignatio, a friend of Enrique, against his own better judgement. Enrique sleeps with Amelia, causing her to fall pregnant; Amelia confides in Sol, and Enriques uses the affair as further leverage to force Amelia on Diego.

When the king goes missing on his way to the party, Clara finds him in the wine cellar, in the midst of a psychotic episode; maddened by guilt, he believes he should not be king and hands Clara a letter of abdication as she nurses him. She and Diego attempt to keep all this hidden, but the queen instructs Diego’s butler, Melquíades Elquiza, who is a spy of hers, to find the letter. Diego discovers Elquiza’s prying and chooses instead to go to the queen himself; she agrees to keep the secret.

Having accepted the role of Secretary of the Council, Diego begins to fall in love, not with Amelia, but with Clara. Meanwhile, Amelia is plagued by an impatient Enrique, who is being blackmailed by Lady Sol - the only other person who knows that he impregnated Amelia - to kill her husband in exchange for her silence on the matter. Amelia finds solace in Diego’s brother, Gabriel, whom she initially snubbed due to his black ancestry. He rescues her from a suicide attempt, but she continues to hide the truth from him, turning instead to Sol, who helps her drug Diego and stage a sexual encounter. Believing he has compromised her honour, Diego agrees to marry her. Meanwhile, Clara is left reeling at the discovery that her father is still alive, in hiding due to a false claim of murder against him.

Tragedy strikes when Rosália dies during a visit from a popular castrato singer. Clara, who had promised to care for her, is wracked with guilt, bringing her closer to Diego. Sol becomes increasingly desperate to escape her husband, who is close to discovering her affair with Francisco. With Amelia’s future apparently secure, Enrique arranges the murder, but frames Francisco in the process; to keep her involvement quiet, Sol is forced to kill Francisco herself. Enrique also attempts to drive Clara out by revealing that her father is to be hanged for murder. Distraught, Clara gets lost out in a storm and is very ill for several days; Diego rescues and nurses her, and confesses his love for her; he is ready to give up his title to marry her, but when the king and queen find out, Amelia’s pregnancy is revealed to him to ensure that he remains loyal to her, as he believes he is the father.

Gabriel, suspecting that Enrique and Sol have blackmail material on Amelia, begins to investigate; however, Enrique, seeing him as a threat, arranges for him to be kidnapped and sold into slavery. While Clara and Diego search for evidence that can acquit her father and save him from execution, kitchen worker Beatriz discovers that her lover, Leftie - a former employee at Castamar, who trained Alba’s horse to kill her on Sol’s command - has been involved in the kidnap of Gabriel. She reveals this information to Alfredo shortly before being killed. Sol reveals her work in the death of Alba to Enrique, who loved Alba and always believed that her death was a mishap in his own, similar plan to kill Diego; she then attempts to leave the country, but is later found dead. Diego succeeds in getting information from Leftie and is able to rescue Gabriel. As Diego searches for Enrique, the latter reveals Alfredo and Ignacio’s affair publicly, and only Ignacio escapes the law.

Upon finding Enrique, Diego challenges him to a duel; Clara discovers this and overcomes her agoraphobia to go after him. He is badly injured, so she takes his sword and kills Enrique. As Diego recovers, Gabriel asks Amelia to run away with him, but she refuses and the wedding is set to go ahead. The execution of Clara’s father is also going ahead; Clara prepares to go, and, on Amelia’s suggestion, decides not to return to Castamar afterwards. Diego confesses to the king that he killed Enrique, and why; instead of arresting him, the king thanks him and asks him to educate his son, Prince Luis. When Diego accepts, the king offers him a favour, and Diego asks him to pardon Clara’s father, who is saved just in time.Just before the wedding, the Castamar family discover the truth about Amelia’s child, and the wedding is cancelled. Six months later, Gabriel goes to visit a desolate Amelia, who has given birth, and promises to take care of her and her child. Clara, who has published her cookbook, is enjoying a comfortable life with her father - upon seeing a copy of the book, Diego gives up the Duchy of Castamar so he can finally marry her.

Three young woman who had ambitions of becoming superstars meet at an audition ground where they had similar dreams, they became friends and later on in life had their dreams come through but they felt that something was missing in their lives after achieving fame and wealth.

After the death of her mother, a teenage girl, Barbara, moves in with her mother's best friend, Dorothy. Barbara learns how Dorothy dominates the family. The husband, Louis, is a whipped and beaten man. Dorothy encourages Louis to venture from his corner of the garden, and the two have an affair.

An English lawyer runs for Parliament and his American wife decides to leave him at the height of the campaign. A London gossip columnist blackmails the lawyer after discovering an attractive jewel thief in the lawyer's house. The drama climaxes after the woman disappears.

A story of murder on the cattle trail in the old West. Three sons, a daughter-in-law and a hired man all hate the dictatorial Old Man Grant and conspire against him. It was taped outdoors in the Conejo Valley near Los Angeles.

''Joran'' is set in an alternate historical Japan, the 64th year of the Meiji era (1931 A.D.), where the shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu continued to reign over Japan instead of handing over power to a Prime Minister. The nation of Japan discovered the , a unique energy source, within its own borders that allowed Japan to dramatically increase its technological progress through the Edo period. Despite this unexpected prosperity, the government is threatened by an insurgent group known as "Kuchinawa," which hates the isolationist policies of Tokugawa and aims to overthrow the Shogunate. In response, the Tokugawa government has created "Nue," a secret police organization dedicated to rooting out Kuchinawa. Sawa Yukimura is orphaned after her family are murdered by Kuchinawa to obtain a quantity of their blue blood which has the ability to transform humans into "Changelings", demonic beasts associated with animals. She unwillingly becomes an assassin for Nue in the hope of seeking revenge on her family's murderers.

A young, inexperienced medical man signs up as a ship's doctor for a voyage from Liverpool to Rio de Janeiro and enjoys a series of unlikely adventures.

"For the Birds" is a one-page "science fiction joke". The story takes place in 1995, where pollution has resulted in the rooks that live in London dying off. Concerned that this will impact on tourism, the London City Council looks to source replacement rooks from a place with a similar climate until the pollution problem can be resolved. The Council appoints an ornithologist and sends him to Bangor, Maine where he begins incubating rooks. Impatient to see progress, the Council sends the ornithologist a daily telegram reading "Bred any good rooks lately?"

An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel about a talented young man from a poor background who strives to win the unattainable rich girl. Set on Long Island, the wealthy Daisy Buchanan falls in love with Jay Gatsby, an Army captain. While Gatsby fights in the war, Daisy is pressured by her family to marry Tom Buchanan, a man of their social set. Five years pass, and Gatsby now owns a huge estate on Long Island. Daisy's cousin, Nick Carraway, rents Gatsby's gate house for the summer. Gatsby hosts lavish parties and seeks to reconnect with Daisy.

The story shows the reality of the USSR of the 1970s and 1980s as seen by Pelevin. The satirical story is set in a fictional city-state. Soviet realities are taken to the point of absurdity: everyone is working on nuclear and chemical weapons, posters glorifying the three main ideologues of power hang everywhere, an allusion to Marx, Engels and Lenin.

The main character is an American spy who forgot about it, constantly drinking with the rest of the men. But an atomic bomb went off at the plant and hit him in the kidneys, which made the hero not drink for two weeks and remembered that he had to run away.

In the story, almost all of the dialogues of the main characters take place on Newspeak. However, it is worth noting that Orwell's Newspeak is based on the "destruction of words", on the truncation of meanings, while Pelevin, on the contrary, forms it in order to "increase the meanings". His speech constructions do not destroy the original meaning of the word, on the contrary, they give it other, additional meanings.

Thus the words, peace, labor, May, which were used in the Soviet Union as political slogans, are used in the story as components of a nonnormative vocabulary. Thus Plevin's deconstruction does not destroy the former meaning of the word, but gives it one new, additional meaning.

The super-real, esoteric meaning is revealed in the story as if accidentally, being discovered unexpectedly, suddenly, being voiced, for example, by a voice from the loudspeaker (voice from the ether).

The characters of the novel are both people with ordinary names and surnames and also the cogs of the big machine. The author tries in every way to show the duality of the world he is describing.

For example, the characters in the story "The Bulldozer's Day" fall out of the circle of obedience and coercion due to rather anecdotal circumstances: as a result of a severe injury at the factory (the hydrogen bomb factory), he never takes alcohol, experiencing in this way a strange piety - as if he had lost his life. In this painful state of mind.

The metamorphosis of the hero's consciousness replaces Pelevin's key process of liberation from the blackout, so that the satirical-magrotesque is replaced by surrealist techniques. Thus, the vision of a hero who has lost his consciousness in the muse of glory is presented as an allegory of patience and the meaning of life. From the turgid air and the layered cramped and blackened hut in which he is condemned to keep Kopchenov's son (an analogue of Kopchenov's cave with spiders, an emblem of death), the hero literally slips through the door, behind which he sees the sun, white light and a thin white silhouette (emblematic of light and open space).

In the second, unseen view, the hero flashes through a series of scenes from the horrific life of the ocean: a glittering, electrifying night city, a crowd of happy and carefree people, a table at the restaurant with unlikely bottles and packs of Winston. His memory is unlocked through the phonetic mimicry of the few words in Russian that he repeats. In this way, the hero's true self, who has barely turned into a zombie, bursts into the depths of consciousness.

The story The Day of the Bulldozer is constructed from fragments of a Soviet myth, anecdote and a spy novel, edited in accordance with a non-cinematic principle of still photography: close-ups prevail, episodes are fast-moving and descriptions are driven by zooming in and out.

The script's editing fixes the events that take place in the present time of narration and presents an interrupted video sequence of realistic depictions of the life of Uran Bator and "visions" of the hero-character. Pelevin's "surrealism" is of the highest degree logical and rational, using it as a constructive device: to bend the mirror (the traditional emblem of anthiutopia) so that one sees the distorted but recognizable features and contours of reality, unnoticed before due to the inertia or "zombification" of the totalitarian consciousness. However, Pelevin's story does not fit into the parameters of the satirical grotesque; it does not contain satirical pathos, but some other - "strange" overtones are audible.

Donald Duck is tending his garden when he spot bees. Deciding to raid the hive for honey, he follows them. Unfortunately, there is a bee guarding the hive, so Donald disguises himself as a bee in order to gain access. The hive is inaccurately run by a king bee rather than a queen as in real life.

The control of Çukur, a district of Istanbul, identified with crime, is in the hands of the Koçovalı family. Although it is so closely related to crime, the family has its own rules. One of these rules is the drug ban. Drugs are not produced, used or sold in Çukur, but groups that are new to the game try to break the ban.

In the story the author undertakes an artistic study of the process of formation of the child, starting from the moment of awareness of himself as a person, fixing the main stages of understanding of the world around him.

The hero of the story grew up in prison, his first impressions of childhood firmly imprinted spatial reference points, which in the conditions of limited senses became the fundamental basis of his worldview. Among them is the gap between the bricks, in which "you can see a frozen strip of mortar, curved in a wave. This was what the child first saw when waking up every morning: "the sunny hare in the gap between the bricks was the first morning greeting from the vast world in which we live...".

The streak of sunshine through the window is filled with fluffy dust particles and the tiniest twisted hairs. It begins to seem to the child that there is some little world living according to its own laws: he sees "all around him disguised areas of complete freedom and happiness.

Thus, in the story, the traditional motif of the formation and maturation of personality is embodied in the continuous world of the author. The second-person narrative creates the necessary reflection and allows the main metaphor of the story to unfold in parallel. V. Pelevin speaks about the desire to break free from prison and at the same time conducts the idea of overcoming the limited human consciousness, being in captivity of illusions about the conditions of his being.

For the child who is not aware that he is in prison, the basic qualities and parameters of being are deprived of a sense of unfreedom. On the contrary, he perceives his space as expanding because his little one "was let out for a whole day, and you could walk all the corridors, look everywhere, and wander into places where you could be the first person after the construction workers."

The illusion of freedom in the confined world of the prison gradually emerges in the story. The real space and time-the prison space-contains signs of unfreedom: bars, closed doors, a dead end, a grid on the window, adults who confine the space.

The metaphysical dimensions, incomprehensible to a child's mind, contain signs of the meaninglessness of the world around them. This is the motif of reading in the story, during which the boy is surrounded by "meaningless blackness" as he encounters the unfamiliar words "ontology," "intellectual." Adult explanations do not clarify the meaning, and as the boy grows older himself, he begins to realize "how uninteresting and squalid all that you have managed to reread so many times.

Nevertheless, the child feels part of being, and his carefully guarded memories of life's best moments eventually become happiness. The child's vivid sense of happiness is associated with the conquest of space, with movement, that fundamental attribute of matter's existence. The boy takes the rare opportunity to run down the empty prison corridor.

The few seconds of incomparable freedom as he fits into a long arc on a bend cannot be destroyed even by the fact that the corridor ends in a dead end, a window draped with wire mesh.

The sounds inside the prison, uninteresting "because of their habituality and explainability," are contrasted with the sounds coming from the window - "the only evidence of the existence of the rest of the world, and every sound from there is extraordinarily important.

Understanding one's own existence transforms the child, separates him or her from the surrounding meaningless world and makes him or her self-sufficient. The world changes every day, acquiring a new shade of meaning. The boy's childhood world was brighter and happier because of the little joys of childhood. New dimensions come to the hero as he gains his experience.

As he grows older, his world becomes more and more uncomplicated, because there are fewer hidden things around him, which paradoxically leads to a reduction in the scale of personality, up to and including complete disappearance. It is not only the world that subtly changes in each particular moment. Human consciousness, according to Pelevin, is just as changeable.

In this way he arrives at a Buddhist understanding of the meaning of life.

The story is a monologue and reflection of a painter of modern art.

At an exhibition of modern art, the painter Niksim Skolpovsky talks about a new direction, "vibrationalism". The lecture is attended by several elderly female workers of the Burevestnik factory, who probably got there by accident. As an example of a work of vibrationalism he demonstrates a simulacrum of a human being, "a mannequin with a remote eliminator and a built-in death reminder. This mannequin is assembled "from a multitude of random objects pulled together by thin wires.

When the saw's blade, located near the head, is turned on, it begins to cut one by one the wires, which causes the dummy to disintegrate. Simultaneously with the beginning of the saw's work the bell - a reminder of death - was also turned on.

At the end of the lecture Niksim Skolpovsky says: "The built-in reminder warned of impending death, but could the mannequin hear it ringing? And even if he could, did he understand its meaning? This is what vibrationalism invites us to ponder.

During the lecture, the elderly women in attendance begin to gradually shrink and at the end become no more than specks of dust. Niksim sweeps up these dust particles with a broom and pours them into an envelope. And if the mannequin, which embodies the virtual corporeality, is "resurrected," that is, restored as a permanent exhibit, then the physical corporeality of the visitors is reduced to ashes. Thus, in the fictional "vibrationalism" the author has encoded the philosophy of Zen Buddhism.

At the end of the story, Nixim thinks about a sore root tooth. Although he has the power to reduce people to the size of dust particles, he cannot cope with his own toothache. He, too, finds himself in the role of a dummy, unable to understand that the toothache is a reminder of his own death.

The second point, mocked humorously by the author, is that the audience at the exhibition does not understand at all what the artist Niksim Skolpovsky is saying to them, which is generally typical of most contemporary art exhibitions.

The author himself plays with ideas and terms, while slightly mocking his readers. It is very reminiscent of his own statement: "Being forced by the nature of my occupations to meet a lot of heavy idiots from literary circles, I have developed the ability to participate in their conversations without really thinking about what they are talking about, but freely juggling with ridiculous words like 'realism', 'theurgy' or even 'theosophical coke'. In Chapaev's terminology, this meant learning the language spoken by the masses. And he himself, as I understood it, didn't even bother to know the words he spoke."

Emine is pregnant, when her husband Ali joins the army. Since Ali has no relatives in the village, he asks Emine to go back to her father's village, until he returns from the military service. Emine who does not want to be a burden to anyone in the absence of her husband, prefers to stay in the village relying on the job that Midwife Nazife has found for her. In this way, Emine believes that she can more easily endure her husband's absence.

The job that Midwife Nazife has found for Emine is actually a trap. Hosts Handan and Cemal are aimed at stealing Emine's baby by compromising with Midwife Nazife. In this way, Handan wants to take money from her father who is longing for grandchildren, and to make him forgive herself and her husband Cemal who is a losing gambler. After Emine gives birth to her baby named ''Ayşe'', Ebe Nazife and Handan send Emine to visit her sick husband in the army and kidnap Ayşe. Bad news awaits Emine, when she comes back. Midwife Nazife tells Emine that Ayşe is dead. When Ali cannot hear from Emine for a long time, Ali decides to go home on sick leave and receives the bitter news.

Growing up as the daughter of a wealthy family, years later Ayşe is now a young girl. A surprise awaits Ayşe, when she goes on vacation to her friend's farm.

A young woman joins a dangerous scrap metal crew in order to pay her way to college. With her goal in sight, she realizes the ultimate cost for education is more than she bargained for, and finds herself torn between a promising future and a family she would be leaving behind.

Vivien is a high school student who loves math and physics. Steve is the clean-cut star of the high school swim team, and Vivien's boyfriend. Roy on the other hand is poor, has many tattoos, and is underperforming on the swim team. If he doesn't improve his times, he'll miss out on a college scholarship and be forced to work at his dad's garage.

Vivien's suspicion that her mother is having an affair is confirmed when she trails her mother and sees her indiscreetly making out with another man at a local restaurant.

Steve is an inattentive boyfriend. He has been disappearing without calling or texting to let Vivien know where he is. Vivien is unhappy because of Steve, and not confident of her knowledge, she puts off taking her physics test.

Steve has been remote with Vivien because he is in a relationship with Dylan, the swim coach. Roy has seen Steve and Dylan kissing, but he hasn't said anything. Nevertheless, Steve has threatened Roy about keeping the secret. Steve and Roy go to Rome for a swim meet.

Vivien confronts her mother and learns that her parents separated a year ago. Distraught, she goes to Rome to be with Steve, but ends up spending the day walking around the city with Roy. At the end of the day, they kiss. Embarrassed, Vivien goes back to her room, only to find Steve and his coach in bed together. Shocked and heartbroken, Vivien runs out of the hotel with Roy chasing after her. She goes into a dark street and is hit by a car.

After initial treatment by the doctors in Rome, Vivien is transported to a hospital back home. When she wakes up, she doesn't remember anything that happened in Rome. Steve lies to her that she spent the day with him, while Roy leaves her alone. Eventually, Vivien remembers what actually happened and goes to meet Roy. Newly confident in herself, she takes her physics test.

In 1956 Chicago, Leonard Burling is an English cutter who runs a shop in a neighborhood controlled by Irish Mob boss Roy Boyle. Boyle's son and second-in-command, Ritchie, and his chief enforcer, Francis, use Burling's shop as a stash house for dirty money; Burling tolerates this arrangement as the Boyles and their men are his best customers. Burling also shares a complicated relationship with shop receptionist Mable, who is also Ritchie's girlfriend. Mable has no interest in Burling's trade and ownership of the store, wanting instead to leave Chicago and travel the world.

One night, Francis shows up at the shop with Ritchie, who's been shot in the torso after a confrontation with the rival LaFontaine family, a black criminal organization. Burling is forced at gunpoint to treat Ritchie's wounds and hide a briefcase containing a copy of an FBI recording with detailed information on the crew's operations, which was provided by the "Outfit", a nationwide syndicate founded by Al Capone that protects criminal groups from the law. Francis gets in touch with Roy and departs, leaving Burling and Ritchie alone. The two men converse and start to bond, and Burling takes advantage of Ritchie's naivety to convince him that Francis is an informant and plans to hand the tape over to the FBI.

When Francis returns, Burling intercepts him, claiming that Ritchie is light-headed and delusional from blood loss. Ritchie threatens Francis, who is forced to kill him in self-defense. He and Burling then hide Ritchie's body just as Roy arrives with his bodyguard Monk. The two men lie and tell him that Ritchie left the store on his own; Francis volunteers to go find him. Roy notices his son's coat in the store's backroom and threatens Burling, demanding the truth. Francis then returns with Mable in tow, claiming that he found Ritchie's blood in her apartment. When Roy orders his men to torture her for information, Burling distracts him by revealing the reason why he came to Chicago: his wife and daughter were both killed in a fire at his former store on Savile Row.

When the shop's phone rings, Burling answers it; he tells Roy that Ritchie is still alive and waiting for him. Roy and Monk depart but leave Francis behind. Burling then explains to Francis why he lied: Mable is an FBI informant. Burling deduces that she started dating Ritchie just so she could spy on his family, blaming them for her father's murder, which Mable confirms. Burling directs Mable to call Violet LaFontaine, give her the fake location so she can ambush and kill Roy and his men, and offer to sell the recording. Francis is persuaded to go along with the plan when Burling tells him he can gun down Violet when she arrives at his store; with Roy dead, he will then be perfectly positioned to take over the crew.

Violet presents Mable with a large sum of money for the recording; Burling uses hand signals to warn her about Francis before staging an argument to lure him out. Francis is shot twice by Violet's bodyguards, and they leave with the tape. However, Burling then reveals that the "recording" is a fake. Mable realizes that he has been deceiving the Boyles from the start by planting messages from the Outfit, setting up a bug so they would incriminate themselves, and coaching her to trick both them and LaFontaine.

Burling gives her the real tape and the money and urges her to go and live her dreams. As Burling douses the store with flammable liquid and lights it with a match, Francis gets up and shoots him in the arm before his gun runs out of bullets; he then pulls out a knife. Burling undoes the buttons on his sleeves, revealing that his arms are heavily tattooed. As the fire in the back of the shop burns, he tells Francis that in his youth he was a gang enforcer until he was ordered to commit a heinous crime. Fleeing from his gang, he reinvented himself and started a family, until his old gang found them and burned down his shop. Francis lunges at Burling and a struggle ensues. Burling fatally stabs Francis in the neck with his prized fabric shears. Wearing a dark jacket to hide his wounds, Burling quietly leaves the store as it continues to burn.

Alex Winter is the young bride of a wealthy elderly man, Clyde Winter. She marries the elderly man after the breakup of her relationship with Leo West who later returns to woo her. The man's longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Downey, is suspicious of Alex's motives. The play concerns "patterns of guilt among the characters."

A Confederate prisoner of war returns to Mississippi after the end of the American Civil War. His father is viewed as a traitor because he did not participate in scorched-earth practices. The former POW falls in love with the wife of a man who operates a Mississippi River gambling boat.

Following the death of Jesse James, his peace-loving, law-abiding son, Jesse Jr., and his uncle Frank return to the family's home town, hoping to live peaceably and raise horses. The daughter of a town leader, Mary Brecker, is attracted to Jesse Jr. They are ambushed by Tom Barnes, whose father was killed by Jesse Sr. They are also framed for a bank robbery and chased by a posse.

After his father's death, a boy raised on a lunar mining colony goes on a journey exploring a mysterious crater with his four best friends, before he is permanently relocated to another planet.

Victor Martin is a retired Air Force pilot and lifelong bachelor who relives his youth cruising in his mint condition, silver, 1955 Porsche 356, usually accompanied by his best friend, retired jeweler Sal Spinelli. Victor and Sal encounter Pablo Torres, driving a vintage Chevrolet Impala lowrider and challenge him to a friendly drag race. However, Pablo is aware that there is a cop hiding ahead, and proceeds within the speed limit, letting Victor get pulled over. The police officer recognizes Victor as a well known character in the community and lets him off with a stern warning.

On a subsequent evening, Victor and Sal encounter Pablo again and actually drag race. Victor loses control and spins out and is charged with reckless driving. His license is revoked and his Porsche impounded as a result.

Forced to ride the bus, Victor meets Caroline Summers who owns an organic cafe called the "Cuckoo Cafe" and heads a grassroots organization to save the endangered desert tortoise. Victor particularly wins her heart when he and Sal, using Sal's expertise as a jeweler, repair a 19th century cuckoo clock, a family heirloom of Caroline's, which had not functioned for years, but for which her Cafe is named.

Victor's relationship with Caroline is not without rough patches. Victor's worst faux-pas is accusing Caroline of having an affair with Diego Lozana, a successful painter. It turns out that Caroline spends a lot of time with him because he is the main benefactor of her charity to save the tortoise, and she has commissioned him to paint a partially nude portrait of her (which resulted in Victor seeing her in a state of undress in his presence). It turns out that Diego is gay and happily married to a man. Victor must humbly apologize to Caroline.

Victor, twice, believes he sees his Porsche being driven in the area, and with the help of Pablo, who has befriended him and feels somewhat responsible for Victor losing his car and license, catches the private security guard at the impound lot illegally renting it out. The excitement and anger of this discovery cause Victor to have a heart attack and Pablo drives him to the hospital in the Porsche. Theft charges for taking the Porsche from the impound lot are dropped due to the emergency of the heart attack.

Eventually, Victor passes the necessary written and behind the wheel tests to get his driver's license reinstated. He sells his Porsche to Pablo for far below its value as thanks for saving his life, and buys a BMW i8 to replace it, and Sal is seen cruising in Pablo's lowrider, apparently having bought it.

Through their relationship, Victor develops a passion for saving the desert tortoise, and Caroline develops a guilty pleasure of riding in fast cars, despite her environmentalist leanings.

The series follows Hofmann, one of the most accomplished forgers in history, who created forgeries related to the Latter-day Saint movement. Hofmann created explosive devices resulting in two deaths, and was exposed as a forger and sent to prison.

In Bahía Bonita, a small town by the sea, Arnoldo opens his Ristorantino with Francis who is now Head of Waiters. Arnoldo will revive the place by creating unique food experiences with his delicious and healthy dishes. But he's going to have some competition: the villain siblings, Malú and Keno Malvatti, who produce and sell processed food from a very techie food truck that they park right in front of the Ristorantino. In each episode, Arnoldo and his team try to delight Ristorantino's clients despite the Malvattis' hilarious plans to sabotage them. Here, music, friendship, and fun will always be the main ingredients!

The novel starts with Rashed's only daughter Mridu's school going incident; the girl faces problem when army troops stop her in road from going to school. Rashed's wife name is Mumtaz who listens radio announcement that martial law has been imposed all over the country. Later Rashed watches television with her daughter that the army generals have come in power.

Rashed later imagines his childhood life when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan and in 1958 when General Ayub Khan imposed martial law. Social changes come in Bangladesh after General Uddin Mohammad imposes martial law; Rashed observes that society is becoming more conservative, girls and women are losing their freedom and also the society is becoming religious gradually.

Three siblings: oldest brother Rory, youngest brother Leo, and a middle sister named Ellen are sent to live with their selfish, greedy Aunt Vera in her boarding house, The Rimini House after the deaths of their parents.

It premiered on 26 September 1992 and ran for 95 episodes over three series, ending in 1995.

The protagonist of the story is a woman named ''Dukhaharin'', whose husband ''Nasaïl'' is a drunkard who have sell everything of house for drinking. There is nothing at home, he comes everyday after drinking and beats his wife and younger son. The elder son ''Sankar'' was driven to Calcutta due to his father's alcohol addiction. The wife is most sad when her husband goes to a prostitute, one day she approaches that prostitute with her son and begs him to leave her husband. Finally, her elder son returns from Calcutta after five years earning a lot of money, and keeps his mother and younger brother happy.

A man suspects his friend may be a sociopath and goes to extreme lengths to uncover the truth about him.

The opening scene is a traffic accident. Two teenagers lie on the road, the girl barely moving, the boy, motionless. Teenager Tessa wakes up in the hospital.

In a flashback set 182 days before, Tessa spends the morning taking photos in the coastal town, wandering into the local theater to watch an old French film. Skylar, the other person at the movie, offers to translate. He is a true romantic, he and Tessa have very different views.

In a flashback set 102 days before, Tessa is encouraged to apply to the RISD for her photography skills. Later, while shooting a rowing meet, she finally finds Skylar again. They both obviously had been searching for each other. They spend the day together, and she shows him the world through her eyes. At the Empyrean, an abandoned honeymooners hotel he teaches her to waltz and they kiss. He tells her he’ll be back at the end of the month to stay for the summer.

In the present, Tessa is back at school, and is reminded of the RISD deadline. Later, going home, she throws out her developing materials. Her adoptive dad reminds her that her mother never stuck to anything. Dreaming of Skylar, she wakes up to see her Robert Doisneau print of Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville. Flashback: July 4. After the fireworks, she shows him her darkroom, portfolio and opens up about her mother flaking out, forcing her into the foster care system. They go out on a boat during the day, he shows her how to row, he declares his love and they make love on the shore.

Tessa tells her friend Shannon about The In Between, the concept of a window of time in which someone recently deceased needs to have a final contact before moving on. Sitting the SAT, weirdly Skylar moves her hand on her answer sheet to draw what seems to be a non-sensical scribble. Then their song, ‘Never tear us apart’ comes up simultaneously on everyone’s silenced mobiles.

Flashback: 11 days before the accident. Skylar angers Tessa when he puts a photo she gifted him in a photo exhibit to show her talent. Her inability to express her feelings comes up. He wants her to realize they could have a future and she continues to hold back. Photographing her adoptive mother, she’s advised to try to admit her feelings out loud.

Shannon helps Tessa try to channel Skylar after reading several books. First they try with a planchette, scrying, and instrumental trans-communication Electronic voice phenomenon which, unbeknownst to them, works on the TV. Getting in her adoptive mother’s car, the built-in GPS shows her the same route she had scribbled on her SAT sheet. So, she blows off returning the car, following the route, arriving to the In Between author Doris she met in the hospital. She suggests Tessa seek him where they had their strongest moments. Flashback: 5 days before the accident. Tessa discovers Skylar has decided to go to Oregon to support his father for the year, leaving her on the East coast. She takes it as a sign, as she finally has applied to RISD and was about to express her love, and she breaks it off.

After buying special photography equipment, Shannon drives Tessa to the places she and Skylar had most closely connected, hoping to catch his image/connect. Finally they do connect at The Empyrean, but not completely, and he shatters a mirror trying to reach her. The police catch up with her there, traced through her mobile. At home, her adoptive parents are on top of her, she collapses, and in the hospital she’s told her heart needs to be repaired the next day. Shannon sneaks her out, with Skylar’s help (he manipulates some electronics, distracting the nurses), who then guides them to the site of the accident.

In a flashback to the night of the accident, Shannon convinces Tessa to catch Skylar before he leaves. The timelines overlap. As paramedics attend Tessa’s collapsed body, reunited with Skylar briefly, they are in Paris, in black and white, and mimic the Doisneau print Le baiser… They are back at a house on the beach, and she hears from far off her adoptive mom calling her back. Tearfully, she reminds him that ´love never dies’, deciding to go back to live.

In a mid-credits scene, Tessa and Skylar are wandering around the beach drawing stick figures on sand.

The sci-fi adventure follows Sara Morse (Berry) one year since her husband mysteriously vanished from their rural farm. When she discovers a strange, extraterrestrial object underneath their home, Sara and her kids embark on a race to find their husband, father, and most importantly – the truth.

A married American bomber pilot, Capt. Neil Dameron, is stationed at an air base in England during World War II. He falls in love with an English entertainer, Sidney Cantrell, and they find "a few moments of happiness in the midst of the grimness of war." In order to avoid being returned to the United States, and hoping to see the woman again, he volunteers for a dangerous mission.

In a hotel room, Nancy Stokes welcomes a young sex worker named Leo Grande. Nancy is anxious, having booked him online in a rare moment of self-indulgence within a largely repressed life. Nancy explains that her husband, who died two years ago, was the only sexual partner she ever had, and their sex life was extremely unfulfilling. Her husband never allowed her to perform oral sex on him or performed it on her, declaring the act to be demeaning to him. Nancy has never experienced an orgasm in her life, only faking them for her husband during the passionless missionary sex they never deviated from. Nancy is also inscure about her physical appearance and age, which Leo has no qualms about and encourages her to embrace.

Nancy talks with Leo so she can be comfortable enough to be physically intimate. She shares details about her adult children, whom she feels disappointed by, and her previous work as a religious education teacher. Leo reciprocates with some details about his life, including that his mother believes him to be an oil rig worker. Despite hiding his actual job from his family, Leo expresses no shame or regret about sex work, considering it a necessary service, and assuaging Nancy's embarrassment over hiring him.

Nancy recounts the most sensual experience she ever had was as a teenager on a family holiday in Greece; a hotel worker took an interest in her, and while they were alone in the hotel garden, he began kissing and fingering her before being interrupted and running away. Seeing Nancy aroused and relaxed by her own story, Leo fingers and kisses her.

A week later, Nancy meets Leo in the same room for a second session, having been satisfied, despite not achieving an orgasm. Nancy presents Leo with a bucket list of sexual activities she wishes to experience for the first time, beginning with fellatio. However, Nancy is again anxious about being intimate with Leo. Her nerves are worsened by phone calls from her daughter, who has overly relied on Nancy since her father's death. Leo relaxes Nancy through dancing and a massage. When Leo advises her to not obsess over finishing her entire list of sex acts in one night, Nancy talks about sacrificing her youth and potential adventures for her family. Leo reveals he has a younger brother in the military, from whom he is estranged.

Leo suggests Nancy book more sessions to reduce the pressure she is placing on herself to perform. This offends Nancy, who accuses him of trying to make more money off her. She asks Leo why he does sex work, and he explains he obtains genuine pleasure from seeing his clients be pleasured, whoever they are and whatever their preferences may be. Nancy sees Leo becoming aroused as he describes his work, which in turn arouses her, and she finally performs fellatio on him.

Nancy books Leo for a third session in the same room. This time he performs oral sex on her, the second item on her list, which she enjoys, but still does not bring her to orgasm. Nancy attempts to pry Leo for more details about his life, which he deflects, saying that he is there to provide a fantasy and nothing more. Nancy admits to cyberstalking Leo and uncovering his real name: Connor. Nancy asks if they can be friends outside of these sessions, encourages Leo to tell his family about his work, and even offers to speak to his mother on his behalf.

Upset at Nancy's invasion of his privacy, Leo gets dressed and tells Nancy to never book him again, threatening to expose her as a client if she attempts to contact his family or reveal his personal details to anyone else. Shortly after storming out, Leo returns to retrieve a cell phone he left in the room. Before finding his phone and leaving, Leo admits his mother disowned him when he was 15 years old, out of disgust for who he was, and tells people he is dead.

Nancy books Leo for a fourth session but arranges to meet him in the hotel's cafe so she can apologise to him and say goodbye. She takes responsibility for her behaviour and admits her real name is Susan Robinson. She thanks Leo for making her feel confident in herself and sexually awakened. She has recommended Leo to several women within her circle, whom she believes desperately need his services as much as she had. In turn, Leo reveals the reason his mother disowned him is because she caught him and several friends having group sex when he was a teenager. His mother will still not acknowledge his existence, even walking past him when they recently saw each other in public. However, Leo revealed his job to his brother, and they are beginning to talk again.

A waitress named Becky turns out to be one of Nancy's former students, and interrupts them to tell a story about Nancy chastising her and her friends for wearing short skirts to school, calling them "sluts". Nancy apologises for her past judgmental behaviour, and confesses her relationship to Leo, recommending his services to Becky as well. Nancy invites Leo for a final session in their hotel room upstairs, where they passionately engage in all of the remaining sex acts on Nancy's list. Despite going through all of them, Nancy is still yet to orgasm. While Leo looks for a sex toy he brought to help, Nancy watches him walk around naked and begins to masturbate, giving herself her first orgasm. When Leo leaves the morning after, Nancy thanks him and tells him that this will be their final session, as she doesn't need him anymore. Alone in the hotel room, Nancy admires her own naked body.

Financier Charles Gray, under consideration for a promotion, is sent to his home town in New England, visits his childhood sweetheart, and questions his life and marriage.

O-Ren, O-Some and Chieko are daughters of a hardened, middle-aged woman who runs a business of shamisen players, earning their money on their nightly rounds in bars in Asakusa. While O-Some still works in her mother's business, Chieko, her younger sister, works as a nightclub dancer. O-Ren, the eldest, tries to settle for a domestic life with her boyfriend Kosugi in an attempt to escape the half-world she has been associated with. In need of money, O-Ren lures Aoyama (unaware that he is Chieko's boyfriend) into an apartment, where her gangster friends threaten him. O-Some, who witnesses the crime, is hurt with a knife when she interferes to help Aoyama. Although she knows of O-Ren's scheme, O-Some bids her sister and Kosugi good-bye at the train station. Left alone in pain in the waiting room, O-Some murmurs, "that turned out good".

Set on the Riviera, a young marquise buys a camera from a photographer. She returns to the studio to visit the photographer.

A separated couple are asked to perform together in a play. They disagree as to whether their daughter should be married.

Clay Harding (Baldwin) recruits executive Lauren Bishop (Wuhrer) in a plot to steal $40 million from Harding's father Robert Harding (George Murdock). The pair devise a plot to steal Robert's passwords and set up a dummy corporation mimicking a company that Robert is interested in buying in order to divert his funds to a Swiss bank account. Clay secretly plans to double-cross Laura and allow her to take the blame for the theft, which she realizes when she discovers that a co-worker who had engineered her being fired from her job, Harry Burnham (Benjamin King), was Clay's college classmate. Clay murders Burnham and makes it look like a suicide. However, after a series of machinations on both sides, Lauren ultimately prevails, leaving the country with access to the money while Clay is left with nothing.

A group of university students beat and kill an outspoken journalist for the school newspaper. One of the students struggles with his conscience over his vow to remain silent about the event.

A psychoanalyst, Dr. Robert Harrison, is called on by the government to treat a noted atomic physicist, Dr. Kirk Allen, who believes that he lives in two separate worlds—on Earth as a scientist in a government research laboratory, and on another planet where he is the dominant authority and has powers of telepathy and teleportation. The story concerns Dr. Harrison's "adventure into outer space" as he "becomes too involved in the other world of his patient." The two of them end up "visiting a celestial asteroid". In the other world, there are two or more girls for every man, wishes are undisputed, and every-day troubles are eliminated.

A Nazi spy, Wilhelm Konreid, travels to London in 1939, posing as a Polish patriot. He "ingratiates himself into high British government circles" and is offered a job with the BBC. Sir Wallace Goodfellow is a British government official "whose intellect and cunning are pitted against" Konreid.

The story of the series narrates moments from the life of a teenager named Majid and his grandmother (Bibi). In this series, several stories are shown to the audience, including sea locusts, sports exams, composition bells, camps, and so on.

In the story, Pelevin's theme of the existence and destruction of borders and the emergence of alternative, including absurd, reality is clearly evident.

The story is set at the boundary of an era, in the transition from Soviet rule to the new democracy. The main protagonists of the story are the expensive foreign-currency prostitutes Lusya and Nelli (in Soviet times, foreign-currency prostitutes were called those who worked with foreigners and were paid in foreign currency, not rubles). The space of the story is made up of several worlds, and once again, seemingly autonomous worlds prove to be permeable.

First, Lucia, a prostitute working with foreign clients, appears at the center of the narrative. Her space is made up of expensive Moscow hotels "Intourist", "Moscow", "Minsk" and similarly expensive restaurants. She has an expensive fur coat, "a weightless sweater with silver sequins.

Next to her there is another closed world, such as a stall selling coffee and related products. The saleswoman at the stall is habitually dozing by the grill on a cold evening and, having received her order, "got up, walked over to the counter and looked with familiar hatred at Liusya's fox coat."

Liusya easily crosses the boundaries between worlds, goes from floor to floor in expensive hotels, she is let in behind a thick velvet cord that blocks the entrance to an elite restaurant, where "the Soviet citizens who want to get into the restaurant were crowded."

For this story Pelevin found an ingenious plot twist. Both heroines, Lyusya and Nelli, were former Komsomol functionaries, men who were well acquainted from their work in the same district committee. However, both had sex reassignment surgery and did not recognize each other in the new female form.

Not only that, but another pair of heroes, naval officers Valera and Vadim, serving on a submarine, turned out to be former women and sisters Varya and Tamara, who had changed sex to the opposite. These officers, based on the high moral values they absorbed while serving in the army, are maniacs who kill prostitutes by putting various chess pieces in their mouths after killing them.

Liusya and Nelli fall into their hands, but fight them off and even show sympathy for them.

The short and stormy period of general change at the end of the last century, the destruction of boundaries between social groups, the cessation of the usual and reliably functioning social elevators caused a shocking reaction in society. Most people found themselves on the verge of survival.

Gender reassignment surgery itself does not seem extraordinary. However, the stylistic representation of this fact in the context of the story and its use for all four main characters looks grotesque, revealing the absurdity of both what is happening and reality itself.

Despite the physical changes that have occurred to the characters, their way of thinking remains the old, Soviet way of thinking. Any reminder of her former life makes Lucy feel nostalgic. Nella, on the other hand, sometimes feels as if she is still following the party line. The sex-changed sailors feel something similar.

The Russian title of the story, "Mittelspiel," literally means a chess term for the middle of a chess game.

The heroes of the story live at the crossroads of eras, and in their minds there is a struggle between the Soviet and post-Soviet worlds. They try to destroy everything old in themselves, but they do not manage to do it completely.

This story can be classified as a mystery story, in which it is initially impossible to determine the essence of what is happening, to identify the characters, and to read the plot episodes unambiguously. Only as the reader perceives it, at one point or another, does the reader receive indications and details that allow him to adequately understand what is being portrayed.

In the first paragraph of the story, in one sentence, Pelevin directs the initial reader's perception along a false path. This is accomplished through two references to Ivan Bunin. First, the phrase "easy breath" is used, which has become a symbol of tragic love in Russian literature since Bunin's classic story. In Pelevin's story the author, on whose behalf the story is written, does not accidentally reflect on the vicissitudes of love: on his "lap lies Bunin's heavy, like a silicate brick, volume", tearing himself from reading it he looks at the wall with an accidentally preserved photograph, apparently of his beloved.

The past tense of the narrative points to the loss, and then the reader is given a detailed characterization, speculating on the life story of a certain Veronica, whom the hero abbreviates as Nika. However, the lack of "love," as such, is disturbing in the story. The relationship between the characters is designated as "affection," described in terms of physiology.

Nika gets a slap for the broken antique sugar bowl, which is dear to the hero as a memory and piggy bank, where he kept various papers – proof of the reality of his human existence. After the quarrel, the hero feels guilty and confused trying to explain himself, and in the evening he becomes especially affectionate to Nika. The hero does not manage to penetrate into Nika's world, although he is truly interested in it, because the heroine is constantly silent, does not read books, does not keep a diary, dozing for long hours at the TV, almost not looking at the screen. Her interests do not go beyond pure physiology.

Trying to imagine what is going on in her head, the hero tries to understand what attracts Nika to the landscape outside the window, which she looks at, sitting by the window for hours. Nika's space is limited to an ordinary Moscow courtyard – a sandpit and a log hut for children's games, a barstool on which carpets were beaten out, a strange plague frame welded from metal pipes, a garbage dump and lanterns. Nicky's space is enlarged by the nearby forest, in which she loved to walk alone.

The heroine's intellectual virginity frees her from "the humiliating need to relate the flames over the garbage can to the Moscow fire of 1737," that is, she is deprived of the ability to see the causal and temporal connections between events.

The hero, with whom nothing new has happened for a long time, "hoped, being near Nika, to see some unfamiliar ways of feeling and living. However, he realized that by looking out the window, Nika "sees simply what is there, and that her mind is not at all inclined to travel through the past and the future, but is content with the present.

The hero had to realize that he was not dealing with a real Nika, but with a set of his own thoughts, that Nika was his "perceptions which had taken her form. Further, in addition to the temporal discrepancies that exist between them, the hero denotes the spatial incompatibility of the relationship, because "Nika, sitting half a meter away from me, is as inaccessible as the top of the Spasskaya Tower."

Pelevin relates the unraveling of Nika's essence almost to the plot's denouement: only after her death right in the yard under the wheels of a car does it become clear that Nika is a Siamese cat. As a result, in hindsight, the reader realizes that the story contains two incompatible worlds, whose time and space intersect, but whose connections between them are almost non-existent. This shared world of man and cat is chaotic because it is impossible to account for the myriad factors that remain unpredictable.

A Thai documentary team travels to the northeast part of Thailand, Isan to document the daily life of a local medium, Nim, who is possessed by the spirit of Ba Yan, a local deity whom the villagers worship. Ba Yan is an ancestral God and has been possessing women in Nim's family for generations. The latest in the line of succession was Nim's sister, Noi. However, Noi did not wish to be a medium and turned to Christianity. The spirit of Ba Yan moved onto Nim and has been with her ever since.

While en route to the funeral of Noi's husband, Wiroj, Nim reveals misfortune always befall the men in Wiroj's family; his father's factory went bankrupt and he committed suicide after he was caught setting fire to the factory for insurance fraud; his son, Mac, died from a motorbike accident. Noi only has one daughter left, Mink, who does not believe in Shamanism and attends Church with her mother.

Mink's family and friends, as well as the documentary crew, notice Mink displaying strange and aggressive behaviors, along with displaying multiple personalities such as one of an old man, a drunkard, a child, and a prostitute. She starts to have strange dreams, hearing voices in her head, and experiences debilitating abdominal and vaginal pain. She is fired from her job after her boss catches her having sex with multiple men at work. Nim is initially convinced Ba Yan wishes Mink to succeed Nim, but Noi refuses to let Nim perform an Acceptance Ceremony to move Ba Yan's spirit onto her daughter.

Nim later starts to suspect Ba Yan is not actually involved. She discovers that Mink had an incestuous relationship with her late brother, Mac, and that he had not actually died from a motorbike accident but hanged himself. She concludes that Mac is trying to kill Mink and engages in a ceremony to convince Mac not to kill Mink. Meanwhile, after discovering Mink in the shower with her wrists slit, Noi is convinced Ba Yan is punishing Mink for Noi's refusal to be a successor and arranges for the Acceptance Ceremony to be performed by another shaman without Nim's knowledge. The acceptance ceremony fails and Nim realizes, too late, that Mac is not involved. Mink's condition deteriorates after the ceremony and she bludgeons Noi with a camera from the crew. Mink runs away and is nowhere to be found. One month later she is found by Nim in her grandfather's burned down factory. Nim goes up to the mountain to pray and is distressed when she discovers that someone has decapitated the statue of Ba Yan, a sign of mockery to a sacred idol.

Nim seeks help from her Shaman friend, Santi, and he tells her that Mink isn't just possessed by one spirit, but hundreds of spirits whom Wiroj's ancestors had beheaded thousands of people. Santi explains that the Acceptance Ceremony has essentially made Mink a ready vessel for the spirits. Santi, Nim, and Santi's students prepare a ritual to exorcise Mink. In the days leading up to the ritual, Mink is seemingly possessed and haunts the family in various manners, such as boiling the family dog alive and eating it, eating raw meat from the fridge, and climbing into Noi's bed while she is asleep and taunting her. The day before the ritual, Nim passes away in her sleep under mysterious circumstances.

Santi took over himself as Nim's replacement to proceeds the ritual using Noi as a vessel in her father's burned down factory. However, the ritual fails after Mink's aunt-in-law tears the sacred Yantra cloth keeping Mink locked up in her room, convinced that her son was locked inside with Mink. Chaos and violence soon follows as evil spirits begin to possess everyone, they start dancing maniacally and suddenly attack each other; they kill Santi, his students, and everyone involved in the ceremony, including the documentary crew, by stabbing, biting and consuming them alive. Ba Yan seemingly possesses Noi causing a brief respite, as Noi starts directing the surviving students to continue the ritual. She chants a prayer while touching Mink, but is distracted when she calls her mother, and is eventually overwhelmed. The movie ends with Mink burning her mother alive whose screams can be heard as the camera focuses on a voodoo doll with needles protruding from it, labeled with "Yasantya", Mink’s family name.

A mid-credits scene occurs during the day before Nim's death while preparing for the ritual. Nim is visibly frustrated as the preparations are not going well. She suffers a crisis of faith and confesses to questioning if Ba Yan had ever possessed her before breaking down off-screen.

The story can be attributed to those works of the author that are devoted to Buddhist themes, esoterics, the image of "altered states of consciousness.

In the story, the heroine named Tanya, with the help of the shamaness Tyima, put on a commercial basis the summoning from the lower world of the war dead soldiers, Germans, Spaniards, Italians, and Finns. The soldiers who are resurrected and return to our world retain their citizenship, allowing Russian girls to marry them and go abroad.

The service is paid for and the business is so popular that the queue for a shamaness in Moscow is booked two years in advance. Mysteries of shamaness Tyima should take place directly on a place of a military burial, therefore Tanya by maps studies the tanks which have remained from times of war, the planes which have fallen in bogs. To these places she goes together with those wishing to marry a resurrected foreigner.

Another trip to a dark forest near Moscow, where a downed German Henkel plane fell during World War II, ends unexpectedly. In the underworld, from which the resurrected usually come, the shamaness does not find the right "client." Not wanting to refuse her friend Masha, Tanya asks the shamaness to search for him in the upper world, something they have never done before. The search ends successfully, but an unforeseen surprise occurs. Instead of the German pilot from the upper world, a Soviet Major Zvyagintsev, who was ferrying a trophy plane to an alternate airfield and was somehow shot down, which is unpleasant for him to recall even today.

The Soviet pilot is of no interest to the girls who want to live abroad in order to fulfill his goal. However, the plot continues to develop unpredictably.

The point of intersection of the two worlds (upper and lower) becomes the depicted reality, which is structured by spatial and temporal reference points, giving it a seeming stability.

The wartime is indirectly indicated by the name of the platform ("Forty-third kilometer"), where the girls and the shamaness got off the train. The station lived up to its name because there were no human settlements nearby.

The previous station "Krematovo" (from the word crematorium in Russian) also lived up to its name: right behind the platform "there were squat buildings with many pipes of varying height and diameter, some of them faintly smoky. Nothing indicates their industrial purpose, and only the name definitely refers to the word "crematorium.

The artistic world that emerges has a permeability in time and space. The dead penetrate it, it is open to the historical past and at the same time connected to the near future: the resurrected warriors live for about three years, and the girls get to arrange their futures abroad.

Space and time lose their stable characteristics, become heterogeneous, and today's reality is no longer perceived as something stable and balanced. Existing reference points, both temporal and spatial, are conventional in nature.

Half of the forest is fenced with barbed wire, but no one goes there even without a fence. The road, which began at the platform, already in 300-400 meters disappears into the woods.

But Masha saw a vivid spatial image of her life as a road leading nowhere: "Her own life, started twenty-five years ago by an unknown will, suddenly seemed to her exactly the same road - at first straight and smooth, planted with straight rows of simple truths, and then forgotten by an unknown authority and turned into a curvy path leading nowhere."

Emotionally open and pure, Masha even thought that the components of the surrounding space (bushes and trees, grass and dark clouds) "parted under the beats of the tambourine, and in the gaps between them opened for a moment a strange, bright and unfamiliar world."

The fabulous epilogue only emphasizes the permeability and conventionality of all three worlds. Masha, who has taken a liking to Major Zvyagintsev, receives a reed pipe from him, with which she can summon him herself from the upper world and go there to visit.

Masha has been on the road to nowhere for twenty-five years; she is lost in this world, as in the forest. Now the girl is internally ready to go to the upper world, so she accepts the invitation to come and visit Major Zvyagintsev.

Masha now has no need to wander through this modern and alien world, she does not need to go to Arkhangelsk, where Tanya found in the swamp downed American B-29, "Flying Fortress" with a crew of eleven people, which "all enough, to move to the United States.

In New York, an assailant shoots and kills various people with a silencer.

One year later, retired United States special operative Nicolas Shaw lives a quiet life in hiding. In flashbacks, Shaw partially remembers being tortured by an unknown perpetrator who forced him to give out the names of his colleagues, who were shot by the assailant, before being framed for the assassinations. After being confronted by a member of the agency he was once a part of, Shaw meets with Elias Kane, his former boss, who tells him that his daughter, Monica, has been kidnapped by a perpetrator named Quinton.

While investigating, Shaw manages to rescue Monica after escaping a shootout with the guards. However, Shaw is soon held at gunpoint by Monica, who reveals she and her father were trying to capture Shaw to retrieve encrypted information. After taking away her firearm, Shaw takes Monica into a forest, where it is revealed that she has been shot. At a house, Shaw tells Monica that Quinton was the unknown perpetrator who made him give out the identities of his colleagues by drugging him; Monica tells Shaw that, in fact, he gave out the names before he was tortured and that the drug caused him to forget the events. Soon after, Monica escapes and reunites with her father, where the pair learn Shaw erased the encrypted information.

Back in the town where he was living in hiding, Shaw begins to decode a copy of the information. Meanwhile, Kane begins to track Shaw by visiting the diner and bookstore Shaw frequently visited, where he meets Janice, the waitress Shaw flirted with, and shoots the bookstore owner who knows about Shaw's true identity. After decoding the information, Shaw learns it was Kane who tortured him, drugging him to forget his memories but failing to retrieve Quinton's information.

Kane takes Janice hostage and Monica is told by Shaw about her father's true intentions. Finding Janice in Kane's car, Shaw begins to track down Kane. In a shootout, the pair are led to a pier, where Monica arrives, having learned that Kane was the one who caused the death of her lover Javier, and Shaw shoots and kills Kane before Monica does.

Days later, at a school, Shaw meets with a teacher who was also one of his former colleagues. As she reveals that she knew about Kane's plan all along, the pair discuss the possibility of a larger conspiracy before Shaw pulls out a gun. Outside, the bookstore owner and Shaw speak on the phone before Shaw tells her that he will leave town for a "few business days".

Bradley Hasling, CEO of a tech corporation called Amygdala, gives an interview about the company's newest product, Kimi. Kimi is a smart speaker which controversially makes use of human monitoring to improve the device's search algorithm. Amygdala plans to soon hold an initial public offering, which stands to earn Hasling a fortune.

Angela Childs is an employee of Amygdala in Seattle who works from home monitoring incoming data streams from Kimi devices and making corrections to the software. She suffers from anxiety and agoraphobia due to a previous assault, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Her primary human contact is with her romantic partner Terry, her neighbor from across the street whom she meets for sex in her apartment. One day while working, Angela receives a recording that appears to capture a violent sexual assault by a man named Brad. With the help of her coworker Darius, she accesses the information of the account holder, a woman named Samantha. Angela uncovers more of Samantha's recording, including one that sounds like her murder. It is revealed that "Brad" is in fact Bradley Hasling himself and that Samantha was his mistress. Bradley had ordered the murder from a hitman named Rivas. Angela transfers the recordings to a flash drive.

She reports the incident to her superior, who refers her to Natalie Chowdhury, an executive at Amygdala. Angela attempts to reach Chowdhury over the phone multiple times, but is eventually convinced to come to her office in person, with the promise that the FBI will be informed about the case. At the office, Angela is disturbed when Chowdhury seems reticent to contact the authorities and makes reference to her prior mental health leave. While waiting for the FBI to be contacted, she receives word from Darius that someone has deleted Samantha's voice recordings from the Amygdala servers, and shortly after sees two unknown men enter the office. She flees and travels on foot towards the nearby FBI field office, while being tracked by Rivas and his accomplices through her cell phone.

The men catch up with Angela and attempt to force her into a van, but a group of nearby protestors prevent her from being abducted. However, one of Rivas's men, a hacker named Yuri, is able to deduce where she is headed from her search history. Angela is drugged and taken back to her apartment by her kidnappers, who plan to stage a home invasion to cover up her murder. On their way inside, they are interrupted by Kevin, a neighbor who also spends all of his time inside and became concerned after seeing Angela leave the house. Kevin is stabbed, distracting the assailants, but Rivas is already waiting inside her apartment. He confiscates the flash drive and begins to delete the recordings from Angela's laptop, but she uses her Kimi device to again distract Rivas and his men, escaping to a higher floor. She cobbles together a weapon using a nail gun left by a construction project in the apartment above her, using it to kill the intruders. Terry, whom she had planned to meet up with, arrives just as she is calling 9-1-1.

An epilogue shows that Bradley Hasling has been arrested for Samantha's murder. Angela, sporting a new hairstyle, gets breakfast with Terry outside of her apartment.

As the people of a vibrant city dance to the beat of the music, the elderly Art stays in his apartment and grumpily watches TV. His wife, Dot, enters, and tries to have him get out and enjoy the day. He refuses, leaving her heartbroken. Art soon regrets this decision and looks upon a photo of himself and Dot when they were young and full of life. He steps out on his fire escape when it suddenly begins to rain. The rain makes him younger and rejuvenates him, prompting him to set out to look for Dot.

Art encounters Dot, who has also become young through the rain. The two begin to dance vibrantly through the streets. When the rain clouds begin to move, they revert to old age. Art begins dragging Dot through the city in an attempt to remain young. They flee to Paradise Pier, and as Art continues to chase the rain clouds, Dot willingly falls behind. Eventually, the clouds leave completely and the two revert to their old age.

As he walks back, Art sees Dot sitting by herself and joins her. The two look into each other's eyes and wordlessly acknowledge their love for one another. Art and Dot proceed to dance together, though not as vibrantly as before, as the rain puddle beneath them reflects their younger selves.

Topaze, an idealistic teacher in a small French school, is fired for refusing to adjust the grades of the son of an influential and corrupt politician. The politician then hires Topaze as the head of a dummy corporation, serving as bagman and money launderer. After realizing that he has been taken advantage of, Topaze embraces the corruption to achieve his own fortune.

Three children, a lawyer, an actress, and the founder of a college, return home when their mother wins a "Mother of the Year" award from a magazine.

Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister and the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom occurs. Johnson himself is hospitalised with COVID-19, and his son is born.

The play is based on the real-life story of an English physician, William Palmer, also known as the "Prince of Poisoners". Palmer was accused of murdering numerous persons, including his own brother and children, and was ultimately hanged for poisoning a close friend. Charles Dickens called Palmer "the greatest villain that ever stood in the Old Bailey".

A young stranger, Brat Farrar, shows up claiming to be the twin brother of a young Englishman, Peter Ashby, who is set to inherit a huge fortune. Farrar claim to have a right to half of the estate. Farley Granger plays the roles of both Peter Ashby and Brat Farrar.

The film's segments are presented as a series of cassettes found by the SWAT team members in the frame narrative ("Holy Hell") as they advance through an abandoned warehouse containing remnants of a ritualistic cult mass suicide.

Holy Hell (Prologue/Frame Narrative)

• Written and directed by Jennifer Reeder

A white-dressed woman inhales vapor from a white, goopy substance on her hands. Later, the same woman, with her eyes gouged out, counts down from ten in a staticky voice as another woman passes behind her. A SWAT team — consisting of Slater, Oursler, Sprayberry, Spivey, Petro and Nash, and their cameraman Gary — raid a warehouse during what is believed to be a drug bust. They find a private jet behind the warehouse. A distorted female voice emanates from the speakers: "All are welcome. All are watching. Finally, followers, tonight is the night you've been waiting for. Track my signal. The signal is the stimulant. The signal is the sedative. The signal is salvation." As the officers charge through the tight corridors, they discover multiple prison cell-like rooms with television sets displaying static. They spot a man sitting in one of the rooms, but as the officers order him to not move, they realize he is dead, with his eyes gouged out and the white goopy substance -- the drug the SWAT team is after -- dripping onto the floor.

Advancing through the warehouse in search of suspects, the team enters the room seen in the VHS tape and encounter more dead cultists. Slater orders to search the upper floor with Blue team while the remaining officers keep going as one of the televisions begins to play a newscast.

Storm Drain

• Written and directed by Chloe Okuno
• "The Veggie Masher" commercial directed and edited by Steve Kostanski

Channel 6 news reporter Holly Marciano and her cameraman Jeff are filming a story about the Rat Man, a cryptid of local legend who has supposedly been living in the town's storm drains. After interviewing several of the town's citizens who have reportedly witnessed the creature to gain information, the duo descend into a storm drain, where they find several homeless encampments. While filming, they are approached by a man covered in black slime. Holly tries to interview him, but when he begins to spit up black liquid and murmurs "Raatma," they attempt to flee. Before they can make their escape, they are captured by other residents of the sewers.

They are taken deeper into the sewers by the dwellers. The minister of the local church, who Holly had interviewed earlier, appears and announces that a new order will soon begin. He then summons the Rat Man, which is revealed to be a grotesque half-human/half-rat creature dubbed "Raatma" that he and the other sewer dwellers worship as a god. Raatma proceeds to vomit black liquid, which the minister pours over Jeff's face, the viscous substance killing him as it melts the flesh from his head. Holly is then brought before Raatma, the creature growling in approval as she screams.

After a brief infomercial for "The Veggie Masher" plays, the film returns to the newscast, where Holly's co-anchor explains that she was rescued from the storm drain and has returned to work at the station, though Jeff is still missing. Holly gives her next report, unwittingly substituting random words with "Raatma", confusing her co-anchor. She suddenly vomits the black liquid on his face, melting it off as he dies screaming on air. As the newsroom erupts in panic, Holly, revealed to have been successfully converted/brain-washed by the sewer cult, cheerfully finishes her report, signing off with "Hail Raatma."

Back in the framing story, the officers go deeper into the building and come across a room set up to look like a church, with a giant screen at the front and severed mannequins in the seats. The giant screen begins to play video footage from a funeral home.

The Empty Wake

*Written and directed by Simon Barrett

At Jensen Funeral Home, a young woman named Hailey is assigned to host a wake for a man named Andrew Edwards. Andrew's family has requested that Andrew's wake be video recorded during the whole night. Hailey's boss, Ronald, and another assistant, Tim, leave the building for the night, leaving Hailey to pass the time reading. A strong thunderstorm begins outside, causing the power to flicker. Hailey then calls her friend Sharon, asking for her to check in the local obituaries for Andrew's name. When she hears strange noises from the casket, which has moved on the bier, Hailey calls Tim and says that she thinks Andrew may still be alive in the casket. Tim quells her worries by explaining that the body is most likely releasing gases that are causing the noises. As the storm worsens, the building begins to occasionally lose power. A strange man who identifies himself as Gustav and claims to be a relative of Andrew arrives to the wake, during which Hailey allows him to pay his respects. After uttering an apparent incantation in Hungarian, Gustav thanks Hailey for the opportunity and abruptly leaves.

Sometime later, Sharon reveals to Hailey that Andrew had committed suicide by leaping from the roof of a church after shouting gibberish. The power cuts out again, plunging the building into darkness as the noises resume from the casket. Trying to leave, Hailey discovers the front doors are chained shut. Returning to the viewing room, she finds the casket tipped over and open. She is attacked by Andrew's reanimated corpse, but because the top of its head is missing, it cannot see her. Hiding behind the casket, she finds the top of Andrew's head. Andrew's functional eyes lock onto her, allowing the rest of his corpse to find Hailey. As it attacks, the storm, which has escalated into a tornado, strikes the funeral home as the camera cuts out. After it passes, Hailey, having either been zombified or possessed by Andrew's spirit, rises and crawls through the window.

Back in the framing story, the officers discover body parts strewn across the floor, mannequins in the toilet stalls, and upside-down crosses hanging from the ceiling of various rooms. Panicked, they plan to exit the building. As an unknown voice states, "Forever starts right now", a television begins to play footage from a bizarre laboratory.

The Subject

*Written and directed by Timo Tjahjanto

In Indonesia, a man wakes up to find his body gone and replaced by mechanical spider legs. He falls from his restraints and catches fire, which is soon extinguished by Dr. James Suhendra, a deranged scientist who desires to create a successful mechanical-human hybrid, using kidnapped humans as guinea pigs. He carries out a lobotomy on a young woman with the initials S.A. (referred to as 'Subject 99') using a circular saw, and sedates a restrained young man (referred to as 'Subject 98') after he wakes up early. Both experiments are successful; Subject 98 becomes a large robot with spring-powered blades for arms, and S.A. becomes a functioning cyborg that responds to speech. The rest of the tape is mostly presented from her point of view. James celebrates S.A.'s success, and a news report states that a rash of recent disappearances are driving wedges between the police and the public. James is suspected of kidnapping his patients, and S.A.'s old self is shown onscreen; James remarks on how she still recognizes her old appearance.

James attempts to wipe S.A.'s memories; S.A. wakes up during the procedure and hits James, before attempting to undo her restraints. James beats S.A. repeatedly with a metal tray, and her battery life drops before he is interrupted by a knock at the door; a team of heavily armored police officers have arrived to arrest James. James throws a blanket over S.A. as the officers break in as the tape cuts to timid cameraman Jono's feed. After the commander confirms that James is their suspect, the police shoot him dead, and begin hunting the lab for survivors. They discover S.A., and argue over whether she should be killed or kept alive as she is not classified as human anymore, despite technically being a survivor. A sudden blackout occurs in the lab, and Jono witnesses S.A. escape, but does not say anything.

Another officer attempts to shoot the door lock and free the group, but triggers an explosion. As the group come to, an alarm begins to sound and James's contingency plan begins. Over a speaker, James states that his creation is his alone, and that those who try to take it from him shall die. Subject 98 awakens and slaughters most of the soldiers; Jono and the commander survive after the commander hurls a grenade at 98. S.A. comes to and flees through the building, being shot at by the surviving officers and chased by 98. She locks herself in a small office room and finds blueprints for her cyborg body and cannon arm, along with the upper half of her head and face preserved in a jar of formaldehyde. She approaches a mirror, and sees her new form for the first time; enraged, she punches the mirror and breaks it. After leaving the room and coming across more of James's failed experiments, S.A. fights her way through the building, slaughtering any soldiers she comes across in self-defense. She discovers Jono behind a door, and spares him after he begs for his life and promises to help her out of the lab. Suddenly, the commander appears and shoots S.A. before beating her; Jono grabs a gun and shoots the commander dead before being attacked by Subject 98. With her battery critically low, S.A. uses the last of her strength to tear out 98's brain, killing it. She collapses next to a heavily injured Jono, and her battery finally dies. The tape cuts to a security camera, which shows S.A. standing up on her own accord, escaping from the lab.

Back in the framing story, it is shown that Nash and Petro have kidnapped Spivey. As the rest of the team frantically search for him, Nash states "Forever starts right now". In front of a wall of TV screens, Slater pages his missing teammates over his radio, and Petro states that he should try not to lose his head. Slater suddenly collapses and enters a trance in front of one of the screens, which proceeds to display footage of a snowy, fortified militia enclosure.

Terror

*Written and directed by Ryan Prows

The First Patriots Movement Militia are an extremist group that are currently plotting to blow up a government building in a bid to "take back America". It is shown that they live in a well-secured compound in a deserted area somewhere in Detroit, Michigan. The compound has a room for security cameras, as well as a heavily protected small room covered in wooden crosses. In the latter room, a man is chained up and kept prisoner. Bob, the group's cameraman, Greg, the group leader, and Chuck, a group member, enter the room. The man pleads for his life, and Greg shoots him at point-blank range. The film cuts to one of the group's propaganda videos, where Greg explains that the group intends to purge evil from America.

Members of the group set out in a car and drive past the building which they plan to blow up, surveying the site for security cameras and possible entry points. Back at the compound, Slater from the framing segment arrives to supply guns and ammunition to the group, asking if they have tested the "creature". It is shown that the group regularly shoot the man, who is revealed to be a vampire, and siphon his blood, which becomes explosive when exposed to sunlight, planning to use said blood instead of a bomb. Wanting to test if their plan works, they inject a rabbit with some of the vampire's blood and cage it; when the sun rises, the rabbit explodes. In celebration that night, the group drink heavily and party. Bob enters the compound and visits Steve, who is sitting in the security camera room. The pair visit the vampire's corpse, and Bob goads Steve into kissing it; the head falls forward and showers Steve in blood as Bob laughs.

The next morning, an emergency bell rings and alerts the members of the group. Greg berates Jimmy, who was supposed to be on duty guarding the compound. Jimmy runs towards a body behind the truck, discovering it to be Terry, his neck having been badly gored. Suddenly, crashes come from inside the compound, and the group realizes they are missing Steve. Greg calls for Steve, just as a severed head is thrown out of the compound entrance as roars sound from inside. A member begins firing a truck-mounted machinegun on the compound, losing control due to the sway and killing some of the group in the process, and is shot in the head by Tom when he is unable to stop. Steve then stumbles out of the compound covered in the vampire's blood, promptly exploding once he steps into the daylight.

The remaining members of the group - Greg, Tom, Bob and Jimmy - vow to kill the vampire. They enter the compound and discover the creature hiding in the attic; it tears Tom's face off and Greg shoots wildly at it. In the attic, the vampire kills Jimmy by slamming his head on the floor repeatedly, and Bob shoots at it, missing and shooting Greg in the leg. Bob is attacked by the vampire, dying after his face is bitten off. Greg, repeating the phrase "Christ is king" is dragged by the vampire into the cage. It then opens the attic window and lets in sunlight, causing the vampire to explode and the compound to be destroyed.

Holy Hell (Epilogue)

The majority of the SWAT team are now dead, their eyes having been gouged out. Slater is tied to a chair by Petro and Nash, who rebuke him for supplying the militia in the previous video with guns. The women explain that they are members of the snuff/fetish film cult that has been operating out of the warehouse, where they create and distribute videotapes depicting animal cruelty, cannibalism and other shocking acts of violence. Slater is told that he will be their final kill for this video, whereupon Petro beats him to death with a video camera. As the film ends, Petro and Nash believe this will be their best tape yet, with the former wondering what to call it.

In 1999, after a disastrous birthday party at the local "cool" spot, Rock N Bowl, with her friends Seth and Martha, 14 year-old Australian immigrant Stephanie Conway decides she wants to be one of "the populars". She spends the next few years giving herself a makeover, becoming cheer squad captain, dating popular boy Blaine, and becoming one of the most popular girls by senior year.

In 2002, Stephanie plans to win the title of prom queen in hopes of becoming like Deanna Russo, an alumna of her high school who got married after graduation, and now lives in an expensive mansion. She lives with her widowed father and is still friends with Martha and Seth, who secretly has a crush on her. Stephanie has regular disagreements over prom preparations with Blaine's ex-girlfriend Tiffany, who feels threatened by the prospect of Stephanie winning the prom queen title. At a cheer performance, Tiffany convinces her friends to sabotage Stephanie's landing, severely injuring her and putting her into a coma.

Twenty years later, in 2022, Stephanie, now 37, wakes from her coma. Her father and Martha, now principal and cheerleading coach at Harding High, take her home. On the way, driving past Deanna Russo's old house, Stephanie sees that the now-married Tiffany and Blaine reside there. With reluctant support from her father and Martha, Stephanie goes back to high school to finish her senior year, where she learns that Seth is now the librarian, and the positions of prom king and queen have been abolished due to student complaints. Additionally, Tiffany and Blaine's daughter Bri is the most popular girl at school and has a huge social media following. The cheerleaders are no longer the popular students and are forced to perform bland, sanitized routines with no dancing.

Stephanie works to regain her former popularity through social media, finally succeeding after a risqué cheer routine she choreographs without Martha's permission goes viral at a pep rally. The next day, she is confronted by Martha, who tells her that she and Seth felt abandoned when Stephanie became popular back in high school. Stephanie decides to attend a showing of ''Deep Impact'' with Seth, and they get closer after goading Tiffany into getting kicked out of the theater for being disruptive. Afterwards, they have drinks at the Rock N Bowl and Stephanie confesses that she wants to be elected prom queen so badly because she wants to make her late mother proud.

Tiffany uses Bri's influence at school to get the prom king and queen contest reinstated and invites everyone at school except Stephanie to a prom afterparty at their house. Stephanie decides to host her own afterparty at Martha's lake house without her knowledge. Seth agrees to go to prom with Stephanie but is hurt when he sees Blaine attempt to kiss her, not knowing that Blaine was drunk and tried to force himself on her. Bri's boyfriend Lance becomes prom king, and although Tiffany rigs the vote so Bri will win, Bri drops out so that Stephanie is the prom queen. As Stephanie and Lance share the prom king and queen dance, the school rallies around her. Bri tells everyone to attend Stephanie's afterparty, which is successful until Tiffany gets the police to shut it down. Martha angrily confronts Stephanie for using her lake house without asking.

On the way home from the party, Stephanie realizes her Lyft driver is a middle-aged Deanna Russo. Deanna reveals that before she turned 30, her husband divorced her after deciding to leave her for a 21-year-old woman. Since she did not have a college degree, she was never able to build a life for herself and now works several part-time jobs while struggling to pay for community college. Deanna tells Stephanie that becoming prom queen did not give her a perfect life or fix all of her problems. Bri arrives home, furious that Tiffany called the police on Stephanie's party, and points out that Tiffany did not even ask if she was okay or if she had been arrested. Bri points out that both her father and mother are miserable together and forces her to apologize to Stephanie. Stephanie accepts Tiffany's apology and encourages her to focus more on her daughter instead of keeping up appearances.

Stephanie tears down her popularity board and contemplates skipping the graduation ceremony, but her father convinces her to attend. Streaming an apology to her followers and friends, she promises to be her true self from now on. At graduation, her friends and family secretly organize the cheer routine from Stephanie's senior year. She makes up with Martha, finally kisses Seth, and welcomes Tiffany to join them on stage as she finally gets to pull off the move that she never got to do twenty years earlier.

The series follows the adventures of Squish, a 12-year-old amoeba in the town of Small Pond (a town inhabited entirely by unicellular organisms) along with his friends, Pod and Peggy, as they try to navigate school and their everyday lives while learning more about unicellular organisms.

The investigation into a plane crash concludes that it was caused by pilot error. At the inquiry, the co-pilot (Robert Stack) seeks to place the blame on the captain who died in the crash. In the end, the co-pilot is found to have been responsible for the crash, and his pilot's license is revoked.

When a stock market crash causes the sudden collapse of a multi-billion-dollar company, an ICAC investigator (Andy Lau) uncovers a criminal conspiracy involving the company’s founder, Ching Yat-yin (Tony Leung) and becomes entangled in a long-running investigation.

During the American Civil War, the commander of a Northern prisoner of war camp orders the execution of a Confederate soldier. The brother of executed soldier then seeks revenge on the commander.

Lee Cauldwell, the son of a ranch family at Point Lobos in California, decides to stop drinking one night when he returns drunk from Monterey, falls into the sea and is saved by his sister Tamar. Also living at the ranch are their father David, their deceased mother's mediumistic sister Stella, and their father's mentally disabled sister Jinny. Some time later, Lee and Tamar visit a secluded water pool, and after Tamar sees her own reflection in the water, she manipulates Lee to have sexual intercourse with her. They continue their relationship, but by coincidence, Tamar learns that her father had a sexual relationship with his now deceased sister Helen; Tamar is disappointed that her own transgression appears to be a mere repetition, and develops a desire to destroy her family. She learns she is pregnant with Lee's child, and to disguise the incest she begins a sexual relationship with another young man, Will Andrews.

As Tamar's frustration grows, she consults Stella in an attempt to contact Helen's ghost, but the procedure does not go as planned. As they settle by the sea and Stella goes into a trance, a series of other ghosts speak through her, make Tamar dance naked against her will, and a large number of invisible ghosts appear to rape her, before she is able to speak with Helen. Tamar has made an attempt to burn down the ranch house, leaving a piece of paper at the bottom of a lit candle, but Helen tells her the attempt will fail, and that Tamar has no control over fire, God, or the dead.

Tamar is sick and bedridden. She is convinced that the family needs to become purely sinful to achieve freedom and peace, and manipulates her father into having sex with her. She is able to gather Lee, Will, and David in the house at the same time; Lee will leave for the army the next day to fight in France, and Will proposes to Tamar. Helen, speaking through Stella, warns that the men who go to Tamar's room will be consumed by fire, but the news about Will's proposal makes the three men join Tamar in her room, and Stella/Helen follows them. On the floor below, Jinny irrationally sets fire to herself and the house, killing everybody inside.

In Salem, 1693, Agatha Harkness is put on trial by a coven of witches led by her mother Evanora for practicing dark magic. As they attempt to kill Harkness, she absorbs their magic and drains the life from them.

In the present day, Harkness interrogates Wanda Maximoff, demanding to know how she is controlling Westview. Harkness forces Maximoff to relive key moments in her life, including when she and her brother Pietro were trapped in the rubble next to an unexploded bomb the day their parents died. In this memory, Harkness deduces that Maximoff was born a witch who engaged in basic hex magic as a child as seen when Maximoff inadvertently uses a simple probability hex to prevent the bomb from going off.

In the next memory, Maximoff watches as she is experimented on by Hydra using the Mind Stone. When she approached the stone it reacted to her presence, showing her a vision of an apparition inside the Mind Stone. Harkness suggests that the stone augmented Maximoff's latent magical abilities, which otherwise would have gone undiscovered. Maximoff then relives a fond memory of Vision when they lived at the Avengers Compound, discussing grief and bonding over sitcoms.

After Vision's death, Maximoff visited S.W.O.R.D. to recover his body. Director Tyler Hayward showed her the disassembled remains but refused to hand Vision over. Maximoff drove to a dilapidated lot in Westview that Vision had bought for them, intending to live there together. Overwhelmed with grief, she used her powers to create a house on the lot, manifest a new version of Vision, and extended her spell across the entire town, turning it into the style of a black-and-white, 1950s sitcom.

After reliving these memories, Maximoff hears her children Billy and Tommy crying for help. She finds them being held captive by Harkness, who mocks Maximoff for not knowing the full extent of her own abilities and using them to create a sitcom-style fantasy world in Westview. Harkness explains that Maximoff has been using powerful chaos magic, which makes her the mythical "Scarlet Witch". In a mid-credits scene, Hayward uses Maximoff's energy to activate the reassembled, all-white body of the original Vision.

Adri is a successful journalist for an entertainment magazine. On a night out with his friends, he meets Carla, who is spontaneous and impulsive. She seduces him to a one-night stand and insists they can never see each other again. They go to a hotel where they crash a wedding reception and have sex in the bridal suite, before Carla abruptly leaves.

Adri, now smitten with Carla, insists on finding her. He is led to a mental hospital where he sees Carla is a patient. Thinking she was happy to see him too, Adri hatches a plan to obtain her number by being admitted since unrequested visitors are not allowed. When inside, he finds Carla again, but she is shocked and angry at his presence. Upset, Adri tries to leave, but the staff stop him as they think he is actually mentally ill. He claims he is a journalist and his admittance was only for an article, but they do not believe him. Adri's friend attempts to get him out, to no avail. Before she leaves, he writes her a demeaning article about the mental hospital to submit to his boss.

Knowing he wants to escape, Adri's kind-hearted schizophrenic roommate, Saúl, explains that, along with behavioral improvements, the only way to leave is to be friendly with other patients, as peer evaluations play a role in one's release. Adri meets the others, including Martha who has depression due to her Tourette's, Victor who has OCD and Tina who is delusional. Martha has a huge crush on Victor, but is too insecure to tell him due to her tics. Adri offers to help Martha muster up the courage to confess her feelings. In return, he expects good evaluations from them.

Saúl asks Adri to pretend they are both doctors when his young daughter visits, as her stepfather disapproves of his disorder. While posing as a doctor, Adri bails an uncomfortable Carla out of a visit from her parents. However, she still treats him coldly. Adri finally convinces Martha to seduce Victor with a pickup line, which fails until Carla steps in and tells her to admit her feelings bluntly, which goes well. Carla reveals to Adri that she is bipolar. She has episodes of extreme euphoria where she does things for fun without thinking of the consequences, like the night they met. She also has episodes of severe depression and frequent mood swings.

Saúl is deeply upset to discover his ex-wife's husband does not want his daughter to visit anymore. When Saúl is missing, Adri realizes that he has jumped off the third floor and enlists the help of Carla to find him. The two discover Saúl hysterical and on the way to take his daughter. Adri tries to talk him out, but Carla manages to calm him down. During a conversation with Carla, Adri promises she will get better and live normally on her own.

He begins bonding with everyone including Carla, and the two start dating. Saúl's ex starts bringing his daughter's to visit again, without her husband, and he finally shares his illness with her. As Adri and Carla grow closer, she stops taking her medicine as she believes she is getting better, but her mood swings have become more intense. One night, Adri finds Carla behaving erratically on the ledge of the roof. He manages to safely pull her down, but confesses to the staff that she has been off her medication. Upset with his betrayal, Carla refuses to see him again.

Adri's article is published and has circled around the hospital. As a result, everyone starts to despise him for his negative depictions of mental health, which he regrets. The hospital director, now realizing that Adri was telling the truth, allows him to leave. She also tells him that the institution helps people learn how to live with their disorders, not pretend they do not have it to please others.

After returning to work, Adri writes another article about his time at the hospital, destigmatizing mental disorders and declaring his love for Carla, much to her disdain. Carla convinces Martha, Victor, Tina and Saúl to help her break out and find Adri to confront him. At his workplace, Adri professes his love for Carla, despite the severity of her mental illness. The two share a kiss and embark on another spontaneous night together. Afterwards, Adri drops Carla back at the hospital where she finally gives him her number and he promises to call as soon as she is released. A teary-eyed Carla re-enters the institution.

Carly (Carly Pope) is a young woman who has fallen out of contact with her mother Angela (Nathalie Boltt). Angela is convicted of killing over 21 people in a killing spree where she burned down a care home she worked and poisoned a church. Nobody has any idea why Angela went on a rampage and Carly has not seen her in years. Carly is supported by her best friend Sam (Kandyse McClure). The pair cut off their other childhood friend Martin (Chris William Martin) after he began to make strange theories about Angela. Carly is plagued by nightmares about Angela. One day, Carly receives a text from Martin who wants to meet up and talk. Upon meeting, Martin tells Carly that he was invited to be part of a focus group test for a company called Therapol which involved real medical patients, one of which was a comatose Angela. Carly is stunned by this revelation and is later contacted by Therapol, who asks her to visit their facility to discuss Angela.

She meets scientists Daniel (Terry Chen) and Michael (Michael J. Rogers) who explain Angela fell into a coma following a series of violent episodes in prison and is "locked-in" inside her body. They tell Carly that Angela is highly active inside a simulation, calling for Carly and Martin. They ask Carly if she is willing to enter Angela's mind to talk to her, which she reluctantly agrees to do so. In the simulation, Carly enters a copy of her childhood home and angrily confronts Angela about her crimes. Angela, fully able to speak in the simulation, demands that Carly leaves. Carly returns home, that night she has a nightmare where she finds a strange symbol made of a raven carcass.

Carly arrives at Therapol for another trip inside the simulation. This time she enters through a new tunnel into a field outside an old sanatorium which Angela had worked at. She meets with Angela who claims that she was not the person who called for Carly and Martin. Angela's body in the simulation starts to glitch out and the scientists ignore a terrified Carly's demands to be removed from the simulation. Entering the sanatorium, she finds Sam's body before being attacked by an Avian like Demon who slashes its arm open, creating the same cut on Carly's real-life body. Carly exits the simulation and tells Daniel and Michael how years ago, she and Martin found Angela in the sanatorium with the same cut on her arm. Carly refuses to participate in another simulation and leaves Therapol.

Carly visits Martin and tells him about her experience. He shows her his theories about demonic possession, showing Carly a sketch of the creature she saw in the simulation. Martin claims to have suffered similar nightmares that Carly suffers from and explains how the demon manipulates its target through their family and friends. He also tells Carly of his theory that the Vatican is funding special black ops groups consisting of priests. The Vatican buys companies like Therapol to detect genuinely possessed people who seemingly suffer from medical conditions before the squad eliminates the demon by bringing it to its entry point from hell. In the case of the supposed demon taking over Angela, this is the sanatorium. A bewildered Carly refuses to believe in this theory and returns home. Martin begins to suspect the demon has latched onto Carly.

That night, a concerned Sam pays Carly a visit and Carly sends her away. Sam returns later into the night this time with a bird mask and telling Carly "to look for me in the woods". Sam puts on the bird mask and suddenly contorts her body, chasing Carly around the house. Carly barricades herself in her bedroom where she is attacked by the demon. Carly wakes up, the events are seemingly a dream and she rushes to Sam's house. It is revealed that Daniel and Michael are watching her and that Martin's theory is correct: they are priests and plan to eliminate the demon at the sanatorium. The demon has become obsessed with Carly while trapped in Angela's comatose body and wants to possess her to commit the same crimes it made Angela do. Carly finds Sam missing from her house and recruits Martin to help rescue her. They travel to the woods and retrieve a traumatized Sam who claims a group of men took Angela into the nearby sanatorium. They leave Sam in Martin's car and head out to find Angela.

At the sanatorium, they find the black ops team has been massacred and stumble upon a dying Daniel. Daniel explains how the demon has entered Michael who killed the squad and gives Carly a holy lance that will kill the demon. In the sanatorium, Carly enters the simulation to rescue Angela. She finds Angela who is finally free of the demon and she makes amends with her daughter before dying peacefully. Carly escapes the simulation and looks for Martin who has gone missing. She stumbles across his car which is now in flames as well as Sam's burnt corpse. Carly finds Martin being tortured by Michael who pursues Carly. Carly stabs Michael with the lance, killing him and accidentally sending the demon into herself. Carly wrestles with the possession before stabbing herself with the lance, killing the demon.

Sometime later, Carly awakens in a hospital and makes amends with Martin. She leaves flowers at Angela's grave.

There is a young mother, a father and a child. They people are going to Polonnaruwa for a picnic along with their maid. On the way, the vehicle veered off the road and overturned into a jungle. Father, mother and maid are killed by the animals, and the boy escapes. The child grows up with wild animals.

Setting

The game is set in a bygone era of the Sinnoh region's history, when it was known as the Hisui region, long before the events of ''Pokémon Diamond'' and ''Pearl'' and their remakes take place. Hisui is based on the real-life island of Hokkaido during the Muromachi period, when it was still known as Ezo, with new settlers from other regions interacting with natives in a parallel with the interaction between Hokkaido's Ainu people and Japanese settlers. Ainu groups are represented in the game by the Diamond and Pearl clans, while new mainland settlers are represented by the Galaxy Expedition Team.

The vast majority of the region is covered in sparse, open wilderness populated with wild Pokémon, with only one significant settlement in addition to a number of small campsites. Unlike in the setting of previous Pokémon games, Pokémon are treated as wild animals or forces of nature instead of as companions or partners. Poké Balls in the game are made of "Apricorn" fruit and puff steam when a Pokémon is caught, instead of being presented as high-tech devices like in previous installations, while the Pokédex is a paper notebook.

Story

The game begins with the player speaking with a disembodied voice, identified as Arceus, the creator god of the Pokemon-Universe, which tasks the player with encountering all Pokémon in the Hisui region before transporting the player there through a rift in spacetime. The player is found by Pokémon researcher Professor Laventon, who brings the player to a local settlement named Jubilife Village. There, the player is recruited into the Survey Corps of the Galaxy Expedition Team, a group which that has arrived in Hisui to chart and study the region. After receiving their starter Pokémon, the player proceeds to travel in the Hisui region to complete the Pokédex. Throughout the player's journey, the spacetime rift they had been transported through results in several powerful "noble Pokémon" venerated by the local Diamond and Pearl clans turning berserk through powerful lightning, forcing the player to engage them in battles using 'balms' to calm them down.

After the player defeats five noble Pokémon, the spacetime rift begins to worsen rather than calm down as per the Galaxy Team's expectations and the sky becomes a scarlet colour. Blamed for the instability, the player (who came through the same rift) is banished from Jubilife Village and forced to travel the region again to address the cause of the rift. Working with either the Diamond or Pearl clans and under the care of a researcher of myths called Cogita, the player travels to the three major lakes of the region to encounter legendary Pokémon Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie, the three Pokémon that, once the player pass their trials, provide material to craft the Red Chain needed to stop the rift. After defeating the Galaxy Team's leader, Commander Kamado at the summit, the player reaches the peak of Mount Coronet: The Temple of Sinnoh, at the centre of the region. Depending on the clan the player worked with, either Dialga (Diamond clan) or Palkia (Pearl clan) appears first, breaks the Red Chain, and is caught by the player before their enraged counterpart emerges. Using the fragments of the Red Chain, a special Poké Ball capable of capturing the other legendary Pokémon is crafted, and the player successfully battles and captures it, sealing the spacetime rift.

In the post-game, the player teams up with Volo, a member of the Gingko Guild merchant group who assisted the player throughout the game, to seek out all of the Plates associated to Arceus. The player can encounter a number of other legendary Pokémon, each one holding a Plate. Going to the Temple of Sinnoh for the last plate, Volo betrays the player and attempts to steal the Plates from the player to draw out Arceus and subjugate it to make a new world, also revealing he allied himself with Giratina to open the spacetime rift in a failed attempt to drive out Arceus, sending the legendary caught at the end of the game mad. The player defeats both Volo and Giratina, securing the plates and transforming the player's Celestica Flute item into the Azure Flute. Once all other Pokémon (excluding Shaymin and Darkrai, which are only obtainable through other means) have been captured, the player can play the Azure Flute at the Temple of Sinnoh to encounter Arceus. After the player proves themselves in battle, Arceus gifts them with an incarnation of itself, so that it may explore the world that it created by the player's side.

The story begins 15 years after the demon king was defeated and the world has become peaceful. Kotone, who graduated from school and became a magician, inquired the kingdom-affiliated RPG Real Estate in order to find a new home. In reality, RPG Real Estate was Kotone's place of employment, and together with Fa, a demi-human, the priest Rufuria, and the soldier Rakira, they help support the searches of new homes for the customers with various circumstances.

After a terribly embarrassing public meltdown, alcoholic Samantha Fink has only one chance to avoid jail time. She needs to stay sober and move back in with her bossy mother, Carol. Back in the Boston area, Samantha tries to make the best of the situation. However, that's easier said than done. Samantha is confronted with the ghosts of her past, which drove her to alcohol addiction. And then there's her mother, who was conspicuous by her absence when Samantha was young, and now meddles in everything and showers her with sage advice. At first Samantha is reluctant to take a new path, but when her childhood best friend Brit reveals surprising news, Samantha has to admit that her partying life can't go on like this.

An American is hired to work for a displaced persons camp in Italy. He falls in love with a Czechoslovakian refugee, but he is confronted with obstacles when he decide to marry and bring his bride back to the United States.

In 1830, veteran detective Augustus Landor investigates a series of murders at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. He is aided by Edgar Allan Poe, a young cadet at the academy.