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get-back-homeward · 10 months

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Davidwache Police Station | Painting by Klaus Voormann Prior to being deported, Paul McCartney spends a night in the Davidwache police station.

In the meantime, the final four could start playing [at the Top Ten club] now, and move themselves into the bunk-bed accommodation at the top of the building.c Tony Sheridan was already here, possibly others too, and the Beatles were welcome to shoehorn themselves in. It was neither the Ritz nor the pits. John was the first to move. Then Paul and Pete went back to the Bambi to grab their gear.

The place was in near darkness, as usual. They had to strike a match to see their way about … and then they decided to leave Koschmider a little gift. Pete had a few “spunk bags,” and he and Paul had the idea to hang them on nails in the wall in the long concrete passageway and set light to them. “The place was dank and dark,” says Pete. “They spluttered, they stank, and OK, maybe they singed a tiny bit of tapestry on the wall. It caused nothing but a little smoke and a few scorch marks and then they went out.”41 It was the ultimate fuck you, Bruno, or so they thought.

They got to play one night in the Top Ten, and it seems to have been a good one, pulling business away from the Kaiserkeller, but it was just this one night. Having been shafted once by Eckhorn, when he’d prized away the Jets and Tony Sheridan from the Kaiserkeller, Koschmider wasn’t going to sit back and let it happen again. He might also have guessed the Beatles would make some grand gesture for his “benefit”—they could even have hinted of it—because an inspection was made of the Bambi’s rooms very quickly. When the stinkende qualmende Piedeltüten were found, he decided to form the view it was an attempt to burn down his cinema, and informed the police.

The chronology of events over the next twenty-four hours is rife with confusion and contradiction, but may have gone something like this. Paul was picked up by the police while walking along the Reeperbahn, taken by car to the Davidwache police station (two hundred meters from the Top Ten) and locked in a cell. Pete and John were also arrested. Koschmider didn’t know which of them was responsible for the “attempted arson,” so the Polizei rounded them all up. As Stuart wrote in a letter back to Liverpool a few days later:

I am living in the lap of luxury and contentment. Better than the cell I spent a night in last week. I was innocent this time though accused of arson—that is, setting fire to the Kino (cinema) where we sleep. I arrive at the club and am informed that the whole of Hamburg Police are looking for me. The rest of the band are already locked up, so smiling and very brave on the arm of Astrid, I proceed to give myself up. At this time I’m not aware of the charge. All my belongings, including spectacles, are taken away and I’m led to a cell where without food or drink I sat for six hours on a very wooden bench, the door shut very tight. I fall asleep at two in the morning. I signed a confession written in Deutsch that I knew nothing about a fire, and they let me go.42

John was also allowed to go. It was now clear who’d done the dirty deed, and for them the ordeal continued; Paul would always remember the little one-way peephole in the door of their detention room, through which he sensed they were watched. It seems he and Pete were then allowed to leave, but a few hours later—early the following morning—they were dragged out of their Top Ten bunk beds and interviewed a second time. Pete suggests they were taken to Hamburg’s main prison at Fühlsbuttel, Paul remembers it being “the Rathaus … it doesn’t mean rat house, it just felt like one.” They were interviewed by an official of the Bundeskriminalamt (Federal CID), one Herr Gerkins, and it was definitely inadvisable to snigger. Instead, they requested permission to contact the British Embassy, like people did in the films, and were refused; then they were taken for a car ride. “We tried our best to persuade him it was nothing,” Paul says, “and he said, ‘OK fine, well you go with these men.’ And that was the last we knew of it. We just headed out with these couple of coppers. And we were getting a bit ‘Oh dear, this could be the concentration camps’—you never know. It hadn’t been that long [since the war].”43

Criminal charges were not pressed, but Koschmider, inevitably, had the last laugh. It wasn’t a camp to which Paul and Pete were being taken, but the airport—and in handcuffs, according to Stuart. They were being deported, and banned from reentering Germany unless they lodged an appeal within a month. Auf Wiedersehen, Piedels! Handed their passports at the gate, they were put on the London plane, set to fly for the first time in their lives. It then got even tastier for Koschmider because Eckhorn was billed for at least part of the cost of the plane tickets. Bruno must have been rubbing his hands with joy.

—Tune In, Ch. 17 (Oct 1–Dec 31, 1960)

Sources: 41 Author interview, March 7, 1985. Pete says (Beatle!, p72) there were four rubbers and always speaks of them in plural, Paul speaks of one. 42 December 12, 1960, sent to Ken Horton. This letter provides the only suggestion that John was arrested in the roundup; he’s not mentioned in other accounts. 43 Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, June 12, 1979. Rathaus means “city hall.” Instead of the main prison at Fühlsbuttel, it’s more likely Paul and Pete were taken to the remand prison near St. Pauli called Untersuchungsgefängnis (easier done than said).

#seeing the hq version of this painting and noticing the detail on pauls face #the dramaaaaaa #hamburg era #1960 #december 1960 #technically nov 30 is the fire #reading tune in #november 1960 #the image of paul and pete asking to speak to their embassy like in the movies sends me lmao #this whole episode is so amazing i cannot believe every biopic has just passed up on it #its got everything you want dumb dirty boys who get a big head the second they move up but not before they move out #an entire night in german prison cell and then questioned by some bigshot who has them shaking in their boots #john's first night in a prison cell over something he didn't even do #paul never ever admitting he did anything wrong bc individual sense of justice since age two #meanwhile poor george is being deported #stu's spectacles are taken away---wait he wore glasses?!#letters #top ten club #bundeskrinalamt (federal CID) i believe would be akin to being interviewed by the FBI in the US

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stargazer-sims · 1 year

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Connections

Charlie: What do you think of your new look, Haru?

Haru: I love it! This is exactly what I wanted.

Charlie: Sheridan said I could do whatever you asked me for. I think it was a test to see how well I could do, because normally management is a lot more control freakish than that, aren’t they?

Haru: Yeah. Last time, they actually told us all what colours they wanted us to have. Fortunately, I like pink. I don’t think Keigo was too happy with blond, and Senjirō didn’t look good with light purple. He’s too pale for cool colours.

Charlie: I’ll give Senjirō something warmer this time.

Haru: He’ll be happy.

Charlie: I hope so.

Haru: Don’t worry. If this is supposed to be a test, I’d say you already passed it. It’ll be okay after this. Starting is always the hard part.

Charlie: Thanks. This actually would’ve been easier if you came to the salon, but I think we managed it. Luckily for you, it’s not the first time I’ve coloured somebody’s hair in a bathroom.

Haru: I didn’t feel like going out.

Charlie: I know. It’s fine.

Haru: Whose hair did you colour in a bathroom before mine?

Charlie: Eden’s. I pretty much always colour his at home. And I coloured my sister’s hair at home once.

Haru: Eden has had different hair colours?

Charlie: Yeah. He doesn’t always go with white-blond. It was red last time, and we did it pink once. I think he wants me to put it back to black before I leave, though. I’m glad, because his hair needs a break.

Haru: That’s what Sheridan said about all of ours, too. I’ll bet Eden will be even more sexy with his natural hair colour.

Charlie: Uhh…

Haru: Sorry! I didn’t mean to say that out loud!

Charlie: You might as well say it as think it, I guess. Anyway, it’s not as if I haven’t already heard the same from Eden about you.

Haru: Éden thinks I’m sexy?

Charlie: Doesn’t everyone whose sexual preference includes males? I mean, aren’t you the guy with like, tens of thousands of marriage proposals or something?

Haru: Yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything. With Eden, it’s different.

Charlie: Is It?

Haru: Of course it is. The other night, we were gonna, um… do something. He said he wanted to, but then he said we should wait. I was worried because I thought maybe he was just being polite ‘cause he didn’t really want me but couldn’t think of a way to say no. But, he’s really, honestly into me?

Charlie: He said he told you that, but I didn’t get the impression it was because he’s not into you. As far as I can tell, he’s very into you. Like, ‘having an actual relationship’ into you. Eden doesn’t have relationships, so…

Haru: He wants a relationship?

Charlie: You should really talk to him about that.

Haru: Nobody’s ever wanted a real relationship with me before. I knew this was gonna be different.

Charlie: Like I said, you should discuss it with Eden.

Haru: I can’t believe somebody as amazing and talented and beautiful as him wants a relationship with me. Lots of people like, throw themselves at me or whatever because I’m famous, but it’s usually just fans being crazy. In real life, most people don’t even want to be my friend.

Charlie: Why do you think that? Aren’t the guys in the band your friends?

Haru: Taiji is, but sometimes I wonder if the others are, or if they’re just being nice to me because it’d be rude not to. I think they think I’m stupid, especially Senjirō.

Charlie: I don’t think you’re stupid.

Haru: You just don’t know me well enough yet.

Charlie: I’d like the chance to.

Haru: Really?

Charlie: Sure. Everybody needs friends, and I’d be happy to be one of yours, if that’s what you want.

Haru: Yeah, I’d like that. But… why would you want to?

Charlie: Because, if you can make Eden want to give up bed-hopping and start something serious with you, then he must think you’re special. I’d like to know the person who has that kind of personal energy. Besides, I think you’re a nice guy, and even without you dating my brother, wouldn’t that be enough?

#ts4 #sims 4 #eagames #snowy escape #sugar valentine #Charlie Seong #Sakuharu Abe #fake boy band #wearesugarvalentine #stargazersims

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skayafair · 5 months

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Ok S3 let's go *ooph*

Live impressions below (yes it's another wall of text)

Ok I still have like 1\4 of the episode to go but I just need to vent out a bit because HOLY HELL.

What the actual fuck.

I mean I do find myself being correct most the time lately since I've started to trust my gut instinct more instead of doubting every thought and idea, like I've been surprisingly in tune with The Sheridan Tapes, it still blows my mind, - or hearing nearly exact words I've typed in the latest Malevolent ep - from and about John, that was surprising, too, but I just concluded we're pretty much alike in personality so that partially explains it, I think, and HG is pretty good at depicting the characters, so I just must have caught a few hints.

But to be THIS spot on??? I mean I've just typed that long-ass post yesterday, and I WAS going to listen to the show from season 1 again first before proceeding to S3, buuut then I had to wash the dishes, and it's unbearably boring, and I didn't manage to make myself do it in more than 3 hours, my ADHD be damned. I needed something interesting to drive me, so there wasn't much choice since I've caught up with TST earlier this evening and mirror house host story wasn't very interesting to me, alas. So here I was, turning S3 on before refreshing my memory on everything that happened before.

And. I'm baffled. Positively.

The emotions are a bit too much so they don't want to get out through the bottle neck of thoughts, sorry

First of all, I laughed out loud when Beckett said Cass is no longer the team leader. Because - what??? I mean. This is rational, that's what I've typed a whole post about, it's logical and actually very reasonable and I believe is going to be beneficial for Cass as well, they need this weight off their shoulders at least formally, it's not like they are going to stop looking out for everyone.

But at the same time - WHAT???

I expected something like... toning down this whole thing a little? or something like that?.. but CERTAINLY not removing them from the post and the team altogether! My reaction was pretty much the same as team Alpha's, save for the disbelieveing laughing.

Oh, this is SUCH a great twist! I'm having the time of my life.

Firstly, I love being right. And if even a part - not the best but still sorta rational - of the show itself agrees I've read the character and their position correctly, it's a real boost. I'm very much used to not getting clues and, well, generally everything, especially about people (which includes characters as well), hence my interest in psychology, so following the writers idea by simply making conclusions that are natural for my way of thinking is. It's so validating you have no idea. don't mind me I'm trying to catch my breath here among the racing thoughts and a chaos of emoitions

Secondly, this twist was completely unexpected. While, yes, I've seen it done before - like with Shiro in VLD (although we don't talk about VLD writing in this house), it was different and not so out of blue. In the show, it's kind of a pretty obvious idea, but I didn't expect them to actually go THIS far??? That's bold! Logical, natural, but bold! Wow. So great. I positively love the team working on this podcast.

Thirdly, my mind was blown when Cass actually agreed to this in the first place (were they the one who proposed it? With their guilt and all that?). In retrospect, in a few seconds after the revelation when I had time to think it over, this made perfect sense, too, but I still didn't expect that. I guess I never noticed how much I missed the unexpected twists which weren't just because, but completely natural and logical, just another option out of several possible. This decision goes veeeerry well with Cass' character but there was always a chance the sense of duty will outweight. And, well, they are back on their feet in no time after Silas' pep talk, already talking about what's best for the team. So this expectation wasn't unreasonable, either, and got confirmed, just a bit later and in another way. I'm just giddy at this point.

And then we've got LIZZIE. Oh my goodness. It was just one twist after another, how didn't I get a mental whiplash? Who says I didn't, what a great rollercoaster. She was probably the last person I would have expected to be appointed as the team leader, although it's actually not a bad choice in a lot of ways but one. I don't think she's a natural leader, like... she can if she has to but wouldn't if she doesn't? She's not a people person. This again reminds me of VLD with Keith as the Black paladin and Shiro as the backseat driver, but, again, the writing in VLD left much to be desired and didn't explore... practically anything. So, I'm really counting on THIS show to show how it's done. So far it's been mind-blowingly great.

Considering team Alpha consists of indiviluals who generally won't take any shit from others and prefer to think for themselves first and foremost - Lizzie should do fine. She's pretty cautios and careful, more rational, but at the same time has infinite curiosity for these new worlds. Still not the most obvious choice but I believe they'll work out the dynamic between everyone somehow.

And this leadership situation is actually very interesting in a way that it's never been very conventional.

Like in my last post, when I struggled at first to understand what was Cass' role as the leader at all. Then I pinpointed it and it made sense. But they never told others what to do on the general scale - they're the heart, the emotions, the driving force, the enthusiasm, the dare.

However, Greg had a lot of authority from the get-go, too. And this is natural - he's the most experienced in dangerous situations (although not in the wild life setting) and he was actually the one responsible for everyne's safety. So we already have two people for that. Sure, Greg wasn't always taken seriously enough, but he DID have a say in their decisions.

Next, there's Silas. Not the most obvious candidate but he started supporting Cass and then, gradually, everyone, and he was the one making rounds to check on the teammates every time there was the need. The carer of the group? Sort of? And he influenced Cass' decisions more and more as the time passed. I love how it's executed! *giggles and jumps in place*

So there are three figures at the heart of everything already, and the group is small, just 6 people. 2,5 heads with well-distributed responsibilities is actually pretty good for such a number. Plus J has an indisputable authority in everything that considers physical health. This leaves only Alyx, the team's little sis everyone wants to protect and a hacker, and Lizzie.

Honestly it's the most difficult to say what her part was because with time she sort of drifted more and more away from everyone? Sure she cares for Alyx quite noticeably, discusses some decisions with Cass from time to time, but that's it. And she's the only one who's been hostile towards other team members - first it was Cassius (which was very understandable, I'd have been furious, too), then Silas, and this last beef is a total mystery to me. What's her problem with him? I'm not particularly fond of him either but uh... he's okay? And has a lot of good sides, too? Why such an open animosity? So, Lizzie became team's outcast or someone like that. Hi again Keith!

Which illustrates perfectly why I didn't expect her to be appointed as the leader. It does make sense from Yanus' perspective - she collaborated with Vincula the most before, she's calm-er than Cassius (yeah the anxiety and sensitivity aside, uh-huh, and there's impulsiveness, too, when she sees a particularly inspirational new species - is Lizzie ND or am I making things up?..), seems responsible but not that hard to knock down a peg if necessary. Meaning, easier to push to where Yanus needs team Alpha to be. Orrr that's what they probably expect.

But the decision to remove Cass from the team altogether was just... the team has already lost one of their heads - Greg. Lost tragically, this hit everyone about as hard as I imagined. Thanks for not disappointing in this department. To remove another one meant this is just a bunch of people with no center, so to put someone more easy to manipulate as one was a brilliant and soul-crashing decision. Wow, the show keeps inventing new ways to hate the higher-ups with each passing episode!

I mean, that's approxiately how Beckett should have seen this. I bet no one outside the team expected Silas to rebel :DDD The guy grew some teeth and they didn't notice, nice! Or rather Silas reminds me of the kind of people who stay silent and compliant as long as it doesn't go against their core values and beliefs personally. THEN shit hits the fan and good luck trying to psych your way out of the conflict. I think Michella in Kekkai Sensen put it the best way possible, calling her brother "a tortoise knight": he may not go forward, he can be scared to death but if something strikes the right cord, he won't back down an inch. And this is what happened. Silas provided the first angry spark because boooy was he furious (and I LIKED that a lot! Let him vent out more!), which immediately yanked everyone else out of their bewilderment after hearing the news and made them start opposing the decision as well. Yaaaay, this was SO satisfying <3

And when Lizzie chimed in. Girl I may have my doubts about what's going on with you but in that moment I clouldn't care less. THE QUEEN <3

And I'm tired of typing so I probably won't go on for much longer because the whole episode is just like that. What a banger of a season opening! I'm sort of always cautious about these because there are quite a lot of cases when after the break things change, and I don't always like the way they they go further. NOT the case here. I was listening to the most of S1 & 2 smiling all the time just because of how enjoyable and in line with what I usually like they were. To get so much more in S3 is just. Wow. I'm so happy.

Buuut I can't help mentioning the pep talk. It was beautiful. I like their interactions so much. Please let the dynamic go on like this, it's rare for me as aroace spec not to miss any links in relationship which are supposed to be romantic? Are they?.. I'm so not sure but this one feels natural to me and I'd always be glad to have this.

#syntax podcast #syntax podcast spoilers #horror podcast

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reveluving · 2 years

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sweet treat ; joe pickett x reader

summary: Joe and his girls help the neighbourhood baker plan the seasonal menu.

warnings: teeny bit of angst, but mostly fluff!

a/n: as if country boy Rick was not enough, our beloved Dorman has now lived in my head rent free ❤ thank you @lacontroller1991 for giving me the most wholesome ideas for this man! don’t forget to leave some sugar! ᐠ( ᐛ )ᐟ

» check out my m.list!

'What are we, little lady?' ;

He never thought he'd drag his own ass out of bed by his girls on his day off to help the cute lil' baker with the seasonal menu. Though it didn't take long to convince him for obvious reasons, he was worried you'd rather work alone, more so with what he assumed would be a busy month. But, with his eldest telling him that it was you who offered them to tag along, he gave in and hoped that she was right.

Their excitement grew as they were getting closer and closer to their destination, including Joe, who hid his hands in his pockets, hoping it wouldn't sweat any more than it already did.

Upon entering the bakery, Joe immediately noted the slight changes to the place; dried flower wreaths, decorative tree branches, mood-matching fairy lights, that little witch hat sticker on the glass display.

Okay, maybe he has spent a lot of time here to be able to notice such details so quickly.

"Is that who I think it is?" They perked up at the sing-song voice coming from the kitchen, beaming as you peeked your head out of the door, "Morning, girls!"

"(Y/N)!" The girls cheered, running up to you, where you lifted the flip-up countertop to greet them. He watched you quickly dust off the flour off your apron before kneeling down for a group hug. He was barely able to control the giddy smile, instead, he opted for a gentle one.

"I see you two brought company," You raised your brows at the man in question, "I take it that the girls used their secret weapon on you to bring you here?" You knew he wasn't spared from the puppy dog eyes that even you couldn't resist, though, deep down, you were thanking the heavens that they had such an ability.

"He's helping us today!" You looked at Sheridan in surprise, albeit more so pleasant than anything, missing the way Joe tensed up.

"Really?" When your focus was back on their father, he was already looking at his shoes, shifting in place.

"Mhm, He wanted to!" Lucy's response had your lips parted just a little. Your heart had already skipped a beat when you saw him at the door, now, it was close to stopping now that you'd heard that his arrival wasn't just to drop the girls off.

"Did he now?" You asked no one in particular, trying to think of an answer without sounding too giddy about it, "Well, if he came here willingly just to taste the treats, he could've just said so."

Your collective giggles put him at ease, prompting him to chuckle. He was partially thankful that he didn't have to rack his brain for an explanation.

"You caught me," He spoke for the first time since his arrival, "Should've known that my girls would throw me under the bus."

"What can I say?" You grinned at the two before giving him a closed-eye smile, "We girls like to share secrets."

I hope not.

He prayed that wasn't entirely true. He wasn't ready, physically or mentally. Even if he didn't have to worry, judging by your relationship with the girls, and somewhere at the back of his mind, he knew Marybeth would've wanted him to move forward. If he was going to proceed with this, he'd want to make it special.

For both you and his girls.

"Yeah? Then, should I worry 'bout you giving my girls a sugar rush, too?" His lighthearted remark caused you to snort.

"There's not a lot, I promise. I just need the validation of my best customers so I'll know what exactly the neighbourhood likes," You pursed your lips, "Oh, and well, your approval, too, I guess."

You grinned as he placed his hand over chest, feigning offense at your statement.

"Shall we get started? I'm sure you three have stuff to do," You stood up from your position.

"Not at all," Joe reassured, "The week's been pretty slow for us." The girls nodded at his statement.

"Well, whatever the case is, I'm grateful, truly," You've always adored the Pickett's. Other than your infatuation for a certain someone, the sisters, too, have a special place in your heart. Even if your day was crappy, their presence could lift your mood in a snap, "C'mon, I've got everything set up."

By the time they arrived, your pecan snickerdoodles had just cooled on the rack. Rather than making the common ol’ pie out of it, you wanted to kick it up a notch, much like the rest of your new seasonal menu, with some help, of course. You have yet to familiarize yourself with the comfort foods here, despite having lived in Wyoming for over six months now, so you needed the aid of true locals, and who better to ask than the Pickett’s?

You didn’t even have the time to ask their opinion on the cookies when they immediately told you to put them on the menu. One of the reasons is being a moreish grab-and-go; the town isn’t always busy, but everyone would always have something to do, so they’d be pleased to have a sweet treat ready in hand, no matter where they are. You couldn’t argue with that, in fact, it was a win-win situation.

With one down, you told them other sets of treats you had in mind, hoping to find two more that could potentially win the hearts of the neighbourhood.

“Pumpkin doughnut sounds nice!”

“But pumpkin cupcakes sounds better!” You didn’t have to ask Joe to know that there was going to be a little argument over this. Luckily for you, he caught on.

“Girls, not in front of the little lady.” His warning was soft but firm enough that they muttered ‘sorry’ to you. You felt bad, knowing they just wanted to help and thought of an idea.

“Tell you what,” You stood between both sisters, stroking their backs, “One day, we can make both the doughnuts and cupcakes, just for you guys,” Their eyes sparkled, looking at you with a silent ‘really?’, “I promise. For now, how about we stick with some good ol’ pumpkin pie?” They didn’t oppose it, so you turned to Joe, “What’d you think, Joe?”

“Can never go wrong with the classics.” He agreed, curtly nodding when you mouthed him a ‘thank you’ for easing the situation with the two. Their slight tension immediately disappeared when they asked you what a crumb cake tasted like. You thought they were joking, but the curiosity in their eyes and even Joe’s head tilt had you realizing that they were in fact, not kidding around.

So, you knew what you had to do.

The four of you got started with the pumpkin pie, considering how long both baking and chill time it would take. You and Sheridan prepared the filling while Lucy and her father worked on the crust you made in the morning. You couldn’t hide your amusement at how the duo were so careful, especially when Lucy repeatedly whispered to him to be careful as he transferred the dough to the pie dish.

"Sorry ma'am." He apologized, despite the guiltless smile on his face at Lucy's pouty glare.

Thirty minutes into its baking time, the girls were still playing tag in the dining area while Joe helped you wipe the cutleries you've washed. Just then, you noticed him looking over the bowl of cream you just whipped.

"Don't think I didn't see you dip your finger in the cream, mister," He whirled around, eyes wide and lips still wrapped around his pinky before he raised his hands in defense. You nearly broke out of your demeanour just remembering how he licked the side of his lips, "What will the girls say if they ever saw their father do such a crime?"

"They'd probably join me," He shrugged.

"Are you accusing them of something, Mr Pickett?"

"I'm just speaking the truth, ma'am," He rested his side against the counter next to you, "They're only behaving now, but God knows if they'd stay that way the next time y'all have another baking party."

"'Next time', huh?" You smirked, hiding your excitement with a teasing look.

"I—" The realization had him snapping his lips shut in a thin line, even praying that the girls would barge in, "Well, I don't doubt that the girls love spending time with you."

"I love spending time with them, too," You put away the last dish, wiping your hands with the rag perched on your shoulder before turning to him, "Between you and me, they're my favourite kids in the neighbourhood."

"Because they visit here almost every day?" He snorted, even if he, too, visited the bakery often.

"Okay, that, too," You pushed his shoulder lightly, "I mean, they've always been… the highlight of my day, y’know? Always sparing their time asking how I've been, even making friends with my staff. They, well, the three of you, are more than just my valued customers."

It was your turn to feel shy, but also nervous, afraid you've crossed the line with your rambling. You nearly said something that could've potentially ruined what you have with the Pickett's, so you stopped there.

But, that man was sharp-eyed.

"Yeah?" He began, sounding more intrigued than you thought, "Then, what are we, little lady?"

His emphasis on 'we' made you wonder if he was talking about all three of them or just Joe himself.

His hand slid across the counter, approaching yours slowly as if he feared he was overstepping boundaries. You didn't move, in fact, you were hoping that he was going to do what he had in mind.

Your breath hitched at the feel of his warm touch. No doubt his hands were bigger, encompassing yours with no problem.

You stared into his eyes, entranced by its ocean blue hue as he waited for your response with much wonder and dare you say, eagerness.

"Joe, I—"

Ding!

The tiny footsteps that approached the kitchen door had you both pulling away at the same time. You were caressing your hand with the other subconsciously, missing the warmth you felt just moments ago. Joe wasn't doing any better, clenching that same fist as if he didn't believe what he did.

"Girls, you're just in time!" You sported a tight smile, partially disappointed that the moment had to end but at the time, thankful that it did; you weren't sure how to answer even if he had given you a day for it, "The pie just got done baking but we gotta leave in the oven for a little bit so it doesn't crack at the top. Is it okay if we work on the crumb cake first?"

"Okay!"

"Cool, cool," You clasped your hands together before turning to Joe, "Uh, could you put the cream in the fridge for a bit, Joe?"

"Right, right." He gave you a thumbs-up, turning around with the bowl in his hand and muttering 'fuck' before making his way to the fridge. Yet, it wasn't out of regret. Not when he was certain that you never did try to push him away.

Throughout the second baking, you and Joe have been exchanging shy looks, which was definitely not a bad thing. Whether or not the girls noticed, you definitely didn't want to find out. His touch lingered till the very end of your activity, even after two hours. His hands were rough, a stark contrast to how gentle he caressed yours. You wouldn't be surprised if he heard how fast your heartbeat grew the second he stood right in front of you.

In the end, you took a piece each for leftovers, a couple of all three treats for the Pickett's and the remaining for the dear old lady and her huge family that you'd often bump into almost every morning.

"Oh wow, it's three already?" Being the last person to leave the kitchen, you gasped at the time, "I made you guys miss lunch! I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, hey, hey, none of that now," Joe interrupted before you could even repeat your apologies, "Had you been doing these all on your own, who knows when you'd take a break," He had a point; you would've been so caught up with work that you wouldn't even realized your own needs.

"Maybe…" You scratched your cheek, "But you guys must be hungry. I know all that sugar couldn't cut it."

You watched as the Pickett's glanced at one another, possibly communicating telepathically before Joe opened his mouth.

"Tell you what," He began, "We don't want you feeling guilty over this 'cause mind you, I—we," He corrected, though everyone caught on pretty quickly, "We had a great time. And here, I thought, I'd leave the place covered in flour."

He preened as your guilt turned into soft giggles.

"But what I'm trying to say is, how's about you join us for lunch?"

You straightened up at his offer.

"You want me to join you guys for lunch?"

"I don't see why not. Girls?" Your eyes dropped to the sisters', not expecting the puppy eyes. He chuckled, noticing their little game, too, "Well, there you go."

"I…" You weren't even sure if the girls leaning forward for your answer was just your own imagination, "I'd love to."

Oh, how wish Joe could cheer the way the girls did, so one could imagine the self-control he needed to respond with a smile.

"Good. Now, come on," The girls walked ahead of the two of you, giving him an opportunity to talk to you one-on-one, "I know a joint who makes good biscuits."

"Oh yeah? Better than mine?"

"You don't make biscuits… Right?" He furrowed brows, trying to remember if you ever did.

"You don't know that, I could make a mean batch," You crossed your arms, "Why, you doubting me, sheriff?"

He playfully rolled his eyes, though the upturn of his lips gave it away. Even after months of knowing you, you still loved to call him sheriff. You argued that it had a better ring to calling him 'Sheriff Pickett' rather than warden or chief.

Not that he minded, really.

"Hey, I never said I did," He stated as-a-matter-of-factly, "But I am going to need proof."

"Careful, sheriff," You tutted, "You might not like it when I'm right."

"Oh, 'when', not 'if'? Pray tell what's it in if it works in your favour?" He moved an inch closer to you, his breath growing heavier when your eyes locked.

"Who knows?" You took him by surprise when sidestepped out of his vision, a cheeky grin at his blinking state, "Only time will tell."

You exited the bakery, taking the seconds-long chance to regulate your burning skin before laughing with the girls as they chased around you. Joe, being the one who offered to close up the shop for you, finally let out a mix between a sigh and a chuckle as he watched the wholesome moment from the window.

Not once did you or Joe ever forget about whatever happened in the kitchen nor did any of you tried to. At this point, there was no way you could mistake it for anything else and yet, you were still too scared to make a move.

Guess you were right about one thing.

Only time will tell.

˚ · . f i n . · ˚

» tagging my MCB Babes: @lacontroller1991 @11thstreetvigilante @pirategamora @neon-supernova @violetmuses ❤

» gorgeous rose divider by the amazing @firefly-graphics ♡

#— reve's reverie 🌹#joe pickett #joe pickett x reader #joe pickett x you #michael dorman #sheridan pickett #lucy pickett #f!reader #joe pickett 2021

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rosallora · 11 months

Text

S2E16 - Knives

BASEBALL! IN! SPACE!

This made me think that the entire episode was going to be based in the culture of the baseball ring on Babylon 5. Watching a Minbari vs. Centauri baseball game would be really funny. I want to watch Vir run the bases.

Sheridan wearing an Agamemnon baseball cap is funny as hell considering last episode he wanted a baseball cap “for his sister”. HE WANTED IT FOR HIMSELF.

I want to live in the moment where Londo and Vir sing together forever. Just seeing them sing and laugh and smile together makes me happy.

TOO BAD LONDO IS STILL ON HIS SHIT!!!

I love that Vir is preaching the idea that longing for the past / the golden age is a useless endeavor. He’s a wiser attache than anyone gives him credit for (INCLUDING ME... I’M SORRY VIR)

What the BAD CGI IS THAT

It’s a HALLUUUUCINATIONNN. Sheridan... please go see Franklin. YOU WERE JUST THERE.

Again with Londo we run into the theme of friendship. The interpersonal conflicting with and intersecting across the political. It’s an intense thing. Like Vir, I am also sometimes proud of Londo.

I’m proud of Sheridan for going to medlab when he was seeing weird shit! I can’t believe that Franklin can’t find anything wrong.

“You cannot build an empire on slaughter and defeat” is such a great line. THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Urza is a really fun character. I love the new perspective he brings - being ashamed of the past, of his terrible actions. He doesn’t want to return to the days of blood! Thank god! A Centauri with outright morals!

Well. Time to duel to the death I guess.

This death scene is giving me big “intricate rituals” vibes.

Unfortunately the other plot with Sheridan was not nearly as interesting as Londo’s. Maybe this will come back later? Not sure.

#Babylon 5 #rosa watches babylon 5 #S2

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what-do-1000-swords-look-like · 2 years

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I’m sorry but you guys give D&D way too much credit. You really think these idiots went “ok so we’re gonna make Dany leave her hair up and Jon too so people can see their sex is a service and not love.” This is D&D we’re talking about.

Hi, Anon.

Well, short answer: Yes, I do think they did that.

1) when speaking on the GoT commentary, Dan was notoriously obsessed with the tiniest details (which to GA would have seemed inane and not worth their time), to the point where even David would tease him about it. Dan was also the one that allegedly got upset about 8x03's airing and being so dark.

2) Have you seen behind the scenes of the Dany and Sansa scene in 8x02? D&D were directing Emilia on how to gesture to Sansa to sit, even though David Nutter was the credited director of the episode. This once again, goes in line with the point above.

3) D&D were the ones to convince GRRM to do a show in the first place. He had turned down offers before that. The story is infamous at this point, and GRRM confirmed that one of the reasons he agreed to their pitch is because they had guessed who Jon's real mother was, after going back over the books.

4) They had crew working for them that played into the details like the hair being left up or down. Sophie Turner confirmed that Sansa's hairstyles usually echoed who she was learning from and/or channeling. If you look, you can see at one point in the series for each queen who Sansa learned from/was channeling. Season 8 has Dany-style hair for Sansa even. Michele Clapton, the costume designer, has confirmed that not only did she put little clues into the costumes as much as she could, but that the crew did these types of things knowing full well that people would go back and rewatch the series over and over again, and their goal was for the viewer to find something new each time (a la the books).

5) The show utilized different storytelling devices that many television shows and films use, across the board. That includes different shots and angles, framing, panning, set dec, props, music cues, lighting, costuming, blocking (like when Dany is moved away from fire), actors' performances/notes, editing, and of course, the dialogue/writing. Each one of these examples is present over the course of the series.

Look, I'm not saying that D&D didn't screw things up in the end nor am I defending them nor am I calling them as geniuses, but they both did do some decent work as showrunners at some points during the show. I don't think they were stupid as much as I think their egos grew too massive and got in the way. They literally rushed the last season so they could go make Star Wars which lol they didn't even do. They had started pulling their celebrity friends in for cameos (that had nothing to do with the show or industry at all, I think one of them was an NFL player iirc), and even put themselves into the show (in 8x04 as the widlings Tormund is boasting about Jon to). Some might say, well Taylor Sheridan put himself into Yellowstone or 1883, and they would be right. But the difference is, the characters he embodied worked with the story, and he was an actor before being this highly successful writer. These two simply put themselves into the show because they wanted to be immortalized in this series (and they chose the feast scene of all scenes to do it) and did it in the last season because that's what they were doing with all of their celebrity friend cameos. Getting it in as a last hurrah. Massive. Egos.

So to go back to your point, Anon, yes, I do think they did that to show that Jon was simply giving Dany what she wanted. When you break down the boat sex scene, it's pretty easy to spot what they did there. They are still in the Queen Dany and Bent-the-knee Jon here. Same as in this scene:

youtube

If they were in love or just having really great sex but bonding then we would have seen Dany like this:

Or Jon like this:

Especially when you compare it to Dany's love scene with Drogo where she takes control, the seduction scene with Daario where she takes control, and then her pillow talk scene with Daario (photo above).

So yes, Anon, I don't feel that we're giving them too much credit. I do think they absolutely kept in mind that people were going to rewatch the series and find new clues each time, just like they themselves used to do with GRRM's books. Listen, they screwed up in a lot of ways, but as for what they showed with Jon and Daenerys in that boat scene, I don't think they did.

Hope you have a great rest of your day!

#ask #ask answered #got #game of thrones #d&d critical #due to ask #antijonerys #anti jonerys #slightly

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wingodex · 3 years

Text

Sourcing Copley’s Sociogram

so this started out because i recognized some of the photographs and art on copley’s wall, and got curious about everything else. i know that the dates and locations of the original pictures don’t necessarily have anything to do with what they’re supposed to be in the movie but i thought it was interesting enough to share. plus i spent a not insignificant amount of time tracking down some of these images. the organization is a mixture between chronologically in the show and from a timeline perspective. the rest is under the cut

So we start out with this mosaic that you see when Andy looks at the sociogram for the first time while confronting Copley. This is a Roman mosaic found in Antioch, which is near modern-day Antakya, Turkey. It’s from the 4th century CE and shows an Amazon Warrior in mounted combat against a Greek soldier. Mosaics were found in both private and public buildings throughout the Roman empire. They’re made up of small cut pieces of marble, tile, glass, pottery, stone and shells called tesserae.

Here you have the title page of the 1668 edition of Andromaque, a play written by Jean Racine. It was first performed in November of 1667 for the court of Louis XIV by a company of actors called “les Grands Comédiens.” The play follows the story of Andromache after the Trojan War when her husband Hector has been killed and she has been taken prisoner.

The portrait of Andromache is from the book “Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum” by Guillaume Rouillé. The book was published in Lyon, France, in 1553. The book is made up of portraits designed as medals, along with brief biographies for notable figures. The art was done using woodcut and there are 950 woodcut portraits in the book.

This is a fresco of Mycenaean woman bearing gifts. It’s from Thebes and was reconstructed by H. Reusch in 1956. The original fresco is from 1400-1200 BCE. Frescos were popular decoration, not just in palaces and tombs but in storerooms, kitchens and workshops. Fresco painting is a technique where the drawing is made on wet plaster. When the plaster dries, the image becomes a permanent part of the wall.

You also have a map by Bernardus Sylvanus (Bernardo Silvano) of Northern India and Central Asia. It’s one of the earliest obtainable maps of the area and the first printed in two colors. This map first appeared in Silvanus’ “Claudii Ptholemaei Alexandrini liber Geographicae” published in Venice in 1511.

This is a photograph of an ornamented, golden Minoan double-axe, or a “labrys.” In ancient Crete, the double axe was an important sacred symbol of the supposed Minoan religion. In Crete the double axe only accompanies female goddesses, never male gods. In Roman Crete, the labrys was often associated with the mythological Amazons.

This is a picture of the Holyland Model of Jerusalem in the Israel Museum. It’s a 1:50 scale model of Jerusalem in the late Second Temple period. It was originally commissioned in 1966 by the owner of the Holyland Hotel and was eventually relocated to the Israel Museum in 2006.

The first image is the cover of the book “Heroines of the Crusades” by C. A. Bloss. I don’t know if this is the original cover, but it is certainly an older edition. The book was originally published in 1853 and contains biographies of notable women who were involved with the crusades, as well as a general overview of the first through to the eighth crusade.

And then hey, it’s The Hague Map of Jerusalem! This is one of the artworks that I knew before. The original map is from 1190-1200 CE. The map takes some liberties with the layout of the city, prioritizing aesthetics decisions like making it have the layout of a cruciform. Circular maps are also like a thing from this time. It also uhhhhh mislabels some things, such as the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, but that’s maybe expected. At the bottom you can see some mounted crusaders chasing after Muslim fighters. It’s drawn on vellum.

I’m grouping these two images together for clarity, because they’re both by the same painter. From the moment I saw the paintings, I thought that this was kind of a weird pull for Copley, but not necessarily for us as viewers. These paintings were done by Italian painter Paolo Domenico Finoglia (known as Finoglio) and are from a series of large paintings based on the poem “Gerusalemme Liberata” (Jerusalem Delivered) published in 1581. These paintings are baroque in style and were commissioned in 1634. The first painting is “The Duel of Raymond of Toulouse and Argante” and the second painting is “The Duel of Tancred and Clorinda”. Now, when I say this choice of paintings makes sense to us, what I mean is that parts of the poem Jerusalem Delivered are about a Christian crusader falling in love with a Muslim defender who he then kills on the battlefield (that’s the second painting of Tancred and Clorinda). It’s a fun parallel, although Clorinda converts to Christianity before she dies. Sidenote, but Joe and Nicky probably hated Jerusalem Delivered if they ever read it

This motherfucking painting. Finding out where this painting came from was an absolute nightmare. Not the worst to find, but certainly frustrating. So this painting can be found in the Borodino Panorama museum, although it’s not part of the panorama. The artist is unknown. The year it was painted is unknown. For all we know fucking Joe painted it. This is such a deep dive, I don’t know how Copley found this image. This painting shows French soldiers in Moscow as it burned. It’s called “Французы в Москве” or “The French in Moscow”.

Did you think we were finished talking about Napoleon? Well, we’re not! Copley has a lot of paintings from Napoleon’s Russian campaign on his board. There might be more on his eastern Europe wall too, but unfortunately, I can’t see it well enough to identify any.

The counterfeits potentially made by Booker show the 40 franc gold coin, known informally as the double Napoleon. These coins were first issued by Napoleon in 1803 to replace the earlier Louis coins. They were originally minted in two denominations: 20 francs and 40 francs, although they were minted in denominations of 5, 10 and 50 at various other times. The coins were designed and engraved by Jean Pierre Droz, and Pierre-Joseph Tiolier respectively. In the particular image of the coin that I found, you can actually see Droz’s signature. Tiolier’s signature appears in full on the dies that he cut himself (these coins only have a monogram). From screenshots of the end credits, I can’t actually see the specific denomination, nor can I see the date clearly, however I do know that the coins were minted sometime between 1807 and 1808. There were many different issues of these coins during Napoleon’s reign, and the fact that Napoleon has a laurel crowned head and that the coin says République Française rather than Empire Français narrows the timeline a bit. I might revisit this topic at a later date so watch out for that.

The first painting is “The Battle of Borodino, 7 September 1812” by Louis-François Lejeune in 1822. It’s oil on canvas. This painting depicts the attack on the Shevardino Redoubt, seen from the French side. While it was a French victory, it was a costly battle for both sides. During the Russian Campaign, Lejeune was général de brigade, although he ended up abandoning his post because of frostbite during the retreat and got arrested. He actually kept his paintbrushes with him on the battlefield. This painting was his masterwork. Now, with regards to the actual content of the painting, Booker would have been in the Battle of Borodino, as he didn’t try to desert until after the Battle of Smolensk.

The second painting is “Die Schlacht bei Borodino” (The Battle of Borodino) by Peter von Hess. It was painted in 1843 and is oil on canvas. Von Hess was a German painter who specialized in historic paintings of the Napoleonic Wars and the Greek War of Independence. This painting depicts the same battle as the previous one, although the focus is on the Russian and Lithuanian soldiers, rather than the French. This also shows an event from later in the battle; the counterattack on the Rayevsky Battery.

The last image is “The Boasted Crossing of the Niemen at the Opening of the Campaign of 1812 by N. Bonaparte” by John Heaviside Clark and Matthew Dubourg. The painting was based on a sketch by an officer, then painted by Heaviside Clark and engraved by Dubourg. It’s a coloured aquatint and was published in 1816. The crossing of the Niemen marks the beginning of the Russian Campaign in June of 1812.

There are actually quite a few photos of ToG during the Crimean war (1853-1856). These are actually some of the first war photographs ever taken, which is kind of neat, I guess. These photos were taken by Roger Fenton, a British photographer. These photos would have all been taken in 1855, so the tags on the photos are anachronistic but we can let it slide. The first image with Joe and Nicky is of Croat labourers. The second image of Andy is of a vivandière, a French woman attached to military regiments as a sutler. The last image (also of Joe and Nicky) is of British soldiers and is on of the covers of the book Victorians at War by Ian Beckett.

The photograph from the American civil war was originally of Union Generals, including General Philip Sheridan. At the time of this picture, Sheridan lead the Cavalry Corps, and the flag that you see in the picture is cavalry, so ToG rode horses during the American Civil War, according to this picture. It was taken in 1864.

I find the pictures of Haiti to be very interesting. First off, (and unrelated to the photographs themselves) because there was literally a coup d’état about every two years during this period in Haiti and unlike some of the other photos, these ones don’t even try to pretend they were all taken at the same time, or that they’re related at all. They’re just some pictures of Haiti during the early 20th century and it’s funny. All of photographs were taken in Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The first picture (from the upper left corner) is of the Market Square between 1909-1920. The second image is a street scene, between 1890 and 1901. Now the third photograph is making me lose it because in the movie it’s all mysterious, with a figure circled and a question mark, but in the original image it’s just a little kid standing on a public fountain. He’s not a member of the old guard. He’s not even 10 years old. This picture was also taken between 1890 and 1901. The last photo is another street scene, taken in 1901. I have to say, I’m very glad that the people in charge of the sociogram didn’t edited any of the guards’ faces on to anyone in these photos considering every single person in them is Black.

Okay, so now we’re getting into the First World War photos. There are A Lot of WW1 photos. This photo of Andy is actually from Gallipoli and was taken in 1915 by Ernest Brooks, an official war photographer. The Gallipoli campaign was an attempt by the Entente to weaken the Ottoman Empire by taking control of the Turkish Straits. All invasion attempts were unsuccessful and eventually they evacuated the area at the end of 1915. Andy seems to be wearing an Anzac uniform.

As for the rest of the photos in this shot, they’re also all from the Gallipoli campaign. The first photo is from War Illustrated in June of 1915 and shows Australians soldiers dragging an artillery piece into position at Anzac during the Battle of Gallipoli. The second image is also from 1915 and shows soldiers bringing supplies to the Australian camp. The last image is of Anzac cove shortly after the landing there in 1915.

Originally I didn’t notice that this was an edited picture, but since I was already looking, I decided to track this one down too, and turns out it is edited. I honestly can’t tell whether it’s Booker or Joe, but that kind of looks like Matthias Schoenaerts’ nose, so I’m gonna say that’s Booker. This photograph was taken in May 1917 by Lieutenant John Warwick Brooke in Arras, France. These are British troops at the Battle of Arras, which at the time achieved the honor of longest advance in trench warfare. The battle was very costly on both sides, with around 290,000 casualties total. Warwick Brooke was an official British war photographer.

On the very right-hand side, you can see two pictures. The first one is of infantry of the 1st Canadian Division having a meal in the trenches at Ploegsteert, March 1916. It was taken by another official British war photographer, Lieutenant Ernest Brooks.

The next photo is from a series of photos of a raiding party of the 10th Battalion. It’s of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) waiting in nap for the signal to go. John Warwick Brooke, the photographer, followed them in the sap, where a shell fell short killing seven men. It was taken near Arras in March 1917. This photo takes place after the Battle of the Somme, during the German withdrawals to the Hindenburg line.

This fucking image. I’m so angry about this image. I spent hours going through World War 1 photo databases and then when I found the original source of the image it told me absolutely nothing!!! A waste of time!!! This is an image of a British soldier assisting two little French girls who had just escaped death but I knew that already, that’s how I found it in the first place. This photo was from the Haig “Official Photographs” series, which were from 1916 onwards. Edit: I found it again!!! This photo was taken in Bethune in May 1918. It was taken by war photographer Ernest Brooks. In April of 1918, the German Sixth Army tried to attack Bethune during the Battle of Lys (Fourth Battle of Ypres) but were repulsed. It was taken between offensives on the Western Front during the German spring offensive. The next major battle on this part of the Western Front began weeks after this picture was taken.

On the top of the screen there are two photographs. The first is a photo by Ernest Brooks from the Battle of Broodseinde (October 1917). The battle was part of a larger offensive - the third Battle of Ypres - engineered by Sir Douglas Haig to capture the Passchendaele ridge. This is an anti-aircraft gun in action during the battle.

The next photograph is also from the German spring offensive, between the Battle of Lys and the Battle of the Third Battle of the Aisne. It shows a 12-inch gun (named "Bunty") of the Royal Garrison Artillery firing at Louez in May 1918. This is another photograph by John Warwick Brooke.

This image of Andy was also originally a photograph taken by Lieutenant John Warwick Brooke. This photo is of the 4th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders (51st Division) feeding a French refugee child in their improvised trench near Locon, France in 1918.

There are so many WW1 photos. The rest of these don’t have any of the characters in them as far as we know, so I’ll go over these quickly. The first picture is from the Western Front in France and was likely taken by John Warwick Brooke. This photograph was taken at night and shows two teams of machine gunners, strategically positioned behind some vegetation. The ground behind them looks sandy, suggesting they might be near the coast. Directly in front of the gunners a mine has just exploded, showering the men with debris. This picture was taken in sometime between 1916-18.

The next photo was also taken by John Warwick Brooke in 1917. This picture is of the Battle of Cambrai and shows a 'C' Battalion tank bringing in a captured 15 cm naval gun. Cambrai is an interesting battle because it was a tank/artillery fight mostly, and the British used a lot of new tank/infantry maneuvers. It also ended very badly for the British.

The third photograph was taken by Ernest Brooks. It shows soldiers of the 8th East Yorkshire Regiment moving to the front near Frezenberg in October 1917 prior to the assault (Battle of Broodseinde) the following morning. It was a victory for the British, which eventually led to the Germans withdrawing from the Belgian coast.

The last photograph was taken by Lieutenant William Ivor Castle, the Canadian official photographer in September 1916. It shows a shell being loaded into a 15 inch howitzer. This photograph is from the Battle of the Somme. The Somme was a Franco-British victory but of the 3 million men who fought in it, around 1 million were either injured or killed, making it one of the deadliest battles in human history.

So there’s actually photographic evidence of almost all of ToG being involved with the Spanish Civil War, but I’ll get to those in a second. The image that we see of Nicky in the credits places him at the Battle of Irún in 1936. He is with the Spanish Republican People’s Army. This was a major battle at the beginning of the war, as it allowed the Nationalist Army to capture the province of Gipuzkoa after Irún fell, which had been held by the Republic. It allowed the Nationalist Army to control supplies. The photographer is unknown.

Jumping forward a bit here, but I can’t believe I found this photo, like I wasn’t even looking for it and I found it, but still. Wow. So on the board, it’s shown that Nicky was in the Congo in 1964 during the Simba Rebellion. The original image is of mercenary Gerry Moggach, from Scotland, with self-made guns (Molotov cocktails lmaoo) in November 1964. The Congo Crisis was a period of political upheaval and conflict in the Republic of the Congo (which is now the DRC) and involved a bunch of civil wars that also served as a proxy conflict in the Cold War.

Now, back to Spain and the rest of the guard. From this BTS image of Copley’s sociogram we know that both Booker and Andy were involved in the Spanish Civil War as well. The first image, which Andy is apparently in, was taken in 1936 and shows her with a miliciana, which were battalions of woman who fought to defend the Republic. The photographer is unknown. The second image is of Republican soldiers and civilians. Booker is in this image. The original was taken in 1937 by an unknown photographer.

Now we get into the World War II photographs. This photo of Booker from WW2 was originally taken at Mount Tambu, New Guinea in July of 1943, by Gordon Short. The photo is of Leslie “Bull” Allen, an Australian soldier who was awarded the US Silver Star for rescuing 12 US soldiers while under fire. The battle was fought between Japanese and Allied forces. Australian forces eventually secured the area in August of that year.

This photo frustrates me. First, it doesn’t even look like they manipulated it, but also because “pacific” is written in the near the bottom right corner. Now, I’m not saying that Nicky wasn’t in the Pacific Theatre but now that I know where this image was actually taken it’s like. Ugh. This photo was not taken in the Pacific Theatre, it was taken of American soldiers at Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Omaha was the codename given to one of the five sections during the Allied invasion of Normandy. D-Day is the largest seaborne invasion in history, and it eventually led to the liberation of France and the Allied victory on the Western Front. Now personally, I think Nicky being there is very interesting and the timeline meets up better with his other WW2 picture. If you’ve ever seen Saving Private Ryan (1998), that movie opens with the invasion of Omaha Beach.

This photo of Nicky excites me for several reasons but also brings up some important questions about what the fuck Nicky was up to in 1944. The original photograph shows Private G.R. MacDonald giving first aid to a French boy in Brionne on August of 1944. The interesting part for me is the uniform though. MacDonald was part of the Toronto Scottish Regiment (75th Battalion). The Toronto Scottish Regiment were actually part of Operation Jubilee, although they weren’t able to land because of the tide and only had one fatal casualty, which good for them considering what happened to everyone else at Dieppe. Although Nicky probably wasn’t a part of that considering he was with American soldiers earlier in 1944.

Next to Nicky, on the right, you can see a picture of a plane and an explosion behind it. That picture is from Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The picture is taken at the Ford Island seaplane base and you can see the USS Shaw (DD-373) explode in the center background. USS Nevada (BB-36) is also visible in the middle background, with her bow headed toward the left. Several planes are in the foreground, a consolidated PBY, Vought OS2Us and Curtiss SOCs. The wrecked wing in the foreground is from a PBY.

This photograph is of French resistance fighters and was taken in September of 1944. The French resistance was a movement that fought against the occupation of Nazi Germany after 1940. The resistance engaged in guerilla warfare, published underground newspapers, acted as spies for the Allied forces and kept up escape networks for trapped soldiers and airmen. Although the woman in the original picture isn’t identified, there were many other women involved with the French resistance like Simone Segouin, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, Lucie Aubrac, and Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux.

The first image is of a Boeing B-29A-45-BN Superfortress 44-61784 6 Bombardment Group G 24 BS. It was taken in June of 1945 while it was firebombing Osaka, Japan.

The next two images are of the smoke from the atomic bombs. The first picture is of the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima and was taken by George R. Caron on August 6th, 1945. The second image shows the cloud over Nagasaki and was taken by Charles Levy on August 9th, 1945.

Okay, so this is my absolute fav manipulation in the whole movie, because it looks so good. Here we have Nicky, Joe and Booker as guerrillas during the Cuban Revolution. If you saw this image and thought “wait is that Fidel Castro?” you’d be right! The man gesturing to the ground with a stick is in fact Fidel Castro. Now, what you might have missed is the man next to Castro who has been edited to look like Booker... yeah I’m like 95% sure they put Booker’s face on Che Guevara.

This image of Nicky during the American Civil Rights Movement is from the March on Washington which happened in August of 1963. 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to call for fair treatment and equal opportunity for Black Americans. This is where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I have a Dream” speech.

This picture of Andy, Joe and Nicky is of Martin Luther King Jr’s speech at UC Berkeley in May of 1967. The speech was attended by about 7000 students and he spoke against the Vietnam war. Photograph by Michael Ochs (?)

This photo was taken of US soldiers in Huế during the Vietnam War. The photo was taken in 1968 during the Tet Offensive. Booker is the one behind the medic. There’s a post it note that you can see fully in a BTS image of the sociogram that confirms it’s Booker. The Tet Offensive, which was launched in January of 1968, was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, and the largest up to that point. It was a campaign of surprise attacks by the VC and PAVN against military and civilian command and control centers in South Vietnam (ARVN and the USA). The Battle of Huế lasted over a month and resulted in the destruction of the city and the massacre of thousands of civilians.

This photo of Andy helping with Operation Babylift was originally taken in 1975. Operation Babylift was an evacuation of orphans from Saigon in the face of a North Vietnamese Offensive. 3000 orphans were evacuated and at the end of April, Northern Vietnamese forces launched rockets at Saigon.

This image of Andy shows her on the Berlin Wall. The original photo was taken near the Brandenburger Tor in November of 1989. The photo shows West Berliners helping East Berliners climb the Berlin Wall after the opening of the wall was announced by the East German Communist government. The photo was taken by Jockel Finck.

tw ethnic cleansing, tw islamophobia, tw genocide. The photos of Booker in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a combat medic indicate that Booker was in Sarajevo for the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War, however the original photo was taken of the Cheshire Regiment (1st Battalion) in Ahmići, in April of 1993. The Ahmići Massacre was committed by the Croats during the conflict and was part of a larger series of attacks called the Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing, and targeted Bosnian Muslim civilians. Around 120 people were murdered in Ahmići.

These last images are all from wars within the last 20 years. The first image was taken in Daychopan, Afghanistan by Sgt. Kyle Davis in September, 2003. The photo is of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division. They were searching for Taliban fighters and weapon caches.

The next image is of two aerial photos of the ISIS command and control Centre in Syria, before and after it was bombed by a US F-22 fighter jet in September 2014.

The last image is of a US soldier assisting a wounded Iraqi civilian in Fallujah, Iraq in November, 2004. Photograph was taken by Cpl. Theresa M. Medina.

As for the rest of the photos, (Joe and Nicky saving the man in the cave, Joe in the DRC, some WW2 photos and some background photos in the BTS images and during the movie) I haven’t been able to find them because they’re not clear, I don’t want to look at historical archives anymore or I don’t even know where to start with searching for them. I might pick up searching again later if I decide to become even more like Copley than I already am. If you have any additional info about some of the missing photos let me know! Also if you want any of the original photos or resources just let me know and I can send them to you!

edit: I just want to make this very clear, but some of TOGs involvement here is suspicious as hell. Obviously we don’t know the exact circumstances, but things like Nicky being shown as a mercenary during the Simba rebellion, Booker as an American soldier during the Vietnam War and the images of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have some incredibly negative and incriminating implications. I worry that in my excitement about finding some of these images I glossed over pretty horrific details and context. It’s important to be conscious of some of the very real tragedies and atrocities being shown here.

#the old guard #Andromache the Scythian #Yusuf al Kaysani #Nicolo di Genova #the old guard meta #tog meta #tog posts #Sebastien Le Livre #long post #tog history #also i will say #if anyone does want to track down the original joe in the congo pic #please look after yourself #i stopped trying to find it because going through pictures from the DRC can be very disturbing #i think it's also worth noting that in terms of the context of each image i decided to go for picture specific #while leaving the broader cultural context more vague #like i'm not about to explain the crimean war or the congo crisis on this post #this is just a jumping off point about certain events!! do your own research too!!#also lmaooo do you know who was also in the congo in the 1960s? fucking che guevara #i am also like 80% sure the cave rescue picture was staged #i simply cannot find it #anyway now that this is done comparative timeline drops soon

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sagamemes · 3 years

Text

the sheridan tapes 📼 part two. here and under the cut, you can find over 130 lines of dialogue from the horror podcast the sheridan tapes, specifically from episodes four to six, edited for roleplay purposes. some of these focus heavily on survival, war, science, and spooky stuff, but a lot can be used by anyone. tw: war, unreality, a mention of cannibalism, implications of manic behaviour.

❝ god, i hate snowstorms like this. not just getting caught in them, but the storms themselves. it feels like the earth’s trying to bury me alive every time it locks in like this. like nature’s rightly pissed off at all of us and doing its level best to crush us to death. ❞

❝ that’s what yom kippur means: the day of atonement. ❞

❝ that wasn’t the first time i’ve caught him in my office, going through my stuff. ❞

❝ normally i’d be annoyed at someone calling me young lady. ❞

❝ thank you… you are so warm… thank you for letting me in. ❞

❝ suddenly, everything fell into place. i made more progress than i had in about half a year. ❞

❝ the thing i remember most was catching disapproving glances from my father every time i went to the library. ❞

❝ why does time only run forward? why does cause need to precede effect? ❞

❝ no one knows if they can trust me with casework or not. ❞

❝ i didn’t say i was interested. ❞

❝ [he/i] was taken off duty and sent for psychiatric evaluation the next day. ❞

❝ coffee. i was making coffee. ❞

❝ i didn't mean to get stuck out here. ❞

❝ that just goes to show how small humans really are in the grand scheme of things: take away our tools and our toys and our technology, and we’re still just as vulnerable as we ever were. ❞

❝ she was good at that: making you feel like you were safe, like you could open up to her. ❞

❝ i’m just going to cover that one up. no harm in keeping it out of sight for the moment. ❞

❝ maybe there was someone in the stairs. ❞

❝ i think i did the lion’s share of the talking, which almost never happens. ❞

❝ i couldn’t get to sleep... i figured i’d get a head start today. ❞

❝ i’m afraid i don’t have all of the details of your involvement with the… tragic events in [place]. and i don’t think i’m the only one. ❞

❝ i’m still not sure i understand the whole tradition. ❞

❝ whatever it is, it’s chasing me. i can hear it’s footsteps in the snow, i can hear it— ❞

❝ when you work nights here, the less you really think about them, the better. ❞

❝ honestly, i just can’t get it out of my head. ❞

❝ snow is one of nature’s simplest and most effective ways of killing you dead if you aren’t prepared for it. ❞

❝ i wish you’d tell me what you’re doing here. i could lose my job if anything gets broken or if you end up getting hurt in there… ❞

❝ would you say you… considered her a friend? ❞

❝ would you mind saying your name again? for the recording? ❞

❝ if that was true, then there was something—and as a scientist, i hate to say this—supernatural going on in that lab. ❞

❝ most of them didn’t make it. a lot of them died afraid and alone, too. ❞

❝ i know you don’t like listening to these things, so i just wanted to help you out with… ❞

❝ if i could sleep, then trust me, i would. ❞

❝ i’m guessing the new owners are trying to make this place seem less creepy than it already is. ❞

❝ my schooling was expensive and unremarkable. ❞

❝ a lot of them died afraid and alone, too: ideal conditions for the making of poltergeists, in my experience. ❞

❝ look, i’m sorry, but this really isn’t a good time for anything, so if you wouldn’t mind… ❞

❝ basically, i was picturing a slightly creepier morticia addams. i couldn’t have been more wrong. ❞

❝ now i have to deal with [name]’s aspirations to write drama.. ❞

❝ i promise i won’t get you sacked. ❞

❝ i’ve never been very religious, but for some reason… it made me think of hell. ❞

❝ i think it may have been a thank you. ❞

❝ i’m working the graveyard shift and i noticed the lights were on. ❞

❝ i shouldn’t be here. no one asked me to come in this early. ❞

❝ everyone around here looks at me like i’m some kind of leper. ❞

❝ i had to go home for a few hours. i’m already on thin ice around here, and i didn’t want to get in more trouble for screaming obscenities up and down the wall. ❞

❝ it was… darkness. no, that doesn’t do it credit, the whole place was dark. this was just... void. ❞

❝ if i’d seen her anywhere else, i’d think she was an athlete or a backpacker. ❞

❝ better scientists than me have been bashing their heads into that particular wall since 1927. ❞

❝ i just want you to know that… whatever you really are... you’re safe here. ❞

❝ goats being goats, it would just come back the next day looking for food. ❞

❝ i would like you to leave my office now… and i’ll ask you not to tamper with evidence in the future, understood? ❞

❝ no, of course, i don’t have signal out here, so i can’t just call triple-a. ❞

❝ what are you doing in my office—at four goddamn thirty in the morning? ❞

❝ you ever wonder where the line is? you know, between human and not? ❞

❝ the funny thing i’ve noticed about war: no matter how terrible the fighting is, there always seems to be too much waiting. too much quiet. too much sitting around, bored to tears between fits of chaos and violence, lost in routine while waiting for the other shoe to drop. ❞

❝ a lot of people condemn them for that. we’re so sure we’d never resort to that—that we’d rather die than cross that unspoken boundary. ❞

❝ i’ve been at the [workplace/institution] for ten years now. that’s long enough to know that the ones who ask questions are the ones who can’t cut it. ❞

❝ the program blew every fuse in the lab. including the lights. ❞

❝ it was soon after they left that i began to have trouble sleeping. ❞

❝ perhaps we never knew each other as well as most friends do, but… we cared for one another. ❞

❝ most of her questions are a bit above my pay grade. ❞

❝ i’m trying, i’m trying! i can’t get the door open! ❞

❝ i don’t know why she needed my help: i think she had a better grasp of it than most science fiction writers. ❞

❝ we both had places to be afterwards, so we kind of rushed. i really wish i’d taken the time to say goodbye. ❞

❝ i guess some things just… don’t want to stay buried. ❞

❝ it was completely against orders of course, but no one really noticed or cared that far from the front. ❞

❝ i offered to buy him a cup of coffee. ❞

❝ newspapers praised them at the time: saw them as heroes of exploration and paragons of pioneer courage. ❞

❝ i signed a lot of big, scary nda’s during my time there. ❞

❝ i did the only thing that came to mind: i took a grenade from my belt, removed the pin, and threw it. ❞

❝ i doubt this storm will last more than a couple of days, and once it lets up we can sneak out of here and get going again. very, very carefully. ❞

❝ given enough time, everything will rot away to its elementary components, and that, you can’t reverse. ❞

❝ i really can’t see anything from inside the van. ❞

❝ i knew there were a few experiments that dealt with some pretty high-level theoretical concepts, but i wasn’t directly involved with any of them. ❞

❝ it’s a strange choice, but then again, he’s a strange man. ❞

❝ i know, it sounds ridiculous. trust me, i’ve done everything i can think of to make that conclusion go away. ❞

❝ scared the bejeezus out of a bunch of skiers, but they were nice enough to let me in after deciding i probably wasn’t a ghost. ❞

❝ please… it burns my skin… please… ❞

❝ i forgot how fast storms blow in up here. ❞

❝ it’s not like i felt out of control: it felt more natural than breathing. ❞

❝ i didn’t know what i was doing, not at any conscious level. but one step seemed to lead to another, then the next, and then the next. ❞

❝ it’s called a butcher’s shop in some places, but a mortuary in others. as much as i’d love to imply there was some sweeney todd style recycling going on here, i think the place has just been a lot of things over the years. ❞

❝ god, these things are creepy as hell. ❞

❝ if you wouldn’t mind, please, tell us what happened? in your own time, of course. ❞

❝ it took a few long, nerve-wracking days to work up my courage and visit the section again. ❞

❝ it’s not that odd to think that people ate each other out there. ❞

❝ i didn’t think there was a ghost in my room or anything like that, i just kept hearing noises whenever i was about to fall asleep. ❞

❝ i downed half a dozen energy drinks at 6 and called it dinner—i know, i know, it’s a nasty habit i picked up in grad school. ❞

❝ they told me that the cpu and motherboard had somehow been melted into a solid lump of plastic and silicon. ❞

❝ i mean, [name] was a pain in the ass, but at least he didn’t… ❞

❝ my schedule was full, but i had something else fall through at the last minute. i had your number on my desk, so i thought i may as well call. ❞

❝ i wonder if it was afraid, or if it even realized what was going to happen. it probably didn’t. ❞

❝ i need to get more coffee. or punch someone. whichever’s more convenient. ❞

❝ god, if that’s really how i sound… ❞

❝ people think i write horror, but i don’t really think that’s true. i just write fiction with all of the comfortable little lies taken out of it. ❞

❝ i have loved the stars too truly to be fearful of the night. ❞

❝ i think he felt something about this place… some influence or power that needed to be destroyed, so he tried to do it the only way he knew how. ❞

❝ well, it’s a tricky thing. the more realistic you make them, the more… unreal they start to look. i think it’s something about the eyes. ❞

❝ i offered to stay late, just to smooth things over. ❞

❝ maybe i can get some writing done while i’m stuck here… ❞

❝ no child could grow up in a jewish home surrounded by books and not read at least one story about golems. ❞

❝ i just wasn’t a good student, despite my love of reading. ❞

❝ i have to say, i like your jane doe. ❞

❝ she was a scientist herself. maybe not formally, but her way of thinking, her insight, her methods... they were scientist’s qualities. ❞

❝ seriously, what do i need to do to get a little privacy around here, a little dignity? hang a ‘ do not disturb ’ sign on the door? change all my locks? ❞

❝ maybe it was stupid, but i figured, ‘ hey, early december, not a cloud in the sky—should still be fine, right? ’ ❞

❝ jesus, [name], i wasn’t born yesterday. ❞

❝ maybe doing this while it’s still dark outside isn’t the best idea. ❞

❝ more than a century and a half have passed, and this place is still just as dangerous as it was then. ❞

❝ now, [mr./ms./mx. name], i’m sure you know why you’re here. ❞

❝ the [event] was a bust—only about a dozen people showed up all afternoon. ❞

❝ i never put much stock in the idea of inspiration, but for the first time in my life, it felt like i wasn’t pushing myself through the muck of miscalculation and guesswork towards a solution. i was being pulled towards an answer that already existed. ❞

❝ it felt like i was a few steps from finding out something fundamental. some truth about our universe that no other scientist had ever dared to dream of. ❞

❝ huh. that’s… that’s weird. i could’ve sworn there wasn’t a sculpture back there before. ❞

❝ apparently, no one had told them what i was doing, and i wasn’t actually cleared to leave. ❞

❝ maybe he’s trying to make amends. keeping watch over these half-living things to make sure no harm comes to them. ❞

❝ i expected the building to be wreathed in shadow and overgrown with cobwebs, but it's actually really nice. ❞

❝ sorry, i was trying to get my recorder working, but it froze up on me so i had to find a tape for this old… ❞

❝ okay. just… don’t get me sacked, alright? can’t exactly retire on this salary. ❞

❝ but if it was real—i don’t know if i somehow created it, or if it was feeding me information about itself before it appeared. ❞

❝ i’ve never had a manic episode before, and i was well below the level of caffeine needed to cause intoxication. as far as i can tell, there isn’t a medical explanation for what happened. ❞

❝ i don’t get the appeal of meeting real celebrities. it’s just a cheap shock of recognition, and nothing more. ❞

❝ whatever this… thing was, it sounds pretty dangerous. ❞

❝ are you familiar with temporal asymmetry? ❞

❝ i just want to make that abundantly clear: this /wasn’t/ the plan. ❞

❝ right then, now let’s get started. please state your name and rank for the record. ❞

❝ though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light. ❞

❝ a cracker of a book, young lady. ❞

❝ no wonder they’re keeping them in storage. they’d give anyone nightmares. ❞

❝ i was just going to finish out my shift unless… you want me to stick around? ❞

❝ i went to the university, but don’t remember much of the years i spent there. ❞

❝ having to study textbooks and essays day in and day out took all of the joy out of reading for a long time. ❞

❝ we call paradoxes paradoxes for a reason: no matter how plausible they seem, they can never really happen. ❞

❝ i don’t know what happened to me that night. i still don’t even know if what i saw was real. ❞

❝ when we look into the void for too long, we find the monsters instead. ❞

#sentence starters #sentence meme #rp sentence starters #rp sentence meme #rp meme #* sentences.#* meme.#sheridan #trying some minor new things w/ the formatting #especially for these longer #non numbered sentence memes

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newspecies · 3 years

Text

HAI!!! i feel like all my followers have no idea what the fuck im talking about when i say things about my stories so uhm im gonna talk.

before i say anything im just gonna say that when i talk about the gods i generally refer to everyone else as mortals even if theyre not technically mortal. also i call the people of Earth humans but theyre really not i just dont know what else to call them

OK FIRST OF ALLL. the gods. there are 12 of them, but only 10 are widely known. Creechur got kicked out of God Club™ and is now stuck on another plane of existence unable to be seen by the living. Arcane does not want to be in God Club™ so she just hangs out with mortals. mostly on SOL. also she's called the Unknown so if everyone did know about her it would be a little weird.

the gods did not create the universe, they were just already there. really, the gods haven't made many things, other than Mazgomoth's Endless Dark. they helped certain things along, but they haven't interfered with too much. they mostly like to torment random people, and watch and laugh at mortal's short comings.

they have a set of rules that they don't actually break all that often. its mostly just don't interfere too much and get mortals to do everything for you instead. i guess its to prevent their version of god modding

mortals of Cosmos aren't generally aware of the gods unless they know someone from outside Cosmos (the Endless Dark, Hell, Olvion) or they have met one of the gods.

Citizens of Olvion don't really worship all the gods at once, most of the time they'll pick one or two. on occasion a god will find a mortal theyre fond of for whatever reason and bless them with some ✨powers✨ these people are called Chosen. Chosen can be blessed by multiple gods, but mostly only one or two.

Carrion and Thistle are bless by all of the gods and as a result are super op

mortals don't use any pronouns except it/its for the gods unless they know them really well. like how Alastor uses he/him pronouns for Creechur because he's basically their dad. most mortals also don't know the gods' names and only refer to them with their titles.

heres all the gods with their names and titles:

Mazgomoth, also known as the Monster, is the god of darkness, chaos, and change. it takes the form of a horse (ish..?) with butterfly wings and antennae, an extra set of ears, and a red fox tail. it created the Endless Dark and the Spirits that reside there. Mazgomoth personally creates every single Spirit's soul, mostly using shadow and little pit of light stolen from the Light Barrier. shadows cannot be cast without light. most Spirits worship Mazgomoth and even if they don't they still appreciate it. Chosen include: Synthesis, Sheridan, Shade, Dusk, Raven, Cornix, Etherael

Loom, also known as the Light Barrier (sometimes just shortened to the Barrier) is the god of light, order, and stagnation. he's also called Lampshade by the other gods because it's funny. he takes the form of a fluffy rainbow caterpillar. he is the reason SOL is Like That. he likes getting into fights with Mazgomoth and inconveniencing the other gods. mostly hes just kind of a dick to everyone. Chosen include: Nila, Etherael, Azazel, Lovanna

Kane, aka the Bite, is the god of death and absolute destruction. he takes the form of a rattlesnake. he likes making mortals kill each other. Hell is his domain (despite it originally belonging to Creechur), though he doesn't do much with it. Chosen: Surlmog, Kexiem

Creechur, aka the Scavenger, is the god of life after death. also detritivores. he takes the form of a turkey vulture <3 he got kicked out so now hes moping on another plane of existence, only able to be seen by the undead. he doesnt have a domain or anything but he the mortals he brings back from the dead are called the Undead. there's not many of them so they know him more personally than the average Spirit might know Mazgomoth. he likes hanging out with the Dreamer. Chosen: all of the Undead

Ifer, aka the Creator, is the god of creation, imagination, and creativity! he takes the form of a puppy. he doesnt do much other than marvel at mortal's creativity and making things for himself. Chosen: none

Pyxis and Cyphi, aka the Fears are gods of fear. their sisters and both take the form of black cats. they wish it was Halloween everyday <3 chosen: Briar, Willow, Flame

Terrag, aka the Dreamer, is a god of dreams, sleep, and the mind. he takes the form of a giant tarantula. he's currently asleep but Creechur visits him in the dream world a lot. Terrag likes showing up in random mortal's dreams and riding of them nightmares or just giving them a really really weird dream. chosen: Cornix, Raven, Lazarus

Jack, aka the Eyes, is a god of knowledge. he takes the form of a grey tabby cat with weird eyes. he used to just watch mortals until he realized he could just make other mortals watch other mortals so now he can mess around with the other gods. chosen: Shrike, Lavender, Constantine, Beleth

Arcane, aka the Unknown, is a god of the unknown. she takes the form of a white-backed vulture. she doesnt like being around the other gods because she actually has morals unlike everyone else so instead she spends her time hanging around mortals and helping out where she can. chosen: Venx, Sheridan

Ran, aka the Hunter, is a god of hunting and predator animals. she takes the form of a calico cat with fucked up teeth. shes really really mean and she, like Kane, likes to make make mortals kill each other. chosen: Ragyre, Leshok

Flea, aka the Hunted, is a god of being hunted and prey animals. he takes the form of a grey and black spotted fluffy dog. he likes to pick a random mortal and be their pet for whatever reason. maybe it feels safer to him or something. his current owner is Bog, who thinks hes just a normal dog and named him Tennis Ball. chosen: Bog

#rot.txt #world building #wow that was. a lot #long post #my hand kind of hurts now #im not proof reading this so theres prolly some embarrassing typos in here #uhm. yeah. if you read all of this thanks ily <3

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quicksiluers · 3 years

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Hogwarts Houses for the Union Gang + Longstreet??

ohhh my GOD what a fucking GOOD idea...I’m so bad with these, I feel like I don’t know the Hogwarts houses...so I’m gonna guess some BUT if anyone else has input, please let me know!

So for the Union Gang™ I’m gonna include Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, anddd Meade (and I appreciate the +1 of Longstreet lol)

Grant seems like he could fit into Hufflepuff from my quick reading of some of the traits of a Hufflepuff student. The website mentions “valuing hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play”. The hard-work seems perfectly Grant, even when he was not doing great in life, he was hard working trying to feed his family, and I mean of course during the war he was hard-working, along with his presidency (not that it all went well but hey still working!) You may be like “Ali, patient for Grant? Really?” and I would say yes! Grant was a patient guy, even tho he always looking to move quickly on campaigns. I mean, you go through 2 sieges and see how patient you can be (though he wasn’t always patient, I think it drove him nuts sometimes lol). Loyalty is one of Grant’s biggest traits (nottt always something that worked out for him!) So yeah...I think Hufflepuff sounds about right

Sherman is...this one if fucking hard, cause I feel like Sherman could be a combo of 2 or 3 houses. I feel like Sherman would either be a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw, but I can’t really decide which one he would really fit into. This one is causing me a headache, I’ve been thinking about it for 10 minutes tops lol. What do you think??

Sheridan seems like a lock choice for Gryffindor. On the wiki for Harry Potter, they say that “The Gryffindor house emphasizes the traits of courage as well as daring, nerve, and chivalry." They also people tending to be “short-tempered”, so just basing it off those traits, while chivalry mayy be a little suspect for Sheridan (I mean, he’s was polite to you if he liked you but if he didn’t lol GOOD LUCK) I feel like that just...matches up with him.

Thomas is another one I think works for Hufflepuff! I feel like Thomas and Grant are sort of cut from the same cloth personality-wise (even though, while I think they respected each other, they never really saw eye to eye) but I mean Thomas is loyal (he was loyal to the Union! His family in VA never really forgave him for that), he’s extremely patient (one of the things that he and Grant kinda butt heads about), hard-working, all that jazz. I think this just works for him.

Meade is kinda a tricky one but I feel like, with his engineering background, Ravenclaw would be a good fit for him. He’s a smart dude, my guy built lighthouses in his time between the Mexican-American War and the Civil War! (I actually think one of them in NJ still stands). He had an engineer's eye for the topography of the ground. I think the wiki mentions them having “wit” which, though Meade was called a snapping turtle by some, I have read that he had pretty dry humor about him with close friends. So I feel like that would work!

Longstreet is another one where I’m caught between two houses but I thinkkk I’m going to side with Slytherian because I feel like...I feel like he could be very goa-oriented and was cunning at points to try to climb up the ladder. I’m thinking of when he went out West to serve with the Army of Tennesse and how he and some other generals really wanted to boot Bragg from the commander role. I’m not 100% sold on that, I could kinddaaa see him as a Hufflepuff too but hey...what can you do

#replies #let me know what you think!#this is exactly how i pictured spending my friday night #spending WAY too long on this but i had fun lol #no but really if i sound full of shit let me know #i only have...a light knowledge of harry potter and everything #Anonymous

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phoebehalliwell · 4 years

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If Prue had lived, what do you think her kids would have been like, and how do you think they would have affected the various power level structures of the next gen?

okay so i think there are a couple options based on who’s the father of the child that would yield different results so in a very me fashion imma make this a very long post and break down all of them. this is 2.5k. it’s going under a cut.

andy so i think had andy not died he and prue would have definitely gotten married first i would say somewhere around the season 2 finale maybe the penultimate episode to end on a sweet high note while still setting up season 3 or something i think he and prue would have their first child ehh probably announced in the s3 finale. i think she’d be a girl i think she’d be a telekinetic like her mama and i think her name would definitely be patricia (and i wanna say in her teenage years she’d go by trix) i think her powers would definitely grow to advanced telekinesis by the time she’s of a fighting age. if i were writing her i would give her a gradual power development of like telekinetically lifting herself up in fights (like what we sometimes saw prue do) to levitation to flight if i wanna get really jiggy w it). i would think prue would definitely want multiple kids (ideally three daughters) and i think andy would definitely Also want sorta that white picket fence family. i think that piper and leo would still be pregnant at the end of season four, with prue’s second pregnancy occuring around beginning to mid season five. i also think about halfway through prue’s second pregnancy she and andy would choose to move out into their own home bc well let’s face it the manor’s a lil crowded (paige is also here in the au don’t ask me how). so wyatt matthews halliwell would be born in february prue and andy would probably move out in april their second child would be born hmm let’s say september. a girl named hmm it has to be a p name i’m firm on that but i don’t really wanna go penelope bc then i feel like it’s too locked in to a naming after ancestors thing but like also it would still be a very prue name & prue is already named after her ancestors so what the hell i’ll name her penelope. let’s talk powers. baby wyatt will keep his whitelighter based powers such as an orb shield, orbing, and healing, but he won’t be a telekinetic. he still has the power of projection. the twice blessed isn’t a thing. penelope i think would be the molecular witch, with powers of molecular deceleration & acceleration (but not freezing or combustion) as well as the ability to adjust her own molecular structure and “phase” (a la kitty pryde from xmen). next in the halliwell line would be chris who would still be born in october of 03 with powers of orbing, telekinesis, and telekinetic orbing, followed then by andy and prue’s third daughter born in utopia in s7 lemme go check the family tree for names there aren’t actually that many p names on there so now i guess lemme make one up one that sounds appropriately vintage like okay so i personally hc p bowen (prue’s past life) to be named pearl, p baxter as pauline, and p russel as phyllis out of all of those i think i’d chose pearl okay so i googled 19th century baby names p names i found were parthena permilia philippa pamela patience and priscilla. okay so i’m actually deciding now that the name philippa comes from andy’s side of the family and that’s the name of the third daughter who will follow suit with the charmed one’s schtick and have premonitions, which includes both precognition and retrocognition, as well as clairvoyance and limited telepathy (she’s basically a human lie detector, but if she actually wants to hear someone’s thoughts, she was to have physical contact and be in a quasi-meditative state). piper be pregnant with melinda at the end of s8, melinda’s powers would be empathy along with the whitelighter powers of healing orbing and photokinesis. next would be the twins tam and kat who would still split molecular combustion and immobilization as well as the whitelighter powers basically i wouldn’t change their powers from what they already have henry jr is also here, still a mortal. pj would not be named pj as Prue Isn’t Dead but i think phoebe would still really wanna stick with the p names. since prue’s already burned through the family tree i think she’d pick a more modern name (and i’m sticking with the gender neutral theme all of phoebe’s kids have) so like percy pax pemberley i’m also really tempted by pisces. hmm. pemberly. who i’d give astral projection and then also um well possession. like yeah y’know projecting her astral form into somebody else and being able to like read them while in their bodies all that. parker stays with premonition and uhh i just recently came up with a power progression for parker that i would love to employ but like i think i really wanna keep it a secret for now but i might end up talking about it later peyton would still be a telekinetic and all three cupitches can still beam and sense love. okay!

jack jack gets an obligatory section bc he was one of the few love interests to last more than one episode but uhh that baby would definitely be a whoopsie! or should i say,,, babies that’s right it’s twins. and i don’t think prue and jack would together romantically but i think they’d still be like y’know friends i think jack would be there to support prue & his kids but i do think prue would be the primary caregiver i think jack would maybe get them like on weekends or like every third week of the month. and i’m Really tempted to give them last name first names and have the kids be names warren and sheridan and Yes they’d be both boys. i sorta wanna melinda warren both of em and just like. give em all three powers what the hell. given that it’s so many powers stacked in one witch i don’t think their powers would ever greatly develop i don’t think there’d be any advanced telekinesis or molecular combustion or like astral premonitions but i do think they have all three powers. and they are identical. so they’re both born in 2000, flash foward to 2002 wyatt is born wyatt matthew halliwell with orbing, orb sheild, healing, telekinetic orbing, and telekinesis. cut forward to 2004 piper has her second child who is in this reality a girl, with orbing, molecular combustion/immobilization, & invisibility. her name would be melinda christina halliwell. i think we can fast forward the timeline a bit i think the piper and leo would have their third child at the end of s8 another boy named john after grams’s maiden name, orbing, premonition, levitation. i feel like cosmically we’ve already filled our twin quotient so no tam & kat in this universe so paige and henry only have one kid a daughter i always pick from shakespeare baby names for not!tam&kat bc like. they’ve got shakespeare names. in the past i’ve used isabel and beatrice this time i’m gonna go for jourdain who has the power of projection, as well as the whitelighter power of omnilingualism. henry & paige still end up accidentally adopting a mortal in this au, but here she’s a girl, so instead of making the henry jr joke henry calls her paige jr the name sticks she goes by pj. cupitches once again we’re going pemberley parker and peyton and once again i’m sticking with the same power set from the andy timeline.

bane okay so give me a sign they have sex prue is pregnanté bane is in jail. charges of racketeering, tax evasion, money laundering and embezzlement, but like okay he’s a career criminal, meaning their notoriously hard to catch. and i think he’s have a good lawyer. max sentence for racketeering is 20 years, tax evasion 5, money laundering 20, embezzlement 3. i’m not a law student i don’t know shit about like,, douple jeopardy all that but like. imma say sentenced to ten years in jail let out in 7 on good behavior + they’re all nonviolent crimes so. is that how it works? okay but basically baby #1 prolly a sagittarius born in 2000. i’m saying girl. i think again like with the jack situation this really isn’t prue’s white picket fence family this is strange and rebellious and unprecedented meaning it’s not guaranteed to be a “p” name but nothing’s like. immediately coming to mind. i feel like it has to be a name that captures prue’s rebellious spirit and the sorta intense passion she keeps below the surface so i wanna go for something outta left field. i also feel like prue cares a lot about the meaning / origin of her baby name so i’m gonna pick from a list of witches of myth. hecate’s obvi out as she’s a demon in charmed verse so i’m thinking circe or freyja. i feel like circe’s more associate with turning men into pigs than anything else so i’m gonna settle with freyja who’s technically a goddess and not a witch but like. minutia. i’m giving her the same power set as patricia / trix which is advance telekinesis + eventual flight. yada yada yada baby wyatt chris & melinda are born, powers as in canon (including empathy for melinda which is in fact Not Canon but like canon in my heart). tamora and kat are born, powers as in canon, bane is out of jail, pemberley is born, astral projection + possession, henry jr is there, prue and bane have another kid in ‘08, a girl (i’m sticking with the badass women of myth theme) named atalanta, nicknamed tal rhymes with the cal in calorie. yes i know i’m very white. powers of molecular immobilization & cryokinesis. next born in 09 cupitch parker still with cupid powers and premonition, then prue and bane’s third daughter born in 2010 (i’m telling you bane def has that like white picket fence adoring family dream. he frickin loves kids & like dutifully drives them to ballet practice every day after school type thing. loves the idea of being able to yell “honey! i’m home!” total sap) her name’s probs gonna be like. morrigan. her powers are a riff on the premonition aspect of thee power of three, she can pick up on “psychic reverb” and sense if a great act of magic has happened somewhere as well as sense great good, great evil, and immense power. also with the her psychic power she can mark crossroads and tell if a decision is about to be altering, though she can’t sense which outcome is the “best”. finally baby peyton still a telekinetic cupitch born in 2011.

justin congrats, bud. the only other prue love interest to make it past a single episode. too bad we really don’t know shit about this guy. simp? we can assume? yeah so in this timeline they come together basically when piper & leo are getting married so in this timeline we are still getting wyatt first with all his canonically op self. then we’re getting chris, same as in canon i guess i feel like he should have more powers give him combustive orbing what the fuck why not. okay so like maybe ‘03-’04 prue and justin move out / move in together, married by late ’04 (just before utopia in s7). they have their first daughter in 2005 still s7 once again named patricia and she’s a telekinetic like prue. we’ll push melinda up to ’06 still an empath + other whitelighter powers & tlk orb. 2007 will have both tam & kat with their canon powers, followed by penelope with cryokinesis, closed out with pemberley with astral projection. jump to 09 parker born with premonition in spring and i said philippa was an andy’s family name so patience in the fall. and she can uhh same thing as morrigan she’s psychic. 2011 the final baby is born it’s peyton telekinetic + cupitch powers as always. henry jr is also here placed where he normally is (slightly younger than pj/pemberley)

bonus round!dency addition okay so idk if i’ve said this before but i’ve actually sorted out dency’s relatives in her world one sec i gotta pull up the google doc okay dency born first only child the source’s heir next up is melinda penelope “penn” halliwell the only child of leo & piper aka the twice blessed followed by paige’s sons taran & kai, twins, the ultimate power. but now prue’s in the mix! i’m pairing her with andy bc that was her most significant relationship. as previously stated i think prue and andy’s first child would be born in early season four as patricia, same powers as stated earlier with advanced telekinesis & flight. dency technically would no longer be named dency in this au as once again, prue is not dead. she would be named victoria after her grandfather. same powers that she already holds (pyrokinesis, cryokinesis, flaming, limited telepathy (only the lie detector part) & super strength). her power rivals that of patricia’s despite not being the first born in the generation bc she was infused with the source. she would be born early s5. then keeping with the timeline piper & leo’s firstborn comes mid s5, another girl named melinda. melinda’s powers are orbing, molecular immobilization, and advanced healing. at this point prue is Pregnant Again and calls dibs on the name penelope so that does not become melinda’s middle name. in the dency au coop shows up earlier, which in turn accelerates paige and henry ending up together because i said so. piper is pregnant at the beginning of s6. prue and andy have their second daughter penelope, paige and henry get together, piper and leo have their second daughter christina. s6 ends. penelope gets molecular deceleration & acceleration. christina has orbing, telekinesis, & an orb shield. s7. whoops paige is pregnant. hey it’s twins! tamora & kat. tamora is the physical while kat is the spiritual. tamora can orb, telekinetically orb, and has normal telekinesis. kat has premonitions, clairvoyance, and omnilingualism. s8. prue gets pregnant again at some point. season finale. philippa is born. she can astral project, and will later develop suggestion. piper is pregnant again. it’s still 2006. now it’s 2007. piper’s baby is born. it’s a boy??? meet baby john. an empath. omnilingual. can orb. henry jr also shows up. at this point it’s been like 5 years since phoebe’s traumatic incident with cole / the source and she decides she wants to have kids again. she and coop have their first daughter in 2008, a girl they name leona. cupid powers of beaming & sensing love, and levitation that will eventually develop into flight. limited precognition. 2010. they have another child, this time a boy, warren. beaming, sensing love, telekinesis, telekinetic beaming. 2011 they final baby of the generation is born, phoebe and coop’s daughter let’s call her charlotte. she doesn’t have molecular immobilization, that magic mix with a cupid’s control over time. she has temporal stasis (& beaming & sensing love)

#zoo wee mama #charmed #prue halliwell #i didn't get too much into the familiar dynamics and relationships bc like #holy shit there are so many of them #wow #anyway this was fun!#next gen #charmed next generation #💌#i don't think this counts as a mini essay this is more like #hmm #a catalogue

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ciceroisthefamilycat · 3 years

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The conclusion to the VA/BL reread with Silver Shadows and Ruby Circle (here’s the post on FH, here’s the post on the VA closers SB and LS)

I think I forgot to emphasize this in the last post: it is bullshit that Adrian still had the Alchemist-paid-for apartment after the events of “TFH” and only becomes more unbelievable that Trey has it still in “SS”... I do not get it

Like with SB and LS, I would make a lot of plot changes in the adaptation.

Silver Shadows

Fun fact: her golden lily on this book cover actually flashes a little gold in the right lighting, and I love that

This one, especially the majority of Sydney’s stuff in the first half or so of the book, was much better than I remembered.

Adrian’s stuff had me far less forgiving. I realize he’s struggling with a fictionalized elevated form of bipolar disorder and he developed addictions in trying to self-medicate over most of his adolescence/early adulthood so far, but as far as his actions go... the part where he blackouts for something like three weeks while in Sydney’s chapters she’s so certain he’s going to rescue her... it really frustrates me. Especially because Richelle writes him as self-flagellating over it, but Sydney immediately reassures him “oh, no, I just got the gas turned off, you couldn’t have really done anything...” as if those three or so days weren’t a big deal with the way the time crunch worked out later... it’s one of those heavy-handed things where I don’t feel like Richelle ever actually makes Adrian own up to his errors in the same way the rest of the main characters have to. Including: Wesley Drozdov and his motley crew show up again, and Adrian plays big hero and outs their dabbling attempt on Sydney, and then with Keith later on thinks to himself “at least I’d taken no for an answer from girls” as if he hadn’t insistently pursued both Rose and Sydney (including the scene at Alicia’s Victorian inn in IS) and been revealed to have dabbled at least once. Like, good that he’s trying to make up for past behavior, but again and again it comes off to me as glib or insincere (in the way it’s written- that he’s some model that is exempt from causing harm). This especially pisses me off in the way he treats his mom for sticking in a loveless marriage to his dad (did Adrian forget about his mom’s affair with Ambrose btw?) for financial security, and even with the hypocrisy being pointed out to him and him begrudgingly admitting it in his mind, or he drags Nina to Sonya’s to try and get her compensated for her work and she’s all googly eyes at him, but his acts of chivalry feel empty. And this extends to Marcus, too, to a lesser extent. Look, I love Carly (all the Sage sisters mean the world to me) and I’m glad that she became an advocate for fellow survivors and I get what Richelle was trying to do in empowering survivors with Carly’s character, but Marcus’ star-struck admiration of her (being made speechless by her strength) felt weird and make me uncomfortable.

On to Sydney’s stuff, holy hell her side of the story is dark. And this conversion therapy nonsense in it is part of why I desperately want canon queer leads in the adaptation (preferably Sydney herself, which would yes mean Adrian and probably Rose... that’s my prerogative). Is that potentially triggering? YES. But Richelle took that step when she laid it on so thick with the allegory. In the meantime, I love the supporting characters that Richelle drew up to be in the center with Sydney. Emma, Duncan, and the rest (the fellow detainees- not Sheridan... she can burn) and I want more of them (seriously, Richelle made some great underexplored groups with the Unpromised, the Keepers, the Merry Men, and then these additional Rebelchemists). There is a weird mention of Sydney having arranged some supply closets on one of the floors, despite whatever scene she did that in seemingly having been cut (there was also a line Rose ascribed to Victor at the end of Last Sacrifice about sending Jill away, so it’s not unheard of). When I first read the book (with a long break before), the degree to which Sydney was using magic in there felt illogical, but rereading directly from the other books, it is more justifiable. I think the Detainment, and Sydney’s struggles there, is some of the best writing Richelle managed in the books, and I don’t have any changes to that part.

But the escape... is actively worse than I remember it. There are glimmers of some great stuff in there- I mentioned in the last post how much I love when Sydney wakes up Hopper and sobs over him, and that still is powerful. But omfg Sydney (and Adrian) hold up the stupid stick so many times in these chapters. To be clear, first-off: Adrian should have gotten blood before they ever went into the desert. In the worst case, he and Eddie (the night before the infiltration) should have gone off to the side and done a feeding (doesn’t have to be Eddie, since I imagine he actually has a bad reaction to them since FB, but it does have to be someone willing). Eddie would have enough time to recover, especially with adequate food. Setting that aside, the actual events of the escape work for me. So I guess it’s more the after. Sydney and Adrian should have driven straight to Las Vegas (if they wanted to stop in the other town and change clothes and switch cars that’s fine with me- I even like the senior citizen tour they were on; p.s. we never learn if the Ivashkinator was shipped back to Palm Springs or anything, which is very surprising to me). Their decision to stay in a hotel overnight, even as much as Sydney did deserve that kind of relaxation, was stupid beyond belief. I would have preferred they got to Vegas, were spotted by Alchemists but made it to the Witching Hour without issue, and then Adrian got them a room, and that was the point where Sydney relaxed and slept. Consolidate some of that. Let Sydney have her luxury bath, and a haircut from Adrian, and other stuff there. Let her mention to him that the first photo she saw of him was taken near there, and hey, did he know Rose had bought a car in Russia that Sydney loved. And when Adrian goes down to make some money to further their escape, that’s when he realizes they’re being watched- there are too many yellow and orange auras. Let them have a less exorbitant wedding than in the book- no ridiculous mermaid dress that Sydney can’t expect to move in and that is ridiculously expensive (she can still have a beautiful stunning white dress). Let her start with the blue sneakers. Let Adrian find a place to get the ring made, if that’s necessary (or just use the dang cufflinks as are for the time being and pin them to the fancy attire). And Jill sends the chopper directly to the Firenze for an “Italian” wedding. They can still have the showdown with Sheridan on the roof- just simplify everything.

And then when they get to Court- let Sydney do more of the talking. Let her (righteously) call out the conditions in the reconditioning- the torture because she showed empathy to Renee who couldn’t even eat on her own, the torture they inflicted on Emma to break her- she didn’t betray her own kind, the Alchemists are repeatedly betraying their own kind, pushing them into the darkness of an empty hole. Oh, and this necklace around her neck, that Sheridan took for her own before Sydney reclaimed it, the morning glories were painted by the man she loves. And she rejects the Alcehmists having any authority on her. She’s a witch of the Stelle coven; she’s Sydney Sage Ivaskhov damnit. And when her dad tells her that if she doesn’t come with them, these will be the last words she ever gets to say to him? She gets to ask him if he knew what happened to Carly, if he let it happen under his own roof because he wanted a son like Keith more than the daughters he was blessed with. I want Sydney arguing her case, having her real communion. I said the same for Rose and Spirit Bound, and Sydney deserves the same here.

p.s. there are a lot of structural parallels between this book and BP/early SB- Sydney’s reeducation being like Rose’s time in Novosibirsk, the Tasarov escape from SB (which Eddie directly mentions) immediately followed up with a Vegas trip

Ruby Circle

Dang it. Look, I no longer hate the idea of Sydney and Adrian raising a kid. Their ending in RC was a lot better built-up (and a lot less bitter for Sydney) than I thought the first time. But the road to get there...

I hate the Jill being kidnapped by Alicia part (and I don’t buy the Warriors working with her). Honestly, just let them deal with Alicia during the events of Fiery Heart (when next to nothing else is going on). Like, Adrian and Sydney come off really badly in my head for “causing” her kidnapping because of a personal vendetta against them, when they came there to protect her in the first place (I realize the actual fault was with Alicia, but the feeling stands). Also the pointless scavenger hunt leading them from Pennsylvania (so conveniently, even though Alicia would have had to go there to set her traps after abducting Jill in the first place?) a month after the fact to whatever castle (then to Michigan) then to Palm Springs and the infiltrating the Warriors mission... it’s all too much (also I refuse to believe Sydney cast those stinging demons... that’s so dangerous I can’t even). Given the introduction of the Stelle in FH, and the unnecessary Malachi stuff, it works better to do that all then anyways. (I still want Jackie involved somehow of course) Instead of sidelining Angeline at Amberwood, she should get to be involved in the hunt for Jill (same as Eddie was for Sydney).

In other parts... Wesley Drozdov was never a good character. I really didn’t need even a mention of him in this book. I also... don’t buy how stigmatized Adrian was for marrying Sydney. I can see it being a scandal, or a laughingstock, the source of snarky asides and derision, but Richelle never built it in VA or the earlier BL books to being as heinous as she then tried to make it (so that Adrian could feel suffocated by Court, just like Sydney). I would have been much more interested in trying to see Sydney blend in, and take a stand in the Moroi world (and seeing her try to ally with nonroyal Moroi, but that also still not going super smoothly because they don’t like being on the same level as a human), and maybe her trying out her magic with the Moroi fighters that Mia and Christian had formed (that beautiful, blessed little moment), and then if it integrating there didn’t work admitting that it just... wasn’t going to. Rather than not even trying.

I understand that Richelle was building up with Adrian’s fears of completely losing it with Nina, but she just got screwed over in both of these books. (We’re acknowledging that it was wrong of her to kiss him in SS when he wasn’t even conscious, and moving on). And then Olive got screwed. And Neil got screwed. I said before that I don’t mind Sydney and Adrian raising a kid. But I mind a whole heck of a lot that Richelle killed (essentially) Nina and Olive both (in bullshit, tragic ways) and then wrote Neil off so that Sydney and Adrian would have to raise a baby. Let Sydney be pregnant. Let her be recovering from the most traumatic event of her life, she and Adrian forewent protection on their hectic honeymoon/escape, she’s going to be a mom to a Dhamphir and wow that’s going to be weird for her... and meanwhile this allows her to get through to Olive. To promise Olive and Neil that Sonya and everyone else will not use their baby as a test tube. Nina can still go up to the brink (maybe she passes it and the spirit trio of Lissa, Sonya, and Adrian have to heal her), there can still be a Strigoi attack at the Refuge in northern Michigan, but ffs cut the crap treatment of those three to pass on a readymade kid to Sydrian. It is a trope that I loathe. I also dislike the “ohmigod” fangirl characterization of Mallory, and while the Rand stuff was better than I remembered (that is to say, he is terrible and everyone acknowledges that and no one makes light of it the way I misremembered), I could do without it (especially since I’d prefer that if they keep Dimitri and Adrian cousins, they addres it much earlier).

Honestly, I would do the following:

the start of the season for RC (which doesn’t match its name??) has Sydney and Adrian locked down at Court and they can’t help like they want to, so they try to adapt and do what they can there, including Adrian trying to get Nina to calm down; their friends from Palm Springs and Marcus team up altogether and get an infiltration squad with the Warriors of Light; Eddie gets to participate; they rescue Jill, and get some of the data on the Alchemist/ Warrior collaboration

the Moroi Court finally gets into action on the age and family laws in earnest; meanwhile, Sydney is helping carve out a niche for the rebel Alchemists to work with the Moroi, especially for Strigoi hunting groups like what Mia and Christian wanted to organize; Jill and Sydney are helping each other emotionally recover from their respective hostage ordeals; Sydney realizes she’s pregnant, which helps Adrian realize in a dream with Olive that she’s pregnant, and finally sees her location marker

it’s “rescuing” Olive time; Neil gets to go too- with his presence, things don’t all go to shit; there is a Strigoi attack in retaliation for the new hunting groups, but heroes persevere and protect the commune; the data on the Alchemist/Warrior collaboration, and the Rebelchemists work with the Moroi, gives the perfect leverage now to get the Rebelchemists their freedom and establish Sydrian’s future together

SO, after rereading Bloodlines

I dislike Sydrian less than I did, though I still think Adrian could be vastly improved if adapted as a woman

the second half gave Eddie more to do, but still not enough emotional focus on him

man Amberwood and its supporting characters disappeared; I get that Adrian isn’t likely to settle in California long term, but can I please get more resolution to those characters, whether it comes from more focus in IS, or a graduation ceremony or something?

Abe also disappeared which is strange

man, Sydrian have a lot of daddy issues. because their dads are both abusive jerks. but why oh why did Jared end up collaborating with the Warriors for tattoos? was it because of anger over ‘losing’ Sydney or just greed? I’m glad that Zoe and Sydney at least started to heal things, and that Zoe is ok where she is

we still never got answers on who restored Lee... Clarence only showed up for deus ex machina money and shelter and I guess blood (did Marcus ever get to speak to him again?)

minor grievance: Richelle described the Warrior recruits as being almost evenly distributed between men and women, with a slide toward men, before two pages later saying there were 30 potential guys and 13 potential ladies, and remembering that, oh, yeah, the Warriors didn’t really use women on the front line; I don’t want any of that subplot adapted I just... editing?

#DoBetterByOliveAndNinaAndNeil2030 (who gets to name their kid Declan?), #LetSydneyUseHerBeautifulBrain

#I'm a VA girl #long beneath the cut

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wat-the-cur · 3 years

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For a fandom I had never asked you before? Perhaps? Babylon 5

Ooh, this is tricky, because not only have I not finished Babylon 5 by a long shot, but it’s also been ages since I last watched it. Nevertheless, I shall do my best!

The first character I ever fell in love with: G’Kar, no question about it. It was love at first sight.

A character that I used to love/like, but now do not: Hm, I cannot think of any I’ve grown to dislike, but I remember becoming slightly bored with John Sheridan. Also, I liked Kosh better when he was more mysterious.

A ship that I used to love/like, but now do not: Hm, I don’t really have any ships like that for this show.

My ultimate favourite character: A tough choice, but right now I have to say G’Kar.

Prettiest character: Delenn, for sure, in any of her forms, including the one from the pilot film. (Also, Na’Toth)

My most hated character: Morden, and that blonde woman who headed that spy group, Shadow Watch, or whatever it was.

My OTP: I guess the closest I have to an OTP at the moment is Russian Winter.

My NOTP: Susan Ivannova/Marcus Cole, I guess. I’m also not at all big on Londo/G’Kar.

Favourite episode: Ugh, my memory is so hazy! I remember subplots that I liked. I loved the episode when Londo falls for the Dancer, and the one when his three wives come to visit. I loved the whole bit with Londo and G’Kar stuck in the lift, together. I remember lots of sweet bits with Delenn, as well.

Saddest death: Talia’s was unfortunate, I feel like more could have been done with her.

Favourite season: Again, bad memory! I enjoyed the early Sheridan episodes, because I found Sinclair really dull.

Least favourite season: I didn’t like the conclusion to the Shadow wars, but I forget which season that was.

Character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but I hate: Again, a strong word. I don’t really like Stephen Franklin, I’m sorry. I don’t know why, he just doesn’t click with me.

My “You’re a piece of trash, but you’re still my fav” fav: Hm, probably Londo. Also, that huge prey mantis in that smokey room who never came back after the first couple of series.

My “Beautiful Cinnamon Roll who deserves better than this” fav: Delenn, Lennier, Vir, Talia, G’Kar and Zack.

My “This ship is wrong, nasty and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but I still love it” ship: Um, not sure I have one for B5.

My “They’re kind of cute, and I lowkey ship them, but I’m not too invested” ship: Vir/Lennier! Also, a big part of me wants Delenn to have a girlfriend.

#ask meme #asks #hadescavedish #babylon 5 #b5

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hollywooduniversityalumnus · 3 years

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7. all filled up with things benign

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Much like any other university, Hollywood University required a metric fuck-ton of paperwork to be submitted for approval of an extended leave of absence from classes. However, unlike most universities, Hollywood U encouraged such leaves, under the condition that they were for career-related endeavours, like a six-week film shoot overseas or back-to-back tapings of a new television show being optioned for one of the many streaming services. Not only would the student receive invaluable “real world” experience, a credit for their resume, and financial compensation, but the university could leverage the experience for positive publicity (and, therefore, receive financial compensation as well).

Though Hollywood U professors stressed the importance of finding work in the industry while studying, most of the students attending the university stuck to using their class projects as resume builders and spent their free time partying and cavorting around California. Those students typically found themselves scrambling to find work once they did graduate, as they had not built enough connections and rapport to be personally contacted for a job. It was sad to see aspiring directors and actors with untapped potential head back home with their heads down and dreams dashed.

Still, Thomas thought, if Hollywood U wanted faculty and students alike to enthusiastically take part in school-sanctioned leaves, they ought to consider making the paperwork less tedious.

He stared down the stack of paperwork that Miss Schuyler had so kindly left for him to deal with. It wasn’t as thick as the stack Priya had once left him – a list of complaints and observations about the students she shared with him, which he promptly recycled, because even he had a limit to his negativity – but it was daunting to look at, especially since he knew that he had to carefully read every word of it to ensure that his student’s participation in Penn Cattrall’s yet-to-be-titled film wasn’t going to end the same way her experience with Clash at Sunset did.

And, of course, to see what he had to do to keep her on track with the rest of her peers. Of all her professors, he had been the obvious choice to administer the work she would need to complete whilst filming, and he was not looking forward to the extra work he would have to do for it.

Knowing there was nothing else to do but dive in, he set down his mug of coffee and situated himself in his seat, taking a moment to adjust the lamp on his desk before pulling down the first of the many stapled stacks.

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Two and a half hours later, Thomas set down his third coffee refill and rubbed between his eyebrows. Behind him, the world beyond the window grew dimmer, and the hallway around his office swallowed up in silence. Certain he was the only one still in that wing of the school, perhaps even on that side of campus, he took a moment to get up and stretch, mind still whirring over everything he had read.

She was due to leave in three days’ time for France. The contracts he read didn’t say anything about the plot of the film she was leading, but he guessed by the extra paperwork regarding health and safety liabilities while filming in the catacombs of Paris that it had something to do with the horrors of being lost in a claustrophobic, labyrinthine setting surrounded by the dead.

Along with the liability clauses, there was a lot said about the safety of the stunt work she’d be performing herself, which he’d flagged with a sticky note. More sticky notes were used to mark certain lines that he needed further elaboration on, and parts of the contracts that seemed impossible to enforce from far away.

It had taken him what felt like eons to get to what was the most relevant part for him: the continuing education contract.

But the words that were so important for him to digest, as he would be the one to hold her to them, swam in front of his eyes as he quickly became lost in thought. Still stuck on the tidbits of information sprinkled within the documents, breadcrumbs that piece together a vague picture of what Miss Schuyler was to be doing during her six-week leave. It bothered him that he was so bothered, but he couldn’t help it.

How was she going to react to being in the depths of the catacombs? She had difficulty just sitting in the dark for too long.

And then: does she even know what she signed up for?

Penn Cattrall should’ve given her a copy of the script. Should’ve given her a head’s up of what was expected (including the stunts that she was apparently doing herself). Should’ve gotten to know her before giving her such a challenging role.

Thomas’s fingers hovered over the keyboard of his laptop before he even realized he’d opened it.

I should warn her, he thought. What if she doesn’t know?

And then that pesky second opinion in his head, another side of himself, countered, She has to know already. After everything that happened with Anders Stone and Richard Sheridan, she would have read everything Penn Cattrall’s people sent over with a fine-toothed comb. She wouldn’t agree to this without knowing.

But what if she did?

Thomas slowly lowered his laptop’s screen and stared at the brand logo on the back. The edges of a small sticker, one from his college days that he’d stumbled upon when sorting his attic, were peeling off, and he pressed his fingers down to try and flatten them. It was a simple rectangular sticker of a quote. A memory of Yvonne purchasing him that sticker at a street fair near their campus bubbled up, but he pressed down with his fingers as if to pop it.

The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.

Though he was remarkably awarded for a fairly new director, Penn Cattrall did not yet have the power behind his name to blow dozens of millions of dollars on a single film. It had taken Thomas two films and just as many Audrey Awards to get there himself. Though the estimated five million dollar budget for the film was nothing to scoff at, Thomas knew that, after taking into account the portion of the funds that would be exchanged for access to the off-limits areas in which they’d be filming, as well as all the equipment that would be used to capture the film and keep the cast and crew safe down below, the true budget of the film was going to be quite tight indeed.

That would be a limitation, a box that would force Penn Cattrall and his crew to think outside of it without breaking the bank or disrupting the production. It could be done; after Spielberg and the Jaws crew sunk so much money into creating the mechanical shark that famously rarely worked, the director’s decision to omit the sighting of the shark until much later in the film became one of the most memorable techniques to build suspense in film. Limitation worked then.

But Margot . . .

Since that night on that gaudy set, he wondered how she coped with the memories of her past. He’d seen her sitting in darkened rooms before – like in the auditorium watching Spencer Yamaguchi’s one-man musical – but there were still light sources, still a feeling of being among a crowd, of safety. But he’d also seen – well, heard - her on that set, crying to herself.

How would she react to long hours of being deep below ground, surrounded by the remains of those who passed long ago? Penn Cattrall wouldn’t be so cruel as to make her film in complete darkness, but the catacombs definitely weren’t known for making people feel safe. Nor, Thomas guessed, would the characters be in the catacombs with perfectly working light sources, if this was a horror film like all his others. Sure, there had to be breaks where they came up for air, food, and sunlight. But what of those hours of filming in near darkness, amongst death and decay?

Was her past her limitation?

More importantly, would – could – she work with it?

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“Miss Schuyler. Thank you for arriving on time for once.”

Displeased with being called into his office on a Friday morning, Margot lazily fell into the chair opposite his desk, her hands already tapping mindlessly on her thighs. Immediately diverting his gaze from her thighs – and the skirt she somehow considered appropriate enough to wear for such a meeting – Thomas cleared his throat.

“I’ve read through the paperwork for your extended leave,” he began. “Most of it is in order. I’ve already forwarded the very little I have issue with to be further reviewed by Penn Cattrall and Hollywood U’s lawyers.”

“Great,” Margot said, her voice flat and tired. “Is that all?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “I do hope you don’t show this kind of attitude to Penn Cattrall, or you’ll be fired and blacklisted in this industry faster than Megan Fox in her Transformers days. This is a tremendous opportunity for any actor, and even more so for a newcomer.”

In the silence that followed his words, her head lowered. Her lower lip trembled. And his stomach twisted.

Where was the confident, cocky young actress determined to take Hollywood by storm? It was almost as if they were back on that damn set, drinking Snapple and letting their guards down little by little. This time, he could see her face, and he knew that the issue was not what he had just said to her, but something else. Something had been bothering her before she’d even come into the room.

His voice softened. “What happened?”

Margot immediately shook her head. “Nothing.”

“I know you,” he said before he could stop himself. “This ‘nothing’ is a ‘something.’ What is it?”

And when she finally looked up at him again, he stood at the sight of the tears spilling from her eyes. He moved quickly, taking the box of tissues he had set upon a shelf and maneuvering around his desk until he was standing by her side. Handing her a tissue, he leaned against the desk and took in her body language, noticing with grim certainty that she had been feeling off long before he’d even thought to discuss the paperwork with her.

She blew her nose. Then, with another tissue, she dabbed at her eyes and swept under the lower lashes, the tissue picking up some makeup on its way.

“Take your time,” he said.

Take your time? a part of him repeated. Since when did you get so soft?

Margot let out a deep, shuddering breath. Then, focusing more on the steadily growing pile of tissues she accumulated in one hand, she spoke.

“Up until a week ago, Penn Cattrall was sure that we were going to be filming entirely on a sound stage.” Her voice trembled, and she took a deep breath. “I – I was fine with that. A sound stage means that the lights come up, you step outside for some light, you know, no problem at all. But then . . . I don’t know how he got permission, but . . .”

She promptly pulled another tissue from the box and blew her nose into it. Thomas crossed his arms over his stomach, holding in his impatience.

Don’t rush her; let her find the words.

“I don’t think I can do it,” she admitted, and then it was a rush of words like a flood headed downhill. “I’ve been trying – I mean, I’ve been practicing, rehearsing in my room in the dark, just a headlamp and a flashlight, all by myself but – I can’t do it, I can’t do it in my own bedroom, let alone the fucking Parisian catacombs with the bones and the tunnels and – what if I get scared and then lost? What if – he said we’d be safe, but no one’s ever been permitted to film in the off-limits areas till now, and I – I’m terrified.” She buried her head in her hands. “How can I call myself an actress if I can’t get over this?”

He looked over her in silence.

“I’m going to ruin my career, and it’s just begun.”

Her words fell on deaf ears. Thomas began breathing slowly, deeply, and, while it clearly annoyed Margot, she caught on to what he was doing and matched his breaths. Inhale, hold, exhale, hold, repeat. Inhale, hold, exhale, hold, repeat.

When it seemed like she’d finally calmed, Thomas sighed. “The pressure you’re putting on yourself is not helping you. You will gain nothing from considering yourself a failure from the start. Your performance will be impacted by your thoughts. You will lose your starring role if you let this go on.”

“How do I stop it?” Margot cried. “You’re my teacher. Teach me.”

Thomas grimaced at the reminder.

“How do I get over this?” she asked.

“You don’t,” he said bluntly. “You simply learn to roll with it, as many other actors and artists before you have.”

Margot rolled her eyes. “Oh, great, another anecdote from your days on Battlefield Earth. I would’ve thought you’d told them all in class by now.”

“Mar- Miss Schuyler.” Thomas blinked a few times, reminding himself of decorum, of the rules he had to adhere to as a faculty member speaking to his student. “You’re not the first, and certainly not the last, actor working with their traumas and fears to complete a production. A simple Google search will tell you that a multitude of actors admit to feeling emotionally and mentally drained from the work they do that involves at least some aspect of their fears. For some, it is claustrophobia when filming in confined spaces for the majority of a film. For others, it is continual exposure to creatures or things that they may associate with terrible memories or have faced before and nearly lost. Fear of heights in an action film. Fear of large bodies of water and drowning after seeing such a thing happen in their childhood. And yes, fear of the dark and the unknown shrouded within it.”

She dabbed at her eyes with another tissue.

“You are not alone in your feelings. More to the point, you are not – and will not be – alone. You will never be alone like that again.”

She nodded.

And Thomas, quickly turning back to his desk, procured some papers from his desk and changed the topic.

“So, about your homework . . .”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Production Progress Journal Entry 1:

Within the Parisian catacombs, there is a sign that says (according to Penn Cattrall, who translated it for me): “Stop! This is the Empire of the Dead.”

They are not wrong.

To say that I am far beyond my comfort zone is an understatement. More accurately, I’m far beneath it (twenty metres or so, in fact; thanks, tour guide Jack/Jacques).

Penn had arranged a special tour for the cast and crew, which was done in staggered batches of ten with a guide in front and a guide at the rear to keep everyone together. Honestly, they didn’t need to arrange it like that; I doubt that anyone, when within the Empire of the Dead, would branch away from the group when surrounded by dust and bones and stale air. The tour was apparently the same as any regular tour, though the “special” part of it came into play once we had reached a certain point within the catacombs, when the guides took us through a clearly marked off-limits area to show us one of the many places we’ll be working in under the direct supervision of several officials and safety officers.

You think, once you’ve walked around in a cavern made of cadavers for forty or so minutes, you’d be relatively numb to the sight of another area stacked high with bones.

I just . . . didn’t expect the first shots we’ll be filming to take place within such a microscopic tunnel.

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Thomas Hunt’s comments on Production Progress Journal Entry 1:

I am not surprised to hear of the extensive security and safety detail.

I am surprised that you didn’t expect to film in areas that may trigger claustrophobia.

Have you done anything at all to help mentally and physically prepare for the shoot?

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Production Progress Journal Entry 2:

On the plane ride to France, I’d started listening to the podcast “How to Find Peace Within Yourself: A Guided Meditation to Alleviate the Darkness and Manifest the Light.” Once settled in my temporary hotel home for the next six or so weeks, I made space on the floor and did partake in some of their suggested activities, including mindfully making a cup of tea and waking up at ungodly hours to sit in front of the window and focus on how the light of the sunrise felt creeping up my body.

At about seven in the morning today, we made our first descent of many for this film into the catacombs.

Approximately nineteen minutes later, a safety officer had guided me out, where I’d narrowly managed to reach a trash bin before I’d vomited up my breakfast.

Manifesting the light through mindful tea making is bullshit.

Thank fuck it was only a rehearsal.

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Production Progress Journal Entry 2.5:

Just got out of a last-minute meeting/admonishment talk with Penn. From what memory serves, he told me that he was worried we’d both bitten off more than we can chew with this ambitious project. I know he’s trying to soften the blow of the underlying warning of his words.

He is unimpressed. He has every right to be.

Whatever he saw in me when he chose me is not present now, and I don’t know how to come back from this.

I am not the only cast member who has to take frequent breaks from below; my co-star, Oliver Abel, is extremely claustrophobic. He has a scene planned for filming tomorrow that involves him squeezing through the aforementioned tunnel, and I honestly don’t know how he’ll pull it off.

I hope he can do it.

I hope we all can do it.

I don’t want to lose this opportunity.

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Production Progress Journal Entry 3:

I don’t know if I can do what Oliver did.

He’s managed to use his fear to power his performance, sobbing desperately and clawing at the tunnel walls. First take, best take, and while I’m proud, I’m also nervous.

The past few days, Penn has allowed me to focus mainly on above-ground scenes while the crew gets more comfortable with working underground. But we’re running out of filler scenes to film. Soon, it will be my turn to wiggle atop a pile of bones (supplied by Penn’s affiliated prop company, and not the real bones of dead citizens) and plea for mercy.

I don’t know how I’m going to do it.

Especially if my headlamps malfunction, plunging me into darkness, as mentioned in the final draft of the screenplay I got a few hours ago.

Help.

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Thomas Hunt’s comments on Production Progress Journal Entry 3:

You are too busy worrying about yourself that you are not learning from those around you.

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The phone call came just before eight p.m.

Thomas had reclined in his favourite armchair, beat after a day of marking subpar assignments. His red pen had run out of ink halfway through an essay that was more a waste of paper and ink than an acceptable analysis on auteurist theory, and he’d had to switch from coffee to scotch after ripping apart Lance Sergio’s paper on Sophie’s Choice.

Really, how is that boy still enrolled?

The floor lamp positioned by his armchair went dark, and Thomas turned his head to look at it. He’d have to buy a new bulb for it. Been meaning to for a while now. Another thing to add to his ever-growing list of responsibilities and errands.

He blinked slowly at the shrill noise that broke the comfortable silence, realizing seconds later that it was his cell phone ringing. A number he didn’t recognize, with an area code he couldn’t place off the top of his head.

Still, he answered.

“Who is this?” he asked simply, leaning back into his chair.

Her hushed voice had him jolting straight up again.

“I can’t do this. Help me.”

Though he felt as though his blood has run cold, he kept his voice even as he asked, “How did you get this number, Miss Schuyler?”

“I have my ways.” She sounded on the verge of tears. “I’m scared. I don’t – I don’t think I can do this.”

And Thomas, being the level-headed, critical, highly regarded and rewarded director, actor, professor, and screenwriter that he was, sucked in a deep breath before replying.

“Yes, you can.”

“I can’t, I-”

Thomas’s voice was stern. “Margot. Did I not stand for you during your hearing? Do you think I said any of those things falsely? You have shown tremendous growth in such a short time. You led and assisted in multiple school projects. You have acting and producing credits for films that have been nominated – and won – awards.”

“I never had to do any of those things underground,” she argued, her teary voice giving way to a spark of anger. “I’m fine in front of a camera and behind it. I’m happy to be in the spotlight. But I can’t cope with this. Have you ever been to the catacombs? How lonely and suffocating it is to be so far below, hidden away from the world? I close my eyes for too long and it’s like I’m right back in that fucking shed my mother pretended was a house.” Her voice broke on the last few words, and Thomas’s chest tightened.

Her words were met with silence until he had gathered his thoughts on how to assure her.

“The camera crew is there. Mr. Cattrall will be there. You will not be alone. At the first sign of distress, they will halt filming so you can regain composure.” His voice hardened. “You cannot quit now. You have just begun to soar.”

“I’m going to plummet face-first into bones and debris.”

Thomas huffed. “Perhaps. But you will get up again.”

She sniffled.

“Have you considered a therapist?”

“It’s a little late for that.”

“It’s never too late to take care of yourself,” Thomas admonished. “A podcast and meditation are good starts, but the way you react to things that remind you of your trauma is rather unhealthy and will stunt the growth – both personal and craft-wise – that you have already made.”

She said nothing.

He cleared his throat. “Does Mr. Cattrall know?”

She snorted. “All he knows is I’m a failure. I can practically hear him calling for my replacement as we speak.”

Thomas checked his watch, then strained to remember the time difference. Eight p.m. here was . . .

“Are you calling me right before your shoot starts?”

He heard her take a sip of something. “I could barely sleep. I’ve felt sick to my stomach all night.”

“Margot, you are not making this easy for yourself.”

She snorted again. “It’s not going to be easy, period.”

Thomas sighed, running his fingers over one of the arms on his chair. “You need to tell Mr. Cattrall. A good director knows their performers. I’m sure he’ll be more lenient on you if he knew.”

“And be called a crybaby?” Margot snapped. “No, thanks.”

Thomas let out a huff of annoyance. “Margot, why are you even calling if you don’t want any of my advice?”

“Because . . . I don’t know anyone else who would care.”

Silence.

“Margot-”

“Miss Peaches is gone, and I can’t remember the breathing technique she taught me.” Her voice grew higher, hysterical. “I sleep with a lamp on because I can’t handle the feeling of being abandoned again. The few things I’ve filmed in darkness were done surrounded by dozens of crew members on sound stages where everything is predictable and there’s no threat of cave-ins or collapses.”

“Margot, listen-”

“You heard me that night on the set. You know how it makes me feel.”

“I do. I did hear you. I know what you’ve been through.” Thomas’s voice, once again, became strangely soft, soothing. “Margot, you cannot let this hold you back forever. You will face it again and again. It’s not something one simply ‘gets over.’ You have to learn with work with it, and make it work to your advantage.”

She sobbed, and his throat went dry. “How?”

Thomas closed his eyes. His fingers pressed firmly against the arm of his chair, as if smoothing down the edges of a peeling sticker.

“‘The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.’”

He hadn’t realized he’d said it out loud until Margot spoke again, her voice shaky but still understandable.

“Orson Welles.”

He hummed. “He was my father’s favourite filmmaker. My parents rarely let me stay up to watch movies, but when a Welles was on, well . . . he made the popcorn, I sliced the jalapenos, and we sat together under his spell. It was one of the few times we actually got along.”

“You put jalapeno slices in your popcorn?”

Thomas smiled. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”

“I’ll stick with Reese’s Pieces, thanks.” She sounded a bit more upbeat, which he found encouraging.

So, while it wasn’t something he normally advertised, he admitted, “My father named me after him, actually.”

The sound of Margot’s laugh was like a burst of sunlight on his skin, warming and comforting. “Really? How so?”

“Orson is my middle name.” Thomas failed to keep the smile out of his voice. “I understand why he did it, given Welles’s impact on cinema, but it was tough just learning how to spell it when I was a boy.”

“I’m trying to imagine you as a child. All I see is a scowling little boy in a suit.”

“You wouldn’t be very far off.”

“So you’ve always worn suits?”

“My mother dressed me to impress. And to get made fun of.”

Every time she laughed, the weight on his chest lifted a little more. And he found that he couldn’t hold back his own laughter, even as he shook away the memories of playground bullies kicking dirt at him and scribbling on his sleeves with markers.

“Thomas?” Her laughter had died down, and her voice was timid.

“Yes?”

Margot sighed. “Thank you. I feel a little better now. I’ll try to remember what you said, about taking care of myself and getting up again.”

He nodded, as if she could see it. “Don’t forget the quote.”

“Right.”

There was a pause.

“Could you . . . elaborate further on that?”

Thomas rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Limitations breed creativity. They foster growth beyond its restrictions. Take your co-star for example. Claustrophobic, yet he filmed his scene well. You wrote that his fear powered his performance, made it stronger. You feel limited by your trauma. But could you work with it and use it to add verisimilitude to your character’s journey?”

Margot, wherever in Paris she was, took a deep breath that sounded like a gust of wind into his ear. “I – I’m not sure.”

“You’ve fuelled your performances before with your pain.” Thomas thought back to the first acting project she’d helmed since Clash at Sunset’s premiere, when Anders Stone tricked her out of millions of dollars. She’d played a fiery sidekick to her classmate Erik’s cliché cowboy, effectively stealing the show with how genuine her actions seemed to be. “You’ve used anger to your advantage. Pain is part of that realm. You do not have to be sure. You only have to try.”

In the background of her side of the call, he could hear someone talking to her. Then, Margot’s voice came back on the phone, apologetic.

“I have to go. It’s time.” She paused, then added, “Thank you. Really. I’ll try to make you proud.”

Thomas smiled to himself and said, “Don’t forget to do your progress report.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Long after she’d hung up, he stared at his phone in silence.

I’ll try to make you proud, she’d said.

You already have, he wanted to reply.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

He poured three more fingers of scotch into his glass and carefully selected two perfect ice cubes from the steel container on his drink cart. Flicking on a random channel, he attempted to absorb the film that was already midway through. Instead, it was a flashy, action-packed thing for his eyes to watch while his mind whirred behind them.

He wished he could stop replaying their phone call in his head. The way he’d told her his middle name, admitted he’d been bullied for being different, and encouraged her to use her vulnerabilities to her advantage.

The sound of a gun firing temporarily shook him from his thoughts. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he raised his glass to his lips.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

There had been a time when, if Thomas strained his ears enough, he could hear the echoes of Yvonne’s laughter, her voice crooning for him to join her on an impromptu adventure as an attempt to make him socialize more. He rarely willingly tortured himself with the memories, but on a night like this, with too much scotch in his system and the living room’s burnt-out lamp bulb shrouding him in partial darkness, he settled into his seat and closed his eyes, expecting his mind to conjure up the image of the woman he had once loved and chose to lose.

He saw his fingers running through her long dark locks that stretched far beneath her shoulders, framing her face in gentle, inky waves that shone impossibly beneath the night sky.

Her eyes, framed by dark lashes, dark brown irises shockingly bright and intent on his face.

Her cheek pressing into his palm, eyes fluttering closed as she leaned into it further, as if his touch soothed.

A silver-blue gown’s skirt twirling around her legs as they danced.

A different ethereal silver-blue gown rendered diaphanous by the rainfall.

Her angular face, flushed from breathless kisses, illuminated by the bright colours of the fireworks display.

Her voice was a whisper that reverberated within his skull, words overlapping with different emotions.

“Hunt?”

“Please, Thomas . . .”

“My feelings for you are not fake.”

His eyes shot open.

No.

No, no, no.

What did Yvonne look like?

What did she sound like?

What was her last name again?

Does it matter anymore?

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Production Progress Journal Entry 4:

A wise man once told me that another wise man said, “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.”

(Orson Welles, in case I have to give credit. This is a school thing, right? Do I need to put this in MLA/APA/whatever?)

The things I associate with darkness, particularly being along in darkness, are my limitations. They make me feel sick to my stomach, bring tears that burn in my eyes until they fall, and make me want to avoid any and all scenarios in which I’d have to face them.

I’ve fueled performances with my emotions before. I’ve used heartbreak to write a best-selling song and anger to light up a performance about a vengeance-seeking cowgirl. Certainly, I could do it again with this emotion, this sadness and pain.

And I did.

The pile of bones scene was terrifying, especially with the headlamp flickering on and off. But I knew I wasn’t alone, that despite the setting we were filming in, I was safe and seen. I was still scared, but I knew my character would be, too. I’d spoken to Penn Cattrall before filming the scene, and he’d told me that the pain I felt, if translated as well as Oliver’s claustrophobia was to his performance, made the struggles of my character real. He’s rewritten Oliver’s character to be claustrophobic, and he’s going to work on mine so that I can work through my fears.

In half an hour (I’m on break with Oliver right now; enjoying a panini from a nearby café) I’ll be filming a scene with Oliver in another area of the catacombs, a microscopic chamber with a hole in the wall. We’re both terrified. And we’re both excited to try.

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Author’s Note:

Hi, friends. It’s been a while, I know. “Real life” got a lot busier than I expected.

But anyway, just wondering if it’s worth it to keep posting the chapters of this story on Tumblr. I’m already posting it on AO3 as it is, and to be quite frank, there’s really no engagement here so I’m not sure if I’m just clogging the tags.

Please let me know what you think :)

#only fools fall for you #thomas hunt #thomas orson hunt #hollywood u #hollywood university #pixelberry #fanfiction

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