#( thread : james warren )

[exxmeromotu]

By the time his fingertip touched her lips, the man was a goner. James let out a low breath, moving closer as his free hand eagerly found her hip. "Farrah," her name left him in a desperate breath while his cock hardened in her grasp as if on demand. He was already backing her towards his desk, mind reeling over the fact that this was actually even happening. It was a moment he'd imagined more times than he cared to admit. So many late nights in this office before he went to see Farrah, attempts at releasing some of the tension the young woman forever kept coiled deep inside him. But now she was real beneath his grasp, as was evident by the way his fingertips dug into the skin of her hip when her body met the desk behind her. Was it the smart thing? Of fucking course not. But as with every other time Farrah was in is sights, anything else that usually mattered simply...didn't. If she was real and she was here, finally offering herself on a silver platter the way he'd fantasized about so many times, there was no world where James had the strength to turn her away. He could deal with the consequences later. The hand she previously held moved to curve around her jaw, his forehead brushing hers as he let out a shaking breath. "God, Farrah, don't tease me," he pleaded a breath away from her lips, sliding his other hand beneath her cute little top to drag his fingers over her skin. "I don't think I could take it."

His rebuttal had happened like clockwork, so predictable that the blonde couldn't help the smugness that layered her features, angling her head to the side. She wondered whether there was some deeply repressed urge to implode his lifestyle that kept him from sending her on her way. It couldn't possibly be a result of her prowess alone. No man would give away his life so freely for sex. Perhaps, he hated his job, and resented his family, and Farrah offered freedom. She should have felt worse, but somehow being someones vice had sourced her with a sense of ego that bordered on maniacal, and it was about much more than the constant stream of income he no doubt squandered on her at their weekly 'meetings'. What was she doing here? The question lingered, and soft laughter purred from her lips as he, the kicked puppy, asked if it were a threat. It was far more than that. Watching him on the surveillance tape her landlord had provided ignited something inside of her that she wasn't sure she had been capable of feeling, and she had to act on it. It consumed her. "Back off? No, silly..." The pretty femme captured his hand, guiding his index finger to be nipped at playfully. "I just came to let you know, I wanna play, too." Wide orbs exuded the dedication to her promise, excited by the prospect of beating him at his own game. Aroused by it, even. And she made that clear as her palm moved to stroke him purposefully through his trousers, the adrenaline coursing through her body migrating quickly to her panty clad core. Her boyfriend felt like a blip on her mind, barely registering her infidelity. "So..." Voice lowered. "You wanna play with me, Jamie?"

[2000skid4ever]

Even though i never played max payne, this is still some sad news to hear. Rip James McCaffrey

[trash-neptune]

100 Songs

1. I’m Blue - The Shangri-Las

2. Paris, Texas - Lana Del Rey ft. SYML

3. Whispering Sea - Loretta Lynn

4. Heads Or Tails - Shannon and the Clams

5. Ku-U-I-Po - Elvis Presley

6. Riot In Cell Block no. 9 - Wanda Jackson

7. Blister - Midriff

8. Mirror Forever - Weyes Blood

9. Littlest Things - Lily Allen

10. The Bargain Store - Dolly Parton

11. Comment Di Tire Adeiu - Françoise Hardy

12. Love You Madly - Cake

13. Cowboy Like Me - Taylor Swift

14. One More Time With Feeling - Regina Spector

15. Grapejuice - Harry Styles

16. This Little Bird - Marianne Faithful

17. Moi Je Joue - Brigitte Bardot

18. I Want You Around - The Ramones

19. Paris Summer - Nancy Sinatra + Lee Hazlewood

20. Marigold - Nirvana

21. It Ain’t Me, Babe - Johnny Cash + June Carter Cash

22. Too Much - Spice Girls

23. Space Cowboy - Kacey Musgraves

24. I’d Rather Go Blind - Etta James

25. No Love Allowed - Rihanna

26. Cornerstone - Arctic Monkeys

27. Pandora’s Box - MARINA

28. Weary Blues From Waitin’ - Hank Williams

29. Seasons In The Sun - Terry Jacks

30. Lavender Blue - The Fleetwoods

31. (You Don’t Know) How Glad I Am - Nancy Wilson

32. Carmelita - Warren Zevon

33. Home On The Rage - Nick Shoulders

34. Dark Heart - Painted Hands

35. Stand On The Word - The Joubert Singers

36. I’m So Young - The Students

37. Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space - Spiritualized

38. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Elvis Presley

39. Rootless - MARINA

40. Morning Elvis - Florence and the Machine

41. Joey - Concrete Blonde

42. Blue Spanish Sky - Chris Isaak

43. Sad Dream - Sky Ferreira

44. Love I Can’t Explain - Shannon Shaw

45. I Call Your Name - The Mamas and Papas

46. Dangerous Girl - Lana Del Rey

47. Seven - Taylor Swift

48. In My Hour Of Darkness - Gram Parsons

49. Some Day You’ll Want Me To Want You - Brenda Lee

50. It’s Raining - Irma Thomas

51. Thinning - Snail Mail

52. I’ll Never Find Another You - The Seekers

54. The Air That I Breathe - The Hollies

55. Deep End - Lykke Li

56. Some Velvet Morning - Nancy Sinatra + Lee Hazlewood

57. Vanishing - Shannon and the Clams

58. Lonely Like Me- Nick Shoulders

59. Strange - Patsy Cline

60. Kathy’s Song - The Secret Sisters

61. Lonesome 77203 - Loretta Lynn

62. Motion Sickness - Phoebe Bridgers

63. In Spite Of Ourselves - John Prine + Iris DeMent

64. Into My Arms - Nick Cave + the Bad Seeds

65. Sing To Me - Walter Martin + Karen O.

66. Can’t Find My Way Home - Blind Faith

67. My rifle, my pony and me - Ricky Nelson + Dean Martin

68. Call Me Irresponsible - Bobby Darin

69. Bubblegum - Clairo

70. I’ll Be Here In The Morning - Townes Van Zandt

71. Work Song - Hozier

72. Sweet Dreams, TN - The Last Shadow Puppets

73. I Can’t Stand The Rain - Tina Turner

74. Beggin’ -Frankie Valli + the Four Seasons

75. Living Legend - Lana Del Rey

76. Lottie - Blair Dunlop + Larkin Poe

77. Gracias A La Vida - Kacey Musgraves

78. Magic Man - Heart

79. Gonna Hurry (As Slow As I Can) - Dolly Parton

80. He’s Fine - The Secret Sisters

81. Stickwitu- The Pussycat Dolls

82. It’s Not For Me To Say - Johnny Mathis

83. Silver Threads and Golden Needles - Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn + Tammy Wynette

84. Yer So Bad - Tom Petty

85. Desire - Meg Meyers

86. Cold, cold water - Mirah

87. Careless Love - Eartha Kitt

88. Coin Operated Boy - The Dresden Dolls

89. Buckskin Stallion Blues - Amy Annelle

90. After Laughter (Comes Tears) -Wendy Rene

91. Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand) - Irma Thomas

92. Love Is A Laserquest - Arctic Monkeys

93. Forever Blue - Chris Isaak

94. In The Flesh - Blondie

95. Wedding Bell Blues - The 5th Dimension

96. New World Coming - Mama Cass

97. Blues Run The Game - Janileigh Cohen

98. Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) - Quindon Tarver

99. A Lot’s Gonna Change - Weyes Blood

100. I Could Say - Lily Allen

[tinyloved]

full muse list (+ face claims).

to request a muse, please send me a message letting me know who you’re interested in. we can even plot a little, i do this to prevent having the same types of threads, but i love writing these muses equally (if we have previous threads with said muse, there is no need for this btw).

daisy jones and the six (under request):

daisy jones: riley keough, irene dev

billy dunne, found on @regrethim: sam claflin

camila dunne: camila morrone

graham dunne: will harrison

karen sirko: suki waterhouse

eddie loving/roundtree (under request): josh whitehouse

warren rojas (under request): sebastian chacon

bill ‘bones’ shah: avan jogia

red, white & royal blue

alex claremont-diaz: danny ramirez, taylor zakhar-perez

henry fox-mountchristen-windsor: harris dickinson, nicholas galitzine

june claremont-diaz: isabela merced

zahra bankston: sarah shahi

beatrice fox-mountchristen-windsor: milly alcock, ellie bamber

les misérables:

enjolras: sam reid, aaron tveit

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo:

mick riva: oscar isaac

a little life:

jude st. francis: diego calva, jose condessa

willem ragnarsson: callum turner, harris dickinson

normal people:

connell waldron: paul mescal

marianne sheridan: daisy edgar-jones

ted lasso:

rebecca welton: hannah waddingham, sienna miller

roy kent: brent goldstein

jamie tartt: phil dunster

keeley jones: juno temple, lucy boynton

daisy alexander: florence pugh

marvel:

steve rogers: chris evans, glen powell, paul mescal

natalia romanova: ana de armas

bucky barnes: sebastian stan

yelena belova: florence pugh

grease

danny zuko: jacob elordi

star wars (under request):

poe dameron: oscar isaac

bridgerton (under request):

anthony bridgerton: jonathan bailey

benedict bridgerton: luke thompson

sophie beckett: bruna marquezine

edmund bridgerton: hugh dancy

the little mermaid: (under request):

prince eric: jonah hauer-king

moulin rouge (under request):

christian james: aaron tveit, callum turner

satine: nicole kidman, ashley loren, ellie bamber

[consistantly-changing]

[Image descriptions in order: a twitter thread by @chrishlad "Chris Hladczuk" which says "If you use it right, Google is the most powerful tool in the world.

But the truth is most people suck at it.

Here are 8 Googling tips that you probably don't know 👇]

[""Quotation markets"

Put quotes around search terms to let you search exactly for that word.

All results will have your terms in it.

Example: "James Clear"

Gives you all James Clear search results without just "James" or just "Clear".]

["- Dashes

If you want to exclude a term from your search, include a hyphen before that word.

Example: dolphins-football

You just want dolphins the animal not dolphins the professional football team.]

["~ Tilde

Use tilde when you want synonyms to appear in the result.

Example: music ~classes

Here you only get music classes, lessons, coaching, etc.]

["Site:

Use this to search within a specific website only.

Example: Kevin Ryan site:chrishlad..com

This searches for Kevin Ryan mentions on my website (chrishlad dot com).]

["| Vertical bar

Same purpose as OR.

Example: Netflix | Hulu

Netflix OR Hulu]

[".. Two Periods

Use two periods to search within 2 number ranges.

Example: movies 1980..2000]

["Location:

Find news related to a particular location.

Example: Elon Musk location:sanfrancisco]

["Filetype:

Filter by a certain file type related to your search.

Example: warren buffet filetype:pdf

This filters out all the click bait news Buffet news article you don't want to read."]

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (17-23 Apr 2022)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😍👂 A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2) (Becky Chambers, author; Rachel Dulude, narrator)

😊 A Suitable Consort [For the King and His Husband] (R. Cooper) - precisely what it says on the tin; entertaining, I do love an oblivious academic being wooed

😍👂 Record Of A Space Born Few (Wayfarers #3) (Becky Chambers, author; Rachel Dulude, narrator)

😍👂 The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers #4) (Becky Chambers, author; Rachel Dulude, narrator) - I love every single book in this series but this one is probably my fave, if only because of the 'cheese discussion' scene.

💖💖+184K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Cheek to Cheek (liloau) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 10K - mmm, love the angst in a touch-starved, recently defrosted Steve Rogers

Through The Open Window (74days) - MCU: Stucky, 28K - wartime AU

The Best Revenge (BewareTheIdes15) - OFMD: BlackBonnet, 7K - ffffuuuuccckkkk this was HOT 🔥🔥🔥

Aftershave (samanthahirr) - TMFU: Illya/Gaby/Napoleon, 4K - yes, good, way to show an erotic shaving

Gold Asgardians and Other Poisons (HandsAcrossTheSea) - MCU: Stucky+Thor, 7K - another one that's hot hot hot 🔥🔥🔥 - I wish there was more with this threesome!

lay me down (tell me i've been found) (coffeeinallcaps) - MCU: Stucky, 25K - forever fave, fluffy, utterly indulgent D/s AU

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Sense8 - s2, e8-12

Abbott Elementary - s1, e1-13

Hot Ones - Elijah Wood

Heartstopper - s1, e1-8

🎧 PODCASTS🎧

This is Good for You - Ep 29: Our One Year Anniversary!!

Overinvested - Ep. 254: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Ends of the World

Desert Island Discs - Alan Cumming, actor

Shedunnit Book Club - The Detective's Best Friend

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Gnomesville

Partners - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Louis Armstrong House Museum

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Bloody Island

You're Dead To Me - Young Napoleon

Endless Thread - The Faker

Overinvested - Ep. 255: Our Flag Means Death

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

CREDITS: Diane Warren

'90s Dance Crossover

Sub-Radio

Pop-Punk Party-Starters

Presenting Etta James

Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Biggest Beats

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter - Thursday, November 3rd

JOYCE: Faith. (Faith in Buffy's body spins around, alarmed.) JOYCE: Why do you think she's like that? FAITH: (shrugs) You know. She's a nut job. JOYCE: I just don't understand what could drive a person to that kind of behavior. FAITH: Well, how do you know she got drove? I mean, maybe she likes being that way. JOYCE: I'll never believe that. I think she's horribly unhappy. FAITH: Well, could be things are looking up.

~~Who Are You?~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Promises by badly_knitted (Angel, Buffy, PG)

Blessings Earned by apachefirecat (Spike/Buffy, Xander/Dawn, R)

Promises by badly_knitted (Buffy/Angel, G)

Periodically by Holly (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Chaptered Fiction]

When she was bad - Ch. 17 COMPLETE! by Susan19 (Faith/Buffy, M)

Once Upon A Slayer: The Gift - Ch. 7 COMPLETE! by BrennaLynn (Mulan/Buffy, Mulan xover, T)

Wherever You Stray I’ll Follow - Ch. 4 COMPLETE! by calenlily (Angel/Buffy, M)

What Child Is This? - Ch. 4 COMPLETE! by Michaelt (ensemble, T)

The Bad Touch - Ch. 4 COMPLETE! by Michaelt (ensemble, T)

For The Blessings We Are About To Receive - Ch. 6 COMPLETE! by Michaelt (ensemble, T)

Even Ground - Ch. 2 by honeygirl51885 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Odd Ducks - Ch. 2 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, G)

Better the Devil You Know - Ch. 2 by SlayrGrl (Buffy/Spike, R)

The Thing About Being on the Road - Ch. 4 by scratchmeout (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Aphantasia - Ch. 2 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, R)

Fade Away Again - Ch. 6 by Willow25 (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Her Mission - Ch. 16 by BewitchedXx (Buffy/Spike, R)

Orvieto - Ch. 13 by TuesdayGirl (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

If Only - Ch. 19 by MixSaysRawr (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Got Your Six - Ch. 14 by honeygirl51885 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

A Better Place Than the One We're At - Ch. 6 by BewitchedXx (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

A weapon of victory - Ch. 7 by fpb (Buffy, LOTR xover, FR7)

Inhuman Behavior - Ch. 4 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Consequences of Bargaining - Ch. 18 by All4Spike (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Xander Harris and the Eye of Ra - Ch. 8 by SlayrGrl (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: wedding photo by spikedru (Dru/Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: Endless list of favorite Cordelia outfits - [13] / ? by whatisyourchildhoodtrauma (Cordelia, worksafe)

Gifset: 4 x 15 We have no idea where she is. We don’t know what she's thinking... by fuffygifs (Faith, worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Buffy Rewatch 2k22: 5.18 Intervention by handsofabitterman

[Recs & In Search Of]

In search of: Harmony fan videos requested by Octavia

[Fandom Discussions]

Gosh imagine if season 4 of btvs [was about what makes a monster a monster]... by disco-tea

Spike's lines in Walk Through The Fire... by redbone135

Anya should have thought she was engaged to Spike in Tabula Rasa by layer-of-slayers

I get why people get icked by the scene where angel sees buffy when she gets called... by buffyology

How far back did Jasmine plan? by Octavia

Frequently Asked Questions/Common Questions Thread [Buffy comics] by Floognoodle

Are the Angel IDW comics after After the Fall canon? An answer. by Floognoodle

Ok, now I want chips. [Riley vs Scoobies patrol style] by HummusOffensive

Re the Potentials and their families by Gullible_Somewhere_7

"This guy could go to jail tomorrow, Angel, and still kill her in her dreams every night." [ATS: I Fall to Pieces] by GoblinQueenForever

are you insane?? by moonwalker_96

Something Blue.. first time watching by TheMudbloodSlytherin

Ways to relaunch, reboot, or reimagine the franchise by GladtobeVlad69

Buffy and Angel said ✌🏻😂 by OpOpening_Knowledge868

I don’t hate anyone other than Warren by poisontao

What’s your favorite thing about Willow? by GamesterOfTriskelion

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

Comic Con Liverpool 2022 Schedule (inc James Marsters) at comconliverpool by dontkillspike

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[studylatin]

Laurel wreaths festoon fulgent writers, soldiers, and politicians. They form a golden thread running through many of my favourite poems. I have compiled a few such excerpts here — enjoy these bay-redolent compositions!

…sume superbiam quaesitam meritis et mihi Delphica lauro cinge volens, Melpomene, comam.

…Forth then for well-earned prize outreach Thy hand, Melpomené, and deign to lay Upon my locks chaplet of Delphic bay!

— Horace, Odes III.30, tr. Everyman Library.

Warum, wenn es angeht, also die Frist des Daseins hinzubringen, als Lorbeer, ein wenig dunkler als alles andere Griin, mit kleinen Wellen an jedem Blattrand (wie eines Windes Lacheln)…

Why if it is possible to pass the span of life as laurel, a little darker than all the other green with little waves around the edge of the leaf (like the smile of a breeze)…

— Rilke, Ninth Elegy, tr. North Carolina Press.

…namque ille tulit radicitus altas Fagos ac recto proceras stipite laurus, Non sine nutanti platano lentaque…

…there he was, Lugging big beeches, roots and all, tall, straight-stemmed Bay-trees, cypresses, nodding planes and lissom Poplars…

— Catullus, Carmen 64, tr. James Michie.

Just now the dry-tongued laurels’ pattering talk Seem’d her light foot along the garden walk…

— Tennyson, Maud (XVIII).

Gracieux fils de Pan! Autour de ton front couronné de fleurettes et de baies tes yeux, des boules précieuses, remuent. 

Graceful son of Pan! Around your forehead crowned with little flowers and laurel, your eyes, those precious balls, revolve.

— Rimbaud, Antique, tr. Rosanna Warren.

Misers of sound and syllable, no less Than Midas of his coinage, let us be Jealous of dead leaves in the bay wreath crown…

— Keats, On the Sonnet.

How vainly men themselves amaze To win the palm, the oak, or bays…

— Marvell, The Garden.

…the root Of the laurel has profited, the leaf Of the live oak achieves a new luster, the mouth Of the mullet is agape.

— Warren, Natural History.

…lauro devinctus agresti miles “io” magna voce “triumphe” canet.

…while his soldiery, with wild bay round their brows, loudly chant the cry of triumph.

— Tibullus, Poem II.5, tr. Loeb.

[haddonfieldproject]

<<PREVIOUS⏺<<CONTENTS>>

1.3.13 SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1st 1:29 PM

Warren County, Illinois

Reverend Taylor snapped off his goggles and threw them down on his work table. He then put down his welding torch beside the goggles and inspected what he had done. Nodding approvingly, he picked the remote control up from the table. An old fashioned box shaped television sat on top of a behomith blue toolbox across the workshop. The Good Reverend, hit the VOLUME UP button and the room was filled with the voice of James Christian, the high profile reporter from Vision World News:

“You are looking live now outside of Haddonfield County General Hospital as we await Governor Kathleen Joyce of Illinois to come to the stage for an official briefing on the crisis situation going on in her state. As soon as she takes the podium we will cut in so we can listen together to what she has to say...”

Reverend Taylor held up his handi-work. Forging the symbol had not been difficult. He had decided that the pair of stainless steel chopsticks that his father had given him as a house-warming gift all those years ago to be the best instrument for the job. Stainless steel chopsticks had been quite the “far out” and novel thing to have in 1973, but he had maybe used them once in all those years. He was a meat and potatoes kind of man, rarely branching out from American cuisine, and when he did, he used a knife and fork like any normal red, white, and blue male. In Rev's mind, these pieces of retro utensil novelty had finally found a reason for existence in his house.

We all have our purpose, he had thought.

His welding torch was strickly that: a welding torch—-the small compact kind that he had bought at Hagan's Hardware Store fifteen years ago. What it was not, was a cutting torch, so heating one of the chopsticks to the point of severing the piece in two had been tedious, but it had been done.

Rev took one half of the now severed piece and flattened one end so it nearly matched the other, as neatly as he could. Then he took the other piece, and heated the center just enough to bend it into a right angle, forming two sides of a triangle. This piece, he then welded to the other, completing the triangle, but leaving about an inch of stick at the top and an inch of stick at the bottom. Like a straight vertical line merged with an arrow pointing to the right. Like this:

He then took the other chopstick and welded one end of this to the center of the long and straight piece to create a handle. This he held now as he padded across to the corner of his workshop and to the potbelly stove which stood there. The stove had belonged to his great grandmother when she had lived in a one-room shamble shack off Harris Road... what was then called Crow Coal Bluff.

Ina Shirlene Taylor sold the house, and her land on the “bluff” to Morgan Strode in 1906, who removed the escarpment from the landscape, scooped all the coal out underneath of it, paved Harris Road, turning it into a “street”, and by 1928, selling all of the land for retail development. The sight of the old Taylor shack was now the sight of a Crazy Chan's Chinese restaurant. The stove was the only relic from that old place, and now it most of the time gathered dust in Revered Taylor's basement workshop.

Rev opened the little door on the stove and stuck his masterpiece into the hot coals, leaving the handle sticking out of the hatch. He then turned toward the television. The Governor was taking the podium. Her expression, which generally always gave the impression of a lack of concern for the welfare of other people was enhanced by the severely short spikes adorning her head.

Reverend Taylor scoffed when he saw her, “But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering, sayeth God in Paul's testimony to the people of Corinth, chapter eleven, verse fifteen”, he thought to himself, pulling his little office chair from his work table toward the center of the room, and grabbing a seat in front of the television.

“Good afternoon.” The Governor began, “Beginning at midnight on Friday morning and ending at roughly eight o'clock this morning, an unfortunate and terrible series of events combined together to create a tragic state of emergency for our friends and loved ones in North-Central Illinois.”

The Reverend smiled to himself. The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil, sayeth Solomon's proverb, he thought.

Governor Joyce continued, “At 12 am on Friday October 31st, an extremely disturbed and dangerous patient by the name of Michael Myers escaped Smith's Grove Psychiatric Hospital during a routine patient transfer. We strongly believe at this time that he may be responsible for several deaths and injuries to persons both in Smiths Grove and Haddonfield. At this time, out of respect for the victims and for the integrity of our investigation we cannot give you the names of any of the victims or even an accurate count of the casualties.”

The Reverend stood up and walked to his work table, grabbing the gray oven mitt he had brought down from upstairs. The prophet Isaiah sayeth, 'I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.'

Rev put on the mitt and walked across the room toward the potbelly stove, listening to the Governor's speech: “In addition, approximatley twenty-four hours after Myers' escape, the brothers' Lloyd and Lee Chumway, two armed and dangerous and wanted individuals out of Biloxi Mississippi entered Warren County and were also responsible for several deaths in the area. Again we cannot turn over any names or any numbers at this time.”

Swinging open the door, Rev pulled what he had fashioned from the stove. The design on the end of the handle burned red hot. He looked at it with a smile and then he looked across the room. His basement was a long rectangular room with the stairs on one end, and the only window on the other. His work bench ran along one of the longer concrete-block walls. On the shortest wall, opposite the wall with the steps leading up into the rest of the house, was where the pot belly stove was, along with the furnace to the house and the large tank of the water heater. On the other long wall, opposite hit massive work table, stood his gun cabinet, his large blue tool chest that held up the television, and a long wooden table.

This table was mostly kept clear, and most often than not was for drying things that Reverend Taylor had freshly painted. The other table was littered with tools, pieces of wood, rolls of tape, markers, papers, and the like. On the wall before it was a peg board, with numerous pegs, on which were mounted various other tools and work utensils. The wall behind the opposite table was clear, like the table most often was, only now, the table was not clear.

The Shape lay upon the table.

Reverend Taylor had fastened a thick metal chain around the hulking body of the man, wrapping it several times around his chest and thighs, threading it through the bottom of the thick oak table, and locking it with a large padlock. The Shape lay on his back, with his blackened face to the ceiling, his feet slack to either side, and his arms by his side. He had not moved or made a sound since Rev had knocked him with the stock of his shotgun. The Shape's left arm lay palm down on the table, the blackened sleeve of whatever remained of his garment was down to his wrist. Reverend Taylor had turned The Shape's right arm however so that the palm was facing up. He had peeled back the sleeve—peel being a good word for it considering that large chunks of the man's burnt flesh had come with the sleeve, giving off a pungent sickly odor in the process. The underside of The Shape's forearm sat bare in the harsh flat glow of the basement's florescent lights.

The Reverend came toward The Shape now, holding his glowing brand before him.

“The mercy of the Lord is liken to a rose, but His vengance is liken to the thorn.” He spoke aloud, and then pressed the red-hot symbol down into the flesh of the forearm.

The Shape's head snapped back and forth, the feet began to move as well. There was a hiss as the steel cooked off a layer of skin, followed by a whiff of the odor of burning flesh. The Shape snapped up his right arm in a flash, knocking Reverend Taylor back. He stumbled against his office chair and crashed into the opposite table. A roll of masking tape and a red Solo cup filled with screws crashed to the floor, along with the brand, which hit the smooth concrete with a large TING!

Reverend Taylor watched, not wanting to move, not wanting to breathe even as The Shape bucked and thrashed in his chains for a few seconds, and then abruptly fell silent and still. The Rev gathered up the misplaced items off the floor and then took a seat in the chair with a long exhale.

It is finished, he thought with a smile. He turned toward the television. The Governor had been replaced at the podium by a face he knew well. Fred Colbourne, Deputy Fire Chief of Warren County. A member of the press in the crowd in front of the podium had raised her hand, Fred pointed to her.

“You say at this time you believe the fire was accidental, do we know how this fire started, how you came to that conclusion?” The woman asked.

Fred responded, “The fire originated from a supply closet near the front of the building. The closet had various flammable tanks inside and we believe that something caused ignition here and led to the explosion. We have not found any inciderary devices such as a bomb or a fuse or what-have-you that would lead us to suspect foul play, that being said, the cause of ignition itself still remains a mystery.”

Reverend Taylor smiled. The Lord works in mysterious ways, he thought.

NEXT>>

[sirrriusblack]

Painting the Stars

Each brushstroke was agony. Sirius was glancing up at the model more than he was watching the canvas. He didn’t even know what colour he had on his brush now. Live portraits. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done one before. No, it was a regular occurrence in his art course. But generally, the models were women. And generally, the models weren’t that bloody god-like. The model had walked in wearing a black dress shirt, only buttoned halfway and rolled up at the sleeves, and charcoal dress pants, fitted tight around his legs. Sirius looked at the canvas. He had the model’s basic shape and skin tone done without any problems. Well, excluding how flustered he was. Sirius tapped a tube of paint against his leg lightly, trying to get some more of the colour out. He wasn’t sure how he’d be able to get that tawny brown hair onto his canvas, wasn’t quite sure just how to do those messy curls justice. But hell, he wanted to try. Sirius hadn’t yet attempted to replicate the scars that ran across the model’s face, chest and arms. They weren’t pretty, they weren’t dainty, they weren’t thin and small. His scars were rough and jagged, large and threaded all over his skin. Some of the scars only just poked out of the model’s shirt, leaving the rest to imagination. And boy, did Sirius imagine. He was beautiful. 

Sirius dropped his paintbrush into the tin of water. The paint mixed with the liquid until a cloud of the model’s skin tone had stained it completely and the brush came out mostly clean. 

“Are you sure about that colour, McKinnon?” Sirius heard from behind him. He turned slightly to catch a glance of Marlene, bright red next to the art professor.

“I’ll change it right away, sir,” Marlene said, looking up at Sirius, who rolled his eyes and made a face at her. He could see she was holding back a laugh, but so could Professor Warren. He sneered at Marlene. 

“Something funny?” he asked. Marlene’s mouth formed a straight line. She shook her head and Sirius turned back to his canvas just in time to miss Warren’s gaze. Sirius flinched at the sound of footsteps behind him.

“What’s your next move, Black?” he asked, glaring daggers into the back of Sirius’ head. 

“Eyes are next, professor,” he gritted out, twisting some green paint onto his palette. He had no idea how he was going to get the colour right. Warren stood over Sirius’ shoulder, watching him mix in greens and blues until he got something as close as he could to the model’s eye colour. Warren tutted at the colour but didn’t stop Sirius’ hand as he lifted it up to the canvas and began working on the model’s eyes. The professor watched for a moment before he took a step back and spoke loud enough for the room, for the model, to hear.

“How about you watch what you’re painting rather than who you’re painting from now on, Mr Black?” he suggested, earning a few chuckles around the room. The model looked over to Sirius and they locked eyes for a moment before he looked away again. Sirius sighed and started mixing a new green for shading.

In his disorientation, Sirius knocked the tin to the floor and swore quietly. Professor Warren’s head snapped back in Sirius’ direction and everyone but the model followed suit. The cloudy water had spilled and was spreading over the floor quickly, branching towards shoes and stools. 

“Uh, I’m sorry Professor, I’ll clean this up right away,” Sirius promised, putting his brushes down to go and collect the mop at the front of the room. The professor held up his hand. Sirius stopped, confused. 

“No need to make the situation worse, Black. McKinnon can clean that up,” Professor Warren smirked at Marlene before he looked back at Sirius, the disgust evident on his face. “We’ll take five,” he raised his voice so that the room could hear him. “God knows you need it, Black,” he finished, no quieter. Sirius clenched and unclenched his fist, trying to stop himself from grabbing the closest water tin and tipping it on the professor. Marlene walked past him toward the front of the room and brushed her hand over his arm, smiling sadly. 

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, but she only shook her head and nodded to the door. Sirius got the message. Get out before Warren could kill him. Sirius took his apron off and washed his hands before he stepped out into the spring air. 

The sun was shining, the grass was green, and Sirius couldn’t breathe past the cloud of smoke he’d stepped into. He stepped away from it, coughing, before he heard a string of curses and the smoke source dropped to the floor. 

“Shit, sorry, shit,” said a voice that could only be described as fucking pretty. Sirius looked up from the cigarette on the ground, barely smoked and still burning atop a pile of ash. Now that he was closer, he could tell there was almost no possible way he’d be able to perfect the mess of curls on the model’s head. The model. Oh shit fuck. Sirius took a step back and tidied his hair with a swipe of his hand.

“Um, it’s alright,” he said, trying not to cough again. He looked back down at the cigarette. “You didn’t, um, you didn’t have to put that out.” Sirius gestured toward the smoke still trailing like a curtain between them but the model just shrugged. 

“Probably shouldn’t be smoking anyway,” he said, brushing an invisible piece of lint from his shirt. Sirius felt under-dressed suddenly. He was wearing a white shirt and ripped black jeans, his leather jacket hanging up in either his or James’ closet, not that either of them could discern a difference between the two at this point. Sirius hadn’t wanted to risk getting paint on the jacket and ruining it. It was his pride and joy. And Lily would murder him. 

“It was you that knocked over the tin?” the model asked, leaning his head against the sun stained wall. Sirius chuckled but he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. He stuck out his hand on instinct. 

“The one and only,” he said, smiling. The model glanced down at Sirius’ hand and a curl fell into place on his forehead. Sirius almost sighed. The model took a hold of his hand and shook it quickly before he pulled his own hand away. He smiled back though, before he leaned back against the wall. 

“I’m Remus,” he said. Sirius decided not to mention the slight tremor that was running through Remus’ arm. Instead, he smirked.

“Son of Mars, raised by wolves?” he asked, finally not flustered. That changed quickly, though, when Remus smirked right back at him, his eyes only half-open.

“How does an art major know so much about Ancient Rome?” he asked, reaching into his back pocket for his pack of cigarettes. He pulled a new one out and searched his pockets for his lighter. Sirius bit his lip.

“I’m taking a course in Roman Art and Archaeology,” he explained, smug. His smirk faded in a moment, however, as he caught the image of Remus standing in front of him, A cigarette between his trembling fingers and his lips parted. Fuck, Sirius wanted to paint him. Not like he already was, not model Remus. No, Sirius wanted to paint him raw, relaxed, not posing. He shook his head.

“I’m Sirius,” he choked out. Remus let his hand fall to his side, taking the cigarette with it. He still hadn’t lit it yet, and the suspense was killing Sirius.

“Like the star?” Remus asked, amused. Sirius wanted to say something witty, maybe ask him how a model knows so much about astrology, but he couldn’t form the words. He didn’t know if Remus would appreciate the question all too much anyway.

“Yeah. Like the star,” Sirius said. Remus nodded and he couldn’t help but notice the bags under his eyes or the outright exhaustion on his face. He should have just stayed quiet. But like always, Sirius pushed too far.

“What are your scars from?” he asked, catching Remus just before he could place the cigarette between his lips. He turned his head and scoffed at Sirius, his hands shaking a little more. It felt wrong to see him like this, Sirius thought. He wondered how on earth Remus, who couldn’t seem to stop trembling, could keep still so long in the classroom. What demons was he leaving at the door, and how could Sirius help him? Remus pushed himself off the wall with his leg and shoved the cigarette back into the packet. He dusted off his shirt again and gave Sirius a sad look.

“Nope. That is not a story for today,” he said, chuckling bitterly to himself and walking back to the classroom. Sirius almost stayed silent. Almost. He turned to see Remus’ scarred hand gripped around the door handle, though, and he caved.

“Hey, Remus?” he called out. The model turned his head and looked at Sirius, waiting. He took a deep breath. “What if we made it a story for another day?” he said. “Or I mean, well… we don’t have to talk about that but, like, do you… want to grab a--” 

“Yeah,” Remus replied, smirking. “Sure, Starboy.” He clicked the door shut behind him. Starboy, Sirius smiled to himself and followed the model.

[cyclopstm]

Completely irrelevant but I'm often annoyed at how there's no actual canon ages for the O5 that I'm aware of, so...

Scott: ca. 27

Hank: ca. 28

Jean: ca. 26

Bobby: ca. 25

Warren: ca. 27

For Hank I do have an entire post on his age, but when I write him with others of the O5, my basic rule is that Hank is the oldest, and Bobby the youngest. Scott and Warren are the same age, and Jean is a year younger than Scott.

The ages in this post aren't set in stone. I tend to write Scott around that age because it matches with my FC (James was 27-33 at that time). It's more an example to illustrate the age difference I imagine them to have with each other. If we make them younger or older, the difference would remain anyway, you know...

If you have different headcanons about their ages and would like those to be incorporated in our threads, do yell at me. I'll gladly listen to how you see them and their ages compared to each other.

Bonus:

I also have Piotr on my blog. I tend to headcanon that he joined the X-Men at 19, and that Kitty is 3 years younger than him. The age he has in threads I write mostly varies between 19-25.

[davidmann95]

Comics this week (12/16/2020)?

Iron Man #4: Still good! Every issue I remain surprised that this is staying good, and yet it does!

The Immortal Hulk #41: A real good revisitation from a completely different angle of the ‘here’s why regular superheroes can’t fix what’s going on here’ thread from way back in #7, and god between this and Empyre Ewing writes such a perfect Ben Grimm.

King In Black: The Immortal Hulk: Surprised this didn’t end up a direct follow-up on the dangling thread left behind from the Absolute Carnage tie-in, but this was excellent so I’m not complaining.

Solid Blood #17: A new Robert Kirkman comic (joined by Ryan Ottley) announced right before its release like Die! Die! Die! before it, this one has the added gimmick of dropping its seventeenth issue with no preamble. The actual comic...well, the actual comic is basically 1963 for the 90s in the most fun way (it’s even printed on authentically fitting paper stock!), but the seeds of something much stranger are established and I have almost no clue what to expect next, quite literally. It must be nice to have that sort of fuck-you Walking Dead money, and I’m glad Kirkman’s choosing to do something as weird and interesting as this with it.

We Live #3: This one felt somewhat disjointed, but still an excellent experience.

Stillwater #4: I cannot believe I’m getting and enjoying so many horror comics on a regular basis now.

Once & Future #14: I keep saying I’m appreciating and decently enjoying this book while not connecting with it, but maybe it is winning me over.

We Only Find Them When They’re Dead #4: Get this book.

Decorum #6: I swear to god this series might be the prettiest comic of all time.

Commanders in Crisis #3: I didn’t review this one for AIPT, but this one’s a bit of a bridge between the first two issues tonally, both as grounded and as weird as the book has been thus far. I’m ready for it to return to something more bombastic, but I still have zero doubt this is going to be an all-timer when it wraps. No character interview with Ritesh Babu on AIPT this month, BUT in its place @deathchrist2000 has interviewed Prizefigher for Comic Book Herald on the subject of an in-universe James Bond novel written by Steven Moffat, and it rules.

Second Coming: Only Begotten Son #1: To borrow a line from @deathchrist2000, that sure is the death of Krypton as portrayed by the writer of The Flintstones. That’s the opposite of a complaint for me, but that’s sure what it is.

Superman #28: Kind of a perfect ending to Bendis’s tenure, in that it ends up totally whiffing some great ideas even if you can only mind so much given the quality of the character insight with the narration, but then there’s a Superman Moment so perfect it breaks your heart. Very glad Bendis will keep writing him in his half-announced Justice League with Marquez, and that he said today he’ll keep writing him elsewhere as well (I continue to assume he’s working on a Future State-era Jon as Superman book). Let’s see how well Action can put even more of a bow on it next week even with that art holding it back.

Batman #105: Does the ending here totally make sense? Ehhh. Am I willing to forgive any lapses in logic that get us way more Ghost-Maker? Hell yes. Speaking of which, he and Bruce totally used to be a thing off-panel, right? That’s the vibe I got from the opening in a BIG way.

Catwoman #28: I’ve been saying I’ve been loving it but also been waiting for what it looks like when it gets out from under Brubaker’s shadow, and I think I’m starting to see it, and it’s definitely my jam.

The Batman’s Grave #12: So someone either didn’t see or didn’t care that I explained I had already checked with my store to ensure my purchase of this wouldn’t result in any money going to Warren Ellis, so they messaged me spoilers for the ending of the issue in an attempt to ‘dissuade me’ from any further interest. A. Wherever the motives there are coming from, incredible dick move, for the love of god don’t do this. B. They misunderstood what happened in the ending? Wild. Anyway, it’s fine but also Ellis’s fourth-best Batman comic, strange if not at all undeserved that his now presumed/hopeful final Big Two comic, intended as a huge prestige Batman perennial (still confused why it wasn’t Black Label) and sure to forever be pushed as such if not for outside circumstances, ended up one of his passable third-tier works, destined to be remembered only as “that Batman comic DC had to finish publishing even after it turned out Warren Ellis was a piece of shit”.

Rorschach #3: Standard policy regarding my comments on this series applying: it was good.

Dark Nights: Death Metal #6: This one...kinda blew? Totally perfunctory moving-the-pieces into place issue for the most part, one or two nice moments aside. What a disappointing capstone to a story from 2017 to now I largely loved, hope it at least delivers a few haymakers with the finale.

Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Mixed feelings. The beginning and ending are the sort of slaughter in mass of super-dopes without fanfare and on such a scale that it reminds me of World’s Funnest doing the exact same scenes for comedy, but that middle chunk? By god, Orlando makes me give a shit about the JSA, and that’s no mean feat, plus nice to see him write a few great Superman bits on his way out the door. Speaking of which, I’m mainly parsing this issue as an expression of Orlando’s bitterness over said exit and his time with DC as a comic about a big swaggering puffed-up dumbass living for destruction before whom our heroes our powerless, and a man has to sacrifice himself for a queer kid in servitude to it so that they can have a future and keep building that world. I liked it in balance, but I think I found it more interesting than good.

(Since I’m mentioning two Orlando books in here, worth noting I read this week his and Ricardo López Ortiz’s The Pull on Comixology. I’m not clear if it was released in single issues - I can’t quite wrap my head around TKO’s publishing model - but it’s basically an unholy mash between shonen manga, grungy noir crime comics, and a Crisis, and it rules and you should get it.)

The Green Lantern Season Two #10: What a strange, messy, fascinating capstone to Morrison’s DC work this series has turned out to be, and holy cow how has this been Liam Sharp lately? When did he get on this amazing Frazer Irving shit? And how is Ultrawar gonna happen and be resolved entirely within #12, unless it goes for a more abstract “The Ultrawar was really inside us all along!” conclusion?

[akajustmerry]

hey merry! what are some of your favorite romances/ships in media?

ooooooooooooh i love romance as storytelling so there’s a LOT bare with me:

irene adler & sherlock holmes - the BLUEPRINT for the criminal/detective dynamic and TBH no one does it like them even now!!! 

the warrens (conjuring franchise) - love that horror king James wan said, “i WILL make the romantic love between these two people the pillar, the foundation, the THREAD of my INCREDIBLE horror franchise, and they will be played by Patrick Wilson and vera famiga to PERFECTION” love them.

the doctor and river song - the horror, the tragedy, the INTIMACY, the grOwing INtO lOvE knowing it will kill you, but unable to do anything else. the time travel??? look, I know there’s a lot wrong with the way moffat writes romance but this concept was so magnificent Christopher Nolan appropriated it for two straight dudes in tenet so

jane and rafael (jtv) - I deeply love these two, and OOFT the JOURNEY, but what I love about jane/raf (other than how wholesome and sweet they are) is the way the series really showed you that they loved each other in every way (as friends, lovers, family, etc) so that when they finally got together there was no “but what if?” u know? ahh!

sook-hee/hideko (the handmaiden) + lila/diego (tua) + the ladies in poalof + prince char and ella (ella enchanted) - grouping these together because I essentially love them for the same reasons which is we love a love story as emancipation!!! we also romances that begin in deception, but wind up being the most truthful the lovers have ever been fuckin yes!!

nicholas/mia (princess diaries 2) -  come to think of it this is also the truth in deception concept again, but I also love romances with men who clearly guzzle respect women juice. also love me a “oh, THIS person is actually who i am in love with” sorta plot. i also love knightly/emma for this too!!

dany/lexi (blood and treasure)- i know for facts there are better examples of this romance plot that i love, BUT I LOVE “exes who didn’t work out so they grew apart, but what they actually did was grow to be right for one another later in life” fuckin SUPERB SHIT

crowley/aziraphale (good omens) - i absolutely don't need to explain this because i can’t it makes me WEEP. 

i really dig the funky vibes between anna and that fuckboi she share her feelings with in anna and the apocalypse (2017). 

la la land - listen the reason i fkn love lala land is cos its two straights experiencing a gay romance in the sense that ryan and emma have an intense passionate love affair that defines who they are that is doomed to fail but they still acknowledge each other in the club and have vivid “what if” fantasies about eachother

harlivy (harley quinn series) - similar to jane/raf, we love a journey of two people realising they’re EVERYTHING to each other + we got some love as emancipation vibes!!

leap year (2010) - best from com ever made and no i am not joking.

riki and zane (h20 just add water) - have not watched h20 for a long time but i literally think about the banter between these guys every time i go write a couple. they were so formative for me kasdn

richonne (the walking dead) - yeah same as crowley and aziraphale i cant really talk about these two without weeping...they! 

eliza/henry (selfie) - ITS ALL IN THE THEME SONG, “while i’m looking at me / i’m hoping to find you” akfksbf don’t TALK TO ME I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

finally, i recently watched little women (2019) and fell in love with that romantic version of laurie/amy. my heart was literally SWELLING at how sweet they were, and how unlike other versions of lw it didn’t feel like they were settling, but CHOOSING each other. loved that.

idk maybe other bisexuals can relate but i find figuring out whether I'm actually enjoying a romance between two characters OR just projecting because i am attracted to them both REALLYYYY HARD. 

idk i also used to hate romance growing up, mostly because of the way that when ur a “woman” ur expected to love it and i hated that because tbh most romances in media are SHIT. but i love romance now mostly because i realised how amazing it is in the right handsas a narrative that transcends genre, how it can grow/destroy characters, open them up etc. 

i think romance is really powerful but its also really hard to write well and obviously soooo subjective, but i love watching characters grow into and out of romantic love. love it. it fascinates me a lot maybe cos i don't think i’ve ever really experienced it?? not saying that as self-depreciative or anything, but its definitely something that impacts how i see it. anyways, i’m sleepy, thanks for letting me ramble. x

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (13-19 Feb 2022)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 His Boy Next Door: #38 Top to Bottom (RJ Moray) - another lovely episode of Jack & Channon's story

🥰 Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood (Mark Harris, author; Lloyd James, narrator) - "Explores the epic human drama behind the making of the five movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967-Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Doctor Doolittle, and Bonnie and Clyde-and through them, the larger story of the cultural revolution that transformed Hollywood, and America, forever." This was fascinating & well-told & I thoroughly enjoyed it but my overwhelmingly my thought, multiple times through the whole thing was, the more things change, the more they stay exactly the same.

🙂 Whiplash (CBFirestarter, TrenchcoatBaby) - 142K, Destiel dystopian BDSM AU -

😊 Haven werewolf 'verse (YumeArashi) - 96K, Haven OT3 no-Troubles, werewolf AU - 37K is main story, the rest is vingettes/deleted scenes/notes and outline for intended sequel -

😍 The Trials and Tribulations of the Watermelon Werewolf (BlueSimplicity) - 147K, werewolf/soulmate AU - FANTASTIC fic: funny, fluffy, hot, great characterizations (esp of supporting characters as well) - instant forever fave

😊 Murder in First Class (Miss Underhay Mysteries #8) (Helena Dixon, author; Karen Cass, narrator) - this continues to be a quietly enjoyable cozy mystery series

💖💖+119K of shorter fic so shorter work shout out to these I really loved💖💖

Fierce (leveragehunters (Monkeygreen)) - MCU: Stucky, 15K - gorgeous little fantasy AU

Maybe the Real Gold Medal Was the Friends We Made Along the Way (thedishandthespoon) - MCU: Stucky, 18K - Olympics AU

TWO new episodes in the fabulous To Be Seen Aright verse by Deastar! Ours Will Still Be Hot (1.9K) & this braided business (10K)

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Explained - s1, e1

The Larkins - s1, e3-4

Agatha Raisin - s4,e3: A Spoonful of Poison

Star Trek: Discovery - s2, e1-4 - started back up again with these nerds

The Brokenwood Mysteries - s1, e1-3 - shout out to @door for convincing/reassuring me to give this a shot, it is delightful.

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

The Present Age - Climate journalist Eric Holthaus believes in a better world

Last Seen - Episode 4: Africa’s Lost Year of Hope

Desert Island Discs - Leslie Caron, actress (literally did not realize Leslie Caron was still alive! also they last interviewed her in 1956 which makes this the longest gap between interviews in their history)

Lore - Episode 192: Time Will Tell

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Panorama of the City of New York

Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities - Fill In The Blankenship

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - International Cocoa Quarantine Center

The Present Age - Joe Galbo is the man making memes for the U.S. government

99% Invisible #477 - Call of Duty: Free

Ologies with Alie Ward - Cycadology (RARE PLANT DRAMA) with Nathalie Nagalingum

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Extreme Travel with Dave Seminara

Shedunnit - Bonus: Jennifer Morag Henderson Interview

FILMS TO BE BURIED WITH Patreon Crew! - Ellie Taylor!

Twenty Thousand Hertz - Pirate Radio

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Last Sears in New York City

Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities - The Right Word

You're Dead To Me - Eleanor of Aquitaine

This is Good for You - Ep 25: Collecting Sneakers Is Good For You

Strong Songs Bonus Episodes - And Now, Some More Beatles Covers

Grim & Mild Presents - Sideshow 4: A Living Curiosity

Endless Thread - Space Heist! (Or, How to Steal a Planet)

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Presenting Debussy

Video Game music (station) - this ended up being a random mix of pop songs, occasional video game tunes in the mix; good but not what I was expecting

Presenting Backstreet Boys

Gentle Latin Electronic

Golden Age of Boy Bands

Mamma Mia: Original London Cast

Dancing Queen

CREDITS: Diane Warren

Tell the World: The Very Best of Ratt

Whitesnake

CREDITS: Charli XCX

Waiting To Exhale (Original Soundtrack Album)

[deadpresidents]

What are you reading lately?

The books I have finished reading throughout the past couple of months of the pandemic are in a pile about three feet away from me, so I can tell you exactly what I’ve been reading!

•Crucible: The Long End of the Great War and the Birth of a New World, 1917-1924 by Charles Emmerson (PublicAffairs, 2019: BOOK | KINDLE) -- This is hand-down the best book I’ve read this year. I love the unique way that Emmerson structured the book with vignettes that focus on the people, places, or events of the era. I can’t recommend it highly enough. •The Pope Who Would Be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe by David I. Kertzer (Random House, 2018: BOOK | KINDLE) -- Kertzer’s books on the Papacy are always meticulously researched and feel like novels. This one is no different, and doubles as a history of the birth of modern Italy and a biography of the longest-reigning Pope in history, Pope Pius IX.  •Moscow, December 25, 1991: The Last Day of the Soviet Union by Conor O’Clery (PublicAffairs, 2012: BOOK | KINDLE) -- Speaking of books that read like novels, this book is impossible to set aside until later and feels like a Netflix series dying to be made. With main characters like Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin -- and their deep dislike for one another -- you can’t go wrong. •How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century by Frank Dikötter (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019) -- A timely book about the path to authoritarianism taken by dictators which should feel very familiar to Americans in 2020. •438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea by Jonathan Franklin (Atria Books, 2016: BOOK | KINDLE) -- An incredible story of survival and perseverance. •Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East by Kim Ghattas (Henry Holt & Co., 2020: BOOK | KINDLE) -- This is a must-read for those with an interest in the Middle East that reveals so much about that region and about how differing theological interpretations of Islam have changed the world over the past four decades beginning with the Iranian Revolution and 1979 siege of Mecca. •The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando by William J. Mann (Harper, 2019: BOOK | KINDLE) -- An interesting but ultimately disappointing biography of one of the greatest actors in history. The book does a thorough job of showing Brando’s early life and the first half of his career, but the last 30 years of his life are glossed over pretty quickly. •A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable by John Steele Gordon (Harper Perennial, 2003) -- This is a wonderful book about one of the most overlooked -- and most remarkable -- technological achievements of the past 200 years. •Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back by Robert Penn Warren (University of Kentucky Press, 1980: BOOK | KINDLE) -- A short and nimble study on the Confederate President, his place in the South, and the South’s place in the overall country by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the King’s Men who was also a Southerner and happened to be born in the same Kentucky county as Davis. •Spy of the First Person by Sam Shepard (Vintage Books, 2018: BOOK | KINDLE) -- I don’t read a ton of fiction and I rarely re-read books, but the exception to both of those rules is Sam Shepard. This was the final book that Shepard wrote, struggling to finish it (with the help of Patti Smith) as he was dying of ALS. I read it again in July around the third anniversary of Shepard’s death. •Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us by David Neiwert (The Overlook Press, 2016) -- I’m not entirely sure what motivated me to order this book, but I was so glad I did. I learned so much about killer whales while reading this and found myself stunned at their intelligence and the fascinating behavior of the orcas. I also found myself watching pretty much every video of killer whales that I could find on YouTube after finishing the book. They are just amazing animals and we owe it to them, to ourselves, and to our world to protect them in the wild and release them from captivity. •James Monroe: A Life by Tim McGrath (Dutton, 2020: BOOK | KINDLE) -- There are not a ton of relatively recent biographies of James Monroe, so this deeply-researched study is a welcome addition. Among the Founding Fathers who became President, Monroe is often overlooked, but historians today regularly rank him as one of the greatest Presidents in history and, during his own time, he was tremendously popular -- probably more popular than anybody other than George Washington. •King George V by Kenneth Rose (Knopf, 1984) -- This was definitely a pretty random choice to read, but I had seen a documentary about the role King George V and Queen Mary played in saving the British monarchy in the aftermath of World War I as royals throughout Europe were losing their crowns and decided to read more about the King. •Haakon VII of Norway: Founder of a New Monarchy by Tim Greve (Hurst, 1983) -- I’ve always thought that King Haakon VII was an impressive historical figure, particularly with his refusal to capitulate to the Nazis during World War II and efforts to inspire Norwegian resistance after he and his family were forced to flee the German invasion. I’ve never been able to find a definitive, English-language biography of Haakon VII, but was happy with this book which is pretty short but better than nothing. And after reading this book, I enjoyed watching the 2016 Norwegian film The King’s Choice about the Norwegian royal family’s actions during the invasion of Norway by Nazi Germany. I still hope to someday find a more in-depth, definitive, English-language biography of King Haakon VII. •Illustrissimi: Letters from Pope John Paul I by Albino Luciani/Pope John Paul I (Little, Brown & Company, 1978) -- This is a really unique book by Pope John Paul I, who only served as Pope for 33 days before dying in 1978. In the book, Pope John Paul I writes letters to famous people -- some who were real and some who were characters in literature or plays -- throughout history, many who lived and died long before the Pope was born, and uses the letters as teaching tools and unorthodox vehicles for spreading the Gospel and sharing philosophical lessons. It’s a very creative and original way for a pastor to reach his flock, but was very much on-brand for the charismatic and down-to-earth Pope. •The Iran-Iraq War by Pierre Razoux (Belknap Press of Harvard University, 2015: BOOK | KINDLE) -- An in-depth study of the longest conventional war of the 20th Century, and one of the bloodiest conflicts since World War II. •John Sutter: A Life on the North American Frontier by Albert L. Hurtado (University of Oklahoma Press, 2008) -- Probably the most definitive biography ever published of John Sutter, the Swiss-born settler who helped build my hometown of Sacramento. Sutter’s Fort was one of the most important settlements west of the Mississippi during the mid-1800s, an outpost that hosted scores of the pioneers and explorers seeking a new life on the American frontier. Sutter also owned the mill in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada where the discovery of gold triggered the California Gold Rush which ultimately ruined Sutter financially.

[music-theory-books]

Recommended Reading for Composers

Harmony / Cointerpoint / Composition

Edward Aldwell, Carl Schachter: Harmony and Voice Leading

Wallace Berry: Form in Music

Johann Joseph Fux: The study of counterpoint

Paul Harder, Greg Steinke: Harmonic Materials in Tonal Music: A Programed Course

Knud Jeppesen: Counterpoint: The Polyphonic Vocal Style of the Sixteenth Century

Kent Kennan: Counterpoint

Charles Koechlin: Traite de l'Harmonie (French)

Stefan Kostka, Dorothy Payne, Byron Almén: Tonal Harmony

Steven G. Laitz: The Complete Musician: An Integrated Approach to Theory, Analysis, and Listening [RS]

Mike Longo: Jazz/Rock/Pop Harmony and Systematic Chord Substitution

Alfred Mann: The Study of Fugue

W.A. Mathieu: Harmonic Experience - Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origins to Its Modern Expression

Robert Ottman: Elementary Harmony and Advanced Harmony

Vincent Persichetti: Twentieth Century Harmony

Walter Piston: Counterpoint

Walter Piston: Harmony

Jean-Philippe Rameau: Treatise on Harmony

George Russell: The Lydian Chromatic Technique

Felix Salzer, Carl Schachter: Counterpoint in Composition

Peter Schat: The Tone Clock

Arnold Schoenberg: Fundamentals of Musical Composition

Arnold Schoenberg: Preliminary Exercises in Counterpoint

Arnold Schoenberg: Structural Functions of Harmony

Arnold Schoenberg: Theory of Harmony

Peter Schubert: Modal Counterpoint - Renaissance Style

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky: Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony

Ludmila Ulehla: Contemporary Harmony

Atonal and Serial Music

Reginald Smith Brindle: Serial Composition

David Cope - Techniques of the Contemporary Composer

Leon Dallin: Techniques of 20th century Composition

Allen Forte: The Structure of Atonal Music

Paul Griffiths: Modern Music and After: Directions since 1945

Lyle Murphy: System of Horizontal Composition Based on Equal Intervals

George Perle: Serial Composition And Atonality - An Introduction to the Music of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern

George Perle: Twelve-Tone Tonality

John Rahn: Basic Atonal Theory

Nicolas Slonimsky: Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns

Arnold Whittall: Musical Composition in the Twentieth Century

Charles Wuorinen: Simple Composition

Notation

Elaine Gould: Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation

Samuel Z. Solomon: How to Write for Percussion [AD]

Kurt Stone: Music Notation in the Twentieth Century - A Practical Guidebook

Orchestration

Samuel Adler: The Study of Orchestration

Peter Alexander: Professional Orchestration

Hector Berlioz: Orchestration

Alfred Blatter: Instrumentation and Orchestration

Tom Boras: Jazz composition and arranging

Henry Brant: Textures and Timbres

Cecil Forsyth: Orchestration

Paul Gilreath: The guide to MIDI orchestration

Kent Kennan, Donald Graham: The Technique of Orchestration

Henry Mancini: Sounds and Scores - Practical Guide to Professional Orchestration

Walter Piston: Orchestration

Gardner Read: Compendium of Modern Instrumental Techniques

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Principles of orchestration (Online Version)[http://northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php/77-Principles-of-Orchestration]

Leslie Sabina: Jazz arranging and orchestration

Don Sebesky: The Contemporary Arranger

Joseph Wagner: Orchestration

Film

Richard Bellis: Emerging Film Composer

Richard Davis: Complete Guide to Film Scoring

Earle Hagen: Scoring for Films

Tomlinson Holman: Sound for Film & Television

Fred Karlin, Rayburn Wright: On the Track

Henry Mancini: Sounds and Scores - Practical Guide to Professional Orchestration

Jack Smalley: Composing for Film

Sound Design

Howard Angus: Acoustics and psychoacoustics

Michel Chion: Audio-Vision

David Sonnenschein: Sound design

David Yewdall: Practical art of motion picture

Production / Engineering

Tim Crich: Recording Tips for Engineers

Bob Katz: Mastering Audio - the Art and the Science

Bobby Owsinsky: the Mixing Engineer Handbook

Jay Rose: Audio Postproduction for Digital Video

Mike Senior: Mixing Secrets for The Small Studio

Other

Leonard Bernstein: The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard

Charles Bodman Rae: The Music of Lutoslawski

Ron Gorow: Hearing and writing music

James Hepokoski, Warren Darcy: Elements of a Sonata Theory

Paul Hindemith: Elementary Training for Musicians

Mark Eden Horowitz: Sondheim on Music - Minor Details and Major - Decisions

Jerrold Levinson: Music in the Moment

Olivier Messiaen: Techniques of my musical language

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Letters

Nelson Riddle: Arranged by Nelson Riddle

Charles Rosen: Sonata Forms

Charles Rosen: The Classical Style

Charles Rosen: The Romantic Generation

Max Rudolf: The Grammar of Conducting

George Santayana: Aesthetics

Arnold Schönberg: Style and Idea

Steven Stucky: Lutoslawski and His Music

Richard Wagner: Music and Drama

What is this ?

A list of recommended books from this thread on vi-control.net, started by Patrick de Caumette.