#Burly Q

[purrisstilton]

Anytime, Anywhere…

Make it wit Chu- Queens of the Stoneage

These photos are some really great shots of me peforming in Des Moines. The vibe of the show was really nice and felt like I had been performing at home. I never thought that would be taking my art more seriously and traveling to show it. I had been playing around with less movement and more sensuality. I noticed that even in my artist form its hard for me to be ‘sexy’ I feel the need to always make a little face or ruin the moment. This number was the first time where I allowed the music to move through me as I told a story with my body.

[travsd]

The Oeuvre of Leslie Zemeckis

In the spirit of our recent post on Marion Meade, we thought you’d use the occasion of Leslie Zemeckis’s natal day for a brief appreciation of, like, everything she’s ever done (with fervent hopes that, unlike Meade, she will live and produce many more cool works long after I hit the “publish” button.) We first became aware of Zemeckis via her first film, 2010’s terrific classic burlesque…

[rylikebread]

Gotta go split wood for the winter or we’ll never survive the cold 💪

Me and my cheap Big Brand™️ axe will meet you in the forest

[abs0luteb4stard]

Question:

"What's it like being in the army?"

Truthful Answer:

"Fine. If you don't mind waking up at 5 in the morning with some burly loudmouth cocksucker yelling at you."

[schlock-luster-video]

Remembering Burlesque star and cult film icon Blaze Starr on the anniversary of her date of birth. Here’s some original art inspired by Blaze Starr Goes Nudist to mark the occasion!

[bells-of-black-sunday]

How "open" are you to generally discussing the fact that you are transgender, or have gone through transitions? Are you casual about it, or are you a little more guarded with discussion? tarhos

Questions For Trans Muses | Accepting

Tarhos is generally pretty open about it to people he likes albeit he doesn't have a word or an easy way to describe what he is, he's been called the spawn of the devil, a child of Lilith, and all sorts of other negative things to the point where he just has the half-assed lie that it's an old war scar and that's the best the doctor could do. That being said it is something one generally has to ask about or see him changing to notice. He is 6'10 and well over 300 lbs, he's built, people would look stupid trying to call him a woman though I'm sure some have tried.

The only people he absolutely refuses to even answer questions about it with are nobles and people of a higher authority than him, he doesn't need another thing for them to think he's an oddity or something to gawk at about. Tarhos hates authority for several reasons all of them pretty much chalking up to how they never see him as a person. But- unlike the nobles who would like to gawk and those that would like to pretend he's some devil, Haru tells him he's made from the gods.

That's the most flustered you will ever see him, he's not used to people calling him that. He's been open with him about it since they really first started sharing a living space together, he's not shy about changing in front of people and it was bound to come up eventually. Modern Tarhos is a bit more reserved, but he generally talks about it with people he likes. Robin for example, paid for his bottom surgery and he generally regards him as a little brother to him. He's more than happy to discuss how his bloodwork is and everything with him and Haru alike.

[chiefarbitermoon]

Sherry Britton: Fordham Class of '82

Do Any Of Our Fordham University Alumni Recognize This Lady?

College enrollment will begin to decline in the next few years. Around the year 2026, the number of high school graduates in the United States is expected to drop significantly and for maybe as long as a decade. Maybe longer. What are some of the tactics the institutions of higher learning are taking to combat these enrollment/revenue deficits? 

Schools have lobbied the government for the use of Pell Grants which, starting this year, will expand the eligibility of people in prison (750,000+) to receive college educations.

In 2020, New York State relaxed the definition of the term university. It is hoped this will make it easier to market to foreign students who often viewed the term “college” as simply 2-year junior colleges.

Some of the major for-profit universities have been sold to major private schools to provide turn-key operations for encouraging on-line learners.

Another important area, built into these business models is the adult learner-Introducing Ms. Sherry Britton! 

Dec. 9, 1945 issue of Yank, the Army Weekly

“Here is the story of The Great Britton or Stripeasaurus Sex 

 and a College Graduate from the Class of 1982 graduate.”

She was born in 1918 as Edith Zack. After fleeing an adolescence marred with domestic violence, foster homes and an abusive first husband, Sherry Britton started stripping at the age of fifteen at the People's Theater on The Bowery in Lower Manhattan. She received ten cents a performance. She was also a trained belly dancer and acted on Broadway.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jane Margaret Laight 

She was named an honorary brigadier general by President Franklin D. Roosevelt for entertaining our troops during World War II.

She Married Her Millionaire

In 1971, Britton, who had been married twice previously, and who once said she'd been engaged "14 times," married wealthy businessman Robert Gross. Gross urged her to attend Fordham University. Although Britton had never attended high school, she was admitted to the Lincoln Center campus as an undergraduate where she majored in courses “appropriate for pre-law students”. Gifted with a very high IQ, she graduated magna cum laude in 1982, at the age of 63.

Perhaps A Little Too “Tradeschoolish” For A Serious University? 

Attending a burlesque show is not like going to a strip club. 

“Burlesque is a form of variety theater.” said Edward Bristow, former Dean at FCLC who has served at the Director of the Bachelor of Fine Arts. Program, ”It includes both dance and singing. It was most popular in the late 19th century and early 20th Century.” Bristow added: “I don’t think there is any formal training in stripetease.” 

Note: Unlike the striptease performer, you should not necessarily expect nudity on a burlesque stage. Dancers at a burlesque show plan their routines carefully and do a lot of training, just like ‘exotic dancers’ do. 

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

(L-R) Sherry Britton, unidentified actress, and Tom Poston in the stage revue The Best of Burlesque

Behind the Burly Q (2010)

Sherry is seen in archive footage in the Leslie Zemeckis directed film documentary that attempted to examine the golden age of American Burlesque in the first half of the 20th century. It takes a behind-the-velvet-curtain peek at the golden age of burlesque, meeting the women and men who pushed the envelope of social propriety. 

The Legitimate Theatre Too.

She appeared on Broadway in the 1958 three act comedy, Drink To Me Only. At the George Abbott Theatre on 154 West 54th Street. She played a character named Princess Alexandria for 77 performances. 

(https://www.ibdb.com/broadway)

After Robert Gross died in 1990, Britton lived a life of retirement. She died of natural causes on April 1, 2008, in New York City. 

Sherry Britton talks about burlesque and its history in NYC

{This article originally appeared in the Fordham University Class of 1980 Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/groups/537184563628982}

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Some Other Fordham Connections

When she co starred in Drink To Me Only she worked with Screen, 

Stage and TV veteran John McGiver (FCRH 1938 B.A. English) 

(IMDb.com)

Also interviewed in Behind the Burly Q, was Alan Alda (FCRH Class of 1956). His father, Robert Alda (right), had worked as a burlesque singer and straightman. 

(IMDb.com)

End Notes

1.https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2021/01/27/one-way-colleges-can-weather-the-coming-enrollment-squeeze/?sh=657acf016aaf

2.https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4073299-around-30000-prisoners-soon-to-be-eligible-for-free-college-with-pell-grant-expansion/

 3.https://www.news10.com/news/ny-news/nys-board-of-regents-changes-definition-of-university/

 University of Phoenix being bought by the University of Idaho (estimated price is $550 million). 4.https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/2023/05/18/sale-of-university-of-phoenix-nears-after-deal-with-university-of-idaho-550-million/70234256007/

 5. Kaplan University bought by Purdue University for $1.00 (share revenue over next 30 years.) 

6.https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-04-27-purdue-buys-for-profit-kaplan-university-for-1-to-create-new-kind-of-public-university

 7. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2000509/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

 8. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sherry-britton-100411

 9. Hevesi, Dennis (3 April 2008). "Sherry Britton, 89, a S

10. https://www.1923lv.com/what-to-expect-from-a-burlesque-show/

11. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/drink-to-me-only-2696

12. Hevesi, Dennis (3 April 2008). "Sherry Britton, 89, a Star of the Burlesque Stage, Dies". The New York Times.

13. Freeman, William M. (September 10, 1975). "John McGiver, Actor, 62, Dies. Did TV, Film Character Roles" (PDF). New York Times.  14. Gelt, Jessica (6 July 2013). "'Behind the Burly Q' a revealing portrait of burlesque's stars". Los Angeles Times.

[tyttetardis]

Macbeth Q&A 18th Jan 2024 Part 1

Was lucky enough to get a ticket for the Member's Event at the Donmar Warehouse that took place on the 18th...with the price of the patronages I sure never thought I'd have gotten the chance, but luckily, they also let in some non-members 🥹❤️

The brilliant performance of Macbeth was followed by a very quick cleaning of the stage - thought for sure it would've taken them longer to remove the blood than like 5 minutes - followed by a lovely, little Q&A session.

The Q&A was led by Craig Gilbert (Literary manager) who talked to Annie Grace and Alasdair Macrae (Musicians and part of the acting ensemble) as well as Cush Jumbo and David Tennant.

Anyway, just gonna write down some of the stuff they talked about :) sorry if it's a bit messy! Might be spoilery if you haven't seen it yet but are going to!

To begin with Craig remarked that he didn't think he'd ever seen that many people staying behind for a Q&A before (While I was just wondering why some people even left!? Stressful!).

David introduced himself with "My real name is David "Thane of Paisely" Tennant - while Cush introduced herself with "I´m Cush Jumbo - there's only one of me".

First question was Craig asking them what it was that brought them to the Donmar to do Macbeth - to which David pretty much just replied that 1. It's the Donmar! 2. It's Macbeth! One of the greatest plays of all time in an amazingly intimate space - and that the theatre is famous for its quality of work. So he found it quite hard to think of a reason not to do it!

Cush said she'd worked there before and loves the theatre, how it's so intimate but also a great workspace. Followed by her saying she said yes because David asked her. She talked about how important it was for this play to do it together with the right actor playing opposite you.

David says Max Webster asked him about a year ago if he wanted to do the play - he gave him the dates - and since there weren't any obstacles in the way, David didn't have any excuse not to do it.

He then said that he had slightly avoided Macbeth - there sorta being the assumption that if you're Scottish and has done some Shakespeare plays before you have to do Macbeth. Which he joked was a bit odd since it's not like every Italian has to play Romeo. Then he mentioned that Macbeth is probably a bit more of a jock than he is - that it seemed more like a part for big, burly actors.

Max had laid out his initial ideas to David, a lot of which are in the final production, and David thought he seemed lovely, bright and clever and inventive plus it being the Donmar Warehouse! To which joked that he had last worked there 20 years ago - when he was 8 years old! "It's just one of those spaces" - friendly and epic at the same time where it's such a pleasure to be on the stage.

When Craig asked his next question concerning the sound of the play someone asked him to speak louder as she couldn't hear them - to which David joked that they've gotten so used to whispering. But also said sorry, and that they would!

Alasdair explained a bit about the process of the binaural sound - bit I find it a bit difficult to decipher it all correctly, sorry. He did say that a interesting part of it is that it allows them a controlled environment where they can put all the musicians (and even the bagpipes!) behind the soundproof box so "Poor David and Cush" doesn't have to shout over all the racket.

Craig asked David and Cush what their reaction was when they heard about the concept of the binaural soundscape - to which David replied that it didn't quite exist when they first came onboard - Cush joking they were tricked into it. Then she talked about her and David going on a workshop with Max to get a feeling of how it would all work - and get a sense of how it would sound to the audience, as this was one of the few times, they got to hear that side of it. Their experience of the play being completely different to the experience the audience has.

Cush said they can hear some of the sound - like she can hear some of the animal sounds and David can hear some of the stuff from the glass box - but most of their cues and information comes from timing with each other. She said they won't be able to ever hear what the audience hears - to which David joked "We're busy".

It felt like mixing medias - as it all went quite against their natural stagecraft instinct - but Cush found that in the long run it made things very interesting - like they don't have to worry about getting something whispered to each other - as the audience will hear it anyway.

David said the odd thing is that they don't really know what the experience truly is like. He mentioned that to the sides of the stage there's a speaker for them where they will get any cues that they need to hear. Like they can hear the witches - but they can't hear where they are "positioned" - so they have to learn how to place themselves to fit with what the audience hears. They don't hear everything, though. And the audio they hear is quite quiet, so it doesn't disturb what comes through the headphones.

He thinks it's been exciting - that it's a bit like a mix between film and theatre. It's happening live - but it's also like post-production is happening between them and the audience as it's going on. They just have to trust that the audience is hearing what they are supposed to for it all to make sense.

Cush said she thinks in 10 - 20 years, as these technologies has developed, doing theatre like this will feel a lot more normal - not that they will do it ALL the time, but that they will be doing it - whereas now it's still like an experiment. What Cush really like about the concept is that if was done in a much bigger theatre - then people in the cheapest seats would be able to have an experience much more similar to those in the most expensive seats - they'd be a lot more immersed into the action.

David then talks about how it feels extremely counterintuitive to not go on stage and speak loud enough that the people in the back row can also hear you. And usually, if they can't hear you, you aren't doing your job right! But then it felt very liberating. He loves it.

Cush then talked about how it felt odd waiting in the wings for a cue you can't hear - where you traditionally wait backstage and you can hear your cues, you can hear the rythm and know when it's your turn - so it was quite disconcerting to hear silence. So it's basically down to them now knowing the show and each other's timings - like if David is standing at a certain point, she knows how long she has before she needs to say/do something. So you have to watch each other more closely and really focus on what the others are doing.

David asked the musicians if they can hear everything inside the box, to which Annie replied that they get everything except some extra bits in the soundscape. But they can hear the actors on stage. Annie said it's actually a bit of a mystery to all of them what the audience actually experiences - how the big pictures actually look like - they just have to trust that it's there "Is it there?!".

Someone asked if they had had any adverse reactions from audiences to having to wear the headphones. Quite a bit of laughter all around :P then David said "There's the odd person" and something about if someone hadn't gotten the memo before turning up...but not sure how he ended the line. Then once again says that yes, there's the odd person who doesn't like it and that's fair enough.

The same audience member then said he could see the advantage of it in a big theatre where the distance is big, but not in a small place like the Donmar - to which David very quickly, rather passionately replied that it's not about projection, it's about being able to do things you wouldn't normally be able to do live - where they can speak so quietly that they can't even hear each other when standing next to each other. So even in such a small place, people wouldn't be able to hear that. It's about creating a different play - which isn't to everyone's taste and that's fair enough. But for a play that's been done a hundred and seven million times he thinks it's very valid to try and find a new way into the play - even if it's not for everyone.

Part 2

[imblueeforyuu]

Yandere naga x janitor reader 

You were broke, living in a car and constantly having to take odd jobs was the norm. It wasn’t that bad actually, living in a car means you can pack up and leave whatever city you're staying in anytime. But recently you’ve gotten a job offer no one can refuse. 1000 a week to clean some snakes' cage for some billionaire. And that’s the only description  you got for the job. But damn you’d be a fool to refuse. So of course you took the job, and now you were at this gigantic mansion. 

You felt out of place. Everyone had their own uniform with the name embedded into it. And you were stuck in your cheap ass clothes. Looking at the walls you notice way too many paintings of mythical creatures. Like one or two is already a creepy amount, but this person had hallways on hallways of art of such creatures. There were none of the billionaires, which was odd, aren’t rich people supposed to be super egotistical and have one to many art of themselves? A butler led you to A fancy door, was the reptile in there? 

“The master is just in there ready to ask you some questions,” the butler said blankly. Oh, an interview, right. Dang you're not ready for an interrogation. Sigh. You walked into the room to see a very burly woman and a big ass glass wall which seemed to have the enclosure of the snake behind it. 

“Oh, you're the new piece of meat.” She smirked. What an odd way to describe you. But for 1000 a week you’ll take any abuse. The woman got up and started to examine you. You froze, you don’t really like people in your personal space especially like this. 

“Hm, you're perfect,” the lady said. So does that mean you got the job? Yaya!

she handed you a broom and sent you on your way into the enclosure. When you stepped in it was like transporting into the deep jungle. The sky was eerily realistic, there were little animals and bugs scuttling around. But no snake yet, not that you minded you’d prefer to do the job silently and quickly. Unfortunately your boss said no phone, so you couldn’t listen to music. 

Your job went as quickly as it could. You didn’t run into the snake at all which was strange because you thought it would be pretty big but apparently not. Whatever, you walk out of the cage and into the office room. Seeing your phone grabbing it and walking out of the office, the harsh reality of the never ending hallways hit you as soon as you walked out of the room. Thankfully there was another butler looking dude, dusting. You walk over towards him. He seemed shocked to see you. But got over it as soon as you asked for directions. Now you finally get to relax. The next day was pretty much the same thing. There was no snake and you just gotta chill, you convinced your boss to let you listen to music.

A month passed and you were 4000 dollars richer! And with the added bonus of free food you were finally closing a deal on a real house, well apartment. You’ve also done your job too many times. It takes like an hour max to fully clean the cage. Which is perfect because you’ve taken on a new hobby called sleeping in the cage. How could you not? It was so peaceful the sound of crickets chirping always lulled you to sleep. But one day your peaceful sleep was interrupted by an overgrown snake. 

   “Stupid human falling asleep in my presence, does he know who I am?” I said. Hating humans was always a part of who I was. Taken from my home when I was just a child and sold off towards a crazy old woman who I’m pretty sure wants to fuck me pretty much solidified that hatred. but gosh I couldn’t kill it, it was kinda cute. I slithered towards the human who was taking a nap. 

Towering over it I pause, I’ve been having trouble killing this exact human.  Normally I would eat them whenever they turned their back. But this one was different. Like there was a force pulling me closer to him. so I’ve just taken to staring at him. He’s so interesting looking, I reach my hand out and touch his hair. The human twitches slightly, I quickly pull my hand back and before I was able to hide back into the bushes he noticed me. 

Your eyes widened, why the fuck is there a 8ft snake monster just staring at you. Backing up quickly, the snake comes closer to you glaring. It looked like it wanted to murder you, and it probably did. The snake man lunged towards your neck and bit it. You scream and try to push him off. But it didn’t work. He was just a wall of mussels. Now you are a pretty strong guy. You go to the gym every other day! But this guy was on a whole different planet! You still try and push him off of course but whatever he bit you with was starting to make you sluggish and you fall back asleep. 

You wake up in a cold sweat, you try to stretch and move but something is squeezing you. Thrashing around as soon as the dread of being touched all over set in, you hated when people were too close but touching is on another planet of hate. 

“Stop struggling human,” a voice hissed out. quickly you turn your head to see whatever was holding you so close. It was the snake man. 

“There’s no point,” he continued, stretching his arms. “You're stuck with me forever,” he smirked.

 Oh well guess this is your life now, stuck with a ginormous snake man who hasn’t quite figured out the concept of personal space. 

[hello-ello-ello]

Macbeth but I have never read it but I have acted in act 1 of a tumblr production.

1. There are three witches. The third switch speaks the least. None of them bubble bubble toil and trouble.

2. Banquo comes back as a ghost

3. There are lots of birds in it. Wrens, owls and even eggs, which is a precursor to a bird.

4. Macduff is associated with said birds

5. when the hurly burly's done. (Excuse me, why is this line not famous)

6. Everybody dies at the end

7. Angus has 2 dialogues in act 1 then does not speak again till ACT V. Me: Who is Angus, anyway? ex: chekovs gun.

8. Macbeth is the thane of Cawdor.

9. His lady wife is an enabler.

10. King Duncan is not a donut. He is stabbed. (I will stab a jam donut next time I get one. I have never stabbed a donut before but fear not I have practice with stabbing cakes and kachoris)

11. Macbeth 's castle is in Inverness.

12. He rides extremely well.

13. Holp was the past tense of helped

13. Dame Judy (who did not agree to watch Bark Ruffalo) once played lady macbeth

14. David Tennant recently played Macbeth. I'm sure he did an excellent job.

15. DAVID FIDDLED A LOT WITH A CROWN.

16. DAVID PUT THE CROWN ON HIS OWN HEAD.

17. DAVID IF YOU PLAY LADY MACBETH I WILL FLY HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD TO SEE YOU.

18. NEIL GIVE ME S3 CROWLEY WITH LONG HAIR

FAQ:

Q. Surely you can go beyond 18 points after staging a production?

A. I WAS NOT PAYING ATTENTION OKAY. Fine, you can have one more.

19. Somebody asks the messenger for news. I think it was David Tennant Macbeth

Q. Wait how did this become about David Tennant

A. DID YOU LOOK AT HIM HE'S GORGEOUS

Q. You said you were sleeping 3 hours ago. A. WHAT ELSE DID YOU EXPECT OF MAGGOTS

Credits:

- Inspired by @weirdly-specific-but-ok

- my costars in the production @dashoulinas-fandom-dump , @queermarzipan , @koboldkatalyst and @harbinger-of-existential-dread , who surely paid more attention than me

- @multidimensional-trashcan for the bird facts and providing the stage

[ninadove]

Nina reads Dracula 🦇

September 20th

I opened today’s entry thinking I knew what to expect, but apparently I did not:

Report from Patrick Hennessey, M. D., M. R. C. S. L. K. Q. C. P. I., etc., etc., to John Seward, M. D.

A bit of humour in the darkest of nights. And what a power move! I love that even minor characters are given such vivid personalities!

With regard to patient, Renfield, there is more to say. He has had another outbreak, which might have had a dreadful ending, but which, as it fortunately happened, was unattended with any unhappy results.

This is what I mean! Look how this man writes. Completely redundant. He has a unique “voice” and I love it!

I went down to see if I could make out any cause for his anger, since he is usually such a well-behaved man, and except his violent fits nothing of the kind had ever occurred.

I’m starting to think every staff member has a death wish.

It was, I am sorry to say, however, only another instance of his cunning, for within half an hour I heard of him again. This time he had broken out through the window of his room, and was running down the avenue. I called to the attendants to follow me, and ran after him, for I feared he was intent on some mischief.

YA THINK?????

Also, what was I saying about safety protocols the other day?

The other fellow jumped down and struck him over the head with the butt-end of his heavy whip. It was a terrible blow; but he did not seem to mind it, but seized him also, and struggled with the three of us, pulling us to and fro as if we were kittens. You know I am no light weight, and the others were both burly men.

IT’S WORKING!!!!! The DYI vampirism is working!!! Mark me down as scared and strangely proud.

The two carriers were at first loud in their threats of actions for damages, and promised to rain all the penalties of the law on us. Their threats were, however, mingled with some sort of indirect apology for the defeat of the two of them by a feeble madman. They said that if it had not been for the way their strength had been spent in carrying and raising the heavy boxes to the cart they would have made short work of him. They gave as another reason for their defeat the extraordinary state of drouth to which they had been reduced by the dusty nature of their occupation and the reprehensible distance from the scene of their labours of any place of public entertainment. I quite understood their drift, and after a stiff glass of grog, or rather more of the same, and with each a sovereign in hand, they made light of the attack, and swore that they would encounter a worse madman any day for the pleasure of meeting so 'bloomin' good a bloke' as your correspondent. I took their names and addresses, in case they might be needed.

Efficient crisis management. Have a sticker 🦇

Now onto the regularly scheduled horrors…

Only resolution and habit can let me make an entry to-night. I am too miserable, too low-spirited, too sick of the world and all in it, including life itself, that I would not care if I heard this moment the flapping of the wings of the angel of death.

About that —

And he has been flapping those grim wings to some purpose of late—Lucy's mother and Arthur's father, and now.... Let me get on with my work.

Oh so it’s official! Arthur’s father has passed! What a month!

Van Helsing was very kind to him. "Come, my child," he said; "come with me. You are sick and weak, and have had much sorrow and much mental pain, as well as that tax on your strength that we know of. You must not be alone; for to be alone is to be full of fears and alarms. Come to the drawing-room, where there is a big fire, and there are two sofas. You shall lie on one, and I on the other, and our sympathy will be comfort to each other, even though we do not speak, and even if we sleep."

That is very sweet.

There was a full moonlight, and I could see that the noise was made by a great bat, which wheeled round—doubtless attracted by the light, although so dim—and every now and again struck the window with its wings.

Hold on hold on hold on. I think Jack might be on to something here.

So far, we’ve seen Dracula target Jonathan and Lucy specifically and relentlessly. Yes, he also attacked the crew of the Demeter, but that was out of necessity (being stuck in the middle of the ocean with no other source of food) rather than choice; and he doesn’t want to feed on Renfield, who is older and “feeble” both physically and mentally.

So he is attracted to the light, metaphorically: to young people who are full of life and love. Because that’s what he lacks. Argh.

It was certainly odd that whenever she got into that lethargic state, with the stertorous breathing, she put the flowers from her; but that when she waked she clutched them close.

🥺😔

"She is dying. It will not be long now. It will be much difference, mark me, whether she dies conscious or in her sleep. Wake that poor boy, and let him come and see the last; he trusts us, and we have promised him." […]

When we came into Lucy's room I could see that Van Helsing had, with his usual forethought, been putting matters straight and making everything look as pleasing as possible. He had even brushed Lucy's hair, so that it lay on the pillow in its usual sunny ripples. When we came into the room she opened her eyes, and seeing him, whispered softly:—

"Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come!" He was stooping to kiss her, when Van Helsing motioned him back. "No," he whispered, "not yet! Hold her hand; it will comfort her more."

Say what you want about Van Helsing (SISTER), he’s showing incredible amounts of compassion in this chapter.

In a sort of sleep-waking, vague, unconscious way she opened her eyes, which were now dull and hard at once, and said in a soft, voluptuous voice, such as I had never heard from her lips:—

"Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me!" Arthur bent eagerly over to kiss her; but at that instant Van Helsing, who, like me, had been startled by her voice, swooped upon him, and catching him by the neck with both hands, dragged him back with a fury of strength which I never thought he could have possessed, and actually hurled him almost across the room.

"Not for your life!" he said; "not for your living soul and hers!" And he stood between them like a lion at bay.

The next few entries are going to be fun.

Their eyes met instead of their lips; and so they parted.

Ouch.

"Ah, well, poor girl, there is peace for her at last. It is the end!"

He turned to me, and said with grave solemnity:—

"Not so; alas! not so. It is only the beginning!"

When I asked him what he meant, he only shook his head and answered:—

"We can do nothing as yet. Wait and see."

A heads up would be nice!!!

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[adafruit]

Sunken USB Type C breakout 🔌🛠️🧩

Folks love our standard USB Type C breakout (https://www.adafruit.com/search?q=usb+type+c+breakout) - and we recently got a request to carry a 'sunken' Type C breakout - what's that mean? It looks like this! instead of sitting above the PCB the connector sits in the midline for a svelte look. this connector got our pick because it has four burly THM tabs to keep the connector from cracking at the contact pads.

[desired-misery]

Leon "I will culture you through conversational osmosis whether you like it or not, Hunnigan" Kennedy | Ingrid POV

...

There is a little hiccup in the planning; the principal is very nervous about something, says that he needs Condor to meet him at his office. It raises Ingrid’s suspicions, but Condor is not that worried.

“Guys like this get nervous all the time, it’s probably just cold feet.” Condor explains as he parks the car. It is just past 1900, so the office building is empty of most people. Ingrid has permission to hack into the building’s security systems to ensure things remain unlocked for Condor, so she can watch Condor approach through camera feeds.

“He probably believes the information he has is more valuable than it really is, so he’s jumping at shadows. All I gotta do is show up, smooth over some ruffled feathers, prove that I’m taking things seriously, and he’ll be easy to talk back into getting stateside again.”

Condor usually does not talk this much, not to explain things like this. He is very relaxed. Ingrid watches him stroll into the building and chat with the security guard for a moment as he waits for Vaughn to get over himself and buzz him up. Ingrid does not know what any of the operatives look like; that isn’t part of the files she gets access to, so she studies Condor through the security cameras as he makes his way to the elevators.

It is hard to get a sense of him without anyone next to him to put him in context, but Condor isn’t built like she thought he was. He is on the leaner side, looking like an average white man. She was expecting to see a burly, muscly man squeezed into an ill-fitted suit, looking way out of place, but Condor fits right in the corporate world. She cannot tell what color his eyes are or even exactly what shade is his hair other than it isn’t darker than a light brown. His hair is longer than she was expecting, too. She has been picturing him with a buzz-cut, like all Hollywood soldiers are depicted with.

“Don’t laugh if I say something cheesy into the comms; sometimes I gotta give these guys the kind of act they’re expecting to get them to calm down.” Condor is looking at his reflection in the elevator, fiddling with the earpiece wire running under his jacket. He adjusts it, making it more visible.

“Are you going to quote movie lines at me?” Ingrid asks, amused. Condor is quite the movie buff. Most of his references slide over Ingrid’s head, but Tony likes them a lot. It never fails to make Tony chuckle, which Condor must take pride in (although he would never admit that).

“Absolutely, Q.”

“Hm?”

Condor’s sigh is suffering, dramatic. “You’ve never watched a James Bond movie? What kind of secret agent are you?”

“A boring one,” Ingrid replies. She absolutely would not call herself a secret agent. 

Condor hums. “That’s terrible. Where’s your sense of adventure? Of suspense?”

“Oh, I get more than plenty of that at work. Mostly from an agent by the name of Condor.”

It is strange to be able to see Condor smile in response to something she says.

...

[taggedmemes]

SENTENCE MEME TWISTED METAL / SEASON 01 EPISODES 01 + 02

the world fell to shit.

not having easily accessible porn freaked people out.

it's like a goddamn maze in here.

i got a big package for you.

time makes a fool of us all.

what's your name, slugger?

time to turn on the charm.

guess i'm not getting that knife back.

i'm sure you've got some stories.

charming, devilishly handsome, you know the type.

he was invited to have a beer with a mysterious, mildly intimidating white lady.

you got a solid ass.

i've got a lot of power.

i can make people's desires, their dreams, their every wish come true.

you have no idea what i would do for some two-ply.

i've never met a baby before.

aren't you tired of almost dying every day?

arent you tired of always being alone?

he had a theory that little sins could attract big sins.

consider it your punishment for crimes committed against the law.

eat my ass.

saving your ass once again.

it'll make your nipples spin like a lady in the burly-q show.

that's why i'm here to see your pretty face.

it means dealing with a bunch of brainwashed, burger worshipping screwballs.

there's chaos out there.

you know, it's really rude not to introduce yourself before pulling a gun on someone.

how about you lower that sorry excuse for a gun and i'll lower my exceptionally cool blade.

we don't want things to escalate, do we?

see? now things have escalated.

this never happened to me before.

you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

six bullets, each with your name on it.

that said, i'm willing to negotiate.

i love you, but this is all your fault.

well excuse me for trying to get you something dope for your birthday.

you know what's dope? a full eight hours of sleep.

i call dibs on the man titties.

they'd rather eat the flesh of their own kind than starve.

silent, but not very deadly.

you can hide, but i have ways to find you.

damn. that usually works.

why are you scurrying away, little squirrel?

sounds like you have trust issues.

i finally felt hot water that wasn't my own piss.

i really appreciate you coming along nicely.

normally i have to drag people into here kicking and screaming.

you won't like what happens if you run.

i love names. i'm kind of a name guy.

you should consider yourself lucky.

there are some things i wish i could forget.

you holding in a fart or something?

are we really gonna kill these guys?

they see the world in shades of grey.

my entire life people have been lying to me.

being alone was all i knew.

i was gonna starve her, watch the life slowly drain from her eyes.

i think she's gonna give you a run for your money.

you try to kill me every chance you get.

why should i show you mercy?

if it wasn't for me, you would be a starving corpse right now.

neither one of us made it pretty far on our own.

instead of trying to stab each other in the back, we should put our heads together and figure out how in the hell we're going to make it through this.

cool, we're fucked.

i am gonna tour de force this machete down your throat.

if you're not gonna tell the truth, then i'm gonna make you shut up and bleed.

it was a fucking snooze-fest.

your performance was dull as dick water.

you don't want to spend the rest of your life alone.

i'm gonna embrace the chaos.

maybe i'll even fall in love.

i have to admit i didn't think we were gonna make it out of there alive.

what is your problem anyway?

i'm keeping the gun.

you're really not gonna tell me your name?

did you just ask me for oral?

eat my ass, fuck.

[diabolus1exmachina]

Aston Martin Victor (1 of 1). 

Meet the Aston Martin Victor, a one-off commission made by the company’s Q division and utilising a greatest hits package of learnings from the One-77, Vulcan and Valkyrie hypercars.  Knowing where to start is tough, but let’s go bottom up. Underpinning the whole thing is a refurbished carbon monocoque chassis from the One-77, which is also where the Victor’s front-mounted 7.3-litre V12 engine has been sourced. It produced 750bhp when the One-77 launched a decade ago which – said no one ever – is not enough. It’s been sent back to Cosworth for another fettle and has returned producing a significantly more terrifying 836bhp (and 606lb ft of torque), still without a turbo in sight. Yep, 836bhp via natural aspiration. The noise is going to be good, isn’t it? It drives the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox – in place of the One-77’s automated unit – making this the most powerful stick-shift Aston road car ever. There is a ‘bespoke motorsport clutch’, and I probably don’t need to explain why.

Helping its driver manage all of that are the inboard springs and dampers of Aston’s track-only Vulcan, with ginormous Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes and racecar-esque centre-lock wheels at the end of them. Clothing the whole lot is a carbon body inspired by the brutish Aston Martin Vantage of the 1970s and 80s. Yet thanks to a development programme that’s utilised computer fluid dynamic testing, it produces more downforce at 100mph than Aston’s current GT4 racecar. Probably welcome given the sheer muscle beneath. The rear lights are inspired by those on the Valkyrie, while if you head inside you’ll find a steering wheel nicked from the Vulcan programme. The paint scheme is a twist on the green-on-tan you’d associate with a classic British sports car, the exterior a dark shade called Pentland Green and contrasted with satin carbonfibre. Despite looking burly, the whole thing weighs less than the slender One-77 it’s so heavily related to. And the name? Following Vulcan and Valkyrie, you might presume it’s an aeronautical reference. We’re told it’s a nod to Victor Gauntlett, though, boss of Aston Martin when it launched the V8 Vantage its aesthetics have unsubtly taken inspiration from.

[raaorqtpbpdy]

The Undead Adventurer (3)

When an interrupted resurrection spell leaved Danny halfway between life and death, his adventuring career should have been over. But Danny Fenton won't let something as minor as being regularly mistaken for a member of a zombie horde, or kidnapped by an unknowable monster of death stop him from becoming the strongest adventurer in the world with his best friends by his side.

For the following prompts:

His head spun. He couldn’t see past the light above him. What was it? [from @q-gorgeous]

Fantasy/rpg setting. Danny died, but the resurrection spell went wrong, and now he’s trapped as something not quite dead but not fully alive either. Not that he’d ever let that stop him from becoming an adventurer, even if he does get mistaken as a resident dungeon monster by other adventuring parties every now and then… [from @lexiepiper]

Danny catches the eye of something he shouldn't. (Eldritch affection or soft horror encouraged) [from Ventisette Stars]

Read also on AO3

Chapter 3: Dungeon Crawler (first chapter | previous | last)

[Warnings for violence, death, and some explicit language]

The dungeon was more like it. Even before Sam cast her light spell, Danny could see every stone and every bit of moss. No matter how much his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight outside, it was still too bright, to the point where it gave Danny a headache. But down here, that wasn't a problem at all.

Rather than worrying about particulars like how many floors and what kind of monsters it had, the three adventurers had all agreed to just go to the nearest dungeon at or below their skill level. That ended up being a medium difficulty dungeon populated primarily by—surprise, surprise—undead.

It wasn't as if this country was particularly known for being teeming with undead. There were no more undead here than in any other country, it was just that this particular trio of adventurers, entirely by coincidence, always ended up fighting undead, one way or another, whether they were expecting to or not.

Now, the thing about a dungeon crawl, as compared to a commissioned quest, like they'd done on Eerie Coast, was that they weren't the only adventurers doing it. Many teams of adventurers at a time went into a dungeon, hoping to uncover its hidden riches for themselves and their party. This wasn't exactly a problem. At worst, there would be some minor, good-spirited competition if two parties reached a room at the same time.

At least... it had never been a problem before. Now, however, it turned out to be a bit of a problem.

Danny's head was spinning. Something blunt had slammed against the back of his head, and now he was flat on his back, his vision was blurred, and he couldn't focus. A bright light flashed above him, so bright it took up his entire field of view, and he couldn't see past it. It was hot. What was it?

"Fireball!" Sam screamed.

At her shout, Danny instantly pushed himself up and flew straight for the ceiling. From his new vantage point, he could see a second group of adventurers, four of them. A big burly guy in heavy armor, a female bard with blue hair a red-haired sorceress, and a short, portly man who looked like he was maybe a squire for one of the others, since he was hardly dressed like a warrior.

"Hey!" Sam stormed right up to them, fury written on every inch of her body. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Saving you from that zombie?" the bard scoffed. "Obviously. Didn't know zombies could fly, though."

"They can't! Danny's not a zombie, he's a member of our team!" she yelled. "You can't just go around trying to kill other's people's teammates! Who do you think you are?"

"They call me Skulker," the burly man answered. "And these are my companions, the famed bard Ember McLain, The sorceress Penelope Spectra, and the shapechanger Bertrand."

"Yeah, I wasn't really asking," Sam scoffed. "Get out of here before I do more than yell at you for almost killing my friend."

They weren't the last. After their first day in the dungeon, it didn't seem like a stretch to say that Danny was in more danger from other adventurers than he was from the skeletons they'd been running into all day.

"Maybe we should leave and just switch to taking commissions full time from now on," Sam suggested tiredly, when the three of them made camp for the night.

"Don't even joke," Danny groaned. "I can handle some adventurer's thinking I'm a zombie, I cannot handle working full time for pompous rich assholes hiring adventurers to come wash their laundry just to feel superior."

Not everyone who commissioned adventurers for quests was like that. But... to be honest, most were. They either wanted the bragging rights of saying an adventurer had come in to personally solve their problem, even though they would be better off hiring a tradesman who was actually qualified for the task, or else they just didn't know what adventurers actually did.

"We could just take government commissions," Sam suggested.

"And barely make enough money to survive on?"

At the very least, town governments tended to actually know the sort of task you needed adventurers for, like clearing out a bunch of undead sea creatures from your coastline. Unfortunately, they never paid nearly as well as whatever noble was currently looking for an adventurer to come to his manor and wipe his ass.

Danny was perfectly happy to take on the occasional government quest. It was fulfilling to help others by doing what you were good at. But they also needed to make a living somehow, and the real money in adventuring (aside from humiliating yourself for the entertainment of nobles) came from dungeon crawling and treasure hunting.

"If Danny says he can handle it, we should trust him," Tucker said. "Yeah, it's annoying, but if he's really insistent on not retiring, then he's right. The three of us can't keep adventuring on government commissions alone, and I'm with Danny on the private commission thing. They're always lame tasks that adventurers aren't well suited for anyway."

"Fine," Sam relented with a sigh. "If you guys are really determined to keep going deeper in this dungeon, I guess I'll at least stick with you so I can teleport us out if someone gets injured too badly."

The boys both grinned widely at her and she rolled her eyes.

"I'll take the last watch as usual," she said. "I'm gonna sleep now."

The next day, they faced the same problem. Danny nearly died twice, both times because another group of adventurers mistook him for a resident dungeon monster, even though he was traveling with two humans and decided there was no reason to ask questions and they should just attack.

"Ugh," Danny groaned after he told off another party for thinking he was a zombie. "At least we'll probably run into fewer other adventurer's the deeper we get."

"Yeah, maybe then you can be almost killed by actual monsters instead of plain old idiots," Tucker joked.

Danny found it hilariously funny, but Sam did not agree.

The three of them kept heading further and further into the dungeon, and so far, everything was going well, more or less. There were a few hiccups, but no one had been badly injured yet, at least. Tucker still had plenty of arrows. Sam's magic hadn't been drained too much yet. They'd rested well the night before, had plenty to eat, and none of them were too winded or tired from the fighting.

Then they walked into the next room.

Beyond the wooden door was the biggest zombie horde they'd ever been faced with. There must've been nearly a thousand of the creatures, shambling around, and when the heard the door creak open, every single one of them looked right at the trio of adventurers.

Then they attacked.

The three adventurers didn't even get the chance to breathe as they had to fight off zombie after zombie, all crowding on them. It was less than a minute before they started to lose. Badly.

One of them snapped Tucker's bowstring, another two managed to wrestle Sam's staff away from her. Danny kept slashing away with his sword, cutting them down one after another, but there was hardly any room for him to move and seeing his friends in such dire straights was not helping his concentration.

"Stop!" Danny shouted at the zombie poised to strike Tucker. "Stop all of you!"

Shouting commands at the zombies should have been useless. Zombies didn't have reason or awareness. They didn't care about random humans ordering them around, and nothing Danny said should have been able to sway them.

But Danny was supposed to be a Zombie General, the creature like them which commanded them, and whom they obeyed unequivocally.

So when Danny commanded them to stop....

They stopped dead.

Danny stared, uncomprehending for a long moment. Sam and Tucker did the same. All three of them were breathing heavy, afraid to move and break the spell that had all these zombies frozen before them. Then the realization hit them.

"G-give me that staff," Danny ordered, nervous and awed all at once.

The zombie that had Sam's staff started to shamble toward him, the others getting out of its way as it went to their leader. It held out the staff for Danny to take, and Danny did so.

"Now... everyone go touch a wall," Danny said.

The mass of zombies moved as one, rushing toward the walls of the enormous room. Falling over each other to get their hands on the damp stone, and leaving the center of the floor vacant for the the adventurers the pass through, and the doorway clear for them.

Cautiously, the trio passed through, staring openly. Once they got to the door, Danny turned around and said:

"Now, all of you start attacking each other as viciously as you can!"

Then he closed the door behind them.

Through the coarse wood, they could hear tearing and thumping and a cacophony of ghoulish screams, and Danny began to wonder if it would have been more humane to just order them to stand still while he cut them down himself. This was faster and less work but.... He shuddered.

"Let's... let's go," Danny suggested.

Sam and Tucker nodded mutely, and with a stiff gait, they all walked away from the room, trying to ignore the wretched sounds of the undead ripping each other apart at Danny's orders.

Danny felt as if there were eyes on him, judging him. Of course, when he looked around the corridor, he saw nothing. Still, the feeling followed him, never easing, even when the three of them chose to stop for the night. He told himself it was just a sense of guilty over the needlessly gruesome order he's given the zombies, but in a dungeon, he knew better than to write it off entirely.

When Tucker took over watch, Danny tried to sleep, but when he did, it was restless, and anxious.

And when he woke up, that feeling still lingered. The feeling like something was watching him.