#Gary needs to go to a mental hospital

[mamka11037]

Yo, just to remind you that I'm alive. 💪

several drawings of different dates lol

Для @gordisaquaberrymodel Горд и Оливер❤ (надеюсь понравится)

Хз несколько почеркушек.🤷‍♀️ Какие-то давнишние, какие-то новые💥

[kaylinelizabeth4004]

Beggin’

(Broadchurch) Alec Hardy x Reader

Synopsis: Alec has no concept of time and barges in Y/N’s house to investigate. Shenanigans ensue.

Tags: smut, fluff, established relationship, face riding/sitting, oral sex (f receiving), slight praise, no beta we die like his heart

She'd just come out of the shower, hair up in a half hearted bun. Y/N was exhausted, the current case was on her mind. A murder, that was evident. The victim was an old woman in her home, a single gunshot to the chest and her house ransacked. But it didn't look right.

As she changed into some comfy short shorts and an oversized Elvis Presley t-shirt, she visualized the scene in her head. It just wasn't right. She remembered a little purple jewelry box up near the dresser, and it didn't appear to be opened. She made a mental note to check that out, along with the neighbors alibi and how sound could transfer in a duplex.

Of course she knew when she agreed to be a Detective Sergeant that it was going to be time consuming, that this career would become you to an extent. And she wanted that. After she accidentally stumbled into this career and saw her first scene, she knew that was what she wanted with her life. But she hadn't realized that that would mean when she does even the most basic functions, her brain would be so wholly preoccupied. She took her hair out, brushed her teeth, pulled the covers down then went to turn out the lights before climbing into them. And all throughout it, she was speculating about silencers and times of death.

Her head had barely hit the pillow before she heard a banging at her front door. She laid there for a moment, contemplating her options. It was either some tragedy has happened or some idiot come to hurt her. And quite frankly she knew she could hold her own. Y/N wasn't a fool, she wasn't going to go answer it without precaution. She quickly went and retrieved a bread knife from the kitchen before going to the door.

The knife was in position when she opened it. Instead of finding some craved criminal, or even some sobbing family member, she found her boyfriend/boss with a box of papers.

"Alec? It's one in the morning."

His eyes narrowed at the sight of her. He looked tired, but he did always look just a little tired. His hair was messed up and his beard just a touch scruffy.

"I don't trust Anderson."

"What?" She asked. He didn't answer as he walked into her house and deposited the box of files on her kitchen table. She didn't mind Alec coming over, hell she loved the chance to see him, but this was all a little unprompted for her.

"Y/N, didya get anything on Imogen Walker? I don't like her. I also don't like this bloke, who does he think he is? Fucking hell," Alec started pulling stuff out to work on.

Y/N wanted to protest, but she also knew that she wasn't going to get much sleep even if she tried. This was at least productive and she got to spend time with him. She grabbed a blanket from the living room, wrapped it around herself, and sat down at the table.

"Imogen has a few misdemeanors but nothing of this caliber, nothing that would suggest murder." She said, "As for Gary, he did have a stay in the hospital back in his twenties for mental illness. I requested the documents for the diagnosis and behavior during the stay but they probably won't come in until later today or tomorrow. I think you need to focus on her niece, her alibi is shaky at best."

If Y/N focused on DI Alec Hardy's face, she might have seen the shadow of a smile on his lips that he quickly hid with other possible motives and questions. He'd never say so, but he loved these moments. The times when he could share what he was truly passionate about with someone that he truly loved ... Those moments were the best. All he would need was Daisy cracking jokes in the corner for this moment to be complete.

It was long after the sun came up before Y/N finally decided to make some tea for the two of them. She told Alec who grumbled a one worded response she didn't bother to try and understand. Maybe it was Alec or the case, but she strangely wasn't tired. Her mind kept whirling with all the possibilities and she enjoyed the time with Alec.

"Y/N! Do you have the SOCO reports from the car in there?" Hardy called to her. "I need to call -"

He stopped, looking at her from above his glasses, his lips still perched out from his words that fell forgotten. She gave him a strange look, placing the two cuppas down on the table then passing him the SOCO report he'd wanted. Yet he still stared, didn't even bother to say a word. "Hardy?"

DI Alec Hardy was not a man of many words, but when he needed to use words he always had the right thing to say. Or at least he believed it to be the right thing to say. But now, in a moment when words would definitely be helpful, he had nothing. He just stared like a man gone wild. Y/N didn't even know what he was staring at, and she shifted awkwardly on her feet. Which drew extra attention.

"Alec? What're you looking at?"

He seemed to snap out of it, shoving his glasses up his nose and glancing back down at the paper. Y/N didn't know what to make of it, but thought perhaps he was exhausted. She pulled the kitchen chair to her, putting a leg on either side so she could rest her chest on the back of it while she read. And yet again, she looked up to see his warm brown eyes trapped on her and her body.

"Alec?" He didn't answer. "Alec! What's going on?"

Alec adjusted in his seat and said calmly, "nothing."

"Bull."

"Nothing is wrong. Can we continue?"

She felt silly for a moment, maybe she was exaggerating. Then she propped a leg on the chair and she saw his eyes wander again. Okay enough was enough. "Alec, what the hell?"

"Y/N-"

"Oh ho, don't Y/N me to try and get out of answering my question. What's got you looking at me at all weird?"

A pink started to spread on his cheeks and ears, but he looked away. No way, she thought. There's no way 'shitface' just blushed. Yes they'd been dating and she knew he was more than that nickname, but sometimes the occasion calling for it. Like when was blushing early in the morning for no reason, and she'd never seen him blush unless they were making love. Oh. Oh. Her eyes widened, and she felt a little smile on her lips. She stood up slowly, watching the way he tried to fight his gaze from following after.

"Alec, anything you want to tell me?" Y/N went and sat down on the edge of the table in front of him. He swallowed.

"Don't laugh."

"Darling, I would never laugh."

He rolled his eyes and looked away, not having the strength to say it while looking at her. He swiped his glasses off and groaned. "I... those shorts. I really like those shorts."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. That was not quite the answer she was expecting. "The shorts?"

"Your thighs, they... I like seeing them."

Her mouth fell open in a little o, adjusting her legs slightly as though thinking about them meant she had to move them. He likes her thighs, enough to distract him from work. Alec saw this reaction and immediately flushed darker, "you think I'm stupid."

"Gosh, no, no, no not at all," she said, "I just didn't know."

He still seemed embarrassed. Alec grabbed his glasses and shoved them back on his face, going to grab his work again. But Y/N felt bad, she certainly hadn't meant it like that, she would never shame him for something in the bedroom. She just wanted to know. And she found it very sweet that he found her so attractive. It made her feel sexy.

With a gentle touch she made him set his paper down. He looked with wide eyes. Y/N moved with slow, deliberate movements so Alec could take the time to digest it all. She carefully climbed onto his chair until her thighs were straddling him in his seat, though she hovered above him. She could see his adam's apple bob up and down as she placed her weight on him, leaning forward to take his glasses off. They were so close she could feel his warm breath on her cheeks. She smiled, "hi."

His large hands came to rest on her thighs almost instinctively, squeezing the flesh there. From under her, she could feel the hard length of his cock pressing against his pants. It made her rock her hips just slightly to meet it. He let out a hiss, grip tightening. She quite liked him holding her there, the way he ran his hands down the length of her thighs with a tight grip. He cherished them.

"Y/N..." he murmured, eyes half shut as he lifted a hand to cup her jaw. She leaned in and captured his lips with her own, exploring the kiss and grinding against his hips as he branded her with his touch. She always loved the feeling of his kisses, the way he fell into her touch like it was instinctual. His jaw was always delightfully scratchy and she loved to run her fingers along his beard.

When they broke and their foreheads fell against each other, each gasping for breath, he spoke softly. "Darling.. I have a request."

Alec didn't often ask for much in the bedroom. Y/N certainly wasn't trying to prevent him, he just tended to stay quiet. So she pressed a soft kiss to his scratchy beard and nodded for him to continue. He swallowed nervously before continuing, "I've this fantasy. I've only had it for you."

Alec got embarrassed sometimes when talking about sex. Oh sure, he was great during the act. But he always treated any fantasies or ideas as something stupid and silly. But Y/N didn't think that, she wanted to make it pleasurable for the both of them. If he was willing to do things for her, then she would be willing to do things for him. In a voice that came out far huskier than she intended, she said, "I want to hear it."

"I, I want you to sit on my face."

Her eyebrows shot up and she pulled away to look at him, to check that was what he wanted. His flush got darker and he tried to turn away, but she grabbed his face before he could. The corner of her mouth quirked up, "Alec Hardy, even in your fantasies you want to go down on me. Are you sure that's what you want?"

He nodded vigorously, his gaze intense. She nodded an affirmation and got off, offering a hand for him to take as she guided him into the bedroom. "Tell me where you want us."

Alec nodded. He began to take off his clothing, tossing them on the chair in the corner. Then he got onto the bed near the headboard and told you to strip as well. Here came the part he got excited about, even if excited for Alec meant a pair of wild eyebrows lifted high.

Now naked, Y/N went from the edge of the bed and crawled up to him, showing off her assets. He took a deep shaking breath. She situated herself so her cunt was right above Alec's head, thighs already shaking slightly but she was determined to stay above. Then she felt his hands grab at the back of her thighs, pulling her down.

"Alec!" She squealed, "I can't! What if I hurt you?"

"Hurt you?" He asked in an incredulous way, as though the thought was the furthest thing from his mind. "How could you hurt me?"

"My weight on you.."

He answered what he believed to be a silly question with a silly answer, and dragged her down squarely on his mouth. She laughed a little as she settled, but his hot tongue on her clit was enough to distract her to silence. Well, not silence, but certainly not laughter.

This was a sensation unlike any she'd had. Alec had gone down on her before and it was bloody fantastic, she always left panting and delirious with pleasure. But this seemed to open a whole new wave of sensations. He came into it with a crazed intensity, yearning to taste every part of her he could. His touch was everywhere, hot as it skimmed over her skin and seared her. His lips were plush as they parted to let his tongue slide along her folds, tasting her. That delightful beard was going to cause a rash tomorrow morning but she didn't care as she rocked her hips to meet his tongue's ministrations.

She tasted like sweat and sex and everything good in the world, if he could bottle it up he would. Though in the back of his mind he knew Y/N worried about crushing him with her weight, it was that sensation of being fully engulfed by her that he was so attracted to. Those burning thighs were right by his head, holding him there and clenching with each stroke of pleasure. He held onto them tightly, letting her know just how much he enjoyed it. It was better than just regular oral, it was deeper and intimate. One look up at her was enough to make him shudder and hold her tighter. She looked like a goddess, head thrown back with those raspy little moans pouring from her. Her breasts heaved on her chest, begging to be touched. If he died then and there, with the image of her above him, he'd die a very happy man.

Y/N gasped his name over and over, rolling her hips and meeting his expert tongue. He was everywhere, scorching all of her. Alec’s touch was making her dizzy with pleasure and if she wasn’t careful she’d never leave her spot here. That coil inside of her started to tighten, twisting as tingles were sent all throughout her body. She could feel her orgasm coming, tightening and tightening until with a sobbing gasp she came on Alec Hardy’s tongue.

He never stopped for one second, just lapping at her oversensitive clit until he could feel her coming down from her high. Then he adjusted, helping guide her down his body so he was sitting and she was straddling him. She melted against his chest, head in the crook between his shoulder and neck, breaths uneven.

“Oh my god,” she said finally.

Alec kissed her forehead and rubbed her back, “thank you, darling.”

She gave him a thumbs up, “you tell me all your fantasies, love, because holy fuck.”

Alec nodded, “duly noted.”

“Shut up,” she said, burying her face deeper into him with a smile.

[stravacious]

i was thinking about fionna and cake’s version of jermaine, and drew her this morning!! i posted her to r/adventuretime and she didn’t do too bad there, so i started writing stuff for fionna and cake world lol more headcanons below the cut :)

i originally posted her under the name “jasmeen” but i think corrine would be better suited for the sibling alliteration with cake :) huge thanks to some of the users in the reddit comments who helped brainstorm some of this!! lemme know what u think lol

fionna was adopted at birth by a (human) couple, cynthia and marlowe. cynthia works in the city’s forensics department and they both own a funeral home/cemetery. they have big hearts, and have a hard time charging folks for caskets and burials. they owned two cats, corrine and cake, and fionna took cake with her when she moved out, leaving corrine at her (now elderly and retired) parents place. if corrine could walk and talk like cake in this world, she’d be running the funeral home and going after people for the money they owe her elderly parents. it’s shitty work and they aren’t hurting for money, but things in this life aren’t free, right? her true passion is sculpture, and eventually she learns to let the debts go and focus on her work.

fionna’s biological parents, milton campbell and mallory mertins, had a nice relationship in the beginning. but when mallory gave birth to fionna, she disappeared from the city with her. having always struggled with her mental health, mallory’s post-partum depression became post-partum psychosis and she left fionna at a safe surrender site in her daze. her psychosis spiraled and she was sent to prison before escaping into homelessness. milton died not long after their disappearance, after serving as a nurse for his entire career and saving thousands of lives. he even had a newly built hospital named after him after his death.

gary prince was on his own at a very early age, leaving the abusive home of his aunt georgia, uncle larry, and cousin chantal. georgia goes on and on about all the wonderful things she was meant to accomplish if she didn’t have to take in gary and his sister, and chantal goes along with it all. larry at least is sympathetic and sends money to them when he can. as a result, most of the money gary makes goes towards taking care of his special needs sister, nadine.

marshall lee was extremely close with his father, elijah, before he died. elijah wanted nothing to do with hana’s money or work, and raised their son in a small home in the forest. marshall grew up knowing how to rough it in the outdoors, before his mother took him away from that life and into a stuffy, proper one. she sold the house he grew up in and he never forgave her.

flora never knew where she came from. her favorite activity is catfishing dudes online. she hates her appearance, and feels like she’ll never truly know who she really is. after the events of the show fionna and cake, she learns all she can about fionna by stalking her online. she adopts fionna’s backstory as her own, and even commits a few instances of identity theft against her. this torments her and she hates doing it, but feels like she has no other choice. her and fionna look strikingly similar, and it has made her actually start to appreciate her own appearance and feel whole for once.

phoenix fleming hates his mother, she’s a big preacher in the local church and raised him as strictly as possible. he was barely allowed to leave the house until he moved out as soon as possible, and discovered his love for raves and DJing. he now devotes all his time to being dj flame, and his mother refuses to let him be. his next door neighbor, miss bundy, is kinder to him than his own mother ever was, and brings him treats every day.

jermaine > corrine

joshua > cynthia

margaret > marlowe

minerva > milton

martin > mallory

gumbald > georgia

lolly > larry

chicle > chantel

neddy > nadine

elise > elijah

fern > flora

phoebe/flame princess > phoenix

cinnamon bun > miss bundy

[jbcomic]

carnival (meeting arthur in dreams after folie )

i am still upset about the sequel the reason i decided to write one more comfort fanfiction for me and all arthur lovers who felt betrayed by the ending of folie

you had walked into the theatres to watch the sequel of joker you were aware about the things happening in the movie but u had to watch it with your own eyes u were not sure if the rumors and spoilers were true the love of your life arthur was back on the big screen but at the same time u were disturbed your mental health was not the same after reading those negative reviews with a sigh u stepped inside the room u sat with hope of a better story for arthur since he had changed your life for the better u could not leave him alone in his tough time when he had been your pillar of strength for five years this trail and aslyum scenes were a nightmare but u also saw arthur being happy singing and dancing, he looked like an angel in his dreams u wished u could hug him through the screen and hated the scenes when that lady manipulated him u wished to punch her in the face while u realised the second half was going to get worse u had to prepare yourself for that final goodbye u could not breathe u almost felt a panic attack u closed your eyes wanted to run out of that place how could u watch your angel getting hurt it was brutal u felt a pain in your chest u almost tripped and fell from your seat crying and the end credits rolled u could still hear his voice " true love will find u " u were in shock u needed someone to comfort u but there was no one around u it felt like an oxygen mask was removed and u were on a hospital bed lying lifeless u cried for hours and when u finally arrived at home u sat on the bed looking at arthur picture he was smiling and u hugged it u whispered " sorry " tears rolling down your cheeks u fell asleep with the hope of not waking up again

you woke up with chaos u had no idea what was happening but then u found yourself infront of a library it was weird since this place looked familiar u crossed the streets u found yourself infront of hahas u saw gary walking towards u he smiled at u and u smiled back he said arthur is late for work as usual he was supposed to be here for the kids party and u shook your head but u didn't know what was this timeline and then u saw arthur in carnival makeup he saw u and pulled your hand " let's go we are late for the party " he waved at gary and crossed the streets with u there was traffic 🚦 arthur waved at the cars honking and yelling gotham was a mess u also saw the garbage 🗑️ arthur kept running faster it was difficult to match his speed u bumped into people and one lady yelled " stupid clowns " u were annoyed by her behaviour while arthur was searching for the building where he was invited to perform and he looked stressed

" arthur can you please tell me what's happening why are we here , are u late, how did i move into your world when i saw u in the movie last night " arthur was surprised hearing your words he giggled " u are funny yn but this is not the time to joke the kids are waiting for me did u bring the magic wand " i kept staring at his beautiful face i didn't know if i this was a dream or reality, i had to check i smacked arthur shoulders he squealed " ouch what are u doing yn it's not time to play i need my magic wand " u could not believe arthur was standing infront of u but he looked younger than arthur in folie " what is the date , month and year " arthur was worried about getting late but he had patience " listen yn i know u are upset we didn't attend your relatives dinner but it doesn't mean u are going to cancel my gig u know Hoyt is still upset with me after that Kenny music incident " u got hints this was a time before folie, your arthur was safe in this universe u hugged him tight but arthur looked uncomfortable u kissed his cheek he looked in pain, u realised he was hurt by those kids u whispered " i am sorry artie i forgot u are hurt i was excited to see u safe i could not control my emotions " arthur touched his shoulder in pain " u are joking right u took care of my wounds last night " u were speechless did u really live with arthur u touched his brown curls and his shoulders this time being careful not to hurt him and arthur felt giddy u saw his eyes was blinking and he fell in your arms u held him before he could fall " arthur what happened please talk to me " arthur was not able to speak and u felt another panic attack but this time he was holding your hand and whispering something it was not audible due to the sounds of vehicles " arthur " he fell unconscious u kept shaking his head and hands but no response the people around the building saw u and the kids ran closer they saw arthur face and recognised him they screamed carnival and u asked them to call for help then a lady walked outside her apartment with a water bottle u took the bottle from her hands and splashed water on arthur face he woke up feeling light headed but the kids were smiling at arthur and arthur smiled at them u knew these kids recognised him and their mom spoke to u " we were waiting for him it's our son birthday party but the kids said he was arguing with u on the streets are u his girlfriend " u looked at arthur he tried to wake up dusting his pants and u held his hand for support arthur smiled at the lady " no she is my friend she works at hahas she books and keeps track of our events , i am sorry i arrived late i was confused with the address " the lady nodded her head " oh we forgot to mention we shifted our apartment this week the last time u performed for our kids was in the opposite street " arthur smiled at her " yeah no wonder it took me time to search for the apartment we can go inside the kids must be waiting for me " u were worried about arthur health he had fainted few seconds ago how was he going to dance at the party u pulled his sleeves and arthur looked at u u whispered " arthur are u sure u can dance u are not well " arthur put his wig back on his hair and kissed u the kids started laughing and u felt awkward this was your first kiss with arthur and he had no idea about it you stared at him with a silly expression and arthur pulled your hand walking inside the house

u watched arthur dancing with the kids , making balloon animals and almost tripping on the sofa while you moved to catch his hand arthur blew the party popper, he was being a prankster and u didn't complain u were so happy to share this beautiful moment with him when the party was over u waved back at those kids and walked out in the streets it was cold u felt a breeze of air and started shivering arthur noticed it and being a gentleman pulled his hoodie out of his bag and put it on your shoulders u smiled at him while he held your hands tighter whistling a tune of frank sinatra song u had walked a few streets and arthur noticed you were staring at him he pulled u for a hug u saw the stairs on the left u could not believe u were in his gotham city this was the best night of your life u climbed the steps together u felt arthur had a mischief in the way he moved his feet and bumped in your shoulders while holding your hands he hated the stairs he had this boring routine of climbing it eveyday it was difficult on days when he was tired and didn't have the energy but with u he felt happy u reached his apartment block and arthur walked towards the mail box " u know mom is waiting for the letter " u sighed " i know she is obsessed with thomas wayne " arthur eyes looked like a saucer and u felt bad for being honest u were going to apologize but he burst into laughter and u were confused what was so funny arthur laugh was echoing in the small space he looked so beautiful u pulled him for a kiss and arthur kissed back

" u are the reason i felt giddy in the morning " u hated the way he was teasing u but also could not deny the fact he was the carnival arthur giggled and kicked his feet moving towards the elevator u both touched the button at the same time arthur smirked and kissed your hand pushing the button u had fantasies of being stuck in the elevator with him but when the moment arrived u were standing looking at the ground arthur could sense your nervousness he pulled out his magic wand and u looked at him " it's here u had kept it in my bag i didn't notice it in the morning " i took the wand from his hands smiling at the fake flowers u hugged him and felt safe in his arms

u woke up feeling better arthur was living, breathing and working as a party clown this sequel was only a nightmare of joaquin and nothing else u had to be brave and move on in your life writing more fanfiction for arthur and joker he was never going to be hurt again with the fandom supporting their adorable clown in chuckle town

[electronickingdomfox]

"Strangers from the Sky" review

Novel from 1987, by Margaret Wander Bonanno. Considerably better than her first novel, "Dwellers in the Crucible", it has an interesting structure: a book inside a book, and the regular characters eventually entering the story of the fictional book (a bit like "The Neverending Story", but through less magical means).

The main story revolves around original characters: the Vulcans who first met humans some two hundred years before Kirk's time. Thus, this is the unofficial First Contact between the two races. I didn't care much for the human characters, but Commander T'Lera and her son Sorahl are portrayed in a meaningful, moving way, as strangers in a world that's more hostile than welcoming for them. The character of Parneb pushes the limits of plausibility (even by TOS sometimes crazy standards), but his surrealist story is nonetheless fascinating: a man who's living backwards through time, so his past is in the future and his future in the past. On the other hand, the villains were a bit too much like caricatures.

As for the regulars, there are appearances from "Where No Man Has Gone Before": Gary Mitchell (as annoying as always), Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, and Lee Kelso (whose extraordinary abilities in almost all fields are also a bit unbelievable). Kirk and Spock are also there, of course, and play an essential role in the story, only revealed at the very end. It's also interesting to see the beginnings of their friendship, from young Kirk's initial dislike of his new First Officer, to their later trust and respect for each other. McCoy gets the short end of the stick, though. He doesn't appear much, and it's not like he's a bad friend, but... he's obviously portrayed as the "lesser" friend, who's simply not in the same wavelength as Kirk and Spock, and presents more obstacles than help to solve the situation.

Overall it's a solid novel, more thoughtful and emotive, and less action-packed than usual. I'm just going to give a succinct summary of the plot, but nonetheless, there are spoilers under the cut:

The first half of the novel deals mostly with the contents of a book that Kirk's reading: Strangers from the Sky, the so far undisclosed account of Vulcan's true first contact on Earth, that has caused a commotion among the public. T'Lera and Sorahl are the sole survivors of a Vulcan scout mission (that wasn't supposed to contact humans at all), after their ship crashes on the Pacific. They're rescued by two humans (Tatya and Yoshi) from a nearby agricultural platform, set in the middle of the ocean to grow algaes. After the initial shock of discovering aliens, Tatya and Yoshi agree to protect the Vulcans. However, a nearby Navy ship (led by sympathetic Captain Jason Nyere and his xenophobic first officer Melody Sawyer) has received orders to investigate the unidentified object detected by sensors. After initial resistance, Tatya and Yoshi are forced to surrender the aliens to them, though they choose to follow and get aboard the ship too.

Interspersed with the history account, are some scenes set in the present (a bit before The Wrath of Khan), in which Kirk starts getting more and more affected by the book. He starts dreaming about the events as if he was part of them, and even has recollections of details that are missing in the book. His medical scans show an increasing mental instability, so McCoy decides he needs to be hospitalized in a psychiatric, before his condition worsens. But when Spock appears there, having suffered the same nightmares after reading the book, the doctors give Kirk and Spock a chance to sort their memories out through a mind-meld. They find a clue in the recurring image of a blonde woman in those dreams, that both identify as Elizabeth Dehner. Kirk had blocked the memory of Dehner as part of the landing party in a specific mission, shortly before the events of "Where No Man...". Thus, Kirk and Spock deduce that the key is to be found in that mission so many years ago: the investigation of the strange planet M-155, which appeared and disappeared randomly. They initiate a mind-meld to recover those memories.

With this technique, the second part of the novel doesn't just show the content of Strangers from the Sky, but introduces Kirk and Spock in the 21st century story, and completes it by following their adventures. The landing party which was investigating M-155, comprised of Kirk, Spock, Gary, Elizabeth and Kelso, had suddenly disappeared from the planet's surface. Upon awakening, they find themselves in Egypt around 2045, and Spock is missing. They're approached by Parneb, a strange man who was experimenting with his psychic powers to displace M-155 in time and space, in an attempt to reverse his own curse. Upon finding Kirk's party in the middle of his experiments, and fearing that the planet displacement would harm them, Parneb relocated them to this time and place. Then, Parneb uses his powers to find the missing Spock, but only detects two other Vulcans (T'Lera and Sorahl). This means that Vulcans would have visited Earth at an earlier time than previously assumed. And Kirk concludes that their presence there somehow affected this first contact, so the Federation never came to be, and Spock, child of two worlds, was never born. Unbeknownst to him, Spock is perfectly fine, though; only that he appeared in Boston instead, and took refuge with Jeremy Grayson (an ancestor of his mother), disguised as a vagabond.

Anyway, Kirk and the others take fake identities and trace a plan to infiltrate a compound in Antarctica, where the Vulcans are detained waiting for the authorities to decide their fate. Among media hysteria and a terrorist attack, Kirk gets reunited with Spock, and together they must save T'Lera and Sorahl, and convince them to not kill themselves, so the Federation has a chance to be. There's a curious twist because, unlike other time-travel stories, where they must set a wrong timeline right, here Kirk and Spock are already living in the "good" timeline. It was, in fact, their tampering with past events what saved the Vulcans and made possible further contacts between them and humans.

At the end, T'Lera and Sorahl return to Vulcan in one of the primitive 21st century ships, and Dehner erases the memories of all humans involved in the incident. And Parneb returns the landing party to the present, but accidentally erases their memories as well. The truth, however, is preserved in Sorahl's journals (minus the details about the time-travelling strangers), which would become the source of Strangers from the Sky. Kirk and Spock's insanity had been triggered by the attempt at recovering those suppressed memories, but thanks to the mind-meld, their balance is restored. Meanwhile, McCoy, who was tasked with watching over them, had fallen asleep (unsurprisingly) after witnessing 28 hours of mind-meld!!

Spirk Meter: 8/10*. A great deal is made of Jim and Spock's mind link, who at one point are described as "those whose minds have touched and been touched" (sounds familiar?). Spock is also able to reach Kirk's mind across space, to sense his turmoil and nightmares, and considers their mind Touch as unique. Their story together is said to be legendary, and Spock is defined as "the balance for everything Kirk was—shadow to his sunlight, coolness for his fire, calm against his agitation. [...]Spock was simply there, focus for Kirk’s fears, center of his immediate universe." And when Kirk gets reunited with Spock at the psychiatric, he can't resist the urge to embrace him (there were no Klingons present, after all), though he's wary of the mirrors through which the doctors could be spying on their affection.

There's a little bit of Spones too, when Spock takes the asleep McCoy in his arms to bring him to bed, and the doctor embraces his neck and smiles in dreams. Though the author immediately backpedals by telling us that McCoy is dreaming about some girl from a bar. Anyway, nobody loves McCoy here...

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[not-poignant]

Woof, that Constellations reveal!! How come Gwyn knows which psychologist Ef saw at Hillview but not what happened with Henton?

Oooo this is an awesome question.

So there's a few layers to this, thank you for enabling my rambling, this won't be a short answer.

The main reason is simply that Efnisien didn't want him to know. And given that Efnisien's privacy had been violated unconscionably repeatedly at Hillview, Dr Gary wasn't in a rush to tell Gwyn ap Nudd, especially because (in this particular world I'm writing lol) he had no legal obligation to. Efnisien was a legal adult at the time the recorded assaults took place, and his choices actually matter.

Like, it wasn't like Gwyn was getting regular progress reports or anything once Efnisien was in Hillview, and he certainly got a lot less as soon as Efnisien became a legal adult. Gwyn was notified of some bare bones stuff in the hospital because Efnisien's life was in danger and frankly doctors and psychologists tend to be a bit more open while someone's life is in danger in a hospital (and Efnisien wasn't formally enrolled at Hillview yet or living there).

But after that, most of what Gwyn knew about Hillview he learned directly from Efnisien. Efnisien would have told him that he was seeing Dr Henton while he was still verbal / talking.

Once the sexual abuse and assault started, Efnisien went fully nonverbal for some months afterwards. Not just with Dr Gary, but also with Gwyn. All Gwyn knows is that, all of a sudden, Efnisien has gone nonverbal and changed psychologists.

Gwyn assumed this was because Efnisien relapsed and started hurting other people, and his attitude actually changed around Efnisien after that, and Efnisien never corrected him because he never saw the point.

Not only that, but it's in Efnisien's records that Gwyn has been abusive to Efnisien. They allow his visitations, but Efnisien has also disclosed that Gwyn has broken bones in his face, beaten him, and been violent towards him, and while Efnisien didn't know this was being written in his general file - the staff certainly knew of Gwyn in context of 'actual abuser visiting Efnisien on occasion.'

So they don't exactly have incentive to say 'heyyyyy...abuser of Efnisien that we allow him to see because his mental health dives without you, we're just going to share that he was abused by another guy in case you want to like...abuse him over that too.' It's not like Gwyn is 'just a concerned cousin' - he's not an immediate family member, he's a point of contact, but he's a point of contact with caveats, like 'we know Efnisien has stated clearly he needs to see Gwyn, but we don't like him' caveats. They're not going to rush to give Gwyn tools to harm Efnisien.

And he would have.

And Efnisien knew he would have.

This is really vital. All along, Efnisien has always assumed Gwyn would say 'well that's what you deserve' re: Henton's actions (or 'now you know what it's like I guess') and we know Gwyn would have said something like that, based on how he reacts to Efnisien being harmed during Falling Falling Stars.

Like, Gwyn's attitude changes over time, but Efnisien and the staff are right to think that Gwyn would hurt Efnisien with the knowledge that he'd been abused by staff at Hillview.

So yeah, and also like... Dr Gary tried to get Efnisien to press charges, he even brought lawyers in, and Efnisien just...didn't talk. Refused to talk to anyone. While he couldn't verbally consent to literally anything, they erred on the side of caution. Probably the only thing he insisted on was staying at Hillview, because he knew Gwyn would only keep seeing him if he went to Hillview.

And that is why Efnisien stayed at Hillview, after Henton assaulted him. :(

Because Gwyn blackmailed him into staying there.

Idk if Gwyn would ever find that out, because it'll break his heart in Constellations if he realises. But like, Efnisien didn't want to go stay at a place where he was regularly abused and assaulted, but he did, because he was so desperate to keep the one lifeline he had.

Anyway yeah, there's a few reasons basically why Gwyn knew the name of the psychologist only, and then nothing else!

And a lot of it was purely that Efnisien never wanted him to know, and the folks around him respected that.

[synonymouswithanonymous]

☺☺ you were right!

you were right! That's so exciting, he's completely integral to the plot!!! A catalyst for later drama, at least in part. I'm excited to see him play this character! A broken Vietnam vet. He's going to be great in this part!

So the article from last month that named him, was a bit off, but that's ok bc now we know more! 😊😊 and EM is Swintons characters daughter! He plays Swintons character's lover/father to her child! This confirms he's definitely got scenes with the leads!

"or her recounting the death of her child’s father, a Vietnam veteran with PTSD, in a house fire on the side of a highway."

----------

This will be a great character, the catalyst for so much drama within one family later, it makes you wonder what would be the lifelong impact of such a tragedy. A character sent off to proverbial slaughter, who most likely had to commit and witness acts he'd never wished to have even witnessed. And then returning to a country that doesn't understand PTSD or what soldiers went through, but are instead spat at in the streets and their mental health largely ignored/misunderstood. And then to have such a tragic end. That's so sad. This is a movie aiming to make me cry in a variety of ways. Lol I'm excited!

Sidenote: please skip if uninterested. I don't think his interview says he's given up on his career, so to speak, but maybe taking a more realistic view on his career prospects is healthy and warranted. Not everyone is going to be Brad Pitt, someone has to be Gary Oldman  (for differences in career paths, as an example).

Perhaps he's just not getting his hopes up bc in another interview he said his hopes were dashed, repeatedly by covid/strikes/not getting hired for gigs immediately after Vikings etc. AND the fact that Vikings isn't as popular a show as the fandom bubble created around all these actors in it made it seem like they were (I'm still calling them all, even Winnick an underdog bc she's "B list" or lower by "hollywood" standards. She's not up there in the hierarchy like say Reese Witherspoon. AHA realistically would be B list too.

That's not an insult but realistic. How many actors are in SAGAFTRA? Currently? And how many more newbies each year? Hollywood is always about the next big thing. But Hollywood is losing its grip on its dominance due to streaming and other factors.

Plus how many movies/shows are actually shot in Los Angeles nowadays? it's always a location elsewhere it seems.

His more humble approach is good, didn't he say he was aiming for a mads mikklesen (sp?) or NCW career? If so then he's well on track to having great character roles. He's going for longevity, not a quick buck. Maybe he has been picky, but it's working for him. He doesn't need to be in every lame remake hollywood comes up with that's destined to lose money. Tinseltown has lost its shine in the wake of technology from jets, to streaming services letting us see originals in original languages, instead of watered down remakes that pale next to the original. Or just original innovative stories, the foreign films/shows on netflix alone are great! I'm looking at you Nightwatch american remake that was just bad. 😳😳 He's even been able to write and star in his own idea for a tv show. There might be a second season. He can fly to locations, it's a modern world, he doesn't have to be isolated in "hollyweird made of vices" away from his home, family/gf and language/culture. And while Hollywood might take offense to him "complaining" about really long days, in the cold, and that Denmark has better labor laws....where's the lie? If there's something that isn't right, why should he be silent? Why should people be worked to the point that they can't even recover from being in hospital, no sick days or back up plan in case of illness on set. To the point that they've been broken down physically and mentally. Isn't that the reason labor laws exist, to protect people from suits who only care about schedules and money instead of the actors health? That goes for any job not just actors. Or their mental health, most people don't have to fly to a different country for jobs either, that's got to be rough no matter how much you love your job. But anyway, it doesn't seem to have affected his hiring status that much. 😊

But I think he's playing the long game quite smartly. He's going for a real career, not to be a teenage idol. Why be a small fish in an overlarge pond (hollywood) when he can be a bigger fish in a much smaller pond and build a career like Mads M? The same reason Ole Bornedal and Pedro Almodóvar stay in their respective countries (mostly). Bornedals's movie was remade, and changed, instead of just releasing It with subtitles. It could be that there they can create the art they want to without time/money/script restrictions? Bc in Hollywood they've even put time/plot limits on THE Ridley Scott! To the detriment of many of his films post gladiator ( kingdom of heaven should have just been the directors cut imo bc they cut important story parts). I say let him create art the way he wants to, he's on his timetable, not fans. It's his career that We are hoping to watch for the next 30-40 years. Or longer, Almodóvar is 74! Clint Eastwood is how old? We will just have to be patient for new projects. 😊😊 I know its fun to get all my Gary Oldman movies immediately bc he's been around for over 40 years ! I don't have to wait between Leon, Sid & Nancy or even The Scarlett Letter! To much newer works. Im working my way through from the beginning. 😳😳 imagine how his OG fans felt getting one or two projects every so often or a year. Having to wait to see the next film, if it was even released for very long in theaters (that's imo wild to think about). And then waiting months for it to come out on a dvd to see it if wasn't released for long. Or if you missed a show you would have to wait for it to repeat?!?! Things not being readily available would be so brutal, and here I was complaining that bridgerton season 3 was cut up in 2 parts!!! I couldn't binge it all in one day!! Patience is a virtue. And even Alan Rickman didn't get his "american debut breakthrough" until he was in his 40swith die hard. And he is a legend (just bc he passed away doesn't change the tense of his legendary status)! AHA has plenty of time, and is doing great. Imo.

Sorry for the side ramble, but I take issue with the idea that he can somehow do more than what he's done. He's right there are some things beyond our control. Or that his work ethic is somehow lacking, bc between owning a stake in a watch company( it being sold wouldn't change his stake/shares too much, maybe it made him more money?), doing multiple voice works, making movies, creating his own show and filming other shows/short films, and working for charities (plural) he's been a really really busy person. And side projects with photography. He's working fairly steadily and a lot. Choosing great projects from Shadows to RND. How much do they want him to work? Lol he doesn't exactly have a 9-5.

I'm still hoping that this movie will be the one that makes people see his skills, and set him up for the longevity he so desires. 😊😊😊 Best wishes to him and his lovely JM.

Edited to add, even though it's just his character that gets a mention, the reviews are positive. If he wasn't right or good in a stellar movie, it would have been mentioned. So he at the very least performed well enough to not get a bad review. So he's given another great performance!!!! But really with those two ladies as leads, with the story mostly focused on them, I'm impressed that his small role has been mentioned several times. Even if not by name right now, his part was noticed enough to make the articles, moreso than Nivola, in a P Almodóvar film that has Moore and Swinton in it. 😊😊 huzzah to anyone that's made it this far, still always surprised lol.

[babylove007]

No vaccines Bray.

No vaccine Bray.

Bray, NO VACCINES.

It is all my heart could say all day.

The choice was not mine, but I leave with the consequence so you don't have to live or worry about it. Know where you stand. Hold firm in it.

-----

I love you. It feels so lonely here. It is so lonely here.

Yet we are not alone.

There is good people that find you in my departure, and my death and departure is so your freedom and choice is made as so.

------

Cancer pockets in the brain and vaccines don't mix Bray. Our bodies are built for life, yet they can only bare so much.

It's cancer Bray. No vaccines.

I'm sorry he took a video of me in the bathtub he brought to in Gananpque. I'm sorry he was a 6-7 grey suit police officer. I'm sorry you heard his voice in our childhood.

I'm sorry he said he was going to groom you and marry Bella in my departure. And he got so so so many chances. He hit me with it after him and Harmony Rd met Dr. Elena Frix Shamji at Sick Kids.

Stand your fucking ground. Apologize to none.

My heart is so shattered and helpless, but I know God is good.

No vaccines!

------

I took a few and let them do it again in a motel room in Ganonoque, the police knew would only result in painful suffering, with cancer through the blood and bone. I begged.

I begged. I warned. I supplied cancer on my door and reason, after Orville dragged me across the floor by my ankles.

They can take a blonde hot headed Bella off the university street anyday. Easy and aimed for. You? Easy fi evil $5 set up for the tight pussy hole school teenager.

Your heart is good. I remove life from my dreams, so the good and all the beauty and protecting police officers and people are solidified in stone in yours.

I'm sorry for what they did to us.

They brought Dani Tinsdale to Grenfell before Carter died. There are good people and moms that love you, when I no longer can in a physical stance.

No they know to tell the hospital know, when mom cannot.

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

Rob dying wasn't the teams fault Bray.

Probably just a midnight wellness check, upon a bunch of flimsy insecure cop shop cop cocks.

-----

Enough to break and call to heaven another heart.

I leave so your voice is heard and solidified in stone. I leave early so you don't have to.

It was such a privilege to be your sister.

And I look forward to watching you from heaven, where you do not bargain with the pain of a millimeter, nor the laughter and intentional harm of a "mental health" label.

------

Where you do not bargain with the real of a monkey pox vaccine, because dirty blonde hair Steve hurts us all. Remember Gary? Good. Same height close to Gary. Dirty blonde hair.

He made me read the vaccine bottle, and put it in my left arm on the outside of the tub. He climbed into laugh and pretend it was on the right arm in Gananoque.

----

There are others to understand and love you, when my cancer calls me home. It may never be the police or the hospital, but you will find me again for chicken pakora at Kennedy & Eglinton, doubles in Kensington, Toronto Islands beach with a picnic bag, or a jurisdictional line where I feel just a TTC ride or wind away.

Love you so much. I leave with the fallout and turmoils so you don't have to live with them. Somewhere, our people know our eyes too. Love our eyes too. No need fi hurt or harm too.

I don't know, 3am drum pan food in the dirty,

When the cement crumbles at my feet from the country its built upon.

"I wish I had God"

"You do baby"

---

"My brother is going to lose 4 of us by 25"

"I don't know who 4 of us is"

"I do. And he is loved more by me than you."

[emptymanuscript]

Well... I may have finally done it :/

I managed to spill my water directly on my computer this morning >_<

It seems MOSTLY fine. But there seems to be at least one new problem in addition to the old problems... the power isn't connecting correctly. >_o

I've managed to stick it just right for the moment and I'm hoping it gets better as we move farther away from the "incident"

But I think I may have, inconveniently, moved the date of needing a new computer drastically forward.

*sigh* I really need to not need to buy a truck, a trailer, a plane trip, a passport, past fiscal trespasses* (don't ask), the A/C going out in summer, AND a computer all at relatively the same time.

I think the only thing I've managed to cut is not going to Labyrinth this year :( sad to miss the 25th year but there will be other years.

*heavy defeated sigh* I've pretty much decided that I need to temporarily hire one of those life coaches / personal assistants to just analyze us and do a budget and management routine for us before I make a mistake we can't recover from. Which will be even more money. But I think it's either that or start thinking about selling the house :((( because I suck way too much at money for this to keep going. I probably needed to hire out the job years ago. BEFORE things got this bad.

Pro-tip: do not trust EM with budgeting or management skills. I am terrible at both. Actually, just don't trust EM with any skill based tasks that don't have to do with pretending to be an fiction author, essayist, writing teacher, or a therapist. Those are my skill sets. I'm not incredible with them but I am at least passable. Everything else... you are asking to be disappointed. It will be a set up for failure. I probably shouldn't be trusted with those either.

There is just something extra disappointing about realizing I need profound professional level help on a skill that I thought I mastered in my teens and clearly didn't in any way, shape, or form. I remember religious friends telling me that "God never gives you any trials He doesn't think you CAN handle, even if it is very hard." To which my reply was, "God has a very low opinion of my capabilities, then." And I'm definitely back to feeling that lately. I don't know how I can't manage to live on quadruple the money that I used to just sail through WITH GOOD SAVINGS every month when I was in my teens and twenties.

I used to be the person in my friend group to hit up for money because, unless I had already given it away, I always had a fair amount extra in my checking account and could get more from savings. I pull in so much more now and yet it all just evaporates into the red.

Somehow I've gone from powerhouse to pathetic in the last 20 years. And I really, truly, honestly, don't know how. Like, yes, I've had major depression, chronic pain, and lots of life but it should not have been enough to get where I am. I feel like Gary King from World's End. All that promise and now nothing. Just this lump taking up space.

Which I suspect is the depression talking at this point.

I think that was one of the really nice things about being in the mental hospital. Nobody really had their shit together. There was this nice camaraderie of this is the normal here. We're just all fucked up together. Some days I really do miss being in the mental hospital. It was nice. Obviously not all of it. A lot was unpleasant. But the social aspects of it were sort of what we all wish we had. Or at least what I wish I had.

On the upside, I've managed to keep the power steady (like it had anything to do with me) for the entire time it took to write all this so... I suspect I can put off buying a new computer for another little while. I still need one eventually but I can deal with that if it isn't urgent.

So, score one for me. Yay.

[bornredheadedme-blog]

Neighbors

DesPlaines

As I mentioned in my first post, I have a tendency to attract people who need to talk. I, of course, love to talk. So indulging that need in others is easy. I made friends with a woman who lived across the hall from me. Alice was lovely, in spite of her mom, who desperately wanted to control her. We had parties where people would go back and forth between the apartments and that was fun until one of her guests drank too much and came over to my place to throw up on my carpet.

Alice went through some tough times and her friends helped her through it, and eventually she married. We lost touch after that. Then there was Bonnie, who let me know shortly after they moved in that she had spent a considerable amount of time hospitalized for some serious mental illness issues. She took her meds and did well, and was married to a young chef who was like a teddy bear. He took such good care of her.

Mt Prospect

We moved to another city because my MIL wanted us closer to her. I was not comfortable living so close to her, but Gary wanted to and it was actually closer to his work also. We lived above a family with teens who loved playing their music at ear-splitting decibels and I learned to live with it. My daughter was still little enough and could sleep through a freight train going by. We got to know them somehow. Did I mention that I was a freak magnet? The oldest daughter was experiencing some pretty severe mental health issues and attempted to self-injure herself and the kids came to me for help. I spent time with her over several days and convinced her father to seek professional help for her. Gary and I were invited to have dinner at a Greek restaurant he managed as a thank-you. It felt a bit like we were surrounded by members of the Greek mafia because the place was so dark and subdued. But, I had the opportunity to sample some pretty amazing Greek food and felt more comfortable as the evening went on.

Several weeks later I heard noise outside my huge living room window, and when I looked out, I saw the family handing things out their identical window one floor below. They were skipping out on the lease/rent. The office was closed and on the other side of the two-story building we lived in so it was not likely they were noticed until a few days later when I knew they were moved out. I called the office and suggested that they check the apartment.

The family moved a couple of miles away and invited us for lasagna. They wanted to say thank you again for keeping their move under wraps until they were safely out. Watching the couple, I could tell he doted on her and she wanted so much to please everyone. Being the stepmother to teens was not an easy job and she knew she wasn't the most popular. Somewhere along the way, I suggested that she provide guidance rather than parenting and leave that part of the family relationship to hubby. Anything to help the kids be less afraid.

Stay tuned for the next installment.

[longitudinalwaveme]

For anyone who's curious:

Issue #207 was written by Mike Friedrich, who was one of three or four writers who wrote for the title after John Broome and Gardner Fox were entering retirement, but before Cary Bates took over the book for over a decade.

Issue #306, weirdly enough, was actually a fill-in issue by Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn. Perhaps surprisingly, it's actually a really good issue, and it fits Cary Bates' tone so perfectly that I thought he was the writer until I happened to check the credits for it.

Fiona really had a rough go of it. First she was almost killed by her evil ex-boss (who coincidentally looked exactly like Barry Allen), then Senator Creed Phillips, her boyfriend, turned out to be a murderous superpowered vigilante who called himself the Eradicator, who kidnapped her and then ultimately ended up killing himself, then she got engaged to Barry only for him to (from her perspective) stand her up at the altar, then she was almost killed by Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash, then she saw the Flash kill the Reverse-Flash right in front of her, then her fiancé dropped off the face of the Earth (Barry faked his own disappearance after getting arrested for killing Reverse-Flash....as the Flash), then she had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized, then when had she almost recovered events transpired that led to her having a relapse, and then when she was finally fully recovered, Barry basically immediately disappeared to go live in the future with the not-dead-after-all Iris. And then Crisis on Infinite Earths happened, and Fiona was basically never mentioned again. Poor Fiona.

Also, Barry's parents seemed to treat her like an also-ran. Particularly Henry. They didn't actively oppose Barry's marriage to her, but there was this really uncomfortable undertone of "She'll never be as good as Iris". It also didn't help that Henry's reaction to her being upset that his son had stood her up at the altar was to basically tell her "Well, if you REALLY love him, you should just stand here and wait for him to show up even though it absolutely looks like he stood you up for no reason". Charming, Henry:

No wonder Barry got along with Roscoe's-ghost-pretending-to-be-you better than he got along with you:

Note that Barry also never told Fiona that he was the Flash, so it's not like she knew that he might have disappeared for Flash-related reasons. You'd think he'd have learned after Iris that having your spouse in on your secret is helpful, but apparently not!

Interestingly, the psychiatric hospital where Fiona was staying also housed the Pied Piper after he had a mental breakdown in the same arc:

He's called "Henry Rathaway" because Cary Bates forgot a character's name again. Here, he combined part of Piper's alias name (Henry Darrow) with part of his actual name (Hartley Rathaway).

Also, I don't agree at all with Barry/Cary Bates' analysis of the Rogues as being "mentally warped", at least not in the sense that they're driven to villainy by mental illness. I think Bates kind of jumped on the Batman villain train a bit towards the end of his run insofar as he started to imply that all the costumed villains had to be mentally ill, but thankfully, he did at least avoid sending any of the Rogues besides Hartley (who legitimately DID have a mental breakdown and legitimately did need treatment) to a psychiatric facility.

That being said, the progress of Piper's mental breakdown (and Fiona's own breakdown, for that matter) were actually handled surprisingly well, especially for the 1980s. We got to see the Pied Piper slowly deteriorate over the course of several issues before he finally had his breakdown, and both he and Fiona were shown to have their symptoms improve, to relapse, and then to finally recover. This implies that, in a rarity for comic books, Central City has psychologists that can actually do their jobs (and aren't evil!) The hospital is also called a hospital and not an asylum, which is a relief, and Fiona's mental illness was not used to villainize her in any way, which was a refreshing change of pace. There are still quite a few flaws in the way the story handles mental illness, of course, but it's kind of embarrassing that a story from 1984-1985 is better at handling mental health issues than most modern comics (Heroes in Crisis, I am looking at you and your unfortunate implication that even heroes with mental health problems are potential murderers and that going to therapy will make your problems worse and get you killed.)

The two police officers talking to the receptionist aren't police officers at all---they're actually Captain Boomerang and Mirror Master in disguise, and have arrived to break Piper out of the hospital (not yet knowing how bad his mental state actually is).

On an unrelated note, Flash #307 also featured disco-dancing Sam:

In this same story, he also fell in love with a woman named Narcissa, who was from of one of DC's 5 different Atlantises and had become trapped in the mirror whilst attempting to escape the destruction of her city. Sam tried to free her by tricking the Flash into swapping places with her, but this ended up breaking the mirror and trapping Narcissa inside permanently:

I love how Barry goes from "Nice try, Mirror Master, but I've defeated you again" to "Mirror Master? Hello, Mirror Master? Scudder?" to "there, there, buddy. It'll be all right" in the span of about a minute. It's a nice showcase of Barry's compassion, even to his enemies.

This is also probably the only classic Sam comic where he's portrayed in a sympathetic/tragic light, and one of only a few times where we see him feeling truly vulnerable.

The first of the other two examples was the time he went to Gotham City to steal a necklace and quickly became embroiled in a "who's the better criminal fight" with Digger, who was also in Gotham trying to steal the same necklace. Apparently, Sam is just petrified of Gotham generally, because this is his initial reaction to thinking he's about to get mugged by some thugs:

He really does seem terrified---and it's not because of the Batman or the Joker or anything, it's because of regular thugs in cheap party masks. Sam must be really scared of Gotham.

He's called Joe Scudder here because Cary Bates was really bad at remembering character's names.

The last example of Sam actually being vulnerable came from Flash #320, where he was nearly killed by the Eradicator (the same one who was the senator Fiona was dating):

Most of the rest of the time he was confident and cocky, so these three instances really stand out.

Unlike poor Fiona, apparently, since basically everyone's forgotten about her. I wish somebody would bring her back sometime, just to show that she's now happily living a life of her own somewhere, having fully recovered from all that trauma.

Something something Barry saying he won't dance when he's out with Fiona cause he thinks he's bad at it

(Flash 306)

VS

Barry grooving at home, getting ready to go out and being so comfortable with Iris that he can't help but dance

(Flash 207)

Did the author change and just forget about this? Yes and probably. But, can i read too far into it watsonian-style? Also yes.

[thattimdrakeguy]

What scene you talking about?

The one where Dick takes away Robin from Tim even though Dick would definitely know better than that. 'Cause Dick's the one Tim told that after Robin he'd go back to a normal life, it's very very heavily implied Tim talked him about his suicidal thoughts, and I'd have to assume would also know Damian tried to kill him just to be Robin all because Tim was adopted. Like Tim literally described by his own creator said he’s a character that only wants to be Robin. So basically even through in-world events it’s pretty obviously, that would be a totally shit bad idea, especially when Dick loves Tim as much as he does, and as protective of him as he is. It’d be like taking away the one thing your little brother who’ve you’ve been incredibly protective of for years is using as a crutch and the last stable thing in his life after most people he knew died, and you know he values more than anything else in his life at that point, and give it to the person who tried murdering him because he finally felt like he had a validation in being adopted that the murder didn’t.

Like I understand the logic of Damian needed something to feel part of things. But I also feel like if you were going to have a natural continuation of the circumstances it was in. It would probably not have happened, because grieving or not Dick was the one consoling Tim as he cried his eyes out. So it’d literally be one of the first things he’s cognitively aware about in the situation, that Tim’s on the edge of a mental breakdown. It just seems really forced in context if you want a natural continuation of events. Plus, giving someone the thing they tried murdering someone over is a horrendous lesson. And on top of that Damian was more concerned with seeking validation from his father than the actual role itself. To him the role was just the badge of the validation of at least one of the parents he’s been seeking validation from since his birth.

Then I find Dick acting like Tim is his equal to be contrived. Like Dick is one of the most skilled people ever. Tim’s whole charm is that he isn’t the best. So by that point it was like an official hit of the “Tim Drake is a Gary Stu” button. It was an excuse written in to validate themselves, but it’s another thing that wasn’t natural story-telling.

Also Damian doesn't even act like himself. Writers at the time, and some even still to this very day had/have a habit of acting like he was some bratty kid, like he was a normal bratty kid. Like teehee, petty insults with a little smirk and what not. When that's not how he was written by his creator, and I believe in one of the comics written by his creator it's even said Damian doesn't joke.

The way Damian's written in that scene irritates me so bad, 'cause that's not even how Damian acts. It's like no on gave a shit and heard a sentence long description and wrote him. It's...eesh. Like you'd think by hearing "A kid raised from birth that was beaten half the death and pieced back together all the time" would give them a sense of "Huh. Maybe he isn't a normal kid?" But it gives me the feeling they never even read the comics during their own runs.

And then they have Tim hit a fucking 10-year-old in the face. Pain tolerance, or attempted murder, or grieving, it's just--Why the fuck would Tim do that? If it was someone his own age, or older, maybe, sure. But holy shit, what a scene for your main character. Making him out to be a fucking crazy person who in all honesty, probably should've actually been put into a mental hospital if I'm going to be real.

And then there's that bullshit lie that Dick was going to put Tim into Arkham, when he said no such thing. All to woobify Tim even more. And I mean like proper wooby definition, not like "Aw he's so cute" type of woobification that some people use the term to mean. I mean like, just victimizing the shit out of him.

I'm so tired of hearing about it. Every post that says "I hate Tim stans" for the most part has something to do with that scene and that lie. It gets soooo tiring after a while.

On top of that, I'm so tired of hearing about how Tim is such a horrible person how dare he, because of some stupid scene that was horribly written by any standard I can think of beside melodrama.

Or even on the other side of the spectrum, hearing about how hitting Damian was okay.

And then it becomes like a fight between fandoms, who can woobify their fav the most, and talk about them like they're real people who this effects and not the work of melodramatic fiction.

Because if we were to count every comic book scene of melodrama as a good representation of morals. Then Jason is a genocidal maniac, and Dick assaulted a child. Which I'm pretty sure most would agree would never happen. And Marv Wolfman wrote that Dick scene himself. But look comics are just so freaking dumb sometimes.

That scene among a few others, is why I don't even regard the first arc of Red Robin very highly. It's like--I don't care it's got it's own little cult following. Red Robin had one of the first issues of Tim I ever read as a kid before I even cared so much. But my goodness that scene is a ball-peen hammer to the little toe to this fandom.

[thebreakfastgenie]

1,9,14,15

1.favorite episode

I answered this yesterday but Comrades in Arms Part 2 because Hawkeye Pierce saying "coarctation of the aorta" is actually something that can be soooo personal. Also Best of Enemies is a favorite.

9. WORST episode

Objectively I think it's Operation Noselift. The Joker Is Wild is one of my personal least favorites though.

14. thoughts on the finale

I love the finale so much. I've watched in nine times since November. There are things I think it could do better, most of which kind of unavoidable because David Ogden Stiers was sick and missed some filming. The only other thing is I feel like BJ deserved a storyline besides "really wants to go home" because that being in the last episode where they do all go home very shortly after takes most of the punch out of it for me. My favorite parts of the finale are Sidney's scenes, both at the hospital and back at the 4077th. The directing choices make me insane. Some of the hospital shots are so beautiful. That opening shot.... chills. Alan Alda's performance as Hawkeye is so so so good the portrayal of mental illness is just !!! (this makes a lot of sense if you know about Alan Alda's mother). The last like fifteen minutes is literally just everyone saying goodbye which is a perfect and necessary choice. I'm insane about Hawkeye's wardrobe choices. I'm extremely insane about the Burma Shave signs. I would kill anyone for Klinger.

I am pretty sure the deal with "What would you do if I was dying? Would you hold me and let me die in your arms or would you just let me lay there and bleed?" is that Alan Alda thinks this is a normal, hinged thing to say in casual conversation.

I'm the biggest mash finale fan. I need to watch it again soon. It's everything to me. And I love what a cultural moment it was. I could say more but I'll stop now.

15. favorite behind the scenes moment/story/clip from the gag reel

favorite gag reel moment is a dead tie between Gary Burghoff trying to take off his pants, "stop laughing at me for chrissake I have to hit my goddamn egg," and the one where it takes Alan Alda like 20 takes to make a basket. Favorite behind the scenes story... maybe the door/nor script typo incident. Also the time Alan Alda showed up to work hungover but it was fine because Hawkeye was also hungover in that scene. Also the David Ogden Stiers prank story that became An Eye for a Tooth. Also the last day press conference when Jamie Farr said he didn't get to hug everyone and Alan and David immediately tackled him.

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

“this scamdemic was planned and designed to destroy small business” statement invalid. the pandemic is real and all it did was show how many shitty many types of business owners are towards their employees in regards to low paying jobs/not paying correct wages (especially in the hospitality industry)…. and you, gary, don’t like the fact that your fucked up underhanded way of treating and paying your staff while begging them to keep working through the pandemic has been exposed. and now you’re throwing a fucking hissyfit because now no one wants to work for you. and so many of your staff have left because they realised working for you during a pandemic, or working for you in general is not how they want to spend their limited free time any longer, francine. they realised, unfortunately for you, that they’re worth more than the $16.23 an hour (but should be around $25p/h bc most of your staff are in their 20s) that you’re underpaying them and overworking them till the point of exhaustion due to your belief in hustle etc culture and the general overwork yourself til you burnout or die trying/pull yourself up by your bootstraps bullshit rhetoric is no longer/was never worth their mental and physical health and time in the first place.

and plus, on top of that, you obviously don’t care about others with your anti-mask and anti-lockdown spiels on covid posts. we do not “need to be freed from the scamdemic so i (you) can make money again! no masks! no social distancing!”. and that’s why no one wants to work for you. because you actively want to harm your workers and customers/clients, bonita/darren.

like don’t get me wrong. i get that there’s probably plenty of probably honest and nice small business people who are currently heavily struggling during lockdowns rn here in australia, and also worldwide…. but whenever i see some jackass small business person (or supporters of small business say the opening comment) like i did the other day on a fb post about the greater sydney etc lockdown…. they automatically go down as a fucking asshole in my book.

because the pandemic is not a “scam” sent out to “destroy” your ability to make money and profit and to treat your workers like shit. it should be a time that you SHOULD ACTUALLY be caring about your LOCAL COMMUNITY like you falsely claim you do by running your small business….. but if you want to put yourself, your clients and your staff ALL at risk by being a fucking anti-mask/vaxx etc fucking moron because “my nail salon is an essential service!!!! how DARE they close me down again for a month or so!!!” (there was literally a whiny article about this a few weeks in my local newspaper- a nail artist in my area bitching that “oh my nail salon isn’t an essential service but BCF (an outdoors leisure store here in australia) is!!! what the hell, nsw gov???!! getting your nails done properly is obvs more of an essential service than a camping store!!” which i agree that bcf shouldn’t be classed as an essential store either- like what the fuck even??? but still) because all you want is the money- then you’re selfish asf.

again, don’t get me wrong, i know the federal gov and also the nsw state gov here in australia rn is being awful with covid payments, refusing to reinstate the original covid payment from last year and also the job keeper payment at the full rate from last year. but that doesn’t mean you or any other small business in the service industry deserve/s to open your/their nail business or your/their cafe at full capacity during a lockdown bc “wah wah im a small business person everyone should care about me!!! this SCAMdemic needs to end now!!! (so i can go back to underpaying but overworking my staff)”.

and i know these small business people need to eat…. but if you’re in a high contact field like the beauty industry or hospitality or even retail, why the fuck are you so desperate to put your clients/customers, yourself and your workers at risk just so you can file jemima’s nails, miranda??? or for you to yell at your new recruit cassidy for not getting an order correct and then take it out of her tips or some other underhanded bullshit like that at your shitty burger joint, damien??? or just randomly toss a worker out on the street because they were 5 minutes late to their shift or w/e at your independent clothes shop, rita??? just fucking work with the no contact/social distancing and delivery rules, you selfish fucks. hopefully it’ll end at the end of august. and people will remember just how fucking belligerently and petulantly awful you were during this time, both locally and nationally (since you decided to comment on a national news post on social media, frank/sandra).

but anyway yeah. this has been bothering me for days now…. ever since i saw a comment on a news update on the lockdown of nsw on the weekend or whatever and some jackass middleaged dude said the opening comment. like no, fred, the pandemic wasn’t “planned to destroy small business” or the like. get your head out of your ass and actually fucking care about other people rather than the profits of your business or just business’s profits in general, for fucks sake.

[bullworthdrabbles]

Touch

The fading sunlight and the clouds of smoke filled the room with a dreamlike air. Two naked bodies laid splayed across the twin dorm bed on flannel sheets. Jimmy’s fingers ghosted the thin white jagged lines etched all over Gary’s chest as he took a hit from a blunt.

“Where’d you get these?” Jimmy questioned in a hushed whisper.

“Don’t recognize your own handiwork, Hopkins?” Gary teased in a nonchalant tone.

As they continued to lie next to each other absorbing each other's warmth, Jimmy tried to remember a time he ever left a mark on Gary, much less a whole web of cascading scars all along his torso.

“What? Did you think falling on my chest into glass from several stories up wasn’t going to leave a mark?”

Jimmy’s fingers halted on Gary’s skin, it took longer than Jimmy cared to admit to remember what Gary was even talking about. Once Jimmy recognized what Gary meant a flood of memories came swimming back into his mind.

That gray miserable rainy day felt so distant now. Memories trickled back to the forefront of his mind. He remembered his own fall that day, how he felt himself leave his body as gravity forced him down at fast speeds. He had nightmares about that fall, but luckily all he received was a sprained wrist and ankle. However, it wasn't luck. He landed on Gary, who had landed on his chest.

“Pffft if you think that's bad, you should have seen what happened to my wrists. It's human instinct to stick out our hands when we fall, it absorbs some of the impact and slows you down so your chest and brain don't take too much damage. Well, I shattered my wrists in the process of trying to ease my landing.” Gary explained holding up his hands displaying his surgical scars like they were medals of honor.

They continued to lay there in silence as Gary took another hit. Jimmy remembered dragging Gary's limp body out of the principal's office. He saw the trail of blood behind them, but Jimmy had seen blood before, he'd seen a lot of it, at the time he believed it was fine. The next day the mess was cleaned, allowing Jimmy to shove the guilty thoughts away. After all, out of sight out of mind.

Then Jimmy heard about Gary going to the hospital, the Academy never gave Jimmy much information as he wasn't family and they were just glad Gary was out of their hair. He remembered feeling pangs of guilt but back then it was easy after all the chaos to convince himself, Gary had brought this pain onto himself. He deserved it was the sentiment everyone had about the fight. It didn't matter that he went to the hospital, had surgery, and went to the worst asylum in the state, where abuse was seen as a form of treatment. Everyone, including Jimmy especially after Gary betrayed his trust, believed he deserved to feel that pain and hurt just like how he put everyone else through the wringer. Still, there were times when Jimmy wondered if that was the best way to hold Gary accountable.

It wasn't until Gary came back gaunt and beaten down and after Jimmy was forced to take a psychology class, that he finally understood what happened that rainy day. Then, Jimmy was filled with remorse. It ate at him, whatever anger, spite, and bitterness he held towards Gary left his body as the realization of what everything Gary said and did meant.

Now, he was staring the consequences of that day in the face. If he ever felt justified in what happened that day he certainly didn't now. Sure, Gary's awful actions needed to be stopped and he needed to be held accountable. He needed to be stopped and helped. Gary needed therapy, and adults that gave a shit about him ensuring he got rehabilitation instead of abuse. Unfortunately, neither of them had adults that genuinely cared about them. No, Jimmy had to take on the responsibility of stopping Gary from harming himself and others.

Jimmy wasn't even old enough to drive much less help someone navigate a violent mental breakdown. It wasn't surprising that his attempt to do so went so horribly, especially since back at that time Jimmy wasn't even aware of the full extent of what was happening. Saying that didn't make Jimmy feel better. Gary didn't deserve a painful visual reminder of his very public meltdown on his body permanently.

He was a kid, just like Jimmy, who was abused and neglected every step of the process of growing up. He probably hoped that at the top he'd finally be the one doing the hurting for once, instead of being hurt.

“Look, I'm sorry Gary I-” Jimmy began only to be stopped by Gary putting a finger to his mouth.

Gary sighed letting out more smoke, “Please don't start blubbering on me about how guilty you feel over stupid high school shit. We're well past that now, it's over and settled. I've made my peace with my scars. Now, take a hit before you get pissy with me for not sharing.”

Jimmy tutted and gave a dramatic but good-natured sigh with a small smile tugging at his cheeks. He didn't know if it was the weed or Gary voicing his forgiveness, but he felt the weight on his shoulders ease a bit. He took the blunt gently from Gary’s fingers and took a hit as he laid his head on his chest.

[not-poignant]

I was lurking in the discord, but I was wondering what exactly about Ef would classify him as a "soft client" to Dr. Gary? Is it just because he recognized that Ef is incredibly capable of loving underneath his trauma? Or like because he hadn't had like extreme cases of violence for a period of time? Or is it just like a combination of everything haha

We’ll probably have to give some actual context to Dr Gary’s job here, which I know I’ve done before but I can’t be bothered looking for the ask/s so I’m going to do it here in more detail.

Just a heads up that there will be a frank discussion/detailing of very disturbing themes which will include the malicious rape and murder of minors. (I.e. things that we do not deal with directly in the Spoils of the Spoiled universe at all). Mentions of client death by suicide.

Dr Gary is a specialist psychologist who actually focuses in on the clients that no one else wants to see. That doesn’t include people like Efnisien. Dr Gary sees the teenagers who have been raping their parents or terrorising them for years because it’s fun, he sees the juveniles who have raped or shoved foreign objects into their toddler siblings and killed them through mass internal bleeding, and felt nothing else about it except ‘well I ruined that one and now I think I’d like to find another one.’ He sees teenagers that are resistant, usually hit every part of the Macdonald Triad, have often/usually killed already, or have certainly raped before in a malicious or serial fashion, and almost always express no or minimal remorse for their actions.

They are manipulative, pathological liars who have very little interest in respecting the mental health system or psychologists, they often don’t want to get better, or show minimal interest in getting better, and they have a high recidivism rate (i.e. rate of going right back out there and committing crimes). A significant percentage of Dr Gary’s clients have eventually gone on to commit suicide or end up in maximum security prisons.

But Dr Gary is - due to his own personal interests, and due to his set of skills - suited to specifically helping these people, and also, he has a strong belief that everyone deserves some form of assistance, and that no one should be refused genuine psychological help just because other people believe they should be, as an example, put to death or sent to jail forever. Especially - to him - when they’re teenagers or young adults. He recognises that just because people don’t want to deal with these teenagers, doesn’t mean they don’t exist, or they don’t deserve help. He recognises that most of society will wash their hands of them and pretend they don’t exist, and he will metaphorically push his sleeves up and get to work. He strongly believes that ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away, and jailing the problem is rarely effective on its own.

This is one of the reasons why he falls back on ‘I don’t believe in good or bad people, I believe in good or bad actions.’ If he can reduce the rate of criminal activity, or change the action profile of these clients, even if they still want to behave maliciously, he considers himself on a successful journey. But it also means he works closely with juvenile detention facilities, created Hillview himself, and works closely with outpatients. (As well as in consultation, teaching, and sometimes working in court cases as a specialist). There’s a reason Mack has desk alarms and a sophisticated protection system and it’s not because of people like Efnisien; though Dr Gary wouldn’t see the most dangerous ones at his private office anyway.

I’m sure, when Dr Gary started out, he took more of a mix. But he soon distinguished himself as someone who was not only willing to take on those clients, but was actually more able to get results because his compassion is genuine (let’s be real, psychologists are only human, and a lot of them - despite their best efforts - are still going to really fucking resent someone who raped and murdered a toddler for the lolz), but so is his Take No Shit attitude. So after a while, he was only getting referrals for the most serious clients. And then he had so many of those, he had to assemble a team of specialists, and that was basically how Hillview was born.

In the end, his spectrum of clients were among the most difficult and some of the most dangerous. When Efnisien antagonised Dr Gary by saying ‘how have some of your clients not tried to kill you’ Dr Gary was probably thinking ‘oh, they have, they have.’ I like to think Dr Gary actually has a giant scar along his flank from a time when he was much younger, hubristic and under-estimated one of his clients, and that after that he got a lot more serious about his work and also his willingness to have security standing nearby when he’s working with the most serious ones.

Even his team of specialists take difficult and high risk clients, but Dr Gary is just known in the system as taking the worst of the worst (kind of like how Mikkel is known as being a public defender of domestic violence victims specifically). And these people do get known in the system. A lot of psychologists either won’t take on certain clients or do very poorly with them because they don’t want them or don’t have the tools to handle them or just are manipulated by them. So juvenile detention centres, lawyers, other psychologists and psychiatrists and facilities begin to get a bead on the specialists who will actually help, or at least try. And then they call them incessantly, forever. Dr Gary is a busy, tired man who tries to take at least two weeks off a year to sit on a beach and stare at the water lol.

Efnisien by comparison to Dr Gary’s other clients, molested people his own age - led to it by coercion, never raped anyone, and tortured animals. That’s still terrible, absolutely, but by comparison, he’s just not anywhere near the same calibre as any of Dr Gary’s other clients. He’s someone who is capable of remorse and demonstrated that before Dr Gary ever met him. He’s someone who literally has stopped hurting all animals and people by the time he’s placed in the hospital. And a quick interview with Dr Gary revealed he wasn’t a ‘psychopath’ as Gwyn thought he was, but someone with Pure O and complex PTSD who was exploited into acting on intrusive thoughts by an abuser (which we learn at the end of Spoils of the Spoiled, when Gwyn realises that Efnisien probably never would have grown up the way he did if it wasn’t for Crielle and it makes him very sad). As soon as Dr Gary realised that, he was like ‘oh no, turf him onto someone else, that’s too easy.’

The only reason he took him on was due to a complicated set of factors, including guilt and remorse that Efnisien was molested/sexually assaulted in Hillview by the psychologist that Dr Gary referred him to.

But being referred to Henton in the first place doesn’t mean Efnisien doesn’t have serious mental disorders (he does), and it doesn’t mean Efnisien doesn’t need serious care (he does), he just doesn’t represent the bulk of Dr Gary’s high risk clients. He’s an outlier. Efnisien feels his feelings and ultimately is a very soft person, not just a soft client. He wants to please everyone, he actually hates hurting people, he’s nervous and shy and fidgety, he’s sensitive and responsible and empathetic, and his biggest misfortune was needing to please a psychopath growing up that he was completely dependent on in order to live, who constantly reminded him that he was abandoned and that he’s only worth loving when he’s good (i.e. doing what he she wants), so he had no other choice. And his story or journey is literally the uncovering of his real self, or the self he is without being under the influence of Crielle. And he rebelled against that influence under his own steam, and she tried to kill him for it.

I also think Efnisien is helping Dr Gary realise that he maybe doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life working with ‘the worst of the worst’ just because no one else is equipped to handle them. Even if it can be rewarding at times.

These days he’s building a curriculum to educate more psychologists in aberrant psychology, and developing genuine compassion in the face of aberrant and malevolent behaviour and holding a centre in the face of that, and looking to spread the load a bit more, and work more as a supervisor for other psychologists who are learning how to deal with these clients. He’s realised that clients like Efnisien make him feel a lot more hopeful about the human race overall (not that he was ever a nihilist), and that maybe Efnisien shouldn’t be the only one. But we’re never going to learn that in the story, because it’s not a ‘Dr Gary story’ lol.