#JED NEEDS HUMBLING SOMETIMES

[b99andsoc]

MRS LANDINGHAM!!!!!!

[phoebe-delia]

West Wing Women. Ainsley Hayes and Joey Lucas are the BEST representation of women. They have their own voice and say what they mean. They have power and are yet compassionate. Ainsley's speech on why she is a Republican actually is what Republicans are MEANT to be. Brilliant writing and fantastic acting. Joey oozing confidence and accepting no crap. Just class.

This is really exciting for me because I think I've gotten...one other ask about the west wing before? So for that, I very much thank you because I am literally ALWAYS down to talk about my favorite tv show.

The women of the west wing are amazing. I totally agree about both Joey and Ainsley; I love them both so much. I LOVED Ainsley's dynamic with Sam and her introduction as a character is fucking iconic. I'm sad she left, but I would just LOVE to talk politics with her. She and I would disagree on some things, but her discussion of the ERA is what made me obsessed with the 14th amendment. (Also, Ainsley, Joe Quincy, and Arnold Vinnick are what republicans should be.)

And Joey, my love and my heart (also I just wanna mention Kenny, who is a gem). But Joey is just so smart and funny and insightful. She's always just like ahead of the game and knows what Josh needs before he's fully done asking for it. She's so smart and I love her and I wish she'd been on more often.

Okay I'm gonna talk about the other WW women for a sec.

No discussion of the WW women can take place without mentioning the inimitable CJ Cregg. She is smart, savvy and strategic and so caring. She's not perfect, and she's not meant to be, and I just really appreciate that she's not a Mary Sue. When she becomes CoS, she handles every challenge with grace and smarts, and hard work. As a woman in the workplace—and, frankly, in an Aaron Sorkin show—she deals with some sexism and harassment, and part of me is torn about it because while obviously, I hate that shit, it's also kinda realistic. I've experienced that kind of shit in a work environment, too, and watching her navigate it is really interesting, seeing which battles she picks and which she overcomes just by being better than the man who insulted her.

Now for Donna. She is so awesome, and watching her journey over time as she just BLOSSOMS and becomes confident and takes what she WANTS and gets away from Josh's office, she finally comes into her own. That scene at the end when she gets shown her new office makes me so emotional because she went from working at a tiny lil cubicle to having a gorgeous, large office of her own and working with the first lady. She's humbly brilliant and I adore her.

And Abbey Bartlet. She's also so smart and savvy, though I have a little gripe with her sometimes when she makes Jed's job harder. Ultimately, she wasn't elected, and while I'm fine with her having legislative priorities and pushing for policy, I think there are times she goes too far. But at the same time, I like that she's not perfect. I like that she pushes Jed to prioritize women more, and she's generally really supportive. And she's a great mother. And also, the staff can be kinda disrespectful of her. She's DR. Bartlet, and they call her Mrs. so often; she'd deserve that kind of respect even as an ordinary doctor, but Jed says she's a world-class surgeon. She's just as smart as Jed, and if she'd had political ambitions of her own I bet she'd have gotten really far if not been president herself.

I love all of the Bartlet daughters, but Ellie is my favorite. She's so smart and humble and relatable and her relationship with Jed is so interesting. I like Zoey, but I got frustrated with her for being with Jean-Paul, because fuck that guy. Also, I cringe so hard during that scene when Jean-Paul is debating the economy with Jed and she says "I love seeing my two men sparring." Like, *gags*

And Liz, oh poor Liz deserves so much better than Doug. Honestly, at first I thought people were too hard on him, but then when we found out he cheated I was like "oh FUCK that."

And Amy Gardner is so fun. She's also gorgeous and witty and smart and I love her dynamic with Josh. She knows what she wants and she goes for it, and I love when she fights for her goals.

Oh and you know who doesn't get nearly enough credit? Angela Blake. She gets such little time on the show and honestly, it sucks that she only comes on when Josh is slapped on the wrist before the shutdown. I wish she'd been brought back more or they'd found some other position for her so that she and Josh could do different but still important jobs.

Basically, the WW women are amazing and I love them.

[jessbakescakes]

J/D: things you said with too many miles between us

15) Things you said with too many miles between us from this post!

A present-day Josh/Donna fic for you!

July 2021

Josh stirs when his phone vibrates, and he orients himself to his surroundings. He’d fallen asleep on the couch at some point during the post-debate coverage after ensuring that the girls went to bed, and he was waiting on Donna’s phone call to debrief. Josh attempts to reach into his pack pocket to retrieve the vibrating phone. He manages to do so without stirring the dog, whose head is resting on Josh’s chest as she sleeps, letting out barely audible barks and huffs as an ndication that she’s dreaming.

“Hi,” Josh answers, his free hand moving to gently stroke the fur on top of Sadie’s head.

“Hi,” Donna parrots back.

The sound of her voice still makes him feel butterflies, even after twenty-three years of knowing her and almost fourteen years of marriage. He smiles to himself at the thought, taking another moment to realize exactly how lucky he is. “It’s quiet,” Josh notes. “Thought you’d all be celebrating.”

“We are. I just wanted to call you first so you could get to bed.”

“All the post-debate coverage is calling it a standout performance from Senator Sam Seaborn,” Josh notes. “I’m not surprised, but they sounded a little stunned, although I’m not sure why.”

Donna lets out a quiet laugh, and he has a clear vision in his mind of her leaning against a wall, smiling and looking down at the floor as she grins. “Sam did an incredible job. He was probably the most prepared out of all of them when it came to healthcare and social security. Foreign policy needed a little bit of work, but…”

“But he ran away with it,” Josh finishes. “Donna, you don’t have to be modest. I know what a big part you played in this.”

“Sam worked hard,” Donna insists.

“Of course he did,” Josh agrees, “but you worked just as hard, if not harder.”

“You’re right. I did. I think this is a turning point. It's still early, and we're narrowing down the Democratic playing field but... you know.”

Josh does know. He doesn't say anything further, so as not to tempt fate, as Toby would put it, but he absolutely understands what Donna's hinting at. Josh stretches and yawns, trying not to let on that he’s as tired as he is. “I let the girls stay up for the debate, but they’ve been in bed for the last hour or so.”

“I was going to ask you how they were, considering the only updates I’ve received in the last twenty-four hours were dog photos. I was beginning to wonder if you remembered we had daughters,” Donna teases.

“Well, our eldest is going through a Taylor Swift phase,” Josh starts.

“She knew the words to what was likely Taylor Swift’s entire discography before kindergarten, and you’re just now realizing this?”

“Songwriting,” Josh clarifies.

Donna lets out a half-laugh, half-groan. “Is it the kid from marching band again? Or… still? I don’t know which is the most accurate way to finish that sentence.”

“I think it would be 'again', but nope. Apparently, this is just your run-of-the-mill preteen self-expression stuff.” Josh shifts slightly as Sadie lets out a low growl in her sleep, kicking her front and back paws as though she’s dreaming of chasing something. “I think I heard the same chord progression on the guitar for about six hours straight today.”

“Excellent, looking forward to it,” Donna says.

“Nora spent her morning drafting a plan to convince me to get another dog,” Josh starts.

“Absolutely not,” Donna interjects before Josh can finish the sentence.

“I told her no!” Josh laughs in disbelief. “I do have some willpower, you know. Then she decided she wanted to start a dog walking business, because if she earned the money for the dog maybe it would sway me.”

“I’ve only been gone twenty-four hours, please tell me Leah hasn’t asked for a piercing or declared a college major,” Donna jokes.

Josh scratches Sadie behind the ear. “She asked me to take her to that little used bookstore so she could spend her birthday money.”

“How’d she fare?”

“She currently has two stacks of books in the corner of her room as she debates whether she wants to spend the rest of her money on another shelf or trade in some other books to make room,” Josh explains. “She also considered using the money for a custom Mets jersey with her name on it, but decided against it.”

“Too expensive?”

“No special characters,” Josh says. “She didn’t like the way Moss-Lyman looked without the hyphen.”

“I’d ask how Sadie is, but I think I know exactly how her day went thanks to your efforts,” Donna says.

“I’m but a humble servant of man’s best friend,” Josh jokes. He’s noticed something in Donna’s tone as the conversation has unfolded, the hesitant ‘we need to talk’ undercurrent of everything she says, so he decides to be the first to dive in. “What’s on your mind, Donna?”

Donna sighs. “So I was approached by Bryce Palmer from the DNC today. Apparently, there’s something brewing with Congressman Hanover and some allegations of impropriety.”

“Hanover? Like the Wisconsin fifth, Hanover?”

“The very same,” Donna confirms. “Problem is, they don’t have a viable Democrat for a special election should he resign. So they came to me to take my temperature on the whole thing.”

Josh can’t help but let the wheels in his brain start turning. The idea of Donna flipping a typically Republican district in Wisconsin sounds incredible. If anyone’s capable of it, it’s Donna. But he’s learned over the years to let Donna process before giving an opinion, so instead of rattling off all the possibilities, he simply listens.

“I told them I’m running Sam’s campaign right now,” Donna explains. “But they really want me to consider a run in the fifth next go-around. Or… you know, should there be a special election sometime between the general and the midterms.”

“You thinking about it?” Josh asks.

He hears Donna take a deep breath, then let out a long exhale. “A little? I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. Don’t start your ‘Donna, I’ve been setting this up for you for years’ speech,” she warns.

“Wasn’t gonna. Just listening.”

“I know you’d be at your laptop searching for properties in the Wisconsin fifth right now if Sadie weren’t asleep on you,” Donna says. “I can tell if you put me on speakerphone, you know.”

Josh sheepishly taps the speakerphone button, putting a temporary pause on his search that he had already started, just as Donna had predicted. “You’re not on speakerphone.”

There’s a pause for a moment, and Josh can sense her hesitation. “Flipping a district is a lot of work.”

“It is,” Josh agrees.

“I also don’t know if I’m ready to jump right into another campaign after this,” Donna continues. “It’s been a lot of time away from all of you. If I stay away too much longer, Caroline’s going to become a YouTube sensation whose material is almost entirely inspired by the absence of her mother. Nora’s going to be running an animal shelter out of the garage, and Leah will have either a Beauty and the Beast sized library or a podcast with her Grandpa Jed, it’s a toss-up.”

“That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?” Josh asks, holding back laughter.

“I’ve been away a lot,” Donna insists. “Things change while I'm away. I miss all of you.”

Josh smiles. “We miss you, too.” He has the instinct to tell her not to dismiss the idea out of hand, to give it some thought before she gives her answer. But despite her hesitation, Josh knows there’s a small part of Donna that’s considering it, and that’s enough for him. “Get back to the party. We’ll talk about it when you get home.”

They say their goodbyes and I love yous after confirming Donna’s flight details. Josh wakes the dog and heads up the stairs toward the bedroom, already plotting out the strategy for winning in the Wisconsin fifth.

Hypothetically, of course.

[highgaarden]

Lizzie/Landon - "I think I'm the first girl to break a bed with a guy, without even having sex with him while doing so." (pls let them break a bunch of other stuff while actually having sex)

two-shot! read and comment on ao3, please!

where you cast those stones you wear;

rating: explicit chapters: 1/2 characters: lizzie/landon; background klaus/caroline, background hope/landon, background josie/penelope; the whole SS gang.

where you cast those stones you wear

part i

----

“There you are.”

Lizzie’s smile is the fakest ass fake smile he’s ever seen, and he’s seen a lot of them.

It’s how she smiles when Wade asks her for donations to his Anime club. Or when Dr Saltzman caught all of them at the Old Mill trying to make moonshine (Kaleb’s idea). Her smiles are especially at their fakest when she wants to pull Hope away from him for some magical assistance to whatever trouble she’s managed to get herself—

—and Josie, and Alaric, Raf, MG, (himself, though she’ll never count him) and probably half the school along as well—

—that week. “Just the person I wanted to randomly bump into in study hall.”

“Really,” he deadpans, not believing her one bit.

He shifts his book just a little closer to his chest. He’s not nervous, but her energy is full of it sometimes, and sometimes it’s just energy personified that bounces off the calm he tries to fill his study hall with.

You know, where they’re supposed to study – in silence, preferably – but with Lizzie, there’s never much of silence.

It’s with a bit of a niggling discomfort that Landon realises he’s learned her tells: Lizzie can talk up a storm, always, but it’s in tense moments that she can’t seem to shut up. Not that he’d ever tell her to shut up; he doesn’t know why he always just wants to be nice to her, despite her printing out posters of VOTE ARTISANAL JAR OF MAYONNAISE FOR HOMECOMING KING last semester and sticking them all over school.

 —

 “Well?” Lizzie prompts, clicking her tongue.

Landon’s just sitting there, and for all his humble bragging about being at the top of their classes he’s just… sitting there, with a look that tells her he’s not quite registering what she’s just said to him.

“I’m—I’m sorry?” he finally says.

Lizzie sighs loudly enough for the entire study hall to send glares their way. Landon attempts to tamp down on their aggression, but all Lizzie does is just sigh louder.

Sorry, Landon mouths apologetically again, raising his hand at Wade, who looks close to crying over exam revision.

“Landon,” Lizzie says with finality.

“Lizzie,” Landon matches her tone. “I’m sorry, but you’re just going to have to repeat yourself.”

Murder is the only word that comes to mind with the glare she sends his way. But she decides to humour him.

“Wow, that’s so weird. I feel like I’m just mishearing you. Again, please—hey, I said please.”

Lizzie’s mouth moves around the words she’s telling him.

Landon continues to stare at her blankly. “Sorry, there’s just this weird ringing in my ears. It sounds like you just asked me to be your boyfriend?”

 —

 Elizabeth Jenna Saltzman.

Asking him, resident emo-boy, a marginally competent bird as she always ‘fondly’ calls him, to be her esteemed partner.

“Am I hearing this right?”

Lizzie hisses right through her teeth, “Do not insult me, you moderately competent bird.”

See?

He lifts his book as if to deflect the blow of her mighty glare. “Look, I’m not! I’m just – are you feeling alright? Been getting enough sleep?”

“Two weeks have passed since my mom’s come back, and I have thoroughly exhausted every single mother-daughter bonding activity ever, and she’s moved on from Oh Lizzie, my favourite daughter, I’ve missed you so much snuggling to Who is this Sebastian your father keeps mentioning lectures.” Lizzie adds flippantly: “I’m not vibing with it.”

“Sebastian?”

“Super sexy perma-teen vampire but a complete misjudgement of character on my end.”

“And this isn’t?” Landon mumbles.

“I need to get my mother off my back, keep up.” Lizzie inches forward in her seat. The ends of her hair graze the table with how much she’s leaning towards him, making him look her in her wide, blue eyes. Always with the theatrics. “You’re just about at the exact opposite end of the Sebastian spectrum. Mopey, dependable, not obviously good looking, but your other qualities probably can make up for that. And you’re the kind of guy would probably wake up super early to get me a coffee and croissant before school, because that’s just how cheesy you are.”

“Thanks?”

“Don’t interrupt me. Anyway, it’s not just for my benefit either.”

“Somehow I find that hard to believe.”

Lizzie’s smile widens just a touch. “Heard your little crush on Hope just went up in flames.”

So is his face now, all puffed out and embarrassed. He lowers his voice and hisses, “How do you know about that?”

“Oh Landon. My sweet thrift store hobbit,” Lizzie sighs. “Everyone knows about it. You wear it like a badge of constant glumness. You didn’t speak to Jed for a whole week after he bought her a sandwich last week.”

“I could’ve bought her a sandwich too, big deal,” Landon mutters.

Lizzie raises a sharp finger and looks smug. “Ah, but you didn’t! See, my boy, you’ve got no game. Now imagine how much cooler your image would be if you were seen with resident popular girl,” she gestures to herself. “Your reputation would shoot up the ranks.”

“There are ranks?”

“Duh,” Lizzie says like it’s the most obvious thing. “And you, being a phoenix without actually possessing any unique phoenix qualities other than resurrecting – ”

“That’s not unique enough?”

“—looking like a pale artichoke in gym class doesn’t help, either. I am your salvation!” Lizzie finishes, hands on her hips and jaw raised like she’s standing centre-stage at their annual talent competition.

Landon narrows his eyes. “You think people will like me more if it looks like I’m dating you?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. Move a little.” She takes a seat next to him gracefully, tucking her skirt under her thighs. “Listen. I need my mom to stop breathing down my neck. She’s been looking at me like she wants to give me the birds and the bees talk, with visual aid, flash cards and mini-theatre and I’d rather not go through that again. Once was more than enough. Pretty sure Dad wants her to exact power over my social life, since he doesn’t really have any say in that, and I’m looking at two semesters of constant surveillance. Or a twelve-step programme. And Professor M isn’t helping either—”

Landon shuts his book. “How does Professor M know about your love life?”

“Everyone knows about my love life, Landon. I’m interesting.” She rests an unwilling hand on his shoulder with a grimace. “And soon you will be too.”

“Because I’ll be dating you.”

“Fake dating,” Lizzie corrects primly.

“And you think Hope will like me, even though I’ll be unavailable?”

“There’s something to be said about wanting the unattainable, Landon. And trust me, you will be unattainable once you’re standing by my side.”

“Yeah, because everyone will think I’m nuts.”

“I resent that. Say yes.”

“Lizzie, I—” a panicked, helpless sort of look crosses Landon’s face. “This is really dishonest; I don’t think we should be…”

“Let me do the thinking for both of us, alright Little Bird?” Lizzie snips. “Getting back in my parents’ good books, the teachers off my backs for any sort of inevitable breakdown, and you… get to be Professor M’s potential son-in-law one day.”

“This is extremely coercive, you know,” Landon points out, but the protest is feeble at best. “And making me really uncomfortable. Nobody will buy it.”

“We’ll just have to put on a really good show,” she swears. “Say yes.”

 —

 Two things happen the next two days:

Landon attempts to say hi to Hope, who looks right through him to greet MG a good morning.

During lunch break, by some kind of miracle, he joins Hope and Lizzie for lunch just in time to hear Hope say, “You were right about the bio homework, by the way. Your ideas aren’t that bad, Saltzman.”

Lizzie cocks an eyebrow at Landon. “Welcome, Kirby.”

“Oh, hey Landon,” Hope greets warmly.

Landon takes all of thirty seconds to make up his mind.

Lizzie’s phone vibrates in her bag. When she checks it, it’s from Landon.

Just one word.

Yes.

 —

 Every Friday evening, the rag tag group of upper-secondary students meet for some dumb study group Emma had made them all participate in, in an effort to like, ‘bond’ as ‘one’ ‘community’ or something.

It’s astonishing that all of them consistently make it every single week, but no one will admit it’s because they appreciate each other’s company. They’d chalked it up to Stockholm Syndrome.

Rafael comes when he feels like it, but he’s usually stuck in detention helping Dorian jar newton eyes or something, but even he tries to be on his best behaviour so he doesn’t miss much of these.

It’s during one of these study groups that MG, having been not-so-discreetly been spying on Lizzie and Landon whilst they all parroted off chemical equations to each other, demands: “Why are you touching him?”

He’s probably been watching them really closely since the Bomb had Dropped.

Lizzie makes sure to have Josie walk into them in the courtyard one day with her hand placed very carefully on Landon’s thigh, and shocks her twin so much she goes running through the hallways until she bumps into Penelope, and blurts out the scene she just witnessed, swearing her to secrecy.

Penelope, of course, tells everyone else.

Lizzie pretends to fidget with the hem of her shirt. “Excuse you?”

MG narrows his eyes. “You just… keep putting your hand on Landon’s arm. Willingly. Why.”

“Haven’t you heard?” Penelope smirks, whilst Josie turns red and avoids Lizzie’s glare, “they’re the Salvatore School’s It Couple right now.”

“Fake news,” Jed coughs into his notes, and Kaleb guffaws.

Hope doesn’t do anything but watch the entire exchange with curious eyes.

“Look, Penelope, you don’t have to believe it,” Landon begins, but he’s making mopey eyes at Hope, so Lizzie decides to cut in.

“As devastated as I am to admit it, Frodo’s been growing on me,” Lizzie sighs, the vision of a woman distraught. “Who knew I was into nerd porn?”

MG’s ears might as well be whistling, and Jed’s cough sounds like a choke now.

“Girl, say what,” Kaleb says in one disbelieving breath. “Tell me you’re not serious. You okay? Been getting enough sleep? Is this a breakdown thing, ‘cause Emma said we have to like, show solidarity and help you visualise your inner child and shit—”

Lizzie smarts at that, just a little. Her lips part to shoot some of her automatic sass bullets, but surprisingly nothings comes out. Landon secretly puts his hand on her knee in a secret show of solidarity.

“Kaleb,” Josie says sharply. “People can change.”

Lizzie eyes Landon curiously. He shoots her a small smile, which she looks away from.

“Exactly,” Penelope nods, but she’s smirking in a way that says she doesn’t buy a single thing, and is enjoying every second of watching Landon squirm under everyone’s scrutiny. “Who’d you lose the bet to, Lizzie?”

Lizzie, despite herself, starts to feel annoyed. “I’ll have you know, Penelope, Landon isn’t the short end of an already short bunch of sticks—”

Landon tries to figure out the compliment there.

“Then – then prove it!” MG blurts out. “Kiss. If you’re really a couple, then – Kiss!”

That stops Lizzie short. “Milton. Ew.”

“Really gross, MG.” Hope shoots him a look of distaste.

“Voyeur much?” Penelope smirks.

“Nah, I’m with MG,” defends Kaleb. “This is really entertaining and all, but it’s kinda starting to weird me out. Suck his face. No way you’d do that willingly.”

“You’re all wrong,” Lizzie tells them politely. Or as politely as she can. Things are a-movin’ and she’s excited; she can already feel her legs tingling when she accidentally siphons some of Landon’s magic from his hand on her knee under the table. She swallows down the smugness in her voice, because this is exactly where she’d hoped the day would go. She turns to Landon, and wills him not to look so pale.

“Pucker up, ‘90s,” she coos.

Keeping her face as forced-smiley as possible she leans forward and gives Landon a peck on his lips. A small little one. A peck really, bird to bird.

Landon, to her discreet pleasure, kisses her back.

When they part their chaste, publicly-acceptable form of display, everyone is looking at them, shell-shocked.

Penelope steals Jed’s can of Coke just so she could do a spit-take.

 —

 “That plan worked out awesome. Score one to Saltzman,” Lizzie sighs victoriously as she plops down onto her bed. “Now on to Phase 2.”

“I really don’t want to know what Phase 2 is,” Landon mumbles. He’s got his arm slung over his eyes as he slumps three inches down into Lizzie’s plushy pink armchair.

“Phase 2 is Mom walking into us. She’s about to start baking downstairs. I know. It’s Tuesday. Ready?”

Slowly, Landon removes his arms. He stares at her. For like, a really long time. “What do you mean,” he widens his eyes, “by walking into us.”

Lizzie smiles deviously. Without warning, she lets out a very soft moan.

“Lizzie,” Landon hisses harshly.

“Yes, exactly, keep doing that,” Lizzie responds in a breathless voice, whilst she grins manically at him and flaps her hands, motioning for him to go louder.

“Lizzie,” Landon groans now, completely exasperated. “It’s barely been two days, I really doubt we’ll be having sex right now—”

“Yeah, keep talking dirty to me!” Lizzie all but bellows and jumps up on the bed, the mattress squeaking. She glares at Landon, who sighs, and very reluctantly joins her.

They jump up and down, and every so often Lizzie punches Landon in the arm so he lets out a believable grunt.

The mattress springs keep squeaking. Lizzie keeps up her panting.

After four more minutes of that, Landon’s a little out of breath, puts some spring in his jump, and lands in a pile of Lizzie’s haphazard pillows.

“Give it up, Lizzie,” he says, resuming his previous moping position of arm-over-eyes. “I think I pulled a muscle.”

“Sexy,” Lizzie says the way one might say ‘rancid foot’, but drops down next to him anyway. She stares at the ceiling, and they let out a long sigh.

After about another four minutes of moping, Lizzie turns to her side and swats Landon’s arm off his face. “Enough! Tomorrow night is another day.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” he points out, before propping himself up on one elbow to face her. “About that kiss just now—”

“They totally bought it,” Lizzie can’t resist interrupting.

“You sure you okay with this?” he mumbles in that Landon way of his. He studies her face. She notes the dark circles framing his obsidian-blues.

“Getting cold feet already, Kirby?”

“No, it’s just that—”

Her door swings open. “Elizabeth, do you remember where your mum put the…”

Lizzie and Landon whip around to see a very livid Professor M, staring at them, at the space between them, at the sweat beading on Landon’s forehead, at Lizzie’s once-sleek French braid that has now shaken loose, at the two of them again, at the space between them, and once more at Landon.

“Professor Mika-Mikaels—” Landon squawks, turning white as a sheet.

The growl that emanates from Professor M seems to make the room tremble, and Landon all but stutters to a stop. Lizzie, however, is coming up sunflowers. She practically bounces to her knees and throws her hands up, eyes crinkling warmly, exclaiming, “What did you need of me, my beloved stepfather!”

“Well, darling, I was looking for your mother’s ridiculously expensive sea salt but now I’m looking for something else entirely,” he grits out through clenched teeth, despite being slightly mollified by Lizzie’s welcome.

“And that is?” Lizzie all but croons, making a very conscious move towards Landon. “We’re kind of in the middle of studying right now.”

“Banishing objects, hm? Your books are missing.”

“Invisique,” Lizzie sings in reply. Landon just wants her to shut the fuck up, right now.

Landon’s head disappears, which is a good thing, because he looks like he’s holding in from puking his guts out, the way Klaus observes him like he’s a piece of meat.

“You’re the phoenix, yes?”

“Yes,” Landon says squeamishly.

“Alright,” Professor M seems to deliberate, before flashing over to Landon, grabbing him and throwing him out the room and right down the stairs.

“Niklaus Mikaelson!” comes her mom’s furious bellow.

“For FUCK’S SAKE, KLAUS!” She hears Dad yell. “WE JUST TALKED ABOUT THIS.”

Screams erupt, there’s a clattering of feet, and Lizzie falls out of bed in a perfect traumatised swoon, back of her hand rested delicately on her forehead. “Stepfather! Can we not with the dramatics!”

“We’re going to have a talk about this later,” he warns with a finger wagging her way, his undisguised rage making his accent thicker.

“I’ll miss you when you’re suspended again,” Lizzie pouts.

He groans, already hearing Mom’s boots stomping up the stairs. “As shall I, my sweet.”

 —

 At least Landon’s gotten used to resurrecting. Cause of death: the ire of Professor Klaus Mikaelson.

Lizzie’s waiting for him with a warm blanket when he starts to stir, her head facing the sky like she’s enjoying the sunset. Blinking groggily, he turns onto his stomach and rubs the back of his neck. He feels the weather-worn wood of the docks pressing into his face and he groans. That’s going to leave a mark.

“Welcome back,” Lizzie quips.

“Just because I can’t die doesn’t mean I wouldn’t appreciate some sympathy, Lizzie,” Landon mutters, throwing her a murderous look. “So what’s your damage.”

“Let’s see,” Lizzie says as she drapes the blanket over Landon’s crumpled heap of a body, face and all. “Two weeks of grounding. Mom suggested making it three weeks, but Dad intervened and said he’d rather us be on library duty instead for the rest of this semester.”

“Us?”

“Professor M also suggested throwing you out the window and have me try to levitate you before you hit the ground—”

“Jesus fucking Christ.”

“—but Mom was all Oh, maybe that’s a little too harsh,” Lizzie continues thoughtfully.

“A little?” Landon squeaks underneath the blue and white embroidered quilt. “Literally dying wasn’t enough?”

“But on the plus side, they were yelling so hard the entire school now knows we were caught post-doing the dirty.” Lizzie shoots him a grin. “On to Phase 3!”

“No!” Landon yells and clambers to his feet. “Lizzie, so far all your plans have kind of sucked for me, you know? How the hell is Hope supposed to like me now that she thinks I’ve slept with you!”

“Easy, lover boy,” Lizzie says, frowning. “This is the 21st century, she’s not a prude.”

“You don’t — you don’t know her like I do,” Landon says, burying his face in his hands and turning towards the water. “She’s not like y…”

He whirls around, hands already halfway lifting up like a gesture of apology but Lizzie’s already standing up, facing him squarely. Her eyes are narrowed as she takes him in coolly. “Not like?”

“Nevermind,” Landon says quickly. “Let’s grab some dinner, I’m starv—”

“Finish your fucking sentence, Frodo,” Lizzie says in a voice that is low and dangerous. Is it weird that he’s seeing some Klaus in the shadows of her face right now?

“Lizzie… let’s drop it.”

“No. Let’s hear you say it. Not like what? You were saying she’s not like me,” she hisses. Her fists are bunched into tight fists and he’s so glad she doesn’t have anything to syphon right now. He really hasn’t tried dying twice in the span of 12 hours.

“Look, I’m sorr—”

“Invisique,” she whispers.

“Lizzie!”

He hears the wooden boards squeak as she runs away, and when her feet hit grass there’s no telling where she might be.

“Fuck you, Landon!” he yells and heaves a rock into the water with a loud splash.

 —

tbc

[jafreitag]

Grateful Dead Monthly: Academy of Music – New York, NY 3/28/72

Before Europe ’72, there was Academy of Music ’72. Between March 21 and 28, 1972, the Grateful Dead played seven concerts at the Academy of Music in New York City.

That’s the original Academy of Music. It opened in 1854 as a 4,000 seat opera house on the northeast corner of East 14th Street and Irving Place in Manhattan. The Dead didn’t play there. They played across the street at a 3,400 seat movie palace also named the Academy of Music, which opened in 1927.

That’s the latter Academy of Music. It shifted from a cinema toward a concert venue in the mid-60s. The Rolling Stones played there on their first U.S. tour in 1965. Around the closing of the Fillmore East, some eight blocks south and east (if my dodgy NYC geography is correct), the former movie palace was a full-on rock palace, hosting the Allman Brothers Band (8/15/71), Aerosmith opening for Humble Pie and Edgar Winter (12/2-3-71), and the Band (12/28-31/71 – those shows were excerpted for the 1972 live album Rock of Ages and featured in their entirety for the 2013 box set Live at the Academy of Music 1971).

The Academy of Music was renamed the Palladium in 1976. And on 9/20/79, this happened there.

The guitar smash, not the album, obv. #paulsimononftw The venue was converted to a nightclub by Studio 54 guys Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager in 1985. In 1992, they sold it to Peter Gatien, who kept it open until 1997. The last concert at the Palladium was Fugazi on 5/1/97 (Red Medicine tour, I think). It’s now an NYU dorm with a gym in the basement.

The Dead visited the Academy/Palladium twice – once in 1972 and once in 1977. In ’72, they were workshopping material that they would soon take across the pond. In ’77, they were solidifying material that they would soon take upstate for the ne plus ultra. Fun fact, the fourth night of the ’72 run was presented by Hells Angels. Here’s the full poster.

[The lessons of Altamont ’69 apparently had been learned, then put to rest. Quick replay, tho, from less than three years earlier.]

The New York Daily News summarized the run like this: “Seven concerts in one week at the Academy of Music, every one of them sold out within hours, more by ESP than advertising… The week’s series will help finance the Dead’s traveling expenses for a two-month, seven-country tour of Europe beginning Saturday.” That quote appears in an excellent and exhaustive recap of all the shows (and their recordings) by someone called “Light Into Ashes” on the Grateful Dead Guide blog. There, LIA posits:

“Musically, this run falls midway between the honky-tonk vibe of the fall ’71 shows, and the smoother Europe ’72 tour. Probably one of the Dead’s plans for the run, aside from raising money for the Europe tour, was to hone their performances for the upcoming live-album recording – after a two-month break from playing shows together, they would need to get back in the groove! 

People who saw them at the time were probably struck by the changes in repertoire. (They only played two songs that had been on Live/Dead, one time each; few songs from Workingman’s Dead or American Beauty were played at all; and many of their newer songs were not on any albums yet.) Pigpen was also singing and playing more than he had in ’71 (singing five or six songs a night); a new piano player had altered the band’s sound quite a bit; and some unknown longhaired lady would come onstage to sing for a song or two. New Yorkers would also have noticed that the Dead no longer played til dawn, as they had done so often at the Fillmore East!

The average show length was three and a half hours, as they played through most of their repertoire each night. (Any audience members who went to several shows in the run would hear most of the same songs a LOT of times.)”

The Grateful Dead Sources blog has a 1972 newspaper review from Toronto’s Grapevine. Pretty funny, it’s worth a look.

Betty Cantor-Jackson recorded the shows, but the tapes disappeared until some guy from Northern California bought them at an auction in 1987. The tapes sat in his barn deteriorating. When Jerry died in 1995, one of the guy’s friends, who must’ve known a thing or two about the Dead, contacted Dark Star Orchestra’s Rob Eaton. Eaton cleaned and restored the tapes at his own expense, and returned them to the guy.

(^ Rob Eaton)

From LIA’s post, which quotes Eaton from an interview with Katie Harvey:

“‘The collection was really unique. Half of it was Garcia-Saunders from ’73, 74, 75. It was just nothing anybody had ever seen. And all the Academy of Music tapes from the Dead in ’72, which no one had ever heard a tape of: really bad audience tapes were the only thing [from that run], nothing was in the Vault. So I knew it was really important.’

Eaton kept DAT copies of the reels, although the buyer made him sign a contract not to copy or distribute the recordings. ‘He drew up this contract that I was liable for $100,000 in liquefied damages if I released the contents of the collection without his written authorization. And I wasn’t allowed to keep a copy according to this thing. All the copies had to be in his possession. Of course I’m keeping a DAT master of everything I’m doing. I’m not that stupid. I was a deadhead and protecting the music was my first and foremost thought. Legally, I wasn’t really that concerned with it. Because I was sort of in with the Dead office at the time, they found out that I had these. They wanted to get a hold of the guy. So I got them in touch with this guy who wanted a million dollars. They just told him to fuck himself. They came back to me and they go, “Look, we know you’re smart. We know you probably kept a set of DATs. What would it take to get that set of DATs from you?” And I said, “Well, first of all, I signed this contract.”’

But according to Hal Kantor, the Dead’s attorney, ‘He can’t claim rights to what’s on the tape. He has rights to the actual physical tapes, but what’s on the tape is our rights, not his.’ So Eaton copied his DATs (including Dead shows from 1971-76) and gave them to the Vault. And as Harvey writes: ‘They prohibited him from distributing copies because they planned to commercially release the material.'”

Parts of all seven nights in 1972 are scattered across various official releases, but the archivists have unloosed only two complete shows – 3/26 (Dave’s Picks #14) and 3/28 (Dick’s Picks #30). The latter also contains the Bo Diddley sit-in from 3/25, so ECM and I decided to focus on that one.

According to the DP#30 Wiki, the 3/25 show was a “semi-private party” billed as Jerry Garcia & Friends. In reality, it was a GD with the band backing Bo Diddley for the first set, then playing its own second set. The entire show has sound quality issues, but the first set is quite poor. The “jam” is the most notable part. It’s essentially a slower version of the “Hard to Handle” wig-out, and not super interesting.

The Dead opened their set with a couple rarities – How Sweet It is (To Be Loved by You), on which Donna Jean reaches a truly wicked level of caterwaul, and Are You Lonely for Me Baby?, from which Bobby must’ve gotten inspiration for Black-Throated Wind. Are You Lonely was later a staple of Garcia/Merl Saunders sets in ’72-74.

3/28 is better, and offers more typical Dead fare. The first set features an extremely hot China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider duo, and some funny stage banter from Phil Lesh. After the band played Mexicali Blues, some audience members chanted for Alligator. Phil responded, “Hey, for all you Alligator fans out there, we done – ah alright alright alright. We understand that there’s a lot of Alligator fans out there, but we done forgot it, see. And so ah, we’re gonna have to remember it sometime later, you know.” The second set showpiece is an extended version of The Other One that offers a preview of what the band would do in Europe.

Ed reminded me that this show was Pigpen’s last in NYC. And he added that it contains Donna’s first Playing in the Band wail. Awesome. His listening notes are more robust than mine, as usual:

The Europe ’72 tour began on April 7th, but the boys played a preparatory seven-night run at the Academy of Music in NYC in the days leading up to their flight across the pond. 

The festivities open with a rockin Truckin.’ All the first set songs are played with gusto and feeling especially the “new” songs such as Tennessee Jed, Chinatown Shuffle, BT Wind, Mr. Charlie, You Win Again and Mexicali Blues.  After Mexicali, the audience is calling out for “Alligator” and Phil tells them that “we done forgot it.” A rare, mid-set Brokedown follows and it is a pure joy. It just might be my favorite song from the entire first set. Next Time You See Me is perfectly executed. The band tears up Cumberland. Bobby is high in the mix and it is exciting to hear his guitar part. Next, Bobby introduces LLR as a “cryin’ song.” It’s a gorgeous version that has Jerry on pedal steel and Phil on backing vocals.  and China->Rider really stands out. The segue jam in China->Rider is especially interesting as the band seems to struggle at first to find the groove behind Bobby’s solo, then they just roll with it, and then Jerry locks into a cool riff before diving into Rider. The only minor complaint is that after 6 shows, Garcia’s voice is beginning to show signs of strain (You Win Again, Big Railroad Blues and China Cat). 

The setlist for Set II pretty much speaks for itself. Playing in the Band continues to progress. This performance marks the the first time that Donna lends her vocal contributions. The jam section starts off drifty like Veneta with that big psychedelic bubble. By the 6-minute mark Jerry is in full guitar psychosis mode. They cool down into drifting, mournful ribbons of sound only to bring it to another peak around the 10-minute mark before entering the reprise. A few songs later we get a high-energy Sugar Magnolia. Jerry goes nuts on the wah pedal during the coda. Donna has not yet found her way into the arrangement yet). This segues directly into a brief drum intro that leads into a 28-minute version of The Other One. The entry is surprisingly laid back as is the entire performance. By the 7-minute mark there are no traces of the song. The band has entered uncharted territory…deep space. This is pretty experimental stuff…atonal notes and peals of feedback. Things begin to become melodic again at about the 14-minute mark as the band prepares to deliver the first verse but it takes them 2 more minutes to eventually get there and after dispensing with it they return to the same misty pastures where they once were. The concert ends in fine form with their standby crowd pleasing closer of NFA>GDTRFB>NFA. The jam at the end of NFA leading into GDTRFB especially shines. 

The only version of the Sidewalks of New York is just a half-minute tuning.

Here’s the Spotify widget.

I’ll add LMA links at some point.

More soon.

JF

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2Pt9Mye via IFTTT

[yahoo-shutdown-corner-blog]

49ers CEO Jed York wants to break bread with Jim Harbaugh, so here's what they should eat

When San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York saw Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh — the brother of the man with whom York used to work — at the NFL’s owners meetings, John suggested that York sit down and have a bite with Jim Harbaugh at some point to clear the air.

York told The MMQB’s Peter King that he’s open to the idea.

“Dessert? No thanks, I’m stuffed.” What dinner between Jim Harbaugh (L) and San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York might be like. (AP)

“I said, ‘I’d love to do that.’ I’d love to get together,” York said. “And I think enough time has kind of passed where you can let whatever issues were there be buried and just truly be thankful for three great years when nobody expected us, certainly in 2011, to beat the Saints the way we did, to get close and, you know, be two muffed punts away from going to a Super Bowl in ‘11.

“Just all the things that happened — and I’d love to sit down with Jim. Not in front of cameras, not in front of anybody else, but just share an evening with him and truly say, ‘thank you,’ and wish him the best of luck. Not obviously when he plays Notre Dame, but for the rest of the season, wish him the best of luck.”

This is interesting to read given all that happened between York and Jim Harbaugh before and since he left the 49ers to go coach at Michigan. But time heals all, and as some famous, now probably dead person once said, “let food be thy medicine.”

So when and where should they eat? Well, given that all that has transpired over the past 30 or so months since their final days together, Harbaugh has thrived and York has been the one who has seen his franchise go into the dumps, even with some optimism. Short of the most improbable Super Bowl run in history forthcoming, we suggest York fly to Michigan for the repast. After all, he has the private jet.

Our suggestion: Roast, a Michael Symon restaurant that has earned high praise and is regarded by Zagat reviewers as being both “hearty” and a place that will “reward your inner caveman/cavewoman,” which we suspect might make Harbaugh happy.

Now, what should they eat? Here’s how we’d plan the meal:

Starter — Ceviche

Look, it hits on all the themes. Harbaugh could make a disarming power play by ordering this (revenge is best served) cold dish, which also features lime, red onion, cilantro and chilies for that perfect balance of spice, tart and bitter — a nice summation of the relationship between York and Harbaugh back in the day.

Salad course — Caesar

Keep it simple and classic. The themes are impossible to overlook. The salad was named after Julius (right?), and his life was all about power struggles. If Harbs was Julius Caesar, then York must be Cato the Younger, yeah? It’s too perfect.

Sometimes, it takes a giant piece of meat to bring people back together. (Getty Images)

Steak — *Dry Aged Porterhouse for two 

*  please allow 40+ minutes

Seriously, that’s what the menu says. This is pretty funny on multiple levels. First, Harbaugh once said that his favorite Thanksgiving dish is steak, which is the most Harbaughian thing ever. He also said he considers steak to be a daily supplement, so there really would be no other protein choice here. “I take a vitamin every day,” Harbaugh once said on his radio show. “It’s called a steak.”

Second, the idea of these two sitting there, patiently rehashing the past for 40+ minutes, is just poetic. Someone will crack before the cow hits the table — guaranteed.

And, third, super awk watching them fence with their utensils over a common plate of beef.

Side — Whipped Potatoes 

Does York send his potatoes back if they’re not whipped to the right consistency? We’d pay to know this information. Plus, we’d need something smooth during this portion of the meal; after all, as recently as March, Harbaugh took a shot at York (and others) by telling Sports Illustrated that “the people that are doing the micromanaging … what they know could not blow up a small balloon.” We’d want these potatoes so light and fluffy, they could blow up a balloon.

Dessert (if they make it this far without one storming off) — The Nutty Professor

This perfectly named dish features the key ingredient of peanut butter, which once got Harbaugh all hot and bothered.

And you best believe this bad boy would not be served with a nicely decanted tawny port, but rather with an ice-cold goblet of whole milk. This dessert also contains “banana caramel,” which is good because we know he once ate something similar in one of his now-famous sleepovers with one of his recruits.

Plus, you know the name of it just fits. Harbaugh is kinda nutty. York is professorial in his look. (We have no idea what foods he eats because he just doesn’t vamp with the media the way his former coach does).

Would this be enough to get them to be chums again? Oh, who knows … but at worst, they’d have a damned good meal. Why it’s important for York to make amends with his former coach — noble as the idea might be — we’re not certain. Maybe he just wants to draft some of Harbaugh’s quality football players.

After all, perception never has seemed all that deeply important to the CEO. Or maybe he’s just sick of eating humble pie and wants to try something new.

– – – – – – –

Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @Eric_Edholm

More from Yahoo Sports: • Dan Wetzel: Odd details emerge about Hernandez’s prison suicide • Curt Schilling believes Adam Jones is lying about racial taunts • UFC president has strong words for Diaz brothers • Kevin Iole: With Chavez Jr., you can’t believe the hype • Pat Forde: Derby jockey’s difficult return from near-death injury

[xienaandphaye-blog]

Xiena’s Birthday: Realization in turning 26

Hello there! Yesterday was my birthday and I celebrated it with my sister and a good friend of mine. Actually, the things we did and the places we went to was unplanned because literally we don’t have any confirmed plan for my birthday. Maybe because of my busy and toxic schedule for the past few weeks that’s why I didn’t prepare for my special day. All I have in mind is to relax and escape from my tiring environment! Anyhow, it all turned well. *insert wink emoji*

Last Exit, Al Qudra, Dubai

As I said, yesterday I turned 26 and I can’t help but think about how blessed I am. For the past 25 years, I learned to value time, appreciate little efforts and realized the adult-ing process. Now that another year has been added to my life, this year seemed extra important in my book of life.

Last Exit, Al Qudra, Dubai

I know it's completely blogger cliche, but I figured another great way to celebrate (besides everything else I have) is to share the 26 things I'm thankful for.

1. Day offs / Pending holidays. In the field of hospitality, I required to work during holidays and weekends so I really value my free days and be more productive like yesterday, being able to celebrate my birthday even in a simple way.

2. Family. Next to God, they are my source of strength.

3. Sister’s Act. To capture and document our leisure and simple activities. #Sister-goals-unlocked! 

4. Being Independent. Living away from my parents to see my capabilities that I can do on my own.

5. Life Lessons. Trials that made me stronger and wiser. 

Atlantis, The Palm

6. My job and my boss. Flexibility, trust, patience and ownership I'm given.

7. Quality Time and effort. Quality time to God, for myself, to my sister and to my friends. 

8.  Community Service. It proves that there are people trying to make a difference in the world and its an experience that can humble a person.

9.  Forgiveness. Being able to forgive those people who hurt me and realized that I’m making myself happier.

10.  Devotional Booklet. Encourages and strengthen my faith.

Atlantis, The Palm

11.  Technology. Keeping me in touch with long distance friends and family.

12.  Music. Hillsong, Planetshakers, Ed sheran, Carpenters acoustic and revive songs. Because music is life!

13.  My KKB and JIL family. Next to God and family, they are the ones who encourage me.

14.  Prayer. The most powerful weapons God has given us so much.

15.  Sunrise and Sunsets. I’m so in love with God’s creations!

Atlantis, The Palm

16. Word of affirmation. Made my every day.

17. Healthy eating education. Not everyone knows what it means to eat a healthy balanced meal and I’m so thankful that I do.. sometimes. Haha!

18. Fresh fruits and vegetables. The beauty they bring to the world and the nourishment they provide my body.

19. Flowers and Teddy bears. Presents of appreciation.

20. Unexpected gifts or written cards. I feel my importance.

Atlantis, The Palm

21. Legs. That can run/walk and go some places you want to explore and experience.

22. Eyes. To see and witness the beauty of God’s creations.

23. Complete Family. Parents, who guide me whatever the decision I made. Siblings, who bully support me and  celebrate with me in my achievements.

24. Simple surprises. Delight to my heart. 

25. Readers. You guys are all part of my 26!

26. Last and more important GOD. For always reminding me that He is there and deeply in love with me. For providing everything I need and encourage me through the form of friendship, nature, experiences and much much more!

Sorry for my woke-up-like-this-face. Haha! Phaye and my friend Leomar surprised me at 12 midnight before my birthday with this gorg cake and their epic Happy Birthday song. Haha! Anyway, thank you so much guys! 

...that is what 26 brought me and I cannot wait to make it my best year yet. Cheers! 🥂  Thank you for all the sweet and warm greetings guys! I love you all. God bless!

Credits to Jed (good friend of Phaye and brother of Leomar) for my beautiful Rafaello cake.

XoXo,