#Oliver Twist in NYC

[jknerd]

“Oliver and Company” AU, also known as “Oliver Twist in NYC”; the adventure of an orphan Oliver who escapes from abusive environment of illegal orphanage and reached New York City where he meets Dodger and the gang living in old boat as sharing house running by Fagin.

[setaflow]

Since Billy Joel is trending now, here are my favorites in no particular order:

New York man is fucking pissed

Why you shouldn't marry right out of high school

Don't trust anyone, not even yourself your lover

Tied with Alicia Keys for "Most Overplayed song at any given NYC sports game" award

Barbershop quartet serenades you so sweetly under the moonlight

Never live in Hackensack, New Jersey

Hey remember the Vietnam War? Yeah that was bad.

I wanna have sex with a Catholic girl

I wanna have sex with an Upper East Side girl

Solo by The Artful Dodger from the hit 1830's bestseller Oliver Twist

Shit's fucked

The only reason I know about the existence of Wheeling, West Virginia

"Hey, Billi! Looks to me like you're on the WRONG SIDE OF THE RIVER"

[knuxtiger4]

My favorite lady I have been playing in a Vampire the Masquerade game we have been playing the last few months. I finally made a proper reference sheet, though this is one of two as I want to make a second one with other details! As for Marina... she has been through hell and back so to speak.

Marina was born in Finland in 1895. Her family fled from Finland in 1904 for a better opportunity in the US (NYC) and to escape Russian controlled Finland where a revolution was occurring. As Marina grew older she worked in a factory that produced metal for firearms and with that grew to be a strong lady due to the work. In that time she met Martti Winefride Brant at a social party one evening who became her boyfriend when she was 18 and soon married him not long after. The couple would go on to have two children: Oliver (born 1917) and Saana (1919). Right before her death at 28 that her husband has went out one night friends. When he returned home, she would discover that he was a newly embraced "vampire" and turned on Marina. Unknown to Marina in the panic of fighting for her life desperately, she experienced her First Change before her death and her embrace.

Upset and confused on what had happened when she "woke up", she made the difficult choice of leaving her children in the care of her brother. Marina would very quickly discover she was not just a vampire... she was an abomination and one that had no control over herself. She could no longer stay in the city as she was shunned from both sides of her supernatural state.

Marina would spend years staying on the outskirts of her family, little contact made with them. Travelling around as a drifter, Marina would come across many people but gripped with the struggle of figuring out why Martti left her on her own and why she was cursed. During her travels she would find out the tragic event of Saana sudden disappears in California. The distraught mother attempting to locate her daughter with no signs and having to accept she was long gone or dead.

Marina still looking for answers to her werewolf origins, would eventually bring her back to Finland right in the middle of WW2. Unlucky, Marina would cross paths with German vampires forces who captured her, tortured her and made her into a weapon they used in the Siege of Leningrad. Hitting the lowest of the low, becoming the beast of raw power and rage.

Paths would twist for Marina as at the end of the siege she would find herself dragged back home to the US into the hands of the Camarilla where her memories were tampered/sealed with by an unknown individual. Marina from here would only remember her vampire state and that she was in the city because of her family, her descendants.

In the most recent, Marina returned back to NYC after hearing her great-granddaughter Ellen died in a tragic car accident, feeling that she needs to be close to her family again as their protector. She would live among the homeless population of NYC until that one fateful day where she met her coterie and more importantly Ingrid Fugita.

[beardedmrbean]

Oh yeah the child sweepers thing…Oliver Twist reference that for obvious reasons

I just think how absurd modern middle class leftists treats history and such

“Look what capitalism make us do!” Girl you are living a life so radically different from your ancestors 100 years ago, they would think you are part of the 1% with how much shit you got

Probably because I’m an African American anon…and my elders live pointing out how different shit was when they were kids. But still

ya Oliver Twist was where I started on that one, we could do Newsies too if we wanted to make it NYC.

Nah I'm pretty well aware of how mine had it, my grandmother was a yokel from West "By God" Virginia, family had lived in the area since it was a English colony iirc.

Couple of her cousins finally got electricity in the mid to late 70's I think it was, maybe earlier she could have been pulling my chain.

But ya lot of folks who don't quite get it

These are only sort of jokes.

Kings have died by shitting themselves to death with dysentery, not many in the western world shitting themselves to death these days and when they do it's usually due to a mental condition of some sort, ED's and such.

[the-sun-falls-like-a-guillotine]

Eyeba NYC x TMA characters part 2!!

Original post here

Elias: Green silver king/ Green glass gold skeleton - Can't decide between these, green eye imagery ofc but which is cuntier? Actually, I think left is more current but he favoured the right in days of yore

Peter: Dark blue mini locket - Swirling fog of the lonely, stern blue grey eye that goes with the overall nautical/lonely colour scheme. Secretly reminds him of Elias, maybe keeps a lock of hair in it? Not sure if Lonely avatars are capable of that kind of sentimentality, haven't actually finished TMA

Simon: Light blue skeleton silver - the shape of the eye looks like it's smiling but the iris itself is like swirling clouds — I think out of everybody Sky Grandpa is one of the most likely to actually wear something like this, it's quirky, expensive, and slightly off-putting.

Mike: Light blue mini silver twist — I can see this on his finger as he hunts for Leitners because it's small but menacing and expensive, so very on brand.

Oliver: Brown glass silver skeleton - Knows how you'll die but kind enough to spare you from spending the rest of your blink of a life in fear of the coming end.

Annabelle: Brown silver king - I can actually see her wearing this — it's dramatic, vintage, and off-putting, and most importantly it serves cunt. She would definitely convince the shop attendant that she walked in with it on her finger.

Julia: Brown silver classic - the yellow ones are too garish but the amber colour of this one is definitely animalistic — even the shape of the eyelid reminds me of a German Shepherd. Similar to Daisy, not really one for jewellery but likes the extra sting it puts to a punch.

Agnes: Golden mini silver stud with teardrop - iris reminiscent of flames, rings are unsuitable for obvious reasons, and her whole story is very much in line with the subtle little teardrop.

Jude: Orange silver king - just look at it bruv, it's her all over

I'll have to do another part for Nikola and Michael and Helen 🥰

[star-studded-whales]

Happy STS!

What are the dietary staples of one culture/region in your word and how do they affect the geography, politics, culture, religion and/or economy?

In Crossroads, it's the modern USA. My trio will probably grab whatever is convenient for takeout in their city. Think NYC food culture. It's kind of like that. It's multicultural with an American twist like most American cities. Food is pretty expensive compared to places with lower cost of living. My MC has financial struggles, so this impacts her a lot.

Lunar Lagoon is set in the Mediterranean. They eat plenty of fish, Iberian ham, olives and olive oil, bread, tomato, and oranges. The setting is modeled after Andalusia, where I lived for ten months. I basically ate all of those things on rotation the whole time XD. The environment is very arid there. Food is relatively inexpensive in the south unless you're importing things. Since the beginning of Lunar Lagoon is set on an island, it gets expensive to import anything other than staples.

[disney-film-tourney]

Descriptions taken from Wikipedia.

Toy Story (1995) - Renaissance

First “3D” style computer animated feature. First G rated Pixar CGI feature film. Some famous names involved were: Joss Whedon (screenplay), Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear), Randy Newman (soundtrack), Steve Jobs (executive producer.) Pixar originally produced a short film, Tin Toy in 1988, that interested Disney in making a CGI feature film told from a toy’s perspective. Buzz Lightyear started as Tinny the wind-up one man band toy, then a military action figure, then a space toy with names like Lunar Larry and Tempus. “Buzz” was taken from Buzz Aldrin. Woody started as a ventriloquist’s dummy with a pull-string.

Oliver & Company (1988) - Dark Ages

Loosely based on Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The setting was changed from 19th century London to 1980’s NYC. It was released on the 60th anniversary of Steamboat Willie. Some famous names involved were: Billy Joel (Dodger), Cheech Marin (Tito), and Bette Midler (Georgette.) Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, and Huey Lewis also contributed to the soundtrack. Originally, the film was darker, opening with Oliver’s parents being murdered by two Dobermans.

[globaloscillations]

Rediscovering New York

Quite a while back now we grabbed tickets to see John Oliver and Seth Meyers live in New York at the Beacon Theater. Back on March 9th we made that trip and it was our first time in New York City proper since 2015. 🤯 For this particular trip Kristen and I, because it had been so long, kind of wanted to rediscover things and get our bearings on our own terms. It's fair to say though that it won't take us almost another almost entire decade to make it back. Though it pains the 'Boston is better rivalry' part of my soul to fully admit it was a fun adventure and there's a lot to explore we left planning our next trip.

At least some of my mind-shift on New York is based on the fact that in a lot of the best ways it feels kind of like another country. We took the train there, there's a bustling transit network, a unique culture, lots of dining and pubs, world class cuisine (mmm bagels LOL), and a seemingly endless amount of entertainment, landmarks, museums, etc. to explore. Our trip started by hopping on the Amtrak Acela and heading down the Northeast Corridor for a quick 3 and a half hour trip, perhaps the most Europe equivalent train journey you can make in the United States. You'd be unlikely to drive it in that time with typical traffic and if you did you'd of course miss out on "train beers." 😉 As a transit nerd aside one nice thing about the BOS-NYC section of the Northeast Corridor is it has some of the fastest sections of track on the whole corridor (except you Connecticut come on get with the program!). We emerged into the new 'Moynihan Train Hall' Amtrak's primary station in New York City (more on that later) and made our way to the cab stand for a short ride to our hotel in Chelsea.

We had more extensive plans from Saturday evening but by the time we made it to our hotel room and got settled the rain had started teeming down and we didn't really have the appetite for traipsing across the city. So we made our way to the 'Barcade' located a few doors down from our hotel. Apparently these are a chain across at least the NYC are and they're a lot like what they sound like. Overall the beer selection was good with a bunch of craft beer options on draught and the selections of games was fairly solid as well. There were classics like Frogger, Galaga, Ms. Pacman to pretty wild things like Sega Time Travler, Tron DISCs, and a Trivial Pursuit in arcade cabinet form. For me the highlights were a version of Tapper with the proper Budweiser branding both on the cabinet and in game as well as the Asteroids & Lunar Lander with the proper vector displays. To me the most unique thing I saw was an Apollo 13 pinball game which was very well themed and instead of having the standard pull to shoot the ball it had a replica of the Apollo Command Module abort handle that you had to twist to launch the ball, very unique. Overall we had fun imbibing, vibing, enjoying some above average nachos, and alternating between our favorite games. All in all a pretty solid date night we'd have to work harder than walking a few doors down to achieve at home. I certainly forget at times the convenience of city level density, not that it doesn't come with its inconveniences to.

Sunday morning we headed uptown and stopped for what else? BAGELS! I got in the epic line to order and it took me a minute to figure out what I was looking at in the display cooler...cream cheese like I've never seen it. Mountains of it in flavors I wouldn't have dared to imagine. Pretty wild honestly. 🤯 I placed our order and took a seat at the table Kristen had found. After a few minutes a guy came over not sure if he was the owner, manager, or just MC it is apparently a thing most legit bagel places in Manhattan have someone out on the floor to kind of keep order, mingle with tourists like us, direct traffic, add some local flavor to the experience, etc. He asked where we were from and told us an amusing story about a family that had been down from Massachusetts not long ago and were very hesitant to reveal their origin. LOL. He was like "Hey own it!" Absolutely. Honestly I've never had a hostile reaction to being in NY and from the Boston area. Maybe some good natured ribbing but I'll be the first to admit there ain't much of a Sox/Yankees rivalry these days and that's in favor of the Yankees with the Red Sox lagging the last several seasons.

After some delicious bagels, no one does it better than NY, we headed over to the Museum of Art and Design for an exhibit they've been running on Taylor Swift's various concert attire, outfits, fashion, artifacts. The collection was donated and curated by Swift herself. It's always interesting to see the genuine article for stuff like that. After the museum we headed back downtown to our hotel and as Kristen had some work to finish up I went the next block over to Smithfield Hall which is a soccer pub in NY and often home to Manchester United fans in NY area. Sadly United weren't playing but I caught the tail end of the Liverpool/City game and had a beer so I could say I did.

By this point it was time to head to dinner. I'd picked a place I thought looked good and we hopped a cab. Unfortunately when we got there it was apparently trivia night and there were no tables. My suburban proclivities were caught of guard by the concept of a trivia night on a Sunday but hey who am I to judge the customs of another culture? Since the place happened to have a Cask Ale on I had one before we headed up the street to a different pub and were seated quickly without issue. I had a solid steak sandwich and ended up partaking in another unusual custom of this different culture something known as "happy hour?" Apparently the custom involves drinks being discounted, sometimes heavily, to draw in patrons at times when business might otherwise be slow. Truly this is a foreign custom! (Aside: I kid but for those not in the know Massachusetts has outlawed happy hour since the 1970s. There was an accident involving an attractive young woman being tragically killed in a drunk driving incident and people had had enough. It is not, as commonly thought, a Puritan thing but it does fit with that narrative. There have been some efforts to revive it but change around anything alcohol related takes time lots of time here in Massachusetts.)

Time for the main event, or at least rationale for this trip in the first place, some stand-up courtesy of John Oliver and Seth Meyers. I don’t think they need any introduction. John Oliver was up first and his set was more or less in the lane I would have expected. What I was most impressed by though is the absolute effortlessness and lightness he proceeded through his set with it. It was impressive and not unexpected but fun to see from a master practitioner of the art. Seth was up next and had a great set as well. His material was more centered on family and parenting vs. the well trodden path of ‘Closer-Look’ segments. Still a very funny set and fun to witness. Afterwards the two teamed up for a Q&A that was definitely worth staying for despite their insistence that all were free to leave and probably should (😂). Perhaps the best review/summation of the evening was Kristen who said as we were leaving “I’m pretty sure I just laughed for two hours straight.” I don’t disagree.

So here’s the thing reader... As travelers we aren’t great at the ‘last day’ of a trip. Monday morning we headed of for some bagels (obvi) and the made our way down to checkout some shopping in the area of the hotel. Sadly one of the places we were hoping to check-in on was the LEGO store and it wasn’t open. Also unfortunate the iconic Flat Iron building is currently covered in scaffolding. Which is a theme I thought about a few times over the course of the trip was how much work it is to maintain the iconic landmark buildings in and among all the new construction. Personally I’m glad the effort is made because there’s nothing I love more than some 1930s Art Deco architecture. The LEED certified glass monstrosities that Boston seems to throw up if it gets the chance just feel so uninspired in comparison. On our very wind walk back to the hotel we spied the Empire State Building poking out every so often and I thought about what it’d be like trying to dock a Zeppelin to the top in those winds! (Aside: the design of the Empire State Building was such that at Zeppelins might dock to the top of the building and man would that have been absolutely amazing to see!)

After making our way back to the hotel in the crazy wind we decided that we didn’t really have a strong plan for the rest of the day. With our train being at 5pm we could probably have made more use of the day but with the wind and lack of planning we didn’t have a strong sense of what we’d do. We ended up making our way over to Moynihan Train Hall and grabbing a couple of day passes to Amtrak’s “Metropolitan Lounge.” The passes are $50 bucks a day for the NYC lounge and you get a spacious private lounge that lover looks the train hall, a buffet of food and non-alcoholic drinks, private cash bar, and pre-boarding of your train. All in all it didn’t feel like that bad a deal especially when we got a private escort right on to the train platform a good 15 minutes before everyone else. This made an already pretty hassle free experience of boarding the train (vs. any commercial airline experience in the US) pretty much sublime.

We spend a fair bit of the day looking out over the relatively new (apparently it has been 3 years?!) Moynihan Train Hall the primary arrival in NYC for Amtrak trains traveling the Northeast Corridor. Honestly the facility is impressive and apparently at one point in time was the primary mail sorting facility for the USPS in New York. The impression the openness and architecture provides on first arrival in my opinion rivals most of what I’ve experienced in the UK or Europe. A realization that comes with a twinge of frustration because it takes so much to get big infrastructure projects over the finish line in this country but look at the result when we do! When they happen, all to rarely, they’re a reminder that we can achieve things worthy of the greatness we like to ascribe to the fragile experiment we call America. Then it was time for the rain ride home which was the same relatively three hour trip but no quite as fun. Did get to spend a minute looking out at the gridlock on I-95 from the bar car though.

It was a fun mini-trip and we hope to do it a fair bit more in the future explore some more and hopefully meet-up with friends in the are on subsequent trips!

“New York is not a city, it’s a world.” – Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958)

[andronetalks]

Children as young as 8 are ransacking NYC businesses after being taught to steal by 'THEIR PARENTS' in modern-day Oliver Twist

Daily Mail News UK By DOLORES CHANG FOR DAILYMAIL.COM PUBLISHED: 23:59 EDT, 9 September 2023 | UPDATED: 03:52 EDT, 10 September 2023 Children as young as eight are being taught to commit crimes by ‘their parents’ and have been reportedly ransacking businesses in New York City. In what’s been dubbed the modern day Oliver Twist, the New York Post reported that the young crooks have been terrorizing…

[vampireinterviews-archive]

Daniel was used to losing time — you couldn't put as many drugs into your system as he did and expect days to follow consecutively. He'd once woken up in a Motel 6, lying on the bed, with no memory of checking in, and the weirdest sense that someone else had been right there when he'd fallen asleep. Chicago blurred into San Fran into NYC. Chasing stories, chasing the work, sure, but chasing the highs too. It was the 70's, man, why did he need a fixed address and a roof over his head when he had purpose? There are stories out there that need to be told, that freeloader had said, and he was gonna tell them.

Until it wasn't the 70's anymore. Until one day, he fell asleep on a park bench with his satchel and whatever he'd taken carrying him off into oblivion, and woken up in London in 2024. Rip Van Winkle eat your heart out, brother, you got nothing on Daniel Molloy. So, after a few days spent working out that this wasn't a really, really, bad and vivid trip, or a hoax, but it was actually really goddamn happening, he realised he didn't wanna be homeless in London. He'd had the shit kicked out of him by a bunch of guys who sounded like extras from Oliver Twist, for Christ's sake. And it was so loud in the future — cars raced by, and he'd almost been killed twice just crossing the street, and everyone walked around on what he'd worked out must be phones, but they were tiny and didn't have antennas. Yeah, he'd needed to get off the streets, pronto.

He'd managed to steal enough cash to buy a tape recorder from a vintage store, and that had been his schtick -- people loved the retro vibe, or whatever. And he'd done what he'd been doing a few weeks (try forty years) ago, and looked for stories, and sold them to shitty papers desperate enough to take cassette tapes and notes written up on a typewriter ("what the heck are you, some kind of Walter Cronkite wannabe?" the receptionist at one paper had asked.)

Between that and dealing, he'd managed to rent a room in a house in Kentish Town, and things got a little better. Still totally far out, but at least he had a roof over his head. Turns out, you can't live on purpose and a dream in the 21st century. Go figure.

So, that was how he wound up interviewing some theatre director who was doing pretty well, but not well enough that his assistant took one look at Daniel and turned him down. When she'd called to accept his request, he'd been sitting in a park, smoking, and he'd been relieved he hadn't taken anything, so he could sound professional on the phone. Sort of. Maybe. At least he remembered the freaking conversation, and managed to make it to the interview at the right place and time. Or close enough.

As soon as Daniel walked in, he knew who he was here to see. He just knew. This was Armand. The guy was beautiful, and Daniel didn't use that word lightly. Armand looked up, and his eyes were dark, and his face was so angular that he almost looked feminine, and Daniel realised he must've crossed the cafe, because he could see that kind of detail, because he was suddenly standing next to the table. You're here, Armand said. Now you speak, genius, Daniel thought. "Yeah," he said. Smooth. "I'm here. Sorry, man, were you waiting long? My timekeeping's kinda bad." He dropped his satchel onto the floor and sat down opposite Armand.

closed starter for @vampireinterviews / daniel molloy.

it is a rarity that he himself acts as interviewee. there have been few times in his considerably long life when armand has willingly disclosed information about himself, even fewer times that he has been actively approached to do so. marius had taught him early on that every fact another knew about you can and would be held against you, in the near or distant future, friend or foe. and so armand kept to himself, even in this new and odd life he lead in london. the people he had confided his life's story in were either gone, not present or wanted nothing to do with him, and so armand was, once again, the only soul in the world that knew his story. that knew how arun became amadeo became armand.

but then there was the 'keeping up appearances' of it all and, following one of the great laws of not exposing vampire nature to mortals, he could not protest when a message popped up in his assitant's electronic mailbox asking for an interview. he could not decline, lest that raise suspicion. of course, nowadays he did not exclusively employ vampires in his theatre, but a good portion, and best not to put the whole endeavour at risk.

so much for laying low, though. not that armand had expected to remain completely unknown. there would always be a certain notoriety accompanying his chosen profession - effortlessly falling back into the role of director he confidently shrugs off his blazer outside the cafe and sits down, lazily toying with a cigarette between his fingers. waiting for the arrival of the young journalist.

a sudden heavy feeling spread in his chest, a sense of impending doom, and armand straightened up until his back seemed unnaturally stiff. as if something was warning him. the air seemed to change, the clouds seemed to draw together, the sky seemed to darken and, when armand finally looked up he could feel his heart stop for a long moment. he stared, felt his eyes widen. like a mirage, like the hallucination of lestat louis had carried with him around paris, there he was - daniel molloy.

it seemed to grand of a coincidence, too cruel a trick of fate. a bright young reporter with a point of view, he looked barely a day older than when armand had first seen him. " you're here. ", is all he manages to get out after a long moment of staring.

[jknerd]

Oliver Twist in NYC AU OC: Minerva

Full Name: Minerva Pinscher->Feathers

Age: 5

Gender: Female

Other names: Mina, Little Minnie

Occupations: Elementary school student

Residence: Penthouse

Family: Roscoe (father; estranged), Beatrice (mother), DeSoto (uncle; estranged) Relationships: Oliver (best friend), Jenny (friend), Marie Bonfamille (friend; classmate), Berlioz Bonfamille (friend; classmate), Toulouse Bonfamille (friend; classmate)

Likes: Her parents’ cookings, playing with Oliver and other friends, gifts from her father (formerly)

Dislikes: Bullying, whoever hurt her friends, her mother being upset, Edward “Monks” Leeford, her father and uncle’s crimes

Minerva Pinscher, eventually Minerva Feathers, is a daughter and only child of Roscoe and Beatrice. Also, she is DeSoto’s uncle. Later, she become friends with Oliver and Jenny, attending same school. A year after Roscoe and Beatrice met through blind date, Minerva was born. As the marriage and forming a family was to cover the tracks of Roscoe’s criminal activities ordered by Sykes, Roscoe’s bliss of becoming a father was interrupted when Sykes sent them gifts of brand clothes for the baby as it was a figurative reminder to Roscoe to never let his guard down. And as additional “bonus” to celebrate Roscoe, Sykes took Roscoe to the bar where he could meet Rita who was a prostitute back then. Unbeknownst of these, Beatrice happily raised their daughter as Roscoe would be out working.

Though, there were many occasions Roscoe pampers Minerva with expensive gifts and would be taking his role as husband and father well, as a way to feel fulfilled with what he has gained; becoming wealthy, marrying attractive wife and have a lovely child. Turning five, Minerva was excited to be in first grade and was elated with new presents from her father as she wishes to be successful like him. Although Roscoe insists to raise her to be on top, Minerva’s kindness and gentle personality remains the same as she befriended Oliver and Jenny. She was confused of Roscoe’s behavior after introducing him her first friend Oliver. When her father asked if someone hit her or bullied her, she said no and added whoever done should be punished, causing her father to go speechless. However, as Roscoe recently spent more time with his family, he has become more genuine in caring for his wife and daughter, beginning to understand true abundance in life. 

When Oliver and Jenny were absent, Minerva expressed concern as she wanted to visit Foxworth family, hoping to know if they were sick. Later, she overheard Nancy and the mothers’ conversation about their whereabouts and her father’s involvement in crimes, becoming disappointed and ashamed of her father. Before the trial as Roscoe asked to see his family one last time, Minerva sees him. She told him she heard everything, especially his abuse towards children round her age and said everyone in school hates or fears her because of him. When Roscoe attempted to explain, Minerva claimed she doesn’t want to be like him and doesn’t feel proud of him anymore—upset of how he truly felt of her and her mother, mistreating Oliver, and ruining their lives as she renounced him, breaking his heart even more.

Experiencing as social outcast, Minerva has become less cheerful as kids avoid her as the parents pitied her. However, Oliver and other friends remained friendly towards her, keeping their friendship intact. Witnessing her pain as outcast, Oliver felt angry for the first time towards Roscoe he lied to the imprisoned man and his brother that Minerva and her mother would be moving out of New York, devastating the abandoned man. Lately, Minerva has formed a new dream of becoming a hero to kids and people who suffer from any form of abuse and socially impaired environment.

[knuxtiger4]

Marina Backstory

(This is more just bullet points of her backstory but this is what is her story and... home girl needs a hug, badly)

-Marina’s family is a notorious and proud bloodline of Black Furies. This has always passed down through the females in her family. Her mother was one but Marina did not have her First Change yet to have the “talk”. She wanted Marina to live her life before introducing her to Garou lifestyles.

-Marina met Martti at a party in NYC (Brooklyn) when she was 18. She fell for his looks and his charming personality at the time. She was completely unaware Martti was a Black Spiral Dancer and he was very much aware Marina was some sort of Garou due to her physical appearance alone.

-Martti hid all of this from Marina and her family via talismans and other supernatural means, he did truly love her but was twisted by the Wyrm long before meeting her. He would have likely dragged her to dance the spiral if events did not happen that turned both of them into abominations. He was secretly working for Pentex in the 1920s, but disguised as a cook at an office kitchen was the cover he gave to Marina all these years together.

-In Martti’s twisted mind, he loves his family and wants them to be the ultimate apex predators of the night. He does not understand why Marina won’t join him. He is heavily tainted by the Wyrm and partly why Marina actively fighting off Wyrm influences herself as an abomination.

-Oliver (Marina's son) was a regular human. Julius is younger of the 2 sons of Oliver, turned out to be a Shadow Lord werewolf which was from Martti’s bloodlines as he was once a Shadow Lord. Frank turned out to be kinfolk, all of his children are confirmed werewolves.

-Saana (Marina's daughter) is a Black Fury like her mother and was exactly why she was targeted by Pentex later in her life. She was tricked by her father when she was living in California and was captured by Pentex to be used to capture her mother and eventually to be turned into an abomination as well.

-Martti was successfully turned into an abomination and said Gangrel unleashed a frenzied Martti on Marina one night. Marina, in a desperate attempt to protect her children, experienced her First Change and died in her fight against Martti as he overpowered her easily. Martti was ordered to give Marina his blood and she changed into an abomination under the right conditions.

-In her frenzy the Gangrel and Martti were sent running by Art Morgan and Xaviar, two very powerful Gangrels who happened upon the scene after tracking a Gangrel that was acting wild and out of order. They were able to calm Marina out of her frenzy but urged her she could not live her life normally anymore. They offered to help her out of the kindness of the two and to try to understand the mind of an abomination.

-Being that Art and Xaviar were Camarilla that they also made the extreme decision to not follow the Masquerade rules of her sire watching over her, they knew Martti was beyond evil, she would not fall into the wrong hands.

-Why did Art and Xaviar do this? When they happened on the scene of Marina, a mother trying to protect her children at the door from a monster, it moved Art. They choose to not slain Marina due to that fact and that she was evidence that the older generation were plotting something. They noticed Marina had not gone insane and took the gamble.

-Marina gave up Oliver and Saana to her brother Esko who would raise them. Esko, Oliver and Saana knew what Marina was and never judged her or held malice for her decisions. Her children were a witness to the entire event.

-Marina was rejected by her parents when she approached them for help after the transformation. Her mother especially said if she saw Marina again that she would send her pack to rip her apart and her letting her walk away alive was the only kind thing she would do.

-Marina would travel with Art and Xaviar to try to understand her life as is in the supernatural world. The two men took pity on Marina and instead of killing her wanted to help her. She still was broken up on why Martti attacked her and not understanding the context. Marina developed trust issues and accepting love from others.

-She would grow very close to Art and Xaviar, she would refer to them as her “brothers” and even when Xaviar began to on and off date Hellene Panhard she would refer to her as her “sister”. Marina was/is VERY protective of Art, Xaviar and Helene as if they were in a sense, her packmates. Xaviar not as much, he was weird about the endearing terms and that he was different from the three. Marina still held respect for him and still sees him as a brother regardless.

-Marina eventually left on her own, heading to Finland in the middle of WW2 where she tried to understand why she had werewolf blood. She would find out that her Black Fury bloodlines run deep in the women in her family and fears Saana will go through her First Change soon and wants to get back home to help her through it and to protect her from any danger. She was going to enter her daughter’s life to help her even if it would breach the masquerade/veil.

-Captured by German forces while she was in Europe. Agents of Pentex tortured Marina and broke her spirits. She was used as a bioweapon in the battle of Leningrad. She slain many innocent people and did very horrible things that she will never forget. It was here she unknowingly fought Rocco (one of the PCs of our coterie!) in the past along with both of Ingrid 's grandfathers that all gave her a run for her money in the fights.

-After the battle she managed to break free. Art and Xaviar were tracking Marina’s whereabouts after intel they received and managed to track her down in the local forest. They helped get her back on her feet and promised to get her home to the US and to her family.

-While in Europe, the three encounter Martti and Pentex agents. They wanted Marina back and they would have taken her by force. Marina refuses and uses Saana out to try to bait her into coming with them.

-Saana was brainwashed by Martti. He manipulated her as a long lost parent on the eugenics of the Project: Hellound. She “willingly” injected herself with Martti’s blood and paid the price. This process was incomplete and sent Marina on the biggest frenzy of her life.

-Marina nearly meets her Final Death in the fight as Martti smashed half her head in and only was saved from that as Art and Xaviar dragged her away to safety. All three saw Martti for what he was...a true monster and one that could not be stopped.

-Saana was left in a coma by this outcome. Pentex believes due to the type of werewolf that they would need Marina’s blood to complete the process.

-Marina suffers terribly from this failure and that she was unable to destroy Martti and begs for Art and Xaviar to “get rid of the memories that hurt.” They agree to and seal Marina’s memories of her being an abomination, making her think she was a Gangrel the whole time. They wouldn’t have sealed them fully until they were in NYC and Marina was losing the battle against the Beast.

-The three travel back to the US and make it back to NYC. It’s where Xaviar’s partner, Hellene Panhard (future Prince of NYC) agrees to shelter Marina by Xaviar’s request. She agrees to have the Camarilla protect Marina’s family as to keep the beast calm and as a close friend to Marina. Panhard learned of Marina's secret when one particular night the beast won and she saw Marina for what she was.

-Marina would have a few interactions over the years with Oliver. She would be there to see her new grandsons and Oliver would continue to beg Marina to come back into the family. Marina would also interact with Frank and Julius but to a lesser degree of being a stranger to them. Julius and Frank definitely knew that Marina was their grandmother but kept it hidden until recently. Their father told them who Marina was a long time ago and described her as the guardian angel of the family.

-She would also interact with Esko on the regular until he passed away. Marina also would see Oliver one last time before he passed from old age.

-Xaviar and Art leave NYC and leave Marina in the hands of Panhard. Xaviar eventually takes all the Gangrels out of the Camarilla and makes Art unhappy about this decision. Xaviar eventually meets his final death at the hand of a Brujah during an attack.

-Art remains in DC to this day as a reporter. He is unaware of what has been going on with Marina since he left.

-Marina decides to live homeless in NYC where she would befriend the local homeless and act as their protector. She would get regular visits from Panhard up until a certain point when even Marina's memories of her were slipping. Even then Marina starts to forget about Xaviar and Art due to the effects of the memory sealing.

-Panhard makes a HUGE mistake of giving Marina to Sheriff Yung without telling her Marina’s abomination secret. Yung misuses Marina as muscle and then gives her to Ingrid! THIS WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.

-Panhard wants Marina back but to what exactly is unknown. Likely to aid her in stopping the Tzimisce from awakening their antediluvian, a goal that Xaviar chased and had that drove him away from the Camarilla. It was hard for Panhard to be around Marina with no memories and that she was associated with Xaviar who was like a brother to Marina.

-Marina befriends her great-granddaughter Tiana after she loses her sister Ellen. She didn’t know who Marina was until the college party where she was grabbed by Martti.

-Martti injected Tiana with Marina’s blood that she was selling to a Pentex agent unknowingly! This triggers Tiana to have a First Change as a Black Fury and confuses Julius on where this bloodline has come from in the family. Unknown to everyone, Marina’s blood is a base to start the abomination transformation. She would need to be drained and embraced by another Gangrel.

-Ellen, Tiana’s older sister died in an accident where she saved a child. Reality it was all staged and Ellen ended up at a Pentex hospital. When she realized what they were about to do, she fought to the death. Julius questioned the injuries he saw on Ellen’s body as a werewolf should have been able to heal from being hit by a car.

-Marina, unlike Martti, does not appear to have been tainted by the Wyrm. It’s likely due to resisting the influence so long and adamant that she will never at the Wyrm get to her or influence her. This is a first for any abomination in records. She believes that her love and will to protect her family and friends has kept it at bay this long.

-Ingrid Salo (Ingrid’s horrible mother)- Took over Project: Hellhound a decade ago from her predecessors. She has control over Pentex pharmaceutical side and is a medical genius. She is the WORST and she control Martti. Ew.

-Martti runs more with Pentex than the Black Spiral Dancers. They see him as a mythical creature and will listen to him but he does more with Pentex.

-Saana would need to have Martti’s blood removed from her blood and possibly replaced with Marina’s to complete the abomination process on her. A way that she could speak to her is through magic that involves dreams.

-Marina is still one sip of Martti’s blood. Unknown if a blood bond COULD happen but fuck around and find out. (Marina wouldn’t be that dumb).

-Not even Marina knows how or why Pentex changed Martti. She would have to probably have a sit down with him to figure that out and she wants to murder him. He’d probably have to have a threat to have her not do that for them to have any form of a conversation.

-Everyone Marina knows, even the strongest vampires do not want to engage with Martti. He is definitely on the Red List but being so “perfect” of an abomination that no one has taken him down. Marina was only able to scar him in the face in her last fight with him.

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As for the present:

-In the recent, Marina got into an ugly fight with Ingrid before their hotel opening as she did not want to travel with the coterie outside of the US out of fear she can't protect her family from Martti. They broke up.

-Marina rages and cause property damage (again). She storms off to the homeless camp.

-Marina meets up with "Tipsy", one of the local homeless who takes to her about not fitting in and being lose. Marina mentions her memories, he offers to hypnotize her to gain her memories back. She agrees.

-Tipsy gathers other from the camp to play music and do drugs. Marina drinks from Tipsy's blood which is drug laced and she spirals. She gains her memories back but flashing to a moment where she saw she has mauled a bunch of people in the camp. She nearly loses herself...

-Until Art Morgan who was visiting saw this and chased off the people and rescued Marina. When she came to, he explained to her that she was nearly grabbed by the local Black Spiral Dancers and he had saved her! Art is VERY aware Marina has her memories back and it was...touching. She saw her brother again and remembers him.

-Marina gets chewed out by Ingrid. Ingrid learns of Art and Panhard being Marina's "siblings" and she is not too happy.

-Marina get the SHIT scared out of her when The Prince shows up. She tried to run and Panhard commanded her to stop. That was a fun convo.

-Ingrid beat up Marina for being dumb and impulsive yet again. Marina's Beast gets mad at Ingrid and forces Marina to storm off which entailed Team B of the coterie to wrestle Marina yet again before she rampaged.

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My guess for the future:

-Dumb Black Spiral Dancers were either sent by Martti or they sure has hell told him his "wayward" wife has her memories back. I expect him to become a MAJOR issue soon. ; ; Marina has to wipe those guys out.

-Everyone has advised Marina and the coterie to not fight Martti if they see him and to run away.

[gootzdisney]

Gootz reviews every Disney Animated film

27. Oliver and company-I liked this one alot. The songs are good. It has dark parts but otherwise its cheerful. It's a fun movie. But man you can tell they are trying to RIP off don bluth. Final score: 7 out of 10

[funeralprocessor]

There are buildings you can find.... after you read the correct book. For example, you can find the ruins of the London shard after you've read Oliver Twist. For some reason. Also there are only three so if you don't like London, NYC, or the pyramids then earth has nothing. Not even mountains.

Man fallout hit earth hard, there's just... Nothing. No ruins, no grass, nothing. They just slapped a desert on earth and called it a day. Not even an Enviromental Story Telling Skeleton.

[adrenaline-revolver]

the opening scene from oliver and company would probably obliterate every single newsie.

[firstclassmovies]

OLIVER & COMPANY (1988). Billy Joel is the canine artful Dodger in this musical Disney animated version of Dickens’ Oliver Twist.