#Perform-a-Thon

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

https://youtu.be/98n1HP3Wc6E

D5705

(reddit voice) risky click of the day

[jgroffdaily]

Jonathan Groff, Ruthie Ann Miles, Brian Stokes Mitchell, More Join Stars in the House Election Day Vote-a-Thon

Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley Jackson will host the six-hour event supporting the Entertainment Community Fund.

Stars in the House, the award-winning streaming variety show co-hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley Jackson, will return for its second Election Day Vote-a-Thon November 5 beginning at noon ET.

Joining hosts Rudetsky and Jackson for the six-hour event—supporting the Entertainment Community Fund—will be the newly announced Matthew Broderick, Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka, Rachel Bloom, Jonathan Groff, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ruthie Ann Miles, Josh Groban, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Adrianna Hicks, Skylar Astin, Robin de Jesús, Bellamy Young, Linda Lavin, Donna Murphy, Victoria Clark, Jackie Hoffman, Iain Armitage, Jelani Remy, Julie Benko, Christine Pedi, Pearl Sun, Ta’Nika Gibson, and Luis Salgado's R.Evolución Latina.

These artists join the previously reported Lin-Manuel Miranda, Martin Short, Rosie Perez, Wayne Brady, Jessie Mueller, Shoshana Bean, Judy Kuhn, J. Harrison Ghee, Anika Larsen, Emily Skinner, Andrea Martin, Will Swenson, Brad Oscar, Javier Muñoz, Peri Gilpin, Merle Dandridge, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Rachel Bay Jones, Nina West, Lauren Patten, Kevin Chamberlin, Ali Ewoldt, Sam Gravitte, stars from the original Broadway cast of Hairspray (Marissa Jaret Winokur, Laura Bell Bundy, Kerry Butler, and composer/co-lyricist Marc Shaiman), members of the cast of Glee (Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Heather Morris, and more), improv group Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, and Chicago stars Charlotte d’Amboise and Brenda Braxton.

The guests will discuss their voting experiences and deliver musical performances.

Stars in the House airs on its YouTube channel and StarsintheHouse.com.

[headingalaxys-sweet]

Spooky Season Shenanigans for the Nekos Part 1

America-Cat 

He begins to gather clumps from his litter box and soil that is damp from the backyard. America cat has taken some of his owners socks which he uses as casings to store his ‘ammunition’. This crazy cat is even in the midst of crafting an underground lair of sorts. He’s stored a few long lighters, fireworks, toilet paper rolls, eggs he’s brought to ‘ferment’, masks, costumes, etc. America cat is going to be putting on an entire production. If he already wasn’t the King of Halloween this will make him the king now for like ever meow! 

Canada-Cat 

Has gone to cat markets, candle shops, and bakeries where cat’s all over the world come to visit when Sept 1st hits. There is one shop in particular that sells this legendary Maple Fish Cake, which only available during this time of year. They’re so popular in fact that they have to limit cats with only being able to purchase 5 of these specialty cakes for the season. [Yes, there were many years where scammer cats hoarded the entire stock of cakes in the morning. They’d mark up the price of them 300% to say that ridiculous is an understatement but the cakes are that yummy. And they may or may not have a special cat-nip lacd in them] 

Canada-cat tentatively passes by the costume shops debating with himself on if he’s going to attend his brothers cat’s annual Halloween party and prank-a-thon. 

China-Cat

Busy raiding his owners' pastry / cookbooks to make an entire special Fall menu of food for the season. He will do more to spend time in the sun while it still lasts. China-cat wants his dark chestnut fur to get nice and toasty so he can store it away for the Winter months. [So his old bones don’t get frozen and brittle.] China-cats favorite pass time is to go to Yi Dian Dian & The Alley once or twice a day to get a hot or cold milk tea that occasionally has Boba in it. 

England-Cat 

His tail will be flicking back and forth lowly on the carpet. The season where he got to be on the fresh grass or out on the open sea. When he daydreamed about the wide open waters he thought about the days that he was a mouser alongside his swashbuckling and commanding owner. As England cat was in the midst of his thoughts clouds made the sky darker and the air became colder. When his head rises he was able to catch the last milliseconds of a lightning boldt. He hears low chattering rising from the basement. 

‘Arthur must be at it again so he can try to win Halloween this year against that Yank. I guess now is a good time for me to maybe get ready for America cats shenanigans this year as well.’

France-Cat

He’d invited ‘Charmy Chartreux,’ a famous cat known for doing home holiday decorating, planning, and execution. By the time Spet rolls around, France cat will be ready for the season of the spooky but make it posh & elegant. Tangerine tea lights, pumpkins with the flur de lese, macaroons, & the Eiffel Tower carved into them. He even managed to make a deal with Canada-Cat to have a shipment of Maple Fish Cakes sent to him. 

Germany-Cat 

Planning safety guides for cats and what to do when you’ve had too much cat-nip contingent plans. He knows America-cat is planning an insane rager complete with ill-advised pranks, stunts, and performances all meant to stroke his ego. Germany-cat also makes note to buy extra sausages, treats, and Apfelsaft (Apple Juice—just make it sparkling). He does this so no cat is on an empty stomach and has its whiskers twisted by catnip. 

Italy Cats 

They haven’t thought about Halloween all that much. They’re just vibing with the season changes. The crisper air carried the fresh scent of harvested grapes, olives, pumpkins, etc. The two of them love stealing Felicianos tortelli di zucca (pumpkin soup), minestrone, and strudel di mele. 

“Germany! Germany! Help me! The kitties have run a-way with my delicious food again!” 

Japan-Cat 

Yet, another cat who loves to watch the season transition into the next. He adores watching the thousands of leaves float down to the ground. The mesmerizing colors of the fall leaves are cornsilk, fawn, midnight greens, and burnt oranges. All these colors melded together to create a beautiful scene that is ephemeral and sort of angelic in a way. Japan-cat has a special stash of tuna that he likes to eat when he finds a magnificent view. 

While he eats he’s working out how he’ll survive another America-cat rager. 

Russia-Cat 

Happily roaming the streets receiving belly rubs, scratchies, and treats from the last of the summertime tourists. Halloween only seems to come to his mind when his owner mentions it or begins to decorate for it mid-September. When Ivan does begin to get the decorations out Russia-cat gets far too comfortable in the organs of one of the pumpkins Ivan has made. 

“Really, my little cat?” He crouches down to pet his loveable but somewhat mischievous cat. 

“Meow.” (Da.) Russia-cats beady eyes will be looking at Ivan like: “I’m cute and a cat. What are you not understanding? I’m number one now, BELLY RUBS human BELLY RUBS!” 

[the-rewritten-railway-au]

The Two Smallest Engines

May 1930

The Adventure Begins (2015)

Word Count: 3,543

Since the end of the 1920 Locomotive Crisis Loan, the North Western Railway has been struggling to continue operation with its five engines. Sir Bertram Topham Hatt II makes a big decision: purchase a tank engine for the railway.

~

On a sunny afternoon, Edward, the smallest engine on the North Western, was working in Tidmouth Yard. He was chatting with Emily, who was slightly larger than him. The smallest of the two was waiting to be uncoupled from a train of empty trucks when a grand blue tender engine rolled into the yard with-

"A goods train, a goods train! The shame of it! Oh, the shame of it!" he complained. His voice boomed throughout the yard, reaching the station.

The pair of smaller engines sighed, annoyed. "For guidness sake, it's no yon most shameful thin’ ye're doin, Gordon!" Edward reprimanded as he looked at the express passenger engine. "Ye ken thon we've been havin’ more guids trains every year."

"And why can't James take them? Wasn't he bought for that reason?"

"He wiz," replied Edward, "but traffic has grown more than expectit since, especially durin’ the summer season."

Gordon huffed.

"Oh, get over it!" called out the Stirling Single. "You didn't have a problem with it before. What's so different now?"

"Other engines did most of the goods work," replied Gordon. "You should've been glad that was the case back then."

"How come?" She squinted suspiciously.

"You're very outdated, Emily," he sneered. "Old, weak, and slow. Those large wheels of yours are nothing but an inconvenience to your performance."

Emily gasped, and her face scrunched up in fury. "I-!"

"Wrap it, both o' ye," scolded Edward. He looked at the larger cerulean engine. "Start headin’ tae the station, Gordon. I'll shunt the Express coaches in a moment." He looked over to the GNR green engine. "Emily, yer guids train is ready. Please, jist git tae it."

Emily sighed. She wheeshed, a final blow towards Gordon, before leaving to pick up her goods train.

Gordon huffed, heading to the station to wait for the Express coaches. "Once the new engine arrives, I better not keep pulling them."

Edward froze. "New engine?" he exclaimed, rolling forward. "Whit new engi- Och!" He suddenly jerked back, having not been uncoupled yet. The little tender engine quickly shot an apologetic smile to the workman who had approached him with a shunter's pole.

Once Edward was uncoupled, Gordon continued. "He bought a new engine. Might replace you or one of the others."

His nose twitched. "Excuse me-?"

"Wouldn't be surprised, especially with James when we all found out about his wooden brakes."

"That doesn’t make me useless!" someone exclaimed.

Suddenly, James screeched to a halt into the yard. Gordon and Edward halted as they neared the track the black tender engine rolled on.

"James…" muttered Gordon.

"I'll have you know, my brakes work just fine! My stops are much better than any of yours."

"Oh, but at what cost?" he asked mockingly. "What about that black cloud coming from your brakes the other day?"

The ex-L&YR Class 28 huffed. "I may not be as 'grand' as you," he replied, avoiding the question. "But I'm bigger and stronger than the smaller two," he finished with a prideful smirk directed at the smallest engine.

Edward could only be unamused.

"You may be stronger but you're barely any bigger,” argued Gordon. “Your ego is, though, by a long shot."

James jerked his smokebox door open. Steam blasted out and spread throughout the surrounding area. Fuming and scrunching up his face in fury, he glared and wheeshed steam at Gordon.

"James, could ye please move along?" asked Edward, not wanting to have to separate the pair if needed. He wasn’t sure what happened between them. Five years ago, they got along just fine, minus the minor disagreement. "Gordon, jist go wait at the station. I'll be there with the Express coaches."

"But-" said Gordon.

"Go. Noo,” he repeated sternly.

Just as he expected, both engines grumbled. Once James shut his smokebox door, both larger engines left.

“My brakes work just as good as yours!” He heard James holler at Gordon in vain.

Edward wheeshed the very little steam he could and sighed before he fetched the Express coaches.

…

Days went by as the engines waited for the newcomer but there was no sign or announcement about them. While the others didn't think much about it, Edward would occasionally look around as he worked in the yard, hoping to catch sight of the new engine. Unaware of his crew, Charlie and Sidney were humored by his behavior.

A few weeks later, a tank engine rolled into Tidmouth Yard. He peered around the yard, looking for something, or someone. His new crew let him do his thing, as they were informed by the previous crew that this particular engine liked to get to know his surroundings.

"Tidmouth, Tidmouth, Tidmouth…" he murmured.

Earlier, at the crack of dawn, he asked his crew not to show him the way to his final destination once they reached the Vicarstown Drawbridge. There was no ship available from Southampton Docks to the Island of Sodor, not until August, so he was sent by land. Once the ex-LBSCR E2 reached the bridge, he was bored so he challenged himself.

He was really regretting it now.

Suddenly, a loud shrill rang throughout the yard. The lost newcomer was startled, trembling on his six-driving wheels.

The little tank engine frowned. What a way to welcome some-engine, he thought with a huff.

An engine came from the turn up ahead. "Hey, you!" he exclaimed and laughed.

"Bloody hell, ya bloke!" the little engine exclaimed. "Some manners ya have."

"Alright, sheesh! I didn't mean to frighten you like that."

"Of course, you didn't."

"Well, I didn't!" James exclaimed, in a "matter-of-fact" tone. "You seem lost. Where are you heading?"

Meanwhile, Edward was being uncoupled from a set of giggling Troublesome Trucks, having played with them for a bit, when he overheard them.

"Tidmouth!" A voice, unknown to Edward, exclaimed. "Do ya know where it is?

Edward stilled and stayed quiet, quickly shushing the Troublesome Trucks. Surprisingly, not to him, they listened.

"But you're already in Tidmouth!" chuckled James. "Where are you from?"

"The Southern Railway. All the way down south in Brighton." He eyed James quizzically. "What's up with your eyes? Why are they different colors? Did something happen? Were they like that since ya were built-?"

As the engine continued to ramble on and James fumed, Edward gasped. He whispered excitedly, "Bertram's new engine!" The elder blue tender engine whistled as he backed up slowly. Charlie, his driver, gently pet his outer cab and chuckled along with the fireman, Sidney, seeing the excitement of their cerulean engine.

Once Edward backed up to line up to James and saw the new engine, he was shocked and gasped.

The new engine was tiny. He had no tender, his coal box being right behind the cab on the back of the engine. The little engine had a short stumpy dome, a short stumpy funnel, and six small, blue wheels, but they was as tall as he and James were. A normal tank engine, Edward realized.

His livery was a pale brown, Khaki, Edward figured, with white lining. The letters "SR" and the number 107 with a small B above it were painted white on the side of his tanks. His eyes were dark teal, looking around the yard excitedly as he rambled on.

"...I've heard so many things about Sodor. What's it-" The new engine noticed Edward, who was slightly smaller than James, staring at him. "Hello? Is something the matter?" He scrunched up his face, looking at his round nose. "Do I have soot on my face?"

"Och, whit? Naw, naw… It's jist… ye're… small," said Edward awkwardly, slightly confused and still shocked.

"No, I'm not," huffed the E2, annoyed. "I was one of the larger shunters on the Southern Railway!"

"Oh really?" James teased.

"Well, I was big enough to do my job just fine in Victoria and London.” Maybe too big… “I can do the same here!" the tank engine fumed and he moved along.

"Wait, wait! Thon's no how I meant it!" Edward quickly chuffed backward. "It's jist… ye're very different tae everyane else… I huvnae seen a wee tank engine like ye in years."

The little khaki tank engine huffed again. "I may be a 'wee' tank engine, ‘sir,’ but I'm very hardworking!" he expressed pridefully.

"S-Sir?" Edward exclaimed, startled and flustered as he saw James backing up with boisterous laughter.

“Old…” murmured James.

Edward’s glare was all in vain.

Suddenly, Gordon thundered into the shunting yard. He came to a halt with a whistle and laughed. "And who are you?"

"I'm Thomas," the khaki tank engine puffed pridefully. “Your director named me!”

"The new engine!" Edward emphasized with excitement as James reversed, stopping right next to Edward.

"Oh dear," the grand express engine mourned mockingly. "The Fat Director must've made a terrible mistake. I think he was expecting someone really… useful."

"I am useful," Thomas huffed. He didn't like this grand blue engine. He didn’t feel welcome. So full of himself. So disrespectful when he’d only just arrived!

Edward noticed and felt guilty for Thomas, especially for his own words. He hadn't even introduced himself properly.

Gordon laughed dismissively. "For fetching coaches, perhaps. Oh well. If you stick around long enough, you might be lucky enough to see me pulling the Express,” he boasted before he whistled and departed. "That will be a fine sight for you."

Thomas glared at the Gresley experimental Pacific as he passed by. "Without me, he wouldn't have an Express to pull," he muttered and rolled his eyes. He didn't like him at all.

Edward sighed. "I'm sorry aboot Gordon. I'm afraid he's like thon." He inched forward. "I'm sorry for whit I said earlier. I dinnae mean any offense tae ye. Where were ma manners… I'm Edward."

“And I'm James,” introduced the larger mixed-traffic engine, following Edward.

Another voice spoke from a distance. "Hello there, hello!"

"And there's the Fat-"

"Sir Topham Hatt!" Edward forced a smile as James scoffed at him, muttering “Rude.”

"Hello there!" A short, well-dressed, chubby man exclaimed as he and his assistants approached the newcomer. He was excited to see Thomas once again. "I’m glad you three made it safely. Welcome to the North Western Railway, Thomas," said Sir Topham Hatt II with pride, gesturing to the surrounding area. "Pardon me for the introduction a few days ago. I am Sir Topham Hatt, the director of this fine railway. You will become a great addition to the place. I expect you to do very well as Edward will be mentoring you."

"Of course, sir!" replied Thomas.

"Alright then. Go on with your work! I shall be checking up on your progress now and then for the first week," exclaimed Sir Topham Hatt II. He dismissed the engines before walking away with his two assistants.

Once Sir Topham Hatt II was gone, Edward said, "He's right. The others will be arriving soon."

"Fine, fine," huffed James as he rolled away from the yard, heading to the Main Line.

"Where's he going?" Thomas asked.

"Tae Brendam Docks, I presume," Edward replied. "He diz'nae hae any passenger duties until later."

"Passenger duties?" Thomas flipped his smokebox door open and looked at James. "Isn't he a goods engine?"

"Well, his class was meant for goods trains…" Edward replied and hummed. "Things are different here."

Thomas thought for a moment. "Will I be able to do that?"

Edward hummed. "Maybe. But right noo, ye need tae focus oan whit I need tae teach ye during your trainin."

"And what are we going to start with?"

"Shuntin."

"Shunting? My class was practically built to shunt."

"Well, it diz'nae hurt tae practice, especially in a new railway. No everything is the same as oan the Mainland."

"Really? How come?"

"The Troublesome Trucks ur more tedious and difficult tae deal wit, thon's ane thin'. And the yards ur much smaller here than oan the Mainland, if ye take a quick look around. And this yard is the largest oan Sodor, besides Vicarstown," Edward replied. "Give me a moment, I need tae git the Express coaches ready for Gordon. I'll be back in a bit."

Thomas hummed in response as Edward chuffed away. The steam shunter looked around, examining the yard. It was much smaller than the ones in the Southern Railway. It was slightly smaller than the smallest yard in the Southern Railway.

"How much smaller is the smallest yard here?" he mumbled to himself.

He chuffed around Tidmouth Yard, struggling with the tight turns. Hopefully, Edward and others didn’t take notice. He didn’t need to be reminded of how troublesome his performance was. He couldn’t help it. It wasn’t his fault that he performed this way. 

As Thomas wandered about, he heard two voices. His eyes followed the sound, eventually landing on two auburn passenger coaches, tucked away neatly in what appeared to be a carriage shed.

"I'm worried about James' brakes, Annie. Honestly, I smell nothing but ash whenever he brakes!" The coach with the name "Clarabel" painted in white on their sides whispered.

Annie, the other coach with her name painted on as well, replied, "So do I, Clarabel! It bothers me so much. I do hope the Fat Director figures something out…"

The two auburn coaches were unaware of the khaki shunter looking at them. From his own experience, coaches could either be sweet with reasonable sternness or absolutely hostile. There was no in-between, just a game of chance when it came to them. He nervously approached them as he felt lonely. "Hello there.”

Annie and Clarabel suddenly went quiet. "Who was that, Annie?" the latter asked.

"It's a new engine! Hello there, little one!"

Thomas huffed. "I'm not little!"

The pair giggled at the newcomer’s fussiness. "What's your name? You must be new around here," said Clarabel.

"I am! My name is Thomas," Thomas replied. "I'm from the Southern Railway."

"Hello, Thomas. I’m Annie," said Annie.

"And I'm Clarabel," Clarabel greeted.

"And we are the Ffarquhar Branch Line’s coaches," they said in unison.

"Figures," said Thomas. “I don’t think two coaches can handle mainline passenger service.”

"Smart, smart!" said Clarabel.

"Indeed," said Annie but froze as she noticed a familiar face through Thomas' front cab window. "Mr. Perkins?"

"Mr. Perkins?" exclaimed Clarabel.

"Mr. Perkins?" asked Thomas, confused.

A soft chuckle came from Thomas' cab. His driver, Gilbert Perkins, popped his head out of the cab. "Hello, you two. It's been a while!"

"Hello, Mr. Perkins!" greeted the auburn coaches.

Thomas was confused. "You know each other?"

"Oh, of course, we do!" exclaimed Annie. 

"He was our old engine's driver," giggled Clarabel.

Just then, Edward returned.

"I'm back, Thomas!" Edward exclaimed as he chuffed into the yard. The elder blue tender engine took notice of the scene. "Och, I see ye've met Annie and Clarabel- Mr. Perkins?" he exclaimed.

"Hello there, Edward!" replied Mr. Perkins.

Edward flabbergasted. "Ye-"

"Looks like I’m a permanent driver from now on!" he exclaimed with excitement. “Can’t wait to work with this fella,” he continued, petting Thomas' cab, who laughed at the interaction. “Nice to see you’re doing well, old boy.” With that, Mr. Perkins popped right back into the tank engine’s cab.

"Oh, hello, Edward!" said Clarabel. "You're guiding Thomas, right?"

"Be sure to teach him well, Edward!" Annie exclaimed.

"Please do!" continued Clarabel, before dropping her voice down to a whisper. "And maybe James while you're at it."

"Noo, I dinnae ken aboot thon last ane, but I will try, ma'ams. Noo, git some rest. It will be a while before James comes back," Edward replied, reminding the two auburn coaches.

Annie and Clarabel hummed in reply.

"We shall chat some other time then!" exclaimed Annie.

"Indeed! It was a pleasure meeting you, Thomas," said Clarabel.

"Goodbye, Thomas! Goodbye, Edward!" The two sister coaches exclaimed before getting some shut-eye.

"Goodbye!" the two engines replied. They puffed away as quietly as they could from the carriage shed.

Once they were far away enough, Thomas asked, "So, where do we start?"

"Wit’ the regular freight trucks!" replied Edward.

…

Edward and Thomas spent the rest of the afternoon shunting. Though Thomas grew a bit exhausted, that didn't mean he had no energy to be cheeky.

During the late afternoon, Gordon was resting in the yard. Thomas was beside Edward, resting from the day's work when the little khaki tank engine noticed.

Thomas sneaked up on Gordon on the track next to him as Edward looked at him, confused. He was shocked when Thomas' whistle shrilled throughout the yard.

The loud noise startled Gordon awake as Thomas exclaimed, "Wake up, lazy-bones! Why don't you be as useful as me!" Cheeky laughter tumbled off his tongue as he raced away.

Edward couldn't help but laugh at the little tank engine's cheekiness, following him and leaving behind an annoyed Gordon.

…

Evening approached when Emily pulled into Tidmouth Yard. Thomas noticed her, in awe of her shape. She looked very different from the other engines. "Who's that?" he asked with curiosity as he backed away from a few trucks.

Edward followed suit from the train of empty cars, lining buffer to buffer to Thomas on a different track. "Thon's Emily," he replied. "She's the ane wha pulls the mornin’ Wild Nor' Wester."

“The what?”

“The Express.”

“Really? She-”

The Stirling Single’s whistle shrilled throughout the area, grabbing Edward and the tank engine’s attention. Within minutes, she approached the other two.

"Good evening, Edward! Who is this?" Emily excitedly asked.

"Guid evenin’, Emily! This is Be- the Fat Director’s new engine!" he replied.

"Hello, I'm Thomas!" the E2 greeted.

"Hello! My name is Emily," the ex-GNR Stirling Single replied. "I'm about to head back to the shed. Are you two heading back?"

"In a bit. We jist need tae finish up here," Edward replied.

"Ah, alright then. I'll see you two later," Emily said before lowering her voice. "I just hope the others aren't there already…"

"James and Gordon ur. Henry's no due until much later."

"I was hoping it wasn’t either of those two. Henry's much more bearable…" she grumbled.

"Dinnae worry, Emily. Dinnae mind em."

Thomas spoke up. "What's wrong with James? He seemed nice!”

"James is a bit…" Emily hummed, "...rude."

"But he can be nice, like earlier," Edward pointed out. "It's jist… rare tae see him be like thon…”

"Oh," Thomas said. "So you pull the morning Express?"

"Ah, I see you've heard," Emily replied teasingly. "I used to pull it all the time until Gordon arrived to help. The Other Director was concerned about my age so he bought Gordon from my old railway."

"So Gordon's the Number Three?"

"That would be me!” piped up Emily, gesturing towards her tender. “Henry's number four. Then Gordon's number five. James is number six, and, well…"

"I would be number seven?"

"Yes," replied Edward quickly.

"You really like to ask a lot of questions, don't you?" chuckled Emily.

"I just have to know!" huffed Thomas defensively. The tender engines laughed at his fussiness. "It's a new railway. I don't want to be wandering around like a fool! I want to know what I’m doing!"

"And ye will wit’ time, Thomas! Wit’ time," chuckled Edward, just as Emily yawned.

"Sorry," she quickly piped. "I'm chuffed! I'll see you two back at the shed. Bye!" The apple green single pulled out of the yard, onto the mainline, and headed to Knapford Shed.

"Bye, Emily!" Edward and Thomas said in unison before getting back to work.

…

That night at Knapford Shed, Thomas was now the smallest engine of the North Western Railway. He was exhausted by the time he and Edward pulled up to the Shed. They saw Emily watching James failing to talk to Gordon while a grand green tender engine was fast asleep.

I guess he’s just like that with everyone, Thomas mused as Gordon shot a glare at James, quickly shutting up the black tender engine. Said engine pouted and reversed into his berth, calling it a night.

Knapford Shed was like any normal engine shed. It had a turntable next to it. There were doors to each berth. From what Thomas could see as he approached the turntable, it looked like the structure had sections. The roof seemed to split into three, and each one looked identical. Each section had three berths.

"How did ye like yer first day?" asked Edward as the little khaki tank engine was turned around.

"I enjoyed it!" he exclaimed, catching the attention of the other three tender engines. However, the unknown engine stayed asleep. "I can't wait to start pulling trains and exploring the island!"

A grumble was heard, and the two smallest engines looked to find a disgruntled Gordon.

The Edwardian-styled engine sighed. "Listen, Thomas. Yer dedication is great but ye need tae learn the basics first," said Edward. The guilt of grounding the newcomer's hopes down struck him. "Neither o' us want ye tae get intae trouble because ye dinnae ken ‘em."

"Oh, I'll get them down! It'll be easy!" claimed Thomas.

Edward chuckled but his worry for his mentee persisted. The pair talked for a while longer as the others slept. They giggled and whispered as quietly as they could before sleep finally took over.

What a great first day.

~

Notes:

Imagine rewriting a rewrite you did, haha-

I wasn't satisfied with the rewrite. It was the one story that kept pestering me so I finally got the chance to sit down and fix it.

I decided to split it up into multiple stories and heavily edited the parts I didn't like. Most of it was down to the dialogue and cutting out parts like Henry's story and the scene with Edward and Gordon.

Another thing that really irked me about my rewrite was Emily. She created more dead space so this is intended to fix that, as well as other continuity errors from James' arrival arc and connotations to IRL basis/facts, such as James' wooden brake blocks and the problems with the LBSCR E2s.

Thank you for reading! Have a wonderful day! <3

[technicolorfamiliar]

Contraband (Blackout) Dir. Michael Powell 1940

This one has been on my rewatch list since I first saw it last year. It was one of the few films in the epic Connie watch-a-thon that felt like it had some kind of curative powers, in the surprising way some movies do. I never expected it to lift my spirits and lighten my heart the way it did.

10/10 no notes. I absolutely love everything about this movie. Except the randomly shoehorned "White Negro" scene. It's so out of place in an otherwise pretty progressive film. That cabaret act literally could have been anything, why choose that?? (I couldn't find a lot of info about the choreographer, but it sounds like he was into romanticizing and exoticizing African and Caribbean people in his work… which is not great, but pretty typical of that time I guess. Ugh.)

But otherwise delightful, a romp from start to finish. Apparently someone on IMDB slammed Contraband for being "camp expressionism", but honestly? Hell yeah. I'm 100% here for it. In fact, "camp expressionism" my new favorite genre if it means cute, quirky, risqué, well-directed, well-shot, romantic spy comedy with a tight script and excellent performances.

I've also seen people comparing it to American screwball comedies of the era, but that doesn't seem quite right or even fair. Contraband, thanks to Powell, Pressburger, the editor, and the cast, has a very light touch compared to the comedies coming out of Hollywood in the '30s and '40s. It's not as heavy-handed, it doesn't beat its message to death with over-done gags or affected performances. Michael Powell even said the movie was "all pure corn, but corn served up by professionals." And that's the Powell and Pressburger difference, baby.

The comedy in the script is executed with relative subtlety. The movie isn't telling you HERE’S THE FUNNY BIT, LAUGH NOW the way screwball, slapstick Hollywood would. You almost have to be looking for the humor here to catch it, and it pays off. It's a cheekier type of comedy, not really driven by jokes and punchlines. And as someone who never really liked American comedies of that era, I really appreciate this kind of film. It's silly, even outright stupid in some scenes, but it's not playing down to it's audience. I mean, the whole brawl in the night club is almost like the big fight at the end of Blazing Saddles where more and more people keep joining in, but the action stops for half a second while someone delivers a line. It's stupid. And I love it.

The espionage stuff in is a little convoluted and kind of treated as a throw-away. But really, if you're not paying super close attention to that part of the story, you're not missing much. The spy plot between the British and the Nazis is really just there to give the lead characters something fun to do, and you know what… that's ok with me.

The cinematography also helps elevate Contraband above just being a regular old comedy. Featuring the London blackout is actually really clever. It forces a number of scenes into almost total darkness, which was a risky move and could have been a huge mistake, but it adds yet another interesting layer to the film, visually and in terms of story. There's an unusual POV (possibly handheld?) tracking shot, when Andersen and Mrs. Sorensen are walking up to her house in town, that's just lit by their flashlight. We don't see either of them, except for her hand briefly putting the key in the lock, until after they enter and the camera pans around the hall. And there's a moment a while later when they're in the basement after being tied up where Connie's face is entirely in shadow -- we know he's looking at her, but his expression is completely hidden in darkness. On paper, it sounds like a bad shot, a mistake, but this "expressionistic" lighting and camera work adds a little extra special sauce that I for one greatly appreciate.

The supporting cast is all generally pretty good. Hay Petrie is fun in a double roll. There's the scene in the rowboat where he looks like he's going to get sea sick… despite being the first mate who practically lives on a ship. Little character touches like that throughout the movie make it delightful: The girl in short shorts doing exercises in her room when Connie bursts in on her, the line delivery of the woman who works in the kitchen with Uncle Erik, the guy outside lighting his pipe during the blackout letting those two cops HAVE it. I love a character actor driven movie, all these people in bit parts adding so much color to the story. Brilliant.

Valerie Hobson is so good in this. First of all, she's a boss bitch with an incredible wardrobe. Every look she's serving is iconic. The tweed jacket and headscarf that matches her blouse? The dress with the crazy angular shoulder pads? The big, wide-brimmed hat? Slay. She's authoritative without being shrill, she's got a confident swagger you don't see a lot of actresses getting to showcase at that time. Still, she's not really a femme fatale either. Mrs. Sorensen is independent, intelligent, stunning, and into dangerous spy shit because she enjoys it. She's someone I'd want to hang out with, but would be too scared to talk to because she's so cool. I mean, she almost missed the train at the end because she went back to get Andersen's watch! I have two words for you: Wife Goals.

Sadly, it sounds like Val didn't really get to do a lot of other fun roles outside of the two films she made with Connie. Which is a real shame. Someone on Letterboxd said they're better together than Tracy and Hepburn, and I fully agree. Val and Connie have a natural chemistry that neither feels feel too personal or too studied. Their on screen work together feels easy, without all the baggage and volatility of IRL romance.

The first time I saw Contraband, I think I was simply charmed by Connie as Andersen. Getting to see him as a fun, heroic, romantic lead is incredibly satisfying. But this time around I realized how funny he actually is. He's is so cranky, he starts the movie already at like an 8.5, he's so fucking over it. It's one thing after another -- Mrs. Sorensen won't wear her life jacket, British contraband control wants to hold up them up, someone stole the landing papers, and of course it was Mrs. Sorensen AND Mr. Pigeon. He's so grumpy from the get. (My theory is that he's hangry. He's temperamental and irritable up until he gets a decent meal at The Three Vikings. So relatable.)

It was fun to rewatch this one to catch all the comedic beats Connie is doing with his gestures and facial expressions. They're choreographed, but not affected or over done. His timing and delivery is subtle and finely tuned, which is always funnier than an actor who deliberately plays up the laughs. For example, the long pause after Mrs. Sorensen corrects his pronunciation of the name of the restaurant, he furrows his brow and looks around and finally mutters, "…VI-kings." His comedy is so understated, which keeps the rapid-fire pacing of the bits from being obnoxious.

Andersen is an interesting guy, too. I feel like his macho vibe is just a mask he wears as captain of his ship. He's so used to being That Guy, but, based on Connie's performance, I get the impression that deep down Andersen doesn’t really subscribe to all that traditional masculinity. Later in the film it's easy-ish for him to eventually drop the façade, adjust his expectations, becoming more flexible, malleable in his ideas about sex and gender. This of course is because Conrad Veidt was in reality a proto-feminist wife guy. Andersen isn't played like your standard manly man movie heroes of the time, because that's not who Connie was, that's not an image he wanted to project or support (and I feel one reason why Hollywood couldn't figure out what to do with him in the '40s, but that rant is for another post).

Andersen and Mrs. Sorensen are pretty evenly matched. In fact she has the upper hand and more progressive, dominant role especially once they arrive in London. On his ship, he's the boss, but on shore he's met with one disadvantage after another. Mrs. Sorensen has to be the one to pay for his bus and cab fare, confidently navigating her way through the blackout like a pro. Meanwhile, Andersen is pretty much a bumbling fool, a sidekick to Sorensen's spy adventure. But he's not totally incompetent either (I MEAN IT LOOKS LIKE HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING WITH THOSE ROPES, HE IS A SAILOR AFTER ALL *eyes emoji* *sweating emoji*), he's the one who comes up with the plan to rescue Sorensen from her Nazi captors (although I get the impression she probably would have found her own way out without his help). But what's great is that he doesn't do it alone, he goes back to The Three Vikings to round up a small army of Danish essential workers to back him up. And I love how Connie plays the whole last act of the film like he's actually on an adventure; you can see Connie the actor having the most fun ever getting to be the big movie star hero, tussling with cops and Nazis, solving puzzles with glee, getting the girl -- who is just as much of a badass as he is -- in the end. It's so good. And it's so much fun to watch.

There are so, so many wonderful little touches in this movie, many of which I only caught during this second watch. I have a page of scribbled notes I wrote while I was watching that ends with, "The cutest shit I have ever seen!" From the performances to the writing to the technical details, it's hard not to fall in love with this one. Contraband is easily one of those films I could rewatch over and over again and never get sick of it.

OH I can't believe forgot about The Boys:

The goodest boys.

[224bbaker]

Solve-A-Thon: THE MYSTERY 🔎🤡⛵️🎼🃏

Hello all, and thank you for lending us your minds, your votes, and your enthusiasm to craft us a brand new mystery that we will definitely* solve this week!

(*maybe)

In honor of our Season 2 Crowdfund (obligatory "money plz"), we ran polls on our Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram to determine the setup for a mystery, and the results were as follows:

The client: Velvet, a children's birthday clown

The crime: a crime of fashion and/or passion

The location: a water taxi

A weapon or tool: a deck of cards

A clue: a piece of music that isn't very good

Which leads us to....THE MYSTERY:

Velvet, a clown who works at a famous nautical birthday emporium/taxi service on the Thames, believes his magician co-worker has gone missing—even though he’s onstage performing a new act right now…

Keep an eye on your feeds later this week, as Hampton Fawx takes us through this VERY singular, very magical, very nautical case!

[talanashta]

Show Night - Chapter Two

For this prompt ("After a show") for the Four or More Fic-a-thon @fourormore

Rating: M | No CWs: a black-pepper amount of spice | Word Count: 2,037 | Pairings: Spicy Six Plus Chrissy Polycule Additional Tags: Steve's POV

Read Chapter One

Finally, the show was over. Steve loved Eddie and loved watching him perform, but after all the head trauma he’d had, the loud music was a bit too much sometimes.

The group had gotten out the door mostly on time a few hours earlier, heading to the Hideout where Corroded Coffin was performing their regular show. It took three cars to get everyone there, but they managed. The kids were noisy as hell on the way there, but luckily Steve missed most of it, since he only had to drive Dustin and Robin. Jonathan had taken Argyle, Eden, Will, and El in his car, and Nancy crammed the rest in hers. He could tell by the worn out face Nancy was wearing when she arrived, though, that the rest of the Party had been just as wound up as Dustin was.

After they got Max out of the car and into her wheelchair, they had all headed inside, settling at a few tables along the wall. Steve had had to sic Nancy on Mike a few times, since he kept trying to convince them to let him have a beer, but otherwise, the rest of the night went smoothly.

Eddie’s set went great; he and the guys nailed every song they played, both covers and originals alike. Watching Eddie’s fingers fly over the frets had actually gotten Steve a little hot and bothered, to be honest.

After the set ended, Steve pulled down the sound-dampening earmuffs he’d been wearing and let them hang around his neck.

“You guys did great!” he told Eddie, pulling him into a hug.

Eddie blushed a little and pulled a strand of hair in front of his face. “Yeah?”

Steve felt Chrissy pop off her chair and drape herself over his back and around his shoulders. “Yeah! It was so good!”

Eddie beamed at the two of them. “I’m glad you liked it.” He gestured back to the small stage. “I’ve got to go help the guys get our stuff packed up and in the van before I can chat more. Otherwise, Gareth’s going to rip me a new one.”

“Okay!” Chrissy chirped and waved goodbye to him. She slid off Steve and headed back to Robin.

As Eddie was turning away, Steve offered, “I’ll come help.”

Eddie turned back to him, waiting for him to say more.

“Sooner we get you loaded up, the sooner we can get the kids to bed,” Steve explained. “Max won’t admit it, but I can tell she’s ready to crash.”

Leaning around Steve, Eddie took a quick look at Max, who was indeed starting to slump, leaning most of her top half against El and looking seconds away from falling asleep.

“Yeah. Let’s try to get out of here quick,” he agreed. Then he turned to the other guys and called, “Argyle. Jon.”

The two turned from their conversation and looked at him questioningly.

“Come help pack up the amps and stuff?” Eddie asked.

“Sure, man,” Argyle agreed good-naturedly. Jonathan was more on the quiet side and just stood to follow them.

Between the four band-mates and their three make-shift roadies, their whole set-up was packed and in the van in under twenty minutes. The rest of the guys headed back in to get everyone herded outside to leave while Eddie and Steve finished securing the equipment for travel.

Eddie slammed the back doors of the van shut when they were done (the doors wouldn’t close right otherwise, the piece of junk) and spun to look at Steve. He comically wiped his brow and said, “Woof, glad that’s done. Those things are not light.”

Steve couldn’t help himself when it came to this nerd. The words had barely finished leaving Eddie’s mouth before he was pressed up against the back of the van.

“Well, hello,” Eddie murmured, wide-eyed. No matter how many times they did this, he still acted surprised that it was happening. Steve was so gone on him.

“Hi,” Steve said lowly while sliding his leg in between Eddie’s. He leaned in so his mouth was a hairsbreadth away from Eddie’s. “You looked so good up there, baby.” He ran his hands up Eddie’s sides underneath his top, feeling up his warm, slightly sweaty skin, stopping midway up.

Eddie moaned and ground down on Steve’s thigh. “Yeah? I get you hot and bothered playing my guitar? The bad-boy rock-star look get you going, big boy?”

Steve was so grateful that Eddie was parked behind the bar where the wasn’t anyone around to see them like this when he pressed his mouth to Eddie’s, slow but firm. The warmth of Eddie against him and the taste of his mouth had him slowly getting hard in his jeans.

They stood there languidly kissing and grinding on each other for who knows how long (probably not really that long, since the others hadn’t all come out yet), when Steve feels another warm body press against his back.

“Hey, guys,” Argyle’s voice came softly from right near his ear as he pulled back from Eddie. “As nice as this show is, the kids are incoming, so you might want to wrap it up.” Steve felt one of Argyle’s hands card through the back of his hair as he spoke.

Eddie cleared his throat. “Thanks, man.”

Argyle leaned over Steve’s shoulder and pecked Eddie on the lips then Steve on the cheek. “No problem, dude.” He pulled away from the two of them. “I’m gonna go hop in Jon’s car. See you two at home!” He left in a jog, around the building and out of sight.

Eddie and Steve watched him go for a moment, then Eddie turned to Steve. “Wait, why did he come out the back?”

Steve thought about it and came up with… nothing. “Who knows, babe,” he said. “It’s Argyle.”

“Hm, true,” he agreed. Then he frowned. “You should probably head around to your car too. I’ve got to get the guys home, and you’ve got to take Robin and Dustin.”

Steve frowned, too, not wanting to pull away from Eddie’s warmth and love. “You’re right,” he grumbled, reluctantly, and peeled himself off his boyfriend.

Eddie put his hands on Steve’s shoulders and rubbed up and down a couple times. “You’ll be okay, you big ol’ baby.” He leaned in and pecked Steve one last time, before nudging him backwards. “Go wrangle our kids before Nancy shoots them. I’m sure they’re all driving her crazy,” he said. “And I don’t know about you, but I don’t exactly want to explain to Claudia why we’re returning Dustin with a bullet wound.”

Steve brightened up a little and chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

Eddie nodded firmly. “I’ll be home before my carriage turns back into a pumpkin,” he said, giving the back of the van a knock. “Don’t worry.” Then he got a wry smirk on his face. “Maybe we can spend some time in the Sex Dungeon when I get back.”

Groaning, Steve dropped his head back. “I wish you guys would stop calling it that. It’s upstairs! It can’t be a dungeon!” He turned and started to head around the building; he raised a hand and turned his head to look behind him as he said, “Bye.”

“Bye, Stevie!” Eddie called cheerfully. “Love you! Drive safe!”

He turned to walk backwards so he could look at Eddie as he said, with a slight blush, “Yeah, yeah. Love you, too. You drive safe too. You drive like a maniac,” and then he reached the corner of the building and was out of sight.

Steve couldn’t quite see the whole group since they were partly out-of-view around the front of the building, but he saw the younger teens bouncing around and chatting loudly while the older ones huddled up smoking and talking, with Robin and Chrissy off to the side… square-dancing? He assumed that was Robin’s doing since she was singing something while she spun around Chrissy around.

God, he loved Robin, but she was so weird sometimes.

Once he got close enough, he put his hands around the sides of his mouth and called, “Hey, this isn’t Texas, Robin! We’re in Indiana.”

Robin dropped Chrissy’s arm and spun around so fast, Steve worried for a second that she’d just tip right over, but she maintained her balance and mock-angrily yelled back, “You can talk Mr. Back-Lot Make-outs!”

Steve gasped playfully. “How could you, Argyle?” He could tell Eddie was rubbing off on him (in more ways than one) with how dramatic he was getting, going so far as to put his hand over his heart. “I thought we had something!”

“Sorry, man,” Argyle said, not a hint of remorse in his tone. He took another pull off the blunt in his hand. “To be far, though, I think most of them already suspected.” Then he gave Steve a mellow smile.

He laughed at that. “True, man.” He gestured and said, magnanimously, “I forgive you.”

“Thanks, man. Don’t know what I’d do with myself if you didn’t,” Argyle played along. Then he got back to his conversation with Jonathan, returning his arm around Eden.

Chrissy and Robin had come up on either side of him while he was talking to Argyle so he wrapped an arm around each girl. “Hey, Chris, Rob.” He plopped a kiss on top of each girl’s head, Robin’s first, of course. “What was up with the square-dancing?”

Robin instantly started rambling out a story about the square-dancing unit in elementary-school gym (which, how did he ever manage to forget that torture? He blamed the multiple concussions) and how Chrissy had never done it since she moved to Hawkins at the start of middle school. Chrissy chimed in occasionally to add a detail here or there, and like, he understood the why now, but he still didn’t understand how square-dancing came up in the first place… Thinking about it, he decided he’d be better off not asking, honestly. They’d be here another half hour while Robin “explained.”

By the time Robin got to the end of her story (only going off on three tangents before then; good job, Robs!), the kids had gotten antsy enough to start causing mischief and mayhem, so he had to pull away from her and Chrissy and practically wrestle them into the various cars with Nancy’s help so that they could leave.

Once they’d gotten home, gotten the kids all settled for the night, and gotten ready for bed themselves, Steve was beyond ready to crash. The adrenaline from the show had dissipated by this point, and he was left dragging himself into bed.

Practically as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was asleep. At some point later, he was dragged from the depths of his slumber to the sound of someone coming in the bedroom. Eddie. It had to be, since he hadn’t been back by the time Steve crashed.

He groggily opened his eyes the tiniest fraction and saw Robin snoring, fast asleep next to him, and Chrissy sitting up in bed with the lamp on, reading a book.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he heard Eddie whisper to Chrissy.

“Hi,” she replied, soft and syrup-sweet.

He heard the tink of Eddie’s rings in the bowl on the dresser. “I see Thing 1 and Thing 2 are out cold.” Then Steve heard the rustling of Eddie getting undressed. “Guess that means no Sex Dungeon tonight, huh?” Eddie asked, cheekily.

Chrissy let out the quietest little laugh. “I’m pretty tired too, so no. I just wanted to wait up to make sure you got home safely.” Even though he was half-asleep, Steve felt so proud of Chrissy in that moment. When they’d first gotten together, she’d felt so guilty every time she said no to sex with them, so this was big.

“That’s alright.” He could hear the smile in Eddie’s tone; he must be thinking the same thing as Steve. “Let me just brush my teeth and pee, and I’ll be in bed in a second.”

“Okay. I love you,” was the last thing Steve heard before he was pulled back to sleep, a smile on his face.

[oldshowbiz]

Red Skelton got his start in the early 1930s as an emcee of competitive dance marathons, a world vividly depicted by Horace McCoy in They Shoot Horses Don’t They? It was the fastest way for a brand new comedian to get a ton of experience in a very short amount of time. Other future comics like Harry Jarkey of Detroit and Lord Buckley of Chicago got their start along the marathon circuit.

“We worked in shifts,” said Jarkey. “Everything was off the cuff. One emcee would work from six to twelve and then another guy would go on from twelve to six. From six in the evening to twelve – they were wide awake. After that it became sparsely attended. People just came in to visit and help keep the people awake that were participating in the walk-a-thon. You’d be talking sometimes just to yourself.”

Clocking an incredible number of hours hosting dance marathons, Red Skelton was a comedy veteran by the age of 20. He was considered a gifted pantomimist with a knack for physical shtick. After years of pratfalls, doctors installed a plastic diaphragm inside his body to protect his depleted body.

One of his future writers, Bob Schiller, saw Skelton perform during World War Two. “He came and entertained us. Nobody paid any attention to him. It was awful. Embarrassing comic. Very childish, very primitive, embarrassingly primitive.”

He starred in major motion pictures for MGM, helmed his own network radio program, and endured with the longest running comedy series on television. He was among the wealthiest comedians era. He commanded an astounding twenty-five thousand dollars a week playing Las Vegas in 1952.

TV Guide surveyed Skelton’s demographics. He was most popular with viewers who only had a grade school education. Half of those with a college education didn’t even know who he was.

[bah-circus]

Can we request Ochaco Uraraka from MHA? -🔪

Of course dear audience! We have heard your request and have found a suitable performer for you! We hope this performance suits your needs, but you are free to make any adjustments you wish.

❣︎For Our Next Act, Please Welcome,,,❣︎

Ochaco Uraraka!!

°·⊱ Name: Ochaco Uraraka, Mallow, Sakura, Jesse, Ann

°·⊱ Nicknames/Titles: Ura, Mal-Mal, Pinky, Mochi Cheeks, The Cute One

°·⊱ Age: 17

°·⊱ Race/Species: Human

°·⊱ Source: My Hero Academia

────── · · · · ──────

°·⊱ Sex: Female 

°·⊱ Gender: GirlPrince TyTaggic StarBeadic NostalgiaFem Prettymasc Himegyaruthing PasuPartyic PrettyBoyLoser

°·⊱ Pronouns: She/Her; He/Him; Bea/Beads; Star/Stars; ⭐️/⭐️s; 💕/💕s; 🌸/🌸s; ✨/✨s; 🍓/🍓s; 🍡/🍡s; 💌/💌s; 🩷/🩷s; Love/Loves; Cute/Cutes; Prin/Prince; Luv/Luvs; Sticker/Stickers; Thon/Thons; Gya/Gyaru; Shx/Hxr; Hx/Hxm

°·⊱ Sexuality: Bisexual (Fem lean)

────── · · · · ──────

°·⊱ Personality: Very upbeat, she always tries to find the positive in things! 💕 cares a lot for ⭐️s friends and family, both in and out of sys. Bea loves being creative and reads a lot, but still finds the time to get up and move around! 

°·⊱ Extra: We were imagining a quirkless AU, so that’s why the face claims are not in her hero costume!

°·⊱ Faceclaim: 1 | 2

[mapsofnonexistentplaces]

cas: vengeful abstract ghost. was killed by mazin and spends a lot of time sending out visions down to the train itself, hinting that mazin should be killed in turn. extremely relaxed and kind in basically any other circumstance. she's a flamenco dancer and professional stuntsman and blends the two disciplines into eccentric public performances. motifs are dwarf planets and the sun

freya: weird woman. professional ice theater skater who has an interest in obscure magical phenomena. often just went on thons own little investigations without telling thons family or friends, only to come back days later completely fine. thons venture into the train was one of these. thon has a special affinity for listening to the ghosts populating the fornax reality and is able to commune with them, something that others can only situationally do at best. thon believes thon can fix the train thonself and become a sort of savior figure to everyone. thon can also do really cool tricks with marbles, and knows so many riddles. motifs are holly and winter in general

[garebearandnan]

LOVE ISLAND CHALLENGES

Despite Love Island challenges being fun and games, they can be equally just as savage and cause drama in the Villa. My top 10 favourite are:

Truth Or Dare – Truth or Dare is a popular party game both inside and outside the Villa. 

“Islanders, it’s time to find out who’s hot under the collar, and who’s playing it cool. Head over to the fire pit to play a game of Truth or Dare. #TruthsToBeTold #DareToBeBold”

Taking place in the first few episodes, this challenge serves as an ice breaker, because nothing breaks the ice quite like being dared to make out with other people you've just met.

2. Twitter/ Mean Tweets challenge – The text the islanders never want to receive is:

“Islanders, it’s time to find out what the public really think in today’s challenge. #NoFilter #MeanTweet"

It’s considered the crème de la crème of Love Island challenges.  It's hard to say which would be worse: finding out that a mean tweet was about you or finding out that it wasn't about you but your fellow islanders thought it was. Before this challenge, islanders must trust their gut instincts on whether to trust their fellow islanders. Because of this, the public take matters into their own hands and tweet things that shake up the villa. 

3. Licence To Swill – The rules are simple. An islander hears a quote another contestant has said about them, and they then throw water on the person they think has said it. The sneakiest and muggiest islanders can bank on getting a faceful from everyone, and they won't get any sympathy in return.

4. Raunchy Races – The islanders at the main Villa compete with those at Casa Amor.

"Islanders, this afternoon the Villa will take on Casa Amor in a series of cheeky challenges. The first villa to complete each challenge wins a point. The villa that receives the most points will win a party tonight. #onenildown #upyourgame"

Almost every time, an islander or two can be heard asking a fellow islander afterward if they think their partner kissed another person in the opposing villa. While most of the kisses shared between islanders during the Raunchy Races typically amount to nothing, the competition is the producers' way of exacerbating feelings of insecurity between those in the villa and those in Casa Amor.

5. Snog-a-thon challenge – The challenge involves each set of Islanders kissing blindfolded Islanders, and the blinded Islanders rating the kiss out of ten.

"Islanders, pucker up... it's time to find out which girl and boy is the best kisser! #snogathon #tenoutoften.

Sounds harmless? Wrong. In 2019, Curtis rated a kiss from Arabella (not his partner) a perfect score of 10 because he had a "good connection" with her. He gave his partner, Amy's kiss, only a 7. He tried to defend his ratings by saying that he didn't realise it wasn't Amy that he kissed. Amy responded with: "I scratched your neck like I always do, so you knew it was me." To make it even worse, he gave all the other girls a higher number. Ouch!

6. Heart rate challenge – The producers of Love Island like seeing who can get the other contestants' hearts racing with their own version of a risqué dance routine. The contestants get into character by donning costumes and attempting dance routines that are typically beyond their skill level. The majority of Islanders approach it in a lighthearted manner and consider it to be a bit of fun. As a result, the challenge does not typically result in a great deal of drama. That is until your heart rate gets raised the most by your ex OR in 2020 (UK S6, winter), after the girls are done performing, more music is heard and a new bombshell proceeds to dance for the boys. The results revealed two of the boys' heart rates were raised the most by the newcomer, leading to the following text (and drama, of course):

"Connor and Callum, as your heart rates were raised the most by Rebecca, you will each join her on a date.  Connor please join Rebecca in the hideaway immediately. # sex goddess # hearts don't lie"

7. Movie night – Is a newer challenge that was introduced after Casa Amor in 2021.

“Islanders, it’s time to get glam hit the red carpet and grab some popcorn as tonight it’s Movie Night . #Blockbuster #ThrillerInTheVilla.”

The challenge has the Islanders split into 2 teams based on gender and set up like a pub quiz. Upon scoring a point the team gets to choose from a list of movie titles that are actually clips surrounding an Islander(s) of what the said Islander got up to at CA. The clips typically show all sorts of mischief that they got up to with a newbie and a lot of drama is produced for Love Island viewer’s entertainment.

8. Snog, Marry, Pie – The Islanders face the wrath of the show's other players by getting pies on their faces. The Snog, Marry, Pie challenge produces mostly humorous moments. This task is unique in that it allows the islanders to express their feelings about their friends' partners.

Depending on who gets pied the most, and whose emotions are involved, this challenge is often a source of drama. A classic moment in 2019 (UK S5): One of Anton's many missteps in the Villa. This time he messed up with Belle, his partner, causing a lot of drama. Anton chose Islander Anna as his snog and stated, "I'm going to kiss this person because they were the best kisser in the kissing challenge." After mugging off Belle, he decides to pick her to marry. She stood her ground and said: “You’ve mugged me off, you’ve embarrassed me, you’ve made me feel like sh*t.”

9. Lie detector – In this challenge, the islanders had to take a polygraph test and answer three relationship-related questions from their partners. It’s considered one of the most nerve-wracking challenges since their partners don’t hold back and ask tough questions. The polygraph test caused a lot of drama regardless of its accuracy. In 2017 (UK S3), Marcel asked Gabby if she loved him; she said "yes," but the machine concluded that she was lying. Plenty of tears and drama occurred from the results.

10. Baby challenge – The baby's challenge is without a doubt the most harmless of the challenges that the Islanders will partake in. 

“Islanders, each couple has been given responsibility for their own bundle of joy. You must look after your doll as if it were the real deal for the rest of the day. Whichever couple can keep their doll the most happy and content will win a special prize. #dollsontour #acryingshame”

A iconic moment: In 2018 (UK S4), the girls headed out the villa when the babies arrived, and left the dads setting up daddy day care. They tried some daddy yoga and a race – which ended in Dr. Alex falling over and definitely killing his baby, as it went flying out of the pram and when Josh’s baby’s arm fell off. In 2019 (UK S5), when Molly caught Tommy doing tricks with their fake baby and she said, "Uh Tommy, what the f**k was that?" Same season, Anna and Jordan were forced to co-parent their baby after they broke up. Anna straight up refused to help, telling Jordan: “I don’t know whose baby that is, because it’s not mine. He probably doesn’t even know whose baby it is himself.”

[simslegacy5083]

NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 9 Ep 53: Geeking Out

Luigi’s efforts to improve his school/life balance continued with accepting Great Grandpa Don’s invite to join his gaming club downtown for Geekcon.

It was by far his favorite festival, and seeing how Don led the club might help him coordinate his own gaming team someday, so of course he agreed.

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

The experienced group jumped right into the events. Luigi had been specializing in Sims Forever and Sim Scuffle recently, making him a little out of practice at the games that were a part of the Ultimate Gaming Test. Still, he had a lot of fun and was satisfied with his overall performance.

He might have been a bit rusty at his non-core games, but Luigi had been programming up a storm since decreasing his need for sleep. Just like his Great Grandy Jasper before him he crushed the hack-a-thon and walked away to enjoy the rest of the festival confident in having placed well.

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

Swinging by the merch stand he grabbed a gift for Professor Silva’s upcoming team “Secret Father Winter” exchange before grabbing an iron rich burger for lunch.

Remembering how frustrated his Grandpa had been about his struggles in the romance department during their last club outing Luigi checked in with him first. Don happily reported that his luck had turned around not to long after their night on the town. His very next Meet and Mingle match had been a Sim who seemed to be a great fit. If things kept going the way they had been Luigi’s next invite from him might just be for his wedding to Rhea!

Chase was not nearly so excited to share as Don had been. After their last conversation Luigi had connected the amateur fizz aficionado with his Aunt Tori and Uncle Miguel. Unfortunately, it seemed like something had gone wrong from there, although Chase clearly didn’t want to talk about it!

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

Luckily Denton saved Luigi from the awkward conversation by coming over and motioning his cousin to join him. Whispering just loud enough to be heard, Denton revealed that he wanted his best man be the first to know he was soon going to be a dad.

Luigi was concerned at first since his cousin hadn’t felt ready for that the last time they’d discussed it, but apparently Bridget’s excitement had rubbed off on him. Denton was happy to add that mischief magic had turned out to be a fantastic outlet for his wife’s darker side, vastly improving their home life.

Luigi could only hope his own feelings turned around so fast when his own heir showed up. Turning his frown upside down Luigi gave the expectant parents his unreserved congratulations on the approach of the first baby of the next generation.

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

Luigi’s instincts had been spot on about his performance earlier that day. His score in the gaming competition wasn’t the best, but when the hack-a-thon winners were announced he handily beat out the competition with a near perfect score!

Luigi was flush with pride as he headed up to the merch booth to turn in his voucher and collect his winnings. He didn’t have a spare desk for the high-end desktop computer he’d won, and it couldn’t compare to the laptop that had benefited from his ancestress Veronica’s customization back in the day, but he figured he’d hold on to it in the hopes of being able to customize it himself once he maxed out his own programming skill.

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

As the group said their goodbyes and went to go their separate ways Luigi basked in the congratulations of his fellows. It felt so good to have his accomplishments acknowledged and really, he reasoned, he deserved nothing less. Besides, he would totally have done the same for them.

He decided that today had proved just how successful he could be. He was always trying to better himself, achieve more, he might as well embrace the fact that he was truly an overachiever. With a little hard work great things awaited him – he just knew it!

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

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[randomrabbidramblings]

Thanks to Bwahstrella's... questionable policies about her clients' privacy here's her quotes:

Not quite spoilers, but if you want to catch them yourself, don't go ahead. No spoilers about the DLC, just lil' trivia about the characters. There's A LOT of them, I don't even think you could get all of them in a couple of playthroughs, I may have missed a bunch, so if you find some I didn't let me know!

"Augie lives in fear his villagers will discover that their emergency food supplies are just bags of nacho cheese sauce."

"Augie was supposed to build a new temple, but he blew the funds on booking DJ Cheep Tuna for his birthday."

"I foresee Augie will be put on a "performance improvement plan" for using the lighthouse to cook a rotisserie chicken."

"Tell Augie our service hotline is not a free consueling service."

"Find out wich intern told Augie he was doomed and fire them. He is calling like a lunatic now."

"I foresee Augie wearing sweatpants to his parents' anniversary after forgetting to try on his suit until the day of."

"Orion's next cargo ship will catch fire after Salesbot's crates of "furniture parts" turn out to be illegal fireworks."

"I foresee Orion being swallowed alive by a Shovel-Nosed Gobblegazer while star fishing. He REALLY needs a new hobby."

"Magnesio and Vanesia sold MANY "prosperity crystals". The catch? They were ICE crystals. Rabbids got water in the mail."

"I sponsored Telesio in a book-a-thon fundraiser. He read every book in the Winter Palace - TWICE! Cost me a fortune."

"Each postcard of Dr. Vent is stranger than the last. That Rabbid is in dire need of a vacation."

"The balls they throw at the Winter palace are like knitting circles compared to the ones they had there back in my days."

"Woodrow is to recieve terrible dating advice until he rescinds the 5% fortune telling tax on Palette Prime!"

"Woodrow's ex-girlfriend couldn't even read a greeting card inscription without breaking into hives, poor thing."

"The Fates are many, and their voices discordant, but on this ONE thing they agree - they HATE Woodrow's poetry."

"When Woodrow needed money he wrote crude limericks under the name "Bell Chur". Oddly they brought only good luck."

"If Woodrow calls, tell him I am in a seance - DO NOT take a message, especially if it rhymes."

"Yes, it is bad if Woodrow's next poem destroys the galaxy, BUT if we don't have to hear it - mixed blessing."

"Lots of Rabbids from Palette Prime are calling for advice. Woodrow must be working on a new poem. SHUDDER."

"Tell the Palette Prime office I'm eagerly awaiting fresh gossip from the Spellbound Woods about Sweetlopek an the Dryad."

"I foresee the Dryad and Sweetlopek making a fortune selling fall-themed "farmhouse chic" pinecone wreaths to tourists."

"A certain Spark Hunter who is as dense as her name implies owes me for damage to my vacation home on Palette Prime."

"I didn't say Salesbot smuggles artificial pumpking spice into Palette Prime, but I also didn't NOT say it."

"The "authenthic" Paletteville Plaza Farmer's Market scented candles I bought from Salesbot smell like rotting garbage."

"The premium for poetry-related accident insurance on Palette Prime is six times that of our other locations!"

"A golden acorn of opportunity will fall in your lap while you are asleep. It will be eaten by a vole."

"Bea reports that "Madame Bwahstrella Doom n' Bloom Boquets" are a very popular item between mortal enemies."

"Bea's music made a small comeback after DJ Cheep Tuna sampled it for Darkmess Cheese Barber Wrap Tunnel Disco party."

"Tell my publicist to invite Galaxy Confidential to my Doomy Awards dinner party, then seat the Phantom near Bea."

"You didn't need to be psychic to predict the Phantom dumping Bea for one of her backup dancers, but would she listen?"

"Tell Alkementor I need a case of red banana-kumquat-star apple mineral fusion water for my Doomy Awards afterparty."

"I see Sullivan going dateless at the Engineer's Ball if he does not stop blowing me off for his stupid train."

"If Sullivan calls, tell him I'm having lunch with a handsome salesman who prefers electric trains over steam engines."

"Sullivan sent roses to apologize for calling me "vile rabble" after I said his steam train was a "ridiculous fossil"."

"Everywhere I go at the Everbloom I am asked. "Do you foresee more overtime in my future?" Hard to relax."

"I foresee Momma being thougher than leather and harder than steel, with an itch for action and living like there no tomorrow!"

"I wouldn't want to be a certain Spark Hunter when Momma catches up to them with an itch that only revenge can scratch!"

"Tell our Barrendale Mesa location they are absolutely NOT to close during "Big Momma's Bike Rally and Chili Cookoff."

"I foresee Gerspard moving into his Neo-Figurative Hyper-Expressionist Retro-Futuristic Tabloid phase to rave reviews."

"Rabbid Peach wants HOW MUCH for a sponsored post?!"

"Someone tell Rabbid Mario we do not use male models for our gift catalogues before he sends us any more beefcake shots."

"Prof. Backpack's lecture series is postponed until he can find a commercial spaceflight with room for his backpack."

"Can someone remind Salesbot he does not work here? He keeps popping in to help himself to our breakroom snacks."

"My competitor, Madame Bwahstrodamus, could not predict yesterday's weather if she had a newspaper."

"Find out how many lanes the bowling alley in Madame Bwahstrodamus' mansion has so I can build mine with twice as many."

"Sigh... Have my body double do the autograph signing. I need a vacation..."

"I see a new personal assistant in my future if my chicken cheesesteak is cold like last time."

"Curses, hexes, evil eyes... Fortune-telling USED to be fun. Now the Fates most rely on algorithms and statistics."

"I'm Doomed, My Partner's Not - my self-help guide for couples, it's due out this spring."

"Life is short - doom well, doom often, doom much."

[reasoningdaily]

The Black Woman is God - Wikipedia

The Black Woman Is God is a recurring group exhibition of Black women artists curated by Karen Seneferu and Melorra Green, which started in 2013 and in 2016 and 2017 has been located at the San Francisco city-owned nonprofit art space SOMArts. The exhibitions challenge a popular western mindset of God as a white male and instead explores new images showing "The Black Woman is God".

2013 Exhibition at the African American Art & Culture Complex edit

The first iteration of The Black Woman is God was intended as a solo exhibition for Seneferu, curated by Green, at the African American Art & Culture Complex. Seneferu agreed to participate in the exhibition only if other black female artists were included.[1] The exhibition included 20 visual and performance artists. The opening reception also included a performing arts show as part of the exhibition and was called "vibrant and magnificent".[2][3][4]

2014 Exhibition

The 2014 exhibition was held at the San Francisco Public Library in the African American Center from March 1 to May 15, 2014.[5]

2016 Exhibition

The next expanded exhibition, The Black Woman is God: Reprogramming that God Code, opened with 60 artists on July 7, 2016, and ran through August 17, 2016 at SOMArts.[6]

Art critics called it as "timely", "organic",[7] and "vivid".[8] Sheila Bapat of Bitch wrote "The exhibit intentionally turns the historic devaluation of Black women and their contributions—social, political, economical—on its head. This exhibit asserts Black women’s power and beauty and does not seek to devalue any other group in the process..... It applies pressure to the beliefs and values undergirding the laws and policies that exclude Black women’s lives from economic policymaking and their labor from economic value and protection."[9]

2017 Exhibition

The next exhibition, The Black Woman is God: Divine Revolution, also curated by Karen Seneferu and Melorra Green, returned to SOMArts on July 20, 2017, and ran through August 26, 2017. The exhibition had the work of 80 artists on view.[10][11] SOMArts, the California Digital Library and Art Practical held a Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon on July 22 in conjunction with the exhibition "to raise the online visibility of Black women artists and challenge the gaps in art history that erase or minimize Black women’s contributions as artists, activists and social change-makers."[12]

[the-rewritten-railway-au]

"It's Just a Little Derailment!"

May 1930

The Adventure Begins (2015)

Word Count: 579

Thomas derails in the yard.

~

By the time the sun fully rose, Thomas was the last one sleeping in, loudly snoring. The other engines didn’t mind it. Besides, they were used to Gordon’s snoring and James’ muttering. A little more noise wouldn’t hurt. The tank engine struggled to sleep in his new home the night before and fell asleep hours after Edward did.

Said engine was accompanied by James, and the pair poked their smokeboxes—“like curious dogs,” their crews often joke —into the sheds. The latter stuck around for amusement, only to be annoyed instead.

“Thomas!” whispered Edward as the tank engine’s crew struggled to keep his fire going. “Thomas, get up!”

Heterochromatic eyes rolled at the bronze-eyed engine's attempts. “With that voice, you’re just pulling him into deep sleep!”

“I rather no’ wake him up wit’ a start!”

“Well, I'm not sticking around any further!”

“Whit ur ye-?”

The black tender engine blasted his whistle. The shrill pierced Edward’s smokebox, startled the crews, and shook Thomas awake. “Bloody hell, James!” scolded the khaki tank engine.

“Bloody hell, yourself!” retorted James, scoffing at Edward's glare. “You didn't think your muttering would actually wake him up, did you?”

“Naw, but-”

“And don’t you have a train to pull?”

“Aye-!”

“Then you should be grateful!”

“I am!” Edward internally winced at his own volume. Raising his voice? Who did he think he was? “I am.” Much better. “I just wish ye could've given a warnin’.”

“To you?”

…Maybe. “Naw.”

“Excuse me!” Thomas piped up. Maybe that whistle was a good wake-up call as he couldn't feel sleepiness in his system. “I can't get out if you’re in the way!”

Bronze eyes widened. “Och, dear- Sorry!” As quickly and carefully as Edward could, he backed away and switched tracks. “Is thon-?”

“I’m running late!” The khaki tank engine bolted out of his berth.

“Thomas-!” Edward braced himself, knowing he didn't have enough time to move out of the way. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the feeling of crushed buffers never came.

With a peek, Edward was surprised to see Thomas mere inches away from him, derailed.

“No"s spilled from the E2, who tried getting back on the rails. He jerked back, jostling his crew in his cab like a wild bull, who tried to calm him down. To other engines, it was a small derailment. Nothing to fret about. But to him? Oh, god, they’ll find out how defective he was. And when they do, they'll send him packing to the Southern Railway, and who knows what they’ll do to him.

The Southern Railway sold him off to this small railway, quicker than any sale he’s ever seen or heard about. He wasn't oblivious. His siblings weren't either. They were very aware of their poor performance. They failed to do their intended job because of how they were built, and they couldn't change that.

Thomas couldn't change that.

So when Edward buffered up to him and pushed him back, Thomas was shocked. The voices of Mr. Perkins and Archie guiding Edward came to him, the pair having climbed off at some point. “What-?”

“Thare ye go!” cheered the blue tender engine. “Back oan the rails! Come oan, ye two. We've got work tae dae!”

Stumped, Thomas didn't catch onto James’ muttering as he distantly followed Edward. The smaller tender engine pushed him back on the rails with ease. It was practically a nudge.

Was it really that simple? pondered the large tank engine as his crew opened his regulator and released his brakes. With a slow start, Thomas rolled down the tracks onto the Main Line.

~

Notes

This was supposed to be part of another part but I felt like there would've been too much going on in that part, so I cut it down to just this scene. SO here we are. A short one at that! Not including TGR 2x5 Roleswap, this is my shortest fic by far.

I didn't consider this a rewrite until I remembered the scene where Henry is trying to wake Thomas up so yeah-

I like both newbieTAB!Thomas and RWS/ClassicEra!Thomas, so I combined both for Thomas' introduction arc.

Rewriting this from scratch actually helped, as well as finding out that music does not help (I rewrote it in between class 💀 I had time to kill so why not, pft-)

Hope you enjoyed! Comments + reblogs are appreciated :]

[centaurianthropology]

Hammer Horror-a-thon Rapid-Fire Double-Feature: Nothing but the Night (1973) and The Gorgon (1964)

Because life got away from me and I couldn't get through nearly the number of 50s to 70s bad horror flicks I was hoping to during October, I'm holding them over during this, a slightly clear weekend. Instead of fully summarizing and commenting on these films, I'll be doing more rapid-fire thoughts and reviews.

So let's start with the more recent one, 'Nothing but the Night'.

So I've got mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, there's some really decently written women in this one, which is fairly uncommon in horror films of this era. Georgia Brown does really well in a slightly understated role as a hard-nosed reporter who slowly comes around to just wanting the truth. She's somewhat noir, and I really liked her performance. But Diana Dors' brassy, abrasive mom-on-a-mission is one of the movie's highlights. You're genuinely not certain what she's doing or why she's doing it, and the unfortunate thing about the movie is that you never really find out.

I suppose it's decades too late, but spoiler warning here. The movie ends with a bit of a weak twist, that I sort of feel undermines the movie. Apparently some rich assholes have set up an orphanage (you know that's never good) and are using the children there as vessels to transfer their consciousness into so that they can live again or something. The main little girl at the heart of the story is, in fact, an adult woman transplanted into a little girl's body.

It's a goofy premise, but no more so than most horror films of the era. But I honestly think this one might have worked better if they'd gone full 'Bad Seed' with it, and we as the audience know that she's the murderer from the beginning. The young actress in the role is honestly fairly good, and I think she'd be able to pull off playing innocent before killing more and more people who all seem to want to help her. The mystery could have become why she was doing this, rather than trying to figure out what's even happening in the plot. It's a movie so concerned with keeping its central secret until the big reveal that there are large parts of the movie with very little happening. It's a little TOO obscure, and it could have been a lot creepier if they'd let the audience in a bit more.

The good things here are the performances. As I previously mentioned, both Brown and Dors turn in strong performances, with a lot more drive, intrigue, and nuance than women were often afforded in this era of movies. Gwyneth Strong, the child actress in the central role, does a fairly solid job at it.

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are both solid, but aren't given as much to do as the women, and less investment in everything until near the end, which makes them a little less compelling. Still, their scenes together are a big part of the appeal of the movie. Their first scene together, in particular, ends with what feels like it's seconds away from devolving into an outtake, with the two of them exiting the scene almost giggling together. It's a moment of real genuine friendship that I really loved.

Also Christopher Lee has to fight a horde of semi-possessed children in a deadly game of tug-of-war to keep from burning to death at the end, which is both deeply goofy and really unsettling, and is one of the few parts of the movie that was honestly sort of chilling. Strong has to do a villain monologue, which she struggles a bit with, but there are moments where she's also fairly effectively scary.

It ends on a fairly downer note, and I'm not sure I'd recommend it, but it's definitely not the worst of the movies I've watched. It's a bit slow, keeps its secrets so well not much happens for the bulk of the film, and doesn't do as much with Lee and Cushing as it could have, but the performances are strong, the character writing is decent, and it's fun just to see Lee and Cushing be pals for a bit.

'The Gorgon'

Tragically, I can see why this attempt at another serial from Hammer never took off. The key to their serials is really the strength of the central monster. The 'Dracula' flicks work because they feel racy for the Hayes Code era, mostly because Christopher Lee can convey a level of feral sensuality that turns some really poor scripts into something worth watching. And because you like to see him and Peter Cushing fling one another around a set for a bit, if you're me. But mostly you watch 'Dracula' for Dracula. Likewise, you watch the 'Frankenstein' flicks because you want to see Peter Cushing be completely unhinged. Appropriately to the source material, the creature is not the central monster of these films, the doctor is. You watch those films for him.

So 'The Gorgon' had to sell us on the Gorgon. This was already tough, since gorgons are a bit more obscure than vampires or mad scientists. We had enough cultural context to know, even without being told, what it was that both Dracula and Dr. Frankenstein want. Their motivations are clear going in: Dracula is driven by hunger and sexuality; Frankenstein by hubris and a desire to prove his intelligence. But what is a gorgon's motivation? Why does she do what she does?

We don't know from context, and the film doesn't seem interested in telling us. In fact, the film does very little to really sell its newest monster. Prudence Hyman can mug for the camera quite well, but she's given so little to do! She essentially stands in one place and stares. She doesn't get to talk. She doesn't even really get to interact with other actors. The nature of the monster is solitary.

I was hoping that, since we find out late in the film that she's actually projecting herself through another person, we might use the character of Carla (Barbara Shelley) to explore the monster. She could be a monster of loneliness, of resentment that every attempt at connection is doomed to end the same way. That's sort of a cool concept, honestly, but Carla spends the entire film with amnesia, unaware of what she is, and so no exploration gets done. And the film is far more interested in telling the stories of the various guys who try to hunt the monster or protect the monster or avoid the monster than it is in exploring its central monster. So she fades into the background of her own movie, and the movie falls flat as a result.

Which is too bad! Like I said, the concept is good. Cushing's performance is actually really good in this one, as the doctor who's figured out his assistant is, in fact, the one housing the consciousness of the gorgon. He goes to increasingly desperate lengths to protect her, willing to sacrifice anyone else to do so, and all the while not trusting her enough to just tell her why he's doing what he's doing, which eventually destroys their relationship and gets him killed.

Lee gets to turn in one of his rare heroic performances as a crotchety professor turned monster hunter, who is the only one to make it out alive in the end. He doesn't get as much to do as Cushing, and they only share about a minute of screen time, but it's a workmanlike performance.

And hey, a wild Patrick Troughton appeared out of nowhere as a major supporting character! He's always a fun one to see crop up, even if he's given as little as Lee to do in this film.

Richard Pasco as Paul Heitz is the doomed lover of Carla (though they spend all of two scenes together before declaring their love, so I sort of doubt their connection), and is probably given the most to do in this film. And again, he does fairly well in the role, as does Shelley as Carla. She's got some strong scenes, but she's hampered by a script that lacks the one thing that really could have turned this one into a gem: someone going completely off the wall. Someone turning in such a bravura performance that you want another film with them. If Prudence Hyman had been given more time and more to do, she might have been able to do that, but because of the way the movie was written, that was probably more likely to fall to Carla, who never gets to realize what she is and fucking WRECK some assholes. I was waiting for her to get to cut loose, and instead she gets ... nothing.

And there was never a second 'Gorgon' movie. Having seen it, I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed that the Hammer films were too cowardly to let a lady get as unhinged as they let Lee and Cushing get in their respective series.