#Spider Crane Hire

[machineryhiremelbourne]

Explore the Features and Multiple Perks Provided By A Spider Crane

Their state-of-the-art spider crane creates high pressure to securely extract soil and prevent damage to vital services like gas and water pipelines. To ensure smooth project completion, company owners may hire high-quality excavators from reputable providers at a competitive price, whether they need to dig a new pool or remove dirt or muck from any building site.

Understanding the Purpose and Benefits Of Scissor Lifts

Scissor lift hire in Sydney is adaptable equipment that may be utilised for a variety of purposes. The most common uses for them are in painting, surveying, and temporary maintenance tasks, among other things. Even though scissor lifts appear to be rather vertically limited, the wheels make it simple to move about and make precise adjustments.

A common and safer substitute for towers, scaffolding, and ladders is scissor lifts. The advantages of scissor lifts are obvious: they need less time to manoeuvre and provide a lower risk of harm because the operators are secured in place by a harness or cable. You may rely on a scissor lift to effortlessly accomplish your aerial duties.

Cut Down on Site Interruptions, Save Money and Time

Because of the spider crane's small form, fewer preparations may be needed before the crane is delivered; however, this will depend entirely on the specifics of the project and the location. This may help maintain a flexible, efficient, and seamless workflow on site.

These cranes are ideal for use in delicate settings, including food processing facilities, historic structures, airports, clean rooms, and even cruise liners.

It's easy to understand why these compact yet powerful cranes are among the most well-liked types available on the market today—some variants can even fit through a regular or double doorway. Because they can approach the lift considerably more closely than a standard crane can, they may frequently offer a solution to a difficult lifting situation.

Source

[bloodandthestars]

・✧ — 𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓

tags: NO SPOILERS!, antihero! reader? i guess?, mention of blood, takes place before across the spider-verse, will be edited, one mention of something sexual but nonetheless mdni anything else I’ll let you read to find out <3

author’s note: helllooooo everyone! this is the longest thing i’ve written for my blog yet. he’s been rotting my brain heavily and i needed it to spill out somewhere. do let me know if you enjoy what’s implied and if you’d like more. a lil vague incase there is a future series. I love this but at the same time……anyways- translations and taglist are at the bottom of the post. enjoy!

wc: 4.5k :: masterlist next

BZZT. BZZT.

“Miguel,” You purred. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“It’s Important.”

It always was. “…And what kind of call is this?”

“Work-related.”

You hum. “Pity.”

“You still have ways into Oscorp?”

“Always do.”

“Good, I got a job for you. Meet at the usual spot at 9.”

A chill runs down your spine from the light wind passing through the night. You awaited your contract atop the Alchemax building, looking down at the neon lit city below. It was bright with cybernetic blues and greens, every now and then you could hear a hover car or two whirl by, only to miss it blend into the rest of the blurs flying by. The sight could never bore you, not in how it could change every day. That was the nuance of Nueva York, after all. Nothing ever rests, not even the wicked.

Nor the man that lands behind you with a thud of his feet and a slight grunt. He walks to your side in silence, taking in the city as you do. The sharp points of his eyes narrow. “You’re sure you’ll be able to get in this time?”

You turn to send him a look. Your hand raises as a drive twirls around your finger. “If you thought I couldn’t, you wouldn’t have hired me.”

He lets out a dry huff you take as amusement. His head turns to look at you. “Alright, you got me there.”

You barely catch the way his hand flies out to grab the device from your hand. His reflexes were always quick, but in this rare moment, you were just a bit quicker. Your hand is mere centimeters away from his in the air, catching you both in surprise. Your shocked expression slowly turns to one of accomplishment. His mask shifts, but knowing him, he was deadpanning under it. You chuckle, placing the drive in a pouch among many holstered onto your thigh. His eyes drag up from it’s placement to your eyes. You place a hand to your hip. “You ready?”

He places a foot to the edge of the roof. “Will you be able to keep up?”

Now it was your turn to huff, placing a prepared foot out as well. “Always.”

He gives you a final look, a lingering one you can’t quite place your finger on. He takes off and you’re quick to follow. The route felt routine to you both at this point, jumping over small spaces between buildings that eventually begin to stretch in distance. Your feet rush in a dash, swiftly jumping over over air conditioners. Miguel takes to running on the side of the buildings before webbing back to the rooftops alongside you. The two of you move when a roof entrance divides you, the heroine using his webs to ease his momentum after jumping over another conditioner back to your side. You slide under piping, coming up to jump in unison to the final rooftop. He lands on his feet, while you need to roll to slow yourself down. Both of you rise at the same time, looking up to the greenly lit skyscraper with geometric lettering spelling ‘OSCORP’ on its side.

“Which floor?”

He responds with a nod to the higher top of the building. “84th.”

You tilt your head to think. “We’ll have to climb the back side of the building. There are enforced windows starting at level 80.”

You feel a hand on your waist, causing your head to whip in his direction. You had to crane your neck slightly to meet his eyes. “Thought you said this was work-related?”

“Hush, descarada. You know what I’m doing.”

You roll your eyes, discontent with him ruining your fun. You hook your leg at his waist and he moves his hand to lower back to keep you stable. With one arm he’s able to secure you at his hip. You hook your arms around his neck and you both look up at each other. Curse how close he is and the way his voice gets low to affirm to you. “You good?”

You nod. “Yeah.”

His free hand shoots out a web, not wasting time with flying through the air. No matter how many times you’ve swung with him during an operation, your grip still tightens around him in a sudden jolt once you’re flying through gravity. The rush used to take your bones in a wave of nausea, but now it’s all adrenaline that flows through your body. You hoped that was why your heart quickened just then.

Miguel goes by your instructions, swing to the back of the building. From there, he gets you both to the windows of the 80th floor. You let out a breath of relief at the emptiness of the lab. Pulling your gadget from your other thigh holster. It had a metal hook at its end and with one push of a button, it closes in its claws for something thinner with a green light atop it. Your thumb rolls back the dial on its side, clicking another button. In a green flash, the two of you are inside the lab floor, silent and desolate. Your gadget goes back to your thigh, turning over your shoulder for any signs of trouble.

“Are you ever gonna tell me where you got that thing?”

You turn to look at him, a playful shrug rolling off your shoulders. “You looking to buy one?”

He sets his hands in the air, immediately shaking his head. “Nevermind-”

“I mean if you really are looking to, I can get you set up-”

“No, no, I already know wherever you got it, I don’t need nor do I want to know.”

You let out a quiet laugh. “Miguel? Breaking one of his rules— what was it again?” You place a hand under your chin. “Oh yes, ‘don’t ask questions’?”

“And you’re all the more reason why the rule still applies.”

You both reach the emergency stairs however, a handprint was needed to unlock the door. You pull a small glowing blue rectangle that looks similar to glass. A press of your thumb and a hologram emits from it. You give it a swipe, the image shifting through dozens of handprints. You stop at a familiar bulky one. Facing the glass device to the lock, it takes the holographic limb into its code and clicks to unlock.

“How does it know it’s real?”

“You lurk around the underground long enough, and you’ll see that people are in the market for all kinds of things.” You place the glass back into your pocket. “Holographic or fake skin included.”

Miguel raises a brow— not to say it wasn’t possible. He’s sure that with the right elements, tools, it could be possible. But how people got ahold things like that weren’t out of the highly advanced labs he worked in, he didn’t know. The thought only made his stomach turn. Maybe he should stick to his own rules.

You both head up the steps, going from level 80 to level 84. From the window of the door, the two of you peer out to see an empty floor. It was safe to say that it seemed too easy. Only a few guards patrolling up and down in their routines. You look to Miguel, who looks right back at you. You shrug. “There’s always a patrol going on.”

He looks back to the glass. “Seems more than usual.”

“Maybe it’s because they’re starting to notice a few things going missing.”

“….Maybe.”

You tilt your head at him. “What? You can’t take them?”

His head turns to you, the red of his mask narrowing. “I can take them.”

You smile at his annoyed tone, patting his strong shoulder.

The hallway is silent for the six guards on duty tonight, say for the air conditioner buzzing in the background. Guns are held strong in their grip, pacing back and forth in their routine.

THWHIP!

Three lines of webs block the muzzles of three guns. The guards get tense, looking up to see where the webs came from. They didn’t have time to think, much less act— the lines steal their weapons from their hands, clanking to the ground along with a guard. The other three guards turn, only for their muzzles to be stuffed with webs as well. You slide past the first three, going for the second row. In your hands were clear cut batons, whacking at two guards’ knees. Your baton lets out a hard crack from an upper cut from below and dropping a guard in an instant. You use your hand to balance yourself as your calves lock around the other guard’s neck. You flip him down to the ground, landing you in a kneeled position to throw your baton into the nose of the final upcoming guard.

With a hard smack, he goes to the ground. You stand on your feet, walking over to grab the baton. You turn to Miguel, who’s got his three guards tied up. You look down to the baton, a red liquid causing your stomach to fall. Turning back, you see the guard’s nose as the source. Panic settles in your head, until you see his chest rise and fall. You let out a sigh of relief, quickly wiping the blood off of on the latex of your thigh. You look up to see Miguel, who finally turns to you after you it clean. You share a look to each other before you shrug. “Poor bastards.”

You both begin walking to down the hall to the entrance when he responds. “Never saw it coming.”

The steel doors greet you with shiny meshed reflections of your bodies. You use the holographic glass again, and the doors slide open with a cool hiss. The lab was vast, with a control center in the middle with scaled monitors larger than you both. They light the space in a light blue hue spreading to its very corners. You both approach the system after a cautious walk.

“Think it’s my turn to show off.” The spiderman pulls his wrist device into view, displaying a small gold hologram and pressing away at data.

You lean back with the computer behind you, arms crossed. “Oh really?”

“Mhm.”

“Was I showing off before?” You ask with a playful tone.

He huffs at your words, tapping away until his tech. After a moment, his hand goes out. You know he wants the drive, but making things easy for him was never something that entertained you. Your finger raises with the drive’s key ring around it, waving it. “Please?”

“Do you take anything seriously?”

“None of that sounded like please.”

You sense another deadpan across his face. You roll your eyes, throwing into his grasp. “Don’t act like you’re not familiar with the word, now.”

He starts a little, whipping his head back to the computer system. You hear him grumble under his breath, something along the lines of “-mierda, me llevarás a la tumba-”

It causes you to let out another laugh for the night, a sound that he’s gotten used to.

You watch as he plugs the drive into an insert in the computer’s system. Various windows of information pop up on the monitors, lines of words you don’t exactly understand in a quick scan from your eyes before it vanishes. It wasn’t your job to know anyhow. Whatever a client needed, whatever he hires you for, is a trade of information for his eyes only. That never stopped your curiosity however.

You look away, eyes set to the steel doors. A ponding in your chest for the unexpected, only soothed somewhat with his company next to you in the long moment of silence.

The look on your face soon narrows as he’s still at work. “Almost done?”

“Yeah, just waiting for it to give me access.”

“To?”

“A chip.” He states plainly.

You open your mouth to ask more questions, only for you to be stopped by his body tensing. You raise a brow to him and you follow his line of sight back to the steel doors. The two of you remain eerily still, awaiting what was the cause for his tension. It was quiet, but you knew better than to trust that over his enhanced senses. You both glance to each other with caution.

You start. “Is someone-”

He tenses much worse this time, on guard in a flash. “Yes, they’re outside the door with-!”

The doors open and from its crack is thrown a silver canister. As soon as it hits the ground, a clouded air is released. Your nerves feel like they’ve gone ablaze. A hiss cuts into your thoughts, causing you both to turn to the computer. A capsule releases from system, and you grab what you assume is the chip he needs. The smoke only grows larger in size. Before you can say a word, he gets close, a hand over your nose and mouth. He tells you in a low voice of urgency. “Behind the computer, now.”

You both move quickly, his hand still atop your face. Placing your backs to the monitors, you try and take a moment to regain your mind for a plan. It’s difficult when you feel your heart try to rip out of your chest. Your eyes glance up to him as his body remains close to yours, an ear out to the approaching sounds.

“We’re going to have to-”

A clank sound interrupts him as another canister lands right in front of you both. Smoke begins to seep out of it at a rapid pace. Your throat began to burn, eyes watering as you tried to force down a cough. It was no use, you erupt with the sound out of reflex. He looks to you. “Don’t-”

His spider senses take in the next one being thrown and shoves you to the other side of the lab. He kicks the second one far from either of you. When the third one flies in the air, a web grabs hold of it and throws it back over the computer, where grunts and yells could be heard. In the mists of getting control of your vision, you hear him yell to you. “Go! The stairs!”

You scrape up to your feet, and the last thing he sees of you is your fleeing backside.

Miguel was a natural in situations under pressure. He had been in labs with mixtures of chemicals that would have to be settled in seconds, fought against robots and maniacs. He could handle this.

His face remained focused, shooting out webs as soon as an idea flew through his head. The sticky components lands on a lab stool, and with a grunt, he swings it into the back of the computer monitor. It flickers in its blue light, cracking and falling in the way of the assailants. He turns, eyes darting around the environment. His eyes light up to the emergency exit, with no other choice but to push through it.

A climb of walls, a sling from webs up the steps, and the Spider-man busts the rooftop door. Whirls of technology snap his attention to what’s in front of him— light blaring in his face with a large amount of guards surrounding him.

Miguel was a natural in situations under pressure. He’s done plenty of operations, fought when the world was a blur around him hundreds of feet in the sky. A wave of guards what a slight to his determination, but his mind…was elsewhere. He removes most of their weapons out of the equation, taking them in clusters with his webs. He lands a punch here, and slam with his glowing webs there. He had yet to see you or hear you yell out to him. Hand to hand combat increased, blows getting harder in their impact, grunts slipping past his lips out of increasing frustration. It felt like there was no end in sight, not that it mattered anyhow. His mind felt as though it was sinking in the tangled ropes of his paranoia. The longer time went by, the more restless Miguel got and the more determined he was to get through his enemies with vigor.

“I GOT IT!”

You shout from across the rooftop, the chip in your clasped hand. A red and blue mask turns to in your direction, relief washing over him like a flood. Between you both were many henchmen flooding from the roof’s entrance, all set to standing in your way. He nods to you through the chaos, and you nod back. The two of you run on the sidelines until you hear Miguel faintly shout. “Get over here!”

“Working on it!” You shout back. Eyes dart through the growing group of goons to find a clear path. His eyes are set on you the whole time, watching your face as the cogs go to work.

Your eyes squint, heart beating out of your chest, but you have a plan— somewhat. You knee one person out of the way, moving through the space to shove through a few more. Two step right in front of you. Not losing your momentum, you sweep your leg under one of them and use that same leg to balance the other into a high kick. It creates somewhat of a clear path for you, trying to get closer and closer to the man you’ve been working with all night. You catch a glance of him pummeling through a few men, giving you a slight of relief and all the more determination to pull through.

You’re almost there, goons try to grasp at your suit, tools, or mask, and you’re barely able avoid their invasive touches. You waste no time pulling out your hooked tool, clicking a button to throw out a long thick wire. It wraps around the ankle of a man and you pull hard. He falls, knocking into others like pins as he’s dragged across the concrete. Your path has never been more clearer. You click your wire back into your tool, eyes catching Miguel’s.

He takes out one more enemy before jumping off of the roof. Your feet quicken, taking after him and taking your leap.

The skyscraper’s height furthered your velocity downward. Wind blew into your face, strong in its force. Your tool wouldn’t be far enough to reach the buildings surrounding you. Your body reacted, stomach twisting and turning in an effort to scream at you the very danger you were in. But you? You calmly shut your eyes.

In an instant, a strong arm catches you as intended. You open your eyes, hooking your arms around his neck to secure yourself to his body. You squeeze the device you both needed into your palm to confirm your grip. With one hand, he swings from building to building to ensure some distance between you and Oscorp. After a few more buildings, Miguel slows down to a roof with a large neon sign right at its front. The momentum fades, allowing you both to land behind the bright lettering.

You pull away from his side, hands going to your hips as you caught your breath. Your chest rises and falls with rough exhales while he was silent in gathering his own air. After a while, you catch his voice speaking to you. “You still have it?”

You swallow, nodding and throwing the device to him. He catches it with ease. His large fingers examine the data card. Gold lines so microscopic but filled with the intelligence needed for his work to protect others. He slips it away into an empty wrist capsule, eyes flickering back up to you.

You placed your back against the sign only a few steps away from him, chest slowing to normalcy. Your eyelids were low, lashes soft in their curl. He gains his focus back when your irises appear from them.

“How many times do I have to catch you staring for you to realize you’re terrible at being subtle?”

Your teasing words cause his mask to shift, knowing all too well he was displaying his usual frown. “I can be subtle. You, on the other hand, can’t turn on a filter if you had one.”

An amused smile appears on your face, causing another sudden wave of relief over him. You take a glance to the sky before looking back at him. “Yeah, but that hasn’t kept you away now has it?”

Miguel grunts, and you turn your head away with a laugh.

The back of the neon sign behind you illuminates strongly in the night, red light seeping through the crevasses of the letters to give your vision clarity. Your body regained air in your lungs but the bruising was beginning to ache from your complications from getting to the roof. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Miguel’s arm holding his side. Your brows scrunch together. Just what was so important to risk a hailstorm raised on them from Oscorp? You knew from your previous encounters, that he wasn’t just hitting the large corporation, but any place with the highest level of technology in the city.

You begin after a beat of silence. “I mean, I can’t have some idea of what you get from the jobs you-?“

“No, you don’t”

Your eyes turn to a glare. “Watch that tone.”

“You know, you being demanding isn’t exactly an ease to deal with-”

“Would you like to do something about that?” You take a step closer, looking up to his tall stature. Your gaze is set to where his eyes were, feeling his eyes look directly back at you.

“I..” His brows knit together. You know what you meant, he knew what you meant. It takes him a second to speak with a retort, locking his jaw. “…not here.”

You purposely look to his masked lips, then back to his eyes. “…Thought so.”

Miguel takes a hard and long swallow, shutting his eyes.

"So, what's the deal with that chip?" You ask.

Miguel opens his eyes when he clears the clouding in his mind. Not fully, but enough to attain what you asked. He hesitates for a moment before responding. "It's...complicated. Let's just say it's valuable and leave it at that."

You raise an eyebrow, sensing there's more to the story. "Valuable how?"

Miguel shakes his head. "I can't say. It's not safe."

You cross your arms. “What we did tonight, or what we do every other night for that matter, isn’t safe either.”

“I know that but-” He lets out a sigh of frustration, his mask fading off his face in squares of blue light. Words never were his strong suit and his paranoia didn’t help his case on which words to choose. Or for you to know what he has planned. You were different, he knew that. And yet, he still eyed you with caution. It was in his nature.

You look him the eye, knowing he was weighing his options in his head. His jaw relaxes, voice settling into a softer tone. “I’m doing what I’m doing to protect people. All the things I’ve had you get? They help with that. You know I’m not- building some criminal empire or making some kind of genetic super weapon-”

“Really? Because those were only two of my theories-”

“I’m not-” To others, they would take his tone as immediate annoyance. But you know it’s laced with a slight of amusement that immediately disappears.

He hopes it’s enough to satisfy you, to keep you out the possibilities of pulling into a growing web of complications. But he knew you just as much as you did him, both akin to an unshakable stubbornness.

“I think you can do better than that.” You step forward into his space again. His larger stature is unmoving, but he could feel warmth radiate from your body at the familiar closeness. His eyes go down to yours, crimson irises slowly loosing their sharp edge the longer your gazes are on each other.

“We said we don’t owe each other anything…no matter what we do with one other. And I get that.” You tilt your head at him. “But if more jobs end like tonight, and I can barely catch an escape-“

He’s quick to respond. “I won’t let that happen-“

“-But if,” You emphasize. “That starts to become an occurrence, I at least want to know exactly what I’m sticking my neck out for.”

He looks to your features, scanning over your unwavering expression. You can’t help but look at the way he presses his lips together. Miguel locks his jaw to think, perhaps he’d do so in order to keep the words from coming out. Eventually, he lets out a sigh. “A super computer.”

Your face scrunches, brow slowly going up. “A…super computer?”

He mutters, still looking down at you. “Yes.”

“To protect people?”

“To protect people.”

His voice was firm, supposedly closing the door as quickly as it opens. You study him, trying to go over your past jobs to try to piece an explanation together. Sadly, you couldn’t. The path you’ve gone down, your lives beginning to intertwine like a binding threads— you knew that finding out what he was up to would be wary road.

Eventually letting out a sigh, you’re disappointed but understanding. "That’ll do I suppose.”

He watches you take a step back from him, back leaning against the sign. Out of the corner of your eye, you see that he follows suit. You both look out to the vast city, lights greeting your wandering gaze once again. The two of you sit in silence for a few minutes before you speak up. "You know, for someone who's always so serious, your fleeting sense of humor is enjoyable.”

Miguel huffs, chuckling soon after. "Is that your way of saying I'm not as boring as you thought?"

You grin, a sight he appreciates after your tenacious standstill. "Oh I’ve never found you boring. In need of a good fuck to let loose? Definitely.”

Miguel rolls his eyes, but there's a hint of enjoyment in his tone. "I'm plenty loose when I need to be."

You laugh. "Sure you are. That's why you're always so tense."

Miguel smirks. "I'm not tense. I'm focused."

You give him a playful shove. "Whatever you say, Spider-man."

translations: descarada (minx), mierda, me llevarás a la tumba (fucking hell, you’ll be the death of me)

taglist: @manchuria @mezzke @rea-zxv @vvitcxen @pooiooi @jowtaro @coleseyebrows

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Part 5: Torn to Pieces

Fandom: The Dark Knight Trilogy

Pairing: Jonathan Crane x OC

Summary: A new nurse at Arkham makes a horrifying discovery about two of its doctors.

Word Count: 6,116

Notes: Warnings for depictions of blood, murder, drugging, hallucinations, and spiders.

Previous Part • Series • Next Part

Katie tugged at the hem of her shirt. The scrubs scratched a little at her skin, and were an ugly faded blue color, but she didn’t care. They had the name of the asylum stitched into the spot just above her left breast, and under that, her name. A bloom of pride blossomed in her chest every time she’d looked at it.

Dr. Sinner guided her swiftly through the halls, showing her where everything was located, chattering about the different protocols that the asylum utilized.

“There’s a key required to access the basement?” Katie asked, running her finger along the little slot in the panel as they stepped into the elevator.

“Yes,” Sinner said, punching the button for the level that contained all of the doctor’s offices. “Only the psychiatrists are permitted down there, unless you get special permission.”

“Oh.”

“I wouldn’t be too disappointed. There’s not much down there but old records and Dr. Crane and Dr. Sullivan’s laboratory.”

“Laboratory?”

“They’re the only doctors with permission to conduct experiments with the inmates. They do most of their research down there, where it’s out of the way,” Sinner hesitated. “They…don’t particularly like to be disturbed.”

“I see.”

The elevator dinged and Sinner gestured for her to follow. “Come along.”

Following Sinner at a near trot in an attempt to keep up with the other woman’s long stride, Katie listened intently, eyes darting to the plaques that lined the doors they were passing, each with the corresponding doctor’s name and credentials listed in little black letters. As they passed, one of the doors opened and a man stepped out, eyes lowered to a file clutched in his pale hands.

“Dr. Crane, hello,” Sinner greeted. Crane’s eyes darted up, and Katie had to stifle a gasp as she got a good look at his face. His features were wonderfully crafted, jawline sharp and cheekbones high, contrasted with the subtle roundness to his cheeks and the fullness of his lips. The eyes were a little disconcerting; bright blue, and…empty in a way that Katie couldn’t quite place. But that was alright.

“Hello, Dr Sinner,” he said, voice rich and deep as he tucked the file under one arm and adjusted the rectangular glasses on his nose.

“This is Katie. Our new nurse,” Sinner gestured to her. “Katie, this is Dr. Jonathan Crane.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said. Crane looked her up and down, expression bored.

“Likewise,” he didn’t offer to shake her hand. “Now if you don’t mind, I have an appointment to get to.”

“Yes, of course,” Sinner stepped out of the way so he could pass them in the hall on his way to the elevator. Katie watched him go, mystified. “Katie.”

“Yes?” she turned to find Sinner looking at her expectantly. “Yes! Sorry,” she rushed to catch up.

“Don’t mind Dr. Crane. He’s not a big people person,” Sinner said simply.

“And yet he’s a psychiatrist?”

Sinner just shrugged. Katie hesitated before speaking again. “...He looks so young.”

“Graduated with his doctorate at only twenty-one. We hired him and his lab partner, Dr. Sullivan, straight out of college. They’ve been with us for about a year now. Come on.”

She followed Sinner past the remainder of the offices, but was unable to fight the temptation to continuously look over her shoulder, towards where Crane had disappeared. 

∗ ∗ ∗ 

She was finishing up her rounds on the third floor, peering into the last few cells to check that the inmates inside were still peacefully asleep. Satisfied, Katie headed to the nurses station, mouth beginning to pull into a smile when she saw that Crane was there, a stack of files set on the counter in front of him, scribbling a few notes onto the papers. His brows were pinched, lights glinting off of the lenses of his glasses. But when a small, black haired woman sidled up to him, the seriousness in his face melted, glancing over at her with a small smile. The woman had sharp cheekbones, her pale skin dotted with a thick dusting of prominent freckles, lips painted a dark red stretching into a smile as she pointed to something on Crane’s papers. He looked back at her with a tender expression.

Moving forward tentatively, feeling suddenly as though she’d encroached upon an incredibly private moment, Katie cleared her throat.

They both looked at her, eyes boring into her like she was something in a petri dish, examined under a microscope. Crane’s eyes didn’t blink, expression pinching back into one of minor annoyance at the intrusion. The woman stared at Katie curiously, chin tilted upwards. Despite her short stature, she carried herself as someone who was much taller. She wasn’t dressed in nurse’s scrubs or an orderly uniform, so that meant that she was either one of the doctors Katie hadn’t met yet, or perhaps a janitor or something.

Please, just let her be a janitor.

“Hello, Dr. Crane,” Katie greeted.

“Vanessa, this is Katie, the new nurse,” Crane said to the dark haired woman. “Katie, this is Dr. Vanessa Sullivan.”

Damn it. “Nice to meet you, Doctor,” she said. Sullivan looked her up and down, a dark brow kicking upwards.

“Hello,” her voice was low, speech slow. Like she had all the time in the world. Soothing but terrifying.

Katie glanced back to Crane, who had returned his gaze to his papers, uninterested. “Well it…it was good to see you both.”

Sullivan gave a little dip of her head in acknowledgement. Crane just grunted softly. Shuffling around them, Katie rushed towards the elevator, hitting the button to take her upstairs.

The staff break room had a few comfortable couches and armchairs set up in it, a small television in one corner, a tiny kitchen equipped with a microwave and refrigerator for employees to make their lunch–or dinner, for those who stayed late–and a table to eat at. Collapsing into a chair with her humble little salad, Katie pouted.

“What’s up with you?” Denise asked, tomato slathered pasta twisting around her fork.

“I just ran into Dr. Crane and Dr. Sullivan downstairs.”

“Oh?” Denise raised an eyebrow. “And how was that?”

Katie shrugged. “Fine.”

“They give me the creeps,” Denise shook her head, looking down at her food.

“Dr. Crane seems nice,” Katie chimed in. Denise’s brows shot up her forehead, fork freezing halfway to her mouth.

“That’s just your ovaries talking,” she said finally, shaking her head. “He’s got a nice face, I suppose, but his eyes give me the willies.”

“I think his eyes are nice.”

Denise huffed out a single laugh, shaking her head. “Just give it some time, get to know him. You’ll be agreeing with me soon enough. Not that it matters, anyway.”

Katie shot her a look. “Why?”

“He’s spoken for.”

“He is?”

Denise gave her a look. “He and Sullivan have been together since college.”

“I didn’t think that Dr. Crane actually liked anyone.”

“Yeah, well, he likes her,” Denise said. Katie thought back to the look of tenderness that had crossed Crane’s face when looking at Sullivan. “Rumor is that he refused to agree to take a job here unless she also was offered a position.”

Katie scoffed bitterly. “So she got her job just because she’s fucking him. Figures,” stabbing irritably at her salad, she grimaced, eyes darting down so she wouldn’t have to watch the way Denise’s eyes widened at the comment. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Sullivan also graduated at twenty-one with her MD. She’s smart as a whip, you’ll see.”

Katie nodded, gloominess still heavy in her chest. “Okay.” 

Denise cast her a sympathetic look. “Welcome to the madhouse.”

“Ha,” Katie deadpanned, then smiled. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

They both fell silent as the door suddenly opened and Sullivan strode into the room, whisking directly to the fridge, pulling out a small container of food. No one said a word as the microwave beeped when Sullivan entered the cook time into it, the whir as it hummed to life the only sound in the otherwise silent break room. Sullivan leaned against the counter, arms crossed over her chest. Despite keeping her gaze down and focused on her salad, Katie couldn’t shake the feeling that Sullivan’s eyes were boring into the back of her head. Like something was scratching at her skull, trying to burrow inside.

God, had she heard what Katie had said about her?

The microwave beeped to indicate that it was done, and she couldn’t help her flinch at the way Sullivan slammed the little door shut, grabbing up her food and storming back out into the hall and towards the offices.

∗ ∗ ∗ 

“Hello, Dr. Crane,” she smiled, trying to fight back the fluttering of her eyelashes when she glanced up at him. 

“Hello, Katie,” he said, sweeping around her to thumb through the files behind the nurses station.

“How…how are…things?” she asked, biting at her lower lip. It was so hard not to stare at him; all slim lines and striking features. His icy, unblinking eyes darted up to look at her, brows furrowing as if in confusion.

“They’re…fine.”

“That’s good.”

“Hey, listen…” it was wrong; he had a girlfriend. But she couldn’t get his eyes out of her mind, or the shape of his lips. Surely, it wouldn’t hurt; just to test the waters a little bit. “I don’t know if you’re busy tomorrow night, but…”

Crane’s shoulders went stiff. Still, Katie soldiered on.

“I’d like to get to know you a bit better–”

“I have a girlfriend,” the stern coldness that was always in Crane’s voice had suddenly increased tenfold. Katie felt her eyes widen.

“I-I didn’t mean–” she tried desperately to backpedal.

“He knows what you meant.”

Katie almost screamed, spinning around to find Sullivan standing behind her, eyes cast down at the papers cradled in her arms, flicking through them before handing one to Crane. Finally, those dark eyes snapped to Katie. Peeling her back, layer by layer. Prodding around inside her brain.

“I’m–I’m sorry, Dr. Sullivan.”

“Get back to work,” Sullivan said simply, moving to stand beside Crane, who had leaned back against the counter, arms crossed in front of his chest, watching the interaction with an expression that might’ve been amused.

“Yes, Dr. Sullivan.”

Her cheeks burned with a combination of shame and embarrassment as she rushed away, the skin-crawling sensation of their eyes still trained on her enduring until she rounded the corner and vanished from their line of sight.

∗ ∗ ∗ 

“Where’s Denise?” Sullivan asked, looking Katie up and down as she finished writing something down in a file and closed it. Katie gulped, shifting uncomfortably under Sullivan’s scrutinizing gaze. 

“She’s out sick today.”

Sullivan’s jaw twitched in annoyance, but other than that, she didn’t say anything. Just jerked her head in a silent order for Katie to follow her down the hallway towards one of the cells. Sullivan’s stride was surprisingly fast for someone so short, her footsteps brisk enough that Katie almost had to trot to keep up with her. And she moved silently, boots not making even a whisper of a sound against the tile floor. As if she were a ghost.

“Hello, Daryl,” she said in that low, slow croon, keys clinking together as she unlocked the cell. The patient’s head snapped up at the sound of her voice, immediately seeming to shrink in on himself at the sight of her. “This is Katie. She’s filling in for Denise today.”

“Hello, Mr. Johansson,” Katie greeted, the man looked at her suspiciously. Head tilting, Vanessa pulled out a pen and notebook from her pocket. When she took a step forward, Daryl tensed and drew further into the corner. But his behavior didn’t seem to even phase Sullivan, who just moved to sit in the chair across from him.

“Now, I just want to ask you a few questions, Daryl. While Katie draws your blood.”

“Why do you need my blood?”

Sullivan’s red painted lips pulled into a small smile that Katie suspected was supposed to be reassuring. “We need to check to make sure that your new medications are being properly absorbed. Katie?” she shot an impatient, expectant look towards her, and with a tiny nod, Katie approached Daryl slowly, fumbling with her needles. He let her take his arm and swab it, wide eyes remaining trained on Sullivan fearfully.

“Now,” Sullivan said, crossing one leg gracefully over the other. With her black hair piled atop her hair in a bun, she looked nearly regal, high cheekbones on full display and the paleness of her skin accentuated by the black of her clothing. “Tell me, Daryl, are you still seeing things?”

He hesitated. Sullivan raised an eyebrow, head cocking. “Yes, Dr. Sullivan,” when he spoke, he kept his eyes lowered, like one would when faced with a dangerous, aggressive animal.

“And what have you been seeing recently?”

“A, uh,” he winced as Katie slipped the needle into a vein, eyes darting to her only for a moment before snapping back to Sullivan. “A s-scare-scarecrow.”

Sullivan’s pen scratched against the paper inside the notebook. “Go on.”

“A scarecrow and shadows. Shadows with…with hands,” a tiny sob fell from his lips.

“Sounds spooky.”

Katie blinked in surprise. Was she really making fun of him?

“And what does this…scarecrow and his shadow want from you, Daryl?” Sullivan asked. A shudder wracked through him, his arm trembling beneath Katie’s hand. She finished filling the vials of blood and pulled the needle from his skin, pressing a bandage into place.

“They want…they want to hurt me.”

“I see,” Sullivan’s pen continued to scratch against the paper. “Run along and get those samples down to be tested, won’t you, Katie?” she didn’t look up as she spoke.

“You’re not coming, doctor?”

Sullivan’s gaze was dark and empty as she glanced up at Katie. “Mr. Johansson and I need to chat for a little bit longer, I think.”

There was something in her screaming not to leave him alone with her. That there was something wrong. Very, very wrong. But the rest of her needed to flee. To get out of there. No matter how illogical she tried to convince herself it was, she was certain that if she stayed in there a moment more, she would die.

So she just nodded respectfully, picked up her blood samples, and shuffled out of the cell.    

∗ ∗ ∗ 

It was late enough that it had grown dark outside. Katie had been on edge all day, chewing on her bottom lip until it was bloody, hands wringing together anxiously. She couldn’t get Daryl’s huge, frightened eyes out of her mind. Or Sullivan’s cruel smile.

She should go home. Just go home and eat her sad little microwave dinner and watch sitcoms until she forgot about it all. Standing from her station, she sighed, tugging the hoodie she’d thrown over her scrubs tighter around her. As she padded down the hallway, the walls seemed to creak and groan, as if the asylum was alive. Stepping into the elevator, she pushed the button to take her downstairs to the lobby and front door. Foot tapping rhythmically against the floor, she flinched as she ran her tongue over her raw lips, frowning.

Moving suddenly, she pressed a different button on the panel, and the doors opened with a ding onto one of the cell blocks. Moving swiftly down the line of cells, she rushed to the door of Daryl’s cell. She just needed to check in on him. Make sure he was alright. Otherwise she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

His cell was empty.

Katie just stared at it for a moment, brows furrowed, lips parted in surprise. Turning on her heel, she rushed back to the nurses station on that level, thumbing through the files behind the desk until she found the ones marked Johansson. There were no indications about him being moved to another part of the asylum or being released.

Well he didn’t just vanish into thin air. Where was he?

Putting the file back, she hurried down the hall, back into the elevator. Jogging out onto the main floor, she rapped her knuckles insistently on the door to the security room. It took a while, but finally one of the night guards cracked the door open, looking at her with narrowed eyes. Behind his shoulder, Katie could make out a wall of monitors displaying footage from the security cameras scattered throughout the asylum. Another guard was sitting in front of them, doing a crossword.

“Yeah?” the guard at the door asked, popping the wad of gum in his mouth.

“We have a patient missing on floor three.”

The guard stared at her blankly. “So?”

Katie sputtered. “So!? Shouldn’t we start looking for him?”

“How do you know he’s missing?”

“He’s not in his cell! And there’s no indication of him being moved to anywhere else on his chart!”

“One of the docs probably just forgot to mark it before transferring him. I wouldn’t worry about it. He’ll probably turn up by tomorrow.”

Katie gaped. “But–”

“Look, little lady,” the guard huffed. “I know you’re new here, so take a bit of advice: keep your head down and don’t worry about the…little oddities that go around here, okay?” he gave her a look. “It’s safer that way,” and with that cryptid statement, he closed the door in her face.  

Teeth grinding in frustration, she stamped her foot rather comically, fingers clenching as her mind rushed through what she could possibly do. Just leave, and hope that Daryl was back in his cell come morning? No, no. She’d never forgive herself if it turned out that something had happened to him. The guards wouldn’t help her…only the night nurses were around, and they probably knew just about as much as she did. Most of the doctors had already gone home for the night.

Crane and Sullivan often stayed late.

The realization struck her suddenly. Every day, without fail, they ventured down into the basement to work on their research in their lab. They were always still there when she’d left in the past, and she was pretty sure that they hadn’t gone home yet.

Besides, Daryl was Sullivan’s patient. If anyone had an idea where he was it would be her.

But she would need a key, to be able to access the basement. A key that only the doctors were permitted to have. 

Moving at a snail’s pace back towards the elevator, she pressed the button to take her up to the offices. Then it was down the hall, her arms wrapping around herself as she came to a stop at Sinner’s door. A shudder of disbelief trembled through her. She never broke the rules. At least not like this. And still, her fingers fumbled at her hair, pulling free one of the bobby pins that held her bun in place.

It took a significant amount of jiggling and a few muttered curses until the door finally clicked open. Whisking in as quickly and quietly as she could, Katie rushed to the hooks mounted on the wall behind Sinner’s desk, snatching up the ring of keys dangling from one. Heading back out into the hall, she fumbled with them until she found a little silver one marked basement. There was a resounding, final click as she slid it into the slot at the bottom of the panel and turned it. And then the elevator groaned, jerking and rattling unnervingly as it began to descend downward. As if in reluctance.

The doors opened into a dingy, dimly lit hallway. To the left were closed wooden double doors. Katie instead turned right, heading down the hallway. There were a few more closed doors to her right, the lights above her flickering. At the end of the hallway were two barred double doors, but one was propped open, leading down another long hallway. The second door on the left was cracked open just enough for her to see the light shining from within. 

“Dr. Crane? Dr. Sullivan?” she called. There was no answer, save for a muffled sound that might’ve been a whimper from the other side of the door. Gingerly pushing it open with her fingertips, Katie gasped, hand flying to cover her mouth and to keep herself from screaming at the sight before her.

The room was set up as a basic science lab. In a corner, there was a large wooden desk. Against one of the walls, a huge cabinet containing microscopes, beakers, syringes, scalpels…all sorts of scientific and medical equipment. A huge work table stretched almost from wall to wall. There were some hooks by the door, on which hung two white lab coats. Another cabinet was shoved up against the wall next to the desk, armored with multiple heavy-duty locks.

Good god, what could possibly be in there that required that level of security?

On the other side of the room, furthest from the desk, there were two huge cages containing little more than ratty looking cots. The white sheets on one of the cots were stained a crimson red.

And in the middle of the room, chained by his arms and legs to a repurposed medical chair, was Daryl. A gag was stuffed into his mouth, sweat beading along his forehead, eyes puffy with tears.

Hurtling herself forward, Katie grasped at him, fingers shaking as she tried to undo the restraints holding him down.

“Oh my god…my god… what happened? Who did this to you?” she asked, pulling the gag from his mouth. Daryl just whimpered again, bottom lip trembling. “It’s okay. I’ll get you out of here,” there was a huge brace strapped across his chest, the tremors in her hands making it hard to loosen. “Okay. Come on, can you stand?” she had to wrap an arm around his middle, hauling him up. He seemed stable enough to stand and walk on his own, so she just firmly grasped him by the hand, leading him along as she headed back towards the door. 

They had just stepped back into the hallway when the lights went out. In the darkness, she heard Daryl whimper and press closer to her.

“This way,” she whispered, trying to keep her breathing under control, heart pounding in her ears. Their footsteps seemed loud as thunder as they began to walk towards the elevator. It was raining outside, flashes of lighting illuminating the hallway. Looking back over her shoulder, Katie could have sworn that she saw the shadow of…something against the far wall, revealed for only a split second before the hallway was plunged back into darkness. Daryl clung tightly to her arm, practically borrowing into her back as he cowered behind her. She pushed the button to call the elevator with a shaking hand.

Nothing happened.

The power. The loss of power must have also taken out the elevator. Shit. Shit.

There had to be a stairwell around there somewhere. In case of a fire or something.

The sudden crash of glass breaking down the hallway they’d just come from made them both jump. Daryl let out a tiny cry, pulling his hand free from Katie’s grasp.

“Daryl, no, wait–” she hissed, but he was already staggering away, shoving through the wooden double doors. Cursing, Katie took off after him. 

The doors led to a balcony overlooking the rest of the room down below; a large open space that looked more like a yawning, open black hole in the dark. Daryl continued to shamble away, towards the end of the balcony that opened up into another hallway. Katie struggled to keep up. It was a goddamn maze down here; she’d never find him if she lost sight of him. Especially in the dark.    

“Daryl!” she managed to catch him by the arm, pulling him towards her and taking him by the face. “You can’t go running off like that. We have to stick together, okay? It’s going to be fine.”

He was shaking his head back and forth. “Get me…they’re gonna get me…get me…get me…”

“Who?” she asked in a quiet voice. Daryl began to tremble violently. “Who’s going to get you?”

“Scarecrow…” fat tears began to stream down his face. “Scarecrow…scarecrow…”

Katie tilted her head slightly, a shot of sympathy running through her. The poor thing was still stuck in his delusions and hallucinations. “Okay. It’s okay. I promise, alright? Come here,” she tugged him in close for a hug, rubbing his back. Daryl sniffled miserably, but clung to her. He was just beginning to settle, when he suddenly tensed.

“Daryl?”

“Shadows…the shadows…”

“What? What do you mean?”

He started to wail. “She’s here! She’s here!”

Katie pulled away to find him staring, open mouthed and terrified, at the space behind them. There was nothing there. Still, the hairs on the back of her arms stood on end.

“There’s no one here but us, Daryl, okay? No one is going to get you,” she wasn’t going to think about whoever it was that might’ve strapped him to that chair. One problem at a time; they just needed to get out of there first. “Now come on,” but he refused to go back the way that they’d come, still staring at the open hallway in horror. Katie sighed. “Okay. I guess we’ll find another way out.”

Every crack of thunder caused another sob to emanate from Daryl’s chest, and even Katie was beginning to grow uneasy in the dark. 

Another flash of lightning, and she almost yelped at the sight of something peeking around the corner in front of them. Something pale with its dark red lips stretched into a twisted grin.

She blinked and it was gone.

Swallowing hard, she forced herself to continue moving forward, breathing a quiet sigh of relief when they rounded the corner to find nothing there.

It was just the dark starting to get to her; that was all.

They made it about halfway down the next hall before a sound behind them had her coming to a stop, glancing over her shoulder. But Daryl kept moving forward at a shuffle. There was nothing behind them, but still she stared for a moment, trying to place what that sound had even been. It sounded like the very foundation of the asylum was moaning.

Or maybe it was screaming. 

Daryl moved to round a corner, and something shot out of the darkness. Something black and fast and terrible. There was an audible slice, the squelch of liquid and a heavy thud. It took Katie a moment to fully comprehend that Daryl’s head, recently removed from his shoulders, was rolling down the hallway towards her, his features frozen in an expression of terror. 

The scream that sounded from Katie’s lips didn’t sound like her own; it sounded like some faraway thing. She staggered a few steps back, still staring, mouth gaping, at Daryl’s head. Eyes snapping back up to the abyss of darkness that the ax–she was fairly certain that it was an ax–had come from. Something in the darkness seemed to shift, staring back at her, and when she caught the glint of light reflected against a pair of dark goggles, she turned heel and ran. 

There came no sound from the thing chasing her, but she was certain that it was there, even though she refused to look back. Taking random turns, feet skidding against the floor, she had absolutely no idea where she was anymore. All that mattered was getting away. On the next hallway she found herself in, a random door was open and she ducked inside, turning to slam it closed behind her, but the shadowy thing caught the edge of the door with a black gloved hand before she could fully closed it, and with a shocking heave of strength began to pull it open. Sobbing, Katie scrambled backwards, instead grabbing a gurney and attempting to wheel it between them, at the very least to slow the thing down. It didn’t do much, the shadow just shoved it to the side with one hand and sent it wheeling away to crash into the wall. But by that time Katie was at least through the door on the other end of the room. She raced through a few more connected rooms, then back out into the hallway. Maybe if she got far enough away she could find some place to hide. 

Forcing herself to slow so that her footsteps were quieter, she crept through the winding maze of halls, trying to keep her breathing under control. Her little gasps sounded so loud in the dark.

The foundation of the asylum groaned again, and she stopped, trying to discern if the sound was anything to be alarmed by.

It was the quiet squeak of a boot against the floor that alerted her to thing that had been slinking in behind her, and she barely managed to duck in time, the wind from the swinging ax kissing at her cheeks as it zoomed past her head, colliding so powerfully into the brick wall behind her that a few chunks broke off to clatter to the ground.

In the time it took the shadow to pull its ax free from the wall, Katie was already down the hallway, but the thing was fast, gaining on her quickly despite her head start.

And then it was gone again. Disappeared from behind her completely. Where did it go? Did it veer off into one of the other hallways? Take a wrong turn? Had it even actually been there at all?  

She continued mindlessly running, lungs burning and thighs aching. Jogging down a short flight of stairs, she found herself in the lower level overlooked by the balcony. Chancing a glance over her shoulder, she slowly skidded to a halt at the realization that nothing was chasing her anymore.

Trembling with her arms wrapped around herself, Katie let out a tiny sob, glancing around. How to get out? Where to hide? What should she do? God, it killed Daryl. Spinning around in a tiny, helpless, hyperventilating circle, Katie glanced up at the balcony above, and let out…not so much a scream as a startled squeak, hand clapping over her mouth a second too late.

The shadow was leaned casually against the railing, adjusting its gloves with ease, as if it had all the time in the world. The huge goggles covering its eyes glinted, and when it tilted its head down slightly, she was able to make out the details of a gas mask covering its nose and mouth. Head cocking when it noticed her looking at it, the shadow tossed the ax clutched in one hand to the other, and wiggled its fingers at her in a taunting little wave.  

Staggering backwards, eyes still focused upwards, watching the thing to make sure that it didn’t move, Katie let out another banshee-like shriek as she nearly collided with a person leaning against the wall behind her. She was barely able to comprehend the man dressed in a suit with something pulled over his head before he caught her by the throat, nearly lifting her off of her feet as he pulled her close. 

“Hello, Katie.”

She choked. “Dr. Crane!?”

He tsked. “You were warned that the basement was off limits, my dear.”

“There’s something…there’s something–” she tried to point up, towards the balcony, but…oh, god, it was gone. Where did it go?

“Yes, yes, I know. Who knows that you’re down here?” Crane asked. Katie attempted to thrash and wrestle away, but he was considerably stronger than he looked, batting away her attempts to strike at him with a disapproving click of his tongue. “Now, don’t make me give you to Vanessa. She’s not nearly as nice as I am.”

Sullivan. Sullivan was the monster that had been chasing her? That had decapitated Daryl? Looking at Crane, masked and clearly off his rocker, it made sense that his girlfriend would be just as demented. 

“The guards. The night guards.”

Crane sighed, heavily. “I can see a lie in just the eyes, Katie.”

A sob trembled from her mouth. “Please, please, please, I won’t tell anyone–”

“Now, what did I just say? It doesn’t matter what you tell us. One way or another, you’ll only be leaving this place in tiny little pieces. So don’t bother lying.”

What could she do? What could she do? Appeal to his ego, maybe? Yes, that might work. “I really liked you…”

Crane sighed. “Yes, I know. That’s part of the problem, my dear. I have no interest in you. And Vanessa doesn’t like to share.”

A sob. “Please, don’t give me to her.”

Crane cocked his head. “I already promised she could have her fun with you. And it does seem only fair, after all those nasty things you said about her.”

In a last ditch effort to get away, she tried to slam her knee upwards into his groin. He caught her at the last minute, but he was distracted long enough for her to land a hard punch to his chest, right below his collarbone. Crane let out a choked sound, grip loosening just enough for her to rip free from him. Spinning, she moved to run past him, back up the stairs. 

SLICEEEEEEE.

Her legs were knocked out from underneath her and she landed hard on her face, cutting her chin open on the hard stone stairs. Blinking the fuzziness from her eyes, she started to shake uncontrollably as her eyes trained on a pair of black boots standing in front of her.

Sullivan straightened from the semi-crouching position she’d taken when slashing the ax, allowing it to swing back and forth gleefully in her hand. Blood dripped from the blade.

Blood?

“Now, that wasn’t very nice, now was it?” crooned the familiar, low voice. Distinctive enough despite being muffled by the gas mask Sullivan was wearing.

Pushing herself up onto her hands, Katie let out a startled scream of pain, Gaze darting down and over her shoulder, vomit building up in her throat at the sight of her left leg laying a few feet away, cut off at the mid-thigh.   

A wailing sound began to howl from her throat, mind spinning with a combination of pain and horror and no, no, no, no, no, no…

Sullivan grabbed her firmly by the shoulder, rolling her over onto her back. Crane stooped by her leg, examining the bloodied stump with more curiosity than concern. Pulling his belt free from his pants, he wrapped it around what was left of her thigh, and she howled, black spots appearing in her vision, as he pulled it into a tight tourniquet around her leg.

“Focus here, now,” Sullivan ordered, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look up into those terrible dark goggles. “We need to keep you alive for a little longer.”

She opened her mouth. “Pleas–”

“That doesn’t really work with us, sweetheart,” Sullivan purred, patting her cheek, stalking around both Katie and Crane in a little circle, she allowed the ax to drop low enough that the blade scraped sinisterly against the floor. Katie flinched, sobbing.

“Please, please. I’m scared.”

Sullivan chuckled. Even with his face obscured by the burlap mask, she could tell that Crane was smiling.

“Oh, my dear. That’s the idea.”

There was a hiss, and a sudden burst of gas, thick as fog, was fired into her face, her chest spasming as she began to uncontrollably cough, lungs trying to force the substance from her body.

“What do you see?”

Scrambling to sit up, she glanced around, blinking through the haze of lingering gas. There was a prickling tingle on the back of her hand, and when she looked down she yelped, hand slapping at the little spider that was crawling across her skin.

Another prickle tickled along her collarbone. Then her arm. Then her ankle. Then her cheek. Hands brushing and slapping frantically at her skin, she let out a bellowing wail as she glanced around to see millions upon millions of spiders crawling through little cracks in the floor, descending down from the ceiling, streaming in through grates. They were crawling all over her skin, under her clothes, into her nose and ears and mouth. Her nails raked agonizingly down her skin, trying to shake them away, body rocking and rolling violently in an attempt to free herself from them. Blood exploded where her hands tore through skin, then tissue, and it was getting hard to breathe, her vision fuzzy…

In the end, Crane was right. She left Arkham Asylum torn apart; into teeny, tiny pieces. 

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[shigironkii]

hey!! Tell us about hallie; how she met edward, what she likes, who she is!!

SCREAMS AND KICKS FEET

Anon you just open padoras box because i have so much pent up love for this baby girl.

How they met

When she graduated from Gotham University and became scarecrows apprentice (and mistress of fear due), after the great doctor crane was exposed by batman for testing his fear toxin on innocent people, she was hired on the spot from arkham since they needed someone for the intensive treatment center. Even though she only worked with people who weren't super criminals, she couldnt sat no to more money and to help doctor crane with patients and test subjects, plus he would need someone to bust him out from time to time.

After a bad time with Harvey Dent, Joker, and Penguin, she was assigned to a new patient Doctor Young could not handle: Eddie Nashton, A.K.A Edward Nigma, The Riddler.

In their first session, she happily dodged his insults, basically turning them around him. In a way, she created a pattern to slowly get info out of him; riddles with a prize of knowledge.

It did seem to work, he would open up about his work, his hatred for batman (a common interest they both shared), soon, their sessions came as if they were friends. Talking casually, him telling her riddles and puzzles, her talking to him about certain subjects.

Since she still was the Mistress, she did tend to follow Scarecrow to meetings and get-together's for plans against batman. Riddler never seemed interested before, that was, until she finally spoke- no, screamed at him about his egotistical self. Once she spoke (mind you, she never talks as her villain persona, because of fear people knowing who she is), a very, very cheeky smile crept onto edwards face.

He basically used that to his advantages to tease and kiiiiinda blackmail hallie into doing his plans with him.

It wasnt until after awhile did he finally ask her to work for him, basically giving jon a break from her chaotic self and moving towards coding, and planting trophies for him.

She began working for him, but it turned.. less professional after he accidently realized he had feelings (pre-arkham asylum), and tried to hide them for awhile, even avoiding hallie in total.

It wasnt until he was cornered that he confessed, and after about a year or so, became his partner in crime; protecting him, building with him, etc

What she likes; space/astrology/astronomy, books with fiction (romance, mystery, horror), calm games or zombie games, drawing, shes into music of all varities (thats thanks to eddie and jon mixing their music with hers), she does smoke weed due to chronic pain and with her ptsd, the color purple, has a fasination with bugs and spiders

Honestly? I made hallie into like.. a comfort character of sorts. Someone i can look up to and remember to keep going, yknow?

[gunningcranes]

You’re Go-To Solution for Small Crane Hire in Newcastle

In the bustling construction industry, the need for reliable lifting equipment is paramount. Gunning Cranes, a leading provider of small cranes in Newcastle, offers unparalleled crane hire services to meet the diverse needs of contractors, builders, and DIY enthusiasts. This article explores the advantages of choosing Gunning Cranes for your small crane hire needs, the types of cranes available, and tips for selecting the right equipment for your project.

The Importance of Choosing the Right Crane

When it comes to construction, the choice of lifting equipment can significantly impact the efficiency and safety of your project. Using the wrong type or size of crane can lead to accidents, project delays, and increased costs. Gunning Cranes understands the importance of matching the right crane to the specific needs of your project, ensuring that you have the right tools at your disposal.

Benefits of Hiring Small Cranes

Small cranes are particularly beneficial for projects where space is limited or where heavy lifting is required but not on a grand scale. Here are some key advantages of using Small cranes Newcastle:

Versatility: Small cranes can maneuver in tight spaces where larger cranes cannot operate. This flexibility makes them ideal for urban construction sites and residential projects.

Cost-Effective: Hiring a small crane can be more affordable than using a larger crane, especially for smaller projects. This allows you to allocate your budget more efficiently.

Quick Setup: Small cranes are generally quicker to set up and dismantle, which minimizes downtime and keeps your project on schedule.

Enhanced Safety: With smaller cranes, operators can work in a more controlled environment, reducing the risk of accidents associated with larger machinery.

Gunning Cranes: A Trusted Name in Newcastle

Gunning Cranes has established itself as a trusted provider of Crane hire Newcastle, known for its commitment to safety, quality, and customer service. Here are some reasons why Gunning Cranes stands out in the industry:

Extensive Range of Small Cranes

Gunning Cranes offers a wide range of small cranes tailored to meet various project needs. From mini cranes that can lift modest loads to larger compact cranes capable of handling heavier materials, there is a solution for every requirement. Their fleet includes:

Mini Cranes: Ideal for residential projects and small construction sites. These cranes can fit through standard doorways and are perfect for indoor lifting tasks.

Spider Cranes: These cranes are known for their exceptional stability and ability to operate on uneven surfaces. Spider cranes are perfect for outdoor projects where terrain can be challenging.

Pick and Carry Cranes: This type of crane allows operators to pick up materials and carry them to another location without needing to set the crane down. This feature is particularly beneficial for construction sites with limited space.

Exceptional Customer Service

At Gunning Cranes, customer satisfaction is a top priority. The team is dedicated to helping clients choose the right crane for their specific needs. Their knowledgeable staff provides guidance on crane specifications, load capacities, and safety procedures to ensure that your project runs smoothly.

Commitment to Safety

Safety is non-negotiable in the construction industry, and Gunning Cranes takes this seriously. All their cranes are regularly maintained and inspected to ensure they meet safety standards. Additionally, the company provides training and safety guidelines to operators, further enhancing workplace safety.

Competitive Pricing

Gunning Cranes offers competitive pricing on all crane hire services, making it easier for businesses and individuals to access high-quality lifting equipment without breaking the bank. The company provides transparent quotes with no hidden fees, allowing you to plan your budget effectively.

Selecting the Right Crane for Your Project

Choosing the right crane for your project can be daunting, but Gunning Cranes is here to help. Here are some tips to consider when selecting a crane:

Assess Your Project Requirements

Before hiring a crane, assess the specific needs of your project. Consider factors such as:

Load Capacity: Determine the weight of the materials you need to lift and choose a crane with the appropriate load capacity.

Height Requirements: Evaluate how high you need to lift materials. Ensure that the crane you select can reach the necessary height.

Site Conditions: Consider the layout and accessibility of your worksite. Small cranes are often the best choice for tight spaces and uneven terrain.

Consult with Experts

Don’t hesitate to reach out to Gunning Cranes’ knowledgeable team. They can provide insights into the best crane options for your project and help you make an informed decision. Their expertise can save you time and ensure that you choose the most suitable equipment.

Review Safety Features

Safety features should always be a priority when hiring a crane. Ensure that the crane you select is equipped with safety mechanisms, such as load limiters and emergency shut-off systems. Gunning Cranes’ commitment to safety means you can trust that their equipment meets all necessary safety standards.

Why Choose Gunning Cranes for Crane Hire in Newcastle?

Gunning Cranes is not just another crane hire service; they are a partner in your construction success. Here are some key reasons to choose Gunning Cranes for your small crane hire needs in Newcastle:

Local Expertise: With years of experience in the Newcastle area, Gunning Cranes understands the unique challenges of local construction projects.

Wide Availability: Gunning Cranes offers flexible hire options, whether you need a crane for a day, a week, or a longer-term project. Their commitment to availability ensures that you get the equipment you need when you need it.

Top-Quality Equipment: The company takes pride in maintaining a fleet of well-serviced, modern cranes. This ensures optimal performance and reliability for your projects.

Customer-Centric Approach: Gunning Cranes values its clients and strives to provide a seamless hire experience, from initial consultation to project completion.

Strong Reputation: As a trusted name in crane hire in Newcastle, Gunning Cranes has built a solid reputation based on quality service and satisfied customers.

Conclusion

When it comes to small crane hire in Newcastle, Gunning Cranes stands out as the premier choice for contractors and builders alike. Their extensive range of small cranes, commitment to safety, exceptional customer service, and competitive pricing make them the go-to solution for all your lifting needs. By choosing Gunning Cranes, you’re not just hiring equipment; you’re investing in a reliable partner for your construction projects. Whether you’re tackling a residential renovation or a commercial build, Gunning Cranes has the right equipment and expertise to ensure your project runs smoothly and efficiently. Reach out to Gunning Cranes today to discuss your crane hire needs and experience the difference for yourself!

[gbpcranes]

Crane Hire Services for Residential Construction

In residential construction, efficiency, precision, and safety are paramount. One of the key elements that significantly contribute to achieving these objectives is the use of crane hire services. Cranes, with their ability to lift and transport heavy materials, have become indispensable in the construction industry, particularly in residential projects. 

The Importance of Crane Hire Services

Residential construction projects often involve the handling of heavy materials such as steel beams, concrete blocks, roofing materials, and prefabricated sections. Manually managing these materials can be not only time-consuming but also hazardous. Cranes facilitate the efficient and safe movement of these materials, ensuring that construction progresses smoothly and on schedule.

Moreover, cranes are crucial for tasks that require precision. For instance, placing roof trusses, installing large windows, or positioning structural components necessitates accurate handling that only cranes can provide. This precision minimises errors and rework, contributing to overall project quality and cost-efficiency.

Benefits of Crane Hire Services

Enhanced Efficiency: Cranes significantly speed up the construction process by enabling quick and easy lifting and placement of materials. This reduces the time required for manual labour and accelerates project timelines.

Improved Safety: Construction sites are fraught with potential hazards, especially when it comes to handling heavy materials. Cranes reduce the risk of accidents and injuries by taking on the heavy lifting, thereby protecting workers from strenuous physical labour and potential mishaps.

Cost-Effectiveness: While the initial cost of hiring a crane may seem substantial, it is often offset by the savings in labour costs and reduced project timelines. Additionally, the precision and efficiency provided by cranes can prevent costly errors and rework.

Versatility: Modern cranes are versatile and can be used for a variety of tasks in residential construction, from lifting materials to supporting complex structural installations. This adaptability makes them a valuable asset on any construction site.

Access to Expertise: Crane hire services usually come with skilled operators who have extensive experience in handling cranes in various construction scenarios. This expertise ensures that the crane operations are conducted safely and efficiently.

Types of Cranes Used in Residential Construction

The type of crane used in residential construction depends on the specific needs of the project. Some common types include:

Mobile Cranes: These are versatile cranes mounted on a wheeled chassis. They can be easily transported to different parts of the construction site, making them ideal for projects that require flexibility.

Tower Cranes: Often used for taller residential buildings, tower cranes have a fixed base and a long horizontal jib. They are capable of lifting heavy materials to great heights and are a common sight in urban construction projects.

Crawler Cranes: These cranes have tracks instead of wheels, providing stability and the ability to move on rough or uneven terrain. They are particularly useful in areas where ground conditions are challenging.

Rough Terrain Cranes: Specifically designed for off-road applications, these cranes are mounted on four large rubber tires and are ideal for construction sites with difficult terrain.

Spider Cranes: Compact and highly manoeuvrable, spider cranes are perfect for confined spaces and can navigate through narrow access points, making them suitable for certain residential projects.

Considerations When Hiring Crane Services

When opting for crane hire services, it is essential to consider several factors to ensure you get the best value for your investment.

Project Requirements: Assess the specific needs of your construction project, including the types of materials to be lifted, the heights involved, and the working space available. This will help in selecting the right type of crane for the job.

Crane Specifications: Different cranes have different lifting capacities, reach, and operational capabilities. Ensure that the crane you hire matches the demands of your project.

Safety Standards: Verify that the crane hire company adheres to strict safety standards and regulations. The company should provide well-maintained equipment and trained operators to minimise risks on the construction site.

Insurance and Liability: Ensure that the crane hire service includes adequate insurance coverage. This protects you from potential liabilities in case of accidents or equipment failure.

Cost and Availability: Compare quotes from multiple crane hire companies to find a service that offers competitive pricing without compromising on quality. Additionally, check the availability of the crane to align with your project schedule.

Reputation and Experience: Research the reputation and experience of the crane hire company. Look for reviews, testimonials, and case studies that demonstrate their track record in similar projects.

Site Preparation: Ensure that your construction site is adequately prepared for crane operations. This includes providing a stable ground for the crane to operate on and ensuring there are no obstructions that could impede the crane’s movements.

The Future of Crane Hire in Residential Construction

The future of crane hire services in residential construction looks promising, driven by advancements in technology and a growing emphasis on sustainability. Here are some trends to watch:

Automation and Remote Operation: The integration of automation and remote operation technologies is transforming crane operations. Automated cranes can perform tasks with minimal human intervention, increasing efficiency and safety.

Eco-Friendly Cranes: With a rising focus on sustainability, crane manufacturers are developing eco-friendly cranes that use alternative energy sources such as electricity and hybrid systems. These cranes produce fewer emissions and have a smaller environmental footprint.

Smart Cranes: Equipped with sensors and IoT (Internet of Things) technology, smart cranes provide real-time data on performance, load weights, and operational conditions. This data can be used to optimise crane operations and prevent potential issues before they occur.

Modular and Prefabricated Construction: The trend towards modular and prefabricated construction methods is increasing the demand for cranes that can efficiently handle large prefabricated sections. Cranes play a crucial role in the assembly of these structures, enabling faster and more cost-effective construction.

Advanced Safety Features: Modern cranes are being equipped with advanced safety features such as collision avoidance systems, load monitoring, and stability control. These features enhance the safety of crane operations, protecting both workers and equipment.

Crane hire services are a vital component of residential construction, offering numerous benefits that enhance efficiency, safety, and overall project success. By carefully considering your project needs and selecting the right crane hire service, you can significantly streamline your construction process, ensuring that your residential project is completed on time and within budget. In an industry where precision and reliability are key, cranes provide the support needed to build homes that stand the test of time.

[lorespill]

idk how to do song link embeds so i'll just do a raw list (also woopdeedoo now yall get to see a glimpse of my overall music taste)

Ajax

Vengeance - Zack Hemsey

Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Lorde

Snakes - Miyavi & PVRIS (from Arcane)

Misfit Toys - Pusha T (from Arcane)

Used To The Darkness - Des Rocs

What's Up Danger - Blackway & Black Caviar (from Into the Spider-Verse)

Home - Vince Staples (from Into the Spider-Verse)

I'm Not Driving Anymore - Rob Dougan

Fox

Vengeance - Zack Hemsey

Body - Mother Mother

Yellow Flicker Beat - Lorde

Lost Again - Kings Elliot

Circles - Greta Svabo Bech & Ludovico Einaudi

Orphans - Coldplay

Guns for Hire - Woodkid (from Arcane)

Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush

Strange Birds - Birdy

Swan and/or Mercy

Daddy Issues - The Neighbourhood

Dog Days Are Over - Florence & The Machine

Self Love - Metro Boomin & Coi Leray (from Across The Spider-Verse)

If You Want Love - NF

Do I Wanna Know - Arctic Monkeys

Gasoline - Halsey

Nothing's New - Rio Romeo

Ma Meilleure Enemie - Stromae & Pomme

Rembrandt

Born Yesterday - Rob Dougan

Heart Heavy - Mother Mother

Black Out Days - Phantogram

Sirens - Imagine Dragons

Towards The Sun - Rihanna

Notre Dame - Paris Paloma

Ribs - The Crane Wives

Here - Alessia Cara

Cleon or Cyrus

Which Witch - Florence & The Machine

King - Florence & The Machine

Hunger of the Pine - alt-J

Gilded Lily - Cults

Breathe - Fleurie

Labour - Paris Paloma

Soldier, Poet, King - The Oh Hellos

Masai

Nothing At All - Rob Dougan

Monster - Epic: The Musical Soundtrack

Gilded Lily - Cults

Soldier - Tommee Profitt & Fleurie [this one kinda fits the Gramercy Riffs as a whole]

Do Better - Smi.le

Moon Music - Coldplay & Jon Hopkins

And Luther is Literal Monster from the Nerdy Prudes Must Die Soundtrack

(sorry i left out Cowgirl, Cochise, and the other gangs, ive already spent too much time on this list)

TUMBLR! This is your call to tell me what songs remind you of Warriors characters. It can be the strangest one. No need to explain yourself. If something from The Lorax reminds you of Masai, tell me.

[accessequipmenthireau]

Reaching New Heights: Cherry Picker Hire Options in Australia

When it comes to tasks that require working at heights, cherry pickers provide a safe solution. Whether for construction, maintenance, or event setups, finding the right cherry picker hire Australia is essential. In Australia, there are various options for cherry picker hire that cater to diverse needs. This guide will help you navigate the cherry picker hire landscape and choose the best option for your requirements.

Types of Cherry Pickers

• All Terrain: Suitable for reaching great heights and navigating over obstacles. All Terrain Crane Hire provides flexibility in reaching difficult spots.

• Scissor Lifts: Ideal for straight vertical lifting. They offer a stable platform and are suitable for indoor use or on level ground.

• Trailer-Mounted Lifts: Easily transportable and set up. Truck mounted cherry picker is suitable for short-term projects and various terrains.

• Spider Lifts: Compact and versatile, designed to access tight or confined spaces. They can be tracked or wheeled for maneuverability.

Research Cherry Picker Hire Companies

• Local Rental Companies: Look for rental companies in your local area. They often have a diverse fleet and can provide quicker service.

• Online Platforms: Explore online platforms that aggregate equipment rental options. Compare prices, equipment types, and customer reviews.

• Check Reviews and Ratings: Read reviews from previous customers to gauge the reliability and quality of service offered by the rental companies.

• Compare Pricing and Terms

• Rental Rates: Compare rental rates for different types of cherry pickers. Rates may vary based on the type, height, and duration of rental.

• Additional Costs: Inquire about additional costs like delivery, fuel, and insurance. Ensure there are no hidden charges.

• Rental Duration: Clarify the rental duration and any penalties for late returns. Check for Safety and Maintenance

• Safety Standards: Ensure that the cherry picker meets the safety standards set by the relevant authorities in Australia.

• Maintenance Records: Inquire about the maintenance history of the cherry picker to ensure it's in good working condition.

Choosing the right cherry picker for your project in Australia involves understanding your requirements, researching rental options, comparing prices, considering safety, and ensuring timely availability. By following these steps and carefully evaluating your choices, you can select a suitable cherry picker for your specific task and reach new heights safely and efficiently.

Source

[accesshireperth]

Specialised lifting services

Our fleet consists of 1.8t-16t capacity mini crawler/spider cranes and 2.5t-22.5t capacity telehandlers ready for hire for any situatational requirement. Visit: https://www.ucsperth.com.au/services/specialised-lifting-equipment/

[dpgears]

DP Gears are a well-established gear cutting, engineering service company based in Dudley, West Midlands. With over 40 years experience in the industry we cover everything from Gearbox repairs, Gear Cutting, Engineering, Spider Crane Hire and Site Services. Our engineering service experts and manufacturers will provide expert machining breakdown repairs and recovery accross the whole of the UK. The services provided at DP Gears aren't run of the mill standard processes, we offer a bespoke service suited to your needs, breakdowns or rebuild requirements. Gearbox repairs can be anything from fixed speed, mechanical changeover, variable speed, worm wheel, planetary, helical and more.

Website: https://www.dpgears.co.uk/

Address: Unit 13 Hillcrest Business Park, Cinder Bank, Dudley DY2 9AP

Phone Number: 01384 252200 Out Of Hours 07807445019

Business Contact Email ID: sales@dpgears.co.uk

Business Hours: 24/7

[machineryhiremelbourne]

Can Spider Crane Hire Help in Prompt Business Operation?

Using a spider crane can help businesses in many sectors operate more quickly. Unmatched flexibility and efficiency are provided by these specialised cranes, especially when working in challenging terrain and narrow locations that may be difficult for conventional lifting equipment to access.

Recognised crane and lift suppliers provide scissor lift hire in Sydney with compact designs with powerful lifting capabilities, making them indispensable for tasks such as building maintenance, cleaning, painting, and specialized construction operations.

They provide access to difficult locations with precision and accuracy enhancing safety while saving valuable time and resources.

Advantages of Renting Cranes and Lifts from Recognised Services:

Small crane rental is a cost-effective solution for businesses, offering access to advanced equipment without the need for significant upfront investment. Moreover, reputable suppliers provide a wide range of crane options tailored to specific project requirements, ensuring optimal performance and versatility.

The adaptability of small crawler cranes minimizes the need for multiple pieces of equipment, reducing site congestion and related hazards. This streamlined approach enhances operational efficiency and lowers overall project costs.

Ultimately, the use of mini cranes facilitates quicker project completion, giving businesses a competitive edge in the market. Whether it is in construction, maintenance, or specialized tasks, the promptness and efficiency enabled by this crane are beneficial for businesses striving to meet tight deadlines and deliver exceptional results.

Additionally, hiring a scissor lift is a great way to meet their lifting requirements, and well-known lifting solution suppliers usually have a variety of options to hire based on business needs.

These suppliers help customers by providing appropriate information and instructions on how to use the lifting mechanism correctly to further guarantee the equipment's safe operation.

Find some recognised cranes and lift suppliers nearby by analysing their services, and market reputation and have a variety of lifting solutions based on customers' needs.

Contact a well-established service and get the best lift or crane for renting to elevate business operations.

Source

[allterrainservices-blog1]

Allterrain Services

https://www.allterrainservices.com.au

All Terrain Services Pty Ltd is a family business based in Perth, Western Australia since 2003. We aim to provide the most efficient, reliable and cost-effective equipment hire solutions to our customers Australia-wide from our Perth head office.

Our fleet continues to grow over time, giving All Terrain Services the capability to supply equipment for projects as diverse as wind farms, power stations, wharf construction, dredging projects, building construction and mining operations throughout Australia.

[raimispiderman]

From the booklet which comes with the Spider-Man Trilogy Limited Edition Collection blu-ray!

This talks about the making of Spider-Man 2, here’s the bit about the first Spider-Man movie.

Click for a transcript:

THE EVOLUTION OF A SUPERHERO

“It was truly gratifying and even a bit overwhelming to witness how strongly moviegoers around the world reacted to Spider-Man,” said director Sam Raimi. “As a filmmaker, I always want people to really enjoy my movies, and on that level, Spider-Man exceeded my expectations.”

After the triumph of the first Spider-Man, Raimi knew he had a responsibility to follow it up with a story that justified the fans’ enthusiasm and their built-in expectations for the next adventure. “There’s great interest in this movie, following the success of the first one,” he acknowledged. “For the kids who come to see it, Spider-Man is their hero. So while the job of making this movie is to provide entertainment, it is also to create a story that shows them a moral character, someone who has to make tough choices and the right decisions in order to continue to be worthy of their admiration.”

The wealth of detailed stories and characters in the Spider-Man comic book series provided a mother lode from which to cull the plot for Spider-Man 2. “The Marvel artists and writers have done a great job through the decades – I know, because I’m a big fan myself – so there’s a tremendous amount of good material to draw upon,” noted Raimi. “Finding a storyline wasn’t that difficult. It was finding the right story, the one that made for a proper follow-up installment, and provided a logical progression for the audience and a logical growth for the character. For the, I relied on the terrific storytelling instincts of my very fine producers Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad. Together with the contributions of our great writers, we found a plot line with ideas that reverberated.”

With the storyline of the new adventure locked, Arad looked forward to the reunion of the Spider-Man filmmaking family, not the least of which was Tobey Maguire. “Tobey was so happy to be Spider-Man again and to be Peter Parker,” said Arad. “As an actor Tobey relished deepening the audience’s understanding of who Peter Parker is and who is becoming,” added Ziskin. “Peter’s a man who is transition, someone who’s struggling with the choices he is making.”

Maguire added, “The theme ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ is never lost on Peter. It’s difficult to be a young man and have to sacrifice as much as he has – presumably for the greater good – and to neglect his personal desires. The struggle continues here and it’s quite complicated, because Peter’s searching desperately for a way to achieve some balance in his life.”

 As Peter becomes more immersed in his dilemma, it creates a rift between him and the important people in his life. Though his love for MJ is stronger than ever, she has moved on with her life, pursuing an acting career, living in Manhattan and moving in new social circles. “In this film, Peter is off in his own world and not a reliable presence in MJ’s life,” explained Kirsten Dunst. “She still loves him a great deal, so it has become painful for her to be around him. Though they’ve both done a lot of growing up in the past two years, at the same time, they’ve drifted apart.”

Then, as if Peter’s life were not complicated enough, the situation moves from bad to worse – much worse. Enter Doc Ock.

Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is a brilliant scientist whose life work has been dedicated to experiments utilizing fusion as a new source of energy. Charming, vibrant and energetic, Dr. Octavius is introduced to Peter by Harry Osborn.

“This movie is the story of Peter’s life, which is out of balance, and Dr. Octavius who, for Peter, represents someone who has achieved that balance,” explained Raimi.

“Peter sees Octavius as somebody who has mastered both his gifts – in this case science, through which he can serve the good of mankind, while also maintaining a personal life, a loving relationship with his wife Rosie (Donna Murphy). This leads Peter to the conclusion that it’s possible to have both.” Dr. Octavius, with the support of his wife, has been working diligently in his home laboratory, trying to perfect his groundbreaking fusion theory. But when a demonstration of his creation goes horribly wrong, Dr. Octavius undergoes a terrible transformation – evolving into the powerful, multi-tentacled Doc Ock.

In Spider-Man 2, the talented and versatile Molina brings this powerful adversary to terrifying life. “He is a formidable enemy for Spider-Man,” said Arad. “He can climb walls faster and better than Spider-Man. In fact, there’s nothing Spider-Man can do that Ock cannot counteract.”

Doc Ock, one of the most popular villains of the Spider-Man comic book series, first appeared in “The Amazing Spider-Man #3,” which was published in 1963. He immediately became one of Spider-Man’s most formidable foes. According to comic lore, each of Ock’s limbs can move at speeds of up to 90 feet per second and strike with the force of a jackhammer. The extremely powerful tentacles enable him to lift a vehicle off the ground, pulverize bricks, claw through concrete walls and hover above his victims by rising into the air.

The filmmakers were eager to attract Molina for the central role. “We needed someone who brought a palpable reality to the part, and who was also sincere, had a great sense of humor and personal warmth,” said Raimi. “Alfred is a brilliant actor, and what he’s brought so effectively to the character of Doc Ock is the sense of him as a misunderstood man who has turned into a beast.”

Molina confessed, “I’ve always been a Marvel Comic fan because their characters are so interesting. They have problems. They’re very realistic.” From him, the mechanics behind the role of Doc Ock was a true education. “It was mind-boggling, the breadth and the imagination that went into how each of my character’s actions – flying across the room, crashing through a plate glass window, smashing a taxicab – was to be executed. It’s a unique way of filming that’s not like anything most of us get to do really. It’s a very particular way of working, and absolutely fascinating.”

J.K. Simmons also returns in Spider-Man 2 as Peter’s gruff boss at the Daily Bugle, J Jonah Jameson. “I fire Peter several times in this movie. Every time I see him, I fire him,” laughed Simmons. “And then I re-hire him because there’s always some pressing need for his services.”

Principal photography on Spider-Man 2 began on April 12, 2003, in New York City, where the production spent approximately three weeks shooting at various locations in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, as well as on a Yonkers stage. From ground-level street shots to rooftops high above the city, the filmmakers efficiently utilized the time they spent in New York, giving them the opportunity to expand on the city’s unique environment, which had lent such vibrancy to the first Spider-Man.

“In the first film we established New York as a character in the movie. With Spider-Man 2, we went even further,” said production designer Neil Spisak. “We used a lot more of the city, including [photographic] plates of real buildings and real streets. Improvements in technology over the past three years enabled [visual effects designer] John Dykstra and I to marry existing buildings to scenery buildings to CG buildings even better than the first time around. It’s a much more complete experience.”

“We got more of a feeling of New York in this movie,” added Ziskin. “The movie is being shot in widescreen, which is appropriate because this is a different story, so it required a different approach.”

Production began on the campus of Columbia University in uptown Manhattan, which served as the university Peter Parker attends while he struggles with the responsibilities of his academic workload and his superhero duties. The rooftop of the Hotel Intercontinental, across from the Waldorf Astoria, was the location where Spider-Man contemplates his next move, while downtown, in the Wall Street area, another rooftop served as the “launch-pad” for the Spydercam camera, as it dipped and swooped over several blocks to replicate one of Spider-Man’s high-stakes aerial journeys through the city.

“We executed one of the longest wire shots the Spydercam has ever done,” said executive producer Joseph M. Maracciolo. “The Wall Street shot was around 2,400 feet. I’m an ex New Yorker, so I didn’t find the location shoot particularly daunting. But there are always difficulties when you’re doing wire work in New York, including the placement of the cranes on the buildings, the movement of the cast, crew and equipment, and of course, the crowds.”

“It was a challenge for us to move our production to the tops of buildings, but we couldn’t have been happier, because rooftops are Spider-Man’s world and that is his view of the city as he swings through it,” noted co-producer Grant Curtis. “It was breathtaking to see the world from 70 stories up – a world unto itself. You can’t fully really appreciate the beautiful architecture of New York’s skyscrapers from ground level. We showed some of that in the first film, but we wanted to show more of Spider-Man’s vertiginous world, and I think we really captured that with this film.”

In Spider-Man 2, Doc Ock sweeps Aunt May off her feet – literally – and takes her up several stories of a tall building. Rosemary Harris performed her stunts in a variety of harnesses, but only after she had managed to talk the filmmakers into letting her give her stunt double a rest. “I was a bit miffed at first, because my wonderful stunt double was going to do a lot of these harness maneuvers,” recalled Harris. “So I asked Sam and Laura, ‘Why not let me have a go at it?’ At first they were reluctant. But I begged them to at least let me try and they finally relented.”

Returning to Los Angeles, Spider-Man 2 shot on several stages on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City. Stage 15 was home to the Daily Bugle offices, as well as Peter’s tiny apartment and Dr. Octavius’ elaborate home laboratory. On Stage 29, the Osborn mansion, where Harry Osborn now lives, was recreated. Stage 27 housed MJ’s apartment set, a giant spider web, the interior of the Planetarium, the massive clock tower set as well as various other set pieces. A series of elevated trains were built on Stage 14, where Spider-Man and Doc Ock match wits.

One of the most elaborate sets for Spider-Man 2 was the pier set, designed by Spisak and built over the course of 15 weeks on Soundstage 30. “In contrast to Dr. Octavius’ lab, which was part of his apartment – a streamlined, organized and clean space – the pier is a maniacal, decaying, decrepit space,” explained Spisak. “It follows his character development in terms of his becoming a wilder, more dangerous and more formidable adversary for Spider-Man.”

The set, approximately 60 feet wide by 120 feet long and 40 feet tall, was constructed over a water tank and enhanced by several different components, including CG/plate work and miniatures.

“Before we built the set, we created an exact ¾ scale model of it, about 7 feet long and 4 feet wide, from drawings and blueprints. The model was extremely useful to the carpenters, who could take measurements to help them construct the full-sized pier, as well as for the miniatures team, so they could ascertain the dimensions, textures and materials that were used,” explained art director Tom Wilkins. “We shot plates down in San Pedro, where we panned from a real pier to the water. In post-production a New York background was added. We also built a miniature pier – interiors and exteriors – to complete the composition on the East River.” The art department team designed a 136 foot by 40 foot-high vinyl backing to represent Ock’s view of Manhattan through a large window at the end of the pier set. Wave machines were rigged in the water to create movement under the pier.

The production then moved to the Universal backlot for two weeks of shooting. Several city streets were transformed into a variety of New York neighborhoods including the exterior of the Lyric Theatre where MJ performances in an off-Broadway production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Ari’s Village Deli and Bakery became the site of an extremely complex scene involving a quiet conversation between Peter and MJ, which is interrupted by Peter’s “spider sense” – and a car careening through the plate glass window, followed by the arrival of Doc Ock.

“It was a great luxury to be able to build that set from every aspect, so that we could do everything we needed for the scene,” said Spisak. “The walls were made of french plate so that when the car smashed through it, the buildings around it were protected. We were able to design what we thought it should look like visually, then as tricks, gags and stunts became clearer, we were able to add them to the set before it was completely finished.”

“The deli was a full, 360 degree set, with a kitchen, deli counters, pastries, ceiling fans and chandeliers,” added art director Steve Saklad, who worked closely with Spisak. “We dressed the exterior streets so that you could look out of the window and see the intersection of Lafayette Street and Astor Place. It required an enormous amount of signage, billboards, street dressing, trees and traffic lights.”

For Raimi,  “The diner was a complex technical scene, because it brought together so many different departments, each relying on the other to fulfil their function  and communicate with each other so that each individual shot would work. We utilized mechanical effects and the stunt department had to take an automobile, spin it and flip it through the deli window, with the prop department providing the breakaway items. What made it even more complex was that we had to fly Doc Ock in, using something we dubbed the “walk rig.”

The “walk rig” was created for Doc Ock, because the character not only moves himself, but his tentacles move him around as well. When he walks on the tentacles, they support his weight, so a device was constructed to harness him and move him through space as if the tentacles were supporting him. The visual effects department also created “virtual” tentacles where practical ones weren’t feasible.

When he was in full costume, Molina’s tentacles weighed between 75 to 100 pounds, depending upon the action required for the scene. Each of the tentacles was fully articulated. In their expanded, 13-foot length, each upper tentacle consisted of approximately 76 individual pieces Each vertabra was handmade, hand molded, sanded, individually hand painted, chromed, then painted again and assembled by hand. The entire collection of Doc Ock tentacles, bases, heads and wrists, if laid end to end, would be taller than a 20-story building.

Academy Award winning costume designer James Acheson welcomed the opportunity to further explore and improve upon the already classic Spider-Man costume for Spider-Man 2. “Creating the Spider-Man suit for the first film was a real challenge since we were designing for a kind of Cirque du Soleil acrobat, someone who had a unbelievable kinetic spiraling ability,” he said. “So the suit had to be extremely flexible. For the new installment we made several improvements, though you’d have to be a real enthusiast to spot them. The colors are slightly different, and we have made subtle changes in terms of the movement inside the costume’s hood. We also adjusted the eyepieces of Spider-Man’s mask as well as certain aspects of the spider design on the front and the back of the suit.”

For Spider-Man 2’s Doc Ock, Acheson and Raimi spent close to a year collaborating with Spisak and visual effects designer John Dykstra and working with Edge FX in what began as a series of “group think” sessions, according to Raimi. “I needed John Dykstra’s input, because it was John who was going to have to handle Doc Ock’s movements in CG, so he had to be involved in designing the character, along with Jim, who was going to determine the look of the character,” recalled Raimi. “Part of the look determined the movement, and what the arms look like began to govern how it functioned. Neil was involved because Ock had to be a part of Neil’s world in the film. A great interdependence developed among the department heads in order to achieve the complex nature and physicality of the character,”

“The challenge with Doc Ock is to visually create a believable world, focusing on a man with four tentacles growing out of his back,” said Spisak. “Now, that can be a tough swallow. So, in creating Ock and his world, we needed to design and play it so that everything was credible. Ove the course of several months, it became clear what was physically possible for Ock and what would have to be achieved via CG. We conceptualized the look and only then did we deal with the physical limitations, rather than letting them stop us at the beginning.”

Added Dykstra: “It was a huge challenge to make Doc Ock come to life. His tentacles had to meet several criteria. They had to be appropriate with regard to the world Neil had created for Spider-Man and Ock. The components of the costume – the texture and the weight – had to bed something an actor could actually wear. Since using the tentacles wasn’t always practical, we had to create ‘virtual’ versions with Edge FX. In the end, integrating the tentacles into the story was a marriage of all those components and the collaboration of everyone involved.”

Spisak and his team designed and dressed more than 100 sets and locations for Spider-Man 2. “There are probably 10 enormous sets, while some are simply street corners. We covered eleven blocks in downtown Los Angeles and used many rooftops, streets and buildings in New Yorj City,” noted Spisak. “This is certainly the biggest film I’ve ever done.”

Spisak worked with director of photography Bill Pope on the color palette for the sets, and they pored over research and location pictures to inspire them for the story’s lighting requirements. “In the first film, Peter Parker was younger, less aware and just beginning to discover his new powers. That was reflected in the overall look of the movie,” said Spisak. “With this film, he has been Spider-Man for a while, so his frustration over how to deal with his life versus his duty is more complex. That’s reflected in the color palette and the tone of this film – it’s a little more sophisticated, more complicated and deeper, in terms of color and look.”

Among the tools Dykstra and his team utilized to achieve the shots presenting Spider-Man’s point-of-view, while he is soaring over the city, was Earl Wiggins’ Spydercam. During the New York portion of the shoot, the specialized camera was launched using a remote-controlled computer suspended on a cable from a Wall Street-area rooftop more than 30 stories in the air, which recorded what DSpider-Man saw as he swung over the city. The camera traveled along a line suspended over four blocks, dipping down into the street and over the tops of several blocks of vehicles and background art that had been placed for the sequence.

“We were dropping the camera and moving it up and down over the course of the shot to follow Spider-Man’s trajectory as he swings through the arch, releasing a web, and shooting a new web as he swings into the traffic below,” explained Dykstra.

“One of the successes of the first film was the empathy the audience had for the main character. He was very sympathetic,” Dykstra said, “This movie explores the character in greater depth, and in terms of the visual effects, we’re hoping to give audiences an event more intimate sense of what it’s like to be Spider-Man. In the first film, we get to fly with him. The idea here is to make the flying sequences poetic enough and evocative enough that you will get an even stronger sense of what it’s like to fly like Spider-Man.”

That approach is reinforced by Raimi, said Ziskin, “One of the really striking aspects about Sam is that he is the audience for this film. He makes the movie for the audience, identifies with the characters and is always aware of the rhythms and how each sequence will play – both to him and the other members of the audience. That makes him the perfect director for this kind of material. Also, he’s at a point in his directing career where he’s at the top of his game. He is brilliant technically, but also works extraordinarily well with the actors. Ultimately, his personal connection to Peter Parker and the other main characters is a great gift to the audience.”

“These are tough, scary times and during such periods we look to heroic stories to give us hope,” noted Raimi. “Maybe that has something to do with why the audience was so taken with Spider-Man when he first appeared two years ago. With Spider-Man 2, I truly hope that audiences will feel that they’re seeing a love story, that they’re participating in another episode of Peter Parker’s life and are seeing the challenges and conflicts he faces and how he overcomes them. I hope it will leave them feeling uplifted and exhilarated.”

[1962dude420-blog]

Today we remember the passing of Jani Lane who Died: August 11, 2011 in Woodland Hills, California

Jani Lane (born John Kennedy Oswald; February 1, 1964 – August 11, 2011) was an American recording artist and the lead vocalist, frontman, lyricist and main songwriter for the glam metal band Warrant. From Hollywood, California, the band experienced success from 1989 to 1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. Lane left Warrant in 2004 and again in 2008 after a brief reunion. Lane also released a solo album, Back Down to One, in 2003, and the album Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner with a new group, Saints of the Underground, in 2008. Lane contributed lead vocals and songwriting to various projects throughout his career.

Lane was born John Kennedy Oswald (later changed to John Patrick Oswald), on February 1, 1964 in Akron, Ohio to Robert and Eileen Oswald. He was raised in Brimfield with four older siblings: sisters Marcine Williams, Michelle Robinson and Victoria Ley, plus older brother Eric, already an accomplished guitarist. With sisters Micki and Vicky and brother Eric harmonizing and playing guitar, Lane taught himself to play drums, guitar and piano by ear by age five. He grew up listening to Cleveland rock station WMMS (100.7 FM "The Buzzard") and was introduced to a variety of music by his older siblings.

With connections from siblings Eric and Vicky in and around the music scene (and with his parents' help), Lane made a name for himself at a very young age. He played drums under the pseudonym "Mitch Dynamite" in clubs by age 11 and with a local band "Pokerface." By that time, his siblings had left for college or marriage, although Vicky was still active in the entertainment industry in northeast Ohio and southwest Florida. Due to Vicky's numerous connections, Lane was able to network with industry execs in pursuit of his dream. Lane graduated from Field High School, in Mogadore, Ohio, a nearby city to Brimfield in 1982.

Lane is credited as the vocalist/drummer on Warrant's Latest and Greatest CD. Throughout his career, Lane would sometimes play drums/acoustic guitar and piano with his band and played the drums in various formats and gigs with other musicians.

After high school, Lane joined the band Cyren, featuring vocalist Skip Hammonds, guitarist John Weakland, bassist Don Hoover (and later Rusty Fohner) with Lane on drums and vocals. Many of Cyren's shows opened for a popular local band called Risque'. When their bassist, Al Collins, noticed Lane's vocal talents, he convinced Lane to form a new band they eventually called Dorian Gray. The new band also included Steven Chamberlin on drums and Dave Chamberlin on lead guitar. Dorian Gray was designed to have Lane as the lead vocalist and to perform original material, but Lane wasn't ready to be the lead singer and quickly returned to the drum kit. Billy Denmead was hired as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. After only a few shows, Collins left the band, vowing to put a band together when Lane was ready to be a lead vocalist.

Lane moved to Florida in 1983 with Dorian Gray. He eventually formed Plain Jane with Collins and Chamberlin, adopting the stage name "Jani Lane" (Chamberlin would also soon rechristen himself Steven Sweet). He took the name "Jani" from his German grandparents, who spelled his name "Jani" and pronounced it "Yay-nee."

Lane began vocal training with vocal coach/trainer Ron Feldmann, who introduced him to Creative Engineering, Inc. in Orlando. Lane worked there as a programmer of the animatronic character Dook LaRue, the drummer for The Rock-afire Explosion. His vocal debut was at The Station in Fern Park, Florida.

Lane, Collins, and Chamberlin recorded the first Plain Jane four-track demos at their rented house in Winter Park, Florida. Although reluctant to leave Florida, they rented a trailer in the spring of 1984 and moved to California with hopes of landing a record deal. They were broke by the time they landed at the Hollywood Bowl Motel and resorted to making sandwiches with mustard packets while taking turns calling their parents for cash.

Struggling to make ends meet as a musician, Lane resorted to working in a pornographic video warehouse. The band, along with a new road crew and a few girlfriends, pooled their wages and lived in a two-bedroom condominium rented by new Plain Jane guitarist Paul Noble. At one time there were 13 people living in the crowded space.

By 1985, Plain Jane had become a regular feature on the Los Angeles club circuit and opened many shows for a band called Warrant. Plain Jane's bassist and guitarist both left the band on the same day Warrant's singer and drummer quit. Erik Turner, who had founded Warrant in July 1984, was impressed by Plain Jane's songwriting and vocal performance and invited Lane and Sweet to jam with his band at Hollywood's db Sound in September 1986.

After generating notoriety on the club circuit, Warrant began to attract the attention of record labels. Following an abortive deal with A&M Records over a contribution to the soundtrack for the motion picture Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, the band signed with Columbia Records. The Columbia deal came via the partnering of Warrant and manager Tom Hulett, known for working with The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, The Moody Blues and others. Hulett became Lane's mentor and friend until Hulett's death from cancer in 1993.

As lead vocalist with Warrant, Lane wrote all of the material for the band's 1989 debut double platinum album, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, including four Top 40 hit singles: "Down Boys", "Sometimes She Cries", "Big Talk" and the No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Heaven." The album peaked at no. 10 on The Billboard 200. Lane also wrote four Top 40 hit singles ("Cherry Pie," "I Saw Red," "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "Blind Faith") for the second album, the 1990 double platinum Cherry Pie, which peaked at no. 7 on the Billboard 200. Lane also co-wrote and performed with Warrant the song "The Power" in the 1992 movie Gladiator. In 1992, Warrant released Dog Eat Dog, their gold third album, which peaked at no. 25 on the Billboard 200.

Lane left Warrant in March 1993 to pursue a solo career. He returned six months later, helping the band secure a new record with Tom Lipsky of CMC International. Warrant recorded Ultraphobic in 1995, Belly to Belly in 1996, Greatest & Latest in 1999 and a cover album, Under the Influence, in 2001.

Due to personal and business disagreements, Lane left Warrant again in 2004. In January 2008, the band's agent, The William Morris Agency, issued a new photograph of the band with Lane prominently featured, confirming his return to the band. It was the first time that all original members had been in the band since 1993. The band's first show with all original members was in May 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee. Warrant performed a series of shows during the summer of 2008, but by September, the band and Lane agreed to move forward separately due to "too much water under the bridge." Warrant and Lane both continued to perform Lane's compositions live and Lane continued to write for himself and other artists.

Lane became involved in acting in the early 1990s. He made a brief appearance in Caged Fear and appeared in High Strung in 1991.

In 1993, Lane started working on his first solo project. Titled "Jabberwocky," the album represented a significant musical departure from previous work. Between 1997 and 2000, demos of Lane's solo material began surfacing on the Internet, with some bids on eBay reaching an estimated $100 per copy. In 2002, Lane decided to postpone the "Jabberwocky" project and released a new project as his debut solo album. The "Jabberwocky" project remained unreleased.

Lane's official debut solo album, Back Down to One, was released on June 17, 2003 through Z Records and in the U.S. in 2006 on Immortal/Sidewinder Records. It carried a "power pop" sound more closely aligned with the sound of Warrant than "Jabberwocky." Shortly after the album's release, Lane was admitted to a rehabilitation center for alcohol and drug-related exhaustion.

In the fall of 2004, Lane contributed lead vocals for the first ever theme song to a novel, Billy McCarthy's "The Devil of Shakespeare," along with James Young from Styx, Ron Flynt of 20/20 and Chip Z'Nuff of Enuff Z'Nuff.

Lane contributed vocals on the track "Bastille Day" and "2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx" for the Magna Carta 2005 Rush tribute album "Subdivisions."

Lane had success with the "VH1 Classic Metal Mania: Stripped" discs, where the acoustic version of "I Saw Red" was included on disc 1, a new acoustic swinging version of "Cherry Pie" featured on disc 2, and a new acoustic version of "Heaven" featured on disc 3.

In 2005, Lane became a fan favorite on the popular VH1 series Celebrity Fit Club 2. His problems with alcohol were highlighted and many viewers supported his efforts at recovery.

With the reissue and U.S. release of "Back Down to One" in 2006, Lane attempted to restart his version of Warrant. Although "Back Down to One" was credited as a solo release, Lane assembled a new touring band called "Jani Lane's Warrant." The band's first shows in Michigan were stopped by legal action from former bandmates objecting to his use of the Warrant logo on his posters. Lane subsequently continued touring without the Warrant name and logo.

Lane lent his vocals to numerous tribute CDs during the 2000s. In 2007, he released a solo cover album titled "Photograph," featuring a collection of his tribute contributions.

Keri Kelli and Lane wrote a song for Alice Cooper titled "The One That Got Away." It was recorded by Cooper on his 2008 record Along Came a Spider. Lane also finished work on a side project, Saints of the Underground, which included Kelli and Bobby Blotzer and Robbie Crane, (both from Ratt). Their album, Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner, was released on April 22, 2008 by Warrior Records, and was mixed by producer/engineer Andy Johns, who'd worked with The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. The album featured additional bass work by Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot, House of Lords). The band was originally called "Angel City Outlaws" when they posted their first two promo singles, "Bruised" and "Exit."

In summer 2010, Lane toured with Great White, filling in for singer Jack Russell, who was recuperating from surgery after suffering internal complications.

On August 11, 2011, the Los Angeles Police Department and local news stations announced that Lane was found dead of acute alcohol poisoning at a Comfort Inn hotel in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 47. Lane was pronounced dead by fire department personnel who responded to a call shortly before 5:30 p.m.

[metanoiamorii]

❛If you insist upon sheltering both the wolf and the lamb, in the end you will have only the wolf.❜

Calisto Ferzan Hermenegildo Melchior Lorencio De La Cruz, or best known as the Witch's Advocate.

The eldest born of Lord Bonaventura De La Cruz, he had been born out of wedlock to a fae woman his father had an affair with; the affair was buried and everyone was led to believe the lie Bonaventura told. Even his siblings were raised on the lie. The only ones to know the truth would be Calisto himself, and his father.

From a young age, Calisto would have a distant relationship with his family. He rarely got along with his siblings, and his parents frequently turned their back on him. Since he was alone at a young age, he disowned himself at fifteen and left the household. His time would be spent training in the assassin guild in the dark, and attending school to become a lawyer.

At twenty, he returned to his family, at their behest. He seized control and took the power from his father. Around this time, he took his first wife, a woman by the name of Catalina; their marriage lasted a little over a year, due to her death in childbirth. And he soon took a second wife, a woman by the name of Rosalita.

By twenty-nine, Calisto has become the youngest and most successful sitting member of the Order of Witchesbane. Distant from the others, he has dedicated himself to undoing their work and changing their standards. He's one man, but he's determined to right past wrongs. And along the way, he may adopt a few strays, and incidently cause the death of a few people who deserve it.

Fun Facts

• If you put him on the alignment scale, he falls under 'Chaotic Lawful'. He has a code of honour, but nobody can figure out what it is.

• He is Placio-Pansexual and Aromantic.

• He's also genderfluid. If he wants to wear a dress and heels one day, nobody is stopping him. If he wants to wear a suit, nobody is stopping him. He goes up and beyond to break gender norms, and aims to give everyone a heart-attack.

• 95% of his found family are witches. He has a habit of taking them in, protecting them, and becoming fond of them.

• He very much embraces the expectation of fae: he won't ever tell a lie, but good gods does he know a loophole when he spots it.

• He has a set of fae wings that he will typically keep binded to his chest. The only ones that have gotten the privilege of seeing them are his wives.

• Within the assassin guild, his title was the Lemon Spider. To which led to the nickname of Lemon.

• His wife, his best friend, and himself are all assassins. And yes, they all use their talents to protect their family and the children in their care.

• Every deity he worships tends to be a woman. It is a confidence, truthfully, but it speaks to his character.

Playlist

Second Child, Restless Child; The Oh Hellos

When I Grow Up; NF

The Search; NF

Remember This; NF

Lay Me Down; The Oh Hellos

Catch Fire; Jenix

Dreams; NF

You're Gonna Go Far Kid; The Offspring

Fight; Icon For Hire

I Was Wrong; The Oh Hello

Counting Stars; OneRepublic

The Unwanted Animal; The Amazing Devil

Broken Crown; Mumford and Sons

Eat You Alive; The Oh Hellos

Angel With A Shotgun; The Cab

7 Years; Silk World

Luck; American Authors

Let You Down; NF

Welcome Home, Son; Radical Face

The Crooked, the Cradle; The Crane Wives

Monsters; Shinedown

Champion; Fall Out Boy

Take Me To War; The Crane Wives

Make A Move; Icon For Hire

Better Man; Jamie Campbell Bower

Last One Standing; Simple Plan

Crash and Burn; Savage Garden

The Wedding; Ellen Krauss

What If; Simple Plan

The Hell Song; Sum 41

Popular Monster; Falling In Reverse

Cold Is The Night; The Oh Hello

Best I Can; The Art of Dying

This Will End; The Oh Hellos

Beautiful Birds; Passenger

Taglists:

ARIH: @hekat-ie, @writings-of-a-narwhal, @silent-creed

TSOVI: @voltronimusprime, @ryns-ramblings, @venlirps, @shadeshadow234

General: @endlesshourglass, @writerray, @poore-choice-of-words, @alexwritesfiction, @primusesgiantmetalballbearings

All: @cecilsstorycorner, @little-boats-on-a-lake, @hazard-writes, @egg-shark

[gunningcranes]

Comprehensive Transport Solutions by Gunning Cranes and Transport

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Contact Us

For all your crane and transport needs in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, Gunning Cranes and Transport is here to help. Our team is ready to provide you with expert advice, personalized solutions, and reliable services.

Phone: [+61 427 769 049]

Email: [Brad@gunningcranetrucks.com.au]

Address: [1/26 Templar place, Gateshead, NSW, Australia, New South Wales]

Website: [gunningcranes.com.au]

Contact us today to discuss your project requirements and learn more about how Gunning Cranes and Transport can support your crane and transport needs. We look forward to working with you and contributing to the success of your projects in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.