#Stephen Langham

[tristansherwin]

THE GOOSE CHASE | BEAUTIFIER (GEN. 1; EZEK. 37)

THE GOOSE CHASE | BEAUTIFIER (GEN. 1; EZEK. 37) 'Again and again, the Spirit comes to the edges of disorder and chaos, and unsettles the norms, disrupts the habitual, rouses the dead and shakes the oppressive.'

Here’s my longer sermon notes from this morning’s Metro Christian Centre service (dated 8th Oct. 2023), continuing our series on the Holy Spirit. You can also catch up with this via MCC’s YouTube channel (just give us time to get the video uploaded). ‘In restless dreams I walked aloneNarrow streets of cobblestone‘Neath the halo of a streetlampI turned my collar to the cold and dampWhen my eyes…

[mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea]

For the fic titles ask!

To eat that burning heart out of his hand: 2,3,9

To eat that burning heart out of his hand

2: What scene did you first put down?

Very first scene, actually. I don't tend to write out of order unless I just get an idea for later on and don't want to forget it.

Ten years after his medical career took off, Stephen Strange still lived in The Langham, just off of Central Park West. The brilliant surgeon hadn’t known what to do with all the room in the apartment that was his first Big Serious Adulting Purchase, and for the first month or two, he spent the nights he wasn’t at the hospital in all-night diners just to escape the loneliness and quiet that echoed back when he went from bedroom to living room to kitchen to bathroom and back to toss and turn in his expensive cotton sheets.

Then he began to decorate in earnest and fill up his space with art and the rooms with comfortable furniture, and there was no emptiness to mock him by bouncing his footsteps or voice off the walls.

In those ten years, however, Stephen kept little consistent company in his apartment. He hosted the occasional career-enhancing dinner, always catered by whichever restaurant had the most Michelin stars at the moment. He’d dated and even brought the men and women he dated home, but as his career took center point of his life, those attempts at relationships had become rarer and rarer, always with the promise that as soon as he could, he would focus on his love life.

With his Langham neighbors, if he found himself checking his mail at the same time as any of them, he did his best to smile and nod. A few older tenants could hold him up from retreating to his home with conversation that rarely held his interest, but for them, he relaxed his cold demeanor to play attentive just long enough to satisfy their need to connect with another breathing human. Stephen had never intentionally invited his neighbors into his apartment, but he wasn’t so heartless that he refused to give Mrs. Weinberg a moment to rest on his couch when she’d locked herself out of her apartment and had to wait forty-five minutes for someone to come up with the key to let her back in.

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

Well, if I were to give my favorite, it would give the whole ending away, so I'll give one of my second favorite bits:

So when Kaecilius stood from his chair, he was in the other man’s space within a breath, pressing his hand into Stephen’s and sliding their fingers together. His other hand lifted to Stephen’s face, caressing along that sharp jaw before tangling those fingers into the silver-streaks at his temples.

“Stay,” that softly accented voice soothed. “Stay, please. You haven’t embarrassed yourself, and you won’t.”

Stephen’s surprise made him blink in rapid succession, his brain boiling over like a pot left unattended by a distraction. Instinct pressed his palm to Kaecilius’ and tilted his head to brush his cheek along his wrist. He couldn’t look away from Kaecilius’ piercing eyes, which even in their affection remained sharp as ever.

“I didn’t imagine the flirting then,” he breathed and the excitement of that rushed through him like the first hit of a strange new drug. Stephen felt Kaecilius’ hand glide back through his hair until his warm fingers curled around the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

“It was no trick of the imagination,” Kaecilius’ words came like the first warm day of spring, and then he touched his mouth to Stephen’s, sharing those words on mingled breaths between them.

If Stephen had wanted to say anything, to express relief or joy over his interest being reciprocated, Kaecilius’ kiss distracted him away from speaking. Only a gasp parted his lips, and he tilted his head to deepen their first offering past the point of neighbors and friends. Soft hums vibrated from the base of his throat to tickle his lips against Kaecilius. The hand on his neck pulled Stephen closer, the other found its way to press their joined fingers into the small of his back, and now Stephen tugged at Kaecilius’ tie loose from its knot. Sliding it free from the collar, he tossed it at the back of the chair closest for his blind aim, and then he returned his fingers to pluck the top three buttons from their eyelets.

As Stephen’s fingers brushed along Kaecilius’ throat and collarbone, he pulled back slightly to look into the surgeon’s face. The stress lines that were so prominent when he’d arrived softened until only the laughter creases at the corners of his eyes remained. He touched Stephen’s face, mapped the sharp edges of his cheekbones as if committing his features to memory.

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Nope. I ended it as I always intended to.

Fic Title and Ask

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

Okay, so I wanted to find more information on Doyle’s friendship with Wilde, and I didn’t end up needing to look very far, because I’ve been listening to Stephen Fry’s Sherlock Holmes collection and he brings it up it in the foreword to The Sign of Four.

Doyle and Wilde met at a dinner hosted by an American businessman who wanted them both to write books for his magazine. Wilde immediately won Doyle’s heart by complimenting one of his historical novels, which was especially thrilling for Doyle as Wilde was already famous and he (Doyle) hadn’t expected Wilde to have even heard of him.

They did both end up agreeing to write for the magazine. Doyle wrote The Sign of Four and Wilde wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The most interesting part of this whole thing is that Doyle would later go on to gush about Wilde in a memoir written after Wilde’s trial for gross indecency, and in this memoir describes Dorian Gray as “a book that is surely upon a high moral plane.” Which was an incredibly bold stance, given that Dorian Gray was famously cited as evidence against Wilde in his trial.

Fry speculates that some of Holmes’ eccentricities in later books, such as his “murmured elegance of phrasing, dressing gown-lounging bohemian habits, and range of intellectual and artistic reference” may have been inspired by Wilde. He also notes that Langham Hotel, which is was the venue where Wilde and Doyle first met, is name checked in The Sign of Four.

In conclusion, we do NOT ask Holmes and Watson why they left London in 1895.

sorry

[mediamixs]

Top 10 Haunted Hotels

For those intrigued by the supernatural, staying at a haunted hotel can be an unforgettable experience. Here are ten of the most haunted hotels worldwide, known for their eerie histories and ghostly encounters.

The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado Famous for inspiring Stephen King's "The Shining," The Stanley Hotel is reputedly haunted by its original owner, F.O. Stanley, and his wife, Flora. Guests often report hearing piano music and seeing apparitions in the hallways.

Hotel Chelsea, New York City, New York This historic hotel has hosted many famous artists and writers. Ghosts of Sid Vicious and Dylan Thomas are said to roam its halls, with numerous guests reporting strange noises and sightings of spectral figures.

The Langham, London, England The Langham is known for its ghostly residents, including a man in Victorian attire and Napoleon III's spirit. Guests have reported seeing these figures and experiencing unexplained phenomena in Room 333.

Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, California The ghost of Kate Morgan haunts this hotel after her tragic death in 1892. Guests have claimed to see her apparition dressed in black lace wandering the beach and her former room.

Crescent Hotel & Spa, Eureka Springs, Arkansas Once a hospital for cancer patients, this hotel is filled with ghostly stories. Visitors have reported feeling cold spots and witnessing apparitions of former patients throughout the building[1][4].

Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C. Guests have reported hearing mysterious sounds and seeing apparitions of a young girl and a maid who died under tragic circumstances in the hotel.

The Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, Massachusetts This inn is known for its ghostly inhabitants, including a young girl carrying flowers and a man in a top hat. Staff and guests frequently report strange occurrences on the fourth floor.

Emily Morgan Hotel, San Antonio, Texas Built on the site of a former hospital, this hotel is said to be haunted by the spirits of former patients. Guests have experienced mysterious phone calls and sightings of a woman in white.

Congress Plaza Hotel, Chicago, Illinois This hotel has a dark history involving numerous suicides. Guests have reported hearing whispers and seeing apparitions of those who tragically lost their lives within its walls.

Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Alberta, Canada Known as the "Castle in the Rockies," this hotel is haunted by various spirits including a bride who died before her wedding day. Guests report seeing her ghostly figure wandering the halls.

These hotels not only offer unique accommodations but also provide a glimpse into the past through their ghostly tales and paranormal activity. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, these haunted locations promise an intriguing stay filled with history and mystery.

[silalcarin]

Why is it that most of these assholes are STILL not being held accountable? Why is that most of these assholes are STILL getting jobs?

Seriously, the only 4 people on this list who were rightfully held accountable and found guilty and who are serving jail time are: Danny Masterson, Harvey Weinstein, Josh Duggar, and Larry Nassar. Everyone else is literally still getting employed, being found not guilty, or, in Bill Cosby's case, getting out of prison after only a few years.

What the flying fuck happened? After the allegations were made and denying statements were given in response, that was it? That was the end of it? It was as if nothing had happened?

Oh, and notice how many other celebrities, dead or alive, are missing from this list:

Mark Schwahn

Masashi Tashiro

Jim Fitzpatrick

Stoney Westmoreland

Todd Grimshaw

Carlos Cruz

Herman Jose

John Barrowman

Cas Anvar

Jeff Smith (the host of The Frugal Gourmet)

Jean-Francois Harrisson

Bryan Callen

Curtis Lepore

Harrison Wright

Dan Spilo

Chris Langham

Paul "Des" Ballard

John Leslie

Ronald William Brown

Kevin Clash

Roman Polanski

Woody Allen

Armie Hammer

William Hurt

Jonathan Majors

Michael Fassbender

John Lasseter

Max Landis

Ansel Elgort

Fred Savage

Shia LaBeouf

Noel Clarke

Nate Parker

Bill Murray

Al Franken

Matt Lauer

Andrew Kreisberg

Michael Weatherly

Stephen Collins

Charlie Sheen

Stuart Hall

Dan Harmon

Frank Langella

James Woods

Dan Schneider

Alexander Payne

Anthony Anderson

Ben Affleck

Timothy Hutton

Sylvester Stallone

Gary Oldman

Louis C.K.

Jerry Lewis

Joss Whedon

Jim Carrey

^ Why don't any of these assholes have detailed entries in this list?

Fuck. That. Bullshit. As a victim of both sexual harassment and sexual assault, this fucking disgusts me.

[spaceintruderdetector]

The Quatermass chronicles

"Dr Who collaborators Mark Gatiss & Stephen Moffat, academics Una McCormack & Claire Langhamer and Matthew Kneale join Matthew Sweet to celebrate Nigel Kneale's groundbreaking 1953 BBC TV sci-fi serial The Quatermass Experiment, which spawned two late 1950s sequels and an ITV final run in autumn 1979."

[tv-moments]

For All Mankind

Season 1, “Home Again“

Director: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

DoP: Stephen McNutt

[the-coffee-story]

Coffee - The Ghost of Miranda Lake

Chapter 16 - Henton's office

Violet groaned. "My taco fell apart."

"Are you solution oriented or still in the feelings stage?", Coffee signed, giggling.

Violet sighed. "I gave up. The bus should be here any moment anyway." She stuffed the miserable remains of what used to be a taco into her mouth. "I haven't been in Henton's office in ages. Didn't they completely restaff four years ago?"

Coffee nodded. Then he tapped Violet's shoulder and pointed at the foggy street.

"Oh, the bus is coming." She chewed faster.

Henton's private investigator office was a dull building in a dirty street filled with graffiti and trash. Violet narrowly avoided stepping into a puddle of unidentifiable liquid that suspiciously smelled of piss. "Oh, wonderful," she mumbled. Coffee chuckled.

They entered the building. There was a heavy smell of coffee in the air. A short chubby woman with a brown pixie cut and sunglasses came down the stairs. She raised an eyebrow. "Good morning. Can I help you guys?"

"I'm Detective Violet Langham, and this is my partners Stephen Williams," Violet introduced them. "We need to get some information on Miranda Withabee. He's mute, so I'm speaking for both of us."

Coffee smiled and waved.

"O-okay..." The woman chewed her lip. "I need to check that with my boss, if that's okay."

"Sure thing." Violet flashed her a smile. Coffee gave a thumbs up.

The woman gave a lanky girl with blonde curls and brown eyes who was just coming down the stairs to check out who'd come a nod. "Mirabelle, can you tell Michael that two folks from Graytown are here to get info on a case?"

"Sure. Be right back." She ran up the stairs. "Miiiiiike!"

The woman leaned against the wall. "So, how's it going in Graytown? Probably more interesting than Henton. Henton sucks." She pushed her sunglasses up into her soft brown hair. Her eyes were emerald green. "Oh shitsticks, I forgot to introduce myself again. Detective Jacqueline Nemo. Jackie, if you will. Not related to the fucking fish."

Coffee laughed. Jackie smirked. "Finally, someone with a decent sense of humor."

Mirabelle came back down the stairs with a tired-looking man in an eyepatch. He looked like he'd just been woken up from a nap.

"Michael White." He held out his slender brown skinned hand. "You're...?"

Violet shook it. "Violet Langham. That's my partner, Stephen Williams." Coffee, too, shook White's hand.

"He's mute," Jackie added.

"Ah. I think Evans mentioned that at some point." White yawned. "Sorry, I had a long night. Mirabelle said you need information on a case?"

Violet nodded. "Yes. We need to read the file on Miranda Withabee."

White frowned, trying to remember. "Withabee, Withabee...the girl that drowned in Lake Miranda?"

"The case that we couldn't solve?", Jackie added.

Violet nodded. "Yeah. Exactly. We had a murder in Graytown which may be connected to it."

"Oooh, what happened?", Mirabelle asked, her brown eyes sparkling.

"A teenager was drowned in her pool during a sleepover," Violet explained. "It must have been one of the girls staying at her house and it's... admittedly, quite a strange case."

Mirabelle gave them a compassionate smile. "Oh, I feel you guys."

White sighed. "Alright. Mirabelle, Jackie, can you show them the way?"

"Uhh, wouldn't that be something for Gemma to do? She knows the archive better than me..."

"You're just lazy, Jackie."

Violet spun around and found herself face to face with a woman. She hadn't heard her coming at all.

Somehow she instantly knew this was Doc's female counterpart in Henton. Maybe it was the hair, ginger, just a shade or two lighter than his, or the rings around her amber eyes, or maybe it was this very specific ironic smirk on her pale lips, but Violet instantly knew this was the coroner.

"Doctor Gemma Alexander," the woman introduced herself, proving Violet's thought to be right. "At your service." She smiled. The smile was the slightest bit ghostly, like she hadn't used the muscles in her face for way too long. "Come along then."

[thehugwizard]

Hello, I started posting my first original story today!

It's called Coffee - The Story of a Tragedy. The plot follows Violet Langham and Stephen "Coffee" Williams, two detectives who want to solve the murder of Coffee's twin brother. It's a very odd case and it gets really creepy when a masked man begins to stalk Violet.

In case you're interested check out my sideblog @coffee-thestoryofatragedy where I'll post it!

Reviews are very welcome! Thank you for your attention!

@madphantom THIS SOUNDS REALLY COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[starryevermore]

sam and colby auditorium

Sam and Colby Videos

25x25 Gifs

Non-Series

The Haunted Mission Inn Hotel - 04/20/20

Truth or Strip 2 - 05/01/20

The Haunted Secrets of Griffith Park - 05/18/20

He Pretty 🥺 - 06/29/20

Exploring World’s Largest Haunted House - 09/27/20

We Took LaurDIY and Manny MUA to Haunted Hells Gate - 11/15/20

Sam and Colby (and Nate) Play with Dinosaurs - 11/29/20

Overnight in a Modern Art Museum - 12/29/20

Exploring Abandoned Beach Hotel - 06/20/21

Locked in a Haunted Prison Cell - 06/27/21

Our Unexplainable Night at Queen Anne Hotel Room - 07/05/2021

Overnight in USA’s Most Haunted Ghost Ship - 07/11/21

Overnight in Axe Murderer’s House (Lizzie Borden Murders) - 07/18/21

We Love Our Friends - 07/20/21

Me Too, Colby, Me Too. - 10/19/21

Excuse Me While I Pretend I’m the Very Nice Kentucky People They’re Talking About - 10/28/21

Biltmore Hotel

The Haunted Biltmore Hotel - 04/19/20

Our Unbelievable Ghost Experience - 05/17/20

Queen Mary

The Final Night at Haunted Queen Mary Ship - 04/21/20

Queen Mary Room B340 - 05/19/20

Overnight at Haunted Queen Mary Ship - 10/26/20

New Reaction Meme Just Dropped - 10/21/21

Enchanted Forest at Cobb Estate

Chased by Cult at Enchanted Forest - 05/20/20

Lost in Ritual Tunnel at Enchanted Forest - 05/21/20

Demonic Ritual in Enchanted Forest (Gone Wrong) - 05/22/20

I Just Wanna Go Exploring with Colby - 05/25/20

Stanley Hotel Series

Psychic Warns Us About Haunted Stanley Hotel - 04/22/20

Staying Overnight in Haunted Stanley Hotel - 04/23/20

A Terrifying Encounter at Haunted Stanley Hotel - 04/24/20

Seance Uncovers Dark Secrets about Haunted Stanley Hotel - 04/25/20

Witches Forest Series

The Haunted Cabin in the Woods - 04/26/20

Witch Warns Us that We’re in Danger - 04/27/20

We Lost Colby in Haunted Witches Forest - 04/28/20

A Mistake that Could End Everything - 04/29/20

Trapped Overnight in Haunted Witches Forest  - 04/30/20

The Origin Series

Ghost Hunting at Haunted Crybaby Bridge - 05/01/20

We Lost a Friend - 05/02/20

The Place Where it All Began - 05/03/20

A Horrifying Encounter at Abandon Warehouse - 05/04/20

The Scary Ritual that Changed Everything - 05/05/20

The Graveyard Series

Our Unbelievable Night at Haunted Langham Hotel - 05/06/20

Langham Hotel Room 333 - 05/07/20

I Love One (1) Dumbass - 05/07/20

The Terrifying Curse of St. Andrews Church - 05/08/20

Our Life Changing Experience in the Graveyard - 05/09/20

The Castle Series

The Haunting of Queen Mary’s Castle - 05/10/20

The Demon of Haunted Queen Mary Castle - 05/11/20

The Final Night at Haunted Queen Mary Castle - 05/12/20

The Return of the Shadow Man Series

Most Haunted Hotel in Florida - 05/13/20

We Never Expected This to Happen - 05/14/20

Haunted Secrets of the Ouija Board - 05/15/20

The Most Horrifying Night We’ve Ever Experienced - 05/16/20

The Treasure of Cerro Gordo Series

XPLR SZN III - 08/02/20

Treasure Hunting in Abandoned Ghost Town - 08/02/20

Terrifying Night in Haunted Ghost Town - 08/09/20

Found Treasure in Haunted Mine at Abandoned Ghost Town - 08/17/20 

We Took Larray and Manny MUA to Haunted Mansion

We Took Larray and Manny MUA to Haunted Mansion - 09/20/20

This Video Had Me Fucking Cackling - 09/20/20

Our Horrifying Experience at Clown Tunnel (ft. Amber & Kat)

Me to Anyone Who Tries to Give Amber Shit - 10/11/20

Our Horrifying Experience at Clown Tunnel - 10/11/20

The Treasure of the Little Big Horn Series

Why is This So Cute 🥺 - 10/18/20

Stranded on Haunted Battle Ground - 10/18/20

We Got Caught Camping Overnight in Haunted Forest - 10/25/20

Exploring an Abandoned High School in a Ghost Town - 11/01/20

Our Unforgettable Haunted Experience (Shanley Hotel)

Our Unforgettable Haunted Experience (Shanley Hotel) - 08/01/21

Colby + Maddie 5ever - 08/01/21

Compilations from the Series

Iconic Mirror Selfies - 04/25/20

Saying Goodbye to Haunted Places - 04/26/20

The Phone Will Ring and There Will Be No One There - 04/30/20

❝ Do the Scary Thing First, and Get Scared Later. ❞ - Lemony Snicket - 10/22/20

❝ We Need Ghost Stories Because We, In Fact, Are the Ghosts. ❞ - Stephen King - 10/31/20

Now Entering...

Gif Series (Jan 2021)

Interviews

Can You Pass the Paranormal Arts Test? - 06/01/20

Sam and Colby Create the Grossest Cocktail Ever - 09/03/20

Knott’s Scary Farm with Sam and Colby - 10/08/20

Yeah, But That’s Not Spooky. That’s Just Dark and Sad. - 12/11/20

♡ Be Mine ♡ - 02/14/21

Miscellaneous

My Aesthetic is SNC Dropping these Figures and then Just... Never Speaking About Them Again - 12/05/20

X • P • L • R  - 01/31/21

Make It Count. - 03/26/21

* the date in italics is the day that the gifset was published, and is not necessarily the day the video the gif is from was made or the gifset itself was made

[madphantom]

Title reveal!

Coffee - the Story of a Tragedy is my first original story on Tumblr, so I'm very excited to get started with posting it soon!

In the story you will meet Violet Langham and Stephen "Coffee" Williams, best friends who work as private investigators when one day Coffee's secret twin is found dead. The circumstances of his death are extremely unclear and the race to find his murderer turns into a nightmare when a masked man begins to stalk Violet...

Stay tuned!

[mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea]

WIP Game - I'm terrible at just picking ONE, so could I have 'To eat that burning heart out of his hand' and 'I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you' please and thank you! :D

To eat that burning heart out of his hand - this is a current WIP that came from the @marvelrarepairbingo2022's Halloween adoptable prompt 5. Weird neighbor has a secret

It is Stephen Strange/Kaecilius. Anyone who knows me, who knows the twisted Easter Eggy way my brain works will understand that this fic will be full of so many ridiculous fandom-y Easter Eggs. But I don't want to say too much about it because it would give away too much of the secret and the fun. Here's a snippet, though, when Stephen first sees his new neighbor (Kaecilius) before they officially meet:

Life at The Langham went on.  Some neighbors moved out while others remained the same, and in the place of those who left were new faces and names to learn in passing at the mailboxes. 

The apartment next door to Stephen remained empty for almost a year before someone new moved in.  For the longest time, the surgeon believed he would be the youngest tenant on the floor until he was as old as the old people were, and they were long gone.  Then one day, he noticed that incredibly posh leather couches and chairs were being moved in from the service elevator along with dozens of boxes labeled ‘books’.  That had been all he caught when he’d returned from his morning run, and later on his way out to work, Stephen spied the new neighbor standing just outside his door, signing off on the delivery, and while there was no doubt that he’d already paid in full for it – as one did for moving – the impeccably dressed gent handed an envelope over to the mover in charge with what was very likely a handsome tip. 

The newcomer was handsome with lips that pouted naturally and eyes like dravite under the sun.  While Stephen locked up, he caught the hint of a foreign accent, but he couldn’t place it; it sounded melodic, though, and he figured he’d forget it as soon as he left the building for the hospital.  It was on the tip of his tongue to walk over long enough for an introduction, which would include a warning to watch out for their neighborly yenta, but when their eyes met, they merely exchanged polite nods before the new neighbor stepped into his apartment, and Stephen booked it for the elevator. 

If nothing else, with or without warning, at least, Stephen wouldn’t be the only target for attempts at matchmaking. 

Perhaps they could eventually form a battle line to protect each other from Mrs. Weinberg’s well-meaning assaults. 

I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you - This was from a prompt given to me by @chaotic-hypnotic-erotic a while back, 44. “This is a totally inappropriate soundtrack.” The pair I was requested was Emma Frost and Phil Coulson. I'm choosing not to write this as a ship but an association built on mutual trust and respect. The title is from "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles.

It's set during WandaVision. Coulson's obviously alive, and he seeks Emma's help where Darcy Lewis, Jimmy Woo, and even Monica Rambeau are having trouble getting through to Wanda. (I thought it would be good to let Emma in to slap around Wanda's mind a bit - that's a bit of a comic grudge, given in the comics, Wanda was responsible for nearly wiping out all mutants at one time.) Oh yeah, and there are Easter Eggy things in this, too, especially if you're familiar with Mad Men.

Snippet:

Asphalt cut into the knees of her pantyhose, just barely scraping her skin through the tears.

Emma hated pantyhose.

Emma didn't own pantyhose.

"I'd ask why you didn't warn me about that first step, Agent Coulson, but something tells me that your LMD mind will already have some sort of logical quip at the ready," Emma said as she turned and sat down where she'd landed. She shaded her eyes as she surveyed her surroundings.

Westview was a dreadful little town, but considering that it didn't truly exist – not really, not even as an unincorporated hamlet, what Emma could really conclude is that Wanda Maximoff's mind was a dreadfully dull place if this was all she could conjure for herself in whatever mental state she was in.

"Well, now I feel hurt, Ms. Frost. I even prepared the very best of quips for a queen, and you don't even want to hear them," Agent Phillip J. Coulson, former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., now an LMD and still having A.I. about it, that is Angst Immeasurable, retorted as he walked over and offered his hand to the telepath.

Emma set her hand into Agent Coulson's and allowed him to lifted her to her feet, finding that this new adaptation of him was considerably stronger than the original, though she had always been fond of the Coulson Prime. Once steady on her feet, Emma brushed her soft hands over the back of her clothes and then paused when the style of herself caught her by surprise.

"Thank you, Agent Coulson, for the help, but perhaps you can tell me why I'm dressed like…I belong on that show that attempted to both romanticize and satirize the Sixites?"

They both stared at Emma's sleeveless white dress with pleated skirt, black dots on the right side of the chest, a gold ring belt around her waist, and a black and white kerchief knotted around her neck. Halfway up her forearms were white see-through gloves, and she wore white heels. Emma opened up the black handbag she carried and found the compact she suspected to be there, taking note of her golden hair shorter than she'd worn it for some time, parted at one side and flounced back in gentle curls.

WIP Game

[justgotham]

Fox’s GOTHAM is now in the midst of its fifth and final season on Thursday nights. The series, developed by Bruno Heller from DC Comics, chronicles the rise of Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) from troubled, orphaned pre-teen to the adult Batman. It also shows the development of some of his allies, like detective-turned-police-captain (and one day police commissioner) Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), frenemies like Selena Kyle/Catwoman (Camren Bicondova), and foes like Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) and the Riddler (Cory Michael Smith).

Executive producers Danny Cannon and John Stephens have both been with GOTHAM for its entire run. Cannon directed the series pilot and has been supervising the directors ever since; Stephens has been part of the writing staff since the inception and has been show runner, with Cannon, since the beginning of Season 3. The duo have created METROPOLIS for DC’s online streaming network. Cannon will also be working with GOTHAM creator Heller on the new Epix series PENNYWORTH, which examines the adventures of the young Alfred Pennyworth.

Cannon sits down in a quiet area of Pasadena’s Langham Hotel for a discussion of what makes GOTHAM all that it is; Stephens joins the conversation partway through.

ASSIGNMENT X: Did you know at the beginning that you would be with GOTHAM for its entire run, because it’s a little unusual for a directing producer to stay with a series for so long …

DANNY CANNON: It is, yeah. There are so many things that are unusual about producing and directing, but I think I’m the only director writing on shows, which I find very strange sometimes. But I think you stick with something when you know how hard it is to maintain the integrity. That is the only way to protect the integrity, visually and tonally, and casting-wise, on a show, is to stick with it. And sometimes that’s a little hard, but on this occasion, it was just such a fun job that I didn’t want to leave, because if you’re gone for a certain amount of time, you do notice things that wouldn’t have happened if you’d been there. It was such a hard world to maintain, and the standard of the acting was so high, that I just wanted to maintain that by being around. There is only me and John. There was Bruno at the beginning, but there was only me and John, and with him stuck writing, a lot of post-production and production and first-hand contact on set was really down to me.

AX: With the other directors who came in to do episodes, were you instructing them, “This is GOTHAM, that is not GOTHAM”?

CANNON: Constantly. And that’s why you’ll see so many of our directors repeat, because once it is lodged in their mind what world they were in, then we had to keep ahold of them, because you don’t want to reeducate somebody. And they became real fans of the show. What was amazing was how many directors wanted to return, because compared to the other things they were directing, this just visually had a lot more going on. The palette was bigger and the scope was bigger.

AX: What did you find that the biggest thing that the other directors needed to know – don’t be afraid to let the actors get big, or, please shoot the sets in a certain way, or, please use these kinds of shots?

CANNON: Right from the beginning of me doing television, even at C.S.I., when [other] directors came in, they would be very complimentary of the pilot and everything, but I would always say, “Well, great, now we’ve seen that. Now kick my ass. That’s your job. I want to watch your episode and come back next week and say, ‘I just got schooled, I have to up my game’.” And I think that friendly competition [was helpful]. We did it with d.p.s [directors of photography], too, we did it with production designers, editors. Everybody was trying to get the best episode, everybody was trying to do that thing that nobody had done before. Sometimes, though, we had to stop people going over the top. Sometimes that was not right for that story. When we brought directors on, we’d always talk about the theme of that [episode], and who to concentrate on, and who not to. But I always find you get the best out of people when you set them free, and you encourage them, and you love them, and you want them to love what you have as much as you do. I don’t think it makes a show better to restrict people and tell them, “We don’t do that, we don’t like that.” It just makes everybody feel a little – it’s the opposite of creativity, isn’t it?

AX: How would you describe GOTHAM’s visual style?

CANNON: I think when we were doing the pilot, nobody really understood what we were doing. I did a visual effect off my own back [on my own] and I did many drawings I did myself, and my designer did some to try and sell the world, but still, that wasn’t getting it across. I was like, “On the pilot, it was Dickensian, circa 1979 New York City, un-gentrified, if the cops were all corrupt, and the gangs had taken over.” There was that, but that felt political. The look of it that I kept going to was that Dickensian thing, that I knew that if I drew, and my production designer helped me with the GCPD [Gotham City Police Department headquarters], if we got that right, that was the [core]. So we took it upon ourselves those first few weeks, before anybody came along, while Bruno is still pitching. He brought me on very early, because he just didn’t want to do a project like this alone. The kind of stuff I do, the kind of stuff he does, are completely different. So he wanted the world being imagined while he wrote, so he could be inspired by what I was doing. It was a nice way to work. And when we got that GCPD right, it straightaway – and it’s funny, I drew one, and Doug Kraner [the initial GOTHAM production designer] drew one, and they were almost identical. But his staircases were better.

[John Stephens laughs.]

CANNON: It was based on St. Pancras Station, a Victorian building, in London. And all of a sudden, that, with the different look of the wardrobe, which was the other thing I was drawing at the same time, was what got us over the edge.

AX: When did you take over entirely from Bruno Heller?

JOHN STEPHENS: Well, I would never say I took over entirely from Bruno Heller. They say the term “show runner,” but really, Danny and I were doing it together these past three years after Bruno kind of took a step back. It’s really at the end of Season 2 that Bruno took a step back, and then Danny and I – it was a great partnership, I felt like, because we complimented each other’s strengths. We were talking about the look of the show, and to me, one of the things I found so appealing about the show is, I think a lot of people can do grim. I think what Danny and Doug, and Richard [Berg] afterwards, were able to do, I mean, everybody, [current GOTHAM production designer] Dan Novotny as well, is to make it look scary and dirty and grim, but also romantic in a way. I still want to be in that world, as downtrodden as it seems. And that’s a very secret little bull’s-eye that’s very hard to hit.

CANNON: As English people, myself and Bruno both wanted to visit New York and see SERPICO New York, THE WARRIORS New York. I wanted to see MEAN STREETS, I wanted to see TAXI DRIVER. It was all gone by the time I got there, but it was the poem of New York, it was the idea of New York. So that’s what GOTHAMbecame, and “romantic” is a good word. We were making this romantic poem to a city where Batman will be necessary one day.

AX: It’s sort of like GOTHAM is a dream of New York that’s on the verge of being a nightmare?

CANNON: Right, right.

STEPHENS: It’s like those opening scenes of TAXI DRIVER, when that Bernard Herrmann score is playing, and those bright, garish lights are moving, and it feels like Hell, but it also feels very suffused with sex and violence, and it’s really exciting.

CANNON: It [TAXI DRIVER] is one of my favorite films of all time, and Bernard Herrmann was such a strange choice for them to make, but Scorsese knew what he was doing, because he aged the film down by putting Bernard Herrmann’s score in. They say he was old-fashioned. That’s exactly why he did it. We wanted old-fashioned music. When we had to put pop music into the show, we went back to the ‘80s, and to the ‘70s, to the Stooges, to Alice Cooper, and to the Sex Pistols, because music now is too polished and refined and wouldn’t work.

AX: You mentioned the word “grim,” but if I may say, GOTHAM doesn’t feel grim. How do you keep it feeling maybe dark but somehow ecstatic …?

STEPHENS: “Gritty” I think is probably a better word than “grim” in many ways. We speak about these things, particularly in terms of metaphor. It’s like when people talk. I just recently saw this documentary about World War I [THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD] that Peter Jackson made. It was incredible. And at the beginning, they have all these voices of soldiers who were there. And they say, “Four years, it was horrific, I never would have traded it for anything. I felt more alive during those four years than I did in the next fifty years of my life.” And I feel like life in GOTHAM may be cheap in many ways, but it feels very alive to the people who are there. And that was always our point. You want to feel the beating heart of the people who are there, and that they’re living life right on the edge. I always think of that line – I’m [approximating], I apologize – there’s a beat in HEAT, where Al Pacino is talking to his wife, and he says, “I need to be on the edge, it’s where I’ve got to be.” And you always want the characters to be right there on that edge.

CANNON: We watch plays, John more than me, but when you’re doing a Broadway play, and you need to introduce a character, they will always do something with the scenery, they’ll always do something with the lighting. I think what doesn’t happen enough with movies and television right now is, they don’t give characters a good platform. How do we stop it being grim? I think everybody in the show gets a visual introduction. I remember talking about seeing Episode 2, when I had the confidence of the pilot behind me, about the body language, with every cast member. “We should know you’re coming in silhouette.” And I said the same thing to the directors. “Give everybody an intro. Give them that moment where that guy walks in, in CABARET. Give them that moment where you realize the king is entering.” You start to think about things on a grand scale, and all the writers ended up coming around and asking for those little visual tidbits, because they had the story down, and they knew where it needed to go, but everybody just needed a push to show people the cinema of this moment.

STEPHENS: You did that in the first Alfred [played by Sean Pertwee] appearance, when he’s walking down the alley, and there’s crime tape there, and Sean doesn’t slow down. Because he just knows they’re going to raise it up for him because of the authority that he carries. He tilts his head, just a tiny bit. I was, “Oh, he’s in command.”

AX: Now, what are some of the things that have surprised you about the way the characters have turned out? I think one of them would probably be Barbara Keane, played by Erin Richards. She started out as Jim Gordon’s fiancée and then went to some astonishing places …

STEPHENS: Yeah. Erin as an actress continually surprises us. We took her so dark. [Barbara] killed her parents, she became a gang lord, she was completely psychotic, and it became the question, “Can we bring this person back?” One of the themes of the show is transformation. A person changes into another thing. “Can you take someone that dark and still bring them back again? Is there any hope in them?” She does. She finds that way back, and that was so surprising to us.

AX: And Morena Baccarin’s character, Dr. Lee Thompkins, as well?

CANNON: Oh, my God. Amazing. And when Morena showed up, it’s funny how, from that first show she did, you know you want to do some things with a great actress. That’s it. That’s simply it. She can do the same thing over, or she can keep testing you. GAME OF THRONES is the only other show I can think of that has characters do terrible, awful things and you love them the next time they’re punished. The back and forth – we love to hate everybody in the show.

AX: And what would you most like people to know about the rest of GOTHAM? We know there will be a ten-years-forward time jump episode in the finale …

STEPHENS: I think they need to watch every episode, because I think in every single episode, an enormous bomb drops, both for the characters as they live right there, and also things that are going to play out not just ten years, but twenty years in the future, because we all know where those characters are going to end up, and we plant things that real fans of the material are going to go, “Oh, that’s what they were doing. I thought they weren’t going to do that, but they are going to do that.”

CANNON: Everything we’ve done for five years pays off in the last episode.

[mythicallore]

10 Haunted Places: England

England has long enjoyed a most haunted legacy, and with a long and bloody history, it's hardly a surprise that almost every city, town and village all share an abundance of ghostly tales of specters and things that go bump in the night. From country houses, castles and prisons to the wilderness of the moors and beyond you can find screaming skulls, haunted houses, headless spirits and even a forest that echoes with the blood-curdling screams of the long dead.

1. Screaming Skull of Bettiscombe Manor

Bettiscombe Manor is home to the legend of a screaming skull. In the 19th century, John Frederick Pinney returned from Nevis with a faithful Jamaican slave who soon after passed away of tuberculosis. His only request was to have his body returned to his home country, but Pinney refused and buried the man in the cemetery at St. Stephen's Church. Afterwards, the village and Pinney were plagued with bad luck and spectral screams from the cemetery. The manor house was beset by rattling windows and slamming doors, such that Pinney brought the exhumed body into his home and refused to discard it. The body decayed, leaving only the skull in ever removed from Bettiscombe the skull will resume it unearthly screaming and a dreadful fate will fall upon the house.

2. The Ghost of Bodmin Jail

Bodmin Jail is a historic former prisoners of war in Cornwall on the edge of the nearby moor. Currently, it is home to a museum similar to The London Dungeons for its gory displays of prisoners' offenses and punishments. Before closing in 1927, the jail was the sight of a Naval  prison, over 50 public executions, and, for a time during World War II, a cache of national treasures. Many ghosts have been spotted at this defunct prison, including a wandering spectral woman, gaunt faces peering from cells, and a woman who attempts to drag children away in a section of the old Lower Floor. Reportedly, the latter is the ghost of a woman who murdered her youngest son. The most malevolent ghost at Bodmin Prison calls the dank dungeon home and is known to place its cold hand upon visitors' shoulders.

3. Dartmoor Hell Hounds

The Dartmoor area of England has everything that a ghost hunter could ask for - fog shrouded moorlands, vast swaths of windswept rock, and several ghastly spirits. Perhaps most terrifying are the yeth or yell demons, so named for the inhuman wails they make while rambling through the area's woods. According to Devon folklore, these headless fogs are alternately the feral souls of unbaptized children or the half-made spirits of unborn ones. In either case, they are doomed to haunt the moors in packs and scream wildly while hunting for those foolish enough to venture outside after dark. Supposedly, their yells drive their prey mad, and if they catch you, you'll be dragged off never to be seen again. Most memorably, the yeth hounds were the main inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles.

4. The Ancient Ram Inn

This historical inn in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire is England's most haunted Bed-and-Breakfast, with 20 ghosts at the last estimate. The current owner of the Ancient Ram Inn were subject to spectral attacks as soon as they moved into the former pub. Upon investigation, they discovered that this Cotswolds cottage had been built upon a pagan burial ground in 1145. During a renovation, they even found daggers and small bones and theorized that it had been the site of child sacrifice. Among the ghosts at the Ancient Ram Inn are a wandering, murdered girl named Rose, a regal high priestess, and a randy male sex demon. Despite some guests fleeing into the night after hearing children's screams or seeing floating furniture, the inn is currently inundated with ghost hunters and horror writers. Even the world's oldest paranormal research organization, The Ghost Club, visited in 2003, though they failed to produce evidence of the hauntings.

5. Village of Pluckley

Pluckley village in Kent was awarded the Guinness Book of Records title of 'most haunted village in Britain', and for good reason. Over fifteen ghosts call Pluckley home, these include a highwayman killed during a swordfight, a schoolmaster found hanged by a group of children and an old Gypsy woman who burned to death in a fire who appears on the bridge casually smoking a pipe. There is also the specter of a horse-drawn carriage that rides through the village accompanied by the eerie sound of horses hooves. Along with a haunted pub, brickworks and cemetery, just south of the village lies the 'Screaming Woods', also known as Pluckley forest, from which villagers and visitors alike regularly hear the sound of the blood-curdling screams made by wandering souls of long dead men and women who became lost in the forest.

6. Langham Hotel

The 5 star Langham Hotel is the grand dame of London establishments. Opened in 1865 and styled on a Renaissance palace, the hotel has reputedly the most haunted hotel room in the country. There are five ghosts that regularly make an appearance at the hotel. The most active of them is the spirit of a German Prince, who jumped to his death out of a window, just before the start of the First World War. He haunts the fourth floor; guests have seen him walking through walls and he is well know for moving objects from place to place. Room 333 is the most haunted room in the entire hotel, there have been numerous sighting of a man in Victorian evening dress who walks toward guests while they lay in their beds, his arms outstretched and eyes empty, before vanishing into thin air.

7. 50 Berkeley Square

The four-story, brick townhouse at 50 Berkeley Square in Mayfair, London was constructed in the late 18th century for Britain's Prime Minister. After his death, an elderly woman lived there, and it was then rented in 1859 by an eccentric Mr. Myers. After being jilted at the altar, he slowly went mad, and number 50 fell into disrepair. Rumor spread of an attic room haunted by a tortured youth, murdered child, or monstrous man. Soon, legends abounded of maids and soldiers alike going mad after staying in the house. In one story, two sailors who entered the home unaware of its reputation awoke to a monstrous presence and fled, but one tripped and died from head trauma. By 1998, 50 Berkeley Square was both the oldest unaltered building and most haunted house in London and to this day, a police notice stands on the wall inside the house that proclaims that the upper floors cannot be used for any purpose. May all who see it heed its warning.

8. The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

Perhaps the most famous specter on this lis os that of Lady Dorothy, sister to Prime Minister Robert Walpole and wife of Viscount Charles Townshend. Due to her husband's hot temper, she lived a trouble life in the country house of Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England - and was often limited to her rooms. A hundred years after dying from smallpox in 1726, Dorothy's ghost in a brown brocade dress was first spotted during Christmas festivities. A year later, the Brown Lady mocked a skeptical Captain Frederick Marrat who'd requested to stay in her haunted rooms, causing him to shoot her ghost in the face. She vanished until 1926, when two visitors saw her on the stairs. Then, in 1936, she became famous when Country Life magazine photographers captured her image, though she has scarcely been seen since.

9. The Tulip Staircase

Historically, the Queen's House section of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich has been its fair share of hauntings, from a woman gliding through walls to unexplained choral chanting. However, few had captured clear evidence of this 4,000 year old structure's ghosts until retired Reverend Ralph Hardy of White Rock, British Columbia took a picture if a shrouded figure on the Tulip Staircase in 1966. Legends told of a maid who died after being thrown from the highest banister and regularly appeared to visitors as a pale figure mopping blood at the base of the staircase. Convinced that he had captured a ghost, Hardly sent the photograph to a London ghost club, who arrived a year later to hold a seance. The notes from that event provide some sense of the disturbing events that occurred that night - with a bell ringing and a luminous stone appearing before the handwriting became indecipherable. To this day, visitors and staff alike regularly report ghost sightings.

10. Tower of London

The Tower of London's historic complex sits on the River Thames' north bank and hides a bloody legacy of torture going back to its founding in 1066. You're likely to see the ghosts of Henry VI, Margaret Pole, Lady Jane Grey, and the illegitimate Prince Edward V and Richard, who were murdered and hidden beneath a staircase. Ann Boleyn famously walks the grounds where she was beheaded in 1536 with her head under her arm. In addition, several guards have witnessed other-worldly apparitions, including one beefeater who died of fright in 1816 after being attacked by a spectral bear. Even the spectators as the Countess of Salisbury's execution linger here, still shocked by the eleven cuts of her inexperienced executioner.

http://www.theoccultmuseum.com/english-ghost-stories/

[thestageyshelf]

Mack And Mabel @ Chichester Festival Theatre 2015 (#97)

Title: Mack And Mabel

Venue: Chichester Festival Theatre

Year: 2015

Condition: Wear to edges

Author: Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman Book by Michael Stewart Revised by Francine Pascal

Director: Jonathan Church

Choreographer: Stephen Mear

Cast: Joseph Prouse, Michael Ball, Anna-Jane Casey, Rebecca Louis, Andrew Waldron, Jack Edwards, Gunnar Cauthery, Rebecca LaChance, Ashley Andrews, Alex Giannini, Timothy Quinlan, Michelle Francis, Mark Inscoe, Emily Shaw, Adam Denman, Sam Stones, Nicole Deon, Emily Langham, Jenny Legg, Joshua Lovell, Grace McKee, Rohan Richards, Zara Warren, Libby Watts

FIND ON EBAY HERE

[tvshowsfandomblog]

CSI: VEGAS 1X09 WAITING IN THE WINGS

THE CSI TEAM INVESTIGATES ECCENTRIC SIDESHOW PERFORMERS AFTER SOME OF THEIR GROUP ARE FOUND DEAD IN A PIT, ON “CSI: VEGAS,” WEDNESDAY, DEC. 1 “Waiting in the Wings” – The CSI team looks closely at the eccentric world of sideshows when a couple of performers are discovered burned in a pit. Also, Hodges mulls a plea deal as his criminal trial kicks off, while Max, Grissom and Sara search for evidence to exonerate him, on the CBS Original series CSI: VEGAS, Wednesday, Dec. 1 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+*. REGULAR CAST: William Petersen (Gil Grissom) Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle) Paula Newsome (Maxine Roby) Matt Lauria (Joshua Folsom) Mandeep Dhillon (Allie Rajan) Mel Rodriguez (Hugo Ramirez) GUEST CAST: Wallace Langham (David Hodges) Jamie McShane (Anson Wix) Travis Johns (Jonah Tanner) Cat Lacohie (Tori Tanner) Stephen Oyoung (Dr. Cho) Nanrisa Lee (D.A. Lauren Tate) David Paladino (Adam Tyner) Johnny Rey Diaz (Guillermo) Nolan Bateman (Dante) Arlene Santana (Detective Zaya) Sarah Gilman (Penny Gill) Joseph C. Phillips (A.G. Rhodes) Rich Ceraulo Ko (Mark) Oliver Muirhead (Gary Snyder) Jeffrey Damnit (Tattooed Man) Adam Dunnells (Axe Thrower) Kassandra Mahea (Masked Sword Dancer) Nicole Pacent (Illyana) David Lee Hess (Maintenance Man) Tim Powell (Judge Shapiro) WRITTEN BY: Craig O’Neill & Jason Tracey DIRECTED BY: Christine Moore