#ancient names outtakes

[cityzenshark]

Firsts to Grow Up | Book One: Family

Homepage | Book One: Family | Book Two: Unity | Book Three: Belonging

Chapter titles:

1-A New Generation

2-Twitch & Thrash

3-Into Mentor-hood

4-Life Source

5-Cons be Conning

6-Doing What Bots do

7-GHOST Prison Base

8-Of New Friends & Once Allies

9-Mandroid, Part 1

10-Mandroid, Part 2

11-Hashtag, Nightshade & Jawbreaker

12-The Hunt for Coziness

13 Outtakes

14-Future, Present, Past

15- Missed Connections

16-Race to Safety

17-Mama Bears

18-A Night in the City - The Bot Brawl

19-A Night in the City - Dr Meridian

20-A Tape on Broken Bone

21-Grounded

22-What Matters Most

23-The Mountain Guardian

24-Hearts & Sparks

25-Mother of Terrans, Part 1

26-Mother of Terrans, Part 2

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1 - A New Generation

Upset over their new home, 14-year-old Robby attempts to run away to his old home while his twin sister, Mo, chases after him. They then stumble upon a mysterious cave holding an ancient relic which leads to a new generation of Transformers-kind born on Earth. But the children aren’t the first to discover the relic…

Dorothy ponders on what to do with the newborn Transformers as her motherly instincts and lifelong trauma are at war against each other.

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2 – Twitch & Thrash

Bumblebee is tasked to be the Terrans’ teacher in exchange for his long stay at the Malto’s farm. He is faced with difficulties due to the Terrans’ more humanly nature.

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3 – Into Mentor-hood

Though feeling unwell, Thrash sneakily follows his adopted family to school. Later, he & Twitch unconsciously go deep in the mountains as though something is attracting them.

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4 – Life Source

(Twitch & Thrash lose their protoform bodies and get their metal frames | Not yet at their full height)

What started as a cooling-off walk takes a turn when Mo & Thrash meets a Decepticon who needs help in rescuing his brother. Said Decepticon doesn’t choose the word ‘swindle’ as his Earth name for nothing.

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5 – Cons be Conning

(Thrash creates his signature shield here)

To escape Mo and his dad’s concerns, a sleep deprived Robby indulges Twitch’s eagerness in the family’s tradition in hunting the Wak-Wak. Alex and Bumblebee talk about cultural differences between a Cybertornian’s growth and a human’s growth. Meanwhile Twitch learns she has weapons from the inventor of the drone she had scanned as her alt mode.

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6 – Doing What Bots Do

(Twitch feels jealous that Thrash has a built-in shield | Mo & Thrash are shaken by Swindle so they didn’t join the Wak-Wak hunt)

Dorothy meets her superiors while Elita hides the Malto children in her office inside G.H.O.S.T Prison Base that is surprisingly near their home.

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7 – G.H.O.S.T Prison Base

The strain between Robby and Mo grows when Mo invites a new friend to the farm whose opinion on Transformers cracks Robby’s composure. The Terrans listen to Bumblebee’s war stories where they learn that some Autobots aren’t as friendly as the comics made them out to be.

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8 – Of New Friends & Once Allies

Dot and Alex plan on how to introduce the world to the Terrans. The plan becomes uncertain when a public G.H.O.S.T ceremony is attacked by Decepticons who are paid to do so by Mandroid, who intends to steal the Emberstone on that same day.

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9 – Mandroid – Part 1

The Malto children joins the rescue mission to save their mother, Megatron, and the three newborn Terrans from Mandroid and the Seekers.

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10 – Mandroid – Part 2

Having been born into a chaotic event, the Maltos, Bumblebee, Twitch and Thrash work together to introduce the newborn Terrans to the world the way they deserve.

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11 – Hashtag, Nightshade & Jawbreaker

An impatient Hashtag sneaks into town in search of an alt mode that can help with the farm’s internet problem. Meanwhile Nightshade digs the barn’s floors to make more room and discovers a large bunker underneath the barn.

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12 – The Hunt for Cosiness

(A GHOST agent who drives the van Hashtag scanned helps her leave the prison base unseen | Wheeljack comes to visit to help planning the Terrans’ bedrooms in the bunker)

Jawbreaker and Nightshade hold interviews with their Cybertronian seniors about finding the right alt-mode.

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13 – Outtakes

(Jawbreaker with Bumblebee & Elita, Nightshade with Wheeljack & Megatron | Megatron advice NS to get an alt mode soon for their own protection)

Hashtag and Nightshade are hot in a debate: which is more trustworthy — printed or digital info? Alex steps in before the debate becomes a screaming match. Mo then asks an important question: when will they tell the Terrans about the Autobot friendly fire? Later in the evening, Megatron brings the Terrans to the memorial where the final battle of Autobot-Decepticon War stood place.

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14 – Future, Present, Past

A lonely Nightshade meets an ex-Decepticon Tarantulas, thinking they have found a kindred spirit. The trust wavers when Tarantulas does things he swore have abandoned towards Nightshade’s adopted family.

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15 – Missed Connections

(NS forgets they’re playing hide n seek and goes indoors to tinker – leaving their Terran siblings waiting in the rain | NS feels hurt that their siblings find their hobby annoying & how none indulge their enthusiasm on their favourite storybook | Tarantulas stays away from humans so his experiment urge doesn’t make him hurt them | NS robot mode has wings on the back – hooray)

Bumblebee risks his life to prevent G.H.O.S.T from finding the Terrans. This becomes the starter to Twitch’s lasting rage.

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16 – Race to Safety

(Twitch & Nightshade are impacted by their parents’ kidnapping the most | Thrash follows Twitch to the bunker to talk some sense into her, Hashtag & NS follow them to make sure their things are safe from Twitch, JB hesitates to enter until Bee coaxes him, Robby & Mo didn’t get stuck with the Terrans | The teenage twins call Wheeljack for help after Robby fails to bypass the security codes)

The children celebrates Dot’s birthday amidst the unaccounted rift between the Twitch and Nightshade. A hilarious mistake turns the birthday party into a wild game of chase.

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17 – Mama Bears

(J.B brings the baby bear home after mishearing Mo | Dot finds out about Twitch blaming Nightshade for Bumblebee’s situation | the family cleans the trashed forest | Dot & Alex and Nightshade have a heart to heart; NS finally calls them mother and father | Twitch apologizes to N.S)

Robby deceives his parents in order to sneak the Terrans into the city to visit the museum and to meet up with his old friends. The Terrans discover their human family is hiding important info from them after seeing a hate display, an attempted mugging, and a fighting ring.

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18 – A Night in the City: The Bot Brawl

(Brawl created the Bot Brawl in a train graveyard | He uses Grimlock’s mind controlled state to attract more customers and more fighters | He forces BB to fight Grimlock | The parents and Mo are attending a wedding at the other side of the city | Robby has three more friends so it doesn’t look like he and Twitch are ganging up on poor Stevie | The person Nightshade rescues advices NS to not let loud assumptions about someone they love--be it from strangers or friends--control how they themselves should feel and react about their loved one’s actions. The person’s parents may not agree with her way of life, but they still welcome her to their home. She cut off a friend who had ‘avenged her’ by hurting her father. | Brawl calls the Terrans freaks after they insist that destroying his ring is a heroic act)

The Terrans made the worst first impression on themselves when they return to the city to help Bumblebee and Brawl which leads to one of them to be mind-controlled by Mandroid.

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19 – A Night in the City: Dr Meridian

Stuck in his alt-mode and feeling guilty over recent events, Jawbreaker breaks down, accidentally triggering an unstable Grimlock to attack Witwicky. The Terrans and family quickly take action to save the townspeople.

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20 – A Tape on Broken Bone

Robby and Mo are fatigued from the ongoing intensity in the emotional link. When Optimus Prime informs the family of his theory regarding the Terrans’ origin, he orders the Terrans and teenagers to show their combat skills in a high-tech training room. The worst happens when Mandroid breaks the Emberstone apart.

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21 – Grounded

The cybersleeves turning dark causes Robby & Mo to be hospitalised with the former in a much worse condition. Dorothy’s mental endurance is at the verge of snapping. Mo’s expresses her feelings which cuts the Terrans deeply. Assuming her human family no longer wants them, Twitch brings the unaware triplets to run away with her. At the prison base, Starscream successfully breaks out of his cell.

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22 – What Matters Most

Starscream and his Seeker-sisters are lost in a web of mysterious tunnels that run beneath Witwicky’s mountains. One tunnel collapse, destroying the cave where the Terrans are and bringing them down into it. Something isn’t happy about the place being intruded…

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23 – The Mountain Guardian

(The Terrans DON’T trust the Seekers even after they all escape | Hashtag only defends Starscream from Megatron because she doesn’t want to see anyone getting hurt anymore | Starscream saves Megatron from the Dweller for Hashtag, that’s it | Starscream finds the Terrans’ techno-organic physiology disgustingly interesting)

The townspeople of Witwicky help the Maltos in return for saving their town from Grimlock. The Terrans get a much-needed counselling. Dot & Alex receive support from the town elders. Mo’s new friends organise a charity for them. Robby’s old friends visit him in the hospital despite his awful behaviour when he last met them. Their farm is being cared for by fellow farmers.

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24 – Hearts & Sparks

Meridian experiments the Emberstone shards with the Core in the tunnels. Robby falls into a coma as his condition worsens from it. A distressed Mo tries to destroy her cybersleeve by force. Her cries and Meridian’s tempering awaken the Terrans’ biological mother, the Titan Terratronus.

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25 – Mother of Terrans – Part 1

Terratronus aids Dorothy to fight back the Emberstone-powered Meridian to save her children from him once and for all.

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26 – Mother of Terrans – Part 2

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End of Book One

[apphiarothowrites]

Hehehe Back on my bullshit

My Marco Cora bullshit to be exact

Here’s the plan

Marco is an ER doctor, Cora is.. well hes Cora and trips to the er is a frequent occurrence

So basically, Marco is working a double shift and he wanders in to the waiting room for the minute break he has plopping down beside a tall blonde who has a sleeping kid in his lap. Marco just closes his eyes for maybe- maybe 10 seconds when he feels a tiny hand tugging at his scrubs.

He looks down to the kid looking serious (or as serious as a kid can look)

“Hey are you a doctor.”

Marco blinks as the tinny applause erupts form the ancient tv.

“Yeah.”

“Cora-san needs help.”

Now that statement doesn’t get marcos attention, but the fucking stab wound in the guys arm the kid points out sure as hell does.

The presumed ‘Cora-san’ is hauled into a bed asap. The taller blonde muttering about ‘not wanting to be a bother.’ While the smaller blonde chugs an expresso before suturing the other up.

By the next day marco is convinced it was all some hallucination brought on by chronic stress

Two days later he is proved wrong as the giant of a man now wearing a flamingo pattern shirt and khakis awkwardly waves from the plastic chairs, his leg in a pink cast.

The third time Marco stops believing the other man is a hallucination (he’s still iffy on the tiny shadow that seems to follow the giant around, lecturing him about medical studies)

The fourth time he genuinely worries that it’s a domestic abuse case (it’s not, he’s just that clumsy the shadow stoutly assures him)

The fifth he gets a name Corazon

“Two bruised ribs, a fractured skull and mild burns on both hands.”

“Oh that’s better than usual.” Cora turns to Law, grinning with abandon “see I’m getting better!”

Marco raises a brow “at what?”

Law doesn’t even look up from his textbook already radiating disappointment “using the stairs.”

“He’s joking!” Cora waves his hands frantically “I can use the stairs just fine! Actually I was using the bbq!”

Marco can’t help it, he howls with laughter

Later that night after Law had been tucked into bed with a good story of infectious diseases and how they spread. Corazon laid in his own room staring at the ceiling.

A lazy thought of Marco floated into his brain, eyes crinkled as he gasped for air. His whole body shaking from laughing.

“Oh dear” he whispers to the empty space.

Outtake

“So I’m your favourite patient right?”

“No your my worst patient.”

oh my GOD this is good

marco hardcore worried for a bit there that Cora's legit in an abusive relationship but the kid keeps telling him "no, he really is just that clumsy, he's a goddamn disaster"

and marco still doesn't get it until he sees it for himself-Cora somehow manages to set a chair in the waiting room on fire despite having no lighter or cigarettes on him at the time (right before he trips over the flaming chair and it causes a huge Incident)

The BBQ comment sends him into hysterics because 1-cora's way too fucking tall to conceivably use any kind of grill comfortably (bent way over so he can do anything) and 2-marco's riding 3 hours of sleep on a 26 hour shift and boosting half a gallon of coffee and 2 energy drinks, man is Barely Alive but goddamn that's the funniest mental image he's ever had

takes them weeks to get over themselves and marco has to be the one to ask him out, Cora asks him "I'm your favorite patient right" on the first date and Marco

"No, you're my worst-my favorite patient is my father" and the two bond over having adoptive dads

this is too damn cute and somft for me afihujnkefdas

[adultswim2021]

Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! #27: “Jazz” | September 8, 2008 - 12:30AM | S03E07

Hey, this is a good one. Alright? Perhaps less-than-classic. This one has a runner where Tim & Eric are Jazz musicians who smugly tell meandering stories that make them sound like a coupla stupid dopes. I like these segments mostly! Ending the show with the smug delivery of “online? What like WAITING online at the BANK??” is just great. To me. I keep forgetting to say “to me” after all my opinions, sorry! There are a handful more segments in the deleted scenes of these two funny funny jazz men. 

The cold open is James Quall doing Ronald Regan, probably originally shot as part of the season two sketch. This seems slightly like they are scraping the bottom of the barrel, but it turns out they’re setting up a strong sketch in the middle of the episode. More on that… LATER!! Anyway, this sketch references David Stockman, which is an ancient reference. He worked for Regan and may or may not have tried to list ketchup as a vegetable in some school lunch legislation. It is hilarious that this is where his mind goes. Tim & Eric sorta acknowledge the weirdness of the reference by putting up a bogus, likely unrelated portrait of the supposed David Stockman as if it explains anything.

Maria Bamford! For some reason I fail to think of her as a member of the Tim & Eric family even though she is maybe one of the best guests ever. That is not a dig on Maria, Maria is such a singular entity that it’s hard to think of her being part of anything else. Even me periodically thinking about how she’s the funniest person in the world, possibly, is to vastly underrate her. She fits in with the Tim & Eric universe really well, I THINK, TO ME. Here she’s a host of a show about cleaning up after your cat. The little belly crawl towards the litter box in the opening makes me laugh, and I realized that this imagery used to pop into my head everytime I had to scoop my cat’s litter. Lucy. Her name was Lucy. She has passed.

There’s a fairly good Doug animation in this one, too featuring funny guys and their funny hats. This leads into a Beaver Boys sketch that is exceptionally brainless. The Beaver Boys are up to their old tricks!! They are on a sex-having date with freaking TWINS, but they blow it by not being able to control themselves and gorging themselves on shrimp and white wine being served at the table next to theirs. It’s very stupid, but I see the Beaver Boys as some kind of meta commentary on the nature of very specifically-premised one-note recurring characters in various forms of media, especially on sketch comedy shows. Their return is the joke. I also just like this sketch, despite there not being much to it. There is something funny about the stereotypical way the girls get up and leave, angry, as though what they are doing is typical guy behavior and not the product of a serious brain disease, which is what these boys must have.

Probably the best sketch is a fake trailer for a James Quall biopic where Quall is portrayed by Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader. His impression is immaculate, and he’s very funny as Quall. There are some charming outtakes from this one, including one where David Liebe Hart (who shines as himself) ruins a take with indigestion, and one where we see the real James Quall watching Hader work his magic and laughing like crazy.

Everything outside of the Quall trailer feels a little dashed off, but I found most of it funny and the episode worked for me as a whole. I think a lot of what made this episode great is the editing, which I think this show should have won an Emmy for. 

I forgot to mention the guy who wants to make sure his condo has enough room for his boys. Dang it. I love that guy.

EPHEMERA CORNER

Space Ghost Coast to Coast: From the Kentucky Nightmare DVD (aka Volume 5) (September 11, 2008)

The final DVD release of Space Ghost Coast to Coast… EVER! This was a two-disc set that included the final Cartoon Network season and the first Adult Swim season. This was the first time I ever saw the uncut Fire Ant. The extras included the colonial man ending of Snatch, which before I’d only seen in a very low-quality internet vid, Table Read Extra, the Conan and Busta Rhymes Raw Interviews, and two nice videos of George Lowe and, C. Martin Croker’s audio recording session for “Kentucky Nightmare”. George’s in particular is fun to watch, because he loves to josh between takes. There’s also easter eggs, but I forget what they are. 

This is a GREAT release and like Volume 4, it was only available through the Adult Swim online store, and is considered very rare. At one point, it sold out and they repressed it and put it on the store for $15 and you could get a copy of Volume 4 for $5. Imagine! Paying a combined $20 for volumes 4 & 5 of Space Ghost Coast to Coast! I came perilously close to selling both my volume 4 and 5 DVDs when I was jobless, but was able to pull them off eBay when I made some money sucking dick.

[thatoldstandby]

⚙️

Fuckin'. Looking at the list I cannot see many more difficult prompts, but this took a while to think on.

(In reference to this post. I’ll still take some because I like talking about my stupid animu OC.)

Send ⚙️ to see them with a favourite (vehicle) mount or machine.

Kett keeps a lot of personal details either vague or to herself. She's never said where her clan is situated or what she was doing before she arrived in Gridania. Odds are pretty good she's lying about her name; the people who know her longest have absolutely heard her explain how to pronounce her name at least three different ways, sometimes to the same people. C'nbulea Kett is a nation of contrasts.

One thing her friends can attest to is her distaste for machinery. She doesn't hate it, per se, but her experiences with it haven't exactly been stellar, especially in Eorzea. Whether it's facing down Garlean magitek squadrons or ancient Allagan weapons or robotic invaders from outside the star, things haven't exactly gone swimmingly. And try as Cid might, Kett views his inventions as only marginally more useful, if not actively getting in the way of things she enjoys about menial tasks.

But, if there's one bit of technology she loves, it's mass transport. Every ship, sea or air, ride brings the promise of new vistas, unexplored areas, and unique experiences that motivate her to travel. So it's little surprise just how much Kett came to love the Ragnarok. There are few more adventures more tempting to her than deep space; thoughts of things that may be beyond the star. While there's still much to do on Etheirys, there's always the promise out there with a Loporrit crew. Kett could think of worse fates.

(Also a couple of outtakes. I don't think I've seen the Miqo /pose break that badly. Plus new raid helmet is cool (on striking).)

[consumedkings-archive]

Hehehe. #1 for John and El please! (Yes I will always indulge you, please feed me)

this took so long I’M SORRY!! i wrote like 3 versions of this all with entirely different plotlines and just decided on a deleted scene from ancient names, following the first time john and elliot bang it out (lol). thank you so much beloved, i hope you like these two goblins being smartasses with each other!!! i adore you endlessly!!

john/elliot + “why... why did you just take off your shirt?” no warnings, talk of a previous steamy interaction and you know. these two can’t shut the fuck up

words: ~900

Well, Elliot thought, this is a problem.

She was pleasantly aching, and it was late in the evening, and she could feel the sting of love bites on her neck and shoulders and, though her back was facing the center of the bunkhouse where she lay in bed, she could hear John rustling around.

It shouldn’t have been weird. In hindsight, Elliot thought maybe she should have seen this kind of thing coming from a mile away—she’d practically fallen over herself when they met all those years ago at the bar, and even though she was different now, she didn’t know if she was different enough to not fall for all of the tricks. Boy, wasn’t there just something about the gratifying sting of John saying, you make me so fucking mad into her mouth?

Yeah. There was. Something really good, something that writhed hot and desirous in her stomach every time she thought about it, like she’d started unlatching the locks to something more than a little wicked inside of her and it was hungry.

Now, though, she didn’t know what she was going to do. Her brain still felt a little hazy and muggy from it all, and John was here, and she didn’t know how to say you can stay if you want without making him think she wanted him to stick around. She did, but he didn’t need to know that, and the less he thought it was her idea the better.

“So,” Elliot started, staring at the wall, “it’s pretty late, and...”

Just tell him it’s fine, she thought, just fucking say it, you coward. It’s not a big deal.

She rolled over in the bed, pulling the blankets up around her shoulders, and tried again, “And if you—”

John blinked at her expectantly. All of that rustling around had been his clothes. Though he’d barely gotten undressed to fuck her, he was now in the process of removing all of his clothing; dark jeans deposited somewhere on the floor, his shirt shrugged off and tossed onto the pile.

“Why...” Elliot stopped. Her face felt hot, and it shouldn’t have, they’d literally just had sex, but it was one thing to fuck haphazardly against a wall and another to have John practically stripped down in front of her. “Why did you just take your shirt off?”

Trying not to let her eyes wander too much—really trying—she instead fixed her gaze on John’s face, which ended up being a bigger mistake than averting her eyes elsewhere, because John’s mouth cocked into a smile that was too smug for him to have not noticed the heat crawling up her throat and into her cheeks.

“You mean the shirt that you ripped open?” he reiterated, quite pleased with himself.

“Yes,” she said. When she failed to elaborate, John made his way over to the bed—twin sized, certainly not meant to fit the both of them—and lifted the edge of the blanket to slid in beside her.

“Why would I keep it on, Elliot?”

“Dunno,” Elliot replied, clearing her throat when his arm slid around her bare midsection. “Just didn’t think you were gonna...”

“Stick around?” He grinned, and she couldn’t see it, but she could feel it against her cheekbone, his breath fluttering along her temple. “And miss the way you go absolutely red in the face when you see me without my clothes on, despite the fact that just moments ago you were ordering me to—”

Elliot slapped her hand over his mouth. “Okay, smartass,” she snipped. “I was actually offering to let you sleep here when you took it upon yourself to assume that would be fine anyway, so now I have half a mind to take it back and tell you to go fuck yourself.”

John made a muffled sound against her hand, and then she felt his tongue flicker out against her fingers and she yanked her hand off of his face.

“Can’t believe you were going to offer,” he purred against her skin.

“Me either.” She rolled her eyes. “This bed is way too fucking small to fit both of us comfortably.”

“Not like this, maybe,” John replied, skimming his fingers along the slope of her hips, toying with the band of her underwear. “But if you were less interested in sleeping, we could move around a little and make it work. You could be real comfy.”

“I seem to recall threatening not to let you finish next time because of that mouth of yours,” she said, swatting his hand away. “So eager to get dragged through it, are you?”

The brunette made a low noise of amusement, burying his face into her neck and kissing there with a pleasant rumble.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” She felt his teeth drag lightly across her skin, and he added, “I’ll play by your rules, if you want.”

Yes, a part of her said, but she wouldn’t—she planted her hand firmly on his forehead and pushed his face out from her neck, rolling firmly onto her side so that her back was to him. Fucker, she thought, more loudly than the area of her brain that was complaining she wasn’t taking him up on his offer. Stupid, handsome, pretentious fucker. Serves you right.

“Message received,” he said, even though the smugness in his voice somehow tried to implied the message hadn’t been received at all—not the one she wanted to send, anyway. “Goodnight, Elliot.”

Elliot stifled a long-suffering sigh.

“Goodnight, John.”

[jeannereames]

I don't know if you answered this before, but how old was Olympias when she married Philip? I'm very interested on your view of her, It's very different than most authors. What asks/articles can I read to understand it better?

Olympias was probably around 15 when she married Philip, and would probably have had Alexander at about 16, at most 17. That was a pretty standard age. Girls were traditionally betrothed after their first menses, and they seemed to start their menses later than we do now. In the case of Olympias, she was actually betrothed to Philip much younger, on the Isle of Samothrace during/after the initiations.

The deal would have been made between Philip's elder brother, King Perdikkas II and Olympias's uncle, who was regent for her younger brother, Alexandros. It would have been a backdoor deal between Macedon and Epiros against the power of Illyria under Bardylis. So contra the story in Plutarch, it was not a love match. 1) She was a little girl at the time, and 2) even if they'd hated each other on sight, the marriage would have been advantageous and gone through. (Beware of the "love matches" in the sources; they usually aren't.)

Driving around Epiros (see image below, 2nd is from Dodona), one gets a better sense of Olympias. It's rough country, compared to the lowlands. Families would have had to pull together there to survive, and the effort and work of women would have been required. The kingdom was not as absolute a kingship, and if the Molossian clan ruled, it was by consent of a council, who could remove kingship too. Alexander states at one point, observing when his mother and sister traded places, that his mother had made the smarter choice as the Macedonians wouldn't consent to be ruled by a woman. Apparently, the Epirotes would. And certainly Kleopatra had a great deal of power as regent for her son, when she was there. In this way, the Epirotes were perhaps closer to the Illyrians--also hill people, and among whom women could fight in combat.

In any case, Olympias would have been accustomed to more freedom and authority than she likely had in Pella. That may be one reason she clashed with Antipatros later, when he was regent, as well as with Philip occasionally. But clashes with Philip were exaggerated. They cooperated as much if not more than clashed, and any clashes were mostly as a result of offenses to the status of Alexander (or herself). In polygamous courts, the most important male in a wife's life wasn't the king but her son. If he didn't survive to take the throne, often she didn't either. So don't read Oedipal nonsense into that relationship. That's one reason I really disliked how Renault wrote Olympias, and how Stone directed Jolie to portray her in the movie (which is basically a direct steal from Renault).

Another important aspect for women in ancient Greece, Macedonia, Epiros, etc., was their role in religious rites. Olympias was a priestess, and Macedonia was rule by CLAN (the Argeads). So the women had specific roles to play, mostly in religion, but also in terms of dedications. We have information showing both Olympias and Kleopatra donating money to temples, etc., as did Philip's mother Eurydice...in her own name, not her husband's. And yes, that suggests some control over their finances, unlike women in Athens. I even put that in the novel; when Olympias interviews Kampaspe, she talks to her about a donation in Larissa, in the hopes of securing cavalry later for her son. That is precisely the sort of thing Macedonian royal women did.

I strongly recommend the work of Elizabeth Carney, if you want to know more about Olympias. Her biography is THE place to start. It's been out a while, so look for a used copy, or see if your local library has it, or can get it. Another article where Beth puts not a pin but a damn sword through the brutal image of Olympias in ancient sources is "Olympias and the Image of the Virago," Phoenix, 47.1 (1993): 29-55. The biography is a later work, but I point to that article as it really threw down the gauntlet to the (mostly male) Alexander scholars, about Olympias. As with the book, ask your local library to get a copy of the article for you via ILL (interlibrary loan).

It was Beth's work on Olympias that influenced how I portrayed her in the novels, even to using her other name, Myrtale, which I did to try to divorce her from ALL the horrible baggage. I did not want her to be a pushover--she manifestly wasn't--but all her actions have reasons, and reasons that aren't either jealousy or petulance. Even her objections to Hephaistion has nothing to do with jealousy of him and everything to do with what she considers a threat to Alexander's place as heir.

That's why I wrote "Two Scorpions," as one of the "outtakes" that occurs between the two novels, released between the publishing of book 1 and book 2. It's a confrontation between Hephaistion and Myrtale, and Hephaistion does not come out the winner, really.

In any case, I tried to make it clear that Myrtale is FAR from hated in the women's rooms. At one point, Alexander says his mother's women would die for her the same as his father's men would for him. And Myrtale is the only one to think of Kampaspe, when Alexander flees after the wedding. Hephaistion helps her, but because he almost falls over her when he goes to Alexander's room. Myrtale actually asks about her. Alexander more or less forgets her in all the hooplah. Myrtale doesn't.

I'll leave you with an interesting tribute to her. When the Greeks decided to build a trireme on the ancient model, back in the '80s, did they name it The Themistokles? Or The Perikles? No, they named her Olympias:

[honeysidesarchived]

thought it was about time i got things all tidied up in here! all of my writings/one-shots/etc i THINK should be listed and organized under the cut. explicit content will be denoted with a *, with specific warnings prior in each individual oneshot/chapter. thank you! ♡

you can find my original masterlist posted on my archive here

—DEPUTY ELLIOT HONEYSETT—

MAIN UNIVERSE » ANCIENT NAMES » complete

masterpost

MAIN UNIVERSE » WITCHING HOUR » in progress

masterpost

OUTTAKES & DELETED SCENES » ANCIENT NAMES-ADJACENT

troublemaker • iloveyou • sinful • stay • animals

OUTTAKES & DELETED SCENES » WITCHING HOUR-ADJACENT

—JACOB SEED & ARDEN HALE—

my someplace is here • pareto optimal *

—ISOLDE KHAN X JOSEPH SEED—

let me sanctify you * •  sanctify you, excerpt *

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » HERALD ELLIOT & THE UNHOLY TRINITY

love made me do it * • a venom dripping in your mouth • vicious traditions • blood on my name • heart of glass, mind of stone • this domain of hunger * • playing with fire, living in sin * • condemnation *

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » ELLIOT HONEYSETT x DIANA BAKER

loose cannon • a test of strength • listen before i go • i'm your man (feat. sharky) *

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » ELLIOT HONEYSETT x WESLEY BROOKS

too close to stars

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » ELLIOT HONEYSETT x LYRA FAIRBANKS

this can’t happen again

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » PRE/NO-CULT AU

—ELLIOT HONEYSETT x JOHN SEED—

wrap me around your fingertips * • hands all over * • fever * • just like magic • equitable exchange • domestic warfare • golden morning • blue, baby • honey lavender * • party favours

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » ISOLDE KHAN, THE BRIDE OF GOD

—ISOLDE KHAN & LYRA FAIRBANKS—

our muses are mistaken to be a couple by someone else

—ISOLDE KHAN x AUDRY ROOK—

sugar-coated, the most sweet • sweet little unforgettable thing *

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » OUR CATHEDRAL IS THE BADLANDS

—ISOLDE KHAN x MICHAEL S. HUGHES—

dreaming of you • stained glass • parental disaster

—HELMI x DEPUTY JESTINY ELLEN—

devour

—ROMAN SIONIS x OFC! VARYA ASTAKHOVA—

MAIN UNIVERSE » CARRY YOUR THRONE

available only on ao3

MAIN UNIVERSE » THE LAND OF GODS & DEVILS

masterlist

ONESHOTS » CYT/G&D-ADJACENT

pavlovian * • damage done & damage made • danse macabre

—SANTINO D'ANTONIO x OFC! EUPHEMIA VOLPE—

MAIN UNIVERSE » NO TEMPTATION/NO GLORY

masterlist // read on ao3

ONESHOTS » NT/NG ADJACENT

pretty please * • i'm hanging up *

[mashnotesofthemythopoeic]

Fic Masterpost

So, in the spirit of full disclosure - all the X-Files fiction I’ve ever written, as memory serves. And some thoughts on how this fine fandom has taught me to write. 

Starbuck (circa 1998)

I’m not kidding, this is really embarrassing, absolute beginner stuff, but we all start somewhere and it’s interesting in an evolutionary sense. I found these on  Zuffy's X-Files Homepage.

Without The Bee  -  I couldn’t bring myself to look at this one. That title says it all. 

Agents of Change: Return from Antarctica  -  Obsessions—the Scott Expedition and the X-Files—collide. Rough early days, but probably with hints of potential. A legit turkey of a title! 

Penumbra 1998 - 2009

(I’m not going to bother with Gossamer links.) Learning the ropes as I went. Oblivious to so, oh so many things. Rickety, untrained writing, but mindlessly in love with creatively inspired by the churlish charms of our two razzle-dazzle creatures of the night. 

Contact High  -  The last line was plagiarized, pure and simple, from one of Gerald Durrell’s books about his childhood in Corfu. It’s bothered me ever since, so the big thing I took from this experience: by all means steal the rhythm of something, but at least change a word or two. 

Vespers  -  Very stoned ramblings. Inspired by John Leonard’s X-Files essay in The Nation that I’d managed to extract off a microfiche in a university library. I have a soft spot for this fic, probably because Khyber picked it very analytically apart, which was like having Jonathan Galassi or someone suddenly pay attention to you. He introduced me to 'show, don't tell', a paralyzing concept if ever there was one, which I yet only fitfully grasp.

Black Hole Season  -  Still breakin’ all the rules. This one was hugely popular, and amidst all the ballyhoo, Punk Maneuverability emailed me and quietly said: ‘Please pick a POV and a tense and stick with it’—vastly important advice that I was probably too full of myself to heed. This one won a Spooky award, one of the greatest moments of my life that I had to keep completely to myself (therein lies the painful crux of fanfiction.)

Parabiosis  -  I was eating cereal and flipping through the dictionary, and there it was: parabiosis. Who knows what it means. I didn’t have a computer, and was working in the mountains, so I wrote the whole thing out on paper several times, unimaginable now. It flowed through my brain as I scrambled through the woods in the evenings. Nothing will ever be that easy again.

Honeymoon Video  -  Promising title, not much there.

Blue-Sky Conjecture  -  unfinished Scully/Kresge

The Cretan Paradox  -  Americana. JET sent me an ear of corn from a corn maze, because she’s thoughtful like that. 

Free Beer Night at the Astrodome  -  Cut years ago in despair out of Heuvelmans’; I think part of it went back in. 

Fathoms Five  -  In one of Gerald Durrell’s books about his childhood in Corfu, his brother steps in a swamp and says that his shoe is ‘full of fathoms five’, so that’s where I got that Shakespearean misquote. I resisted writing this for a long time, but it would creep into my mind as I was falling asleep. I think this is a pretty good story, but it could have used one more draft, so since then, I’ve resolved never to rush to post. Events of this year kind of date this story now. However, it’s rather pleasant to read about a careless, joint-passing, COVID-free 2020.

Fathoms Five Outtakes and gag reels - Sorry about the glitchy old site and bad font.

A random smut biscuit  -  Uncharacteristic, I know!

Octopods  - I loved this one, but it never fit in anywhere.

Maundy Thursday  

Untitled Snippet 

World’s Tiniest Zombie Fic

∩dsᴉpɐᴉsᴉnɯ -  Very flawed, because it was written and posted under a fund-raiser time crunch. I really should overhaul it. The X-Files was ending and I was so depressed when I wrote it, and that’s an unfortunate tincture to saddle a story with. 

The Inscrutable Pair  -  How The X-Files taught me to embrace ambiguity. Goreyesque nonsense à la Gashlycrumb Tinies that also troubles itself to rip off Eliot and Homer. 

(7-Year Cold-Turkey Hiatus From the X-Files)

Gave away DVDs, got some perspective, did a little growing up, tried and failed to write a screenplay, two novels, etc. Then they put The X-Files on Netflix. One lonely night, I thought: what could it hurt to watch Darkness Falls? 44 minutes later, with shaking hands, going for the hard stuff—Redux II. Lol, the hard stuff of ancient philes. 

The Mythopoeic*  2016  - 

Heuvelmans’ On the Track - The nearly suicidal heartbreak that surrounds this story—it was the first X-Files fic I got bogged down in and couldn’t finish, and it left me with a huge mental stigma—sweetens its completion. Under its shadow I tried to become a Real Writer, without success. Give things time, I learned. Just keep working hard. The initial failure of this story taught me stuff that I now wouldn’t trade for anything. 

*I came back just intending to hang out with Philes, and didn’t want to make a big deal, and had no intention of posting fic, so I gave little thought to the name. But, characteristically ostentatious name, check. Still keepin’ it real, pure and self-taught, a bit closer to what Chuck Palahniuk calls a ‘kitchen-table MFA’. Check.

But what I really want to say is this. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to try writing if I hadn’t been in this marvelous fandom, having the method and the means demonstrated all around me by wonderfully competent and encouraging writers for whom I felt such reverence that having them reach out or comment on stuff was earth-shaking. They showed the way, and I followed. Hands on my heart, friends, I owe you everything.

[prince-wu-rightful-king]

More stuff about the Cheesy AU

Wu is a leighties child star and nineties rising teen pop sensation.

His Aunt Hou-Ting is an ancient embittered Old-Hollywood star who put him through his paces in commercial acting before he could walk.

The Krew work at Pizza Republic, Bolin works the drive-thru and Asami does delivery.

The Krew hang out at the condemned skate park when they aren’t working. Mako, Bolin and Korra are the best boarders, Opal rollerskates, Asami prefers blades. Wu is starstruck. Bolin remembers him from his movie about being a 10 year old skater. Opal admits she had a crush on him and his poster in her room when she was little, before all his movies with the talking dog (no offense)(none taken, he hated doing those). Wu explains he had a stunt double for those parts. Bolin s surprised. Mako is not. He says it’s obvious because Wu’s legs were longer. Bolin thinks Opal wasn’t the only one with the star crush.

Mako may or may not teach him how to roll forward on the board, but he stumbles a lot. Not that Mako minds catching him.

Grandma Yin finds out Mako is going to be in a video with the nephew of her icon and tells him to invite Wu for dinner. 

Aunt Hou-Ting forbade Wu from doing anything that might hurt his face.

Mako got his scars at his old workplace defending some coworkers from an unhinged customer that breached the counter and sent the fryer oil flying. Wu thinks it makes him a real life hero- not a pretend TV hero. Mako doesn’t know what to say or why he doesn’t stop Wu running his fingers down his arm.

Corporate cast Mako as their main character immediately but then when they saw his arm scarring they pulled Wu aside and said maybe he should play opposite one of the gals instead, for the optics. Wu put his foot down and refused to play opposite anyone else.

Wu is ostensibly there to research the role but he sucks at passing for a worker. Eventually - due to a lot of hours put in by the Krew and extra hours (and after hours) by Mako he shows impressive progress. The boss (Lin) tells them they’ll finally be able to wrap this whole thing up and have all these hollywood types out of their hair in 1 more day of shooting. Instead of being thrilled Mako feels a twist in his gut.

After some boring weeks the review copy of the video comes back, rejected for excessive outtakes and Mako is mortified, in the last clip after Wu learns the totally RaDiCaL kitchen basics he says ‘I’m proud of you Wu’ and the note from corporate says ‘X says actor name instead of character name. also that line appears nowhere in the script’

Wu left them an autographed picture of himself from his album photoshoot. It has his phone number on it and they keep it in the back room. Looking at it is torture. Mako resists the urge to call the guy until Bolin talks some sense into him. Wu picks up the phone after half a ring.

[charmingwillow]

It’s been two years since I started writing Stars Shine Bright.

Here she is <3

I know it’s like, kind of an ancient fic at this point, but it was truly a delight to write. I was still living in Japan at the time and just had left my old fandom on slightly bad terms and flew back home for a visit. The plane had all eight of the Harry Potter films and, being an eleven hour flight, I had time-- I marathon’d four and a half of them. It was familiar and comforting, exactly what I needed to move on from my old fandom, and for battling the loneliness of living in Japan. It immediately reignited my love for the story and I spent my entire holiday binging Jily and Wolfstar fic.. and haven’t stopped. 

Shortly after returning to Japan, I started Stars Shine Bright, writing it as a love letter to the ship I’d held close to my heart for eighteen years and filled it with all the things I would have loved to read about during that time. 

Like, Lily seeing Prongs from afar but not know it’s James. Lily going into the Marauder’s room (James’ space) and thinking it smells good, like Amortentia. Or Lily sneaking out of the castle on a full moon, only to be interrupted by James, all serious for once and telling her to go inside. As many scenes of James walking backwards, hands in his pockets, smiling at Lily as I could (there’s a least two... I could’ve done better). An Oh. moment! 

I finished writing it in two months, edited it, and posted it... It’s not perfect- I worry Lily is maybe too emotionally mature for a sixteen year old haha, and I wish I gave more attention to the other characters, especially Dorcas and Marlene’s story line- but I’m still ridiculously proud of it. To the point that I’ve written this whole nostalgic post. 

I do miss that world. I love the outtakes and reading through my old outlines and journals.. I had a huge list of names that I used for students-- I still use it for Found Grace. But mostly I just love the healing this story gave for me. It started like I did-- hurt and moving on from a bad friendship-- and ended with love. Gosh, it’s so corny but that’s a true story. I found a great community when I wrote and published this story. I’m so happy and proud to be even a small part of the Jily fandom, and getting to spend my free time reading about love. It’s truly the best. So I just want to say thanks to you that have read the story, shown support, and given me kind words about it. Thanks for sharing your own stories and helping make the Jily fandom a magical place. 

[professorsparklepants]

@scribeprotra tagged me so here we go. im just doing the ones on my computer bc if i did my phone notes we'd be here all week. the ones in purple are all girl genius; the rest are naruto, miraculous ladybug, mdzs, a narnia/lotr crossover, check please, and one (1) young wizards chatfic

rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and i’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it. and then tag as many people as you have WIPs

80 going on 18

all furries will be blocked

ambient magic is the new black

but suddenly, kid fic

emo eri jpop

everything is okay and nobody is suffering au

gay outtakes

going forth by day

help i've fallen in to ancient egypt and i can't get up

i was enabled into this!

I'M ALWAYS A SLUT FOR FICTIONAL GODS

if im going down im going down screaming about chivalric romance

kushia uzumaki for godaime 2k5ever

little blind and black tiger

magical ice rinks~~~~~

much ado about a midsummer's tale as you like it

over ambitious nonsense

rest in fucking pieces hashirama

shit let's be wizards

sleeping beauty au

sleeping beauty au 2

spectre sibs

susan/boromir 5+1 (split into "Rivendell (the tenth walker)" "Gondor (The Chatelaine)" "Minas Tirth (The Marksman)" "Nurn (The Gentle Queen" "Amon Henn (the Lady of the Horn)" and "The Lone Islands (The Son of Adam)"

the heterodyne twins and the beetleburg cypher

the sleeping prince

the waking princess

[ebaeschnbliah]

Creator of a legend ..... 

Suddenly touched by fame - joy and sorrow of an aspiring author 

Outtake of NRH Halifax

Last time Dr Watson had visited The Strand, his publisher gave him some useful advice regarding the stories he wanted to write about Sherlock Holmes, the extraordinary detective with whom he shares lodgings at Baker Street 221b  (Advice at The Strand).

Dr Watson revised his story .... and it got published.

°

TBC below the cut  (with a lot of pics and all the spoilers)  …

Fierce knocking at his door and loud voices interrupt John, while he is drafting another story for The Strand.

His flatmate Sherlock Holmes and his landlady Mrs Hudson demand entry ... rather forcefully. A very angry Sherlock thrusts a newspaper under John’s nose. ‘Was it you? Did you do this? How dare you?’ Sherlock wants to know and without further ado he pushes the puzzled doctor aside and walks up to the window.  Mrs Hudson watches but remains alarmingly silent.

Looking for help, John turns to his landlady and wants to know what has happended.  ‘You’ve been touched by fame, doctor. Look out of the window’, she tells him calmly .... too calmly for his liking.

As it turns out, a crowd of people has gathered unter the doctor’s window. The moment Sherlock looks out, they start shouting his name enthusiastically. Some of them are waving newspapers in their hands. Outraged Sherlock shouts back at them ‘What do you want? Go away! These are all fantasies, lies! Leave immediately or I’ll call the police! Go away!’  ... without any success. 

‘What are you writing, Doctor?!’ Sherlock demands to know furiously as he turns again to his flatmate. ’You can fantasise as much as you want. You can write about how you dissect frogs. But do not suck me and Mrs Hudson into this abomination! Do not, I repeat, do not write the exact address!’ 

Then, as quick as Sherlock had rushed into John’s room, he’s out of the door again ... the doctor’s boxing gloves tucked under his arm. Before he reaches his own chamber, Sherlock turns on his heels again and calls John a ‘filthy hack writer’. 

Desperate John trys to calm the waves somewhat. He turns once more to Mrs Hudson and assures her that he never meant to insult anybody. Not the best idea, as he finds out immediately. ‘Really? Is that why you described me as an ancient granny?’ Mrs Hudson spits at him angrily. 

John has barely recovered from his shock before a still fuming Sherlock comes at him again and continues his rant. The doctor has hardly a chance to get a word in and Sherlock doesn’t listen to him anyway. He is convinced that his flatmate needs to be punished.

‘I’m going to teach you a lesson’ Sherlock announces emphatically. John stays calm and tries to withstand that storm of anger. Only when Sherlock hints at a  payment of ‘thirty in silver’ and calls John’s pseudonym ‘foppish’, the doctor's patience comes to an end. Apparently a boxing match can’t be avoided. 

(My humble guess .... that ‘foppish’ pseudonym is Arthur Conan Doyle  :)))

John has exceptional fighting skills. Compared to him, Sherlock is less than an amateur. One can safely say that the clever detective is quite talent free in all matters of martial arts. But then, Sherlock knows this very well ....

Calmly John puts on the first boxing glove and the next moment he throws it away with a cry of pain. ‘Well? How does it feel?’ Sherlock asks, both pleased and intrigued, while Mrs Hudson starts screeming in horror. ‘That’s exactly how Mrs Hudson and I feel right now!’, he adds with satisfaction. John is at a loss for words and examines his tormented hand. 

Sherlock carefully gathers his eight legged pet animal and vanishes inside his room ... once more he calls John’s literary activity ‘an absolute abomination’.

Meanwhile Mrs Hudson has regained her composure, but she’s still a far way from being pacified, as Dr Watson soon learns. ‘You paid for the flat until the end of this month. So you’ll have plenty of time to find yourself new lodgings.’ she tells John and rushes downstairs without a further word. 

With a deep sigh of frustration John returns to his own room. He takes the  newspaper with his ‘offending’ story with him. After risking a cautious look out of the window, John sits down and starts reading ...

The satisfied look on his face seems to indicate that Dr Watson ... alias ACD ... is very pleased with his first published story .... ‘A Study in Scarlet’.

The atmosphere of piece and quiet doesn’t last long though before Sherlock calls for his flatmate in a loud voice again. Stay or go .... that’s the question. 

Eventually John decides to follow Sherlock’s call. He opens the door to his flatmate’s room consciously .... and is immediately summoned for a new intriguing case. Sherlock’s rage and anger have dissolved into nothingness. 

But this aren’t the only ripples John’s newly published story causes. While Sherlock works on the case and eagerly searches a dark tunnel for possible traces, Inspector Lestrade uses the time to exchange some words with Dr Watson. It becomes a somewhat one-sided conversation .....

‘Wherever you go, poets are everywhere .....’, Lestrade utters cryptically. John has no idea what the Inspector is driving at. Not yet ... but he feels a bit uneasy .... watching Lestrade fingering his gun in thoughts.

'It’s just me going to work and I don’t write any poems there’, the Inspector continues. And John’s uneasiness increases when Lestrade wants to know how much a writer gets payed for a line. 

Finally the Inspector comes to the point: ‘By the way. Why don’t you write about us? About us simple folk, who guard your peace every day? It’s true, we’re not angles, we’re the same common people who, sadly have to do with criminals, with murderers and with offenders. And there you are, writing some filth about us. For ten pence ...’  

Thankfully John is spared the answer because by now Sherlock has finshed his investigations inside the tunnel and interrupts Lestrade’s outpourings. A change of location is necessary. 

But John is not yet off Lestrade’s hook. At the next best opportunity the Inspector grills the doctor a little bit more.

John tries to enjoy his meal while Sherlock is experimenting and Lestrade continues reading the doctor’s first published story. “Across this bare space there was scrawled in blood-red letters a single word - RACHE” .... ‘You sure can exaggerate’, comments the Inspector. And later he asks sceptically: ‘The murderers are masons?’ John is still at a loss for words.

Luckily the trio has to change the location again. Then the case reaches its peak and there is no time for expressing literary opinions anymore. 

The next day comes. The case is solved. Inspector Lestrade thanks Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson for their commitment. He also adds a stern warning - mainly directed at John - if anything regarding that case should find its way to the newspapers.  

Inspector Lestrade is in a hurry then, because he has to welcome an apparently special and rather distinctive guest at the Yard. A tall, lean man steps out of a carriage. He wears an Inverness Cape and a deerstalker cap and he smokes a pipe while greeting the Inspector gravely. 

Watching the scene, Sherlock has a sudden and quite unexpected proposal for his flatmate. ‘In your stories, John, if you still plan on writing them ... describe me as him.’

John clearly is very pleasantly surprised. Who would have predicted such an outcome after Sherlock’s fit of rage only a short time ago. John has already ideas .....

And he really can call himself a very lucky man, because Mrs Hudson’s wrath has subsides as well by now. :)

°

HALIFAX    part one    part two

A big thank you to @spiritcc  and everyone who made it possible to watch and understand this wonderful Sherlock Holmes adaptation.

Links to watch the series can be found HERE

°

January, 2021

[radramblog]

Radiohead Retrospective Part 5: I forgot what I was gonna call this one

The previous few entries in this retrospective have had a big old lead-in, about where the band was and how the next album came to be. This gets somewhat awkward now, as we discuss Radiohead’s fifth album, Amnesiac.

The issue is, this tracks on this album were recorded in the same session as Kid A, and it was released just over half a year later, so there isn’t as much to talk about. Kid A was, obviously, huge, but its success wouldn’t affect Amnesiac that much. I guess it got a bunch of music videos? Like, Kid A didn’t have singles, so it didn’t have either those or B-sides.

Regardless, despite being recorded simultaneously, Amnesiac is not truly cut from the same cloth as Kid A. It’s a titch more traditional and less electronic, bringing in jazz influences and classical stuff in addition to the electronica the previous album debuted. It also apparently has krautrock influences, but I don’t really know what that means, so perhaps we should just dive into it and find out.

Much like Kid A and Everything In Its Right Place, Amnesiac opens on an electronic line, albeit one that is slightly less iconic. Packt Like Sardines In a Crushd Tin Box (the spelling errors are not mine) is a substantially more muted introduction, driven by a scattered electronic percussion and a very low melody. The lyrics are pretty simple, but “I’m a reasonable man, get off my case” is kind of just a great, memeable line I’m sure people have had fun with.

Packt Like Sardines does unfortunately introduce us to a problem surrounding Amnesiac, and the discussion surrounding it. It is extremely often considered an outtakes album, a smattering of disconnected tracks, and I consider that completely unfair to the album’s design. However, Packt does inevitably invite comparisons to Everything, and it doesn’t compare favourably. I still really like the song, it’s soft and somehow comfortable in its coldness, but Everything is, well, everything.

This theme may continue.

It is exceptionally frustrating that a higher-quality copy of this video isn’t available, because it’s really good.

There was a solid period where I considered Pyramid Song my favourite Radiohead track. It is impossibly deep, and beautiful, and above all else evocative. I have no idea why it’s called the way it is, a name echoing either geometry or the ancient past, but the little piano loop Pyramid Song is built upon is just…so much. The lyrics aren’t especially complex, but they manage to capture a very specific emotion of loss and grief, but of absolution, and just hnnng.

If you didn’t watch the video, by the way, go fucking do that. It might have the graphics of an early 00s video game cutscene, but it is genuinely as evocative and tragic as the song itself. Although according to the comments, Pyramid Song was apparently in Cyberpunk 2077, which on the one hand is cool it exposed a bunch of new people to this baller song, on the other hand it deserves so much better than being in that of all games.

I’m just going to say this ahead of time, I don’t think Radiohead captures beauty so well again until two albums from now.

We go from the utterly iconic Pyramid Song to the significantly less so Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors. I…really don’t know what there is to say about this one. It’s kind of an electronic soundscape more than a piece of music. It technically has lyrics, but they’re so heavily affected that it’s hard to see them as separate from the tune itself. I’ve spoken before about songs that are driving towards a point, that have a clear sense of forward motion from a repeating instrumental that feels like the consistent rattle of a train car. This song sort of has that, but without as much of the energy as those songs often have- it’s like a ride you have no control over. It’s basically fine, but I have no idea when I’d ever go out of my way to listen to this.

Also, what the fuck is a Pulk? That’s actually a word, I’m not getting a red underline like with Crushd, but I’m not sure if it’s an intentional misspelling or not.

The next song, You and Whose Army?, is something I remember as being way less subtle than it is. I mean the lyrics are very clearly directed at a person, and spoilers, it’s UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, but if you don’t know the period, or the band’s politics in general, it’s probably going to go right over your head.

It’s a song with two clear halves. One of them is quiet, muted even, subtle instrumentation over muffled vocals, and the second is swelling, and triumphant, powerful instrumentation over muffled vocals. The second half is a lot of fun, but it wouldn’t feel as paid off were it not for the first, so fair enough. I think I used to like this song a lot more than I do now, unfortunately.

I Might Be Wrong is probably the most traditional song we’ve seen from this band in a minute, huh. A bass-driven track that is unquestionably a rock song, even with more electronic percussion and effects on it. Try listening to this with headphones, by the way- it’s extremely heavily panned, something I picked up on in high school since every pair of earphones I’d get would break in one ear eventually.

Despite the previous track’s eventual energy, I Might Be Wrong conveys the general mood of the album- that is, it’s pretty mellow? Even as the bluesy groove keeps going, the track never gets as intense as even say No Surprises. It’s a bit of a vibe, isn’t it? I especially enjoy the little Afterword the song has, it’s not much but I feel like it really adds to the track as a whole.

Wait how the fuck is You And Whose Army? more popular than this? What 23 million people pop that song on the reg? I don’t understand.

Considering the subject matter of this song, and that I’d never watched it before, I was somewhat apprehensive clicking this music video. And…..yeah………..it sure is like that…..

Anyway so Knives Out is about eating people. Probably? That’s the text of it, the subtext is probably a fair bit deeper than that. Like taking advantage of what people leave behind in their absence in a more general, non-cannibalistic sense. Maybe.

I think this song is the most acoustic/least electronic song on the album? Save for one we’ll get to later, maybe. Its lyrics are kind of gross, but that’s allowed.

I’m somewhat frustrated by the lack of things I can think of to say, because I really like this song. It’s a lot like I Might Be Wrong, in that it’s a more chill rockier song than most of the album, but with a different sort of vibe. Uhh…yeah? Shrug? 8/10, would listen to again.

Anyway, we now hit Morning Bell/Amnesiac as track number 7, and it’s the least subtle reference to Kid A I guess you can think of. I mean, it’s a different version of the same song, much louder and more discordant. Bits of it sound like they could be comforting, but juxtaposed with some of the more distressing elements it’s a bit of a whirlwind.

I can comfortably say that Morning Bell/Amnesiac is A Good Song. However, I can’t really appreciate it as such, for a very silly reason. Since I thought the pun would be good, I had this track as my morning alarm for a very long time, and as a result, I cannot stand listening to it. Let this be a warning, never use a song you like to try and get out of bed, if you want to keep liking it.

Dollars and Cents is another sparse, low rock track that eventually builds into a bigger deal as it goes on. Honestly, it’s kind of hard to make out the instruments, a low cymbal line and loose guitar folding in on each other in the background. It, regrettably, doesn’t quite land on the same stick as many of the other tracks on the album, being basically fine but not really notable? And I think that’s the biggest difference between Amnesiac and Kid A, Amnesiac actually misses. Like, I always forget about In Limbo, but it’s unquestionably a good song. Between many of Amnesiac’s more experimental tracks not living quite up to snuff, and Dollars and Cents being largely okay, it’s no wonder why the album is often seen as the inferior follow-up.

This is not particularly helped by the ninth track, Hunting Bears, a loose guitar instrumental that doesn’t work nearly as well as Treefingers. It doesn’t have the vibe, and it doesn’t fit as cleanly in the middle of the album like that one does. It’s just, kind of, there. I genuinely usually skip it when I listen to this album, but I figured it wouldn’t be fair to do that here. It’s just, kind of, a miss. Pretty short, though- I could believe this originally having been part of Dollars and Cents, like a longer version of the end bit from I Might Be Wrong.

While I know this is a video for both Pulk/Pull and Like Spinning Plates, I associate it more with the latter. Not only is the version of Pulk/Pull very different from the album, well, you’ll see why I think the LSP bit is more memorable.

I think Like Spinning Plates is extremely cool. If nothing else, it’s super interesting how they got this to work. The vocal effect for the first verse was achieved by getting Thom to sing the lyrics, reversing that recording, having him memorise how that sounded and perform that, and then reversing that into the final results. How cool is that? I think it’s cool. Also at some points in the second verse, they’re playing a forwards and backwards vocal track simultaneously, which is a really neat effect.

The instrumental is…hard to describe. Apparently, it was a result of trying to make I Will (which would release one album later), which they reversed and played with to get this track. If you’re very familiar with that song, I suppose you could hear that, but I can’t. I just sit back and appreciate the music.

Amnesiac’s final track is Life in a Glasshouse, easily its most bombastic and jazzy. This sounds like a cabaret closer, a swaggering tragedy, an exploratory rehearsal of a final track. It also kind of sounds like a mental breakdown, which, mood.

There’s like, a whole band on this thing. Horns and woodwinds, a piano and probably more than one percussion element. The clarinet (?) noodling on the song is incredibly fun, giving it an almost playful edge, undercutting the downtempo mood of the song, and keeping it from being such a dirge. Especially as the track builds towards its finale, it’s clear that there was a bit more fun going on here. Of course, it can’t end on such a climax, as that little stitch of paranoia that ends up being the album’s closing word manages to sneak through.

And that ends Amnesiac. Now, obviously, it isn’t as good as Kid A. It’s less consistent, it doesn’t have Idioteque, et cetera. But I don’t actually think the comparison is as one to one as often it appears people do. The styles of the albums are completely different- Kid A incorporating so much ambient and electronic noise while Amnesiac has more of the acoustic and jazzy stuff going on. The two albums may have released closely, and recorded even moreso, but they are extremely different beasts at the end of the day.

It’s far from my favourite album of Radiohead’s, but I wouldn’t fault anyone for having it as theirs, you know.

We’ll get to my favourite album next week, where we will also see if I can either defend or maintain that opinion. Hail to the Thief beckons.

[fishylife]

Back to Field, Season 5, Episode 14 + Outtakes with Producer Zhang

- Mao Buyi was quietly telling Zifeng about how he was worried about performing his new song. It was cute, haha.

- Wang Tao and Huang Lei sharing a chuckle over how serious Yixing, sorry, Zhang PD, is about organizing the concert.

- In a previous season Pengpeng and Meimei had tried to do Xiangsheng XD (Which is like ancient standup)

- Mao Buyi had apparently been a guest on that episode, so they were like “hey, you should do xiangsheng too!” and he was like yeah no thanks lol.

- Wang Tao, Lv Siqing, and Chen Sa practising 一步之遙. I had to look up this song because I definitely recognize it. It turns out 一步之遙 is the Chinese name for Por Una Cabeza

- Mao Buyi helping Meimei with the song she’s singing. The thing is, she’s singing a song that’s meant for a male voice, so she’s singing an octave higher, which is higher than is comfortable for her.

- Construction time!!! My favourite.

- Yixing asked Pengpeng to do a solo dance, which he did do for like five seconds

- The cast laughing at the fact that Yixing literally spends his days and nights working on music, even as the others are eating dinner.

- Basically they said that Zhang Jiashuai was so shook by the musicians' practice that day and he would not shut up about it, so he was inspired and motivated to work on his own music.

- He wanted to adapt and tweak Xiangjiang River but I guess it wasn’t up to his standard so here he is being disappointed in himself lol.

- Then basically the show included a bunch of clips where he was showing his music to other people and how he’d work on it again and again and again. Nothing new here, this is the Yixing we know and love.

- It was super rainy, so the concert had to be postponed. Ouyang Nana also arrived, so now they’re practising with her.

- More edits.

- Literally as they were walking to the concert stage for practice, Yixing got ideas for his music lol.

- Liu Xiaoyi was the stage director :P Basically he was assessing the sound and acoustics.

- Lv Siqing and Mao Buyi were just chillin, and Yixing was like “nahh gotta make more edits.” And then the rest of the cast are just walking around them.

- Nana was super hyper lol. Here she is skipping with Zifeng on the way to the concert.

- Yixing had given his final copy of his song to the sound director (I think it was his sixth copy). He was like “this really is the last version!” And the sound director was like “even if it isn’t the last version, there’s nothing we can do about it,” because they have to finalize the tracks before the concert lol.

- The audience has arrived~

- During Mao Buyi’s performance, Yixing was helping this worker who was making some smoke for ambience lol.

- Yixing went so hard XD

- PENGPENG!!!!!!!!

- XD There is no difference between a concert at a stadium with thousands of people and a concert in the middle of a field with less than 50 audience members.

- I just thought it was cute that Wang Tao was leaning on Huang Lei’s shoulder :3

- Other than the people in the audience, there were people by the roadside enjoying the music too :3 He Jiong gave them a shoutout.

- Sentimental baby recording videos and taking photos of Mushroom House.

- Nana is so cuddly lol

- uwu

- What’s really interesting is that Nana calls Yixing “Lay-ge” as opposed to “Yixing-ge.” Anyway, she asked him to take photos for her and Zifeng :3 So cute.

- Huang Lei already went for a run and he has his obnoxious alarm on blast

- The last meal :(

- Yixing thought that Xiao O’s collar seemed tight so he wanted to fix it for her. And we know how much he loves teasing Xiao O for being a glutton so he was like “you gotta eat less homegirl your collar’s choking you.” He said it was bothering him since yesterday lol.

- Yixing’s hair getting messy on the car ride lol. They were going on one last trip around town, including the trees they planted, and the library.

- At the library they played a game, a race to find the five words 向往的生活 in a random book they chose. Yixing was like “I’m gonna win, because I have the dictionary” XD

- Goodbye Yixing :( He actually looked kind of down as he was leaving?

- Meimei leaving :(

- And now Pengpeng :(

- Of course, the dance

- I’m kind of glad that the series didn’t actually end with the goodbyes, because that would’ve made me way too sad lol. Instead we have bits and bytes of shenaniganery.

- Yixing was the overseeing producer while they recorded their  吹牛皮 song. Of course he was very detailed with his direction. And he was so generous with the praise. I guess that’s his way of motivation.

- Pengpeng was embarrassed lol.

- Lots and lots of praise for Mushroom House’s beloved Meimei. He was like omg have you ever thought of being a singer? Are you interested in joining CHROMOSOME??? This boi istg. It’s cute though. His encouragement keeps the people in the booth relaxed.

- Yixing liked Meimei’s voice, so he asked if she could do harmonizing. She said she couldn’t, so Yixing gave her some instructions. This boy is serious.

- Then he was like “next time you release an EP come find me!!!!!”

- Huang Lei was like “lol Yixing just gave up on harmonies for Pengpeng.” And then he was like “Pengpeng’s career success has just been because he’s gotten people to give up on him” lol.

[consumedkings-archive]

thought it was about time i got things all tidied up in here! all of my writings/one-shots/etc i THINK should be listed and organized under the cut. explicit content will be denoted with a *, with specific warnings prior in each individual oneshot/chapter. thank you! ♡

—DEPUTY ELLIOT HONEYSETT—

MAIN UNIVERSE » ANCIENT NAMES » complete

masterpost

MAIN UNIVERSE » WITCHING HOUR » in progress

masterpost

OUTTAKES & DELETED SCENES » ANCIENT NAMES-ADJACENT

troublemaker • iloveyou • sinful • stay • animals

OUTTAKES & DELETED SCENES » WITCHING HOUR-ADJACENT

—JACOB SEED & ARDEN HALE—

my someplace is here • pareto optimal *

—ISOLDE KHAN X JOSEPH SEED—

let me sanctify you * •  sanctify you, excerpt *

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » HERALD ELLIOT & THE UNHOLY TRINITY

biting down • love made me do it * • a venom dripping in your mouth • vicious traditions • blood on my name • heart of glass, mind of stone • this domain of hunger * • playing with fire, living in sin *

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » ELLIOT HONEYSETT x DIANA BAKER

loose cannon • a test of strength • listen before i go • i'm your man (feat. sharky) *

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » ELLIOT HONEYSETT x WESLEY BROOKS 

too close to stars

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » ELLIOT HONEYSETT x LYRA FAIRBANKS

this can’t happen again

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » PRE/NO-CULT AU

—ELLIOT HONEYSETT x JOHN SEED—

wrap me around your fingertips * • hands all over * • fever * • just like magic • equitable exchange • domestic warfare • golden morning • blue, baby • honey lavender * • party favours

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » ISOLDE KHAN, THE BRIDE OF GOD 

—ISOLDE KHAN & LYRA FAIRBANKS—

our muses are mistaken to be a couple by someone else

—ISOLDE KHAN x AUDRY ROOK—

sugar-coated, the most sweet • sweet little unforgettable thing *

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE » OUR CATHEDRAL IS THE BADLANDS

—ISOLDE KHAN x MICHAEL S. HUGHES—

dreaming of you • stained glass • parental disaster

—HELMI x DEPUTY JESTINY ELLEN—

devour

—ROMAN SIONIS x OFC! VARYA ASTAKHOVA—

MAIN UNIVERSE » CARRY YOUR THRONE

available only on ao3

MAIN UNIVERSE » THE LAND OF GODS & DEVILS

masterlist

ONESHOTS » CYT-ADJACENT

pavlovian * • damage done & damage made

[searchingwardrobes]

Right now over on my website, melanietillman.com , I’ve been reviewing my favorite YA lit series, focusing in particular on series that are classified as “clean reads.” (Some of us want that, okay?) The first two I had already posted here on tumblr, but today’s review is brand new.

And if you want, you can click on the link above and subscribe to my website. Then you can get content, from book reviews to outtakes from my original novels, sent right to your inbox.

So far in this series, I haven’t reviewed a faith-based series. That isn’t for lack of content, however. There are plenty of Christian YA authors. However, to be honest, there aren’t many contemporary YA novels written by Christian authors that I would recommend. Now that I think of it, I don’t really have any YA series to recommend that don’t have an element of fantasy to them. If you think about it, Ally Carter’s teenage spies and thieves are more fantasy than reality. I haven’t given this much thought before, but I think I have avoided realistic YA lit because it tends to be so incredibly depressing, even faith-based content. I get that, believe me I do. Being a teenager isn’t easy, and these books address the struggles teens go through. They definitely have their place, but in this series of reviews I’m leaning more towards reading that’s fun. Call it an escape if you want, but at the end of the day, I’m a firm believer that reading should be fun.

Having said all of that, the two faith-based YA series I will be reviewing are set in medieval times. I know, that isn’t fantasy, but the books are still a way to escape to another time and place. And because of the ancient ideas of chivalry and modesty, they are clean reads.

First up is Jody Hedlund’s Noble Knights series. There are five novels in the series: An Uncertain Choice, A Daring Sacrifice, For Love & Honor, A Loyal Heart, and A Worthy Rebel. There is also a prequel novella called The Vow, which I have not read (I’ll explain why in a bit).

These novels are written in first person going back and forth between the female lead and the male lead. I mention this right off the bat because it has come to my attention that some people don’t like to read books in first person. This floors me, to be honest, especially since first person narrative is extremely common in YA lit (Hunger Games and Percy Jackson, just to name two extremely popular ones). Ally Carter’s books are also written in first person, now that I think about it. Yet on Amazon, I noticed review after review pointing out Hedlund writing in first person and complaining about it. Maybe it's not as common in faith based lit? Maybe these books have more adult readers? At any rate, you have two characters in the Noble Knights series telling the story in their own voice. Two different fonts are used for each character. I actually liked this because it let you know right away what each character was thinking.

I actually didn’t know this was a series when I started, so I read For Love & Honor first. While it’s not confusing reading them out of order, characters do appear in multiple books, and I think you get more out of it if you read them in order. I also wouldn’t read the prequel first. It would just be depressing, in my opinion. I downloaded it on my e-reader because it was on sale for 99 cents, but then never read it. It’s about Rosemarie from book one, and since I already knew it would have an unhappy ending, I couldn’t bring myself to read it.

Speaking of the characters, that was my favorite thing about these books. Each one was so different from the last. You have traditionally handsome heroes like Sir Bennet and Cole Warwick, you have heroes who we are told aren’t obviously attractive like Sir Derrick and Sir Aldric, and then finally you have Sir Colin who uses humor and charm. The women are just as varied. There are the strong and courageous Julianna and Olivia, the intelligent Sabine, the devout Rosemarie, and then the tender-hearted Izzy. I especially loved that not all of these women were running around swinging swords and shooting arrows. I feel like our culture is so obsessed with “bad-ass women,” that we women who are more quiet and reserved wonder if we are weak. There are so many ways to be strong, however, and I nearly wept as I read about Izzy’s insecurities. She thought her tender heart made her weak, but over the course of the story, she realized what kind of strength it actually gave her. For that reason, I related to her, Rosemarie, and Sabine the most.

Since I read Sabine and Sir Bennet’s story first, I want to take a minute to sing its praises. Lady Sabine was born with a skin blemish that she hides with long gloves. If this blemish is ever discovered, she would be branded as a witch, and her chances of marriage forever dashed. Lady Sabine is also unattractive. The entire premise of the story is so rare in fiction, that it moved me deeply. The belief that birthmarks were “marks of the devil” was also a real thing in the middle ages, so it was fascinating to read about Sabine’s struggles.

Speaking of the historical setting, Hedlund portrays it accurately with its arranged marriages, rigid social structures, and faith mixed with ancient superstition. As such, there is violence in these books that sort of reminded me of Kevin Costners’s version of Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves. You know that cage thing that they hung his dad in at the beginning of the movie? The little boy being sent to the gallows? Well, that kind of stuff happens in these books too. So if you’re considering these for a teen in your life, take into account their personality. If they're incredibly tender-hearted (like Izzy!) these books may not be right for them. On the other hand, it could be a wonderful way for your teen to learn more about this historical period.

And speaking of the middle ages, next time I’ll be reviewing an author who takes more of a fairy tale approach to things. Until then, happy reading!