#atlantis three sixty | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dolphlns · 1 year ago

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By Kyle Chayka

"Tumblr is something like an Atlantis of social networks. Once prominent, innovative, and shining, on equal footing with any other social-media company, it sank under the waves as it underwent several ownership transfers in the twenty-tens. But it might be rising once more. Tumblr’s very status as a relic of the Internet—easily forgotten, unobtrusively designed, more or less unchanged from a decade ago—is making it appealing to prodigal users as well as new ones. Tumblr’s C.E.O., Jeff D’Onofrio, told me recently that forty-eight per cent of its active users and sixty-one per cent of its new ones are Generation Z. That’s the same demographic that Facebook and Instagram are concerned about losing. According to the leaked Facebook Papers, the company now known as Meta estimates that teen-age Facebook users are likely to drop by almost half in the next two years."

Tumblr was founded by David Karp and launched in New York City, in February of 2007. (Facebook began in 2004 and Twitter in 2006.) It was built to be a simple, social blogging platform, but its multimedia approach set it apart. Users could design their own home pages; post text, images, gifs, or videos; and follow a feed of others doing the same. Long before Instagram launched, in 2010, Tumblr was a home for curated imagery. “It was right at a time when everyone was getting cell phones; “you could take a picture from your phone and post it on the Tumblr app,” Sharon Butler, a painter who used Tumblr for her art blog, Two Coats of Paint, said. “You could have more text than on Twitter, but it was a cooler community than Facebook.”

The platform became known as a petri dish of Internet quirkiness, cultivating subcultures such as “bronies” (male fans of the cartoon “My Little Pony”) and “otherkin” (people who identify as non-human). In 2013, when Tumblr had seventy-three million accounts, Yahoo acquired it for more than a billion dollars. But, in 2016, the company did a writedown of seven hundred and twelve million dollars on the acquisition after Tumblr failed to grow advertising revenue. When Verizon acquired Yahoo, in 2017, it bundled Yahoo and Tumblr under the parent company Oath. Another blow came when Tumblr issued a blanket ban on adult content—something it had become known for—in December of 2018 and promptly lost thirty per cent of its traffic. The next year, Automattic, the commercial arm of the content-management system WordPress, acquired the site for a reported three million dollars. It was easy to assume that Tumblr was dead.

D’Onofrio, who joined the company as C.F.O. in 2013, became C.E.O. in 2018, when Karp, the founder, departed. Tech companies often focus on anticipating the next disruption to their business model. They copy the competition and attempt to evolve as quickly as possible; hence, for instance, Instagram’s addition of Snapchat-like Stories and TikTok-like Reels. D’Onofrio’s tenure, by contrast, has been characterized by an unusual pursuit of preservation. “We’re not telling people how to behave, not telling them what to do or how to comport themselves here,” he said. (The pornography ban remains an exception.) Other social networks have increasingly siloed users into a small number of optimized content types: short texts, brief videos, pre-made memes. Tumblr is more open-ended, listing various possible post formats with icons at the top of its feed: text, photo, quote, link, chat, audio, video. It’s one of the few social networks where users can still publish entries that resemble blog posts.

The Tumblr users I spoke to, both new and returning, cited a few unfashionable aspects that keep them using the platform. Tumblr’s main feed doesn’t shuffle posts algorithmically based on what it determines might appeal to a user. It’s “a good, old chronological river,” Maryellen Stewart, a social-media consultant who has kept a running diary on Tumblr since 2014, said. (Despite the anodyne nature of her posts, Stewart sometimes gets caught in the overaggressive content filter.) Posts appearing in the feed are undated, and many accounts are pseudonymous, creating a respite from the frenetic exposure of other social media. Users spoke of the platform feeling disconnected from the “real world”—no President would ever try to shape world events with a Tumblr post. “It’s harder to be a brand” there, Karina Tipismana, a twenty-year-old student who uses the service primarily for its text-based jokes and “Succession” gifs, said. “It’s the periphery of the internet; nothing important is happening there.” There aren’t influencers on Tumblr the way there are on Instagram and TikTok, and the experience for all users might be more pleasant as a result. Chris Black, the co-host of the podcast “How Long Gone,” has kept a Tumblr account since 2010 and updates it daily. Titled Words for Young Men, it is a preppy-punk mood board of starlets smoking cigarettes, fashion-shoot outtakes, and design objects, interspersed with Black’s own photos from daily life—a life-style magazine for one. Compared to the public-facing mode that is dominant on Instagram, Black’s Tumblr “is almost more personal, in a way, even though it’s not always images that I took,” he said.

D’Onofrio, the C.E.O., hopes to capitalize on users’ sense of intimacy with the platform. Rather than relying primarily on automated, programmatic advertising sales, he is pursuing individual campaigns with streaming giants such as Disney, Netflix, and Amazon, which see opportunity in the site’s thriving enclaves of various fandoms. According to Tumblr, revenue is up fifty-five per cent since July of 2021. Yet the company currently sees only around eleven million posts a day; Twitter, by comparison, is said to host five hundred million daily tweets. The goal is to maintain “the positivity that we’ve worked so hard to build here,” D’Onofrio said, adding, “It can’t be growth at all costs.”

I recently excavated my old Tumblr account, which I created in 2010 and stopped using years ago. Only three of the accounts I followed were still active, and I relished the silence. Where else on the Internet do you see only a handful of posts a day? The site’s default dark, blue-gray background recalls a bedroom at night, lit only by a screen’s glow. The best part was looking through my own archive and realizing that the Internet ephemera I gravitate toward has remained almost embarrassingly consistent over the past decade: abstract paintings, architecture photos, vintage video games, Wong Kar Wai stills. In the hyper-pressurized environment of social media circa 2022, it’s rare to encounter a past digital self, unless it is being dug up to defame you. What makes Tumblr obsolete, for the moment, are the same things that lend it an enduring appeal. The fact that it maintains a following should remind us that we use social-media services by choice; no platform or feature is an inevitability. As Karina Tipismana, the student, told me, “People say stuff like, ‘I wish we could still use Tumblr.’ It’s there, it’s there!”

#new yorker #tumblr #Kyle Chayka #twitter #reddit #elon #look at me using real hashtags #but seriously did you see the thing about how many gen z users there are #we're everywhere

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newyorkthegoldenage · 3 years ago

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For those who don’t read The New Yorker, you might be interested in this article that was just published. There’s nothing new in it, but it’s reassuring to know that Tumblr is thriving. My only comment is that while half of Tumblr users belong to Gen Z, there are plenty of us who are much older!

How Tumblr Became Popular for Being Obsolete

by Kyle Chayka

In 2013, when Jennifer Forward-Hayter was fourteen, she would log onto the social network Tumblr from the desktop computer in her family’s working farmhouse in Dorset, England. The machine sat on a dark wooden desk in a hall off the porch. “Proper picturesque English countryside,” she said. On the site, she would look at gifs and images from the TV shows “Doctor Who” and its spinoff “Torchwood.” Tumblr was Forward-Hayter’s main access to culture—her rural town had no museums, galleries, or art scene. (She is now a photographer in London.) In late 2016, when she left home for university, her Tumblr use trailed off; there was plenty of cultural discussion to be found at art school. But during the early months of the pandemic, on a whim, she logged back on. “My dashboard”—the main Tumblr feed—“was still weirdly active. People I followed a long time ago were still posting stuff, which I thought was very strange,” she told me. “I fell back into it quite easily.” Since then, she has spent time on Tumblr every day. It has rejoined her regular rotation of social media, alongside its much more popular competitors Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Tumblr is something like an Atlantis of social networks. Once prominent, innovative, and shining, on equal footing with any other social-media company, it sank under the waves as it underwent several ownership transfers in the twenty-tens. But it might be rising once more. Tumblr’s very status as a relic of the Internet—easily forgotten, unobtrusively designed, more or less unchanged from a decade ago—is making it appealing to prodigal users as well as new ones. Tumblr’s C.E.O., Jeff D’Onofrio, told me recently that forty-eight per cent of its active users and sixty-one per cent of its new ones are Generation Z. That’s the same demographic that Facebook and Instagram are concerned about losing. According to the leaked Facebook Papers, the company now known as Meta estimates that teen-age Facebook users are likely to drop by almost half in the next two years.

#Tumblr

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ragingpancake · 3 years ago

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As I Lay Sleeping: Ch. 2 - Sanctuary

Chapter 1

“It’s about time you woke up.” The sun is bright and harsh from the moment John steps outside and he has to lift a hand to help shield his face from its glow. The voice is familiar, he thinks, or it should be and it washes over him like an old song with words he can’t remember, just the melody. “You heard it, didn’t you?” A question, sure, but John thinks she already knows the answer and it’s unsettling because when he lowers his hand, eyes finally adjusted to the light, he peers into hazel eyes and realizes that she knows him. “He said that this would happen. That when it was time, she would call to you.” She holds his gaze for a moment, and she looks hopeful, like she’s just waiting for some spark of recognition, but it never comes. Her face falls just a fraction before she smiles, and he feels so wholly unworthy of that in this moment that it leaves him shifting from one foot to the next a little uncomfortably. “Well, that’s okay,” she says gently, diplomatically. “Rodney said that it was possible this would happen too. Tell me, what exactly do you remember, John?”

Nothing. He remembers a whole lot of nothing and he thinks, based on the look she’s giving him, she already knows that. “Listen, I’d really like to stay and chat, but I’ve got somewhere I need to be.” “Oh really?” She asks, eyebrow raised. “And where’s that?” Okay, she’s got him there. “I can help you, John. That’s why I’m here, to do just that. To help you try to remember. But in order for me to do that, you’re going to have to trust me a little.” Trust. It feels foreign to him, but in the same way that he knows that she’s familiar, he knows that he can trust her. Like maybe he has, before. He thinks back to the voice that spoke to him in the hut, the one that she seems to know. Had she heard it too, then? “Elizabeth,” he says and for a second, her eyes light up and she gives him a smile so genuine that something shifts inside of him. “Yes, that’s right. Very good, John. I’m Elizabeth and a very long time ago, we used to work together. On Atlantis.” Atlantis. Home. Those two words are synonymous with each other, John knows, and it’s the first thing since he woke up that he can be sure of. “Why am I here?” He asks. “Where exactly is here?” Elizabeth gestures for him to follow and from where he’s standing, it’s not like he’s got much of a choice. He has no idea where –-or who—he is, and she seems to be the only one who can provide him with some answers. At least for now, where she goes, he has no choice but to follow. --- They don’t walk for very long. She leads him down to the tree line he hadn’t noticed when he’d first stepped out into the light. There’s a large tree, and it looks like maybe it’s a place she comes often. There are a few logs that she leads him over to and as she sits, she gestures for him to do the same. “Your name,” she says, “is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard of the United States Airforce. We met when you joined the Atlantis Expedition.” She pauses for a moment and he tries to remember, but it’s all still blank. “You were my military commander, leader of our Alpha Gate Team and you were... well, you were my friend.” She gives a small smile, one that seems sad. “We’ve been through a lot together, John. The Pegasus Galaxy, as beautiful as it is, came with plenty of dangers that we were not prepared for. Dangers that we never even saw coming.” “Immediately after arriving in Atlantis, you and a team led by Colonel Marshall Sumner traveled to a nearby planet through what we call a Stargate. It was there that for the first time, we encountered the Wraith. It was then that we... well. I suppose for many, that would’ve been the beginning of the end. But not for you.” Elizabeth is quiet for a moment, lost in her own thoughts like she’s a million miles away. “Elizabeth?” He prompts. “We lost a lot of good people,” she says and her voice is hoarse, thick with emotion. When she glances back up at him, there are unshed tears in her eyes, but she swipes them away almost angrily. “We spent nearly three years fighting the Wraith, doing what we could to protect the people of Atlantis—to protect Earth but it wasn’t... It was never going to be enough.” “Three years after waking the Wraith, after fighting them off of our doorstep more times than we could count, they were bearing down on us. We evacuated the city, got as many people out as we could.” “But we didn’t win.” John doesn’t need his memory to know that; he can see it written all over her face. “No,” she agrees. “No, we did not win. But we didn’t lose, either. Not yet.” John’s not sure what she means by that but before he gets a chance to ask, she’s speaking again. “We are on M7-X732, otherwise known as the Planet of the Cloister,” she says. “It had been abandoned for about a year before we brought you here.” In the sky, the sun is fading and there’s a chill that fills the air. He can feel it, but Elizabeth doesn’t even seem to notice. “You were mortally wounded during the last stand in Atlantis, John. Rodney had come up with a plan in the eleventh hour, like he

always did. The Wraith had woken because we’d inadvertently woken their Queen. They wake when she wakes, they slumber when she slumbers. He needed more time though. You were the one to give it to him and you nearly paid for it with your life.” Hazel eyes flicker to meet his. “That was nearly one hundred years ago.” “That’s not possible,” John rasps and Elizabeth gives him the smallest of smiles. “I can assure you, John, had you not lost your memories, you would know very well that it is. Anything is possible when it comes to Rodney.” She gestures around them. “You got trapped here once. A time dilation field. By the time Rodney had figured it out, you’d spent six months with the people of the Cloister and it was a world where we knew you’d be safe.” “This doesn’t make sense. None of this makes sense.” “I know,” Elizabeth says. “And I’m sorry for that.” She reaches for him then, thin fingers curling around his wrist. “You were put into Stasis, John. The intention was to keep you there until the very last moment, to give you the time you needed to heal. Rodney ensured that no one would find this place, that you would be left undisturbed until it was time for you to wake.” “Wake for what? You said he figured it out, right? This Rodney guy. What do you need me for?” “As we speak, Rodney is back on Atlantis in a Stasis pod of his own. It was a design we took from the Aurora, a sort of shared consciousness so to speak. A virtual reality. For the last one hundred years, he’s shared a reality with the hibernating Wraith Queen, keeping her from waking, keeping the hives from waking.” “He’s losing, John. She’s figured it out, Rodney always knew she would, but he’d hoped it would give you enough time to heal.” “I don’t-- what am I supposed to do?” He can’t even remember his own favorite color, how was he supposed to remember how to find Atlantis, how was he supposed to remember what to do? “Find him,” Elizabeth says. “Find them. Even now, if Rodney’s theories were right, there are sixty hive ships in hibernation just outside of Lantea’s orbit. Find Atlantis. Control the chair. Destroy them all while they sleep.” Well, doesn’t sound like that’s asking for too much. Given the fact that, you know, these things apparently almost killed him a century ago. “And what if I can’t do what you’re asking? If I couldn’t do it before, what makes you think I can do it now?” “When you and Rodney made your last stand, you two were alone, John.” Elizabeth stands and for a moment, turns her back to him. “Spread across four worlds, you will find sarcophagi containing exactly what you need. It would be reckless to try to return to Atlantis now, without your weapons, without your memories. Find each sarcophagus and save our home.” She turns and John is taken aback by how much older she looks now. How... frail she appears. “And what... what about you?” She gives him a rueful smile. “I’ve done my part, John. I’ve watched and I’ve waited for a very long time; I’m very tired now.” She sits down on the log and John pitches forward off of his own, gripping her shoulders gently to keep her upright. “Elizabeth...” “It’s alright.” A wrinkled hand comes up to rest on his cheek and it’s so familiar that John closes his eyes, savoring it for half a second. “I would tell you to be brave, but that’s all you’ve ever been.” “I don’t know where to go,” he says, and there’s panic rising in his chest with each passing moment as she fades away. “Climb the mountain. Go through the cave. I’ll keep the door open long enough for you to pass through. Let... Let Atlantis guide you.” It’s time to go, John. The voice in his head is gentle, mournful and he wonders if Elizabeth can hear it too. He shifts on his knees and he reaches for her, guiding her into his arms carefully before he lays her down against the soft grass. “I’m so sorry, Elizabeth,” because he knows, somehow in his heart, that it’s his wakening that’s caused this. Hazel eyes meet his one last time as a peaceful smile touches her

lips. “When you... find Rodney,” she manages, voice so soft that he almost can’t hear, “tell him... I always knew... it would work.” And then, in much the same way as it was when he awoke in that hut, John Sheppard is alone.

AN: I took some liberties with a few things, mostly the time dilation field and you know, the whole One Wraith Queen to rule them all thing, but I figured since it's an AU... well. Forgive me, please.

#fic: as i lay sleeping #sga/breath of the wild #sga au #john sheppard #rodney mckay #elizabeth weir #ronon dex #teyla emmagan #carson beckett #aiden ford #sga fic #fandom: sga #mcshep #pairing: mcshep #warning: character death

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thiswasinevitableid · 4 years ago

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Could you combine 15 transformation and 18 amulet for Sternclay nsfw, please? Joseph can’t get close enough to any mers to study them because of how deep they live beneath the surface. Thanks to a treasure he found on the beach that’s about to change and a world he couldn’t have imagined is about to open wide.

Here you go! Barclay is an Pacific Octopus in this and Joseph is based on an Orca.

It’s such a small thing. A piece of eight, pierced and strung on a corroded silver chain; the treasure he’s searched for the last two years.

Joseph’s never been so close to tears in his entire career.

He promised his superiors he wouldn’t experiment with occult objects while working alone. But he knows for damn sure that all of them think his beliefs in the occult, or the city beneath the sea, is foolishness, the price they have to pay for an otherwise talented agent.

It’s only due diligence to see if the amulet is dangerous while he’s alone on his boat, rather than near fellow agents or innocent bystanders.

Joseph strips down to his swim trunks, climbs down into the water, amulet wrapped around his fingers so he won’t drop it. Treading water, he slips the chain over his head. His legs twists, heat engulfing his body, and he sinks beneath the waves.

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“Dani, how’s table five doing?”

“Good!” Dani picks up the two plates of seaweed salad, “think it’s slowing down finally.”

“Thank fuck.” Barclay murmurs, turning back to the cutting board. He falls into his rhythm as guests gradually filter and flit away from their tables back onto the street and towards Atlantis proper. His focus is broken by a body colliding with a chair.

“Ouch.”

“Are you okay sir?” Dani, on top of things as always.

“Oh, yes, better than if I’m being honest. I’m just, um, having some trouble with my tail.”

“Right. Uh, here, we only have room at the counter right now, but if you want a table-”

“This is perfect, thank you so much.”

A clamor, and out of the corner of his eye Barclay sees an eight top swim in the door.

“I got him, Dani.” He turns and all eight tentacles freeze mid-task. Sitting on the stool is the most incredible merman he’s ever seen. His short, black hair dusts his forehead, leading his gaze to eyes as blue as the open sea. His torso is lean, a small tattoo on either arm, two scars on his chest, and a stomach that suggests his job requires a great deal of athleticism.

And his tail?

His tail is black and white, smooth rather than scaled, and Barclay wants to wrap all eight tentacles around it while he sinks his teeth into the mers neck.

The other mer notices him, smiles politely, and goes back to studying the menu.

“Do you need a few minutes to decide?”

That perfect brow creases, as if the other mer can’t make sense of what he’s looking at, “Um, what do you recommend?”

“I mean, I like to think everything on the menu is good, but the crab rolls are really good this time of year.”

“I’ll have those then, please and thank you.”

Barclay nods, returns to his station, churning out orders as Dani and Jake bring them, and calling directions to Thacker when the older mer returns from his ten minute break. The entire time, he aches to turn around and watch the newcomer. But even though he can move through his kitchen blindfolded, he’d rather not take off his own tentacle. Sure, it’ll grow back, but last time one got bit off, it threw his whole cooking routine out of whack.

The new mers face lights up when Barclay sets the plate in front of him, and he eats with an enthusiasm that is the sexiest thing Barclay’s seen at work in years. Now and then, the mer starts to float away from his stool, or accidentally takes out the nearby furniture with his tail.

When he’s finished, he compliments Barclay profusely, smiling right up until Barclay tells him how much it will be.

“Oh no. I, I don’t, I can’t pay that.”

“If you’re a few coins short I could discount it-”

“No, no that’s not it. I, I didn’t bring any money with me. It didn’t even occur to me.” He says this last part to himself, carding his hand through his hair, “I’m so sorry, this is entirely my oversight. Is there anything else I can do to cover the meal?”

Barclay bites back his first thought, schooling the tentacle creeping towards the mers hand back into line, “Uh, you know how to wash dishes?”

“Yes. In fact, I’m pretty good at it.”

This does not turn out to be a joke. His new dishwasher is somehow meticulous and efficient, leaving not only the plates but the entire kitchen spotless by the time Barclay tells him he can go. He’s still bumping into things, his tail obviously not doing what he wants it to.

“If you don’t mind waiting a bit, I can swim you home. This neighborhood isn’t as bad as most mers think, but it’s still not a great place to be drunk and alone.

The mer blinks, taken aback, “I’m not drunk.”

Barclay raises his eyebrow.

“Really, I’m not.”

“No offense, but your tail only works like sixty percent of the time and, going from those bruises on your side, looks like you’ve been having that problem most of today.”

“I mean, I have but, um, not for that reason. I’m just very clumsy.”

“O-kay” Barclay’s about to reiterate his offer, but the other mer is already swimming out the door.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry, thank you again for being so understanding about the meal!”

Barclay’s not about to chase down a customer, but his tentacles go a little pale the rest of the night whenever he remembers he never even got his name.

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“My, my good sir, this is quite a treasure trove you’ve brought me!” The merman with a gold and orange tail who introduced himself as Ned Chicane, preeminent archiver of human items. Were they on land, Joseph would be positive that Ned has several warrants out for his arrest. For all he knows, that’s the case down here too, but he hasn’t gotten to learning about the Atlantian legal system yet.

“What can I say, I’m an expert on humans.” Joseph smiles.

“I can make a whole new wing of the museum for these. Now, about your payment, I can give you, hmmmmm, two hundred coins?”

“Five hundred.”

“Two fifty.”

“No.”

“Three hundred.”

“I can just take it all back.”

“Fine, fine, four fifty but now higher.”

Joseph flicks his tail, pleased, “Deal.”

Ten minutes later, he’s cresting the subterranean hills, Atlantis glittering in the distance. The ruins of the sunken city form the skeleton of it’s current incarnation. The whole city is now a reef, a rainbow of coral growing from once proud columns or taking the place of formidable walls. The buildings are made of stone or glass which, upon further research, he learned was made by enchanting sand, in much the same way the coins are. But even there, the stones are speckled with sea plants or coral.

It’s beautiful, and if he has his way he’ll explore every street. He’s already swum the length and breadth of it, half to build up his skill with his tail and half to create a map of it in his mind. The center of the city shines like sunken treasure, unmistakably built and maintained by forces other than nature. The outer neighborhoods are rougher around the edges, more of the houses built into the environment rather than from it. That doesn’t make it any less beautiful.

Besides, it has the best food in the city.

He’s used the same trick of asking what his cook or server recommends to hide the fact he can’t read the language on the menus, and after selling a few things second hand, he stumbled on Ned’s museum and knew he could make enough in one go that he won’t have to surface for several days. None of the places he’s gone can even compare to the first establishment, but he’s been unwilling to go back to it until he’s damn sure he can pay the handsome cook what he’s due.

“Hello again.” He waves politely from his spot at the counter.

The cook turns, tentacles still sitting and chopping and flipping away, “Hey! Good to see you again.”

“I even have money this time.”

“Dunno, might just make you do dishes again. Cutlery’s never looked so good.” He winks. One tentacle sets down a spoon, creeping towards Joseph. Barclay notices, pulls it back, and asks, “what’ll you have?”

“What’s good today?”

The answer is shrimp wraps, seasoned so perfectly Joseph wishes it was customary for merpeople to lick their plates.

“So good” He sighs, more to himself than anyone else, as he watches Barclay work. Do all tentacled mers take up this kind of profession? It seems like mechanics or other hands-on jobs might also benefit. Do they use them to show affection? Is that allowed?

“All done?”

“Yes. It was incredible, just like last time.”

“Glad to hear it. So” his tentacles clear the counter as Barclay continues talking with him, “you enjoying Atlantis? Seems like you’re pretty new here.”

“Very. I’m from a ways away. I...I’ve never seen anything like this place. It’s breathtaking. I’m even getting better at not just bumbling my way down random streets, hoping to find something interesting.”

“Uh, if, if you want, I’m happy to show you around, Can’t get you into hip parties or anything, but I know where all the good food is, and some of my friends work at some really cool places.”

Joseph tries not to squeal with glee, “That would be fantastic!”

Barclay grins, blush creeping up his cheeks, which Joseph sincerely hopes has the same meaning it does for humans, “I get off at sunset.”

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“You know, when I asked you to take me to your favorite place, I suspected it was food based, but I never envisioned this.” Joseph stares at the massive marketplace, the woven seaweed ceiling studded with glowing shells and the floor is filled with miles of stalls, piled high with all kinds of ingredients and delicacies.

As they swim deeper into the market, Barclay stops to examine different foods, chatting with vendors and buying Joseph so many snacks he jokes the mer will have to carry him home.

“Happy to” Barclay rubs his cheek against Joseph’s own. This startled him the first time it happened, but he hid it well enough to not reveal his secret. It seems to be a general expression of fondness between mers, but he gets pleasant chills whenever Barclay’s beard tickles his skin.

The first time it happened, Barclay had taken him to see the massive aquatic gardens that form one of the central rings of town. Barclay’s friend, Duck, is head gardener and was more than happy to answer Joseph’s many, many questions. At some point, Joseph apologized for asking so much. Barclay swam closer, rubbed their cheeks together, and told him not to be sorry for being excited about something.

“I don’t know, I’m not a small mer.” He teases; his height stayed with him when he put on the amulet

Barclay twines three tentacles around his waist and yanks him closer, “Trust me, I could carry you and the groceries home without getting the least bit tired.”

“I see that.” He whispers.

The mer leans in a millimeter then stops, letting Joseph go, “C’mon, gotta show you the place with the best sea blossom wine you’ve ever had.”

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“This was incredible, thank you so much for bringing me.” Joseph bumps their shoulders together as they swim out of the Atlantis History Museum. The other mer’s face lit up when Barclay showed him where they were, making him so handsome that Barclay nearly missed his tentacles trying to pet his tail. Joseph will swim arm in arm with him, rub their cheeks together, even dance with him the one time they went to a party that didn’t involve Duck eagerly teaching Joseph new board games and Aubrey beating him at them. But getting felt up is a conversation they haven’t had yet.

At least he finally got an explanation for why Joseph seems so lost at times; apparently, the town he’s from is so remote, the dialect of Atlantian he knows is different enough from the standard that he can’t read the signs in the city. Which meant Barclay read the informational plaques in the museum to him. His throat is a little sore from all the talking, but Joseph’s delight is more than worth it.

They say goodnight, Joseph keeping them cheek to cheek in order to hug him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He’s nearly out of sight when Barclay realizes he still has the robe Joseph bought as a souvenir in his bag, so he swims after him, using his tentacles to track his trail when he loses sight of him. Soon he’s outside the bounds of the city and wondering where in the hell Joseph even lives, because the homes out here are sparse.

When Joseph turns surfacewards, Barclay wills his tentacles to propel him faster; doesn’t the other mer see the hull of the boat above them? Someone could see him, hurt him, or he could get sliced by a motor.

Barclay’s about to call his name when Joseph breaks the surface. The words die in his mouth, their corpses floating out and away in the tides as his friend’s tail turns to legs. He swims upwards, and when he peeks into the air a human with an unmistakable face is drying himself off on the deck of the small boat.

“What the fuck, Joseph?”

“SHIT!” Joseph jumps backwards, startled, then seems to register who Barclay is, “shit, Barclay, I can explain everything.”

“You don’t need to, it’s pretty fucking obvious you’re human and you’ve been pretending to be a mer for, for what? So you can tell the other humans where we are? How to catch us?”

“No” Joseph drops to his knees, shuffling to the edge of the ladder, “no, never. I’d never let anyone hurt you, or any other mer. I’m an FBI agent, with an assignment to learn whether or not merfolk exist and, if they do, what that means for humans. I...I’ve searched for some kind, any kind of proof that mers exist, and that led me to this” he holds up the necklace he always wears, “which transforms me into a mer.”

“So I was what, a research subject?” Barclay crosses his arms to cover the crack he’s certain his forming in his chest.

“A guide. A friend. Barclay, I thought Atlantis was more incredible and wondrous than anything else in the world. Then I met you, and saw it could be even more wonderful when seen through the eyes of someone I care about.”

“If you care about me, why did you lie to me?”

“I didn’t want to blow my cover. Even if I told you, if the word got out that I was really human, everyone else may have barred me from the city. Kept me from all the things there are to learn. Kept me from you.”

Barclay wants to say it’s fine, that he understands and isn’t angry, that he’ll see him tomorrow. But his heart feels like it’s been dragged across miles of jagged rock.

“Well, good news, Joseph. The rest of the city won’t keep you from me, because I don’t wanna see you for a long, long time.”

He sinks before Joseph can reply and trawls the sand all the way home, too tired to swim.

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

Joseph stays out of the water for two weeks. He sails into port, stocking up on supplies and using the wi-fi in the little library to send in his reports. He’s never lied in a report before. First time for everything.

When he finally slips the amulet on again, the plan is to swim the opposite direction of Atlantis, looking for new pockets of mers to learn from (and how aren’t angry with him). The trouble is, he’s only submerged for a few minutes when his whole body shudders and his head aches. He feels feverish, frantic, like he’s on the edge of the panic attack. Then he’s in the center of a panic attack because he realizes his foggy and pounding head has led him the wrong direction and he’s now floating aimlessly through a familiar neighborhood. Then his abdomen cramps and he doubles forward with a groan.

“Joseph?”

He manages to turn, finds Barclay peering out his door, worried.

“H-hi. I, I didn’t come here on purpose, I swear. I, I don’t know what’s happening. I feel sick.” He closes his eyes as another shudder rattles his spine.

A tentacle gently wraps around his wrist, guiding him into the house, “Joseph, I-”

“Wait, please, let me say something first. I, I’m so, so sorry Barclay. I should have told you sooner, should have trusted you, you deserved to know I was human. I never meant to hurt you, but I did, and I hope you know I regret it with every fiber of my being.”

Strong arms loop around his shoulder and a coppery beard tickles his cheek, “Apology accepted. Yeah, it fucking sucked to find out you’d been lying but, uh, I realized I didn’t want to lose you. I just couldn’t figure out how to reach out again and I didn’t wanna fuck things up.”

Joseph clings to him, “Thank the lord. I have no idea how severe this illness is, and if it turns out to be fatal I didn’t want to die without you knowing how much you meant to me.”

Barclay laughs, the most confusing reaction possible.

“You’re not dying, Joseph. You’re in heat.”

“.....I didn’t know that was a thing that could happen. How could you even tell?” He pulls back, finds Barclay’s pupils so wide his eyes look black.

“I can smell it. Most mers can, but these suckers are especially sensitive to it” he wiggles his tentacles.

“So I need to get off and I’ll stop feeling like this, right?”

“Basically, yeah. You’ll probably be really horny for a few days, but the aching and stuff will stop. Oh, that probably feels like you’re dying; if you didn’t know this was a thing you could experience, your body probably thought all the adrenaline you’re supposed to use to help you have a bunch of sex in a short amount of time was a sign something was seriously wrong.”

“That makes sense.” He tentatively rubs his stomach, trying to make the muscles ache less, “uh, how should-”

“Oh fuck, right, uh, I’ve got a little guest room. You can hole up there if you want.”

He’s so sweet. He’d be such a good mate.

“I’ve got a few toys too. I could, uh, clean ‘em so you can use them.”

He’s thoughtful too.

Joseph shakes his head to clear his increasingly Barclay-focused thoughts, “Thank you. I’ll use the room but not the toys. The problem is I, um, literally don’t know what to do.”

“.......”

“......I figured out how to go to the bathroom but that was the extent of my exploration of that area.”

“.......you didn’t get the least bit curious?”

“I had lots of other things to focus on. I didn’t have time to masturbate when there was an entire civilization to learn about!”

Barclay full on guffaws, draping his arms around Joseph’s shoulders, “That is the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever, babe.” He nuzzles Joseph’s hair, several tentacles gently stroking the tip of his tail.

“Barclay? Will you, um, will you help me?”

A darker chuckle, “That’s cute too. My favorite interloper needs me to help him find his dick.”

“Ohmylord” He shivers as the hold on his tail tightens.

“Got yourself the best fucking body I’ve ever seen on a mer but not idea how to make it feel good.”

“Barclay please” He whines, only for a tentacle tip to press against his lips, shushing him while Barclay firmly but tenderly rubs his back.

“I’ll help you babe, don’t worry. First you gotta tell me how you like it.”

“I, um, I like being tied down. And given orders. But, but we don’t have to do any of that if you don’t want to. All I want is to be with you.”

“I wanna be with you too, babe. And I’ve got an idea.” The mer guides them into his bedroom; it’s so charmingly Barclay-like, pictures of food and friends on the walls, deep green and blue in the windows and the glass containing the lights.

“Lay down for me.”

Joseph wriggles down onto the bed. Barclay opens a carved coral dresser, pulling out two lengths of seagrass rope. He settles at the foot of the bed, begins tying one rope around the base of Joseph’s tail as his tentacles caress the black and white skin, “I’ve wanted to touch your tail since we met.”

“I c-could tell.”

“That why you were always waving it in my face?” Barclay ties the rope to one of the bedposts.

“I did no such thing.”

A tentacle tightens around his waist, “Don’t lie, babe.”

“Okay, I did it once or twice.”

“That’s better. Wrists in front of you.”

He obeys instantly. Soft green rope twines around his wrists, Barclay checking to be sure it’s not too tight before lifting his hands to his mouth to kiss each in turn.

“Now, here’s what you’re gonna do. Since you’ve got no idea how to get off, I’m gonna tell you exactly what to do. Then you’re gonna reward me like the well-behaved mate I know you can be.”

“Holyshityes.” He strains up to kiss him. Barclay obliges, kisses slow and deep until heat rippled up and down his tail.

“Let’s see” Barclay continues kissing him, cupping his face in his hands, as two tentacles tease the upper part of his tail, “guessing you don’t know what kind of set-up you have.”

“Not at all. You’ll have to explain it to me. Which is in stark contrast to how I usually have to explain my dick to partnersOH, ohshit” He bucks his hips as one tentacle presses a sensitive patch of his tail.

“There it is. Start touching there, you should be able to reach it.”

Joseph slides his hands down to where the tentacle is still tormenting him with pleasure. Barclay pulls back, watches hungrily as Joseph rubs himself. Whenever the sensation intensifies the tip of his tail curls, so he chases those sensations.

“Go faster.”

He moves his fingers in swift circles, gasps as a slit begins opening beneath them.

“That’s it babe, open up for me.”

“I, it’s, ohwhatthefuck?” small tendrils emerge from the slit, three of them curling around his fingers. He tugs experimentally and moans when it sends a wave of delight from head to tail.

“Oh this is gonna be fun” Barclay watches his hand toy with the tendrils, the thicker ones hardening when he rubs them, “you’re doing so good, Joseph, you’re getting the hang of it real fast.”

“ThaAAAAnk you.”

“Get some of those fingers inside, babe, fuck yourself for me.”

He pushes two fingers in, his body slick and oddly ridged the further he gets. Joseph has to curl forward to go deeper, whimpering as the tendrils catch and tug on his hand.

A tentacle wraps around his tail and twists, making him cry out in surprise and delighted pain.

“What part of fuck yourself was unclear?”

He moves his fingers faster, adds a third one and hears Barclay growl in reply.

“How’s that feel?”

“Good, so good, fuck, Barclay, I think I can cum from this.”

“You better. Keep playing with those upper tendrils, they’ve got more nerves in them.”

“Nnngh” following Barclay’ instructions sends a spike of pleasure into his stomach, “shit, I never cum this fast.”

“Could be the heat” Barclay swims closer, “or being a mer instead of human. Or maybe” a slit opens in the fold between his front tentacles, “maybe you just needed someone to tie you up and boss you around the right way, because you’re a horny little thing who needs to be put in his place.”

“Ohfuck.” He cums, tightening around his fingers, tingling from the slick they’re now coated in. It’s much slower than a human orgasm, and as he shakes and whimpers Barclay uses all the appendages he can to soothe his burning muscles and caress his too-sensitive skin.

“That was so good babe. You pick stuff up so quick, you’re so smart, love that about you.”

“Lord almighty” he gulps down oxygen, “if it’s that good on my own, I can’t wait to see how it is with you.”

“You still wanna do that now? We don’t have to, you can rest, I can bring you lunch-”

“Barclay, if you do not claim your reward right now I’ll, I’ll” he searches for a threat, but all he comes up with is, “I’ll find someone who will.”

A tentacle yanks his wrists up and back, pinning them above his head.

“Not a fucking chance, babe. Why do you think I tied you down? You’re all mine” another tentacle drapes across his neck, “and you’re gonna do what I want, for as long as I want you to.”

“Yes” Joseph arches off the bed, allowing Barclay to loop an arm beneath his shoulder blades. His free hand rests on Joseph’s hip, keeping him in place as a long, ridged cock presses into him, “shit, Barclay, that’s incredible, fuck that feels good.”

“Glad to hear it, handsome, because that’s where my cock is gonna stay for at least the next hour.” He rocks his hips, and Joseph’s tendrils cling to the base of his cock, making Joseph moan with every motion.

Barclay pauses, looking down with a thoughtful expression, “You know one of the best things about this kind of set-up?”

Panting, he shakes his head.

“You can take a whole hell of a lot at once.” With that, two tentacles shove in alongside his cock.

“SHIT!” He thrashes as Barclay snaps his hips, his cock driving deep with every thrust and the tentacles writhe and press and stroke, and at this rate he’s certain he’ll lose his voice

Barclay brings them face to face, “H-here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m gonna kiss you, and you’re gonna kiss back like a good mate, and you’re not gonna stop kissing until I cum. If you’re gonna scream and beg like a needy little mer, it’s gonna be only me that hears it, not the, fuck, the whole fucking neighborhood.”

Joseph nods and Barclay smashes their mouths together. To his joy, he discovers that gills mean you can kiss for as long as you want without stopping to breathe.

When Barclay comes it’s with the most delicious sound he’s ever heard. The two tentacles alongside his cock press Joseph further open, which turns out to be very necessary because Barclay immediately begins fucking his cum back into him. At that sensation, Joseph cums a second time, wrists twisting in the rope.

Barclay grins at him, “You see how things work now?”

“Definitely. But, um, I think I could use as many demonstrations as you’re up for.”

“In that case, babe, it’s time for your next lesson. Open your mouth.”

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

“Hey Barclay, Dani asked me to drop--woah, what the fuck happened to you?” Aubrey takes in his disheveled state and the bite marks covering his chest.

“Joseph and I made up.”

“Clearly. Didn’t know humans bit during sex.”

“I think that might just be a him thing. Uh, what did Dani want?”

“We made some cookies! They were supposed to be a feel-better present, but I guess now it’s a” she bounces her eyebrows “congratulatory one.”

“Get outta here you” Barclay smiles, “and tell Dani thanks.” He waves goodbye, shuts the door, and carries the treats into the bedroom where Joseph is fucked out and fast asleep. He knows Joseph has to go to the surface today for work, but they can eat these when he gets back. After all, they’ve decided they’re mates now, and Barclay couldn’t be happier.

He should probably get him a guide to learning Atlantian, though. He;s gonna flip his shit when he finds out about the Atlantis Library.

#sternclay #agent stern/ Barclay #mermay #mermay fills

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theyearoftheking · 4 years ago

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Book Sixty-One: Under the Dome

“We’re calling it the Dome... but it’s not a Dome. At least, we don’t think it is. We think it’s a capsule whose edges conform exactly to the borders of the town. And I do mean exactly.”

I’ll be the first to admit... I threw some shade at Under the Dome. To be fair, I threw a metric shit-ton of shade at Under the Dome. And I will also admit, this book did not deserve my snotty comments, my shade, or my dread.

Under the Dome is a fantastic book. I mean that in the most sincere, un-shady way possible. The mounting sense of dread, the varied cast of characters and their development, the struggle of good versus evil... I loved all of it. I would not classify this book as horror, it’s a complete psychological read, despite the horror that occurs under the dome. So, please recommend this to your, “I don’t like Stephen King, he’s gross!” friends. But if you are a Constant Reader, there are plenty of Easter eggs to keep you amused:

Shawshank Prison

Castle Rock

TR-90

“Lit out for the Territories”

“Exactly like in that movie The Mist”

Derry

“Gunslinger style”

The plot of the story is pretty basic: a large, impenetrable dome goes up and around the town of Chester’s Mill. Airplanes that fly into the dome explode, cars violently crash... there’s no way in or out of Chester’s Mill.

The town pretty quickly breaks off into two factions: the power hungry who want to control the resources and the people (headed up by the uber-douche and Second Selectman Big Jim Rennie); and the people who want solutions, and to help one another (headed up by short-order cook and former Special Forces Operator Dale “Barbie” Barbara, and Julia Shumway, owner of the local newspaper).

Big Jim Rennie takes a novel approach (sarcasm font) and feeds on the fear of the citizens. He starts limiting access to propane tanks, groceries (he incites a riot outside the grocery store), and healthcare. Meanwhile, he’s kicked back in his bunker, enjoying temperate climates, and eating all the food his fat ass and time-bomb heart can handle. It would be funny if we hadn’t just lived through four years of it...

If 2020 (well, the entire Trump presidency, TBH) has taught us anything, it’s that people make conservative choices when they are afraid. As a result of the fear, Big Jim ends up putting together a police force of high schoolers, complete with armbands and everything. The only thing missing were Proud Boy’s t-shirts.

Big Jim uses his popularity and the fear to convince the town Barbie is guilty of several murders (murders Jim and his psychotic son actually committed); and then he burns down the newspaper building; because he didn’t want Julia to publish anything untoward about him, or his police force’s efforts.

Meanwhile, no one wants to talk about the fact all the propane tanks are stored at a Christian music radio station, which is secretly hiding a meth lab. Of course Big Jim knows all about that... how do you think he’s made his money? It sure wasn’t at his used-car lot.

Oh, we also get a Corgi’s narrative voice, which was adorable. You can tell Steve really stretched his creative muscles with this one. I mean, he had to... the book is over a thousand pages long.

Chaos ensues, people die, the temperatures under the dome rise (literally), and the air quality gets worse and worse. Barbie, Julia and their rag-tag crew of community members (Romeo Burpee is my personal favorite) and neighborhood kids figure out what is causing the Dome, and they’re able to save the day. Kind of. I mean, a lot of people are dead, but at least the Dome is gone. Oh, and Big Jim dies of a heart attack. Which is honestly too good of a death for him. I could have come up with a million more creative ways for him to die. But we don’t always see the justice we want. Someone put that on a coffee mug, please.

There were two fun surprises. The first, was a Jack Reacher cross-over I wasn’t expecting. Jack gave a citation to his girl Jackie Wettington (Chester’s Mill police officer). That was a fun tip of the cap to Lee Child. I will only reference Jack Reacher books; because Tom Cruise is a gross human being that I refuse to acknowledge. Despite the massive crush I had on him in the second grade. It was the era of Cocktail. Sue me.

Speaking of crushes, one of my other boos is mentioned as well! My man Lester Holt! I listen to Dateline podcasts almost every single day. No joke. He has those dulcet, angelic tones that make my drive time so much better.

I just... Sigh. I need to stop fucking reading these books. The similarities between some of these stories and our current world is just too much. I couldn’t stop picturing Trump during every Big Jim scene. He claimed his actions were for the good of the community, but it was all about power and money. “...and praying, unaware that his prayer was basically a series of demands and rationalizations: make it stop, none of it was my fault, get me out of here, I did the best I could, put everything back the way it was, I was let down by incompetents, heal my heart...”

At least our Kamala/Commala prophecy came true, right? That has to be a sign that better days are ahead.

Total Wisconsin Mentions: 40

Total Dark Tower References: 56

Book Grade: A+

Rebecca’s Definitive Ranking of Stephen King Books

The Talisman: A+

Wizard and Glass: A+

Under the Dome: A+

Needful Things: A+

On Writing: A+

The Green Mile: A+

Hearts in Atlantis: A+

Rose Madder: A+

Misery: A+

Different Seasons: A+

It: A+

Four Past Midnight: A+

Stephen King Goes to the Movies: A+

The Shining: A-

The Stand: A-

Bag of Bones: A-

Duma Key: A-

Black House: A-

The Wastelands: A-

The Drawing of the Three: A-

The Dark Tower: A-

Dolores Claiborne: A-

Nightmares in the Sky: B+

The Dark Half: B+

Skeleton Crew: B+

The Dead Zone: B+

Nightmares & Dreamscapes: B+

Wolves of the Calla: B+

‘Salem’s Lot: B+

Song of Susannah: B+

Carrie: B+

Creepshow: B+

From a Buick 8: B

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: B

The Colorado Kid: B-

Storm of the Century: B-

Everything’s Eventual: B-

Cycle of the Werewolf: B-

Danse Macabre: B-

The Running Man: C+

Cell: C+

Thinner: C+

Dark Visions: C+

The Eyes of the Dragon: C+

The Long Walk: C+

The Gunslinger: C+

Pet Sematary: C+

Firestarter: C+

Rage: C

Desperation: C-

Insomnia: C-

Cujo: C-

Nightshift: C-

Faithful: D

Gerald’s Game: D

Roadwork: D

Lisey’s Story: D

Christine: D

Dreamcatcher: D

The Regulators: D

The Tommyknockers: D

Next up is Full Dark, No Stars... which, wow. I’m still turning the stories over in my head a week later. My apologies- I’m a bit behind blogging, but you’ll be reading my musings soon.

Until next time, Long Days & Pleasant Nights, Rebecca

#under the dome #stephen king #constant readers #jack reacher #lee child #the dark tower #tom cruise #cocktail #the year of the king #lester holt #dateline

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atlantisgrand · 5 months ago

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personally-im-feeling-pantastic · 5 years ago

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Stargate Atlantis Rewatch Season 1 Episode 11: The Eye

Rodney just stepped in between Kolya’s gun and Weir (not like as he was shooting or anything, they were still having a conversation where they were trying to convince him not to kill Elizabeth, but still)

Sora is also now trying to convince him not to kill Weir.

Whew, Rodney managed to convince him not to kill Weir.

And now John thinks that Weir is dead, so that’s great. Also, he’s probably going to go tell everyone in the jumper.

How do three grown adults, one of which being a scientist not know what the eye of a storm is?

And the Genii have figured out how to use the life signs detector in the city (but haven’t found any pocket sized ones), and are trying to use teamwork to track down Sheppard. Sheppard has a handheld life signs detector, and is evading them.

Also, Rodney hopefully has a plan to both fix the grounding tower and get rid of Kolya.

John, babe, what the hell are you doing?

Okay, they just forgot what the eye of a storm was in the panic, which is understandable.

John’s hanging in the rafters. Man after my own heart.

It’s kinda hard to make a secret plan in front of your guard when you have to yell to be heard by your co conspirator.

The infamous DON’T TOUCH box!

Also love John’s face when he’s looking at this. Like “am I really gonna do this?” and “I’ll never hear the end of this, even if I don’t fuck everything up.”

Love that the Genii are just so fed up with him. “What’s he done now” They don’t even really care about him as someone who has killed their people anymore, it’s just like he’s caused them another annoyance (he turned the power off to the control room, that’s what he did btw).

Teyla, Carson, and Ford just arrived!!! With their own life signs detector!

“How do we know which [dot is] the Major?”

“He’ll be the dot getting rid of the other dots.”

Honestly, this line feels like it’s super iconic, even though I couldn’t remember it until it was said.

I am honestly so shocked that Sheppard did this, because it seems like a whole different kind of warfare (like the war crimes kind), but Sheppard just put up the shield to the gate while the Genii’s reinforcements were coming in, which means that almost all sixty of the people walking into the gate on the other side are going to die, and they’re just going to keep walking in because there’s no way to tell that the shield’s up.

That was honest to god horrifying. My mouth is still hanging open.

Ford is getting darker and darker as this show/story arc goes on. I don’t think I noticed it when I first watched this, or if I did, I didn’t notice the significance.

John, I don’t think that you should be giving Ford any more encouragement to be harming people this episode.

Okay okay I know that this is an Emotionally Significant moment/fight involving grief, but my horny wlw lizard brain cannot stop thinking homoerotic knife fight hot homoerotic knife fight hot homoerotic knife fight hot homoerotic

“I DON’T KNOW IF YOU’VE NOTICED, BUT I’M AN EXTREMELY ARROGANT MAN WHO TENDS TO THINK ALL OF HIS PLANS WILL WORK”

God, Teyla just threw a knife down into the floor so hard that it stuck there...not stabbed it by the way, she threw it.

Why is Rodney’s bandage over his sleeve? Like not even his shirt sleeve, his jacket sleeve too. At least like twelve hours after they saved the city.

Oh, that explains this, Rodney bandaged his arm himself, and this either means that he doesn’t know how to do this, he was trying to get maximum attention, or, more likely, both.

I should mention that Rodney’s also walking with his arm held out in front of him, which I find inexplicably adorable.

#stargate #stargate atlantis #sga rewatch #sga #teyla emmagan #sora #kolya #the genii #elizabeth weir #carson beckett #lieutenant ford #rodney mckay #john sheppard

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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DC FanDome: Schedule, Date, Time, and How to Watch

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Fans hoping for major DC news in lieu of an actual San Diego Comic-Con are definitely going to get just that at DC FanDome, a digital event designed to be watched at home like a real con.

Originally set up as one epic night of panels and reveals, DC announced that it will be splitting FanDome into two separate and distinct events: Hall of Heroes, which will be held in late August, and WatchVerse in mid-September.

The August date still holds most of the big-ticket items. It’s billed by DC as “an epic world designed personally by Jim Lee featuring special programming, panels and exclusive reveals from a wide variety of films, TV series, games, comics and more.” Functionally, it’s the Hall H of FanDome.

This DC FanDome trailer gives fans a good glimpse at what they can expect from the event:

Here’s everything else you need to know about DC FanDome:

DC FanDome Date and Time

The first DC FanDome event, Hall of Heroes, kicks off on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 1 pm ET. Sign up to watch here!

DC FanDome Schedule

Here’s a rundown of all the panels happening during DC FanDome: Hall of Heroes. The panel descriptions below are courtesy of DC. All times are ET:

1:00 PM – Wonder Woman 1984 Panel

“Wonder Woman 1984 stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal, and director/co-writer/producer Patty Jenkins join forces with Brazilian hosts Érico Borgo and Aline Diniz to celebrate the fans in a big way. They will answer questions from fans from all over the world, talk fan art and cosplay, and reveal an all-new sneak peek at the upcoming film — plus a few more surprises!”

1:25 PM – WB Games Montreal Announcement

“Gamers! You won’t want to miss this first look at an exciting new game, and Q&A with its developers.”

1:45 PM – The Sandman Universe: Enter the Dreaming Panel

“Neil Gaiman, Dirk Maggs, G. Willow Wilson and Michael Sheen discuss the legacy of The Sandman comic book series and how it has been expanded with new stories, adapted into new mediums, and enthralled audiences around the world.”

2:15 PM – Multiverse 101 Panel

“Get schooled in this engaging refresher course on the creation of the Multiverse with DC Chief Creative Officer/Publisher Jim Lee, Warner Bros. Pictures President of DC-Based Film Production Walter Hamada, and Berlanti Productions founder/DCTV mega-producer Greg Berlanti.”

2:40 PM – Flash Movie Panel

“This 101-style conversation with The Flash filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, star Ezra Miller and screenwriter Christina Hodson will give fans a speedy rundown on the first-ever Flash feature film.”

2:50 PM – Beyond Batman Short

“The Batman of Swinging Sixties culture clashes with the Batman of the far-flung future when Batman Beyond and his mentor, Old Bruce Wayne, intercept a broadcast of the 1966 Batman TV show!”

2:55 PM – The Suicide Squad Panel

“What else would you expect from The Suicide Squad but the ultimate elimination game? First up, writer/director James Gunn takes on fan questions, then brings out Task Force X for a fast-paced, no-holds-barred Squad Showdown that tests every team member’s Squad knowledge — and survival skills!”

3:40 PM – BAWSE Females of Color within the DCU Panel

“What’s a BAWSE? Find out here as some of the hottest actresses across DC television and film sit down with celebrity DJ D-Nice and Grammy-winning singer/actress Estelle to discuss how they use their confidence and vulnerability to navigate their careers in Hollywood. Panelists include Meagan Good (SHAZAM!), Javicia Leslie (Batwoman), Candice Patton (The Flash), Tala Ashe (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Nafessa Williams and Chantal Thuy (Black Lightning), and Anna Diop and Damaris Lewis (Titans). Catch the entire full-length conversation at McDuffie’s Dakota in the DC WatchVerse.”

4:00 PM – Legacy of the Bat Panel

“Calling all Batman fans! Don’t miss this discussion on the wide scope of the Batman universe, including the Batman Family of characters. Key talent from comics, TV, and games will provide insight into the world of Caped Crusader.”

4:30 PM – Joker: Put on a Happy Face

“Featuring interviews with filmmakers and industry legends, discover the origins and evolution of The Joker, and learn why the Clown Prince of Crime is universally hailed as the greatest comic book Super-Villain of all time.”

4:45 PM – Surprise DC Comics Panel

TBA

5:10 PM – I’m Batman: The Voices Behind the Cowl Panel

“Everyone has their favorite Batman. But for audiences around the world, their favorite Batman has a local sound. It’s time to meet the voices behind the cowl. Hear what it’s like to be one of the many global vocal actors portraying the Dark Knight when the Super Dubbers, who lend their talents to the Caped Crusader on screens big and small all over the world, come together for the first time ever.”

5:30 PM – The Snyder Cut of Justice League Panel

“Zack Snyder fields questions from fans and a few surprise guests as he discusses his eagerly awaited upcoming cut of the 2017 feature film and the movement that made it happen.”

5:54 PM – The Flash TV Panel

“Executive producer Eric Wallace joins cast members Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Nicolet, Kayla Compton, and Brandon McKnight to discuss all things Flash with Entertainment Weekly’s Chancellor Agard. Team Flash will break down both parts of season six and look ahead at what is to come with an exclusive trailer for season seven. Fans will also get a look at the exclusive black-and-white noir episode ‘Kiss Kiss Breach Breach,’ which will be available on The Flash season six Blu-ray and DVD on August 25.”

6:10 PM – Black Adam Panel

“Star of the first-ever Black Adam feature film Dwayne Johnson sets the stage for the story and tone of the new movie with a fans-first Q&A…and a few surprises.”

6:30 PM – CNN Heroes: Real Life Heroes in the Age of the Coronavirus

“While DC features iconic fictional Super Heroes recognized around the world, CNN Heroes shines a light on real-life, everyday people making a difference in their communities. Now, as the global Covid-19 pandemic has turned all of our worlds upside down, CNN’s Anderson Cooper introduces you to the frontline workers, advocates, neighbors, and friendly strangers who are coming together to help us through this crisis.”

6:50 PM – Titans TV Panel

“’Titans are back, b*tches!’ That phrase kicked off an explosive second season of Titans that culminated with the long-awaited emergence of Nightwing as their leader and the tragic death of one of their own. And as a new mysterious threat looms, season three promises to be the biggest yet! Join executive producer Greg Walker and series stars Brenton Thwaites, Anna Diop, Teagan Croft, Ryan Potter, Conor Leslie, Curran Walters, Joshua Orpin, Damaris Lewis, with Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly for a preview of the new season as well as a discussion on the ‘Fan Favorite Moments’ of the first two seasons.”

7:05 PM – Aquaman Panel

“Aquaman director James Wan and King Orm himself, Patrick Wilson, take a deep dive into the world of Atlantis that Wan created, revealing their favorite behind-the-scenes moments from the largest DC movie ever!”

7:15 PM – “Ask Harley Quinn”

“She has gone toe-to-toe with Batman and the Justice League, and taken down The Joker and the toughest villains of Gotham City, but at DC FanDome, Harley Quinn faces her toughest challenge yet — answering burning questions from DC’s biggest fans in her own tell it as it is, no-BS style. If you love the Harley Quinn animated series, this is one you cannot f—king miss!”

7:20 PM – Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary Celebration Panel

“As an Amazon and a god, Wonder Woman is truly timeless. So, it’s hard to believe she’s turning 80! Join Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot, along with a very special guest, as they reflect on the character’s influence on them personally, and look forward to the 2021 celebrations!”

7:25 – Tomorrow’s Superheroes with Jim Lee

“DC Chief Creative Officer/Publisher Jim Lee joins Bing Chen, founder of the global non-profit collective Gold House, to discuss the important contributions of Asian artists and writers in comics and comic book–inspired entertainment.”

7:40 PM – SHAZAM! Panel

“Zac Levi and the cast can’t tell you s#&t! Sworn to secrecy on the new script for their upcoming movie, Zac and a few of his SHAZAM! castmates talk with the Philippines’ #1 DC fan, Gino Quillamor, about what the next movie might be about, while commenting on everything from panels to the other Zack’s cut — and even have a few surprise guests drop in!”

8:10 PM – Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Panel

“Will Arnett hosts the highly anticipated video game reveal from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the Batman: Arkham franchise.”

8:30 PM – The Batman Panel

“The Batman filmmaker Matt Reeves joins host and self-professed fangirl Aisha Tyler for a discussion of the upcoming film…with a surprise (or two) for the fans!”

You can check out the full DC FanDome schedule here.

DC FanDome Live Stream

While DC FanDome is free for all to enjoy, you will need to create an account on DCFanDome.com in order to watch the event. You’ll then be able to access each panel via the DC FanDome program scheduler.

Following the conclusion of The Batman panel at the end of Hall of Heroes, the Fandome schedule will then cycle back through two more times, giving you three shots to watch in a 24-hour period.

DC FanDome: WatchVerse Date and Time

DC will host a second, on-demand FanDome event called WatchVerse on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 1 pm ET. While viewers will be able to access all content in any order they please, the event will only be available for 24 hours.

This event will include the previously announced panel on the expansion of “DC’s Watchmen Universe” discussion with Damon Lindelof and Tom King talking Rorschach, a Joker War panel with Batman writer James Tynion IV and Batgirl scribe Cecil Castellucci, a Three Jokers panel with Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok, a panel on John Ridley’s exciting upcoming The Other History of the DC Universe, and more.

The post DC FanDome: Schedule, Date, Time, and How to Watch appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/34jSTev

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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tina-aumont · 5 years ago

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Tina Aumont - Actress

Glamor in gown

Riding between the "Carmen" of Merimée - not in vain the blood of Lola Montes ran through her veins - and sheathed in the sinuous gloves of Rita Hayworth, Tina Aumont confessed in an open heart interview that "I have learned everything from the life, because life is the best school."

The cemetery of Montparnasse, in Paris, will become the last stage through which the French-American actress Tina Aumont will cross, she has just died at age 60 in the area of the Eastern Pyrenees, where she had established herself during her last years.

Daughter of the also actors Jean-Pierre Aumont and María Montez, Tina was born in Hollywood on February 14, 1946. Tina Marquand was her first stage name and with it she debuted in 1966 in "Modesty Blaise" by Joseph Losey. She took for the beginning of her film career the name of her husband - the French filmmaker Christian Marquand -, with whom she had married three years earlier.

Tina Aumont (her real name was Cristina) knew how to take advantage of her seductive physique - brunette and stylized, in the style of the most revered celluliode divas of those years - and gradually became known, first in Italy, with movies like "Metello" by Mauro Bolognini (1970); "Illustrious Corpses", by Francesco Rossi (1976) and finally, in the famous "Casanova", by Fellini, where she gave life to Henriette.

Riding between the "Carmen" of Merimée - not in vain the blood of Lola Montes ran through her veins - and sheathed in the sinuous gloves of Rita Hayworth, Tina Aumont openly confessed to ABC's Sunday interview that "I have learned everything from the life, because life is the best school."

She married very young, at seventeen. But that promising mix of Canarian blood (from the mother's side), Puerto Rican cadence and French "savoir faire" leaked very soon. At twenty-one she married again. Then, very little was known about her private life. Only when the interviewers dared to inquire about these matters, she would smile and shut up in response.

It was the Sixties and in the New York cinemas, in the Puerto Rican and Italian neighborhoods mainly, the billboards echoed her adventures in the celluliode. So it could be read something like "Texas Across the River, by the daughter of María Montez".

In the background, perhaps it was the enlarged - and simplified - wake of an image of a Caribbean woman who had carefully interpreted many years ago roles in "The Thief of Baghdad", "The Queen Cobra", "Carmen", "Zinggara Soul" or "Atlantis”. Reminiscences, in short, with "neo hippie" guitar sounds, barefoot in the park, with a mane answering to the wind as the canons established.

Tina Aumont is gone, a patch of our ancestors imbricated to the core in the idealized epidermis of France and New York. It is autumn and María Montes must be smiling from the sky ... Montparnasse has dressed, this time, in gala and mourning at the same time.

From: http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/2006/10/30/052.html

*Please notice that there are some mistakes. She didn’t have Puerto Rican relatives but Dominican, and she didn’t married at 21 as the article suggests. At 21 she was sharing her life with Frédéric Pardo. The Montez surname can be also spelled Montes (thank you very much Lola Montes for this information).

Sadly the name of the author is not written on the article.

#Tina Aumont #actress #ABC #2006 ABC #RIP Tina #Tina forever #2006 Tina forever #Mauro Bolognini #Federico Fellini #Prosper Merimée #Francesco Rosi #2006 Tina #2006

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trevorbarre · 5 years ago

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McCoy Tyner: A Brief Appreciation

I only found out about the passing of this great jazz pianist, on the sixth of this month of March 2020, only a couple of days ago. which is either a sign of my lack of attention to news reports, or of the general under-appreciation of a tremendous musician and improviser. Or maybe both. After all, we are very much in an ‘either/or’ world at present, and it’s always good to step outside the binary, whenever the chance presents itself. Artists like Tyner have always been sidelined when the ‘immortal’ tags are given out, but, as the title of his very first solo outing suggested, he was very much the ‘real McCoy’. And he was also one of the rapidly-diminishing number of still-living Sixties Masters (he was born in 1938), being just twenty four years old when he made his debit recording with the timeless John Coltrane Quartet (’Greensleeves’, a version of which eventually appeared on Africa/Brass), which made his name and immortalised him in the Jazz Hall of Fame.

I have to state at this pint, that Tyner has never been one of my favourite jazz musicians. But his passing does seem to me hugely significant. As far as I know, Reggie Workman is still alive and, as such, now the last survivor of the Quartet, but it is salutary to remember that Tyner’s first solo album, The Real McCoy, was recorded just two months before the death of John Coltrane, nearly FIFTY THREE years ago. So McCoy kept the Coltrane legacy going for over half a century, a legacy that has only grown in stature throughout all those years. I can’t really give a hugely informed valediction to McCoy Tyner, but I know an important jazz musician when I hear one, and the pianist was most certainly one of these. I’ve got almost all of the Impulse! Coltrane Quartet material, partly in the form of the imposing The Classic Quartet:Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings. This eight-disc compilation is housed in a seemingly iron-clad cover, which exactly suits the tone of Coltrane’s group, which lacks little except for, perhaps, a bit of humour? I know one doesn’t go to Free(ish) Jazz for a good laff, but even Albert Ayler can occasionally be slightly light-hearted, but hey, this was well before Post Modernism. Undoubtedly spiritually uplifting, Coltrane ran the risk of being oppressive in his music’s seriousness. Many will completely disagree, I’m sure, but there is a reason why I don’t play this Quartet as much as I play Ornette’s, of around the same period.

The extra-Coltrane records that have bought me the most Tyner-related joy are his first solo disc, and the two Milestone Records doubles, recorded in 1973/4. The Real McCoy, recorded in April 1967 (arguably at the nadir of jazz’s popularity?) is a real Blue Note stomper, with Joe Henderson standing in for the soon-gone Coltrane, and Elvin Jones, also from the Quartet, forming the rest of the rhythm section, with the addition of Miles’s then-bassist, Ron Carter. This was a peer group of greats, and is one of the label’s outstanding avant recordings from the mid-sixties, a period that produced so many of them; others include the works of Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson, Tony Williams, Sam Rivers and Larry Young. The late Richard Cook’s biography of Blue Note goes into details about these years of 1963-7 in Chapter Nine.

The Milestone doubles consist of Enlightenment (1973) and Atlantis (1974). I’m tempted to bracket these ‘intense-athons’ with Miles Davis’s contemporary outpourings of excess, Aghartha and Pangea, but their modus is entirely different. As well as being all double vinyl excursions, they were all sprawling live concert recordings of extended-length tracks, that took up whole sides of their vinyl versions. Tyner himself is a force of nature on these records, and his playing can be compared to Cecil Taylor’s energy and sheer ‘orneriness, and, of course, to his mentor, Coltrane, in terms of sheer massiveness of purpose and intent. Not for the fainthearted, these albums are draining, and they remind one of just how much of this quality was available for interested audiences at this oint in time. Incantatory in form and purpos, this music still astounds if you let it, nearly fifty years on.

Others will write more about this exceptional musician, and I can console myself by thinking how much more of his music I still have to discover. And surely there is no better time than this one of self-isolation to make these discoveries in?

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blues-sevenfold · 6 years ago

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World Building: Switching Gears Awhile

List of universes is here. It’s been awhile since I added another universe to the list, although I’m continuing to flesh out ideas for the universes that I do have.

Anyway, I should maybe take a little break from the universes listed towards the top of the list - and spend some time on the universes towards the bottom.

The true “borderline” case would be Vampire Universe, since it is pretty much “magic realism”. Lunarpunk split from Vampire Universe in the year 1960, five years after Jimmy Reed was turned and over twenty years before anyone from Avenged Sevenfold was born. Since then, in Lunarpunk, the world was quick to embrace magic - and a subspecies of nocturnal-oriented humans started being born, as blood transfusion from vampires as treatment for many ailments were realized. So 2019 looks quite different between the two universes. In Vampire Universe, 2019 looks not as much different from “our” universe - complete with Donald Trump as US President and many of the current events from that world mirroring that of ours. By contrast, the Lunarpunk society globally has become an egalitarian anarcho-communist solarpunk civilization. So, within a little less than sixty years, the divergences between the two universes are quite great.

~~~~~

Clockpunk Universe is actually a minor case of “the magic came back”. Aside from any dream-related abilities (so Zacky Vengeance still has dream-walking abilities), psionic phenomena is in its inactive state. Duosouls, otherkind, and past-life recalls are recognized by all major scientists - as are OBEs, NDEs, after-death communications (ADCs), deathbed visions (DVs), nearing-death awareness (NDAs), visions, and lucid dreams. Voluntary astral projection is not possible, however - and neither is remote viewing. Wanderers usually reside in a hostel spirit realm between death and transmigration, so also ghosts are non-existent. Telepathy and hypnosis are not possible, as well as psychokinesis.

At least, this is the case until the year 1700 comes - when the Atlanteans show up in the present, and direct communication with the Pleiadeans is a possibility for all. In some ways, Clockpunk Universes mirrors the Steampunk Universe.

~~~~~

ISOT Triverse (1507, 1957, and 2007) all pretty much matched “our” world pre-event. The Atlanteans show up, as well - as they bring their crystal powers with them. Some of the crystals actually bring forth crystal-induced psionic abilities, so the event leads to “the magic comes back”. Jimmy Reed is one of the first to connect with the Atlanteans, and receives past-life recalls of being Jojo Ridesa (pronounced ZHO-zho ree-DAY-suh). Within three days, Jimmy gains the ability to speak fluent Atlantean and fluent English at the same time - without needing to crystal switch, thereby enabling easy translation.

Other ISOT timelines also exist, each with their post-event timeline - excluding that of ISOT Atlantis and ISOT Prime (ISOT 2107). Some combo ideas can be found here, in which all include Atlanteans. They are not included in my list of universes, as they will not quite be focused on - and are mentioned strictly for the sake of data. The events which affect all ISOT timelines impact both ISOT Super and ISOT Mosaic, however.

I won’t really be focusing on ISOT Mosaic in this post, as that’s towards the top of the list - but ISOT Super applies. The event of ISOT Super occurs within the Paleogene Period - sometime during the first 200,000 years after the dinosaur extinction, probably on the earlier end of that interval. It also predates both the evolution of placental mammals and the evolution of primates.

In addition to the regions of land affected by each event are also all the regions affected on the other end of each event, the bodies of water that are displaced with each land. They all appear in ISOT Super and ISOT Mosaic. In the case of ISOT Super, they appear on the other end of the planet.

As ISOT Super places a bunch of flora and fauna in a setting where they had never before existed, future evolution would be affected drastically. It is up to the human occupants to make certain that they become good stewards of the Earth. With the cooperation of all the displaced human societies, they work to create a solarpunk society. While many have the ultimate goal to explore the entire Earth of the era, they are mindful to do so in a way that would be most respectful to the Earth’s ecosystem.

~~~~~

ISOT Prime and ISOT 2107 are synonymous. The Atlanteans appeared in the year 2020, as Zacky Vengeance and Jenny Reed work together to make major improvements both in human society and in the Earth’s ecosystem. During the intervening years, “the magic comes back”. By 2107, psionic abilities becomes a widespread phenomena. As a result, Zacky Reed has dream walking abilities and telepathy - while Jimmy Baker has the entire range of psychokinesis. They have made contact with the Pleiadeans, as well. Both otherkind and duosouls, which includes wanderers and transmigration, are common. Identical twins can be duosoul or psi twins. Otherkind types are avatars, angels, demons, faeries, and starseeds - each with their accompanying powers. Psionic abilities are not restricted to otherkind. The most common otherkind duosoul combination are angel/demon duosouls, which are regarded as “nephilim”.

~~~~~

Steampunk Universe, as of 1889, is seemingly lacking in the paranormal. It isn’t until the year 1900 that the Atlanteans appear - in which society is in a state of transition from steampunk to solarpunk, both in terms of society and in terms of finding alternate sources of energy.

Retro Fifties and Retro Eighties Universes, as of 2007, are peaceful societies - as technological scientific advances have taken a bit of a back seat to scientific advances that bring about improving human society and the environment. The Atlanteans do not appear until the year 2020, which is a century after the point-of-divergence. The concept of reincarnation has also gained major recognition, particularly as Jimmy Reed II (James Mathis Reed) has opted to re-establish his career as a blues artist - with a sound that very closely mimics that of his sound from his prior incarnation as Mathis James Reed. In addition are other recorded convincing cases of reincarnation.

~~~~~

Even in the final timeline of Temporal Universe, 2008 of that universe is not that different from ours. Jemmy Reed, on his third time travel adventure, travels one decade into the future with older Jimmy Reed - where they are witness to a bad future with Donald Trump as US President. After that trip, Jemmy vows to do his part to prevent that future from occurring. He informs Zacky Vengeance of what he saw in that future, including The Rev’s death - and Zacky agrees that things need to be changed. By the year 2020, the Atlanteans appear - as society is in a state of transition, due to the diligence of Jemmy and Zacky. The elder Jimmy Reed lives until the 2040s. By 2108, Jimmy and Jemmy reincarnate as brothers - and Zacky is also reincarnated. At some point in that year, they receive a visit from their past incarnations - including Jemmy Reed, Jimmy Reed of 2008, and Jimmy Reed of 1956. Jemmy is the reincarnation of the original timeline version of Jimmy Reed, and this is the only universe Jemmy Reed appears in.

On a time travel adventure to a peaceful Ancient Egyptian society, a young girl from that society heads back to 2007 with Jemmy. In a sense, while only Jemmy and 1955 Jimmy physically travelled back to that era - Zacky had also travelled to that era mentally. Zacky’s incarnation was that era was dying from a terminal illness, and Zacky experienced a recall of that era via a dream. His life partner, the same girl that travels to 2007 with Jemmy, was very grieved by his death. In the future, as soon as Zacky awakes, the couple reunites. She brings some of her Egyptian technology into the future with her - and 2007 Jimmy, Jemmy, and Zacky all help her to adjust to life in 2007.

On the various series of time travel adventures where Jemmy and 1957/1958 Jimmy visit various ancient advanced society - while Zacky Vengeance doesn’t physically join the duo on any of their trips, he mentally joins them via dreams. In Zacky’s case, he dreams of being his incarnation said era throughout the duration of the time Jemmy and Jimmy spend there.

~~~~~

The new timeline of Keys Universe is not too different from the original timeline, other than that Jimmy Reed is still alive. As Jenny Reed was not involved in the temporal event, she is unaware of there being any prior timeline - but she's the reincarnation of the original timeline Jimmy Reed. Similar to ISOT Prime, Zacky Vengeance ends up marrying Jenny Reed. Together, with some help from older Jimmy Reed, Zacky and Jenny set out to improve society and the environment. By the year 2020, the Atlanteans arrive. Jimmy ends up living a few years past the age of a hundred.

Aside from some minor differences - there is not too much divergence between the universes of ISOT Prime, Temporal, and Keys Universes by 2107/2108.

~~~~~

The new timeline of Spa Universe is quite different from the original timeline, as Jimmy Carter was elected for a second term in 1980. Within that decade, there is a merging of the Democratic and Republican Parties - as the Libertarian and Green Parties also merge. By 2007, the Green-Libertarian Party has proven to be more popular than the Democratic-Republican Party.

In the new timeline, the Atlanteans showed up in the year 2000 - so by the time Zacky and both of Jimmy’s friends returned to 2007, the world was noticeably different. A couple months later, Jimmy Reed from 1957 arrives 2007 - and the person he hugs/touches after arriving is Zacky Vengeance. Neither realize it at the time, but this has the effect of rendering both immortal. Other people also start showing up from the past. So, in this universe, “the magic comes back” a bit more strongly.

#world building #multiverse #ISOT #time travel #retrofuturism #steampunk #Clockpunk #text post #xg

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speaksfish · 6 years ago

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Arthur Curry : An Overview.

BASICS.

Given / Birth Name : Arthur Curry Nickname / Preferred Name : Arthur Alias(es) : Aquaman, King of Atlantis Birthdate / Age : January 29th / Thirty - Nine Place of Birth : Amnesty Bay, Maine Current Location : Atlantis Gender Identity : Cis Male Sexual / Romantic Orientation : A bi boy through and through. Ethnicity / Race / Cultural Heritage: Hawaiian (Polynesian) && Atlantean Marital Status : Married Occupation : Monarch. An uncomfortable one. Religious Beliefs : Polytheist / Spiritual in a sense. He claims to have seen enough to know one entity isn’t ( nor could ever be ) responsible for it all. So he chooses to believe that these greater forces move within us to affect our lives. Sometimes it’s for the better, often it’s to challenge us, make us move, inspire once unwilling growth. As far as naming these forces, Arthur has none, only a gut telling him there are various hands at play here and all are fighting for the steering wheel. Except Poseidon. Poseidon and his kin, in the wise words of Arthur Curry, can fuck right off.

CHARACTERISTICS.

Height : 6′4 Weight : Somewhere in the ballpark of 300 lbs. Body Type / Build : Athletic / Strongman build. He’s pretty par for course as far as merging Atlantean and Humans go. Go team Humanoids. Eye Color : It’s the new dress meme. Are they gold and white, are they blue and black ?? Just kidding, they’re blue. Hair Color / Texture : A brunette with sun-bleached highlights. His hair may appear soft but it is not, it’s rough and more often than not covered in salt ( and other less favorable sea ) particles. Someone introduce a good cleansing shampoo to this beach waved boy. He once walked out onto a seafaring dock with a damn crab clipping his hair up. Recognizable Features / Scars : His most notable scar is the one through his eyebrow. Got it during the first real scuffle between himself and Black Manta 2.0. The tattoos across his arms, shoulders, back and torso are also important to him. They’re what connect him to his polynesian routes, as tattoos were what they considered “all the armor one warrior needs”. Each design is also an attribute to the oceans more formidable marine life. Triangles ( both negative space and not ) representing the tooth of a shark while arrows represent the tails of manta rays or swordfish or the fins of whales ( etc ). Speech Patterns / Accent : Arthur uses an incredible amount of colloquialism in his speech dating to the 90′s. He had a speaking inflection typical of east coast accents, however it’s not as noticeable with age. ( When speaking Atlantean it’s very clear that he has it. ) Languages Spoken : English and Atlantean prior to becoming a king. All languages afterward, one of the perks to his gig. Powers / Skills / Abilities : Besides being able to powerlift your heart into the new year? He’s strong. It’s a vague area because he has overextended himself in the past, but the guy can throw nuclear subs and war ships at very specific targets and that’s nothing to bat a lash at. He has sonar capabilities and scary good hearing ( yet Bruce still scares the absolute piss out of him by sneaking around ). Atlantean physiology means withstanding great amounts of pressure, seeing in the dark, quicker than average healing times, longer strides, quicker reflexes and higher endurance. Abilities that are his own small mutations include marine ( and life that originates from the ocean, but weaker ) telepathy, resistance to telepaths, and is a fast swimmer. Crazy fast. Overall Health : Average?

RELATIONSHIPS.

Order of Birth : Eldest Number of Siblings : 2, technically. Father’s Status + Relationship : Tom Curry, retired. Tom Curry moved to Maine after a volcano covered roughly half of his family farm land in Hawaii. He used the money from that property to buy a worn down lighthouse, taking up a job as a fisherman shortly after to begin the process of making that his family home. He retired at the age of sixty but still manages the lighthouse during stormy weathers, as well as takes care of Arthur’s dog whenever his son is underseas for prolonged periods of time. Notable fact: he can drink Arthur under the table, but his father (Arthur’s grandfather) would call them both weak guts. Mother’s Status + Relationship : Queen Atlanna, deceased. Sibling Status + Relationship : Orm, half - brother. Pain in the tattooed butt. Tula, step - sister. Favorite non - biological sibling. Loyalty / Affiliation : Atlantis.

PERSONALITY.

MBTI : ENFJ Hobbies : Whittling. When alone he tends to need something in his hands that’ll occupy his time, that turned into wood / bone work. He’s an avid connoisseur of good stouts. Bad Habits : A picky eater. Three Positive Traits : Arthur is first and foremost a humbled person. He understands where he lacks expertise and can admit to faults of his rather effortlessly. It’s been criticized ( specifically by Orm ) in the past as ‘ showing weakness ’ but he disagrees fullheartedly. To claim you know everything about everything is foolish and irresponsible, so he relies heavily on the council of those close to him or experts ) to help bridge the gaps in his understanding. And it’s perhaps why, more often than not, he feels in over his head and incapable of ruling / seduced by the simpler times. Another trait that stands heads above the rest ----- Arthur is KIND. One could theorize that it was his mixed heritage ( growing up severely bullied as a result of being ... alive ) to push him into a softer approach when hardships hit, but ultimately he was always this way. Looks are deceiving, and it’s certainly true he will not allow others to test his threshold, but if there’s any choice present : he chooses to be kind. Dad jokes are his jam. He may not be a pro at this ‘hero bantering’ thing, but he’s great at belly - laughing at his own dumb humor.

Three Negative Traits : He only has a set scale of annoyances he can tolerate before seeing red. That scale varies by contributing factors throughout the day. I had this under a form of introversion, because he absolutely gets his energy in solitude and tires out in social situations, but a tricky sub genre of the personality type. Introversion on its own is NOT a negative trait, his can make him abrasive, rude, and standoffish unexpectedly. Arthur can be rather impulsive at times. He doesn’t always think his actions through, just battering rams it and hopes for the best. It gets on Mera’s nerves, he finds inaction oftentimes more dangerous. The dad jokes ------- Moral Alignment : Neutral Good.

ASSOCIATIONS.

One Song : Atlantis - Bridgit Mendler One Quote / Piece of Art : This vine / Ships in the Stormy Sea One Fear : Losing his humanity. One Strength : Empathy. One Object : Trident of Neptune. One Place : Neptune’s Grotto. One Food : Coconut. One Scent : Saltwater. One Lucky Charm : Ka Makau Nui ‘o Maui cattle bone necklace his father carved him

#united task 001

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theyearoftheking · 4 years ago

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Book Sixty-Nine: Doctor Sleep

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream...” Edgar Allan Poe

Y’all...if I’m currently cruising through The Golden Years of Steve, than Doctor Sleep is the crown jewel. It doesn’t get any better than this book. It’s one of the few sequels that far surpasses the original. It’s just that damn good.

In the Author’s Note, Steve writes about being on tour for Bag of Bones, and having a Constant Reader ask him whatever happened to the kid from The Shining. Steve admits Danny Torrance never left his mind, along with the concept of sobriety, and what that could have done for Jack. The story he managed to create is terrifying, compelling, and one of the greatest horror stories ever. Period. Come at me bro! It’s my blog and I can make all the grand proclamations that I want. Although, fair warning, if you hate that statement, you’re really going to hate my next post all about The Shining and Doctor Sleep movies.

Doctor Sleep starts with little Danny Torrance, still haunted with images of The Overlook. Desperate for help, Wendy calls Dick Hallorann, asking for help. Dick gifts Danny with a shiny treasure box, which he instructs him to use to capture all the evil spirits, and store them in the corners of his mind. Once the spirits are trapped in the box, they can’t hurt him.

Little Danny turns into black-out drinker and casual drug user, Dan Torrance. Dan wakes up after an epic black-out, and finds himself in bed with a woman, Deenie, who he barely remembers meeting the night before. He stumbles out of bed, finds his wallet empty, and cocaine residue all over the living room table. He grabs money out of Deenie’s wallet just in time to see her toddler stumble out of his bedroom. Dan feels slightly ashamed of taking the money, but not too ashamed to leave it behind. Dan spends the night sleeping under a bridge, and his shine later rewards him with images of Dennie and her child’s dead corpses. They were beaten to death by Deenie’s abusive brother, and Dan feels guilt. Maybe he could have stopped it from happening. He ends up taking a Greyhound bus to Frazier, New Hampshire where he meets Billy Freeman. Billy helps him to get a job, and more importantly, get sober. Dan starts living a life he’s proud of. Well, except for the guilt he still feels about stealing from Deenie, and her eventual death.

And then, there’s the True Knot. The True Knot is a group of vampire-like people who live on the “steam” of children with the shine. The Knot is headed up by Rose the Hat, and they travel around the country in RVs, looking for their next meal. While the Knot is taking steam from Bradley Trevor, a little boy they snatched on his way home from baseball practice, Rose senses the presence of someone watching them. Rose can tell it’s a little girl with the strongest steam she’s ever felt. They need this little girl to grow up, and her steam to get even stronger.

On the other side of the country, Abra Stone wakes up screaming about “the baseball boy” and how they’re killing him. Her parents comfort her, but feel helpless. They are used to Abra’s strange dreams and unusual occurrences (spoons stuck to the ceiling after a magic trick gone wrong). Abra has also been leaving notes on Dan’s chalkboard in his room; they share a connection with “Tony”, Dan’s imaginary friend from childhood. You later find out their connection goes even deeper than that: Dan is actually Abra’s uncle. His dad had an affair at Stovington Prep with Abra’s grandmother, and Abra’s mom and Dan are siblings. Got all that? Dan has been working at a hospice, where he has a reputation for helping patients cross over, with the assistance of Azrael the cat, who seems to have a knack for knowing every time a patient is going to die. Dan is known as Doctor Sleep.

Side note about Azrael. Little did I know, Azrael is the Angel of Death. I just thought it was a hipster nod to Gargamel’s cat from The Smurfs.

Dan and Abra end up connecting because she can’t forget about “the baseball boy”. Dan and Billy drive to Iowa to dig up Bradley’s corpse and retrieve his baseball glove, which Abra thinks will help her track down The Knot.

Oh the Knot... they’re not doing so well. Come to find out, Bradley’s parents never had him vaccinated (a rare time I actually support anti-vaxing parents); and older members of the Knot are catching smallpox and dying. Abra gets inside Rose’s head, and Rose sends the Knot across the country to get her. Abra senses them coming, and Dan shoots them all dead. Except Crow Daddy (Rose’s sometime lover), who kidnaps Abra to bring her back to Rose. Abra uses her powers to get Crow to drive his truck into a tree, killing him. Rose is PISSED.

Good and evil meet at the scenic overlook where (ha!) The Overlook used to be. Dan and Rose fight it out, while Abra astral-projects herself there. It’s a psychological battle of unleashing beasts on one another, but at the end of the day, Rose the Hat is mortal, and falls off the overlook and dies. It’s one of the rare Steve books where the good guys come out with a victory, and come away unscathed. It’s satisfying, and kind of a relief when the other shoe doesn’t drop.

One of my favorite Easter eggs takes place early on when both “Christmasland” and “Charlie Manx” are mentioned. For those that are not familiar, these are NOS4A2 (by Joe Hill) references. When it comes to Easter eggs, you’ve also got:

Castle Rock

Jerusalem’s Lot

“other worlds than these”

“Life was a wheel, its only job was to turn, and it always came back to where it started.”

This post didn’t do this gorgeous book justice. There was so much about sobriety and recovery, which is not only important to Danny and Jack Torrance, but important to Steve also. I just... I can’t recommend this book enough. Quick read The Shining, and then pick this up and fly through it, enjoying every beautiful word.

Total Wisconsin Mentions: 42

Total Dark Tower References: 64

Book Grade: A+

Rebecca’s Definitive Ranking of Stephen King Books

Doctor Sleep: A+

The Talisman: A+

Wizard and Glass: A+

11/22/63: A+

Under the Dome: A+

Needful Things: A+

On Writing: A+

The Green Mile: A+

Hearts in Atlantis: A+

Full Dark, No Stars: A+

Just After Sunset: A+

Rose Madder: A+

Misery: A+

Different Seasons: A+

It: A+

Four Past Midnight: A+

Stephen King Goes to the Movies: A+

The Shining: A-

The Stand: A-

Bag of Bones: A-

Duma Key: A-

Black House: A-

The Wastelands: A-

The Drawing of the Three: A-

The Dark Tower: A-

Dolores Claiborne: A-

Blaze: B+

Hard Listening: B+

Nightmares in the Sky: B+

The Dark Half: B+

Joyland: B+

Skeleton Crew: B+

The Dead Zone: B+

Nightmares & Dreamscapes: B+

Wolves of the Calla: B+

‘Salem’s Lot: B+

Song of Susannah: B+

Carrie: B+

Creepshow: B+

From a Buick 8: B

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: B

The Colorado Kid: B-

Storm of the Century: B-

Everything’s Eventual: B-

Cycle of the Werewolf: B-

The Wind Through the Keyhole: B-

Danse Macabre: B-

The Running Man: C+

Cell: C+

Thinner: C+

Dark Visions: C+

The Eyes of the Dragon: C+

The Long Walk: C+

The Gunslinger: C+

Pet Sematary: C+

Firestarter: C+

Rage: C

Desperation: C-

Insomnia: C-

Cujo: C-

Nightshift: C-

Faithful: D

Gerald’s Game: D

Roadwork: D

Lisey’s Story: D

Christine: D

Dreamcatcher: D

The Regulators: D

The Tommyknockers: D

Next up is Revival; which reads more like a Ray Bradbury book, with some Steve-like elements thrown in for good measure. Stay tuned for a Shining/Doctor Sleep movie post soon. Happy New Year to all my constant readers, and thanks to everyone who continues to follow this blog, it’s been a fun ride.

Until next time, Long Days & Pleasant Nights,

Rebecca

#stephen king #doctor sleep #the shining #constant readers #the true knot #nos4a2 #joe hill #the dark tower

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