#audio in the season 1 finale but that was to do with Another evil book and. . Probably diff implications

[milfbrainrot]

New blorbo type witch milfs who have dead kid angst

[danielfeketewrites]

DOCTOR WHO TOP 10 - 2nd Doctor

Ah, my fave Doctor. My 10 favourite stories with him. Keep reading!

10. The Land of the Blind

A nice comic book with a cool twist. I dunno, as a fan of 8th Doctor's DWM run, I have a soft spot for Scott Gray's Doctor Who.

9. The Abominable Snowmen

I really like The Abominable Snowmen. Heck, I think it's a lot more interesting story than The Web of Fear. The setting, the characters, the atmosphere... It all just really works. The Intelligence is a wonderful villain and the Yetis are really cuddly.

8. The Bringer of Darkness

Admission: I'm not a big fan of Fury. I get why everyone likes it, but I just can't get behind how it treats Victoria. While it's admittedly at least "her last story" (something not really afforded to characters like Dodo, Polly, or Ben), but the way she suddenly decides to quit si very... sudden.

This story is short and simple, but manages to do the heavy lifting of "when did Victoria start realising that she doesn't actually want to travel with the Doctor" and... it's really good. I like it very much.

7. The Power of the Daleks

Another admission time - while the animation is great, I might prefer the Loose Cannon reconstruction on this one, as it feels more atmospheric.

But both of these versions are amazing. The David Whitaker Dalek stories just hit differently.

6. The Moonbase

In my bachelor's degree dissertation, I wrote that The Moonbase is the quintessential Base Under Siege story. I stand by that. It's amazing, fun, an upgrade on The Tenth Planet... And it basically invents the Patrick Troughton era. Did I mention how fun it is? Obviously, I have a soft spot for it.

Also, it has the best animation.

5. The Mind Robber

When I first watched The Mind Robber, I didn't get. I didn't get why everyone likes it so much.

I rewatched it a few months ago and fucking loved it. It's funny, creative, inventive... It's such a wonderful, unique story. I love the shit out of it.

4. The Enemy of the World

This story fucks. In the season full of monsters, David Whitaker had the balls to go "you know, what if we just had a dictator that looks exactly like Dr Who? would that be fucked up or what?"

I love David Whitaker. I love Patrick Troughton. I love this serial.

3. The Evil of the Daleks

By this point, I'm not sure what to say about this. I praised Whitaker's Dalek stories overall in the bit about The Power, sooo... What now? Well, I can add that this is the perfect ending for the Daleks, their perfect finale. It's such a rich, wonderful story.

(I haven't seen the animation yet and I'm kinda afraid of it. I hope it doesn't lose the visceral atmosphere that the reconstruction has for me.)

2. Daughter of the Gods

One of the best Big Finish audios of the past decade. You could even argue that it's THE best one.

I fucking love how well this is done. Like, it could have been a vapid, shallow crossover... But it's not. It's built in such a clever way and the focus on Katarina was a stroke of genius. I love it to bits.

1. The War Games

As a pick for my number one Troughton story, it's a bit basic, innit?

Can't help myself. I love The War Games so goddamn much. Watched all of it in one sitting, breathless. It's amazing. People sometimes say "oh, the last episode is good, but the nine episodes before that not so much" - and those people are wrong. This is an increadible epic and probably my favourite thing the series did in the 60s.

I promise my other best story picks aren't that mundane! I promise! They are weird and unusual! I swear!

[being-of-rain]

Random thoughts from my Classic Who watch, the second half of season 1.

I never thought I’d say this, but this Terry Nation story needs another sequel. It’s inevitable that The Keys of Marinus has a lot of underdeveloped ideas, since it has a different setting each episode. It works well as what it is, and it’s nice to see a planet that very much isn’t the stereotype of being only one biome. But it amazes me that none of the Dr Who EU has revisited the planet and all its potential, nostalgic authors usually eat references like that up, and in this case there’s lots of ideas to expand upon. There’s been a few stories with Voord, but they’re always taken completely out of the story’s context. If I was Big Finish or BBC Books, I’d order a sequel story called The Conscience of Marinus.

The Aztecs is fun. I don’t have much new to say with some of these stories because I’ve seen them before. The conflict between Barbara and the Doctor is great. The Doctor’s line about knowing (believe him, he knows) about how history can’t be changed is interesting, and like the line I mentioned in Edge of Destruction it sounds like a good prompt for a pre-Unearthly Child story that the Who EU hasn’t picked up on yet. As always, the quiet moments in the story can be really delightful, like the Doctor and Cameca bonding.

In The Sensorites it’s really nice to see a species that’s obviously alien like the Daleks and the Voord, but isn’t pure evil, or even extraordinarily antagonistic. The cliffhanger of the first episode where a Sensorite appears at the space window is great, as is the last episode’s twist where some greedy patriotic Humans are revealed to be the instigators of all the story’s problems (although it’s weird how quickly the episode forgets about the Sensorite villain in that episode after he’s caused so much trouble himself).

Watching The Reign of Terror sent me back to high school, when studying the French Revolution made me realise my love for studying history (and gave me high marks on all my assignments jkjslkdjf). Good old kooky Robespierre. It also made me think of playing Assassin’s Creed Unity, even if it is the worst AC game ksdjf. And it made me think of the Dr Who audio Fields of Terror, also set in the French Revolution but with a much more terrifying atmosphere. I was tempted to relisten to that story, as well as some others that tie in to the first season, but I decided I wouldn’t listen to any First Doctor audios while I’m watching his TV episodes. The cliffhanger at the end of The Sensorites when the Doctor decides to get Ian and Barbara off his ship feels a little random, as there doesn’t seem to be anything he hasn’t heard before in Ian’s innocuous comment. But I’m happy to chalk it up to him being an eccentric old man, because it leads to some lovely character moments in Reign of Terror: when Ian and Barbara show that they’ve learnt exactly how to sweet talk the Doctor into joining them outside, and when they take a private moment to realise that they’re not actually upset that they haven’t arrived home. There’s more great character moments in the rest of the story too: the Doctor never wavering from Susan’s safety being his highest priority, his saluting the young boy that helped him after in episode 2, him and Barbara briefly continuing their discussion about changing history from The Aztecs, Barbara’s understandably emotional outburst about history when she finds out that Léon has betrayed them and been killed.

Finally, at the end of The Reign of Terror there’s a short scene in the TARDIS when its crew are unwinding and joking together, and then wondering about what they’ll do next. Like I said in my last post, the way the characters learn to like each other and become a team works so well- it’s really the highlight of the series that makes each story click.

I’m looking forward to season 2, where I haven’t seen all of the episodes before!

[saleintothe90s]

422. ”Carrie” (May 12 - May 15 1988)

I adore reading about flops. One of my favorite flops to read about is Carrie the musical. A doomed production from the start. Millions of dollars wasted. Bad costumes. Filler songs.

Similar to my Simpsons season 10 review, I wanna give something to the worst aspects of the show. With Simpsons, bad episodes were awarded Marge’s homemade Pepsi. For Carrie, I think I’m going to give the bad parts the “Vending Machine Maxi Pad” award. 

As most anybody who follows Broadway flops knows, clips from Carrie are scarce and are in poor condition on YouTube. Most of the actual clips are from when the show was in test productions in Stratford Upon Avon, but the music has been replaced with the Broadway soundboard.  So, keep that in mind. Most of the time you can’t even make out what’s going on. Here’s the closest copy of the entire show I could find on YouTube, from the Sratford Upon Avon production. 

I know people bash the musical, and sometimes it’s rightfully so, but two things are consistent: Linzi Hateley who played Carrie, and that orchestra that is on.point. Check out the overture.

(source)

The show begins with girls cheering in gym class in the beginning of an aerobics lesson?  The white gym shorts look like diapers. That’s the first of many costume mistakes. 

The song is a banger, I love Darlene Love playing the gym teacher, she’s my favorite part of the song. The only part that is cringey to me is when the girls sing “I go CrAzZyyyyy” and they get on the ground and dance like a toddler having a temper tantrum in a Toys R Us. Since the audio quality is so bad in these clips, I thought at one point the girls were singing about not being caught picking their nose, no, the lyric is:

Bought the clothes, did my nose,

Near the end of the song, the girls are on these rising rafters? It took me for-ever to realize that they were simulating a cheerleader pyramid, and that Carrie had snuck in near the end of the number to be on the bottom of the pyramid. Oh, and she causes it to fall and someone tells her to eat shit. 

“Dream On” is the song that the girls sing while in the showers. Why yes, it does look like they’re in the nude due to the poor quality of the video.  The song is ok, it gives total night driving home from the mall in the late 80s early 90s vibes.  Although one girl says the line, “Six foot three and he's in his forties!”. WHAT. 

Carrie breaks those vibes at around 3:44 by screaming that she’s bleeding. When Miss Gardener slaps Carrie, a cymbal plays. I love it.

I like to imagine that when the girls threw the tampons and pads at Carrie, some flew into the audience. 

“Carrie” is shrill at first, and then it turns into a bit of snoozefest. Linzi sings the name “Carrie” about 458 times. 

Betty Buckley who previously had played the original Grizabella in Cats. and who played the gym teacher in the original movie plays Carrie’s mom. Her song, “Open Your Heart” is pretty good. It’s a nice little break before mom goes bottoms up on Carrie for getting her period (”And Eve Was Weak” [Stratford version with Barbara Cook]):

Carrie: I was in the shower and...

Mom: You’re forbidden from showering with the other girls...

Carrie: I started to bleed!

While Carrie spends the rest of the night in a cellar, the popular girls are at the drive-in. Now, this musical cost over $7 million dollars 1, but yet this was the best set they could think of for a drive-in movie theater: 

It looks like something out of a high school play -- which I guess makes a little sense since they are high schoolers? I’m grabbing at straws here. It cost so much money to put Carrie on, what’s a few more dollars to have two real hollowed out cars on stage, one with Chris (in the red) & Billy (in black) in it, and the other with Sue (pink leggings) and Tommy (purple windbreaker)? 

“Don’t Waste the Moon” is the song sung at the drive-in, with Sue having regrets about throwing tampons at Carrie in the beginning of the song. The song is very 1980s, and it kind of doesn’t fit in the musical. Gene Anthony Ray’s (Billy) talent is wasted here. 

It’s time for some “Evening Prayers” for Carrie where she discusses with God her new telekinesis powers. Meanwhile Carrie’s mom is being a worrywort. During the Stratford production, Carrie’s mom is in a rocking chair over there looking like Whistler’s Mother. 

“You’re going to tell Carrie that you’re sorry!” belts out Miss Gardner. In the musical, Chris seems more obsessed with torturing Carrie than in the movie or book if that’s even possible. Sue is like, “What did she even do to you?”. Even Billy asked earlier, “Who the hell is Carrie White?”. 

Oooof. Seeing the gym teacher try to cheer Carrie up by singing a song about the prom (”Unsuspecting Hearts”) and how she could go too is patronizing. Even if its sung by Darlene Love. 

“Do Me a Favor” might be the most infamous song from the musical. It’s the song I see referred to the most when I read bad reviews. For some reason Chris is wearing a metallic red bodysuit and Sue is wearing a light pink bodysuit. Are they supposed to be that cliche devil and the angel on the shoulder thing? 

Chris looks like Evil Homer! 

I’m going be the unpopular opinion here and say that I love the song! The erratic dancing also fits with the song. 

Carrie tells her mom before “I Remember How Those Boys Would Dance” that Tommy is sweet and polite, but the audience doesn’t know that. Tommy is barely a character in this production. In the end, Carrie uses her powers to shut her mama up.

From what I gather in “Out for Blood” (audio) where Chris and Billy go looking for a pig to kill, the chorus dancers are the pigs? The video quality is so poor. Chris had another crazy ass red outfit on, some sort of shiny red skirt and a crop top. The costumes in this are just horrible. It was like the wardrobe budget was $50. 

This song is so.so.bad. It reminds me of whenever Rocko from Rocko’s Modern Life would see a movie trailer or a parody of something on TV for some reason?! Or the “gotta get that Reptar song” from Rugrats when the kids saw Reptar on ice. Especially when the chorus tells Billy to kill the pig: 

CHORUS Cha! Kill the pig, pig, pig! CHRIS Go! CHORUS Kill 'im, kill 'im, kill, kill! We'll make him bleed! CHRIS Go! CHORUS Get the blood, blood, blood Oooh, blood! CHRIS Oh, baby show... CHORUS Kill the pig, make 'im bleed Let's get the blood, that's all we need!

Sue’s song “It Hurts to be Strong” is a bit of a throw-away. It gets a vending machine maxi pad award. Moving on. It’s filler  

In “I’m Not Alone”, Carrie sings while using her powers to move things around in her room. What things? I don’t know the video quality was so bad. That’s another thing! The sets are nonexistent! I wouldn’t know we were in Carrie’s room unless the Playbill told me. It’s another forgettable song. Three in a row!

Betty Buckley saves the day in, “When There’s No One”, a sad song about facing life without Carrie being her subordinate. 

I don’t understand the prom dresses in “Wotta Night”, they’re all garish giant white numbers that make the actresses look about 20 pounds heaver.  The guys look like that Rio doll from Jem. The costume designer couldn’t just go to Alexanders or A&S and buy prom dresses? You know, why am I even asking at this point. We all saw what Chris has been wearing this whole time. There is a disco ball thrown aside in the corner instead of hanging up. More on that later.

The song sounds way too much like that song “Rock on” by David Essex.  Automatic Vending Machine Maxi Pad. 

Here’s a cute rehearsal clip I found of “Heaven”, the song sung while the Prom Queen and King ballots are being counted. Unfortunately, the audio is bad. Chris is there to remind us that she’s still out for blood.

Finally, finally it’s time for Carrie the prom queen to get drenched with blood -- but the thing is, due to microphone technology back then, Carrie really couldn’t have blood dumped on her. Chris and Billy just run up to her and half ass pour the bucket at her. Could the set designer not suspend the bucket from above the stage? Is that also why the disco ball is thrown in the corner? I don’t even think she has stage blood on her during “The Destruction”, (which is the best song from the musical).  I think a red spotlight over Carrie signifies the blood.

I think Linzi is really only truly covered in blood for press shots. 

Anyway, the Destruction, I love it when she screeches “DOESN’T ANYBODY EVER GET IT RIGHT??! DOESN’T ANYBODY THINK THAT I HEAR?!” It’s the best. I could listen to it all day and I almost did the other day. 

Due the poor video quality, I can’t really tell how the prom-goers are dying. They’re kinda just twitching there in the laser light or slamming themselves against the clear barrier that descended from the stage to signify Carrie closing the doors to the gym. 

After Carie kills everybody, this giant white staircase descends and covers up the gym. I read somewhere, I forgot where, that its supposed to be the school stairs? We’re led to believe that Carrie’s crazy mom ran to the school. The first time I saw it, I thought that it was Carrie and her mom getting ready to go to heaven. I thought maybe someone over at the set department took the classic song too literally. 

It appears that while the stairs are descending, Carrie smears stage blood on her. 

The reprise of “Carrie’ is so much better than the original. Carrie stops her mom’s heart cold mid song. Then she slins down the stairs and Sue catches her. In an interview on playbill.com, Betty Buckley says that on opening night (I don’t know if she meant the first preview, or the official opening night), there were boos from the audience at the end, but cheers for Linzi and herself. I believe it. Betty and Linzi were amazing. Darlene Love was amazing. The rough scenes are the scenes with the school kids. They’re awful, in the words of my boy Jay Sherman, “they’re awful I tell you. aw.ful.” 

(relevant prom .gif) 

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1. Rothstein, Mervyn. “After Seven Years And $7 Million, ‘Carrie’ Is a Kinetic Memory (Published 1988).” The New York Times, May 17, 1988, sec. Theater. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/17/theater/after-seven-years-and-7-million-carrie-is-a-kinetic-memory.html.

New York City Broadway reviews on the news in NYC for Carrie.  That first reviewer, Stuart Klein, I love him. I’ve watched several of his reviews on flops on YouTube. Joel Sigel who was the Good Morning America film reviewer is here too. 

Archive of Betty Buckley interview. 

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: May 2020

Well there’s another month come and gone. TV and books seems to be what I gravitate towards whilst in quarantine. Anyway here’s the month of May in a wordy nutshell!

……….FILM……….

Blockers (2018) I was mostly drawing while my partner watched this but from what I heard and occasionally saw, it was fun! Silly and gross and I’m not reeeeally sure who the target demo was, but it had a modern and more nuanced perspective on sexuality so that’s cool.

……….TELEVISION……….

Mad Men (Episode 1.11 to 3.03) WHO KNEW THIS SHOW WAS SO GOOD?!? The amount of screentime dedicated to advertising seems to be dwindling a bit, but oooooh there’s still so much juicy office drama (something I think I enjoy because of being self-employed and working from home). It looks like we’ll fail at our attempt to finish the series before it leaves Netflix in June but it was fun while it lasted.

Sex and the City (Episode 1.01 to 2.06) Returning to this for something when we don’t have time to watch Mad Men (or need something lighter) and it’s hitting the spot. We’re slowly getting past the era of randos talking to the camera (and mostly past Carrie breaking the fourth wall). I was in college when I first watched this and I’ve come to realize how much I’ve grown as a human as I only now have enough self-awareness to recognize I’m a Charlotte. 

Gravity Falls (Episode 1.09 to 1.15) We’ve since slowed down on this a bit but I’m really excited to get back into it as season 2 is just so good!

Disney Gallery: Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Episode 1.01 to 1.04) The first three eps didn’t really do much for me. The one on the directors was cool as I didn’t realize how many there were, but it would’ve been great if they talked a little more about what they brought to the table or why they took this on. Ep 4 on technology was more my speed but overall this still kinda just feels like surface level stuff. Loooots of time spent on actors and directors and professionals complimenting each other and I am not here for that.

……….READING……….

Illuminatus! Part 1: The Eye in the Pyramid by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson (Page 204/304) What a trip. It’s pretty much what I expected from an comedic book revolving around the illuminati/secret societies from the 1970s, though it took me ages to adjust to the writing style. I’m really enjoying it, but be warned that there’s no major break between narrators so it can jump between plots with each new paragraph. It feels, at times, like a tone poem, but maybe that’s me putting more of the generation into the text than was intended. Again, I think I like it, but am pretty sure I’m missing a lot. 

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Complete) Such a stellar read. I loved Novik’s Uprooted and while you could read either in any order, they both feel of the same world. Both books are full of fairytale danger akin to the traditional stories. They’re beautiful and uncertain and familiar and new. I realize I’m being super vague and general but it’s because it’s so hard to pin down what’s excellent about this book. It’s just good and if you like fantasy and classic fairy tales with layered characters and a more nuanced approach to good and evil then read this AND Uprooted.

Umbrella Academy Volume 3: Hotel Oblivion by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba  (Complete) It’s great to get back to this world but I think I need to give it another read. The first two volumes were frantic, but there was typically a clear drive or sense of what the big picture was. Volume 3 felt like a buildup or segue into the next story being told and that’s...not great.

Satania by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoet (Complete) I’ve rambled at length about how much I love past books by these two (particularly Beautiful Darkness) but this one didn’t connect quite the same. The story only scratched the surface of (admittedly really interesting) themes and I would’ve loved for it to get fleshed out further. The art is consistently incredible and their take on a subterranean world is breathtaking. I recommend if you want to read every book by these two, but wouldn’t suggest this as your first introduction (for that, Beautiful Darkness, or Beauty).

Hellboy Library Edition Vol 5 & 6 by Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo, Dave Stewart (vol.5 and 6), and others (vol. 6) (Complete) A return to form. Fegredo is such a great choice for taking over from Mignola for the main story. The final story in volume 6 is still a weird choice to me (especially since the penultimate one would’ve been much better) but I’m so excited to read the next volume. Such an cool chapter in comics history.

GRRL SCOUTS by Jim Mahfood (Complete) Very late 90s. Like soooooooo 90s. Some of the writing hasn’t aged well, but it’s interesting to see how much things have changed in...oh jeez 20 YEARS! 

……….AUDIO……….

Staying In with Emily & Kumail (Podcast) As a dedicated listener to their old podcast, The Indoor Kids, it’s great to listen to these two again. Also weirdly comforting that their dynamic and personalities (at least as far as podcasting is concerned) hasn’t changed over the years between then and now. It’s gotta be at least 4 or 5 years, right? Anyway, this is a good listen if you’re navigating the pandemic (jk, we’re all doing that).

Articles of Interest (Podcast) So I think this is technically a miniseries put out by 99% Invisible but I loved season 1 and season 2 is just as good. Every episode is concise and these latest episodes are really diving into new parts of the fashion industry. Very cool.

Unravel Season 4: Snowball (Podcast) I checked this out on a recommendation since our mutual friend went through a similar situation (getting romantically involved with a perpetual con artist) and it was so interesting to see the overlap. It’s just such a wild story of deception and habitual lying and theft and manipulation. Great listen.

Dedicated Side B by Carly Rae Jepsen Exactly the sort of pick-me-up we need right now. Good stuff. Always a treat. Very happy.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The latest session had the group spending...maybe 25 minutes sorting out how they were going to approach the Jolly Roger (ship of the dreaded Captain Hook). Their plan is a mixture of stealth and impersonating what amounts to Pirate Ship Quality Control. We’ll see how that goes. Anyway I’m really excited by how the group is exploring the island and for this book to come out in October!

D&D Homebrew Adventure (Menace of Merlin) The group is sorting out a curse/illness plaguing one of the character’s hometown and...the timing of this plot is not ideal BUT everyone seems to be okay with it. They took out some orcs and hopefully will be able to find the hermit that can help with the slow petrification of the village.

Tyranny of Dragons /Gainfully Employed (Wizards of the Coast) I’m not sure I posted about this last month but the party has just sorted out the cause of a failing lighthouse (that’s magical) and brought the culprit to justice! Now to head out of Phlan and sort out some silly rumors that I’m sure are nonsense.

And that’s it! As always, hit me with your recommendations if you have something I should read/play/watch/or listen to!

Happy Sunday.

[dailyaudiobible]

12/22/2020 DAB Transcript

Zechariah 2:1-3:10, Revelation 13:1-18, Psalms 141:1-10, Proverbs 30:18-20

Today is the 22nd day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is awesome to be here with you today it’s awesome to be here with you Christmas week. And, yeah, a couple days and we’ll be at Christmas day. So, we’re pressing into it, pressing into the season. I'm sure you are as well. And I pray that you are experiencing moments of Christmas joy, something that's been in a little short supply, maybe a lot short supply this year. But anyway, we have come to center ourselves in the Scriptures, to exhale all that's going on around us and just warm ourselves at the Global Campfire as we take the next step forward in the Scriptures. And we began the book of Zechariah yesterday and I mentioned then that Zechariah will take us all the way until a couple of days before the end of the year. Zechariah is the second to the last book in the Old Testament. And yesterday when we began Zechariah, we just gave some context and one of the pieces of context was that Zechariah contains eight different night visions and we will begin with the third one today. Zechariah chapters 2 and 2. And we’re reading from the New English Translation this week.

Commentary:

Okay, we were talking about this being Christmas week at the beginning today before we read the Scriptures. And, yeah, this is Christmas week. The day after tomorrow is Christmas eve if you can believe it. And, so, we’re in it and we’re trying to finalize and get everything together and figure out how we’re gonna do everything and…and we’re also likely to be around family, whether that is immediate family or we have extended family, whether we’re getting in a car and traveling, whether we’re gonna get on a plane and travel or whether that's gonna happen where people are traveling toward us. Likely, whether we’re having a very very large family gathering or whether it’s going to be really intimate we’re going to be together with…with our family and when that happens all kinds of really really wonderful, joyous things can happen. Hearts can be united…just the love for our family and the people that we grew up with or the people that we've known our whole lives, it just emerges and we…we feel that warm cozy spirit of Christmas but, you know, in that situation, it…it’s just warm and cozy and dry and one match thrown into the middle of that can just…it can just blow the whole thing up. Like one person who decides that they need to vent about their political views in the middle of all that or one person bringing up some kind of scorn or something from earlier years, any little thing can make a volatile situation explode. And it wasn't that long ago that we read the book of James or the letter of James, in which he talked about how we can bless people and curse people out of the same mouth and surely that's not right. And, so, right now is a good time to kind of put some of this that we've learned about our mouths and how powerful they are into our pocket and carry it around because usually when the volatile things happen they just…they happen randomly. I mean we know…we may know who’s the likely one to start something. Maybe we’re the likely one to start something. And maybe this year it should be a break for everybody. Maybe we should bite down on our tongue instead of waggin’ it. I mean because we can be the giver of joy. I mean, when we think about Christmas spirit and Christmas joy and we think about how it's affecting us, like are we feeling it? But the thing is, we can give it, we can build each other up instead of tearing each other down. And, so, we turn to the Psalms then today and we read these words, “O Lord place a guard on my mouth. Protect the opening of my lips. Do not let me have evil desires or participate in the sinful activities with men who behave wickedly.” We should put that in our pocket too as we go into these next few days and determine in advance, if somebody lights the match and throws it into the middle of everything that doesn't mean that it's compulsory that we participate. It can be a situation where our…our unwillingness to participate and amp things up is saying a lot without saying anything. If we find that our words that we have determined that we will only build up and not tear down, well that would be quite a Christmas gift to give and it would change the atmosphere. And we may not be able to stop the kinds of things that happened from happening, but we do have control over ourselves. And, so, let's just remember, yeah, it’s family, yeah, it's presents and gifts and festivities and Christmas music and lights and it's just wonderful but what we are honoring is the arrival of the presence of peace. And, so, if we’re not going to actively participate in peace on earth, especially at Christmas…well…there's a disconnect somewhere. Let’s put our faith into action in these coming days because these are days of great joy.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that. Joy…joy flows from You. And when we experience joy, we are becoming aware of Your presence. And this is a joyful time in the midst of a very trying season. And, so, may we experience Your joy and then in turn give Your joy, build one another up, not tear one another down. We pray the Psalm, “Lord place a guard on our mouths. Protect the opening of our lips. Don't let us have evil desires or participate in sinful activities.” Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it's the website, its where you find out what's going on around here. You can find out what's going on around here using the Daily Audio Bible app just as well by pressing the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner.

Of course, we’re days away from Christmas. So, that's what's going on around here. So, check out the Christmas resources that are available, especially the musical ones. The Family Christmas album, which is an instrumental…just a beautifully contemplative album for the Christmas season, the kind of…it’s the kind of one that you want when you…when you're trying to wind down. You gotta a cup of cocoa or whatever, you got the lights on, maybe the Christmas lights and nothing else, maybe a fire in the fireplace. It's that kind of record. So, check that out. You can stream it on Spotify or Apple music or YouTube music or Google play, whatever, You can buy it there at the iTunes Store or wherever you get your music.

And the other…the other Christmas thing is “O Holy Night” that Jill and I put together a couple weeks ago in preparation…she's gonna sing virtually at a Christmas eve service this year. And, so, we’ll put links up to that on Christmas eve on our social media channels in case you don't have a candlelight service that you can attend. But she sang it with such heart and passion, and we were just…we were like wow, we should release this. And, so, we did, and you can stream that on Spotify or Apple music or wherever or buy that as well. Just look for Jill Parr and O Holy Night and you will find it. So, check those…check those out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here in the waning days of the year, thank you humbly and truly from our hearts. Thank you for your partnership. I’ve said it…feels like I’ve said it like 360 times or whatever this year. We wouldn't be here if we weren’t in this together. That's a fact. And, so, we are profoundly grateful that we are moving through another year. And thank you for your partnership. So, there is a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is June in Maryland I am calling to give a praise report. I am just praising God for bringing me through this year. This year started off really rough with some heart palpitations that had me out of work for almost 2 months and then I went back to be a Covid nurse and once I returned to my psych unit, I got Covid. All the while I was still trying to finish school which I did. I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in nursing on December 5th. So, I’m very thankful to be alive, to be able to breathe, and to have been able to complete this degree despite all of the obstacles and frustrations. So, yea God. Thank you, God. Nothing is possible without God but with God all things are possible. That’s all I have for today. I’ll call back another time. Love you all. Have a blessed day.

Hi this is Sarah from South of England this is my first prayer request and I really need prayer. How to make it brief? I have __. I’ve had a recent relapse after 20 years of…of pretty severely…being pretty severely affected and I just feel devastated because I…I’ve lost so much of what I could do, particularly…mainly with my arms and needing a lot more help. And it’s…it’s just complicated with social services and carers and things. And apart from that I…I can’t do the greater things that…that I most love, that I’ve always felt, you know, that what God made me for really. And I’m…I just really need companionship. It’s just not because of the Covid, but obviously that hasn’t helped. I’m single and I’m 52 and…and wondering if, you know, I’ll ever be able to…to find someone to share my life with. And even if I could socialize and…and have lots of friends, that would…that would…would be okay but I can’t do that. And…but I know that ultimately, I need God to be my everything…to not…to not demand that recovery is the only answer for me. But he can heal me as well. I know that. But just to find peace in him, to find my joy in him because I know he can bring joy no matter what’s happening to us and I need that, I need that desperately. I need to…to get back to that place of…of being at peace with him and trusting him no matter what my circumstances are. So, thank you.

Hi, my name is Jay I’m from Georgia from Rome Georgia. It happens that I lost my job this past Monday and I there’s an appeal process an appeal’s process that I’m undergoing and a few other things that might help but most of all I just want to come to the throne of grace, and I want to ask if all of you can help me pray that I get my job back. It’s hard. It’s a hard time because my…my husband is going to school right now and I was the one who supplied. But God supplies all my needs according to his riches in glory. And I would ask if you would stand with me in faith and ask that God would lead me and guide me. God bless you all.

Good morning DAB family this is Sally in Massachusetts. We’re in the midst of a beautiful snowstorm today. I had to chuckle Little Cherry when I heard you describe getting ready to go to the sunrise. It reminded me of the eight years I lived in Saskatchewan. Mighty cold but I loved it. I love the sunshine. And…and thankful. Lord I’m so thankful for our brothers and sisters scattered all over this world. It’s wonderful to hear from all the different states from…from places like New Zealand and Australia and Singapore and South Sudan and Germany and India and Eastern Canada and all the states that we hear from. Lord, we are so blessed to have You bring us into the family of God scattered over the world. We thank You so much for the DAB that brings us together. Lord I lift up Margo and her husband as they prepare to go back to Liberia. Please strengthen and guide them. Please provide their needs physically Lord, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially. Lord we just pray for the wisdom that he needs as he prepares information to be a better pilot and to care for his plane and pray for Margo Lord. Just guide her as she gains insights into being a better nurse. Oh God and we just thank You for the love for the lost, their desire Lord to make You known. We pray Jesus that You would just bless them and guide them. Thank You, once again great and holy God for all You’ve done and all You’re doing as You bless Your church around…

Hi DABbers, this is Alina Jesus Worshiper from Delray Beach. I’m actually calling with a praise report and I wanted to thank you so much for praying for me and my husband. More than a year ago my husband told me that he doesn’t want to be with me anymore and it was a mistake that we got married after like almost 10 years of marriage and it was really painful for me. All of this time we’re separated but together under one roof and I was praying for his salvation. And I’m not sure, I don’t think that salvation happened yet, but God is changing my husband’s heart. And recently my husband came back to me. He came back to be my husband and now he would like to have family and he would like to have kids and he talks about God all the time and I know that God is…God is calling him. And I’m just so excited to share this with you…this journey. God is so faithful to everybody who is struggling in their marriage. I’ve waited for one year to every relationship with my husband. It was so painful and with all this other things that people were talking and 2020 nothing was as hard as just being in the same house with somebody who says every day that he doesn’t love you anymore. But, you know, God is so faithful. God is so faithful. When I was struggling, and I was without my faith he was putting me up and Daily Audio Bible family helped me out so much being connected to the word every day. I want it or I don’t want it. It became my habit after like two years or so. So, I wanted to thank everybody for praying and I pray for you today in Jesus’ name to experience this, the same thing as I did. Amen.

[enderon]

21, 13, 11 for the torchwood asks!

21. Stories you'd like to see?

First and foremost, I wanna see a Ianto and Tosh duo adventure. They're both just so good, especially together, and I just know it would be so very much fun, especially cause they're both, arguably, the most functional members of the team, so we could get some really high stakes. And also they're both very snarky and also sweet and play off of each other so well.

Secondly, I want more stories of the team between season 1 and 2. I'm very happy that we have 'Kaleidescipe' and got to see how they all reacted immediately following Jack's disappearance and how they decided Gwen would be in charge, but I just want more, it was way too short. Maybe even a whole story about what they were getting up to during the year that never was, expedition to the Himalayas and all.

The last one is really just a completely self-indulgence thing, and I highly doubt we would ever get this, but a story that brings Ianto back? Even if it was like an alternate universe Ianto, like Yvonne in the new seasons (from my ubderstanding). I just, I want him back, he didnt deserve to die when he did for the horrendous reasons he did. Theres so much to him and it's really like they finally let him be confident and happy just to RIP everything away from him again. Let him be alive and happy damnit!!

13. Books?

My number one Torchwood book has to be 'The Undertaker's Gift'. I know a lot of people have their issues with it, and it most certainly does have issues, but I just absolutely love the constant foreboding feeling and genuinely high stakes involved in it. Honestly, I wish that our pen-ultimate conflict of Children of Earth had been something like this instead. It just, always gets my adrenaline pumping to read it. Also cause that part where Jack talks about killing Nazis. That's pretty awesome.

My second would have to be Risk Assessment, another controversial one. I dunno, the whole premise of Jack being petulant cause he can't boss this crazy woman around is just so funny to me. Theres also several extremely soft and good Janto moments in it, as well as letting Gwen have some fun and shine quite a bit. I'll agree that it still has its issues, but I find it fun.

My third would have to be 'Consequences'. It's just a really nice collection of really good stories, what more can I say?

11. Big Finish audio dramas?

Number 1 place absolutely has to go to 'Broken' cause I'm a weak and predictable bitch. Not only do I love it for finally letting us see the actual start of Ianto and Jack's relationship, but as someone who loves Ianto I love that it showed us all the little behind the scenes moments and what he was actually going through after the events of 'Cyberwoman'. It's just top notch stuff that also works to build on Ianto's character so very well.

Second place has to then go to 'Outbreak', cause he doesnt want a sudo zombie apocalypse style story? Fun plot, fun build up and usage of beloved characters, Norton is a fun addition, and having the situation once again be a situation of the evil of humanity is just top notch. Literally the only issue is the fact that I have to listen to people clawing their own skin off directly into my ears. That I could absolutely do without thank you very much.

Third place goes to 'The Last Beacon', once again cause I'm a predictable little bitch. What can I say? Ianto and Owen going on a buddy adventure out in the country and bonding with a nice happy ending? It's so good. Ianto and Owen are both so good, with Owen getting to reveal a bit more of his softer side while still being just as sharp and brutal as usual, and we don't have any deaths. It's all just very good, very feel good.

[true-halloween-tales]

2018: #2-GUIDE TO DOCTOR WHO

Previously, cult horror-related tv series such as The Night Stalker, Dark Shadows, and the Outer Limits have been examined. Even though Doctor Who is primarily a science fiction tv series, over its 55 year history it has delved into horror many times. After Darren McGavin’s The Night Stalker series was cancelled in 1975, I sadly still tuned in at the same day and time in case it ever came back (see 2015: #5-GUIDE TO THE NIGHT STALKER). Weepers! Eventually it was recommended to me to watch this Doctor Who show, but I was not interested in another Marcus Welby, MD series at age 6. I tuned in anyways to find an argumentative older man yelling at people, and I soon became bored and quit watching the series. However, I was encouraged to persist and watch further episodes, so I did. One twenty-two minute episode was shown a day. A few episodes later and the older argumentative man was now in an apocalyptic world with people devolving into monstrous green werewolves! It was terrifying! I was hooked!

Doctor Who was scheduled to premier on November 22, 1963, but it was delayed until the following day due to the assassination of President Kennedy. It features an alien, a Timelord, who can change its body, and currently the Doctor’s latest body is female as played by Jodie Whitaker, with her debut episode appearing for the first time this Sunday afternoon! This alien serves often as the savior of the Earth as well as the closest the universe has to being a good, near-godlike force. The original series ran from 1963-1989 featuring the Doctors’s first seven bodies or “regenerations.” In 1996 Doctor Who returned in a U.S. production with a new regeneration of both the Doctor and his primary villain, the Master. In 2005 the new series continued with a new regeneration, but in later seasons it is revealed that one regeneration was skipped between the tv movie and the new series. This regeneration, technically the ninth, played by John Hurt, renamed himself the War Doctor. The new series has also featured the Eleventh Doctor, played by David Tennant, who consumed a regeneration to heal himself, and eventually the Doctor used all of his thirteen regenerations. But he got more, and he even doesn’t know how many.

There are a variety of rare facts about Doctor Who. A spacesuit costume from the series was reused in the Empire Strikes Back and worn by the scaly bounty hunter, Bossk. Peter Cushing starred as Doctor Who in two movies in the 1960’s (see 2018: #1-GREAT HORROR FILM ACTORS). The two color movies are remakes of popular televised stories featuring the evil alien race, the Daleks. One of the films, 1966’s Dalek’s Invasion Earth 2150 AD, included British comedian Bernard Cribbins as a police officer, and he joined the tv series in 2007 as another character. The movies differed from the tv series by Cushing portraying the character as a human, not an alien. There is an original pilot of the series from 1963 that had a significant scene removed from the first story, An Unearthly Child. The First Doctor, portrayed by William Hartnell, shares that he and his granddaughter are from the year 5,000 and may be humans. By cutting that from the final broadcast, it made alien bodily regeneration a much more plausible concept. The Doctor also is not always the benevolent good guy. In An Unearthly Child, the Doctor prepares to cut the throat of an unconscious caveman because he is annoyed and wants to leave prehistoric Earth. In Doctor Who canon, there is still at loose a future evil incarnation of the Doctor, once known as the Valeyard. Big Finish has dozens of the continued audio adventures of previous regenerations of the Doctor including many of the surviving actors who played the Doctor as well as supporting cast members.

There is much written about Doctor Who, but for the purposes of Halloween we are primarily interested in horror episodes as well as potential crazy costumes that could be made based on aliens in the series. If you have a spare plunger and a box, you can make a Dalek costume. Dressing as one of the regenerations of the Doctor is easy if you have any of the specific costume elements. The easiest is probably to dress as the Third Doctor with a velvet smoking jacket. A lot depends upon if you require your costume to be widely recognizable to not. Don’t dress as the Doctor’s time and space vehicle, a blue police box, the Tardis; that is stupid. The three best aliens to create costumes for include: Alpha Centauri, appearing as a green, hermaphroditic, one-eyed Beholder from Dungeons & Dragons with a high pitched voice (see 2015: #3-STRANGE MONSTERS FROM DUNGEONS & DRAGONS). Alpha Centauri is one of the few characters from the original series that have reappeared in the new series. Another amusing costume option is the Face of Boe, a large sleepy head resembling a Japanese Nuppeppo yokai (see 2018: #10-YOKAI). Or perhaps an alien from the planet Vortis which are large, vaguely humanoid insects, such as the Menoptra bee/butterfly people. Doctor Who is a series that offers cosplayers a huge amount of possible costumes as well. The series is a wealth of creativity.

Doctor Who has a lot of episodes, and out of the entire series, here are the ten best horror-related stories:

10-The Chase: features the First Doctor encountering Dracula and the Frankenstein monster.

9-The Unquiet Dead: Christopher Eccelston, technically the Tenth Doctor, finds zombies and dead ghost-like aliens possessing bodies.

8-The Pyramids of Mars: the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, has major problems with an Egyptian god and his mummy servants.

7-The Brain of Morbius: Baker’s Frankenstein episode, but featuring a Hitler-like Timelord trying to be more than just a brain in a jar.

6-Midnight: Tennant in a tense, claustrophobic episode about a telepathic thing outside of a stalled tour bus on a deadly planet.

5-State of Decay: Baker versus a giant vampire, the ancient enemy of the Timelords, on a planet ruled by vampires.

4-The Daemons: The Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, dealing with a giant horned demon running across the English countryside, summoned up by a satanic cult led by The Master.

3-The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit: Tennant discovers the physical, Godzilla-sized body of the Devil himself, a being from the universe that existed before this one.

2-The Seeds of Doom: Baker meets The Thing, including in a polar setting.

1-Inferno: Pertwee popped into a parallel world and is faced with a dreadful apocalypse with the planet rapidly being destroyed, people devolving into green werewolves, the world is ending and there is nothing he can do. This scared the crap out of me when I was six years old. The episode set a Guinness Book of Worlds Record for the longest drop by a stuntman. It is also one of the longest complete stories.

There are many other Halloween-worthy episodes of Doctor Who. The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances are two very popular episodes with Eccleston in WW2 investigating very creepy unexplained phenomenon, and he also meets John Barrowman’s very popular assistant, Captain Jack, in that story. The Caves of the Androzani is an acclaimed Phantom of the Opera story with the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison. Werewolves appeared in Tennant’s second story, Tooth and Claw. An infamous mummy appeared in Mummy on a Train with the Thirteenth Doctor, Peter Capaldi. Many of Patrick Troughton’s episodes, who is the Second Doctor, are lost and missing. But there is surviving footage of his stories versus the Abominable Snowmen, who were quite frightening skulking about in the London sewers. A prehistoric lizardman species is discovered on Earth in Pertwee’s The Silurians, and an aquatic version of the species is encountered in Pertwee’s The Sea Devils, one of my all-time favorite stories of the series. The Master as virtually an undead lich appears in Baker’s The Deadly Assassin (see 2013: #10-LICHES). Baker’s The Horror of Fang Rock flows just like a horror film, with people barricaded in a lighthouse to escape a prowling monster. The largest monster that has appeared in the series was a tentacled, Lovecraftian swamp monster the size of a city in Baker’s The Power of Kroll. Doctor Who tends to be at its best when delving into horror.

There are some noteworthy Doctor Who stories that were planned or written, but they were not made. The adventures that almost happened! Pertwee’s Third Doctor was planned to start the tenth season with “Deathworld.” It was about the President of the Timelords basically playing chess with Death, and he summoned up the first three Doctors to be pawns in his game. The Doctors were to materialize in the Underworld to face the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as well as personification of the Seven Deadly Sins. Content from the plot seems to have drifted into the stories: The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors. Pertwee’s final story had to be changed because the actor portraying the First Master, Roger Delgado, was killed in a car accident. “The Final Game” was planned to reveal that the Doctor and the Master just were not brothers, but they were the same person – divided into two halves – with the Doctor effectively being a Freudian ego and the Master as the id. Both the Master and the Doctor were planned to die in “The Final Game.” The Master was going to permanently die saving the Doctor, yet the Doctor would regenerate. There was also a second U.S. tv movie planned with McGann’s Eighth Doctor which would have included a major redesign of the Daleks. A third Peter Cushing film was planned but cancelled, Daleks vs. Mechons, based on the story, The Chase.

I have attended some science fiction conventions and have had correspondences with some of the stars of the series. I met Pertwee several times, including once with Elizabeth Sladden, aka the assistant, Sarah Jane Smith, at the Granada Theatre in Chicago in 1989. I met and chatted with Tom Baker who is really tall, about the various death scenes he had in various roles. But I spent an entire morning with Peter Davison, Sandra Dickinson, his then wife who appeared in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and the series producer, John Nathan Turner, wearing a bad Hawaiian shirt. We all sat together with less than ten others and watched Davison’s excellent Cyberman story, Earthshock, more than a year before it aired in the United States. There is nothing better than sitting next to the lead actor in Doctor Who and watching them star in the series in a great story. I had correspondence with the Sixth Doctor, Collin Baker, who wrote me that he was not sure how much longer the BBC would keep him in the role, and he was fired shortly later. I also ran into the enigmatic Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy at a bar the night before a convention. I was sitting with the stars of the cult British science fiction series, Blakes 7 including Gareth Thomas, Paul Darrow, and Brian Blessed (see 2011: #7-SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTIONS). Over the shoulder of Gareth Thomas could be seen Sylvester McCoy sitting at the bar by himself, silently and sadly meditating on his ale. I had correspondence with another Master, Anthony Ainley, one of my favorite actors in Doctor Who, and he wrote back to me on his wonderful Master stationery.

Doctor Who offers a wealth of treasures for Halloween. If not costume ideas, then sheer entertainment. I am very much looking forward to the new season starting this weekend. Not only has the lead actor changed but so has the entire production team, sets, producers, etc. I was totally turned off by the previous Steven Moffat production team, so I am looking forward to the new Chris Chibnall team. It’s one of the only series that regularly reinvents itself, and few series exceed being fifty years old. Just about anything goes in Doctor Who, from very odd aliens to all sorts of monsters – even McCoy’s Seventh Doctor encounters a dragon in one story (on Monday see 2018: #3-DRAGONS)…

[lit-works]

Heroes For Hire: The Gang Wars Trilogy

Book 1: After Midnight

Prelude : RWST

The moonlight, pale and as mournful as lilies shone onto the chessboard through the steel-grated windows. Marc spector sat in the recreation room of the Ravencroft Institute for the criminally insane, as a committed patient. He looked away from the ensuing chess game momentarily to gaze through the secured windows. He observed a bird sitting in the tree just outside the window. He was sure it was a Falcon, perched there and looking in at him.

Marc had been committed for a number of atrocious crimes he had committed, the most severe of which include murder. The courts had said he had once cut a man’s face off. Since being at the hospital and receiving extensive treatment he had been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, paranoid Schizophrenic hallucinations, and Hero syndrome (a phenomena in which the afflicted desperately crave notoriety or attention for heroic acts, to the extreme of creating catastrophic situations it seems only they can resolve). Hero syndrome most commonly has manifested itself in arson cases that went too far out of hand for the hero/arson. Dissociative Identity Disorder or Split-Personality as it had always been called before seemed to be the root of Marc’s troubling psychoses, according to his institutional psychiatrist. He had developed 3 personas to share his mind with.

He was born Marc Spector. A nondescript Jew growing up in the bronx. But he later became Jake Lockley, a cab driver with some shady connections. He was also Steven Grant, playboy millionaire. However, it was his final alter ego that had ultimately placed Marc into the position to wind up in Ravencroft. He had created the persona of the costumed vigilante Moon Knight, and claimed to have done the egyptian moon god Knoshu’s bidding. While under the guise of Moon Knight he performed numerous illicit activities.

Eventually, like many other psychopathic murderers, Marc was arrested and committed after being deemed mentally unsound to stand criminal trial. For months it seemed that Marc had finally received the help he needed and where he could be protected from and against the community.

But, Marc started having his horrible nightmares again. Cold sweat-inducing, scream evoking, night terrors that stirred him from his sleep to the light of the moon shining in on him in his cot. He was convinced, as he stated in the following therapy sessions that he believed Knoshu was sending him a message through his dreams. Though the message was enigmatic to Marc, the content of the dream itself was vividly concise : flame, with no heat, searing him deeper than the flesh. Dark spirits plotting and menacing. A brutal, savage war amid the very streets of New York littering the streets with the bodies of the youth. An ancient tome. All of this interspersed with vistas of the egyptian deserts and mythic symbolism of the egyptian polytheistic lore. “Typical of his schizoid delusions”, the good Dr. Leonard Samson proclaimed on one occasion.

Soon, Marc began to stop taking his medication. After waiting patiently in the queue for his “ding biscuits”, as the other patients called the thorazine and other various sedatives they were all heavily dosed with, he would cheek his meds instead of swallowing them. He had realized what Knoshu was attempting to convey to him. There was a horrible evil that would occur unless he, Moon Knight, took actions to stop it. He needed to be free of Ravencroft. He needed to fulfill Knoshu’s will.

Finally, on a full moon, just a few minutes before the grandfather clock of the rec room struck midnight Marc enacted his escape.

One of the graveyard shifts guards was performing his routine hall patrol, when he noticed movement in the peripheral of his eye in one of the cells. The treatment staff insisted they be called rooms, but they were cells as much as their inhabitants were criminals. The guard shone his flashlight through the window, and was mortified by what he saw. It appeared one of the patients had hung themselves, again. In a panic, the guard pressed the distress alert button on his radio and scrambled for the proper door key. Once the cell door was thrust open the guard rushed in to try and cut the patient down and hope he wasnt too late. He found himself rather surprised however when the patient was lighter than air and seemed to deflate in his grasp. He was holding onto a set of patients clothing that had been stuffed with pillows and blankets and strung from the central light fixture. Another sick joke the guards were constantly subjected to by the more sadistic or humorous patients. Immediately furious, the guard yanked the bundle of cloth from the ceiling and scanned the cell for the assigned patient. He did not even notice as Marc slipped the truncheon from the guards belt, only the whoosh of air as Marc brought it down onto his temple rendering him unconscious.

Marc had not wanted to hurt officer Bryant, but the man didnt drink coffee and therefore the confrontation could not be avoided. The other guards and remaining on-call medical staff had by this time in the evening had already consumed quite a large portion of what was available in the break and security rooms. Marc had taken the precaution of having his prescriptions diluted into the coffee so he would face minimal resistance during his escape. His fellow patient Quentin Beck, or as most knew him Mysterio, was a trusted patient who was allowed to work in the kitchens and had zero qualms with introducing the chemical into the staff’s diet.

He had to avoid capture if he wanted to follow his visions and fulfill Knoshu’s will, and so could not appear like the asylum escapee he was. So, he stole the white 3-piece suit from the good Dr. Leonard Samson as well as his cane and wing-tipped loafers. In a farewell to the institution, Marc then found a white bag that was often placed over the patients head during constraint to prevent the more violent patients from spitting or biting. He drew the lunar shape of an eclipsed moon on the bag before placing it over his own head and disappearing into the night, a shadow in the light of the night.

_

12:27 AM

Dispatch : all units, report. We need officers to investigate a potential breaking and entering at The Met. The internal alarms have been triggered, but not the outside alarms. Security staff reported they had footage of an unidentified suspect atop the roof and have sent their own to apprehend the individual. If you are in the area, please report.

Car 10-05 radio: dispatch, 10-4, officer Mcnally and Officer Medina en route to the Met. Investigating potential 10-15, over.

12:45 AM

Car 10-05 radio: Dispatch, this is car 10-05, officer Mcnally reporting from the Met. Investigating the potential 10-35 here, we're gonna need an ambulance out here the met’s security are all laid out. I think one of em got thrown from the roof. No currently visible suspect, still requesting back-up. Officer Medina and i are going to look around the area. Over.

Dispatch: 10-4, over. Car number 10-05 in 5th Avenue area, requesting back-up for 10-35 in progress. Also EMT and paramedic assistance required, a number of ppl are injured at 1000 5th Ave. Please respond, 10-3 over.

12:51 AM

Audio extracted from the patrol car dash-cam footage of squad car 10-05.

(Siren wailing)

(Hurried footsteps)

Officer Mcnally: (to officer Medina) well, what the fuck is this? (To suspect in white) freeze! Drop the cane and put your hands in the air!

Officer Medina: what are you doing at the Met after midnight, huh? The exhibits are closed.

(Silence passes for a few seconds)

Officer Mcnally: i said drop the cane and put your damn hands to the sky!

Officer Medina: damn it, im gonna cuff this clown.

(Sounds of scuffling, resistance and harsh slams)

(Struggle continues)

Officer Mcnally: You have the right to remain silent, asshole!! You have the right to an attorney!! Now get your ass up and into the squad car!!

Officer Medina: (guttural groans)

(Sounds of suspect being apprehended and placed into custody in squad car 10-05).

Officer Mcnally: you alright, Medina?

Officer Medina: bastard broke my arm!!! (Whimpers in pain)

Officer Mcnally over personal radio: Dispatch, suspect apprehended in 10-31 at the Met. Additional charges of about 13 assaults with a deadly weapon, as well as resisting arrest are gonna be pursued with this guy. Bastard sucker-punched the reinforcement officers as soon as they got here and gave me and Medina a pretty good thrashing too. We're gonna need another ambulance, officers injured. But, the suspect is in custody.

1:12 AM

Audio extracted from internal patrol car camera for squad car 10-05

Officer Mcnally: so, what's your name, guy?

Suspect: Moon Knight

Officer Medina: ok, there Mr. Knight you wanna explain to me why you got that bag on your head?

(Silence)

Officer Medina: i mean, the worst most ppl get around Halloween are some kids in costume on their door step, maybe a few eggs and rolls of TP thrown at their house. I get damn near put in traction by some fool breaking into the Met. I thought the holiday seasons were a time for peace on earth and good will towards NYPD.

Officer Mcnally: so, what were you doing there Mr. Knight.

Suspect: the moon led me to a heinous crime so i could stop it, and the moon will not tolerate your interference.

Officer Mcnally: The Moon? That code for something?

(Silence)

Suspect head arched back looking out the rear window of the squad car: I will not allow these misguided villains to stand in your way, I the Moon’s Knight of vengeance must carry out your luminous will.

Officer Medina: uhhh, are you seriously talkin’ to the moon??!! Like the one the cow jumped over??!!

Suspect: there is much more to the moon than the childish stories you know.

Officer Medina: ok, buddy. (Laughs) and i thought seeing a drunk witch fighting marilyn Monroe at that costume party was gonna be the weirdest thing we saw tonight.

[usashirtstoday]

Black Cat Fuck Corona T Shirt

Actually love the lives to it is also a Black Cat Fuck Corona T Shirt coronavirus survivor and his neighbors are struggling to deal with both issues at the same time I got was taken extra money out there pockets and is going to the grocery store deadline of the water roster but you add on the pandemic not a water live in their team grab the started in 2014 when as a cost cutting measure official switch the city’s water source from a cure on to the Flint River but the water was improperly treated allowing and other chemicals from the pipes to leach into the water supply the city switched back to its original water source in 2015 the line news was on the ground in Flint from my side of the crisis we heard first hand from parents about how they believed the tainted water affected their children my son gave up trying to get his bones hurt to give him there’s nothing to do for to take away although tens of thousands of plaintiffs ever pointedly saturating the payout as part of the settlement much of the money is expected to go toward the children. I came up with a book about what happenedand why this all has gone downand I’m just make it up on this I’m just assuming I’m going to stop the result was the only because it makes sense in my mind is going to take such a letter I think that there like I think they’re getting that B of a fixed budget right are fixed pay scale light like D D get like making a number of hundred thousand dollarsand up so that goes to themand no matter how many episodes that’s what they get what they have made one of the big shows of all time it is the goose is line goaland asked if they want to do another season they could do another season my thought process is they want out of his current contract they want game of thrones over so they can make the next project for HBOand then go rose remember that billion dollars we made you on selling DVDsand sinand getting new subscriptions do you want the next goose is next time is half 1 million for each of us for each episode it’s a really bad negotiation technique to write the show major name in a way that all of your fans are the vast majority are upset with you by the end of the seriesand the way that now ruin the relationship into more business Star Wars next fight but quickly that’s of course bold fromand I wish I had when I was hungry till I saw them to say that it is very delicious I showed it to me the worst part of that whole episode are so much dumb shit no much dumb shit that happened that just didn’t make sense it was just the worst part was the destruction of Jamie’s entire storyline is entire up down up down very Unitedand ascendant like his whole thing at the end saying likewise going back like oh I don’t give a fuck about the people for the innocenceand it’s like you it’s been established five times with different quotes over the over the years your initial good guy turn that you do care that was your rationale for killing the mad King that was the reason that you are trying to talk sense to so many you know bad or bad faith you characters from the series you are in your good thingsand then he just I guess the only reason to go North Virginia was the fuck Breanneand then he goes backand dies with Circe there doesn’t make his so what was the fucking point of his entire story arc shit they all though just a little while he did have moments with here’s a sideways life point of wars complicated rights of the North men come in the battle for I don’t know 812 minutesand then start raping chicksand a course John Snow takes the girl or whatever their eight minutes in. They Know You Are to Buy Our This Art Studio Where Creative Guy with a Great Idea and a Ton of Possible

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There was no need to keep him locked down as long as he did and even the public health official even amid a Black Cat Fuck Corona T Shirt these in emails just for us right or not open for the public as if this gets out will know that we been lying to and they were talking about this in email so now Nashville donor John Rich is because using the also the nightclub in Nashville came out on on the news today is the day’s like Mlle. 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For two all for you guys who with your brother I did yes he is my twin brother identical when we were identical we were born identity I don’t know 18 we started to divert a little bit that’s it a young box I think of when you need to maybe go there now is a really do not look identical but yes you okay saying I yeah if had a people you know they don’t like it that’s that youand your brother with Sammy Sammy yeah that your brother took full advantage of having yes I did what we were bad bad bad boy mom in the audio for you are out in certain situations I keep going okay I went by he was having trouble at school is about to UCLA yesterday I went to UCLAand he was the Greek studies is one of his degreesand is having trouble passing was actually not going to graduate I was coming back from actingand he said listen my teachers offered me the points that I will need to graduate I just have to deliver a Greek monologue from the Greek found what are the chances that you know a Greek tragedy is actually this could cause the give me a shot you get tomorrow come at 12 noon black shirtand jeans black shoesand that you wrote to me of the crude map of where to go to the past by financial aid you can meet Eduardo wattage kids are Luisand Melinda had can enter the room is 401 go sit in the tiny room just to find a place to sit so get this together I follow the crude map say hi to Eduardo hello to the kids will want to open the door expecting a small classroom auditorium of this size I find a place to sitand that way way the professor calls on me she says Sammy Maui click I usually look to the leftand I came downand poisoned in a deliver the monologue started out slow my heart was pounding I think okay you actually have an audience right moment EMR video slowly in a really start to appreciate having the audienceand its it’s working the end of it I get a ton of applause from everybody rightand I thought we did I overshoot this certainly I did because the professor looks at me to 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[theonceoverthinker]

My Weekend At Once Con (Part 1)

...All I can say is wow. ...Just WOW. I'm sitting at my desk at work, just trying to figure out how the hell I'm supposed to go back to normal after this weekend. I'm equally parts at peace, freaking out, and so tired that I'm ready to crash and burn. And I'll tell you all why. ()()()()()()()()()()()()() About Me ()()()()()()()()()()()()() Before I start, I feel like to really understand my feelings about this con, you need to know a little bit about me first. That said, I'll make it fast because I know that's not what you're here for. 1. I'm the weirdest mix of introvert and extrovert that you can imagine. I want to talk to everyone, but at the same time, I'm so freaked out by it, but at the same time, I'll actually do it and jump in. 2. I'm what I call an omnishipper. If it's not incestual, I ship it at least a little. That said, I don't love all ships equally. I play favorites, and can even rank them per character. For example, I like Swan Queen, but I like Captain Swan and Dragon Queen a lot more. I like Violet Believer, but I like Henriella more. You get the drift. 3. I'm pretty positive about the show, and unless it's coming from a place of love, I hate saltiness, towards the writers, towards the characters, etc. I have likes, dislikes, and concerns of course, but there’s a line that I just don’t care to cross where it stops being fun, 4. I say I'm sorry way too much. 5. I recorded hours and hours of audio and video footage. It is all pretty flawed, but I promise, it's real. 6. Now, I'm going to reference questions, but I'm going to specifically focus on mine, since this is my con experience I'm reporting about. Look, I'm biased. It's human nature, and I'm literally writing this less than 24 hours after getting back.That said, if another question or comment really spoke to me, I'll do my best to include it here. Also, I'm doing my best to quote my questions from what I actually said, using the questions as I originally wrote them as well as my own memories, but I'm not trudging through my footage to get them. 7. Apart from Once, I've never really seen the special guests in other works. I saw Jen's play, The End of Longing back in May, but that was about it. This convention has convinced me to go forward and watch more of their works!

Okay, no more waiting! Here we go!!!

()()()()()()()()()()()()() Thursday ()()()()()()()()()()()()() I drove to the con on Thursday. I took a half day at work to finish packing and wait for my carpool buddy. We'd met on a Facebook page called "Once Upon a Time NJ Con," a Wall Street of sorts for the convention run by two lovely ladies. If you're looking to go next year, I can't stress enough just how good this page was. We arrived that evening for preregistration, and after my own adventures in the hotel down the road, I was all ready to get going. My roommate for the evening and I were on line, and already, there was so much excitement to be had. I met a beautiful young woman with crimson hair and a beautiful Swan Queen necklace who had Steven Universe buttons (A rare crossover of fandoms), and after we talked, I affectionately called her "Buttons" for the entire weekend. I entered the vendors room and took it all in. I immediately scoped out everything that I wanted, promising myself that I wouldn't spend too much money. ...You'll see how that ended up later. Thinking quickly, I immediately bought a Captain Swan shirt. There was a mug that looked like Henry's book that I promised myself I would buy on Sundays, but that was it. Don't get me wrong: I WANTED other stuff. The artwork table looked so nice, but I was sure I'd be selling my life savings for it (Something I was proven wrong about on the car ride home). Also, there was a big model of Emma's bug also available for purchase, but for like $50. It's funny because I was actually about to give my model of the bug (which was about 1/10 of the size of the one available here) to a Tumblr friend who I had grown really close to over the course of six months. Really, there wasn't much to say after that. Once my roommate and I had our fill of the Vendor's Room, we headed back to our room, chilled out, and then went to sleep, eager for the con to truly begin. ()()()()()()()()()()()()() Friday ()()()()()()()()()()()()() I've always been an early bird. That wasn't going to be an exception here. My first event wasn't until noon, but I was up at seven, and out the door by eight-thirty. My roommate, or at this point, ex-roommate, and I parted ways, but promised to meet up during the con. Thankfully, this is one of those stories where that actually happens. She and I at times were each others greatest forces of support and friendship in what was already a really friendly convention. We get there, and bond with a couple of people. Eventually, I ran into my carpool buddy and her friend. We killed time talking, reading books, and examining cosplays. Michael Coleman (Happy) and Chris Gauthier (Smee) passed by the lobby a few times, and I actually said hi to them, one time each. I was totally freaked out, but still, it was fantastic! Eventually, the theatre did open up, I parted ways from my friends, and went to my seat. I gotta say, knowing no one (for the moment, at least), it felt really lonely to be waiting for seatmates. Thankfully, a young teenager who had a GA ticket came by and provided a fun amount of conversation! Creation's house band Samurai Fish, accompanying Michael Coleman and eventually Gil McKinney (Eric) opened up the show. I never expected to like classic rock versions of my favorite Disney songs, but they were a lot of fun. XD Gil McKinney's panel, which I thought would originally set the stage for the rest of them, ended up, while doing it to some extent, being its own separate beast entirely, but in the best way possible. I compare it more to a stand up comedy routine than a proper panel. Gil walked around the room, commenting on guests, guessing kid's ages, losing a $20 bet that he would remember a guest's name, and even Face Timing with one of the guest's friends. I was blown away by how charming he is. There was a bit of a Q&A, but it only took up about the last five minutes of his panel. Fortunately for us con-goers, Gil would show up to a LOT more events and do a full-on Q&A the next day with Lee, Chris, and Michael. After Gil came Chris Gauthier. Let me tell you, I was hyped. I had been preparing questions for NJ con for six months now, but from the second I saw his name on the guest list, I knew what I wanted to ask. Chris' panel was more of a traditional panel with one big twist: Instead of going up to the mic, Michael, dressed as the Evil Queen (Heels included!), was going around with the mic to bring it to guests for their questions. This added a fun level of quirkiness to Chris' panel that I and the other guests really appreciated. Ready for my question? Well, at first, I wasn't. Believe it or not, I was terrified at first. But, I told myself that I wanted this and that I could do it. Michael eventually took a seat in the row in front of me, extended the mic to me, and I started to speak. "The last time Smee and Killian interacted in the present timeline, it was before Smee got his memory back and remembered that Killian sold the Jolly Roger and left his crew to go save Emma. What do you think that Smee and the rest of the crew think of their former captain now? Are they happy for his redemption or are they bitter at him for their abandonment?" Chris' response (To quote the man himself, "A little of both," and was followed by a more thorough explanation of why he thought so) was detailed, charismatic, and spoke of how much thought he puts into his character. By the end of it, I really wanted to see Smee on screen again! After Chris' panel ended, we next went into a Trivia Game. I actually participated in the last set of 30 contestants and made it to the top 15! Not half bad, especially because the question was from "Tallahassee" and Season 2 has always been my weakest season. I actually talked to two of the three winners after the contest, and both were scrambling to use their $200 winnings! XD The panels resumed at three sharp with Michael! Sadly, he was not wearing a costume, but what he lacked in that regard, he more than made up for with a bright and cheeky personality. I actually asked him, while something I never explicitly wrote out, about how he came up with the idea for the "Happy Little" series that he has been putting on for the past few conventions. He explained his reasoning in three parts, but I'll just tell you my favorite: He likes wearing dresses! The final panel of the day was the one and only Raphael Sbarge (Archie). What I like about Raphael is how he answers his questions. I'll demonstrate what I mean by discussing my own. So, my question was "In the Once Upon a Time fandom, shipping to many is as natural as breathing. However, Archie was never brought into a romantic relationship over the course of the series, or at least hasn’t been up to this point. Do you have and ideas of a character who you would have liked for him to chirp off into the sunset with?" Rapahel's response? "Who do you think he should end up with?" Now, it is definitely flustering to be asked a question in response to your own question, but give the man credit, that is brilliant when it come to responses. It does a couple of things. First, it's kind of like having a conversation with him. Raphael gets to react to what you think. Second, it buys him more time to respond, which, for a celebrity being put on the spot, is pretty clever. Now, that was the end of the panels, but not the end of the day, not by far. First came autographs. I'm going to hold all of my thoughts on autographs until the end of this series of posts, but for now, I'll say this: They were LONG. Second came...Dani. So, I've been chatting with a friend on Tumblr for close to half a year now. I always admired her posts, and we actually bonded over convention preparations. And she was coming to Jersey Con for Friday night and all of Saturday! I swear, I was just as excited to meet her as any of the celebrities appearing here. After the autographs, I messaged her to meet me in the lobby, and she responded immediately that she was on her way. And for the first time ever, we met. Readers, it felt like a scene in a movie. As soon as I saw her, I knew her, she knew me, we rushed to each other,...and we hugged. Fiction itself is seldom as beautiful.  We went up to her room, talked about a million and one things, shared stories and pictures, and then... Part three!!! You may have forgotten in all the excitement, but there was a brand new episode of Once Upon a Time!!!! It is incredible watching a show you love with someone who is as big of a fan as you. The episode in and of itself was pretty great! So, the episode ended, and with a million and one thoughts and theories, Dani and I headed down to the final portion of the day: Karaoke! Karaoke was hosted by Michael, Chris, Karen David (Jasmine), Beverly Elliot (Granny), and Gil McKinney. In it, our talented stars sang and danced alongside the lucky people chosen to sing pop, Disney, and rock songs! I had entered for Shut Up and Dance With Me, but sadly I was not selected. That said, the person chosen was quite talented. Some numbers that stuck out to me were "These Boots Were Made for Walking," "Sweet Caroline," "I Want It That Way" (Which my friend performed in), the aforementioned "Shut Up and Dance with Me," and "How Far I'll Go." The energy of the crowd was really something to see. Us Oncers definitely know how to rock a house! I bid Dani adieu and left during the final number because at that point, I was dead tired, and of course, I knew that I'd have to be at my best for everything that was to happen tomorrow... Nice cliffhanger, right? Stay tuned for Part 2!

[eddiebrock]

harry potter!!!!

YOU ARE THE BEST, THANK U

Top 5 favourite characters: Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Lily (Evans) Potter, Sirius Black, Harry Potter, Minerva McGonagall (that’s six but fuck it)Other characters you like: Dorcas freaking Meadowes (who is actually a favorite but since she’s literally only mentioned once I felt weird putting her in the Top 5 but I want all of u to know that I would die for Doe), James FREAKING Potter, Hagrid, Luna Lovegood, Remus Lupin, Newt Scamander, Tina Goldstein, Narcissa Malfoy, Alice Longbottom, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and the Weasley TwinsLeast favourite characters: Umbridge, Snape, fucking Vernon & Petunia, Dudley, Otps: JILY, Hinny, Tedromeda!!!!!!!, Newt/Tina, Dorcas/Reginald (the rarest of all rarepairs lmao), Fralice, Jacob/QueenieNotps: please don’t send me any anon hate for this lmao i can’t deal, Dra*mione, Dra*rry, Wolf*star (I HAVE MY REASONS), SNILY, apparently snamione and snarry are a thing???? so that’s fucking gross, Regulus/Sirius, CarrowcestFavourite friendships: Ron and Harry, Harry and Hermione, Ginny and Hermione!!!!!!!!!!, Luna and Ginny, James and Sirius, Lily and Remus, Newt and Jacob, Dorcas and Mary, Dorcas and Alice, Ginny and Neville, Neville and Luna, Kingsley and Remus, and like way 2 many more

Favourite family: The Potters and the Weasleys!!!Favourite episodes moment: ‘Humph,’ snorted Professor McGonagall. ‘It’s high time your grandmother learned to be proud of the grandson she’s got, rather than the one she thinks she ought to have – particularly after what happened at the Ministry.’Favourite season/book/movie: I think the third book was probably my favorite book, but Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 my favorite movie (despite some stupid shit that happened)Favourite quotes: i have way, way, WAY too many favorite quotes to list them all, so i’m just gonna put down my favorite under-appreciated quote because i’ve never seen anyone talk about it, but in the cursed child when draco is like “mY sOn Is MiSsInG” and ginny fucking potter gets up in his face and screams “SO IS MINE” and i just???? ugh, man. S O    I S    M I N E. ginny is the bestBest musical moment: Dumbledore’s Farewell & S T A T U E S are two of the most powerful music moments in the entire franchise, sue me, and the only reason i say statues and not Courtyard Apocalypse is because of the absolute masterful cinematography that went along with the song Statues and how the sound was really MADE for that moment, i will fight everyone on thisMoment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: returning back to statues scene because honestly, ‘Hogwarts is threatened!’ shouted Professor McGonagall. ‘Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!’ gets me EVERY TIMEWhen it really disappointed you: not a single canonical bisexual Saddest moment: “Does it hurt?“ The childish question had escaped Harry’s lips before he could stop it. “Dying? Not at all,” said Sirius. “Quicker and easier than falling asleep.” / harry listening to his own parents die during the cursed child Most well done character death: fuck dude, definitely fred’s because till my dying fucking day i will never forget the phrase “the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face”Favourite guest star: Dorcas Meadowes counts as a guest star because she’s only mentioned one (1) time and I literally named my dog after herFavourite cast member: Emma Watson (but also Daniel Radcliffe)Character you wish was still alive: Sirius Black One thing you hope really happens: I want Seraphina Piquery to get 100000x more screentime, she is a badass bitch and I could really use some woc American presidentst in my life, also make her BISEXUALMost shocking twist: honestly, snape killing dumbledore. like i know that’s a big joke now like SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE, but man, i remember reading it and just about shitting myself because i could not fucking believe it. also the whole “the elder wanda ctually belonged to draco but then i disarmed draco so it belonged to me but voldemort thought it belonged to snape so,” was WILDWhen did you start watching/reading?: a little over 10 yrs ago or somethingBest animal/creature: B O W T R U C K L E SFavourite location: godric’s hollow, and it’s because of the way it was staged for the cursed child (i talk more about it later on in this massive meme answer lol)Trope you wish they would stop using: it’s not a trope but i’m gonna harp on this again, there is not a single canon bisexual One thing this show/book/film does better than others: fucks up my entire world in less than a second. but in all seriousness, this whole franchise has such a way of touching that piece of nostalgia, and family and love and all these wonderful things that make me and many others feel so warm and safe. it has such an important and underlying positive message to it and i really just don’t think anything else in the world has touched so many people in such a massive and important way like harry potter has. plus, according to an actual scientific study, people who have read harry potter tend to be better human beings, so there’s that, tooFunniest moments: “There’s no need to call me sir, professor.” / “Have a biscuit, Potter.”Couple you would like to see: Newt and Tina!!! Seraphina and another woman!!!!!!Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: Imogen Poots!!!!!!!!!! but that has a 0% chance of happening, so Maisie Williams and Natalie DormerFavourite outfit: seraphina’s crazy cool outfits and hermione’s sweater in the woods in deathly hallows pt. 1 (but in the books, hermione’s perriwinkle yule ball gown)Favourite item: the invisibility cloak for sure, but also harry’s glassesDo you own anything related to this show/book/film?: the sheer audacity of this question…….. the ability to even list it all is……….. unfathomableWhat house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: GRYFFINDORMost boring plotline: the entire lavender/ron stint Most laughably bad moment: voldemort trying to hug draco lolBest flashback/flashfoward if any: it’s not really a flashback, but in the cursed child, when they go back in time to the night james and lily died, i can’t remember if the script talked about this but on stage, lily (WHO WAS APPROPRIATELY AGED) took baby harry in a stroller out of the house and there were pumpkins and all sorts of cute halloween decorations all around, and it was peaceful and quiet and when they got out the door she was cooing and talking to harry and making all these cute funny faces at him, and i literally could not keep it together. shortly thereafter, when harry’s gone back in time too, on stage they’re all standing there as voldemort walks off the stage and harry’s forced to listen to his parents die. i’ve never wept so much in my entire life. it was so good. Most layered character: i think narcissa malfoy, probably, if not albus dumbledore, who isn’t the most popular character around but face it, the guy’s got layersMost one dimensional character: umbridge, her only dimension is Evil and i’m ok with it staying that wayScariest moment: fucking basiliskGrossest moment: fucking aragogBest looking male: percival graves probably lmao colin farrell is fine as fuckBest looking female: obviously hermione grangerWho you’re crushing on (if any): i always have a crush on ginny and hermioneFavourite cast moment: that time when they’re wrapping up the final movie, and they’re watching this memories video while they were all still in costume, and emma started crying and daniel hugged her and it was just the cutest thing i’ve ever seen and i still cry, also all of them crying and hugging jk rowling at the premiere of dhp2Favourite transportation: definitely broomsticksMost beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): deathly hallows part 2 where they’re putting up the protective spells over hogwarts, and it’s got all the colours in that enormous shield and it just brings tears to my eyesUnanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: WHY ARE JAMES AND LILY PORTRAYED BY REASONABLY PARENTAL-AGED PEOPLE??? THEY DIED WHEN THEY WERE 21 AND EVERYONE DESERVESTO KNOW HOW FUCKING SAD THAT IS, also what the fuck happened to the real percival graves??? is he dead??? do i get to see colin farrell come back as a good guy at any point????Best promo: i will never forget the day that the audio from the SDCC trailer for deathly hallows part 1 came out, and all you could hear was kingsley shacklebolt saying “the ministry has fallen. the minister of magic is dead. they are coming.” and i just remember sitting at my old desk and whispering “oh my god!!!!! oh my god!!!!!!” and playing the audio over and over again and that was like. magicalAt what point did you fall in love with this show/book: “Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

[jackmonkeygames]

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I remember as a kid reading books like Orson Scott Card’s Memory of Earth and Stranger in a Strange land and being more fascinated by the Alternate Relationships than the actual science fiction aspects of the book. What I found truly interesting was the fact that unlike the spacecraft and the alien worlds the alternate relationship styles could be implemented now. Maybe this is one of the reasons why I am Polyamorous (What did I just out myself ?) I am going to speak mostly of Polyamory as this is what I know. (Others are welcome to leave comments )

In this blog post, I’m going to talk about Alternate Relationships in both Science Fiction media and RPG games. And to be clear I consider Homosexual relationships to be a normal part of life! I’m writing this blog post for someone who is just now opening their eyes beyond heterosexual monogamy.

Scifi testing the waters for Alternate Relationships

Something that I have noted is that TV and movies (Mostly Science Fiction) will slowly hint at alternative Relationships (Being anything other than Heterosexual Monogamy). Most of the time this takes the form of one of the Villians or anti-heroes being involved in one of these relationships (Healthy or not is a whole different blog post ) I am not sure If I am happy with the idea of the Villians spearheading this concept. However, I have noted the same thing happened with homosexuality during the early 90s and has time has passed homosexuality became more and more normalized (As it should be). More and more heroes started to come out as homosexual. It seems like the writers of the TV/Movies/Books start off with villains because its ether easier to accept a villain has an alternative relationship than a Hero. I’m expecting to see a lot more Polyamory in media shortly Starting with the villains and slowly moving to more heroes.

Why is this good?

When you are reading science fiction you are already open to new ideas. Your brain is caught up in the new worlds, new concepts. So the idea of a new style or relationship just adds to the world building. So the idea that someone has two husbands is not as crazy when they are traveling through space.

Something else to consider is that many of these relationships are only considered odd or bad because the majority of society deems it wrong. (Have to do with consenting adults). Exploring these concepts in science fiction is a good way to explore these concepts of our existing social structures. I like to say that the contrast is amazing. The idea that you can better appreciate your current relationship because you are reading about an alien relationship style. And do so with safety as nobody gets hurt from you watching TV or reading a comic. Alternate Relationships are a good way to ask yourself … why is this?

Example : Watching a movie about polyarmous triad. Discovering that you would not want your mate to go out with someone else can make you appcrate that your mate is devoted to only you.

Example 2: Watching a similar film you discover that maybe this is something that may work for you. You are not ready for it but maybe.

Why do relationships have to be Binary?

Why do we try to mate for life and fail 52% of the time

Why do we not have limited time allocated for relationships (three years)

Why do we think that monogamy is the only way?

Ask yourself these questions because when you do you will have a better understanding of yourself. I am not asking you to become poly or try to be gay, Bi or Transgender. What I am asking is that you understand who you are and why you are doing it. You be you !! but you can’t do that if you don’t ask the question. If you are in a happy monogamous relationship Fantastic!!!! Send us invites to your next Aniversary and we will celebrate with you

Examples of Sci-fi Alternative Relationships syles in current media

Little Vampires Final Scene (Hints at polyamory in the final scene …it is Disney after all)

Terran Empire Rep Final Season of Defiance had two husbands

The Teen Titans Starfire is Polyamorous

Sense 8 … no subtly and I am glad

Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series

Orson Scott Card Memory of Earth Marriages lasted for a year and a day.

Dr Phlox in a Polygamous marriage that was considered normal by his people

Polyamory and Alternate Relationships in Star-Fall actual play podcast

In the show, if you listen carefully you will note that there is a theme of acceptance at our game table. There are hints throughout the game where we make all kinds of relationships ok. There is even a plotline where the captain of a Warzodian customs patrol craft Eric Keys just had a wedding with two other people. (More about this plotline later) at Jackmonkeygames we are all about open and inclusive for all kinds of relationships. Our cast members truly reflect that! I have never felt so welcomed by any game group before.

Even the Church of the Illumination (Evil Villians) considers Homosexuality & Polyamory to be a normal part of existence. “Who do you think we are barbarians?”

Norkek and Hedda touch on the idea of Monogamy being a game.

Star-Fall the Comic will have a poly plot line that will extend across many chapters. The goal is to have a plot line that polyamory is part of the story but not the main focus. Sex and Relationship drama will not be the focus of the storyline as I want to focus more on science fiction. The relationship will be far from perfect and the characters will have to grow.

Star-Fall will also show some Alternate Relationships when discribing some of the planets. The idea that every planet is going to have the same relationship sytle is honestly unrlislitc.

Alternate Relationships in RPG Games

As a gamemaster I often do not focus on relationships at all. I have been in games where some of the characters have decided to get married to an NPC or once to each othr. However for the most part I avoid relationships in RPG games. The reason for this is that I want to focus on the story. That and the fact that sometimes relationships in game can overflow into the real world (or the other way around)

My main rule is to never force a realtionship on any player character. of any kind. Its just messy. You risk crossing a line with not just the player who is directly in the plot but some of the other Players. Alternate Relationshipsare basicly adding a multiplyer to the amount if trouble you can cause.

Now having a group of NPCs in an Alternate Relationship is fine as the players are not directly being effected by the plot line. Like a good sciece fiction movie or book the players can explore the concept from a distance. Like or dislike without effecting the game.

Consent is key!

Now if a player would like to explore a realtionship of any kind its always a good idea to talk to them about what they would like to see in the relationship. In Star-Fall we have a relationship between Arkady and Julia Fenter. This was a bit of a suprise to me as the gamemaster and allowed it because everyone seems to be enjoying the plot line.

I will discuss relationships and consent as a whole in another blog post.

Science Fiction Audio Drama

December 21, 2018

In "Worldbuilding"

Watching Bad Science Fiction movies to be a better Gamemaster

June 1, 2019

In "From the Game Master"

Funny RPG Podcast with Science Fiction theme

February 21, 2019

In "RPG Podcasts"

The post Alternate Relationships in Science Fiction appeared first on Star-Fall RPG podcast.

[evenstevensranked]

#42: Season 1, Episode 20 - “Almost Perfect”

Ren gets a "C" in shop class which means it's the end of the world. Louis' locker is festering with steam and bacteria, so Wexler lets him use a storage closet until it’s fixed. Naturally, Louis makes the best of it and renovates the space into a south-of-the-border themed hang out.

This episode opens with the subplot. We see steam blasting out of Louis’ locker accompanied by “Halloween”-esque tinkering piano. I don’t know why I never noticed the opening line before, but Twitty asks “Dude, are you grilling turkey dogs in your locker again?” Why am I laughing at this?! Louis explains that his locker has had a hot water leak all week. It’s causing moss to grow on his egg salad sandwich and mushrooms to “not only grow, but THRIVE” on his math book. He tries to ask Principal Wexler for help, but.. ya know.. Louis isn’t exactly the most reputable student. So Wexler pretty much ignores his pleas. Probably because he was too busy running off to a meeting with Vice Principal REN STEVENS! 

He finds Ren and approaches her all excited like “Guess whaaaat?!” Ren guesses that he finally bought some red car he’s always wanted. I like this because it foreshadows Dirty Work where Wexler DOES get his snazzy red convertible. The big news is that she’s a shoo-in for Student of the Semester. This whole scene is slightly uncomfortable, like most of their scenes together. Their relationship is so weird. He even calls her “the daughter I never had.” Okay. He suggests that she should write some glowing article about herself in the school paper. Why would anyone ever suggest that? How arrogant would that be? Either way, Ren ends up agreeing to said article but instead of writing it herself.. she assigns two little minions to do it.  

No, really. Am I the only one weirded out by this? lol. 

We meet Carla (Lisa Folies, All That!) and Marla (Krysten Leigh Jones, Remember the Titans) for the first time. They're two young girls who are obsessed with Ren and her ~perfection~. We only see them one other time in Season 2. They’re very eager to impress Ren and dress exactly like her and everything. I never understood how people dress the same as others on TV shows like this. How does that work? Did they break in and photograph all of Ren’s clothes one day and then go out to buy everything??? Do they have cameras in Ren’s room that live stream her outfit choices every morning? And then proceed to reach into their Ren Closet and wear the same exact thing? Like... How else is this even possible at all? 

They’re fawning over Ren and asking her what it’s like to be perfect. Ren insists she’s not perfect, but when she’s asked to list some of her imperfections… She acts all cutesy arrogant like “what do’ya know! I guess I don’t have any! *shrug*” It’s a little off-putting.

Louis’ locker water leak has gotten so bad he needs to wear a wetsuit and goggles to school now, lol. There’s seaweed or something growing in there and it’s also the home of an evil life form that somehow materialized. He tells Wexler “I swear to Pete, there’s something growing in there and I don’t think it likes me at all!” Who are these men everyone in the Even Stevens-verse swear to?! Twitty swears to Bob, Louis swears to Pete. Once Wexler sees the extent of the damage, he lets Louis use an old storage closet for the time being. I never got that. Sure, Louis keeps a whole lotta junk in his locker -- but what normal person needs a giant closet for a few books and a jacket? Anyway, Wexler says “make yourself at home” so you know Louis is gonna run with it. Like, I’ve said before... If you give Louis an inch, he WILL take 20 miles. 

“I can make this work” he whispers to himself as he observes the closet space, lol. I just realized there’s an actual physical lightbulb next to him, signifying the idea. Wow. 

Even though she’s the number one contender for Student of the Semester, Ren really wants to ensure that she gets the title… again. Apparently you get a $25 Honey Ham gift card and it’s really satisfying. Why she gotta be so greedy, tho??? According to Wexler she's already been Student of the Semester for the last two semesters, she’s Student Policy Monitor, lord knows what else, AND don’t forget that she's practically Vice Principal as well. Geeez, Ren! Let some of the other kids have their time to shine. But, regardless.. her plans are halted when she gets a C in shop class, jeopardizing her chances. As you can probably guess, this means it’s the end of the world. Well, what did she expect?! Everyone else constructed things like violins and grandfather clocks. But Ren Stevens thinks she can pass with flying colors by making a pizza paddle. In comparison to everyone else’s projects, hers is honestly worth a D- lol. Sorry, Ren!

LOOK AT HER COMPETITION! She seriously submitted a pizza paddle -- a literal slab of wood -- and expected an A. 

Louis decides to turn the closet space into a Mexico-style club. I mean, what else do you expect from Louis Stevens? He has an entire construction team come in to do the job and forges Principal Wexler's signature to pay for it. I feel like this is an episode that has glimmers of the more outlandish, unrealistic plots we see sprinkled throughout Season 2 and super frequently in Season 3. But, the odd thing about this case.. is that it doesn’t seem THAT outlandish to me. I can actually see Louis pulling this off, lol. I’m pretty sure Shia is ad-libbing all of Louis’ commands to the construction workers. (i.e. “Come on, guys! We should have the ceiling fans by now!”)

Something that made me laugh: Ren aimlessly walks around clutching her pizza paddle repeating “C” to herself in disbelief. She walks by Louis and the renovation crew so he asks her “We’re thinking of going with this Burnt Tortilla paint for our walls… What do you think?” and all she can say is “C” …but, Louis takes it as “Si” and I can’t deal with it.

A conversation between Ren and Wexler is accidentally broadcast through the intercom… letting the entire school know that “Ren Stevens got her first C.” Everyone listens in utter shock and some people even rush to the principal’s office just to stare at Ren with disappointment. Everyone held her to a ridiculously high standard and now they’re all depressed and let down because -- SHOCKER! -- she’s not perfect. How dare she!

Because of this, Carla and Marla completely let themselves go and dress like ragamuffins the next day. I feel like there’s a lesson here: Do not put all of your faith in a mere human being, you guys. This is all too extreme. It’s a C. They’re acting like she committed some morally wrong, unforgivable crime. Hardly. However, in Ren’s world, a C is an unforgivable crime. So, technicallyyy she did this to herself. Oops. She eventually decides to “fight back” for a chance to re-do her project, and suddenly Carla and Marla love her again.

Louis unveils the newly renovated locker/closet to Twitty. I love this scene. Twitty walks in and says “Dude, I’m in Mexico!” and Louis is like “Nooo, my friend. *turns on Mariachi music* NOWWWW YOU'RE IN MEXICO!!!"

He proceeds to show Twitty around the small space saying things like "See that? That's not a guitar, it's a bass and I got it shipped in from Meh-hee-co" with the accent. The line that kills me though is "See that matador painting? The guy at the gas station told me it's on real velvet." - Incredible. This line is actually a very obvious overdub. It cuts away to a shot of the painting and Shia clearly recorded this line as a voiceover after the fact. The quality and volume of the audio is totally different from the rest of the scene. Just something I always noticed. Wexler obviously finds out about this when he receives the work order and pays Discoteca Louis a little visit. 

“You said make myself at home, so I did. Tropical smoothie?”

Wexler tells him “Stevens. I want you, your smoothie, and your tacky velvet matador painting out of here in 24 hours!” and leaves. Feeling like this is an injustice, Louis decides to throw a muy grande farewell fiesta before the place is torn down. We get one of my favorite lines here: 

Twitty: I kinda like the matador painting.

Louis: Yeah. “Tacky”?! HE PAID 12 BUCKS FOR THAT!

Ren goes to speak to her shop teacher after school and we see that his license plate reads “WOOD LVR.” He also tells her “Ren, maybe you haven’t noticed but.. I LOOOOVE WOOD! Wood is ma’lady.” Why do I feel like this is another innuendo? All I can think of is Beyoncé. SERFBORT. Her teacher ultimately gives her a second chance at the project. Of course. All she has to do is make a perfect footstool and she’ll get an A.    

There’s a line half way around the world to get into Louis’ party. He has bouncers, velvet rope, and Twitty is keeping track of a guest list. This is so hilarious it’s ridiculous. To highlight how ~exclusive~ the party is, Twitty won’t even let Carly Blaine, his own cousin, in because her name isn’t on the list. Louis eventually turns it into a free for all and allows everyone to go in. How they all fit, I have no idea.

After completing and submitting her footstool for grading, Ren is anxiously awaiting the outcome in the hallway. Here is where we finally get a fantastic character moment from Louis:

Louis: “You ever wanna be normal? You're always trying to be perfect at everything.“

Ren: “What's wrong with being perfect?"

Louis: “It's not normal.”

YOOOOOOO! How fire is that line, though?! The matter-of-fact, simple way he was able to get through to Ren reminds me of something Shia said irl at his #TouchMySoul art instillation. I love caring, smart Louis! Yes.

Ren ends up getting a B- on her footstool. She’s not too happy, but she accepts it. Sheesh! If I got a B- in junior high, it would be up on the refrigerator door! Dang. She says she’s done with being perfect and goes to have some fun at Louis’ shindig.  

There’s a Ricky Martin - “Livin’ La Vida Loca” knockoff song playing at the party, presumably called "Casa de Fiesta.” IT GETS STUCK IN MY HEAD ALL THE TIME BUT I LOVE IT. We get a montage of Louis partying it up set to this song, which is truly a vision. Although, I can’t help but feel like Tumblr would crucify him for the cultural appropriation. Or would this count as "appreciation"? He has an authentic Mariachi band and everything. It just hit me -- Where the heck is Tawny?! Surely she’d have something to say. 

Louis is shocked when he sees Ren there. This is another one of my favorite moments:

Louis introduces Ren to the band and I swear this is Shia ad-libbing again. (i.e “This is Arnesto! And Manuuuuel!”)

…and that’s pretty much it.  

This is a good episode. It really is. But, much like Dirty Work.. This popular and memorable Louis storyline is only a subplot. Also, nothing serious happens with Louis as a character here until the last few minutes. Like I said, I adore his mini speech to Ren. GAHH!! When Louis is good, he is REALLY good. He just busts out some profound crap outta nowhere sometimes. Gotta love that. As usual, this Ren main plot just isn’t as strong. It's so unfortunate. But seeing Louis’ words get to her is touching, and it’s great to see her let go at the end.

Thanks for reading as always! Getting back into the swing of things after my trip to New York last weekend. :)

Please, chime in using the Disqus comment section below!

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[dailyaudiobible]

12/19/2020 DAB Transcript

Zephaniah 1:1-3:20, Revelation 10:1-11, Psalms 138:1-8, Proverbs 30:11-14

Today is the 19th day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it's great to be here with you as we close another week down together and take the next step forward. And as has been the custom lately, like we’re reading a book a day and we’ll be doing that today. We’ll read an entire book in the Old Testament.

Introduction to the book of Zephaniah:

This is the ninth of the minor prophets and its name is Zephaniah. And it's similar to some of the other minor prophets in that we don't know much about who Zephaniah was. The only clues within the text is that the message from Zephaniah came when Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. And then there's a little bit of lineage. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi the son of Gedaliah the son of Amaria the son of Hezekiah. And that little lineage may actually be a major clue because a lot of times in the Scriptures, a lot of times in antiquity, it's…it's not like an entire multiple generational description. A lot of times when you're talking about somebody or just saying, “this person who is the son of this man.” For example, my son's name is Ezekiel and if he were introducing himself, he’s a little guy so he wouldn’t be doing that, but if he were…he’d be…in antiquity he’d be saying, “I'm Ezekiel bar Brian”, right? The son of Brian. He wouldn't necessarily continue that lineage back to his great-great-grandfather unless his great-great-grandfather were significant. And in this case, it's possible that Zephaniah was a descendent of the reforming king Hezekiah, which would explain how Zephaniah was aware of his surroundings and literate and also why, perhaps is prophetic utterances would be preserved. Obviously, credibility comes if you're an ancestor of a king. The name Zephaniah means “God has hidden.” And the text states that the message was given during the reign of Josiah. So, that would put him somewhere in the middle of the 600s B.C., or thereabouts, which would make him contemporary with other prophets that are famous and biblical like Jeremiah. A lot of textual scholars believe that Zephaniah had to be familiar with at least the writings of the prophet Isaiah because there's a similarity in the language and the tone. And we have read a number…like we’ve been reading prophecies for months now. And, so, we understand that a lot of times and most of the time prophecies are targeted very specific to a very specific people for very specific reasons. Zephaniah’s a little different there, because he's…he's essentially prophesying judgment on the whole known world, including Judah, including the Hebrew people. And, so, we come across a term that we have seen elsewhere, “the day of the Lord.” and that is the theme in Zephaniah. And, of course, we’re reading the book of Revelation as well. So, this “day of the Lord” this kind of final judgment sort of idea is ever present in front of us as we continue forward. But we should understand what God wants…wanted and wants to get rid of because it's not people that He wants to destroy. It’s evil that He wants to destroy. And when people want to hold on to their evil…well…then they get what they want. They get to hold onto their evil, but God gets what He wants, and the evil gets eradicated. And, so, the people doom themselves. But as we have learned from biblical prophecy, there is a foretelling of things that…that are to come or that may come if change doesn't occur, if repentance doesn't happen. But then there's the other side of that. What if…what if you do humble yourself? What if you do return to God? And then we hear words of abundant restoration. And Zephaniah is no different. And, so, there are three chapters in Zephaniah. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. Zephaniah one through three.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for another week. We are so grateful to You for giving us the gift of Your word, and giving us the gift of each other to move through a year of life together in Your word and community. We are grateful. And, so, as we close down this week we look to the proverb and we identify the kind of people that we don't want to be. There may be people who curse their Fathers and do not show appreciation for their mothers, may that not be said of us, Lord. There are people who think they are pure when they are as filthy as they can be. May that not be said of us Lord. There are people who think they are so good. How good they think they are. Lord our only goodness, and we declare this and confess it, the only good thing about us is You. You make us good. If we are good, it is because of You. Left to our own devices we know…we know where things go. And, so, may the pride and arrogance spoken of here never be said of us. And there are people who take cruel advantage of the poor and needy, even making a living by taking advantage of the poor and needy. Father the Scriptures over…You have said over and over and over that this has no place in Your kingdom. So, may this never be said of us. And as we close this week down and prepare to move into the next week, Christmas week, we invite Your Holy Spirit to hover and permeate everything that we do and say and think, all of our thoughts, words and deeds. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, and yup, it’s the website, and yup, it’s where you find what's going on around here.

And it's Christmas time around here. And we’re about to go through this weekend and enter Christmas week. Super excited about that.

Next week will be our Christmas party, our annual Christmas...well…it is our virtual Christmas party when we get to hear from each other. Looking forward to that early next week.

Reminding you of the Family Christmas album that is really the soundtrack here around the Global Campfire for the holiday season. You can stream it. Just look for my name, Brian Hardin or Family Christmas and my name and you’ll find it. You can stream it on Spotify, or Apple music or wherever. You can…you can buy it from those places as well. If you want a physical copy, like a physical CD of it, you can get that from the Daily Audio Bible Shop. But adding that into the mix of the Christmas season is…well…I mean it was intended to be kind…just to create the kind of atmosphere that we try to create here every day - serenity, peace, hope, and a relaxing exhale. And, so, check out Family Christmas.

Also, we released last week a Christmas single from Jill my wife, “O Holy Night”, one of the classic Christmas carols of all time. And I mentioned this, I don’t know, the day before yesterday or whatever, when you listen to the words to that song it brings so much context and hope into the holiday season. So, you can stream that at Spotify or Apple music or YouTube music or Google play or wherever. You can also buy it from those places. So, check those out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well and I think you profoundly. There is a link on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi DAB family this is Dorothy out in California with a small prayer request. I got 39 shot…Botox shots for migraines. And, you know how when you sign a waiver and you never think it’s going to happen? It happens. Aside from all the things that almost…I mean…a lot of the things on the list, the hardest one is that I lost muscle control around my eyes. I have a forehead of a 20-year-old, but I can’t use my eyes. It…it’s…I…it’s actually really hard. I can’t drive. I can only see 1 foot in front of me. Actually, a couple days ago I ate strawberries and anyway I ate slugs in my strawberries. I didn’t see em’. I washed them. I did a good job washing em’ but I didn’t see them. So it’s been…it’s been hard. God assured me before I, you know, before I lost control of both…but God assured me when this started it’s temporary. And I know Botox lasts one or two months but it’s gonna be one or two months of this. And the counter medicine isn’t working. Anyway, I have an appointment with a neurologist on Wednesday. But anyway… so if you could just please pray for me. It’s small, I know, but I love you guys so very very very very much and I love you all. Okay. Thank you. Bye. I appreciate…

Hey, it’s Val in Vegas today’s December 15th. I’m so happy to come to you guys today in the last 15th of the year. We made it guys. Through God’s grace we made it. How this year started for me is absolutely unbelievable, but the real joy and power’s in God’s love and grace for me…for all of us and how I’m finishing it. To say the 2020s has been an unusual and challenging year would be an understatement. I just want you guys to know that I am doing good. I know one thing that’s happened this year for me is I have developed a deeper closer relationship with the Lord, and it has been wonderful. I needed to be closer to him in this quarantine as it’s just me and my little dog that live together and the Lord has really shown up and showed out in my life this year. I just want to say thank you guys for all the prayers and well wishes and thoughts and just love. And please know that I am putting that right back into this DAB world. I absolutely love you guys and if you don’t mind, I’m gonna continue calling in on the 15th of every month. I’ve enjoyed being committed to that and sharing my life with you guys. I love you all so much. You have no idea. So, thank you for holding me up and for loving me and caring for me. Val in Vegas out until January 15, 2021.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is All the Treasures in Wyoming with an update. If you all remember months ago, I asked you guys to pray for sweet Emily who had almost lost her life and was in the ICU. She had thrown some blood clots, her kidneys had failed. I mean it was a really urgent prayer request and you guys came through and you prayed. And even more than that God came through and answered those prayers with a yes. And I got to see Emily yesterday and I got to give her a hug. And she said that she is…she sent me this text…she said that she is walking without a cane and that her brain injury is coming along slowly. She’s off dialysis for now because her kidneys are waking up. And then she said, this is all God’s plan. Maybe not mine, but I pray to him morning noon and night. And if you guys also remember we weren’t sure whether or not Emily knew Him, right? So, I just want to encourage you. When I went to see her and I gave her a hug I asked her, I said, Emily did you get the letter that was dropped off to you while you were in the ICU. And she said yes, I did. And she said I kept that letter with me. It was up where I could read it every single day in my ICU room. And when I went to the long term acute care rehab that letter went with me and it was also up in my room where I could read it every day. And it’s one of those things that reminded me that I wasn’t alone and that I could get through it. And in that letter, I reminded her…well…I share the gospel with her and told her who Jesus was but I also told her who you guys all were. I said there are people all over the world praying for you right now. And she said that that helped her get through. But I do know today that she knows the Lord and I just wanted to thank you guys again for praying. God bless you guys. And to God be all the glory

Eyes of the Dove in Sekomane Washington lifting up prayers this morning 5 AM heading to work for Harold in St. Louis and your son. And I heard another father call in and broken for your son. And my goodness it was like a chain reaction. It made me feel broken too. I instantly thought of Brayden and Rylan my children remembering when they were born and their perfect body’s and their perfect little toes, counting their totes. And as you get the report about his foot, every piece, every part of your precious son is so important. Father, I just lift up Harold and his son. Father, I ask that blood would flow. Father that his body would be…would line up in the name of Jesus that that boy’s foot Father would be healed by Your blood. We call him healed Father. I ask for Your peace, Your peace that surpasses our understanding would be upon this family. And we just put on the full armor of God on Harold God as he goes through this…this hardship. There’s so many things going on this year that he’s having to process and now this. And this is no little thing. And we ask for protection of our children Lord Jesus in every way, their minds and their bodies, that nothing would be touched, nothing would be touched in Jesus’ name. Care about you Harold. Coming around you. You’re not alone.

[trespasserswilliam]

Would you post a list of all the podcasts you listen to?

Certainly!

Pre-P.S. This post ended up way longer than originally expected cause I felt the need to talk about them. So sorry for the length.

So I have a sort of system for listening. I used to do a lot of different playlists on my podcatcher, but I’ve narrowed it down to two major playlists and a third other playlist.

First playlist is just called New Stuff and it’s all the stuff that I’ve caught up to the present on and keep up with as new episodes come out. That’s all of these: 

Welcome to Night Vale 

duh

Alice Isn’t Dead

Fantastic. The combination of Joseph Fink’s words combined with Jasika Nicole’s performance is to die for.

My Brother, My Brother, and Me

My first introduction to the McElroys and hot damn

The Adventure Zone

My first real introduction to D&D and also hot damn

The Black Tapes

This is by Pacific Northwest Stories network. It’s a mystery/supernatural thriller/drama, lots of demony stuff. 

Lime Town

Straight up sci-fi mystery. This one has been on hiatus for a while, but the story is really good and compelling. 

Internet Box

Trash, but trash I’m attached to. Isn’t really going anymore. It was a bunch of Rooster Teeth people but the podcast isn’t associated with Rooster Teeth. I don’t recommend it for people who would be reading this.

Double Feature

The first podcast I ever listened to. Two dudes who watch two movies every week and then talk about it. Big fans of horror movies and I actually started watching horror movies because of them.

The Thrilling Adventure Hour

One of my favorite bits of entertainment over any medium. It used to update weekly because they used to do live shows monthly and split them into 4 parts, but they don’t any more. Similar to old timey radio shows, they had two segments (Sparks Nevada, Marshall on Mars, a western set on Mars and Beyond Belief, a supernatural detectivey sorta thing if the detectives were two socialites that loved each other and loved to drink) that always happened and then a bunch of other segments they would cycle through. Lots of stuff to listen back through, like 6 years worth maybe? and I recommend this to everyone.

Cool Games Inc

Griffin McElroy and Nick Robinson take suggestions and try to brainstorm video games. Hilarious and I love it.

Sawbones

Justin McElroy and his wife, Syndee. Syndee is a doctor, so they do histories of medical stuff, whether procedures, diseases, notable people, but they make it funny. Can get kinda gross if you gross out easy, but very chill.

‘Til Death Do Us Blart

The McElroys team up with the guys from Worst Idea of All Time and watch Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 every American Thanksgiving and then talk about it and the podcast will go on for eternity. When one of them die, they have named successors to take their place. They only started 2 years ago, so there’s only 2 episodes, but I look forward to listening to this for forever.

Interrobang

Travis McElroy and his friend Tybee Diskin talk about stuff they frustrates them. This is one of my favorite podcasts because they talk about things like social media issues and relationships and LGBTQ issues and just a whole bunch of things. It’s very frank and there’s no judgement going on and they’re both around my age by about +/- 2ish years and it’s helped me figure out what being an adult means to me? and what kind of adult I want to be/am?

The Worst Idea of All Time

Two dudes from New Zealand, Tim and Guy, decided one day they were going to watch Grown Ups 2 every week for a year and then talk about it. They slowly descended into madness over the next year and then when it was over they decided to do it with Sex and the City 2 and then they descended into madness again and then they decided to do it a third time with the movie We Are Your Friends and they are 36 weeks into that and then they’re gonna stop and do other things. Very funny but sometimes you do worry about them. Flagship podcast of The Little Empire Network

Off Topic

This is a Rooster Teeth podcast and a loose spiritual successor to Internet Box, only better cause they’re older and wiser and less ignorantly offensive. 

Play Dead

I forget how I found this podcast, but it’s about death in video games and the roles it plays and why. Very interesting, but it can get pretty heavy sometimes.

Quality Control

Justin McElroy, as part of his job as an editor at Polygon, talks to the reviewers who review a video game for Polygon and asks them more stuff about the game. Usually I’m really good about listening to every episode of a podcast, but with this one I only really listen to the episodes about video games I have an interest in.

Beef and Dairy Network Podcast

Um. This one’s tough. Set on an alternate earth. Beef is very big there. Or at least beef is very important to the fictional people who do this podcast. Host talks to people about beef. It sounds very not interesting, but it is really very interesting and it’s very funny in a subdued british way. It can get pretty surreal sometimes.

Strange

Rarely updates. I started listening to it because Jeffrey Cranor was on the first episode telling a story from his life about something Strange that happened to him. It’s mostly a storytelling kind of podcast, but since last april there’s only been 3 episodes.

Tim Talks To

Tim from Worst Idea of All Time talks to people he finds interesting. 

Trends Like These

Travis McElroy and his friend Brent Black talk about trending news.

Tanis

Another from Pacific Northwest Stories network. Similar to Black Tapes, only no demony stuff, just weird stuff.

Boners of the Heart

Another from the Little Empire Network. Two ladies from New Zealand talk about their actor crushes, to start out with. That framework is only very loosely adhered to, especially the further in you go, but man are they hilarious. Just the two of them talking is a delight and some of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.

Unexplained

This dude has a very calming voice. He just talks about unexplained things, phenomena, happenings, etc. Usually leaning towards myths, ghost stories, that kinda thing.

Within the Wires

From the Night Vale people. I love this one, and it has a very unique story telling format.

The Bright Sessions

A therapist for people with supernatural abilities. Psychic stuff, that kind of thing. It has a lot of LGBTQ representation that is presented in a way that normalizes it and it’s wonderful.

Archive 81

Season 1 was excellent. Supernatural thrilller style, good use of the medium, story within story framing, very good. Season 2 is... not at all like season 1. It’s almost like a completely different story and it’s unecessarily gory and tortureporny sometimes? Listen to season 1 for sure, but the vote’s still out on s2.

The Deep Vault

Done by the same people who did Archive 81. Also very tortureporny. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. Can be enjoyable.

Ars Paradoxica

Time travel sci-fi. Very sciencey but in an accessable kind of way usually. It has quietly become one of my favorites.

The Moth

Storytelling. The Moth is a radio show on actual radio I guess? They get regular people on stage and then the person tells a story. Very good.

Dead Pilots Society

Done by the people who did Thrilling Adventure Hour. A lot of those people work in TV, and this is table readings of pilot scripts that never made it to TV screens. Hit or miss for me.

Kakos Industries

Kind of like if Night Vale was evil and sexy? The premise is that you’re listening to the shareholder report for an Evil company that does Evil, but there’s also a lot of sex. Sex positive, and doesn’t usually feel super exploitative.

The Infinite Now

Little mini short stories, all sci-fi themed. 

The Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air)

On the Night Vale network. Lots of big name people in this one. It’s enjoyable to listen to, and I love the framework they have for it, but I wasn’t as enamored with it and other parts of the internet seemed to be.

The Males Gayz

On the Little Empire network. Two gay dudes from New Zealand talk about gay stuff. Also very funny.

Always Open

Another Rooster Teeth podcast. This one’s really funny and mostly lady dominated. One of my favorites.

The Alton Brown Cast

Alton Brown has a podcast. He talks to people. It’s as interesting as you think it is.

Darkest Night

I forget how I found this one, too. Probably from one of those podcast recommendation lists? It’s recorded with one of those binarual mics, so headphones is strongly suggested for this one. It’s a horror podcast, and a pretty gory one, too. Very intense at times. 

Rose Buddies

Griffin McElroy and his wife, Rachel, watch the Bachelor family of products and then talk about them. I’ve never watched the Bachelor or any of those. This is one of my favorite podcasts.

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

Young Adult podcast! Made for younger kids, like 8-13 range probably? Young kids do the voice acting as well. This is a high production affair. Sci-fi kind of story, and a good story.

Mystery Show

Surprisingly charming. Real life podcast, like Serial, only Starlee Kine, the narrator/creator, is good at solving small mysteries. Only 6 episodes. A season 2 was planned, but then Starlee was apparenly abruptly fired from whatever company was producing this or something? She said she’s working on s2, but it’s a lot harder now.

Small Town Horror

Another horror/mystery podcast. Oddly distressing at times, but intentionally so.

State of the Realm

Final Fantasy XIV podcast. They just talk about the game.

Jerk City

Audio readings of the comics. Sounds like people call in to a voicemail box and read them. It’s very avant garde.

Silent Key

Another podcast by the Jerk City people. I’m... not really sure what this is? It’s like that thing, modern art elicits an emotion out of you but you don’t know what that emotion is or why? That’s why I still listen to this one.

The Dark Tome

A story podcast. The framing device is pretty good, a book that transports you to the story itself, but this feels like one of those shows that used to be on Saturdays at like 11 to trick you into learning about classic literature. Definitely feels like it should be a TV show rather than a podcast.

Surprisingly Nice

Travis McElroy and Hal Lublin (of Thrilling Adventure Hour fame, Steve Carlsburg from Night Vale) talk to people and have a “Surprisingly Nice” chat with them.

Point Mystic

Another supernatural mystery show. Just started not that long ago and they just wrapped up their first story. Really enjoyable.

Hosting

Another Little Empire podcast. Guy from Worst Idea of All Time played host to a friend from Australia for 7 days and they recorded a podcast every day and it just gets more and more absurd.

Polidicks

American politics as told by an american journalist and a New Zealander, namely Tim from Worst Idea of All Time. Just started with this one.

Missing Richard Simmons

I was super interested in this when it started, but I’ve read a few articles decrying it and now I feel weird about it. It has one more episode to go, so I guess I’ll ride it out for one more week.

Rabbits

The last and newest one from Pacific Northwest Stories. Very similar to the other two, except this one is about a cryptic ARG thing.

The second playlist is New Pods, and it’s a newer playlist. In the last monthish I added a bunch of new podcasts, so in order to keep up with the above but also be able to work my way through the newer ones, I made a separate playlist. I put a date cap on it, so this playlist is all podcasts where the first episode is from 2014 on. I was up to Feb 2015, but then I added about 15 new podcasts yesterday? day before? from an ask a friend reblogged and I’m in Sept of 2014 now. 3rd playlist is podcasts that started before 2014. I didn’t want to back up so far that it would take me a year to get caught up, so that playlist is a lower priority.

Podcasts that I am currently working my way through, have listened to at least a couple episodes, all on playlist 2:

Plumbing the Death Star

From the Sans Pants Radio network. Some Australian dudes debate about nerdy stuff in the way nerdy people do, like What Hogwarts House would you be in? or How does Thor get a haircut? Currently In Feb 2014 on this one.

Shut Up a Second

Also from Sans Pants Radio. Kind of like Plumbing the Death Start except not exclusively nerdy stuff. They just talk about anything. 

Wolf 359

Just started this one as part of the last round of additions. So far so good.

Pleasure Town

Also just started. 

Ones I haven’t listened to yet, but are subscribed to, either on playlist 2 or 3:

D&D Is for Nerds

Dinosaur Park

Boone Shepherd

Movie Maintenance

Super Gym Friends

The Glass Canon

Ghostbusters Resurrection

Dungeons and Doritos

Pokeballs of Steelix

Nerdy Show Book Club

The Orphans

The Call of Cthulhu

Liberty

Mabel

King Falls AM

Alba Salix

The Penumbra Podcast

The Bridge

EOS 10

The Elysium

The Magnus Archives

Greater Boston

Return Home

Our Fair City

And that’s everything in my podcatcher.