#cause she has bew eyes!!!!

[amu-brain-dump]

Over the past month I have slowly but surely acquired many toys and trinkets for Shouko cause, obviously, anytime I see anything in miniature I instantly think of her. These are her new things:

She also has other things that I got before she even arrived like her sitting towel and some other plushies

[semisolidmind]

i dunno if this has been asked before, but i kinda wanted to splurge a little bit.

how and where does azure lion and the other animal celestials play a part in the BEW au? or even TAB AU. my personal idea on it could be that azure uses reader kind of as leverage against wukong, while as in TAB maybe reader is used to cause a rift between the brothers so that azure has an easier time murking wukong.

alright, so. the big bad brotherhood. they mostly just play the part of extra soldiers and sovereigns in wukongs conquests, his own little war council. im gonna go with the idea that the betrayal hasn't happened, since wukong doesn't get recruited by heaven in the base versions of these aus

(ive said before that, at least in bad end, the brotherhood wouldn't bother with reader too much. buuuut i don't think i specified what they're like in TAB and their reaction to their comrades marrying reader.)

peng (the bitch) doesn't much care for reader. they wonder why the all-powerful wukong is bothering with a human. they likely make a snide comment or two when wukong first introduces her to them at a meeting, which wukong (and macaque) immediately shut down with threats of violence. mac especially doesn't tolerate peng being an ass to his wife; his hatred for the winged menace is potent. luckily the bird demon is catty, not stupid; and surprisingly, they learn to keep their beak shut about their leader's wife. this leads to them largely ignoring her. reader doesn't like them much either, but tries to be polite.

yellowtusk feels pity for reader. he knows she didn't exactly become queen of flower fruit mountain willingly, and believes that she would be happier with other humans. but he's not called "wise" for nothing; he won't be lifting a finger to help her. even as strong as he is, he knows he stands no chance against the two simian warlords. regardless, he's polite to reader and will speak with her about the various topics that she's read about. he's a surprisingly good conversationalist.

demon bull king is ambivalent towards reader. he knows what it's like to want someone outside your station, so he doesn't say anything negative to wukong about it. he'll speak to reader if she speaks to him, and is overall polite (seeing as she is technically a queen and he has a lot of respect for wukong), if not very gruff when doing so.

azure lion is the only one who would be actively kind to reader, the only one who would speak with her like a true equal. despite his status as a once-celestial soldier, demonic sovereign, and a general of the infamous monkey kings' demon army...he still has a soft spot for mortal civilians. if a platoon of the monkey king's army is passing through, one would hope that he's leading it. less innocent blood is spilt when the lion general is at the helm.

its because of this that he was concerned when wukong introduced reader to him. what was a human doing on flower fruit mountain? she's married to the monkey king? she seemed...very uncomfortable in the presence of her husband. the lion demon knows that she was likely frightened by the two monkey warlords' use of "demonic courting tactics" and introduced himself gently. the fact that she responded to him (considering his size and appearance) without too much hesitancy, was able to bow politely and look him in the eyes despite all she'd likely been through at the hands of his brothers–he couldn't help but admire her bravery.

azure is aware that his sworn simian brothers are unconventional in many aspects of their life, so the fact that the two of them would marry a human (the same human, no less) isn't too surprising. the two are of one mind, and azure has made a tentative peace with the ruthless way his brothers conduct their business.

...but he can't help but feel sympathy for reader. she didn't choose this life for herself, though he can see the lingering affection she has for wukong and macaque. and once he gets to know her (an occasional talk outside the council room while the warlords are busy discussing strategy, a close seating at a banquet, or during a party on the mountain), azure begins to understand why they chose this woman. a fondness grows in his heart for the quiet human who is kind to him despite knowing what he's done.

he won't say it aloud, but...had it been him who'd been found and tended to by reader, azure couldn't be sure he wouldn't have made the same choice as his brothers.

[lilallama]

Gardening club

What is the Gardening club?

The Gardening club is a group of nine girls who take care of Bulsajo High's massive garden. They're all very well known for being so sweet and kind towards everyone. They volunteer for many projects and always help whenever they can.

!!WARNING!! This work of fiction contains mentioning of murder, violence, kidnapping, dark web, obsessive behaviour and stalking, proceed with caution.

Club Positions

Minatozaki Sana: Leader

Im Nayeon: Co- leader

Park Jihyo: Disposer'

Yoo Jeongyeon: Security

Kim Dahyun: Photographer

Chou Tzuyu: Financial Support

Hirai Momo: Abductor

Myoui Mina: Secretary

Son Chaeyoung: Information Gatherer'

Members

Minatozaki Sana

The youngest daughter from a very famous Author. Her father specialises in writing Horror- romance stories. He gained a lot of attention and praise for his book ("Midnight Dancing" a story about a stalker who films his coworker every day at midnight when she's dancing to music...). The emotions felt so real, was said by everyone. Little did they know that "story" was how her parents met. Her father loves her mother while she's afraid of him.

Everyone in school knows her as cute and creative. She's a wonderful student and person to be around. No one knows that her own mother thinks the opposite of her. Sana has a long scar on the left side of her head, it spreads from her hairline to her mouth. The cause was that her mother threw a porcelain vase at her, hitting her head. A shard sliced the left side of her face, leaving the scar behind.

Im Nayeon

As the Principals daughter and Student council Vice-president everyone has a lot of respect for her. She follows rules strictly and makes sure others as well. Despite that strict behind of hers, she still is very helpful and friendly. Many people love her because she's reliable and diligent.

She developed a secret hatred for Kim Namjoon, the Student Council President, for winning the vote leaving her as Vice-president. She loves to make life fore difficult for him in subtle ways zuch as misplacing the papers, losing an important letter from her father, making a mess etc. But he always manages to fulfill his part perfectly no matter what she tries.

Park Jihyo

She is everyone's first choice when they have a problem and need to talk about it. Always ready to listen and give advice when needed. In her free time she volunteers as a private tutor for all subjects but specifically biology, language and history. Her family has a very average income with her parents owning a small flower shop across the city. The only way she got accepted into Bulsajo High was through a scholarship.

The reason Jihyo has always been so motherly and protective was her little sister. She loved that little dumbling with all her heart but one day they went out shopping. While she was paying she left her little sister unattended. She couldn't find her anywhere. The police couldn't find her. Jihyo was desperate and restored to finding someone in the dark web, someone who can help her. And she did find someone. They send her the address of an old abandoned warehouse and that's where she went. But the sight that she saw was horrific. Her little sister's body was completely torn up while some guy cleaned knives in silence. Jihyo couldn't think she grabbed the nearest knife and... She could never forget what she saw. She still has nightmares from that day.

Yoo Jeongyeon

A strong, independent and funny girl. She was always known for being the popular, sporty tomboy. Many girls have crushed on her yet no one actually dared to confess. She's a good team player and loves challenges. It was a surprise to many when she joined the gardening club as she never showed any interest in gardening before. Turns out she just wanted to try something new and felt like doing something in nature that she hadn't tried before. Everyone envies her for her good relationship with her parents who seem to support every decision she makes. Jeongyeon loves them with all her heart and is very thankful to have them.

She has a strong hatred towards Jimin, no one knows why. Except for Jimin himself. Jimin used to be friends with Jeongyeon in their first year. But then she met someone very special, they made her heart flutter in ways no one has ever. But obe day both wabted to tell the other about their crush when something Jimin said ruined everything. "Look, there they are!" Pointing at HER Y/n! "No! That's my crush!" From that day their friendship was over. Now both do even to ruin the others chances with Y/n.

Kim Dahyun

She is a sweet but often overlooked girl. Her loce for flowers lead her to the gardening club, although it's more of a love for taking pictures of flowers. Dahyun was the first to fall for Y/n actually. She, just like Y/n, got into the school through a scholarship. But before that the two were neighbour's. Since Dahyun could think she was always peeking through the fence to see if the neighbour kid was there. She loved to watch them all day long but never actually went up to them.

It was as she's cursed. Even though she lived next to them, was in the same daycare, Kindergarten, elementary school and middle school tgey never noticed her. She even visited the same classes they did yet nothing. Every time they so much as glance into her direction she breaks out into shivers and excited giggles while covering her mouth wide eyed. In case you're wondering, yes, she is Taehyung's cousin.

Chou Tzuyu

As the daughter of two famous actresses she was always admired by everyone. Her beauty was beoned compare, her voice stunning to the ear, so nice and gentle it feels impossible. everything about her just seems too perfect, almost unreal. But the sad truth is, Tzuyu's parents always had to move from place to place, she never fekt home anywhere. People were intimidated by her status and appearance so they never approached her.

Secretly she's always been a hopeless romantic who believes innlove at first sight. The lack of affection made her desperate for a partner, it made her feel as if that's the only thing that will make her happy. And when she met that gorgeous, kind, strong individual, she just didn't want to look away ever!

Hirai Momo

The most cold member of the gardening club. As a famous gymnastic champion her focus layed on training and winning, not making friends. But Mina ended up in the same dance school as her, only that she majored ballet. Mina didn't know where to go so she asked for Momo's help. After that these two some how became friends. Momo has a secret soft spot for Mina and agreed to join the gardening club with her. There she found out her passion for gardening.

She is the most rough and honest in the group, never once lying about anything to the other girls. When spotting a rival she's commonly thecone to abduct them and bring them to a secluded place.

Myoui Mina

A classic, well mannered, feminine lady. Her mother was also a famous ballerina, known all over the globe for her incredible performances. Mina was raised with strict rules and goals. Her parents wanted their child to be the perfect ballerina, no mistakes, no hesitation. If she'd have the slightest slip up they would shout at her and shame her for it. They would make her train, even if her feet were aching and stinging, she needed to be perfect. So by now all her moves are perfected. Even though her feet scream for release she wil continue untill it's all over.

She met Momo at her new dance school after she transferred from Japan to Korea. They got along so well and soon became friends. When it was time to choose a club to join in school she decided, because there wasn't a ballet club, gardening wouldn't be too stressful. She met the love of her life while she was in the garden with the other girls. She found out that they wanted to give Nayeon something from Namjoon (a few copies) and then left. But thst split second they made eye contact had her heart beating so fast. She couldn't believe it.

Son Chaeyoung

While she is more on the shy side when it comes to meeting bew people, she is a very sweet girl. She is the gardening club's favourite member. With her eye for detail and colour, she always manages to make the best flower arrangements in town. Chae lives with her father and mother, both have a more average income. She knows that her father was with another woman and had a child before he married her mother. She's never meet her half brother but knows he took on his mothers last name, Min.

She is very stealthy which helps her wgen out to gather information. She loves to follow Y/n, a student from her mathematics and history class, around and gather Information about their day. Chae doesn't know what she's doing could be classified as strange or even creepy to some.

If you enjoyed reading my work, please reblog it. Thank you for reading!

[unoficialy-married-to-ace-austin]

Hangman Adam Page x Reader Part 1

Request- 5. Shut up and kiss me 6.Jealousy @mondaynightmcintyre

Sumary- Cody sure as hell won't get away with flirting with Hangman's girl

this is part one, and won't have any smut. Part two will and will be posted tomorrow.

----------

You and Adam had been together for about 6 Months. But had known each other for years, you being known as the Elite Queen. you loved Adam with all your heart, and thought he was the perfect guy, except for the jealousy. And Adams biggest problem was with Cody.

"Morning Cody." I samid as I walked up to the table where the rest of the Elite was sat at some coffee shop. "Morning Y/n, where's Adam?" Kenny asked giving me a small hug.

"Coffee." I said pointing over where Adam was ordering us something. "So, whats the plan today?" Ever since we started AEW and weren't on the road every day, we didn't see each other very much. And it was one of few days we were all in the same town. I sat in the both, scooting in so Adam would have room.

"I read about some bew horror movie we could go see." Matt suggested. I puked a face witch made Nick crack up. I felt Cody's arm wrap around my waist. "Don't worry dear, I can keep you safe." I rolled my eyes playfully at him. as long as I've known Cody he has always been flirty.

"Hello." Adam said sitting down next to me, handing me my coffee. I smiled at him, before continuing my conversation with Nick, Matt, and Kenny. I was completely oblivious to the two men staring daggers at each other.

"How does that sound?" I asked looking up at Adam. "What? Sorry babe, spaced off." He said, taking my hand in his.

"We decided to go to a movie and then dinner." I said smiling at him. "Sounds good." he said, kissing my forehead.

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

Adam

I watched as Y/N stood at the counter getting the two of us popcorn for the movie, with Cody standing a little to close for comfort. "Im surprised Cody can't feel you staring at him." I looked over at Matt, who was waiting with me. Kenny and Nick already getting seats for us all.

"I don't know what your talking about." I mumbled looking back over at the two who seemed to be standing even closer together.

"Yes you do. Calm down, he's always been like that with her, even when he was with Brandi." I cringed at his mention of Brandi. The two of them went threw a nasty divorce that was finalized about a month ago.

"Ya, and now hes with no one, that's what I'm worried about." I said quickly as the two walked up to us. I quickly wrapped my arm lossly around Y/n's waist. "Ready?" I asked looking down at her.

"I'm never 'ready' for a horror movie." She said snuggling into my side, causing us to chuckle.

"All ready told you love, I'll protect you." Cody said winking at her, making her giggle. Oh if only they served alcohol here.

----------

Half way threw the movie, and I can't focase on it. Y/n is seated in between me and Cody, and shes just so close to him.A few times she has layed her head on his shoulder, grabbed his hand when she's gotten scared.

After a bit, Cody turned and whispered something in her ear. She looked confused, but both stood up, and walked out. "Ill be right back." I whispered to Matt, and was quick to my feet, following after them.

I could hear them talking from around the corner. "Honestly, it's why I divorced her. She didn't make me happy like you do." I could only see red as I turned the corner. Cody was standing holding y/n's hand, and she was looking vary awkward.

"Back off Cody." I snapped walking towards them, grabbing Y/n by the waist and kissing her, deep and pashenetly. After a momen, I pulled away, and saw Codybwas gone. "I swear to God, he EVER tries that bullshit again-"

"Shut up and kiss me." She said, pulling me down to met her lips, the kiss much more needy this time. And when I pulled away, her eyes were shot with lust.

"I think we should leave." I said, kissing her check.

"What about dinner with the boys?" She questioned.

"I was thinking about skipping dinner and having Desert."

[chaoswillfallrpg]

FLORENCE JONES is TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD and the HEAD POTIONEER and MAKE-UP ARTIST at MADAM PIMPERNELLES BEAUTIFYING POTIONS in DIAGON ALLEY. She looks remarkably like ERINN WESTBROOKE and considers herself NEUTRAL. She is currently OPEN.

→ OVERVIEW:

A witch with unshakable confidence, Florence Jones has always known she was entitled to the best that life had to offer her and wasn’t afraid to go out and take it with both hands. The youngest child of Muggle fashion model ELODIE DURAND and famed Auror ADRIAN JONES, Florence and her older sister LUCILLE have been famous since the day they were born and have lived their lives on their cover of magazines. With Lucille’s birth announced in a six page spread in French Vogue, her older sister was a tough act to follow but Florence has never felt on the backfoot, even by the eldest Jones sister. Following her sister in style by accompanying her mother on the cover of WItch Weekly. This would set the tone for the rest of Florence’s life, she was unapologetically herself and wore her individuality on her sleeve. Her family name held weight in the wizarding world as a notable and well loved family of sorcerers who fought to protect Wizarding Britain and had produced a long line of brilliant members of the magical community. Whilst the Jones name seemed to sit heavily on her sister, Florence never felt the need to consider anyone else other than herself and lived her life according to her own happiness. 

Growing up in Fulham, Florence and her sister became close to the Dupont family, comprised of a British socialite and a wizard with two daughters. NATASHA DUPONT was several years older than Florence and Lucille, whilst ANASTASIA DUPONT was the same age as Florence. Raised alongside one another, Florence and Anastasia quickly became best friends and forged a cult following at their school. George Heriot’s Private School in London was Florence’s first taste of truly being adored, asserting herself amongst her year group as a voice of authority and giggling with Anastasia as they manipulated others to their every beck and call. Florence was content to stay in the Muggle world if that was what fate decided for her. She enjoyed the power she commanded over her peers and relished in her ability to be able to do it all without needing to flick a wand. But with Jones blood in her veins Florence was born a witch and an argument with another girl in her class about a boy they both had feelings for resulted in Lola Charles croaking and jumping like a frog argument, causing Anastasia to burst out laughing and a scolding from her parents and sister to keep her temper under control. 

Being friends with Anastasia since the pair were dressed in tiny designer baby booties, Florence was used to being friends with big personalities. Florence liked to be the most important person in the room and whilst Anastasia did also, they found attention in different ways which kept them from fighting. When Florence met CAMILLE ROWLE, GENEVIVE AVERY and ANDRESSA PARKINSON on the train to Hogwarts she knew this school would be different from her last one. Camille Rowle in particular was very much like Florence,. Always the centre of attention and the loudest person in the room. Camille would become one of her best friends or her worst enemy, but thankfully it was the former rather than the latter. Sorted into Hufflepuff, Florence breathed a sigh of relief. Sorted away from the other girls, she had room to forge her own following and quickly got to work finding a similar group to govern. LAUREL LINWOOD was someone she met earlier on at school and easily one of the most beautiful witches in their year group. A Muggle-Born part-veela, any sort of innate grace she had was backed up with a sharp tongue and a low tolerance for other people’s sharp edges which made her a perfect friend for Florence. 

STAR DAVENPORT became her Hufflepuff best friend. A quirky party lover who bathed in glitter and liked getting into trouble, they were the breath of fresh air Florence didn’t know she needed. Star and Laurel suited Florence as best friends because they were different to her other friends, they were fun loving and happy enough to go with the flow and be pulled into whatever scheme Florence cooked for them. Whilst other students at Hogwarts longed to work at the Ministry, Florence had her own dream. She wanted to brew her own line of exclusive cosmetics. Growing up with a model for a mother, Florence was used to Chanel and Dior and while magical cosmetics existed she found the luxury market hadn’t quite been cornered. Alongside Star the two would attend potions club and spend their time making the most amazing products that made your hair dazzle and potions that gave your skin a dewy glow. After learning to brew love potions in their sixth year the two began a business selling love potions to their fellow classmates and figuring out who their perfect match is to use their bew on. Though they had the best intentions at heart, a lot of their schemes often ended badly with Florence, Star and Laurel spending a lot of time in detention. 

Florence’s mission has always been to inject love and beauty into the world which is something that has followed her into her adulthood. In love with the idea of love she patiently awaits Valentine's Day each year and where she once decorated the halls of Hogwarts School, she dresses the little shop she works at in Diagon Alley. Both her mother and sister told her that working at Madam Pimpernelles Beautifying Potions was beneath her and although Florence has enough money in the vault to mean she’d never have to work again, it is ESTELLE PIMPERNELLE’s brain she’s after rather than the money. Florence loves her job, though she knows it’s something she wants to do forever. Although Florence has become Madam Pimpernelle’s protégé outside of her work she has been working as a freelance make-up artist, making over the rich and famous for parties and events with her own brand beaty products. Still intent on starting her own line, it seems she is not the only person with that dream. ORLAITH MACMILLAN was once Florence’s protégé and the little sister she never had. The pair remained close though Florence can admit it’s been strange adjusting to Orlaith being all grown up and moving in on her turf rather than being her understudy. 

With her life perfectly in place living in a plush townhouse in Kensington with her best friends and her work life going well, Florence has tried to focus on her own happiness. Florence truly believed she’d never fall in love. The Jones family have always tended to sacrifice work over a functioning lovelife unless the exact right person came along. With her career goals, her perfectionist ways and need to be adored Florence truly didn’t think anyone was up to the task. Then she met ELEZAR SMITH and her outlook completely changed. Elezar was everything her sister Lucille had looked for in a man, but to her suprise he had asked Florence to dance at The Yule Ball last year instead of Lucille. The pair have been dating for almost a year now, leaving Florence to fall very much in love with him. But with someone like Elezar her happiness with him was always destined to be fleeting. As an eligible bachelor in the wizarding world, Elezar has caught the eye of many young witches, including a close friend of Florence’s. Unbeknownst to Florence, Elezar and CECELIA ABBOTT have been growing close since the death of Celia’s friend. Florence truly feels like Elezar could be the one but like any member of her family, Florence is not to be trifled with and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. 

→ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Blood Status → Half-Blood

Pronouns → She/Her

Identification → Cis Female 

Sexuality  → Up To Roleplayer

Relationship Status → In a relationship with Elezar Smith 

Previous Education →  Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Hufflepuff)

Societies → Pura Sorores 

Family → Adrian Jones (father), Elodie Jones (mother), Lucille Jones (sister), Balthasar Jones (uncle), Alicia Avery-Jones (aunt), Hestia Jones (cousin), Gwenog Jones (cousin)

Connections  → Elezar Smith (boyfriend), Anastasia DuPont (best friend/housemate), Camille Rowle (best friend/housemate), Genevieve Avery (best friend), Andressa Parkinson (best friend), Star Davenport (best friend), Laurel Linwood (close friend), Cecelia Abbot (close friend/unknown adversary), Estelle Pimpernelle (boss/mentor), Gilderoy Lockhart (friend/client), Rita Skeeter (friend/client), Daisy Hookum (friend/client), Glenda Chittock (friend/client) 

Future Information → Wife of Elezar Smith, Mother of Zacharias Smith

FLORENCE JONES IS A LEVEL 6 WITCH.

[celestial-mari]

How do you picture Starfire meeting the Batfamily for the first time. Also which Bew Teen Titans issues did the picture in your header came from?

The picture I used for my banner is from The New Teen Titans (1984) #39.

As for Kory meeting the Batfamily for the first time, I think it’d be a bit awkward but with a lot of good intentions. Kory would get along easily with Alfred and the rest of the Robins, but I think she and Bruce wouldn’t always see eye to eye. Kory’s a kind soul but she also knows the pain (as well as the good) Bruce has caused Dick in the past. She’d speak her mind and say what she feels, and Bruce may not always agree with her, but overall they’d have a certain degree of respect for one another. They want the same things. What’s best for Dick and a more peaceful universe to name a few. However, they represent different ideologies and methods. Overall, Dick would do a great job of making sure everyone gets along and Kory would never cause unnecessary trouble. In the end, the whole family would probably sit down at Wayne Manor for a nice meal and maybe some light sparring. Eventually, any awkwardness or misgivings would fade away, and Kory would be a welcome addition to the family.

[elizadoolittlethings]

Toby Hadoke’s adaptation of Nigel Kneale’s The Road aired on October 27 to great acclaim. Here, Hadoke talks about the necessary alterations for the story, as well as its tributes to the first production…NB This portion of the interview contains major spoilers for The Road. If you’ve not heard it yet, do so now!

Do we know if Nigel Kneale ever considered The Road as a radio script? It’s clear that what Brian Hodgson and the Radiophonic Workshop did back in 1963 was what he was after from the start – it was never going to be a big visual thing.

One of the big comments I got back from [Radio 4 Commissioning Editor] Jeremy Howe when we first pitched it was: “How is this going to work with the climax relying on a juxtaposition of the sound that we can hear and the visuals of the characters in the time period they are in, and the incongruity of hearing those sounds laid over the image of the people in that period clothing?”

He was quite right about that. Charlotte Riches who’s produced it has been a great advocate of mine and done pretty much everything I’ve done for radio; she’s an extremely experienced producer, and is brilliant and very hot on scripts. She said that the edit on the final five minutes of the play was the biggest and hardest job she’d had, and she’d produced hundreds of hours of radio drama. She gave herself a five-day edit on this because she knew this was going to be a biggie.

When you can see the pictures, you know where you’re supposed to be looking; when you’re listening on radio you have to create the points of view and it’s difficult to go, “Are we now with the haunting, or are we still in the woods, and those in the woods can hear the haunting?” On telly, we can see the people who can hear the haunting listening, so we have an anchor. On the radio, you go, “Why are we suddenly with the haunting?” It was really confusing to work out where the listener’s point of view was.

They say the pictures are better on radio – but when you need to create a very specific one, it has to be much harder. I think it works – there’s a lot of very clear audio cues placing us in the period before we get the stuff that’s out of place. Therefore we know the juxtaposition has to be doing something. In the radio version you’re giving us all their reactions through the haunting…

We had to keep cutting back to them. In the original, the haunting is just a series of fractured sounds, whereas in ours, it was Charlotte’s idea that we needed a narrative in the haunting to follow. We have a mother and a lost daughter character in the haunting who are entirely our invention, so we have a little mini story to follow within the haunting itself, otherwise we weren’t quite sure if it wasn’t going to be too fragmented and too confusing to follow.

All the dialogue in the haunting is entirely new, and we planned that quite hard… apart from the object that you can hear that is taken from the original BBC tapes. Although the play doesn’t exist, I had a bit of a brainwave. I dropped Mark Ayres an email and said, “I don’t suppose in your hall of records for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop the sound effects for The Road exist?” and he said, “I’ve got a tape here that says The Road.” He’s a superstar and sent me what was there, and we seeded a couple of bits in just because it’s a play about sound travelling through time, so why not have sound from the original play travelling through time to us? I thought that was nicely appropriate and a nice nod to the great people who went before us.

The original version was post-Cuba with the threat of nuclear holocaust very present – did you consider changing what the tragedy was that caused the haunting or did you want to keep it as close to the original as possible?

Unfortunately Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un came along and Putin as well in a sense – so I think a nuclear holocaust is something that’s still possible, and I didn’t think there was anything else it could be. It needed to be the present day, sure, but although we’ve got them listening to the news on the car radio, I didn’t want it to be too specific. Although it’s intended very much that the day of the haunting is the day that we’re listening to it – it’s happening to us – I thought it would sound a bit hokey if I embedded it too much in the very present in terms of our immediate references.

I think it would have worked in the 1980s when the BBC very kindly did a nuclear holocaust season and they showed The War Game, and Threads was on. I remember it was the first nightmare I ever had – I slept in my sister’s room because I watched The War Game and it scared the shit out of me. It was a real threat – I lived in the countryside, and my mum still lives there; there was a radar dome on the hill and we’d always talk about that if there was a nuclear attack, they’d take out that radar dome so we’d be in the fallout anyway. We wouldn’t escape by being in the country.

It definitely was a present and terrifying threat and I just think there’s nothing else that would quite match it. The world could be wiped out by flood or famine, but I don’t think that gives you as visceral a kick.

The big difficulty we had was with one of the sounds: I thought we should have one of those nuclear sirens going off, but I made some enquires. I asked a couple of MPs and Andrew Smith (who wrote Full Circle for Doctor Who and is a former police officer), as well as Tom Harris, the former MP, about what would happen in the event of a nuclear holocaust, and the consensus was that sound is now outmoded. That alarm wouldn’t happen.

The argument, though, was people still associate it with a nuclear attack, and we should use it but in the end Charlotte made the decision not to. I would have been comfortable using it, because it’s a really useful shorthand. We didn’t, and I think that helped to divorce ourselves from the 1960s setting, but it did mean we did not have available to an aural shorthand that says immediately, “There’s a nuclear bomb!”

So you have to find a way of doing it in the dialogue without having someone say, “I always thought I’d die in a nuclear war!” Or, “Look Jane, here’s a warhead!”

The mother and daughter bit sells that – as they’re describing the cloud. The bit that’s haunted me [and still gives me goosebumps when I transcribe this a few weeks later] is the mother saying, “Close your eyes and make a wish.”

That’s the bit that Charlotte really loved; she said when she read it she got chills down her spine. That’s nice because I wrote that bit!

The actors in the haunting include some quite well known actors, and the girl is the daughter of the producer. Nigel Kneale’s biographer, Andy Murray, is in there somewhere – he lives round the corner from me.

How much of the 40 minutes up to the haunting did you have to rework for radio, and how much could you keep scenes intact?

Unlike [Matthew Graham’s radio play of] The Stone Tape – which I thought was very good, but was a very different retelling of the story with new characters etc. – I felt we had a slight responsibility to present the play that we cannot experience because the tape was destroyed. In the shadow of Nigel Kneale I am humbly shrouded – I had no desire to go, “And what is Hadoke’s take on Kneale’s work?” This is very much my attempt to bring the brilliance of Nigel Kneale to a current and wide audience.

There are some brilliant lines in there, but by the very nature of radio, there are changes. On telly, if you have someone talking to somebody else for two pages, you can keep cutting back to the other person for their reactions to remind you they’re in the scene. You can’t do that on radio. Some of Charlotte’s notes would be – “Jethro speaks here, he hasn’t spoken since page 32, we need to bring him in beforehand, even if it’s to drop off a drink or cough, or something.”

There were various practical things: when we get to the woods, the cart gets stuck on a knot, and that’s just to bring us into the scene. A lot of that is Charlotte’s producing experience, creating the picture for the listener.

The big thing that we brought in to it was because the scenes were quite long – which they can be on television, and certainly could be on television in 1963. For this we needed all the stuff in the woods between Big Jeff and Lukey. In the teleplay it starts off with them setting up and then they bugger off pretty quickly. In this, the stuff with Big Jeff and Lukey and Tetsy that we keep cutting back to is largely mine, setting up the ghost story and having more of the history of the haunting cut with the philosophical discourse. It was felt that we needed to have a bit more toing and froing and to get in the wood location, where the climax takes place, quite a lot earlier. Most of the stuff between those characters, and the stuff about the bones, was all new just to have a bit of a mystery around the haunting.

I had fewer characters at my disposal so I had to roll a couple into one. In the original there’s a character called Sam, played by Rodney Bewes, who is Tetsy’s sweetheart and they’re in the woods. I think it was Charlotte’s idea we roll them into one, and Sam’s the dog now!  And it gives Tetsy a bigger role now.

There was a whole big team of guys helping the Squire and in my first draft I’d written lots of grunts, and cries of “You up there!” We just pared that down to Big Jeff and Lukey who do all the factotuming, because a big load of extras grunting is great on television to fill the picture but on radio it’s not particularly helpful.

In terms of the characters and the main thrusts of their arguments, the dialogue has been tweaked here and there, but large chunks are 100% Kneale. It was already great, so why mess with it?

How involved with the casting were you?

This is the great relationship I have with Charlotte – she knows I’m an acting geek. I didn’t know you could do this until we first did a play together; she said, “Who do you think?” and I suggested a few names… and they were all in it!

We were originally going to do this in Manchester and we were going to use all local actors for the supporting parts, which I’m passionate about because I think the BBC should use more local actors when they’re recording in a place. But because we’d got Mark Gatiss it looked like we’d have to do it in London, and if we were going to be in London, and it’s only a day [recording], we decided to aim high!

We batted a few ideas back and forth. I suggested Hattie Morahan straightaway just because 1) she’s a brilliant radio actress and 2) her dad directed the original which again I thought was a beautiful tie in to the past. Charlotte knew Hattie because she’d done loads of radio. I hadn’t known their connection. Hattie was a yes pretty quickly.

Mark I mentioned was a fan in the pitch – but I didn’t ask him if he’d be in it until we got the go ahead. He was definitely the first person to be contacted, before I’d written the script but after the commission. It then depended on his availability. We were on standby for quite a while – you can’t cast until you’ve got a date – but then we got a date finally from Mark and we moved pretty quickly.

Knowing we had Mark early on we knew would bring people to it – audience-wise and cast-wise. Actors know they’re going to be in a production that people are going to want to take some notice of and if it’s got the nod from somebody who can pick and choose their work, that helps.

I wasn’t 100% certain Mark would want to do it, because he tried to remake it and wasn’t successful so I thought he might be pissed off that somebody else had. He’d also done a readthrough of it on stage a few years ago, so maybe he’d played the part and got it out of his system. He’s always been very nice to me when I met him, so the approach wasn’t totally out of the blue and I thought he wouldn’t tell me to piss off, he would let me down gently. That’s the fear when you get in touch [with actors] out of the blue: you don’t want them to be rude to you, but I knew from my limited experience that Mark wouldn’t be mean, so I went for it.

Francis Magee is a brilliant actor and an old mate of mine and I wanted to give him a job – not that he needs one! He never stops working! I love him to death and I could just imagine him as Lukey so I suggested him.

I worked with Colin McFarlane years and years ago; he’s got a brilliant voice. I suggested him.

We had a few names in the frame for Big Jeff and then Emily, the production assistant, suggested Ralph Ineson because she always wanted to work with him. I said, “Go on offer it to him. It’s a little role at the bottom of the credits, he’s not going to go for it…” and he said yes. I wasn’t going to argue with that – he’s got the perfect voice for a tall Northern man.

Tetsy was quite hard to cast – Susan Wokoma was the only part I didn’t cast. I’d not worked with her before but she’s very much of the moment and brought a very different energy to it. She was Charlotte’s suggestion.

Then Adrian Scarborough – we had loads of ideas for Sir Timothy and there was an actor in the frame who couldn’t do it. It’s a potentially very boring part because he’s slightly stiff and credulous. I needed somebody who was able to bring a slightly different energy to it. I thought of Adrian whose work I’d always liked – I’ve seen him on stage a lot. He’s an interesting left field idea so I suggested him and Charlotte went, “ooh let’s try him”. I thought he’d be good but he’s even better than I thought. It’s a tricky part and he’s made it really sing. I’m  really happy with what he did with it.

Has this whetted your appetite for more Kneale adaptations?

It’s really helped me with my Quatermass book because [Nigel Kneale’s widow] Judith Kerr came to the recording. I’d been trying to get in touch with her to talk about the Quatermass book, but I’d never been able to get past the agent. She came to the recording of The Road, she was delightful, I chanced my arm and said I’m doing a book on Quatermass. I took her for dinner, and she took me round to the house. She’s got the Thing from The Quatermass Experiment out of a plastic bag in the corner of the office; she took me up to Nigel’s office where there’s a Martian sitting in the corner and gave me access to stuff I had no idea existed.

[Added October 29] Have you been pleased with the play’s reception?

I’m staggered – the response had been amazing. I mean, I knew there’d be a small coterie of people like me who would be keen on it (but then they might have hated it because it’s not 100% the original, so even they were a worry!) but the response has been huge. We trended on Twitter! And loads of people who knew nothing about the play before have got in touch to say how great it was an how floored they were by the ending. Someone even Tweeted to say it’s got his 11 year old son into radio drama which has made me overjoyed!

And then last night I got an email from Judith Kerr saying how much she enjoyed it and that “Tom would have loved it.” I’m not afraid to say that got me a bit emotional. So job done. It’s been a totally thrilling experience from start to finish and I’m very lucky to have had this opportunity.

The Road is available to listen on iPlayer. Read our review here

The first, spoiler-free, part of this interview explains how Toby came to adapt The Road

Photos from the recording (c) Toby Hadoke and used with kind permission.

[ieryana]

Dinner with Christians

*** Disclaimer *** - this is tongue in cheek fun. If you take it seriously and get triggered because bew hew you know a Christians then tough shit frankly. Enjoy! ________________________________________________________________

  "Fun as in 'naked twister' fun?" he quipped, slightly too hopefully. Felicity shot him one of her narrow-eyed, ‘you better behave’ sort of looks and squeezed his arm. "It's just that I went to a party once and it was full of forty-something swingers and-" "Oh you did not," She admonished with a flap of her hand that signalled that she didn't believe him and that the subject was dead. "Besides," she added, almost as an afterthought, "they're good Christian people, they wouldn't be into anything like that." "They're what?" A look of horror flew across Max’s face. Last time he’d encountered Christians en masse was his Christening, and he’d slept through that. "Flick!  Daaahling! Happy New Year!" A horribly ‘faux posh’ voice echoed from the porch. "Tom, Helen, how are you both, awww!"  Felicity gushed, hugging her hosts and flashing air kisses that missed by miles.  It was at that moment that the girl that was once Felicity Harbour changed….in a way Max hoped he would never see again. The transformation was devastating, dramatic and swift.  In that moment, she had become the entity known as Flick. Max stood in the doorway and juggled the beer, a resigned but somehow desperate expression on his face.  What had just happened?  It was only seven pm and he already wished the night was over. As he walked into the predictably magnolia and laminate hallway he spared a thought for the lads in the King's Arms, drinking, celebrating, happy, and single.  Happy New Year indeed. From inside, the stomach-churning soprano 'Walking in the Air' began to filter through into the hallway and he knew that with certainty it wouldn't be long before Cliff made an appearance too. Tom and Helen were pretty as boring as the house.  Helen was slightly overweight and dowdy. Straight mousy hair framed a chubby face and she was dressed in a shapeless floral dress.  Tom was the sort of guy you would want to beat savagely and, were it not for the fact that it would be something like kicking a puppy, you feared that you would.  Sporting a pair of tortoise shell rimmed glasses and a drab loose knit sweater; he’d also adopted a magnificent eye twitch that Max found compelling.  Tom would use words like 'cathartic' and 'holistic' a lot and pronounced the word beautiful as 'buuudafull’. Max ground his teeth together and tried to smile.            "So Maximillian nice to finally meet you, how aaaare you?  We heard you've been mentally ill is that right?"  Tom said all in one breathe.            Maximillian? Against his better judgement, he shifted the bitter into the crook of his arm and grasped Tom's limp, slightly damp hand, pumping it in greeting whilst brandishing a vaguely threatening fake grin.  "No, no it was a week off work for compassionate reasons, some work rela-"            "Super!  Well, this is my wife Helen…"  Tom cut in with a disarming smile and a sweep of his hand.             Feeling more than very put out, Max braced himself as Helen approached him for a double air kiss and he was horrified to note a wispy, grey moustache lying in wait across her top lip.  She smelled faintly of Yardley’s English Lavender, and that was no great surprise either.  Helen also had this irritating habit of talking to you through either closed or wildly fluttering eyelids, it made him wonder whether half way through a conversation he could nip away and come back without being noticed.  "Soooo gooooood to seeee yooooou," she whined.            Tom and Helen invited them into an untidy living room and introduced them to the others: Jed and Hannah, Campbell and his friend Philip, and Camilla. "Guys, this is Maximillian, Flick's beau – he's recently been mentally ill," Tom was saying, nodding sagely, "So let’s hope he finds tonight's diverse social integration… cathartic." Max raised a hand in salute. "Well, I wasn't strictly ill, but hello."  Something told him that the five pints of John Smith's he'd downed before meeting Flick and friends wouldn't be enough.  He then noticed Jed was wearing sandals with Argyll socks and briefly flirted with the idea of running away – quickly.            Dinner was a bland vegetarian affair that Helen had managed to become tearful over when she discovered that she had burned the crust of the leak and leak pie.  The potatoes were more than slightly underdone and the onion gravy watery beyond compare, although the Swede and carrot mash was passable.  She seemed heartened by the fact that her eye-watering, sugar-free rhubarb and gooseberry compote was edible, or at least that was the suggestion that everyone had given her by doggedly finishing their bowls.   "I think I've just developed a stomach ulcer," Max whispered to Flick, who shushed him tetchily.            "Matchmakers and coffee?" offered Tom, as if it was the height of sophistication.            "I'll stick with the beer, thanks."  Max pointed to his fast depleting stock.  The group had barely managed to empty three bottles of predictably cheap wine over dinner. He cracked open another can and tried to get comfortable on the lumpy sofa. "So," Jed was saying, his legs crossed and his hands constructing a pyramid at his chest, "Hannah and I met Campbell whilst on sabbatical in Bratislava in 1999…"            "Yea yea, Bratislava’s an awesome country”; Campbell interjected as if anyone was interested in his point.           Max rolled his eyes, but thought again about speaking out, leaving the group to embarrass themselves.            "Well, it's funny," Campbell continued in his soft, whiney Scottish accent and patted his 'friends' arm, "because Philip and I met during his gap year in Burundi." "Yes I was working with Médecins Sans Frontières as a volunteer nurse."  Philip added with a self-satisfied smile.            "Oh that's riiiight," gushed Helen.  "I heard that you had done a lot of good work in the Third World."            "I now do some volunteer work with special needs, but not as much as I'd like to" Philip continued, "in fact I'm a dedicated helper in the community for a great person called Ben Calloe."            “Wonky Ben?"  Max said.            The front room fell silent.  To look at their faces so aghast, one would have thought that he had just dropped his pants.  "What?  Wonky Ben, gammy leg, he comes in the pub."            "He's got cerebral palsy, Max," Philip said with the measured patience of somebody trying to break some really bad news.            "Yeah but you want to try and race lad, he's pretty quick after a few rum and cokes I can tell you."            "You feed him alcohol?"  Campbell seemed genuinely horrified.            Max shrugged.  "He's a bloke not a gerbil. Why shouldn’t he enjoy a drink or two, he’s still a person".  He was vaguely aware of Flick tugging urgently at his sleeve.  "What, you've never raced a drunken spazz?"            "We don't refer to them as 'spastic' anymore."  Hannah said gently.            "Anyway…" Tom intervened.  "Campbell, you were saying about Burundi…"            Max's eyes darted incredulously from speaker to speaker, what irritated him more than the inane anecdotes of who met whom and during what Hutu uprising, was the fact that Camilla simply nodded in agreement to every statement and mmm-mmm'd her approval.  This further cemented Max's theory that she had nothing to add to any conversation.  Anywhere.  Ever.            Max sighed and cracked open another can. "So Maxi, did your faith helped you through your period of mental illness?" Tom said, some time later, turning his attention across the table.            "Sorry, what?" Max jumped awake from the semi-doze he’d fallen into            "Your faith, was it a crutch?"  Helen asked.  "I found that my faith brought me through my darker moments when I was diagnosed with uterine polyps."            "Mmm, yah, polyps."  Camilla nodded seriously, shooting Helen a tight lipped look of unswerving support and female camaraderie.            "Er, no, I'm not a big church goer to be honest."  Or at all, but he wasn’t going to admit that.            "Awww."  The group crooned in an 'oh you poor, silly, ignorant little man' fashion.            He noted that Flick looked suitably embarrassed and could not help but feel a little crow of jubilation inside him.            "You really should consider taking Christ into your life."  Hannah said.            "Mmm-mmm, yah.  Christ our Lord."  Camilla spouted and actually held up a hand in some sort of 'hey Jesus, here I am,' wave.            Max drew a patient breath and forced a smile. "No, thanks all the same.  I'm happy with my lot and it's not really for me, but cheers."            "Don't worry; I'm sure you will regain your faith with Flick's help, she is such a strong woman."  Helen sympathised.  "You will find that it was the glory of the Lord that drew you out of your mental illness."            "Oh, I'm not so sure!"  Max replied smoothly.            They all looked at him in earnest.  "Yes Max… it was. They nodded as one. "Oh yes, Jesus loves you.  He loves us all."  Hannah intoned. This was getting a little creepy, and Max edged his way along the sofa.            "Doesn't seem to love wonky Ben that much does he now," Max replied sourly.            "Ah, don't worry, the Lord has His own plan for Ben. His physical illness is part of god’s plan, as was your mental illness."         Max slammed his hand down on the nearby table causing everyone to jump and sending John Smiths tins scattering.  Camilla stopped mmm-mmming all of a sudden and looked petrified. He stood up and stared at them all. "Look, I'm not mentally ill.  I never have been; I had a week's leave of absence after some work related stresses and my mum dying.  And before you say it, no, she's hasn't 'crossed over' or 'become spirit' or whatever it is you nut-jobs think and she's not 'in a better place'. She's in a box, in the ground, in Highgate cemetery.  Oh and in case you were wondering, I don't want to join your blasted Christian polyp support group or whatever it is.  I have been listening to you lot for the past four hours and you have yet to say anything remotely constructive or interesting!" "Maxi, I really don't think this is-" Campbell began to speak, looking pale. "It's Max you irritating Scottish poof!" "Wha-what?"  Campbell and Philip both looked stunned, as if some great and unspoken secret had been splashed across the national news. "Oh come off it, people!  If these two were any more mince they'd be a Chilli Con Carne." An awkward silence fell across the group, broken only by Philip, who began to weep quietly into his napkin. He glared at them for a few seconds longer before about turning and striding into the hallway.  "Jesus Christ!  No wonder they threw you lot to the lions!” The door slammed shut in his wake. "Peace be with you…"  Tom murmured cheerlessly, smoothing his pullover.

[aion-rsa]

Warrior Season 2 Episode 4 Review: If You Don’t See Blood, You Didn’t Come to Play

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This Warrior review contains spoilers.

Warrior Season 2 Episode 4

The title of this episode comes from Sophie’s (Celine Buckens) date. Spencer (Russell Crous) comes from the upper class and he’s trying to court Sophie in an upper-class way, but she’s is having none of that. She brings him to the Banshee to slam some drinks, and coyly asks him about his athleticism. Spencer says he plays rugby and Sophie feigns being impressed by the roughness of the sport, egging him to say, “If you don’t see blood, you didn’t come to play.” Then she takes him to the back-alley bare-knuckle matches behind the Banshee, to show him some fresh blood. It’s one of only two scenes that get bloody in this episode, that that’s just not enough.

This episode, like the previous one, fails to deliver much Kung Fu action. There’s a central street demo, which will be discussed later, and two fights: the first being this bare-knuckle match and the second being towards the end of the episode. Not one of the lead actors shows any Kung Fu fighting.

Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) punches O’Hara (Kieran Bew) when he discovers he’s been working for the Fung Hai for months. It’s right after O’Hara gets his wife (who is terribly upset about having to kill someone, even though it was self-defense) and kids out of San Francisco in the wake of the previous episode’s attack. But it’s just a punch, not a flying kick or even some Kung Fu fist combination. A Kung Fu attack would not have been appropriate coming from Lee, but this show is coming from Bruce Lee, so copious Kung Fu is expected. In fact, it is demanded, especially from a cast with such martial firepower.

Andrew Koji (Ah Sahm), Olivia Cheng (Ah Toy), Jason Tobin (Young Jun), and Dianne Doan (Mai Ling) have all demonstrated they can handle a decent Kung Fu fight. Joe Taslim (Li Yong) and Dustin Nguyen (Zing) are veteran action stars with several exemplary martial arts films already under their belts. Hong (Chen Tang) and Lai (Jenny Umbhau) have shown their skills too and fans are eager to see more of them. Sure, sure, drama is important for context but let these actors fight. Unleash them. Bruce Lee fans want Kung Fu. We want blood. 

A Chinese Laundry and Some Street Kung Fu

Li Yong brings Mai Ling to a Chinese laundry looking for a loan (as if taking a loan from a Tong is ever that good of an idea). Mai Ling buys out the laundry as a safety net, a legal business for when the Tongs go sour. Li Yong, still suspicious of the intentions of his boss and lover, says “We are warriors, not washers.”

It’s another nod to history. That old stereotype of the Chinese laundry comes from this period when Warrior is set. Racism drove Chinese immigrants into the laundry business. Laundry work was demanding manual labor prior to washing machines but was deemed unmanly by Westerners.

However, even this lowly avenue of employment was inevitably sullied by racial injustice. In 1880, San Francisco had some 320 laundries, two thirds of which were Chinese run. The city approved an ordinance that laundries in wooden buildings required a permit. No permits were granted to any Chinese. Only one non-Chinese owner was denied. Two years later, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed further oppressing the Chinese. This point in history has been looming large as an imminent threat in Warrior with several mentions of it from Buckley (Langely Kirkwood) and the Mayor (Christian McKay).

After buying out the laundry, Mai Ling and Ah Toy cross paths at a Kung Fu street demo. It’s the only Kung Fu in this episode. Kung Fu masters have worked as street buskers for centuries, so Warrior makes another solid historical nod.

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However ironically, the demo is from a monk-like character clad in white robes doing a modern Wushu staff form. While the skyward shot of the monk doing a slow-motion barrel-roll framed by the Chinatown alley roofs is stylish, monks generally don’t wear white. A shaven pate implies that this is a Buddhist monk and their robes are traditionally saffron or grey. In Chinese culture, white is a funerary color.

To really nitpick the scene, modern Wushu didn’t exist back then. It’s modern. This is the style that Jet Li does, an acrobatic sport that China has been pushing to get into the Olympics. The earliest date for the creation of modern Wushu would be the founding of the People’s Republic of China in in 1949. Nevertheless, if that’s all the Kung Fu this episode is going to show, it just must be appreciated for what it is. 

Mai Ling and Ah Toy have their own little showdown, a duel of fashion. Season 2 continues to amplify the costumes of both actresses. While everyone else is period, they’ve earned elaborate steampunk attire. It’s a Chinatown standoff and Mai Ling gets Ah Toy to bow to her. A Kung Fu duel might have been nice here but inappropriate to the storyline as Ah Toy is keeping her skills covert. 

Back at the brothel, Nellie (Miranda Raison) visits Ah Toy to pick up one of the women to take to her vineyard sanctuary in Sonoma. She invites Ah Toy to visit on the next morning (presumably the next episode). In the days of Warrior, a trip to Sonoma would have taken a long time. Today, it’s a six-hour trip one-way by bike (the closest analog to the speed of a horse-drawn carriage on a maps app) and that’s using the Golden Gate Bridge.

However, the Golden Gate Bridge wasn’t open until 1937, decades after when Warrior is set. Without the bridges, a traveler from SF to Sonoma would have to take the long way around the bay. Even a ferry would take a long time. It’s more nitpicking but for anyone in the SF Bay Area, it sticks out as painfully inaccurate.

It’s Hard to Be a Cop in Chinatown

As the police arm up to take revenge on the Fung Hai after their attack on O’Hara’s home, Chao (Hoon Lee) cuts with a plan. He tells O’Hara that the Fung Hai is anticipating reprisal and have set a trap and that Zing is in hiding. Chao asks O’Hara to get the cops to stand down for two days so he can set up a counter trap. In exchange, Chao wants his stock of police-confiscated weapons returned. O’Hara complies. 

This doesn’t go down well at City Hall where Buckley continues to stoke anti-Chinese sentiment. In a nod to today’s politics, the Mayor offers O’Hara his “thoughts and prayers” and respects O’Hara’s request for more time, despite Buckley’s protests. The Mayor calls him out on it and the two start to oppose each other politically.

Later, Lee visits Ah Toy’s place. He finds relief to his chronic pain in her opium den and Chao, watchful as always, spies this. Chao pulls Ah Toy to enlist her in his plan, taking Ah Toy’s sword to plant on Zing. This will implicate him as the swordsman murderer, removing any suspicion off Ah Toy and putting Zing on the run. It’s a promising plan for future episodes. 

Sibling Rivalry Gets Explosive

Back at the mayoral mansion, Blake tries to pull the cable car contract from Mercer Steel. Historically, the cable cars were developed by several competing private companies so the mayoral office probably wouldn’t be holding those steel contracts, but that’s more nitpicking. Fortunately, Penny (Joanna Vanderham) lawyered up and informs her husband that the city is contractually bound to pay even more if they break the contract. 

Penny’s bad night continues when she gets in it with her sister. After Sophie ditched Spencer, she hooked up with Leary for some Skinemax action.

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Afterwards, Sophie sees Leary distributing soup for the hungry, and is swayed to his cause. She notices that Mercer Steel is not on Leary’s terrorist bombing target map. Leary says it’s because he knows Penny has hired protection, but Sophie hopes that it is for her sake. When Sophie returns to the mayoral mansion, she confronts Penny about hiring Chinese instead of Irish. Still fuming over her confrontation with Blake, she yells at Sophie pointing out how entitled she is. 

Sophie runs to Leary and tells him about a secret tunnel into Mercer Steel. She leads Leary’s terrorist cell into the factory, but the Hop Wei discover them, and a fight ensues. It’s a dark warehouse fight, brutish and shadowy, but Leary and his squad are not Kung Fu fighters and the Hop Wei hatchet men are nameless thugs who are just there to die at the hands of the Irish.

It’s another disappointing fight scene, one that could be seen in any action show, not worthy of the Bruce Lee legacy. However, the mission is successful. Leary blows up Mercer Steel and Sophie goes home to Penny, wracked with guilt for what she has done. As a concluding scene, it sets up next episode where the repercussions will come to light.

The Way of the Dragon

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Despite the lack of Kung Fu, this episode has one good nod to Bruce Lee. In an earlier scene, one of the hatchet men ridicules Hong for being homosexual as the Hop Wei Tong men have breakfast. Hong has plenty of witty comebacks, but Young Jun comes to his defense. He joins in with the chiding to get close to Hong’s unsuspecting detractor, and then slams his head into the table. The whole Tong jumps out of their chairs, but Ah Sahm checks them by wagging his finger. It’s a distinctively Bruce Lee gesture, just like what he did to the Mob Boss in The Way of the Dragon.

Warrior has been good about dropping such clever Easter eggs, subtle homages that only true Bruce fans notice. But if Warrior really wants to keep those fans happy, for the next episode, show more Kung Fu. Show more blood.

The post Warrior Season 2 Episode 4 Review: If You Don’t See Blood, You Didn’t Come to Play appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[imagine-loki]

A Warrior’s Life

TITLE: A Warrior’s Life

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter Twenty-Seven AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE:

Imagine Viking Loki coming to your village, raiding and pillaging, before deciding there is something about you that intrigues him and deciding to take you back to Asgard with him. There, you are forced to learn a new life and language, and though you hate what has happened to you, you learn that Loki is not as bad as you think.

RATING: Mature.

NOTES: Yes, I know I am evil. 

When Maebh entered the large throne room, the battle had all but ceased. There were a few Midgardians’ dead on the ground, but the Aesir all remained standing, due mostly to the surprise of the attack under the cover of night. Most of the Midgardians knelt on the floor in their night attire in a subjugated position in front of the warriors, all of whom seemed still prepared to strike. Maebh’s small stature meant that she remained hidden as she made her way through them.

“You will regret your actions here this night, barbarians.” A voice called out. Maebh tensed as she recognised the voice of her uncle.

“We have been sworn such everywhere we have gone so far on our voyage here and we have yet to do so.” Thor scoffed back. “What makes the words mean anymore from you ‘King’ Cathal? Oh yes, we know all about you, and how you are only king because you slaughtered your own brother at the dinner table as he feasted with you and his young family. That is a fine scar the queen gave you.” Thor commented, smiling at the man’s blatant bewilderment.

“I know not what you mean, my brother and his family were killed by a small minority who saw to abolish the throne of this great land.” The king stated. “What you have heard is incorrect.”

“I find it odd that you do not seem to be questioning how I could possibly know such things, incorrect or otherwise.”

“Your kind has plagued Vanaheim for many seasons now. And lies travel with greater speed than the truth ever could.” Cathal dismissed.

“It must annoy you greatly, though, never finding half of the royal family jewels.” Thor grinned as he continued to unnerve the king. “Do you know were the Queen’s deer necklace resides now?” He taunted. “In Asgard, around my mother’s neck.”

“So you took it from some trader you killed and found out its origins. Many items were stolen from my brother and his wife when they were killed.” The older man dismissed.

Thor shook his head. “Actually, it was found by my brother and myself in a small cottage in Laighin last summer, in a home with some children.”

“So some children had it, I fail to see the significance in all of this.” Cathal sounded bored.

Thor looked behind him and quickly found what he was searching for when he saw Maebh standing beside Fandral, half hidden by Volstagg, she nodded and grinned coyly. “I find your complacency at children having the royal jewels somewhat baffling in all honesty I must admit,” Thor stated. “Though I will say that these were no ordinary children. I hope you did not pay Tadhgán too great a sum to kill Clodagh and the children.” Cathal froze, and several of the kneeling Midgardians stared at the king in shock.

“Their Majesties and the children were killed in the fighting.” One lord declared. “There was a witness.”

“Is that so?” Thor smiled wolfishly.

“Aye.”

“Well then, it would appear your witness is a fraud.”

“And why is that?”

“Well, sadly three of the children died the harvest before this, including the one the queen was carrying as she fled this land. She died birthing him, in case anyone is wondering.” Thor explained.

“That cannot be true, why would they flee? They would have been safe here; Princess Maebh was nearly old enough to be eligible to take the throne.” Another man stated.

“They were killed, the children you say were there were not who you think them to have been.” The king scoffed. “My brother’s children are all dead, and I did not pay anyone for such a thing.”

“Well fine, you gave him that large land and that fine house so.” Thor waved his hand dismissively. Wide eyes met the golden prince, many realising the foreigners had been travelling around Ulaidh for some time without any of them noticing.

“Which one survived?” one lord asked, his voice shaking slightly in fear. Thor looked over at him with a cocked eyebrow. “You said three died, but including the child that was yet to be born to their majesties, there were four children of King Aodh, which one survived?”

“What does it matter Séan?” Cathal asked resentfully.

“You are only king as we were all under the impression that King Aodh and his lineage all perished, whichever child it is, it is the rightful ruler of Ulaidh.” The man called Séan responded disdainfully.

The king glared at the other man. “I am king, no child could have taken the throne, nor could the assume to take it now.” He shouted at him.

“Daire and Maebh would both be old enough to rule now, they are the true heirs, both trained in the roles that would have been required in them,” Séan informed him. The king lunged angrily at the lord, who apparently anticipated such actions and used the king’s weight against him, flinging him to the ground and towards the large blonde Aesir. The king looked up in fear at the sneering prince.

Maebh walked forward and stood alongside Thor, glaring hatefully down at her uncle upon the floor. “I should have known if one were to survive it would be you.” He spat. “Such peculiar company you keep these days, Maebh.”

“Needs must as they say.” Maebh shrugged.

“I will not simply give you the throne; no matter what forces you come bearing.”

“I had no plans on merely asking as I expected such a response.” She smiled, unsheathing her sword. Cathal’s eyes widened fearfully. “I have seen much of Ulaidh upon my return; I have walked its broken land. It lies in ruin, some of its finest villages reduced to rubble. You have destroyed this great land under your rule. You seem to only have benefitted yourself in my absence.”

“Upon your return from where?”

“Asgard.” Cathal spat on the ground in disgust, earning him filthy looks from the Aesir, who though they could not understand the full conversation, knew the action was a direct result of Maebh mentioning their home. “When I was given the chance to come by and see how my great land was doing, well how could I resist?” her tone was menacing.

“You taught him our tongue.” He pointed to Thor.

“And where to find you, the location of the homes of your loyal lords and earls, how to get passed all your defences, what wealth resides here and so much more.”

“Treacherous wench.”

“Yes, so I’ve been told.” Maebh sounded bored. “It’s hardly like I owe you any favours now do I?”

“So what is your plan, dethrone me, take it for yourself and keep your Asgardian guard dogs?”

“Dethrone, my dear uncle, I have absolutely no intentions of simply dethroning you. I want vengeance, lest you forget what you have done to me and mine.”

Cathal swallowed hard. “Maebh, be reasonable, I did not know you were alive still. Had I known, things would have been different. I had to do what I could to keep Ulaidh strong.”

“Well you failed miserably, as I stated, she lies in ruin. You did what you wanted for you, not Ulaidh.” She shouted back. “You also seem to forget that I am old enough to recall all of your envy, all of your hate for your brother, my father! I cannot count how many warned him not to trust you, yet hr dismissed them all, thinking there was good in you. He paid dearly for his error, I saw you slit his throat with my own eyes.”

Maebh stepped forward, sword aimed for his throat. “Be reasonable.” He pleaded. “None will follow you so long as you ally yourself with Asgard.”

“I don’t need them to.” Maebh shrugged. “Any who oppose me can simply be killed.”

“And these barbarians will just follow your orders without question?”

“No.” Maebh pointed to Thor. “But they will follow his.” Thor smiled menacingly as Cathal looked from his niece to the largely built warrior.

“What of all of them?” Thor asked, indicating to the earls and lords still kneeling on the floor.

Maebh scanned each of their faces, most of which she did not recognise, and though one or two were familiar, they seemed too ashamed to even look her in the face. And then there was Séan. She pointed to him before turning to the warriors and speaking in Aesir. “I do not care what you do with the rest, but so long as this one causes no problems, I will ask that you leave him be.” The warriors nodded, brandishing their weapons.

“And him?” Thor indicated to Cathal.

“Do what needs to be done, and let the others do the raiding. Tie him and leave him to me.” Again Maebh spoke in Aesir.

Thor nodded again before turning to the warriors “deal with them” he indicated to the kneeling men. “Then tend to the wounded.” Several of the group unsheathed their weapons and struck down all the kneeling men except for Séan.

The Midgardian looked to the dead and dying men on either side of him in terror, before looking to Maebh in confusion as the Aesir walked away without paying him any more attention. “I told them to spare you.” She informed him, relief flooded his face. “You show you are loyal to my father even to this day, and I have not forgotten the risks you took to save my mother, my siblings and I, it was the least I could do.”

“Can I leave?” he asked still somewhat scared, Maebh nodded. “And what of you my princess, have you returned to take your rightful place?” Maebh did not respond. The other warriors left, leaving Thor, Maebh, Séan and Cathal.

Thor tied the king with a length of rope as Séan rose from the floor to leave. It was then Maebh heard heavy footsteps coming toward them. She looked to the door as several heavily armed Midgardians entered. “What is the meaning of this?” the leader of them demanded as he stared at the king tied on the floor, and the woman in front of them.

“I am princess Maebh, and I have returned after being held captive in Asgard.” She informed them. Thor stared at her in utter bewilderment.

“Maebh Ní hAodh?” The leader asked in disbelief, she smiled and nodded. The leader looked to Cathal. “And what of the king?”

“He was only king because he killed my father and tried to kill myself and the rest of my family also, he is guilty of treason.” She argued.

“And him?” The leader asked, his sword held high as he indicated to Thor.

Thor looked at Maebh. “I will deal with him personally. He is one of the two who captured me and forced me to be a slave.” Maebh kicked Thor behind the knee and watched as he fell to the ground. Immediately she stripped him of all his weapons as the large blonde warrior remained still out of sheer shock.

“Maebh?” His voice was almost small, the something came to him. “Maebh, Loki never entered the room with you did he?” he realised.

“No, he didn’t.” she replied coldly as she threw the last of his weapons out of his reach.

Thor’s face was ashen as he realised what she was implying, he had tears in his eyes. “Father and Baldr were right.”

“You had no right to ever remove me from Midgard, from my home. Turn and face the floor Thor, it is far more swift that way.” She said in an emotionless voice.

Thor did not do what she demanded immediately, so she used her foot to help kick him over. “Do you recall what you swore to me?” He asked, his voice on the verge of breaking.

“Of course.”

“Then will you tell me?” He pleaded.

Maebh scoffed before she replied. “You recall the condition of which I would tell you?”

“Yes.” Thor turned his head slightly only to see a sword raised directly over his head, poised to strike.

“It will not be met, and I would never break my word to you, Thor.” And with that, she ploughed the sword down, watching as the crimson fluid marred the metal.