#except its happening in the evening and not during the afternoon like SU or at an all-at-once-release deal like SPoP

[thebuttsmcgee]

It kinda feels like when the Owl Crew were all saying their goodbyes to working on the show again.

Nearly everyone in the tags is getting ready for The End.

Like. Damn. It really is the end as far as we know for the entire franchise of The Owl House.

Man.

[calehenituseappreciation]

Tommy thinking Sam Nook and Sam are two different people would lead to such funny senarios.

Especially if you apply this logic to everyone.

what if mexican dream and quackity are the same people and that was just him making fun of dream and making tommy laugh and tommy genuinely thinks dream killed mexican dream and that hes a different person

and when ranboo pretended to be killed by clarencio

he just doesnt realise

he thinks girl dream is someone else too

tubbo genuinely has a bunch of personalities and so he thinks theyre all different people (and also he doesnt realise theyre the same people a lot)

sam, in his normal voice: tommy do you have the- tommy, crying: what happened to sam nook?

sam proceeds to live as sam nook around tommy because he once tried to tell tommy sam nook isnt real and he started sobbing and so sam cant

sapnap, approaching sam on the site: hey sam can you do this for me? sam: su- tommy, running up: SAAAAAAM!? sam, in the sam nook voice: hello tommy! sapnap: wtf??? tommy: this is sam nook! :D have you met him? sapnap: what? thats just s- sam: shakes his head, behind tommy where he cant see sapnap: uhhhhh sam: takes out sword sapnap: h-hi sam nook! tommy: :D

sam is not the only person this happened to. 

tommy: technoblade???? techno, sneaking into l'manberg: uhhh techno, in a highpitched voice: no this is Clarencio tommy: the llama? techno, in high pitched voice: no the pig tommy: hmmm techno: sweats tommy: smiles brightly ok!!!! techno, under his breath: that worked??? tommy: wanna hang out with me? techno, in high piteched voice: i really need to go tommy: buttttttt :(

technoblade proceeds to have to pretend to be clarencio the pig and hang out with tommy all afternoon

phil, coming to check on techno: techno? techno, in a frilly pink dress, in a high pitched voice: hi tommy: phil!!!! have you met clarencio??? but not the llama!!! clarencio the pig!!! phil, holding back a laugh: is that so?

(defenitly happened before he got exiled, i refuse to change my mind)

everytime techno is caught he says hes clarencio (the pig) and tommy vouches for him each time and no one is able to bring themselves to tell him that clarencio (the pig) doesnt exist

sam nook, :handshake: clarencio the pic, :handshake:  mexican dream, (not girl dream) not being able to tell tommy their not real bc hed cry

IMAGINE IF TOMMY WAS GIVEN THE JOB OF LIKE BEING THE BORDER PEOPLE WHILE HE WAS WILBURS VICE BEFORE THE ELECTION AND PEOPLE WOULD JUST FAKE IDENTIES AND TOMMY WOULD JUST BELIVE EVERYONE

quackity: i demand to be allowed to join l'manberg! wilbur: ur american quackity: i shpould still be allowed! wilbur: just say your not, thats what everyone does quackity: what wilbur: just make a fake identity?? quackity: youre... the president???? wilbur: yeah and?? quackity: shouldnt you not be be endorsing that??? wilbur: i made tommy the border person. you think i care? quackity: sksksks quackity: still bad tho

the only one tommy never believes is dream, no matter what, he can just tell when someone is dream, like ya know those police dogs? the only reason he didnt realise girl dream was because girl dream is girl dream he thought it was just a dream thing

TOMMY THINKS BAD AND MONOCHROME BAD ARE TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE

monochrome bad: tommy tommy: whomst? bad: oh uh recolourfies tommy, screaming: WHAT THE FUCK

tommy doesnt have object permanence but for people

techno, while tommy is staying with him: leaves room tommy, crying: I had a big brother once, i dont remember him tho

phil leaves them and (while stabbing wilbur) tommy just doesnt realize its him until techno says "dad?"

quackity works at wendys and tommy goes there everyday but doesnt realise its quackity

tommy went there since the war ended

and at the time didnt realise tommy cant tell and so when he and tommy started a mafia and became friends he thought tommy knew who he was and tommy once suggested going to dennys and quackity is like 'oh my god' and tommy is like my friend works there!!! and then they go to the one quackity works at and quackity is like 'haha funny' and then tommy asks around and then turns to quackity sadly like "my friend isnt here today D:" and then quackity is like o h

tommy, towards sam, in sams house: sam!!!!!! sam, who was sleeping, in his normal voice: w-what? tommy: sam!!! :D sam: hey tommy yawns whyd you wake me up? tommy: sorry but i really needed to ask you a question!!! sam: did you want to ask me where sam nook is again? tommy: welll.. that too but!!! you should meet sam nook!!!! sam: what tommy: please please please sam: no go back what did you ask? tommy: you need to meet sam nook! i think you'd be friends!!! :D sam, internally: shit sam: uhhh i dont really think i should- tommy: pleaasee uses puppy eyes sam: sure sam, internally: why did i say yes????

sam then has to pretend to be sam and sam nook at the same time

tommy: you're gonna love sam nook sam!!!! sam: uhuh tommy: where is he? :( sam: uh maybe hes behind you tommy: turns around to look sam: runs to other side of tommy sam, in sam nook voice: hello tommy!!! tommy: sam nook! have you met sam??? hes right here!!! gestures to sam who has to run behind him again tommy: sam say hi!!! sam, panting, in normal voice: hi tommy: whyre you all out of breath and shit???

this,,, just continues for a while

quackity, watching this exchange, driunking juice: sucks to suck sam: you'd do the same quackity: no. mexican dream is dead lol tommy, only hearing the last part: cries i miss mexican dream quackity, feeling sad: uh- we can revive him maybe? tommy: wipes tears YEAH! sam, whispers to quackity: told you so quackity, hisses to sam : shut up

quackity then has to pretend to revive himself while running around also he has to steal another one of dreams masks

honestly in this au everyone would hear about what happened during exile and stab dream (while pretending to be other people because ig in this au tommy still thinks dream was once his friend and yeh)

tommy, after crying infront of sam nook and telling him what dream did to him: so.. sniffs do you have any more quests for me to do? sam nook: i have one more quest tommy, cheering up: what is it!! sam nook: for myself tommy, confused: what is it? sam nook, taking out a glock: homocide

insanebur: you want to know why no one listens to you tommy? tommy, pouting, on the verge of tears: What? insanebur, unable to finish, clutching his heart: your too cute

this is just au where tommy is baby huh

wilbur isnt mad schlatt exiled him- hes mad he exiled tommy

schlatt and dream are the only ones not affected by tommys baby vibes and thats their downfall

tommy just has to call everyone a nickname, once, and everyone is melted

niki and jack: tommy is the fault of all our probelms we should kill him puffy: he. bonk is bonk baby bonk niki and jack: look over at tommy tommy, with sam in the distance: cries to sam because he cant find sam nook niki and jack: okay... maybe we should be less... violent...

Sam rlly just went

sam: looks at tommyinnit sam: nothing bad will ever happen to this child ever again

huh?

I’ve named this au, au where hes baby ur honour

tommy: i had zero parents (who care) tommy, gestures to puffy and sam: NOW I HAVE TWOOOOOOO

insanebur: god i fucking hate everyone tommy: even me? insanebur: except you tommy

sam: I AM THE TOMMY GAURDIAN! GAURDIAN OF THE TOMMY! sam @ anyone who wants to hurt him: FUCK OFFF

tommy canoanically understands the animal crossing language

ranboo: i can speak enderman! tommy: well i can speak creeper

whenever tommy gets overwhelemed around sam he burys himself he asks sam to cover for him in creeper

okay thats enough of that

[ibijau]

Futures Past pt 20 / on AO3

(posting early this week because I might not have time tomorrow)(also, because of the upcoming xisang week, I’m not sure yet if I’ll update this fic next week)

With some help from Su She, Nie Huaisang gets his wangxian ship sailing.

Nie Huaisang guiltily twisted his hands as they left the classroom, already half crying as Wei Wuxian finished retelling his first day of punishment with Lan Wangji. 

"I really am so sorry, Wei-xiong!" he lamented. "I really wish I could help you. Maybe if I could find a way to copy part of the rules for you and pass them to you…" 

"Lan er-gongzi would surely notice," Meng Yao softly objected. "And then you'd both be punished again." 

"Aren't you busy enough with your own punishment anyway?" Jiang Cheng huffed. "You'll be lucky if you can even attend your music lessons with all that extra homework you were given, right?" 

With a miserable sigh, Nie Huaisang nodded. Cheating was more work than he'd thought, and he'd have to find a better way to do it if he were to pass that year. Though really, it had been Lan Wangji’s fault for joining the lectures, which he hadn't done the previous year, and also Wei Wuxian's for taunting Lan Wangji by looking at him. Of course Lan Wangji had gotten curious, and he'd noticed the cheating, and… 

For some reason, Lan Qiren had decided that Wei Wuxian was the instigator in this business, so he'd been punished the hardest. But Nie Huaisang had been given a lot of essays to write, and he didn't dare to ask Lan Xichen to help, fearing to be scolded for his dishonesty. Meng Yao and Jiang Cheng, who hadn't cheated at all, offered little sympathy and even less help, the first because he was still catching up, the second because he didn't feel like it. Hopefully Su She might give a hand, if Nie Huaisang cried a little. 

"It's really not so bad," Wei Wuxian said carelessly. "I won't say that first afternoon in the library with Lan Zhan was fun, he's even more boring than his uncle, but I think I can entertain myself. I bet before the month is over, I can get him to break his self control. Now that'd be fun!" 

Nie Huaisang stopped on his tracks and grabbed him by the arm, not a trace of tears in his eyes. 

"Wei-xiong, why do you have to antagonise him so much?" 

"Why wouldn't I? I'd like to be his friend, but he's too stuck up. Pissing him off is the next best thing." 

Baffled by that logic, Nie Huaisang looked at their two friends. Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes, while Meng Yao was trying his best not to smile. 

"Wei gongzi is like that, don't question it too much. He likes to tease people, and thinks everyone understands it's meant in a friendly manner."

Judging by the tone of his voice, Meng Yao himself had been a victim of that friendly teasing, and that perhap it hadn't gone so smoothly between them. That would explain why Meng Yao seemed to prefer Jiang Cheng's company, who was less fun to have around, but also a little quieter when he wasn’t shouting at Wei Wuxian.

Personally, Nie Huaisang preferred Wei Wuxian out of the three, but was getting a little annoyed at him right at that moment. 

While Jiang Cheng and Meng Yao went their way to enjoy their freedom for the rest of the day (they would waste it studying, they seemed the type), Nie Huaisang decided to accompany Wei Wuxian all the way to the library, so they could chat a little. He still had a plan to put in motion, orders from his future self to obey, and his own natural desire for fun to satisfy.

“I don’t understand why you’re like that with Lan Wangji,” Nie Huaisang said as they took the longest path possible toward the library, trying to keep his tone casual. "If you want to be his friend, there are better ways. Why don't you talk to him nicely?" 

Wei Wuxian did not even hesitate. "I've tried, and he ignores me." 

That was sadly true, as Nie Huaisang had seen a few times. It didn’t help that Wei Wuxian naturally sounded like he was trying to tease people, even when he was sincere. He was so fun to have around that most people didn’t mind it, but for someone like Lan Wangji...

"Well maybe if you apologised to him?" Nie Huaisang suggested.

"I've tried that too, but he thinks I'm insincere.”

"Because you are!" Nie Huaisang pointed out, fighting a smile.

Wei Wuxian just laughed, but that was an answer in itself.

"Please, at least don't make him any angrier," Nie Huaisang pleaded. "He'll never be your friend otherwise!" 

Hearing him get so distressed about that, Wei Wuxian stopped in his tracks, his expression more serious than Nie Huaisang had ever seen so far. He was a little scary like that, something about his height and the shape of his eyes making him look cold and distant when he wasn’t grinning and laughing.

"Listen, Nie-xiong,” Wei Wuxian said in a voice that had lost some of its warmth. “I want to be his friend, sure. I think there's something interesting about him, definitely. I’d really like it if I could be close to Lan Zhan, and given the chance I’ll do it for sure. But if he only becomes friends with me because I start acting like someone I'm not, then we're not really friends, and it's not worth the effort."

“Wei-xiong, I didn’t expect you to be wise like that,” Nie Huaisang whispered, a little awed.

“Only you would find that wise,” Wei Wuxian mocked, and Nie Huaisang found that he could breathe a little more easily now that the other boy was laughing again. “If Jiang Cheng heard me, he’d say that my personality is too awful for anyone to like me! And Meng Yao would say something about compromises. I’m pretty sure they’re the wise ones, but I just don’t feel like acting so seriously.”

Nie Huaisang grinned, a little envious of such a bold way of living. He was not always likeable, according to a lot of people (himself included, when it came to the man he was supposed to become), and so he would never have expected people to fully like him as he was. Nobody except his brother, who had little choice in the matter, and maybe Su She who probably felt like he couldn’t be too picky when it came to friends, and… well, Lan Xichen seemed to like him as he was, too, but that was just because he was so nice.

It was so bold of Wei Wuxian to expect to be fully accepted as he was. But then again, Lan Wangji also wasn’t the sort to make efforts to get others to like him, so at least they had that in common.

As they arrived near the library, the topic had to be dropped. Wei Wuxian, with a grimace of fake agony, went inside to sit with Lan Wangji, while Nie Huaisang had the pleasant surprise of finding Su She about to leave the library, and free to spend some time with him. Lan Wangji had asked for his help to put some order in a section of the building while waiting for Wei Wuxian to arrive, and Su She couldn’t decide if he was flattered or annoyed that the request had been made to him rather than another disciple.

Su She ranted about that for a little bit as they walked away from the library, before complaining about his classes, and then about a letter from his mother who wanted him to send home some talismans because she was still convinced their house was haunted even thought he’d visited during winter and hadn’t noticed anything amiss. Nie Huaisang listened, and even reacted here and there, but couldn’t quite focus on his friend’s problem that day. Su She noticed of course, and asked what hung so heavy on his mind that he couldn’t even laugh at his description of a clearly fake haunting.

“I might have a silly question to ask you,” Nie Huaisang replied. “But please, don’t make fun of me for it. It’s kind of important, and I think you could really help me.”

“That sounds very worrying, but fine, ask me.”

"How would one seduce a Lan?" 

Su She gave him such a long, serious look, that Nie Huaisang started feeling he’d rather have been laughed at after all.

"So you're finally doing something about Lan gongzi?” Su She asked. “About time, it was getting annoying how clueless you are. And, well, if you want my opinion…" 

"Oh, no, this is about Lan Wangji, not Xichen-gege!" 

Su She stopped walking and fell silent for a moment, his expression turning complicated. He looked as if he’d eaten a very sour lemon that also happened to be moldy, all while there was a cut in his mouth.

"Lan er-gongzi? Really?"

"Yes. See, I think Wei-xiong and him could be good friends,” Nie Huaisang quickly explained, startled by that strong reaction, “so of course I want to help. But they're the two most difficult people in the world, you know? Xichen-gege is helping, but a second opinion never hurts." 

"Ah, it's just that," Su She said, instantly relaxing. 

He resumed walking away from the library, and Nie Huaisang followed.

"Well, yeah. Why did you think I needed help about Xichen-gege?" 

Su She hesitated, and even opened his mouth a few times to say something. Eventually he frowned and shrugged.

"If you're too stupid, it's not my problem,” he said. “Let's talk about those other two instead, since you’re so preoccupied. Aside from being equally good at fighting, what do they have in common?" 

Nie Huaisang crossed his arms on his chest and shook his head.

"Nothing at all." 

Su She nodded.

"Then I guess they need to fight again. Maybe in public."

"You think that'd help if they had an audience?" Nie Huaisang wondered.

"No idea,” Su She said with a wicked grin, “but I'd like to see Lan er-gongzi in a fight that makes him break a sweat."

Nie Huaisang poked him in the ribs.

"Mean. But… Wei-xiong can be pretty full of himself,” he admitted. “I guess I'd also like to see if he's as good as he thinks. How to get them to fight though?"

They’d reached a more isolated part of the Cloud Recesses, a small garden that rarely saw much use, just at the border to the wilderness. They found a bench, and after removing some dead leaves they sat there to continue chatting in peace.

"In two days, you get a day off from lectures, right?” Su She asked. “Get your Wei-xiong to the training grounds after lunch. Lan er-gongzi is always there at that time on a free day, and I'll do my best to be as well. It'll be pretty easy to get them to spar." 

"Su-xiong you're just the best!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed, hugging his friend who barely even grumbled against such effusions. “What would I do without you?" 

"You'd be less efficient for sure. Now can we talk about something less boring than Lan er-gongzi?”

“Yes, yes! Tell me more about your parents’ haunting, I’ll really listen now! If it’s not a ghost, then what is it?”

Pleased to return to a more fun subject, Su She started discussing his theory about some wild cats and a few squirrels that he suspected to have found their way into the currently disused ‘haunted’ room, and talked about it with such indignation that Nie Huaisang was soon in tears from how hard he laughed.

-

Although nobody had been warned of the duel to come, a small crowd had quickly assembled around the training grounds once it became understood that Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were having a friendly fight. They were both reputed to be insanely skilled after all, and rumours about their first duel under the moonlight had spread fast. 

So far, Nie Huaisang had to admit that both boy's reputation was deserved. If anything, they were both more talented than he would have expected. They exchanged blows and parried them as if it were easier than breathing, making for a beautiful show. Su She, who stood on Nie Huaisang's right at the very edge of the training grounds, appeared consumed with admiration and envy. He'd fallen silent a while ago, and perhaps regretted this fight he'd helped organise. 

On Nie Huaisang's left, Jin Zixuan was almost as upset, just a little better at concealing it. 

"I can't believe such talent has been wasted and given to the world's most obnoxious person," he complained as Wei Wuxian dodged a blow. 

"Apparently, that's also Lan Wangji’s opinion," Nie Huaisang cheerfully replied. "But I think he's warming up to Wei-xiong now." 

Lan Wangji, after a moment of surprise at the way Wei Wuxian had avoided his attack, lunged at him again with renewed vigour. 

"Yes, I can see they're on their way to becoming best friends," Jin Zixuan sneered. "Well, that's getting boring. I was hoping to see Wei Wuxian put in his place, but now he's just going to be more insufferable. I'll see you later, Nie gongzi." 

He left, but the spot next to Nie Huaisang didn't remain empty for very long. Lan Xichen quickly made his way there. Nie Huaisang immediately smiled at him, but unlike the rest of them, Lan Xichen didn't appear to pleased by the show. 

"Huaisang what's going on here?" he asked. "What are they fighting about? Did something happen?" 

"Oh they're just fighting for the sake of it!" Nie Huaisang cheerfully explained, only for Lan Xichen to look even more distressed. 

"Wangji got into a fight without reason? How?" 

Alerted by his tone, Su She tore his eyes from the fight and gave Lan Xichen a quick bow. 

"Lan gongzi needs not worry. They're not actually fighting, this is only a friendly spar." 

"Yes, we thought it'd be good for them, so we made it happen," Nie Huaisang confirmed. “I think it’s going great! Wei-xiong looks like he’s having the time of his life!”

Reassured that no rules were broken and no serious harm was intended by either party, Lan Xichen finally properly looked at the ongoing duel. He observed the two fighters for a moment before eventually nodding.

“Wangji too is enjoying this,” he said after some consideration. “I’m glad for him. It is so rare for him to get an opponent of his level. Other juniors are rarely a match, and adults won’t spar with him because they don’t want to lose to someone so young. You had a good idea, Huaisang.”

“Oh, that wasn’t even my idea,” Nie Huaisang replied, beaming. “It was Su-xiong who suggested it, and who asked to see them spar.”

Lan Xichen turned his attention to Su She, who appeared a little uncomfortable. Nie Huaisang realised, a little late, that scheming to make people fight, even in a friendly manner, was probably against some of Gusu Lan rules.

“I am glad you have such a good friend helping you set your plan in motion,” Lan Xichen said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Still, don’t drag him into too much mischief. I would be very disappointed in you, Huaisang, if you caused Su-shidi to get in trouble. He’s worked so hard to prove himself to our teachers, let’s not ruin his efforts just because you like to have a little too much fun.”

“Of course not!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed. “Su-xiong, you wouldn’t let me cause you real problems, right?”

“I only agree with Nie gongzi’s ideas if they don’t contradict the rules,” Su She confirmed, bowing again toward Lan Xichen. “And I wouldn’t let Nie gongzi do anything dangerous or ill-advised. Lan gongzi can be at peace, I won’t let anything happen to his friend.”

Lan Xichen smiled stiffly. 

"I know I can trust Su-shidi to take good care of Nie gongzi. I am… quite happy to leave him in your hands, where I know he'll be safe." 

It was a rather odd way to say that, and there was something a little too cold in Lan Xichen’s tone which did not quite please Nie Huaisang. But Su She himself seemed unbothered, so this might just have been Nie Huaisang imagining things. It was probably just that Lan Xichen still remained doubtful regarding Lan Wangji’s potential friendship with Wei Wuxian, which had to affect his mood.

But things really were going quite well. In fact, they were going much better than Nie Huaisang had hoped. After fighting a little more, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian eventually stopped when a Lan teacher approached them to explain that he needed the training grounds for his own class. There didn’t appear to be a clear winner between them, as far as Nie Huaisang could say. Later, when he asked Su She, his friend gave his more expert opinion that although they had completely different fighting styles, they were equals in strength and capacity. It would be interesting, he said, to see them fight side by side instead of against each other.

For now though, they politely bowed to each other, and Wei Wuxian, grinning more brightly than Nie Huaisang had ever seen him yet, asked if they might train together again in the future.

It was quite funny to see Lan Wangji’s conflicted expression. On one hand, Wei Wuxian was nearly a criminal in his eyes, who had disrespected his uncle, broken many rules, and cheated during an exam, all of which was unforgivable and marked Wei Wuxian as beneath his consideration. But at the same time, this looked to have been a very fun sparring session, Lan Wangji had been forced to use all his skill to keep up with his opponent, and that was something too precious to be easily dismissed.

At a loss, Lan Wangji turned to look at his brother, hoping for guidance. Lan Xichen, in turn, only briefly glanced at Nie Huaisang before nodding at his brother with an encouraging smile.

“Behave in class,” Lan Wangji ordered with a slight frown, before turning away.

Wei Wuxian looked disappointed by what he must have mistaken for rejection, but Nie Huaisang saw that answer for what it was and ran to his friend to explain that Lan Wangji had, in fact, very warmly agreed to fight him again.

[loving-barnes]

RED, SUS! - BUCKY BARNES

(A/N): I mean, come on, I had to write one where the team is playing Among us.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x f!reader

Summary: Tony calls everyone to play the current video game trend - Among us.

Warning: language, a bit fluff at the end

Words: 2800+

FULL MASTERLIST

RED, SUS! - BUCKY BARNES 

The gaming world was absorbed by the new game. Everyone was streaming it, playing with friends. It was the perfect game to play during a pandemic. Unfortunately, the illness got into the Avengers compound too. Some of the agents and workers were in isolation due to the virus. Also, even though some people could be considered as Gods, this nuisance got them too. Clint remained isolated in his room, Natasha and Wanda were sick too. Their symptoms were mild, fortunately. 

Tony’s orders were strict: social distancing for at least 14 days; checking via FRIDAY if anyone was in the kitchen; no gatherings or work meetings; those not affected had to be prepared for urgent or unexpected missions; masks were necessary for the hallways and common rooms and many more.

Every day, between two and five in the afternoon, they had to remain in their rooms due to obligatory disinfection that was happening in common rooms, hallways and other rooms. 

They were in the middle of their two-week personal lockdown when Tony sent everyone a message to log onto their laptops. Y/N was reading a book, slowly falling asleep when it happened. She checked her phone: Conference call, urgent, now. 

Y/N knew Tony pretty well. These types of messages never meant discussing work or missions. It was something for his amusement - mostly. Unwillingly and without a choice, she turned on her laptop and joined the conference call. 

Natasha: Hey, YN, you joined!

Y/N waved with a hand and then scratched her neck. She looked like a mess - baggy jumper, hair in a bun and her face looked sad and tired. In conclusion, she didn’t care less. The team saw her in her worst already - drunk and almost dead. 

Sam: What happened to you, Y/N? You look terrible. 

Y/N: Shut it, Wilson. I am well. This is my pandemic outfit. 

Bucky chuckled. She knew it was him because she could recognize his voice and other sounds anywhere. 

Steve: Tony, what is the meaning behind all of this? 

Tony: I’m glad you asked. Now that you are all here, and as you can see, I wanted you to join me in an adventure like never before. 

Y/N: Tony, I will not drink with you while being on a conference call. 

Tony: Y/N, I am not a madman. I don’t believe in virtual drinking. No, this one does not involve alcohol. All you need is your brain and the ability to lie. 

Natasha: Sounds interesting, continue. 

Tony: There is this new video game called Among Us which is an online multiplayer game. This game is pretty simple, there are crewmates or impostors. Crewmates have to do tasks to win and Impostors have to sabotage, fake tasks and kill to win. The goal of the game is to identify impostors and vote them out - yes, there will be meetings where we have to vote out someone or skip. The meetings also happen when someone reports a body. 

Both Wanda and Y/N made a sound that reminded of howling. They were interested. 

Bucky: Come on, you really called us to play some stupid video game. 

Wanda: Hey! Shush! I want to play. I am so bored in my room. I need some distraction. 

Y/N: Yes, exactly. This sounds so good. Let’s play, everyone, please.

Steve: Honestly, I am bored so I will join. However, I need instructions. 

Tony: Not a problem, buddy. I have already installed the game and sent you everything necessary. Just to explain one last detail. We will be on a conference call while playing. But, once the round starts, everyone has to mute their mics. When a meeting is called, you have to unmute and we discuss who to vote out and why. Once you are dead, you have to stay muted until the end of the game. At the beginning of every round, you will see whether you are an imposter or a crewmate. Don’t forget, impostors have to lie. 

Y/N: Give us ten minutes to check the materials and to start the game, alright? We have some people that are not too good with this type of technology. 

Y/N mocked Steve and Bucky especially. They were friends and she occasionally had to tease them. And when Sam was getting on her nerves, she would treat him the same way, if not even worse. 

Clint: Oh, that is easy. 

Natasha: Finally, something that will keep me occupied for more than ten seconds. 

Bruce: Do I have to play? 

Tony: Yes. Ten people are needed for two impostors and for it to be fun. You are playing, Banner.

Y/N: Does everyone understand? 

The team simultaneously agreed, each person with a different tone. Y/N turned on the game, as well as the rest of the team did, putting on the code Tony had sent them. She spawned in a lobby, as a little lime figure. 

Tony: You can also customise colours and accessories by coming to the laptop and using it. 

Y/N quickly did as Tony informed them. She changed the colour to purple and put a golden crown on. It was adorable and it did represent her a little. When she was finished, the rest of the team was in the lobby. They also customised their figures to represent them. 

Y/N: Oh my god, this is already so much fun.

Tony: Just to clarify - the crewmate’s vision is lower than the imposters have. The kill cooldown is 30 seconds. Voting time is 120 seconds, etc. You can see it on your left. I am starting the game and don’t forget to mute your mics. 

Y/N muted her mic as the game started. She was a crewmate. They all were standing around a table. She started to move to the right. That was when she noticed a map on the screen. When she opened it, a blue map appeared with yellow exclamation marks. When she ran to the first room, she noticed a chair was illuminated with yellow colour. 

"Alright, asteroids," she mumbled and did the task. 

Other players passed her, or stayed near her, even Bucky’s character did. His figure was white. When she moved, he moved with her. “That’s sus,” she commented and moved down the map to find another task. Bucky was still with her until the lights went off. 

“Fuck,” she whisper-shouted when the light around her was just a tiny circle. Several figures were around her and a report button appeared. She quickly clicked it. 

A board with all the names showed. Wanda and Sam were dead. She quickly unmuted her mic to talk to the rest of the players. “What the fuck was that?”

Tony: Where is the body?

Y/N: Down in the O2 I believe. The lights went off and suddenly, so many people were around me. Just a report button appeared. 

Steve: Who was there except you? 

Y/N: I saw Bucky, who was following me - by the way, sus, Barnes. You did your asteroids way too quickly. 

Bucky: I didn’t have that task, I just wanted to stay with you. 

Tony: Sus!

Natasha: Steve and I were in the admin. That fucking card swipe. I failed it like ten times! 

Y/N: Anyway, I think I saw Sam, Bruce and Clint with us. Now, Sam is dead. 

Clint: What if it’s you?

Y/N: How dare you, Barton? 

The time was slowly coming to its end and it was time to vote. Y/N had no idea who did the kill. She quickly voted skip. 

Bruce: We can skip because there are still eight of us. 

Tony: Banner, sus. 

Everyone skipped except Tony, who voted Clint. No one was ejected and the game could continue. They reappeared in the cafeteria around the table. This time, Y/N went down, because her map showed her she had some task there. Again, Bucky followed her. He stayed at the very beginning of the room while she went in and did the card swipe task. She was lucky to finish it on her second try. Once she was finished, Bucky was nowhere to be seen. 

She moved to the wires task. She heard the door to the cafeteria close. When she cleared the task, Bucky was again with her. Maybe he was just protecting her. She had no idea. 

The reactor was called. It was time to fix it. Bucky and Y/N moved through storage, under the electrical where they were met with Natasha, Tony and Bruce. They all moved to the reactor where Vision was. Everyone stacked on the upper reactor while Y/N was down alone. The reactor was saved and a body was reported. Natasha and Steve were killed. 

Bucky: What the hell happened? Natasha is dead and there are like four of us. 

Y/N: Was that a double kill? 

Tony: No, it was only Nat. Captain was killed somewhere else, obviously. 

Bruce: Most of us were together except Y/N, Bucky and Clint. 

Bucky: Y/N and I were in admin, doing our tasks. 

Tony: What about you, Vision? 

Vision: I am afraid I was alone most of the time. I did see people on cameras where I spent most of the time this round. 

Y/N: Clint, what about you? 

Clint: I was in… I don’t know the name but I came from the upper side of the map. 

Tony: I saw Steve going the way where medbay is. 

Y/N: Barton, you killed Steve!

Clint: No, I didn’t. 

Tony: Barton, get out of here. 

The voting was quickly coming to its end and almost everyone voted. Clint was the last one. He refused. When the time was up, the gang voted for Clint and he was ejected. 

Bucky: That’s what you get.

Y/N: That’s sus.

The game continued and Y/N was almost done with her tasks. Bucky was most of the time with her, again. When the lights went out again, she had decided not to go into the electrical. She didn’t want to die. It had been a long time since something happened. No bodies were reported, the taskbar was almost full. Alone, she quickly ran to the cafeteria and pressed the report button. When the board appeared, Only Bruce, Bucky and her were alive. 

Y/N: What?!

Bruce: Bucky, how could you? 

Bucky: Honestly, Bruce, I saw you kill Tony. Don’t blame me for this. 

Y/N: Oh no.

Bruce: Y/N, please don’t believe him, please. I am not the impostor. I was about to report the body when you hit the emergency button. 

Bucky: Wow, you are such a good liar. 

Y/N: No, don’t do this to me. 

Both of the men voted for each other, leaving her to decide the fate of the game. Who should she vote out? Bucky was with her most of the time and she did not see Bruce a lot. It made sense it was Banner. However, Bucky could be very good at this, using tactics like being in a field. 

Bruce: Y/N, you have to vote - vote for him. I am a crewmate. I saw him kill Tony in the lower reactor. 

Y/N: I mean, to be honest, Bucky was with me almost the whole game. I don’t think he would be able to do this. 

Bruce: No, Y/N, don’t do this. He needed you as an alibi. 

Bucky: How the hell would I do that? I was by her side the whole time and did my tasks. 

Y/N quickly voted for who she believed was the killer. When the results had shown, she voted for Bruce. For her, it made a lot of sense. How else would Bucky be able to do it? The rest of the team unmuted, screaming her name, laughing and making scenes. After a few seconds, the revelation came - they lost. Bucky was, in fact, the second impostor. 

Y/N: I mean, fuck both of you. What the actual fuck. You fucking tricked me!

Tony: Kids calls it marinating. 

Bucky: I am sorry, doll. You were the perfect person to stick with. 

Y/N: Again, fuck you. 

Bucky: You wish.

Sam: Wow, can you feel the sexual tension? 

Natasha: Sam, why do you make such stupid comments. You are such an intelligent man. 

Y/N changed her colour to Red, taking Wanda’s colour. She didn’t mind because she changed it into yellow. The next few games were funny. Two rounds Tony was an impostor. First with Steve than with Bruce. Two hours later, it was Y/N’s turn and she was paired with Bucky. 

“Holy shit,” she mumbled and sighed. This was her moment and she wanted to win, fast. She created a strategy. Before she could play by it, her phone rang. Bucky’s name appeared on her screen. “Yes?” 

“Well, what a dream team,” he chuckled. “What is the plan?” 

“First two kills, at random. After the first report, we will make a graveyard,” she said. “Honestly, that is going to be quick and funny.” 

“Sounds good. Where are you now?” he asked. 

She looked at the game and then at a map. “I am in admin, pretending to fail card swipe. I will turn off the lights once someone enters and then vent.” 

“I see Sam!”

“Kill him,” she encouraged him and turned off the lights. Vision came into the admin alone. 

They both took their opportunity and killed both people. Y/N vented into the cafeteria and went to weapons and Bucky quickly went into the comms, pretending to do a task. A few moments later, Sam’s body was reported. 

Natasha: Where is the body?

Wanda: Between O2 and shields. I think that is shields. 

Steve: Any suspicions? 

Y/N: I was passing by the cafeteria from medbay. When the lights were off, no one was around me. 

Tony: Bruce and I were in the reactor, doing the Simon says a thing. And I will fucking kill you for the report because now I have to do it again. 

Clint: Barnes, where were you? 

Bucky: On my way to storage. Did my quick task in coms. 

Bruce: So, no one is suspicious? 

Natasha: Honestly, we can skip. There are still eight of us. 

They all agreed and skipped voting. No one was ejected. When Y/N muted her mic, she went back to the call she had with Bucky. They both were laughing about the situation. “It’s a graveyard time.” 

“Where should we do it?” Bucky asked. 

“Reactor. After the first two kills, we will call the O2. During it, someone will come, searching for a body.” 

They both ran together into the reactor. Wanda was following them. She was about to become their first victim. After they arrived at the reactor, Bruce was also there, working on his Simon says. Their kill cooldown was almost at the end. 

“Come on, Buck, now!” 

Simultaneously, they killed Bruce and Wanda. Y/N waited almost ten seconds and called the O2 as she mentioned. Bucky quickly closed the doors around them, to slow them down. Their kill cooldown took thirty seconds and they needed time. 

The O2 was called off. They noticed the door around them opening and Tony was the first one approaching them. He reached the reactor and Bucky killed him. “One more and we win.”

“We have to hope someone else will come, otherwise they will call the button,” she explained. 

They were lucky. Steve and Natasha were on their way. Y/N quickly approached them and killed Steve. With that kill, the game was over and the impostors, Y/N and Bucky, won. 

Clint: What the fuck?

Natasha: How did you do that? 

Tony: They did a graveyard! 

Sam: Fuck you, Barnes, for killing me.

Bucky: It was my pleasure. 

Y/N: Oh my god, this was hilarious. Oh, my favourite round of all we played today. 

Bucky: Same. 

Tony: Want another game? 

Y/N: No, I want to take a break and make something to eat. We have been playing for hours. Let’s play tomorrow. 

Natasha: You are right. I need to take a nap after this. 

Steve: It’s almost seven. 

Natasha: My nap will take until tomorrow morning. 

Y/N’s phone beeped. She looked at the screen again. There was a text from the other impostor. Can I come over and watch a movie with you? It made her smile. 

Only if it involves the good popcorn you make and some kisses - she replied. They had been dating for over a month and things were going great. The team had their suspicions but they had decided not to meddle in their private life. Steve was happy and Tony was overly protective of Y/N but didn’t say a word. 

Y/N: I have to go. I am going to watch a movie. 

Clint: Oh yeah? Can I join? 

Y/N: No, I would like to enjoy it alone. 

Nat: Huh, that’s sus. 

Y/N: What is sus about it? 

Nat: Watching a movie, alone. Why would you want to watch it alone? 

Y/N: Because no one is making stupid comments during the movie I want to watch. 

Tony: Red, sus. 

Y/N: Alright, bye-bye friends. 

She ended the call and put her laptop on the night table. Rolling her eyes, she made her bed and went to the bathroom. Bucky would come any minute and she wanted to set the place. 

Who would have known this game would bring the whole team together? 

[gusu-emilu]

Cantatio: Chapter Eleven

Ship: Lan Zhan / Wei Ying (POV Lan Zhan)

Summary: Jin Zixuan is missing, and Lan Zhan is growing suspicious of Wei Ying.

Cloud Recesses Academy AU, Rated T, No Warnings Apply - read on AO3

The coast was clear if they wanted to sneak away.

Bichen quivered in his grip.

“Do not disrespect the elder. Uphold the value of justice. Do not shirk your duty,” he told himself.

But before Lan Wangji finished the list of rules he’d be breaking, he had already slipped out the doorway and unsheathed Bichen, with Wen Qing at his heels and Wei Ying’s name on his lips.

< Ch. 10 | Ch. 12 > | chapter list

After hearing the news of Jin Zixuan’s capture, there was not much else to do but wait for his return. In the meantime, Lan Wangji tried to report his recent misconduct to his uncle, but the clan leaders already hurried away to organize more search parties.

Song Lan and Nie Mingjue were the only two authority figures left. They corralled everyone into the Main Hall to safely await results from the search parties.

Nie Mingjue stood in the front corner of the room scowling at the noisy disciples. After a few minutes, Song Lan began restlessly pacing along the wall. Then he strode to the front of the room as if about to make an announcement.

Like the beginning of Beings & Creatures the previous day, Song Lan stood as if frozen, that same subdued sorrow hovering around him in a haze, until every pair of eyes was fixed upon him. Then he said, “We will continue our lesson on animating guardian statues. It seems especially relevant today.”

Although the disciples were still intimidated by Song Lan, they had warmed up to him after an exciting class yesterday. It also helped that they had witnessed him tear down Wen Chao, the most hated disciple in the class. Now, instead of gaping up at Song Lan, they were bold enough to whisper to each other about the announcement once he finished speaking.

“Although taking immediate action is important when addressing a crisis—in this case, that immediate action is finding Young Master Jin—it is also essential to address the root of a problem. Someone please inform the class what the root of today’s problem is.”

The hall was silent except for a few disciples shifting their robes or murmuring to each other.

Nie Huaisang flapped open his fan, the whoosh echoing through the hall.

“HUAISANG!” Nie Mingjue bellowed. “You open that fan, you answer the question!”

The fan snapped closed and disappeared into juniper sleeves. Nie Huaisang waved his hands in front of himself as if fending off the dozens of eyes now fixed on him. “Oh, no, no, I don’t know! Don’t call on me!”

“If no one answers the daozhang’s question, that filthy pet bird of yours is getting released into the woods this afternoon!”

Nie Huaisang’s eyes darted around the room in panic, searching for a brave disciple to save him as if he were the sparrow about to be abandoned in the wilderness.

In the back of the hall, a hand slowly rose into the air. Upon seeing it, Nie Huaisang sighed with relief.

It was Wen Ning, his eyes wide but eager. Wei Wuxian sat beside him and patted him proudly on the back.

Nie Mingjue snorted.

“Young Master Wen?” Song Lan called.

“W-W-Well, Young Master Wei and I were just discussing that no one seems to know exactly how the lion was animated. S-So…maybe that’s the problem?”

Song Lan nodded slowly. “That is correct.”

Wen Ning beamed, and Wei Wuxian swatted at Wen Ning’s arm excitedly. Wen Qing turned around and smiled at them.

“But only partially correct.”

Wen Ning’s face fell.

Song Lan cocked an eyebrow and relaxed his shoulders, the silvery-gold hilt of his sword shifting behind him. “Thank you, Young Master Wen, for starting us off.” He turned to Nie Huaisang. “Perhaps Young Master Nie can complete the answer. Clan Leader Nie seems to deem you quite capable of it.”

Nie Huaisang scratched the back of his head. “Oh, no, no, I’m sorry, my brother expects too much of me, really…” His eyes wandered to the ceiling, circling around vacantly.

“But if I had to guess…like, if I was forced at sword point—wow, that would be scary!—ummm, I would say that the problem isn’t how the lion was animated. It’s by who.” He threw his hands in the air. “But I’m not sure! I don’t know anything! I really don’t. Please don’t call on me again, daozhang…”

A faint smile crossed Song Lan’s face. “This is the correct answer.”

Having saved himself and his pet bird, Nie Huaisang snapped open his fan once again, flapping it merrily in celebration. Nie Mingjue scowled even more, but his shoulders relaxed a bit.

“Does anyone know why we do not need to ask how the statue was animated?” Song Lan asked.

“Because we just learned how to do it yesterday,” Jin Zixun shouted, clearly pleased with his useless response.

Song Lan blinked for a few moments. “Anyone else?”

Lan Wangji lifted his chin. “Animation by humans is impossible," he said.

Every disciple in the room turned to stare at him. However, the only pair of eyes he felt was Wei Wuxian’s.

A pair of eyes that Lan Wangji was growing more and more suspicious of.

Despite answering the question, Lan Wangji did not fully believe his own words.

“Very good, Second Young Master Lan. To animate a guardian statue so powerful, a quarter of the Cloud Recesses’ population would need to lay hands on it and connect with its spirit. One or two people could have gone unnoticed, but such a commotion could not have, not even in the dead of the night.

“Furthermore, the guardian lion did not protect the Cloud Recesses upon coming to life, as was its duty. Instead, it attacked a disciple. Mere mortals are incapable of convincing a guardian lion to violate its duty. Their method of communication is ancient, cryptic, and spiritually demanding. They are not easily persuaded to stray from the prayer intentions that created them.

“Therefore, the question is not how. We would waste our time to focus on this. The question becomes whom, or—more precisely—what. That is our true adversary, not the lion.”

The hall hummed with speculation. Wei Wuxian crossed his arms and nodded approvingly.

But Lan Wangji still did not agree.

He was very, very suspicious.

Who had animated the pixiu yesterday with no sign of drained spiritual energy and then refused to explain how? Who had been outside the mingshi last night? Who hated Jin Zixuan for what he did to Jiang Yanli?

Wei Wuxian had the means, the evidence, the agenda. Slightly out of order, yet still compelling.

But would Wei Ying really do something so malicious?

How could he seem so calm this morning if he really was responsible?

Strange things had happened in the Cloud Recesses before, without any known human interference, such as the appearance of the monster beetle in Wen Qing’s room. This could be another case. Perhaps the guardian lion statue had even been animated by the melody of the haunted guqin.

And yet.

Wei Wuxian was a trickster, and sometimes his pranks went too far. What had happened to Jiang Cheng just last night after drinking a poorly-made sleeping potion?

Wei Wuxian might not have had a mean streak, but he did have one for recklessness.

Plagued by these thoughts, Lan Wangji struggled to focus on the rest of Song Lan’s improvised lesson, only catching bits and pieces, itching to simply stand up in the middle of class and march over to Wei Wuxian.

The lesson was so lively that Lan Wangji wished he could have paid more attention. Song Lan preferred to let the disciples do their own thinking, and let them speculate what might’ve animated the lion. Lan Wangji caught mentions of hungry ghosts, magical beasts possessing golden cores, demons, Heavenly Immortals, even dragons. Then Song Lan guided the class through the process for detecting traces of a creature’s visit. The disciples grew more and more enthusiastic as they exchanged ideas, their energy filling the room. The disciples were forbidden to go outside to search for the guardian lion, but Song Lan promised to speak to the clan leaders about letting a team pilot the detective work.

When the lesson finished and the hall plunged back into a mill of voices, Lan Wangji walked toward Wei Wuxian immediately. But after only a few steps, another thought seized him. He swerved and headed toward Wen Qing, who was in the midst of praising Wen Ning for speaking up during the lesson.

“Lady Wen.”

“Second Young Master Lan?” She lifted her hands to the top of her head to adjust her golden hair piece with an air of regality. “You look tired. Join the club.”

Unsure of what to say to that, Lan Wangji simply nodded and asked, “Did you observe Wei Ying during Beings & Creatures yesterday?”

She sighed. “No. I was busy focusing on my own pixiu. I don’t have much of a golden core, and Young Master Su is a very lackluster partner. We couldn’t even animate it.” She finally let go of her hair piece. “A-Ning, did you watch him at all?”

“Yes. He brought the pixiu to life without his partner’s help.” Wen Ning grinned. “He’s really awesome, Jie!”

Wen Qing’s eyes widened. “He did it by himself? Are you sure?”

He nodded.

Wen Qing turned to Lan Wangji. “That’s the reason you were hollering at him during class?”

I did not ‘holler’ at him, Lan Wangji thought, but his reply was, “Half the reason.”

“…We’re thinking the same thing right now, aren’t we?”

“Mn.”

“Have you talked to him?”

Lan Wangji shook his head.

Wen Qing gave him a look of disappointment. “You should talk to him.”

Lan Wangji turned away, intending to search the room for Wei Wuxian, but he was unable to focus on identifying any particular person. “…Come with me.”

Wen Qing rolled her eyes. “What, are you scared of him?”

“No. But he is scared of you.”

Wen Qing grinned for the first time he’d seen. “Still relying on me to do your dirty work for you? I’d say it’s almost like we’re becoming friends, Lan Wangji.”

Lan Wangji froze at these words.

Friends...

Finally, he managed to nod a goodbye to Wen Ning, then swiveled around and strode away before a small smile could cross his face in front of the Wen siblings.

Behind him, Wen Ning said, “Jie, is Young Master Wei in danger?”

“No, A-Ning. He’s fine. Stay here.”

A few moments later, he heard Wen Qing’s footsteps behind him.

They paced around the perimeter of the hall hunting for Wei Wuxian. When they didn’t find him the first time, they passed through the center of the hall, circled around one more time, studying every person in the room. A sinking feeling of dread grew inside Lan Wangji with each step.

Wei Wuxian was gone.

* * *

With Wei Wuxian nowhere in sight, the next best option was to confront his brother.

Jiang Cheng stood glaring out the doorway of the Main Hall, clutching his sword. His shoulders were tense and his legs were slightly spread apart, as if he were about to join the starting line of a race.

“Young Master Jiang, have you seen Wei Wuxian?” Wen Qing asked.

Jiang Cheng scowled at her, as if offended that she had spoken to him. Then he noticed Lan Wangji, and turned to stare out the doorway again.

“Him? Tch. That dumbass ran outside a minute ago. I was going to tell Clan Leader Nie, but I’m thinking I should just go after him myself before he gets killed.” He paused. “So I can kill him,” he added.

So it was confirmed. Wei Wuxian had left. Was he seeking Jin Zixuan and the guardian lion that captured him? Was he running away from suspicion? Was he just bored in the Main Hall and looking for fun?

“Why?” Lan Wangji asked.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. He mimicked his brother’s overly-excited voice. “’I’m going to save Jin Zixuan so I can stand on his head while he apologizes to Shijie!’ The idiot. The clan leaders have been searching for ages. He’s deranged if he thinks he can find him.”

A wave of relief washed over Lan Wangji. Even if the guardian lion’s animation had really been Wei Wuxian’s doing, he could not have intended to seriously harm Jin Zixuan.

However, facing off with a guardian lion was not a feat that one could do alone. He needed help.

Jiang Cheng glanced around the hall, then tightened his grip on his sword. “Anyway. I’m hunting him down. If anyone asks, you didn’t see anything.” He sprinted outside, unsheathed Sandu from its dark purple scabbard, and jumped onto the blade, soaring into the clouds.

“Follow him,” Wen Qing said.

“I will tell the daozhang and Clan Leader Nie.”

“Didn’t you just hear Jiang Cheng? He doesn’t want anyone to know about this.”

“Authorities must be informed.”

Wen Qing crossed her arms. “Young Master Wei and Young Master Jiang just left. We can bring them back before anyone notices—that is, if you stop clenching your fists and get on your sword.”

Lan Wangji glanced down at his hands. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he relaxed them and placed them in their usual proper position—one holding Bichen at his side, one behind his back. Then scanned the interior of the Main Hall to check if anyone was watching them.

Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue were having a light-hearted discussion with Jin Guangyao. Song Lan was frozen in Lotus Position in a corner of the room, his eyes narrow and unfocused.

The coast was clear if they wanted to sneak away.

Bichen quivered in his grip.

Do not disrespect the elder. Uphold the value of justice. Do not shirk your duty.

But before Lan Wangji finished the list of rules he’d be breaking, he had already slipped out the doorway and unsheathed Bichen, with Wen Qing at his heels and Wei Ying’s name on his lips.

Holding his sword in front of him, he nodded toward Wen Qing.

She sucked in a breath and unsheathed her own blade. “Let’s go.”

Lan Wangji leapt onto Bichen and zipped into the sky beside Wen Qing. They soared through the clouds and mist with the speed of a dragon, cold air slicing at their cheeks.

They soon caught up to Jiang Cheng on Sandu.

“The hell are you doing?!” he snarled.

“Helping you get your shidi back!” Wen Qing shouted.

Jiang Cheng scoffed. “As if I want him back! Once we’re done, you can have him!”

As they flew over the green swath of forest, an uncomfortable thought entered Lan Wangji’s mind.

Since when had he stopped trying to discipline Wei Ying, and started trying to get him out of trouble instead? It had only taken a day at most. Was Lan Wangji really this soft?

A worse thought followed.

Was Lan Wangji fated to become another Jiang Cheng in Wei Ying’s life? A beloved brother, sure, but one who was always a sword’s length behind, chasing after an unbounded energy he could not hold?

That wouldn’t do.

Just as Wei Wuxian’s smirking face appeared in his mind’s eye, he spotted the real Wei Wuxian streaking through the air on his dark blade.

“WEI WUXIAN! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW OR I’LL KNOCK YOU OFF YOUR UGLY SWORD!” Jiang Cheng shouted.

Wei Wuxian gleefully waved at them, nearly falling off the sword himself without any help from his brother. He shouted something back, but the words were drowned out by the howling wind. His red hair ribbon whipped behind him like the feathers of a phoenix as he sped away.

Wei Wuxian’s pace continued to increase. But Sandu and Bichen were closing the gap.

Suddenly, Wei Wuxian pointed at the forest to his left. He swerved and rocketed down in that direction, plummeting through the air like a torpedo.

What was he thinking? At this speed, he was going to crash!

Bichen and Sandu shot down after him. The swords buzzed in anticipation of the forest canopy that they were about to smash through. Wind battered Lan Wangji’s face.

At the last moment, Wei Wuxian’s sword leveled off just above the tree line. He swooped to the right and dove into a break in the treetops next to a mountain cliff.

He was headed straight for the ground, where a giant boulder met the grimy dirt.

Now he really was about to crash!

“Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji cried.

Whoosh!

Wei Wuxian charged at the foot of the boulder. But he didn’t smash into the ground like Lan Wangji had dreaded. Instead, he vanished.

Lan Wangji, Wen Qing, and Jiang Cheng dismounted their swords over a patch of grass beneath the boulder. Jiang Cheng marched toward the rock. Thin black strands of hair coiled over the top of his head where his sleek locks had been pulled back, now a mess from taking a vertical drop at such a high speed. Wen Qing and Lan Wangji looked just as windstruck.

Wen Qing rested a hand on Lan Wangji and gasped for breath as she clutched her stomach. “This is why…I prefer medicine…over the way of the sword.”

Lan Wangji gingerly removed her hand from his shoulder.

The moss-covered boulder towered over them, reaching the height of a pagoda. They approached the crack that Wei Wuxian had vanished into. As they angled closer, the crack expanded into a dark tunnel that burrowed beneath the boulder.

It was the opening to an underground cave.

“The hell is he thinking!” Jiang Cheng stuck an arm out toward the tunnel. He looked like he wanted to strangle the entire boulder above it. “Don’t tell me he actually found the lion and followed it into this cave! He hadn’t even been in the air for five minutes!”

Lan Wangji and Wen Qing exchanged hesitant glances.

If this was true, and Wei Wuxian had entered the cave after the guardian lion, then he would need all the help he could get.

“Well? Who’s going in first?” Jiang Cheng said.

After a few moments, Lan Wangji stepped inside.

The mouth of the tunnel was coated with mud, descending to murky black depths that glared up at him hungrily.

He slipped.

Slammed on his back.

Clenched his eyes shut and slid down the tunnel, accelerating faster and faster as the slope tilted steeper and steeper, until the darkness swallowed him whole.

* * *

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, you can be a supportive sibling like Jiang Yanli by liking, reblogging, and visiting me on AO3! New chapters posted every Monday on AO3 and Tuesday on Tumblr.

Ch. 12 > | chapter list

[rainey-staerie-daize]

A multi-day journal entry because it’s been a few: 03.10.21

Went for a nice walk around the neighborhood on Saturday because I felt like being outside and not at home. Found out where exactly Xan’s school is and how to get to it because I may or may not have to drop him off if Mom is scheduled extra days this month. Passed lots of houses and found out how all the nearby streets connect. Would've taken artsy pics except I forgot to take a phone with me. Met two or three tiny dogs and two big dogs at two different houses, and they all barked at me as I said hello. Oh, and one guy in a truck with tons of oranges in the back asked me if I wanted to buy some, but I declined. COVID-19, no money on me, and I don’t really like oranges all that much anyway because of the texture. Also passed by a house that was for sale with a kitchen sink that faces the front yard. There was a faucet zip-tied in its box in one side of it, and it’s the same faucet we have: Glacier Something, that detaches as a sprayer.

Getting to Xan’s school was kinda rocky for me because I was wearing my bad, thin-soled flats and I didn’t realize that there was a paved path on the other side of the wash until I got to the end at the school. Partway, I went to take off the mask because nobody was around and I needed all my depth perception, but one side broke as I did, so I spent a few minutes awkwardly standing at the end of the path as I retied my mask. Also tied my flannel shut because it’s too small to button, and it looked just a little odd with my AMBITION shirt and leggings.

Being at the school was kinda nostalgic, even though I never attended that specific one. Enough things were the same though: sun-faded signs, bike cage, playground equipment, fenced in area for the kindergarteners, portables in the back, a huge yellow field, clinking chains on the tetherball poles, and the silence of nobody else there but me.

Except, I wasn’t waiting for a parent to pick me up for once. I was there on my own free will. Other things that didn’t match my childhood include the entrance to the playground being nicely framed by four or so trees, a nice round gathering area painted like the sun around the flag pole, “welcome back” spelled out in blue Solo cups shoved into the bike cage fence, and one of the “no parking” signs by the drop-off area being scribbled out so it said “park here.” It was nice, and I yearn to be ten or younger again.

Partway through my little campus tour, it got a little windy, and I briefly thought about going home, but I ultimately decided to keep walking the same direction and circle my way back home. There’s a big dirt lot right next to the field fenced off, and then I could see the intersection that I’ve walked to the other way around before, so I headed over that way. Came across a shopping center with a bunch of stores, and looked at each one as I passed them. Was able to see inside of a dry cleaner place and look at the machines inside, but after the guy at the counter acknowledged my presence like I was a potential customer, I told him I had never seen inside one before and was just taking a walk, and kinda just... quickly walked away. The shopping center also had a Walmart Neighborhood Market, and I spotted a wild dark-haired Karen with no mask, that I felt was way to close to me. Probably three or four feet away, I don’t know. My depth perception sucks.

Rounding about the other end of the shopping center after looking at Panda Express, Denny’s, and a pizza place, I heard a familiar couple of notes come from one of the vehicles in the parking lot. The beginning notes of She’s a Beauty by The Tubes, which I almost never hear play on the radio or anything because it’s from the early 80s. Despite not being born until 2000, I know a few of their songs because my uncle is the bass player and I’ve been to a few of their concerts when I was younger.

So I started singing a bit as I was walking, and as it started getting more faint, I stopped walking, turned around, and cupped my right ear with my hand to keep listening. Pretty sure one guy looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn’t care. After it ended, or at least, I think it did, I continued on my way, the same route I use when I’m returning home from that street’s bus stop.

When I got home, Mom was out cold on her bed after the facial she did earlier. Skye later told me she never even noticed I left because she went straight to bed for an afternoon nap when she was done, never leaving her room.

I finally reset my sleep schedule enough to wake up at 4 AM on Sunday, which is good enough for me because I used to wake up then in high school anyway. I spent a while just waking up on the toilet, and then decided to do some light cleaning and picking up around the house to surprise Mom when she woke up. She never notices, but I didn’t care about that then.

After tidying up Kare’s hair accessories on the counter and finding her toothbrush still with toothpaste on it from the night before, I decided to rinse out her unicorn wash cloth sitting on the counter, and maybe clean up the toothpaste on the counter with it, but then Mom woke up from the couch. I got scared that she’d be mad I was doing stuff in her bathroom, so I snuck out to the other one. Was a little bored waiting for her to be busy with something so I could finish her counter, so I wiped down the counter of the bathroom I was in.

She tried to come in to get laundry, which startled me because I was right next to the door, and immediately spotted the unicorn cloth. She went off on me for using “something that she uses on her FACE” on the counters of all things. Briefly mentioned wiping the toilet, as if she thought that’s what I did before I walked in.

I didn’t even try explaining myself. Just stood there and let her yell. I know I got a little carried away with cleaning stuff, but like, it was soapy. It’s like Mom complaining that I used the dish sponge with antibacterial dish detergent on Roxie’s food bowls. It doesn’t make sense, but I was too tired and down on myself to care about her seeing my side.

During the visit, Skye and I stayed home and talked in our room, and I looked up that house I saw for sale. Not that nice, and currently off the market, but I found two others that I absolutely love. Kinda wish I’d had a job this entire time. Then maybe I could have enough money to put down a down payment and get one of them. Oh well.

Mom came home while the littles were still at the visit, and Skye and I both pretended to be asleep so we didn’t have to interact with her. Some of her behavior has seemed kinda... sus. I ended up falling asleep for real though, on the carpet, woke up briefly a few times, and finally got up at 1 AM.

Mom was still up, and told me how one of my old friends was trying to contact me but couldn’t because my phone was off, so I turned it back on and we talked for a while. I gave her my Google number in case my actual phone wasn’t working, and wished her a happy birthday, but she fell asleep before she saw the birthday message. Don’t remember much else of the day, except I turned in a Japanese quiz early and cleaned Roxie and her crate. Like always, cleaning took a while because I am very thorough, and because she pooped in the crate when I was washing her bowls. I had to rewash her and the crate floor, which, after last time, I now know slides TF out.

Ended it all with a hot bath for myself, which I fell asleep in. Woke up cold because half the water drained out through the faulty plug, so I ran it again, and fell asleep again. Woke up cold again, refilled it, and finally washed myself. Got out and was relieved to find Roxie and her “room” still clean, and I finished it off with her blankets and one of her beds from the dryer. I tried a new thing with the blanket where I tie one end (two corners) to the crate ceiling to almost make a tent, and she seems to like it.

Not counting the bath naps, I stayed up for over 24 hours, but didn’t realize why I was so damn tired until late Tuesday morning. Ended up falling asleep for a couple hours that afternoon, woke up for a while, and then went back to sleep at a decent time time at night, but I was woken up around 2:30 AM by Mom looking for her keys. She was panicking because March has blackout days and she’s already near her point limit, so being late could literally get her fired. She kept asking where I put them, since her purse and dealer apron were moved off of the crate by me to clean it, but I told her I hadn’t even seen them. I don’t think she believed me, because she still sounded like she was blaming me for not being able to find them.

Not my fault that you said “stop putting things on the dog crate,” and then you kept putting your own stuff on top of the dog crate, and then wanted me to clean it. Where the Hell was I supposed to put her stuff while I was cleaning it?

Skye eventually found her keys in the unlocked car, and she finally left, but was back by 4 AM because she signed the EO list. She tried to prank us when she came in by telling us she was fired, but I didn’t buy it because she wasn’t crying. Trust me, she’d be bawling her eyes out if that had actually happened.

Bringing us to Wednesday, I was a tired mess who’d done Duolingo all morning when I showed us to my Japanese lecture. I only remembered to do it because I heard Mom doing it. She’s apparently gonna learn Spanish.

I still have a few things to make up for that class, but at least I’ve finally organized my worksheets into homework packets. I’ve gone this long before remembering we own a stapler.

[cecilspeaks]

155 - The Heist, part 3

Leave no stone unturned. Leave no rock unpivoted. Leave no pebble untwirled. Welcome to Night Vale.

My brother-in-law, Steve Carlsberg, is still in jail, wrongly accused of the recent bank heist. But I am happy to have my husband Carlos back home. The Sheriff’s Secret Police had only taken him in for some questions regarding the robbery of the Last Bank of Night Vale. Sheriff Sam had deemed Carlos a person of interest, which I’ve been saying for years, but Sheriff Sam meant it differently.

Carlos said while he was being questioned at the police station, he saw the other bank employees who were there the day of the robbery. Genevieve Daly, the new bank teller, was being asked if she saw anyone other than Steve Carlsberg near the vault that day. Carlos said she was stone faced, unhappy with the interrogation. Susan Willman was there, crying, as the police asked her who else, other than Steve Carlsberg, could have a key. And security guard Jesse McNeil was there looking quite ill, almost seasick, according to Carlos, as the police tried to badger him into implicating Steve Carlsberg.

Carlos has been home for a couple of weeks and in a terrible funk. He said Steve has a nearly impossible case. The police are convinced of Steve’s guilt and all their evidence points directly to him. Carlos hardly has any energy or emotion to work, or even leave the house. I feel awful for Steve too, and we are doing our best to support him and our family.

I tried cheering Carlos up by telling him my favorite science jokes, like two chemists walk into a bar and one tells the bartender, “I’ll have an H2O” and the other says “I’ll have an H20 too,” and the bartender says and sighs.. [fed up] “It’s been a long day guys,” and then the two chemists nod and say, [embarrassed] “Yeah oh god yeah sorry, just a couple of waters thanks.” And then later they make sure to tip very well. But Carlos didn’t even crack as mile, let alone laugh, and I asked him how his doorless fridge experiment was going and he’s welcome to work on it here, in his home laboratory. I don’t even mind if he keeps staining everything green with that weird gel he’s been using. “I ran out of gel, Cecil,” he said, prone on the couch not opening his eyes. “I couldn’t work on that, even if I wanted to. which I don’t.” Hm. I wanna curl up on the couch too, stay home from work. But I know that would be terrible for Carlos. There are many times I’ve felt flat or depressed, and Carlos has been there for me, keeping me company, taking in my sadness and reflecting back not a false smile but attentive eyes, a listening posture that makes me feel heard and understood, and that’s what I want to be for him. Besides, I think Steve can beat these charges. Steve may have been the only one with a key to the vault, but they cannot prove he opened the vault, as he was locked inside his own office during the robbery. And besides, Steve keeps very detailed accounting so they wouldn’t be able to find the stolen money, not even if he had taken it. Steve Carlsberg is… [moved] the nicest man in Night Vale. He’s a good boss, breaking his foot to get free to try to protect his employees. He’s a fine father. A loving husband. And a perfect brother-in-law. It’s just not... it’s not possible. You know, if someone on the inside did this, it was probably Susan. Susan Willman is the least trustworthy person in that bank, if not in this whole town. So if you’re going to…

[loud scary noises] Station Management just slit a memo under my door gently, reminding me about libel laws. The memo is written in fire on a sleep tablet, and there’s a snake curled around it so, uhh.. I’m going to leave my Susan WIllman theory alone. But. Let’s just say that there was an untrustworthy person in that bank, and that her name was Su..anne Wilt..son. Yes, Sue-Anne Wilson, yes and this hypothetical jerk was always complaining at PTA meetings about her own personal problems, rather than focusing on the agenda, let’s just say. And this Sue-Anne Wilson once accused Steve Carlsberg of censoring her, when Steve was just trying to finish the meeting in a timely manner so that the basketball team could se the gym for evening practice. This person might well hold a grudge against Steve Carlsberg and want to not only steal from him, but frame him for the crime. 

Or, what if the Sheriff’s Secret Police… [loud scary noises] was doing a really great job, so great that they didn’t have a lot of arrests to make because the town was so safe. And of course, [chuckling nervously] they would never need to frame someone for robbery! So they would look like they were solving one of the major crimes in recent memory. Or maybe it was space slugs. Some distant aliens from across the galaxy somehow found our solar system and spotted our Earth, and then randomly chose Night Vale, and for whatever reason, they really wanted our money, so they went down inside the bank vault while the building was on fire, and without the safe key they entered the locked room because these space slugs can crawl through walls, and then they stole all the money. I don’t know! I feel helpless.[loud scary noises fade out]

Reading the news and getting angrier and angrier, but you know there’s little I can do about terrible things that keep happening. I’m sure you can’t relate. Maybe a community calendar will cheer me up.

This Saturday, the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex opens its annual Haunted Halloween Hayride. There was complications this year, because Ghost Union Local 31 went on strike for an increase in pensions and maternity leave. Teddy Williams, owner of the Desert Flower, argued that ghosts cannot retire nor get pregnant, but the union countered with vaguely human faces muttering in the shadows while Teddy screamed, and eventually, a deal was truck.

Sunday morning is the pie eating contest at the Night Vale fair. Contestants will be competing for a top prize of a 1991 Buick Le Sabre, autographed by former US presidential hopeful and Illinois governor, Adelai Stevenson.

Tuesday afternoon is a tedious song. Wednesday night is the high school dance team’s statewide semifinals at the rec center. Our own Night Vale High School is competing that night. Their top rival is Red Mesa High School, who will be performing a jazz routine called Tommy Tunes Broadway: an upbeat medley of classic show tunes. Night Vale’s dance team will present (--) [0:09:21] postmodern masterpiece (-): contemplative blend of sculpture opera and dance defined by its explosive physical bursts, chanting, and (contra-) movements born of a 22-member ensemble, who express the human body as a multidimensional art installation. Good luck to all dancers!

And finally, Thursday is sick, so Friday will be covering Thursday’s shift. Eh, except for the part about the haunted hay ride. That did not cheer me up.

I’m getting word that the Secret Police have made a breakthrough in their bank heist investigation. Or maybe they found the real thief and can let Steve Carlsberg go? [clears throat] Sheriff Sam said the lab reports came back, the fingerprints were inconclusive as their top suspect Steve Carlsberg worked at the bank, so his fingerprints were everywhere. But the lab reports did detail a strange goo police found on the vault walls. This goo, a light green gel, was also found on the walls of the cells that the other robbers had escaped from two weeks ago. So maybe my theory about space slugs is correct. No wait. The lab reports showed that this unusual chemical can render certain metals intangible, allowing people to reach through walls without breaking them. [stutters] Police believe whoever used this greenish goo used it to rob the bank’s vault and to free the prisoners inside the abandoned mineshaft outside of town. The Sheriff then said they discovered this exact same chemical on Steve Carlsberg’s property. They discovered it inside the shed behind the house, and that this is the final piece of evidence that links Steve Carlsberg to the robbery of the Last Bank of Night Vale. They believe that, oh no… Um, that Steve did not act alone, that he had an accomplice, a scientific mastermind who created this chemical for him. Who generated a complex concoction that enabled them to walk through walls stealing whatever they wanted. They have a warrant out now for Carlos’ arrest. I’ve gotta call Carlos. I- Oh, it looks like he left a voicemail.  

[beep] Carlos: Hey sweetie, it’s um me. So listen, I have um, I so-so I’ve just been arrested. No biggie, no biggie, I’m fine. This is actually good news, because I wanted to talk to the Sheriff anyway about all this, so that-that’s great. And um, I do have some new thoughts about what happened at the bank, and they’re really interesting, so they’re driving me downtown to meet with uh ooh, ouch, those cuffs are a bit tight there, officer… officer (Q. Fortier). Ah, that is a beautiful name. I-i-is that Franchian? If you don’t mind, Officer Fortier, I’m going to just finish my voicemail to my husband. So Cecil. When I get downtown, I’ll explain everything to them, Steve and I clearly did not do this and that’s what I’ll tell them, they’re police! [chuckles] You know, they just wanna know the truth, and uh ooh uh, oh Officer Fortier, I am not done with my call yet. Uh sir, what-what are you doing with my pho- [beep]

Cecil: I… I… Let’s go to the weather.

[Good Luck with That” by Fathom All the Animals https://fathomalltheanimals.com]

Cecil: Listeners, we now go live to Steve Carlsberg’s press conference at City Hall.

Steve: This has been a difficult month for me, and for my family. I thank you all for hearing me out today. I’m glad to know that these criminal charges are behind me, and I think Sheriff Sam and their secret police, as well as their Overt Police, for listening to reason and overturning the charges against me. [sadly] But of course, I’m sad to learn about their most recent arrest. Breaks my heart to know that such a dear friend of so many years, someone who’s been in home many, many times, someone I consider family, could betray me, my bank, my town in this way. I don’t even know how to talk about such a breach of trust by someone so close. [crying] Carlos! Oh Carlos. Thank you Carlos, for your brilliant and thorough evidence that put Jesse McNeil in jail today. Our security guard of nearly 50 years committed a heinous crime, and he nearly sent the two of us to prison for it.

When Carlos arrived in my cell this morning, he was all smile saying he had figured it out. He called the Sheriff over and said, “Check Jesse’s skin for the same chemical they found on the doors.” Carlos had been experimenting on the gel that allowed him to reach his hands into refrigerators without opening the door, and thus lowering the temperature of the food inside. He’d developed this chemical. He’d developed this chemical in his temporary lab in a shed behind our house. The problem with the chemical wasn’t its effectiveness and intangibility. He had been able to make that work. No, the problem with the chemical is that it stained everything it touched a dull green, including skin. Carlos showed me his own hands, which were green from the fingertips to about halfway up his forearms. He said the last few times he had seen Jesse, Jesse looked ill. Not like a flu or cold, more like seasick: queasy, green in the face. Carlos didn’t put it together right away, because we all felt sick about not only the robbery, but the false charges against me.

The police report also showed that none of the cash tills on the teller wall were affected by the fire that broke out during the robbery last month. Which means the fire had to have started on the opposite wall, which is by the front door, Jesse’s usual station. The smoke from the fire and the three robbers waving guns provided a distraction for Jesse to cover himself with Carlos’ intangibility gel, sneak downstairs past my office, where he had locked me in earlier than day, and then unload the cash from the safe and carry it into the alleyway behind the bank where his car was parked. When the fire trucks arrived, Jesse ran deliberately in front of their hoses so that the gel would all be removed from his body before the police began questioning those of us who had been inside during the robbery. But, as Carlos pointed out, the gel stains the skin for a long time, water alone won’t remove it.

Sheriff Sam brought Jesse back in for questioning based on Carlos’ statements, and found Jesse’s skin was the same dull green as Carlos’ hands. But unlike Carlos, the green stain covered Jesse’s whole body, not only his hands, indicating he had used it to walk through walls, rather than merely reach to a door.

Carlos explained that he had Jesse in his lab many times, Jesse and all my employees come to my house regularly for dinners. Like I said, they’re family to me. Jesse had taken an interest in Carlos’ science projects, so Carlos showed Jesse his doorless fridge experiment. Not long after that, Carlos noticed that the rest of his intangibility gel was gone. He thought he had just run out, even though he had made plenty of it. Never occurred to Carlos, until he saw Jesse’s green face a few days ago, that Jesse had stolen it to remove the money from the vault and his criminal colleagues from their jail cell. While I was the only person with the key to the vault, Jesse as a security guard was the only person with master keys for the rest of the building. My office door is never locked, so I don’t carry a key for it. Jesse knew this and locked me into my own office. Then his three collaborators Richard, William, and Emma created a fake robbery of the cash tills to distract from his heist of the vault. Sheriff Sam was impressed with Carlos’ explanation and arrested Jesse McNeil on the spot. Jesse turned to Carlos and Sam and said: [very deep voice] “I guess I’m going to jail now.” Sam said: [Sheriff Sam voice] “Don’t flatter yourself!”

Anyway, I finally get to return home, thanks to my brother-in-law Carlos. Thank you Susan Willman for managing the bank in my absence. Abby, Janice, I’ll be home in a few. Can’t wait to see you both again. Oh, oh, maybe I’ll bake some scones tonight! Carlos showed me a way to do it without letting the butter too warm. Oh-oh yeah!

Cecil: I’m so relieved and so glad they put the right person behind bars. And I have never been so excited to try one of Steve’s scones. That really is neat.

Stay tuned next for someone playing on a saw. No, ahem, (-) that, with a saw. It’s just someone playing around with a saw. Enjoy.

Good night, Night Vale, Good night.

Today’s proverb: Wisdom ages like fine wine. Knowledge ages like Boston lettuce.

[lookbackmachine]

Disney Afternoon History Part 1

Disney Afternoon Part 1

Transcript of: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-look-back-machine/id1257301677?mt=2

[music]

0:00:06 Speaker 1: Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, The Fonz, was the pinnacle of cool for a generation. The leather jacket, the jukebox and "Ayyy". And in 1981, he hit the cultural height of fame with his own Saturday morning cartoon show. Unlike, say, Mork & Mindy in which Robin Williams was limited by the constraints of reality, there's nothing inherently animated about Happy Days, but that wasn't a deterrent for the Academy Award winning studio Hanna-Barbera, when they created this.

[music]

[video playback]

[music]

0:01:19 S1: The animated Fonz didn't just jump the shark, he time traveled so he could ride a brontosaurus. Jumping the shark seemed baked into the premise of many of the cartoons from this period, because they started as a gimmick and only kept gimmicking. Besides a big hit with The Smurfs, this period, for Hanna-Barbera, was littered with Scooby-Doo knockoffs.

[video playback]

0:01:49 S1: The studio that once produced The Flintstones, Quick Draw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi, Snagglepuss and The Jetsons was producing uninspired paint by numbers replicas. The parity was at its peak when the animated Fonz had a supporting role in Laverne & Shirley in the Army. The cartoons essentially amounted to barely animated fan fiction. For years, art and commerce clashed on Saturday mornings and commerce had a far better record. And yet, only four years later, a cartoon would raise the artistic bar for the medium, and strangely, it would be based on the currency of kid commerce, candy.

[music]

0:02:34 S1: Animated television started in 1949, as it should, a talking rabbit wearing a suit of armour, riding a horse toward camera. It was the spectacular opening of Crusader Rabbit, whose other animation wasn't nearly as good as the opening. It was designed, with little to no movement, by Alex Anderson, who was inspired by Baby Weems, from Disney's behind the curtain feature, The Reluctant Dragon. In the Baby Weems segment, there are story boards with a tiny bit of motion included to keep it from being entirely static. There are quick cuts, camera movements, and narration to carry the short all the way to the end. After seeing this, Anderson believed he could use this barebones style to have notoriously expensive animation make financial sense for television. He partnered with Jay Ward and the two created The Crusader Rabbit shorts for NBC. The shorts were successful and ran for several years, which sparked Anderson and Ward to create the cartoons that they were famous for, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right. Despite their massive success, their partnership didn't end well. In fact, it got worse, even though Ward was already dead. Alex Anderson, animator.

0:03:45 Speaker 2: I was surprised that... To discover that my 50% equity in the characters had disappeared and was not being honored. Yeah, I went to court, sued, got them to acknowledge that I was the creator. I learned about it at his funeral, when I was doing a eulogy and the names of several of us who were doing a eulogy were indicated, and it said Alex Anderson, creator of Bullwinkle and Rocky. And somebody had scratched it out and said, "An artist who worked for Jay Ward." And I thought, "Well, what's this? Why is this in?" Then I started checking and I found that, indeed, Jay had registered the characters in his name.

0:04:31 S1: The show's limited animation technique was taken by Hanna-Barbera and updated with better animation to produce several hits like Ruff and Reddy, Huckleberry Hound, and eventually the Flintstones, a primetime hit for ABC in 1960. Hanna-Barbera went on to an unprecedented run of hits and non-hits, but when it came to television animation, Hanna-Barbera was in a class of their own. However, things fell off in the 1980s. In those years, The Smurfs were their only big hit. This left a gaping hole in the market that was filled by cartoons based on toys, like GI Joe and He-Man. But their ratings were drooping as well. And then something happened that had never happened before. During the entire history of television animation, from 1949 to 1984, the most famous animation company in the world never produced a single animated television cartoon. That was about to change with a single brunch, but the events leading up to that brunch showed an American titan in peril.

0:05:36 S1: Walt Disney was dead, to begin with, he died in 1966. But he was still running the company from his grave. After all the company's internal motto was, "What would Walt do?" But hypothesizing about what a genius would do is not the same as having the genius actually there. Because when it came to the question of "What would Walt do?" the company wasn't guessing correctly. Even though it was 1984, its last motion picture hit had been The Love Bug, in 1968. And so, because the company no longer had Walt, it figured the next best thing was Ron Miller, an ex Ram quarterback and Walt's son-in-law, who became CEO in 1978.

0:06:16 S1: The best quote to describe Miller's tenure was his own, "Because of Walt, because of his influence, I second-guess myself all the time." Miller wasn't only contending with Walt's legacy, he was also dueling with E. Cardon Walker, who was the chairman of the board. Walker had been one of Walt's right-hand men. He was in charge of advertising and public relations. And in his tenure, Walker launched the Disney Channel, opened Epcot and Disneyland Tokyo, but he also had peccadilloes that were killing the company. Walker was not in favor of a $1 parking fee. "The parking lot is the first thing the guests see. We have to keep our prices low." And despite having been in charge of advertising, Walker did not believe in advertising or marketing. The Disney parks did not run ads or commercials. For some perspective, the first American newspaper advertisement was in 1704. In 1922, Queensboro Corp buys airtime from AT&T to create the first radio commercials in advertising history. The first TV ad was aired for Bulova watches in 1941, which cost $9. Advertising was not new, and yet, E. Cardon Walker wouldn't do it.

0:07:26 S1: In fact, Walker was even stingy on advertising when it came to the motion picture division. Budgets for advertising were growing since the big blockbuster Jaws. ET had cost $10 million in ads alone, but when Disney's TRON came out, they gave it such a minuscule advertising budget that no one knew the film was even out. The film took a $17 million write-down. While all this was going on, there was another heir to the Disney throne who was dubbed the idiot nephew by Uncle Walt himself, who once said, "My nephew will never amount to anything." Thanks to Walt-think inside the studio, Roy Disney was considered the village idiot. It didn't help that he wasn't the most charismatic individual. John Sanford, director, Home On The Range.

0:08:11 Speaker 3: He had this legacy kinda handed to him, and I think he really took it seriously. But on the other hand, he was just a normal guy who happened to have a ton of money. We were in La Verne, California, I think it was, at this movie theater. Doing a preview for Home On The Range, and there was a Bed Bath & Beyond, and Patty suddenly turns to Roy and says, "Oh, Roy, they've got glasses on sale. Do you mind if I go looking?" "Eh, go ahead, Patty." And Patty runs into the Bed Bath & Beyond and he says, "You know, we need to get new glasses. You know, you've got kids and they break all the glasses. And suddenly, it's 20 years later, and you don't have one glass that matches. So Patty wants new glasses." And he's just talking very frankly like that. And I said, "Yeah, I know that. I know how that goes." And then Patty comes running up. "Oh, Roy. They've got a wonderful set of glasses that are on sale. Let's go in and get them." And Roy goes, "Well, I don't wanna carry them all over the goddamn mall." And she goes, "Okay. I guess we'll get them later." [chuckle] It was just fun to watch them, 'cause it was like... Reminded me of watching my grandparents bicker.

0:09:12 S1: Roy didn't like his role at the company, nor constantly being at odds with Miller, so Roy left in 1977, but remained on the board. From afar, he watched the animation division go to hell, which was once the company's crown jewel. On Miller's watch, the Fox and the Hound was almost torpedoed, when soon-to-be-legendary animator Don Bluth left the studio after run-ins with Miller and the executives, and Bluth didn't leave alone, he took 15 animators with him. At the time, Ed Hansen, the head of the animation department, said this, "The whole animation department could have gone under at that time. As it was, we made it, but the release of the film has been delayed, and we lost half of our creative staff." Bluth had his own thoughts. "The thing that would help Disney the most is to have a living profit, not a committee. They need somebody who knows and cares about animation. They won't roll up their sleeves and plunge in like Walt did. They wanna hire somebody to do it. It just doesn't work that way. I think they've found that out now. It was a matter of constantly bumping up against Ron Miller and the older guys, people who wouldn't relinquish authority and who wouldn't make a decision except by committee. It just doesn't work that way. They had some of the best talent in the world there. But if a production head doesn't have talent or push, you won't make it."

0:10:29 S1: In spite of everything, the company did have some good news. Miller had gone against the Disney Brain Trust and was making adult fare with his newly-created Touchstone Pictures, and he had a huge hit on his hands with Ron Howard's Splash, on March 9th, 1984. It just also happened to be the same day that Roy Disney decided to resign from the board. Roy Disney's resignation set off a chain reaction. Corporate raiders tried to take over the company. Miller was forced out. Walker retired. Roy took a vice-chairman and chairman of animation role. Michael Eisner became CEO and Chairman of the Board. Frank Wells became President, and Jeffrey Katzenberg took the role of Walt Disney Studios chairman, and the corporate raiders were turned away. Eisner and Katzenberg had blazed a trail at Paramount and became the talk of the town for their track record and by throwing their names into the press as much as humanly possible. Meanwhile, Frank Wells had been vice chairman of Warner Brothers. They set about using their industry experience to transform a company that was run like a mom-and-pop shop.

0:11:33 S1: The fourth member of their team was assets, and there were assets galore that Disney simply wasn't utilizing to their full potential, or at all. The Walt Disney Company was like the drowning man in the flood who doesn't accept help from a rowboat, motorboat, or helicopter because he believes God will save him. The man dies, and he meets God and asks, "Why didn't you come to my rescue?" God says, "I sent you a rowboat, motorboat and a helicopter. What do you want from me?" Now, Eisner, Wells and Katzenberg would take the rowboat, motorboat and helicopter to the promised land. Under their leadership, the company began advertising its parks. Attendance rose 10%. They raised the price of admission, which led to hundreds of millions of dollars into the company's coffers. Eisner releases Disney classics on home video. It was initially sacrilegious in the company, but money talks. Cinderella alone made $180 million in revenue. Animation was losing money, so they thought about shutting it down. But Eisner didn't wanna piss off Roy, so they kept it around. It was a smart choice because Roy was a little bit more cunning than he seemed. He was no Richard III but he'd just usurped his own brother-in-law. And because Eisner would later fail to keep him happy, Roy would take out Eisner decades later. Roy might have been treated like Fredo, but he was secretly Michael Corleone.

0:12:57 S1: But that was a long way off, now Eisner was simply basking in his good fortune. "Such a bounty has fallen in my lap. Every day a new asset falls out of the sky. The real estate is just gravy, there are 40 unused acres next to Disneyland planted in strawberries." To re-emphasize his life on easy street, he was drinking a milkshake when he said that. And of course, there was another blue-ocean opportunity for Eisner to slurp up, animated television. On Eisner's first day at the studio, he announced he wanted to have a Disney TV cartoon on the air in 10 months.

[music]

0:13:35 S1: Willie Ito, animator.

0:13:41 Speaker 4: We knew internally at Disney that things are gonna start happening. And so, one day, they had all of the Burbank employees meet in the backstage set, we had a big open set area and everyone from the studio was there. And Michael Eisner was introduced and the whole bit. Then he gave us the overall picture as to what to expect in the future now that the new regime is here. And one of the things he commented on was we're going to alt Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera.

0:14:20 S1: According to the New York Times, he asked someone to find them the six most creative people at Disney to figure out how to make Disney TV animation work, which leads to the aforementioned brunch that started it all. One of the creatives brought to the table was Jymn Magon. Magon had produced story records for Disney music for eight years. Why bring a record producer, with no animation experience, to the table?

0:14:41 Speaker 5: I ask myself that every morning when I wake up, [chuckle] it's a bit amazing. Well, one of the things that Michael Eisner did before he was at Paramount was... I think he was head of ABC children's programming, I think he told me that he was the guy who actually bought the Scooby-Doo franchise from Hanna-Barbera, which of course, is still running after all these years. So, that was very successful, and I think he always had a soft spot for TV animation, and so when he took over the company in '84, one of the first things he wanted to do was to start a TV animation department. So, being new to the company, I think he just looked at different departments and said, 'I wanna meet some of the bright people that are doing things here at the company.' And we had just made a lot of money off of Mickey Mouse disco and a lot of projects that were new at the time in the record business. And so Gary Krisel, who was the president of Disneyland records, and myself, were invited over to Michael Eisner's house on a Sunday morning. Michael Eisner invited a bunch of people... Not a lot, I think there were about 12, in all, that were at this meeting in his living room on a Sunday morning in Bel-Air. And I had never been to Bel-Air, never been invited to someone's house up there, [chuckle] so, it was very fancy-shmancy for me.

0:16:01 S1: And there was also Tad Stones, who began his work at Disney in 1974. He was an uncredited animator on the Fox and the Hound as late as 1981. Now, he too was at the brunch.

0:16:13 Speaker 6: I was in Features, I eventually moved into Story, went to Imagineering and help design rides for Epcot Center, and back in charge of some Epcot Center documentaries that then never happened. Eventually ended up back in Features, I'm not sure they knew what to do with me. And that's about the time management changed, with Michael Eisner coming in and Jeffrey Katzenberg and those guys. And I was... Along my trials through the company, I had done some animation development for the guys over in the merchandising side of things 'cause they felt like the only way to really sell toys is to have some cartoons on TV. You can't wait for these features that come out every four years, or so, 'cause that's what it was at the time. Anyway, those same guys were pitching TV animation to Michael Eisner. I was actually on vacation, but I got a call that said, "We know you're on vacation, we know it's gonna be Sunday, but would you mind coming to Michael Eisner's house to talk about television animation?" So I was like "Yeah [chuckle], I think I can make time." Went there with like 10 people. These were the guys who basically I had worked with before and they were impressed with what I had done. And from the beginning, Michael Eisner felt like Disney is the top in animation, and it should be in every area that animation is in, it doesn't mean that television animation is going to look like feature animation, but it should be the best TV shows in animation on TV.

0:17:39 S1: Jymn Magon.

0:17:40 Speaker 7: Michael revealed that he wanted to start this new department, he wanted us to come up with some ideas and whatnot, and he actually came up with an idea himself, which was his kids who were in the other room eating cereal in the kitchen, in their pajamas [chuckle] on Sunday morning, had just come back from camp and I guess they had told him that they were eating these really cool candies called Gummi bears. And he said, "I just like the sound of that." And he looked at me, which was really weird, 'cause he didn't know me at all, and he said, "Make me a show called Gummi Bears." And I thought, "Why'd he pick me out?" [laughter] And I said, "Oh yeah, cool, great."

0:18:20 S6: So I pitched an old project, Mickey and the Space Pirates, they liked it a lot, but then they said, "No Mickey... We wanna make sure we can pull this off. Mickey is too precious." So there was a lot of respect there going in. No one was prepared to actually pitch shows. I had that artwork left over from stuff I had pitched to the merchandising guys, who were in the room, but it was kind of more feeling what Eisner wanted.

0:18:43 S7: But Tad was at that meeting, and he didn't come over for probably a full season to TV animation, but he eventually did, and thank God he did, because we worked on so many shows over there. But yeah, he was at that initial meeting, and he had a lot of great ideas. But he didn't come join us right away. And afterwards, we all met at a coffee shop, in Brentwood, and I remember us all kind of looking at each other, like, "This guy's crazy. Who wants to do a show about characters that get eaten every week?" [chuckle]

0:19:15 S6: And I remember saying, "Well, he seemed pretty sharp and respectful of animation, except for that idea about Gummi bears, that's like doing pepperoni people, or something. I don't know how to do that".

0:19:25 S7: So I think we all kind of felt like, "He's a busy man. This will all go away". It was about two weeks later I got a call, "So where's my show?" "Well, I'm writing it now", [chuckle] and I typed up something and it was horrendous, but it was the beginnings of development. And so I ended up, at one point, doing two jobs, I was still doing my record producing, but I was also developing two shows, both Wuzzles and Gummi Bears for Disney. And we didn't even have offices for the department back then. I remember we went over to a fellow named Lenny Ripps. Lenny Ripps was responsible for creating Full House and he was under contract at Disney for the time, and Lenny said, "Come on over, let's talk about this." And so there was Gary Krisel, who was going to be the president of the new division. So he was doing double duty at the same time, with records and TV animation. And Michael Webster turned out to be our office manager, and there was me. And that was the four of us sitting there around a card table in Lenny's office kicking ideas around. And that's how that department started, very bizarre and very humble.

0:20:47 S7: I remember having to take pitches from people and we were discouraged from doing that, because Disney became a big company and had deep pockets, and of course, people would come in and pitch, and then say, "You stole my ideas." And so pretty much kept to ourselves and almost all the development was from inside, from people on staff. So we didn't... It was in the time of [0:21:10] ____ and other people pitching their ideas from outside. There was a travel office for Disney across the street from the studio in Buena Vista and it was just a crummy old office building. And I think that's where we put Art Vitello when they brought him in to run Gummi Bears. And they were just sort of makeshift offices, they put some of the artists on the back lots, above the tea room. We were just spread all over. So we all became sort of bastard children.

0:21:41 Speaker 8: This is the great book of Gummi.

0:21:45 Speaker 9: What's in it?

0:21:46 S8: Well, we really don't know.

0:21:49 S6: Well, they actually developed Gummi bears kind of on a candy basis with a villain called Licorice Whip, I think. And they were actually gonna have the Gummi bears give dental hygiene messages at the end of every show. That went nowhere, and they threw it all out and came up with what was on the air.

0:22:06 S1: Instead of candy, the show got a complicated 500-year-old plus mythos. The Gummi bears were descendants of the great gummies, tasked with protecting all things Gummi from human greed and exploitation.

0:22:18 S7: I was very fortune that I got to work with two of my childhood heroes, which were Rocky and Bullwinkle. I found myself staring at Bill Scott a lot because besides doing all the voices of George of the Jungle and Tom Slick and Bullwinkle, he was a fantastic writer, and he had written all of these commercials for Quaker Oats, Quisp and Quake and Cap'n Crunch, and stuff like that. He once said to me, "You know the old story, Jymn, about how do you make a statue of an elephant? Well, you start with a block of granite and you chip away everything that doesn't look like an elephant". He says, but writing a script is different. You start with nothing, and you chip away until you have a story. [chuckle] And I thought, "Oh, that's interesting. You don't even have the rock to work with." [laughter] And I just thought he was a delight. He died after the first season of Gummi Bears and that was just devastating for us.

0:23:16 Speaker 10: Welcome to the land of Wuz, where nobody is like anybody you've seen before. The people who live in Wuz are called Wuzzle, naturally. And as you've probably guessed, Wuzzles are a little bit, you know, different.

0:23:33 S7: I didn't stay on Wuzzles. Once we got the two shows sold, I stayed exclusively on Gummi Bears. But in the early days, we were trying to put together these shows to pitch to the networks. And we had a show called Jumble Isle, the idea was that there were these animals that were jumbled up, and there were two of each animal. And, lo and behold, it turns out Hasbro has... Already has a project called The Wuzzles, which they had plush animals at the time. And, again, I don't know the ins and outs of the business side, but it was decided, "Well, why create these things when they already exist and let's just do a deal with Hasbro to take our development and put it with their characters." which I'm not even sure they had much of a back story. But once the deal was made, then we'd develop them into talking, breathing, and living characters. [chuckle] And so what happened was that Wuzzles then went on to have its own production department, just like Gummi Bears had, but like I said, my involvement at that point, I had dropped out after it sold to CBS.

0:24:39 S1: Besides Wuzzles and Gummi Bears, Disney television animation had one more venture in its early years. Fluppy Dogs was the first animated Disney feature for television. The show revolved around the Fluppy Dogs going through an interdimensional portal to Earth. It got a 5.3 rating on November 27th, 1986. The numbers were so low that it killed off the idea for a television series based on the special, and with that, Fluppy Dogs was over before it even really got started.

0:25:08 S7: Fluppy Dogs was sort of the... I kinda call it the albatross around the neck. [chuckle] It was a cross to bear. And I think everybody in the department worked on it at one time or another. And so what happened was that we were gonna do this Fluppy special and it was going to be the kickoff for a series and it just never took off, it never... It just never happened, and I think we were all kind of glad it didn't go any further. I mean, they were cute, but I just remember it being like, "Oh crap, I don't wanna go on another meeting about Fluppy Dogs." [chuckle]

0:25:49 Speaker 11: We've been to so many worlds. I don't know how long it's been since I've seen my family.

0:25:55 Speaker 12: You can talk!

0:25:56 S1: I wish you wouldn't keep saying that, I've been talking since I was 3.

0:26:00 S1: I'm sorry, but I mean, talking dog? Fluppy, and doorways to other worlds? I just wanna find one world, my world.

0:26:12 S1: Disney was going in cheap in terms of the price for pristine Disney Animation. Disney knew they couldn't afford movie quality animation and expect to make a profit. But Disney still spent $285,000 on each episode of Wuzzles. That was double what Hanna-Barbera would spend. It was so much, in fact, that it was $35,000 more than it was being paid by CBS. Why spend so much? The reasoning was simple, if it looked better than everything else on TV, then the characters could become part of the parks, and because of the success rate of their recent films, Disney needed characters more than ever. Willie Ito, animator.

0:26:51 S4: When I was at Hanna-Barbera, Michael Eisner was the VP of Children Programming at ABC. So when we were doing presentations and they would fly out here to review what we were working on, Joe would ask us to come in on a Saturday, sit at our desk as if we're busy bees and then bring Michael Eisner and his people through, and says, "Hey, here, look, they're all working on the new show idea," and then see the presentation. So I knew of Michael Eisner. And so, when he says he's gonna hop Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera, I'm thinking, "Oh my gosh, I came back to Disney to get away from this rat race, and I hope we're not gonna be all caught up in the middle of it." Well, to make a long story short, a few months later, a fellow named Michael Webster, who I worked with in animation, was hired on to be production coordinator for the newly forming Disney TV Animation. Michael got with me and says, "How would you like to come back to animation?" I said, "Michael. No, please don't, don't do this to me. I'm perfectly happy. I'm actually in my new career back at Disney." And he says, "Well, we're gonna have a little boutique operation. All we're gonna do is be responsible for the scripts and we'll do story boards and maybe character design, but otherwise, everything is going to be farmed off to a production house. So we're just gonna have a little boutique operation and let me dangle this carrot in front of their view."

0:28:29 S4: What it was is, he says, "I know you used to make a lot of trips to Japan and Asia, and you know a lot of the production houses over there. So I wanna send you there and meet with these different companies and talk business." And he says, "Well, we'll be sending you first class. You'd stay at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo." And then all that. How could I resist? Plus, the fact that there was a handsome increase because of my position, would be like an executive thing. "Michael, I'm gonna give you three months. That's what I could promise you." So, "Okay, that's a deal." I did the pilot storyboard for a two-minute pilot. The soundtrack was recorded. They cut the exposure sheets, and the whole bit, and with those two copies under my arm, I flew to Tokyo. As I was registering, this American gentleman approaches me, "So are you Mr Ito?" I say, "Yeah." And he says, "Oh, hey. I understand you're here to make pilot films for your fledging Disney TV animation." I said, "Yeah, I am. You could talk to me initially, but the decision will be Michael Webster, who will be arriving here in about half an hour."

0:29:50 S4: So we sat in the lobby, having a cocktail, and then Michael shows up and he's at the desk and I said, "Well, there's Michael now." So, well, we flag him over and he says... The fellow talking to us says, "What we wanna do is we wanna throw our hat in the ring. I understand you're gonna be talking to people at Toei Animation in Tokyo, then you're gonna be flying to Korea, and you're gonna be meeting with Steve Hahn at the Korean studio." I said, "Well, we only have two sets of soundtrack, exposure sheets and copies of the layouts and storyboards." He said, "No problem, they can make copies of all that." "So, okay, what do you think, Michael?" And Michael said, "Yeah, sure, why not?" So we awarded them to also do a pilot. Three months later, the three studios submitted their two-minute pilot. So the three pilots came in. We all go in the sweat box, all the executives are there, I think even Roy Disney Jr was sitting in on it, and all of the newly-appointed executives of the newly-formed Disney TV Animation.

0:31:02 S4: So we sit there and, number one, okay, number two, then number three, then the lights go on, and then now we have to say which one we liked, and it was unanimous. We liked this one, say, number two. Well, it turned out that that was produced by a company named Tokyo Movie Shinsha. It had nothing to do with the other two that we submitted, but this one had the rich, full animation and all that. So they got the contracts. So TMS is the producing company. TMS, they later did the Little Nemo in Slumberland feature also, and so they had access to a lot of young Disney animators with full animation training to work on their project. As a matter of fact, even that two-minute pilot, they sort of farmed out some of the animation to Disney animators, that's why it showed such quality and it beat out the Koreans and the Japanese studio.

0:32:08 S4: They cheated, but, in essence, they... Disney kept striving to get the utmost in animation quality, which is good, because that was one of my concerns. If Disney gets into TV animation, are they gonna lose their integrity by just schlocking it on, doing limited animation, and all that, but the quality is there.

0:32:34 S1: Jymn Magon.

0:32:35 S7: I remember we did a lot of tests with other studios. We ended up with... At least for Gummi Bears, we ended up with TMS, Tokyo Movie Shinsha, and I had to remember, when I was really used to looking at hamburger sort of animation, which is you move across the proscenium left to right, the background that keeps repeating, and that's sort of what we grew up with and were used to. And I remember the first episode of Gummi Bears, I saw Sir Tuxford ride his horse into camera. The horse came to camera, he did a full turn around, which you'd never saw in TV animation, it was like, "Holy cow! Look at what just happened!" And it was a real leap in the animation quality, and I remember talking to Karl Geurs, who was working over at, I think he was at FilmNation at the time, and he eventually came over to Disney to do the Winnie the Pooh show. And he said everyone in other studios was talking about, "Did you see what Disney did on Saturday morning? Oh, my God!"

0:33:38 S7: So the quality really raised the bar. Now, true, it wasn't feature animation, but it was a big jump in quality. Finally, they put us all together over at the Cahuenga Building, which was on Cahuenga, near Universal Studios, and it just got bigger and bigger as we added more and more people. So, on the one hand, we weren't on the lot anymore. The sort of good news was, nobody was looking over our shoulders, so that department started and grew and made its success sort of off by itself. Nobody was actually sitting down reading, our scripts, and saying, "Gee, I don't think this is very Disney, or I don't think... " There just wasn't any interference because they had other and bigger fish to fry. We went off and sold our first two shows, Wuzzles and Gummi Bears, to CBS and NBC respectively. And it just took off from there.

0:34:29 S1: Willie Ito.

0:34:30 S4: We had our own growing pains within the studio, getting people together, finding a crew, a good animator, story, bit people. And before that three months was up, I could see the frenetic pace. We were moving from office to office because it was like we move in and then they say, "You know, it's not enough room because we're expanding our staff." And I'm thinking, "What happened to the boutique operation? Now we're gonna have a whole staff. And then am I gonna have to do what I did at Sanrio, is manage this crew of people and all that." So I started feeling the pressure of that position, but in the meanwhile, I went back to Carson. And Carson van Osten, who was my boss in consumer products, and I said, "Oh, Jesus, it's the same old thing. Before I get too caught up into it, can I come back?" So he said, "Oh, yeah, there's always an opening for you to come back." So I came back to consumer products, but I stayed with the Disney TV, as far as merchandise and by-products and whatever else, but I was now out of the production rat race.

0:35:55 S1: Tad Stones.

0:35:56 S6: Anyway, I went back to Features, and pitched some stuff, and actually was considering leaving the company, and maybe just freelancing and then going into more, actually, science fiction short stories and novels. I met one of the guys who was then the head of the TV department that was just starting, and mentioned, "Hey, do you have any freelance opportunities?" And he said, "Oh, I don't know if you wanna do that, why don't you come and visit?" And I came to visit their very small building and he introduced me around, he said, "Yeah, Tad may be coming over here." Actually, he said, "Tad would be coming over here." And I just was quiet. I didn't know what he was talking about, but they ultimately brought me over to be the creative manager of the department, in which I was supposed to take pitches and come up with stories, and actually, I was supposed to take pitches more than come up with stuff, but I wasn't geared that way.

0:36:50 S6: And we had a gong show coming up with Michael and Jeffrey, which is you do like a two cents description of a show and they either like it or not. And I think we pitched 22 ideas. I think 18 of them were mine. And it's not like they were fully developed, it was like, "Hey, Trojan Birds and Legionnaire Cats, the city of Troy is up in trees, like Roadrunner and Coyote," and they gong. Anyway, Gummi Bears had been through two seasons, it was run by Art Vitello and created by Art Vitello and Jymn Magon. And Jymn had had no animation experience before that, Disney just said, "Hey, if you want the show, this is the guy who's gonna do it." So there was always a contentious relationship there. And by the third season, NBC said, "We want to change," and they tapped me and Jymn went on to, I think, DuckTales development at that point. Anyway, so that's how I got to Gummi Bears, it was just kind of like, "Hey, you, over here". And that started me story editing and producing.

0:37:51 S1: Willie Ito.

0:37:52 S4: But the question always was, "Well, how come Wuzzles and Gummi Bears, when Disney has such a stable of great characters that they could work from?" But I think initially, they says, "Well, we're gonna be making cartoons for Saturday morning, and that's a lesser market quality-wise, and we don't want to ruin Disney's image by turning out the limited animation with Mickey Mouse and all that, so let's go with new characters." But then the shows were a hit and it started to see that Disney TV was getting some recognition, and so Roy Disney said, "Well, come on, let's... Let's use some of our own characters, that way the market and the kids will gravitate to it knowing it's a known Disney character." So we did DuckTales.

0:38:52 S1: Jymn Magon.

0:38:53 S7: After two seasons of Gummi Bears, I moved over to work on DuckTales, which was a big deal at the time, we were doing this as a syndicated program as opposed to a network program, and it had already been developed, Tedd Anasti and Patsy Cameron were always creating episodes.

0:39:10 S1: Patsy Cameron-Anasti and Tedd Anasti, writers.

0:39:14 Speaker 13: My career in writing really started when I met my future husband, Tedd.

0:39:19 Speaker 14: That would be me.

0:39:20 S1: I was 18 and I auditioned for Walt Disney's new Mickey Mouse Club as a performer, and Tedd was a writer for Walt Disney and chose me at an audition, and I appeared on the new Mickey Mouse Club singing and performing sign language, and then I fell madly in love with him, Tedd, and started writing him love letters...

0:39:42 S1: Didn't spell my name right, though. So, during a union break, I'm sitting on a bench back when I did smoke cigarettes and the guy from the mail room comes by and goes, "Is your name Ashy?" I went, "No, no, it's Anasti." He goes, "Well, I think somebody's been writing you a bunch of letters, we've got in the mail room, didn't know where to deliver them." I discovered that she has an interest in me.

0:40:08 S1: Yeah, and he said... When he called me, he said, "You're really funny." He thought my love letters were funny, and he said, "I think you could be a writer." And Tedd showed me Micky Mouse Club scripts and taught me how to write scripts, and then I moved up here to Los Angeles and my first job was a freelance for Hanna-Barbera on a show called Casper and the Space Angels, and I freelanced for a couple of years and then became a staff writer on The Smurfs, and I was the first woman staff writer at Hanna-Barbera, as well as their youngest at the time at age 23. And then a little bit later, Tedd started writing for The Smurfs and we became story editors together. Margaret Lush, who approved my very first cartoon episode on Casper and the Space Angels, Margaret Lush, noticed that we had fun together when we wrote, not knowing we were dating or anything. And Margaret, she teamed us up as story editors on The Smurfs and then Tedd and I wrote on The Smurfs for three years, in which it won one Emmy. And then the next show that we did was DuckTales for Walt Disney.

0:41:16 S1: DuckTales was based on the Carl Barks comic book stories about the world adventurer ducks of Duckburg, Scrooge McDuck and his nephews. The comics were a hit back in the 1940s and '50s, and their comic adventure styling seemed a perfect fit for what Disney envisioned for its television programs. Barks was never really consulted, said Tom Ruzicka, associate producer on DuckTales. He continued, "Although the show was initially based on the concept of doing Scrooge McDuck and the nephews, we discovered that a lot of stuff that made wonderful comics wouldn't translate into the '80s, or into animation. So we started evolving new characters and other things to contemporize the show. As we did that, the stories got further and further away from the comics, although a few episodes are lifted right out of them."

0:42:03 S1: We had a meeting with Gary Krisel, where he showed us two projects, DuckTales and a special called Fluppy Dogs, and we chose DuckTales. That was a good choice.

0:42:16 S1: They hired us because they knew it would be a big show with lots of episodes. We got known as people who could do 65 half hours in a season and stuff like that.

0:42:25 S1: Or 90 minutes on The Smurfs. Our first year as story editors, we'd never story-edited before, it was 90 minutes, because it was such a hit, or on DuckTales, it was 65 half hours. People would say, "How come you're not freaking out?" Well, I just knew we would get it done, but Tedd, his energy and his dedication, I credit a lot of it to him.

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0:43:18 S1: They were definitely based on the Carl Barks books, but the main thing we had to do was, again, bring the heart, bring heart out.

0:43:26 S1: Well, one day, certain executives said, "You're not following the books very closely." And we said, "We have 65 episodes to do and Carl Barks only wrote 16, and they're not that different from one another."

0:43:41 S1: Jymn Magon.

0:43:42 S7: The idea came up, "Why don't we do a mini-series that we can cut into a movie we can then show as a pilot, a kick off to the series?" So what was really fascinating, for me, anyway, was, even though the show was already in production, was to do the episodes that set the tone for the series. So the first thing that the public was gonna see was this five-parter, and we just had so much fun putting that together, because they had to work as five separate episodes, but it had to work as an overarching big story as well, so that it could be shown as a movie. And I have a picture of Mark Zaslove and Bruce Talkington and I standing in front of this chalkboard, we have this gigantic story outline in front of it of all five episodes. It was like, "Are we gonna be able to do that?" And it turned out spectacular, I was very happy with it.

0:44:32 S1: A lot of the episode went to Japan, the earlier ones, and the animation was just exquisite. It was so exciting to have the films come back, especially the earliest episodes. Wow, dazzling animation, like A-team animation. They had a party and they showed one of the fully realized episodes, it was called Duckman of Alcatraz, it was really, really sensational. But I remember even Tedd saying, "I didn't really realize how good this was." I think that no one really understood that, I don't think I did until the episodes started to come back with all the music, fully-animated, everything, and then when it debuted, it was a really, really big smash.

0:45:16 S1: Meanwhile, the LA Times' Charles Solomon was not impressed by DuckTales. In fact, he found it rather distasteful. "Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and other Disney cartoon stars owe their popularity and longevity to the fact that they were so well-animated, they ceased to exist as drawings on screen and emerged as clearly recognizable characters. By breaking with that tradition in DuckTales, the new management at Disney Studio is risking far more than the $20 million it has invested into the series. At stake is a name that has been synonymous with the best in animation for 60 years." But the risk of ruining their name in animation was well worth it, because the show was gigantic. DuckTales was big, really big. The series was in 56 countries and seen by 25 million kids each day. It went so far that it doubled the ratings of kids shows that it was in competition with. Even though each episode cost $275,000, Disney more than made its money back, and Disney television animation had finally truly arrived. Tad Stones.

0:46:20 S6: Well, DuckTales was a huge thing, because a Saturday morning show is just... Your first order is 13, and then maybe 10 the second season, and eight, and eight, and then you're lucky if you're still on. DuckTales, suddenly, it was like, "No, we're doing 65 episodes." George Lucas told us once that DuckTales was to syndication as Star Wars was to movies, I mean, it was huge.

0:46:43 S1: Patsy Cameron-Anasti and Tedd Anasti.

0:46:46 S1: We finished DuckTales and they didn't pick up our contract. The figured, find somebody cheaper, I guess, I don't know.

0:46:53 S1: Well, actually no, let me... I would like to differ with that. It was a smash and that was a wonderful thing for our career. They offered us Aladdin, actually, and we... I think we had always wanted to develop, like kind of be in developing new shows, and when Nelvana offered us vice president of development, we took that, and they were just starting out, kind of, they had done some things, but Beetlejuice really was their first big blockbuster. So I think they did offer us Aladdin after that, and then later, The Little Mermaid.

0:47:28 S1: I was sitting in a restaurant and here are the guys from Disney, the executives, end up sitting behind us, and we were with ABC at the time. When the girls from ABC went to the ladies room, the guys from Disney leaned over and said, "We need you back. We need you back on our show 'cause we can't get anybody that's doing a good job." So we went back and...

0:47:49 S1: Yeah, we spent three years on The Little Mermaid, which was, again, a very, very wonderful experience.

0:47:55 S1: They wanted us for five years, but we said, "Well, maybe just one year at a time." So we stayed there for 14 years, just one year at a time.

0:48:02 S1: Jymn Magon.

0:48:03 S7: I know that I was a big Carl Barks fan growing up, just as a kid, reading the comic book, and so we owed so much to Carl Barks, creating the Beagle Boys and Gyro Gearloose and Magica de Spell, and all these characters. And I felt bad that he never got any credit on the series. So one of the episodes I wrote was based on one of his comic book stories, I actually gave him credit as "Story by Carl Barks, script by Jymn Magon." Because I wanted his name in there somewhere on the series. There were two things that were key to DuckTales. One was Scrooge McDuck was torn between the cold, hard cash and the warmth of his heart for his family, his nephews, that's what was always driving the series, was this man caught between the cold and the heat. The second thing was, young children don't understand money, it's just like the coins, built different sizes, and paper, and they honestly don't have a concept of how money works. But Carl Barks was a genius when it came to, "Well, what do kids understand?" Well, they understand the tactile quality of coins. And so to have a money bin full of coins that you were able to dive into and just swim through like a porpoise, just that's what kids could understand and appreciate. And the fact that he gave Scrooge McDuck that childlike quality to be able to enjoy his money in a very tactile way, I think, was a real breakthrough for the character.

0:49:31 S1: Carl Barks, an except from The Duck Man, an interview with Carl Barks, 1975.

0:49:37 Speaker 15: The office, I think, wanted me to do a Christmas story and so I'm casting around for Christmas stories. I began to think of the great Dickens Christmas story, about Scrooge. It is the classic of all Christmas story. All I did was just peep enough to sort of steal some of the idea and have a rich uncle for Donald. Well, he had turned out to be kind of an interesting character in that first story, and so I began thinking of how to use him again. I guess the fact that he was rich was the thing that triggered all further developments, is just how rich, and the showing of his wealth. I found that that was quite a fascinating subject, just piles of money. It seemed to appeal to a lot of people.

0:50:33 S1: And I just gradually made him richer and richer and then I had to develop a place where he could store the money and all the time, there were the Beagle Boys trying to steal it from him. Those things just grew like building brick walls, you just lay one brick on top of another, and finally, you've got a whole thing built. You can't dive into a pile of money like you would into a snowdrift, so he had to have a trick by which he did. And I don't explain that trick because I don't understand it myself. And he can go out in the desert, and he can smell the presence of gold. Other prospectors would have to dig mountains of dirt before they could find any nuggets, but he can smell them. I think he represents something that nearly everybody wishes they could be, some time in their life, just a little bit too rich.

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0:51:25 S1: Disney had another project that was budding at ABC. Disney had a long, strange history with this character, with lawsuit after lawsuit, but the character was about to become part of Saturday mornings in 1988, with an unlikely candidate to help lead it. Mark Zaslove, writer.

0:51:53 Speaker 16: What happened was I went to Cal Berkeley as a eventually theoretical astrophysics person, but I was also writing at the time, and I had a buddy, we were doing live action. So every summer, he was in UCLA, I was at Cal, we'd come back and we'd write a script or something. And then I wrote my first novel over there, and then it was like, "Well, what am I gonna do also for money?" I was doing magazine work, I worked for Larry Flynt for about seven months, meteoric rise and fall on Hustler and a couple of magazines like that, which was fun.

0:52:25 S1: I used to say, though, I was karmically balanced 'cause I did Pooh and Hustler. By the time anybody even asked about it, it was never a big deal, no one cared, I mean, it wasn't like I was posing or anything, or it was gonna come back and bite them. Not that I couldn't have. Oh, sorry. [chuckle] And I got my first gig in animation while I was there as well. But basically, I went, "I got to make some money." It's like, "Oh, yeah, animation. They need writers." My dad said, "Yeah, maybe try that." And it's like... So I went in, not thinking anything of it, really, and it was very easy to do, and so I was doing some freelance work and I had sent in something... Oh, GoBot, a GoBot script to Jymn Magon, and he went, "Oh, my God, it's the only funny GoBot script I ever read." So I went in, and he'd probably tell you better.

0:53:12 S1: I just had this sort of full of himself attitude, not in a bad way, according to him, but I just look back and it was just kind of funny, 'cause he saw it and he went, "This is really good writing." And I was kind of like, "Well, yeah, of course it is." It was like, "Well, it's animation." I never thought much about it. I learned to very much respect it. I always liked the product, but I was never like a fan of animation because I grew up around it, so it was always the discipline. But you have to understand, my dad was an animator/producer/director, so when I was growing up, animators were guys who were drunk on my living room floor. So I get to Disney and they're all teetotallers, except for a few people. I'm like, "You're not animators. I know what animators look like, and none of you are animators." I had gotten some bad raps there that I didn't do, I was always upset later when people say blah, blah, blah, and you were being blah, blah, blah, and I went, "I didn't do that. If I'd just known, I would have done that." I would have been much more obnoxious. I would have actually caused these problems.

0:54:10 S1: I think I could rub certain people the wrong way, although everybody could. But there was one day where, I don't know why, it was just one of those things where maybe we'd been working too hard, too long, and you're near the end of something, and I started taking tape and I started taping across the hallway. And then somebody threw something on it. It became like a giant spiderweb that stopped the hallway up. And then people started throwing items onto it, so it stuck. And so suddenly there's this whole blockade hallway, and people have thrown knickknacks and this and that. And suddenly, Michael Webster or Tom Ruzicka came by and they just look at me, like, "This is your doing, right?" It's like, "Ah, leave it." And then they walked off, 'cause they knew it was a way to blow off steam. But it was one of those almost MASH moments where you start off doing something silly, and the next thing, the entire place is sort of doing it. But I got nailed for things that other people did a lot. Where they were nicer, and I was more like, "Ah, whatever." I was certainly tolerant.

[music]

0:55:08 S1: And I think ABC wanted a Disney show. And then it became, "What do we give them?" And then Pooh, because they had mechanical rights, I guess, was a safe thing to do. So it was above my pay grade, but I remember that it was ABC wanting, but I think the machinations were, "What can we do that's very Disney that we have?" And then it became Pooh, and then it came down to us. It was funny. I knew it could be really good if we didn't screw it up, and they didn't think I should do it, 'cause I was young and I wore long leather jackets before Matrix. I was, theoretically, a dark character. And so they were questioning me. And I remember sitting at a table. I had to do the entire Bible premise pitch in a three-day weekend, and then go have lunch with Gary Krisel and some other people and explain why this show would be great.

0:55:53 S1: I remember going, "Look, I will bet you a year's salary," and fortunately, they didn't do it. "We will win our time slot, be number one, we'll win an Emmy, I guarantee it. I bet you my whole year's salary." And we did. We were the only show to do that at that time. But it was one of those where you just go, "If you don't screw it up, how can you miss?" The designs are good, great characters. Just don't be stupid. Write really well, and it'll be a good show. I never used anything from the books, because it wouldn't have worked for me. It was always, "How can I become Mill?" And then, "How do I expand that?" For whatever reason, they previewed it on the Disney Channel and then it went to ABC. And then ABC changed their order from 13 to 20-something for the first season. So we were all kinda cranking. That was actually a lot of fun. I loved that show.

0:56:41 Speaker 17: Why thank you, Piglet. It's perfect. What is it?

0:56:47 S1: That was the first time I was in charge of anything, and actually had to have responsibility, and scheduling everything. And Karl Geurs, he was very much pro-what I was bringing to the table. And that was a great learning experience. And it was about professionalism, and a way of looking at things that Karl had without being blighted or too jaded about it. Karl was Winnie The Pooh, just had that sort of attitude. As much as people used to say that he'd walk by and we'd be shouting at each other, I don't think we were ever ever ever angry. We were just loud. We'd circle, "What about this? No, this!" And then suddenly, I guess our voices went up. And people would go, "We walk by Karl's office," and it'd be like, "We hear you guys shouting. Is everything okay?" And I'm like, "Yeah, why? What's going on?" But you couldn't ask for a better person to take you in on your first day. We fell through the cracks at that time. They didn't know we were there, really, 'cause DuckTales was getting up to speed, and I remember, Karl telling me vividly, he goes, "You know, if we're a hit, they're gonna suddenly start caring about what we do, and give us all sorts of terrible notes".

0:57:49 S1: And he was right. Suddenly everybody wanted a finger in it the second season, and we got a ton more notes. "Well, we gotta do this. Is this good? Should we do that? We don't understand this." Anytime you try to do something, whether it's cutting edge, or just very truthful, and I thought the Pooh characters we handled extremely truthfully, they weren't just saying gag-lines. They were saying a line because that's what Pooh would say, or that's what Tigger would say, which is the essence of any kind of good writing, is, "Are you telling the truth?" And so we get people who wouldn't necessarily understand that, so we get notes, and then you'd have to explain it. And then that wouldn't necessarily work. And then it would be weird. I always had a really good relationship with standards and practices, but I remember I wanted Gopher to have a huge cask of black powder, 'cause he's a miner, and he digs, and I wanted to blow the side off of a mountain.

0:58:44 S1: And of course, ABC standards and practices says, "No, you can't do that." And I try to explain why, it's like this, and then kids'll do that. And I go, "I don't think they can get all the dynamite, or black powder." And they're like, "Well, you can do it in fire." And so I thought for a while, and just as a joke, I said, "Well, could you use a thermonuclear device?" And they thought for a while, and they go, "Yeah, that's okay." And so then I brought it to Karl, and Karl thought for a while. And he went, "You know we can't make the bomb look Pooh-ish, so we can't use it." But at least I feel like, "Okay, I got a thermonuclear device approved of for Winnie The Pooh."

0:59:15 S1: There's only one thing left to do.

0:59:18 Speaker 18: You mean?

0:59:20 S1: Yes, Rabbit. We must give Piglet a "staying inside" party. It's like a going away party, only different.

0:59:31 S1: While Pooh was doing well at ABC, DuckTales remained the number one kids show for two years. Luckily for Disney, when the show was finally toppled, it was by Disney's Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

0:59:44 S5: We didn't know this at the time, but I think in Eisner's mind, or whoever was in charge of that, felt like, "Let's see how the department goes first, before we start putting our flagship characters on the television." Because when you look at characters like Mickey, and Donald, and Pluto, and Chip and Dale, and whatnot, they were always on the big screen. So to suddenly take them and put them on the small screen, I think it's, you know, "Woah, we've got a big star. Let's not put them on TV, let's put them in movies," kind of thing. So yeah, we needed papal dispensation just to put Donald into DuckTales as a cameo to explain why he wasn't in the series, [chuckle] because he went off to join the Navy and left the nephews with his uncle. I remember we had to get permission to put him in to explain that.

1:00:29 S1: Tad Stones.

1:00:30 S6: I pitched Miami Mice 'cause Miami Vice was on the air. They liked that a lot because of the name. We called it Metro Mice and did a script for it, never went past that, although the villain of the script was a character called Fat Cat. We brought back and the idea of mice detectives came back as Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers.

1:00:49 S5: We had two characters, two little mice called Kit Colby and Colt Chedderson. They were the original rescue rangers. And every time we would meet with Eisner and Katzenberg, they'd say, "That just is not a home run yet."

1:01:01 S6: And then later on, it was like, "Okay. DuckTales is a huge success. Are there any other Disney classic characters that we should be developing for?" And Mickey was still too precious. Donald made an appearance in DuckTales, he's very hard to animate. Goofy, yes, Goofy has always been the every man, definitely develop a bunch of things for Goofy." And then when they got to Chip 'n Dale, it was Michael Eisner who said, "Put those guys in that show," and Jeffrey said, "Home run." And that was Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers.

1:01:29 S5: And that sort of broke the ice for, "Oh, now we can start to put other characters."

1:01:35 Speaker 19: I guess there's only one thing to say then. Rescue Rangers, away!

1:01:41 S6: I felt like, on Rescue Rangers, we lost a lot from script to screen because, one, we were working way too fast, throwing things together and not being able to follow up on stuff. The schedule was the same. The problem was, on the story side, there was just two of us editing. I literally was working 13, 14-hour days, except for Saturday, it was an eight-hour day, and then Sunday, my day off, was four hours. Those hours were at the studio. It wasn't like working at home.

1:02:10 S6: There was this particular point of contention that when it came time to do the multi-part pilot, we were told that we had slipped the schedule in some way, that we had less time to do the four episodes that were supposed to kick off the show than doing any given four episodes, which made no sense to me. It means we were rushing through the most important thing. So we took our shot at it, and we did what we could. And then they took me off the show and I said, "You know what? That's fine. There's only 15 episodes to go. I got to do the pilot, to set things up, so that's good." But then it turned out they were having people rework the pilot, rewrite it, and they were being given more time to rewrite the pilot than we were given to write it the first time, and that was too much for me, and I was out the door. [chuckle] Disney had certain landmarks in your career, give you a plaque or a ring or a statue. And the two statues I really wanted were Mickey as the Sorcerer's Apprentice and Tinkerbell. And Mickey was at... Hold on, I have it right here... I wanna say 15 years. Yes, I was about to get that. I was two months away from it, and it was like, that was somehow stupidly enough to make me calm down, and went back to work.

1:03:29 S1: Jymn Magon.

1:03:30 S7: It was a very strange time. I was busy trying to develop TaleSpin and we got this call that Buena Vista Television wanted someone to look at the pilot show that he had done. I think it was a four or five parter, just like what we'd done on DuckTales. I think they wanted someone to come in with fresh eyes and punch it up or do whatever, and it was like, "Well, I'm in the middle of doing TaleSpin and whatnot." Okay. So I said to Mark, "Look, I'm not gonna be here to help with TaleSpin. This'll go a lot faster if you help me." So he and I both jumped in and kinda reedited the pilot movie. And then I think we edited a couple of individual episodes that had been in the works during that time. And finally, just threw our hands up and said, "Look, we gotta get back on our project." And I think it went to Ken Koonce and David Wiemers next. So our time on Rescue Rangers was very brief. But, again, I never understood why Tad didn't follow through on that. I think it was some decision high above our heads, and I'm not sure why, so it was just like, shrug, "Okay."

1:04:32 S1: By the year 1990, Disney had invested $150 million in television animation, and by 1995, had plans to invest $400 million more. At this point, the output of television animation was prolific. Katzenberg was quoted as saying, "Each year, we are now producing as much animation as was done in the years 1920-1950 when all the classic Disney cartoons were made." These television animation shows had 22,000 full-painted cels per episode. Other shows at the time, of good quality, were averaging 15,000. Once Chip 'n Dale was another bona fide hit, Disney put plans in motion for television domination. And that plan was simple. It would have a two-hour block of cartoons when kids got home from school. Gummi Bears, DuckTales, Rescue Rangers, and their newest offering, TaleSpin. The shows were expensive, and yet, Disney wasn't even charging the networks for the shows. Instead, the deal was that Disney would retain the six minutes of advertisements to sell themselves. And this worked like Gang Busters. Despite the cost of production and advertising, the Disney Afternoon earned the company $40 million a year for a period of time. But this incredible run almost didn't happen because of one pitch. Jymn Magon.

1:05:46 S7: It didn't last long, but we had a process by which Tad would be developing a show and I'd be producing the show. And then I'd be done, so I'd go into development and he would go into production, and we would sort of flip flop as to what our duties were at TV animation. I was at a point of development, and we were creating this show called B players, and B players, I thought was kind of a clever idea. Came out at the time of Roger Rabbit. So the idea of all these cartoon characters mingling with live action people was popular at the time, so we said, "Well, who's the one character who is a star in motion pictures and then never worked again?" It was Baloo, so he said, "Oh, here's a guy who should be doing more movies, and he's not, he's stuck on the back lot. And along with him, is this kid who turns out to be a nephew, I think, of Mickey Mouse, his name was Ricky Rat, and Ricky had stars in his eyes, he wanted to be as big as his cousin or his uncle, whatever it was. And so the stories were all about Baloo and Ricky trying to convince the powers to be, specifically Michael Eisner, as a character in the show. "But it's too Western. Hey, let us do a space show. Hey, let us... " And then every week, they would be... Try in some way to get into the next gig, in that part of the cast, where all of these other people that weren't working anymore, like Horace Horsecollar, and Clarabelle Cow, and whatnot.

1:07:07 S7: Everytime we pitched it, it just never seemed to stick. And, at one point, Kaztenberg said to me, "If you say B players one more time, I'm gonna throw you out the window."

[chuckle]

1:07:18 S7: Well, it's like, "Well, I guess that project's dead." Everything I'd pitched there had pretty much gone. And so we were thinking, "This is gonna go", but it didn't, we'd stopped dead, and we were stuck, as we had to pitch the next series to all the department heads in Florida, and we had no show. And we had to get into production for the next 65 episodes. And on top of which, it was going to be the linchpin of the Disney Afternoon. And I remember Michael Webster, who was not a fan of mine, poked his head in my room and he said, "You better come up with a new show real quick or it's gonna be Tumbleweed City around here," meaning, we're gonna fire everyone."

[music]

1:08:01 S7: And I thought, "How did this fall on my shoulders, that everyone's future depends on me? Am I that important? And if so, let's see a bigger paycheck, [chuckle] if I'm that important." So it was like, "Oh, scratch head, scratch head, what am I gonna do?" And one of the guys that I had hired at TV animation was Mark Zaslove, and Mark had gone onto fame and fortune by story-editing the Winnie The Pooh Show. And so Mark and I did a lot of talking, a lot of collaboration on ideas and whatnot, and I said "Mark, come in here, I have an idea that I wanna chat with you, I wanna use you as a sounding board. "So what had happened was during DuckTales, one of the early ideas about Launchpad McQuack was that he had a courier service, and that he would fly anything anywhere overnight, or something like that, was his slogan, and so, Scrooge McDuck would use him to send things to crazy places like, 'I need a whale sent to Sea World', [chuckle] in Dubai, or something.

1:09:01 S7: And that never went anywhere, because, eventually, Launchpad became Scrooge's private pilot. So I said, "What if we took Baloo from B players, who's a really good character, I believe in him, and we took this air cargo service of Launchpad McQuack's and kind of glued them together so that Baloo is the pilot and he's got this company, and it's failing because he's a jungle bum bear, and he's got this kid, the typical Disney orphan, like Mowgli, who he's gotta look out for." I said "Now, we're starting to get the dynamic of what drove Jungle Book so well, which was here's a guy who is torn between being a big kid himself, and being a father figure." And I said, "I think there's something there." And so Mark and I kicked it around and we had some drawings made up. And in three days, we had TaleSpin. And we went and pitched it, and it was like home run. [chuckle] So whereas we could pull our hair out over B players for weeks and months, TaleSpin came together really very quickly. And so Mark and I ended up as the producers on that show.

[music]

1:10:12 S1: Mark Zaslove.

1:10:13 S1: He had pitched B players and that got shot down and they didn't have that fourth show to put on, which became The Disney Afternoon. I gather it was a $2 billion pitch, eventually, that's what they made off of it, off of TaleSpin. I remember walking in sort of in the middle of something, on Pooh, or on a break or something, and it was like, "Yeah, try this. What can we do with these characters?" And then, three days later, we had TaleSpin.

1:10:35 S1: Tad Stones.

1:10:36 S6: Gummi Bears, it was just... I mean, it was cool. We were a very small team, we were still trying to figure out things. It was just a lot of camaraderie in the studio, there was only... I wanna say like, two shows going, or on a special like, Fluppy Dogs and gummies and Wuzzles had just one season, and development was going on, so it was a very small group and a lot of energy. It was a lot of fun. And then when we got into the Disney Afternoon, it was even better because we didn't have to have network approval for anything, it was basically, if we could sell Michael and Jeffrey on an idea, we then did it. [chuckle] Buena Vista Distribution had to take it, they didn't have any input, and we got a lot of close scrutiny for the first three scripts from our president, who was Gary Krisel, of TV animation, and then he had stuff to do. So you were on your own. You'd come up with anything and then when first footage came back, there was kind of like a little more scrutiny, 'cause is it going the way we expected? How is it looking? What adjustments do we have to do? You went back to doing whatever you wanted, until it's about time to go on the air.

1:11:41 S6: At which time, it'd either be good times or panic, depending on what they thought of your show. I couldn't have done Darkwing Duck and had the show we ended up with under any other situation, because I was just trying all sorts of crazy, goofy things.

1:11:57 Speaker 20: I've just gone crazy!

1:11:58 Speaker 21: Come on, dad! It's not that complicated. Cabbages from outer space are duplicating everybody in the world, so they can take over the planet. And this cow, who's really an alien, has come here to recapture them. Just deal with it.

1:12:13 S6: It started as Jeffrey saying, "Hey, you did this episode of DuckTales called Double-O-Ducks. I want a show called Double-O-Duck." Again, I thought it's just a spy parody, there's no Disney heart to it, but boss said I gotta do it, and that's all I presented to him, and he said the same thing, he says, "There's no Disney heart to this. Do it over. Thank goodness. [chuckle] He should have said, "Get me somebody else, " but instead, I went into, "Okay, what about the Shadow and Doc Savage had a team of guys who worked in secret?" And ideas like that bubbled around Silver Age of comics and he really turned into more of a superhero, a non-super superhero than a spy, but you could look at that pitch and really do a normal show, [chuckle] I guess. And then, as we got into it, it was like, "No, I'm pitching, what if you take Warner Brother shorts and gave them heart in 22 minutes instead of seven minutes of just gags?" And that's what I was chasing, and some hit it better than others.

1:13:10 S6: When I was doing development, they wanted a new character, so I came up with Double-O-Duck, who, at the time, wasn't much more than... Visually, was Donald Duck, white tuxedo mask and a little hat. But, anyway, when we were developing him, Launchpad was not in it. In my head, was Doc Savage, who had a team of guys who worked with him, who were specialists, and then that shrunk 'cause it was like too many people. And for a while, he had a sidekick who was a little guy who wore derby, so it wasn't until Gosalyn entered the picture that we really had a show based on the idea that what if Batman had a little girl who refused to stay at home? Although I don't think we said it that concisely at the time. And we still felt like we needed a guy for Darkwing to talk to. And Launchpad, because he had been there in the beginning, and we knew him, just seemed like that personality is great. So we brought him on to Darkwing, but really changed his design and subtracted many an IQ point from him. [chuckle] So he's a lot dumber in our show.

1:14:10 Speaker 22: I got a whole scrapbook, a few newspaper clippings. Of course, it's not a very big scrapbook.

1:14:16 Speaker 23: Wouldn't it be easier to fly if we were facing the other way?

1:14:20 S2: Oh, yeah, sorry. [chuckle] I sometimes have trouble with that.

1:14:25 S6: The real pilot for Darkwing Duck is an episode I wrote called, "That Sinking Feeling", with Moliarty as the villain, this guy who is based on the mole man, basically, except he really was a mole, stealing objects from the surface, bringing him down to the center of the Earth where he'd reconstruct them into this giant ray that was going to pull the moon out of orbit to block the sun so it would be darker on the surface, and Moliarty and his minions could all live on the surface. That was the first one written, and the first one boarded that we went into and act three of that, for no reason at all, they're in a baseball stadium, and suddenly, everybody's in... Except for the villain, is in baseball outfits. It was that thing where Bugs Bunny would go off screen, come back with a whole new costume.

1:15:07 S6: We actually didn't get that level of breaking reality in the show a lot, although we went crazy in different ways, but that was the one that was testing out everything, it really set up Gosalyn's relationship with Darkwing Duck and how close they were and her relationship to Honker. So that was our pilot. That's the first thing through. Then what everybody considers the pilot, which is the four part, Darkly Dawns the Duck, that story, again, became a little straighter. But the main thing is, everybody always asked about the origin of Darkwing Duck, and I said, "You know, he's basically a Batman, what am I gonna do? Have him sitting in his mansion and a duck breaks through a window and he goes, 'That's it, an omen, I shall become a duck'"? Wait. There was nothing to tell there. I certainly wasn't gonna kill his parents, and have him have this life of seeking revenge. So, I said, "No. Let's address the heart, let's bring Gosalyn." This is the story of how he adopted Gosalyn, and then that story got a little darker, dealing with what happened to her parents. But that's what made you really care about her, so... And care about her predicament.

1:16:17 S2: Yeah, once again, saved by my buzzsaw cufflinks.

1:16:21 S6: Some of the things with Darkwing were very not formulaic, but I had orders for my editors, and I said, "Every show, he has to say, 'Let's get dangerous'". The secondary thing was, "Suck gas, evildoers" when he used his gas gun, and too many people didn't hear the G, and it just didn't come up as much, that one kinda fell away. Originally, he just had one thing that he said, he said, "I'm the terror that flaps in the night." And I, frankly, forget the second line, it was like the third script in, it was an episode where Launchpad had to play the part of Darkwing, and he could never get the line right. He said, "I am the road salt that rusts the underside of your car." He continually screwed up throughout the episode, and we all thought it was hilarious. And I said, "You know what? Rewrite the scripts we've already got done. Let's give that to Darkwing. That's too good to just leave on this one episode," and that became his ongoing thing.

1:17:15 S2: I am the terror that flaps in the night. I am the jailer who throws away the key. I am feeling really stupid. Boy, I hate it when I'm early. You'd think criminal masterminds would be more punctual.

1:17:35 S1: Dean Stefan, writer.

1:17:37 Speaker 24: So, throughout the entire office, everyone from secretaries to producers and everything, they ran a contest. "Name this character", "Name this star" "Name this guy", and out of all the names, out of all... You know, we each put in dozens. They picked Darkwing Duck, and of course, it was Alan Burnett, who came up with the name and he got the 500 bucks. I would never conceive the name "Darkwing Duck", it just doesn't make sense. But now, how could it be anything else. Actually, Wiemers and Koonce, who were my story editors, who by now, had left Disney to seek their fortune in sitcoms, they sued Disney because they said they had written that Double-O-Duck episode of DuckTales and they thought they should be recompensed or whatever the word is.

1:18:19 S2: Of course, anything to do with Disney, they own anyway, but they did see some kind of settlement, I believe. I don't think it was huge. Then they later came back to Disney, so I guess there's no huge bad blood, or maybe that was part of the deal. Tad really had the whole thing down first, he was really into Twin Peaks at the time. I remember our first meeting, where we all go in to pitch stories and stuff, he had two bagels or donuts in front of everyone, which was like a thing from Twin Peaks. I wasn't a fan, so I didn't really know, but I knew it was sort of an iconic thing and he was very into the whole Twin Peaks thing, and very artsy stuff. And I would later make fun of him, because he would... I guess, it became such a big deal, the show, that he would start giving notes.

1:19:05 S2: Everybody would write out notes and give it to the story editors and stuff, like, he would start cassette-taping his notes like from some undisclosed location, like Howard Hughes, or something, and then the cassette would arrive at the story editors, and then they would play the cassette for you, and I would put this cover under... A lot of that may have been because of his hours, he liked to get there like five in the morning and leave at two or three in the afternoon, 'cause he had kids, and he was an early guy. Most people like me, I'm probably the worst case, but before 10:00 AM, forget it. So I never worked directly under him, where I had to report to him directly as a story editor, but he liked to run a tight ship, I think. But the cassette notes were a bit much.

1:19:49 S2: I am the thing that goes bump in the night. I'm the neuroses that requires a $500 an hour shrink!

1:19:55 S6: I know, when we started Darkwing, they wanted to do a Darkwing Duck movie, and the studio in Paris, that later went on to work on features, they did a bunch of development that was totally ignoring what the show was. I took one stab at it. Again, this is the opposite of being left to do whatever you want. I had to pitch this, and it didn't go, and I just said, "You know, I can't do both. I can't do a movie and get this show up and running. So I'm just gonna do the show". I only found this out recently, they thought that maybe that should be a musical. Jymn Magon was actually gonna have meetings with Barry Manilow, ended up having meeting with another big music guy, not a name you would know as a star, but that was just crazy. And that really showed that, man, they don't understand what Darkwing Duck is, so thank goodness that didn't happen.

1:20:41 S2: I am the terror that flaps in the night. I am the weirdo who sits next to you on the bus. I am the swan prince?

1:20:52 S1: With the Disney Afternoon well on its way, it was time for the first of the fab five to get his own vehicle.

[music]

1:21:02 S5: I think they were going to originally do it as a scout troop to the show, and that's why it's called Goof Troop. I was not there for that development, but when it finally came around who... Goofy's gotta live in Spoonerville, and have a next door neighbor, Pete, that's when we developed the show in earnest. We looked at those old cartoons of Mr. Geef or Goof, or whatever his last thing was supposed to be, and he was always... Lived in the suburbs and would wave bye-bye to his wife, as she would get in a car and drive off, and he was in charge of the kid for the day. Goofy would make mistakes, and the son would just go along with it, and I remember thinking, "Well, we've gotta kinda make it more interesting than that." And you look for the key to the series. And the key to Goof Troop, for me, was, "I don't wanna grow up to be my dad," and I think we felt like, "Yeah, that's what we want. We want this guy who's a single dad trying to raise his kid right, and was next door to this bad influence, Pete and his family." That, to us, was where all the comedy gold was to mine, skateboards and school and working in town, and commuting, and stuff like that.

1:22:11 S5: My forte was always in the comedy [1:22:15] ____ is in Rescue Rangers and TaleSpin kinda thing. Goof Troop was more of a sitcom, [chuckle] more Laverne & Shirley, that kind of thing. Feels like adventure to me because Goofy found a way to mess everything up.

1:22:30 S1: Michael Spooner, artist.

1:22:32 Speaker 25: I was a principal layout designer on the project. We decided to go with the style of 101 Dalmatians, where it was line art, the painter would actually do a watercolor under a cell line, so my line art would be transferred to Xerox to cel, like traditional animation was, and then they would do a watercolor. I had done so much design on the town in which he lived. The studio decided to name it Spooner though.

1:23:00 S1: Jymn Magon, original pitch for syndicators to buy Goof Troop.

1:23:05 S7: So, I wanna introduce you to Goof Troop. And, in it, Goofy is now a man of the 90s. He's a single dad living in suburbia, with his three phones, two TVs, one cat, and a very contrary 11-year old son. Let me take you through a day in the life. An alarm fire goes off. It belongs to good old Goofy, that good-natured klutz whose motto is, "A day without sunshine is like night!" Goofy embraces the dawn like every other obstacle in his life, with boundless and fondling enthusiasm. Now I wanna show you the difference, here is his son Goofy Jr, or Max, as he likes to be called, because he hates being silent with an adjective, like his father. Anyway, as you can tell from Max's enthusiasm, this is a school day. Now, Max loves Bo Jackson, Goofy thinks he's one of the Jackson Five.

[laughter]

1:23:50 S7: Max loves Mario Brothers, Goofy's pretty sure they'd beat him off in the third grade. Max loves his VCR. Goofy can't spell VCR.

[laughter]

1:23:58 S7: Anyway, Goofy heads downstairs to make a nutritious breakfast, or more to the point, a nutritious mess. "Junior, food's on!" Well, Max heads downstairs, shaking his head, wondering, "How does such a radical kid like me end up with such a goof for a father?" And so it would appear that the fruit seldom falls far from the tree. However, this is a curse that Max is determined to break. He desperately wants to swim out of the deep end of his father's gene pool. But you know, through all these crazy escapades, the one thing that Max learns is, "Just when you're convinced your folks are totally useless, they're there for you when you're totally useless." So relax, Max, your father ain't so bad. He's just Goofy. Hell, let's face it, kid, you're a little goofy. Welcome to the Goof Troop, kid.

1:24:47 S7: Yeah, I had done an episode called 'Have Yourself A Goofy Little Christmas', which the idea of the father-son going off and father wants to do one thing that's traditional and the son wants to do something different. That, to me, felt the most like a booby, and kind of set the tone. And, at one point, we were gonna do, I think, a two-parter, that was Goofy and his son on vacation, and somehow, that two-parter turned into the idea to do another... Well, it was called "Movie Tunes" at the time, when we did the DuckTales movie, and that was driven pretty much by Mr. Katzenberg, who told us a really interesting story about how he was losing touch with his daughter, and he decided "We're just gonna take time off and she and I are gonna get the car and just go somewhere." And he says, "I don't know where it happened or how it happened, but we connected on that trip, being trapped in a car together. That became the gist of The Goofy movie, which was father wants it the one way, the son wants it another way, then they finally find each other along the way. That was very rewarding for me, to be able to move from the TV show into a feature film.

1:25:57 S7: Well, I sat by myself for a long time, and then they finally brought in Kevin Lima. Kevin just had a whole plethora of people he trusted, and they were great. The film took off from there, and I think, of all my experiences in animation, that was the most... I want to make sure I say this right, kind of the most disconcerning, because it was so different from writing for episodic television, 'cause in episodic television, the writer becomes king. I'm not sure that that's the correct position for the writer, but just because of the time limitations, you had to have something written and, basically, directed on paper, and then everybody followed it. That's whether you could get it done in time. But when it came to a movie, it was a very flexible thing, and lots of people are involved, and they're changing their sequence, and that sequence is so powerful that it changes that sequence. And suddenly, the writer's, "Huh? I think I recognize one of my lines in here." [chuckle] I think Moss Hart said that. I would come into work and I had written a sequence and then it would be storyboarded, and I look at this and say, "This is genius! I wish I had written this!" [chuckle]

1:27:05 S7: It was terrific. It was such a new way of working for me. So it was disconcerning from the standpoint that, gee, I don't have the kind of control over the project that I used to have on TV, but that's not to say that they weren't doing spectacular work and that I was such a lucky guy to be a part of it. While I feel like I brought the essence of 'I don't wanna grow up to be my dad', I really feel like so much of all the clever little things and the sort of Kelly moments, that was Kevin and his team coming in there with their stuff, and it was just such a delight to work with them, and that's why I think I was upset, because I didn't get to follow through on the movie. I was told in... Go over here and work on DuckTales. We went to lunch as I was leaving the series, we went to Sizzler, of all places, and I just said, "I feel so bad, Kevin, because I wanted to be so helpful and such an important part of this and I feel like so much of what I did didn't end up on the screen." And he said, "But Jymn, we wouldn't be doing what we're doing, if we weren't standing on your shoulders", and it was like, "Oh yeah, I guess so" [chuckle] Made me feel better. That's just a part of the creative process. The first link in the chain sometimes doesn't look like the last link in the chain [chuckle], it's painted a different color along the way.

1:28:33 S1: After the company had dabbled in its most famous IPs, the next show would be a wholly original character, well, sort of. Bonkers was loosely based on the idea of Roger Rabbit, he was a former cartoon star who had fallen on tough times after his show had been cancelled, and became a cop, teamed with a human partner. But its production was mired in reboots and dissatisfaction. Greg Weisman, creator, Gargoyles.

1:29:00 Speaker 26: Well, I mean, Bonkers is complicated. Bonkers was a show that I developed, and got Duane Capizzi, the producer, story editor, Bob Hathcock was chosen to be the director, producer on it. We had real high hopes for it, but, unlike Gargoyles, that was a show where I got it up and running and then I walked away from it, and other people were supposed to be paying attention to it, and the very first two or three episodes that came back didn't look very good, from an animation standpoint, not sure that, initially, the show's art directed very well. We had humans and quote unquote "toons", even though the whole thing was animated.

1:29:37 S2: And I think there should have been a distinct, more kind of realistic art style, not Gargoyles, necessarily, but something, even from a color palette standpoint, that felt a little less cartoony, so that the quote unquote "toons" on the show, like Roger Rabbit, and Jitters Dog really pop, because they were toons in a human world, and I don't think that art direction ever quite came off, but I think we had a really smart show which featured Bonkers partnered with Miranda Wright as a cop. Bonkers drove her crazy but he was her partner, so she'd back him no matter what, and ultimately, they were friends, and we did a lot of smart sort of clever things about what it would be like in a Roger Rabbit vein to live in a world with toons and humans.

1:30:25 S2: And then I think, honestly, that some of the executives, when the first stuff came back and didn't look very good, overreacted. There were certainly problems, maybe even some problems with the writing, but I don't think the problems were quite as problematic as some people thought, and I think, frankly, most of it could have been fixed by fine-tuning the art direction. But I wasn't in charge and I was also in the process of trying to move over to Gargoyles and all this stuff is sort of happening simultaneously. I did get dragged back into it, and at some point, it became clear that... To Gary, that he wanted some real wholesale changes here and neither Duane nor Bob were giving him that, so both of them wound up getting booted off the show, and a guy named Bob Taylor, who had done Goof Troop, was brought in, and Bob made some very drastic and, I think, unnecessary changes to the show.

1:31:19 S2: He did get the art direction better, but Bob didn't think girls were funny, so he ditched Miranda and put in a character who, in essence, was Pete from Goof Troop, and was voiced with Pete's voice by Jim Cummings, and Jim is great. Jim voiced Bonkers. I love Jim. But it was just a dynamic that we had seen before. The story lines were, I thought, way less interesting, and I was really not happy with the change in direction on the show. And then, of course, they wanted this stuff first, so it all got very rushed and they couldn't throw away the dozen or so episodes that featured Miranda, so even though that stuff was made first, it aired last, and they actually created an episode where Piquel joins the FBI and moves away, and Bonkers is partnered with Miranda for the last dozen episodes, which again, were the dozen or so that were made first. But they created a new pilot and basically played it as if the Piquel stuff was first, and the Miranda stuff was second, when it was really the other way around. And so, it became a show of...

1:32:31 S2: It makes me sad, [chuckle] but... 'Cause I think a lot of potential was squandered there, and I think a lot of the changes were unnecessary, and, to be fair, Taylor and I didn't really see eye to eye on anything, and I finally just begged off, and asked Gary to take me off the project, 'cause I didn't think I was helping Bob, 'cause we agreed on almost nothing. And so I was just in his way, and Gary had gone with Taylor, and it was his show now, so I had to let it go, and so Gary said, "Okay." And I sort of stepped away from the project, and had very little involvement with all but the first couple Piquel episodes, which I didn't care for, which doesn't mean they're bad, it just wasn't the show I had developed, and wasn't the show that I wanted to make.

1:33:30 S1: Bonkers hit the air in 1993. It had almost been a decade since the brunch that started it all. In that time, Disney television had gone from nonexistent to the standard that everyone else had to chase. The problem was, by the time Bonkers hit the air, other networks had already caught up and would even take the lead, and now Disney television animation would have to decide if they were going to chase by rebranding, or stick with the girl who brought them to the days.

1:34:00 S2: Here were all these people from different studios, there were people like me that had never worked for any studio, in animation. I was a record producer. So I think it was [1:34:09] ____ and I, we're talking, and we said, "Are we doing this right? Are we doing a Disney TV show correctly?" And then we realize, there's never been a Disney TV show, at least a Saturday morning style TV show. And therefore, because we work for Disney, and we're making these shows, we are Disney [chuckle], what we're doing is Disney. And that, whatever we were doing, whether it was right or wrong, would be a Disney show.

[music]

Subscribe: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-look-back-machine/id1257301677?mt=2

[drs404-blog]

UPDATE: Howell appeal judge takes issues under consideration

NEW ALBANY – Marlon Howell’s push for a new trial is in Judge Samac Richardson’s hands after a three-day hearing ended where his 2001 trial began.

His counsel asked for the new trial, at the very least from a jailhouse lineup was “tainted” because Howell did not have an attorney and should have.

The state insists there were no errors, except “harmless” ones, when Howell was tried for the 2000 shooting death of newspaper carrier David Pernell.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing over various issues surrounding Marlon Howell’s 2001 conviction for capital murder in Union County.

(Below is a running account of the afternoon session. Please excuse the typos and other glitches likely as I type rapidly.)

•• • 3:01 - Both sides prepare to make closing statements.

[Below with Waide is a little confusing and hard to hear. I will try to clarify when I speak with him later.]

WAIDE - MOVE COURT ON EXHIBIT 28 ... Statement by Tim Kent ... KELLY - HE’S ALREADY TESTIFIED ... WAIDE - Motion to dismiss hearing or grant new trial because AG’s intimidation of witness. Denial of federal due process law. Further, occurrence during this case about witness Pannell. Would like court to see documents given to us about Pannell, a polygraph. HOOD - No objections to entering polygraph. Says 2 polygraphs conducted on Terkesia Pannell. WAIDE - Factual basis, to grant new trial based on prosecutor’s conduct ... also that on 10th ... rst page indicates she agreed to testify. On 11th, took polygraph. On 12th, took another one. And speci cally alluded to her testimony. (told about questions.) Every question is about her testimony. They also are contradictory. No alternative for her. Also, when he goes up to an attorney to say you’re going to be prosecuted, warns him about witnesses to intimidate him about calling them. We think this is very serious. We are going to look for authorities.

HOOD - This is classic situation. Only time court ordered hger not to talk to anyone was yesterday afternoon. Wednesday, we took a break. Court says not to talk to her. She came back and testi ed. We issued a subpoena for her. Then she became our witness, we had a right to interview her. We did polygraph yesterday and another today. We asked if she lied on witness stand. Wanted to give her one chance to tell the truth. Waide set all this up to go back and interrupt. I asked about three questions. Waide jumped up and said he was going to tell the judge. He said all that ... they submitted a davits and would say weren’t true. As o cer of court, I had a duty to warn him about putting on testimony he knows is not true. What’s going to happen to Richardson, I’m going to ask court to make a decision. The Bar? I don’t know. No misconduct on behalf of the state.

JUDGE - We’re through with that. Made your motion and response. I’m not sure it’s incumbent on this court ... to.. how can I say... to take that matter up. One, I don’t know about a davits. If in fact what you say occurred, if it has... that is an issue for ... if feel strongly enough to report to Bar ... further, if there’s a criminal act ... intimidation of o cers of court and witnesses. There’s a statute on that. Grand jury meets, get on its docket. Either side, let grand jury have a shot at it. If crime has been committed, should pursue an indictment. Don’t think I have authority to make punishment in this situation. That’s way I see it. Every lawyer has duty to report every ethical violation... and have it investigated. Motion denied.

Ready to proceed? OK. 3:14.

RICHARDSON - I will be brief. Just going to give overview and keep my emotion down to a minimum and be professional in my approach to court. This case has been about things it shouldn’t be. Not about me. About whether Marlon Howell got a fair trial. Most critical issue about most critical witness - no attorney at that lineup. Proven by a davits, more importantly by one person who said none there ... he could not dispute that. After 13 years, we learn that trial court and Supreme Court have labored and made important decisions about case based on fact that was in error. Not for me to say, neglect or improper motive. Chief is o cer of the state ... his duty is higher than average citizen to testify. His duty is to make certain that what he says is correct. But once he knows he’d made a mistake, it was to take to D.A. and let him know so can notify defense.

First time ever brought to defense was after Mr. Howell had had a hearing before MS Supreme Court. Had lost opportunity to confront witnesses. Put yourself in Duncan Lott’s position. Di cult under best of circumstances, but when material fault fact that is going on and laboring under that, protecting Howell’s 4th, 5th and 6th Amendment rights. Also, in MS, very proud of this case, because it’s extended right of counsel ... when someone arrested and jailed under speci c charge, right to counsel attaches.

If take it farther, it was so easy for this to happen. All had to do was to ensure that his right was protected. Contend the right enured on May 15 when he was put in that jail. No excuse for them not to ... testimony... lawyers show up at 9:45. Lineup in 20-40 feet of where lawyers show up. All had to ask lawyers to assist client. All had to do, or appoint counsel. They proceeded without it. Reason I know they knew... look how long they tried to disprove there WAS counsel there. For 13 years. Only to  nd there wasn’t a lawyer at that lineup.

Unique situation, but also an egregious situation. Not simply that lawyer wasn’t at a hearing., And ruling on e ect on case. In this case, you have incredible situation where 6th amendment right attached, chief testi ed that Regan Russell was there. Court made its  nding based on that evidence.

In MS Supreme Court,  nds it will take minimum e ort for Lott to call Russell to verify. True. His client told him, I didn’t have a lawyer there. He expressed surprise that chief said lawyer was there. Supreme Court was right - should have picked up phone. Regan Russell ... this is a small town ... Russell heard that his name was bantered around about being there. He tells the court on stand, at or about time of trial... says can’t say exactly... but I told chief I was not there. That means chief was put o notice at or about time of trial. At that point, he had obligation and duty to report that to D.A. - hey, I may have been wrong. Russell didn’t get put on stand to say he wasn’t there.

What does chief do? Nothing. Nothing. That means we go through motions hearing to correct, trial ... aware of recantation of Rice ... is no physical evidence linking my client to this crime. Only evidence is Rice, Ray and Brandon Shaw. If ever time for close scrutiny - it’s now. No DNA, gunpowder residue. Gun’s not his. It’s Ray’s. 911 says 2 people in car. Quick Stop lady said that.

But nothing’s done when could be corrected. Goes to MS Supreme Court -  nds lineup reasonable... because Howell had attorney present. If I was MSSC, I’d say ... something wrong with lineup, lawyer should have said something. Since he didn’t, must not have been there. Another court relies on false testimony under oath. Now has grave impact on his appellate right.

In 2005, I submit Russell’s a davit saying not there. State takes it and goes ... not to Russell ... they go to chief. What does he do? He signs another a davit not Russell, it’s Tpm McDonough. McDonough says he told chief not to do that because he told defense he wasn’t there. I called every lawyer in three counties to make certain. Got a davits from key people who did criminal work at time.

Based on that, situation where state should have gone further. McDonough a davit - does state try to  nd out. No, they stand by it. Chief believes was Russell but still signs a davit. Did he take it back? No. Misconception has gone this long.

No way, absolutely no way... initial statements say Marlon Howell wasn’t there. They were torn up. No way for his 4th, 5th 6th amendment rights ... no way to get a fair trial. Given ... look at Rice... committed a felony because I wanted them out of my hair. He didn’t say leave. He just decided to commit a felony signing an a davit he didn’t believe to be true. Reason? We wanted him to be certain. We said sign this, think on it and we’ll come back with more formal a davit. If you’re sure, you can execute it.

We treated him with utmost respect. You saw Leonard Sanders. Me. His testimony violates .... case screams for relief.

We ask court to move as soon as possible for a new trial. 3:30 JASON DAVIS - ASST. ATTY GENERAL -

Will address issue of the lineup and whether defense counsel was e ective at lineup. This isn’t a typical 5th amendment case. I agree with counsel. But not a 5th amendment case at all. Mr. Howell was clearly not under arrest for capital murder when lineup occurred. Ms Supreme Court said 5th amendment rights do not attach until charge begins. We submit he was not under arrest for capital murder when lineup occurred.

He was not entitled to counsel. (cites cases. Talks about these cases.) Ms Supreme Court has new language where individual has been arrested and looking toward initial appearance. Right to counsel attaches after arrest and at point when initial appearance ought to have been met. When is that?

Lineup issue: We note for record trial counsel did not relinquish its claim about Russell at lineup. Record re ects. Judge stated it was a good lineup after question of whether it was. (tells about how lineup was composed by computer) MSSC says lineup was su cient. Say counsel heard judge rule lineup was su cient.

Question becomes when Howell was arrested: 8:30 on evening prior on blue warrant. Taken to lineup mere 14 hours later. Put in lineup. Two hours later was before a judge. This goes back to when his initial appearance ought to have occurred. (cases cited and compares with Howell case) (Notes court rules about initial appearances, within 48 hours or arrest.) Howell brought for initial appearance mere 14 hours after arrest. Also submit under MS Code 99-1-7, tells us when prosecution may commence - after issuance of a warrant or binding over. Record supports that Howell wasn’t under arrest for capital murder - no warrant for that. His 6th amendment right had not attached at this time. MSSC says lineup was su cient. Where is the violation? Submit there is none.

Beyond this ... (cites cases) ... we ask that your honor  nd Howell was not under arrest for capital murder and 6th amendment rights do not attach. But ... should you determine he was under arrest for it - and determine he was entitled to counsel - lineup was deemed su cient. (talks about harmless error - with illegal lineups) He was not under arrest. In these cases ... that Rice’s in-court identi cation of Howell was su cient. Record notes  rst ID in court by Rice was after question: Who did you see shoot Mr. Pernell?

We know issues of Rice’s ID ... MS Supreme Court has already determined issues of his reliability are foreclosed from argument. .. that court can proceed to an analysis. 3:40.

HOOD - I’m not here to argue what my colleague said about law ... following the law. The facts of the matter ... if their rule is correct, anybody can go through lineup and must have a lawyer rst...chicken and egg. Must have charge to get a lawyer. MSSC decision - seems pretty clear. Cases where warrant issued and lineup, that’s where our Supreme Court says entitled to counsel.

My issues - no recantation. No withholding of exculpatory evidence. Third that trial counsel was not ine ective for failure to pursue exculpatory evidence. Remember being Supreme Court clerk, thought about what happened in a trial. I know now why MSSC says re-canted testimony should be viewed very unfavorably. Our view, theirs are not favorable. Base it on testimony. Talking to Judge Coleman during recess - rely on him for impressions of his witnesses when he made these decisions in this courtroom.

Take testimony of Charles Rice ... he was same as at trial, no change in his identi cation as person who committed the crime. They came out, he says they badgered him right beFore he was to get married. Did it again, he says. Saw his reaction to cross-examination. Trying to tell the truth.

As to Pannell-Gaines, I’ve seen a lot of witnesses - I’ve tried over 100 - I don’t think I’ve ever seen a witness go back and forth so much like jelly. She answered contradictory. Her testimony was totally unreliable. Second, if you look at a davits ... looking at what she said wasn’t true. She struck only two exculpatory statements - only ones she could provide. (JUDGE TELLS HIM HE’S OVER TIME .... SORRY, WROTE IT DOWN WRONG. HOOD CAN GO BACK FOR A FEW MORE MINUTES.)

JUDGE - GOT 5 MORE MINUTES.

HOOD - Brandon Shaw, a strong witness. Nothing to gain by testifying. Lengthy cross - rea rmed his testimony. Said defense wrote out statement, got him to sign it after badgering. No re-cantation in this case.

No withholding exculpatory evidence withheld - Pannell said Shaw told her Ray and Lipsey committed the murder.

Trial counsel was not ine ective about exculpatory evidence, with prejudice. Trial transcript says ... opening statement... defense counsel says Pannell will say defendants never came into the room. Only way to know that is to have talked to her. Counsel did his job and was prepared. But she’s such a bad witness. Second, all her testimony was hearsay and not exculpatory. Reasonable possibility it would not have changed the outcome. Answer is no. Her testimony was not admissible. Counsel has not proven this case on any of the issues.

Their claim should be denied.

2 more minutes.... We think court should rule on - some suggestions ... no re-cantation, no withholding evidence, trial counsel was not ine ective. But if  nds no attorney available ... then we submit there is no arrest, was there on a blue warrant. Within a few hours he was brought before a magistrate for initial hearing. No attachment of 6th amendment right to counsel. We think, use harmless evidence in this case. 3:52

MATT RICHARDSON - We contend his right to counsel had attached. Clear, based on documents introduced ... and Tim Kent testimony that he was arrested for capital murder the night of the 15th. He said didn’t want him to resolve his parole issue and leave. Purpose of booking, in e ect he was under arrest. (cites cases.. de nition of arrest) He was being held on capital murder. Next day... must go before judge without unnecessary delay, not to exceed 48 hours. Only one excuse for delay is lack of access to a judge. Testi ed they had court starting at 10 a.m. He could have been appointed counsel. They chose not to do that. Had lineup. Howell was wearing di erent shoes... lineup was used throughout trial.... Look at closing arguments, they talk about the lineup.

If that’s not enough about error the Ms Supreme Court, says Rice’s testimony was crucial to state’s case. No way to be harmless for Mr. Howell. (cites cases) when lineup is in violation of 6th amendment rights ... no one should have been allowed to say “lineup” in this entire trial, It tainted the trial and the appeal. State still won’t concede that he didn’t have a lawyer. Mr. Howell should be granted a new trial.

JUDGE - 3:56 - CONCLUDES THE HEARING. Will work on this across next few weeks. KELLY - One matter, neglected to submit a davit. Live testimony is it. RICHARDSON - Will ORDEr a transcript. Wanted to alert the court about that. RECESS. 3:58

•• •

NEW ALBANY – Attorney General Jim Hood tried to intimidate a rebuttal witness today in defense attorney Jim Waide's presence, Waide told Judge Samac Richardson after an afternoon break.

Waide said Hood bluntly asked former witness, Terkesia Pannell, if she knew what perjury was and that she'd failed a polygraph.

That's clearly intimidation, Waide insisted.

Waide was present when Hood questioned her because defense attorneys insisted that's what Hood would do, when he re-questioned Pannell.

Later in the day, defense investigator Leonard Sanders, on repeat testimony, insisted Death Row inmate Marlon Howell's main attorney, Billy Richardson, never o ered anyone money for their sworn statements.

Howell’s counsel seeks a new trial for him or to have the Union County capital murder conviction overturned because of alleged constitutional rights violations.

The evidentiary hearing was ordered by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Senior Judge Samac Richardson of Rankin County, no relation to Howell’s lead counsel Billy Richardson of North Carolina, is presiding over the hearing, which began Wednesday, after all the circuit district’s judges declined to participate.

Attorney General Jim Hood was the case’s district attorney when it came to trial. On the state’s team with him are current D.A. Ben Creekmore, Assistant D.A. Kelly Luther and Assistant A.G. Jason Davis.

Attorney Richardson is assisted by Tupelo attorneys Jim Waide and Rachel Pierce Waide, with support from the Mississippi Innocence Project based at the University of Mississippi.

Howell, who was seated at his counsel table, was sentenced to death after his conviction for the May 15, 2000 shooting death of David Pernell, a Daily Journal newspaper carrier. His co- defendants insisted he killed Pernell but later recanted. They were sentenced to prison on other charges.

(Please forgive the typos and other glitches likely as I type rapidly.) •• •

1:02 P.M. - Judge returns. KELLY CALLS JIM NANCE

NANCE - Corrections supervisor, MDOC. 16 years. Involved with Marlon Howell situation. Never supervised him. (Involved with his arrest?) Yes. (When?) May 16, 2000. (Records about that?) Assigned to Union County and also supervise about 70 counties. (Records? ... when arrested him, what authority?) As a  eld o cer, MDOC. (Documents to do so?) Yes. Field o cer’s warrant, blue warrant. (Allegation in document?) Yes. (Hands him document, what is it?) Warrant for arrest for probation violation issued against Marlon Howell by me, May 15, 2000. (Involved taking him into custody?) Yes, had that warrant at time. (Probation violation, what?) Stated, failure to avoid vicious habits, not paying various court fees. (Anything else going on?) O cer Chuck Mullins had started a warrant on his person, failed to sign it. This was original warrant by Mullins. I signed it. Also, a citation for contempt of court for him. For court-ordered monies.

(Kelly - Separate from MDOC fees?) Yes. (Failure to avoid vicious habits. What is that?) Reference to a positive drug test. Failed drug test 5/5/2000. (Once incarcerated on that, did police have authority to release him?) No. (If arrested 5/15 ... could he be released?) MDOC could withdraw warrant or taken to court, which could release him if wanted to. (Would fee payment relieve him of obligation?) Only one condition. Other conditions stated. (Cites document number for judge.) 1:10

RICHARDSON to question. (Earlier that day, Howell was in court on probation matter?) NO sir, he was there on issue of court-ordered fees. (Warrant typed and ready to go about that time or before?) Not sure when original warrant was there by Mullins. (But everything you’re talking about was done prior to May 15 when he was in court?) I don’t know when original warrant was in court. (I understand, but original allegations were before then?) Yes. (You were there that day?) Not sure.

(Shows him Exhibit 42 ... you had other people in court that day you supervised?) I was there, I believe. (What is this important to? Court proceedings?) Appears to. (Shows Howell in court that morning?) Yes. (Warrant for?) Just for court costs, court-ordered money that’s all. Not in court for supervision or drug testing fees. Separate issues. (Customary when talk about ...) If there for violation of probation. MDOC did not bring this forward, the court brought it. (Judge continued it?) Yes, the court-ordered moneys. Not sure I was there that day. Possibility. Not normally there on day for citations of contempt. I don’t have a record of that day, myself. 1:15

KELLY - REDIRECT

(KELLY - Does MDOC have anything to do with court costs?) No sir. (Document - citation. What is this?) I’ve seen it in the  le. Probation  le. (What is alleged in citation?) Failed to pay remainder of $594. Nothing to do with MDOC. (Does MDOC have anything to do with preparation of document?) No sir. (Other charges?) Yes - habits, supervision fees. (Remember anything about Howell’s citation?) I don’t know for sure if I was there. (Remember any comments about Howell before court?) No sir. (Were you his supervising o cer?) No (Know who Marlon Howell was?) Only from past experience. Saw him come in to report to house arrest o cer. No contact with him. (Normally not at court days? Why not?) That is a court proceeding that MDOC not usually involved in.

HOOD - Before we rest, have some polygraph results ... RICHARDSON - OBJECTION... OBJECTION... DO NOT COMMENT OVER OUR OBJECTION.

JUDGE - What do you intend to do with it? HOOD - Consider calling a witness. JUDGE - YOU DO THAT.

WAIDE - Somebody ought to be in there with the Attorney Gen. Considering everything that’s gone on here. JUDGE - YESTERDAY, allowed it because of confusion. Not going to allow that. RICHARDSON - Did the court not say we couldn’t bring a witness that ... didn’t we do a general sequester for all witnesses? HOOD - SHE’S BEEN released.

JUDGE - SHE HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED. HOOD - She was up there during a break, we said can’t talk to her.

JUDGE - My position on that - brief says no witness shall discuss testimony with any other witness. Rule invoked and she’s sequestered. Does not restrict lawyers from talking to witness. Same oath, ethical considerations as o cer of the court not to tell somebody what to say on the witness stand. Certainly can discuss issues of case with your witness, except while on witness stand. I know of no restrictions. Just can’t tell them what to testify to.

WAIDE - Only exception. This is a witness relating to contradictory testimony. (Judge - I didn’t know who witness is.) HOOD - Terkesia Pannell is who this is. This is a rebuttal witness. Trying to interview her on rebuttal.

RICHARDSON - Clearly they polygraphed her. Not on record. That’s what they did. It will intimidate her.

WAIDE - throughout hearing, lots of concerns about intimidating witnesses. This one while on stand did say contradictory or confused things. Your honor was concerned and said neither of us to talk to her. She’s subject to being in uence when she’s not been talked to.

JUDGE - WHEN I SAID WHAT I SAID, I DID not want it to appear undue in uence on that particular witness. Concerning intimidation ... undue in uence, it’s been about police intimidation. This being same witness, even tho rebuttal, I don’t want record to show any intimidation from either side. I don’t want that chance out there. Not sayng you would. (to Hood) Better to follow same procedures with this witness.

HOOD - Ask Baili  to go and me ... I only have a couple of questions. Or in chambers. I’ve never been prevented from calling a rebuttal witness. Only reason for that ruling yesterday on her was that we took a break. It’s part of the state’s case is to rebut. I should be able to see in private, not with defense attorney there.

WAIDE - Here ... to get to the truth. We’ve got a witness instructed not to talk to anybody. Reasons for your honor’s instructions.

JUDGE - Just like yesterday. Put the witness on. (Hood - so defense counsel can go with him. Is Waide allowed to ask questions?) No. He’s there to observe. 1:28

(PAUSE WHILE HOOD TALKS TO PANNELL IN WITNESS ROOM... WITH WAIDE PRESENT) 1:32 - HOOD, WAIDE BACK IN COURTROOM

WAIDE - Would like to relate what happened in witness room. He said to her, do you know penalty for perjury? She kept repeating she told truth. He confronted her and said she failed the polygraph. He was trying to intimidate her and I stopped it. (Judge - to Hood, are you a witness? Richardson - no. Waide - we can call him in rebuttal.)

RICHARDSON - Asks for a few minutes to go over everything that’s happened. Judge grants them time to confer out of courtroom. 1:34

1:42 - WAIDE - We’re ready to proceed, we have rebuttal. We remove the motion. WAIDE - CALL LEONARD SANDERS SANDERS - Richardson’s investigator. (Still under oath, judge says.)

(WAIDE - Background stated earlier. Said you interviewed several witnesses. On each occasion, was someone else present?) Had someone else every time. That’s right. (Show him Brandon Shaw’s a davit - Exhibit 31 - Is that your notarization and signature?) Yes it it. (Aug. 3, 2005 - your sig?) Yes. (Present when eh signed it?) Yes, I was. (Remember whether you saw Shaw on this or another occasion?) Saw him 2 times. (Remember  rst time?) He says essentially what’s here. No recorded. Just notes. (Remember where it was signed?) Think ... at his apartment in Sherman, MS. (First time?) At detail shop in New Albany.

(Your best memory - when signed it?) On second visit, I believe. (In independent memory of  rst meeting?) He was at work at car wash. As I recall, he wanted to wait until he had a break, which we did. Billy Richardson, Joel Morris and me. (Ask to talk to him?) Yes. (Tell judge what happened.) Billy Richardson principally did interview. I didn’t ask anything. What’s re ected in a davit, what he said. On second occasion, chie y to get it signed. (Remember how long interview lasted?) I don’t ... second was not long. First might have been 30-40 minutes, not sure. (While there, did you see any intimidation of him?) Not at all.

(Was money ever discussed in those interviews?) No it didn’t. (Did you see Richardson give him money?) No. Nothing like that occurred. (Remember whether ... did he read it before he signed it or what?) It was read to him. Whether he read to himself, I don’t recall. (Who?) Billy Richardson read it to him. Heard him do so. Before he signed it. (Signature at bottom of statement?) Don’t recall. I was present when he signed it. Not sure if had my notary with me then.

(What’s your practice of swearing?) I know he was asked if contents were true, to the best of his knowledge. Don’t recall if we asked him to raise hand and swear.

(What about Charles Rice?... HOOD - OBJECT. We asked Rice about whether he was pressured.)

(Waide - shows him 2 statements, one handwritten other typed. Are these yours?) Yes. June 7, 2005 and June 9, 2005 dates. (Notary stamp on both?) Yes. Went to both. (Who present?) Billy Richardson, Joel Morris, his wife or  ancee and me.

(Where interviews?) Yes. At residence o  Hwy 370 in Itawamba County... East Union. Near Tippah and Union. Wife, if she was his wife then. (Remember purpose of handwritten and then typed? Why handwritten copy?) As I recall, handwritten was when we  rst interviewed him. Didn’t have notary with me at that time. He signed. Second, was to give cleaner copy basically. Had notary with me on second. Went back to my o ce and stamped  rst one. I’m sure I asked him if he understood and approved contents. (Was it read to him too?) Yes.

(Exhibit 23 - A davit of Pannell ... 3-4 pages. Were you present when she wa sinterviewed?) Yes. Interview was Joel Morris and me, made notes. Richardson not at  rst interview. (At time ...) I don’t recall his being at second interview. He probably was, but can’t say positively. Sure he was at  rst. (Any di erence in two statements?) No, no di erence. In fact, second she signed - done from  rst. (Are these statements she told you?) Yes, she did. Because preparation was from notes of  rst interview. (Did you do anything to intimidate or threaten her?) No. (Tell her to change her story?) No. In fact, she seemed very comfortable talking to us.

(When she was giving a davit... did you know if it was her personal knowledge or that someone told her?) I do remember. She stated it as if she witnessed these events. Nothing said about hearing from someone else. (Questions and answers?) Just what’s in a davit. Nothing di erent. 1:58

HOOD - (Anybody talk to you before you came to testify today?) No. (Not since you testi ed the other day?) We met brie y yesterday afternoon, and when they got to point about other things, I stopped them. Said I don’t want to hear it. We talked about these a davits. Haven’t been told what any other witness has said. (Your paid to be here?) I hope so. (How much?) Normal rate $70/hour. (How much total?) I don’t know... probably $30,000-$40,000... I really don’t know.

(You said both times with Brandon Shaw ... said each 20-3o mins?) First was, not second. (In Sherman?) Probably 15 minutes. (See his mother and wife in Sherman?) His mother, I don’t remember anyone else. (Can’t dispute he had witnesses there?) I think his mother was there. Can’t dispute it. (How many with you then?) Took two - Richardson and Morris. (At car wash, same 3 folks?) That is correct. (You say 20-30 minutes?) Max 45 minutes. I had no reason to time it. (He was washing cars?) Not while we were talking to him. (Tell him who you were, who working with or on behalf of?) I didn’t. Billy Richardson did the talking.

(Did you hear Richardson say he was representing Marlon Howell?) Yes. I know he did. I can’t say exact words. We would make clear who we were and why there. (Did you introduce yourself?) I’m sure I did. (Did you?) I would have to say I did because that would be the routine. I don’t remember that. I know he was made aware who we were representing. (Routine as notary... you can’t say for sure?) That’s right. (Can’t remember if you swore him in, but remember introducing yourself to Brandon Shaw?) I’m not notarizing the contents, only his signature. Knew they were aware of the contents. (You don’t say you’re a notary?) Yes, I did.

(Document shows ... writing at bottom and stamp. Put that after left?) Stamp on there after I left. Written while I was there. (Write that before or after he signed it?) I wrote it out and he signed it. (Remember that?) That’s what I would do, period. If I don’t have seal with me, I would write it out and place seal on when I get back to o ce. (You’re talking generally about what you do. What happened that day? You swore you wrote it out before Brandon Shaw signed it?) As far as I remember doing it, I don’t. It would be an exception if I didn’t.

(Who wrote that statement?) Billy Richardson. His handwriting. (You say he read it back to Brandon Shaw?) Yes. If you saw his handwriting, you can see why he read it back to him. (But when he read, do you know if it was on the paper or he just said something?) I know it contains what he said. (Were you there the whole time during this interview? In their presence?) Yes. (Did they walk around building?) That’s where we were. Don’t remember if he was washing cars when we got there or not. It’s been 8 years.

(So, admit not putting Shaw under oath?) Say I probably did not. I asked him, are contents true to the best of your knowledge. (If he told you about somebody committing murder, would you have written it down?) Sure. (Don’t you remember he said it was not Ray or Lipsey to murder, it was Howell?) No. (But you remember parts now?) Yes. If he’d said remembered .... who shot, I would have remembered that. (Did Billy say something about man on death row?) Words to that e ect. (Brandon didn’t want to talk.) Not true, he wanted to keep working until he had chance for a break. He was doing something with a vehicle. (So Morris. Is he here?) No. (From N.C.?) Yes. (Did he introduce himself to Shaw?) I don’t remember, but I know the three of us were done by each of us or Billy.

(Small talk about beginning of conversation?) A few minutes, probably. 2-3-5 I don’t know. (How many times did you see Shaw?) Two. (Sure?) Yes. (Another investigator?) One, I suppose. (Morris?) Had that one, now he has another. WAIDE - INTERRUPTING.

(How many investigators did he have working on case?) Three, I know of. (So, you don’t know how many times Billy R. went to talk to him?) No. (What about other investigators?) I’m quite certain that I know. (You don’t know how many went to Brandon, you just know how many times you went?) Correct. (You said you believed Shaw signed statement on second time?) It was the second time. (Any females there at any time with Shaw, brought by defense counsel?) No. (So, now ... think about it. .. did meeting go beyond 45 minutes?) If you want me to be exact, I cannot. I had no reason ... didn’t have a stopwatch. (Making notes?) Not at that meeting., (At second?) No. At  rst, I may or may not. But at second, I did not.

(Se when asked yesterday about your statement... when you stopped them... did you not go back to  les about statements?) No, only looked at a davits. (Billing records for that day?) Don’t think I have them from 8 years ago. (What did y’all do that day when interviewing Shaw?) I don’t remember every day 8 years ago. (Remember this?) Yes. (Don’t remember if interviewed anybody else?) No I don’t. (Remember conversation about death penalty with Brandon Shaw?) The main thrust was to  nd out what Shaw knew back in 2000. Little about Marlon Howell. May have been mentioned but not dwelling on it. Just trying to get the facts, the thrust of the meeting. (Don’t recall Billy to say he’d pay him for his time?) No, nothing about money or payment was mentioned. (What about helping him?) No.

(On Charles Rice, two interviews?) Actually, three if you count ... with Kent present. (At both, not one in New Albany... You brought your  les of statements?) Yes, I did. (Who told you to do that?) Nobody. (Referring to Exhibit 4 - for defense) Sixteen, I believe. (Rice statement, handwritten? Did you write that?) No. I don’t recall. (Who was there?) Same as already said. Melody, Joel Morris, Billy R and me. (Who’s Melody?) Rice’s wife. (Was woman with you?) His daughter was here at some point. Don’t think she was at this, but not sure. Billy Richardson’s daughter. Maybe female secretary of his. Don’t remember which one. (Stamp on bottom. Did he sign with stamp?) No. (Did you swear him under oath, raise right hand?) Probably not. He ...

(How long there when got his statement,... somebody to write it?) He agreed to sign it. We were there maybe an hour. In afternoon. (Did you stay til dark?) I don’t think so. (Are you confused?) No. (Rice said you stayed until dark?) I would dispute ... (Did he say he was getting married?) Yes, said in near future. Again, don’t profess to remember everything. Said married soon. (Was he trying to get rid of y’all?) No. (Call you and tell you to comer over there?) No, he did not. (Did you call and say coming?) I don’t remember. We had hard time to  nd him. (Dodging you?) Don’t think he knew we were looking for him. (He says it lasted until dark.) I can’t dispute it but I don’t know what time we got there. Said mid-afternoon we got there. I don’t remember the time. No reason to remember. We had trouble  nding him.

(Second a davit - typewritten of Charles Rice. Taken June 9, 2005 - two days later. Why go back when he was about to hve a wedding?) He made comment like he was getting married ... wasn’t a big deal. Living with woman several months. Was not like the wedding you or I had. (Why say that?) With bridesmaids and  owers. I took it he was going to justice court judge or something. He said ... interpreted it that way. He didn’t make a big deal of it. (Any di erence in  rst statement and second one?) Not much di erence. (What reason for going back and doing it again?) I don’t know the reason. Probably to have cleaned up copy. (Whole lot better than Brandon Shaw. You can read this.) Agree. (Just trying to  gure out why you’d go back.) (Did you put Rice under oath to sign?) Probably not. But I made sure he understood the contents.

(Are you talking about general practices or advising him he was sworn under oath?) I am not going to say I remember it, but I don’t think I ever notarized anyone’s signature without advising him.

(Look at statement .... D Exhibit 22 - Terkesia Pannell statement Sept. 15, 2006. Is that what you have?) I do, but not September. (February 15, 2006.) ( You were there?) Yes. (Who else?) Joel Morris, Billy R and me. (This one taken... how many times y’all saw her?) Two times. We made notes  rst time and a davit prepared from those notes. Then we went back. (When  rst time?) Not precisely, within a few days. Don’t recall how long it lasted. Less than an hour. (Meeting?) Her apartment in Tupelo. (Bring notes with you?) No. I didn’t bring anything but these a davits. (You have  le on this case?) Yes. (Only interview that day in Tupelo?) In this case. I might have had others. (Would you hours billed show how long it lasted?) Would show how much I charged for that day. Not how long actually with her. (She met with you as long as she wanted?) Sure it was less than an hour. She was very cooperative. We introduced ourselves. Gave us information, we made notes and left. (Talked to her about death penalty?) No. We mentioned but spent little time discussing. She knew what we were there for. We made her aware when we  rst arrived.

http://www.djournal.com/news/update-howell-appeal-judge-takes-issues-under-consideration/article_a6b4fffc-7df0-5af0-ae32-68a6a0a12ed5.html 16/34

9/7/2018 UPDATE: Howell appeal judge takes issues under consideration | News | djournal.com

(When she signed a davit. Did you read it to her?) I think Billy R did. (Did give her chance to read it?) Yes. (She said a lot of it was not true. Does that surprise you?) Yes, it does. (Did she ever say anything of bene t to the state of Mississippi?) She was not very complimentary of way state handled this manner. (Exculpatory evidence ... would ahve helped us? Say Marlon was at her house that night?) Yes, she said he was there but she was not there when he came back after shooting. (Where are notes from her interview?) I have not seen them. I don’t have them. (Would it help if you knew what they said before?) Yes. But if you look for truth, we didn’t are what she said before. She gave these comments. We did not put words in her mouth. (You don’t care what she said before - that’s way to tell if she’s telling the truth.) Yes.

(You testify ... more important than sitting on your couch.) I understand but what she said before didn’t matter to me. (Don’t you think when talking to law enforcement, it would be important what said? Heighten your awareness for the truth?) Truthfulness is truthfulness. (Don’t know if she was telling truth that day or not?) I don’t know if anybody’s telling truth. She seemed honest, totally aware of our purpose. She told us to the best of her ability - what it seemed like. (Never observed her saying something that wasn’t true?) I am not sure ...

(Hood - when you went out and interviewed these three - Rice, Pannell and Shaw - did you ever go back and read trial transcripts?) No, I have not. (Ever read statements to law enforcement?) I don’t think I have, not any of them. (So, Richardson was asking questions?) WAIDE - REPETITIVE. SUSTAINED. (Did you ask any questions?) With Terkesia, I asked most. Some with Rice. Brandon, I did not. (You don’t know what said previously?) Yes. (Did you or Billy R provide these witnesses of transcript of prior testimony prior to asking questions?) I didn’t. I have no reason to believe Billy R did. Not in my presence, no. 2:40

HOOD - Your honor, that’s all we have. JUDGE - ANY REDIRECT? WAIDE - NO.

JUDGE - Court reporter needs a break. Lawyers organize your thoughts. No more witnesses? RECESS 2:41

•• • 11:50 POST

NEW ALBANY – State witness Brandon Shaw said he didn't consider it a bribe when a defense attorney o ered him $20 "for his time" to get a statement when he stopped work at his car wash.

But later, Shaw said the attorney told him he'd do "whatever it takes" for another statement later.

Shaw is a state witness in an evidentiary hearing, which began Wednesday, about whether Death Row inmate Marlon Howell will get a new trial or have his 2001 conviction overturned on constitutional issues.

Howell was convicted in the 2000 shooting death of David Pernell in New Albany.

(Brandon Shaw continues on witness stand. Below is rest of running account of questions and testimony. Please excuse the typos and glitches likely as I type rapidly.)

10:03 - JUDGE BACK.

(Hood continues questions - To Shaw ... Adds him Exhibit 16. May 16, 2000... How did you give that statement. What happened/) WAIDE - Asks who he’s talking about. HOOD - That’s not proper. (HOOD - What time of day when gave statement?) 2:13. (How to police dept.?) I went there, drove there. I wanted to get everything clear... I didn’t have anything to do with it. What I heard, took .... Got home and dropped Marlon o . Talked to Kecia brother, girlfriend. Said trying to get Curt and get to bottom. Man had been killed. (Then?) Don’t remember... but we all got together, talking. They said don’t know why he shot him. JUDGE - STILL SAYING THEY. SAY WHO TALKING ABOUT.

SHAW - Me, Curt talking - he shot him, said trying to rob him. I begged them to come with me and tell law enforcement. They didn’t. I was leaving, they ran and jumped in with me. We all came down there. (What do?) Give statement. (What tell them?) Talking, what happened. I told them. Took him home. They put me in police car and lineup in a few minutes. Called Blue Mountain, had to cross over to di erent county and pick him up. Showed them where I dropped him o . Later, somebody picked him up.

(Hood - remember another time defense lawyer talked to you? Shows him document, transcript.) (Shaw is reading it.) I said I really don’t know where he is. (Date?) March 1, 2001. (Investigator for defense lawyer?) I can’t remember. (Hood - move to introduce transcript, taken by Duncan Lott investigator. Also to number statements.) WAIDE - Asks to speak with Hood ... I said don’t object, but would like opportunity to read over and make sure it’s what he told us. JUDGE - SAID he talked to somebody and didn’t know who he was talking to. WAIDE - counsel satis ed.) Judge gives him permission to number the statements, in lower right-hand corner.

(Hood - Second statement, law enforcement ... another document, recognize?) Remember, investigator showing it to me, Think it was Monday. (Read date) Thursday ... signed it. (Did you write all that?) No, I didn’t. (Hood - move to introduce marked statement from Duncan Lott, the transcript. Total 16 pages, plus cover with Lott letterhead.) (Hood - statement just talked about, dated Aug. 3, 2005. Move to introduce Shaw statement.) WAIDE - No objection, already in. (Hood - Exhibit 18 - 2005 statement. Who did you give it to?) My understanding, Marlon’s lawyer (points to Richardson?) WAIDE - Does he remember who was there. JUDGE - LEADING. (Who was there?) Lawyer, the one with the glasses on. (Hood - Indicates Billy Richardson.)

(Hood - was he there... where?) I can’t remember, he talked to me so many times. (How long talked?) Shhh... 4-5 hours, maybe 6 hours. Long time. (What was longest?) In Sherman. 4-5 hours. (When you signed it?) Believe it was. (He’s reading it, not very well.) Nobody especially Marlon  rst attorney ever ask me about the case. (HOOD - Said he wants to say something he never said before. Did you say that?) No. (Why did you sign this?) Each time, they came, they were recording or writing. He would be talking, have somebody else writing. Asked me to sign, didn’t say it was statement. Said was to say you talked to me. (Did he say a davit?) No. (Know what notary is?) Yes. (Have one?) No. Not sworn.

(Hood - Did your read this?) No, not until Monday afternoon when I talked to the detective. (Let’s go through it. First paragraph ... your honor, do you have a copy of this?) (Judge says no. WAIDE - SAYS IT’S No. 31.) (Hood -  rst paragraph.. I’m going to read it to you. You comment on it... Says Marlon had shirt wrapped around his hand, made me think he had a gun he was hiding. Surprised when he got out of car at his house. He had no gun. Is that correct?) It’s true. (When you told him that ... did you also say what you saw and observed about him that night?) I told him everything. (Second... I asked Curt and Adam where the gun was at... they said behind house near the shed... how I knew to tell police where it was at. Correct?) No, didn’t say gun was behind the house. I expected myself he might have put it back there. I asked them, they didn’t know. (When saw him?) I was coming out of the house to take him home. (So, that’s not true?) No sir. (Who took that?) WAIDE - OBJECT. OVERRULED.

(Who talking to?) Points to Richardson. (Statement 4 ... Never heard Marlon say he shot him.) True. (Never known Marlon to be violent. Did you tell him what Curt said in living room and he didn’t deny it?) Yes sir. (Never known him to be violent.) Correct. (He mentioned only wanting to rob him ... meant to say sell someone some fake drugs or trick them. Police never knew this.) WAIDE - OBJECTION, MINE DIFFERENT. (Hood - let’s go to ... Never mentioned robbing. Meant to say sell fake drugs or trick them. Is that true?) No. (Why say that?) We talked about that. Guy at convenience store. That was before we got to my house, that night. Night before the murder. (When? Night before murder?) Yes sir.

(Hood - Who talking about ... why stu  in there about fake drugs?) Just talking, sometimes writing, sometimes not. (He said couldn’t they just mean to sell fake dope or trick somebody?) I said, he wasn’t meaning it that way. He was meaning to rob somebody. (You mean “easy lick”?) Yes, what he said. (Trying to get you to say something else?) I didn’t tell them this here. I told them ... we were riding along. At gas station, I said something to guy at pump. He said, that’s an easy lick, we can rob him. (Continue... I would have said Marlon didn’t mean robbery. Is that true?) No, not true. Didn’t write that, tell them that.

(Hood - robbery with gun?) I didn’t see no gun. (Hood continues - reads.. my girlfriend refused to testify. Police putting pressure on her despite ... to do so. Kept trying together to say she heard Marlon say he killed Mr. Pernell. What’s truth?) That’s not true. I don’t know what they said when they talked to her. She told me she told police she didn’t hear anything or see anything. She was in her room. (She says in here ... trying to get her to say something. Remember wanting her to testify?) No. I don’t know. Only that at trial, something in the hall or something. (You were in the hallway?) Somewhere.

(If Ms. Pannell were to say she was trying to tell somebody at court that you told her Curt and Adam committed the murder, is that true?) No. Never told me that. (Ever know... see if she talked to defense attorney?) I don’t know. (She tell you anybody told her to leave court?) No sir. (Living together then?) Yes, o  and on. (Go to No. 8 - when I took Adam and Curt to police station, they were intoxicated and high ... in no condition to give statement or talk. Smell alcohol. True?) That’s a lie. Didn’t tell him that. (Condition?) They weren’t no drunk or high state. They were upset. (At station?) At station, can’t remember time. (What about police statement, time?) 6:03 p.m. (When went?) Think we were there before that. (Maybe mid-day?) Maybe.

(Hood - No. 9 ... police kept trying to get me to say I saw a gun and that Marlon shot someone, needed to rob someone. Is that true?) No. Didn’t threaten me. Said no, didn’t see a gun. That he had hand wrapped around. Thought it was a gun. Never said so. (Pressured to make you say something utrue?) Didn’t say that. (... they said Marlon telling on us... made Curt and Adam very mad.) Not correct. Part we said Marlon wasn’t there. Did not tell them that. (No. 11 ... facts are I don’t now who shot Mr. Pernell) That’s true, I don’t. (... Adam and Curt said where gun?) No. (... reads more of statement...) Only thing they stated, police, that Marlon and Curt had already gave statement. They asked who else was there. Said positive it wasn’t me. I told them. When they took statement, we went in police car to show where I dropped him o .

(reading ... never saw Marlon with gun and didn’t remove hand until we got to house?) True. (Police put pressure you my girlfriend.) Not true. She never told me that. (Document ... 4/4/2013) (Hood shows document to Waide then takes it) (Hood - shows to Shaw) One I signed Monday. 4/4/13 ... read statement. First closer to what happened. One defense took was not told way I said it. Don’t have problem taking lie detector test, or to testify again about what I said.

(Hood - when you say that defense statement wasn’t told by way I said?) They lied about it. (Intro statement of 4/4/13 of Brandon Shaw.) (Now, at time, if Kecia Pannell said you were on probation at time murder occurred?) That is a lie. (Tell judge what had happened, committed a crime.) I was 16 when charged ... grand larceny. Me and friend stayed across tracks in a house. Guy getting RR ties o  side of railroad. Him and another loading them up. We seen it, asked what doing. He said, anybody can get them. In daylight, we weren’t trying to steal. Took them and scrapped them. Lady at scrap yard, knows me and could have told me. She called my mom that they were  ling charges. Police called and said come talk to them. Didn’t even have time to cash the check.

(Remember if you pleaded guilty to this charge?) I think I did when I was 16. Hired a lawyer, Farese. (How old when pled?) I think 21. (So at time, you weren’t on probation?) No sir. (If Kecia says she peeked out of room and saw somebody, is that true?) WAIDE - OBJECTION. JUDGE - MISSED FIRST PART OF QUESTION. (Hood repeats question ... can’t remember. (Did Kecia ever come out?) No. (If she had could she see anybody in living room?) No. (Said you never told her anything about who committed murder. Why did she say that?) I don’t know. (Has she ever lied to you?) Sure, many times. WAIDE - OBJECT. SUSTAINED.

(Live with Pannell how long?) 6-7 years. (Do you have opinion about her truthfulness?) No sir. Problems numerous occasions with di erent situations. My own daughter ... so much con ict between us at time of break-up. Not at time of murder, maybe year later. My wife left and we had so many problems, you know. (You have other convictions?) No.

10:47 - WAIDE TO QUESTION.

(Waide - I met you when ... wanted to ask me a question?) Yes. (First, ask something you said. Did police accuse you?) They asked if I was involved. (What told them before that?) Hadn’t told them nothing before. At  rst, talking to Adam and Curt. Said them separated, me too. (You and Adam are cousins?) Suppose to be. (You and several went to Tupelo that might?) Yes, and Marlon. (Had been out with them before?) Yes. (Friends?) Good friends, drinking, smoking and partying. (Back to what police said - said they asked you if you had something to do with it?) Wanted to now my role in murder. (Tell you anybody accused you?) No. (That Howell said Adam and Curt did it?) He wasn’t there. I told them Howell was involved when he came to my house. They asked if I knew where he stayed. They put me in police car and I showed them where I dropped him o .

(What did police say about your involvement?) Nothing besides taking Marlon home. (Relationship with Adam, Curt ... went out and drank and smoked?) We came up from kindergarten together. Went out all the time. Hung around together, them and a couple more friends. (What time did you and Adam, Curt get together that night?) First seen them earlier that night. At house with my Mom, playing cards - lot of folks. Don’t know what time. (Girlfriend? That overheard conversation with lawyer?) Yes. (She’s here?) Yes. (To corroborate?) No, not witness. Just her with me. (She’s in courtroom?) Yes. (But you say she heard about this?) She already knew.

(That night, ran into Marlon and picked him up?) Yes sir. (How often in Tupelo with Marlon?) Never had. (At some point during night ... according to what you said ... you stayed at home while other three left?) Early in the morning. I was in bed at that time. First got back from Tupelo, smoking weed and stu . (Curt and Adam?) Yes, and Marlon. (High?) Yes. (Three left you didn’t go?) Yes, left in blue Cutlass, Adam’s grandmother’s. Me and Kecia got into it... said I spent most of evening with them. (Car in at murder?) Yes, Adam, driving. (Didn’t you partiipate when Adam took car back?) No. (What happened to that car?) I don’t know. (You didn’t follow them?) No. Took them in my brother’s. (You’re saying, after did not go with them, people left. You stayed. Later, then came back?) Early that morning. (Adam said Marlon shot somebody?) Yes sir. (Then Marlon said nothing?) No. (Neither Adam or Curt said they didn’t have anything to do with it?) Well, didn’t say they didn’t have anything to do with it. Adam driving car.

(What did Adam say about Curt?) Curt was on back seat of car. All I know, what they told me. (Adam said Marlon committed murder. Didn’t say anything?) No, all he said was he wanted to go home, asked me to take him home. (Know murder was about 5:15?) I guess. (Didn’t have somebody to pick up at 6:00?) No. ((Whose gun was it?) I don’t know. (You went and told police where gun was?) NO, I didn’t. They went behind looking for it. (You didn’t say back there?) No.

(You took Marlon home ... that morning... knowing or beentold he committed a murder?) I was scared. Thought he had a gun. Hadn’t seen it. (When took him home, not scared?) No. (Got home and called police?) No I didn’t. (You didn’t think murder was committed?) Didn’t know, said shot somebody. (You and Adam and Curt dropped Marlon o  at house?) Can’t remember both of them in car. (Didn’t you say you took them home?) Yes. (Must have been with you when took Marlon home to Blue Mountain?) Yes, must have been. (So you three knew you dropped o  murderer?) Yes. (Three of you, not one suggested calling police?) (You’re telling court you dropped o  man people said killed somebody. After you dropped him o  .... HOOD OBJECTIONS..... Waide - only said Marlon shot him ... as a good citizen, you should call police unless you were involved?) I wasn’t. I said, I don’t now who was involved in what. Never seen the gun. All I know was he had hand wrapped up, assuming he had gun. (After dropped o Marlon, claim you took Adam and Curt home?) Yes.

(What did y’all talk about?) They both said, don’t say nothing. (What were you saying?) Going to let police know, if you don’t turn yourself in. (Being a good citizen?) What? (You were trying to put in on Marlon?) I don’t know. I wasn’t there. Either one could have shot him. I don’t know. I said that a thousand times. I don’t now who shot the man. (Did you tell police that?) Yes. (Did you talk to them about going to police?) Curt and Adam? Yes sir. (What were you talking about?) Curt or Adam ... I don’t now. (You went to one of their houses and talked about this?) Yes ... not just us. Seems like girls around. (Tell Ms. Pannell what they told you?) Yes sir.

(So, you did tell her you had information about shooting?) No, they told me Marlon shot somebody. (Signed police statement/) Yes sir. (How long .. you and Adam and Curt talked about it?) Not too long. (When talking, did you say... let’s say Marlon did it?) I wasn’t there. He told me. We weren’t discussing. All theys aid was Marlon shot him, don’t know why. (Did you think that by telling police that Marlon did it, it would get you out of trouble?) Didn’t tell them Marlon did it. (Other than telling them Adam was driving car, tell them anything else?) No.

(At trial, you and Pannell?) I said in the hall... long time ago. (What did you see? She was in witness room but didn’t stay for trial?) HOOD - Said he was hallway. (Did Pannell stay for trial?) I don’t know. (Saw her up here?) Yes. (Living together?) O  and on.

(After trial, did y’all talk about trial?) Not really. We talked but no big discussion. (What did you say about the trial?) I don’t know. (Never talked about whether she testi ed?) I know she didn’t. I don’t remember her being a witness. (She ride with you?) She picked me up at work. (If she left, you wouldn’t have a way home?) NO, work right there. (Remember anything you and Pannell talked about trial?) Not really. no extent.

(Waide - statement DA showed that you gave went over and said a lot wasn’t true? Have you seen it before?) Yes,  rst time was Monday. One DA gave it to me. (Went over it?) Asked me about it. (When you told them about lawyer?) No,  rst time I walked to Jimmy Hood... whatever ... (when  rst told lawyer was pressuring you?) An investigator.

(Let me try to understand statements ... when lawyer was there, was someone else with him all the time?) Yes. (Same one?) No. (Person with, was taking notes?) Not always doing same thing. (One time gave you $20?) Yes. (Only time money came up?) Only time he ever gave me money. (When you talked to yesterday... you said?) Said me and my brother were sitting here all day Wednesday, yesterday and now.... told them, sure would be nice to get a check sitting here all day. Brother said.... I was making a joke. He never responded to me and smiled. And then, another investigator ... I don’t know who everybody is ... investigator came down and said to come back Saturday. I said, really? He said no, just playing.

(Where you were then $20 came?) At car wash. (First time met lawyer?) Yes. (How did $20 come about?) Well, he came to me. Didn’t let me know he was a lawyer. Thought he was an investigator. Didn’t know who they were. (Explaining ... at car wash...  rst time to talk to him and someone else... gave you $20?) Yes. (Also asked people up here for money to compensate your time. Did you bring up $20?) He did. He said, here’s $20 for taking up your time. I’m holding you back from doing your business. (You said talked to him 5-6 hours?) Yes sir. (First time, couple of hours?) Yes. (Day you gave statement?) Don’t know any time I gave a statement. (Take $20?) Yes. (Thought you were being bribed?) No, no bribery going on at the time. At time, brother and me washing cars. He came to talk about Marlon trial. Thought that was over. He said naw. Going for re-trial. Never made clear who he was. Said wanted to talk to me. Thought he was investigator. I said didn’t have nothing to say. Kept wanting to talk to me. Told him testi ed about what happened. Then, he said, don’t you know man’s on Death Row over this. I told them he made me feel kind of guilty. Understanding.. I don’t believe in death penalty. So, I talked to him. He said here’s $20 for your time, before we took any statement of anything. (He was paying you for your time?) At the time, yes. (When you asked investigators up here for money, you were asking for compensation?) No, I was just joking. (How did you know that?) No. Making a joke.

(Did you thnik you were doing something wrong when took $20?) No, he was taking up my time. (Were you paid for false testimony?) I don’t know what me meant. (Were you being bribed to change your story?) No, not my intend. Didn’t intend to lie. (Never intended to give false testimony?) And I never did. (You never said, pay me and i might change my story?) No. sir. (Didn’t intend?) NO sir. (Never been paid for testimony, at no time?) No. (Never o ered anything other than the $20?) Yes sir. (Do you have any knowledge about AG saying defense paid you bribe?) (Tell me what you know, if anything, about Hood saying attorney gave a bribe for testimony?) No sir. Don’t now what talking about. Don’t know about charging bribe. All know is when you came in and they were saying something about a charge for a bribe. (Who said that?) I don’t now who, not sure who. Heard talking. (Heard them could be charged with a bribe?) I think you were present when it was said.

(Waide - Statement you gave and said you didn’t say it, written statement... was it after that you talked to the lawyer?) I can’t remember. I didn’t now I was making a statement, just talking to me. (You still don’t now who shot him?) No I don’t. Don’t know who did what. Only know what Adam told me.

(Have you looked at Pannell statements?) No sir. (Do you know if she signed statement ... that Adam... that you told her Adam and Kirk shot?) I didn’t tell her that. (Adam said it was Marlon who shot guy?) Yes sir. (How often did you talk to Pannell ... several times about what happened that night?) Not really., We never sat down about it. Me and my brother, we did. (You said didn’t turn gun into police?) No sir.

(Waide - show you statement of Mickey Baker .. know him?) Don’t know. (Baker says ... Ray said gun was turned in by Brandon Shaw?) Ray wasn’t present. (What do you know about the gun used in the murder?) Nothing. (You didn’t point to gun?) No. (Found at your house?) Yes. (You didn’t know anything about it?) No sir. (So, you don’t now what Pannell said?) No. (Saying it’s a lie?) No, I don’t know what she said. I’m just saying that I told her Adam or Curt shot ... she’s lying. I don’t know she would have said that. (Has anybody said Pannell told that you said Adam or Curt shot white guy?) No. (Did anybody tell you she said you told her Marlon shot white guy?) Only thing I know is they said she was giving statement trying to discredit me. One of the detectives. (That Pannell was talking bad about you?) Yes, that she said she was what was going on. (Who?) I can’t remember. I told him I don’t know why she said what she said.

(Today, you testi ed same as trial?) Yes. (Have you ever looked at trial testimony before today?) Yes, I went on line looking it up. Me and my brother. (So, before today, you knew what you said at trial?) I been knowing, it’s embedded in my head. (You don’t nkow anything about what happened?) Right. (Know they now have pleaded guilty?) Yes.

(When you took them to station, you talked to them already?) Yes. (Did you feel like if somebody was shot for no reason or for robbery, did you know could be convicted of death penalty?) Yes. (You didn’t want friends to get death penalty?) Nobody get it. (Closer to them?) No. Wanted to clarify that I didn’t have anything to do with it. Know I did take him home. So much going on. Had folks threaten me and mad at me. (Who threatened you?) HOOD - OBJECT. NO RELEVANCE TO THIS. (Waide - goes to his credibility.) Judge - don’t now he’s accused anybody in open court.

(When was it you were threatened?) Around time it happened and around trial time. Me and others had been talking about it. Folks mad I said he was at my house. I said I have no reason to lie for Marlon. I wished to God he’d never been at my house. (But you picked him up earlier?) Yes. Lot of us talking they said he was at girlfriend’s house and dad said he was at home. I said at time, neither one of those statements were true. (Everybody drinking and smoking marijuana that night?) Yes, all of us had.

(Still have statement before you? One you signed but said you didn’t read?) Yes. (No. 33, your honor. Paragraph 6 ... see that ... you say when went to Tupelo earlier, Marlon said something about a “easy lick.” What did he mean?) When he said that was an easy lick ... at the pump at the gas station... like he meant he could take him. He meant about robbing him. (Said easy lick?) I didn’t write that. (Smoking at time?) No. Just riding around. Didn’t even have none in the car with us. (Thought you said smoking that night?) We were. We’d been drinking. (Graph 8 of statement... “they” Adam and Kirk were both intoxicated and high. See that?) Yeh. Saying, this statement... not true. (drunk and high?) At some point that night. (But say this statement is a lie?) NO, I’m saying most of this I did not read, he wrote it out. (Read Graph 8... I’m going to read it to you... Is is true you took them to station?) Yes. (Says both intoxicated and high?) I didn’t say that. I do not know. I don’t believe they were. I wasn’t. (They were at time of murder?) I don’t know. I don’t know. HOOD - ARGUMENTATIVE. JUDGE .... RICHARDSON - May I consult with counsel? (They talk)

(Hood - at bottom of statement... see that?) Yes sir. (Did you see the man there during statement. Did you see him sign it?) I don’t remember him signing it. (Did he put pressure on you?) NO pressure. (Man with lawyer ... was he also asking you questions?) He was talking to him ... (Lst thing you said, no pressure, just asking questions over and over?) Talking about attorney. (Police did, but no pressure?) No. (Police ask questions over and over no pressure?) No, didn’t come at me like you see people on TV. (But lawyer?) The whole ordeal was getting on my nerves. (What’s di erence between lawyer and police?) I really didn’t want to talk to lawyers. Wanted to talk to the police. (So, really no di erence?) Yes.

(What changed your mind about talking to lawyer?) Started in about Death penalty. (Di erence in him and police?) Not too much di erence. Getting on my nerves, both of them. Besides handing me $20. 11:39

HOOD - (You said several times about $20 ... said at time, didn’t feel it was a bribe.) Didn’t at time. When came to my house in Sherman. He’d been there before, Mom said. When got home, di erent occasion. He knocked. said I was hard to  nd. Said needed to talk to me. Same thing? Yeh. We talked it’s hard to  nd you unless I wave money around. Said he gave somebody money to  nd out where you live. He made statement like I need to talk to you for statement ... I don’t mind paying for it, whatever I got to do. (Ever ask for money?) No sir. (Why not?) I knew I wasn’t going to talk to him. (When came to your house and said he’d pay, what was your impression?) Like he was trying to bribe me. Told you I took it as a bribe.

(Hood - about trial testimony. Where saw that?) Seen it numerous times. (Transcript?) Went on line. Newspaper. (Counsel asks you about defense statement in Tupelo ... about that’s a lick or something. Had he said needed money?) Yes sir. Said needs money to pay probation o cer, Marlon said. (Paragraph 8 of statement ... when took Adam and Curt to police station, they were intoxicated. When was that?) Don’t remember the time. (After lunch?) May have been.

(Hood - this statement written down for defense lawyer.. Exhibit 18 - this paragraph, true or not... that Adam and Curt drunk to police station?) To my knowledge, they weren’t drunk. Talking like me and you are now. (That’s all 11:45)

HOOD - One witness, will be very short. WAIDE - If talking about Ms. Pannell, if they want to interview her again ... they have the power to prosecute. They’ve already threatened lawyer. JUDGE - IF YOU HAVE a witness, let’s call her and put on the stand. KELLY - Witness has just arrived, wanted to confer with her. JUDGE - How long intend to examine her? KELLY - 5 minutes. ... 10 minutes at outset. JUDGE - LET’S JUST RECESS, it’s about noon. RECESS UNTIL 1 P.M.

•• •

FIRST POST TODAY:

NEW ALBANY – A state witness said this morning that Marlon Howell's lead attorney paid him for his time as the defense re-investigated the 2000 shooting death that put Howell on Death Row.

Brandon Shaw, the then-boyfriend of a Howell witness, said North Carolina attorney Billy Richardson o ered him $20 "for his time" when he  rst attempted to speak with him about the case a few years ago.

(See below an account of Shaw's testimony today and Hood's questions for him.)

Howell’s counsel seeks a new trial for him or to have the Union County capital murder conviction overturned because of alleged constitutional rights violations.

The evidentiary hearing was ordered by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Senior Judge Samac Richardson of Rankin County, no relation to Howell’s lead counsel Billy Richardson of North Carolina, is presiding over the hearing, which began Wednesday, after all the circuit district’s judges declined to participate.

Attorney General Jim Hood was the case’s district attorney when it came to trial. On the state’s team with him are current D.A. Ben Creekmore, Assistant D.A. Kelly Luther and Assistant A.G. Jason Davis. Attorney Richardson is assisted by Tupelo attorneys Jim Waide and Rachel Pierce Waide, with support from the Mississippi Innocence Project based at the University of Mississippi.

Howell, who was seated at his counsel table, was sentenced to death after his conviction for the May 15, 2000 shooting death of David Pernell, a Daily Journal newspaper carrier. His co- defendants insisted he killed Pernell but later recanted. They were sentenced to prison on other charges.

•• •

8:50 - Hood has a motion. We ask ... that court to produce a witness today. RICHARDSON - We’re not putting her up but I think she is on her way ... probably be about 9:30. JUDGE - We;ll wait until 9:30 to see. RICHARDSON - May I inquire about what’s going on. JUDGE - Hood wanted access to Pannell. Asking where she was. Richardson - Why? HOOD - This whole hearing... operating like.. doesn’t follow courtroom procedure. Will not advise him about what I want to talk to the witness about. JUDGE - You’ve already held her to question again. Not improper to recall her.

LUTHER - She was not going to be our  rst witness. JUDGE - Weren’t going to start until 9 a.m. but if y’all are ready to go. (Attorneys - no objection.) (Judge to take a couple of minutes before starting.)

LUTHER - CALL BENNY KIRK

KIRK - Retired New Albany police o cer, retired 6 years ago. (Testi es about law enforcement experience.) In May 2000, was investigator with Tim Kent at NAPD. Called to Pernell shooting scene. (Luther - Was Howell picked up during investigation?) Yes. (Was Howell put in lineup?) Yes, around 10 a.m. May 15? (Prior to that, was he charged with murder?) No. (A davit charging with capital murder before lineup?) No. OBJECTION - LEADING. JUDGE - SUSTAINED.

(When charged?) After lineup, about 10 a.m. (When charged?) Some time that afternoon. (How long lineup take?) 20-30 minutes, don’t recall. (Did Howell ahve attorney there?) Don’t recall. (Charged, what does that mean?) Paperwork, warrant, a davits. (Before his lineup, any a davits signed?) No. (Warrants?) No. (Why not?) Well, you get your ... we needed a lineup. (Prior to lineup, did you have evidence to charge him?) No. (Did you interview any witnesses?) I was present for some. Didn’t conduct any. (Did you threaten any?) No.

9:00 - JIM WAIDE (Telling counsel that no charge until after the lineup?) Of capital murder, yes. (Held before?) Yes. (Remember when taken into custody?) Uh, we got warrant from MDOC, ppicked up that night after the incident. (Y’all had MDOC warrant for parole violaiton - behind in payments. Know how long you had that warrant?) No sir. (But behind on payments and warrant, not picked up until co-defendants made statement about the murder?) Yes. (How did probation o cer picked him up? Who?) Police and Sheri ’s Dept.

(So, once picked him up, was he free to leave?) No, MDOC had hold on him. (Why?) Because MDOC had one. Had to do whatever with parole o cer before he could get out. (You had information that he committed the murder?) Yes. (Did you take a statement?) Yes. (You’re not saying you’d take him out before going to the judge?) No. HOOD - He’s a police o cer, No foundation he had authority to release somebody from jail. WAIDE - (Without going to the judge, in your experience as police o cer ... have you ever seen two witnesses say murder and you released somebody?) No. (Didn’t happen in this case?) No. 30 years in law enforcement.

(Your opinion? Based on the codefendant statements, did you have probable cause to hold him for capital murder?) I think we did. (Needed something more solid?) Yes, lineup. (In your eyes, lineup was crucial factor to prosecute?) It helped, yes. (It was crucial, wasn’t it? You didn’t want to go with just two codefendant statements?) Yes. (You wouldn’t want to go to trial with just their statements, wanted something more solid?) Well, common knowledge to get all you could. LIne up is one of them.

9:06 - LUTHER (ASKED ON CROSS IF HOWELL WAS PICKED UP on probation violation for failure to pay his fees. Show you document, see if familiar. WAIDE - No objection.)

(Luther - Document, recognize?) Warrant for violation of probtion on Marlon Howell. (What is alleged in it?) Non-payment for fees. (Was part of this screening for drug use?) WAIDE - OBJECTION. (Failure to pay fees, no matter what?) Yes. (Did you or NAPD have any authority to release him from that probation warrant?) No. (Did Howell ... you were asked about having two statements again, then release from jail. What would you have done if Rice said he wasn’t the one?) We would have investigated more. WAIDE - OBJECTION TO SAY HE’S ASKING... LEADING. JUDGE - SUSTAINED.

(What had Rice done.. did he came forward?) Yes. He gave description of what person looked like. (Why lineup?) WAIDE - OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF HIS KNOWLEDGE. Luther - placed importance of lineup in cross examination, whether Kirk had authority about arrest JUDGE - OVERULED.

(WHY DO LINEUP?) To make sure.... (Would you have signed warrant, a davit charging Howell if all you had was statement from co-defendants?) Yes sir. (Prepared to sign a davits before?) Myself? No.

9:11 - STATE CALLS BRANDON SHAW. Hood to question.

SHAW - 32. Self-employed, tears down houses. TEsti ed during trial. (Hood - Tell judge brie y your role night of murder.) They had came to my house, I was asleep. Ray knocked and woke us up. Said wanted to talk to him, important. May 15, 2000. In bed with Kesia Pannell. I got up. Heard disturbance. Startled. Adam told me Marlon had shot somebody. Playing? NO, for real. During time, all us present in the room, not one time did Marlon say he did or didn’t. (Appearance?) He was hysterical. His face real red.

JUDGE - Who was present?

SHAW - Adam said he committed murder. Curt con rmed it. Marlon was hysterical like something happened. Pacing back and forth. Hand under his arm. WAIDE - This is all in the record. I don’ thave problem with a summary. But going through every detail... like at trial. HOOD - Ms. Pannell attacked his credibility yesterday. Not going through every detail. JUDGE - OVERRULED.

(HOOD - So, explain what talking about defendant. What was he doing?) He had like his hand under his arm and he was packing back and forward. He had shirt wrapped around his hand. (Then what?) Then, Marlon said take me home, Blue Mountain. (Who was there?) Me, Marlon, Curt, Adam and ..... I was scared I thought he had a gun. Had his hand under his arm, Marlon did. (What do?) As I was going back Adam was behind, Curt too. I told Kecia I have to go. She asked why. I didn’ tell me, just chill out. I know how she is, would have said you’re not going anywhere.

(Why didn’t you want to tell Kecia at that time?) Marlon ...he had just shot somebody. I put my clothes on. To living room, I thought I didn’t have tag on my car. Got my brother’s car keys. I didn’t tell him what was going on. Marlon came from around house. I got in other car and took Marlon. Marcus got in car  rst. To take Marlon home. He said, don’t say nothing. 

(Then?) Came back to New Albany. Told them he said not to tell nobody. Curt, and them left. I dropped them o . My brother and Kecia didn’t know what was going on. She was awake when I got back. (In living room, talked to them?) Don’t know. Told her that I took hi home and they said he just shot somebody. (Did you say other shot him?) No. (If she were to say that’s what you told her?) She’d be telling a lie. (If she told court that you said Curt and Adam killed Pernell, that would be a lie?) Yes. sir. WAIDE - That’s question for court. JUDGE - I WON’T JUDGE HER credibility unless he contradcts her. overruled.

(HOOD - If she said she peeped out BR door?) I didn’t see that. WAIDE - LEADING. HE’S NOT SUPPOSE TO NOW WHAT SHE TESTIFIED. JUDGE - to witness, wait. OVERRULED. He said “if she said that.”

(HOOD - IN BR, could you see into livingroom?) No. (How was it set up? If somebody was in living room.) Front about 100 feet across. BR on other side of dining room. BR, door opens. Can’t see directly into living room. Mother had a cabinet... dining room right o  BR. She had a big cabinet in dining room and couldn’t see around it into the living room. She’d have to come all the way out of the room to see living room. (So, if opened door, couldn’t see who was there?) No. She’d have to come all the way to the door ... to see. (See then?) Not directloy.

(See her come out?) No. (Ask her what was going on?) Didn’t tell her anything. (Now, when you got back and told her. What time was it?) Can’t remember those details. Daylight. (What time?) Don’t know. (Said Kesia was up?) Told .. my brother, Kecia and my brother’s girlfriend. Talked about what happened. I left and went to look for Curt and Adam. Told them I was going to let o ce now what happened. It was on the new... about the murder.

JUDGE - Mr. Shaw, slow down.

(Hood - When talked with people in house, Kecia... watch TV?) Yes sir. Don’t remember who all was sitting there... about the murder. (Any questions with Kecia about who committed the murder?) I don’t know. (How long were you living with Kecia?) About 6-7 years. O  and on. (Have any children?) A daughter, she’s 11. (What about your parting, your breakup?)( We never got along. (Is she mad at you?) Yeh. (Did she ever lie?) WAIDE- LEADING. SUSTAINED.

Hood - If she told us that you tole her that Curtis and Adam committed the murder, that’s a lie?) Yes sir. (Why would she lie about that?) I don’t know. Marlon’s lawyer might have paid her. WAIDE - OBJECTION. MOTION TO STRIKE. HE HAS NO KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THIS,. IF HE’S GOT FACTS, HE NEEDS TO TESTIFY TO IT. HOOD - Ask him to make sttements, not talk to witness. JUDGE - He said they might have paid her. SUSTAIN OBJECTION. Supposition, guess work... sustained.

(DID THEY ever o er you money to change your testimony?) Yeh, they tried to bribe me. (Who?) I don’t know name. (How many times did someone came about giving another statement?) About 5 times. (First time, when and where?) At car wash, he came to talk to me. Didn’t want to talk. WAIDE - Ask court to instruct who did what. Who is he talking about, accusations of misconduct. JUDGE - Say who it was, what they looked like, some type of identi caiton?

Shaw - two of them. Only one I remember was guy sitting there in glasses against the wall. Third man down (POINTING TO RICHARDSON) Hood - Indicates Richardson as one who came to talk to him.

(Hood - FIRST TIME, what occurred?) Washing cars, real busy. He kept on wanting to talk to me. About Marlon Howell. (Who was it?) First time didn’t say. Thought it was state investigator. Didn’t want to talk to him. I asked what is this about? Want to get on with my life, I have people who have threatened me. I have never said Marlon shot anybody. I don’t know what he did, only he came to my house. He kept badgering. Then ... (How long?) A few minutes. Then said well, need to talk to you, man’s life on line. He’s on death row. I kind of felt guilty. I said he shouldn’t be on death row... but serve life, my opinon. (He? Who talking about?) The lawyer.

(Hood - So, after that?) I stopped washing and we talked. Went on a while, more than hour or two. He said, pulled out wallet. I’ll give you $20 for your time. Lawyer said. (Then what?) We talked. (So, didn’t sign statement hten?) Don’t know. When they talked to me, always writing or recording. He never came by himself. At my house ... (Next time?) Can’t say which. Just remember several times. (How many times?) About 5 times.

(Hood - Anybody else present when talked to you?) At shop, brother was there but didn’t hear anything. My wife was there but she didn’t hear anything. Later came to house, Mom and wife there. Can’t remember who else. At Sherman, wife and Mom there too. At Sherman, asked him how found out where I lived. Trying to get away. He said it’s hard to keep up with you. I said, not trying to be found. Spread money around, and people will tell me where you at. (How long ago was this?) In Sherman was 2008. (How long period were these 5 times with Richardson?) I don’t now. A few years.

(Hood - When mother and wife there, any conversation about money?) Yes, sir. He said wanted to talk about it, man’s life at stake. I’m willing to pay for your time. Like I want to get a statement. (How many times said paying?) A few time. Probably every time. (How did you take that?) I felt like he was trying to pay me for a statement that he wanted. Didn’t. (Signed it?) I told you and everybody else, I didnot read that paper. EVery time they came, they were writing down. Not at one time did I ever read what they wrote. He said, just sign this that I talked to you. Never did I read it.

(Hood is showing documents to Waide. Several dozen people in the audience. Includes Howell’s mother.) HOOD - They have this in discovery. WAIDE - Your honor, I can’t recall this. JUDGE - IF NEED to take a recess, I’ll do that. (Waide continues to read documents.)

HOOD - Your honor, it’s 9:40 and no Kecia Pannell. Ask for bench warrant. RICHARDSON - I’m not in charge of that. Will MacIntosh, colleague, she said 9:30. From Tupelo. Takes 20-30 minutes. She should be here any time. We thought they had two more witnesses to put on. JUDGE - AMAYBE YOU CAN contact her. Richardson - We’ll do that now. (MacIntosh leaves courtroom. Waide still reading. Says doesn’t object to any of these.)

(Hood - Document, what is this, when?) 5/16/2000. I signed it. (That your statement to law?) Yes. Move to enter into evidence. WAIDE - NO OBJECTION. Would like about 5 minute recess after direct to look at statements again. (Judge - brings them to bench to talk about it.) JUDGE - SHORT RECESS. 9:46.

[secretradiobrooklyn]

SECRET RADIO | 9.19.20

Secret Radio | 9.19.20 | Hear it here.

1. Mêlomê Clément & Orchestre Poly Rythmo do L’Antique Cotonou Dahomey - “Houe Towe Houn”

I have seen no fewer than 4 spellings of the man’s name, but my favorite version is Meloclem, which is apparently his nickname. Clement is credited with arranging many (most?) of T.P. Orchestre’s songs. This one is credited to him as Chef d’Orchestre, Guitariste-Accompagnateur-Chanteur-Compositeur. I just find it completely engrossing as it shifts between drone and jammer. The guitar solo is so searing and lost in its own world… and when the vocals come in, more than halfway through the song, they weave around the drone like a spell. 

2. Annie Philippe - “C’est La Mode”

French pop is so stylistically severe — it is a big production in which the singer is just one small but central part of a much bigger undertaking. The video, shot in 1966, is oddly composed mostly of scenes of her shooting the video, and not the results of those shots. It’s amazingly self-aware, and it does a beautifully effective job of creating a larger-yet-more-intimate-than-life portrait of Annie Philippe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hau_yvzriY

3. The Funkees - “Akula Owu Onyear”

This is the sound of Nigeria in the ’60s, and African expat London in the ’70s. The language they’re singing is Igbo. Apparently The Funkees began playing together in the Nigerian Army in the midst of the Nigerian Civil War, and then kept going after the war ended. Nigeria borders Benin, and I find it fascinating that they both seem to have very developed but very different rock sounds going on at that time. The keys voice makes me think of Marijata’s amazing “No Condition Is Permanent,” which came along a decade later and two countries over.

4. Yehouessi Leopold & T.P. Orchestre - “Davi Djinto Super No2”

Yehouessi Leopold is the drummer for T.P. Orchestre, which I assume means he plays the trap set. When you listen to the song from that perspective, where the drummer is the writer and his priorities are ascendent, it makes the song even richer. I really hope that his vocals parts — sung, spoken, laughed — happen from behind his kit. 

     You can hear them call out “Papi” right before the guitarist, Papillon, lights into one of his rhythmic lead passages. He builds these cascading patterns that repeat but progress at the same time. He’s certainly one of the most beautiful guitarists I’ve ever heard in my life (especially in combination with their rhythm guitarist, who I believe is Maximus Ajanohun), and this song is a great example of his playful, endlessly rhythmic style. Headphones highly recommended because the guitar spends a fair bit of time hanging out on the right side. 

     These long T.P. songs are such a pleasure to sink into — they give each section a prolonged consideration, and yet they’re constantly moving through new ideas, phrases, and relationships. At one point a series of peacock cries pass through the song. They arrive at the song hooks almost like they’re equally revealing and discovering them. When the horn hook arrives halfway through the song, it feels like the party just took a shift, moving from a great evening with friends to a legendary night at the peak of summer.

     This song is as much for Kevin Bowers as anyone.

5. Jacques Dutronc - “On nous cache tout, on nous dit rien”

“They hide everything from us, they tell us nothing” - Such great tones all over Jacques Dutronc records, from the rhythm guitar distortion to the amazing live drum sound. The song is somewhere between a complaint, an accusation, and a bitter joke. 

6. Ranil y su Conjunto Tropical - “Vuelo a Saturno”

Meanwhile, Perú has had its own party going on. Ranil stayed mostly out of the cities and mostly along the Amazon river, playing electric music and producing and selling his own records. You can hear the Cuban rhythmic influence but run through a very specific and weird personality.

7. The Velvet Underground - “Foggy Notion”

I always find it amazing that, just as the Beatles were busy building the structure of Western pop music and exploring its creative possibilities, the Velvets were exploring its destructive possibilities. They throw together airtight pop structures around Moe’s relentless drums and then start slashing em apart with their guitars and Lou’s totally-serious-and-also-totally-just-fucking-around vocal approach. 

8. National Wake, “International News”

1979, the first interracial punk band in apartheid South Africa, singing about exactly that. In the movie made about the band, the audience looks like a place where black and white people can dance together, which was likely also a first. So the band becomes a political and social movement just by existing and drawing an audience.

    I mean, just look at them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze5yn6KneJg

9. Gnonnas Pedro, “Dadje Von O Von Non”

This song was how we discovered “Legends of Benin,” the album that made us realize that a whole world — an unknown number of worlds — exist beyond what we’re already familiar with. This track has the undeniable backbeat of Western rock and funk, but placed in a completely different relationship to the vocals than I’d ever heard before. And the guitar sound is so hypnotic, repeating endlessly in the left ear. It’s the songwriting structure that I keep coming back to as a listener: linear and cyclical at the same time, where each section feels endless but is always turning into the next version in the evolution. It sounds so hip to a frequency I was not even aware of until this track.

10. Kevin Bowers’ Nova, “Breaking for Conversation”

I have danced at every Nova show except one, I believe, and that was only because I was still parking during the end of the first set so I could catch the second one after work. This album is a drummer’s fantasy, sometimes thunderous and sometimes delicate. Paige sings in Nova along with our friend Mike Aguirre — shout out to Big Mike and his half-year-and-counting quarantine adventure in Anguilla! — and the whole band is composed entirely of musicians about whom I feel awe. St. Louis Internationalé!

Shadow Music of Thailand

11. Stereo Total - “I Love You Ono”

A companion piece with “Ringo I Love You” from last broadcast. Pure confidence and fun in an absolute perfect tone for the content.  

Highly worthwhile video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqok3-Q_1lk

12. Philippe Katerine - “La banane”

I have no idea what the joke is here, but I like it. The lyrics of the chorus are “just let me eat my banana on the seashore, naked.” There is a version in English by Katerine, if you want to know what he’s talking about, though you can ready every word and still not know what he’s talking about. A live performance does not clarify anything: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLoteLHr05s

13. T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - “Minkou E So Non Moin”

This is included on Analog Africa’s “Echos Hypnotiques” T.P. collection, and it’s the only track I’ve heard from them with a wah pedal. Makes me wonder what the circumstances of that pedal were — was it just passing through? It couldn’t have been available to them long term, they would surely have used it more. I love the whole path that the guitar takes in the center of the song, and how that gives way to a one-note percussion solo. 

14. Mai Na Lork Gun - “Kampee Sangthong”

We found this buried in a record called “Thai Pop Spectacular.” I love how it sounds instantly familiar, and then as the lyrics come in it’s clear you’ve never heard this song before. As far as I can tell this is an original song, not a Thai lyric written over a French or American pop song. The singer sounds so sincere!

15. Ariel Pink - “Alisa”

Paige has been preaching Ariel Pink for years, but I’ve never felt the connection. To me, there’s a layer of… what is it? Irony? Self-conscious weirdness? Something that usually puts me off. For whatever reason, this track has many of the same attributes but draws me in rather than keeping me at arm’s length. My favorite element in music right now is how much information a song can transmit even when you don’t know the language, and this song does that in a different way, using words I know and audio reference points I know, but stacked up in a way that remains unknowable.

16. Assa Cica - “Se Na Blo”

17. Duyên Phận Con Gái - “Mai Lệ Huyền (A Girl’s Destiny)”

There’s such a complete understanding of not just rock but funk in these songs, and I have to wonder who was showing these musicians the ropes. Were they learning from records? From G.I.s stranded in Vietnam? The drums are so tasteful — everybody is. But how long could they have been listening to rock at that point, or have had access to listening to it? There had been Western troops in the region for years, and the primary influence was probably French pop. It still seems amazing that a Vietnamese band could have such confidence and command in a foreign idiom like this.

18. France Gall - “Jazz â Gogo”

I’m pretty sure Jeff Hess’ Afternoon Delight on KDHX put us onto this song years ago.

19. The Fall - “Petty Thief Lout”

As a fan of the Fall for over two decades now, I often find myself — or Paige and I find ourselves, because she’s the same way — on Fall-only kicks for days at a time. And even as it’s happening, I find myself asking: WHY do I love this music so much? What is it about Mark E. Smith’s squealing, spitting, hyper-British scorn that I find so endlessly appealing? Why must my pop have some fundamental discord built into its bones? I think much of it is the mystery — why on Earth does he make those decisions? As far as I know he writes the lyrics and none of the instruments, and has hired and fired more bandmates than most people play with in a lifetime… and yet the songs are instantly familiar as Fall songs through the decades. How can that be so? I think the fact that the songs continue to elicit more questions than answers is the heart of the enduring fascination. 

20. Tribute to Elsie - “Elle Est Tres Gris” 

Pollen was high that day. This was a voice memo recording from two years ago. Paige was singing “Les Feuilles Mortes” but with improvised lyrics about our dear, sweet, 20 year-old Elsie cat. Paige wants me to note that her French grammar has improved in the two years since this recording, and she would for instance obviously not use the word “vieux” and would use the word “veille.” Et al. Farewell Elsie, we love you very much.

     Paige says: The French is terrrrrible. I kept saying “que” when I meant “quand”. This is a private voice memo from two years ago, sung to the old grey lady herself. I will never win a rap battle, and it’s hard to remember now, but alcohol may have been involved. Elsie passed at twenty years old this month. She was her own character and never let her guard down. That’s how she made it to 20! We appreciate her all the way. 

21. Bob Marley - “Judge Not”

This is a short-haired, R&B-obsessed Bob Marley from his very first demos. The band is all in matching suits, playing very much in an American style. You can definitely hear even in this pretty straight ahead song the way that the band was reinterpreting the essential rhythm of skiffle and early rock into a new strum pattern. Marley’s voice is both very recognizable and not yet iconic — not unlike the early Fela Kuti & His Koola Lobitos recordings that we’ve been digging on lately.

22. Teddy Afro - “Bob Marley” live

There’s a cabbie in NYC we depend on for getting to the airport. His name’s Bobby, and as far as we can tell he’s a one-man cab company. He loves to fire up Teddy Afro videos for us to watch on our trip. Bobby is from Sudan, he says, and Teddy Afro is Ethiopian (you’ve very likely heard his huge hit, “Atse Tewodros,” at Meskerem if you’re ever there). He says he has no idea what the lyrics are, but he loves how the songs sound. Hearing a guy from Sudan enjoying this music across a language barrier was a very helpful reminder to us to listen for good music no matter what language it arrives in. I look forward to riding in Bobby’s cab again as soon as the virus is out of the way. 

23. Michel Polnareff, “Love Me Please Love Me”

24. Nam Hong, “She’s a Lady”

“My mother told me to be a lady. And for her that meant: be your own person, be independent.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

25. Tax Bacon, “The Star-Spangled Banner”

Tax Bacon is a leftist political punk band who formed out of frustration at the 2016 Democratic primaries. Some people never got over 2016, and some people never got over June 2016. 

I think this song is for Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I don’t feel patriotic right now — I feel connected to the people whose values I recognize, and Ginsburg was a founding father in that definition of American spirit. We are very sorry to see her go, and this song is meant to send her off. We’re going to have to do this next part without her.

[lolocherik]

Here's a fic I wrote, but got the promt from taylor-tut's blog. Go check it out guys!!

•Old-New Friends• "He should have been out of there days ago right?! Well its been weeks, right has it been weeks, I don't know but what I do know is that Lance has been in that pod way too long." Hunk complains as he paces near the pod that Lance has been in for a while. "Calm dow-" "Shiro, I know but are you not worried at all!?!" Shrio runs his hand through his hair and sighs. "Yes...but complain-" "But Hunk has a point. He was in there for too long. Is he really ok?" Pidge glares at Coran, as he meets her glare and looks at the screen beneath his hand, confused. "I'm not sure, it says that he is healed but it seems to still be repairing something..I not quite su-" The computer beeps the pod opens. The group swiftly gather around as Hunk catches Lance. He lays the blue paladin on the couch and everyone holds there breath. Lance eyes flicker open slowly and everyone sighs in refill. "Lance, buddy, how are you? You need water or food?" Hunks asks. Lance slowly sits up, well more like everyone around him sat him up. He scans the room and locks eyes with Hunk, amazement and a sprinkle of fear in his blue eyes. "Hunk, where are we?" He asks, his own hoarse voice surprises him. Hunks looks concerned. "At the castle, remember?" Lances eye widen. "Did we join a cult?!" Looking at everyone in a weird kind of awe. Everyone just kinda stands there not completely sure how to react." Heh, I was only kidding, its good to be back." Everyone rolls their eyes before giving him a huge group hug. Lance was okay and everything was gonna be fine. Except Lance wasn't fine. Allura caught him wandering around, as if he was looking for something, that night. "Lance is everything okay?" He looks back at her, nodding his head. "I'm..just wandering." She raises a eyebrow. "Oh, I see. You just usually are asleep by this time." "Well, you know, not so sleepy." He keeps looking around. "Ok, you should head back to your room soon." "Ah ok, umm... can you help me find that?" He asks sheepishly. "Your room? Its right in front of you.." She walks over to the door and opens it. Lance looks a bit embarrassed. "Oh thanks..Allura...night." He rushes in before Allura could say anything back to him. "Good night." She mumbles under her breath and walks off to her own room. The next morning was even more weird. Lance came a bit earlier to morning briefing, didn't add any snarky remarks and most of all didn't pick any fight with Keith. Not that no one paid to much it until they decided to go swimming couple days later. "Pidge, you coming?" Lance asked, getting eye rolls from everyone and a killer glare from Pidge. "Lance, Pidge can't come, no mater how much you ask." Hunk sighed and shook his head. Lance looked genuinely confuzed. "Why not? Is it so wrong for guys to go hang out at the pool?" Everyone froze, shocked and hoping that Lance was joking. "Lance, you know..that I can't go...because I'm a girl." Those words hung thick in the air. Lance look shocked but realized what this meant for him. He was found out and cursed under his breath, glancing down. "I just..didn't want to hold this back. Yes, I don't remember anything or anyone besides Hunk. I.. was just..." He shrugs "scared." There was an long awkward silence and Lance didn't look up "So what your telling me, is that you live a couple weeks with us, not recognizing any of us, besides Hunks, so we where strangers but you did- no refused to say anything?" Keith asked in a monotone vocie. "Yes..." "Well, I'm a bit angry but mostly impressed." Only did then Lance looked up. He got looks of awe and pity, and just a little mad and upset. Then Coran spoke up. "So humans can forget things? Even such big events such as becoming a paladin?" Then it clicked. "So when the pod wouldn't let Lance out, it was because it was trying to fix his memory?" Everyone nodded and Coran spoke up. "This is my fault then...I apologize, but I thought Lance was healthy enough to let out so manually did so." The space uncle hung his head down, scared to look in the blue paladin in the eye. Lance spoke up. "Coran, its okay, you could haven't know better. To be honest I have been remembering stuff there and here so it not so bad, but I guess I didn't remember one of my friends gender..." Pidge smiled. "Don't worry, its a long story." Lance lit up a bit. "Do tell." So they spent that afternoon talking about their stories and filling Lance with everything that has happened. And Keith keeps mentioning this bonding moment but when Lance has no recollection, Keith becomes all pouty inside, but outside he just brushes it of. The next week or so they spend check in on Lance, make sure he's not forgetting any thing and taking it slow during practices. Well, Lance is catching up and feeling the warmth from his new-old friends.

[ibijau]

Future Past pt17 / on AO3

After being dragged on a Night Hunt by Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen ponders the choices in front of him

“And that’s when Sect Leader Yao fell face first into the bog,” Nie Mingjue finished with a grin.

Lan Xichen, who had been fighting not to react for most of the story, burst out laughing so hard he had to stop walking, before quickly pressing one hand to his mouth in a vain effort to silence himself.

“There, I knew I hadn’t lost my touch,” Nie Mingjue said with an even wider grin, and Lan Xichen was nearly overcome with how much he’d missed him.

Of course he only had himself to blame for that. During the past year, Nie Mingjue had reached out to him several times, inviting Lan Xichen to spend a week or two in the Unclean Realm to flee his uncle’s students, or else suggesting they go on a Night Hunt together. But every time, Lan Xichen had found plenty of excuses to refuse. They were all good excuses, and he’d been busy with his regular duties, and the copying of the library, and…

And good or not, excuses were just excuses. The honest trust was that Lan Xichen had, in fact, been avoiding his best friend. The lingering shame from that horrible future had been too much to bear. How could he have faced Nie Mingjue, knowing he would have failed him someday, knowing he’d sided with his murderer, knowing he’d allowed his precious brother to turn into a monster? Horrified by the terrible friend he would have become, Lan Xichen had tried to distance himself from Nie Mingjue.

It hadn’t worked. Nie Mingjue had been patient with him, until one day he wasn’t, and just dropped by the Cloud Recesses unannounced, warned Lan Qiren that he was borrowing his nephew, and took Lan Xichen on a Night Hunt before anyone could protest. That had been the previous afternoon, and since then Nie Mingjue had been on a quest to make Lan Xichen laugh.

They’d just arrived at the location where a demon bear was causing trouble, and finally Nie Mingjue’s effort had been rewarded.

Now that he was laughing, Lan Xichen felt a little stupid for trying so hard to stay serious. Even if in his memories of the future Nie Mingjue had become an angry man too short tempered to have fun with, in the present he was the funniest person Lan Xichen knew.

The most forgiving, too, because he wasn’t even angry that Lan Xichen had pushed him away for an entire year.

“You’ve gotten too stern,” Nie Mingjue just said while Lan Xichen laughed. “I need to scold your uncle for making you work too much. I also need to steal you more often.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Lan Xichen replied, meaning it. He had been too serious since gaining those unwanted memories. Except for music lessons with Nie Huaisang, letters from Jiang Cheng, and a few chats with his brother, everything had felt dreary and stressful these last few months. “I’d wanted to act more maturely, but I suppose it’s important to have fun too.”

This prompted Nie Mingjue to make an annoyed noise.

“Huaisang told me the same thing last week,” he said in an aggravated tone. “That little brat…”

“I thought you wanted him to act more seriously?”

“I do, but not like that,” Nie Mingjue grumbled as he resumed walking. “He’s weird since he came back. First he ran off on his own, flying on his sabre…”

Lan Xichen winced. That hadn’t happened in his memory of another life. But at the same time, in that other life Nie Huaisang hadn’t gotten in nearly as much trouble, not during that first year in the Cloud Recesses at least. Lan Xichen couldn’t help feeling guilty about that, since it had to have been his fault for changing the normal course of events.

“Then when he comes back, he brings that orphan he found somewhere and demands that I let him join the sect!”

That was new as well.

“Did you agree?” Lan Xichen asked.

Nie Mingjue shrugged, and Lan Xichen had to bite his cheeks not to smile. So that was a yes. As expected, Nie Mingjue just didn’t know how to refuse his brother’s whims. It was comforting to know that this, at least, hadn’t changed.

“He’s obsessed with that kid,” Nie Mingjue explained. “Don’t know why. The boy is a damn pest, gets in fights all the time with everyone… but I guess he is clever, and he’s got potential. It’s just so weird to see Huaisang always asking about his progress. He’s never cared about any younger disciples before!”

“Maybe he brought you your future brother-in-law,” Lan Xichen teased.

“I don’t think so. The kid’s only about ten, I’d need to have a serious discussion with Huaisang if he was going after someone that young. Besides, doesn’t he already have a fling with that Lan disciple, what's his name… Su She, right?”

Hearing this, Lan Xichen’s good humour crumbled. Since Nie Huaisang had told him in Yunping City that there was nothing of the sort between himself and Su She, Lan Xichen had stopped thinking about it. But Nie Mingjue sounded quite sure of himself, so either Nie Huaisang had lied that time, or things had changed since then.

If so, Lan Xichen could only be happy for them, he supposed. After all he knew too well how loyal Su She could be toward those he cared about, and Nie Huaisang had passionately taken the defence of his friend on multiple occasions. They wouldn’t be the worst of matches, and if Lan Xichen felt any discomfort over that idea, it was only because of lingering memories of that future that would not be.

"Did I get it wrong?" Nie Mingjue asked when Lan Xichen remained silent too long. "I've just never heard that brat talk like that about anyone. Since he came back, it's all 'Su-xiong said this' about everything, except when it's 'Xichen-gege said that', so I figured you might know something”

He paused for a moment, looking concerned. Lan Xichen glanced around, in case Nie Mingjue had heard a noise, or noticed anything about that demon bear they were after, but everything seemed quiet.

“That Su She, what sort of a person is he?” Nie Mingjue suddenly asked with a grim expression. “Huaisang really is enthusiastic about that boy, but he’s mentioned that his ‘Su-xiong’ has a temper, and… he failed the exams even though both you and your uncle wrote that he’s been studying a lot. It's almost like he did it on purpose. And he’s so nervous since he came back, but he won’t say why.”

“Su She is not a bad person,” Lan Xichen replied, and it still startled him that he meant it. Something of the man he would have become lingered in Lan Xichen that was still suspicious of what Su She would have done, but in the end it was unfair to judge him on something that hadn’t happened yet. “He’s not the most popular junior in the sect, but he’s hardworking and very dedicated to his friendship with Huaisang. If they do have that sort of relationship…”

He hesitated for a second. The idea remained startlingly unpleasant, but he refused to linger on that.

“If it’s like that, then I think Huaisang could do a lot worse.”

Tension immediately drained from Nie Mingjue’s body, who smiled at his friend.

“That’s a relief. I've been really… did you hear that?"

Lan Xichen gave one short nod, his hand resting on his sword. The cracking noise they'd both heard was followed by more, then a series of low grunts. 

The demon bear had been found. 

 -

 The Night Hunt went well, not that Lan Xichen ever doubted it. He vaguely recalled that even in the other future they’d hunted that demon bear, and though he hadn’t remembered the details, he knew it had gone very well over there too. 

With their job done, Nie Mingjue and him warned the local magistrate that the threat had been handled before heading to a local inn to eat and relax for a moment. They both had a lot of work waiting for them at home, but Night Hunting together was always a chance to escape that for a time, and to pretend they were just two ordinary young men as careless as others their age. They usually went to the site of the Night Hunt quickly, aware that lives might be at stake, and then took several days to come home, travelling together as far as they could before separating. It felt like a bit of innocent mischief, and Lan Xichen loved it. 

The inn they ended up in was pleasant enough, though Lan Xichen’s standards were not very high at that moment. As long as he was safe from the bitter winter cold, with some warm tea, and decent enough food, he was satisfied. Still, it was a pleasant bonus to discover that there was a musician at the inn that day, playing on his flute whatever songs people requested as long as they dropped a few coins. The man was decently skilled, and some of the songs were nice enough that Lan Xichen wouldn’t have minded learning them.

To Lan Xichen’s surprise, Nie Mingjue too was paying attention to the performer. It struck him as quite odd, since his friend had little taste for songs unless they were weapons to use in battle.

“If that melody is one you like, I can ask for its name and try to learn it,” Lan Xichen offered after a moment, a little excited for a chance to please his friend. “It would not be a problem.”

The suggestion startled Nie Mingjue who tore his eyes from the performer, and seemed a little embarrassed to have been caught staring.

“That’s very generous of you, but I was just… thinking about Huaisang,” he admitted. “He’s really obsessed with music lately. Even raided our library in search of pieces to learn. I’m trying to understand what’s so great about that. At least with painting I can see if it’s good or not, and his birds force him to be responsible, but music… I’m really out of my depth with that, and I hate that I don’t know how to support him.”

Nie Mingjue sighed, as if it truly wounded him that his brother would have a passion so foreign to his own interests. Perhaps it did. Lan Xichen, whose tastes were so similar to his brother’s in most things, couldn’t imagine what it would be like to love so much someone so different from one’s self.

"Is he actually any good?” Nie Mingjue then asked. “he sounds great to me, but that's not saying much. Every musician sounds good to me. But some of the elders have said they're impressed by his skill, and said they’d like him to play sometimes when we have guests to entertain. They might just be polite." 

"Did he borrow a guqin from someone to continue practicing?" Lan Xichen asked, still surprised by the enthusiasm Nie Huaisang showed for music.

"Worse, he bought his own," Nie Mingjue explained, rolling his eyes. "That brat! He used up half his allowance for the year on that. I’ve warned him not to beg for money in six months when he has nothing to use for his trips to Gusu, he needs to learn not to overspend like that."

Lan Xichen froze, and for a second nearly fell into breathless panic. It was a stupid thing to worry about, compared to everything else he had changed, but… 

But in that other life too he'd gone on that Night Hunt with Nie Mingjue, who had then complained that his brother had spent a fortune on a series of exquisite fans, and even had made the same threat about not giving him more funds (which he still had done when Nie Huaisang had written to beg for money down the line). It had been the starting point of Nie Huaisang's collection, a collection that he'd continued working on for the rest of his life, no matter what else changed. 

Even that very last time Lan Xichen had met Nie Huaisang in that other life, after every lie had been revealed, even as he spilled all of his hatred for a man he'd grown to despise, Nie Huaisang had been flaunting a brand new fan, painted by a famous artist. 

Fans had appeared to be Nie Huaisang’s last joy left after he'd lost everything else, and if Lan Xichen had taken that from him… 

"You know," Nie Mingjue said, "whether he's good or not, I'm grateful you decided to teach him. He's so damn nervous all the time these days, but playing seems to calm him. So I was wondering if you might continue with the lessons?”

“Really?”

Nie Mingjue shrugged with affected indifference. 

“If that brat is finally interested in something I can pretend is related to cultivation… " he grumbled." I’m not asking you to teach him any Lan songs," he quickly added," but I wouldn’t mind if some of our elders thought that. If you have time, of course. It’s gonna be a rough year for you, with the students you have coming this time."

Lan Xichen wrinkled his nose at the thought. The year promised to be intense indeed. He hadn’t yet decided what to do about that Wei Wuxian person who would play such a role in his brother's life, sometimes for the better, often for the worse. In his memories of the future, the man he’d become had eventually accepted that Wei Wuxian was Lan Wangji’s true love, sharing with him a bond so strong that not even death had severed it. 

But Lan Xichen as he currently was couldn’t help thinking about all the pain and hardship that love had cost his brother, and he wasn’t sure if that was quite worth it. For all that he’d supported the acquaintance when it had started in that other life, Lan Xichen now wanted to prevent his brother from falling in love with that person. Surely it would be better if Lan Wangji didn't suffer like that. 

“I don’t mind continuing the lessons,” Lan Xichen said, who had already been planning for that anyway. “He’s quite good, and he actually could learn some of our songs, if he set his mind to it. Besides, he’s good company, we’ve had some good fun.”

Not to mention Nie Huaisang might be able to help with whatever Lan Xichen decided to do regarding Wei Wuxian, since they would become good friends. He might give a hand in preventing Lan Wangji from meeting that boy, or give a hint in the right direction if Lan Xichen decide to help that little romance.

“So that’s why you’ve been ignoring me then,” Nie Mingjue replied dryly. “A prettier friend who makes you laugh and calls you cute nicknames… I'm ditched so easily. Truly tragic.”

It was a joke. 

Having been friends with him for this many years, Lan Xichen knew how Nie Mingjue joked, as deadpan as his brother was dramatic, but this time the teasing hit a little too close to home. Lan Xichen hurriedly grabbed his friend’s hands and squeezed them tight. For a moment he found himself fighting to breathe, for which Nie Mingjue threw him a concerned look.

“I would never betray you,” Lan Xichen managed to wheeze out. “I swear! You… You are my friend, the person I trust the most, the person who knows me best. I would never choose someone else over you!”

Not again, anyway.

Not while knowing what the cost of it might be.

Of course even in that other future he’d thought he’d been acting for Nie Mingjue’s good. He’d thought he was helping. He had trusted Jin Guangyao's sweet words, trusted the power of Cleansing, trusted… 

Nie Mingjue freed one of his hands, and leaned closer to rub circles on Lan Xichen's back, encouraging him to breathe. It was Lan Xichen's worst attack since the night he awoke with memories not quite his own. Panic and guilt mixed together, closing his throat tighter so no air could get to his lungs. It lasted long enough that Lan Xichen wondered if it might be possible for him to die like this. 

Just as soon as that idea hit him, his body's desperate need for air became stronger than the power of his memories, and he was able to take one shaky breath. He gasped and coughed, all too aware of the eyes of other patrons on him, while Nie Mingjue continued rubbing his back. 

"Wipe your face," Nie Mingjue gently ordered when his friend had calmed down, handing him a napkin. "Do you need to go out for some fresh air, or do you prefer to sit?" 

"Sit," Lan Xichen replied in a raspy voice as he dried his tears. "Sorry. It happens sometimes. It looks worse than it is."

Nie Mingjue said nothing. A fresh pot of tea was ordered, which soothed Lan Xichen's poor throat and warmed him up again. He still felt a little fragile, but put on a smile to hide it. This, in turn, only made Nie Mingjue frown. 

"Your uncle told me he was worried about your health when I saw him some weeks ago, but I didn't realise it was this bad."

"My health is fine," Lan Xichen protested. After one sharp look from his friend, he continued: "It really isn't that bad. I've been a little anxious, that's all. It's hard not to be in the current climate." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Haven't the Wen just absorbed another sect?" 

Nie Mingjue grimly nodded. The leader of a sect had just died, and Wen Ruohan had promptly married his youngest son to the man's daughter and claimed the whole sect. It was not something they could openly discuss, but the issue was serious and should have distracted Nie Mingjue from the panic attack he'd witnessed. 

It did not quite work. 

"Your uncle too mentioned something about that when I saw him. He used to be pretty sure nothing would happen, but lately he's been keeping me updated on that sort of news." 

Lan Xichen hesitated. His plan regarding the war, so far, had been to stay out of things. The Sunshot campaign appeared to him like a terrible thing that could not, should not be avoided, like a great fire that would allow for a healthier regrowth. Perhaps he might have hoped to lessen the damage, but ultimately nothing less than a war could rid them of Wen Ruohan. 

That plan to allow for the war to unfold naturally was countered by two things. 

The first was that Lan Xichen had already changed the way it would happen. If everything went as he hoped, Meng Yao would never become a spy amidst the Wens, something which had been crucial to their victory (or something that had appeared to be so to the man Lan Xichen had become; he was ever so fond of that Meng Yao, perhaps the memories of that dark future were tainted by that). It was after all unlikely that the Jiangs would ever give Meng Yao any help to join Lanling Jin, his first step toward spying on Wen Ruohan… and that was supposing Meng Yao even survived long enough to take part in the war, when most of Yunmeng Jiang was fated to be slaughtered.

And this was the second issue with Lan Xichen’s initial plan. He had, from the start, been uncomfortable with allowing the slaughter of the Lotus Pier to happen, even when it would someday become agreed that nothing less than this attack on a Great Sect could have convinced the cultivation world to finally rebel against the Wens. But just because people in the future found ways to justify that disaster didn’t make it right to do nothing to avoid it. Lan Xichen was taking measures to protect his sect, wasn’t it his responsibility to also help others?

Having been cursed with that knowledge, wasn’t it his duty to…

“Breathe,” Nie Mingjue said, his hand on Lan Xichen’s shoulder once more. “Slowly, breathe in, breathe out. There you go.”

Lan Xichen obeyed, and managed to avoid another attack, though only narrowly, and only because the fear of the Sunshot Campaign was his alone. The man he would have become had made his peace with the horror witnessed during that time, but Lan Xichen himself was overcome by terror every time he thought about what was to come.

It was a burden too heavy for his shoulders alone, and he alone couldn’t have done much to prevent that dark future from coming to pass, at least where that war was concerned.

So perhaps he needed to not do it alone. What good had secrets done to Jin Guangyao, to Nie Huaisang, in that future that would not be? It had turned them into monsters, bitter and too willing to hurt others, and for what? Jin Guangyao had lost everything, Nie Huaisang had become isolated from everyone who had ever cared about him, and all just because they wanted to be in control, because they thought nobody around them was worthy of being told the truth.

Lan Xichen refused to become like them

“Mingjue-xiong, do you trust me?” he asked when he had calmed down again, and breathing wasn’t such a struggle.

“You wouldn’t be my friend if I didn’t trust you,” came the answer, honest and earnest and so painful that Lan Xichen thought panic would seize him again over that underserved trust.

But this time he managed to keep his calm, either because he was too exhausted to panic again, or because his mind saw this as a chance to right some of the wrong he would have caused in the future.

“I have something to tell you,” Lan Xichen said as he stood up. “But we’ll need to be somewhere more private. It’s going to sound completely crazy to you, but… you need to know.”

Nie Mingjue looked worried but quietly stood up as well. They left the inn together and took flight, making their sword rise high in the sky, where no one might spy on them without their notice.

“So, here is what happened,” Lan Xichen explained when he felt he could do it safely. “Around this time last year, I had a vision…”

He wouldn’t, couldn’t say everything, because it would have been too cruel to plague Nie Mingjue with the knowledge of his own early death, to tell him how loss and rage would turn his beloved brother into a man he might have despised. But the rest, the Wen’s exactions, the war that loomed over them… this Lan Xichen shared with more details than he’d ever given to Lan Qiren. Nie Mingjue listened, first with astonishment, then with concern, eventually with anger. 

"Are you sure?" Nie Mingjue asked when Lan Xichen had finished a quick tale of what was to come. 

"I know it's odd, and I won't blame you if you find it impossible to believe." 

Nie Mingjue did not reply right away, a deep frown creasing his forehead. 

"You've already had proof, and you're sure of it. That's good enough for me. Now let's find a quiet place to talk about this. I'll need you to tell me everything you remember about the Wen's forces, so I can start preparing." 

Lan Xichen felt breathless again, but this time it was gratitude overwhelming him. He'd forgotten how good Nie Mingjue was. Those last few months had spoiled so much, souring old memories, but there had been such great times before that. There would be even more, in this new life, this new chance they'd been given. 

This time, he swore to himself, he would be worthy of that affection.

[topworldhistory]

Marie Empress's life story was a fabrication. Her death—presumably at sea—was a total enigma.

How did the silent-film star Marie Empress, billed as “the most beautiful woman in pictures,” disappear from the ocean liner R.M.S. Orduña, unnoticed by more than 1,000 passengers and crew? 

Had the popular singer, dancer and actress jumped, fallen or been pushed overboard? Or had she used her well-honed acting skills to sneak off the ship in disguise? Even now, a century later, her disappearance remains one of the most tantalizing mysteries of the sea.

There have been many theories, but few answers.

The mystery begins

Early in the afternoon of Monday, October 27, 1919, the Orduña tied up at a Cunard Line pier in New York City. The liner had begun its transatlantic journey 11 days earlier in Liverpool, England, stopping in Halifax, Nova Scotia, before continuing on to New York.

On board when the ship steamed up the Hudson River were an assortment of VIPs, ordinary travelers and immigrants. Among the most celebrated names on the passenger list: 35-year-old Marie Empress.

Since her start in British vaudeville the previous decade, Empress had established herself on both sides of the Atlantic as a singer, dancer and dramatic actress. She was credited as one of the movies’ first “vamps”—a shameless seductress who lured men to their doom. At the same time, she was considered one of the best male impersonators in the business.

What Marie Empress wasn’t, however, was on the Orduña that day. The crew had already searched the ship three times.

READ MORE: The Cruise Ship Nightmare that Ended in Mutiny

The ocean liner R.M.S. Orduña, circa 1914.

The newspapers investigate

Empress’s disappearance was covered by newspapers around the world. Reporters interviewed her fellow passengers and any members of the crew who were willing to talk.

None proved chattier than an unnamed “thin, little, gray-haired stewardess,” whose account was picked up in many papers.

The stewardess said she brought dinner to Empress’s stateroom on their last evening at sea and returned to clear the dishes at 6:30 p.m. Empress, she said, asked that she come back at 9:30 p.m. with sandwiches.

When she returned at the appointed hour, Empress wasn’t there, so the stewardess left the sandwiches for her. The following morning, the stewardess found the food untouched and noticed that the bed hadn’t been slept in.

The stewardess allowed a reporter for William Randolph Hearst's International Feature Service a look inside Empress’s first-class cabin. As the reporter described stateroom 480, “In the rack above her berth were a number of photographs of herself—apparently placed aside to be given to press representatives on her arrival in New York.”

There was also a copy of a telegram she’d sent to a New York hotel: “Arrive Monday. Please have room for me.”

READ MORE: 6 Explorers Who Disappeared

Stateroom 480, the reporter noted, had a door that opened onto an interior passageway. Its lone porthole was 13 inches wide, “far too small for a woman of Marie Empress’s build to have passed through.” It was also locked from the inside.

If she hadn’t squeezed through the porthole, how might she have left the ship? The reporter tried to retrace her path:

“To have gone on deck Marie Empress would have had to traverse several passageways in which people were constantly going and coming at this hour of the evening. She would have had to pass through several salons, always at least half filled, and the actress was of sufficiently striking personality not to have been able to slip through unobserved.”

Besides running the gauntlet of passengers, Empress would have had to “pass by various stewards and officers, and, finally, having gotten there it seems almost impossible that she could have slipped unnoticed to the rail and thrown herself over.”

Making an unobserved leap even more unlikely, “All the decks and promenades are brilliantly lighted until long past the hour when she must have disappeared from the ship,” the reporter noted.

The talkative stewardess supplied some other intriguing details. Empress dressed entirely in black during the voyage, including a “little hat with a big veil… I thought she might be a war widow.” Fellow passengers would also remember the all-black wardrobe, adding that they often saw her wearing a monocle, the New York Tribune reported.

“She would make little jokes while I sewed the rips in her clothes,” the stewardess told the Hearst reporter. “She seemed just like any other lady who was making the crossing, except that she was better looking and better humored.”

Other witnesses also remarked on Empress’s apparent good mood. The Toronto Globe and Mail quoted passengers as saying she’d boarded the ship “as lively as a cricket, and was looking forward with enthusiasm to another season among her American friends.”

READ MORE: Bermuda Triangle Mystery: What Happened to the USS Cyclops?

A detail of the article featured in the Richmond Times on November 16, 1919.

Was it all just a hoax?

Soon the news coverage took a decidedly different turn. Remembering that she’d been involved in previous publicity stunts, one paper predicted that she would soon show up at a New York theater “with a seaweed halo around her head and an applauding public that loves to have a new one put over on it.”

The New York Clipper, a theatrical monthly, reported that, “several sailors on the ship said that Miss Empress was known to have been about the upper deck in sailor uniform and that she mingled with the crew the night before the ship made New York.”

“Those who believe the music hall star is in New York City suggest she came ashore in the grimy jeans of a fireman,” another newspaper offered. Firemen were the burly guys who shoveled coal to power the ship’s engines. For the petite actress to pass herself off as one would have tested even her skills as a male impersonator.

An anonymous petty officer on the Orduña put his own spin on the theory, telling a reporter, “She could have slipped into men’s clothes and hidden in the hold. There were men’s clothes in her belongings. Maybe she got tired of a woman’s life and thought she’d try a man’s for a while.”

The hoax theory was endorsed early on by people who knew a thing or two about such tricks: the press agents of Broadway.

“The mystery of the lost Marie Empress is solved,” the New York Tribune reported triumphantly. “Marie is as much alive as ever, but no one is supposed to know it yet. The fact is, the press agent hasn’t taken the lid off yet. He doesn’t want the cream skimmed off from the best advertising coup ever…”

The Tribune pinned the stunt on Walter J. Kingsley, the dean of Broadway press agents, perpetrator of innumerable hoaxes and onetime promoter of the escape artist Houdini. The cagey Kingsley didn’t take credit for the stunt but didn’t deny it, either. “Wouldn’t it be nice if a fishing boat picked her up off the coast or something interesting like that happened?” he told his interviewer.

Before long, the publicity stunt theory was so widely accepted that another show-biz paper, the New York Daily Mirror, could even joke about it: “It’s about time Marie Empress showed up for her local theatrical date.”

Not everyone was so sure, however. Several weeks later, a British paper asked a reasonable question: “If Marie Empress is in America, why did she fail to claim her trunks, which, after resting unclaimed over a month at New York, have now been brought back to Liverpool. They have not been opened, and so far no one has claimed them.”

Who was Marie Empress, really?

Throughout her career, Empress did a masterful job of padding her pedigree and concealing her true identity. Numerous articles, both before and after her disappearance, claimed that she was related to the great Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean, that her father was a former lord mayor of London and that her mother was a famous French actress.

As it turns out, Empress was born Mary Ann Louisa Taylor in Birmingham, England in 1884. Her father was a painting contractor, and her mother, according to the British census, performed “home duties.” In 1902, at age 18, she married a local dentist, becoming Mary Ann Louisa Horton. Four years later, the couple separated, after she had become “infatuated with the stage,” the dentist testified when he finally sued for divorce in 1918.

The name of Mary Ann Louisa Horton would appear in print at least once more, on November 8, 1921, roughly the second anniversary of her disappearance. The London Gazette published a legal notice filed by her executor, noting that Horton, “otherwise Marie Empress” had died “on or since the 25 October 1919.” As far as the law was concerned, Empress was now officially dead.

The British government also considered the case closed. Its official registry of citizens who died overseas listed her cause of death as “jumped overboard, presumed drowned” and provided a latitude and longitude corresponding to a spot in the Atlantic about 70 miles off Cape Cod, Mass.

It was a tidy conclusion, but nothing more than a guess.

Lacking any additional facts, the final news accounts fell back on speculation and sometimes overwrought prose. “What was it that reached out of the great waves and plucked Marie Empress from the liner?” one asked. “What subtle spell—what promise of surcease of sorrow—came from the black and racing waves that night, luring her to death in their icy arms?”

By early 1920, Empress had vanished from the headlines, just as she had from the Orduña. The world moved on.

In the century since, Marie Empress has been forgotten. Her movies, like so many from the silent era, have all been lost. Although she performed countless songs, none seems to have been recorded. Aside from some old photos and yellowed newspaper clippings, she left almost nothing to be remembered by.

Except, of course, for the enduring enigma of what happened to her, and why.

from Stories - HISTORY https://ift.tt/2Nq2Op5 October 25, 2019 at 11:22PM

[theconservativebrief]

Scott Pruitt, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, has resigned after his alleged ethical breaches and violations of the law became too much to bear.

The highest-ranking environmental official in the Trump administration submitted his resignation Thursday afternoon. President Trump said that Pruitt’s deputy, former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, will take over the agency on Monday.

I have accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this. The Senate confirmed Deputy at EPA, Andrew Wheeler, will…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 5, 2018

The resignation came in an especially brutal week of revelations about his improprieties.

We found out that Pruitt asked aides to book hotels for him on their own personal credit cards and didn’t reimburse the expense in at least one instance. The Washington Post also reported that Pruitt pressured aides to find a job for his wife with a salary of at least $200,000.

EPA whistleblower Kevin Chmielewski, a former deputy chief of staff, told CNN that Pruitt borrowed the mafia tactic of keeping two sets of books. The administrator deleted controversial meetings and appointments from his public calendar that were listed in the agency’s internal calendar.

“We had at one point three different schedules. One of them was one that no one else saw except three or four of us,” Chmielewski told CNN. “It was a secret … and they would decide what to nix from the public calendar.”

Reports also emerged this week that Pruitt threw Attorney General Jeff Sessions under the bus, telling Trump to fire Sessions and hire Pruitt for the post instead. Politico reported that Pruitt hired a former political fundraiser, Elizabeth Beacham White, to oversee public record requests. According to environmental activists, she has helped slow-walk the release of incriminating documents.

Pruitt was then confronted by a Washington, DC, schoolteacher who told him to resign while he was having lunch with his chief of staff, Ryan Jackson:

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This is all in addition to his long, long list of other scandals — the $43,000 phone booth, the $4.6 million security detail, the $50-a-night condo rented from a lobbyist — that have triggered more than a dozen federal audits, inquires, and investigations.

Republican lawmakers’ patience was also wearing thin. Four house Republicans openly called on Pruitt to resign. House oversight committee chair Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) mocked Pruitt’s paranoia on Fox News. (Meanwhile, House speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) decided to basically stick his fingers in his ears and go “la-la-la.”)

In the Senate, Republicans also grew frustrated. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said Pruitt was “about as swampy as you get.” Even Pruitt’s fellow Oklahoman, Sen. James Inhofe, told Laura Ingraham that “I think something needs to happen to change that, and one of those alternatives is for him to leave that job.”

But Pruitt’s fate ultimately fell to the president, who long supported Pruitt and praised his persistent and consistent efforts in rolling back environmental regulations. Pruitt also positioned himself as one of Trump’s closest confidants, but his announcement on Thursday showed that it may not have been enough.

Also revelations about his condo deal with a lobbyist, expensive travel habits, and bypassing the White House to secure raises for close aides. nearly a dozen investigations

Let’s make sure we say briefly his background and where his loyalties were (industry) .. and mention that he was a deacon and long-time member of the First Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, Okla., His faith helped shape his views of the environment and his doubts about climate change and cited the Bible to justify his alliances with the oil and coal industries.

Steady progress doing TK TK helped insulate Pruitt, even as angst mounted among Democrats and environmentalists.

Trump regularly defended Pruitt against the rising tide of damaging reports, tweeting that he was doing a “great job.”

But eventually the storm engulfed Pruitt and he was forced to resign. TK sometjing about how this means WHEELER takes over

Pruitt’s taste for luxury air travel and close ties to lobbyists were among the first indiscretions to raise the specter of corruption.

After moving to Washington, DC, Pruitt lived in a condominium less than a block from the US Capitol and paid $50 a night, and only for the nights he was actually there. The building, however, belonged in part to the wife of a prominent lobbyist for natural gas interests, and was used to host fundraisers for Republicans.

While he was staying there, the EPA approved a natural gas pipeline extension from a company represented by the lobbyist, J. Steven Hart. Pruitt later went to Morocco to pitch “the potential benefit of liquified natural gas (LNG) imports on Morocco’s economy.”

Flying first class with an aide and the head of his security detail, the Morocco trip was one of Pruitt’s most expensive, though he racked up considerable bills with other jaunts. He spent more than $168,000 on air travel in his first year in office between military, charter, and first-class flights, flying to EPA events as well as media bookings and vacations to Disneyland and the Rose Bowl.

The administrator cited security as his reason for flying in the front of the plane, but Pruitt has also said he wants to avoid uncivil travelers.

Pruitt has also spent thousands of dollars to assuage his paranoia. He spent $3,000 to sweep his office for surveillance bugs and more than $5,700 to install biometric locks with fingerprint scanners. He also had a $42,000 a phone booth constructed for his office.

And unlike past EPA administrators, Pruitt has surrounded himself with a 24-hour security detail that cost almost $3 million.

Questionable staffing choices at the EPA was another concern. Pruitt hired Albert Kelly, an Oklahoma banker banned from working as a banker, to run the EPA’s Superfund program. Agency workers also received permission to keep political consulting jobs on the side and Pruitt gave big pay bumps without approval from the White House to two staffers, one of whom performed personal errands for him, likely violating federal rules.

[ADD A SENTENCE OR TWO ON CREDITS CARDS AND CALENDAR THEN CAN FILL IN MORE AFTER IT’S UP]

Trump’s announcement that Pruitt would take over the EPA was met with jubilation from his conservative base and revulsion from environmental groups, for largely the same reasons. Pruitt is a noted culture warrior who was eager to stake out his conservative bona fides in the Oklahoma legislature, including pushing for creationism to be taught in public schools.

During his tenure as Oklahoma’s attorney general, he set his sights on the EPA to defend the state’s oil and gas industry, suing the agency 14 times to block its regulations.

Since taking office in February 2017, Pruitt launched an unprecedented campaign against his own agency, pushing for budget cuts, staff reductions, and a drastic rollback of the department’s mandate to protect public health and the environment.

The EPA started 2017 as an $8 billion agency with 15,000 employees and at Pruitt’s departure, its budget was slashed.

Pruitt pitched this as a “back-to-basics” approach for the agency, but environmental advocates argued that Pruitt’s agenda has been captive to the fossil fuels, chemicals, and automotive industries, sectors the EPA is supposed to regulate.

One of the Pruitt era’s biggest regulatory moves, for example, was a decision to overrule EPA scientists and ignore advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos.

Environmentalists responded by launching a coordinated campaign called Boot Pruitt in March 2018, with ad buys, petitions, and publicity stunts, to drive Pruitt out of office.

For starters, Scott Pruitt was openly and actively hostile toward the agency he ran.

He frequently described the EPA as having been “weaponized” by past administrations, but his predecessors, including fellow Republicans, were deeply concerned about his tack. Christine Todd Whitman, who ran the EPA under President George W. Bush, wrote last September that “The past few months have confirmed my fears.”

During his tenure, Pruitt announced that he was undoing many environmental rules like those around clean air and clean water. Just in 2017, Pruitt celebrated starting the process of rolling back of 22 regulations, including lifting regulations on major sources of toxic air pollution.

But the process of undoing a regulation can take years and many of Pruitt’s proposals have been overturned in courts, so his most impactful strategy at the EPA has been to slow down or stall its work, seeking years-long delays for some of the agency’s ongoing rule development. He’s also backed off the EPA’s pursuit of polluters, issuing far fewer fines for infractions than any of the last three administrations.

Beyond the regulations, Pruitt aggressively fought the science behind them. He’s taken unprecedented steps to purge the EPA’s science advisory panels citing conflicts of interest, replacing these members with researchers from industry or from states that have sued the EPA to block its rules.

He then targeted the studies used to inform regulations at the EPA. Pruitt planned to block studies from being used in regulations that are not reproducible or do not make their data public. This eliminates a major suite of research based on one-off disasters like oil spills and rules out health research that contains sensitive patient data that cannot be made public, all in the name of “transparency.”

Pruitt’s hostility toward science was especially evident in his actions on climate change.

He’s expressed skepticism that humans are causing changes in the climate and suggested holding a prime-time televised debate on the topic modeled on the military’s red team/blue team exercises until White House Chief of Staff John Kelly shot down the idea.

Nonetheless, Pruitt also helped engineer a major reversal on climate change in the US government. He convinced Trump to start withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accords over objections from other senior staffers including the secretary of state.

He also started the process of repealing the Clean Power Plan, the main policy for limiting greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The words “climate change” and “global warming” are also disappeared from EPA websites under his direction.

A lot of these changes won’t stick, since the regulations are poorly formulated. Many will likely lose in legal challenges.

But other changes at the EPA will take years to recover. Building regulations takes years, and the lost time under Pruitt may have regressed progress as staffers with critical knowledge left the agency.

Many scientists are also reluctant to join the EPA given its current reputation.

As for Pruitt himself, the question is whether he can leverage his accomplishments in Washington in a political campaign back in Oklahoma. Much of the EPA’s regulatory rollbacks play well with his tribe, and it’s likely voters there will overlook his transgressions.

Which means DC has likely not seen the last of Scott Pruitt.

Original Source -> Scott Pruitt, Trump’s scandal plagued EPA chief, has resigned

via The Conservative Brief

[sherristockman]

Mental Turmoil: Depression Treatment Drives Users to Murder, Suicide Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola After taking GlaxoSmithKline’s Paxil for just two days, retired oilman Don Schell brutally murdered his wife, daughter and 10-month-old granddaughter in the middle of the night before turning the gun on himself. The murders, which took place in 1998 in Gillette, Wyoming, shocked neighbors who couldn’t understand why Schell, who had no history of violence, appeared to have spontaneously killed the people in his life he loved the most.1 The bodies were discovered the following afternoon by Tim Tobin, the husband of Schell’s daughter Deb. After overcoming the shock of discovering such a gruesome scene, Tobin and other family members started to piece together what may have happened. The only thing that stood out was that Schell, who was a doting grandfather, had started taking Paxil just two days before the killings. At the time of the killing, he had taken just two tablets. Could Paxil have been responsible for driving Schell to murder his family? The featured film, “The Secrets of Seroxat,” explores the dark and tormenting side-effects of Paxil (known as Seroxat in the U.K.) and GSK’s attempt to conceal the drug’s negative effects. Paxil, the second most prescribed antidepressant next to Prozac, belongs to a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).2 SSRIs, mind-altering drugs designed to enhance serotonin levels in the brain, are prescribed for depression and a number of other conditions including anxiety, worry, irritability, muscle tension and fatigue. A Craving for Antidepressants Some say antidepressants have helped them live normal lives. Others say the drugs are nothing short of a terrible nightmare. The featured film dives into the details of Paxil, interviewing users who report horrible side effects including self-harm and unbearable withdrawal symptoms. The film also follows the landmark court case that found GSK and its antidepressant Paxil responsible for causing Schell to murder his family. The first story is of 22-year-old Helen Kelsall, who was prescribed Paxil for panic attacks. After being on the drug for more than four years, Kelsall decided she wanted to come off it. But when she tried, she suffered intense symptoms of withdrawal including headaches, muscle cramps, nausea, sweating, trembling and feelings of electric shock in her head. The drug’s maker, GSK, insists that withdrawal symptoms subside and that addiction to Paxil is an impossibility. In fact, that’s one of the drug’s strongest selling points. But many Paxil users, including Kelsall, disagree. In 2001, GSK was hit with a major lawsuit by plaintiffs who claimed they became chronically addicted to Paxil after being prescribed the drug for mild depression or anxiety. The dozens of plaintiffs, among which included a website designer, bank fraud investigator and senior air force officer, say that upon trying to quit Paxil they “suffered violent and disturbing symptoms, including jolting pains in the head, vertigo, loss of coordination, abdominal discomfort, flu symptoms, agitation and confusion,” according to The Guardian.3 Like Kelsall, the plaintiffs allege they were never informed about the possibility of becoming addicted to Paxil. The Nightmare You Cannot Wake Up From Kelsall’s Paxil story is captured on video as the young woman documents her journey to quit the drug, videotaping her most unbearable symptoms of withdrawal. Kelsall, who during the film is in the third year of her master’s degree, says the higher education she’s worked so hard for is at risk of being ripped away due to her addiction to Paxil. “As I take each step, there’s a shock in my head that’s completely throwing me off balance,” says Kelsall. Her withdrawal symptoms are so severe she’s forced to taper off the drug slowly rather than stop it completely. “Quitting makes me incredibly sick,” says Kelsall, who is shown cutting the potent drug in half in an effort to gradually decrease her intake. “If I knew this drug was addictive or was capable of causing the horrible side effects I now endure, I never would have taken it,” she says. As awful as the withdrawal symptoms are, other symptoms are even more concerning, including the ones Schell is believed to have suffered before hurting his beloved family. Paxil, like other SSRIs, is also linked to self-harm and suicidal and homicidal behavior. Ed Casey was in a band and recording singles when he started taking Paxil. Life was mostly good, except that, at times, Casey suffered from low self-esteem and bouts of depression. His doctors prescribed him Paxil, after which he began to change, becoming more introverted and moody. After just two weeks on the drug, Casey started showing signs of self-harm. He began to mutilate himself, burning cigarettes into his arms and slicing his flesh with razor blades. The behavior was new. Casey had never hurt himself before or had thoughts of hurting himself — that is until he started taking Paxil. When the Cure Is Worse Than the Original Complaint Other Paxil users, including healthy people with no history of depression, have experienced similar feelings of mental turmoil — a worrisome symptom GSK not only knew about, but declined to reveal. After the death of his wife and child, Tobin sued GSK, alleging that Paxil led Schell to kill his family. The drug company placed blame on Schell’s depression, denying any link between Paxil, aggressive behavior and homicidal tendencies. The lawsuit brought documents to light that GSK had kept secret for 15 years. A trove of archived files of clinical trial results was hidden away in Essex, a county east of England. The files detailed clinical trial results of Paxil on healthy people, in other words, individuals with no history of anxiety or depression. Dr. David Healy, an expert on SSRIs and director at North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine, was called in to review the files. Healy had been involved in another study looking at adverse effects of an SSRI similar to Paxil on healthy people. The study was conducted on healthy volunteers, which included general practitioners, senior nurses and consultant psychiatrists working in the North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine. What he observed is that when people were given the wrong drug, they went through a state of mental turmoil, ultimately becoming suicidal. Healy wondered if Paxil could have similar effects. Guilty of Murder The warehouse of archived files — some of which were missing — contained more than 250,000 sheets of paper. The task of learning what was in those files proved overwhelming. Still, in just two days, Healy read all of the documents outlining the effects of Paxil on healthy people. Some who went on the drug had no problems while others ended up in a state of mental turmoil; 1 in 4 suffered these side effects, even on normal doses and when taken for only a few days. Healy learned healthy people also suffered withdrawal symptoms when quitting Paxil — and GSK was well aware of it. Up to 85 percent of volunteers taking the drug for a matter of weeks suffered withdrawal, the documents showed. Healy’s conclusion? It wasn’t depression that made Schell murder his family. It was Paxil. The jurors agreed. To his surprise, Tobin won his lawsuit against GSK and was awarded $6.4 million in damages. It wasn’t the money Tobin was after, but rather the clearing of his step-father’s name, and hope that the verdict would protect others from falling victim to the same fate of his family. Tobin said: “I really just did want to win, to say, OK, the drugs did do it — what's everyone going to do now? And of course, there's been nothing. I honestly believe until it's somebody of importance it will be very difficult to get any changes. Here I am, a simple man from Montana. I'm not exceptionally rich or famous or anything. Who's going to listen to me?” Despite Guilty Verdict, It’s Business as Usual Despite losing the case, GSK maintains that there’s no evidence Paxil causes violence, aggression or homicide. Representatives for GSK are more concerned about the company than the welfare of people going on their drug, says the film’s narrator. After the verdict, GSK added a warning to the patient leaflets in Britain. However, the label avoided any mention of the link between Paxil and suicidal thoughts. Instead it read: “Occasionally, the symptoms of depression may include thoughts of harming yourself or committing suicide. Until the full antidepressant effect of your medicine becomes apparent, these symptoms may increase in the first few weeks of treatment.” Today, it’s business as usual for GSK, which filled some 15 million prescriptions for Paxil and paroxetine (a generic version of the drug) in the U.S. last year. One in 10 adolescents and adults aged 12 and over has filled a prescription for an antidepressant, and 1 in 7 adults over the age of 40 has done the same.4 GSK has paid out more than $1 billion to settle more than 800 different lawsuits related to Paxil, in addition to a $3 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for the illegal marketing of Paxil and other drugs. Yet Paxil has remained a “staple” in the psychiatrist’s arsenal. Offering Kids Candy to Take Antidepressants? Rather than address the issues associated with Paxil, GSK is looking to expand its prescription base, eying children as its newest customer. Children are being recruited right here in the U.S. to serve as test subjects for dangerous antidepressants and SSRI medications. The film features a private clinic in Texas called Bayou City Research, which conducts pharmaceutical research and trials on children and adolescents. Bayou City Research advertises for children through ads in the local newspaper, offering free cookies, travel reimbursements and, of course, free psychotropic drugs. In 2001, American child psychiatrist, Dr. Neal D. Ryan completed a GSK-funded study known as “Study 329,” on kids using Paxil.5 The good news, he said, is that depressed children did better on Paxil than an older drug and those who took sugar pills. The bad news? Ten out of the 93 children studied suffered serious psychiatric problems within weeks of going on the drug — and most of them had to be hospitalized. Five of the 93 children had suicidal thoughts and gestures, while another five had serious psychiatric side effects. Despite such findings, rather than warn doctors about side effects such as suicide, GSK has encouraged them to prescribed Paxil to teens and children, citing their own research showing the drug is safe and effective for teens. Industry Research Refuted by New Study Reanalysis of the original data in Study 329 found that Paxil was neither safe nor effective for teens. In fact, its effectiveness, both clinically and statistically, was right on par with placebo. It also found that serious side effects such as suicidal tendencies were mislabeled and misrepresented. As it turns out, the elevated risk for suicidal ideation was only gleaned by digging into the actual patient files, where the exact nature of the behavior was recorded. In terms of harms, the difference between Paxil and placebo was “striking,” according to the researchers. Severe adverse events were 260 percent more frequent on Paxil compared to placebo, psychiatric adverse events were 400 percent more frequent, and suicide was 10,300 percent more frequent. During the eight-week-long study, 11 individuals in the Paxil group engaged in suicidal behavior, compared to just one in the placebo group. Despite evidence of harm in children and adolescents, preschoolers and children 18 and younger are the fastest growing group on antidepressants.6 As for adults, 1 in 6 Americans is prescribed some type of psychiatric drug; the majority of which are on the drugs for the long term.7 Natural Options for Treating Depression Fortunately, there are many other ways to deal with anxiety and depression that do not involve unsafe drugs. There's a growing acceptance that the mind-body connection is very real, and that maintaining good physical health can significantly lower your risk of developing depression in the first place. Here are several strategies that have been shown to be helpful: Dramatically decrease your consumption of sugar (particularly fructose), grains and processed foods. (In addition to being high in sugar and grains, processed foods also contain a variety of additives that can affect your brain function and mental state, especially MSG and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame.) There's a great book on this subject, “Sugar Blues,” written by American writer and news desk assistant editor William Dufty more than 30 years ago, that delves into the topic of sugar and mental health in great detail. Increase consumption of probiotic foods such as fermented vegetables and kefir made from raw, grass fed milk, to promote healthy gut flora. Mounting evidence tells us that having a healthy gut is profoundly important for both physical and mental health, and the latter can be severely impacted by an imbalance of intestinal bacteria. Avoiding sugar will also help toward this end. This is especially important during pregnancy, because if mother's flora is abnormal, her baby's flora will also be abnormal. Get adequate vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 deficiency can contribute to depression and affects 1 in 4 people. Optimize your vitamin D level, ideally through regular sun exposure. Vitamin D is very important for your mood. In one study, people with the lowest levels of vitamin D were found to be 11 times more prone to depression than those who had normal levels. Get plenty of animal-based omega-3 fats. DHA and EPA are crucial for good brain function and mental health. Unfortunately, most people don't get enough from diet alone. If you do not regularly eat wild-caught salmon, sardines or anchovies, consider taking a high-quality animal-based omega-3 fat such as krill oil. Dr. Andrew L. Stoll, a Harvard psychiatrist, was one of the early leaders in compiling the evidence supporting the use of animal based omega-3 fats for the treatment of depression. He wrote an excellent book that details his experience in this area called "The Omega-3 Connection: The Groundbreaking Antidepression Diet and Brain Program." Evaluate your salt intake. Sodium deficiency actually creates symptoms that are very much like those of depression. Make sure you do not use processed salt (regular table salt), however. You'll want to use an all-natural, unprocessed salt like Himalayan salt, which contains more than 80 different micronutrients. Get adequate daily exercise, including high-intensity exercise, which is one of the most effective strategies for preventing and overcoming depression. Studies on exercise as a treatment for depression have shown there is a strong correlation between improved mood and aerobic capacity. Get adequate amounts of sleep. You can have the best diet and exercise program possible, but if you aren't sleeping well you can easily become depressed. Sleep and depression are so intimately linked that a sleep disorder is actually part of the definition of the symptom complex that gives the label depression.

[chpatdoorsl3z0a1]

In 100 Days, Donald Trump Hasn’t Done Much Except Show Off His Signature

KENOSHA, Wisconsin – On Day 89 of his presidency, Donald Trump set down his felt-tipped pen and did what he’s done most and best so far in his new job: held up a piece of paper he had just signed for news cameras to record for posterity.

More than four dozen times since taking office, Trump has invited the media he regularly attacks to show off his distinctive cursive on a presidential document ―  a document that, the vast majority of the time, has been completely unnecessary to accomplish the stated goal.

Previous presidents have signed executive orders and memoranda. None appeared to be compelled to hold them up and show off their penmanship.

“It’s show and tell,” Duke University historian William Chafe said. “It’s basically trying to create the impression of decisiveness.”

In Chafe’s view, it’s actually a misimpression, given the lack of a single significant piece of legislation to pass under Trump’s watch, including the 10 he specifically promised he would shepherd through Congress in his first 100 days.

“The executive orders are the only substantive things that he’s accomplished,” Chafe said, adding that even those have not been particularly substantial. All but a handful of the objectives described in the directives did not even need a formal presidential authorization for the agency heads to pursue them.

In Kenosha, for example, as employees at the Snap-on tools headquarters applauded, Trump signed his “Buy American, Hire American” executive order, which he claimed would “help protect workers and students, like those of you in the audience today.”

Except the actual language of the order affects purchasing by federal agencies he controls and asks his own departments to look for ways to tighten some work visa rules. So why issue an executive order ― a tool that historically has reinterpreted laws or rules to achieve a desired goal ― when a simple email or phone call might have done the job?

“An executive order is a signal to every single worker in the federal government, including career workers, lifelong workers, every one across the federal government, that this is an order from the president of the United States, memorialized in writing,” a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity on the Air Force One flight from Wisconsin back to Washington, D.C. “There is no higher statement of executive direction than the form of an executive order.”

Two days later, Trump signed an official memorandum before the cameras, asking his Commerce Department to look into whether steel imports were unfairly undercutting the U.S. steel industry. Why the formal memo, rather than just asking Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to look into it?

“He has issued this memorandum to stress that he would like us to make this a real priority and to expedite it,” said Ross, who acknowledged that he had already started the review the previous day, before the memo was issued.

And the very next morning, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin conceded that Trump’s executive order that afternoon to study the tax code also wasn’t really necessary, despite the televised signing and passing out of pens. “I think the purpose of the orders is to make clear what the president and the administration’s priorities are, and to signify the importance of these issues to the American people,” Mnuchin said.

Chafe and other critics remain unimpressed, and argue that the rash of meaningless signing ceremonies is simply more evidence of a White House that cannot figure out a way to get what it wants ― and maybe cannot even figure out what exactly it does want ― and so settles on PR stunts.

“This administration is still operating under chaos and capriciousness,” Chafe said of Trump. “He’s erratic. He’s all over the place.” 

Promises For 100 Days

Trump had been in office for just a few weeks when he began bragging that he was already accomplishing more than any previous president.

“There has never been a presidency that’s done so much in such a short period of time,” Trump proclaimed in a Feb. 16 White House news conference.

As the days slipped past and it became clear the only bills reaching his desk were feel-good measures such as the one encouraging women to pursue science careers or measures using the Congressional Review Act to undo agency rules passed in the final days of the Obama administration, Trump’s White House began recalibrating its message.

Early this month, Trump’s legislative affairs director, Marc Short, asked reporters “to consider” making the CRAs a bigger deal in their news coverage. “I think if you take into [account] in totality what we’ve been trying to do on the regulatory front, it is a news story. And so I do think it’s an accomplishment,” he said.

The White House began bragging about the increase in the stock market, decreases in illegal border crossings from Mexico and strong job growth numbers ― and attributed them all to Trump’s election.

Eventually, Trump, even as he continued to boast about how great he was doing, began diminishing the whole 100-day concept. “I think the 100 days is, you know, it’s an artificial barrier. It’s not very meaningful,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press last week.

Measuring a president by accomplishments in the first 100 days only came into vogue with the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democrat who entered office at the nadir of the Great Depression. Roosevelt jammed through a significant chuck of his New Deal initiatives in those first months, and that yardstick has stuck ever since.

It is not necessarily fair, particularly to presidents who take office in times of relative peace and prosperity, said University of Texas historian H.W. Brands. Roosevelt in 1933 and Barack Obama in 2009 had to act quickly or risk seeing the nation fall even deeper into economic peril.

Trump, in contrast, took office following 75 straight months of job growth, a 4.7 percent unemployment rate and the wind down of massive, post-Sept. 11 troop deployments.

“He didn’t face a crisis, he didn’t face those emergencies,” Brands said. “But he’s bringing it on himself. ... If the tax code isn’t changed in six months or two years, the world’s not going to end.”

Trump, nevertheless, has claimed he had to act quickly because he inherited “a mess” from his predecessor. That, in fact, was a central theme of his campaign: that the country was a disaster that only he could fix. And on Oct. 22, just weeks before the election, Trump traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and issued a series of promises, some that he would do on his first day in office and the rest that he would accomplish in his first 100.

Based on the list Trump himself created, his track record has been abysmal. Trump actually participated in inaugural activities his first day in office, and spent much of the second day complaining about the media coverage of the first day.

In the coming days and weeks, though, Trump did follow through on some of the 18 actions he said he would start pursuing on Day One, signing orders to deport more undocumented immigrants, to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and to require that each new regulation be accompanied by the repeal of two existing regulations. He also appointed a Supreme Court justice off the list he had previously made public, as he had promised.

But Trump failed to follow through on other items from that list of Day One actions. He did not propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on Congress. Not only did he fail to label China a currency manipulator, as he promised he would, but he later came out and specifically said that China is not one. Most famously, his promises to “cancel all federal funding to sanctuary cities” and to “suspend immigration from terror-prone regions” are tied up in the courts, thanks to poorly drafted language and Trump’s own inflammatory statements about Muslims during the campaign.

And among the 10 pieces of legislation Trump promised to fight to pass “within the first 100 days of my administration,” he is zero for 10.

The End the Offshoring Act, the Clean Up Corruption in Washington Act, the Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act ― not one enjoys much of an existence outside of Trump’s October press release. Even his signature campaign promise, to build a “great wall” along the southern border with Mexico, has now been effectively put off until at least October.

If his presidency were to end tomorrow, he wouldn’t get a mention at all. Nothing has happened. H.W. Brands, University of Texas historian

The only one of those 10 bills that has moved in either chamber ― repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act ― had to be pulled from the House floor just before a scheduled vote last month because of a lack of Republican support, although a revamped version could soon be up for consideration.

“If his presidency were to end tomorrow, he wouldn’t get a mention at all,” Brands said. “Nothing has happened.”

Trump has even failed to follow through on the very first promise he made in that October Gettysburg speech, which came not long after a series of women went public with accusations of Trump’s inappropriate sexual conduct toward them.

“Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign,” Trump said. “Total fabrications. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”

In fact, Trump does not appear to have sued even one of those women.

A Consistent Track Record

To Trump’s many critics, both Democratic and Republican, none of this comes as a surprise.

His decades as a publicity-hungry businessman are littered with enterprises he plunged into with impulsive, poorly researched decisions that later failed, sometimes spectacularly ― everything from his Trump Shuttle airline to his branded Trump Steaks.

In the early 1990s, Trump’s entire business empire was on the verge of collapse. His Atlantic City casinos were bleeding money, and because he had personally guaranteed nearly $1 billion in business loans, their failure would have meant personal bankruptcy for him, too.

Fortunately for Trump, his lenders risked financial ruin themselves if he went down, so they continued to work with him to keep him solvent. Over a period of years, though, his empire shrank as banks forced him to hand over ever-larger portions of his holdings and made him give up extravagances like his 281-foot yacht. They even restricted him to an allowance.

Unable to borrow money for construction projects, Trump shifted his business model toward licensing his name to hotels and condominiums that he didn’t own ― a marketing scheme that became far more successful thanks to the adaptation of his 1987 book, The Art of the Deal, into a hit television series.

Trump’s track record did not suggest a brilliant and savvy businessman, but that’s what he played on “The Apprentice,” talking tough and making shrewd decisions in every episode.

He thinks he’s the best businessman of all time. He thinks he’s the most attractive man to women of all time. He’s a fabulist. None of this is real. Rick Wilson, a Florida Republican political consultant

It was an image that burned into the American popular consciousness over a dozen years, and one that tens of millions of dollars of negative advertising featuring Trump’s actual business record could not undo in the months leading up to last November’s election.

“He thinks he’s the best businessman of all time. He thinks he’s the most attractive man to women of all time,” said Rick Wilson, a Florida Republican political consultant and longtime Trump critic. “He’s a fabulist. None of this is real. ... This is also because he’s fundamentally an unserious person. He’ll say whatever it takes to get the sucker to sign on the dotted line.”

Never Afraid To Brag

Unsurprisingly, Trump brought the habit of claiming phenomenal success, regardless of the actual facts of the case, with him into the White House.

But with no obvious foils to blame as he had during the presidential campaign, Trump’s own character traits underlying his inability to get things done have become more obvious to more observers: His profound ignorance of both domestic and world affairs, an inability or unwillingness to focus, and an eagerness to lash out at perceived threats.

His short attention span and lack of interest in details became clear even to Republican House members during the initial attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act last month. Trump did not appear to know how that law or his proposed replacement actually worked, and seemed more interested in passing something ― anything ― that he could call a victory.

His defenders, who say his lack of knowledge is understandable, given his lack of previous political office, argue that Trump will be held to a different standard by voters judging his performance now, just as they did heading into the 2016 election.

Ari Fleischer, a former press secretary to President George W. Bush, said that, in any case, the voting public’s verdict about Trump will not be determined in the first 100 days. Rather, their views about whether their individual lives and the lives of their families and friends are improved or made more difficult will decide how Republicans fare in the 2018 midterm elections and whether Trump can win a second term two years later.

Be that as it may, the Trump White House this week pulled out all the stops in touting its 100 Day successes ― a new page on the White House website, daily recitations by his press shop of his accomplishments, and a flurry of televised signings of presidential pieces of paper.

Among them are orders and memos asking for studies about agriculture, federal education policy and national monuments. All could have been accomplished without a formal presidential declaration.

The White House also staged a closed-door briefing with members of Congress about North Korea (members said afterward they did not learn anything new and wondered what the point of it was), released a single page of bullet points of a “tax reform” proposal (it was so vague that it was impossible to determine how any given taxpayer’s bill would be affected), and floated the idea of an order to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico (pulling out of NAFTA could require congressional approval, which he isn’t likely to get).

Fleischer said he agrees the presidential orders have been mainly stagecraft. “Legally speaking, there isn’t a big difference between an executive order and a president telling his agencies to do something,” he said. “But, no harm done in packaging it.”

Of course, if Trump’s press team gets truly desperate for accomplishments, they can reach back to a campaign promise he made when announcing his candidacy in June 2015, following his now-famous ride down the Trump Tower escalator.

Right after criticizing the Obama administration’s deal to suspend Iran’s nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief ― ironically, a deal the Trump administration last week acknowledged Iran is living up to ― Trump laid into Obama’s secretary of state, John Kerry, for crashing his bicycle.

“Goes into a bicycle race at 72 years old, and falls and breaks his leg. I won’t be doing that,” Trump said. “And I promise I will never be in a bicycle race. That I can tell you.”

Trump has not, at least thus far in his presidency, participated in a single bicycle race.

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