#great job sonic! you broke the universe

[son1c]

What would Sonic have done if Shadow stayed catatonic for a while ?

"for awhile" could mean anything. 5 minutes? 5 hours? 5 days??? regardless of how long it was, sonic wouldn't have just left him there on that tiny island all alone

[palskippah]

Hi! I give you this Stobotnik fankid I made a while ago :'y

She's Sofia --or Ivania or some other name ending in 'ia'-- Robotnik (coolest last name)

It's a compilation and also there's some Stone for practice bc I have no idea how to draw him pipipi Eggman is easier bc it's just his Sonic Boom design (I love it)

Some stuff about this universe under the cut!

(Btw if there's incongruencies is bc I can't make up my mind about the facts whwhw)

-Robotnik and Stone are married, very much married. Cartoon villains in love, I love that for them.

-["MARTHA I'M COMING HOME SWEETIE-"] Mixing up the movie things and the whatever's going on in the Sonic Boom, so Robotnik was gone for eight months and when he's back she's already born.

>Also the drawing is a reference to Icarly's "Whatcha got there?" "A smoothie" but she was clearly asking about the ostrich Spencer brought with him.

>Alternatively, Eggman's there and they go through the journey together yippiee. Choosing names, making evil parenting plans and whatever, being their idiot selves.

(After celebrating because they're good news actually) "I want a boy or a girl-" (Eggman) "Yeah me too." (Stone) "-and we should name them a single, worth of remembering name! Like... Eggette for a girl and Eggson for a boy." "I'm not letting you name them any of that, doctor..." "Okay, then how about Beyonce for a girl and-"

>They wouldn't have kids (?? maybe? I don't really know, I only know sonic boom and the movie :'U)- but she was probably the 1% the birth control warns you about. Also, Stobotnik got a very active seggsual life, and I'm imagining she came to be from a quickie over the desk, why not.

>Helpful diagram of Eggman + Stone kissing and then = baby. They were in work hours.

-In the one where he comes back and the baby's already there, Eggman does a terrible job as a father the few first months, but then he gets the hang of it and it's not so bad.

>He gets projectile vomited on and he's immediately asking to get an abortion (the baby's already born) (he didn't give birth to her), Stone says no anyways.

>"Surprisingly, I'm a good father" he thinks one day and it's because he's still very much an orphan here with no frame of comparation or example aside from researching the matter.

-In the one where they wait for her together, he does all the research necessary in all those months, absolutely refusing in doing an average job in that matter, he's the great Ivo Robotnik c'mon. He excels at anything and he'll be a great father (jk he's terrified of fucking up).

-The Stobotnik family is an evil but loving family, like the bears in Puss in Boots whwh criminal family✨

-For the funny of it, Sonic and Eggman got a sort of relationship like in Sonic Boom, so sometime maybe our favorite boy, Tails and Knuckles had to look after their child.

-Also since Knuckles broke Stone's and Robotnik's hands with their handshake, let's have him handle the baby with the most careful grip ever, just to demonstrate that he didn't have to grab their hands that hard aksdjask

-She's a big fan of Sonic and friends (Sonic the Hedgehog, not Sonic Wachowski, the second guy hadn't done even half the things she admires him for, but no one has the heart to tell her when she's a kid). Has a bunch of merch and all the comics of Sonic the Hedgehog.

>When she's a teenager she proudly uses her Sonic backpack in the same way Deadpool uses his Hello Kitty backpack.

-BTW Sonic, Knuckles and Tails are all brothers and Maddie and Tom's kids bc that's the best idea ever made.

-ALSO I'm definitely gonna draw that scene where Knuckles was about to put the baby in the blender and Sonic shouts THE CHILI DOG NOT THE BABY. Some day, you'll see pipipi.

-SAGE was created for various reasons, to be her sister (since she wouldn't stop asking for one but neither Stone nor Robotnik were willing in raising another human kid, thanks very much), to protect her, and also to answer the tedious "why?" questions that neither father had the patience for (A+ parenting right there). Maybe she was used for the original purpose too idk (I don't know that sonic game where she debuts).

>The child's delighted about having a sister, then she grows up and SAGE doesn't, so she has a little sister.

>METAL SONIC TOO MAYBE? Perfect lil american family, the two happily married parents and their three kids (one human girl, an IA and a robot clone of their alien enemy).

-On her early months she was called Pebble, because she really was a mini Stone, Robotnik went along with it (bc he also looked at her and only saw his husband whw) until she was a little older and they started calling her by her name.

>Alternatively, since Eggman was gone, Stone waited for him to return in hopes of choosing together a name for their child, and Pebble worked as a placeholder since she was just a bebi.

>Alternatively alternatively, Eggman came up with the nickname. ROCK-ONNAISSANCE 🗣️ also yeah I know he was going crazy from the mushroom stuff, but he's not above making silly puns, he's a dad now and also he's naturally silly.

(NGL I really gotta make up my mind about how it all happened ajsdkad)

-She's a spoiled kid and also a little menace, unintentionally evil, she can't help it.

>Good-hearted too sometimes, she loves Sage and does her best to protect her back (it's not necessary but it's appreciated anyways).

-Robotnik calls himself 'daddy' way too much in the live-action movies to ignore it, so he's daddy and Stone's dad (dada when she was younger).

>"These are my daddies!" (points to what's clearly two villains -but also good fathers-)

-She has Robotnik's eyes but as big as Stone's. They're the lethal-est sad puppy eyes ever (they work wonders on both parents and other people) (both men got beautiful dark brown eyes with visible eyelashes fight me).

>Look at Eggman's silly eyelashes:

>Also, you know that picture of Lee Majdoub with the beautiful everything? I think he was wearing eyeliner so my Stone wears eyeliner too in contrast to Eggman's dark circles under his eyes JDJS😭

-She's the five-year-old that made Sonic fear them because 'they can be so cruel when they sense weakness' (she was brutally honest as any young kid is).

-Stone and Robotnik got Gomez and Morticia Addams kinda parenting. They see their child beating up someone and they're like:

"What did we do wrong?" (Stone while shaking his head in disappointment) "I know... she lacks resourcefulness." (Eggman) "Exactly, there's her baseball bat right there, why doesn't she use it?"

-Remember that Shadow said in a game that he wouldn't mind taking a candy from a baby? (fandub I think but still) This comes in handy when neither Tails, Sonic or Knuckles want to upset the kid (so Shadow does it instead).

-She plays sports too because she got too much energy. In each of them she loses her patience. She grabs the football and hauls it at the nearest team member, she throws her baseball bat to the ground and starts beating up whoever threw the ball that she missed, she stomps in frustration if she loses, she's great at dodgeball (sends her classmates to the infirmary).

-Throws tantrums and stuff and overall's an annoying kid if she's upset. Eggman's like UGH WHY'S SHE LIKE THIS?? and Stone's like Because of you, doctor (terrible temperament runs in the family and also Robotnik just spoiled her too much).

-I'm kinda dressing her up in the clothes that existed in my mind that supposedly Eggman wore (the weird dress-like jacket with the big zipper in the middle). Under her jacket there's a dress in the same pattern as the original Eggman's clothes, also she wears a baby onesie like that too.

-When she's older she's definitely proud of her fathers, but she doesn't appreciate the rumors that she's prone to go power-crazy like Robotnik did. Especially because it may be true, but what do they know.

-For the irony, she can't stand drinking coffee, but loves the smell of it because it reminds her of home (omg).

-THEY HAVE A PET CAT like I read in some fics and her name is Robot and she's a lil shit and also grumpy like Robotnik.

>Maybe she brings her alive mice to experiment on all sort of stuff (like Pávlov and his dogs and the guy Skinner with his mice and cats (??))

-She gets to hang out with Sonic and friends under the condition of annoying him as much as possible. So, she complies. (She loves Sonic the Hedgehog, but she loves making her fathers happy more).

-Very smart kid but not to the level of Tails or Robotnik at that age, she's just got very good memory and learning skills and knows a lot of stuff ever since she was a little kid. More like a Matilda-kinda intelligence.

-She's a scientist when she grows up too but the kind that makes evil potions and serums and stuff aksjdk probably (chemistry things? biochem idk). She can make silly little robots for the fun of it but it's not her passion, unlike Robotnik and Stone's. PROBABLY. I'm still deciding.

-BTW LOOK (it says 'carefully crafted ploy to distract space porcupines')

>While Eggman's there with the baby and Sonic in front of him going AWWW BABY BOO and making her laugh, Stone is sneaking up on him holding a chair above his head to knock him out.

THAT'S IT THANKS FOR READING ✨✨

[th3-0bjectivist]

Dear listener, this week I feel compelled to bring Tumblr a little slice of music from the Silversun Pickups, who, despite my best and most concentrated efforts to despise their sound, have managed to become endearing to my nearly non-existent heart. Regardless of my sincerest attempts to stop listening to them over a decade or so, this group is SO GOOD at what they do I just cannot manage to quit revisiting their catalog without a semi-religious consistency after being hooked by their intoxicating post-punk sound, and the complete experience that they have to offer. In terms of atmosphere, overall personal resonance, and contextual vibe… I keep returning to this band almost exclusively for their ability to manipulate my gloomy heartstrings like a melancholy violinist on a well-tuned violin. Smash play just above for Lazy Eye from their 2006 debut album, Carnavas, and if you want more, scroll on down.

True story: I tried to hate this band for about two years after I had discovered them (2015 or so). Looking back; I was immature, brash, a little punkass bitch. Also, true story, I have personally determined that hating them is impossible, especially after the emotional ride they have managed to provide for me in my limited time on planet Earth. I have realized that this dialect of rock music just isn’t for me, and still come back for more. They’ve got a lead male singer (Brian Aubert) whose voice registers as feminine to my ears and an overall sound that I would plainly describe as sonic. As of writing this musical recommendation, color me humble… their music is rabid and fervid with beautiful lyrical poetry, genuine passion for their craft, and a unique ability to bring me to the points of my knees just by being sincere and making songs about universal moments. This is a rare musical gem that I enjoy adoring, despite the nature of the force that formed it. The name of the group is derived singularly from the fact that the members early-on in their career picked up their alcohol from a store called Silversun Liquor… making it a Silversun pickup. Further, this group originally had not one, but two romantically involved couples in the lineup. When both couples broke up around the same time, and two members left subsequently, it nearly destroyed any future collaborative work… until around 2006 when they established their permanent lineup and released their first album which went gold by industry standards. I do honestly enjoy their earliest works more so than their later ones, as they had a knack for making me listen to shoegaze without actually wanting to open a vein in the process. Later on, they let their badass lady bassist, Nikki Monninger, take the lead vocal reins and they’ve even rubbed shoulders with industry titans like Butch Vig and Alan Moulder on the production end. Further on in their production cycle (2015-2022) their albums take on a newer, more mainstream sound that still feels groovy but also seems somewhat overproduced to me… as is the nature of getting in bed with music industry big wigs. But hey, that’s no sleight coming from me! I’ve got my headphones on right now and even their overproduced recent stuff is markedly better than approximately 91. 9999% of modern music. I just prefer their earlier stuff, which is why I will dovetail this post with There’s No Secrets This Year from their 2009 album Swoon!

This is a musical group I enjoy very much in spite of the type of music they make. Outside of a few bands here and there, I don’t even think I really like listening to rock music that much at all these days. SP makes my chest feel like it’s full of glitter and silly string, all while causing my head to bob up-and-down uncontrollably at the same time. Great job SP: your tunes actually make me feel something, unlike the rest of these indie/alt rock jabronis. Image source: https://www.livenation.co.uk/artist-silversun-pickups-2426

[dreamsister81]

 Jeff and MI:

By age, you fit in the G.I.T generation, but you obviously are not one of them...

These facilities are a mystery to me. There they tell you only one thing: hurry up! This leads you nowhere, afterwards your own children run away from you. Through these trainings you get to know women, you get to know men, music is inoculated into people who have no feeling for it; then they can only scare other people or insult them...

I was in this terrible place too, by the way-G.I.T That was a complete waste of time, apart from the theoretical lessons and the friends that I had there. Otherwise: an absolute wrong decision.

How long have you studied there?

One year, the normal program. They give you tons of material, you have to absorb everything, you practice, you are tested and you go to the next course. An intensive support with development is simply not possible. I did so many things: theory, single string technique, jazz class, rock class, all sorts of genres. My friend John was teaching bass there, and he once said that there is not a single teacher at the institute who says to the students, "OK, you're learning all this stuff here now, you're learning how to entertain people and you're learning to learn. But do you even know that there is no one in the universe other than yourself who plays the music you play? " John left the school then. For me it was all a joke that cost me $ 3,900. People interested in music should take private lessons somewhere, start a band, do something with people who like them and have what it takes. These schools are a scene in their own right, a very small, secluded world-the music, on the other hand, is gigantic and open. If you don't notice it, you miss a lot of magic, pain, development...(thinks) and rock! Apart from Paul Gilbert, there was no one there who really rocked. Session musicians are bred there; and at the end of the year you get a piece of paper that says, "Now you have the skills to become a professional musician." Well, congratulations! And then you look for jobs and play what other people want. But that's not all the music, there's something else isn't there? Where's the music coming from? From your own head or stomach, or the concepts of the people you work for?-Gitarre & Bass, October,  1995

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I had a friend named John Humphrey. I went to this really crappy guitar school for a year, and he used to teach there, he was a bass teacher. And then he left, and we ended up being roommates later on, after I graduated. This is the kind of school where you give them a shitload of money in order to spend a year learning their curriculum.

What was it, G.I.T. (Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles)?

Yeah, it was G.I.T.. They give you their curriculum, and it's not too comprehensive, but it's just enough, and then you can [snaps his fingers] move on to the next thing. And pretty soon you have all this shit inside you and then they give you this paper that says you have what it takes to be a professional musician.

It's a rock-oriented thing, isn't it?

In the end, I think, the only true product of that kind of learning is to get you gigs on the studio circuit and to get you gigs on the session guy circuit.

So, Lee Ritenour went there or something?

G.I.T. was started by Howard Roberts, the guy who played the wah-wah guitar on the theme to Shaft. And this other guy named Pat Hayes. I don't know. It just seemed like a racket, really. John said a lot of things to me that stuck in my mind. He said that there was nobody who stopped you, sat you in a room and said, okay, we have all these artists that you're learning the licks from, you have your guitar heroes, your virtuoso lust objects. But there's nobody who can make the kind of music you can make now except for you. And you can make it now. You don't even have to know how to go fast. And that makes all the sense to me in the world. It's also kind of an unseen process, that concept, originality. It's like that in all the education systems; there's never any real...identity education, self-generative identity art sort of thing, to be yourself. If everybody in Melbourne had a Wurlitzer organ and had the passion to sing something or make something, you'd have hundreds of thousands of different styles, if they were coming exactly from only their DNA, only their makeup, and their emotional percepts, their idea about what art is. You could have way-removed genres from what is already accepted, avante-garde country-rock-punk-folk-whatever. It's unlimited. But for some reason, the conventions always take over and there's a very ready and powerful formula to step into...

Those are the type of [formula-derived] players who can say, "Well, I was listening to the radio in 1967 and I heard the guitar solo in Jimi Hendrix's 'All Along the Watchtower,' and that guitar sound, that tone, would work perfectly for this television commercial."

Yeah. See? "Stealing from the greats, that's okay." That's right. Once I stopped in [at G.I.T.] years later, when I was on tour going through L.A., just to see what it was like. They've got a completely high-tech, multi-million dollar facility...

More so than when you had been there?

Way more. When I was there, it was just a ragtag bunch of teachers, and they had all left by then. They had video facilities and a class for stage moves and all kinds of things. And I saw this guy who was working the desk, the guy who watches the door. He had a bass on, and he was practicing his Nirvana chops! He was playing "In Bloom" on his bass, way up on his chest, jazz-fusion style, to the Nirvana song. I thought, oh shit--he was practicing his grunge riffs! He was getting his grunge down! Best fucking thing you can do, if you have the interest, is go to a private teacher, go someplace, some college, and learn theory. That was something I really enjoyed, actually, something that wasn't totally pointless. Theory meaning the meaning of the musical nomenclature. I was attracted to really interesting harmonies, stuff that I would hear in Ravel, Ellington, Bartok.-Double Take, February 29, 1996

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Once the site of a seakeasy and a bra factory, the 30,000-square-foot quarters were now the home of Musicians Institute, a vocational school for anyone who considered himself or herself a serious musician. With its wooden desks and chipped-tile hallways, MI resembled any other urban school, but at those desks, student guitarists and drummers studied scales and power chords in hopes of becoming the next Eddie Van Halen or Neil Peart, the flashy drummer with Rush. On their way to class each morning, flaxen-haired guitar gods in training could be spotted holding their guitars and practicing licks as they walked down Hollywood Boulevard.

Jeff had heard about Musicians Institute (and its subdivision, the Guitar Institute of Technology) while in high school and told everyone it was his one and only destination. However, potential superstardom did not run cheap. The school charged $4,000 for its one year course, and by the time Jeff Graduated from Loara High School, Mary Guibert was beginning to fall on hard financial times as she went in and out of jobs. In need of money for herself and her two sons, she prematurely broke into a $20,000 fund earmarked for Jeff, but only after he tured nineteen. Once Mary proved to the courtsthat Jeff needed it for his education, he and Mary received it a year early. In a deep irony, the father Jeff had barely met and increasingly resented would be paying his son's way through music school.

On graduation night, September 15, 1985, at the Odyssey in Granada Hills in the San Fernando Valley, Jeff, Stoll, and Marryatt closed the ceremony by playing Weather Report's "Pearl On the Half Shell."-from Dream Brother

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With its 30-odd thousand feet of floor space and row upon row of "labs", where hopeful guitar heroes could jam with such shit-hot players as Scott Henderson, LA's Musician's Institute must have seemed like nirvana for someone like Jeff Buckley, trapped as he was behind the Orange Curtain. According to his buddy Chris Dowd, that's exactly why Buckley enrolled there, arriving just before autumn, 1984, bankrolled by $4,000 that Mary managed to squeeze from a Tim Buckley trust fund.

Originally known as the Guitar Institute, which in itself says plenty, the school was opened in 1977. Drawing on the educational philosophy of journeyman guitarist Howard Roberts, it was co-founded and managed by Los Angeles music businessman Pat Hicks, "a real shyster opportunist", in the words of Tom Chang, an expat Canadian who would become very tight with Jeff Buckley during their two years at the Institute. In 1978, thr Bass Institute was opened, followed by the Percussion Institute two years later. Desppite Hicks' questionable business ethics-amongst other things, he'd hire students as cheap labour to do essential maintenance work on the building, which led to Buckley being hired as an electrician's assistant soon after graduating-he did manage to persuade well regarded players and bands to lecture, and play alongside, the hopefuls who'd enrolled there.

What Buckley lacked up in "front" he clearly made up for in ambition. That was proved, in spades, by Buckley's graduation performance which was played out on September 15, 1985, at a venue called the Odyssey in Granada Hills. While the sonic crush and enviable chops of Rush and Led Zeppelin still rocked the world of this Orange County teen, Buckley had also developed a real taste for such "noodlers" as Weather Report.

The number chosen by Buckley for graduation was their "D Flat Waltz" (not "Pearl On The Half-Shell", as documented elsewhere, which they'd performed at a previous event), a typically complicated few minutes of Weather Report neo-fusion-a "really cool piece, very involved", according to Tom Chang-and a standout from their 1983 set Domino Theory. But Buckley, accompanied by Stoll on drums and Marryatt on bass, didn't just play the piece, he also wrote the individual parts out beforehand for the band.-from A Pure Drop

MI pics by me

[liamscxtt]

a day in the life ; self para

when: thursday, august 28th

where: literally everywhere

nb: just a brief (long) narrative of what the typical day looks like for liam.

trigger warnings: homelessness, death and drug mentions, drug abuse

5:00am

there’s a moment when you first wake up when everything is just a haze. a moment when you forget who you are, what day it is -- all of your problems just don’t exist, for that moment. the moment only lasted a few seconds before the blaring sound of the alarms coming from the phone bring you back to the brutal aspects of reality. and yet, those were the best five seconds for liam.

groaning, he turned over and tapped on his screen, desperately trying to shut the alarm off; the bright screen burning his already sleep deprived eyes. he probably only got about three hours of sleep, if that. he was used to it at this point, and then there were days like today. days where he wanted to wither into the depths of his own self-loathing. 

he looked out the window to see the sun beginning to rise. a sky painted with shades of blues, purples, and oranges, almost like a messy yet somewhat neatly put together painting made by a middle schooler. there was something beautiful about waking up with the sun, parts of it that brought him peace. his sister loved watching the sunrise - she always went on and on about how sunrises were the true underdog; how mother nature picked it’s most beautiful mixture of colors for the sunrises, all because it took a special person to appreciate the beauty that came from it. he never really understood what she meant, until he was forced to watch the sun rise every single morning. and as always, she was right. sunsets had nothing against sunrises. 

these quiet mornings were the best part of liam’s day. the hours where he felt most connected to his sister and to himself. the hours he felt truly at peace. it was crazy to think that liam’s favorite time of the day was between 5:00am and 6:30am. 

he turned on his car to play youtube on his aux before climbing out of his vehicle. the sweet melody’s of the soft pitched tunes filled his car and the immediate area surrounding it, and a smile creeped on his face as one of her favorite songs began playing in the background. he wasn’t religious, but there was a part of him that truly found strength in knowing that his sister wasn’t far away. 

he rolled up the worn down mattress topper, collected his pillow and blanket in one hand. he broke down his bed as he pushed the backseat of his 2006 ford escape upright and neatly tucked his belongings into his trunk. 

5:30am

he pulled into the vacant parking lot of the soulstice gym. the gym was set to open in a half hour; luckily for him, there weren’t many college students that would dare to wake up at the crack of dawn just to work out. he stuffed everything he needed to get ready for the day into a duffle bag; shower supplies, and a clean outfit. he desperately needed to do laundry, and he needed to get food...but pay day wasn’t until next week. he was gonna have to find cash, and find it quick - maybe he’ll just pick up another shift at the bar. he practically lived at that place now.

his footsteps echoed through as he walked through the empty fitness center; not even the cleaners had arrived for their early morning shift. he quickly hopped into the showers and get ready for the day. lord knows he needed to wash the dirt and sins that painted his skin from the previous nights festivities. he couldn’t even recall what exactly happened, and that was both a blessing and a curse. it was shortly after he turned on all the lights and greeted the early morning cleaners, jimmy and george. 

“good morning, son!” greeted george. 

“mornin’, will.” jimmy greeted shortly after. 

jimmy and george worked closely together, and were usually gone for the day 2pm; and yet, liam knew the guys quite well. 

jimmy is in his early-forties, married with two children. he worked two full time jobs to get his children through school. his son played division II baseball at a school somewhere in the midwest, and is majoring in sports education. he wants to be a gym teacher. his daughter is studying to be a nurse at monarch. she aspires to work in women’s health. jimmy always spoke so highly of them two. 

george is in his mid-sixties, but is still kicking it like he’s twenty. he’s also married with children and even grandchildren, but his story is more tragic. he’s a retired firefighter, who is still working a full time job because his pension wasn’t enough to make ends meet. can’t make ends meet. his only daughter passed away at a young age - drug overdose, he says. his only son is constantly in and out of jail for drug charges - leaving george and his wife to take care and raise their two grandchildren, layla and michael. layla is 14 and is getting ready to start high school. she loves to play volleyball, and apparently is a natural. michael is 9 and is getting ready to start fourth grade. he love cars, spider man, legos, sonic, and baseball cards. he wants to be a youtube gamer when he grows up. liam didn’t know the kid, but he thought he was fucking awesome. 

two completely different stories, and yet liam believed that those two men deserved the world and then some.

“what’s up, guys?” liam greeted with a smile as he filled up his metal water bottle at the nearest filling station. “when are the kids set to go back, george?”

“this coming monday. mikey’s already complaining how he doesn’t need school to be a youtuber. apparently he’s ‘done his research’.” the comment makes both liam and jimmy laugh. 

“tell the little man to put that energy into a sport, or a trade. i need a new mechanic.” jim jested, once again causing the other two to laugh. “what about you, will? getting ready to start the semester back up? gabby is already stressing because some of her professors already posted the syllabus.” 

“shit, i haven’t even gotten my textbooks yet. i might have to join mikey with this whole youtuber plan and hope for the best.” liam said with a nervous chuckle. he almost had completely forgotten about the upcoming semester approaching. 

to quickly divert the question away from him, he spoke once more. “say, george. i found a few baseball cards at the bar the other night. remind me to bring them in for you.” 

“you’ll make that boys entire week. maybe i’ll use that to bribe him to go to school.” 

jimmy just smiled. “you’re a good kid, scotty boy. never change.” 

2:30pm

it had only been a half hour since liam clocked out from his morning job, and he quickly made his way over to the library. the mention of school that morning brought liam into a panic. he grabbed a spot at one of desks in the computer station, powering on the device and pulling out his notebook. luckily enough, most of the textbooks he needed the library had available. leaving his stuff behind, he went to go fetched them. 

he already had mastered the technique of not having his own textbooks. every week, he would go and scan all of the chapters he needed for each and every class. luckily, monarch offered free scanning and printing. he made small talk with the librarian that sat at the desk nearby as he printed out at least three weeks worth of chapters for each of his classes. 

he sat down once more, and took the time to put the pile of papers neatly into his binder. it was time to start planning. 

6:30pm

now it was time to work his night time job, mars bar. he was working with adrian tonight, so he knew it wouldn’t be that bad.

his stomach had been grumbling half way through his shift. he hadn’t eaten anything all day. but he continued to push through. he had to, at least until pay day. he continued to chug water; if his stomach was full of water, his body didn’t have time to remind him that it needed some sort of nutrients. he was a master manipulator when it came to his own body now. 

1:00am

the rounded out the tips that he received from his customers. it was a good night, and luckily enough he would be able to do laundry the next day. his body was tired, though; aching from the lack of sleep and abuse his body endured from the festivities. he felt like he could sleep for an entire month, and then some. 

he drove around for a bit after his shift, a thing he did as he needed to both unwind and find a somewhat safe space to park his car. university police were patrolling the parking lots that night, which immediately told him not to park there. he couldn’t park in greek row - too many people he knew by this point. he was left to park in a nearby park, in a nearby neighborhood. he found himself saying a small prayer that nobody would mess with him that night. 

he lit up a joint once he found his place, feeling the smoke fill his lungs as he listened to the calming music that played on the radio. ed sheeran was playing, a song from his multiply album. it was one of his and his sister’s favorite albums. that’s the one thing they shared in common, their taste in music. but she was more pop in a sense, and he was more edgy. but still, the music brought him comfort.

he got his bed ready; a mattress topper, paired with a pillow and a blanket. he made himself comfortable and looked at his phone, just to see he missed a text from his mother at 10:45pm.

hi honey! spoke with your aunt today, and we’re making plans for christmas. did your father reach out to you? let me know what plans he has set. i’ll arrange my trip around your plans. 

i hope you had a great day! i love you! ❤️

her message was followed by a bitmoji image of her holding a huge heart. and he smiled. 

i haven’t spoken to him all week, but i’ll reach out tomorrow and let you know. i’ll call you tomorrow. love you ❤️

there was a huge part of him that wanted to call her now, that wanted to tell her he had been struggling both physically and mentally...but then he remembered the damage and the financial burden his injury left. it ruined his family. he ruined his family. and just as he was about to press call, he let out a frustrated sigh before locking his phone and tossing it not too far away from him, rolling over to attempt to get some sort of rest.

just to do the same thing. all. over. again.

[schibi12]

Review/Reaction for "Let's Get Dangerous!"

Sorry for posting this a bit late i tried to post these a day before the new episode but this being an hour long episode and i got a really busy week it took its time to write but know its here so enjoy!

This post is gonna be long, longer than my usual posts, not only because it’s a 1 hour special but im gonna be fangirling real hard even though i haven’t watched OG Darkwing Duck so take this as a biased or unbiased review, but still this episode was amazing, everthing was so on point the story, characters, animation, music, action, comedy, etc., everything was great so Let’s Do This!! And LET’S GET DANGEROUS!!!!

Spoilers!! Read at your own Risk!!

Love that intro of Launchpad narrating their entrance to St. Canard, Dewey and LP accidentally revealing Darkwing's identity to Huey and Louie and Scrooge forgetting to turn off the laptop on his video call with Bradford and Darkwing failing to glide like Batman everything was great and then we get the titlecard no theme song oh it was perfect.

I like Taurus Bulba's introduction like we already know he is a villain but i like that he is this friendly and knowledgeable to Scrooge and the kids which can be seen as kind or a bit stalkerish once they reveal his true intentions.

I love Darkwing's hideout, all the gadgets, the super computer every little detail i love it,and that Fenton helped him and that Drake is oblivious to Gizmoduck real identity is just funny.

I love W.A.N.D.A. her sarcastic tone and i especially love that she is voice by Jameela Jamil who also voices Gandra Dee, but i like that she kept her accent.

Of course there is no crime in St. Canard they got the best mayor, and im glad that Owlson finally got a job where she is respected.

Ooh Huey is getting is suspicious of the RAMROD and of Bulba and ew Haggis sounds kinda nasty not gonna lie.

No crime kind of an awkward situation but at least Darkwing had the decency to finish the job for them. Ooh we get to see Gosalyn damn she can hold her own, oh my gosh i think we all have the same thought that the first triplet to be arrested would be Louie, and of course Scrooge doesn't remember Darkwing at all. Interesting Bulba is on DW side but not for long. Damn Huey that hat is like Mary Poppins bag.

They made a set for Dewey Dew Night, these pics of DW and i need that cookbook in real life.

And Gosalyn i love her design, personality everything and Stephanie Beatriz did an amazing job voicing her she had big shoes to fill and in my haven't watched OG Darkwing Duck opinion i think she is a worthy sucessor and a big plus that she is Latina and i love the reference to her original design

And honestly i thought that Dewey was gonna be the last of the kids that she would form a friendship with, so i was genuinely surprised when they teamed up and i loved that they related with the whole mystery of a missing family member a nice callback to the 1st season, and i love that Dewey is trying to make a catchphrase for her.

Of course DW is gonna help her but i do like that Launchpad is the one who encourages him to help Gosalyn, nice shot of all them driving DW motorcycle but where is Dewey in the motorcycle WHERE??? Huey knows he knows Bulba and tell a parent or caretaker how to educate their children, Did Darkwing just dislocated his jaw ouch! and nice hiding spots guys, that’s a really big and heavy book.

Taurus what a good liar and yeah some nice teamwork from Dewey and Gos!!! And that’s a lot of papers and plans for one machine oooh this episodes ties up with the whole missing mysteries plot wasn’t expecting that and wait so that means any Disney Media is an alternate dimension/universe so maybe DT17 is a universe where Mickey Mouse doesn’t exist ok crazy theory aside i like the explanation they have for the RAMROD and the whole dimensional stuff.

Caught in a lie Taurus Bulba!! What a jerk he just hit a child what is wrong with you (well he is a villain so why am i surprised). Good Guy Launchpad helping as always. Some more good teamwork with DW and Gos! Oh my the Fearsome are Fearsome indeed and what an entrance! 

So like i have said many times i haven’t seen OG Darkwing Duck so i have no reference to compare or critique but as their own version i really liked it their design. personality and etc., everything was good with these 4.

Come on DW you already breaking down and you haven’t even fought anyone. Aw Fenton/Gizmoduck has his own kind of Iron Man Hud and geez so rude DW. Hey Bonkers another Disney Afternoon show i haven’t seen (im gonna get my Disney Fan Club Card revoked after this post). And aw Launchpad is making another Adventuring Family and Oh my Ducks!! LP is the uncle he has a lot to live up to.

Oh so he is a part of FOWL i was kinda suprised not gonna lie, oh Bulba gone rough and kinda crazy, and the kids with Bradford what an odd team up and of course Louie can pick locks,The chase scene with the Quackerbot and Liquidator and DW and Co. was great, was that a Sonic reference? and that scene with Bushroot was suspenseful and  creepy as heck! That saxophone solo was hilarious. Duck boys getting suspicious especially Huey.

Did LP broke the 4th wall?!?! Aw what a funny and wholesome moment with Gos and LP.

Aw is DW is doing the best he can for Gos, aw what a sweet tender moment im not crying your crying LP is crying. LP made pancakes what an uncle and ouch DW can take a beating.

What a reference to OG Ducktales this was really unexpected and hilarious!! And i really like Dewey’s sarcastic tone at Bradford. Holy cow the boys know about FOWL and they are in ther classic design Oh bother!

What a plan LP kind of dumb but it worked. And what a nice message of LP about what it means to be a hero wise words my dudes. And what a fight it was amazing great references, action-packed, clever and funny it was beautiful. Oh those references to OG Ducktales good stuff. 

Aw poor Gosalyn having to make the ultimate decision the animation, music and voice acting were great and you really feel for her and i gotta be honest i cried in this scene.

Oh snap!! Scrooge knows about FOWL now!! The tables have turned for this season!

And aw they formed a nice found family and Launchpad is an honorary member of team uncle!

Amazing episode everything was so good this is the perfect pilot for a Darkwing Duck Reboot, Disney if you don’t do it you’re crazy.

This episode was greatly balanced i liked that it wasn’t all Darkwing Duck but it also followed Scrooge and the boys and it all perfectly meshed together with the whole FOWL plot line which i wasn’t expecting at all but it was an awesome surprise and i honestly don’t know what to expect for future episodes or the season finale.

Overall a perfectly made episode funny, clever, action-packed, great character interactions and great introduction to Darkwing Duck universe for peeps who haven't seen the OG like me and others.

I give this episode 5 out of 5 ducks.

🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆

[imthedoctorlove]

Soulmate AU

Skin Deep

13th Doctor x reader x the Master

Well, this ended up to be way longer than planned. This is my first time writing the 13th doctor and the master. I hope you enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed writing it. There is a part 2 planned if you want it.

Wordcount: 1841

____

(Y/n) had never felt what it was like to be normal. It was rare to be born with the name of your soulmate tattooed on your skin. Rarer still to have two, one on each arm, but that wasn’t the reason that led her to hide them. She always thought that the intricate swirls and interconnected circles were beautiful, but the world disagreed and was cruel to her. Why her? She thought. The only way the bond could be formed was on meeting, the respective soulmates would speak the others name, and their souls would become entwined. But (y/n) didn’t know the names of her soulmates. There was no clue to deciphering the curved lines which painted her skin. She was bullied for them. Freak. Called selfish for having more than one. Her parents had been there for her in the beginning, but there was only so much they could take. Once word broke out about her marks, her parents lost their jobs for the sake of the reputation of the company they worked for. They became alienated in their social circles to the point where they had no friends left. (Y/n) lost count how many times they had moved around the country. Their anonymity only seemed to last a few months, a year if they were lucky, before they had to move again. It was easier when she left home. She felt her parents shoulders sag in relief when she hugged them goodbye to go off to university.

 (Y/n) thought that there would be no way out, but then she met the Doctor. It had all happened so fast and now she had been travelling with her and the fam for a few months. She felt like she was home and the constant worry about her marks and everything else began to fade away, but not completely. It was small at first, but she began to notice that the Doctor wasn’t as close with her as she was with the others. Every time they were alone together, the Doctor would make an excuse not to be near her. It honestly hurt and she couldn’t understand what she could have possibly done wrong. She talked to Yaz about it and she couldn’t understand it either. 

The Doctor had sent Yaz and Ryan on a mission to get some information on Barton whilst Graham and (y/n) stayed with her to visit an old friend. The Tardis landed with a jolt. The Doctor bounded out the door with her companions following close behind. (Y/n) closed the door behind her and gave it a soft pat. She grinned when she felt the Tardis hum under her touch. 

    “Can I take a nose around your gaff?” She heard the Doctor say from behind her. (Y/n) turned around to see the Doctor’s coat billowing behind her as she went inside the shack. A clearing of a throat made her attention focus on the man they had come to see. 

    “Hi, erm, I’m-”

    “(Y/n).” The way he said her name made her breath catch in her throat. “The Doctor told me.”

     All she could do was nod. 

“I’m O.” He motioned for her to follow him as they walked entrance of the shack. 

 “Can I ask how long you’ve known the Doctor?”

“Oh, me and her go way back. Why?” 

“Curiosity. I’ve been travelling with her for a while now and it feels like a don’t know her at all.” Why was she telling this to someone she had just met? But it was the truth. The Doctor was a mystery to her. 

Their conversation had ended there. 

O’s shack had a homely feel to it and (y/n) could picture herself curled up in one of the nearby arm chairs with a good book and a hot maybe alcoholic beverage. A smile spread across her face when she saw the Doctor stood in front of a wall of computer screens, right in her element. O’s presence beside her caused the smile to slip from her features. His expression had changed. It lasted for no more than a second, but it was there.

 A darkness that made her blood run cold.

***

(Y/n) gazed at herself in the mirror as she fixed the dark blue bowtie the Tardis had picked out for her. It was literary thrown in her face when she was looking through different outfit choices in the wardrobe. She was thankful that Yaz didn’t question her when she refused to wear a short sleeved sequin top she thought would look nice on her. 

She felt eyes on her when she walked into the console room. 

“Nice bowtie.” The Doctor complemented. (Y/n) felt her cheeks heat up as she mumbled a thank you at the unexpected complement. The Doctor grinned at her before returning to piloting the Tardis. She shuffled over to the fam where Yaz gave her knowing shove with her shoulder. 

“You look great, (y/n)!” Ryan complemented. 

“Thanks. You don’t scrub up too bad yourself.” 

O suddenly popped up from nowhere and stood in between the two. 

“Mind if I cut in?” O remained glued to her side even when they made it into the party and split off to find Barton. (Y/n) shook the dice in her hand and threw it haphazardly on the table. 

“If you chucked them any harder I think you would have dented the table.” O chuckled from beside her. 

“Did I win?”  

“No.”

“Oh, I didn’t know what I was doing anyway.”

“You know what they say – lucky at dice, unlucky in love.” 

“Do they really say that?”

“No.” 

    A giggle broke free and O couldn’t help but join in. (Y/n) was hyper aware of how close he was standing to her and couldn’t deny the shots of electricity the shot through her arm where their shoulders touched.

***

(Y/n) started to regret not going to the gym as she pushed herself to go faster. The Doctor led from the front as she used her sonic to lower the back of the plane. 

“Come on!” The Doctor shouted as she clambered aboard and pulled up the others. (Y/n) stretched out her hand towards her. She took a hold of it and hauled her up. (Y/n) quickly turned around and helped O onboard. 

“Sorry. I’ve never been good at sprinting.”

“Me neither. I think I need a lie down after that.” 

The group made their way into the main section of the plane. (Y/n) made it past the Doctor and threw herself in the nearest seat. 

“What are we actually going to do?” asked Yaz. 

“Sit tight. See where he’s going.” The Doctor stated.

“Sounds good to me.” (Y/n) quipped which received a chuckle from her. 

“Never been good at sprinting?” The Doctor asked turning to O.

“I was last the one at every race at school.” O sighed looking away. 

“No, I read your file. You’re a champion sprinter.” 

(Y/n) stiffened in her seat when she saw the change in O’s demeaner. It was that same darkness from before, but this time it didn’t go away.

“Hmm. Got me. Well done.” 

“What’s going on, Doc?” 

“I don’t know.”

“You best take a look out the window.” (Y/n) tried to get up to see what everyone was looking at, but became caged in by O. She did not like the intensity in the way he was looking at her. 

“How is your house out there?”

“Oh, It’s a bit wicked witch of the west, but you get the gist . Maybe, maybe not.”

(Y/n) took the momentary distraction to push past him and stand next to the Doctor who took a protective stance in front of her. 

“Oh, come on Doctor, catch up, you can do it.” 

“Oh.” The Doctor gasped in sudden realisation. 

“That’s my name and that is why I chose it. So satisfying.”  Dread formed in the pit of her stomach.

“Doctor, I did say look for the spymaster. Or should I say spy master.”

Something about that name caused the mark on her left arm to burn to the point that it was unbearable. She clutched it to her chest as she collapsed into the chair behind her. 

“Hi.” He waved as his eyes flickered briefly to (y/n).

“You can’t be.” The Doctor’s gaze remained fixed on the Master seemingly to be oblivious of her companion’s pain. 

“I can be and very much am.” 

“What’s going on if he’s not really O.” Ryan voiced what they were all thinking. 

“I’m her best enemy.” He brushed past the Doctor and went to (y/n)’s side. The pain lessened at his closeness. She didn’t notice that the sleeves of her jacket had ridden up revealing a hint of what was hidden beneath. The Master’s gaze flickered to her uncovered skin and grinned. The look in his eyes told her he knew what was causing the pain. 

“Call me Master.” He said never looking away from her. Her mark pulsed again. He grinned and stood back up to face the Doctor. “Me and her we go way way way back.” 

“I met O.” The Doctor began.

“I know.” 

“Years ago.” 

“I know.” The Master let out a manic laugh. It was so different to the one (y/n) heard at the party. Was everything she learnt about this man a lie?

“But there was an O at MI6. C was talking about him.” She suddenly spoke, trying to make sense of what was going on. 

“Yeah, a man very close to my heart.” The Master patted the right side of his chest. “Well, in my pocket, actually. Do you want to see him? It’s always good to keep a backup of one’s work. Tissue compression, it’s a classic.” He pulled out a matchbox from his pocket and opened it. What was in it made (y/n) feel sick. “Ambushed him on his way to work for his first day. Shrunk him, took his identity and set myself up in MI6. Surprisingly, good staff canteen.” He threw the matchbox away without a second thought. “I have had a lot of fun.” He proclaimed as he clapped his hands together like an excited child.  

The rest of the conversation past by (y/n) without her acknowledging it. A pounding in her head prevented her from concentrating on anything. She gasped as she was thrown forward and braced herself for a hard fall, but a pair of arms caught her just before she hit the floor. The Master kept her in his arms as he walked over to the Doctor and stood over her. 

“One last thing. Something you should know in the seconds before you die. Everything you think you know – is a lie. Got you. Finally.” (Y/n) fought against the Master’s hold and looked at the Doctor pleadingly. Why didn’t she help her? 

 “Brace yourself.” Was the only warning she had before they both teleported away.   

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 25

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 25 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 25/? SUMMARY: Elise Smith is now a teenaged Timelord. In addition to losing the Ponds, the fields of Trenzalore are calling. But first they have to figure out exactly who Clara Oswald is.

They sped after the little girl in the moped.

“Merry!” Clara yelled, reaching out for her.

Before Merry could grab her hand, she was dragged into the pyramid and the door slammed shut.

“Brakes! Brakes!” Clara screamed.

They landed roughly, throwing Elise from the moped.

“Okay, time to let go,” the Doctor told Clara.

“I can't.”

“Clara, you have to.”

“Why?”

“Because it really hurts.”

“Sorry.”

The Doctor got off the moped and Clara followed. Elise stood up as the Doctor soniced the entrance. “Oh, that's interesting. A frequency modulated acoustic lock. The key changes ten million zillion squillion times a second,” he said.

“Can you open it?” Clara asked.

“Technically, no. In reality, also no, but still, let's give it a stab.” The Doctor rushed at the door and started to sonic it.

Elise pulled out her own sonic screwdriver (newly updated) and set to work helping the Doctor.

“How can they just stand there and watch?” Clara asked.

“Because this is sacred ground.”

“And she's a child.”

“And he's a god. Well, he is to them, anyway.”

They heard Merry scream.

“Merry! Merry, hold on!” Clara yelled, “We'll be there soon. Doctor?”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh, hello.”

“Hello what?”

“The sonic's locked on to the acoustic tumblers.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning we get to do this.” He looked at Elise, who nodded.

The door started rising.

“Hello there. I'm the Doctor, this is my daughter Elise, and you've met Clara. She was supposed to be having a nice day out. Still, it's early yet.” The Doctor stopped sonicing the door and it dropped a little. “Are you coming, then?”

Merry shook her head.

“Did I mention that the door is majorly heavy?”

“Leave. You'll wake him,” she told him.

“Really quite extraordinarily heavy.” The Doctor collapsed to his knees. “Elise, get inside.”

“What? No.”

“Now!”

Elise stopped sonicing and ran inside.

“Clara?”

Clara ran inside.

The Chorister was still singing.

“Merry, we need to leave,” Clara told her.

“No! Go away.”

“Not without you.”

“You said I wouldn't get it wrong and then I got it wrong. And now this has happened. Look what happened!”

“You didn't get it wrong.”

“How do you know? You don't know anything. You have to go! Go now, or he'll eat us all.”

“Well, he's ugly. But you know, to be honest…” Clara walked up to the glass box. “I don't think he looks big enough.”

“Not our meat, our souls.”

Elise rolled her eyes and grabbed Merry’s arm, about to drag her out of the pyramid. Merry touched her temples and Elise was dragged up against the glass box.

“Get me off of this! Get me off of this right now!” Elise screamed, her cheeks flushed with anger.

“He doesn't want you. He wants me. If you don't leave, he'll eat you all up too,” Merry told them.

“And you don't want that, do you? You want us to walk out of this really quite astonishingly heavy door and never come back,” the Doctor said.

“Yes.”

“I see. Clara's right. Absolutely never going to happen.” The Doctor stopped sonicing the door and quickly ran inside.

“Did you just lock us in?” Clara asked.

“Yep.”

“With the soul eating monster?”

The Doctor straightened his bowtie. “Yep.”

“And is there actually a way to get out?”

“What? Before it eats our souls?”

“Ideally, yes.”

“Possibly. Probably. There usually seems to be.”

“Will someone please shut him up!” Elise yelled.

The Chorister was still singing.

The Doctor knelt in front of him. “He's trying to sing the Old God back to sleep, but that's not going to happen. He's waking up, mate. He's coming, ready or not. You want to run.”

The Chorister finally stopped singing.

“That's it, then? Song's over?”

“The song is over.”

The Doctor and the Chorister stood up.

“My name is Chorister Asbethix, and the Long Song ended with me.” He touched his bracelet and disappeared.

“Are you kidding me? We could have teleported this whole time!” Elise yelled.

“That's it, then. Song's over,” the Doctor said. The Doctor soniced the Mummy and it came to lift, roaring.

Elise’s hearts sped up.

The Doctor ran up to the glass box. “Ah ha! Look at that.”

“I hate you,” Elise muttered.

“No, you don’t.”

“You've woken him,” Merry whimpered.

The Mummy started banging on the glass as the Doctor walked around it.

“I don’t mean to rush you, but GET ME OFF OF THIS THING NOW!” Elise yelled.

Clara walked up to her.

“Clara, I’m really scared.” Never let him see the damage.

“I know. I know you are. I am too,” Clara reassured her, “But he’s gonna figure this out. You know he will. He always does.”

“No, we didn't wake him. And you didn't wake him, either. He's waking because it's his time to wake, and feed. On you, apparently. On your stories.”

“She didn't say stories. She said souls,” Clara corrected.

“Same thing. The soul's made of stories, not atoms. Everything that ever happened to us. People we love, people we lost. People we found again against all the odds. He threatens to wake, they offer him a pure soul. The soul of the Queen of Years.”

“Stop it. You're scaring her.”

“Good. She should be scared. She's sacrificing herself. She should know what that means. Do you know what it means, Merry?”

“A god chose me.”

“It's not a god. It'll feed on your soul, but that doesn't make it a god. It is a vampire, and you don't need to give yourself to it. Hey, do you mind if I tell you a story? One you might not have heard. All the elements in your body were forged many, many millions of years ago, in the heart of a faraway star that exploded and died. That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of deep space. After so, so many millions of years, these elements came together to form new stars and new planets. And on and on it went. The elements came together and burst apart, forming shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings. Until eventually, they came together to make you. You are unique in the universe. There is only one Merry Galel. And there will never be another. Getting rid of that existence isn't a sacrifice. It is a waste.”

Without knowing it, the Doctor had comforted Elise once again. She loved when he made speeches like that. It reminded her of the Pandorica and the pride she had felt.

“So, if I don't, then everyone else…?” Merry asked.

“Will be fine,” the Doctor reassured her.

“How?”

“There's always a way.”

“You promise?”

The Doctor made two crossing motions over his chest. “Cross my hearts.”

Merry wrapped her small hand around the Doctor’s. Merry blinked and Elise could move again.

The Doctor half expected her to rush towards him, but she simply stepped away from the glass as the Mummy broke a hole in the glass where her head had been. The Doctor had to keep reminding himself that this Elise wasn’t as needy or clingy as the last one had been. This one acted like she didn’t even need him.

The asteroid rumbled.

“Something's coming. What’s coming?” Clara asked.

“The Vigil,” Merry said.

“And what's the Vigil?” the Doctor asked.

“If the Queen of Years is unwilling to be feasted upon…”

“Yes?”

“It's their job to feed her to Grandfather.”

Three beings appeared with a puff of black smoke.

“I'm sorry. I'm sorry!” Merry cried.

“Don't you dare,” Clara threatened them.

“Yep. Stay back! I'm armed! With a screwdriver,” the Doctor said.

The beings knocked the screwdriver from the Doctor’s hand and blasted Clara, the Doctor, and Elise.

Clara was the first one to come to.

“Clara. The sonic,” the Doctor told her.

Clara got up and grabbed the screwdriver and threw it to the Doctor. The Doctor created a shield and Merry ran back over to Clara.

“You know all the stories. You must know if there's another way out,” Clara told her.

“There's a tale. A secret song. The Thief of the Temple and the Nimmer's Door.”

“And the secret songs open the secret door? How does it go? Can you sing it?”

Merry started singing and a door opened.

“Go!” the Doctor yelled.

Clara and Merry ran out of the room as Elise started waking up.

“Ow,” Elise groaned.

“Elise, get up,” the Doctor told her.

“Doctor! Elise!” Clara yelled.

The Doctor grabbed Elise and they ran out of the room.

An energy beam hit the sun behind the pyramid and the Vigil disappeared.

“Where did they go?” Clara asked.

“Grandfather's awake. They're of no function anymore,” the Doctor said.

“Well, you could sound happier about it.”

The asteroid rumbled again.

“Actually, I think I may have made a bit of a tactical boo-boo. More of a semantics mix-up, really.”

“What boo-boo?”

“I thought the Old God was Grandfather, but it wasn't. It was just Grandfather's alarm clock.”

“Sorry, a bit lost. Who's the Old God? Is there an Old God?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

The sun started to get brighter.

“Oh, my stars. What do we do?”

“Against that? I don't know. Do you know? I don't know. Any ideas?”

“But you promised. You promised!” Merry cried.

“I did…I did promise.”

“He'll eat us all. He'll spread across the system, consuming the Seven Worlds. And when there's no more to eat, he'll embark on a new odyssey among the stars.”

“I say leg it,” Clara said.

“Leg it where, exactly?” the Doctor asked.

“Don't know. Lake District?”

“Oh, the Lake District's lovely. Let's definitely go there. We can eat scones. They do great scones in 1927.”

The sun rumbled.

“You're going to fight it, aren't you?”

“Regrettably, yes. I think I may be about to do that.”

“It's really big.”

“I've seen bigger.”

“Really?”

“Are you joking? It's massive.”

“I'm staying with you.”

“No, you're not.”

“Yes, I am. I can assist.”

“No, you can't.”

“What about that stuff you said. We don't walk away.”

“No. We don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run. We run and run as fast as we can and we don't stop running until we are out from under the shadow. Now, off you pop. Take the moped. I'll walk.”

Clara and Merry ran to get the moped, while Elise stayed.

“Elise…”

Elise crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re insane if you think I’m leaving you.”

“Elise, please.”

Elise walked over to him and took his hand in hers. “You and me, remember? No matter what.”

The Doctor smiled, stroking her cheek. He placed a kiss on her forehead and they faced the sun.

A few minutes later, they heard Merry singing.

The Doctor smiled. “Okay, then. That's what I'll do. I'll tell you a story.” The Doctor kissed the back of Elise’s hand and let go, stepping closer to the sun.

Elise knew he needed to do this himself, but she’d been here for support. She also really loved watching him monologue.

“Can you hear them? All these people who've lived in terror of you and your judgement? All these people whose ancestors devoted themselves, sacrificed themselves, to you. Can you hear them singing? Oh, you like to think you're a god. But you're not a god. You're just a parasite eaten out with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of others. You feed on them. On the memory of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow. So, come on, then. Take mine. Take my memories. But I hope you've got a big appetite, because I have lived a long life and I have seen a few things.”

Tendrils of energy attached themselves to the Doctor.

“I walked away from the last Great Time War. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I was given an opportunity I never thought I’d have again. I became a father. I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment, until nothing remained. No time. No space. Just me. I walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a mad man. I've watched universes freeze and creations burn. I've seen things you wouldn't believe. I have lost things you will never understand. And I know things. Secrets that must never be told. Knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze. So come on, then. Take it! Take it all, baby! Have it! You have it all!”

The energy tendrils released the Doctor. There were several explosions and the Doctor collapsed.

Elise rushed forward, wrapping her arms around him.

The sun came to life again as Clara ran to them.

“Still hungry?” Clara asked the sun. She opened up her book and took out the leaf. “Well, I brought something for you. This. The most important leaf in human history. The most important leaf in human history.”

The sun smiled.

“It's full of stories, full of history. And full of a future that never got lived. Days that should have been that never were. Passed on to me.”

A tendril of energy reached for the leaf.

“This leaf isn't just the past, it's a whole future that never happened. There are billions and millions of unlived days for every day we live. An infinity. All the days that never came. And these are all my mum's.”

The Doctor stumbled to his feet. “Well, come on then. Eat up. Are you full? I expect so, because there's quite a difference, isn't there, between what was and what should have been. There's an awful lot of one, but there's an infinity of the other.”

The leaf dissolved.

“And infinity's too much, even for your appetite.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The TARDIS landed.

“Home again, home again, jiggity jig,” the Doctor sang.

Clara opened the door. “It looks different.”

“Nope. Same house, same city, same planet. Hey! Same day, actually. Not bad.” The Doctor spun around. “Hole in one!”

“Clara? What’s wrong?” Elise asked.

The brunette had a pensive look on her face. “You were there. At mum's grave. You were watching. What were you doing there?”

“I don't know. I was just making sure,” the Doctor said.

“Of what?”

The Doctor approached her. “You remind me of someone.”

“Who?”

“Someone who died.”

“Well, whoever she was, I'm not her, okay? If you want me to travel with you, that's fine. But as me. I'm not a bargain basement stand-in for someone else. I'm not going to compete with a ghost.”

“No.” The Doctor took a ring out of his pocket. Clara’s ring. “They wanted you to have it.”

“Who did?”

“Everyone. All the people you saved.”

Clara took the ring and placed a kiss on it.

“You. No one else. Clara.”

Clara left the TARDIS and the Doctor watched her for a moment before closing the door.

The Doctor and Elise were quiet for a moment before Elise walked up to him, holding out her bracelet.

“What is this?” he asked.

“I want you to have it.”

“But…but it’s yours.”

“And I don’t need it.”

“You should hold onto it. Pass it down.”

Elise took the Doctor’s hand and placed it in his palm. “Please keep it.” She kissed his cheek before disappearing down the corridor, probably on her way to the library.

The Doctor looked down at the delicate bracelet in his hand. It was far too dainty for him to wear, but he put it in his pocket.

Just as Elise had never taken it off, he’d carry it around on his person.

No matter what.

Forever.

[clintbartonswife]

Message

Pairings: Clint Barton x OC Grace, Avengers x OC Grace

Summary: After sacrificing herself for the soul stone, Grace has one final message for her family

Warnings: angst, Set in the ‘duyên’ universe.

Pt2 of this  || masterlist 

“Uh, Hey. Friday is this recording now?”

“Yes”

Clint’s fists tightened as his wife’s voice rang out of the speakers, a blurry hologram of her projected in front of him, Natasha resting her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

“Great. Okay I’ve got to make this short and sweet cos you’re fighting behind me right now and I know it’s not long before someone wins” Grace spoke, clearing her throat quietly, “I love all of you with all of my heart, you’re my family and I can’t thank you enough for giving that to me. If this worked and my kids are back ... god please say we won ... I love you more than you can imagine and I don’t want you to be sad.”

“It was my time. I experienced no pain. Nathanael, I hope you do something with your amazing ball skills, maybe you’ll go into a sports career. That’d be awesome. I love you a hell of a lot little man. Lila, you’re so good with a bow, know that Dad and I are so proud of you for that. Who knows, maybe you’ll beat your old man to the Hawkeye spot one day. Cooper, you are so smart, like the level of smart that makes me question where the hell you get it. It sure as hell isnt me - hey maybe Clint’s a secret genius. Just know I’m cheering you on whatever you choose to do. Look after eachother, yeah?”

Nathanael let out a small whimper, Cooper pulling him and Lila into a tight hug, all of them having a steady stream of tears cascading down their face. Wanda and Pietro rubbed their backs soothingly.

“Wanda, you are so incredibly talented. Please don’t be afraid of what you can do, you’ve helped so many people. You’re going to go on to do so many amazing things”

Wanda dipped her head into Pietro’s shoulder as she held back tears, her brother holding her even tighter.

“Pietro, you cheeky sod. I know you like to go fast but ... remember to slow down a little some times, enjoy the moment. Keep on saving the day Sonic. Even though you two may not be genetically related to me, I truly believe that you are my children, and I love you like I do the others. I know Clint does too”

A sad smile crossed Pietro’s face as he rested his head on top of his twins’, Wanda’s dam finally breaking as she started to sob. Nathanael moved to snuggle between the two comfortingly, making Wanda smile through the tears.

“Tony, Pep and Morgan. Thanks for helping me when I couldn’t help myself, you brought me back from the edge and I love you all to death for that - oh maybe I shouldn’t use that analogy. Morgan, look after your parents for me, okay? You’re in charge, as always”

Now it was Pepper’s time to cry, Morgan giving the hologram a small salute before nuzzling into her mothers neck. Tony stared blankly at the screen, his hand trembling within Pepper’s grasp.

“Bucky, I’m sorry but I’m gonna have to miss some more of our support sessions, I’m a little preoccupied for the foreseeable future”

Bucky let out a pained chuckle, Marzia rubbing his knuckles soothingly.

“I’m gonna have to ask Marzia to look after you now. I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll do a great job”

Marzia nodded slightly.

“Steve and Sam. I know I didn’t exactly leave things great with you Sam, but I do honestly hope that you’re okay. I trust you both endlessly, and I’m angry at fate for taking time away from all of us. What happened in Wakanda sucks, but I don’t hold any of that against you. Steve knows this”

“Shit - don’t - okay. Everyone else I love you so, so much. Nat you’re my fucking soulmate in more ways than one. Look after Clint and the kids for me. Who am I kidding you’d do it anyway”

Natasha finally broke, tears free-flowing down her flushed cheeks, her hand moving from Clint’s shoulder to entwine with his.

“Clint, my love. Jesus I don’t have words. You truly changed my life. Thank you for making me so much happier and healthier. Thank you for giving me 5 beautiful kids. Thank you for giving me a family. Most importantly, I forgive you. For everything. Even for the things I don’t know about. You know what I mean”

Clint choked back a sob, his shoulders shaking. The hologram Grace’s eyes widened, her tone becoming more panicked.

“Both of you - I’m so sorry. None of this is your fault. This is my decision. I know you’ll never forgive me for this but I can’t let you fight each other to kill yourselves. The world needs you, my world - our family - needs you. What person would I be if I let you die?”

The audio became more jostled as Grace began to move, the projection of her becoming more worried. Slight scuffling was heard in the background.

“I love you all. Friday end message”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah - They don’t need to rewatch this Friday - end it please”

As if Friday knew the situation, she didn’t turn it off immediately, leaving Grace’s sad smile fill the screen. The others watched with bated breath as she amped herself up, quietly muttering to herself as she ran.

“You got this you got this you got this”

Suddenly the group could hear Clint and Natasha shouting in the background, protesting.

As she disappeared, the room fell silent, the only noises being those of crying. They sat there for what seems like hours, staring at the empty space where she once stood. Slowly, Cooper, Lila and Nathanael moved to hug their dad, Wanda and Pietro joining, tugging Nat into it too. The rest silently filed out of the room, leaving the grieving family in peace.

They were going to be okay.

[ranxiaolong]

A Silver Thread

Summary: (Y/N) finds herself distracted by a thin chain attached to the Doctor’s earring, mind adrift, wondering about a small, silver string.

Pairing: The Doctor (13) x fem!reader

Warning: so much fluff, a suggestive comment by Yaz

A/n: My first fanfic for Doctor Who! (for this account! I’m not telling you what I used to write under! Don’t be a creep! jk, love you!) SO… I hope you enjoy my fluffy 13 x reader floof ヾ(´｡• ∀ •｡`)

As the Doctor’s hands waved about in her explanation of some space-y swirly whatchamajigger (which made little sense and caused you to zone out of her excited rambling quite some time ago), you noticed it again, glinting in the light. Your eyes focused on the small earring in the doctor’s ear. It was simple, silver and gold. The Doctor’s arms wildly waving about caused the thin, silver chain connected to it to swing back and forth. Your eyes followed the chain on its upward path to where it ended. A small cuff. Nothing extraordinarily fancy, considering. A few stars that wrapped around her ear. So why did it draw your gaze?

The Doctor turned towards you and your eyes snapped up to hers, feigning attention.

——————————————————

The TARDIS door had just slammed shut behind you, the inhabitants of the planet angrily banging on the blue box. Yaz had halted beside you, using your shoulder as exaggerated support. The Doctor continued her sprint to the control panel, nearly skidding straight past it, to push on various levers and buttons, the TARDIS making her usual whooshing noise signaling her departure from the hostile planet.

Once the Doctor had finished fiddling with the control panel she spun around to face you, the silver chain on her earring catching the light.

Your eyes linger on the metallic gleam.

I wonder how it would feel—

“(Y/N), are you okay?” The Doctor tilted her head slightly with her question, worry tinting her voice.

God that’s adorable.

You shook your head. “Just a bit out of it from running across half of what was apparently a hostile military base,” you teased lightly. Yaz let loose something halfway between a gasp for air and a snort before wandering off to the kitchen to fix a kettle of tea, Ryan and Gram in tow.

——————————————————

You were sitting and playing cards with Yaz and Ryan, Gram taking the momentary quiet to read a book he had found in the library. Some novel printed in the year 5 billion. (Though it looked oddly familiar, with a giant wasp on the cover. You couldn’t quite place it)

Looking at the cards in your hand you gave a frown.

“(Y/N), you have the worst poker face,” Ryan laughed.

Yaz just raised an eyebrow as a smirk edged up on her face.

Ryan pushed all of his salt, sugar, and pepper packets (a quickly thrown together replacement for betting chips) with a smug grin.

You looked over at Yaz, who seemed to be struggling to keep a straight face, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, holding her hands up in mock surrender. You pushed your own haphazard stack in the middle of the table. Ryan raised his eyebrow.

“You sure you want to do that?”

“Yup,” popping the ‘p’ and leaning back in your chair, “besides, Yaz beat me the last four times, thought you deserved a chance.”

Ryan snorted and rolled his eyes, “suit yourself.” Ryan looked over at Yaz, waiting to see what she would do.

Yaz smiled as she placed her cards face down on the table, “I fold.”

Ryan grinned and turned his hand over, displaying a full house of three aces and a pair of jacks. “What’ve you got?”

A full on smirk broke out across your face as you tossed your cards face up onto the table. “Royal. Straight. Flush.” A small accentuating pause was placed between each word.

Ryan looked incredulously at your ten through ace of hearts staring back at him. “I thought you were bad at five card!”

“I am,” you grinned, “but I hate preparing dinner for you people even more.”

Yaz cackled.

Ryan let out a huff before sticking his hand out for a handshake. “Well, I lost fair and square.”

You took his hand and shook it, the grin never leaving your lips. “Aww, don���t feel too bad. I got Yaz pretty good last time, I wasn’t sure if she was going to speak to me for the rest of the day.”

Yaz mumbled “‘mercy killing’” with mild resentment under her breath before looking at you. “Liar, you’re good at this game, you just don’t play well until you’ve got us hook, line, and sinker.”

You stuck out your tongue in protest.

Ryan stood up from the table, “Well, I’m gonna go ask what me grandad wants. I suppose you two still want the same?”

A unified “yup” left both you and Yaz.

Ryan nodded and left the room in search of the library.

“It’s nice that Ryan and Gram are getting on,” you smile at the door where Ryan had exited.

Yaz glanced towards you.

“You like her.”

“What?”

Yaz repeated herself, “You like the Doctor.”

Your eyebrows came together as a confused frown graced your lips, “Of course I like her, she’s my friend. I wouldn’t be traveling with you guys if I didn’t like her.”

Yaz rolled her eyes, “I meant romantically, you moron.”

A flush took to your cheeks, you refused to meet Yaz’s eyes, “She’s just a friend, Yaz. I don’t like her like that.”

Yaz snorted.

“What!”

“You’ve been giving her those googly eyes and have been staring at her non-stop. If you’re trying to be subtle, you’re doing a horrid job of it. I’m surprised she hasn’t caught on by now.”

“I haven’t been giving her googly eyes,” you huffed out, “It’s her stupid earring.”

Yaz’s eyebrows scrunched together, “Huh?”

“The Doctor’s earring,” you clarified, “It’s weird.”

Yaz was no less confused. “I wear earrings, are mine weird?”

You shook your head, “No, it’s just that cuff and chain. It’s really distracting. I don’t really know what it is about it, it just keeps catching my attention. It’s so odd, every time I notice it I can’t seem to ignore it. I keep on thinking about how it might feel, or how the light keeps catching on it or something bothersome like that and I can’t just look away.” You concluded with a noise somewhere between a huff and a growl of aggravation.

Yaz’s mouth dropped open as her eyebrows rose in shock before her cheeks settled in a grin. “Oh my god, (Y/N), you have an earring cuff kink!”

Your cheeks flared scarlet, “No, I do not! It’s just distracting! That’s all!”

——————————————————

The Doctor had taken team TARDIS back to Sheffield, everyone had wanted to get something from home. Mostly clothes that were clean and not covered in smelly alien goo.

(Y/N) had gone to and from her flat rather quickly, and was therefore first back in the TARDIS. After you had finished putting your clothes away in your room, you wandered into the console room, the Doctor nowhere in sight.

You had sighed and turned around quickly, nearly smacking straight into the chest of the excitable Time Lord that was right behind you.

“Oh good grief, Doc, Sorry!”

The Doctor had chuckled softly, “Ah, no worries.” She pushed some hair behind her ear, “Shoulda given more warning.”

You gulped.

“So,” the blonde alien rocked on the balls of her feet, the small chain attached to her ear swaying loosely, “any ideas on where you’d like to go next?”

Your brain only processed half of the words that were just spoken to you. “I’m-I’m sorry, what?”

“Where would you like to go? We’ve got the whole universe, all of space and time! Except some places… can’t go some places, very bad there, can’t cross time streams… but other than that all of space and time at your fingertips. Just say the word and I can take you there. There’s some great planets out there. How about Barcelona? Not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona—”

The Doctor continued on her rambling as you zoned out once again, only half hearing something about dogs with no noses, all your attention on the shiny metal clasped onto the Doctor’s ear.

The Doctor stopped suddenly, “(Y/N)?”

What was it about a stupid piece of metal that was so intriguing?

“(Y/N)?”

I mean, sure, earrings, in general, drew attention on themselves, it’s what they were supposed to do.

“(Y/N), are you all right?”

But why were you paying so much attention to it?

“Can you hear me?”

Especially that chain and cuff, for some reason looking at it made your stomach start to feel warm.

“(Y/N—).”

Seriously, what was up with you? When you saw that small piece of metal wrapped around her ear, all you could think about was how it might feel. How she might react if you touched it, ran your fingers over the clasp, lightly placed your lips over—

“(Y/N)!”

You were jolted out of your thoughts, the Doctor right in front of your face.

“Wha-What?”

The Doctor looked at you with worry. “(Y/N), are you alright? You’ve been spacing out a lot recently. Have you caught something?” She took out her sonic screwdriver and quickly scanned you. She brought it to her face to see the reading, but frowned when nothing was recorded as wrong.

“I’m fine, Doctor. I’m probably just a bit tired, ‘s all right.” You sighed, shaking your head dismissively.

“No, it’s not,” a frown still decorated the Doctor's face and her eyebrows creased, “This isn’t the first time this has happened. It’s hardly the second time, even. Is there something you’re not telling me?” She bends down slightly to be eye level with you.

You swallowed thickly.

“I’m fine.”

That seemed to only make the Doctor more stressed. “(Y/N), I need you to tell me what’s going on. If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it.” The Doctor’s eyes flicked across your face in search of an answer before her body went stiff and her jaw tensed shut. Some sort of thought or realization going through her head.

Ah, shit.

You were about to open your mouth when the Doctor’s quiet (and strangely vulnerable sounding) voice broke through the silence, “Do you want to leave?”

You looked up in alarm.

“No!”

The Doctor startled by your sudden exclamation recoiled back a step.

“I don’t want to stop traveling with you!” You continued, eager to say anything to stay, “I love being able to see all of the wonderful things you show us, all the excitement.” Your voice became more meak.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. So you don’t want to leave,” in your panic of wondering if you were being asked to leave, you didn’t notice the Doctor’s sigh of relief or her mood become lighter. “If that’s not it, then why have you been so distracted lately?” The Time Lord tilted her head slightly to look into your eyes, the silver chain reflecting the light within the TARDIS.

“‘S your stupid earring,” you mumbled.

“Sorry, couldn’t quite hear that, what?” Confusion flickered across the Doctor’s face as she leaned in closer to hear you properly.

“It’s your earring!”

You didn’t mean to shout.

The Doctor reeled back from the sudden outburst, eyes wide.

Unable to stop the words from spilling from your mouth, cheeks heating up from embarrassment and refusing to make eye contact, you continued, “It’s been driving me insane. Every time I look at you and I can see it, I can’t look away for some reason. It’s like it keeps nagging away at my brain.”

The Doctor’s nose scrunched in confusion, “Is there something wrong with it?”

Your face was starting to burn, “No, nothing’s wrong with it. It’s just…” you trailed off.

“Just…?” the Doctor prompted.

You looked straight into her eyes, red painting your face completely, “I really want to touch it!”

Silence.

Oh God, you just screwed everything up, didn’t you? Now the Doctor would think you were weird for wanting to touch her earring, of all things. She would think you were weird and then become uncomfortable having you around, but she would be too polite to show it. Then after a few weeks, maybe days, she would ask you to leave because she wasn’t comfortable around you anymore because of your stupid outburst. Why did you have to say that? You should have just kept your mouth sh—

“Okay.”

What.

“I said, Okay,” the Doctor responded gently to the word you didn’t realize was said out loud. “You can touch my earring if you like.”

You paused before nodding slowly and the Doctor bent down slightly for you to touch the metal accessory.

You raised your hand up to her ear, hesitating before softly touching the piece in her earlobe.

You notice neither the Doctor closing her eyes nor the shaky breath she releases at your touch.

Your fingers trace along the shape of the silver adornment, your fingers momentarily brushing along the Doctor’s ear.

The Doctor inhales sharply.

You continue running your fingers along the trail of the Doctor’s earring, your fingertips tracing along the chain, all of your senses focused on the captivating piece of jewelry.

As the tips of your forefingers reached the end of the chain, you hesitated slightly before running them around the cuff. You swipe your thumb softly over the front, taking in all the smooth bumps and edges along the line of stars.

The Time Lord hoped you couldn’t hear her hearts hammering away in her chest. (Of course you probably couldn’t, you were human. Human hearing wasn’t fine enough to be able to hear the pulse of another creature from so far away. It was just a figure of speech.) Having you so close, your scent completely surrounded her, and it was not doing good things for her self restraint. She was already having trouble with you living on the TARDIS. Constantly distracted. Wasn’t good really. Even now, all she could think about was how would it feel? Your soft hair, your smooth skin, your plush lips—

You eventually pull your hand away, a bit regretfully, and slowly bring your hand to your chest, clutching it within your other unconsciously.

The Doctor took an extra second to savor the memory of your fingers so soft upon her skin. She finally opened her eyes slowly, pulling away, her ear still tingling from your touch.

The Doctor’s eyes focused themselves on your face and swallowed, conflicting thoughts racing through her mind. Hesitating, leaning a few centimeters closer, hesitating, withdrawing, repeat.

You bite your lip looking at the Time Lord distracted by her own thoughts before in an instance of bravery—or possible stupidity—you took a  few paces forward, rocked yourself onto your toes and pressed your lips right on the side of the Doctor’s face, breath tickling her ear.

“Thanks, Doc.”

You scurried away quickly back to your room before she could see the red taking over your face. You may still be distracted by it later, but at least you pulled together the courage to get closer, you would take your silver linings wherever you could get them.

The Doctor stood there in a moment of stunned silence before she touched her cheek, her finger then playing absentmindedly with the silver thread.

She refused to answer the rest of Team TARDIS’s questions on why she seemed more happy than usual nor why there was a grin wider than normal seaming to be plastered to her face the rest of the day.

[omegaplus]

# 2,990

The summer before the turn of the millennium hit like no other. A life-defining hardcore show held at a veteran’s hall in Centereach wasn’t the only thing that gave me such an impact. A medusa sorority cousin sold me out for popularity, coupled by long-time “friends” who continuously made me their bullseye, and dice rolls on two interests that came up snake eyes only piled up on an already heavy damage. It was a go-broke summer that left me with no winnings and had myself packing.

It had to be one stuffy overnight at home when I turned to the left of the dial. Hip-hop not on WBLS, Hot 97, or Kiss FM? It was WUSB. Ghetto Radio played some real grimy cuts that went great with their excessive on-mic F-bombs from their dee-jays; a massive FCC no-no. Black Rob’s “Whoa” blast through those speakers, then The Mad Rapper’s “TMR vs. DOT” and Jay-Z’s “Feelin’ It”. From that point on, I’d hit record on 90.1 FM. It was me against the house in a literal sense. I spent many overnights listening and dubbing off the radio, trying to forget the red X’s marked on the scoreboard. Come Autumn, that summer ended up on one of many cassette tapes in my archive. I still have them.

Over the course of several months I’d hear Ridding The Mind Of Waste introducing me to VNV Nation, Covenant, Rammstein, NON, and Apoptygma Berzerk. Jungle, experimental sounds, and even gabber / speedcore followed only on the overnights. Yes, this station did that. Due to WUSB’s nature, it wasn’t unusual having someone play six songs of Sonic Youth and Bikini Kill straight, followed by Fatboy Slim. More unusual when they even aired non-music, found sounds, improvisation, and even edited skits out of left field. Leading to next summer, their other hip-hop dee-jays would one day have a showcase that had forever open up something I never realized: the art of sampling and jazz / fusion. The Basement’s Asmar three-in-a-rowed Lonnie Liston Smith’s “Expansions”, “Aspirations”, and “Colors Of The Rainbow”, unlocking a long-ignored aesthetic and returning to a facet of my life left long ago.

And I needed it. Another cruel summer would follow. I quit my job because the friend who hired me turned out to be a selfish narcissistic asshole, who stood there and laughed out loud as his other co-workers swung boxcutters at me. Equally worse, a long-anticipated trip to Ocean City to meet an interest was cancelled at the very last minute. Eight months of progress now for nothing. With the exception of a 4th of July at a close friend’s as the only redeemer, I would ride out the remaining summer by myself with nowhere to go. No work, no money, no movement. The only thing I had was WUSB.

But I was impressed. I found a lot of things the other commercial stations didn’t deliver. That’s because it was independent and not corporate-run. Unrestricted and free. It spoke directly to me and my diversity right on the bullseye. Potential was untapped and I never looked back. WUSB did what the vast majority of suited stations and their limited playlists wouldn’t dare risk to offer. They weren’t suits who told you what the next hottest disposable thing of the minute was. They were your friends, your locals, and the people next door playing what they liked because they really wanted you to hear it. They had real personalities. They were more concerned with world-wide hardcore, riot-grrrl acts, underground spitters, and obscure electronics; and less about playing the hottest Britney Spears single, Fred Durst’s ego trip, or the latest elitist fad called third-wave ska. They also focused on the Long Island music scene, grassroots politics, university sports, and other shows about holistic health, movie soundtracks, and hacking. We also possess(ed) the longest-running shows in the nation for reggae, salsa, sci-fi / fandom, and even polka. That I’m not touching.

They’ve upped my game. With me always wanting others to step up theirs as well, why not join? I fucking did! A few meetings later, some training behind the boards, some icy-cold winter nights, and four tape demos later, I got my very first slot.

I arrived one horrid summer Monday morning in the studio, ten minutes to three. For 3½ hours I did my overnight show in a rundown control room that hadn’t been repaired since they first built it as an AM frequency in the mid-Sixties. Here’s a dilapidated studio with stale decaying wood furnishings, tattered carpets, disused reel-to-reel machines, and equipment in such disrepair that replacement parts for them were extremely rare. Old PCB’s, missing parts, outdated plastic, Dyno labels (!), shoddy consoles, and listener-funded donations were what we ran on. The best? Working air-conditioning during those hot muggy humid overnights wasn’t always a given.

My first tenure at WUSB started as 9.20 Radio, a show so disorganized that it truly epitomized ‘anything-goes’ as I said it was. It might have been the only show to feature jazz, soul, electronics, industrial, indie, noise, hip-hop, and other improvised odds-and-ends on the same slot. We did holiday tributes, too. Industrial for Halloween, spoken word and literary for Thanksgiving, break-up songs for Valentines, and electronics for the 4th of July. Our year started in June and ended in May with an all-out noise-destruction fest anniversary show. Back then, I had zero sense in cohesion or technique in how to make that operation work besides showing up to play. But, this was why I’m here; to give back to the community as WUSB gave to me.

The “hits” kept on coming above and beyond my first show. I was vaulted to Wednesday nights during “peak hipster”, or the mid-Oughts to all of you. I’ve had administrative positions and ultimately the program director’s spot. I set up displays from my own personal collection just for fellow students to tell me how cool we were. I went with fellow friends to see some memorable shows out-of-state and even made more friends-turned-enemies. I had hit pieces written about me on the same student paper I wrote for with no thanks to former dee-jays. Other staffers who I’ve done everything for were even less than kind. But I still held on because I loved what I did. I even ended up on an afternoon slot and my focus on “anything goes” shifted to an indie-rock carnival.

But an almost three-year run abruptly ended when my job did. A domino effect took everything down around me. All of my savings, my ambition, involvement…almost everything I loved came to screeching halt. What also came to an end? Almost two decades of radio dubs. That summer marked an end of a personal era of recording WUSB and off the radio as I knew it. It just was. Rochelle’s Midnight Invasion featuring Nineties punk and Bollywood hits, Minnie Riperton’s “Lovin’ You” (’74) from WCBS’ Joe Causi, and L’il Wayne’s something-something from Hot 97 once and for all sealed shut a ritual that now sits in drawers and on shelves. For the next four years I’d take a hiatus from the airwaves in order to rack myself in order, but meanwhile still caught up with finding new music online. Downloads and discs took over cassettes for good.

It wasn’t until then that I was in a slightly better position after the crash. I had everything back I lost during the turn of the decade. I found key releases along the way in Cold Cave’s Cherish The Light Years and Prurient’s Cocaine Death. Just like that pivotal summer, I tuned in again for the first time in a long time. Christine of Mix Tape Radio playing Glass Candy’s “Warm In The Winter”, Prince Rama’s “The Now Age”, and The Asteroids’ Galaxy Tour’s “Golden Age” (Justice RMX) made me realize what I’d been missing. I’d start to see myself in a new way.

WUSB just turned 35, so I decided to attend and say hello to everyone again. No bad numbers or bad agents this time. I got re-acquainted with the current general manager, staff, and the new directors. Surely enough, I was in again. Once a volunteer, always a volunteer.

Things were getting better when we picked up where we left off. I felt real good this time around. Co-workers became close friends of mine and certain essential key players re-entered my life. Money was being saved up and I’ve gotten back in touch with myself. I later heard that our long-time dee-jay Xtina of The All Ages Show called it quits and wanted to move on. Now’s the time to jump right back into it. I had enough time to think to myself that if I had to do it again, I’d do it differently. Let’s create a new vision and a new way of doing things. Let’s do a bi-weekly show instead of a weekly one to give myself more time and less stress to assemble playlists. Think about the last 4½ years of discoveries and just get them out of our system. Stay diverse as it always been, but this time keep it more organized. Give back once again in hopes that our listeners found themselves the way I did.

Which brings me to the right now.

Omega WUSB was founded one Wednesday night, December 2012 as Alpha Omega (AΩ). The name stuck and resonated. Only after a friend reminded me that the name had spiritual connotations, we dropped the alpha and we’ve been Omega since. “Ω”, meaning the final say of everything, the symbol of “ohm” or resistance, or resembling a pair of headphones (cue an “oh shit!”). Once again, anything goes as long as it sounded great and it fit.

For the first year or two “our system” became “the system”. Our original finds during our hiatus were running out as we’ve discovered new ones. We felt having new doubts of how our show worked, so we fixed it to what we have right now: new, current, and relevant artists and sounds. No pop, because it’s already been done billions of times before. These would be our ‘deluxe’ shows. As time went by, we became more focused and organized.

But what about the other stuff that didn’t fit? Unlike our previous stint, however, we opted to do more fill-ins to keep the independent spirit of playing whatever we wanted and use WUSB’s mission statement to our full potential. That’s where we created a second line, or (now called) ‘bonus’ broadcasts, to not interfere with our other deluxe shows. Ever since, we’ve done hardcore / punk for St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas sets, jazz / fusion for the samplists and crate diggers, all sorts of hip-hop culture, and industrial / goth / black metal for Halloween. Breakbeat and jungle wars, too. Everything I listened to from the Brentwood-era up until post-Stony Brook.

We even rang in the new year twice. Eventually, we moved to Saturday 10 PM to midnight, considered the final timeslot for the station’s broadcasting week, and Omega now lived up to its’ name. Go figure. As time went by our doubts went away. We accepted our diversity and it all fell into place.

Later on, we decided to bump some genres into our new / current / recent deluxe slots. We gave hardcore and hip-hop veterans still doing their thing new shine, while others like golden-era hip-hop, classic punk, and even some themed shows would still be featured. We’ve also been doing label and artist tributes for this year’s Omega, and we do our best in featuring rarities, B-sides, remixes, alternate versions, and more when we can. Things change and so do what we usually showcase. And let’s not forget our best-of-the-year broadcasts, too.

Blogs weren’t as prominent in the Oughts as we have them now. It’s one thing Omega had in its era that 9.20 didn’t. (Myspace? Please.) Thanks to social media’s nature of likes and interaction, we posted our set-lists here and for the first time saw our listeners and followers around the world giving something back to us: their approval. For those who couldn’t listen to our show, they’d at least get the playlist. One of our listeners heard our show and rolled the dice with her requests. She’s why shoegaze has been a thing on our show (since Year One) and we even met her in person to say thank you.

And it didn’t stop there. Lots of downtime around shows allowed us to set up what you’re reading now: Ω+, our personal and music reviews page. Our theme of seasons and two weeks house-sitting for my friend Yenny gave us another idea: our own Mixcloud archive, just in case anyone wanted one of our broadcasts or hear what we’re all about. WUSB’s been known as an experiment that still continues (now after 42 years), so we become very interested to see what’s successful.

So where are we now? Over 200 total shows later and we’re still here. Omega WUSB has been on the air for seven years and it’s been a major part of my life. It’s a being that only gets bigger and more involved as it goes. It’s a huge constant that keeps me going. Like Magic: The Gathering, something new always comes out and it’s never the same outcome twice. It’s great what I do in the most amazing way and listeners respond.

More than ever, we’re about what’s going on in the right now; no matter where or what’s happening. You have no idea how much time I spend auditioning everything. It’s consumes me. Not a minute goes by that I’m not buying, finding, and listening to anything from the near-infinite amount of music sites and labels I visit. It’s sickening. During break-time, drive-time, at the gym, in transit, and at all hours and shades of morning or night is where I’m tuned in. It’s why you find today’s new, current, and relevant shoegaze, hardcore, hip-hop, urban, indie, darkness, electronics, d.i.y., post-punk, and other unheard-of sounds on Omega. We also like to have some fun, too; which is why we also showcase classic hip-hop, jazz / fusion, crate-digging culture, classic punk, breakbeat, themed shows, marquee artists, and (your favorite) noise. We’ve become messengers as to what’s going on. As we’re close to New York City, we can’t be more proud to feature some of the acts that call it home. Uniform, Pharmakon, Water From Your Eyes, Flatbush Zombies, Wharf Cat Records, the d.i.y scene…they’re ours.

Omega and WUSB, while utilizing this site, allows us to meet our listeners and give us a sense of belonging. It’s what we want. We encounter those we’d normally don’t find here on Long Island. We’re all-inclusive and blind to color, gender, and location. We welcome everyone here. (Except sexists, Nazis, and racists. They can go hold hands with each other and leap off the Brooklyn Bridge together.) We also have our own staffers who are awesome as fuck right now. Many have been on-air for several years, if not decades. And let’s not forget the d.i.y. dee-jays who bring it back to Long Island and WUSB. You can’t have a radio station without them. I see the vision they bring to the station and they’re the reason why I truly appreciate and love that d.i.y. sound and aesthetic. Without everyone involved, there’s really nothing to look forward to in this otherwise distorted background world.

As of now, there’s no plans of stopping. I love this too much to stop. If Omega stops then I stop and that’s not a good thing. The idea of just being yourself with no one telling you what to do and giving it your best; to show your listeners and followers what you’re into, what’s possible, and seeing results in real time is something I would never give up. This station has been a part of me since that pivotal stomach-turning summer and still will be. Without it, I wouldn’t do what I truly love. It keeps me in touch with myself by being on top of my game and reminds me of what else is possible. I hope that with what I / we do, the experience you get from me is the same as the experience I got when I first tuned in.

It’s been 20 years that I’ve been a listener, supporter, and dee-jay of WUSB. Here’s to another 20.

[timeagainreviews]

Doctor Who and Video Games

We live in the era of the franchise. Everything it seems is getting the franchise treatment. After the success of the MCU, everyone wants that sweet sweet money. We’ve got the failed Universal Monsters reboot, the Harry Potter extended universe, and endless Star Wars movies. However, some franchises, it would seem, struggle to grow further than their core narrative. Star Wars never strays very far from the battle with the Empire. Which is one thing you can’t really say about Doctor Who. Doctor Who has done fantasy, sci-fi, period drama, schlocky horror, whimsy, and utter rubbish. I’ve always admired Doctor Who’s flexibility as a property. It lends itself beautifully to a wide range of mediums, such as audios and comic books. But what about video games? Are there any good Doctor Who video games? Could there be?

Over the past week, in preparation for this article, I've completely immersed myself in the world of Doctor Who video games. I feel uniquely qualified to have an opinion on the subject. But before we continue, I give a word of caution. I'm talking directly to you, now. Never in your life, should you ever play "Doctor Who: Return to Earth," for the Nintendo Wii. It's not worth the £1.80 that I spent on eBay. You don't ever deserve to do that to yourself. I don't care what you've done, nobody deserves that. If like myself, you have played this game, you have my deepest sympathies, especially if you paid for it new.

It doesn't interest me to make a list of the worst Doctor Who video games, as many people have done this already. It's nothing new to say that Doctor Who has a video game problem. When I wrote that Doctor Who should be run by Disney, I don't actually mean it should happen. I was merely illustrating that Disney knows how to take care of its properties. I would venture that Doctor Who has always had a bit of a management problem. Merchandise from Doctor Who has always reminded me of Krusty the Clown merchandise. So much of it is some bullshit they slapped a Dalek on said: "10 quid please!" Barring the occasional home run or third-party licensing, a lot of the merchandise is pretty uninspired. Which is bananas, because the world of Doctor Who has so much colour and potential.

Video games based off of movies and television are almost always as bad as movies and television based off of video games. They're rarely breaking the mould in their new medium. Most of the time, tie-ins such as these are quick soulless cash grabs. You can see this a lot in the Matt Smith era. There are at least seven games featuring his Doctor, and then a sudden decline. Matt Smith was the Doctor during one of the show's biggest points in popularity. Never before had the show been embraced on such an international level. Of course, the Beeb wanted to push as many video games out as possible.

The problem is, they didn't throw a lot of money at it, and not one project seemed to get the focus it deserved. I won't pretend to know the motivation behind the BBC's forays into video games, but it seems to be a trend with them to overdo something, and then be scared of it in the future. They changed the 5.5" figurine set to a 3.75" scale and nobody wanted them. Because of this, we haven't seen nearly as many 5.5" figures since. They once put out a figure of Lady Casandra's frame after she exploded into gore. We used to get figures like Pig Lazlo and the Gran from "The Idiot's Lantern." Now we'll be lucky if we get everyone's favourite- Graham O'Brien. They also did it with the Doctor Who Experience. They make this brilliant Doctor Who museum with the OK'est walkthrough story, and then put it right in the middle of Cardiff. They wondered why it never made any money. I've been twice, and I gotta say- they should have put it in London. It would still be open.

This isn't to say all of Matt Smith's video games are bad. In fact, the Eleventh Doctor adventure games referred to simply as "The Doctor Who Adventure Games," are some of my favourite in the entire lot. And as much as I would like to blame the BBC for their lack of caring, the fact is Doctor Who is not easy to translate into video games. Even if they do care, they still need the right team on the job. Oddly, it's one of the Doctor's greatest charms that makes Doctor Who hard to translate into a video game, and that's the Doctor's stance on violence. If the Doctor could pick up a laser pistol and just frag some Daleks, we'd probably have an entire series on our hands. Unfortunately, most developers go one of two ways. They either ignore the pacifism or we get countless mind-numbing puzzles.

Puzzles are by far the worst element of any Doctor Who game. In the browser-based "Worlds in Time," there were a plethora of Bejewelled type mini-games and pipe matching puzzles. The puzzles got increasingly harder even if the player wasn't also getting increasingly better. Even the platformer "The Eternity Clock," was mired in constantly stopping to do puzzles. They pop up in the Adventure Games, but other than the infuriating "don't touch the sides," puzzles, they don't detract much from the gameplay. There were moments where I felt a bit like a companion because I was decoding a Dalek computer for the Doctor, which is really the money spot for a Doctor Who video game. Any time a Doctor Who game can make you feel like you're in Doctor Who is time well spent.

When asking my friends what kind of Doctor Who video game they would like to see, many of them mentioned they would like a survival horror type game. We sort of get this in many of the Smith era games. In "Return to Earth," the mechanic is sloppy and infuriating at best. In "The Eternity Clock," and the Adventure Games, it's a little more manageable. It's a nice way to add a challenge to a non-violent gameplay style. It would be interesting to see what a game team from something like "Thief," or "Resident Evil," might do with the sneaking aspect.

Another way the games have completely side-stepped the non-violence and puzzles is by having the Doctor act as a secondary character. The player is put in the position of the companion or perhaps a UNIT soldier as in the case of "Destiny of the Doctors." If you've not played DotD, I wouldn't blame you. I was hitting my head against the wall just trying to figure out what to do. The only real reason to play that game is for one last chance to see the fabulous Anthony Ainley reprise the role of the Master. He's in totally smarmy ham mode, even if it's a bunch of gibberish they shot in a day. You can find the entirety of the footage on YouTube and it's surreal.

The problem with having the Doctor be violent is that it doesn't feel true to the character. Sure, Three did some Venusian aikido, Four broke that dude's neck in "Seeds of Doom," and even Twelve socked a racist in the face, but these are isolated incidents. The spirit of the Doctor is lost in 1992's "Dalek Attack," when the Doctor is forced to go full on bullet hell on a Dalek hover cart. It's funny then that one of my favourite Doctor Who games incorporates a violent Doctor. In the Doctor Who level of "Lego Dimensions," the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to make villains fall apart in a very safe Lego style violence. I can excuse this mostly because the game is not primarily a Doctor Who game at heart.

Funnily enough, the Lego game does something I've always wanted in a Doctor Who video game. I've always wanted to have a Doctor Who game where you could regenerate into different Doctors, and also go into their respective TARDISes. Sure, some of the games on the Commodore 64 allowed you to regenerate, but it was pretty naff in its execution. I tell no lies when I say I spent a lot of time regenerating and reentering the TARDIS to explore the Lego versions of their respective console rooms. Really, the biggest problem with the Lego Doctor Who game is that it wasn't it's own game. Lego Dimensions was its own failure. If TT Games would come out with an entire Doctor Who game, I would buy it yesterday.

The overarching problem with every Doctor Who game is the same problem Torchwood had- if it wasn't attached to Doctor Who, we wouldn't be interested. While I did have a lot of fun with the Adventure Games and Lego Dimensions, not one Doctor Who game has every element right. One has a good story, but poor mechanics, another has great mechanics but doesn't feel right. It's a bit of a tight rope to find the perfect balance, but I don't feel it's impossible

One of the reasons I would love to see a proper Lego Doctor Who game is that they have a history of good adaptations. They're not exactly beloved games, but I myself play a lot of them. One of the most impressive things I've seen them do was in Lego Batman 3, where they made each of the planets in the Green Lantern mythos a visitable world. Could you imagine the same treatment for Doctor Who? Visiting Telos and Skaro, and then popping off to medieval earth or Gallifrey? You could get different missions depending on which Doctor you were, or what time you arrive in. And the collectable characters! So many companions, and Doctors, and baddies, and costume variations to unlock! Doesn't that sound nice? You can buddy Jamie and Amy with Seven and Twelve and have an all Scottish TARDIS! A Zygon could ride K9!

The fact is, we probably won't see a very expansive Doctor Who game. I would be very enthusiastic for an open world Doctor Who game, but even as I type it, it sounds difficult to pull off. I may be able to say what doesn't work about the games, but saying what would work is admittedly, not as simple, but this doesn't mean I can't think of at least one good game. Piecing together some of the things I mentioned earlier, I think the best genre for Doctor Who is point-and-click adventures. I know I keep singing the praises of the Doctor Who Adventure Games, but it's because I think they were actually onto something. It's sad then that they scrapped any further developments to work on the inferior "Eternity Clock."

Could you imagine a point and click Doctor Who in the same vein as "Day of the Tentacle," or "Thimbleweed Park"? You walk around as the Doctor, pick up bits, talk to funny characters and solve complex problems. If you throw in a bit of horror survival, you've basically got the Adventure Games, which is my point- Do more with what they've already done. Grow the concepts. Improve the mechanics. A Doctor Who game should be jammed packed with Easter eggs, unlockables, and mystery. The point is, do more. Even their phone apps are abysmal. You know how much I would play a “Pokémon Go,” style Doctor Who game? You go around trapping baddies in cages you set off with your sonic screwdriver or something. I. Would. Catch. Them. All.

We still have “The Edge of Time,” coming to PC and consoles in October, and I'm pensively excited. While the graphics seem really top notch, in no way does it feel like anything more than a fun little VR experience. The game is going to remain exclusive to that small subsection of gamers that own a VR headset. Before it has even been released, it's closed itself off to yet another section of its very wide audience. Let's just hope that it doesn't scare the BBC away from making a proper Doctor Who game in the near future. And in the meantime, I'm going to have to borrow my friends' VR set, because of course, I'm going to play it. It's Doctor Who.

Well friends, thanks for reading! I had a lot of fun “researching,” this article. Playing Doctor Who games all week? Oh no, twist my arm! Sadly, a lot of these games are no longer available from their original sources. I was able to find a lot of them on the Internet Archive. If you want to give them a go, I would definitely suggest it. A couple of them are even capable of being emulated on your browser from the Internet Archive. The game I had the hardest time locating was “The Gunpowder Plot,” but I was eventually able to find it after some digging. I didn’t play any of the text-based games because I’m not very good with spatial awareness, and so text-based games are usually a nightmare for me. Sadly, Worlds in Time is lost forever, but I remember my character fondly. I also discovered I’m pretty good at Top Trumps: Doctor Who. Go figure.

[nightmareonfilmstreet]

Monster Mash(Up): FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN Turns 75

75 years ago today – March 5th, 1943, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was first released. We look back on the hilarious hijinks of this Universal Monster classic, starring horror icons Lon Cheney Jr. and Bela Lugosi.

  Frankenstein Wolfs the Meat Man

Curt Siodmak wanted to buy a new car. He’d picked it out and had spent several hours daydreaming about getting behind the wheel. He just needed a down-payment to make it a reality. The only trouble was, he also needed a new writing job to be able to afford it and hadn’t been given a new assignment in a while. The screenwriter was pondering his next move when he bumped into George Waggner in the Universal studio commissary. 

The two sat and began to shoot the breeze as they ate. Both men had enjoyed a fruitful professional and personal relationship since Waggner had directed The Wolf Man, from Siodmak’s script. Nevertheless, Siodmak felt some trepidation about asking for a new job. Still, he thought, if you don’t ask…

“George, I’ve an idea for a new monster movie.”

“Oh, really?” Waggner replied over a mouthful of food. “Go on.”

“Frankenstein Wolfs the Meat Man,” Siodmak returned, with a hesitant chuckle.

Waggner did not share the screenwriter’s humour. The two men quietly continued their lunch until Siodmak, growing desperate, broke the silence.

“George, I need a new car,” he confessed. “I want to make a down-payment, but I need a new job first.”

Waggner raised an eyebrow and went back to eating his lunch. After what seemed like an eternity, Siodmak spoke again.

“Well, can I get a job? Please.”

“Sure,” Waggner nodded. He stood and walked away, stopping at the door to the commissary. “You’ll get a job, buy the car.”

——

A week later, Waggner called Siodmak into his office.

“Did you buy the car yet?”

“Yes, I bought it,” Siodmak answered.

“Good. Your new assignment is Frankenstein Wolfs the Meat Man…er, Meets the Wolf Man. I’ll give you two hours to accept.”

    Building the myth

In 1931, Universal followed the enormous success of Dracula – starring then-unknown Hungarian actor, Bela Lugosi, as the eponymous vampire – by mining another classic literature property. Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley and originally published in 1818, was an even greater success than Dracula. The movie propelled its star, William Henry Pratt, into the stratosphere, under his adopted stage name, Boris Karloff. Thus, began a professional rivalry between Lugosi and Karloff – whose careers endured wildly disparate degrees of success – lasting until the former’s death in 1956.

Universal, for its part, were keen to ring as much success as possible from their fledgling monster movie cycle. They were soon plundering literature again for HG Wells’, The Invisible Man, and Edgar Allen Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Raven.

Not all the studio’s creations were borrowed from the great authors, though. Myths, legends and folk tales were equally fair game. So, when the German-born screenwriter, Curt Siodmak, wrote a script called The Wolf Man, which then proved to be a huge hit, Universal had another potential franchise property on their hands. And they were keen to exploit their hirsute creation for all it was worth.

George Waggner, a former actor, had taken directorial reigns on The Wolf Man, casting the late Lon Chaney’s son, Creighton Chaney (now capitalising on his father’s name via the appellation, Lon Chaney Jr.), in the role of Lawrence ‘Larry’ Talbot, a man cursed with lycanthropy.

The Wolf Man marked the first of five collaborations between Waggner and Siodmak.  Their work together would go on to include The Invisible Agent, The Climax, and Cobra Woman (albeit with Waggner producing and Siodmak’s brother, Robert, in the director’s chair).

But it was the throwaway half-joke in the Universal commissary that led to the first pairing of any of the studios’ Monsters.

  “Transforming Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man from a half-baked idea into a feature film was not a simple proposition..”

  Of Gods & Monsters (and Mice and Men)

Transforming Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man from a half-baked idea into a feature film was not a simple proposition. As Siodmak remembered:

And then you had to sit there and think, “What can I do now?” Now is when you need a basic idea. My idea was, The Wolf Man, as was the tradition now, wants to die – he doesn’t want to be a murderer. And Dr. Frankenstein know the secrets of life and death. So he wants to meet Dr. Frankenstein. The Monster, on the other hand, wants to live forever.

From this outline, Siodmak fashioned a script, which, at the time, was a singular feat for a horror screenplay. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was a direct sequel to not one but two separate films. A follow-up to The Wolf Man, and a continuation of the events that took place in the previous year’s The Ghost of Frankenstein, amalgamated into a linear narrative that would bring the creatures together for the first time.

Waggner, producing this time, left directorial duties in the safe hands of Roy William Neill, an Englishman with over 50 films already under his belt. Lon Chaney Jr. was duly hired to return in the Larry Talbot/Wolf Man role. Neill had worked with Chaney Jr. before on Eyes of the Underworld and was well aware of the star’s penchant for drinking on set – his prodigious alcoholic intake concealing an inner distress, rarely divulged. As it transpired, the director was unable to inspire Chaney Jr. to really elevate his performance: a much-celebrated turn as Lenny in Of Mice and Men just four years earlier seemingly consigned forever to the past.

  I, Monster!

Meanwhile, Bela Lugosi finally took on the role of Frankenstein’s Monster. There’s no definitive account to substantiate beyond doubt that Lugosi rejected the role that made Boris Karloff a star over a decade earlier. It’s certain, however, that test reels were filmed (now lost) with Lugosi and Universal even went so far as to release posters announcing ‘the star of Dracula‘ in his next role. Upon discovering that the role was not a speaking part, however, with no dialogue written for the Monster, Lugosi allegedly reneged on the deal. In a moment of hubris, Lugosi was said to have raged: “I was a star in my own country and I refuse to be a scarecrow here!”

Despite Lugosi’s advancing years, his casting as the Monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man 12 years later, made perfect narrative (and sonic) sense. His portrayal of the crazed Ygor in The Ghost of Frankenstein, had culminated in the transplant of the broken-necked minion’s brain into the Monster. When the Monster speaks for the first time, it is the voice of Lugosi as Ygor that is heard, not Chaney Jr’s – here playing the role of the Monster. In a further development, which would have future repercussions, the Monster subsequently goes blind due to the incompatibility of the blood types between itself and Ygor. Continuity dictated that Lugosi would take the role of the Monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, since Chaney Jr. had sole ownership of the Larry Talbot/Wolf Man character and simply couldn’t play both.

    The Accidental Icon

It was the cruellest of ironic twists, then, that audience reaction to Lugosi’s performance precipitated the complete removal of the Monster’s dialogue. The unintentionally hilarious sound of the Monster speaking with a strong Hungarian accent didn’t sit well with test audiences, nor it seemed did the Monster’s blindness, so all exposition regarding the origin of its ocular incapacity was also expunged.

To exacerbate things further, Lugosi, caught in the grip of an addiction to opiates prescribed to counter his acute sciatica, collapsed on set. Consequently, he only appears on screen in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man for a scant few minutes. Stuntmen were employed to portray the monster in a number of scenes, notably during the battle finale with the Wolf Man and, oddly, during the Monster’s initial close-up reveal.

Instead, the Monster’s entire screen time is an incomprehensible mess. Lugosi staggers around blindly, mouthing words that we do not hear. Later in the film his eyesight returns – though no explanation is given for the sudden clarity. Yet, despite the utter chaos of the characterisation, Lugosi’s performance had one indelible impact on the Monster: the incidental creation of the iconic ‘Frankenstein Walk’. Staggering around, blind (though not from the audience’s perspective), with arms stiffened and outstretched, Lugosi gave birth to all future Universal incarnations of the Monster: a stereotype that would endure for decades.

   “[Siodmak] married new characters to old.”

  The Ballad of Dwight Frye

In writing Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Siodmak had taken care to ensure that the continuation of both stories didn’t omit important characters from previous films, and married new characters to old. Maria Ouspenskaya returned as the venerable Maleva, whom Larry Talbot seeks out to help find a cure. Her Gipsy woman character first appeared in The Wolf Man and was indirectly responsible for Talbot’s fate; her son, a werewolf (played by Lugosi) attacked and maimed Talbot, cursing him to a life of lycanthropy.

Ilona Massey joined the cast as Baroness Elsa Frankenstein. This was her second and final horror movie role, following The Invisible Agent. Massey’s character formed a link to The Ghost of Frankenstein as Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein’s daughter; while Patric Knowles took on the role of Dr. Mannering, an ostensibly noble medical practitioner, who’s logical countenance eventually gives way to a more hubristic side. Lionel Atwill also joined the cast taking a small role as the Mayor of Vaseria. At the time of filming, Atwill was struggling to find work. He’d resorted to taking parts in cheap Poverty Row productions, following his embroilment in a salacious Hollywood scandal.

Horror staple, Dwight Frye, also had some connection with Lugosi via his role as Renfield in Dracula. Frye had made a career playing murderous henchman figures. ‘The Man of a Thousand Deaths‘ appeared as Dr. Frankenstein’s loyal hunch-backed minion, Fritz in Frankenstein, and Dr. Pretorius’s henchman, Karl, in the follow-up, Bride of Frankenstein. Despite his pedigree, Frye was only a peripheral figure, playing Rudi, a Vaserian villager. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man would be his last credited role. Frye succumbed to a heart attack just eight months after the film’s release.

  ‘For life is short…’

Ostensibly, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is a cash-in on the waning monster movie phenomenon that began with Dracula. It would be easy, though probably true, to cast the film as the point Universal began to run out of ideas, but there’s no doubting it paved the way for future ensemble pieces, albeit of varying quality, from House of Frankenstein to King Kong vs. Godzilla, and decades later, Alien vs. Predator and Freddy vs. Jason.

But was Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man really just a cheap way to keep the monster movie gravy train rolling, or were there layers hitherto unexplored? In Don G. Smith’s book on Lon Chaney Jr. he discusses a theme not previously mentioned in relation to the film; that of ‘a Blakeian journey from childhood and innocence, to experience.’ Smith expands further:

The words of Kuznetzoff’s song, “For Life is short, but death is long,” is a theme of adult experience explored by many writers. This leads us to reconsider Talbot’s journey from carefree youth to death-cursed maturity, a journey we all face.

It’s certainly an interesting theory. Larry Talbot knows that he can only bring great suffering and so seeks any possible means of ensuring that his demise is a permanent one. The tragedy of Talbot is that, despite his relatively young age, he has already reached a ‘death-cursed maturity’. If Talbot covets emancipation, only death will bring him peace.

    ‘…but death is long.’

Larry Talbot’s story is by far the more interesting of the two monsters. It appears as if Frankenstein’s Monster is forced into the narrative in order to sell a few more theatre seats. It can be argued that the extensive cuts to the film negated Lugosi’s role. In fact, he only really serves as a sparring partner for the Wolf Man in the film’s denouement. It’s also fair to suggest that Lon Chaney Jr.’s performance lacks the charisma befitting a leading man. But, for all his often mediocre acting prowess, Chaney Jr.’s eyes convey such sorrow, one wishes his suffering would end. The sadness, though, was no act. This was never more pronounced than when he revealed to Siodmak the treatment at the hands of his father, the revered silent star, Lon Chaney. As Siodmak explained:

All these people, if you knew them, had sad stories behind them. The father of Lon Chaney – the old man, Chaney Sr. – was a very cold man, and he used to beat the boy all the time. Lon told me he had to go into a shed and be beaten with a leather strap, sometimes for things he hadn’t done. This killed him, mentally – he became an alcoholic, and always needed a father figure to tell him what to do. He’d drink on set.

  ‘He simply wants to die.’

The film begins to lose a little focus following the introduction of the Monster. The distracting performance, and appearance, of Lugosi (and numerous stuntmen) shakes the viewer out of the story. Lugosi isn’t to blame, given the erasure of his screen time and any semblance of character lost to the cutting room floor. Unfortunately, though, this doesn’t make for a particularly coherent story. So, it’s a testament to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man that it holds together as well as it does.

And despite Chaney Jr.’s relatively average performance, the film only really catches fire during the scenes involving Talbot. Only by sacrificing himself can he end the murderous path he is on. Regardless of the obstacle, the survival instinct is the most powerful of humanity’s driving forces. Yet, Talbot is cognisant that his own humanity is drifting further out of reach with every transmogrification into the beast; thus his own survival instinct is weakened to the point that he welcomes death. Maleva’s assertion that: “He is not insane. He simply wants to die,” marks the finest, and most tragically profound moment of the film.

It’s possible that, in the hands of a better actor, Talbot’s plight could have made for an exceptional character study. Still, it remains that in Chaney Jr.’s hands – or, rather, eyes – there’s a pathos that still resonates 75 years later.

  The beginning of the end

Following the release of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man on March 5th 1943, cracks were showing in Universal’s horror monopoly. RKO Pictures’ Cat People, released the previous year had raised the bar, with a more cerebral take on the genre. As Variety noted:

“This is a weird drama of thrill-chill caliber, with developments of surprises confined to psychology and mental reactions, rather than transformation to grotesque and marauding characters for visual impact on the audiences.”

This was the sea change that the horror movie, by now beginning to go stale, needed. With RKO’s next picture, I Walked With a Zombie on release shortly after Frankenstein Meet the Wolf Man, Universal was looking over its shoulder.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was just the start for monster mash-ups. But for Universal Studios’ Classic Monster period, it marked the beginning of the end.

  The post Monster Mash(Up): FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN Turns 75 appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

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[cupcakeshakesnake]

Watching Oxygen for the first time

(A bit late, but still, spoilers)

-”Space, the final frontier.”

-REALLY DOCTOR

-YOU HAD TO OPEN THE EPISODE WITH A STAR TREK QUOTE DIDN’T YOU

-IT’S NOT EVEN YOUR OWN FRANCHISE

-well at least the rest of the lines are different

-This reminds me of the movie Gravity

-Okay, if there’s something I did learn from that sorta-scientifically-incorrect movie, it’s that you NEVER EVER pant in space. You end up spending too much oxygen.

what the?

hELL?!?!

FUCK NO WHY

-Okay, lemme just add ‘space zombies’ to the list of horrrible things we have seen so far in Series 10 alone.

Omfg he drew a rocket

-”So how does space kill you?”

-”Don’t hold your breath or your lungs will explode.”  Didn’t Arthur Dent hole his breath or do I need to re-read the book

Oh, he was drawing a skull, oh that’s clever

-Please don’t let it be foreshadowing

-”What’s this got to do with crop rotation?”  “I don’t know, space is great, isn’t it?”

So I think it was pretty much confirmed that Missy is going to be in next week’s episode, which makes me think that it’s pretty much her who’s in that vault.

-”Too much between you and the outside and you might as well stay home. To really feel it, you need the space equivalent of a wafer-thin sleeping bag and a leaky two-man tent.“ “Got any reviews?“ "What?” "You know, like for restaurants. Waiter was a bit handsy, lasagne gave me "Two stars.” "Strangely, no.”

-Maybe the Doctor should be the Campsite Reviewer of the universe when he retires.

-*alarm noises*  “That’s my theme tune. Otherwise known as a distress call.”

-Hahaha, silly Doctor. That’s not your theme tune.

-Your theme tune doesn’t go beep beep beep, it goes dooooweeedoooooooo.

-Either that or the BBC should use the beeping sound as the intro for the next episode.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

-BUSTED!!

-”I saw through your cunning ruse.”

Rule #1: The Doctor lies.

-Soooo how big is the Tardis’s big-enough-for-a-stroll air shell, exactly? Like one step forward after a certain distance, then you could suddenly run out of air?

-”Space doors are supposed to go shk-shk, not urrrrr.“

I love Series 10 dialogue so much

-Have I told you how much I love Series 10 dialogue

Ah yes the plastic human taxidermy

“Sooooo... Back to the Tardis?”

-Love that part

-The corpse is starting to get to me

-THIRTY SIX DEAD?!

-”OkAY thennnn back to the TARDIS, LoVELy in there, nIcE and cOZY”

-Please don’t let this be Silence in the Library the Sequel

b O N K

a A  A A  A A

l o l

-”Do people ever hit you?”  “Well, only when I’m talking.”

-OH SHIT THEY’RE EXPELLING THE FUCKING OXYGEN

-Why did the Tardis door close though

-Was it to stop additional air escaping from the Tardis

h a i r

*Doomsday flashbacks*

Wouldn’t the Tardis get stuck in the doorway though

-”The Tardis is on the other side of that.”  ”Yes, I was really hoping that someone would state the obvious.“  “Vacuum behind it, can’t open it.”  “Oh, you’re on a roll.”

-”Nothing to worry about.”  “Really?”  “Yes, not for several minutes.”

wHAT THE FUCK

-How did it pull the sonic screwdriver towards it?

-7256403 0 days since you last broke your sonic

-”What if you’re wrong?”  “Well, we’ll be horribly murdered!”

“Walking Dead: Into Space”

-I find myself breathing along with them.

-One thing good about me is that even when I become aware of my breathing, I can divert my attention to something else and become unaware again fairly quickly.

-”Great, we rescued a racist.”

-But if the employees get paid by oxygen, wouldn’t they just go look for another job that actually pays them where they can breathe freely?

-Or are they pushed to the extreme where they’re forced to work or suffocate and doesn’t have any alternative

-THE FUDGE D’YOU MEAN, FAULT IDENTIFIED

-WHAT THE HECK, ARE THEY BREAKING IN

-Every single Series 10 episode so far was a nightmare in some way and so is this one

-They’re really putting in every

-”Please remain calm while your central nervous system is disabled.”  LIKE HECK YEAH I’D BE SO FUCKING CALM IF I WAS BEING BRUTALLY MURDERED BY A SPACESUIT, WHAT A CALMING SENSATION OF DEATH AND ELECTRICITY

-”Don’t throw up in helmet then. Check.”

-...shit?

-SHIT?!?!

-BILL?!??!!?!11one!!?!

-BILL NO DON’T YOU DARE DIE ON ME

-YOU’RE NOT EVEN HALFWAY THROUGH THE SEASON YET BILL

-BILL!!!!!!

-WTF IS GOING ON

-DID THE DOCTOR TAKE OFF HIS HELMET

-WHAT THE EVER LOVING SHI-EEEET

Ah, delicious irony.

-”He died?”  ”He should have done. I don't know how he survived.”  Timelord powers

-Too early for regeneration, yes? Please?

-”He’s in Section Twelve.”  HA GET IT BECAUSE HE’S THE TWELFTH DOCTOR

DAFUQ

-”You’re blind.”  “Oh, that explains the bruised shins.”

-WHAT

-WHY

-TEMPORARY MY ASS  (I got spoiler’d on Tumblr, really, too bad. Could’ve been a good plot twist for me)

-”I think I've got some spare eyes somewhere. They're from a lizard, but I'm sure they'll fit.”

-(How did they do the blurry eye effect? Did they use contact lenses?”

-”What’s happening?”  “Guess.”

-”Great, i get fined for dying.”

Please give the owl his sight back.

-SHIT NO??? IS BILL DEAD?? I THOUGHT SHE LIVED?!?!?!

-Kudos to Peter Capaldi for that blind acting

-Something bad always happens when the Doctor is in a spacesuit.

-Once, he got possessed by an angry planet, shot fire from his eyes and had to be put in a freezer.

-Then, he almost messed up a timeline by pulling a Martian team out of their supposed time of death.

-The other time, he fell from way outside of the atmosphere in a spacesuit, he was okay but had his helmet on backwards.

-He also had something to do with the moon that was actually a giant egg.

-”Are you of your mind?”  "Er, yes, completely, but that's not a recent thing.”

-This is a suicidal plan. And especially more suicidal than his normal plans. It’s really dark...

Oh my god...

-(At least the team gets to live.)

YAAAASSS

How did they do that, again? Also, I thought his eyes were blue?

-I’m just gonna lie to myself and think he can see again

-At least it looks normal again

-”The universe is your crrrustacean.”

-What does that even mean

-”Promise me you’ll be loud.”

-Why is he wearing shades

-”Doctor, why are you suddenly wearing shades all the time all of a sudden?”  “Oh, I just thought it would be cool. I’m definitely still not blind.”

-”You need to be here, and you need to be READY if that door ever opens!”  You mean there’s a chance of whoever/whatever is inside it breaking out?!

-”What if you came back injured or sick? You really think our friend down there won't know that? Won't sense it?“  Whoever’s down there is connected to the Doctor in some way (obviously.)

-99.9% of theories suggest - no, INSIST - it’s Missy down there but I’m still open for all possibilities

-”LOOK AT ME!”  “Nardole, I can't. I really can't! I can't look at anything ever again. I'm still blind.”

-*sobs quietly*

-Okay, that line was delivered really well, and I love how they blacked out the screen when he said “I’m still blind,” as if the viewers themselves went blind as well.

-BUT IMAGINE THE ‘OH SHIT’S I’D HAVE WRITTEN IF I WAS UNAWARE OF THIS FACT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING

-IMAGINE THE PLOT TWIST HITTING ME LIKE A COLD SODA HITS YOUR THROAT

-DAMMIT

-Welp, still looking forward to the next episode (which, I think, comes out later today or tomorrow, depending on time zones.)

[arodrwho]

dw liveblog below

...my durn internet frozeified. i’m gonna miss bits when it skips to catch back up, alas

“space, the final frontier” what? a nerd ? IT FROZE I’M MAD--and skipped some, bc of course it did. asshole. --ok now we’re back in business

“i want to have a baby with u” oooo “--and as soon as my radio’s fixed i’m gonna tell u just that” oh gosh

“you’re wasting your breath” literally lmao

SPACE ZOMBIES

a skull? helo skull

“what do u want from me?” “the truth” “don’t be unreasonable”

dude she was tryna read, why u interrupting

“doesn’t feel like space” “now it feels like space” what a nErd

oh no space zombie

“he’s just standing there, it’s sick, it’s disrespectful” i love how u think of these things? ur just. a v kind person, generally speaking, & i appreciate that about u

“the universe shows its true face when it asks for help, we show ours by how we respond” a nice line

“any questions? good” dude u interrupted her. do not go treating bill like u treated martha. respect her heckdang curiosity and opinions, don’t shut them down

“do people ever hit you” “well only when i’m talking” hah

.....nardole pls shut up

“it said expelled” yes it did. 10/10 observation points

it broke their sonic. that sucks

“we’ll be horribly murdered” dude ur scarin the fuck outta her? can u let her live perhaps?

“relax, or die” helpful, nardole. very helpful

“great, we rescued a racist” “excuse me?” oh dear. can we maybe not--not play this for a joke? that’s an uncomfy sort of. thing. oh good it’s done now

.....nardole, please stop. also was that ? meant to be a pun on jewish, or. [squints] anyway, i was neutral on nardole before, but now...not so much. he’s annoying

“can they learn? evolve, grow?” are u learned from the last adventure w/robofriends?

“oxygen. that’s what we’re missing” o goodness. she done told u

“so don’t hold your breath” “or my lungs’ll explode” “you were listening. good job”

BILL. BUDDY. BILL BILL FRIEND BILL BUDDY FRIEND BILLL HOLY FUCK Gd o not cut to commerc--U CUT TO COMMERCIAL

BILLLLL

......she has a helmet i bet the dr who gave theirs up if she has a helmet--y ea  look there they are they have. no helmet. what a shock. what a surprise. who would have guessed ever in the world

“he died” “he should’ve done. dunno how he survived” respiratory bypass

“the doctor. he walked in vacuum for far too long. he paid a price. he’s in section 12″

oh. he's blind

“it’s temporary” if u say so my guy “i’ve got stuff in the tardis that can cure anything” =/ unsure how i feel about the “cure for anything” thing, feels a bit too jkr to me. i rly prefer like. the “accomodation for everything” hcs, those are better

NO BLUE FRIEND. nooo

“what’s happening” did nardole just say GUESS? fuckin rude???

“fined for dying” ohhhhhh shi iiiiiiiiiit it was the company wasn’t it. to make a profit

“business as usual” oh my god am i right oh fukc

BILL. U CAN’T JUST LEAVE HER? GIVE HER SEOMETHING????

i missed sometihng, obviously. do they not die permanently? are they stored somewhere? ???????

did she just call for--her mother oh no. oh nooo oh no oh fuck

“your life is in our hands” okay, does that mean you can return it? like. can u hand it back

“stop bein such a quitter” lmao

“everyone says it’s not their fault. yes it is. all of it. it’s all your fault. so what are you gonna do about it”

“she’s no more dead than you are, and i am, and everyone on this station is” y eahhhh

“not just revenge, it’s revenge as bright as the sun, it’s revenge you can see across galaxies”

“are you out of your mind?” “ah, yes, completely, but that’s not a recent thing”

“there’s rescue ships on the way” “no there isn’t!” coolio

“die well, it’s the finish line, it’s winning!” o...kay? but can we get to the part where they’re alive somehow ?

she’s alive ! yayyy

but the others are dead still? gosh

o. a hug. they don’t seem to mind much though, which is. interesting. near-death experience on her part making it alright, or is it just that they’re not as against it as they used to be?

......nardole will u fuck the hell off. you’re annoying and now uncomfortable too. go away

“we’re back on the tardis. when did that happen” as though u couldn’t tell that by hearing alone? this is ur home dude, what kind of nerd joke

“promise me you’ll be loud” “promise” ahah, nice

a yoyoooo. and a stimming nerd

“laterz” “.....laterz” an echoing nerd

nardole shut up

they’re still blind aren’t they. they are, aren’t they. the glasses, the “i can’t”

--my recording broke off there but i’m. assuming the answer there is yes

welp

that’s a thing now

[marilynngmesalo]

Woman sentenced to life as teen in killing wins clemency

Woman sentenced to life as teen in killing wins clemency Woman sentenced to life as teen in killing wins clemency https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

NASHVILLE — Fifteen years after Cyntoia Brown was charged with murder, the woman who says she was a 16-year-old sex trafficking victim when she killed a man in 2004 is no longer under a life sentence.

Following years of national attention from criminal justice advocates, celebrities and politicians calling for mercy — and just days before he is to leave office — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday granted clemency to the now 30-year-old Brown.

“Cyntoia Brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16. Yet, imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life,” Haslam said in his statement.

Brown will remain on parole supervision for 10 years on the condition she does not violate any state or federal laws, holds a job, and participates in regular counselling sessions.

While law enforcement officials had opposed clemency, arguing Brown was not justified in killing 43-year-old Johnny Allen, celebrities like Kim Kardashian West and singer Rihanna spoke out for Brown. The governor’s office received thousands of phone calls and emails from supporters.

“Thank you Governor Haslam,” Kardashian West tweeted soon after news of the clemency decision broke. Similar high-profile responses poured in from former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, actresses Alyssa Milano and Viola Davis.

Brown was convicted in 2006 of murdering Allen, a Nashville real estate agent. Police said she shot Allen in the back of the head at close range with a gun she brought to rob him after he picked her up at a drive-in theatre in Nashville to have sex with her.

Brown’s lawyers contended she was a victim of sex trafficking who not only feared for her life but also lacked the mental capacity to be culpable in the slaying because she was impaired by her mother’s alcohol use while she was in the womb.

According to court documents, Brown ran away from her adoptive family in Nashville in 2004 and began living in a hotel with a man known as “Cut Throat,” who forced her to become a prostitute. Court documents say he verbally, physically and sexually assaulted her.

One night, Allen picked up Brown at a Sonic Drive-In and she agreed to engage in sexual activity for $150. Once at his place, Brown eventually got into Allen’s bed. Brown told authorities she thought he was reaching for a gun, so she shot him with a handgun from her purse.

She took two of his guns and his money from his wallet before fleeing the scene.

Brown expressed thanks in a statement released Monday by her legal team.

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“I am thankful for all the support, prayers, and encouragement I have received. We truly serve a God of second chances and new beginnings. The Lord has held my hand this whole time and I would have never made it without him,” Brown said. “Let today be a testament to his saving grace.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against life-without-parole sentences for juveniles. Yet, the state of Tennessee argued successfully in lower courts that Brown’s sentence was not in violation of federal law because Brown did have a possibility for parole: She was sentenced to serve at least 51 years of her life sentence.

“We need to see this as a national awakening to change the draconian laws that allow juveniles, children, to be placed in adult prisons when they’re just children. They’re not little adults,” said Houston Gordon, one of Brown’s lead attorneys.

While in prison, Brown completed her GED and took college classes. She is currently one course away from finishing a bachelor’s degree at Lipscomb University.

Nashville Mayor David Briley praised Haslam’s decision, calling it a “great day for social justice and our city.” Democratic state Sen. Raumesh Akbari said the clemency announcement shows that Tennessee “can show love, compassion and mercy” for people who have experienced trauma.

Haslam’s decision comes as he’s considering his next political move in Tennessee now that U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander announced he won’t seek re-election in 2020. It’s not yet clear how the clemency decision may affect Haslam’s already solid popularity throughout the state.

In contrast to Democrats, Tennessee’s Republican lawmakers remained markedly quiet on Haslam’s decision.

Gov.-elect Bill Lee offered a brief statement, saying he “respected” Haslam’s choice in the complex case and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said he “appreciated” the process the governor went through to arrive at his decision.

Ed Yarbrough, another attorney for Brown, joked at a Monday press conference that he was brought on as the “token Republican” in Brown’s case.

“I have to give a lot of credit to Gov. Haslam for having the wisdom and the compassion to do what he did today,” he said. “It will not be popular with everyone in Tennessee, but he did the right thing and we praise him for that.”

To date, Haslam has granted five commutations, 15 pardons, and one exoneration. The Republican says he is continuing to review and consider additional clemency requests.

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