#he went to wicked in west end and he mentioned it and that was it

[abrahamvanhelsings]

god but interacting with people who are truly casual media enjoyers can genuinely be so alienating. like a couple days ago at work i mentioned that i discovered my favourite opera singer a few months ago and this guy was like 'you've only known of him for a few months and he's already your favourite' yes? what? was i supposed to listen to this guy for years and know every other singer out there before i could pull that card? like how do i say he stood out to me in one of the first operas i ever listened to in full and subsequently i became obsessed with his voice and now he's inextricably tied to the core of my enjoyment of opera so there simply will not be another guy ill like as much. and then it's like how do i explain that i have engaged with other media that changed the trajectory of my whole life within the span of a few hours. less, even. and it's been a valuable experience in one way or another every time. truly some of you people could do with a little obsession every once in a while i think

[daisies-daydreams]

Alright, on to the actual song request.

I can’t actually link the song anonymously so here’s the name: Those Eyes by New West. It’s just super cute and soft and I have a craving for domestic fluff and awkward, goofy, lanky punk boy.

-🪶 (also I’m 19)

Those Eyes (Hobie Brown x GN!Reader)

Pairing: Hobie Brown x GN!Reader Category: Fluff (Slight Angst) Tags: Mentions of Drinking/Smoking Weed, Depictions of Post-Sex (No Smut), Swearing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Reminiscing, Depictions of Injuries/Trauma (Brief) Word Count: 1k+ A/N: Omg I listened to this song for the first time because of this request and it's literally so sweet. 🥹 Flashbacks/Reminiscing scenes are in italics. Also I'm so so sorry it's taken me this long to finish your request, but I hope you enjoy! Song: Those Eyes by New West

You smiled up at Hobie as the two of you were tucked away beneath one of his bedsheets. He grinned warmly and pecked your lips, his mouth lingering against yours as he sweetly cupped your face.

"You got such gorgeous eyes, y'know that?" Hobie rumbled quietly. You felt your cheeks grow warm as your heart skipped a beat.

"H-Hobie," you flushed. Hobie chuckled as he peppered your face with kisses.

"It's true. It's the first thing I noticed when we first met," he sighed.

༺♥༻

Hobie blinked when his hand slipped against someone else's in the back of the cab.

"Whoops. Sorry 'bout that, love. Didn't know this cab was taken," he shrugged before glancing up. Hobie felt his heart stop as he gazed upon your face. To anyone else, you were a mess: your hair was tousled, your lips parted and breath pungent with alcohol (granted, he probably looked the same way after just stumbling out of the pub a minute ago).

But to him, you were a divine being shining before him.

Your hiccup drew him out of his trance.

"D-Do you come here often?" you slurred. Hobie cracked a smile as he chuckled.

"Not this particular cab, no," he hummed. "Where you headin'?" Hobie added with a concerned look. You gave him your address, your eyelids fluttering as your head rolled towards him. He smiled as he let you rest your cheek against his arm.

"That's not too far from my place," he murmured.

It really was, but he couldn't let you travel alone in this state.

༺♥༻

You grinned that sweet grin of yours, your eyes sparkling like two pristine diamonds. Hobie chuckled as you leaned up and captured his lips in a tender kiss, your fingers playing with his dark wicks. A smirk crossed his face as he heard you squeal when he playfully flicked his tongue along your bottom lip. He sighed as the two of you parted for air, your chests rising and falling in unison.

"I swear, I could get high off of your kisses," he cooed while cupping his sharp cheek. You smiled before giggling. Hobie chuckled. "What?" he asked before pecking your lips again. You bit your lip.

"Nothing," you shrugged. Hobie raised his brows as he shot you a lopsided grin.

"You sure? Doesn't sound like nothin'," he said as he playfully kissed along his jaw. He grinned as he heard you squeak, knowing his feather-light kisses were tickling your skin.

"O-Okay, you win," you yielded with a laugh, holding your hands against his taut chest. Hobie smirked and pulled back, his brows raised as he expectantly waited for your answer. You took a deep breath.

"My comment just made me think about...well, that time I called you from the phone boxes," you muttered sheepishly. Hobie furrowed his brows before his face softened, a chuckle escaping him as he remembered that time.

༺♥༻

"Babe?" Hobie asked, his face scrunched with worry. It's been hours since you went out with your friends, the dead of night having already crept over Camden town. He heard you gasp on the other end.

"Oh my God, Hobie! Hi! It's you!" you squealed. Hobie's expression shifted as he cracked a smile. He heard your friends laughing and snorting in the background.

"Guys, stop! I'm talking to my super-duper hot boyfriend," you drawled. Hobie huffed out a quiet laugh.

"Yeah, it's me. What's goin' on, sweetheart?" he asked as he shifted his phone to his other ear. He heard you giggle.

"D'aww, you called me sweetheart!" you cooed. He heard you gasp before a scraping noise was heard. Your friends cackled in the background like a murder of crows.

"(Y/N), you alright?" he asked, worry quickly rushing back in. You huffed and nodded.

"Yeahhhh, I'm great babe. Baby, baby babe," you babbled. "My friends and I are just hanging out by the river, smoking...stuff," you added. Before Hobie could offer a witty remark, he heard you groan. "Oh shit. Why's Kool-Aid coming out of my knees?" you said. Hobie sighed and shook his head.

"I'll come pick you up, yeah?" he said. He heard you make a strange noise on the other end.

"Mmmm'kay. Love you," you said in a sing-song voice. His heart skipped a beat at your words. Despite the two of you being together for about a month, it was the first time those words left your lips. A warm smile grew over his features as he nodded.

"Love ya, too, babe. See you soon"

༺♥༻

Both of you laughed as you two recalled that night.

"I've never seen you that out of it. Though I have to admit, you were pretty adorable," he said and playfully poked the tip of your nose. You rolled your eyes and snickered.

"Being high is 'adorable'?" you asked. Hobie grinned and tilted his head side to side.

"Well, not really the 'high' part. More like the part when you refused to let go of me once we got home," he smirked. Your eyes widened as you looked away.

"Don't remind me," you whined. Hobie smirked.

"'I'm never lettin' you go, Hobie. Never never never'," he recited your words teasingly. You groaned and hid your face in your hands.

"Seriously, how much pot did I smoke that night?" you asked. Hobie pursed his lips as he hummed.

"Enough for the police to not find any evidence," he smirked. You groaned again and shook your head. Hobie chuckled and leaned his face closer.

"Lemme see you again, sweetheart," he murmured. You made a small crack between your fingers as you looked up at him. He caught a small sliver of a glint in your eyes. "C'mon. Lemme see that beautiful face I love so much," Hobie said in a low, husky drawl. He felt you relax beneath him before you fully withdrew your hands from your face. He smiled. "There you are," he said and gently pushed some hair from your face.

That soft expression you were giving him, it was the same one he'd always remember whenever he was on a long mission.

 ༺♥༻

Hobie panted as he crawled through a cracked window on his canal boat. He grunted as he gripped his side, the previous battle with Doc Ock taking a larger toll on his body that any other villains he fought. He took several deep breaths as he pulled off his mask. His nostrils flared as he could still feel his heartbeat inside of his ears, his blood pumping rapidly.

Images of the battle flashed in his mind: every dip of Ock's tentacles, every punch thrown, the metallic taste filling his mouth.

His heart began to race as he tried to steady his breath, his ribs aching with a sharp pain as he pinched his brows together.

But then, in the midst of the images of fists flying and bodies being thrown...your face appeared. Hobie's eyes shot open as he saw you in his mind cupping his face, your smile warming him from head to toe. He saw you dancing to a song playing while the two of you strolled the city streets. His heartbeat began to slow as he sucked in a shaky breath.

Hobie smiled as he remembered the way you looked wearing his t-shirt during a lazy Sunday afternoon, or all decked out in punk gear at one of his shows. He sighed and closed his eyes as he sat back on his couch.

His expression relaxed as he remembered all the little things you did... and how each one made him fall completely for you.

----

Thank you for reading! ❤️

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[akwolfgrl]

LFT PART 42

Smoker starred as the kid with the strawhat smiled, so easily accepting his death. He had seen hardened criminals sob and beg and plead for their lives before death. Did he smile because he knew he would be saved? No that couldn't be there was no way he would have known that lightning would strike at the right moment and spot. That could only mean that his life would come to an end and he had simply accepted it.

“Captain Smoker! Shouldn't we…”

“Hey…have you ever seen a pirate who smiled during his execution?” Smoker asked.

“S smile? I'm sure that even the most wicked pirate would turn pale and cower at the moment of his death,” he shrugged off with a chuckle.

“But that's what he did! The boy in the starwhat, Monkey D. Luffy, he smiled…” Just like Him, Smoker would never forget that day. “He smiled that same damn smile as the pirate king! Twenty-two years ago on that exact same spot!” Smoker was pissed off he couldn't believe that history is repeating itself! He headed out the door to stop the pirates from leaving. “Where did they run off two?” Smoker cared not for rain that stuck to his skin and clothes.

“They headed for the western harbor,” A fellow Marine, one his subordinates informed him, pointing in the right direction.

“One of our squads should be there by now,” Smoker spoke, knowing it was only a matter of time before they were stopped.

“Well, that's the thing,” The other marine started, Smoker turned to glare at him. “Ummm well the sudden rain has rendered their gunpowder useless. So they headed back to the station to resupply.”

“So the harbor is completely clear!?” Smoker yelled. He glanced up towards the sky, the rain hitting his face as he observed the storm clouds overhead. “The winds are blowing west…so if they were to set sail they would catch the tailwind.” What the hell kinda luck did this kid have?! “Is this all purely coincidence?! It's as if the heavens themselves want that boy to live!” Smoker wouldn't stand for this, she would have his head one way or another. “On the pride of a Captain of the Marines I Smoker the white hunter, vow to not allow that boy to escape this island!”

<>

“Jeez these guys are so persistent. Should we just stop and fight them off?” Luffy asked as they ran through the streets of that damn town.

“Don't, there will be no end to them. More importantly, Nami wants us to return to the ship as soon as possible. As possible. We don't want to risk the Merry being swept away without us, we may be strong but the marina has more man power and weapons. Not to mention the weird clown guy,” Sanji informed their captain.

“Curls has a point Luffy,“ Zoro hated to run from a fight but now was not the time. He hated to admit it but they might not make it out if they stop fighting.

“Ah! Who's that pretty lady waiting for us?” Sanji asked, Zoro turned towards where Sanji was looking.

“Roronoa Zoro!” There stood a very angry Tashigi, looking like she found out who he was. “To think you were Roronoa Zoro the whole time! A bounty hunter turned pirate! You were just toying with me the entire time!”

“Mosshead what fuck did you do to her!?” Sanji unhelpfully yelled at him. “Just because we went on a date doesn't mean I'll let you get away with hurting women! She's very clearly upset at what you did to her!”

“I will take back Wado Ichimonji and the other two while I'm at it!” She screamed at him. “I don't care if it belonged to your dojo master’s daughter, you're a disgrace! A criminal!”

“I'd like to see you try,” he sneered as his hold on Wado tightened, he was not appreciating what this Kunia-clone Tashigi chick was insinuating. Wado was not just a sword, it was a promise to his first friend and rival. In that breath, Tashigi clashed Shigure against Wado. Without turning his sights away from the swordswoman, Zoro tilted towards where he thought the pier was, “Go ahead Cap, Curls, I’ll catch up.”

“Ok,” Luffy grabbed Sanji's arm and dragged him away. This was one area in which they would never agree. Maybe one day they could discuss it but today was not that day.

After a brief clash of blades, Zoro had released hers’ far from her hands. She had potential but needed to work much harder and longer to reach his skill set. He had pines to the wall. He was close enough to see the rage and a bit of fear but resignation in her eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to cut her, call it whatever you wanted and he wouldn’t give a damn. He couldn’t cut down his dead best friend’s doppelganger.

“I can't hand this sword over to anyone ever! This is more than just a sword, it's a promise,” Zoro replaced his swords, softly backing away in the continuing rainfall. “I'll be on my way then.”

“Why didn't you cut me down!?” Tashgi screamed at him. Zoro stopped and looked back at her, her hair was sticking to her wet face. Her eyes filled with rage and contemptment. “Is it because I'm a woman?! Because I'm not worth your time!? Only to be pitied due to my gender!?” Zoro couldn't stop picturing Kuina and her fears on the same subject. “You're lucky to be a boy Zoro…” He didn't want to relive that night. “You dare to go easy on me?! I'm serious dude!!! Just because women aren't as physically strong as men?!” Tashigi continued on. “How shameful! Of course I shouldn't expect someone like you to ever understand what wishing to be born a man would feel like! To hate your gender for the sole reason that you're not taken seriously! I knew what I was doing when I chose this path dammit! I didn't pick up my sword for fun! I work so hard to improve myself just to be taken as a joke!”

“Don't, don't say that while wearing her face!” Kunia was haunting him from beyond her grave. “I can't cut you down. You look like her,” His hands shook violently, his hand taking Wados' hilt to try and ground himself. “I don't give a damn that you're a woman! What between your legs matters not to me! It's your face! Sprouting the same things as she did before her death! We promised each other and then she died on me! Stop copying her, just stop it!” Zoro couldn't shut up. Couldn't stop talking. “For fucks’ sake, stop haunting me!”

“Wha!? I've never heard anything so childish in my entire life! I've always loved being me and only me for my entire life! You don't get to put your issues on me! I'm not your dead friend so don't treat me like her! It's insulting to both of us!” Tashgi yelled at him.

“Shut up you don't know anything!” Shut up Zoro shut up! He needed to keep his mouth shut!

“Fight me properly, you damn crowded!”

[lesbianspeedy]

Sorry, I didn't finish Once Upon a Time. They did what?

this could truly be the fucking tagline of the show huh. i'd already forgotten what part of the show i'd mentioned and had to check my post but. listen. yeah. re: went out of their way to mention there are no gay people in storybrooke

so in season 5, when ruby (little red riding hood, and also the wolf) realises shes sure aint straight she has like the whole gay crisis thing. so, she talks it out with snow (during the celebration party for defeating the wicked witch of the west, where snow and charming announce they named their second child after the man who impregnated their first child before he set her up and sent her to prison. slay)

ruby is all like. i feel like i dont fit in here. and snow says "because you're the only one of your kind here." MEANING WOLF. BUT RUBY. WHO IS VERY MUCH TALKING ABOUT BEING GAY. IS LIKE "..MAYBE YEAH. PROBABLY, i wanna find more people like me." which is probably the funniest possible way to talk around this. because not only does it imply there are no other gay people in storybrooke (entirely true) but it also implies there are a lot more gay people in the enchanted forest (THERE ARE THREE. FIVE IF WE COUNT SEASON 7. ALL OF THEM ARE WOMEN. THIS IS MY ROMAN EMPIRE)

i also wanna add this entire scene is used as a flashback during a convo ruby is having with mulan (one of the two other gay people in the enchanted forest)

im sorry you didnt ask for so much detail. but i could quite literally discuss this show and it's choices for days on end.

half a season later dorothy (of oz fame, and the third gay person) is put into a coma and red wakes her up with true loves kiss. love wins. we never see either of these characters again. i love this show

[cytryndor]

So, remember when I said I might write a little scene of Oliver's coming out (more to us, an audience, than anyone else)(kind of)? Here it is, with special dedication to @elizmanderson

[SCENE: Some fancy-schmancy Broadway related event. OLIVER, MABEL and CHARLES are standing in the middle of room and camera view. OLIVER's really excited, looking around and just glowing, feeling (and looking) like a kid in a candy store. MABEL is sipping her wine, and CHARLES just don't want to be there, but is still awkwardly smiling, in his usual Charles-way. OLIVER notices someone, and turns his attention toward that person]

Oliver: Well isn't it Patti LuPone, as I live and breathe!

Patti: Oliver!

[PATTI hugs OLIVER like you would hug your not-so-close friend, or a coworker; she's using just one arm, holding a glass of wine in the other. After that, OLIVER puts his arm around her shoulder, and turns towards his friends]

Mabel: You two seem to know each other.

[MABEL says that more to her glass than them, looking somewhere else. OLIVER does not care about that, and picks up her comment]

Oliver: Oh yes, we do know each other. You see, when I wasn't such a failure of a man, way back in the seventies-

Patti: Come on, Oliver, you were never a failure to me. I have never missed any of your premieres, no matter how more off-off-off Broadway they were getting.

Oliver: Oh, I know. You made everything to let me know what you thought of my plays.

[Although still in cheerful manner, the last line was pretty sour. PATTI does not care, or simply doesn't notice, and continues]

Patti: Well, it's not my fault that your musicals were getting worse and worse. It was that boyfriend of yours who put his money into producing them.

Oliver: Oh don't you bring Teddy into this, you Wicked Witch of the West. And even if, our plays were magical, [and, a bit quieter, adds] at the beginning at least.

Patti: Of course they were, honey.

[She looks at CHARLES]

Patti: Hey, is your friend over here good? Is that... Blood?

Mabel: Oh my god, Charles-

Oliver: Come on, Charles-Haden Savage, I know Patti is undeniably a big deal, but we just met Mel Brooks and you didn't had that much of reaction-

Charles: Teddy? As in, Teddy Dimas?

[MABEL presses her lips together, looking at rest of her company. OLIVER does not have time to respond, as PATTI answers]

Patti: Oh, yes! They were inseparable back in the days. But then, this Roberta came in-

Oliver: -and the rest is history! Listen Patti, I think I saw Glenn Close coming this way, how about you're gonna find Andrew and threaten him with lawsuit again?

Patti: Charming as always, Putnam.

[PATTI smiles one last time, and walks off. MABEL's lets out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding; OLIVER is still smiling in the direction that PATTI went, and CHARLES is wiping off blood from under his nose]

Charles: What on Earth was that?

Oliver: What was?

Charles: You have never mentioned that you're into men!

[A moment of silence, OLIVER is looking at CHARLES like he's not understanding something]

Oliver: ...that what's shocking you?

Oliver: Not the fact that I was with Teddy Dimas of all people, but the fact that I enjoy sleeping with men?

Charles: Well, it's not like you ever told us that you're into-

[Before CHARLES says something stupid, MABEL cuts in]

Mabel: I mean, I knew.

Charles: What? When did he told you?

Mabel: Never. I mean, have you seen this [she points at OLIVER with her glass of wine still in hand] man?

Oliver: Thank you.

[Still shocked, OLIVER leans forward slightly, as if bowing. Move's unnecessary and almost not noticable if you'd blink, but it's still there]

Mabel: And anyway, when did you came out as straight to us, Charles?

Charles: I mean, why would I do that?

Mabel: Wow. That is so straight of you.

[END OF SCENE, at least as of now. Don't have an idea for the rest yet, but there might be something]

[marybeatriceofmodena]

You seem to know so much about phantom and its history in general and this is probably such a stupid question I’m sorry but why the fuck have they closed it on Broadway and the west end? No matter how much I think about it it makes no sense to me that it’s not bringing in enough money bc if people aren’t seeing what are they seeing????? Just close all of NY and London down at this point like ? And now I’m feeling like I should have seen it at least one more time since the news came out but the first time was so perfect I didn’t want to ruin it. But I’ve just been feeling like it’s a publicity ploy? They’re gonna say they’re taking it off then bring it back in 5 years shinier… but no one else seems to think so. Now I’m feeling like an idiot for not seeing it 5 times in a row even though it’s in my back yard.

Anyway. I’m sorry just had to get that out somewhere I’m sorry it was to you

Okay, so, right off the bat - the West End production is technically still running. It's not exactly like the original, but it's still there (and it has a VERY solid cast as of now so I would still absolutely recommend to go and see it if you ever have the opportunity. If you're scared of getting the restaged tour, it's really not that). There are a few differences with staging, the wigs are different from what they used to be, the orchestra has been reduced, some of the choreography is a bit different - but it's largely the same show.

What *did* happen in the West End was that like all productions, it closed during COVID, the cast and crew waited to be able to go back, and Cameron Mackintosh (aka the producer, aka Satan) invited all of them to a Zoom call, where they learned that they were all fired and that they'd be replaced by a new cast and crew. That included people who worked in the orchestra for nearly 30 years, Philip Griffiths who played Reyer since, like... forever, and I'm skipping a bunch. The reason why CamMack did that was to reopen with a smaller orchestra, a few reductions here and there, and obviously, with a younger cast and crew working around, salaries will be lesser on the basis of experience. And understandably, a lot of people didn't want to come back and go through the whole hiring/auditioning process all over again. Philip Griffiths for instance basically went: "Fuck it, I played the role for 30 years and I shouldn't have to audition for it" (and he's correct).

Obviously, COVID has been tough on the arts industry in general, and there are several shows on Broadway who closed as a result of it (the whole deal with The Music Man revival with Hugh Jackman was to make as much money as possible to recoup for losts, because anything that has Hugh Jackman in it or The Music Man itself has always sold very well on Broadway). Phantom was not one of those shows that was struggling, because it's kind of like Wicked, Chicago, Hamilton, or any Disney show in the sense that it will reliably make money no matter what. It's expensive to set up and stage as opposed to, say, Six, but it still very much made a profit.

Cameron Mackintosh didn't really give a reason as to why he was closing it (at least none that I'm aware of, or if there is, it's probably PR fluff), but if I had to make a guess, it's probably going to reopen in a few years, just like the West End production did, but with the reductions I've mentioned above, with a cheaper orcheatra, cheaper crew, etc. and you get a nice little opportunity to have it get nominated at the Tony Awards for Best Revival.

So yeah anyway eat the rich

[centrally-unplanned]

Let's post some of the cool stuff I learned from reviewing the FLCL Initial Proposals and Draft Story Outlines! Some big thoughts to start:

As is mentioned in other sources (Like FLCLick Noise) and implicitly confirmed in the draft material, FLCL was always going to have 3 'main' girls; its essentially a marketing decision, more girls = more sellable appeal, and while its no rule or anything having just 2 doesn't really let a product cover its 'type' bases in the 90's anime world. However, as FLCL was conceived in the initial drafts, Haruko and Mamimi were there right from the beginning but there was no third girl. Ninamori is added later, in the second version of the "New Anime Proposal", her name scrawled in hand-written on the otherwise typed document:

The first version of this document is from March 31st, 1999 (the revisions are undated) - and production would start soon after. It is probably part of why Ninamori's role is much smaller than Mamimi and Haruko's, as it was not originally her story. Though funnily enough you might not have known that from the marketing; in the three Newtype spreads that appeared in the lead up to the show’s release in April of 2000, Ninamori got a full one to herself:

(Interestingly, in the pre-release marketing it seems like Mamimi gets the most focus; I am only guessing but I imagine that has a bit to do with the fact that in the early drafts her role was a little more equal to Haruko’s, and only faded a little as the production went on)

Anyway, all of the characters of FLCL changed over the course of its conception, as one would expect. This isn’t in the FLCL initial notes & proposal, but from the 2005 “Gainax Interviews” book Tsurumaki discusses how he “pitched” the idea of Haruko, and described her as like the character Kuzuhara from the 1997 sex & shock comedy manga Enomoto.

Kuzuhara is cold, stern, bossy, and also a closeted dominatrix because of course she is. But that..isn’t like Haruko at all is it? You see the elements, sure, Haruko is bossy and aggressively sexual, but she is an emotional chaos gremlin and would never be caught dead in the dark, formal attire of Kuzuhara. Haruko started here, but by no means did she end here.

[I am aiming to acquire a copy of this book, will see if it has more details on this thread]

Also a cool note, since Enomoto has absolutely no presence in the west, there is a tiny chance you saw Kuzuhara in a random omake new years comic Fujimoto drew for Chainsaw Man:

Which is quite amusing to me given that Fujimoto once described Chainsaw Man as "a wicked version of FLCL" - FLCL fans are absolutely a Type of Guy.

But back to FLCL - Haruko moved past Kuzuhara, but Tsurumaki didn’t - buried in the “Ideas” section of the March 1999 New Anime Proposal is this bullet point:

Part-timer girl at the bakery. Pretty girl with glasses. But a Kuzuhara-san (the Enomoto character). Private life is a mystery.

This isn’t Haruko, Haruko is named at this point in development. It's an idea for a “third girl”, this one an adult (the English doesn’t reflect that, but the Japanese makes that clear) modeled after the same character. It is also from a time when Ninamori didn’t yet exist in the story; this is from the first version, before she was written in.

While Haruko does not share a lot of traits with Kuzuhara, Ninamori actually kindof does? Not the dominatrix side obviously, but FLCL just isn’t that kind of story, that wasn’t gonna carry over. She is bossy, cold, reserved, but with that kuudere-style ‘secret affectionate’ side. Plus, “wearing glasses” was one of Ninamori’s earliest aesthetic traits and her whole theme, and this is the first mention of a glasses girl in the concept notes.

Ninamori is certainly not this girl (she is a 12 year old classmate, for one), but I think this is a proto-Ninamori in the story role sense - a sign of experimentation around the “third girl” concept. Tsurumaki clearly liked Kuzuhara, wanted to preserve Haruko’s initial influence somewhere, and so tried to fit her in here. And while not too much of it did survive in the end, enough came out in Ninamori that you can draw a line from Kuzuhara through the bakery girl to her.

Which is, uh, cool, I think that's neat. Hope you did too!

[late-to-the-magnus-archives]

Refrain, chapter two - a Malevolent fic (The start of Surrogate, season two!)

Kayne's "season one" ended with a choice: whichever father Faroe picked, he was ready to let that slingshot fire.

She picked Arthur. Well, that was nice, wasn't it? Especially since he'd spent almost a year pulling that rubber band back, loaded.

Of course, he had no idea how well it would work. Humans are weird, and pieces of Hastur seem to respond particularly well to prolonged exposure.

It was time to deny a wicked man his prize.

Time to give a good man a second chance and see what he did with it.

Time to take the abused piece of a god and find out how it changed when given to someone else.

Part of Surrogate, a Malevolent AU. Written with @sepiabandensis.

AO3 (chapter two)

-------

“Go on, snarl away,” Larson drawled in that infuriating tone he had for when he’d made Yellow extremely upset and cared not one whit about it. “Rage all you want, little one. I’ll be here when your tantrum is over.”

How DARE you, Yellow roared. I am a GOD, you miserable insect! You will bow your head in reverence, you will honor me as I speak!

“You ain’t done a damn thing to earn that,” Larson said, and Yellow did not need a mirror to know he was smiling—that insufferable fucking smirk that he used when he thought he had the upper hand. “For a god, you ain’t got a whole lot of bite to that bark.”

I will make you fucking suffer, Yellow snarled. I will rip the skin from your body and craft a suit for you to wear of it, I will—

“Then do it,” Larson drawled.

Yellow went silent, shocked.

“You’re the big, scary god,” Larson said, and he stretched his hand out, rolling his wrist. “Go on, then. You said you had Arthur’s eyes? Take mine. Take my hand. I won’t even fight you. I just want to see if you can do it.”

Yellow roared, pouring all of his power into the effort, searching out nerves or—or blood vessels, or—

“I’m waitin’,” Larson drawled.

His power found no purchase, slipping off of Larson’s body like oil over the surface of water. Yellow went quiet.

Larson laughed, rolling his wrist again, touching each of his fingers to his thumb. “That’s what I thought.”

It doesn’t— Yellow said, voice halting. I don’t—

“Oh, I know, I know. The ‘fragmented soul of a god’ schtick.” He turned his hand over, flexing the palm. “Not much of a god, if you can’t even take a willing host, hm?”

Yellow remained silent.

“Now, let's go and experiment with that ritual you mentioned. I think a bit of blood will open up some of that power and maybe get us somewhere.”

Yellow didn’t answer. He didn’t have to: he knew Larson had won that battle.

Just one of many, many to come.

#

Watch out! Now!

Yellow wasn’t helping, but he wasn’t hurting, either, and Parker was too focused to reply. He ran.

By this time, a few coppers were up on the rooftops with him. The thugs stayed down below, occasionally shooting when they thought they got the chance.

Parker was absolutely sure Larson would pitch a fit if he knew they were doing that.

“Stop!” called some breathless copper back there, but Parker did not.

He’d been afraid that ten years dead would leave him weak, less in shape than he’d been, but no: whatever else that Outer God had done, he’d left him fucking fit, and so Parker kept running.

The snow slowed him down. He slid a lot; caught himself in the nick of time more than once on a chimney or pipe, and kept going.

Laughing.

Because this was fucking great.

The air was freezing. The ice had cut his skin all over. And he was outrunning the world.

They’d get him eventually, he knew. A lucky bullet, or a patch of ice. He’d run out of roof, or these idiots would get their act together and pincer him. But until then?

Until then, he ran like a mountain goat, and cackled like a wolf.

So far, against all odds, he’d gotten away with it.

Look out!

More shooting.

“West! He’s going west!” shouted cops.

He wasn’t going to make it, but at least he’d try. He’d already been dead, anyway. This kind of death was way more his style than how it went the first time. “Got a do-over,” he breathed, rounding a chimney.

What?

“All we need now is that ticket to Carcosa!” he laughed. “We could take the ferry!”

The tickets would cost too much! A beat. That was a joke!

“Solid fucking work!” Parker approved, braced himself, and jumped.

He barely made this one. They’d gone too far downtown, away from the tenements, from the poorer, crowded housing. He wouldn’t make the next roof. His lead was small, but it would have to do. He started trying doors. Most of these places had exits onto the roof, and he spotted three more before the next alley—before the gap he couldn’t jump. He’d try climbing to the ground, or even into a window, but the goons would shoot him. Parker tried another door. Nope.

Shouts still followed them, gasping coppers and wicked goons, closing in. He tried a door.

It opened.

Parker didn’t hesitate. He threw himself inside.

#

His breathing was loud, but there was no way around that. It wouldn’t take them long to figure out he was in here, so he tore down the stairwell, skipping steps, jumping onto landings. If he could get out a back way and get around them somehow—

Couldn’t ask for help from strangers. Not with war going.

“Chances of this working out are one in a million, buddy!” He opted to try for a second story fire escape, hoping to catch a glimpse of where things lay before making this move. “How’s our luck looking?”

We should have been caught before we even left the estate, Yellow said, voice frantic, but there was a sort of wild mania about it, like Parker’s desperate laughter had become infectious. I—I am a god! It is my will that our luck is good! And he let out a howling laugh. I decree it! I command that it bend to our will, to change!

Parker laughed. “That’s the spirit! Ought'a take you with me any time I bet on the ponies.” And he peeked.

He could hear them down there—not in this alley, but around it, too near. The voices echoed; which damn side were they on?

He decided to assume both.

It was starting to get dark now; they’d been at this for hours. He wondered if he could trick them into thinking he’d gotten further away. If he could make it to the building across the way, he could maybe get through it to the other side, unseen, and further away from this cordon. They knew he couldn’t jump that distance. Maybe, just maybe, they’d focus on this building, giving him time.

Or maybe he’d still be caught the second he stuck his nose out.

Well. That was a possibility, either way. Parker made up his mind. “We’re gonna move,” he said very quietly. “We’re gonna head toward the river. They got culverts and shit down there. Might have a chance to lose them.”

A good idea. The water could disguise our scent, lose our footprints, Yellow said.

“Oh, our scent’ll be disguised, all right. It’s gross in there—but you can really lose a guy. Been part of more than one manhunt that went wrong thanks to that kind of mess underground. It’s risky… but I figure it’ll be risky for everybody, not just us. You in?”

I’m in. Yellow rumbled softly. I feel like I remember something about the underground, here. About tunnels. Tunnels can go many places, Parker. Another pause. But I don’t remember. I’m sorry.

“Don’t need to be, pal. Feel it with me, if you can: sucks that we might die, might get caught, might get hurt, but this is a fucking great way to do it. We are alive. You get it? More than any fuck just sitting in an office somewhere. You feel me?”

Parker… His voice was hesitant, full of disquiet. You… I do not have the power to… help, if all goes south. You might die.

“Pal, I’ve been dead. I’m gonna die anyway, someday, no matter how this goes. It doesn’t scare me as much as dying with regret ‘cause I didn’t live.”

I don’t want you to die, Yellow said softly. And I especially don’t want you to die for nothing, Parker.

“It’s okay, pal. I promised I’d try, so I’m gonna. If they do get us, it won’t be because we weren’t balls to the wall trying.” He watched. He counted voices, and did his best to identify location. Some were still above, shouting to each other. They still thought he was on the roof; this was the time to go. Parker took the fire escape down, heart pounding, and raced across to peek onto the sidewalk.

Luck was with them: they had a brief moment where the search party wasn’t here, wasn’t looking, wasn’t present. He ran all-out into the building beside him and started making his way back uptown.

#

Gophers, that’s what he was thinking of, and he laughed.

What is it? said Yellow, who sounded a bit tired.

Parker was more than a bit tired. He was fucking ragged; his coat was torn, the hat was long gone (and he hoped whoever found it needed a new one), and he was damned hungry. New bruises bloomed, visible and otherwise; the one copper who’d caught him had not been a lightweight, and managed to get cuffs on one wrist before Parker took him down.

And now that he’d taken a copper down, there was definitely no going back. Damn, these bruises sang. “Just thinking of what this is like from the outside,” he said. “Gophers.” He wiped sweat from his brow. The cuff on his wrist was too tight; he held the loose end lightly so he wouldn’t catch it on anything. Stupid copper, losing the key when they struggled.

They were nearly there.

Gophers? Said Yellow, sounding offended at the word.

“Yeah. Ducking into buildings, popping out again. Try to catch a gopher, and he goes under, and pops up in another hole out of reach.”

Oh. Yellow didn’t seem to think it was as funny, but that was fine. How much farther?

“My friend, we are one fucking street away from the slope down to the river—but from here out, there’s no cover. Hanging in there? I need you with me, pal.”

I am with you. He hesitated. I struggle to believe we’ve made it this far.

“You know, me, too? But I’m loving it. Heh. They ain’t never gonna forget this little runaround.”

Nevah, repeated Yellow, who every once in a while tried on Parker’s accent for size.

“Rule of thumb: can’t stop the bad guys? At least cost ‘em so much they regret it.” He breathed deeply, slowly, preparing for this race. Shouting men still called to one another behind him, and nearby; Larson himself had yet to make an appearance, but Parker knew he was around. Just felt it. His instinct was never wrong.

(Though maybe it had been about Arthur? No… no. Shit happened to that guy. Instinct couldn’t predict that.)

A pyrrhic victory. I… I can understand this, yes.

“Ready?” said Parker. “Three.”

Three.

“Two.”

Two!

“There he is!” some guy shouted from behind, and Parker ran for his life.

They shot at him, but they were dumb enough (and he was lucky enough) that they tried shooting while running instead of just standing still, and they mostly missed. He hurled himself down the hill toward the Hudson river and pounded along the steep bank. One of those culverts was dead ahead, built into the earth, dark and scary and nasty.

It would be cold as the devil’s ass in here.

Well, always wanted to kick somebody important where the sun don’t shine, he thought, and aimed himself for it.

He was right: the water was fucking cold.

I can taste it, Yellow complained, because it was true—the fug in here was thick.

No, YOU fucking go after him echoed behind them, and Parker laughed as he plunged wildly into the dark and hoped he wouldn’t break his damn neck.

#

Some gutter provided enough light for Parker to get a look at his side. The bullet had gone through, so he was right about that; but the damn thing hadn’t stopped bleeding, which he’d assumed it would.

It was one of those annoying wounds that only started hurting when he really got his eyes on it.

Yellow gasped. Parker!

“Easy. We’re not done. This just… fuck.” Not done yet, but this needed a doctor. Parker didn’t know one in New York he could go to. In Arkham, sure. Ten years ago.

He wasn’t so sure they’d be amenable to him now. Fuck.

“Nothing for it,” he muttered, balling up the coat and pressing it against the wound (and wow, that hurt) as he continued on.

It looks bad, Yellow moaned, doing nothing to help Parker take his mind off the injury. I’m… I can’t… I’m sorry. I… Our luck will hold. His voice grew firm. I demand it. Our luck will hold. Where are they?

The water had long numbed his feet; the smells were… really not worth considering. But the important thing was the voices of their pursuers, while occasionally still popping up, had yet to catch up.

Parker, where are we?

“This point? No idea. Not far enough, though, I can tell you that.”

I concur. I will be much happier when I cannot hear them at all. But this… it’s certainly not nearly as exciting as jumping across rooftops. Are we still “living?”

“We sure are, buddy.” Parker meant it, and answered without hesitation. “We get outta this, this part here? Is gonna make the best part of our story.”

Even though it’s just wading through shit in the dark?

“Yep.” He followed the line of light from various storm drains. This meant they were under some kind of main road, but he’d lost his sense of direction almost immediately getting in here (and knew part of that was going into shock, thanks to whichever lucky son of a bitch got him), and had absolutely no idea where they were. “This is gonna make the best part of our story.”

You said that already. Are you alright?

Fuck. He had. Parker stopped, bent over, and breathed for a minute. “Focus,” he said to himself. “Come on. Just a little further.”

But we don’t know that. How can you know that?

“It’s not about knowing it. It’s about believing it so I don’t lie down and give up.” And he did neither.

#

This didn’t really seem like a New York City sewer anymore.

He couldn’t say why. Maybe it was the distant sound of crashing water, like some crazy waterfall. Maybe it was the fact that the scents had changed; it wasn’t shit anymore. It was three things, alternating: sort of a soil smell, vegetation gone bad, and a meat smell.

That smell worried him. It didn’t seem real sewery. It seemed more… jungle. Like maybe there was some meat-eating thing down here.

“There’s rumors,” he said.

What?

“Rumors of alligators in the sewers. I mean. Can’t be. It gets cold, and they’re cold-blooded. But funny, right?”

Parker. Why would you bring this up now?

“Don’t you smell that? It’s real weird.”

Meat? Yellow blurted.

“Yep. Maybe we’re near a slaughterhouse? But no, I know we’re not.”

Meat… said Yellow, thoughtful. Meat. Why would there be meat in a sewer? That doesn’t make sense. The only thing I can think of…

He suddenly went very quiet.

“Buddy?”

Parker, how do people… care for their dead, in New York City?

“Same way they do most places, I guess. Bury ‘em in the cemetery.” He thought for a moment. “I guess we got in here not too far from Trinity Church cemetery. Not sure where we are now, but… yeah. Cemeteries. Used to be lots of them here. They got paved over for buildings and shit. Why?”

I… underground, in the Dreamlands, I remember there are… creatures, sometimes. They often eat the dead. I am unsure if you also have them here, but I would recommend caution, if you smell meat. No matter how fresh.

“Eat the…” Parker took a moment to process that one and stopped walking. “Guess that’s… efficient, huh?” His brow knit. “We don’t have those here. But then, you’re here, aren’t you?”

I was brought by magic, Yellow said, almost defensively. But yes. Larson could call upon many sorts of creatures on his own. These creatures, though… there’s a memory, but I cannot grasp it. I know something. His voice surged. I know something, Parker, but I don’t know what it is! I don’t… I don’t remember.

“It’s okay, buddy. It’s okay. We’ll handle it.” Lower: “Don’t suppose you remember how dangerous they might be to living people.”

They were not dangerous to me, Yellow said with a hint of a whine. But… they… They were rational! They are rational, and can be communicated with. They’re not animals, Parker. We might… There was another heavy, meaningful pause. We might be able to convince them to take on our pursuers. Or, at the very least, lead them away—if we have something to offer.

“All I got on me is a bloody shirt, a coat, and the rock I picked up in the park. But hey; I can talk. Maybe we can figure something out.” Because Parker was sure something this weird would happen, here, under New York City, with a piece of a god in his head.

Stranger things have been offered in trade, and stranger things still have been accepted, Yellow said.

“We got this. And either way, I don’t know anybody else who saw corpse-eating guys under a city, so it’s an adventure.” And he walked forward.

He wasn’t trying to be overly quiet now, though he was listening sharply. If these things could be reasoned with, he didn’t want it to seem like he was trying to sneak up.

The damn wound was still bleeding. Sluggishly, but he was pretty sure it needed to be sewn shut. “If there’s anybody here,” he said, just a pinch louder, “I’m open for trade.” Lower: “And if not, I’m gonna fucking bash your head in if you try shit.”

Right on cue there was a sound like a dog taking a sharp, deep sniff.

Fuck.

Parker saw its eyes glinting in the hollow of a branching tunnel, glowing red in the dim light like a wolf’s. It stayed in the shadows, hunched, head tilting—and it sniffed again, deep. “You smell strange. Like a human, but also like the newly-food. You are not newly-food.”

The creature took a cautious step forward on its knuckles—its face was long, mouth jutting out like a snout, pointed ears perked forward, and its lips peeled back from its pale face in a hyena-like grimace. “I can smell your blood, human. What are you doing here?”

A ghoul, Yellow said softly.

Parker thought to himself that it was a damn good thing he’d had a lot of practice keeping his expression neutral. “We’re lost, friend. Not a super-fun situation, to be honest. Could use some help, if you’re up for it. I don’t have a lot to trade, but I’m willing.”

The ghoul tilted its head, like a dog hearing an interesting sound. “Lost? But you’re found, now. I can make you less lost, perhaps.” It slunk around the edge of the light from a manhole—Parker could see it move, the shape of a man hunched over and walking on long, clawed arms and legs with ankle and knee out of proportion, and clad in what looked to be a torn and heavily altered pair of pinstriped pants.

This thing probably knew his heart rate picked up, but there was nothing he could do about that. “That sounds like a good deal. I can trade you some info for sure. Uh. Not sure what else I’ve got.” He offered a crooked grin, hoping it read human facial expressions. “I’m not exactly bargaining from the best position here, so I hope you’ve got some kindness in ya.”

It sniffed at him again. “Another smell. A strange smell. Hm.” It sat back on its haunches, the pants creaking. “But where to? Lost is relative if you have no map. Up, or down?”

Parker, Yellow said softly. I remember now. Ghouls… They’re from the Dreamlands. I told you. I think this one knows how to get there.

There was the sound of a muffled curse, echoing and faint from down the tunnel. The ghoul’s ears flicked toward it, its eyes focusing hard on the tunnel.

Or, Yellow said, his voice thin and hesitant. Or… We could… get out. Find a way out of New York.

“It is cold,” the ghoul said, eyeing Parker—or, specifically, his coat. “I take you, up or down, and you give me the coat. Yes?”

It was a choice. Like that poem Arthur always used to quote—something about two paths in a yellow wood.

Parker knew Earth, or at least New England. Chances were, he could get help here—people who knew him well enough not to think he was somehow working for the enemy.

But on the other hand… a new world. An entirely new one—and, well. He’d promised Yellow. His gut said that really mattered. “Free advice first,” he said. “Bunch of goons looking through here with guns, and they’ll shoot. So stay out of their way.” And he held up the coat. “It’s got my blood on it. That a problem?”

“Mmm… foolish. We will be gone before these goons catch us.” It snorted. “The others will keep their distance. We crave no trouble. But your trust is noted.” Very gingerly it stretched out a hand, feeling the thick wool. “Blood is blood. It matters not to me. In time its scent will fade, and be but a memory—the stain shall remind me of your kindness. I accept. Up, or down?”

Parker was sharply aware of Yellow’s silence. “Which one gets me to the Dreamlands?”

Yellow gasped.

His gut had been right: this mattered.

“Down,” the ghoul said. “Brave man. Foolish man. But… the scent did not lie.”

The voices grew louder. The ghoul’s head snapped towards the tunnel.

“We go now,” it said, turning and loping into a side tunnel. “The coat you will give in time.”

“Thanks.” Brave and foolish—yeah, that sounded about right. He was okay with those descriptors. Parker followed at once, trying to step where this thing stepped.

Parker, Yellow whispered. Are you sure? We’re going to the Dreamlands?

“Yeah,” he murmured softly. “Said I would. This guy’s our ticket.” Damn, the goons were closer than he’d thought—and they weren’t exactly quiet. He might, he thought, have bled more than he’d realized. That was going to be a problem.

A problem for this Dreamlands place. He debated asking about Carcosa. Debated if that would be giving too much away. Decided to see where this new friend chose to drop him instead.

The ghoul stopped at a t-junction, pausing to paw at the wall. Bricks began to come free, tumbling to the ground and splashing in the sluggish, dark water at the bottom of the sewers. Piece by piece, a tunnel was revealed, large enough for Parker to walk through with only the barest stoop, the edges of it roughly clawed out, but smoothed by the passage of time and bodies.

The voices sounded off again. Arguments about splitting up.

The ghoul’s ears pinned, and it let out a soft growl. “The coat, please.”

Parker handed it over at once. “I owe you more than a coat, man. Thank you. Anything I should know before going through?”

It took it, petting the fabric with its hand. “You will be in the Underworld. It is not a place for you. There are stairs. Climb them to the light, and you will be free.” And then its head snapped forward, sniffing at Parker’s side. “And find a healer. Your blood turns to poison by the minute.”

I… If we can get to the surface, I might remember. I will remember something, Parker. I’ll get you to safety.

“Yeah, running through sewers fucked up’ll do that to you.” Parker grinned wryly. “They got guns. Someone might have magic. Good luck. And thanks.” He didn’t have a hat to tip, but he could salute, and did.

Then he dove in.

Behind them he could hear bricks being shoved haphazardly back into place, cutting off the last vestiges of light.

He couldn’t see super-well, but down was hopefully enough of a warning.

#

It felt like days before the slope evened out again, and Parker suddenly stumbled into a massive chamber that echoed with every shocked step. It was dark but for a faint gray light that clung to everything like mist, the temperature cool, but not freezing—a stark change from the sewers of New York.

Yellow let out another soft gasp.

The ceiling was far above them, dark as pitch and featureless but for the faint cracks and spots of light that speckled its surface, like lonely embers of a scattered fire. In the distance, he could see what looked like mountains, lit with the foxfire glow of whatever the fuck went on in this underground area, and he could see what looked like some sort of black-stone city at the base of one of them, and…

The stairs, Parker, Yellow said. There! We can get to the surface, and find a healer. Are you ready?

Parker made one small noise. It wasn’t a laugh or a sob; it was something else, just some raw emotion, and he wiped his leaking eyes. “I’m in another world, buddy. Me. Fuckin’ Parker Yang from Boston.” Then he shook himself. “Yeah. Stairs. This’ll be fun, I’m sure.” He felt too much wonder to flip into true sarcasm. “Let’s do this.”

Pahkah Yang, from Bahston. Private Eye. Adventurer. It was almost a delirious laugh. I’m almost home. We’re almost there, Parker.

He could tell his lungs were a little less efficient from blood loss—but “healer” sounded promising. “I’ll get you there, buddy, if it takes my last breath.” And he couldn’t help saying it. “Funny, huh? All that time, all those years, all those sacrifices. and Larson could’a just asked and gotten you home like that.”

There was a deep, heavy silence.

I suppose I had to wait for someone with competence, Yellow finally said, voice soft and hesitant—like he was asking permission.

“Heh. He’s competent plenty—but I think he meant to keep you. We got this, you and me. I wanna see this shining jewel of a city you talked about.” He wiped his eyes again. “Guess I had to die to get a chance at a better life. Go figure.”

I will ensure you are rewarded, in whichever way you prefer. The Dreamlands would bend to someone of your talents—but if you want to go home, when all is done, I will see what I can do. Yellow paused for a moment. I rather like you, Parker. I will see to it I keep my promise as well.

“That’s real sweet of you, kid. Appreciate it.” Parker stumbled—not enough to fall, or tumble down, but enough that he had to kneel for a moment and catch his breath. “So, just connected to nothing, how do we find a healer? And, uh, can I do dishes or something to pay them?”

The nearest town should have one—and if we’re especially lucky they will be a Cana, and will help us regardless of our ability to pay. If not, they may have us do some tasks for them in exchange: there are many different kingdoms in the Dreamlands, and not all accept the same coin. A deep sigh. I would settle for a traveling bard, even. We’ve one hell of a story to tell, and most of them know at least some minor magics.

“We do have a hell of a story! See? It’s already paying off.” He took a moment and breathed, then resumed, this time at a slower pace, but one he could keep steady. His sweat had gone cold. He knew his body was giving out, but they were almost there. “Magic seems real handy to know. Maybe we should learn some.”

I would use magic now, if I was certain it wouldn’t kill you, Yellow said. Are you alright? You’re stumbling. Our mouth feels strange.

“I’ve been bleeding for a while, buddy. Human bodies are kinda dumb that way—they lose too much juice and they go all wacky.” His new pace seemed to be the right plan. “So magic would kill me, huh?”

Without the attunement process, chances are high. Do you need to stop and rest? There was real fear in the voice now. Larson never… He never got hurt, from what I could see. Other people took risks for him.

“Yeah, that’s rich-guy shit for you. Guys like us have to do the work ourselves.” He took a moment to answer the first question. “Don’t think it’s a good idea to stop here. Feels like we’d be… dunno. Setting ourselves up.”

You’re right. Yellow somehow took a deep breath without lungs. Magic. Let’s talk about magic, then. Humans can use it, but you have to work up to it. Too much would kill you right away—from what you described, I would have thought that’s what had happened to Arthur, though it seems as though something else entirely happened instead. But you… I don’t know. I would have to introduce you to magic slowly, to make sure it didn’t burn your blood to cinders if I tried to heal you. Do you want to learn magic, Parker?

He finally stopped walking so he could laugh, leaning on the wall. “Fucking hell, buddy… went from, ‘hey, turns out you got a soul after all, and hey, there’s gods,’ to ‘do you wanna be a wizard’ real fast, didn’t we?” He continued laughing as he resumed his climb.

Oh, you don’t wish to be the great Pahkah tha Wise? Content with being Pahkah tha Brave?

He laughed again. “Wise? Don’t know I ever got called that before. Hey, you know what? We’re in this all the way. All the way to Carcosa, and whatever happens there. Tell you what: you think I can learn magic? I could learn how to heal shit. That’d make life a hell of a lot easier.”

If I attuned you to magic, I could heal you. And yes, that would make everything much, much easier. He rumbled a bit. I think… Yes, I think you could use magic with responsibility.

Parker took a moment to breathe; it sounded thick and labored. “You won’t be pissed if I can’t do it, right?”

No, I would hardly hold it against you if you were unable to use magic. It is the get of gods, not mortals—the talent of even those most skilled mortals pales in comparison to the weakest of the true gods. If you were unable, I could still cast through you once you had been attuned. I had to, for some spells that were too big for Larson, much like the ritual he and I were conducting when you arrived.

“Sounds like you were real useful to him.” There was no censure in this. It was just a statement; and yet, like many of his recent words regarding Larson, it carried strange weight.

Just a pinch quieter, Yellow added, And will you be angry with me? If I cannot will the stars to move, or turn mortal flesh incorruptible?

Parker snorted. “Kid, I’m just happy we’re alive. You turn water to wine, or just keep some damn bread soft, it’ll be enough for me. Hey—What was that ritual for, anyway? The one that blew up and got me involved.”

There was that hesitation again. Fear tinted Yellow’s answer. The ritual we performed was meant to contact another Great Old One so we could broker a deal with them, offer sacrifices for power. Power for Larson, to handle the spells that it would require for me to ascend to something more like my other half; power for me, to bolster and feed the magic through Larson as well. He had… there were many who followed him who would slit their own throats at his command. Some of them would even do so eagerly.

“Shit. No wonder you wanted to go back. Sounds like you were halfway to your goal.” He looked up. There was an exit up there—a pinpoint, bright, still, and tiny. Parker clenched his jaw. He could do this. Slower, he kept climbing. “Those poor saps. They didn’t even get shit out of it, did they?”

For Larson, most people are merely a means to an end. To an extent, I believe he and I were this to each other, too. Though slightly less glamorous, this is a far more direct way to achieve what I want, so I am certainly glad for your interruption. Yellow noticed the point of light as well, letting out a soft gasp. We’re almost there, Parker. You are truly magnificent, did you know that?

Parker snorted. “I’m just stubborn as hell, buddy. That’s not magnificent.” His breathing was wet. “Almost wish we had run into him. Might like to see if he’s got a glass jaw.”

I’m afraid I must disagree: I would prefer to never, ever lay eyes on that miserable little man again. There’s a finality, there, shot through with relief. We’re almost at the top. Fantastic work, Parker.

“Helps having a good travel companion.” He stumbled out into weird, new sunlight, onto unfamiliar ground. The air tasted strange; it was all different, so different, but he couldn’t see so good right now. “This what country air’s like?” he said, and then he collapsed.

PARKER! It was a desperate cry as he hit the dirt. Parker, no! I didn’t realize it was so bad. Oh, gods, I’ve killed us both. I’m so sorry, Parker. I’m so, so sorry.

Parker couldn’t answer. The daylight was bright, too bright, twisting at the edges.

Yellow let out a gut-wrenching sob. You fucking did it, Parker. You brought me home. You kept your promise. I will be eternally grateful to you for that. But I wasn’t…

There was that silence again. Heavy. Looming.

But I made you a promise in turn, didn’t I? And… And if you’re not going down without a fight, neither am I. If this doesn’t work, so be it. But at least I can face you in the Dark World knowing I tried. There was a dark sound, a snarl, a sharp intake of breath. I will not go gentle into that good night. And neither will you. I am the King in Fucking Yellow, and this is my will!

Parker’s mouth moved, tongue licking his lips, and with a voice that was both his own and something completely alien, a single word like the sound of an avalanche boomed from his lips as Parker fully passed out.

(chapter three)

[witchesoz]

Oz lore: MGM movie - what could have been

We explored a few posts about the take of the MGM movie on the Baum lore. However we only studied the lore in the finished movie.

“The Wizard of Oz” went through a LOT, and I insist, a HELLISH LOT of rewrites. There is an incredible number of writers and preparatory scripts that kept meddling and fiddling with the story in all sorts of directions. Here is a list of some interesting facts tied to these early versions:

# The idea of the movie came from seeing the success of Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1937. This proved to the movie studios that adaptations of popular fairytales and children novel could be successful – and in fact, the original depiction of the Wicked Witch of the West was based on Snow White’s Evil Queen. You see, before Margaret Hamilton was cast as the Witch, before the Witch was even considered to be a green-skinned hag creature, the team considered making the Wicked Witch beautiful and glamorous, in the same cold and haughty beauty the Evil Queen of Snow-White had. The actress Gale Sondergaard was cast for the role, and we still have to this day several pictures and shots that show us the costume of this version of the witch – a long, sexy sequin dress with a beautiful pointy hat and a long flowing cape.

# One of the earliest drafts of the script was written by William H. Cannon (with the collaboration of Mervyn LeRoy) and actually wanted to tone down and remove the most magical parts of the story, due to Cannon noticing fantasy movies hadn’t done well recently. He created his script by taking inspiration from the 1925 movie “The Wizard of Oz”, where all the fantastical elements are explained rationally: as a result, Cannon’s draft had the Scarecrow being a regular man, simply so stupid he could only find a job at being a scarecrow ; and the Tin Woodman was supposed to be a heartless criminal sentenced to be locked in a suit of tin until his death, punishment which turned him into someone gentler and kinder.

Of course, this was not liked and all subsequent scripts and drafts tried to get closer to Baum’s original book.

# The studios were afraid that the movie would not attract a youthful audience, and thus they decided to use modern fashions in the movie: this resulted in the song called “The Jitterbug”.

Originally, this song was created from a script about Oz being ruled by a selfish and spoiled princess (played by Betty Jaynes, and named of course Princess Betty) that outlawed all music that was not classical or opera music. Forced in a singing contest, Dorothy ended up singing swing music, which seduced the crowd and ended up earning her the grand prize of the contest. The “jitterbug” was in fact a type of swing dance very popular at the time in the United-States. While the script about the princes was thrown away, the Jitterbug song was kept into the final script – and even filmed. Indeed, as the heroes went into the Haunted Forest, the Wicked Witch sent them a magical bug (wordplay on “jitterbug”) which forced them to dance to exhaustion, defeating them before the Winged Monkeys picked them up. While the Witch still mentions the “insect” in the final movie, the scene of the Jitterbug was cut.

The scenario with Princess Betty also had a character called the “Grand Duke of Oz” to be played by Kenny Baker.

# There is a lot of cut or deleted songs, whose original scenes are lost but we cut the vocals. Notably, Dorothy was to sing a sobbing and sad reprise of “Over the Rainbow” while trapped in the Witch’s castle waiting for her death ; and after the Witch’s melting the guards would have sung a reprise of “Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead!”, mixed with the musics of “We’re Off to See the Wizard” and “The Merry Old Land of Oz”, called “Hail! Hail! The witch is dead!”. The song would have continued as the heroes reach the Emerald City, this time sung by the Emerald citizens.

# A scene that was in the final script but never filmed was an epilogue to the movie, a scene in Kansas. After Dorothy woke up, Hunk (Kansas’s counterpart to the Scarecrow) is leaving for agricultural college, and makes Dorothy promise to write to him. This scene was here to imply a romantic relationship between the two – and it actually explains why upon leaving Oz Dorothy mentions she will miss the Scarecrow most of all.

# Many scenes with the Wicked Witch of the West were cut, because of how scary children thought her to be. One of those was actually an extended sequence: if you look closely, when the three companions break the door to Dorothy’s cell in the Witch’s castle, the door changes between two models. This is because originally, the door they broke open wasn’t the one of Dorothy’s prison, but a different room where the Wicked Witch was luring them by imitating Dorothy’s cries. The Witch rooted the companions to the ground (literally) and then created a rainbow bridge between this spot and Dorothy’s prison. The Witch forced one of her Winkie guards to test her trap, and while at first the guard walks firmly on the bridge, right in the middle he plummets to his death down below. Then the Witch forces the companions to call Dorothy for help, to lure her on the bridge in hope of killing her: but the ruby slippers magic ended up making Dorothy cross the bridge with no harm at all.

The scene was ultimately cut because it was impossible for the special effects of the time to create a convincing “rainbow-bridge”.

# Noel Langley wrote an early version of the script that could have ended up becoming the final product because Langley was the favorite writers of the studio. This version was very, VERY different: Dorothy was supposed to become a secondary or even tertiary character, pushed aside, a great focus being given on the Cowardly Lion. Because as it would have turned out, the Lion would have been the cursed shape of the handsome and brave Prince Florizel, and once his curse released he would have went on to marry his princess fiancée, Sylvia. There would also have been a dragon the prince would have fought in the end, and instead of the Witch melting she would have died when the Cowardly Lion would have cut her broom into pieces in mid-air, making her fall from the sky to her death. Another major change Langley did was to turn Aunt Em into a cruel and wicked caretaker who exploited/abused Dorothy – hell, she even was originally the one wanting to get rid of Toto! In fact, early versions of the movie had Aunt Em be the Wicked Witch’s equivalent.

However, the two other writers working for the movie at the time (Florence Ryderson and Edgar Allen Woolf) managed to rewrite and change the script so it would be closer to the original book of Baum.

# In this same era around Langley’s script, the Wicked Witch of the West was supposed to have an idiot and ugly son named Bulbo. In all version of the scripts the Wicked Witch wants Bulbo to inherit the throne of the Emerald City and become king of Oz: at first it was by him marrying the princess of the Emerald City Sylvia (and in fact the Witch was the one transforming prince Florizel into the Cowardly Lion) ; and in later scripts it was rather by declaring war to the Wizard of Oz, which would have resulted in battle scenes between the forces of the Emerald City and the Witch’s army (made of two hundred winged monkeys, four thousand wolves and ten thousand men). The same way, back when the Wicked Witch was Aunt Em’s Ozian equivalent, Bulbo was supposed to be the Ozian equivalent of Uncle Henry. When the character of Miss Gulch was introduced as the Witch’s Kansas equivalent, Bulbo rather became the counterpart of Walter Gulch, Miss Gulch’s son.

The idea of the prince fighting the evil, of a saved princess (in original versions Dorothy and co rescued Sylvia as the “lost princess” of Oz) and the epic battle between the Witch’s armies and the Emerald City (it was even considered to bring trolls and gorillas in the army!) came from Noel Langley’s mind, who was a writer of children novel outside of his cinematographic work, and visibly had a tendency to go for “Lord of the Rings epic” fantasy stories.

# When the MGM movie was developed, the studios discovered that Walt Disney was working on his own potential animated adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. As a result, the two studios met and talked about possibly created a movie half-live action and half-animated, but the collaboration fell short.

# Originally the Cowardly Lion would have been played by a real lion actor (Leo the Lion) with an actor dubbing his lines – but ultimately it ended up being played by a man in a costume made of REAL LION FUR AND SKIN. I’m not kidding.

# A deleted sequence took place as the Wicked Witch threatened the heroes near the Tin Man’s cottage: after throwing fireballs at the Scarecrow, she would have used her magic to briefly turn the Tin Man into a “beehive”, and right after the Tin Man crushed one of the bees that suddenly infested him, the Tin Man would have cried and rust his jaw, forcing Dorothy to oil him again.

# Originally Dorothy was envisioned as blond (like in the original books): it was considered putting a blond wig on Judy Garland’s brown hair. Similarly she also did shots with heavy makeup and a frilly dress, trying out between “girly” and “glamorous” Dorothy, before they ultimately decided to simply her look to render the feeling of a typical Kansas farm girl.

# Another ones of the “original endings” of the final script would have had a final shot revealing that as she woke up, Dorothy was still wearing the ruby slippers, confirming Oz was real – but it was cut because the studios insisted on Oz being a dream-world (while earlier versions had Oz as a real place, the studios thought the audiences of their time were too “sophisticated” for a straightforward fantasy story, and thus added the psychological and dream angles).

[papermoonloveslucy]

TRAINSPOTTING!

Lucy and Railway Transportation

Before America was ruled by the automobile, train transportation was the way to go. Lucy makes tracks for the railroad in these unforgettable moments on the (laugh) tracks.  

As a young girl, Lucy would take the train from Jamestown to New York City, hoping to fulfill her dreams of becoming a performer. The train station is now part of the National Comedy Museum. 

1933 ~ Lucille Ball joined the Goldwyn Girls on a train headed west to Tinseltown. Left to right are Katherine Mauk,Rosalie Fromson, Mary Lange,  Vivian Keefer, Barbara Pepper, Theo Phane, and Lucille Ball.

1943 ~ Lucille Ball and other well-known stars set out on a Union Pacific special train to cross America promoting the sale of War Bonds. It began in Washington DC and went through 16 American cities before ending in San Francisco 21 days later.

Fancy Pants (1950) ~ Lucille Ball and Bob Hope pose atop a railroad handcar. 

“New Neighbors” (1952) ~ When Ethel is looking through the O’Brien’s belongings, she holds up a bronze of a man on horseback. She deems it “early Pullman.”  Pullman refers to railroad sleeping cars that were built and operated by the Pullman Company from 1867 to 1968. The cars were often decorated with inexpensive items that sometimes found their way into travelers’ suitcases!  

“Tennessee Ernie Visits” & “Tennessee Ernie Hangs On” (1954) ~ Ford sings the train-themed song "The Wabash Cannonball” waking Lucy and Ricky from a sound sleep, and then again just before Lucy enters as the 'wicked city woman.' The song’s first documented appearance was on sheet music published in 1882, titled “The Great Rock Island Route” and credited to J.A. Roff. A revised version was made famous by Roy Acuff in 1936. 

Listen to the jingle, the rumble and the roar As she glides along the woodland o'er the hills and by the shore. Hear the mighty rush of the engine hear the lonesome hobo's call As you travel across the country on the Wabash Cannonball.

“Getting Ready” (1954) ~ Thinking about how to get to Hollywood, Lucy considers the train. The brochure Lucy reads has the Union Pacific Railroad’s logo redacted. In reality, the Union Pacific did not operate East of the Mississippi, betraying the show’s Southern California roots!

LUCY (to Ricky): You know, on the train, you can see the country you're passing through. This is little Ricky's first chance to go across the United States, so don't you think you ought to get a chance to really see it?

“First Stop” (1955) ~ On their cross-country road trip, the gang takes refuge at One Oak Cafe and Cabins. Their rundown cabin is near an unseen (but loudly heard) railroad - which causes the entire building to shake!  

“Ricky Sells The Car” (1955) ~ In this episode we learn that the gang will return to NYC by train on the Union Pacific Railroad’s new Domeliner service on the City of Los Angeles train. A rift develops between the Ricardos and Mertzes when there aren’t enough tickets in the same class. Don Brodie plays the Union Pacific Railroad clerk.

Before he entered show business, William Frawley (Fred Mertz) worked as a stenographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. 

Frawley was featured in the 1945 Deanna Durbin film Lady on a Train. The Universal release also featured future “I Love Lucy” cast members Elizabeth Patterson (Mrs. Trumbull), Edward Everett Horton (Mr. Ritter), Allen Jenkins, Fred Aldrich, Joseph Crehan, Mike Lally, Sam Harris, and Sam McDaniel, who played a train porter, just as he would in...

“The Great Train Robbery” (1955) ~ Returning from Hollywood to New York, Lucy wreaks havoc on the City of Los Angeles train. 

As set up in the previous episode, Desilu had a partnership with Union Pacific Railroad. The line operated the City of Los Angeles train from 1936 to 1971, when Amtrak took over national train service in the USA. Although it is not mentioned, the train route terminated in Chicago, where, presumably, the foursome got a connecting train to New York City, perhaps the famed 20th Century Limited.

To simulate the emergency braking of a speeding train, Desi wanted more than just actors reacting to a jolting camera, so sets were built on a spring mechanism that was triggered by the emergency brake itself. When Lucy pulled the handle, it caused the entire set to lurch forward in a sudden movement. All this is demonstrated in the special features section of the DVD release. 

As part of the partnership with UPR, Desilu was granted permission to film aboard the real Domeliner train. As there was a nearby train station, Vivian Vance, William Frawley, Kathryn Card, Frank Nelson (the conductor) and Sam McDaniel (the porter) were all featured in the location footage on the platform and doubles were not used. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, however, do not appear in any of the second unit location footage. This is the only time principal cast members (instead of doubles) went on location during the half-hour series.

Footage of Fred and Ethel enjoying the Domeliner’s dining car and lounge were cut when it was realized that movement outside the window did not line up with the episode’s continuity. Rare 16mm film footage of the scenes was discovered and allowed the cut scenes to be added to the 2005 DVD release.

The lounge, however, was recreated on the soundstage. The short scene of the Mertzes boarding the train on the platform (complete with sound), assisted by the Porter and the Conductor, was still included in future syndicated broadcasts.

“Lucy’s Italian Movie” (1956) ~ Opens in a crowded train compartment headed to Rome. Here Lucy meets a film director and thinks this is her big break. 

Band manager Fred failed to secure proper train acommodations for the overnight trip - forcing the gang into some unusual sleeping positions! 

“Lucy Hunts Uranium” (1958) ~ The hour-long episode opens in a train car headed to Las Vegas, where Ricky's band is booked to perform at the Sands Hotel and Casino. Establishing footage indicates that they are traveling on the Union Pacific Railroad. In reality, getting to Las Vegas by train from Connecticut would have meant many transfers and route changes.   

On the train they meet actor Fred MacMurray, who also gets uranium fever and races the Ricardos and Mertzes across the desert on a railroad handcar. 

“Lucy Visits the White House” (1963) ~ Lucy and Viv accompany their scout troop to Washington DC on the train. The episode features establishing footage of an actual train and station. 

The train makes stops in Greenview, Middlebrook, Flint Ridge, and Scottville. Like Danfield, all are fictional towns along a fictional railroad line.

Frank Nelson reprises his role as the frazzled train conductor, first played in “The Great Train Robbery”. 

When Lucy misses the train, she tries to catch up on horseback. This sequence was shot on the soundstage using a mechanical horse. Coincidentally, an early literary name for a train was ‘iron horse’. 

THE ‘FOREVER DARLING’ EXPRESS

Lucy and Desi board a special car provided by the Santa Fe Railroad to promote the film Forever Darling in early 1956.

The train was dubbed the “Forever Darling Special  with stops in Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City, and Ball's hometown of Jamestown, New York.

Back in Los Angeles, with Desi Jr., they admire the train that served them on their busy promotional tour. Desi is proudly wearing the cowboy hat he’d been given in Fort Worth.

TRAIN DEPOTS

“Off to Florida” (1956) ~ When Lucy misplaces their train tickets to Miami Beach, she and Ethel must share a car ride to Florida with Edna Grundy, a woman they suspect might be a hatchet murderess.  At the end of the cross-fade between the second unit footage of the “North Miami” train station and the studio set of the same location, Lucy and Ethel’s doubles can be briefly glimpsed walking down the tracks on the left.

“Lucy and the Loving Cup” (1957) ~ Unable to tell where she is, Lucy gets off the subway train at the Flatbush Avenue station. 

LUCY: Pardon me. Can you tell me where the stairs are? STRAP-HANGER: Well, you'd better get off the train first. LUCY: I am off. STRAP-HANGER: You're telling me.

“Lucy Misses the Mertzes” (1957) ~ The scene at the Westport Train Station is in the best tradition of farce, with both couples narrowly missing one another in the same space.

“Lucy and the Mustache” (1960) ~ Disguised as Ernie Kovacs’ chauffeur, Lucy parks outside the Westport train station. 

“Lucy Wants a Career” (1959) ~ Lucy and Ricky only see each other at Grand Central Station, one of the most famous train stations ever built. There is establishing footage of Grand Central. 

“No More Double Dates” (1962) ~ At the Danfield Train Station, Lucy and Harry narrowly miss Viv and Eddie when trying to have independent dates.  When Lucy and Harry lie about missing their train, Eddie notes that the next one only makes one stop - in New Rochelle. The real-life New York town has already been mentioned several times in the series, establishing that Danfield (and nearby Ridgebury) are similar commuter suburbs of Manhattan.  

“Lucy Visits the White House” (1963) ~ Lucy gets off the train at the Greenview Station to hunt down sugar cubes to rebuild the cubs’ sugar cube White House. 

“Lucy is a Process Server” (1964) ~ Charged with serving Mr. Mooney, Lucy tracks him to the Danfield Train Station. 

“Main Street U.S.A.” (1967) ~ Lucy and Mr. Mooney arrive in the small town of Bancroft by train. 

TOY TRAINS

“The Attic” (1949) ~ An episode of Lucille Ball’s radio series in which George and Liz (Lucille Ball) clean out the attic and get locked in.  

GEORGE: Hey, look at that! My wonderful electric train.  LIZ: Well, I haven't heard you use that tone since you proposed.  GEORGE: Oh, gosh, I haven't seen this train in years. LIZ: Well, you certainly have no use for it now. Out it goes. GEORGE: Take your hand off that box! It stays! LIZ: Oh, George, don't be silly! GEORGE: Now, who's being silly? That train doesn't leave this house. LIZ: Now, that's being practical. There's nothing as useful as an electric train. In fact, we should get another one for me. We can race them every night before we go to bed!  GEORGE: Yeah. I guess you're right. Out it goes. LIZ: I'll let you keep your train if you let me keep my corsage collection. GEORGE: It's a deal!

LUCY: “Look out for the Super Chief! Woo Woo!”

“The Ricardos Change Apartments” (1953) ~ Lucy fills the apartment with Little Ricky’s toys, including a Lionel Electric Train Set, to convince him they need a larger apartment. 

“Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” (1957) ~ Little Ricky is discovered playing with his Keystone Toy Railroad, a wooden train set made by the Keystone Manufacturing Company. The box is tucked under the bed.

“The ‘I Love Lucy’ Christmas Show” (1956) ~ Lionel Trains are under the Christmas tree for Little Ricky. 

“My behind-the-scenes memoris are just the toys on the set. The writers, Madelyn and Bob, gave me a Lionel Train set and that was a real big treat for me as a kid.” ~ Keith Thibodeaux (Little Ricky)

“Lucy and the Efficiency Expert” (1966) ~ Oliver Kasten (Phil Silvers) sits in front of red blow mold locamotives at the Grantland Toy Factory where Lucy is employed on the production line. 

THE SUBWAY

“Tennessee Ernie Visits” (1954) ~ Ernie explains the subway. 

ERNIE: I asked a fella how to get to the Rickerdos'. Well, he said, "Take the subway." Well, he pointed over there to a hole in the ground with some steps a-going down in it. I went down in there, and do you know what I saw?  A bunch of people a-standing there looking in a ditch. Well, here come two streetcars hooked up together. All that bunch of people come a-steamin' up there pushed me through that door, shut it up, and we took off like a scalded gander. Well, sir, we drove and drove and drove and do you know what? RICKY: What? ERNIE: That driver never got that thing out of that hole.

“Lucy and the Loving Cup” (1957) ~ When Lucy gets a loving cup stuck on her head, she must take the subway to Brooklyn to get it off. The episode features establishing footage of the New York Subway trains, although the footage was reversed. 

The subway car was recreated on the Desilu soundstage in Hollywood. 

[the-firebird69]

There's another item that we want to list here it's the domain comments and they're making them all day and they're just trying to distract and we're going to fill them up with it and we're going to give them key words and stuff for what's happening to them and they get completely and it can't remember anything we should do that all the time that's practice

-24 other things happening they are at burning Man there's a huge vortex it's getting bigger it's about 2 miles wide and it is intensifying it is a monumental appearance the entire valley is it a massive massive storm caused by this vortex there's a couple others that are going to open up one is just outside Vegas and it wreaks havoc with the place and causes damage on the machines and damage to the buildings and they end up spending like a month and they're fighting over it it's a nightmare the whole place practically shuts down and is from this one vortex and it is a different celestial. There are two more in that area one of them is in Mexico and we did point it out and that's not right it's New Mexico and they thought there were several and it's one and they find out where to look for the mud and that's where the mouth is and his it is part venom and it has killed a lot of them the dust gets in there and they die and a son could resist it for quite a Time there's other stuff though there are four in Brazil and yes it turned out to be two they have online heads right now now the eyes are closer together and they move out. And right now there's a huge crowd there it's getting bigger and bigger and it's true it's the beginning of Star wars and Morocco is of course very hot is a giant went out there and there are several others one is the west coast of Spain and it just children and just another on the east coast of Brazil and their husband and wife they look similar but not the same and that's how it's been going and the wives look different they have wicked eyes now it's not necessarily true but they do look different there's a couple other things we're going to mention

-we have a huge huge impasse here with people being obnoxious rude heinous callous mean annoying and the list goes on constantly constant constant crap we're going to make sure that it ends and we're going to fix their wagon at the same time critical mass right now one of them is John Riva Lord who says he can't handle what's happening in a son and daughter sage you can't handle what's happening because the max are way ahead because you're doing a stupid s*** additional to what you should have done anything you thought you were the balls above balls cuz you don't have rational thought he says he doesn't care he said he cares about you you're just going to die and smack proper why don't you drill it into your head so he's starting to see this you don't have to do that then you said I need information and he's going nuts trying to get us to look at stuff that's not normal he hates us a lot and he says you go down there when you look at stuff and they're there already most you die in the foreigners get wind of it I don't see what the problem is so he gets that so stop your bitching so he says okay and then he figured out something we're going to spend ourselves doing this then what else can we do so he likes your idea and he says and our son says well Billy Hicks that's the weasel away you know I appear to be doing that I don't really have a choice there's only one of me however you're going to have to start doing that and people are offended because you're not what you're thinking as you're a wolverine on steroids nope the robots will be gone and your attitude will change so we're getting ready for that because he'll probably go sour but he's trying to get his maneuver going and there's a lot of people who are interested in now and they started to see something top side will be people who are trying to send them off and take over and someone come out does it have to and they want to drive higher ups so it looks interesting they said and they're going to do it. Back Daddy has to go down that way and it's going to be a big deal this is you haven't had a picnic in a long time smiling saying a picnic good so did the beach we had too many of those.

So we're going to print

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues

So huge deal with how much time it takes for them to do stuff they're ridiculous but we need a break from this routine and this place is an ugly face but this is a lot has gotten done from being here it's true

Hera

[back-and-totheleft]

"We don't value science the way we used to"

As we sit down to start our interview, Oliver Stone makes a point of putting his own dictaphone on the table to record our conversation. “To protect ourselves,” he says, before going on to speak non-stop for 45 minutes with absolutely no filter, on virtually any topic I raise, and quite a few I don’t.

He’s dressed in a smart blazer and shirt but he looks a little wild, his greying hair unruly and his brow wet from the baking sun that floods through the windows of the hotel suite. He clutches a yellow silk handkerchief, which he uses to alternately gesticulate and wipe his face.

Stone is here alongside his producing partner Fernando Sulichin to promote his new documentary, Nuclear Now, but he’s in no hurry to start talking about it.

To break the ice I mention that the boss of the toy company Mattel, who I had interviewed earlier that day, had jokingly asked if Stone would like to direct Barbie 2.

“Ridiculous,” Stone growls. “Ryan Gosling is wasting his time if he’s doing that shit for money. He should be doing more serious films. He shouldn’t be a part of this infantilization of Hollywood. Now it’s all fantasy, fantasy, fantasy, including all the war pictures: fantasy, fantasy. Even the Fast and Furious movies, which I used to enjoy, have become like Marvel movies. I mean, how many crashes can you see?”

Then, apropos of nothing, he changes the subject and suddenly we’re talking about how much he hates Virgin Airlines.

Richard Branson has a special place in hell reserved for him

“I went through a nightmare the other day. I was flying Virgin to London. [Richard] Branson has a special place in hell reserved for him. Dante couldn’t make this up. That plane he’s designed is a sardine can. The seats are like straitjackets. I haven’t slept a fucking inch.”

He sighs, putting his head in his hands. “It’s a depressing nightmare…”

He looks up, perhaps noticing the slightly baffled look on my face. “Oh yeah, so on the plane I watched John Wick, which is three hours and some. And I fell asleep about 778 times during it. I kept waking up and having to face him killing more people. It’s like the world has degenerated into non-logic.”

This is quite the introduction to the mind of Oliver Stone, the Oscar-winning director of stone-cold bangers including Platoon, Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July and JFK, and writer of Midnight Express, Scarface and Natural Born Killers.

In his early nineties heyday his stories of troubled outsiders helped to define a generation of movies. Then his output began to slow, the number of duds eventually surpassing the number of hits, until he seemed to vacate the Hollywood mainstream altogether (his last big feature film was Snowden, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in 2016).

Now aged 76, he is predominantly a documentary-maker, having worked alongside Sulichin on 16 films and counting. One of these – a turning point in his public image – was a series of sympathetic interviews conducted with Vladimir Putin, who he has more or less defended ever since.

“I was filming Snowden, who many people in the West still consider a traitor. Lunacy! He’s a real hero! He ended up in Moscow, so the last scenes of the film were shot there. The world is relatively small so [Putin] knew I was there. He agreed to meet me and talk about the Snowden affair, which I used as a basis to make the documentary.”

I wonder if he’s revised his opinion of the dictator since the invasion of Ukraine? “No,” he replies without missing a beat. Then he seems to catch himself: “I don’t want to get into that, because it’s not important and it would take over the other issues.”

But it is important, I suggest, because his views on Putin will affect the way people receive his work, including his new documentary.

“If it does, they’re missing the point. Because this is far bigger than this war. It’s bigger than Mr. Putin and Mr. Biden, it’s about the future.”

Stone is no stranger to controversy – ever since he wrote the screenplay for Midnight Express he has been accused of pushing a problematic vision of heroic machismo, and yet forty years later he’s still making movies. Is he impossible to cancel?

We’re cancelling too many talented people. The world has become more puritan and boring and narrow. We should entertain all kinds of thought. That’s how we get better.

“That’s a great expression. I like that. Because we’re cancelling too many talented people. The world has become more puritan and boring and narrow. We should entertain all kinds of thought. That’s how we get better.”

Given so many of his films seem to focus on outsiders, I wonder if he considers himself one? “I guess I do,” he replies wearily, touching his head with the handkerchief.

“I’m an only child. I never tried to fit the profile of a rebel but when you take in all my work, there is a lot of anger and rebellion.”

That anger is certainly evident in Nuclear Now. It’s a strange beast, made up of both archive footage and new material (mostly Stone interviewing nuclear scientists, often in Russia). Part infotainment, part pro-nuclear propaganda, it’s a kind of mash up of Adam Curtis and the sort of film a teacher might wheel into a classroom on a rainy day.

Clips from Godzilla and Dr. Strangelove sit beside endearingly low-fi scientific diagrams and computer generations of nuclear reactors.

“I wanted to explain nuclear energy,” he says. “What is it? What’s the origin? People all have an opinion but they just don’t know. I hate that.

“It’s like everyone has an opinion on Kennedy but they don’t do any research: ‘Oh yeah, he was killed from the front, blah, blah, blah. Oswald is guilty.’ It’s the same thing with nuclear, people are against it but their reasons are bogus. They haven’t even f***ing studied it. You have to start with knowledge.”

Stone acknowledges Al Gore’s seminal climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which won him a Nobel Prize, was “important” but he thinks Gore missed the point; to paraphrase James Carville: it’s nuclear, stupid!

Nuclear energy is not the ugly sister that you hide in the back – it’s Cinderella. She’s not ugly, she’s beautiful

“People worry about nuclear waste and meanwhile the whole world is choking on fossil fuel waste. That’s silly. Trillions of dollars have been invested in solar and wind and hydropower. Everything possible is being discussed, except for nuclear. We had Davos last year and it’s not even on the agenda. It has to be on the agenda. It has to be talked about. It’s not the ugly sister that you hide in the back, you know, it’s Cinderella. She’s not ugly, she’s beautiful.”

Does he think Nuclear Now will have as big an impact as An Inconvenient Truth? “It should but it probably won’t, because we didn’t have Vice President Al Gore as our frontman. I wish we had an Einstein around, or an Oppenheimer, I could use him. But we don’t have that today. I guess we don’t cherish and value science the same way we used to.”

Perhaps that contributed to how difficult it was to get Nuclear Now made in the first place. “Studios know how to push serial killers or the Tiger Dominator,” says Sulichin, “But not things that will educate or enlighten. There are two documentary markets, the market for films with a murderer or a serial killer, which will get a good deal. Then you have other films, which are tough.

“It was hard to raise the money for Nuclear Now and it was hard to distribute. But it’s a good film, and when the film is good, people will watch it. The word is spreading. The film has had great success in the United States and we are slowly, with a level of effort, achieving beyond our goals. Last week, this movie was number one on iTunes, which was a pleasant surprise.”

So how did they get it funded?

“Through myself and other people I know who are philanthropists,” says Sulichin. “A Polish woman who makes uniforms for nurses, entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley, a lot of interesting people who believe in nuclear. We accepted credit cards, bitcoins.”

This is a narrative I feel Stone can get behind, pushing his righteous agenda in the face of overwhelming odds.

Nuclear Now ends not with an apocalypse but a vision for a slightly cheesy possible future: crystal-clear water and verdant forests, an antediluvian paradise, brought to you by nuclear fission.

“I wanted the Barbie doll ending! The film is depressing in the beginning. We throw all the shit in your face and say, ‘Look, this is the worst it can be’. And then we end with positive notions of the future, how nuclear can make… more of a Barbie world.”

-Steve Dinneen, "Oliver Stone on nuclear power, Putin and feeling like an outsider," CityAM, June 22 23

[leah-bobeea]

Magazine Girl; Steve Rogers

You ever start writing a fic about a journalist reader at two am who’s eventually gonna end up doing steeb, over his desk, biting down on his expensive leather belt?

❀ ❀ ❀

Warnings: CEO!Steve x Journalist!Reader, Angst, Steve’s a little mean, Bossy Steve, Shy/Anxious reader, Dom!steve, mentions spanking, oral (m receiving), unprotected sex, coercion (a little teensy bit), Bad writing lol

Word Count: 3.9k

A/N: Terrible writing w/ a terribly rushed ending. Written on my phone, in my notes app, not beta read, and barely proofread.

❀ ❀ ❀

Yes, your hands were busy. Not busy typing out a rough draft of this stupid article on Steve Rogers, not busy calling his secretary to set up a meeting with the man, or the closest to him you could get, not busy doing their job at all. They were busy tapping your pen against the glass tabletop of your desk, successfully annoying Wanda, who sent you an aggravated look from across the room.

“Seriously, Y/n?” Wanda moved from where she was at her desk, clearly not making a breakthrough on her article for this month's issue either. You could only shake your head in reply. Throwing your head back to stare at the ceiling, you starting explaining. “Maria gave me this huge article, Wanda. Cover! And, trust me, I know she’s testing me and doesn’t think I’ll actually be able to do it so she can fire me, or belittle me, or- or something! I don’t know what to do, help me, bestie.” As you finished rambling you looked up at her with your best puppy dog eyes, hoping for some of that amazing advice she gives.

Wanda laughed and pulled a chair over from an empty desk, sitting down and haphazardly throwing her feet on top of your cluttered tabletop. “She wouldn’t give you an article you couldn’t handle, she loves you, Y/n. If it’s truly as difficult as you’re making it out as that means that she knows you’re ready for it, and you’ll do amazing. Who’s it on anyway?”

She was doing such a good job at easing your nerves until she brought up the topic. You whined high in your throat and threw your head to the side before uttering, “Steven Rogers,” you turned your body back to Wanda, “What more do I need to say?” Her eyes widened just a little. “Sheesh...I’d start making phone calls, and praying, maybe?”

❀ ❀ ❀

“Hello, Miss. Carter, um- this is Y/n L/n with Shield Mag-“ “Please hold, dear.”

You pulled the phone away from your head and let it rest on your naked thigh, quickly pressing the speaker button. It was times like this when you were grateful that you let your grandma convince you to buy a house phone. Peggy Carter was the fifth person you’d contacted trying to get an interview with this man and she was the second lady that humored you enough to at least pretend like she’d get back to you.

She’s his main assistant so you might have better luck this time...

Thirty minutes later you had your head inches off the ground and your toes wiggling in the air. Humming the annoying hold music to yourself, you braided, unbraided, and re-braided a single strand of your hair. At thirty-nine minutes you were ready to give up until you heard a click on the other line.

You scrambled to turn off the speaker and press the phone back to your ear.

“Miss. Carter I was hoping to set up an interview with Mr. Rogers, over the phone, in person, or through email, if that’s possible?” You asked, hopeful that she wouldn’t shoot you down immediately like everyone else.

“Well, Magazine Girl, I only do in person. But I am a very busy man, so I need to know right away, what’s in it for me?” Your breath hitched and you almost fell and cracked your head open from how startled hearing his voice made you. Then, you nearly gave yourself a head rush from how fast you sat up.

“Well, um, Sir, you would get a headlining article, and uh, a cover on the June issue of Shield Magazine. That’s um, that’s if you want a cover- you don’t have to be on the cover if you don’t want to, just the interview would be mentioned on the cover, but-“ His chuckle was gritty and vivid, effective in stopping your babble. “I’ll see you Friday around noon. Goodbye Magazine Girl.” He hung up on you before you could even comprehend anything but that captivating laugh.

You rubbed at your eyes and grabbed your planner and pen. “Friday at noon...”

❀ ❀ ❀

The next day you were back in the office, sitting in Wanda’s stiff chair with twin caramel lattes sitting in front of you. That was the thing about you, you’d come to work early bearing gifts just to tell your closest friend your good news. You’re sweet like that.

When Wanda arrived it was fifteen minutes later and your latte was halfway gone. Hearing her black stilettos click on the glossy linoleum made you perk up immediately. As she approached, you stood, handing her the latte and wrapping your arms around her lithe body.

“I got an interview!” You squealed, rocking your bodies side to side. She stilled you and smiled. “Gosh, that’s great, Y/n. How’d you get it?”

“Well, I called, like everyone, and he picked up, Wanda! he picked up! I’m scheduled for Friday, and my Lord, Wanda, his laugh, it's like honey...” You trailed off, sighing at the thought of him. Your head was rested on her shoulder, a faint smile on your face. “You’ve got a crush on him!” Wanda exclaimed, grabbing your shoulders and holding you an arm's length away to get a good look at your bashful face.

You gasped, “No I do not! That would be totally unprofessional!” The cackle that erupted from her made her sound like the wicked witch of the west. And honestly, under her stare, you felt like Dorothy stuck under that house.

When Wanda was finally done laughing maliciously she let you go, plopping down in her desk chair and sipping her latte. She pointed over and your desk and gave you a look. “Better start drafting those questions... we wouldn’t want you to blank on your crush.” “Wanda!”

❀ ❀ ❀

The days leading up to Friday were excruciatingly long, yet the hours until twelve flew past all too quickly.

It seemed as if your wardrobe was never ending, full of clothes that you deemed inappropriate for a meeting with the CEO of American Enterprises. You threw yourself back onto the bed, hair and makeup done but body still wrapped in a fluffy white towel. “Oh Milky, what am I gonna wear?” The soft white kitty glared at you from the pillow she was perched on, meowing at you aggressively.

Ten thirty blinked on the clock and you sat up, glancing at all of the clothes that were scattered on the floor. “I guess this will do.” You picked up the same emerald blazer you had chosen originally and layered it over some basic Levi’s, and gray low cut blouse flowing over your form. A belt was necessary, so you grazed over your options. Brown wouldn’t go, even though it was your only fancy belt. The only black one you had was old, the leather cracked and worn, but it had to do. You slipped on some pretty black heels, lucky that you painted your toes a similar color to your blouse. After accessorizing you sprayed your signature perfume, the one that got you your first college-aged boyfriend, and the same one that you were wearing when you got your first real job.

By the time you were on the Metro, it was eleven o’ six, and you were worried. If you were late you’d lose this chance, and probably your job. The car stopped around eleven fifteen, giving you fifteen minutes to make your way to the building, check-in, and try to not seem so nervous.

Finding the building wasn’t difficult at all, after all, it is the second biggest building in New York City, competing with Stark Tower. The “A” at the top wasn’t illuminated, but it still stood out against the other buildings, cowering over them.

You found that the doors were heavy and if you denied Wanda of going to those burn boot camps you would have extreme difficulty prying them open. The inside was classy, just as you expected. The lamps had blue shades and the front desk lit up with a design that resembled the American Flag, but with less curved stripes and only one large star.

The receptionist was one of the women who shot you down immediately when you called and was a little surprised when you checked in. “Hello, I’m here for Mr. Rogers, twelve o’clock?” She searched for something on her computer, clearly trying to see if the appointment was legitimate. When you were proven correct, she handed you a temporary security badge and a sharpie to write your name on it. “Have a seat over there when you’re finished. I’ll call for you when Mr. Rogers is ready for you.” She smiled, it was fake, but it helped you feel more comfortable.

The red couch was stiff and small, clearly not meant for long periods of sitting. The badge was clipped onto your blouse, not your blazer, and the weight of it was pulling at the already low cut neckline. You thought about moving it, but your attention was quickly turned to the coffee table, where your magazine sat, opened to an article you wrote. Your hands were a little shaky as you went to close the magazine, but you were interrupted before you could grasp the bent pages.

“Miss. Y/n? Mr. Rogers is ready for your interview. Head up to floor thirty six, the door on the right.” Miss receptionist sounded bored, her eyes never left the monitor in front of her. “Thanks.”

Some of the others in the waiting area looked up to you after hearing where you were going, causing you to blush.

You felt lucky to get the elevator to yourself. Thirty-six floors is a long way to go, yet you got there in under three. In the elevator you adjusted your outfit and flattened your hair, hoping it wasn’t frizzy.

The door on the right was clearly not just a meeting room but an office, which you thought was odd. You also found it odd that no one was in the room, you expected to at least be met with his assistant or secretary, if not Steve himself.

Your eyes scanned the room to make sure it was completely empty before taking a seat on the leather chair on the opposite side of the big desk. You opened your notebook and got out your lucky rooster pen before going over your questions once again, hoping he didn’t think they were stupid.

You waited fifteen minutes for him, growing increasingly irked as the minutes built up. When he walked through the door you felt like your heart stopped.

Six-four build covered in a black suit and tie, white undershirt pristine. Blonde hair disheveled and a perfectly manicured beard. The door slammed shut and you heard the clinking sound of a glass being set down. Steve lifted his head and you snapped yours to the front, hoping he didn’t catch you checking him out.

The room was silent besides a rustling coming from behind you. You busied yourself with your notebook, highlighting the questions you wanted to ask most.

“You’re a very patient girl.” He observed. Steve made you wait on purpose. He knew from the first person you called that you wanted an interview, he was friends with Maria Hill after all. But he wanted some entertainment, and after looking into you, he knew you were the right girl. So far he’s made you wait an hour and fourteen minutes for just a smidge of his attention.

“Yes, Sir.” You mumbled, accidentally stopping the highlighter too soon, pressing it down, and letting the pink ink bleed to the next page. He hummed in approval as he rounded the corner, drink in his hand, coat jacket discarded, sleeves rolled up, first couple buttons loose. Finally, Steve sat in the big chair, keeping eye contact with you as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the mahogany table.

“Give me that.” Your eyebrows furrowed at his statement, “What?” You asked, putting your pen down on your lap. Steve motioned for your notebook, and you opened your mouth, starting to stumble over your words. “Oh? um- Okay?” You handed it over to him and he relaxed back into his chair. A question bubbled in your throat, but you didn’t let it escape. Instead, you watched as his eyes scanned the papers, blue cursive, and pink highlighter, little stars and flowers drawn in the corners. “Mr. Rogers, are you ready to start the interview?” You tapped your watch, twelve twenty four.

He nodded, “Yes, I’m ready.” You cleared your throat and went to ask for your notebook, but he beat you to it. “Miss. L/n, is there an achievement or something that you’ve contributed to me that you are most proud of?” Why was he asking you your own questions? “Sir, I-“ He cut you off once again. “Answer the question, doll.”

You huffed and crossed your arms over your chest. “I- um, no. I haven’t contributed anything to you that I should be proud of, Sir.”

“Is there a particular moment or memory of building this relationship that stands out to you?” He continued with the questions, tilting his head to the side. Why was he twisting the questions onto you? When you didn’t come up with an answer he chuckled, sounding sickly sweet like molasses dripping straight from the sugarcane. “Patience finally wearing thin, honey?” You nodded eyes staring at his chest, you couldn’t quite muster up the courage to look him in the eye.

He snapped your notebook closed and slid it towards your side of the grand desk. “You couldn’t answer my questions correctly, Y/n.” You nodded, eyes now downcast, admiring the pattern on the blue carpet. You felt like you were going to cry. This big scary man was mean and just wouldn’t let you conduct your interview and you didn’t know why. “I’m sorry, Sir.”

“I know you are, doll. But, if you can’t answer my questions how can I answer yours? You have nothing to offer me.” This was it, you were losing your chance. “Business wise, that is.” Your head shook, and your hands were clasped together, your left thumb rubbing your right nail back and forth. “I don’t understand, Sir.”

“I’m friends with Maria, Y/n. If you’re able to get this article done and get me on the cover you’re gonna get a promotion, you want that, right doll?” Your eyes went wide, “Yes, Sir.” Now, he stood, coming around to the front where you are and leaning against the desk. “She said to make it difficult, but I don’t care enough to do all that. So, doll, I’ll answer your questions. They’re quite good actually. And I’ll do a little photoshoot for the cover, but you’ll need to pay me back.” You gulped, hands suddenly sweaty, you felt like a little chihuahua, trembling under his gaze.

“How? Um, how do I pay you?” Gosh, even your voice was shaky. “Stand up. Lose the blazer.” Steve commanded, slowly unbuckling his belt. You could faintly tell from the buckle that it was Hermès. You stood and took off your blazer in a rush, folding it poorly and setting it on the arm of the chair. “Atta girl.”

He placed his hands on your shoulders and then ran them down to your hands, giving them a little squeeze before he hooked his index fingers into your belt loops, pulling you closer. So close that the tips of your shoes were touching. He leaned down to kiss your neck and you stiffened, but when he grazed his teeth over the bruised spot he just created you melted into him, your hands grasping at the pristine white button up, letting out a little whimper.

Steve pushed you back a little and took in your form, then he pulled the little security badge off, tossing it to the side. Like a little kid, he pulled at the neckline of your shirt. “Off.” You would’ve giggled at him if he didn’t look so scary right now. His blue eyes were piercing into yours, left hand so tight on your hip you thought he might leave bruises.

By the time your shirt hit the floor, he was pushing at your shoulders, hinting at you to go to your knees. “Sir, I don’t know-“

You started, knees hitting the carpet underneath you. He shushed you and guided your head to look up at him. “It's okay, baby, you don’t have to know how. I’ll do all the work, doll. Now, undo your bra.” As expected you did as he asked immediately, fumbling with the clasp until it fell down your arms. It ended up next to your thigh as you watched him pull his belt through the loops.

Steve walked around you and kneeled down, belt in his hands. “Put your hands behind your back.” You nodded immediately, so submissive, completely at his mercy. “Yes, Sir.” Steve loved how polite you were. He made quick work of restraining you, tying your hands to rest against your jean clad ass. The metal felt harsh against your skin and the soft, expensive leather snaked up your arms.

When he was back in front of you he sighed and shook his head. “I should’ve had you unzip me first.” Hearing Steve say that finally brought you to the reality of what was about to happen. You watched with big eyes as he undid the button and then the zipper, the sound making you tremble. His dress pants puddled on the floor and you were in awe as he massaged his bulge through his boxers. Slowly, he pulled them down to the middle of his thighs. His cock bounced up to hit his abdomen and he hissed as he stroked it a few times. “Open as wide as you can, honey.”

As always, you did as asked. Your tongue stuck out a little, wetting your bottom lip. He grasped the back of your head and leaned you forward a little, then you felt his blunt tip on your tongue. You gagged and spluttered when Steve was about halfway seated, he pulled out and leaned down, kissing you sloppily. “Breathe through your nose, baby. Don’t forget.” Then he was back at slowly entering your throat. “Fuck...” he grunted, finally fully seated in your throat, your nose pressed against his nicely groomed pubic hair. He caressed your throat then, rubbing the bulge in your throat, resisting the urge to press down and have you choke on his cock even more. “So good, Y/n.”

Steve started rocking into your throat, slowly fucking it as spit leaked from the corners of your mouth. After minutes of abusing your throat, he finally pulled out, adoring the way tears ran down your cheeks and how you hiccupped, wanting to desperately rub at your raw throat to soothe it. Your hands pulled at the belt and your eyes begged Steve to undo it. “Up, doll.”

He hoisted you up from your armpits and bent you over the desk. Steve pressed kisses down your back and reached in front of you, unbuckling your belt and throwing it somewhere to the left of you, then he unbuttoned and unzipped your pants, tugging them down with fervor.

Steve undid your restraints and left more kisses down your back until he reached your ass, spreading your cheeks to reveal your tight hole and glistening cunt. “I’d love to see this ass all bruised and red, but I’ll have to save that for another day.” His index and middle finger ran circles on your clit, your back arching to press into him more. “Sir, please!” You gasped, your hand flying out to the edge of the table and nearly knocking over the glass of whiskey he left on a coaster when Steve finally pushed two fingers into your aching hole.

“Gotta open you up first, doll, get you all sloppy and ready for my cock.” You cried out as he hooked his fingers, rubbing the magic spot inside of you. “Please, Steve, please.” He cooed at you, pulling his fingers out, and instead traced his name over your clit. “You gonna come, baby? Huh? You gonna drench my fingers, little girl?” You were moaning in wanton, hips humping his hand desperately. He brought his other hand down and started fingerfucking you again, giving you just enough to push you over the edge.

Your moans were breathy, your legs twitching, and you were panting by the time your orgasm faded. “I hope you know I’m not done with you yet, doll, I still haven’t come inside you.” That made you whine high in your throat and you tried, to no avail, to slam your legs shut around his hand.

Steve’s right hand fisted his cock a few times, making sure he’s rock hard and dripping with pre-cum, while his left kept your lips spread, showing him your gorgeous pussy. The blunt head at your entrance shocked you, and you yelped at the intrusion. “Sir!”

He leaned his head down and spit where you were joined, trying to make the glide even easier. “Shut up, doll.” He snapped after you cried out. Once he was as deep as possible inside of you he reached for his belt, looping it over as if he was going to spank you, and stuffed it into your mouth. “Bite down,” Steve demanded, a hand snaked around to the front of your neck where he was applying light pressure.

When you tried to push back against him he held your hips down against the wood steadily and started snapping his hips at a fast speed. Each thrust pushed you down onto the table, letting your clit rub against the mahogany wood.

Your vision felt spacey like you could black out any moment as he choked you. Your orgasm washed over you and you had to use all the strength you had in you to keep biting down on the belt. You didn’t want to know what would happen if you disobeyed his and let it go. Steve’s hips harshly snapped against your ass a few more times before he stilled inside of you, filling you with his spunk.

Before Steve cleaned you up and let you leave his office he had to finger his cum back inside of you, making sure none of it went to waste. Then, he made sure you had a way home, and a way to contact him, because, “Now you’re no longer Magazine Girl, but My Girl.”

@lo-bells

[equestrianwritingsstuff]

That last bthb piece you wrote was just *chef's kiss* perfection, magnifique, I want more!!!

Thank you for the ask, I am so glad you liked it!

One Month Part 2

Part 1

Warnings: jealousy, forced sedation mention, fear of being drugged, pills (tylenol), low-grade fever, angry character, being kicked out, wound imagery, broken bones, infection

~

Hero paced as he waited for Supervillain to wake up again. He was mad, angry, even to the point of ferocity. That sick, slimey bastard had been captivating his girlfriend's attention for days. Not that he consciously did it, and that was the reason Hero inwardly chastised himself for those inappropriate feelings. It wasn't Supervillain's fault, but someone had to take the blame.

So he waited impatiently for the supervillain's eyes to open, so he would be conscious of the way he was changing Civilian. Not that they were major changes, or changes in appearance or personality- she was still breathtakingly gorgeous and so full of love and compassion, deeply imbedded in that grouchy attitude. In all honesty the only way she so-called "changed" was because her undivided attention was completely and utterly focused on one being the house that was not Hero.

Was he selfish? Absolutely. Was it wrong? Was it wrong to feel this way towards someone who saved the girl he cared so much about? Definitely, but it couldn't be stopped. Anger and rage were settled, and so now it was time for revenge.

Supervillain blinked open his eyes in the middle of one of Hero's passes in front of his bed. The hero bounded over, pressed his fist into the wall, and hovered over Supervillain's awakening figure.

Slowly, the sleep-filled eyes cleared and became more aware of their surroundings as the grogginess melted away. They looked around, green irises taking in every feature of the bedroom as if they had never viewed such a place before- which they had, each and every time Supervillain pushed through unconsciousness. But of course, he never remembered, for these brief moments of loopy consciousness didn't have absorbent qualities.

Soon, those same foresty eyes met Hero's face. He smiled, imagining the fear that Supervillain was feeling. Though, it wasn't for certain, the subtle clenches of his jaw signalized those emotions.

"How are you feeling bud?" Hero asked, assuming a kind tone. Supervillain gave a wobbly smile as he gaze fell downcast. Hero's heart, the last bits of sympathy for the man, dropped.

Supervillain obviously was in pain and the fact that he was laying on his backside probably did not help.

Hero picked Supervillain up, flipped him over, and dropped him roughly on the bed. Supervillain bounced one, coughing and groaning as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Hero's arrogant smirk faded for a moment before upturning again. He traced his fingers over the festering wound and dug his fingers in.

Supervillain screamed, but Hero was quickly able to cover his mouth with his hand. He tried to ignore Supervillain's teeth and tongue as they desperately tried to remove the humanoid gag.

"This is for turning my girlfriend into your personal maid," Hero growled like he was the villain in the story, not Supervillain. Oh was this so wrong, but the unreleased rage overcame those thoughts of humane empathy.

Supervillain whimpered even louder as Hero's fingers met with the cracked bones. He kicked out with his legs, arms punching into the mattress.

"Yeah, how you like that huh?" Hero taunted, grabbing Supervillain's ear and pulling it down. Supervillain's whole head went with it and a loud crack echoed throughout the room. Supervillain quit writhing for a moment, stunned slightly.

Hero didn't care. He just kept on torturing Supervillain until a horrified voice interrupted him.

"What are you doing?!"

Hero spun around, meeting the gaze of his mortified girlfriend.

"What are you doing?!" She exclaimed again, crouching down to look in Supervillain's dull eyes. They were without any emotion as they blankly stared at Civilian.

Hero felt that anger in his chest, but it was nullified by the horrific dawning of his deeds. He kicked a man when he was already down.

Never do that. That was the first rule in the Hero's Code, even before not engaging in any villainous parties or organizations unless otherwise stated by the Agency.

He broke the code.

But didn't he before? Taking in Supervillain?

Civilian stood up abruptly, grabbing the collar of Hero's shirt and pushing him back, fire in her eyes.

"Why would you do that?" She snarled, pushing him out the door and into the hallway. Hero was practically rendered helpless by shock and the reality of his wrongdoings.

"You-you," Hero tried to defend himself in the most futile manner. "He took you away from me!"

But still, his defenses were weak.

"How?" Civilian asked, thrusting both hands against Hero's chest. "How in the world did he take me away from you? He hasn't spoken a word to me! Or even actually looked at me."

"You have been coddling him for days," Hero replied, rushed.

Civilian gaped, throwing her hands in the air. "Okay Wicked Witch of the West-"

"Hey!"

Civilian smirked. "He saved my life and now I am trying to save his. I am sorry I haven't given you your required twenty-four hours of hugs and kisses."

Hero was silent, but a sudden pull on his shirt ended the split moment of awkward silence.

"What are you doing?" He asked, digging his heals into the ground, but Civilian grabbed his arm and yanked him towards the frontdoor.

"This is my house and I can't clearly trust you with my patient. Get." She pushed Hero out the door and slammed it in his face.

Hero slid down the door, hand trailing down the smooth material. Tears spiked at his eyes as he landed on the doorstep in a sobbing heap.

《~~》

Civilian walked over to the bed and checked on the wound. It was bleeding- just a small trickle of crimson liquid. He was unconscious again, head pressed into the downy pillow.

She refrained from rubbing his head like she would do for her boyfriend. Hero's actions were unjustifiable and utterly cruel, but that did not mean that she would betray him.

But still, tender loving care was the only way for him to actually heal.

She grabbed some numbing ointment and rubbed it around the reddened, tender skin surrounding the wound. Then she lathered the interior, avoiding the exposed ribs, and placed an icebag around the whole thing.

Supervillain didn't wake, his face remaimed placid and relaxed as he slept. Civilian with hands of professional talent, gently opened his mouth and placed a thermometer under his tongue. It beeped, reading a prime number of 101.9. It wasn't too bad, but likely wasn't fun either.

"Wake up," Civilian jostled Supervillain's shoulder until his green eyes broke open lethargically. He looked around, squinting, until they fell on Civilian's face.

"Get away," he growled, hugging himself protectively. His teeth bared, jaw clenched as he angrily stared Civilian down. She looked away, sighing.

"Listen," she said. "I'm not going to hurt you. Do you even recognize me?"

Supervillain observed Civilian for a while before nodded slowly. "You're Civilian," he mumbled.

"Mhm," Civilian hummed as she put a couple pills in his hands. He looked at them skeptically before throwing them half-way across the room.

Civilian frowned, looking at the discarded, white tablets. "You need those," she said.

"You're going to drug me," the supervillain accused, fear radiant in his gaze.

"It's tylenol," Civilian sighed, giving him a couple more. He stared at them, calculating, before shoving them into his mouth- not even bothering with water.

"Just don't hurt me when I'm out again, please," he begged before closing his eyes, asleep.

Civilian smiled. The pills truly were Tylenol, but he was just so exhausted and tired that he gave up. Poor guy.

Tentatively, she pulled the covers over his bare shoulders and went to the kitchen to make some soup.

[emptymasks]

I’ve seen a lot about your thoughts on Elisabeth and Tanz der Vampire, and they’ve been really helpful getting into those musicals! But you have a huge list of other musicals that people can get into…

So I was wondering if you had any musicals you hadn’t mentioned in a while that you really like or would like to talk about??? (preferably something from your lists that has a blue heart please?)

Oh if only you knew how long the list of European musicals really is... I however have only seen 9 (if I counted right) and I have a lot more that I still need to watch. Oh also, I only put the blue hearts on any musicals that I was providing multiple links for so people could see which version I reccoment the most highly. If a musical only had one link and didn't have a blue heart it doesn't mean I didn't like it.

I've watched: Mozart das Musical, Elisabeth das Musical, Tanz der Vampire, 3 Musketiers, Mozart L'Opéra Rock, Dracula (the Graz production), Rebecca das Musical, Roméo et Juliette and Schikaneder.

If you enjoyed those two you're likely to enjoy Rebecca! It's written by the same composer/lyricist team as Elisabeth and Mozart (and same lyricist as Tanz der Vampire - though if you're listening to any German musical, original or translated, 90% of the time the lyrics will have been done by Michael Kunze that man is everywhere). The Stuttgart production has my favourite set design of any musical! Well... Actually probably. There are so many big set pieces it's insane, way more than I've seen in some Broadway and West End musicals. You can tell so much work went into it and the visual effects that I won't spoil if you don't know the plot but if you know the plot you know what I mean by the effects at the end are so good and I didn't expect them at all and I freaked out so much the first time I watched it. Jan Ammann as Maxim in the Stuttgart production is the best Maxim. No I won't take any argument. Other actors feel a bit one-dimensional to me, but the way Maxim acts at times comes from trauma and some actors and productions seem to forget that, but Jan really goes for it and his Maxim is a lot more sympathetic and I just want to give him a hug. Pia Douwes as Mrs Danvers, if you've seen her in Elisabeth what more do I need to say, she's amazing. A musical goddess. Her Danny is a bit more wild than some, but she kills it. My favourite video, which I put the blue heart next to, has understudy Christina Patten as Ich/I, but I adore her she's my favourite. She adds some spunk to Ich in act 2 and her voice is so pretty and aaaa. I just love these three actors together in these roles.

Roméo et Juliette is another favourite of mine! It's hard to choose which one to recommend, but it has to be the original 2000/2001 production because of the sweetness and chemistry and voices of Damien Sargue and Cecilia Cara as Romeo and Juliet. They're so pretty and work together so well. The only reason I say it's hard to pick is Mercutio. I adore him, but in the original production they cut out a song they had planned for him and he doesn't really do much at all? In the 2010 revival they gave him two more songs and you care about him so much more and John Eyzen plays such a good Mercutio. So I'd recommend the original but if you want to like Mercutio more, which you should he's amazing, I'd recommend watching at least clips of John's. It's an interesting musical because all productions are non-replica and also change around the order of songs, add or take away characters, all sorts. The Hungarian production is also very popular and I'm sure it's great, I just haven't' gotten around to watching it yet.

Mozart das Musical was the first non-English language musicals I watched so I have a fondness for it, but it's not my favourite. However, I do realise I have forgotten most of the songs and the few I've gone back and listened to are better than I remember.

Dracula isn't super popular and I understand why, I don't love the plot of the Dracula/Mina romance in it, however. I do love this musical because despite how I find the plot lacking, the songs are so good! At least, I love them. And the actors are all doing a great job. And it's one of the few Dracula adaptions to keep Quincy Morris so they get bonus points for that.

Mozart L'Opéra Rock and modern French musicals... This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but they're often more like pop-rock operas now. So if you're not into musicals with that style of music it might not be for you, but I still enjoyed it even though I didn't think I would because of the style of music. Mozart and Salieri's chemistry is very good, Salieri's bisexual crisis song is iconic, actually all of Salieri's songs are iconic.

Schikaneder... eh. I didn't like it that much and I didn't really like any of the songs. There's no English subtitles, but someone sent me the entire English synopsis and I watched it with a German friend so I had double the help of understanding it. Doesn't mean others might not like it, just none of the songs stood out to me and I had no desire to listen to any of them again. It's by Steven Scharwz of Wicked fame and I love Wicked, but I didn't love this.

3 Musketiers!! God it's so underrated and not spoken about within the European musical fandom that I even forget about it and literally forgot to write about it earlier in this post. It's a Dutch musical (though did also have a German production) and it's really good!? Faces you might know are Pia Douwes as Milady de Winter, Stanley Burlseon as Cardinal Richeliu (Netherlands Der Tod in Elisabeth), Henk Poort as Athos (Netherlands Phantom and Jean Valjean). The dialgoue is funny, the songs are good, some of the set pieces have no right to exist in this tiny musical?? They made this giant boat and pelt the actors with rain just for one 5 minute song and then we never see the boat again? And while I recommend the Dutch one because Dutch musicals deserve more love and it has official English subtitles!! Official ones, not fanmade! I have the DVD and it comes with English subtitles (and Dutch and German subtitles) which is so nice. The German version is also good, good cast, Pia came back and Uwe Kroger as Richeliu and omg they rearranged the songs and the German arrangement of Nicht Aus Stein is insane and amazing and frankly iconic.

That's all of the ones I have watched. Next on my list to watch are Rudolf and Notre Dame de Paris, both of which I have listened to some songs from and already love (I've listened to way too much of Notre Dame de Paris and am so in love).

I want to start organising streams where I'll host the musical either by getting the video from Youtube or my own files and anyone who wants to join can come along and watch with us, chat with us if you want or just watch there's no pressure to chat. I thought about doing weekly streams? This would also make me finally watch some of the ones I've been meaning to for ages. But I keep wondering about time zones. I'm in the UK and would want to stream at about 11pm at the latest (11pm BST/GMT+1 as we’re in daylight savings at the moment, if the streams continue past the end of October which would be wild then I’ll make a note of the time change that would be to 11pm GMT), which I know can work for other UK and Europeans, but for any Americans would be in the afternoon. So, I wondered if doing it on a weekend would be better? Then it doesn't matter if it's in the afternoon? Maybe Saturday evenings then? It would either be Saturday evenings UK time or Friday evenings UK time. What do you guys think? If people are down then I'll make a separate post with a list of what we'll be watching each week and if anything happens to me that means I can't stream one week then everything will just get pushed back a week, but I don't see that as likely to happen. And I'll only be streaming those that have English subtitles, so don't worry about not being able to understand anything.

edit: am also open to 10pm bst if others want that, im just trying to think of what time works best for everyone so sorry if 11pm is a little late for europeans, i know 10pm could be a little early for americans. also in case it sounded like these are the only musicals i will be streaming, thats not so, ive got more than just the ones mentioned on this list!

(Tagging some people who I know are or might be interested in streams to see what you think of that plan: @sirona-art @ringwraith100 @tanz-der-trash @smilingwoland @the-weird-dane @witchgaye @ami-fidele @kisstheghouls @looking-4-happiness @ladysapphire928 @sloanedestler @tinywound @persephonaae @phoenixdewinter @uwucoffee @freshbloodandgothicism )

[the-firebird69]

And Lily is talking to her uncle and then she's admitting that they're pushing the envelope but it was because Max plan to have her and others she's got a little sick when she heard her name was planned and why and it was bothering her and more stuff was bothering her now and her son says I know a lot of it because when I tell these idiots they just aren't denial and the max start bothering me with them it's annoying s*** to talk about and she says this I've actually had enough of this crap today I'd have to figure it out and it's making me sick. Sounds a little better cuz the hospital food is not bad she should get double portions she's going to request it cuz she feels sick.

-we're going to make some room for him here and some places this is terrible and I know what to do

-there's other things going on and they're pretty big there is a war on the clones as being fought by everyone they're down below attacking them and taking tons and tons of stuff believe it or not they found huge stockpiles and they're going after it they were getting our share

-there's a large buildup of warlock on the West Coast and it says to go after us but they found a base and it's up north it's in Oregon and it is up there and it's stan if I'm what they thought was a duplicate Base by the same people and it's Biden in Washington and they are going to go up there and try and take over. They insist on heading up there and they're going to get in a fight with them and Stan and Biden are not sympathetic to our son enough to do anything right and they might not be that bad but they're kind of hokey and it wasn't with the clan was doing. He's a very large basis and we are discussing JC as well right now about the national cathedral and Mary and hers is more obscure supposedly if that's the one maybe they're looking the wrong place our son says it's probably Westminster Abbey it's kind of the same building. Which means the calculations and the location are wrong and the recalculating now. To find the devil himself in Lilith. The bases are large and there's a lot of equipment there in personnel each base 100 miles by 300 miles. These base has three large refineries and they are pumping oil from deep below about 500 miles from a huge huge deposit both of the same deposit they have about five of these bases each about the same size. He also located Mac Daddy and we did mention it earlier he's in Maine and Vermont and New Hampshire and that's why nobody goes up there he's looking at these secrets trying to and people figure out what's going on the soccer River and also Arnie and this more too that town that our son went to this stuff there secrets and there is Derry New Hampshire and it's spelled the same way as they say in the movie and they're looking there too and they don't like what they see and that's where pennywise ends up and there's no circus goes down to Massachusetts almost and it's something wicked this Way comes and it's part of the Christmas story which happens during the freeze out and horrified people and yes grandson and granddaughter of Hera and Zeus and I'm being president it's Damian and his wife Lillian is going to be a heck of a day but really they're going up there and they have a good size for us probably wiped out and they sent up several others so they got wiped out and they're trying to go to the battle in Canada to start approaching the shore and we're hit and they're going to try and get there different ways

-there's a few more things happening this place is inhospitable but is going to clear out in the next 4 or 5 days of excess moisture and water in the water table the plant life will run a little and then grow like madness like the plants did at the yacht club and it's fast lots of it.

-he also in receipt of several orders that we intercepted from warlock to try and kidnap our son we are pursuing them very hard here and the Max and mac daddy and others such as Stan and Biden have intercepted them and they're going to knock the crap out of them and for real oh there are several movies that will begin shortly and one of them is the predators and that's out there in LA it's the first one predator there is a movie Jaws it will start up and because they see the land being surveyed on West Virginia and people being removed from properties and they don't really own them and they're in court losing and that's his wife and he's smiling and being removed from Nantucket and she's smiling is that's him. It's a huge deal that went on there he almost got sunk in his in the boat almost ran into the dock it would have been a nightmare I didn't have money for that I got up is underwear I started the motors stop the boat from moving everyone else is just sitting there Frozen they could have put the anchor out it was terrible. Mr Doyle's not a man of action and Ernie was kind of beat down they're proud of him he's shouting orders at them it was really weird they all started listening right away. Star wars the big one is what we're talking about there's several bases in California it's Northern California as well and they're in our teeth that's for sure and the warlock were and they're going up there thinking that they're the ones doing the attacks and they are thinking they're the ones doing the casino and they're thinking that's a good excuse and they need the firepower and stuff like that so they're going to screw it all up and we do know what happens there's many attacks that go on and several movies. And they do a few movies in the molec infiltrate and the McDonald's go out to those two area or three states and actually take over their stuff and they're fairly good sized McDonald's have a fleet of 1.3 billion and the two others have a fleet of about 700 million combined together or formidable fleet especially with the heavy ships spaceships that they have and McDonald's if they gain that would be a problem for the empire and they would not attack them right away but greed and so forth will probably entice them when the stone ships go up and they've done it before and they lost three or 400 million chips the empire lost that that amount but they're huge and it's going on shortly there's a huge Force assembling and they have spaceships it's not many and hovering over to those states are about 400 million spaceships but they're pretty far away they're out of range but they're bringing in battle groups it's going to take more than what they're doing to do it and they'll go through this and they just don't have the manpower to expand and they're going to expend it. And they started off in India we think eliminating their shield and they bring out spaceships from underground and it's just working

-there's other things that are happening that are leading to more like being successful mostly it's the McDonald's getting involved and they see huge death stars and they need them and that's what's actually going on it's a huge war coming up in Mississauga called Star wars

-several other battles like that are going to occur all over Earth and it is against Stan and Biden and it is the morlock who just don't seem to learn anything they were just attacked fiercely and put down by the empire and they feel that stand abided or not proper empire takes their stuff when they do it yeah they didn't learn that either they also didn't get defended and they felt they encouraged it. It's going on now they're reviewing that kind of thing getting motivated but there's 10 other places and when is Tunisia it's a base of Stan and it's very big but it's where bja used to have a headquarters so he's going to attack and in the future you see what looks like could be stan as Obi-Wan Kenobi. That turns out it might be Ben Arnold and Stan is still in the museum because of bja. This is a huge movies and saga we've all been waiting for it to begin and we're going to post now

Olympus

Other locations that are starting up tonight and they're very important would be off the coast of India that's a massive massive movie it's rogue one and it's important cannot be underestimated

-Tunisia begins tonight and maybe earlier now it's going to start nightfall here in daytime there and it is The phantom menace Star wars

-Brazil and surrounding that is part of rogue one Star wars and it is also the last Jedi it's on the West Coast they find the Ruby that came from Black widow Harley-Davidsons sale and our daughter and son pointed it out to have it carried there by Harley-Davidson and they drove it down there on the two motorcycles you see in easy Rider

-and he helps her a lot and she loves it and yeah Paris Hilton copied Dave and did the same procedure later and it was in London for crying out loud right underneath Westminster Abbey which is downtown London and he was there and he came close to the national cathedral but not that close so Hera doesn't like it and she didn't like it we did things

-Norway and with border with Russia he's a battle of hoth and it's in Star wars A New Hope the first movie and it is out of sequence yes there are several movies that happened before rogue One The phantom menace and they they start and it leads into a new hope and there there is return of the Jedi and the empire strikes back and finally A New Hope

-there's another one with a girl he can't remember what the name of it is, the rise of Skywalker and it begins sometime after road One and it's kind of during The phantom menace it's in Ireland and it is also in the LA area where New Hope is after.

-Star wars attack of the clones is an actual movie and it happens in Tunisia very soon it's one of the first movies

-The return of the Jedi that happens in a swamp and it's nowhere near here no it is it's not in Florida it's in South America and people don't know that our son doesn't know that it's just outside of Brazil on the southwestern side and that's where Luke Skywalker learns do you have to use it a lot more than people think and it's actually difficult he learns it from Yoda and that is not Trump and it's not Sarah no it is Trump and he's teaching himself probably cuz he's squished down and the perimeter of his brain is not working so he's become helpful when he gets bigger and that is because of the movie off of Saturn and somehow they get out there and it's the covia which is a small comet empire ship and it is the one that you see in the cartoons no it's much smaller than that it's only like 5 miles or something but it does lead to that and it goes into high gear it's all starting now because of the morelock attacking Stan and Biden and sometimes Mac Daddy who polishes them off.

-there are many other locations and these movies are the ones starting and there's tons of TV series and cartoon locations beginning and there are movies outside of it too and there's clips that were on YouTube that are starting in Massachusetts very soon within a day possibly and they start the movies off while leaving from there but it is going to be rogue one that begins the whole series that's a great space Battle above it with rebels and foreigners and they they are assisting and the rebels are actually getting them into it stopping the shield and there doing it on stand and it's kind of like a practice run that's what they call it

-there's a few other things happening and lots of other movies are coming up very fast and it is because of the rebellion and it is going to be led by the morlock who used to do this just trying to remember and more shortly