#if that's real that would be so.....andrew lad....

[hotniatheron]

someone posting hozier's dating profile was not the reason i thought he'd be trending on twitter

[tranceinnumerabletabs]

When Johnny Comes Back pt 4

A/N: Thank you once more for you continued support! It truly makes me smile. I added some more story in part two. Now, it's not as short, feel free to read the newer bits.

New to this? Here's part one I'm part two, I'd just been updated with more content I'm short but important pt3

He could be fine. He could be fine. He’s strong. He’s strong

You keep reciting “soothing” mantras to yourself, just trying to stay afloat, trying not to fall back into that pit of despair. Truthfully you were a nervous wreck. You sent a letter back to whoever “Ghost” was, begging him to keep you updated.

He wasn’t very….communicative. But he did like Simon. And by like, I mean he sent wrote “cute cat” among the very very few things he wrote.

Didn’t matter. He could say all he wanted but unless it’s “Johnny is alive, well and coming back from deployment in one piece” it’s nothing to you.

You’ve had time to think about your relationship with him, what you’ll do if…..when he comes back, how much you miss him, how much you need him safe, god. What has Johnny done? You didn’t want to end up like this.

From the moment you two became roommates you thought about what his fate could be and tried not to get attached.

That didn’t last long.

It became worse than you ever thought. You even did some research on his….”job”, reading news articles, leaked documents and even chatted with some ex mercenary guy who called himself 3x5had0w about some recent events. You were shocked at what Johnny could be involved in…..and yet…that didn’t mean you didn’t want him back. It seems you have all the time in the world to get used to it. How could a man end up so entrenched in your heart like this? You thought it was safe since he was away for so long so often.

bastard

He made you fall for him

You clutch his pillow harder, his scent weak. It’s been months since he left and….well…you don’t know how long it’s been since the news of his hospitalization came.

Movies don’t feel like movies anymore. You’re holding up well enough for most of the day but….when you’re back home, it’s becoming harder and harder to think of it as “Johnny’s just on Deployment” It’s been too long.

It’s like you could almost hear Johnny teasing you for cuddling his pillow like this. His deep raspy voice going “aye, miss me that much Bonnie? I ken you’d fall for me! Ye were a goner the second ye saw the most braw lad in the world.” Then you’d ‘fume’ and call him a bastard

“Aye, your bastard. Such sweet words fer a lad ye wouldy live without if ye could.” Then you’d huff and puff as if that’s intimidating…

You sigh, it’s not the same imagining it. You wanted him back

It’s okay you think to yourself it’s okay

You can have that, you can have all that and more when Johnny comes back

Yeah…he’ll be fine

When Johnny Comes Back

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

If Johnny was here he’d be beaming like the sun so hard right now and Soap-o-Nova would become real

“Yeah. I do” you say firmly

The creep raises an eyebrow

“How long have you known him?”

“Long enough to live together” you say, tone purposefully aloof and irritated. You know this is the man that has been stalking you for a while and you’re scared. But you don’t show that. You wish Johnny was here to be Johnny. To be protective and act like a guard dog. You thought telling him you had a boyfriend would get him off you but some men just have audacity with a size that rivals Caseoh.

“What’s his job?”

“None of your business Mr Milton.”

“Call me Andrew” he said in a ‘friendly’ tone but everything about him wasn’t. You noticed him and his friend Ross, who’s ALSO stalking you, a while back. You’ve seen them talk so you assume they’re friends. You wish…he was here to drive them away. Can’t they see you’re drinking your sorrows away??

“Okay, Andrew. What my boyfriend does is none of your business.”

He looks at you, annoyed. You keep a brave face on.

“Do you even know his job?”

“Yes.”

“Is it not something to be proud of?”

Ugh really? Asking about your ‘boyfriend’’s salary

“It is.”

“To you? Or does everyone think that?”

Well…it’s….complicated. That’s a good question to ask if this was a philosophy class or a tumblr post if you're poor. But it’s not. How patriotic would you say you are? nvm it doesn’t matter. Make him sound good

“Anyone who doesn’t is a sore loser” damn ok redneck, build a wall between you two while you’re at it.

He presses his lips together.

“Does he tell you a lot about it?”

“Yeah” you bait him

“Really? What does he tell you?”

“That he’s fatal, dangerous and blows things and people up”

“Why?”

“Because he’s a soldier and a sergeant at that. He can destroy anyone and anything and he especially doesn’t like it when strangers try to take what he owns” wow you sure are selling this ‘Johnny is my mafia boyfriend’ facade. Where did you learn that? Wattpad like a legend or TikTok like a child?

If he was here he’d beam so much conspiracy theorists would call him an alien. Who knows? Maybe that fuckass Mohawk is his antennae.

Finally he’ll leave you alone, right? He adjusts his posture and decides to keep fucking taking to you

“Are you two….close?”

Ugh, what a douche “yes.”

“How close?”

“close enough that I wouldn’t want an outsider in our relationship”

His face looked even more stern and almost like he got the answer he was looking for. “Andrew. I am happily taken and am not looking for anything.” You force a polite tone He puts up his hands in mock surrender but has a weird look in his eye. “Yes miss. I’ll be on my merry way.” He finally leaves the coffee shop without ordering anything.

You take the opportunity to take footage of him. It’s too suspicious to angle the camera so you video him walking away, knowing he’ll look back, and when he does you try and keep your camera angle casual. There, now you’ve got police evidence if he tired to stalk you again. At least he was better than Ross. Ross tried to…."visit” you. You didn’t like how that went down, you ended up sleeping in a hotel and it’s great that you’re smart.

Well, yeah you’re smart but you’d be lying if you said that you didn’t learn a thing or two from Johnny when you asked him about his job.

(A/N: should I write the Ross 'visit' bit? It's not really important to the main story)

I wrote it, pt5

[scotianostra]

On February 25th 1888 a conference advocated the adoption of leaving certificates in Scottish schools.

Scotland has long enjoyed an international reputation as historically one of the best-educated societies in the world. The foundation for this reputation was laid in the 17th century and was the result of Calvinist emphasis on reading the Bible. Putting men and women in touch with the word of God was seen by the Scottish authorities and clergy as of paramount importance. To achieve this goal schools paid for by the Church of Scotland and local landowners were established in all rural parishes and burghs by an Act of Parliament in 1696. These educational establishments were run by the Church and were open to all boys and girls regardless of social status.

The democratic nature of the Scottish system so impressed the 18th century writer Daniel Defoe that he remarked that while England was a land ‘full of ignorance’, in Scotland the 'poorest people have their children taught and instructed’. The openness of the Scottish system ran all the way from the schoolroom to the university. A talented working class boy the 'lad o'pairts’ through intelligence and hard work and by utilising a generous system of bursaries was able to gain a university education, something largely unthinkable in England in the 18th century.

That’s not to say it was perfect on further inspection I found out that even in 1892 when all elementary and most secondary education became free, and scholarships were more widely available, few working-class children were able to take advantage of the opportunity. Only just under 5% of pupils attended a secondary school in Scotland in 1897. The real priority for children from working-class backgrounds was to find work and begin earning a wage.

For a small nation Scotland was particularly well-endowed with universities, boasting five in the 19th century - a figure which included Aberdeen’s Marischal and King’s Colleges. The universities were considered to be national, public institutions and, therefore, less elitist than Oxford or Cambridge in England. Because of this they were said to be more open to working people and, indeed, over 18% of the student population of Glasgow university in 1860 was from working-class backgrounds, quite a high number considering the low percentages of working class children who were educated.

The existence of a substantial number of working class students has given rise to the view that universities in Scotland were more democratic and based more on merit than the class-ridden universities of England. The wider implication was that Scotland was a less class obsessed society than England.

Again all was not as it seemed, and while we had a working class getting into University, the system was somewhat broken in a way. At Glasgow University in 1889-90, out of 225 students taking the junior Latin class 200 failed. The quality of university education in Scotland was generally poor and inferior to that offered in England. The low quality was mainly due to the fact that there was no university entrance examination and, therefore, children could enter the system as early as fourteen or fifteen, the 1888 act would possibly put this to rights.

As a result, philosophy, which had previously formed the core of the arts degree, was made optional. Students were also forced to compete for bursaries and this acted as an unofficial entrance examination. The setting up in 1901 of the Carnegie Trust Fund, set up by the great philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, provided a further source of assistance and by 1930 70% of university students in Scotland were receiving awards from the fund.

The numbers of students in higher education institutions increased from 4,400 in 1830 to 6,000 in 1900, to 10,000 in 1938. At Glasgow University, working-class students increased as a percentage of the total, from 18.6% in 1860 to 24% in 1910.

The period from 1900 to the outbreak of War in 1939 did not witness the same degree of change in the educational system as had occurred in the 19th century. However, there were important developments in the sphere of primary and secondary education. These changes did little to alter the class bias of education, but collectively they made important contributions to the

creation of an all encompassing modern educational system in Scotland.

Education in Scotland has been the subject of much myth-making as regards the openness of the system and the quality of provision. In the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, the educational system catered mainly for an elite section of Scottish society. Although the door to higher education was more open than in England, workers and their families, women and Catholics in general were excluded. For these groups, education was sparse and the quality poor.

Legislation gradually improved the access of all groups to better education, but it was only after the introduction of comprehensive education in 1965 that attempts were made to provide adequate standards for all children in Scotland.

[expergoe]

In a way I don’t blame people who don’t want to be combative with coworker theyre going to see often. For some people that’s not worth it, especially when their employer the atp is protecting them. But indifference is not the same as promoting them.

People are dunking on Novak, and rightly so, but Fed gets too much leeway with this stuff. He invited Zverev to laver cup this year. Hemmed and hawed when asked about the assault case. Laver Cup is also the event where he first assaulted his girlfriend. Theim too.

Essentially I think people’s reaction to positive interactions with Zverev/Kyrgios is often coloured by their feelings towards the player. The entirety of the atp is complicit, like you said.

I understand wanting to watch the wta more as a result. But a lot of the wta support them too. Actual support, not just exchanging pleasantries. Caro Garcia invited Kyrgios on her podcast to whitewash his image and let him mope about his mental health (he used mental health as a defence during his assault case). Naomi and whatever mess she’s in with Kyrgios, they’re business partners I think.

to be honest? i don't feel bad for them at all. i don't really agree with the coworker analogy, either; the atp isn't really an employer, and it would be incredibly difficult to 'fire' the players for something like this. but if anyone has proof of the atp threatening players directly for speaking on this, i'd love to be corrected. the single biggest risk for them is rocking the boat and losing their little lads club. men come together in droves to defend eachother and their misogyny; no one wants to be 'that guy', no one wants to ruin the fun in the name of something as minor as women's rights!

every single player is complicit. and while you say indifference isn't promotion - and i agree that those facilitating zverev/kyrgios' little redemption tours are far worse, relatively - in the grand scheme of things, every single player (even the ones i like!) staying silent or giving non-answers of 'oh i don't know enough about that' is helping repair his image. there is not a single atp player that has given any material support in the matter - no, not medvedev, not fritz. their on-court activity has laughably little effect on anything in the real world where zverev and consequences are concerned.

and of course let's not forget they voted zverev onto the atp council. all of their own volition! noone was forced, they all (or at least a significant majority) looked at this man and saw him as respectable enough to represent all players. not only that but in the immediate aftermath, they all gave complete non-answers. i am thinking of casper ruud, a player who i like perfectly well enough, who was recently praised for his ~insight~ on the matter of playing in controversial countries such as saudi arabia or china, but conveniently 'didn't know enough' about the zverev allegations when asked. i guess it's easier to talk when it's some distant country and not a man you'd probably consider a friend.

i will be the first to admit that i have never really liked and still don't like novak at all. the audience of right-wing freaks he surrounds himself with and continuously enables disgusts me, and i can admit that maybe i am harsher on him than others as a result. however given his history, i don't think he deserves the lenience. i mean, the man follows andrew tate on twitter, part of me wonders how some people appeared so blindsided by this! if there's anything i can say about him it's that he's always been outspoken about his opinions; he is hardly in any sort of dilemma about this.

i feel similarly for the likes of rublev, who has in the past feigned concern about 'violence against women' to spread transphobic misinformation while talking about how zverev is his Best friend on tour in the same breath, and tsitsipas, whose general misogyny and disgusting behavior on court (alongside rublev) is continuously coddled.

of course roger deserves zero grace either. later in his career and post-retirement especially, he has grown to perfectly embody the kind of soulless capitalism that runs rampant in sport and protects abusers in the name of Branding. nothing but a business-savvy former player whose greatest skill, really, is becoming an utterly spineless fence-sitter at the first difficult question. it's all money over morals, and it's worked for him! his absolutely nothing statements wrt zverev get hand-waved because Oh, that's his brand! his trademark Neutrality strikes again! typical roger, right guys?

and he's probably a fucking billionaire. he didn't need to be crying and worrying about a response when the zverev allegations first came out, but it's always money money money, more money, so we got an absolutely nothing response so the handful of zverev fans that care can still throw their money at the laver cup (because of course he will still be invited) and everyone else gets placated. these institutions are well-aware of the devoted but niche audience of younger adult women especially in fandom spaces like tumblr+twitter and those 'neutral' statements were 100% made to sweep the matter aside for them as well.

i can't speak much on the wta, as it isn't what i've been posting about. i give the atp more flack on the matter because they are the ones directly interacting with him and afaik, iga at the very least has spoken about the matter (not very directly, but her acknowledging that promoting a player involved in such a case was bad is more than anyone on the atp has done, especially considering she was the woman's no.1) as well as dasha too. but of course no one who gives him a platform should be praised. naomi wrt kyrgios especially is disappointing and upsetting as someone who is usually so outspoken on matters of mental health - again, it's easier to speak when it's not someone you consider a friend. which is of course not an excuse. i wouldn't exactly consider the wta 'worse' in terms of 'actual support' though; like i said, the silence is equally complicit for both tours.

i understand for a lot of people that tennis, and sport in general, is a nice bit of escapism, so for a lot of people this isn't something we like to think about. i include myself in this; a lot of players i spoke about here are ones i personally like, and i have favourites in the atp that are complicit in their silence. but i think in order to engage in the sport in any meaningful way, we have to acknowledge this for what it is, as horribly uncomfortable as it might be, with zero excuses and zero 'but's in anyone else's favour.

[saints-who-never-existed]

Rereading The Terror

Chapter Fifty-Four: Des Voeux

Oh gang, we're rapidly running out of living POV characters as you can see. But that means we do get a glimpse into the inner life of the Notorious C(F)DV, a generally sweet lad more akin to his real-life counterpart than to his gremlin-like show one.

Des Voeux is deliriously happy, right off the bat. As well as successfully hunting and gorging themselves on seal out on the pack, his party have spotted real proper leads in the ice with clear water all the way to the Adelaide Peninsula and Back's River. "Everyone could leave Rescue Camp. Everyone there now had a chance at survival." :(((

His joy doesn't last for long, however, as his party returns to camp not to fanfare but to abject misery. The men at Rescue Camp are so despondent that they don't even react to the eight tasty seal carcasses Des Voeux and his men haul behind them. "Did someone die?" asked Charles Frederick Des Voeux

The last men standing with any kind of seniority/rank gather in a tent to fill Des Voeux in, all but one of them smoking like chimneys all the while. They are: Second Mate Edward Couch, First Mate Robert Thomas, Captain of the Hold Joseph Andrews, and Captain of the Maintop Thomas Farr. They've found the bloody carnage that Hickey's party left behind them: "[the remaining bones and flesh] Had knife marks on them" finished Robert Thomas. "Lane and Goddard were butchered by a human being" "Not a human being" said Thomas Farr. "But some vile thing in the shape of a man."

The conversation that follows has definite shades of the E10 Lawful Mutiny scene with Des Voeux cast in Little's role instead. "We have to go after him and the murderers with him," said Des Voeux No one spoke for a moment. Then Robert Thomas said, "Why?"

It's hard to disagree with them really. They discuss the lives that would be wasted in such a battle, mentioning Thomas Johnson again who - as we now know - was sent to track the Mutineers to ensure they really left only to fall bloody victim to them. Des Voeux argues first for Crozier and then for Goodsir but the others reason that they don't even need the surgeon any longer - Tom Hartnell has learned enough to be able to administer what few medicines they have left and as for surgeries... Couch smiled sadly, "Lad, do you really think that anyone who needs actual surgery from this point on in our travels is likely to survive, no matter what?" That ever-so-slightly condescending reference to Des Voeux's youth gets to me especially, it really does! He's just a wee guy!

The assembled men still worry about predation from Hickey and the Mutineers as well and have some choice words to say on the matter: "... He sees all of us as livestock. What if he's just waiting out there beyond the next rise, waiting to attack the whole camp?" "You're turning the caulker's mate into a bogeyman" said Des Voeux. "He done that to his self already." said Andrews, "But not a bogeyman, the Devil. The actual Devil..." I feel like that specific phrasing - his self vs. himself - can do SO much heavy lifting if you want it to. You could interpret it as Hickey not just being corrupted but as devoting/losing his entire sense of self to that corruption. Delicious stuff!

The remaining men decide explicitly that Des Voeux should lead the Expedition entire as he's the highest ranking left among them. He accepts this though he vows to continue to consult closely with the other four in the tent where necessary. Poor Hodgson is mentioned here, in a way that makes me laugh much much more than it really should: "Technically," said Thomas Farr, "Lieutenant George Henry Hodgson is in charge of the expedition now" "Oh, fuck Lieutenant George Henry Hodgson up the arse with a hot poker," said Joseph Andrews, "If the little weasel were to come crawlin' back now, I'd strangle 'im with me own hands and piss on his corpse."

It's not long before Des Voeux faces his first tough decision as official leader and, when it comes down to it, he turns more Le Vesconte than Little. You're not going to like this one, gang, or what it means for poor scurvy-ridden Jopson...! "Here is my first decision as new commander of the Franklin Expedition. When we drag the boats to the ice in the morning, any man who can walk to the boats and get into harness - or even into one of the boats - comes with us... But tomorrow, only those who can walk to the boats will leave Rescue Camp." :(((

[renee-writer]

The Heart Don't Lie Chapter 78

A/N Most of this chapter is the always amazing work of @omgbarbiegurl . Give her some love y'all.

AO3

A woman ran through the woods in a mad run, tugging her child behind her.

“Come on dear, we’re almost there!”

 

Fear was the driving force behind her midnight run, not normal fear, but pure unadulterated terror.

 

She turned quickly and then ran toward a hill.

 

“Mama Bees!” The child shouted.

 

“Yes darling, Bees. They will help us, don’t worry.”

 

Once the pair made it to the top of the hill, she looked out over the tops of the trees.

 

She could see light blooming in spurts. Their pursers were quickly coming upon them, she had to act now, or it would be the end of both of them.

 

She tugged the necklace from around her neck and wrapped it around her child’s neck.

 

“When you get to the other side, you tell anyone that speaks to you that you want to see Dr. John Morrison. You say that name over and over, nothing else, just that name. Do you understand?”

 

“Mama-”

 

“Shush! Repeat that name.”

 

“D-D-Dr. John Morrison.”

 

“Yes, his name is Dr. John Morrison. He will help you; just show him the necklace and tell him my name.”

 

“But you’ll come too!”

 

Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “I’ll be with you, even if you can’t see me.”

 

She looked over her shoulder. It had to be now.

 

With a cry, she shoved her child against the large stones, not flinching when he disappeared.

 

“I love you darling.” She whispered softly as a large crowd descended upon her.

 

 

The child woke up at the bottom of a hill, a large man was standing over him.

 

“You alright there?”

 

The child blinked his eyes.

 

“Dr. John Morrison.”

 

“Who? What? Just say still, I called for help. You’ll be okay.”

 

“Dr. John Morrison.” The child mumbled as his eyes slid shut again.

 

He woke up again in a strange room with a woman in white fussing over him. There were strange and loud noises surrounding him.

 

The woman in white smiled at him.

 

“Hello sweeting, welcome back.”

 

“Dr. John Morrison.”

 

“Oh yes, you have been saying that name for a bit. He is coming, might take a bit but he is coming.”

 

“Dr. John Morrison, he’ll help.”

 

“Indeed he will poppet.”

 

The man known as Dr. John Morrison arrived a bundle of nerves.

 

He had no idea why a random young child was asking for him.

 

Unless it was something related to the…incident a few years back.

 

But it couldn’t be.

 

The ends of the Earth had been searched, and a trace had never been found.

 

But now…

 

He took a breath as stepped into the room that he had been directed to.

 

He didn’t speak, just stared.

 

At the child that seemed to be expecting him, waiting almost.

 

John smiled.

 

“Hello there, I’m Dr. John Morrison, you have been asking for me.”

 

The child nodded.

 

John stepped into the room and to a chair.

 

“And you are?”

 

The child smiled.

 

“Mathieu Andrew Morrison.”

 

He is dreaming about the past. A sigh at seeing his mama again. It is so real he can smell her scent, a type of floral, almost rose smell. He wakes gasping, understanding the message. He needs to talk with his father.

 

“You love her?” Andrew nods.

 

“I love her very much. More then I ever imagined loving anyone.”

 

His father smiles. The lad had been a shock. This son that he searched high and low for, not thinking to look in the past. Hearing his haunting tale and how his mama meet her end, it twisted his gut and made him more determined to see to the lad, protect him. Love now, that is one thing he can’t protect him from.

 

“The lass feel the same?”

 

“Aye father, she does. I know I am not her first love but I want to be her last.”

 

John smiles. Despite his rough start, the lad turned out brilliantly. Smart, sweet, compassionate, strong; he is all he can ask for in a son.

 

“Brilliant. Then you must tell her. Everything.”

 

“Father, I worry she will think me insane.”

 

“If she is the right one, she will accept it and you. You cannot enter into a marriage under the shadow of a secret this big.”

 

He knows he is right.

 

He had to tell Rose the truth about himself, it was just simply plucking up the courage to do it.

 

He didn’t want her to think he was crazy, or accuse him of putting on some show.

 

It was his Father that gave him the final push he needed.

 

“If you want to build a life with her, it can’t be on a foundation of lies. If she truly loves you, truly, she will accept all of you.”

 

It didn’t make It any easier though.

 

He decided to tell her as they sat in the Great Room at Lallybroch.

 

They were just having Tea and chatting when he set down his Teacup with a clang.

 

“Whoa easy there, that was my Great Great Grandmother’s Fine Bone China. Legend has it, she buried it away so the English couldn’t get it after Culloden. Then couldn’t find it, so she practically ripped the property up digging for it.”

 

“Clearly she did.”

 

“Nope! According to Legend, my Great Grandfather stumbled across it when he was just a wee laddie. He thought it was treasure and buried it under the house to find it again, and never did. Grandda was the one that finally found it when he decided to build a barn and had to dig up the area. Found it in the brown canvas bag tied up with rope to look like just a sack of something or other.”

 

They both laughed and he took her hand.

 

“What’s on your mind?” Rose asked gently.

 

“I wonder…would you ever want an engagement ring?”

 

“Hmmm, that would depend on who was offering.”

 

“If I should?”

 

“Then it would depend on the ring.”

 

“I want to offer you one, but before I do, I need to tell you something.”

 

“O-kay.”

 

Andrew cleared his throat.

 

“Well when I was a little lad, my Mam took me on a trip. We climbed this huge hill and all I heard were these loud noises, cries of pain and sorrow almost. The next thing I knew, I was falling down a hill. When I got to the bottom; my Mam picked me up, made sure I was okay, and then said: ‘This is our new home. People are going to seem strange here, pay it no mind and say nothing.’ So I didn’t.”

 

Rose sipped her Tea.

 

“Go on.”

 

“So we walked to this little town, maybe an hours walk from the stones. My Mam got a little Cottage and we lived there happily for a long time until she was accused of being a Witch. Then she ran with me…told me to ask for John Morrison…shoved me against these stones…found myself in a strange room…and then met Dr. John Morrison, my Father.”

 

Rose had not said anything, just sipped her Tea.

 

When he was done, silence filled the room, the only thing breaking it was the ticking of a Grandfather Clock from the hall.

 

Rose set down her cup and looked at him, an unreadable look on her face.

 

“Your Mother’s name, was it Laura?”

 

Andrew frowned. “Yes why?”

 

She didn’t answer, simply grabbed his hand, and drug him up the stairs to the second floor.

 

She took him to the end of the long hallway where dusty portraits sat on the wall.

 

“Give me a boost.” Rose ordered.

 

Andrew didn’t hesitate, he wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted.

 

“I know you’re here somewhere, come on. Ah ha!”

 

She grabbed a portrait down, and when Andrew lowered her down, she shoved it in his face.

 

“Is this her?”

 

Andrew took a step back, blinking.

 

His Mother’s shy, sweet smile looked at him from the clearly antique painted portrait. In a brass name tag along the bottom of the picture was the name: Laura Ann Morrison.

 

Andrew nodded. “Y-Yes.”

 

“Come with me.”

 

She grabbed his arm and yanked him down the hallway to a door on the left, still holding the portrait.

 

Rose didn’t knock, or stand on ceremony. She simply opened the door and stomped in.

 

“Daddy, we have to talk.”

[harrison-abbott]

In my first year at university I was living in student halls. The guy that lived in the room next to me was called Andrew. And he had a friend called Alfie, who would often bring his lad mates around to the flat.

One time Alfie brought his mates around again and they were partying in the kitchen. And Andrew went to the toilet. So Alfie went and hid something in Andrew’s bedroom, and then sneaked back to the kitchen.

When Andrew came back to the kitchen, all of the lads kept singing that Christmas song, ‘And a partridge in a pear tree.’ Repeatedly. And Andrew didn’t get why they kept singing it or what the joke was. Until he went back to his bedroom and discovered what Alfie had hidden there, on his bed.

It was a bag of dead pigeons. The lads had been out shooting earlier that day. And they had killed a bunch of pigeons. And they thought it would be funny to bring them back to the flat and put them in Andrew’s bed.

I joke you not, this is a real life story.

[moldygreenblue]

Regarding the WIP names you posted, "Can I Have ONE Normal Idea" sounds very intriguing to me ;)

@gellavonhamster, you picked the most wild of all wips from the list:

“Nice work, lad.” The way ‘lad’ was drawn out made Duke uncomfortable. There’s a radio crackle, and then a long sigh of relief.

“But it’s time to end this little masquerade,” continued the voice. No longer it sounds like the friendly, concern, baritone man from before. It sounds like nothing, as well a bit tired. It’s like the man on the radio had forgotten how his real voice sounded like. “And masquerade is a word which Lemony Snicket —the real Lemony Snicket that is— would probably define as, ‘A lie someone can fall for with either little or no amount of force.’”

“I say using a code phrase is contradictory to that.”

The man ‘tsks’ several times. “Was that phrase ever spoken when you volunteer your assistance for justice regarding the death of a sweet young child?”

Duke didn’t answer. All he does was grip the radio tighter in his hands. The entire room began to shake violently.

“A human being, even one that is genetically modified in a laboratory, is like any other animal,” continued the man. “If it wants something enough, it will do anything at all. You, young man, wanted to do good in this watery-hellhole. You volunteered yourself in a task of self-righteous justice. All I did was gave you a push in the right direction.”

Another violent shake. Duke stood firm where he stands.

“Considering everything, I owe you a little honesty. The name is Hangfire.”

so. context: this wip is from an asoue/atwq and bioshock fusion-crossover fic i was working on awhile back. in it, most of the snicket-verse characters take the place of bioshock characters; only two bioshock characters are in the au.

bioshock is a first person shooter with horror/sci-fi survival elements video game series. in the first two installments, it's about an underwater city known as rapture that gets torn due to a civil war that started on new years. by the time of the games, rapture is well on its way to being ruined and dead for good.

in the first game, you play as jack, a young man whose plane crash into the ocean and ends up entering rapture, where he must survive the horrors with the help of the man name atlas, the leader of one side of the civil war mention before, over the radio. atlas has a wife and child and he asks jack to help save them, but they get kill, and long story short atlas gets jack to go kill one andrew ryan, the ruler of rapture, and the leader of the other side.

at a very pivotal moment, which this fragment wip is inspired by, jack learns a few things. the most important things related to the snippet:

a. atlas isn't real. atlas is instead the disguise of frank fontaine, a rival to andrew ryan who faked his death in order to take control of rapture.

b. jack is a hidden agent for frank fontaine, with the phrase 'would you kindly' getting jack to do as told without question.

the fusion-crossover snippet here has:

armstrong feint/hangfire in the role of frank fontaine/the fake lemony snicket. the real lemony snicket is alive and around in rapture in his own story that is loosely inspired by the second game.

duke, an original character, is in the role of jack. duke is a bit more talkative (a hell lot more actually; jack is your typical silent protag), and well, let's say duke has beef with hangfire after this.

i'm sorry for the delay respond; i had trouble trying to figure out WHICH part of the wip to select because only fragments of the fic is actually written; most of it is just summaries of events and lore/world building to blend the snicket-verse elements with the world of bioshock. so i put it off and did other stuff (re: the widdershins and olivia friendship post on my side blog). picked this because while major spoilers, it's the best of the snippets i do have written.

[andrew-buchan-fansite]

Interview with Andrew Buchan, Writer and Creator of Passenger from the ITV Presspack

So, can you just tease what Passenger is about in a few sentences for us? Passenger is about someone going missing in a small Lancashire village, the ripple effect of that on the community and how the town folds in on itself as a result. It’s set in a town called Chadder Vale, a tiny little pinprick of a village on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border nestled in this valley, it’s full of people just going about their business, full of small businesses, a place of safety, security, people who've lived there all their lives. People might not know, but I grew up in Bolton and obviously there's a rich vein of humour running through a lot of northern towns and having grown up in and amongst that and the way that people react specifically to extremes with humour has always interested and fascinated me. I thought if I could write something about a small, tight-knit community and kind of use some kind of extreme event to detonate that humour, then that might be interesting. That northern dialogue that I've heard and loved all my life, and the way people approach and react to huge events in a northern way has always made me laugh and interested me in equal measure. I just wanted to get it down on paper and hopefully create characters that feel real and true, that people can relate to and use that to explore these bigger things.

Was it nice to be creative in a different way to being in front of the camera? Yes, definitely. I mean, acting's where my heart is, but I would say writing is a close second and something that I've kind of always done in little fragments throughout the years, be it writing on the back of bus receipts or in coffee shops, asking the waitress for a pad and a pen so I could quickly jot down an idea. But I don't think it's just me. I think it's loads of actors, actresses who reach a point maybe in their mid-forties, which is where I am, and they think, well, I've been on the receiving end of scripts now for about 20 years now and I feel like I should start the seed of an idea or I should, try and create something and put myself in the arena. I've spoken to loads of actor mates who've all said similar things, I'm certainly not out on my own here. Can you talk a bit more about the cast, where you involved in the casting process? Yeah, I got to see all of the casting tapes, and some extraordinary people who, again, I feel very grateful they took the time to learn the lines and went up for it. The cast that we've assembled has been extraordinary. I wrote the role for Wunmi, she was two years below me at drama school and we hung out a little bit. She's a Manc and I'm from Bolton, so there was that kind of connection, but i've always thought she was an extraordinary actress. Randomly a few years back, I'd agreed to present the best supporting actress BAFTA and Wunmi was on that list, obviously, I had no idea who was going to win it and I opened the envelope, and she won it. That was just a glorious moment of me presenting the award to a mate. The thing about her character Riya is that I wrote a person. I didn't write a police officer. I just tried to write a person who happened to be a police officer. I don't have the intelligence to write a Line of Duty-type thing! That's for people who are far more adept at writing than I am. But I could write a human and that's what Riya is. She's just this restless force, this hurricane trapped in this sleepy village who's wanting to push against the limits, push against the walls and wake people up from their apathy and I just thought, Wunmi would thrive in that part, knowing what I did of her. She's an extraordinary actress and has pushed Riya to the limit and it's wonderful to watch. Can you talk about some of the themes that run through the show? I’d say one of the big themes isn't just about being an outsider, it's fear. I've grown up with it. I've seen it in lads and lasses that I've been to school with. Fear of change, fear of being different, fear of daring to do something that they're good at. You know in life, particularly if you’re a guy from a certain environment you act in the way that you're meant to act, and there's a pressure on you to act and speak in a certain way and be tough. And that's your lot. So it’s about fear, the fear of change, growth, failure. You wouldn’t expect the events that occur in this series to happen in a place like Chadder Vale. Why did you want to make that juxtaposition? Yeah, I think the thing about the plot is I did want to juxtapose the epic and the traditional. I thought that would be fascinating. I thought if I could make something extreme happen to that village, just kind of out there in the background enough for them to go, ‘Wow, actually, what is that? What is going on there? But tonally I wanted to take that to the extreme. I wanted to be bold. I think sometimes you will watch a show that will dare to do something different and sometimes they fail, or there'll be other times you will watch them succeed . And so, I wanted to take that risk.

[mimeparadox]

Reimagining the Legion: Ferro Lad

Andrew Nolan, a.k.a. Ferro Lad or simply Ferro, was one of my initial favorite members of the Legion of Super-Heroes.  I first really got into the series during the extended arc where half the team was stuck in the 20th century, and Ferro, a native of that era, served as a point of view character--one that was defined by being rather insecure and shy--a stark contrast to what little had been seen of him in the preboot. 

The thing about Ferro Lad, though, is that his concept is not really one that works with the Legion. Yes, there is something to the idea of the man in the iron mask, who also turns into iron, but the most common explanation--he’s just inhumanly ugly-- really doesn’t fit with the progressive future Legion, where human standards of beauty aren’t really meant to be the, uh, standard. Additionally, there needs to be a reason why plastic surgery isn’t an option: once the reboot Legion returned to the future, with Ferro in tow, they attempted to explain that his face was so deformed that no amount of plastic surgery would help, which also doesn’t make any real sense. And so you more or less have to start from scratch.  And here’s how I’d do it.  

----

Before joining the Legion, Andrew Nolan was a knight, part of a--ahem--Legion who protected the kingdom of [name] in Sorcerer’s World (or some other appropriate magical, fantasy-style planet). Like all the knights in this army, they (I’m not sure of the gender--I feel there are things about the concept that work better with a femme-presenting character) upon being accepted into their ranks, was imbued with the power to turn their skin into iron, and therefore immune to magic. During their time in that army, Andrew distinguished themself for being a bit of a daredevil, and also a little bit vain--they had a fantastic fashion sense, helped by the fact that they could make their own clothes. 

And then Andrew got cursed. For whatever reason, a sorcerer who really had it in for them decided to do something about it, and made it so that anyone who saw their face would immediately die. The mask that was once a symbol of their allegiance is now armor to protect everyone else.

While initially distraught, Andrew eventually decided that the best revenge was living well. They’re still a daredevil. They’re still quite vain. One just can’t see their face. And then one day, the Legion shows up.

[teenbasher]

look man, my biggest issue with BBC Sherlock is the fact that hey FUCKED UP season 4. the wrecked it. who the fuck is this Euros person??? Why the fuck does Sherlock & Microft need a random secret sister who’s been tucked away in a maximum security prison/asylum thing for decades??? We didn’t know about her & we could have lived our lives without knowing about her bc she means nothing to the story. She is but a random Moffat/Gattis OC. Which is cool, IG???

But She adds NOTHING! to the story, she doesn’t provide character development, nothing. She may add stress to Sherlock when she abducts John. Yeah, but that’s minor & doesn’t mean much bc that’s just their constant dynamic they could have done the same thing with a rando abducting John off the street or whatever.

the silly flashbacks of their childhood??? Dumb, unimaginative, didn’t help Sherlock or Mycroft at all, only traumatized Sherlock to the point he completely blocked her out of his head, & my biggest issue with this is that their parents literally would not have dealt with a child like her the way they implied by shoving her away. Meeting Sherlock’s parents in season 2 show two loving, caring normal parents who don’t seem the type to do that to a child of theirs, specially forget them & not mention them during the holidays or whatever.

What doesn’t work with Season 4 is the fact that it just does not fit with the storyline. It was randomly put together with duck tape & chewing gum & it shows.

I appreciate the fan service they did to all of the Moriarty girlies. (Me included) bc god Do I love Andrew as Moriarty. But! They literally could have Added Moran instead of Euros & the story would of stayed the same but made even more sense bc Seb at least has an actual very real bone to pick with Holmes & I am not saying this bc I literally run a Sebastian Moran fan club with my two Moran Accounts. But because if they wanted to do the random “revenge” plot thing they did with Euron working with Jim before he died to get back at sherlock or Mycroft or whatever the fuck the plan was. It would have made a whole lot more sense of the whole shit show at the of season 4 somehow tied up to Jim’s “game” back in season 2 & we would have gotten to see Moriarty working with Moran to continue fucking with Holmes bc FUCK! that would have been a whole lot more compelling to the story & would have touched back to how Holmes NEEDS Moriarty to keep him stimulated. & if Jim places any type of interesting scheme to get his attention even after fucking death. Except he planned it before it. & Moran was in charged to continue that now then be it but fuck, I hate so much what they did to ma lads in season 4 😭😭😭

Since Sherlock Holmes is trending... I know yall love to shit on BBC Sherlock, saying how you only liked it back then bc you were cringe teens. I also know that the second they'd announce a 5th season, yall would keep crawling back immediatly.

I know bc I would.

[phantom-le6]

Ramble of the month March 2024: Phase 5 of the Batman Begins-Led DCEU

With April set aside for an autism-centric monthly ramble and February utilised for phase 5 of my 90’s-based alternate MCU, March takes on the role of show-casing phase 5 of my hypothetical Batman Begins-led DC film-verse.  As DC is more prone to content reboots than Marvel, this latest phase will actually ramp up to just such a reboot, with “phase 6” actually being phase 1 of a new DC film-verse.  Unlike the real DCEU, that reboot will be better planned, but first let’s re-cap the previous four phases.

Phase 1:

2005: Batman Begins

2006: Man of Steel

2007: Wonder Woman

2008: The Dark Knight, Green Lantern

2009: The Flash, Man of Steel 2

2010: Aquaman, Justice League

Phase 2:

2011: Wonder Woman 2, Green Lantern 2, Green Arrow

2012: Hawkman, Batman/Superman, Aquaman 2

2013: John Constantine, The Flash 2, Suicide Squad

2014: Justice League 2, Green Arrow 2, Batman: The Long Crusade

Phase 3:

2015: Shazam, Man of Steel 3, The Atom

2016: Wonder Woman 3, Batgirl, Teen Titans

2017: Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Shazam vs Black Adam, Suicide Squad 2

2018: Justice League: Darkseid Rising, Aquaman 3, Doom Patrol

Phase 4:

2019: Superman: Doomsday, New Gods, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

2020: Suicide Squad: Arkham, Knightfall, Green Arrow 3

2021: Reign of the Supermen, Green Lantern: Twilight, Knightsend

2022: Justice League: Armageddon, Teen Titans 3, Justice Society

Phase 1, of course, acts as a means of establishing the DC Universe for film fans prior to forming the Justice League.  Phase 2 then builds on that foundation while also causing a schism within the Justice League by adapting the “Tower of Babel” story arc into Justice League 2.  Green Arrow 2 then proves Batman’s point about safeguarding against rogue heroes, which some films in phase 3 follow up on.  Phase 4 then focuses on the falls of many heroes, some of which stay down and some of which return.  However, as phase 4 ended, Hal Jordan was revealed to have gone rogue, which phase 5 will pick up from.  This is how the phase 5 slate would shape up overall.

Phase 5:

2023: Justice League: World’s Finest, Nightwing, The Killing Joke

2024: Supergirl, Birds of Prey, Flashpoint

Compared to past phases, phase 5 is only half the size, and while the opening film deals with the issue of Hal Jordan becoming Parallax, most of the other films are one-shots or sequels to tell some interesting stories ahead of the Flashpoint film.  So, let’s start by taking a look at these various phase 5 films.

Justice League: World’s Finest (2023) Directed by The Russo Brothers

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

Diana/Wonder Woman = Kate Beckinsale

J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter = Chiwetel Ejiofor

Arthur Curry/Aquaman = Chris Pine

Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern II = Taylor Lautner

Wallace "Wally" West/Flash II = Calum Worthy

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan/Parallax = Ben Affleck

John Stewart = Derek Luke

Guy Gardner = Damian Lewis

Fire/Beatriz Bonilla da Costa = Selena Gomez

Ice/Tora Olafsdotter = Kristine Froseth

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

John Henry Irons/Steel = Aldis Hodge

Kara Zor-El/Supergirl = Dakota Fanning

Connor Hawke/Green Arrow II = Levon Hawke

Lex Luthor = Kelsey Grammer

Mercy Graves = Scarlett Johannsen

Koriand'r/Starfire = Elle Fanning

Dusk = Ella Balinska

Blackfire/Komand'r = Virginia Gardner

Ferro/Andrew Nolan = Garrett Wareing

Mon-El/Lar Gand = Milo Manheim

Brainiac-5/Querl Dox = Karan Brar

Saturn Girl/Imra Ardeen = Dove Cameron

Lightning Lad/Garth Ranzz = Tye Sheridan

Cosmic Boy/Rokk Kirnn = Dylan Minnette

Starman/Thom Kallor = Ty Simpkins

Dream Girl/Nura Nal = Sabrina Carpenter

Karate Kid/Val Armorr = Aramis Knight

Sensor Girl/Projectra = Angourie Rice

Amanda Waller = Viola Davis

Floyd Lawton/Deadshot = Christian Slater

Jaina Hudson/White Rabbit = Hayley Kiyoko

Eve Eden/Nightshade = Debby Ryan

Dr Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy = April Bowlby

Dr Niles Caulder/The Chief = Pierce Brosnan

Clifford Steele/Robot Man = Johnny Whitworth

Larry Trainor/Negative Man = Alessandro Nivola

Rita Farr/Elasti-Girl = Alyssa Milano

Mento/Steve Dayton = Nathan Fillion

Bumblebee/Karen Beecher = Kyla Pratt

Vox/Malcom Duncan = Donald Glover

This film is based on the events of the Justice League story arc The Final Hour, in which the Justice League and others try to stop an alien being called the Sun Eater from devouring Earth’s sun, only for Hal Jordan to ultimately sacrifice himself to save Earth by absorbing the Sun Eater and reigniting the sun.  The film version would be slightly different in numerous details, but by-and-large the main thrust of the story would remain the same.  The League would be the main focus, with Luthor, a few members of future super-team the Legion of Superheroes and a couple of others being heavily featured due to the story arc involved.  The Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad are also featured to lesser degrees during scenes showing the wider crisis in what is essentially a superhero disaster film.

Direction-wise, I’d put this film in the hands of the Russo brothers based on their work for the MCU, especially Infinity War and Endgame in the Avengers run of films.  Indeed, like Infinity War and Endgame, I also gave the Russos direction of Justice League: Armageddon to keep things consistent across both films.  In terms of cast, most cast members have appeared on prior films, with only the characters from Dusk down to Sensor Girl being new cast members coming in fresh on this film.

Nightwing (2023) Directed by Guy Ritchie

Richard Grayson/Robin/Nightwing = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Roland Desmond/Blockbuster = Adam Driver

Lady Elaine Marsh-Morton/Lady Vic = Florence Pugh

Talon/William Cobb = Evan Peters

Amy Rohrbach = Elizabeth Olsen

Elise Svoboda = Alexandra Stan

Gannon Malloy = Max Lloyd-Jones

Comissioner Gil Maclean = Michael Ealy

Mr Nice/James Nice = Sam Reid

In the first of our one-shot films, we get a solo outing for Batman’s original protégé Dick Grayson as he tries to clean up the corruption of Bludhaven by working for their local police force.  As the film progresses, Nightwing finds himself caught between local crime lord Blockbuster and a plot involving the infamous Court of Owls of Gotham legend.  Outside Patrick Schwarzenegger reprising the role of Dick Grayson, the cast is completely new to this DCEU, and in honour of his great work on crime-centric films, I’ve picked Guy Ritchie to serve in the director role.

The Killing Joke (2023) Directed by Christopher Nolan

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl = Bella Thorne

Tim Drake/Robin II = David Mazouz

The Joker = Willem Dafoe

Lucius Fox = Morgan Freeman

James "Jim" Gordon = Gary Oldman

Jeannie/Becky Moore = Georgie Henley

Comedian/Young Joker = David Corenswent

Patrolman Robert Moore = Grant Gustin

Mitch = Scott Eastwood

Murray = Drew Powell

Det. Harvey Bullock = Donal Logue

Det. Renee Montoya = Penelope Cruz

When DC and WB did an animated Killing Joke adaptation, they had the right idea in terms of expanding the story beyond the Alan Moore-written graphic novel.  However, they expanded it incorrectly by having an unrelated preceding 30 minutes that served more to facilitate Bruce Timm’s shipping of a Bruce-Barbara relationship than to make a well-expanded narrative.  This film begins with the Joker being apprehended, hatching his scheme in Arkham, and then a short while later, we get the original Killing Joke plot in the film’s middle.

The end is then expanded, first by taking from a prose novel adaptation I’ve read where Batman laughing with the Joker turns into Batman almost giving in to the temptation to kill Joker.  After this, Joker sees a woman who he thinks is the dead wife from his flashbacks and breaks out to “find the truth”.  When Batman confronts Joker for a third time, the question is left hanging as to whether the Joker’s past was true or not, and a post-credits scene sets up for Barbara becoming Oracle.  Direction-wise, I figure that only Christopher Nolan would do well adapting this material into a live-action narrative.  Casting-wise, the film is mostly existing cast reprising past roles, with only the characters linked to Joker’s back-story being fresh castings.

Supergirl (2024) Directed by Reese Witherspoon

Kara Zor-El/Supergirl = Dakota Fanning

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Cat Grant = January Jones

Jimmy Olsen = Rider Strong

Winslow Schott Jr. = David Henrie

Lena Luthor = Spencer Grammer

Zor-El = Henry Cavill

Alura Zor-El = Rebecca Hazelwood

Astra In-Ze = Rebecca Hazelwood

Non = Ryan McPartlin

Vartox = James Murray

Indigo/Brainiac-8 = Letitia Wright

Capt. Crispus Allen = Djimon Honsou

Det. Peter Foley = Matt Le Blanc

This film gives us a solo film outing for Supergirl that is partly based on the first season of the character’s Arrowverse TV show.  In other words, we see Kara starting out on her own life in another city and having to clash with her villainous aunt and uncle, as well as Indigo, a time-displaced villain in the Brainiac family tree.  For direction, I’ve picked Reese Witherspoon as I know in recent years she’s taken up production and is very passionate about female-led stories and story-telling, so I think she’d be a great fit to make a directorial debut on a character like Supergirl.

Birds of Prey (2024) Directed by Patty Jenkins

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

Barbara Gordon/Oracle = Bella Thorne

Cassandra Cain/Batgirl = Momona Tamada

Helena Bertinelli/Huntress II = Alexandra Daddario

Zinda Blake/Lady Blackhawk = Rita Ora

Det. Renee Montoya = Penelope Cruz

Noah Kuttler/Calculator = Tom Cavanagh

Scandal Savage = Katie Leung

Knockout = Ireland Baldwin

Thomas Blake/Catman = Luke Grimes

Floyd Lawton/Deadshot = Christian Slater

Bane = Rodrigo Santoro

For the penultimate phase 5 film, we’re giving the Birds of Prey super-team their chance to shine, albeit better than they did in the real DCEU.  More comics-accurate castings and character selections, including leaving out Harley Quinn (who, if you remember my phase 4 ramble, is killed off in the last Suicide Squad film).  In this film, we see Barbara recruit a number of street-level heroes to tackle a criminal group known as the Secret Six.  The film follows up on plot threads from Knightfall, Knightsend and Killing Joke, and also uses Cassandra Cain as Batgirl like in the comics, another elements the real DCEU Birds of Prey got wrong.  Patty Jenkins of the real DCEU’s Wonder Woman films helms the project from a directorial standpoint.

Flashpoint (2024) Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Barry Allen/The Flash = Matt Damon

Thomas Wayne/Flashpoint Batman = Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Oliver Queen/Green Arrow = Ethan Hawke

John Constantine = Matt Ryan

Jason Blood/Etrigan = Eddie Redmayne

Victor Stone/Cyborg = Ashton Sanders

Citizen Cold/Leonard Snart = Rob Lowe

Superman/Kal-El = Brandon Routh

Nora Allen = Cybill Shepherd

Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash = Jake Gyllenhaal

Diana/Wonder Woman = Kate Beckinsale

Arthur Curry/Aquaman = Chris Pine

Billy Batson/Shazam = Zachary Gordon/Zachary Levi

Freddy Freeman = Chandler Riggs

Darla Dudley = Quvenzhané Wallis

Mary Bromfield = Halston Sage

Eugene Choi = Hudson Yang

Pedro Peña = Rico Rodriguez

Hal Jordan = Ben Affleck

Martha Wayne/Flashpoint Joker = Marg Helgenberger

Yo-Yo = Margot Robbie

During the events of Justice League: Armageddon, Barry Allen’s Flash became lost in the timestream.  When he gets out, he enters an alternate reality where Aquaman and Wonder Woman are at war, and many heroes are missing or dead, including Barry’s speedster alter ego.  Thus begins a mission to learn the truth of why events have changed, and the climax will reboot the DCEU.  While this film simply uses the title of Flashpoint, it’s based more on the DC animated version from the DCAMU as that’s the main Flashpoint story I’ve seen and recall.  Of course, the rest of the alternative DCEU I’ve laid out prior to this film alters some other aspects as well, including how Barry exits the timestream and why history was changed.  Direction-wise, I had to pick Robert Zemeckis just because as the guy who directed the Back to the Future trilogy and the 2009 Disney version of A Christmas Carol, he is probably the best director for anything with a time travel component.

This concludes our phase 5 for the alternate DCEU, and this specific version of the DCEU.  When I do phase 6 on my 90’s MCU, the first (and for now only) phase of my rebooted hypothetical DCEU will be hot on its heels.  So, until next time, ta-ta for now.

[drandrewptrusslermd]

Dr Andrew Trussler

Selecting a plastic surgeon could be a difficult and confusing process. Wading by copious quantities of information, listening to buddies and factoring in value can make a very individual resolution overwhelming.Dr. Trussler, a plastic surgeon located in Austin TX, emphasizes safety and explaining what works and what doesn’t. Most significantly, he's actual in the often not so real world of plastic surgery.

He is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgical procedure with specialty coaching as a cosmetic surgeon. He has been featured in quite a few publications including the Consumer’s Research Council’s “Information to America’s Top Surgeons” and was lately included in Marquis’ “Who’s Who in the United States for 2012.” Dr. Trussler has additionally acquired a number of awards for his scientific contributions to the sphere of plastic surgery. As a plastic surgeon, he has lectured internationally on the topic of cosmetic surgery and has authored numerous manuscripts and book chapters.

Dr. Trussler received his undergraduate degree in Exercise Physiology from the College of Southern California. He graduated Cum Laude and was additionally a four-year member of the lads’s varsity swimming team, the place he was All-American. He obtained quite a few scholar athletic awards over the course of his collegiate career. Dr. Trussler went on to graduate Summa Cum Laude from the Keck Faculty of Drugs at the College of Southern California. He was a Dean’s Scholar and a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. After finishing his common surgical procedure residency at the University of Michigan, he obtained his cosmetic surgery training on the University of California, Los Angeles and then his one-12 months aesthetic surgery fellowship at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Heart at Dallas, where he later began his practice in 2007.

He was an Assistant Professor within the Department of Plastic Surgery from 2007 to 2012 the place he served as the director of each the beauty residency and fellowship applications, in addition to the co-director of the stomach wall reconstruction program. He now resides in Austin TX together with his spouse and 5 youngsters, and practices in the Westlake area.

With 15 million folks getting a plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery process carried out within the United States yearly alone, chances are you may be contemplating Trussler joining that statistic. Nevertheless, even in case you have reached some conclusion on the procedure or area you would like to work on, let’s take a second to think about some missed areas earlier than your first procedure.

Plastic and beauty surgical procedure have superior exponentially, both within the number of surgeries performed and in addition within the expertise and medical experience applied. Now, more than ever is the safest time to get cosmetic surgery and obtain your finest results. Though cosmetic surgery can perform miracles equivalent to combating against growing old, reversing the effects of injury, and even serving to you attain your aesthetic goals, cosmetic surgery isn't magic.

Although some procedures have nearly no downtime, other procedures definitely do. And should you endure a set of procedures, for example, what happens sometimes throughout a mommy makeover, you'll most definitely expertise disruptions to your routine as you heal. Not only must you factor in relaxation and recovery durations when taking a look at your calendar however you even have to think about the timing because it pertains to your life. If you’re still planning on growing your loved ones by means of being pregnant or are still nursing, it’s finest to wait till your physique faces some consistency to get the most out of plastic surgery.

Rhinoplasty is the surgical altering of the nose, usually for cosmetic purposes. Nonetheless, not all rhinoplasties are created equally. In truth, it’s estimated that as much as 20% of patients return to have their rhinoplasties redone or revised. That’s roughly 1 in 5 patients. With such a excessive rate of revision, it's possible you'll begin to marvel why this happens. Let’s take a look at some reasons why somebody would need a revision rhinoplasty. Many of the reasons somebody would get a revision rhinoplasty involve some mistake made by the surgeon or necessities by the patient. However, some individuals need revision rhinoplasty even when the process went perfectly. This is often because they merely aren’t proud of the results. They could really feel that the change was too drastic or perhaps too subtle.

A scooped profile is when your nose has a scooped appearance when taking a look at it from the side. This normally occurs when an excessive amount of cartilage or bone tissue is removed while attempting to make the nostril seem smaller. Some individuals’s noses naturally have a scooped profile, but their bone structure is often designed to help it. A scooped profile may be undesirable aesthetically and trigger structural issues inside the nose.

A pinched nostril mostly appears as a pinched nose tip. This could trigger the nostrils to turn out to be pinched as effectively and deform. The nostrils usually look like slits or very thin ovals with a pinched nose. That is often attributable to too much cartilage being faraway from the nose. This will cause respiration issues and often seems unnatural. A successful rhinoplasty, and any cosmetic procedure, depends on having the fitting surgeon. Dr. Andrew Trussler is a cosmetic surgeon who provides rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty. Dr. Trussler believes in being actual with his sufferers and explaining what works and what doesn’t. If a sure rhinoplasty need would cause any deformity, then he will inform his patient and provide different options. Dr. Trussler will get it proper the first time and helps patients get it proper the second time with revision rhinoplasty.

[scotianostra]

On February 25th 1888 a conference advocated the adoption of leaving certificates in Scottish schools.

Scotland has long enjoyed an international reputation as historically one of the best-educated societies in the world. The foundation for this reputation was laid in the 17th century and was the result of Calvinist emphasis on reading the Bible. Putting men and women in touch with the word of God was seen by the Scottish authorities and clergy as of paramount importance. To achieve this goal schools paid for by the Church of Scotland and local landowners were established in all rural parishes and burghs by an Act of Parliament in 1696. These educational establishments were run by the Church and were open to all boys and girls regardless of social status.

The democratic nature of the Scottish system so impressed the 18th century writer Daniel Defoe that he remarked that while England was a land ‘full of ignorance’, in Scotland the 'poorest people have their children taught and instructed’. The openness of the Scottish system ran all the way from the schoolroom to the university. A talented working class boy the 'lad o'pairts’ through intelligence and hard work and by utilising a generous system of bursaries was able to gain a university education, something largely unthinkable in England in the 18th century.

That’s not to say it was perfect on further inspection I found out that even in 1892 when all elementary and most secondary education became free, and scholarships were more widely available, few working-class children were able to take advantage of the opportunity. Only just under 5% of pupils attended a secondary school in Scotland in 1897. The real priority for children from working-class backgrounds was to find work and begin earning a wage.

For a small nation Scotland was particularly well-endowed with universities, boasting five in the 19th century - a figure which included Aberdeen’s Marischal and King’s Colleges. The universities were considered to be national, public institutions and, therefore, less elitist than Oxford or Cambridge in England. Because of this they were said to be more open to working people and, indeed, over 18% of the student population of Glasgow university in 1860 was from working-class backgrounds, quite a high number considering the low percentages of working class children who were educated.

The existence of a substantial number of workingclass students has given rise to the view that universities in Scotland were more democratic and based more on merit than the class-ridden universities of England. The wider implication was that Scotland was a less class obsessed society than England.

Again all was not as it seemed, and while we had a working class getting into University, the system was somewhat broken in a way. At Glasgow University in 1889-90, out of 225 students taking the junior Latin class 200 failed. The quality of university education in Scotland was generally poor and inferior to that offered in England. The low quality was mainly due to the fact that there was no university entrance examination and, therefore, children could enter the system as early as fourteen or fifteen, the 1888 act would possibly put this to rights.

As a result, philosophy, which had previously formed the core of the arts degree, was made optional. Students were also forced to compete for bursaries and this acted as an unofficial entrance examination. The setting up in 1901 of the Carnegie Trust Fund, set up by the great philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, provided a further source of assistance and by 1930 70% of university students in Scotland were receiving awards from the fund.

The numbers of students in higher education institutions increased from 4,400 in 1830 to 6,000 in 1900, to 10,000 in 1938. At Glasgow University, working-class students increased as a percentage of the total, from 18.6% in 1860 to 24% in 1910.

The period from 1900 to the outbreak of War in 1939 did not witness the same degree of change in the educational system as had occurred in the 19th century. However, there were important developments in the sphere of primary and secondary education. These changes did little to alter the class bias of education, but collectively they made important contributions to the

creation of an all encompassing modern educational system in Scotland. Education in Scotland has been the subject of much myth-making as regards the openness of the system and the quality of provision. In the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, the educational system catered mainly for an elite section of Scottish society. Although the door to higher education was more open than in England, workers and their families, women and Catholics in general were excluded. For these groups, education was sparse and the quality poor.

Legislation gradually improved the access of all groups to better education, but it was only after the introduction of comprehensive education in 1965 that attempts were made to provide adequate standards for all children in Scotland.

[jrpneblog]

Old Boys Reunion

It will be somewhat of an old boys reunion at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday as North End take on Stoke City in the Championship. Off the field Alex Neil and Paul Gallagher will be in the home dug out and, potentially, on the field will be Ben Pearson and Daniel Johnson. For my money these old boys owe North End nothing as all gave good service to the club, but maybe the comments attributed to Ben Pearson on his departure to Bournemouth left a slight acidic taste in the mouth. North End travel to the Potteries in 5th place in the Championship following three wins and a draw in our first four games and on the back of a stirring comeback last week at home to Swansea City. To be honest I would take anything at Stoke on Saturday because North End have already accumulated the ten points they wanted from the opening five games up to the first international break.

Looking back to last week and a great result for North End after being a goal down at home to the Swans. The visitors played some good football and the signs were ominous when they took the lead just after the half hour. Such is North End`s spirit so far this season that we dusted ourselves down at half time and came out to give a much better account of ourselves. The substitution, bringing on Ali McCann and the formation change did the trick as first Andrew Hughes and then Duane Holmes scored the goals that gave North End the points in a game that we just about shaded on the day. Managers are often criticised when a sub or a formation change goes wrong but all credit to Ryan Lowe last Saturday as he got the tactics spot on in the second half.

It should be a really good atmosphere down in North Staffordshire this weekend with North End easily selling out their allocation of 2,608 tickets for the game. We seem to have a good recent record at Stoke with our last defeat being fifteen years ago. At the time of writing (Friday lunchtime) we still have not signed a striker to help out Will Keane, who I have to say has been excellent in the first four league games. Stoke have made quite a few additions to their squad and there is no doubt that this will be a tough test for North End. However, this is a stadium where the home fans can soon get on the backs of their players if things dont start very well. I expect the manager to make just one change to the side that started last week and that will be McCann coming in for Holmes in the middle of the Park, barring any last minute signings, of course. As I said earlier I would happily take a point but North End are on a roll so we go with high hopes of another good day on the road.

And finally this week:- a little reminder last weekend that Kian Best has only just celebrated his eighteenth birthday and as such deserves plenty of latitude from the Preston faithful. I said after the Bristol game that he is very good going forward but will have to work on his defensive duties as per the Swansea goal last weekend. Nevertheless I think the lad is a fantastic prospect and if he gets 20 games in the Championship this season that will enhance his ability and stock more than a hundred youth games could. Be patient with the lad, he is going to be a real good `un.

.

MATCH PREDICTION - STOKE CITY (A) League: DRAW

.

JR`s HIGH FIVES

Swansea City to beat Bristol City 11/10

A £5 Stake returns £10.50 on bet365

SEASONS STATS

Returns £30.50 Stake £20.00

Percentage profit+/-loss + 52.50%

Predictions 4 won 3 lost 1.

[sinematically]

🪄thoughts on Dr Strange: Multiverse of Madness🪄 long post and will contain spoilers under the read more

Disclaimer: I enjoyed the movie but this somewhat review will contain some major criticisms.

When Martin Scorsese said MCU films aren’t real cinema, and the MCU fans consume films like one would enjoy a theme park. I don’t think he’s wrong but I don’t fully agree with him either, but, MoM is the best example (if there was any). I’m not sure how to properly put this into words. I’ll give it a few days to see if I can do this thought justice. But know that I genuinely think MoM is the best example for this opinion.

Goddamn that plot was MESSY. Three act structure whomst???? (Extremely derogatory). My film studies teacher would have destroyed that script, gave it a D- and a whole month to rework it because that’s how much time it would need. There’s a Lad Bible interview Cumberbatch and Olsen did. They were describing how often things would change, how the morning of the shoot they would get brand new info. It’s very evident in the pacing of the movie.

MoM would need a 6-episode show, with 45-60 whole minute per ep, to fully do justice to the characters. The lack of character development, or effective character development was a little sad. The pacing is my biggest issues with this movie because they’re just bringing in SO many things into one film when they cannot afford that rn

It’s basically a horror movie in a lot of ways. It was visually stunning and absolutely lovely in so many ways. The music!! (And that fight scene w the music ohmygod) I love it.

Spoilers here on out.

Dr Strange, sir, I’m sorry this wasn’t your movie. Literally so many things happened, I wish I got to see how you processed the snap and the “dust for 5 years” thing. I’m glad you gave us a better quote to express love I love you 3000 was kinda ????, (like a friend said, it’s superior). “I’d love you in any universe” was wonderful (and I might get the exact wording wrong, sue me, I’m still drunk)

WONG MY BELOVED. You deserve to be Sorcerer Supreme!! Ur amazing and can do no wrong. Beloved <3

America Chavez!! You’re super cool and I cannot wait to see the cool shit you do. But also, I’m going to acknowledge that they’re brining a new character without putting in the work? To me it seems like they introduced her with no personality and a tragic back story. Do MCU women have any real backstory other than “a tragic event thats entirely (female characters) fault or something they should feel shame/take blame for?”

Replacing Irondad-Spiderson with a Strange & Chavez, Father-Daughter relationship I see. It’s cute, fanfics will be fun. Can’t wait to block the inevitable ship name.

Christine, I’m glad that in every universe, you’re prioritising yourself and your sanity instead of dating a man too afraid to be vulnerable. Good for you, girl!!

WANDA. I have so many thoughts!! You might get your own post??? She’s so powerful, I love it. Even though I think it was a horrible way to show her power, watching her destroy the Illuminati was awesome. The whole bit where she used her Intelligence and the reflections was a 11/10 better way to show her formidable nature. I think there’s some major cognitive dissonance in her motives. If she knows that she can create her own world through sheer emotions, then why would she need to go to another universe??? If you’re telling me she feels guilt, and that’s why she won’t hurt the humans on earth-616, then how do you explain her being ok with taking away another Wanda’s babies for herself? Anyway. Thinking thoughts. Feel free to explain I guess? Idk.

The fucking Illuminati!!!!!!!!!! This is a whole thing bro

First of all, REED RICHARDS??? THEY KEPT KRASINSKI’S CASTING HIDDEN?? Alleged Tom Cruise was a fucking phenomenal distraction, I’m in AWE. Andrew Garfield could NEVER!!!! Everyone else on that cast list we had strong inklings but ufh Mr. Fantastic that was GG as fuck. (Also I think I read Tom Cruise and Haley Attwell were dating so maybe the whole Tom Cruise Ironman came from him visiting her on set? Idk)

Now to shit on it.

You’re telling me the smartest man in their universe, Who voted on killing their Strange for Dreamwalking the darkhold magic, didn’t anticipate Scarlet Witch’s power????? Even if he did anticipate it, why would you tell her about Black Bolt’s power!!! God that was DUMB. Good to see u Mr. Jim Kraskinski but you deserve to be noodle string cheesed. The fam service is great tho, and I really hope we see Kraskinski-Blunt and Evans in a new Fantastic 4 movie

CAPTAIN CARTER I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! Thank you for not bringing Steve into her narrative in any way what so ever. Thank you for the “I can do this all day” It’s lovely!!!! She’s Amazing and strong, but like I said killing her off was just meh move. I like that you did it that way? But idk,,, I want to see more of her so maybe Marvel will listen to their fans again and give us more!!!

Black Bolt, why did I think Ben Affleck played you?? You died in a super fucked up way and honestly, thank you for that. Your death was refreshing and will scar at least one (1) child, and idk if that’s a good thing but, parents definitely need to adhere to the movie ratings on this one.

PROFESSOR X!! I love you, I missed you, you were dressed like your husband (Mr. Magneto) when you died why was that??? I hate that Wanda killed you but I missed you. So much. I love you.

CAP MARVEL MARIA YOUR AWESOME but I wanna see more of you also if ur Cap then where Carol and did you still have a kid? What happened?? I wanna see more!!!!!!

Okay I think that’s mostly it. Closing notes, could do better, y’all threw character development out of the window. Randomly introducing new powers, characters and strengths is a little weak in terms of writing. Employee foreshadowing instead of expecting your fans to watch over 20 hours of content. It was good but you could do a lot better.

I will not watch it in the movies again, and I watch NWH like 3 times full priced tix.