#meet toni swan

[leojrthetanooki]

so i attempted a thing

based on chopper's sprite from one piece battle colosseum

sprite made by dimps and ripped by grim of spritedatabase.net

[longwuzhere]

Some cool Easter eggs I caught watching My Adventures with Superman that I want to show to people so they can be in on it with comic book readers

My episode 1 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 2 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 3 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 4 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 5 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 6 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 7 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here and here

My episode 8 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 9 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

(SPOILERS if you haven't seen the show yet):

We start things off with Jor-El and Clark meeting and like the last time, Jor-El speaking in Kryptonese much like how Jor-El in the comics did in Man of Steel #6 (1986)...

as seen in this panel (W&P: John Byrne, I: Dick Giordano, C: Tony Zuiko, L: John Costanza) where Clark meets a ghostly projection of his father at night speaking Krypton's native tongue to him. BTW Man of Steel (1986) is a fantastic read. Highly recommend finding it at your local comic shop.

After Lois, Jimmy and Clark get promoted from interns to reporters at the Daily Planet we see the three of them will be having Thanksgiving with the Kents. Ma Kent shows Lois the newspaper she framed that all three of them wrote much like how her comic book counterpart made a scrap book out of the newspaper headlines of Clark's various heroic adventures in Man of Steel #1 (1986) as seen here in the panel (W&P: John Byrne, I: Dick Giordano, C: Tony Zuiko, L: John Costanza).

The camera then moves and see see kid Clark and the things he did back then. The baseball photo kinda reminds me of this fantastic moment in Batman/Superman #3 (2013) by Greg Pak, Yildiray Cinar, Matt Lackey and John Kalisz, and Rob Leigh:

On Earth-2 Clark and Bruce met as young kids after the car, Alfred drove broke down and both had some fun playing baseball. It's a very cute flashback that highlights no matter where in the multiverse, a Superman-Batman friendship is constant.

Lois's father shows up to the Thanksgiving dinner and I got double confirmation now that it is General Sam Lane. I talked more about his deal here.

Later in the episode we have the awkward parents and their children who are dating each other moment and General Lane here asks if Clark was in the military. In one non-canon series, Superman Year One by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr., Clark signs up for the military after high school. Kind of a weird miniseries, not the best Superman comic, not the worst at least.

Things go from bad to worse when the area where Clark landed activates thanks to the presence of Kryptonite from the League of Lois Lanes sphere that held it and we see that symbol on the robots that the giant ship sends and on this person at the end of the episode. If you know your DC universe, that symbol belongs to Brainiac and we can conclude that the one with the symbol on their head is Brainiac as well.

Brainiac makes his first appearance in Action Comics #242 (1958) (cover art by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye). At this point Brainiac was a "twelve level" intellect alien who shrunk cities for his collection to help repopulate his dead planet, one of the cities is Krypton's capital city, Kandor. Several retcons later we learn that Brainiac is a robot created by the Computer Tyrants of Colu, Brainiac's home planet to spy and conquer worlds. The Brainiac that has a closer connection to Clark and his Kryptonian people kinda like what MAwS is doing was in Superman the Animated Series...

where Krypton was very depended on their AI, Brainiac who then screwed them all over when the planet was about to explode and saved his metal ass and has then became a thorn at Superman's side in the cartoon ever since. MAwS is doing something similar as we see Brainiac's symbol on the robots that were deployed from the ship and the very robotic looking body Brainiac has at the end of the episode.

As we see Clark try to stop the portal and ship, he breaks into the hull and battles the robots in it. As he's getting pummeled, AI Jor-El helps neutralize the robots. It's kinda the same idea that what Man of Steel (the movie) was trying to go for when Lois was on Zod's ship and AI Jor-El was helping her navigate throughout the place. As I said before in the last post, Shin Ultraman is a better Superman movie (and a highly recommend watching) than what Zack Snyder was trying to do in Man of Steel.

We wrap up episode 10 with the Kents, Lois, and Jimmy enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner and we see that Jonathan was able to get the turkey to temperature so Clark heats it more with his heat vision. Superman sometimes does this do heat very mundane things like coffee as seen in this panel of Super Sons #9 (2017) (W: Peter Tomasi, P&I: Jorge Jimenez, C: Alejandro Sanchez, L: Rob Leigh). Highly recommend reading Super Sons and watching the animated movie too!

Congrats to Jimmy on selling Flamebird for $5.6 million. I talk more about flamebird here. Missed opportunity to have it be $5.2 million cuz DC's love of the number 52, but whatever.

The final scene of the episode gives us this moment where Brainiac tells this Kryptonian Warrior a planet they can conquer. The warrior then states that Earth will kneel. The most infamous Kryptonian that likes to mention conquered people kneeling is General Zod and so this character here might be Zod. No confirmation yet but I'm like 99% sure. When we get a confirmation, I'll talk more about Zod later.

And with that we are done with season 1 of My Adventures with Superman and if you made it this far be sure to check out my other easter eggs post:

My episode 1 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 2 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 3 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 4 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 5 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 6 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 7 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here and here

My episode 8 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 9 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[kandisheek]

FIC REC WEEK 21 – ULTIMATES

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: valtyr

I feel like valtyr could write any genre ever and I'd just gobble it up. Their Ultimates fics in particular have been in my bookmarks for quite some time, because I constantly get the urge to re-read them. So if you haven't read all of their works already, I hope I can convince you to give them a go for yourself.

Here's some of their work that I think you should check out:

How Not To Build A Jetpack

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 3,749 Tags: Never Have I Ever, Smut, Sexual Exploration

Summary: The team play games. Tony and Steve exchange surprising truths.

Reasons why I love it: The first couple of sentences leading into this fic are a very accurate representation of how I believe Tony's mind probably works. I love the hopeful ending, and the smut is just amazing, it kept me hooked the entire time. Definitely read this one if you haven't, it's so good!

White Rabbit

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 1,717 Tags: Multiverse, Pining, Smut

Summary: Marvel Adventures Tony Stark meets Ultimate Steve Rogers.

Reasons why I love it: I like to think that after this, they both get their happy ending. I don't know why pairing up these two versions of them works so well in my brain, but it really does. The smut is amazing, and I love the emotional moments in between. I love this fic, and you should absolutely read it!

Art of War

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 1,297 Tags: Marriage Proposal, Surprise Sex, Scheming Steve

Summary: Steve Rogers has a brilliant tactical mind, and he's not afraid to use it.

Reasons why I love it: Oh my god, I can't believe Steve did that, but also, I totally can. Tony's inner monologue is so funny, he's completely in over his head. And I love how nonchalantly Steve swans right back out after. This fic is amazing, and you should definitely read it!

Tears Will Be Mandatory For This Event

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: G Words: 998 Tags: Same Sex Marriage, Humor, Fluff

Summary: Written for the Cap-Ironman post celebrating the NY marriage same-sex marriage laws - Ultimate Steve and Tony respond to the new laws.

Reasons why I love it: I love how matter-of-fact they both are in this one. It's funny and yet somehow still kind of sweet at the same time, even though they feel like that obnoxious couple that's already been married for 300 years. I love it! Definitely check this one out, it's awesome!

Pillow Biter

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: M Words: 1,129 Tags: Vampire Steve, Humor, Biting

Summary: Steve/Tony Vampire!Steve AU. Steve is out looking for a bite to eat, and Tony's just looking for a way out.

Reasons why I love it: Tony is such a little shit, oh my god, I love it! Poor Steve being subjected to the vampire equivalent of dad jokes, but hey, you can't argue with the outcome! I love this fic, and you should definitely read it, if you haven't already!

[jgroffdaily]

Jonathan Groff won the 2002 Beth Bash Memorial Award at the annual High School Theatre Festival at the Fulton Opera House. He directed and starred in production of the musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," that a Conestoga Valley High School took to the festival. Groff won a Tony Award Sunday, June 16.

'Always gave 150%': Directors, actors remember Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff as eager young performer

MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff Writer

When Ronks native Jonathan Groff took to the stage Sunday night, June 16, to accept his first Tony Award he paid tribute to where he grew up. He thanked his family, his teachers and people he has been in musicals with.

He was humble, grateful and, well, nice.

None of that surprised those in Lancaster County who have known him since he was a teenage actor. When Groff was young, they recalled in interviews Monday afternoon, he was already a passionate theater professional and a hard worker — and, yes, already humble, kind and grateful.

They were also thrilled that he won a Tony Award (for best leading actor in a musical, for “Merrily We Roll Along”), but not really surprised, given the talent they saw in a young Groff.

“Jonathan was always so respectful to everyone,” Edward Fernandez, artistic director of Ephrata Performing Arts Center, said. “He was a director’s dream, quite honestly. ... He was born professional.”

Fernandez directed Groff as one of the Lost Boys in “Peter Pan” at what was known in 1999 as the Fulton Opera House.

“His voice was changing; that’s what I remember,” Fernandez said.

Later, at EPAC, Fernandez directed in the 2002 musical “Honk!” in which Groff played Ugly — the swan-in-a-duck’s nest who’s the subject of the “ugly duckling” fairy tale. There’s a moment in the show when Ugly hatches from an egg and utters his first honk, Fernandez said.

“I’ll never forget this. When he comes out of that egg and does his first honk, you knew you were seeing a star being born,” Fernandez said. “Whatever ‘it’ is, he had ‘it.’”

Groff’s middle-school English and drama teacher, Sue Fisher, saw “it” when Jonathan played the lead in Conestoga Valley Middle School’s eighth-grade play, “Best of the West.”

“He wanted it so badly,” Fisher said. “He worked hard. He was constantly focused, and when he was on stage, he was magnetic. ... He would never drop his character once he was on stage. He would be so immersed in this person he had created. And it was something I didn’t see much coming from middle school actors.”

Fisher had the distinction of being singled out in Groff’s speech as he thanked his former teachers.

“After he said ‘especially Sue Fisher,’ I have no idea what he said after that,” she said. “Because that’s where I completely lost it.” She appreciated that Groff acknowledged the impact all his teachers have had on his life.

“My phone started blowing up as soon as the applause started at the end of Jonathan’s speech,” she noted.

Fisher stays in touch with Groff. They text frequently, and she goes to see his shows in New York — and always brings him homemade chocolate chip cookies.

“People always ask me the same question: ‘Is he really as nice as he appears to be?’ And the answer is yes, absolutely,” Fisher said

“He is the most humble and grateful person that you would ever meet,” Fisher said. “He’s kind and generous. ... He doesn’t like to talk about himself. He wants to find out about you. He’s interested in people.

“He talks about gratitude. He talks about the impact other people have had on him and how grateful he is for that,” Fisher said. “That is the hallmark of him.”

Groff also gives back to his mentors in Lancaster County. He has visited school classes, performed in benefit concerts for EPAC and did a voiceover video for a nonprofit Fisher is involved in.

“I’m so happy for Jonathan,” Fernandez said. “But what makes me really happy for him in my heart ... is how brave he is and the path he has chosen, to be honest to others about himself. .... He’s a trailblazer.”

Groff is openly gay, has starred in the LGBTQ+ TV series “Looking” and mentioned coming out at age 23 in his Tony speech.

“It’s not about the accolades,” Fernandez added. “It’s about the choices he has made and what that means to other .... LGBTQ [young people] who feel marginalized, and they have him as a guiding star, which I didn’t have when I was a kid.”

Longtime local actor Tricia Corcoran, now in the cast of “The Full Monty” at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, appeared in “Honk!” and 2004’s “Bat Boy: The Musical” at EPAC with Groff.

“He would come to rehearsals and just give 150 percent at every rehearsal,” Corcoran said. "Knowing his lines, knowing his songs, sang full out at every rehearsal, knew his blocking, knew his words.

“He was always joyful and happy to be there,” she said. “He never complained about anything. The adults were like, ‘We have to up our game to keep up with this kid.’

Kevin Ditzler, long involved in theater in Lancaster County and director of the spring musicals at Lampeter-Strasburg High School, was house manager for EPAC’s production of “Honk!”

When Ditzler was cleaning the theater before every performance, he’d see a teenage Groff “put on roller skates and start skating around on EPAC’s floor. Every night on roller skates, making sure it was safe, making sure it was right.”

Corcoran said Groff taught himself to roller skate for one scene in which Ugly learns to swim — just like he taught himself anything he was asked to do on stage.

Ditzler said he tells his L-S students who want to go into theater as a career to follow Groff’s example.

“That’s the only way you’re going to find success,” he tells them. “You want to get it right, you have to try and try and try and do that extra work. Jonathan is the perfect representation of that work ethic.”

(Ditzler is also associate director of development for WITF, LNP’s parent company.)

Fisher added that she appreciated Groff mentioning being from Lancaster in his Tony speech.

“What a great shout-out for Lancaster County and Lancaster County values,” she added. “Jonathan’s proud of that. He’s proud that he’s from here. And we are so proud that he is from here, too.”

In 2004's campy musical "Bat Boy," at Ephrata Performing Arts Center, Jonathan Groff, right, played a half boy-half bat who couldn't control his murderous urges. With Groff is "victim" Andrew Kindig, and Kristen Comyns as Bat Boy's love interest

Jonathan Groff, left, performs a duet with his former director, Edward Fernandez, at a 2007 benefit for the Ephrata Performing Arts Center.

[smolsawyer]

Golden Swan (Zlatá Labuť) - The complete Irlena story (82/84)

Fangirling: Yes girls, fight over a loaded gun what bad could happen right? (facepalm) because stray bullets are every lesbian's friend since 2002 :X Irena being brave, taking all the blame and Alena running in literally begging Gruber to shoot her instead? They love each other so much I can't *cries* <3

Further plot: Petr and Toni meet Gruber and they both try to take the blame for the bomb, but the only person Gruber wants is Irena. Gruber orders his men to shoot one employee every five minutes until Irena gives herself up to him. (both happens between those two scenes in the video)

Credit for subtitles: @ ScorpiStraub on twitter

Please reblog to save a lesbian life :D and also to spread their love story <3

[bbotan]

Headcanon/Ramble ask

Anything about the Swans/Fans I am begging /hj

it took me long enough to get to this .. my sincerest apologies waa

okay ! as reimbursement i will write for all of them , thank you for asking~

The fans headcanons !

starting off with ...

Alex and Ash

Alex and Ash are probably some of the closest siblings you'll ever meet, but that doesn't mean they don't have their fair share of sibling rivalry. They're twins, but Ash is more of a little brother to Alex and loves to torment him with that sort of dynamic [with love!!!]

Ash is sort of a fuckboy type of guy and posts thirst traps on social media but never really gets any kind of engagement on his posts, Alex will humiliate him by asking him in front of the rest of the fans if his latest post got any women in his DMs yet.

Alex also has her drivers license, but Ash doesn't [he's tried so many times and failed …], so she has to put up with him begging her to stop at McDonald's on the way home or to their next mission. If she feels like lovingly bullying Ash that day, she'll just order a coffee for herself and nothing for her brother.

But the worst [and most fatal] mistake you can make is hurting either one of them. Ash is very protective of his sister as Alex is of him, as much as they like being dicks to one another, they're really each others best friends in the whole wide world. Alex was catcalled once and Ash responded by beating the absolute shit out of the guy until he was an unrecognizable pulp. They also got Ash's burger king order wrong once so Alex yelled at the cashiers for him [EQUALITY]

Corey

Though she has the potential to be a pretty vicious killer, Corey is quiet most of the time and doesn't speak unless she's prompted to or she just really to get a word or two in. She'll go along quietly with the rest of the gang's plans, but that doesn't mean she's submissive or anything, she's actually quite capable of standing up for herself when the time comes.

Corey has heavy anxiety and depression that she keeps hidden because she doesn't want to be worried about, the fans were her first real group of friends which keeps her contemplating if she really wanted to be part of this or not.

She wishes she could get closer to Alex, mostly because she's the only other girl in the group and she admires the swan for being much more courageous than Corey could ever see herself being. Corey wishes she could become better friends with the rest of the fans in general.

She's a lone drinker rather than a typically social one, she'll tag along if asked specifically but outside of that she feels too embarrassed and self conscious to be seen in a vulnerable state like that.

Tony

Tony grew up in a military family and was taught in his youth that as a man, he shouldn't show his emotions at all unless it was anger or bravery. Without someone to properly support him, he ended up projecting his emotions onto everyone and tends to be quite stubborn in what he believes in. Everything has to be traditional. He has to be strong. If he doesn't die for his country than what more is he than a cowardly bastard?

He spent his childhood living on a military base so he was always quite isolated and never was able to make real friends if it weren't in things like football or other "masculine" activities. Ironically though, he was always really shy about talking to the girls he liked.

Beneath that hard, confident shell lies an emotional and caring man, but he doesn't feel like he has the means to truly express just how much he appreciates his friends.

He likes Corey but doesn't know how to approach her without scaring her off... So he just watches from a distance and hopes in silence that one day he'll get the confidence to talk to her.

Mark

Mark is one of the coolest people you could ever meet, if you ignore the obvious fact that he kills people. He's also a very non-judgmental person, so you can talk to him about almost anything without feeling like he's criticizing you secretly.

He's definitely the father/big brother figure of the group so a lot of the fans, even Corey at times, will go to him for advice. If he sees two of his friends fighting he'll peacefully break it up as well if he thinks it's possible, if not then he'll just mind his own business.

He smokes a lot of weed with Alex after missions, he tried [and failed] to get the others into it as a nice way to relax after committing mass murder but nobody else really accepts. Ash will tag along though occasionally.

thank you so much for the ask !! if anyone is interested , my inbox is still open for requests and i appreciate anything i get :]

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers West Coast #51: I SING OF ARMS AND HEROES...

November, 1989

Guess who's BACK... and guess who aren't too sure they're HAPPY about it...

Well, Hank and Jan don't look too happy about it. Neither does US Agent. Lookit him frown, the gwumpy pumpkin. Wonder Man looks like he has dull surprise going on. I cannot fathom Robot Human Torch's expression. The man would do great at poker. Wanda looks like she's offended. That's a "how dare?!" expression if I've seen one. And Vision looks like he's staring directly at the sun and isn't sure why people keep screaming at him to stop.

So my guess is that Hank, Jan, John, and Wanda aren't happy about it and the others may or may not be happy about it.

They might have been more pleased to see Iron Man if he hadn't just flown through a perfectly good wall for no reason.

Last times in Avengers West Coast: Iron Man left the West Coast Avengers because of the Armor Wars arc in his own book. Wow, that was a while ago.

At the end of Armor Wars, Iron Man faked his own death by letting the government blow up an armor full of blood. When more Iron Manning was needed, Tony Stark just built a new suit and claimed he'd hired a new bodyguard/superhero.

And now, all these issues later, he's back to rejoin the Avengers because he's become more dependent on his armor due to stuff happening in his solo. He figures more time stuck in the armor, might as well be putting it to good use.

Also happening, Wanda has had the worst fucking period of her life (so far). Her husband got disassembled by the government, her teammates don't seem to care, her children keep blinking in and out of existence whenever she's not paying attention, evil bacteria shoved her full of goo until she became a mutant supremacist, the robot Human Torch came back to life to take the hottest robot on the team role from Vision. Just a lot going on!

I sure did talk about Wanda a lot in this issue featuring Iron Man.

Anyway.

Iron Man.

What a shiny guy he is.

Yeah. The Avengers (West Coast) aren't thrilled to see Iron Man.

Because: who even is this Iron Man?

US Agent John Walker is not privy to all the details of Iron Man's identity. But he does know that the original Iron Man was supposedly killed and a new guy took over.

Original Iron Man may have been a founder of the Avengers but New Iron Man is just Some Guy. Some Guy who can fuck off if he thinks he gets to swan in and get automatically put on the team.

Iron Man understands that he doesn't get any special consideration and says he's willing to go through whatever initiation process the Avengers consider necessary.

US Agent is a big company man so even though he's maybe the leader of the Avengers possibly? (he's done literally zero leading and nearly zero interacting with the team), he storms off to go call his handlers in Washington so they can tell him what to do.

With him gone, that just leaves Hank, Wasp, and Wonder Man who all know that Tony Stark is Iron Man. Or was. They know that at certain points, Tony Stark has been Iron Man.

(Way to just spill the beans in front of an Iron Man that you don't know whether he's Tony or not, guys)

So they ask Iron Man straight up if he's Tony.

For some reason that would probably make sense if I was reading Iron Man, Iron Man apologizes and says he can't say.

I do want to read olde Iron Man. One of these days, I want to dig into that backlog. He's one of the prominent Marvel characters I haven't read significant material from pre-2000.

Anyway.

On the other side of the compound, Scarlet Wanda and Vision.

Wanda is in a mood. Because she's been in a mood Byrne's whole run because shit keeps happening to her. Possibly goo related shit.

Vision: "It surprises me that you did not wish to stay for the meeting with Iron man, my wife. I am curious as to your reason..." Scarlet Witch: "Please, Vision... I know you're programmed to use words like 'surprised' and 'curious,' but I wish you wouldn't. It only emphasizes how much more robotic you've become." Vision: "My apologies, Wanda. It was my impression you wished me to sound as human as possible." Scarlet Witch: "Human? Why would I wish that, husband? Why would any mutant worthy of the name wish to associate herself with humans?" Vision: "And yet... you are a mutant, and for years, you have gladly associated with the Avengers -- most of whom are human." Scarlet Witch: "A passing weakness, Vision."

Okay. Seriously. Did nobody think to de-gooify her after that Absolom University adventure? Give her a medical check or anything?

I'm getting a little perturbed with how little a shit this era of the West Coast Avengers seem to give about each other.

Nobody noticed Tigra was going nuts. Nobody bothered to do anything as Wanda has clearly been emotionally spiraling. Wasp decides to help Wonder Man undermine Wanda's marriage.

You all suck.

Wanda is behaving like a jerk now but at least we know external factors contributed. The rest of you just suck.

Anyway, Wanda and Vision reach their quarters and find Agatha Harkness waiting for them there.

Hi, Agatha.

Are you the Agatha that does horrible shit to Wanda to teach her something or the Agatha that's helpful without being traumatizing?

I feel like Wanda is a couple pieces of straw from just breaking so maybe considering the latter approach today.

Also, maybe consider calling ahead.

The last time Wanda and Vision saw Agatha, in the second Vision and the Scarlet Witch series, Agatha was burned at the stake.

She tells them that being burned at the stake sucked but that's not what she's here to talk about.

She's here to talk about Wanda's kids.

Wanda's weirdo kids. To talk about them and to understand what precisely they are.

Scarlet Witch: "They are only children. Normal in every way!" Agatha Harkness: "Normal, Wanda? With a mother who is a mutant and a father who is a synthezoid?"

Rude.

Agatha tells Wanda that her kids are far from normal and if she hadn't been busy resurrecting herself, she would have been here sooner.

Agatha Harkness: "But you already know yourself, that when you are not thinking about them... they disappear!"

Vision asks if that's true but Wanda denies it. BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY AS A GOOD MOM SHE IS ALWAYS THINKING OF HER KIDS AT ALL TIMES 100%.

Agatha pulls the nuh uh on this. There have been recent times where she was too distracted in battle or knocked unconscious where obviously she wasn't thinking about her kids. And wee baby Thomas and William just cease to exist during those times.

Remember those times? All those times they disappeared, freaking out the governesses? Who tried to report it to Wanda and got fired for it?

Wanda refuses to listen to this. Literally putting her hands over her ears and shouting she won't hear it.

Eesh.

Agatha tells Vision that Wanda will need his strength and love more than ever and oof is she behind the times. The government took away his capacity to love! Bad timing!

Elsewhere, up in the sky, a bird, a comet, a (robot) human torch!

Jim Hammond took off when the Avengers grouped up to meet with Iron Man. He took the time to fly over the countryside for about a half hour, just get an idea of how much things have changed.

And he's amazed! To him, it looks like 400 years have passed instead of just 40.

He lands back at the Avengers West Coast Compound and lands right into some drama without even trying.

Ann Raymond saw him being all human torchy and mistakes him for Toro. And when she realizes he's Jim Hammond instead, she, of course, gets upset because for an instant she let her hopes get up and now she's been reconfronted with the fact that her husband died in an entirely stupid and unnecessary way.

And now Jim knows Toro's dead too and is also emotionally staggered by the news.

Also: demons.

Flaming fireballs! Demons!!

Robot Human Torch gets immediately slapped into the pool. A sad casualty of being the first one the demons run into.

But Ann screaming alerted the other Avengers and they assemble and start walloping demons.

Hank Pym suggests that if a bunch of demons suddenly show up to the Avengers West Coast Compound, why there's only possible explanation.

Iron Man: "You mean it's MASTER PANDEMONIUM?? But the last we saw of him, he was being swept away by the river of oblivion... deep in the realm of Mephisto!"

Hank Pym makes a mental note of Iron Man knowing about the Avengers' last encounter with Master Pandemonium. Because Tony Stark Iron Man was on the team at the time. So is this Tony or did Tony just brief New Iron Man on all his Avengers' cases?

I don't know why Tony isn't telling the Avengers he's him so I don't know how tense it should be that Hank is piecing things together.

Anyway!

US Agent comes out to yell at the commotion and he's not really alarmed by a sudden invasion of demons. It does make him punchy so he starts punching.

Robot Human Torch pulls himself out of the pool. He's soaking wet but all he has to do is FLAME ON! to boil the water away.

Then he can "show these demonic delinquents how we used to deal with their kind back in the 50's!"

Did... you deal with a lot of demons in the 50's specifically?

Wasp takes note that the demons don't seem to be after anything and aren't really trying that hard to kill the Avengers. So why are they here?

Whoops, they're a distraction.

While the Avengers are outside fighting the demons, Master Pandemonium busts into Wanda and Vision's quarters right when Wanda is about to have a nervous breakdown over everything that's happened to her over the past few weeks.

Agatha Harkness tries to ward off the demons with her witchcraft but Master Pandemonium tries belches hellfire in her face.

Gross.

Vision tries to do the intangible fisting thing he does which either works great or doesn't work at all.

Whoops, this is one of the times it doesn't work at all.

Master Pandmemonium just blasts out demons from his arms to overwhelm Vision.

Leaving only Wanda to face him, as she boasts that nothing can withstand her hex power.

Although she seems to fend him off and force him to retreat, she doesn't notice until he's gone that one of his demons snuck behind her and yoinked the children.

He drags the poor, probably innocent tots down to probably Hell.

What does he want from them?

Well, first, he wants a captive audience to recap his entire backstory.

Villains gonna villain.

He was an actor man who drunk drove himself into a bad car crash that cost him his arm. As a big Hollywood type in the 80s, he was big into the occult?? Apparently? So he called upon dark powers, promising his soul for his arm back.

Mephisto was bored and decided this would be funny so he replaced the guy's arm with demons. And then he replaced all his limbs with demons.

Mephisto's sense of humor is beyond me.

He didn't want the guy's soul so he ripped it out, broke it into five pieces, and scattered them around.

Master Pandemonium has been searching for them since, trying to become whole.

He found one with the Cat Demon People of Tigra's origin. But whatever Englehart was planning for this dude, he didn't get around to. Guy got one soul piece back and then dropped out of the plot.

So Byrne is bringing back that plot thread.

Master Pandeominum declares to these two stupid children who don't understand any of this that kidnapping them will allow him to replace his missing 4/5ths of a soul much more efficiently than all his aimless searching up until now.

Now, I know where this is going already. It is renowned, infamously.

But try to make your best guesses before I get to the end of the issue. See how close you get.

Anyway.

In the pressing urgency of some innocent children being kidnapped... the Avengers all sit down to discuss classic sitcoms.

That's a fair response, to be honest.

But here's how the conversation unfolds.

Instead of leaping into action, the Avengers sit around and quiz Agatha on how she's alive again. Even though she keeps telling them it was fucking magic and it's not going to make sense to their science brains.

Wonder Man chimes in that HE's seen Bewitched so he can vouch for Agatha's point.

So Wanda starts yelling at him for talking about television when her children are kidnapped.

Wasp tells Wanda to settle down. Clearly they're treating this with all due urgency! Since, y'know, maybe her kids are fake as shit. Maybe they've just stopped existing again like all the governesses said.

And that's when Wanda does her a slap.

Granted, her mutant supremacy is not called for but, yeah, the Avengers are all a bunch of jerks now who can't muster a bit of urgency when a demon man kidnaps some children.

Wasp isn't even hurt because of her small size. But she is concerned that Wanda said that thing the way she did about humans.

Anyone else concerned? Nobody else reacting? Okay.

Wanda begs Agatha to help her follow Master Pandemonium.

I'm surprised we didn't start with that but I've already made clear how I feel about how the team is reacting to this.

Master Pandemonium tried to hide his path but Agatha took precautions when he first arrived so she can trace him. But Wanda can't do it alone! So... will the Avengers step up to action when a witch very lightly implies that they should?

Yes. They finally get their asses in gear and jump through the swirling magic portal.

Even US Agent agrees that where Wanda goes, the Avengers go too. Which is a big team player moment from the guy who doesn't seem to realize he's leading a superhero team.

Watching from the time Limbo that isn't the demonic Limbo or the game Limbo, Immortus freaks the fuck out.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go for his vague yet menacing plan!

And he can't do anything to alter the flow of events because, I dunno, he can't touch demonic realms. So if anything happens to Wanda, he won't be able to protect her!

Dun dun dun??

I wonder what his vague yet menacing evil plan needs Wanda for?

Back at the Avengers, Hank Pym asks Jim Hammond Human Torch to stay behind to watch the Compound.

So despite making a big deal about him joining the team last issue, with WANDA BRINGING HIM BACK FROM THE DEAD, he gets to sit on his ass for the rest of this story.

What a weird writing decision.

Byrne is all over the place with all the subplots he's juggling for this book and a lot of them just get backburnered hard.

Iron Man gets to go. And he hasn't even officially (re)joined the Avengers at this point. They don't even know if they can trust him because he won't admit to being Tony Stark to his closest friends, for some reason.

The Avengers and Iron Man arrive in a seemingly peaceful fairy tale glade but Agatha's floating head warns them not to trust it.

And the very scenery attacks them a few panels later so. Yeah. Floating Head Agatha called it.

In the distance, past all the killer foliage, Wasp spots a building made of twisted agony.

The Avengers fight their way through the angry vegetation and Scarlet Witch blows open the twisted agony fortress front door with her probability manipulation.

But they find that Master Pandemonium is ready for them. Waiting for them.

And he's done the dumbest thing possible.

He's attached Billy and Tommy to his arms so now he has literal baby hands.

It's horrifying.

It's also the dumbest thing possible.

He's so proud of himself for thinking of this.

Was this where you would have guessed him kidnapping some babies was going to go?

Also, jamming babies onto his arms seems to have filled in two points on the star shaped hole in his tum tum.

I used to like what a silly concept Master Pandemonium's entire deal was. But he's ruined it by going even dumber.

For shame, everything that went into making, publishing, and printing this comic book. For shame. You took a perfectly goofy villain and you ruined him.

Follow @essential-avengers and maybe like or reblog. I appreciate being appreciated.

[jules-has-notes]

Once Upon a Time: the musical — PattyCake Productions music video

The PattyCake guys aren't just talented and clever, they're also fans of things like the rest of us. After spending a few years primarily focused on animated Disney characters, they decided to explore the live action side of things a bit more. Just like the OUaT television series, this explores the story from multiple points of view.

Details:

title: Once Upon a Time: the Musical

performers: Olivia Adkins (Emma Swan / featured vocals); Britt Nikole (Snow White / featured vocals); Lloyd Ballard (Prince Charming); Michelle Knight (Regina Mills / featured vocals); Daniel Gugel (Captain Hook / featured vocals); Rauce Padgett (Rumplestiltskin); Hannah Laird & Tony Wakim (featured vocals)

written & arranged by: Layne Stein & Tony Wakim

release date: 3 July 2020

My favorite bits:

Emma's cautiously wistful tone

the sweetness in Snow and Charming's expressions and voices

alternating the lyrics between Emma and her parents as she seeks them out

Regina's biting diction while she's laying out her grievances

Rumplestiltskin using singspiel in keeping with the character's assertion in the show's musical episode that he doesn't sing

♫ "A coward using magic." ♫ "A life cut short. How tragic. 🙃" ♫

that creepy giggle

Emma's fabulous belt on ♫ "somewhere that I belooong" ♫

layering all the voices together in the build up to the ending

sleepy puppy cameo in the outro 🐕

Trivia:

Olivia had played Snow White in PattyCake's "Unexpected Musicals" and "Princess Academy" series. Because she was playing Emma in this, she handed the black wigs off to Britt.

Michelle had previously played the Regina Mills incarnation of the Evil Queen in PattyCake's 2017 Halloween video, "Look What You Made Me Brew". She played her again two years later in the "Villains Haunted Mansion" video.

Rauce is a local actor and stand-up comedian. As of October 2022, he's also Olivia's husband.

Captain Hook's section was filmed at a local putt-putt course called Pirates Island Adventure Golf.

PattyCake had previously used the forest location where Snow White and Prince Charming meet for several entries in their "Unexpected Musicals" series — "Snow Spears", "Michaeleficent", and "Will.of.Oz".

As they mentioned in the outro, the PattyCake guys offered fans a chance to win an apple prop signed by Lana Parilla, the actress who played Regina in the TV series, if they shared the video on social media.

If you watch closely in the opening sequence, you can see Tim the grip reflected in the car's rear window. (Whoops.)

[immabebaby]

Ugly duckling but it's Steve. Like, pre-serum Steve Rogers, but at the end he doesn't get his post serum glow-up he just finds an accepting group. Now, Steve Rogers, especially pre-serum, isn't too self conscious and ignores what others think of him, but he's bound to have his hidden insecurities right? Ok, good. Anyways, he's the 'ugly duckling' by society's standards, so he usually gets poked fun at, mocked, etc. Until he meets that group who just doesn't care. Think about it, he would fit right it; Tony has ugly scarring all over his chest that he hides, Bruce, by the default of not being incredibly fit, is also not conventionally attractive, Bucky can also arguably not be seen as conventional bc he's an amputee, and so on and so forth. My guy just needs to find his group where he fits right in. You can also make it personality wise, none of their personalities are conventionally attractive either. So him 'blooming into a beautiful swan' is literally him finding acceptance, a friend group (and maybe more) that like's him just how he is, given that none of them are or care about conventional beauty. Maybe the moral can be something like 'conventional beauty is a scam's or something

[hannahwatcheshorror]

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990)

💁‍♀️Strong Female Lead

A classic retold into another classic! And with Tony Todd no less! This version makes Barbara into a much more interesting character that I like a whole lot more than her 1968 predecessor. A fun if not slightly tense romp through an evening of the unalive live. I also appreciate the general speed and strength of the zombies, it felt accurate to what the living dead would be.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

(Trigger Warning Suicide, Domestic Violence)

So this is a straight up remake of Night of the Living Dead 1968 but with better zombies, I mean, really, they have some good old gruesome boys in this film. I knew right away it was a remake, not because the scenes were exactly the same but because the Z-boys were tool-using and that astounded me during the first Night of the Living Dead. When that first dead man picked up a heavy object to bust open the car window my jaw dropped, that is some advanced thinking for a corpse!

Barbara is our female heroine who we follow in the beginning, she was with her brother initially but they encounter some Zombs and her brother takes a bit of a swan dive into a gravestone (can’t be good for the neck). Barb makes her way to an “abandoned” house after escaping a deadly scene in the car with no keys but the smart girl pulls the emergency break!  Zombies in the house but Tony Todd shows up in a truck! Tony Todd embracing you to comfort you as opposed to embracing you to hold you captive in a fire, um, yeah. 

Barb and Tony Todd meet up with the basement dwellers, the couple and the family of three, the couple are chill but the family sucks because the dad sucks. There is a debate on what is safer, staying upstairs or holing up in the basement and the majority choose upstairs while the family stays downstairs. Also in this edition of Night you can tell that the little girl is sick from a zombie bite right away which I think is kind of funny. They actually just outright say it which is also wild. After barricading all the windows they try to get gas but we end up losing the couple in a split second shotgun decision which I think worked much better than a jacket getting caught.

Then Tony Todd and the crazy dad have a shootout, the daughter finally turns but I think the dad just got tired of not being a complete and total asshole to everyone. Bad daddy escapes into the attic (which, why didn’t they go there in the first place?) and Barbara says she will send help for poor Tony if she can evade the Zambinos. She actually finds help (who almost shoots her) but by the time she makes it back, Tony Todd has already turned (sad!). And who comes around the corner but bad daddy, thanking her for coming back to save him, and Barb doesn't hesitate to put a bullet in his brain. "Another one for the fire.”

I really loved the change from the 1968 version of Barbara to this version, she was so much stronger, she didn’t go catatonic immediately, and she survived. Well, part of her did, I don’t know that we can say her humanity survived after all she went through.

[jxrm]

book log - 2024

diva by daisy goodwin

the heiress by rachel hawkins

only if you’re lucky by stacy willingham

the chateau by jaclyn goldis

just stay away by tony wirt

the other mothers by katherine faulker

middle of the night by riley sager

the disappearance of astrid bricard by natasha lester

every time i go in vacation, someone dies by catherine mack

the last caretaker by jessica strawser

just for the summer by abby jimenez

house of glass by sarah pekkanen

the mayor of maxwell street by avery cunningham

first lie wins by ashley elston

the phoenix crown by kate quinn

murder road by simone st. james

the fury by alex michaelides

happiness falls by angie kim

the house of last resort by christopher golden

run rose run by dolly parton

the chalice of the gods by rick riordan

there should have been right by nalini singh

the mysterious case of the alperton angels by janice hallet

darling girls by sally hepworth

the pieces around us by leigh fields

love, theoretically by ali hazelwood

the teacher by frieda mcfadden

x by jack croxell

iron flame by rebecca yarros

the only suspect by louise candlish

throwback by maurene goo

the housemaid is watching by frieda mcfadden

zara hossain is here by sabina khan

slice by angie caedis

the ways of the dead by neely tucker

orphan train by christina baker

a court of silver flames by sarah j. mass

come and get it by kiley reid

the drowning woman by robyn harding

when i bleed: poems about endometriosis by maggie bowyer

the house in the pines by ana reyes

only say good things by crystal hefner

the mother-in-law by sally hepworth

daughter of mine by megan miranda

lore olympus: volume four by rachel smythe

this time it’s real by ann liang

anna o by matthew blake

the girl with the louding voice by abi dare

where the forest meets the stars by glendy vanderah

a friend in the dark by samantha m. bailey

the wife app by carolyn mackler

howl’s moving castle by diana wynne jones

the spanish love deception by elena armas

divide by jessa russo

lies and weddings by kevin kwan

the foxhole victory tour by amy lynn green

dying to tell by keri beevis

my father, the panda killer by jamie jo hoang

the wedding party by l.r. jones

girl gone mad by avery bishop

starter wife by bethany lopez

the queens of new york by e.l. shen

theater lovers by ciara blume

once upon a broken heart by stephanie garber

the surrogate mother by frieda mcfadden

crying in h mart by michelle zauner

don’t forget to write by sara goldman confino

the next girl by carla kovach

the paradise problem by christina lauren

ivy league liars by grace costello

every summer after by carley fortune

the ballad of never after by stephanie garber

a curse of true love by stephanie garber

the devil’s storybooks by natalie babbit

expiration dates by rebecca serle

the murmur of bees by sofia segovia

growing up hadley by dana harp

the vacation by john marrs

rum punch regrets by anna kemp

the five-star weekend by elin hilderbrand

people to follow by olivia worley

the treasure hunters club by tom ryan

you shouldn’t be here by lauren thoman

trophy wife by bethany lopez

seven summers by paige toon

veridian sterling fakes it by jennifer gooch

the friendship club by robyn carr

women of good fortune by sophie wan

the smuggler’s apprentice of guatemala by lachlan page

this summer will be different by carley fortune

natural selection by elin hilderbrand

the passengers by john marrs

asap by axie oh

island of shadows by christopher kvintus

swan song by elin hilderbrand

lore olympus: volume five by rachel smythe

blue hawaiian by carla luna

the villain edit by laurie devore

hermione granger and the order of the phoenix by sara baines-miller

the hotel nantucket by elin hilderbrand

bummer camp by ann garvin

pink glass houses by asha elias

cut and thirst by margaret atwood

the exception to the rule by christina lauren

#crimetime by jeneva rose

incidents around the house by josh malerman

the mistress by valerie keogh

kiki’s delivery service by eiko kadono

when we were friends by jane green

the honey-don’t list by christina lauren

worst wingman ever by abby jimenez

the perfect couple by elin hilderbrand

home is where the bodies are by jeneva rose

the only good indians by stephen graham jones

roar by cecelia ahern

the wedding people by alison espach

look in the mirror by catherine steadman

fit to die by daniel kalla

uglies by scott westerfield

hideaway by nicole lundrigan

the fortune teller by natasha boydell

crazy rich asians by kevin kwan

the wish by nicholas sparks

how the penguins saved veronica by hazel prior

the plus one by s. c. lalli

the haters by robyn harding

china rich girlfriend by kevin kwan

rich people problems by kevin kwan

the haunting of moscow house by olesya salnikova gilmore

the lonely hearts book club by lucy gilmore

the measure by nikki erlick

somewhere beyond the sea by tj klume

adam and evie’s matchmaking tour by nora nguyen

i was a teenage slasher by stephen graham jones

here one moment by liane moriarity

badass bonita by kim guerra

zetas till we die by amber and danielle brown

shred sisters by betsy learner

one of the girls by lucy clarke

society of lies by lauren ling brown

the radius of us by marie marquardt

fantasticland by mike bockoven

sheets by brenna thummler

the boyfriend by frieda mcfadden

delicates by brenna thummler

no one will know by rose carlyle

lights by brenna thummler

counting miracles by nicholas sparks

the night we lost him by laura dave

ghost stories by ron ripley

the hitchcock hotel by stephanie wrobel

for better or cursed by kate williams

the last one at the wedding by jason rekulak

creation lake by rachel kushner

like mother, like daughter by kimberly mccreight

libby lost and found by stephanie booth

the nosy neighbour by nita prose

needy little things by channelle desamours

the reappearance of rachel price by holly jackson

not another love song by julie soto

we used to live here by marcus kliewer

the stillwater girls by minka kent

yours for the taking by gabrielle korn

52 weeks and a party of one by bianca pensy aba

youthjuice by e.k. sathue

the manicurist’s daughter by susan lieu

the invisible life of addie larue by victoria e. schwab

the housekeeper’s wedding by frieda mcfadden

what does it feel like? by sophie kinsella

the anti-heroes by jen lancaster

the christmas book hunt by jenny colgan

christmas every day by beth moran

cruel winter with you by ali hazelwood

winter in paradise by elin hilderbrand

holiday hideaway by mary kay andrews

merry ever after by tessa bailey

what happens in paradise by elin hilderbrand

the widow's husband's secret lie by frieda mcfadden

trouble in paradise by elin hilderbrand

wrath of the triple goddess by rick riordan

deep dish by mary kay andrews

buried road by katie tallo

25 days by per jacobsen

please tell me by mike omer

[hime1993]

WIP ask game

RULES: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

@thenightmaredrowns, here ya go!

Grey's Anatomy WIPs

Multi-Chapters If I Went Missing CURRENT PROJECT Between Love and Hate The Ties that Bind How to Save a Life Sins of the Father If/Then AU

One-Shots When in Boston (S19 finale rewrite) Meddison/Swan Queen Crossover MerDer Fight AU (it's Meddison, I swear) Pokémon Go Meddison fic Play Date fic Meddison Meet Cute Meddison Accidental Marriage Meddison Arranged Marriage One Bed NCIS WIPs

Multi-Chapters Secrets CURRENT PROJECT 60 Hours Taken One-Shots Five Times Tony and Abby Go Out for Drinks + The One Time They Don’t (Tabby Friendship +GJA OT3) Tabby Friendship fic Theirs The ABCs of the OT3 Caffeine Fallacy Jethro the Dog Nightmare

Tagging: @niceminipotato @thecolouryellowandacupoftea @lordoflezzies. You don't have to do it if you don't want to :)

[soughthopeoldd]

Hello friends !! Welcome to my blog I hope you enjoy your stay. I'm a pretty laid-back kind of partner. I don't expect you to reply to every one of our threads, every day. I don't need fast replies. I'm okay with long or short threads and convos/one-liners but please be nice. I do not come here to perform for anybody. Talk to me privately. resolve any issues considerately and I think we'll have fun! Also I follow damn near everyone back lol I just love writing so lets chat!

This blog will also contain nsfw themes, triggering content, violence, and other things but it will be tagged.

Note: I am very slow and selective and my interests shift quite often so forgive any delays in our threads.

ABOUT THE MUN:

Call me MEADOW or SUNSHINE. I'm 30, I've been writing on here and other sites for probably 15 years I think and I've done it all but right now I just wanna have fun. My reply speed will be random. I'll use icons some days, gifs others, and sometimes larger images so I would recommend blacklisting " large image cw ". Be patient with me, please.

QUICK RULES:

21+ only for follow

Personals DNI or you will be blocked

MAINS AND FOLLOW FOREVER

@soughtbirthright

@chrissyfied

@petitsdieu

@theolderhenderson

@entangledmuses

@deermooses

@dcmure

@ner0tic

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Rules | Cast | Credits | Verses | Mains & Exclusives | Promo Credit

MUSE LIST:

ORIGINALS

Grace Scott ( One tree hill )

Allison Roe ( One tree hill )

Joshua Scott ( One tree hill )

Princess Bean ( Fantasy )

Tessa Cameron ( Fandomless )

Prince Finnegan ( Fantasy )

FILM

Layla Williams ( Sky high )

Kate Schmidt ( Fear Street )

Princess Aurora ( Malecifcent )

Mckenzie Fox ( Teen Beach movie )

Evie ( Descendants )

Benjamin Florian ( Descendants )

Troy Bolton ( High School Musical )

Violet Parr ( Incredibles )

Rapunzel ( Tangled )

Emmett Cullen ( Twilight )

Jacob Black ( Twilight )

Bella Swan ( Twilight )

Charlie Swan ( Twilight )

Leah Clearwater ( Twilight )

Noah Flynn ( Kissing Booth )

TELEVISION

JJ Maybank ( The outer banks )

Rafe Cameron ( The outer banks )

Wednesday Adams ( Wednesday )

Klaus Miklaeson ( Legacies )

Landon Kirby ( Legacies )

Hayley Marshall ( Legacies )

Maya Hart ( Girl Meets World )

Carly Shay ( Icarly )

Barbara Roberts ( Babie Media )

Cat Valentine ( Victorious )

Nathan Scott ( One Tree Hill )

Liam Dunbar ( Teen Wolf )

Scott McCall ( Teen Wolf )

Stiles Stilinski ( Teen Wolf )

Derek Hale ( Teen Wolf )

Eddie Munson ( Stranger Things )

Robin Buckley ( Stranger Things )

Steve Harrington ( Stranger Things )

Max Mayfield ( Stranger Things )

Dustin Henderson ( Stranger Things )

Jim Hopper ( Stranger Things )

Meg Masters ( Supernatural )

Dean Winchester ( Supernatural )

Jo Harvelle ( Supernatural )

COMICS

Peter Parker

Tony Stark

Frank Castle

Bruce Wayne

Harley Quinn

Kara Danvers

VIDEO GAMES

Nathan Drake ( Uncharted )

Joel Miller ( The Last of Us )

Chloe Price ( Life is strange )

Nathan Prescott ( Life is strange )

Kate Marsh ( Life is strange )

Max Caulfield ( Life is strange )

Alex Chen ( Life is strange )

[kandisheek]

FIC REC WEEK 26 – ROM-COM

SERIES: A Royal Romance by BladeoftheNebula

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 40,452 Tags: Modern Royalty AU, News Media, Pre-Serum Steve

Reasons why I love it: This could legit be made into a Rom-Com, and everyone would gobble it up like royal wedding cake. Seriously, if you like modern royalty romance, this is an absolute must-read. It's fluffy and funny and more swoon-worthy with every fic that gets added to the story. Please go and check it out, I promise you won't regret it!

This series consists of:

Heavy is the Head that wears the Crown

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 22,293 Tags: Romance, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort

Summary: “Just remember, and this is essential, you call the King ‘Your Majesty’ during the first introduction and afterwards it’s ‘sir’. Queen Maria is likewise ‘Your Majesty’ and thereafter ‘ma’am’, and Prince Anthony is ‘your royal highness, the Prince of Wales’, and ‘sir’ thereafter.” Steve was never going to remember all this. Thank god he was never going to meet any of them. -- When Steve Rogers moved to London he was expecting the bad overpriced flat and the metric system. What he never could've expected was that the heir to the throne would fall for a skinny asthmatic from Brooklyn.

Reasons why I love it: This fic has everything. A meet-cute, romance, drama, angst, fluff, humor – it's a smorgasbord of everything I love. The whole thing just puts the biggest smile on my face. If you haven't read this one, you absolutely have to. I can guarantee that it'll suck you into the rest of the series.

Royal Lockdown

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: G Words: 2,136 Tags: Fluff, COVID-19, Quarantine

Summary: “Your majesty, please,” the palace advisor, Mr. Collins, begged, sounding more and more frustrated. “It’s hardly without precedence. Your grandfather evacuated during the blitz. A king should be protected.” “My grandfather was at risk of being bombed,” Tony dismissed. “This is something we can fight by simply staying put. We can set a good example by self-isolating and not travelling unnecessarily.” -- Not even Kings and their consorts are unaffected by the global pandemic - and Steve is determined to be part of the solution.

Reasons why I love it: Oh my god, Steve is such a little shit, and I love him for it. So does Tony, clearly, considering how happy he makes Steve with his little monetary investment there. I love this fic, and you should definitely read it!

Rules of Engagement

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 10,689 Tags: Humor, Weddings, Paparazzi

Summary: It's the most highly anticipated event of the year: the Royal Wedding Steve Rogers, formerly of Brooklyn, will finally marry his King Charming ...provided they can survive the tabloids, annoying relatives and the occasional swan

Reasons why I love it: I laughed so hard at all of the media formats in this – they really take this fic to a whole other level, it's so good. In general this fic is really goddamn funny and sweet besides, so if you need a good laugh today, put it on your list.

Dancing in Dubrovnik

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 5,334 Tags: Beach Holiday, Tourism, Humor and Fluff

Summary: “We haven’t really had a chance to talk about the elephant in the room,” Tony murmured, his chest humming against Steve’s cheek. Steve sighed, even as they rocked from side to side. “I know. I’ve been avoiding it if I’m honest.” He tilted his head to look at Tony, giving him a wobbly smile. “Sorry.” -- King Anthony and his consort Steve go on holiday in Croatia and have some Real™️ Talk.

Reasons why I love it: What a lovely vacation they're having, I'm kind of jealous. I love all of the friendship feels in this, Rhodey especially cracked me up several times. And oh my god, the dancing scene? Goes from sweet to hot as hell in the blink of an eye, and I am SO here for it. I love this whole series, and you should definitely read it, if you haven't already!

[surreality51]

For the fedal promp thing, maybe fedal with the Federer children or meeting babyrafa? 🥺

You know, funny you should mention the Federer children, because I just happened to have a ficlet sitting on my laptop that includes guest appearances from the Federer children. You've inspired me to finish it. Here you go:

Roger didn’t mean to build a compound for himself and Rafa along the shores of Lake Zurich. It certainly didn’t start out that way. How it really started was with the idea that he wouldn’t mind doing mini coaching sessions every now and then in his retirement, especially with young up-and-coming players, but not full-time coaching and the tour travel that came with it. No, he promised Mirka and the kids that he would stay home for a while, get adjusted to life after the tour, do some more biking and hiking, and keep working on his knee. But during one of the Laver Cup post-match interviews, he mentioned the idea of inviting young players to visit him at home in Switzerland for short coaching stints. He didn’t think much of it at the time; it was a throwaway comment in the midst of the media blitz around his retirement. Plus, he invited young pros all the time to be his practice partner when he was training in Dubai or before tournaments. It wasn’t like this was new.

Much to his surprise—but not Tony’s or Mirka’s, or apparently anyone else on his team—the inquiries started coming in immediately.

Exponentially.

Torrentially.

“Roger,” said Tony, pinching the bridge of his nose, “what were you thinking? Of course people are going to be interested in being coached by you. Why would you even throw that out there as a possibility if you’re not really interested in it right now?”

Roger shrugged. “I meant in the future, in a ‘never say never’ type of way. How was I supposed to know that people would take it literally?”

“Roger,” Tony growled, as his phone pinged for the hundredth time that hour. “It’s not rocket science. The ball kids could’ve seen this coming. The janitor could’ve seen this coming. The fucking fish & chips guy outside the O2 could’ve seen this coming.”

“Oh, you got chips from Mick recently? How are his daughters?”

“They’re good, the older one is at university now and—hey, don’t deflect, I’m not done being pissed at you.”

Tony swatted at him. Roger cackled and ducked behind Seve.

The inquiries and entreaties pouring in were endless: When would he be able to take on a student? How many would he be willing to take at a time? This one was willing to travel here from the US, that one all the way from Argentina. So-and-so was a future number one, if only Roger would work with him. Tony looked like he wanted to flatten Roger with the sheer power of his exasperation as he politely fielded all the calls, emails, texts, and, on one memorable occasion, a swan ice sculpture delivered to the Team8 office with the inquiry folded in its beak. Roger couldn’t do anything besides shrug sheepishly. 

But the idea still appealed to him: the notion that he could have the best of both worlds, stay involved by helping young players evolve and also have dinner with his family every night. So in between making waffles with the kids, hitting the ball around on local practice courts, rehabbing his knee, and attending to his sponsorship duties—one aspect that certainly had not slowed down despite his retirement—the idea started to take form in his mind. The players would definitely need to come to him here, they would need to stay for at least a few weeks at a time, and it would need to be somewhere close. But he also knew that not every promising young player could afford to live out of a hotel or rented house for several weeks in his multimillion franc neighborhood. He decided early on that he didn’t want money or means to be a barrier for talent. But where would they stay? And what about their parents, coaches, or other members of their team?

It became obvious that if Roger was serious about this, then he would need to provide room and board. Somewhere close by, ideally walking distance, or maybe even on his property. They already had one guest house planned for their new home that was under construction. Maybe they could repurpose that, and there would need to be a gym attached, and—

“No, not next to the court. Nobody wants to feel like they’re sleeping on a tennis court,” said Mirka.

She was slicing some fruit for breakfast, her hair pulled back in an immaculate bun but the rest of her still wrapped in a robe.

Roger opened his mouth but Mirka cut him off.

“Nobody sane wants to sleep on a tennis court,” she amended, her hands moving efficiently with the knife.

Roger grinned and popped a bite of cinnamon roll into his mouth.

“Okay, what if we set it a little back, along the back line of our plot? Maybe create a little walking path down to the court. They’ll have some privacy; you can’t even see the main house from back there because of the trees.”

“Roger,” she said, patiently, “we talked about you retiring from the tour. We did not discuss you bringing the tour home with you.”

“But what if they followed me home? I can’t just leave them out in the cold. Have some pity.”

A corner of Mirka’s lips curled up against her will. “No.”

Roger groaned dramatically. Mirka serenely deposited the fruit into the bowl.

“Fine,” he said, draping himself over her back and nuzzling her neck, his arms encircling her waist. “I’ll just have to sneak them in behind your back. Secretly put them up in the guest house. Slip out for midnight practice sessions while you sleep. Come back all sweaty with flimsy excuses.”

That got a derisive huff out of her. “If you can arrange a secret tennis affair behind my back, much less on our property without my knowing, I will be impressed.”

Roger conceded that she had a point.

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

Of course, Mirka wasn’t truly against the idea. If she really was, she would’ve made that clear right from the start. Roger knew from all these years that she liked to work through the logistics on her own first. He just needed to wait, and she would come back with a full 5-year plan.

“What about for their parent or coach? Not everyone wants to live with their team in the same house,” she said from the couch, laptop propped open on the arm.

“Two guest houses, then,” Roger replied easily as he scanned the live scores on his phone. “And their own pool.”

“Oh? You realize that they’re here to work, not for holiday.”

“True, but it’s nice to have a long soak after a hard day of playing tennis against the great Roger Federer, and I don’t want them to have to use our jacuzzi.”

That earned him a snort.

“So now we’re talking about two guest houses plus a building with a gym, a pool, and a jacuzzi for your prospective students.”

Roger hummed, distracted. Schwartzmann really did need to work on his serving.

“Maybe three guest houses—one for them, one for their trainers, and one for extras like parents or tutors,” he said.

“Uh huh. Anything else? No courtesy car? Cafeteria? Sauna?”

“Well, we wouldn’t want to spoil them,” said Roger, judiciously.

Mirka laughed.

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

Planning and construction on the two guest buildings took about 18 months from start to finish, and then putting in all the furnishings and finishing touches took another 5 months. Roger started thinking about them as cottages instead of guest houses and the open area they clustered around as the village square. Over the course of the construction, he sometimes found himself telling the kids that he was “going down to the village” to check the progress.

“You know, sometimes I wonder if you’re subconsciously trying to build your own mini Manacor here,” said Mirka one evening on the couch after dinner, after the dishes were put away and everyone had retired to the living room with various books, screens, or textbooks—in the case of the children—in hand.

Roger nearly choked on his coffee.

“Wh-what makes-you say that?” he wheezed, setting his mug down on the coffee table before he got hot liquid where hot liquid should not go.

Mirka considered her own coffee for a moment.

“Well, the guest houses are nearly ready to go, and yet you haven’t talked to me or Tony at all about who you’d want to be your first student. Normally you’d already have a vision for who you want to invite first, when to extend the invitation, how you’d want to go about the coaching, and all the other details.”

“That’s because the cottages weren’t done yet,” he replied, summoning his most reasonable tone, because that was an absolutely reasonable reason.

“And now they are,” Mirka returned evenly, “or they will be by the end of next week. Normally you would’ve been going on and on about this project during the whole construction. You should be so excited about it that I’d have to tell you to go pester Tony instead. Has something changed? The only thing I can think of is that you don’t want to have students here anymore. Which means you had another purpose in mind for those houses, or else you wouldn’t have built them.”

“No, no, I still want students in there.”

Mirka gave him a look that suggested he refrain from insulting her intelligence. “You’ve always had a very strict boundary between work and home. Tennis is your public life, and you never bring your work home with you. That’s why I was surprised when you first suggested inviting young players to stay at our home, but I figured it was worth giving a try, so I didn’t say anything at the time. I was surprised when you wanted to build a full tennis court in the back too. You’ve always practiced at the local courts, because of the separation between your tennis life and home life. Now, suddenly, after all these years, you want to bring work home with you? I don’t think you really wanted to build those guest houses for prospective students, Roger.”

“Maybe it’s for the girls,” he tried.

The truth was, Mirka was right, and it bothered him because he was always very intentional about his decisions. It was unlike him to commit to something without fully understanding his reasons. He thought this was what he had wanted. Now he realized that, while he had kept the needs of a professional tennis player in mind during the design and construction of the guest houses, he hadn’t envisioned what it would be like to have a student actually living there once construction was finished. And it was because he still thought of the guest houses as part of his home, which meant family and close friends, not prospective students and their teams, who would be like strangers.

So if the guest houses were for family and friends, who did he really build them for? There was a tiny, niggling feeling in the vicinity of his chest that he didn’t want to examine too closely.

“The girls are getting older now,” he continued. “Someday soon they’ll need their own space, away from their uncool parents. This way they can at least be close by.”

Mirka rolled her eyes.

“I know the girls being 16 now is probably setting off all sorts of internal alarms, but you realize that just because you build houses for them doesn’t mean they’re not going to move out some day. You had already moved out by their age.”

“Yeah, and look how far that’s gotten me,” Roger said, gesturing at Robert reading a book on the other couch.

Robert very obviously ignored that with the wisdom of an experienced parent.

Mirka did too. She had over 24 years of experience pinning Roger down, figuratively and sometimes literally.

“If the houses aren’t for the kids when they grow up, then who are they for?”

Roger was quiet for a long while. He kept his eyes fixed in the distance and sipped his coffee. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft.

“Rafa is probably going to retire at the end of this year or next. He’s 39 now, you know.”

To some, it might seem like a non-sequitur, but Mirka knew instantly what he meant.

“Oh, Roger.”

She moved closer to him on the couch until they were leaning against each other, Mirka with her legs tucked up against his.

Roger sighed and leaned his head against hers.

“The first year is probably going to be fine for him,” he said. “He has the Academy, his foundation, the sponsors, his family. He’ll need at least the first year to decompress, just like I did. I think it’s the second or third year that might be hard for him. The tennis starts to fade because you’re not training as much. Because there’s no reason to.”

Mirka linked her arm with his and patted him comfortingly.

“He could use a friend and rival then,” she offered. “Someone on his level. The Academy kids are great, but it’s not the same.”

“No, it’s not,” he agreed, just like he already knew that the young players he thought about coaching would not be the same. “Maybe we don’t have to visit him all the time in Mallorca. He can come visit us as well, bring the family, bring the kids. Stay for a while in the summer when it’s nice here. He’ll like the lake and the hiking.”

“You miss him.”

“Yeah.”

Mirka curled against his shoulder.

“You know you love him,” she said softly.

“Yes, of course I love him,” Roger said easily.

Mirka slanted a look at him like she was questioning his intelligence. “Rogi, you know what I mean. You don’t just love him, you’re in love with him.”

“I—.” He paused, careful, unsure where this was going but sensing dangerous territory. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Mirka rolled her eyes. “Rogi, don’t—don’t lie to yourself.”

He turned to study her face, brows furrowed. “Why are you saying this?”

“Dad, we could see your star-crossed romance from our box the whole time,” Myla interjected from the study desk by the window.

“Everyone in the stadium saw it on the big screen at your retirement. The whole Internet saw it,” Lenny snorted, not looking up from his homework.

“You guys were not subtle,” Charlene sniffed with the supreme confidence of a teenage girl when it came to analyzing other people’s love lives.

“What? What are you guys talking about?” Roger said, looking between them, but it sounded unconvincing even to his ears.

“Don’t worry, he feels the same about you,” Charlene said. “I caught him checking out your ass like ten times last summer when we were in Manacor.”

“What?! Wait a minute. He was not—I don’t think he would—are you sure? You didn’t tell me about any of this.”

“Yes, I’m sure, yes it was gross cuz you’re my dad, and of course I didn’t tell you. He tried to play it off, but he totally was. Myla caught him too”—Myla shrugged when Roger glanced at her—“plus he bribed me with a family outing on his boat if I kept quiet and didn’t tell you.”

Roger remembered that boat outing. It had been a fantastic day, but that was beside the point. “And so you lied to me and kept this from your dad?”

“Yeah, but I at least told Mom.”

Roger turned toward Mirka, who shrugged. He turned back to his family, his face halfway between incredulity and indignation.

“Who else knows about this?”

Every single hand went up—both girls, the boys, Mirka, even his own mom and dad.

“Everyone on Uncle Rafa’s side knows too,” Leo added helpfully.

“So I’m the only one who didn’t know?”

Mirka patted his arm sympathetically. “It’s not your fault. You assume and easily accept that everyone likes you, but you’ve always had a hard time accepting when people love you.”

Roger stared at his family, who all stared back at him expectantly. Finally, he threw his hands up. “Well what am I supposed to do with this knowledge now?”

Myla shrugged. “I think this is the part where the music kicks in and you run into each other’s arms and start making out in the rain. But that’s, like, eww, cuz you guys are old.”

Roger looked from his kids to his parents to Mirka and wondered how this conversation got so far off the rails. “How are you guys not shocked or bothered by this?”

Lenny rolled his eyes. “Dad, we’ve been calling him ‘Uncle Rafa’ since we were little. I thought he actually was my uncle until I was 8. I think I was more surprised to learn he wasn’t actually related to us than I was when I saw found out you two had the hots for each other.”

Roger could feel his face turning red. “I do not have 'the hots’ for anyone.”

Now it was Charlene’s turn to roll her eyes. “Dad, please. My friends were texting me links to the Tennis Channel Valentine’s post of you and Uncle Rafa. Some of those photos were from back before I was even born.”

Roger turned to Mirka helplessly.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Mirka said, coming to the rescue. “Everyone back to their homework.”

[peterlorres21stcentury]

some "old" writing

I woke up this morning with old Genesis prog rock in my head (specifically "Selling England by the Pound") and I'm just impressed that my brain remembered so many of the lyrics after not listening to these really rather complex songs in such a long time. It was just what I needed to blast through some boring work this morning, but it also made me think fondly of my last huge writing project before I devoted myself to Peter Lorre fic more or less full-time.

Back when I was going through a serious prog rock phase, I wrote an entire book that was one huge, half-silly half-serious riff on all my favorite 1970s-1980s musicians, written as fictitious ancient people of the Stone Age. I had a lot of fun with it, and I think it was also very necessary for me at the time to write something long and get all the writing cobwebs out before I found what I really wished to do. My favorite thing was writing thinly-veiled caricatures of actual rock personalities in the hopes that people would recognize them. Sometimes I was a little too on-the-nose with names... or was I? See if you can guess.

(well, since you can't tell from this particular excerpt, I'll say that two of the main characters Oak and Rowan are young Mike and Tony of Genesis fame, but who's the new trio of performers?) ;)

_______________

At length, a new trio of young Coastal men appeared. The audience stirred and the whole cavern shook with deafening cheers. Oak sat up with fresh interest and nudged Rowan's shoulder.

“I know them! That one there, see him?” He pointed to the middle one, a slightly chubby youth with a perfectly circular face. He carried an elegant sifigaan that stood about half his own height and bore a graceful curve like a swan's neck, carved from a single branch of ash wood.

“What about him?” asked Rowan, struggling to raise his voice. He could barely hear himself think.

“He's Lake. Moon-on-the-Lake. He used to sing at other meetings but I never had much to do with him. And the others... oh, I've already forgotten their names.”

Rowan watched the trio take their places in the chamber. The drummer sat behind two low skin drums and raised his arms to encourage the crowd, showing off glorious muscles as taut as new bowstrings. He was a joyful, innocent sort with a bright honest face and a jubilant grin. As he cheered, the enormous leaf crown atop his head slipped down over one eye and fell apart under its own weight. He tried to fix it, still smiling as his two bandmates teased him. Rowan couldn't help laughing too; it was possibly the most impractical headdress he had ever seen. It was fashioned from row upon row of the green fan-palm leaves that grew in low shrubs along the dry mountain coast, and radiated out from his head like streaks of sunlight through the clouds. Rowan considered that it might be a namesake, and knew he was correct when he heard Lake playfully admonish: “Leave it, Palmetto!”

The third member of the trio was something of a puzzle. He was small and thin-legged, and his eyes were hidden behind a long mop of fluffy brown hair. He did not volunteer a name to the crowd, nor wear any kind of obvious namesake, but simply grinned and took his place behind a curious instrument. It had large flat stones like Rowan's elanngyo, only they were tied down to an upright wooden frame rather than allowed to swing freely. A number of hollow gourds of varying sizes were lashed to the sides, and a few shell strings dangled off the front. With the practiced air of someone who had done this many times before, the little musician strapped two round pebbles in the palms of his hands and slapped a quick double rhythm into the instrument, each hand playing different notes. The stones rang and clattered under his strikes, and drew cheering whistles from the audience even before the song began. The little player waved to them and lowered his head, allowing his hair to cover most of his shyly grinning face.

The group did not bother to introduce themselves. They started up immediately once the crowd had quieted, opening with humming strikes on the very lowest strings of Lake's sifigaan, and stealthy words of warning:

There's a sharp edge in the girl's hand

Waiting for the strike at her man

Don't expect they will have many

Days until the stars take pity

Never knowing

Take the women from the clearing

As the sparrows watch in silence

How the warlord prays for violence!

The verse repeated in other languages, building slowly before Lake gave a long wail and stood aside, disappearing into the flickering shadows. For a long time there were no words, only the pounding of drums and the exclamations of the elanngyo. The song grew faster and the drummer tossed his head to the sky. His eyes rolled and he clenched his teeth, straining as he drove the tempo to an impossible limit. Droplets of sweat flung away from his brow and the ends of his feathery hair with every beat. He did not let up his pace for an instant. The remnants of his broken palmetto crown had long since fallen to the ground in the whirlwind of his energy.

The tiny elanngyo player was a whole performance unto himself. His eyes were closed as he struck blindly from note to note in a chaotic madness, and he wore a grimace of such intense concentration that he looked to be in pain. He leaped and twirled about, at times thrusting himself bodily into his instrument. He ground his hips against it in a passion, he mounted it like a lover in the throes of bliss. Something flashed in his hand as he brought it down violently upon the stones again and again, and a tortured scream went up like murder.

Rowan was mystified. His eyes widened when he saw the smears of blood. A glassy black flint was driven between two of the singing stones, and there was a fresh bleeding wound on the player's fingers. The little madman scarcely noticed. He grunted as he drove a second, then a third flint into the vitals of the instrument, still coaxing noises from it, and with a final heave he tipped it over with a great clattering of stones into the sand. He raised his bloodied hands into the air and the song ended with Lake's final cry and the clamor of the frenzied audience cheering them on.

Breathing hard and shining with sweat, they bowed and swiftly cleared away for the next group. Rowan overheard Lake and Palmetto fussing over their companion’s injured hand, but the little elanngyo player just smiled.

“It looks good, don't you think?” he said, pointing to the bright red smears of his own blood across the overturned instrument. He happened to catch Rowan's eye and winked from under his locks.