#nottingham forest standings

[mahdiha201]

December hike through the city and out to GGP, Ocean Beach and Lands End. My old stomping grounds. Read More

Golden Gate Park, SF

December hike through the city and out to GGP, Ocean Beach and Lands End. My old stomping grounds.

©Cpleblow Photography (2024)

[mahdiha201]

Tuesday’s briefing: Forest win again, Nwaneri blow and Potter linked to West Ham

Goals from Morgan Gibbs-White, Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi on Monday evening moved Forest level on points with second-placed Arsenal. Read More

[medievalandfantasymelee]

THE HOT MEDIEVAL & FANTASY MEN MELEE

SECOND ROUND: 35th Tilt

Hugh Beringar, Cadfael (1994-1998) VS. Sandor “The Hound” Clegane, Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

Propaganda

Hugh Beringar, Cadfael (1994-1998) Portrayed by: Sean Pertwee Defeated Opponents: - Prince John [Claude Rains], The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - Father Beocca [Ian Hart], The Last Kingdom (2015-2022)

“The One True Hugh! He deserves much support. I love Sean Pertwee's portrayal of the saturnine, intelligent Hugh, and the way he captures the character's warmth and humor and the frequency with which he is just Done. Also those cheekbones could cut glass, good LORD.”

Sandor “The Hound” Clegane, Game of Thrones (2011-2019) Portrayed by: Rory McCann Defeated Opponents: - Sir Lancelot [Nicholas Clay], Excalibur (1981) - The Sheriff of Nottingham [Peter Cushing], The Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960)

“Sandor Clegane is a very handsome man, dark, mysterious, and badly scarred which makes him way more attractive and desirable. His sense of humor is very dark, yet hilarious, and the way he protects those he cares for is heartening. He also loves a good chicken or two!”

Additional Propaganda Under the Cut

Additional Propaganda

For Hugh Beringar:

“Idk what Sean Pertwee had going on in 1994, but whatever it was, I am HERE for it. The way he turns the keen gaze of those piercing blue eyes on you, and stands there, arms folded, back arched, intimidating yet approachable. Mmm! What crimes must a girl commit to get My Lord the Sheriff’s Deputy to give her the third degree? He’s not only stern and intelligent but he’s also so noble, and chivalrous, and he got his position by killing his predecessor in trial by single combat as the only way to settle a charge of murder and also preserve the dignity of his lady love. He’s a KEEPER.”

For Sandor Clegane:

[waksworldrebooted]

THE FULL MOTORCITY PITCH BIBLE GOT LEAKED

It’s been a while since I posted anything Motorcity related but here we are with this thing: the full unedited extended Pitch Bible from Chris P.

Special thanks to The Media Busters for finding this:

Motorcity: Series Bible (Revised 2/15/11)

Logline: In the future, charismatic tyrant, Abraham Kane, is taking over Detroit, transforming it block-by-block into his insidious city of tomorrow: KaneCo Deluxe. But one thing stands in his way: the Burners! Led by the charming and impulsive daredevil, Mike Chilton, this band of hot-rod wielding rebels fights to protect Motorcity - the last oasis of freedom - from the power-hungry Kane and his endless army of technological terrors. Motorcity is a high-octane animated action-comedy that celebrates freedom and independence with cool cars, great action, and dynamic heroes who stand up for what they believe in.

Motorcity: Live Fast. Live Free.

Remember the feeling you got when you first had the chance to drive? The power? The freedom? That’s what Motorcity is all about. It’s a high-octane animated thrill ride, pitting futuristic cars against terrifying robot technology, rival hot rod gangs and the nefarious power-hungry villains lurking in their own backyard!It’s the story of Mike Chilton, a teenage hero, and his struggle to prevent the evil Abraham Kane from achieving the complete and total domination of his hometown – Detroit. It’s a show for people who love to drive or can’t wait until they can.

The Situation

THE CONFLICT: Motorcity is the story of the BATTLE FOR DETROIT!

Detroit has been split into two separate sections of the same city: KaneCo Deluxe, a floating city of the future owned by evil industrialist, Kane, where freedom and cars are abolished, and Motorcity, a vibrant underground community built within the bones of old Detroit where people are free to live as they please. Kane desperately wants control of Detroit- wielding power over KaneCo Deluxe isn’t enough. He needs to wipe out the last patch of resistance and claim Motorcity as his own to complete his vision.

OUR HEROES: Mike Chilton and his band of rebels, The Burners.

THEIR MISSION: To protect Motorcity, the last oasis of freedom, from the evil reach of Abraham Kane, a power-hungry tyrant hell-bent on taking over all of Detroit so he can transform it into his insidious city of the future – KaneCo Deluxe.

Mike and The Burners are charming rebels that share a lot in common with the original “Champions of Justice”: Robin Hood and His Merry Men. To put it simply:

Mike = Robin Hood

The Burners = Merry Men

Our heroes hide out in Motorcity (Sherwood Forest), devising plans to take down Kane (Sheriff Of Nottingham) and bring freedom to the people of Motorcity (Nottingham).

Julie (a Burner with a secret: she’s Kane’s daughter) = Maid Marian (she straddles the worlds of Deluxe and Motorcity

The Feel and Tone

Action! Freedom! Speed! FUN!

When you strip it all down, Motorcity is about the joy of racing around in tricked-out cars, fighting robots, and racing your rivals. It’s FUN! Dang it! And we never want to lose sight of that.

Mike has the ability to look a life and death situation in the eye and find the fun in it. Every day is a high stakes battle, but Mike’s impulsive approach to any problem is what makes him unique. It’s not that he doesn’t take his fight with Kane seriously – It’s the heat-of-the-moment, seat-of-his-pants way he that makes him Mike!Get ready for an eight-cylinder action-comedy road trip through the fast lane of futuristic sci-fi...

The World

KaneCo Deluxe

Perfect, but boring. Kane’s futuristic metropolis is cold and uninviting. The gray and white shell envelops the “engine” of the old city underneath. It’s the veneer that hides the multiple cables, wires, pipes and guts encapsulated in Motorcity that power all of Detroit. Floating “living room” pods carry the Deluxe citizens from apartment husks to factory complexes to food distribution centers and back. The pods recharge as they dock. They only go where the computer sends them. There are no sidewalks. There is no freedom. No one decides where and when to go – they just do as they’re told.

The KaneCo Deluxe citizens all work for KaneCo - and if they question Kane’s methods, they don’t dare say anything about it for fear of their safety. As long as they do what the great leader, Abraham Kane, says, there won’t be any trouble. This includes participating in the war effort against Motorcity and the Burners – who, according to Kane, want nothing but to take away their safety and replace it with chaos and anarchy!

Motorcity

Underneath the sprawling megacity of Deluxe is a vibrant community of freedom-loving farmers, engineers, artists, mechanics and warriors. Although they live underground, these Motorcitizens are happy and free. This underground world is colorful and organic – a meld of nature and technology. A harmonious blend of old and new. Mike and the Burners use the immense power lines and data cables as roads to traverse the distances of Motorcity, as well as the remnants of the old highways and roads that haven’t been destroyed by Kane.The people of Motorcity are frequently under attack by KaneCo’s forces. Kane often sends his seek-and-destroy robots – he calls them his Safe-T-Bots – to eradicate enclaves of humanity nestled within the city’s inner workings. Some Motorcity citizens respond by building up highly defensible fortress dwellings to protect their beloved city. While some hide or stay mobile, there others who rise up and fight to protect what they’ve built for themselves down there. They don’t have to play by Kane’s rules and they want to keep it that way. Motorcity is a nurturing oasis for creativity, danger and fun.

Mike is the leader of the Burners – the primary force of resistance against Kane – but there are other gangs and groups in Motorcity. They are mostly unorganized and fight each other more often than they pose a threat against Kane. Mike and the Burners regularly go on scavenging expeditions to the oldest reaches under the city to find the parts needed to build and maintain their vehicles. They also raid Kane’s power plants and technical facilities buried under the city for advanced electronics and other futuristic tech. Kane’s biggest weakness is that his enemy lives in his own basement. They can attack his soft underbelly without warning.This is a constant source of frustration and anger for Kane!

The mechanics of KaneCo Deluxe and Motorcity:

KaneCo Deluxe is a giant supercity – about 175 miles across. Good thing the Burners’ cars can drive so fast! 500mph gets you around Motorcity quickly, especially with no rush hour...The pods up above travel just as fast - but no one ever gets within 10 miles of the city’s border. Since no one can control a pod, no citizen has ever even been close. And just in case someone tries, there’s a force field trapping everyone in. The view from the edge of town is completely obscured by a giant holo-projection of a depressed wasteland. This is what Kane has fooled the people into believing. There’s nothing worth it out there. Everything worth having is within the walls of KaneCo Deluxe. There’s a lot of danger out there and we need to protect our borders! All utility and power systems that run KaneCo Deluxe are buried in Motorcity. The Burners and other pockets of Motorcity dwellers draw what power they need from these massive generators. The immense tubes that provide energy, water, ventilation, communication and sewage are used by the Burners as a network of tunnels and highways to travel underground - as well as provide access to the maintenance hatches needed to sustain KaneCo Deluxe.The Burners have figured out ways to hack into these maintenance systems to not only get in and out of Motorcity, but to throw Kane off their scent as well. When Security Bots are on their tail, the paths of the massive tubes can be switched – just like the switches of old fashioned train tracks. The Burners know these tubes and tunnels better than anyone and Mike has learned to be unpredictable – to go left when it’s logical to go right. The best way to outwit a robot is to think like a human!

The Characters

Mike Chilton

(bravery, guts)

AFFILIATION: Burner

TITLE: Leader - he’s the man in charge of the Burners, and the man behind the entire resistance against Kane. He’s got a tough challenge ahead – both in fighting Kane, and managing the unique personalities of his team.

IS: a cool, quick-witted, funny, gutsy, impulsive 17-year-old who generally has things under control and doesn’t take much seriously (except for, of course, his mission to take down Kane). Mike never does things the easy way – he does them the fun way! That means leaping BEFORE looking, jumping into the water without testing the temperature.

Mike is naturally gifted. He doesn’t have to try to be exceptionally good, he just is. He is the guy who doesn’t care about winning the trophy, but he has a closet full of them. This effortless skill is what attracted Kane’s attention and what makes him such a tough opponent.

STRENGTH: His daredevil spirit – it usually gets him out of trouble.

WEAKNESS: His daredevil spirit – it usually gets him into trouble.

WANTS: speed and adventure. New experiences. And most of all... Freedom! For everyone! That means saving his people – the citizens of Motorcity. Mike wants to keep Motorcity out of Kane’s clutches so they don’t become drones to the Deluxian way of life and lose their precious freedom, or even worse, be destroyed if they refuse to submit. The Burners are the people’s only hope, and Mike isn’t going to rest until Motorcity is truly free.DOES NOT WANT: BOREDOM! Complacency! Mike likes to DO. Why waste time talking about it when he could be done before the others stop flapping their gums? IF HE WAS A WEAPON, HE’D BE: a machine gun

FAMILY: None known

RELATIONSHIPS:

MIKE AND KANE: Mike used to be a cadet in Kane’s Ultra-Elite Forces Training Academy - he believed in KaneCo Deluxe and felt it was his duty to protect the people. Mike was the top of his class, tackling every challenge or fight with reckless abandon – none of the other cadets had the courage, the guts or the skill to keep up with him. Kane saw something special in Mike and took him under his wing. He had BIG PLANS for our boy. But when Mike discovered what Kane was really up to (you know, EVIL), he knew he had to break rank and take a stand. Both Mike and Kane feel BETRAYED by one another, which makes their struggle for KaneCo Deluxe and Motorcity extremely personal.

MIKE AND CHUCK: They’re best buds. They’re opposites, but they need each other. They have each other’s back – no matter what...

MIKE AND JULIE: They’re very close, but not that close. There’s nothing romantic going on between them – at least not yet...Mike doesn’t show his vulnerable side too often, but when he does, it’s almost always with Julie. He confides in her. Fears, worries, hopes and dreams.

MIKE AND JACOB: Pupil and teacher to a degree. Jacob offers up sage advice, and Mike does his best to follow it.

MIKE AND THE BURNERS: They’re a makeshift family and oil is thicker than blood. Mike would do anything to protect his team and vice-versa.

RIDE: Mutt – a retrofitted 70’s Muscle-Car with four turbine tri-pulsor engines, a slew of energy weapons, a grip of gadgets and a 21st century chopper hidden between the exhaust pipes!

WEAPONS OF CHOICE: Guts. Oh, and also a SKULL-HEADED DUAL-BLADED SPARK STAFF (think laser-sword meets flaming chainsaw!)

Chuck

(brains)

AFFILIATION: Burner

ROLE: Tech Guru / Mike’s co-pilot

IS: Mike’s best friend and sidekick, as well as an automobile aficionado – he knows everything about every car ever made ever- schematics, engine specs, performance ratings, etc. However, he is also terrified of the “speed” and “danger” associated with them. (Come to think of it, we never see him driving...) He reluctantly rides shotgun with Mike on most missions, even though he’d much rather avoid conflict altogether.

STRENGTH: Thanks to his big ol’ brain, Chuck can always find an escape route or a solution to a technical problem in a pinch. He performs well under stress and terror, even though he hates it. Although he's usually terrified of the situation Mike has put him in, he is incredibly loyal and will never bail on him. Chuck is also constantly improving the Burners’ computer and security systems.

WEAKNESS: AAAAAAHH! Easily scared. Overly-cautious. Anal retentive. Always fiddling with the computer and security systems!WANTS: To survive driving around with Mike. To stay home and play “Laser Swords” on his computer. To win Claire’s heart. And secretly – to be more brave.

DOES NOT WANT: To man the gunner controls (but he will if he has to!). To “go in for a closer look.” To go skydiving.

IF HE WERE A WEAPON, HE’D BE: a force field

SECRET: He doesn’t know how to drive! As much as Chuck loves cars, he’s just too scared to get behind the wheel. He’s able to keep the gang fooled by telling them he refuses to drive anything other than a Remote Control Car until he finishes building his dream car - the fastest, sleekest, most high-performance automotive machine the world has ever known. Of course, building the ultimate hot-rod will take years. And years. And years...

FAMILY: Chuck’s parents live in KaneCo Deluxe. They have no idea that Chuck is a Burner. They think he’s a Hover Repulsor Interface Technician at KaneCo.

RELATIONSHIPS:

CHUCK AND MIKE: They’re best buds. Chuck would do anything for him.

CHUCK AND DUTCH: Chuck engineers cars. Dutch builds cars and repairs them. Chuck is very precise and anal-ytical – a perfectionist. Dutch is not – he’s an artist and creates on the fly. When these guys have to collaborate, things get a little tense.

CHUCK AND CLAIRE: Chuck has a BIG crush on Claire. Claire thinks Chuck is G-ROSS.

CHUCK AND TEXAS: Oil and water. Legolas and Gimli. Nothing in common, except for their Burner patch and friendship with Mike – who often bridges the gap between them.

RIDE: “Umm... it’s in the shop.”

WEAPONS/SKILLS: Master Hacker. High-Tech Slingshot. Advanced trigonometry

Julie

(heart)

AFFILIATION: Burner

ROLE: Intel-Gatherer / Gal on the Inside / Illusionist / Moral Conscience

IS: a bright, empathetic girl who sees good in even the worst people. She’s less quick to shoot than Mike, but when she does, she’s accurate and lethal. Julie is a master of stealth, infiltration, and espionage. She’s both feminine and tomboyish, has a smart, sarcastic sense of humor, and is quick on her feet – she has to be, because she leads a secret double life...

EARTH-SHATTERING SECRET: Julie is Kane’s daughter – and NONE of The Burners know. She tells them she is able to gather intel on Kane’s nefarious plots because she’s a “KaneCo Intern.” And, of course, Kane has no idea that Julie is hanging out with those ne’er-do-well Burners.

STRENGTHS: Chameleon-like ability to blend into any environment. She has the rare gift of being accepted into Deluxian society and the Burner World. She can access the highest levels of KaneCo headquarters without breaking a sweat. She also knows her way around a hologram projector – she uses her illusions and decoys to evade capture when she’s running with the Burners. Julie also possesses a great moral compass and lets the gang know when they’ve gone too far.

WEAKNESS: Her secret identity. Can’t let her father know she’s a Burner, and can’t let the Burners know she’s Kane’s daughter.

WANTS: Harmony. She also wants her father to realize that what he’s doing is wrong. She wants to maintain her relationship with her father AND her affiliation with the Burners – a delicate balancing act.

DOES NOT WANT: anyone to get hurt.

WORRIES THAT: the other Burners are having fun without her when she’s up in KaneCo Deluxe.

IF SHE WERE A WEAPON, SHE’D BE: a sniper rifle

FAMILY: Kane is her father. Her mother passed away when Julie was an infant.

RELATIONSHIPS:

JULIE AND KANE: Kane loves his precious, little girl and would do anything to keep her safe. He wants to protect her from everything – which is one of the main reasons he built KaneCo Deluxe in the first place.

Julie still believes there’s good in Kane and doesn’t want any serious harm to come to him. What he’s doing may be evil, but she still thinks he’ll come around in the end. But until that day, she has to do what she can to help the people.

JULIE AND CLAIRE: BFFs since kindergarten. These days Julie sometimes has trouble relating to Claire’s Deluxian lifestyle. But Julie uses her old friend as a sounding board for everything she can’t tell the Burners about.

RIDE: Nine Lives -A modified mid 21st century police cruiser. Her ride can produce decoy hologram-cars to throw pursuers off her trail, cloak to near invisibility, and deploy smoke screens, oils slicks and electromagnetic pulse mines. Also has a high precision Sniper Beam under the hood.

SKILLS AND WEAPONS: Espionage. Natural charm. Can manipulate Tooley with ease. Able to keep the Burners focused on the mission at hand. Extensive knowledge of flash grenades, smoke bombs, and other electro-explosives.

Texas

(Muscle)

AFFILIATION: Burner ROLE: Texas handles anything that involves exploding, crashing, or smashing things with his head.

IS: Slightly stupid. Somewhat lovable. And REALLY violent! Powder keg. Won't think twice about punching anything. Dedicated to the team and be the first to the battlefront when a fight breaks out. He is not a voice of dissent. He's gung-ho. He's a cheerleader. He's raring to go! Hell yeah!

SECRET: Really wants to be leader of the Burners. No… believes he WILL BE leader of the Burners!

STRENGTH: Strength

WEAKNESS: Brain. Ego. Self-confidence bordering on delusion. Likes to brag about qualities he does not possess but thinks he does. WANTS: To move fast and smash stuff. To be Mike. But unlike Mike, Texas wants to be recognized for his awesomeness.

DOEST NOT WANT: To wait. To solve problems by “talking it over.” And big words!

IF HE WERE A WEAPON, HE’D BE: Trick question! Texas IS a weapon!

FAMILY: His parents live in Motorcity, where Texas was born and raised. His father plays the harp. His mother is a Professor of Women’s Literature.

RELATIONSHIPS:

MIKE AND TEXAS: Hero and understudy. Mike doesn’t know it, but Texas wants to be him.

TEXAS AND CHUCK: Oil and water. Muscle and smarts. Polar opposites.

TEXAS AND DUTCH: Fire and gasoline. Any dumb idea Texas has is always encouraged by Dutch.

RIDE: TEXAS - Not unlike George Forman, Texas has named his car after himself – because it is clearly the best name for anything awesome. Cobbled from the best late 20th century Italian sports cars, TEXAS is equipped with massive air-powered battering pistons, ram plates and hydro drills. Relies on physical weapons such as his roof-mounted grappling hook and the battering ram which is revealed by splitting open his front grille.

WEAPONS OF CHOICE: Laser nunchucks. Strong-ness. Massive neck!

Dutch

(creativity)

AFFILIATION: Burner

ROLE: Guerilla artist and mechanic

IS: the Burner’s creative spark. Unable to take the oppression of KaneCo Deluxe, he ran away to Motorcity to make art in peace. Now he fights against Kane’s forces to keep from losing his newfound freedom. Dutch is wary of Deluxe – he’s glad to have escaped and hates going back, even to fight Kane. He’s mistrustful of others - until he gets to know you; then he has your back for life.

STRENGTH: Ingenuity. Ability to make something out of nothing. First-rate mechanic. Makes the Burners and their cars LOOK GOOD too.

WEAKNESS: Dutch tends to be an island. That’s how he got his name – because he goes it ALONE. But Dutch can’t resist getting caught up with the Burners. It’s too much fun and he gets to build all sorts of crazy stuff. Sometimes he cares a little too much about his art. Dutch doesn’t take criticism well, so do NOT criticize his work or tell him how to do his job. Just don’t. Trust me.

WANTS: To be free to create and express himself in peace

DOES NOT WANT: To hear what you think about his art.

IF HE WERE A WEAPON, HE’D BE: A spring-loaded bear trap

FAMILY: His parents live on surface but they don’t keep in contact. They totally buy into the KaneCo lifestyle and think their son is a criminal.

RELATIONSHIPS:

DUTCH AND CHUCK – Chuck works on the cars’ circuitry and computer parts. Dutch focuses on the physical workings. Chuck is an anal-retentive nerd who wants everything done a certain way. Dutch can’t stand those kind of restrictions. He’s going to do it his way or no way at all. This causes friction. A lot of it.

DUTCH AND TEXAS – Dutch is a bit of a prankster and is constantly egging Texas on to do really dumb things (like talk to hot girls, lick a battery, chew on tinfoil, or super-glue his hat to his head).

DUTCH AND JULIE – She’s cool, but he doesn’t understand why she can’t just give up her meaningless life in KaneCo Deluxe and live in Motorcity full-time like the rest of them. It gives him doubts as to her true intentions.

DUTCH AND CLAIRE – People like her are EXACTLY why he left that Deluxian wasteland in the first place. Yechhh!

RIDE: The Scorpion Sting - A mid 21st century hot rod that’s in a constant state of modification. He’s switching the color and welding new things onto it every episode. The speakers incorporated into the Scorpion’s body transform into his “SONIC SPITTER,” that can shatter armor plating with ear-splitting sound waves. Dutch’s car also carries

ROTH – a multi-functional robot who helps with the car mods and field repairs.

SKILLS AND WEAPONS: McGuyver-esque building talent. In charge of TRAPS. Wields a weaponized SOCKET WRENCH, which he has modified to serve as a mace.

The "Sonic Spitter's" description was not given unfortunately

Jacob

(wisdom)

AFFILIATION: Burner

ROLE: Advisor, chef, and crazy old uncle type

IS: a hippie type in his mid-60’s and Kane’s former partner (a relationship that ended when Kane got all megalomaniacal and what-not). Jacob can’t quite keep up with all these young whippersnappers, so he’s taken on a more advisory role in the group: cooking them organic meals instead of the processed food bars they serve in Deluxe, counseling them on missions, and helping them out however he can. But don’t underestimate him just because he’s old and likes mung bean stew – he’s still got some driving left in him! And he’s chock full of scientific and technological knowledge, too, if you can sift through all of the organic food talk.

STRENGTHS: Cooking (according to him), experience, and knowledge of Kane. And a pretty dang good helicopter pilot and great when you need a tow.

WEAKNESS: Cooking (according to Burners). His back. The gout. Enlarged prostate. He’s not as young as he used to be…

WANTS: To see a truly free and safe Detroit, the way he and Kane envisioned it before Kane went off the deep end.

DOES NOT WANT: The music up too loud. New technology. To be forced to live in Kane’s idea of Detroit.

IF HE WERE A WEAPON, HE’D BE: a musket

RELATIONSHIPS:

JACOB AND KANE – Jacob and Kane worked together in the past. In fact, they co-founded KaneCo, hoping to create a safer, more peaceful world. But they had a falling out about how to use the technology they created. Kane turned on Jacob, ultimately labeling him an enemy of the state. They’re like Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. Magneto and Dr. X. One stayed righteous as the other spiraled down a dark path.

JACOB AND MIKE – Yoda and Luke. The man who has seen it all, and the up-and-comer with tremendous potential and a lot to learn.

RIDE: The ’57 Sasquatch - A 20th century chop top, jacked up on monster truck tires with a modified tow truck bed for a rear end.

WEAPONS OF CHOICE: Garden hoe. Compost. Juicer. Wisdom. Organic mung beans.

Claire

AFFILIATION: Deluxian

SERIES ROLE: Represents the average Deluxian youth

IS: Julie’s “valley-girl” best friend and confidant. Claire serves as a sounding board for Julie to discuss the problems she can’t discuss with the Burners – primarily, her secret life as Kane’s daughter.

STRENGTH: The amount of KaneCoins in her bank account, shopping prowess and super-hotness.

WEAKNESS: She’s obnoxiously prissy, is grossed out by the Burners and is pretty useless unless you need someone to go to the mall with.

WANTS: To live her nice KaneCo Deluxe life surrounded by her KaneCo products without having to suffer the antics of those dirtbag Burners Julie insists on hanging out with!

DOES NOT WANT: To be stuck in Motorcity for any length of time. Especially with that creepy Chuck!

FAMILY: Daughter of prominent KaneCo executive.

RELATIONSHIPS:

CLAIRE AND JULIE – Best friends. Claire is the only person who knows Julie is leading a double life as Kane’s daughter and a Burner. Even though she doesn’t approved of these new friends Julie has and the cause they fight for, she goes along to support her friend- Julie usually has a pretty good sense of what is right. She may not like the Burners, but she’s a true and loyal friend to Julie, no matter what.

CLAIRE AND CHUCK – Chuck is into her…she does NOT feel the same.

CLAIRE AND THE BURNERS – She only hangs out down there because of Julie. They are gross and smelly and hate everything good, like KaneCo products! She doesn’t see what Julie sees in them…and she hopes it’s just a phase.

CLAIRE AND KANE – She’s a KaneCo fangirl and Kane loves her. She’s just the kind of friend and role model that his daughter needs. Claire only WISHES she could be Kane’s daughter. Julie is TOTALLY LUCKY!

RIDE: her bedroom - a standard KaneCo living pod.

SKILLS AND WEAPONS: KaneCo credit. Consuming. Good use of rouge.

Abraham Kane

AFFILIATION: KaneCo

ROLE: Founder and CEO of KaneCo. Homicidal tyrant.

IS: An evil industrialist and megalomaniacal madman hellbent on capturing all of Detroit. Which means getting rid of the entire Motorcity population living in the bowels of his precious Deluxe. Which means WIPING THEM ALL OUT. And to add insult to injury, he has fun being evil.

STRENGTHS: Charisma. Unlimited resources. Technological Terrors. Master propagandist. Complete lack of remorse.

WEAKNESSES: Puts all of his faith in his technology. Consumed with wiping out the Burners and everyone in Motorcity.

WANTS: To get rid of those filthy Burners. And control-control-control. Kane’s got big plans for KaneCo Deluxe, and they don’t involve anyone living underneath it and gumming up the works. He won’t rest until everything with a pulse is removed from Motorcity and it is his to further his vision of complete domination.

DOES NOT WANT: Anyone to have fun outside of the predetermined box. Anyone living beneath KaneCo Deluxe. Anyone joining the Burners. And most importantly – to let anyone else have control of anything.

IF HE WERE A HISTORICAL FIGURE, HE’D BE: Vlad the Impaler. With just a hint of Joseph Stalin.

FAMILY: Julie is his daughter. His wife died a long time ago.

RELATIONSHIPS:

KANE AND MIKE: Mortal enemies. Were once like father and son. Now each sees the other as a backstabbing traitor who broke his heart. He wants vengeance against Mike at all costs! No one betrays Abraham Kane!

KANE AND JULIE: Believe it or not, Kane does love his daughter. And at one point in time, she was the whole reason he started KaneCo Deluxe. But nowadays his reasons are much more nefarious, and Julie clings to the hope that she can restore her father’s humanity some day. Kane sees Julie as a child, a fragile egg that needs protecting. And protecting means an ivory tower and isolation, not a father’s love. Their relationship is cold. Kane doesn’t even bother to know Julie and the bright and caring young woman she’s become. He keeps her at arms length at all times.

KANE AND JACOB: Co-founders of KaneCo. Were once like brothers. Then Jacob began to see Kane as a despotic maniac with no moral compass, and Kane began to see Jacob as a naïve idealist who has no idea what it takes to run a corporation.

KANE AND TOOLEY: Tooley may be an imbecile, but he possesses one quality that is very important to Kane – loyalty.

RIDE: He would never get near a car, but sometimes grabs the controls of whatever technological death machine he pits against the Burners.

WEAPONS OF CHOICE: Safe-T-Bots and other Robots. Slaughter Pods. Doom Drones. Threats and intimidation. Eventually, the “Teenage Assassin.”

Tooley

AFFILIATION: KaneCo

ROLE: Lackey and mindless thug. Think Barney Fife, but bigger and dumber. Picture Gilligan if he could beat you up.

IS: a lovable goon and uber-KaneCo fanboy who has earned his spot at Kane’s side by being unwaveringly loyal. He has totally bought into the KaneCo way of life and he’ll do whatever Kane says without ever being a threat to Kane’s power…except for when he tries to impress his hero and his plans go horribly awry. Or when he’s watching cartoons on the job and the Burners sneak past him. Or when the Burners outwit him and lock him in a closet. Or when he tells Julie anything she wants to know and gives away Kane’s secret plans. You get the picture.

STRENGTH: Brute strength. Has seen every episode of the “Robot Walrus”.

WEAKNESS: He’s even dumber than Texas. Easily manipulated, especially by Julie. Usually watching “Robot Walrus” when he’s supposed to be working. WANTS: To please Kane and to make Julie his ladyfriend for life.

RELATIONSHIPS:

TOOLEY AND KANE – Tooley is Kane’s obedient lackey. Kane knows he’s dumb, but unlike Mike Chilton, he’s LOYAL. Tooley LOVES Kane and wants to be just like him, but unfortunately lacks any of Kane’s skills.

TOOLEY AND JULIE – Their names rhyme! That means they’re meant to be, right? That’s what Tooley thinks. If it were up to him, they’d have a beautiful KaneCo wedding and honeymoon right there in beautiful downtown KaneCo Deluxe and have lots of babies at the KaneCo Maternal and Neo-Natal Complex. Unfortunately for him, Julie’s not buying it.

TOOLEY AND THE BURNERS – Tooley is to the Burners what Sergeant Shultz was to Hogan’s Heroes. He’s incompetent and that’s what allows them to infiltrate KaneCo as often as they do.

TOOLEY AND “TEENAGE ASSASSIN” – Tooley can’t see why Kane needs this tool—he’s already got a TOOLEY! He resents the need for extra muscle…especially muscle with brain. Teenage Assassin can’t believe Kane keeps an imbecile like Tooley around. Needless to say, they don’t get along.

RIDE: a standard KaneCo security pod.

WEAPONS OF CHOICE: Fists. Futuristic police baton

Gabriel ("Teenage Assassin")

AFFILIATION: KaneCo ROLE: Kane’s new Number One IS: Terrifying.

STRENGTH: He’s like a cold, calculating version of Mike. All skill, no humor.

WEAKNESS: None known WANTS: To destroy Mike Chilton. To please Kane.

DOES NOT WANT: To Lose.

IF HE WERE A WEAPON, HE’D BE: one of those new state-of-the-art automatic rifles that can shoot around corners.

FAMILY: Unknown

RELATIONSHIPS: Unknown (but here’s a Top Secret tidbit: he used to know Mike)

RIDE: a modified, weaponized KaneCo security pod.

WEAPONS OF CHOICE: Force field gauntlets. Anything else that gets the job done.

Duke of Detroit

AFFILIATION: Himself

ROLE: Scoundrel. Rogue boss.

IS: a shadowy, charming, manipulative figure based in the Deep Reaches of Motorcity who has a hand in anything and everything he finds useful. Those that know of the Duke know he’s not a dude to be taken lightly – or dealt with at all! A deal with the Duke usually costs a lot more than you bargain for. There’s probably a great story behind his mouth full of metal teeth, but he’s not telling.

STRENGTH: finding weak spots. Manipulation. Coercion. Political genius. Making offers you can’t refuse. Street smarts, especially in the world of Motorcity.

WEAKNESS: Vain. Addicted to material wealth. Wouldn’t hesitate to stab his own mother in the back.

WANTS: Free reign over Motorcity. Constant entertainment, usually at the expense of others.

DOES NOT WANT: Conflict with Kane – that would endanger the good thing he’s got going!

IF HE WERE A WEAPON, HE’D BE: a tommy gun

FAMILY: Unknown

RELATIONSHIPS:

THE DUKE AND THE BURNERS: Mike and the gang know better than to trust the Duke, but sometimes they have no choice. The Duke has clout, whether you like it or not.

THE DUKE AND MOTORCITY: He’s friendly to civilians until it’s time to pay what you owe. Then the creepy metal smile disappears. The Duke keeps people in line by offering them sadistic pay-per-view style combat events, which he stages in his own Motorcity stadium.

THE DUKE AND KANE: Mutual understanding. They sometimes even work with each other when there’s something in it for both of them. A war between them would seriously threaten their respective empires.

RIDE: An early 20th century Bentley tricked out with gangster flare and armed to the gills.

WEAPONS OF CHOICE: Spiked baseball bats. And a mouth full of metal teeth.

Q&A

WHO/WHAT IS MIKE PROTECTING?

Mike and the Burners are all that stands between Kane and complete domination of Detroit. The Burners are defenders of Motorcity, and they’ll fight to the bitter end to keep Kane from getting his clutches on this last remaining bastion of freedom.

Ultimately, Mike is protecting people’s freedom. The freedom to live their lives the way they see fit.

WHY DOES KANE WANT DETROIT SO BAD?

Because it will give him POWER. Power to create his city. Not the city that the people want, but the city that they need.

Power to protect himself. To control. To crush those who would dare betray him.

Kane grew up in poverty in old Detroit. Surrounded by crime and decay. He never felt safe.

Working on the automobile assembly lines saved him from the streets. It gave him order and structure when everything else in his life was chaotic. Much like Henry Ford, the assembly-line mentality made a huge, and not altogether positive, impact on his thinking. He started seeing people as parts of a vast machine, not free-thinking souls. He determined excessive freedom and free choice was what was ruining Detroit. And he began to dream about what Detroit could be if he was in charge…

We like to think of Kane as sort of an anti-Bruce Wayne. Both were scarred at a young age by the ills of their cities. Both passionately dedicated their lives to making their cities a better place. And both went a little overboard: One going the hero route, dressing up as a Bat to clean up the streets. One opting for the dictator tract, ruthlessly acquiring power and subduing opposition to forge his “better world”.

IF KANE FAILS TO TAKE OVER DETROIT, WHAT DOES HE LOSE?

Obviously power. Deep down, Kane is afraid of being that powerless kid on the street. He NEVER wants to return to his old life.

Which is why Kane can’t allow the citizens to control their own lives. In his mind, freedom is just another word for everything to lose. Freedom leads to chaos, collapse, and ruin – just like in Old Detroit. He needs the power to control everything, make all the decisions, and ensure people dictate their lives by his singular vision.

And nothing poses a bigger threat to his power than the existence of Motorcity. If he fails to conquer that subterranean, freedom flaunting rat-hole, the roots of liberty could take hold and spread like noxious weeds through his precious Deluxe. Not to mention, those scumbag Burners will continue attacking Kane’s Deluxian tree at its roots, dismantling the future city’s underground power stations and infrastructure.

WHAT DO PEOPLE IN MOTORCITY FEEL ABOUT MIKE AND THE BURNERS?

Most citizens view Mike and The Burners as heroes. But there are some who see them as punk delinquents whose Kane-agitating antics bring unnecessary hardship on their neighborhoods.

Motorcity is also home to other Revolutionaries; rivals who believe the Burners are getting in the way of their plans. Or think Mike’s tactics are too soft – they are particularly disturbed by the fact that he considers the well–being of Deluxians when crafting plots to stop Kane.

WHAT DO DELUXIANS FEEL ABOUT MIKE AND THE BURNERS? WHAT DO THEY FEEL ABOUT KANE?

Though most of the people in KaneCo Deluxe are not truly happy with what Kane has provided, they don’t dare say so. Most of them fall in line and accept things the way they are. Anyone who sympathizes with the Burners does so privately, unless they have a death wish. And on the opposite side of the issue are a few who, like Claire, seem to have been duped by Kane’s promises and slick presentation.

WHAT DO PEOPLE IN MOTORCITY FEEL ABOUT KANE?

The consensus in Motorcity is that Abraham Kane is a real *%$#!

But as Motorcity isn’t exclusively populated by the morally upright, there are some who would be more than happy to sell-out to Kane for special privileges or payment.

HOW WILL WE SHOW THAT LIFE IS GOOD FOR DELUXIANS?

Citizens of KaneCo Deluxe receive three square meals a day, state of the art living quarters, and a steady job that’s guaranteed not to be outsourced. There’s no traffic. No crime. No poverty. What’s not to like?!

HOW WILL WE SHOW THAT LIFE IS BAD FOR DELUXIANS?

The three square meals are pre-selected by KaneCo, and usually consist of unappetizing fare like “throat cubes”. The living quarters are more like drab prison cells. And the jobs are, well… pretty much slavery. Workers are expected to report to work whenever the KANECO CHIME is heard. (Much like a prison siren or the school bell between periods.) Everything is scheduled. Everything is controlled. You don’t have a say.

WHAT OTHER “NON-TOOLEY” ALLIES DOES KANE HAVE ON HIS TEAM?

Kane is constantly surrounded by henchmen and hangers-on, some of whom have their own secret agendas in mind:

There’s a “Dutiful Sycophant” who laughs at his jokes and kisses his butt, but is secretly vying to take him down and seize control of Deluxe. A deadly, ubertalented “Teenage Assassin” who seems even more driven than Kane to wipe out Mike and The Burners. And we’ll introduce others as our season progresses…

ANY ONE ELSE INTERESTED IN “THE BATTLE FOR DETROIT”?

There are some unsavory characters lurking in the bowels of the city, but none more devilish than the DUKE OF DETROIT. A crime-boss of sorts, his only interest in the Battle For Detroit is figuring out how he can spin it to his advantage. The Duke has his sights set on extending his influence in Motorcity. And he sees Mike as a valuable tool – aligning himself with the rebel hero could score him big PR points with the people.

On the other hand, the cutthroat Duke is no dummy. He knows Mike’s moral code could really interfere with his plans. So from time to time, he’ll do what it takes to keep the kid in line – which sometimes means allying himself with Kane. After all, in the end, the Duke’s only real allegiance is to himself.

There are also other interested parties and forces at work outside of the domed Deluxe that we can weave in and out of the seasons as we progress. Rival CEOs, Criminals, and Shadow Organizations that attempt to lend support to Mike’s cause in hopes of accomplishing their own agendas.

HOW DOES KANE WAGE HIS WAR AGAINST MOTORCITY?

Primarily with brutal force, terrifying technology, and fear. He has an endless army of Robots at his disposal that he unleashes daily to bombard Motorcity. He has a seemingly infinite arsenal of wicked ways to stick it to the people. But his horrifying laboratory creations usually present the biggest challenge for our heroes and the poor citizens. Like the time he pumped an ever-expanding, flesheating Sulfuric-Acid Foam Gel into Motorcity, a concoction designed to rapidly dissolve all living, organic material. Yikes!

Sometimes Kane is so blinded by his thirst for power that he pursues incredibly risky plots that end up putting himself and all of Detroit in danger. Like when he forces his R&D lab into morally unconscionable territory in the hopes of creating the ultimate Attack-Bot, and ends up creating a hybrid bio-mechanical creature that promptly escapes and starts “cocooning” Motorcity and Deluxian citizens.

Kane often focuses his attention directly on our Burners, developing BurnerSeeking Death Drones, hiring bloodthirsty Bounty Hunters, or luring the rebels out of their underground lair by callously using citizens as bait.

Of course, The Burners aren’t just going to sit around waiting for Kane to unleash his latest plot. They’re always looking for ways to take the fight to his doorstep and destroy his plans before they get off the ground. Like when they attempt to infiltrate his top secret, insanely dangerous weapons factory with the help of Kane-Co Safe-T-Suits. Or when they smuggle out Kane’s top alternative-fuel physicist to avert nuclear-scale disaster.

[aralezinspace]

~~Read It Here~~

Rated T || word counts at the beginning of each chapter

In merry England in the time of old, when good King Henry the Second ruled the land, there lived within the green glades of Sherwood Forest, near Nottingham Town, a famous outlaw whose name was Robin Hood. Or: Adaptations of various ballads and tales where Hob Gadling is the outlaw known as Robin Hood.

Oo-de-lally! Behold my submission for the @endlesshistoriesfest I really enjoyed writing this; a Hob Robin Hood AU has been on my mind for a while. It’s technically complete since each ballad/tale can stand on its own, but I may add more adapted tales in the future. Enjoy!

[thedissociatives]

hello quinn i don’t know anything about the tragedy chanting debacle but i am intrigued!

hello rickie !! i'm glad you're intrigued so i get to explain it to someone who has no stake in this conversation (so is less likely to try and pick a side). but also it is really fucked up and not something i am proud of one bit. explaining it below the cut because there's no way this is going to be short

if you couldn't tell from the name "tragedy chanting" is the catchall term used when fans at a football game start chants about a tragedy involving the other team. i don't pay too much attention to if this happens with other teams but it is prolific at man united-liverpool derby matches because both teams Hate each other and have really dark moments in their history. because my knowledge on this is limited completely to it in this context i'll only be talking about it from this viewpoint as i don't want to step on anyone's toes more than i probably already will be (will explain these below so you can follow along with how bad all this actually is)

man united (munich air disaster): back in 1958, united had a very young and promising team who were expected to absolutely dominate european football. the average age of the team was something like 22— very young. They were playing in the European Cup and were returning home after knocking out Red Star Belgrade. The plane stopped to refuel in Germany. Two takeoff attempts were abandoned before the third, and final, attempt happened. Really, there shouldn't have been a third attempt that day. Due to the weather, during this third takeoff attempt, slush on the runway slowed the plane down too much and it crashed. 20 people died at the scene, with another 3 dying later in hospital— the fatalities included coaching/management staff alongside journalists as well as players.

liverpool (hillsborough disaster): in 1989 at an fa cup semi-final game against nottingham forest at hillsborough, police failed massively at preventing overcrowding in the central pens in one of the stands allocated to liverpool fans. the overcrowding led to horrific crushing, which killed 97 people and injured hundreds more. it's widely regarded as the worst tragedy in british sports to this day. i'm trying to refresh myself on what exactly happened that day but i can't read it because it's making me feel physically sick. so many fuckups that day caused something that was preventable. i can't imagine what it would've been like in there, as either a liverpool or forest fan.

(if you can tell where this is going already rickie— i'm sorry)

i imagine the tragedy chanting started before hillsborough, not only because munich happened about three decades earlier, but because my dad remembers going to games where he heard it and most of the games he went to were in the 70s and 80s. basically, when these two teams have played each other in subsequent years, fans of each team have a disgusting tendency to start chanting about munich (my dad remembers hearing "who's that lying on the runway who's that lying in the snow" being chanted from liverpool fans) and hillsborough at each other— who starts it each time doesn't matter to me because doing it back "because they started it" doesn't make it any better. to me, the fact that man united fans started doing this at all is beyond disgusting; if we assume i was right and this started pre-hillsborough, that means there were plenty of years when the chanting was done by liverpool fans about munich. maybe it's because i'm not actively in the stands at one of these matches, but why on earth would you do it back, full well knowing how it feels when it happens to you ?

i have got to say, the fa has made several attempts to stamp this out over the years. fines and bans have been handed out countless times (at last year's fa cup final between man united and man city a united fan received punishment for wearing a shirt with "97 not enough" on the back— which not only is absolutely abhorrent, but to do it randomly ? fuck you) but afaik it hasn't fully stopped tragedy chanting and fans of both teams still demand a stop to it all. even though they both still dish it out. again, maybe because i don't quite have the same stake in this as others (come from a united family but mainly support swindon), but if they're so desperate for it to end how about stop partaking in it ? clearly we all agree it's wrong and shouldn't be part of the game (at least i hope so) so why are some so fucking adamant on carrying it on. personally i'd give anyone caught getting involved in tragedy chanting a lifetime ban from the derbies at a minimum, but i can't see the fa taking that hardline of a stance anytime soon. but something needs to be done— mocking the deaths of fans and players has never been and will never be acceptable or okay in any capacity

[sloanesallow]

The Call of the Void | Chapter 1

Shy girl meets distracted boy. Chaos ensues. This is my "canon" retelling of Siobhan Sloane and Sebastian Sallow's story. (full synopsis here. Chapter Summary: Siobhan Sloane makes her way to Hogwarts with Professor Fig, but all she wants is to go home. Chapter warnings: None [Ao3] | [Wattpad] | [NEXT]

I: (U n) l u c k y

Darkness.

Nothing but black, eternal darkness.

It is all Siobhan sees—not that she can see anything. What’s the last thing she remembers? Nothing comes to mind. For a moment she thinks she must be dead, and that the afterlife promised to her by a childhood pastor and God is a lie when she opens her eyes.

Darkness, still, but the glow of the full moon and stars make her current surroundings more bearable. Where exactly is she? She continues to stare up at the night sky, the gargantuan trees that surround her swaying in the late-summer breeze. For a long time the rustling of leaves and wind is all she can hear, until the sound of boots padding through soil echoes through her ears.

“Are you alright, Miss Sloane?”

Suddenly, she remembers everything.

Four months ago she is just a simple girl, living in Nottinghamshire with her father on their family homestead. She awakes every morning with the sun to complete her chores around the farm and spend her afternoons in the garden, or perched on the tree-swing up the hill with an old book. Her life is quaint and uncomplicated, until her sixteenth birthday when with a swish of her fork, she sends the celebration cake flying into the hearth.

A representative from the Ministry of Magic comes to the cottage shortly thereafter, effectively turning her life upside-down. Magic? She can wield magic? All she can think of are the Brothers Grimm fairytales that line her bookshelf, wondering if she’ll end up as folklore—the strange girl from Nottingham who is secretly a witch.

An anomaly—that is what they call her, with only a handful of other cases on record of a person’s magic manifesting so late in life. Not that Siobhan is old, but by wizarding standards, she is a very late-bloomer. She remains in denial until another visitor arrives, this time a teacher sent from a magical school from which she has been offered admittance.

“Hogwash?” Mr. Sloane, her father, asks.

Professor Eleazar Fig shakes his head, a humored smile curling his lips. “Hogwarts,” he clarifies. “More specifically, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

The Professor is a man who resembles her maternal grandfather, grey hair and all. He is a patient and kind person, sitting for hours in the family kitchen answering every question that comes to her father’s mind. It is Professor Fig who will be her tutor that summer, should Siobhan and Mr. Sloane accept, preparing her with as much baseline knowledge as he can before the start of the next term.

It seems like a lifetime ago, now.

Then came an airborne ambush, followed by a disorientating apparition to the chilly Scottish coast, shadowy labyrinths filled with vengeful statues, and the power-hungry leader of a goblin rebellion. Not to mention the discovery of ancient magic. It is the same magic Siobhan uses to escape Gringotts with the Professor, frantically activating a magical portal that deposits them in the middle of an overgrown forest.

“Miss Sloane?”

Siobhan snaps out of her daze, grasping Professor Fig’s outstretched hand so he can help her stand. As she dusts the dirt from her hands along the front of her already soiled coat, the older man inspects the dilapidated brick from which they just traveled through. Three times now she has performed the feat, and she suspects it has everything to do with the ancient magic burning in her veins.

With her limited knowledge of the wizarding world, she cannot begin to speculate on her newfound power, seemingly dormant until she touched the container Mr. Osric received from Miriam Fig. Unfounded as it is, she can’t help but feel strangely guilty for their deaths. She reaches up out of habit to fiddle with her braid, realizing with shock that the ends are burnt and frayed, likely from the dragon’s fire she and Professor Fig barely evaded. There is little time to mourn the loss of hair, however, not when she isn’t sure the danger has passed.

“Remarkable,” Fig sighs, interrupting her frazzled thoughts. He looks to where she is standing, staring at her upturned hands. “Are you alight?” he asks again.

Siobhan shakily nods, though she can tell the professor does not believe her. Thankfully he does not press the issue, offering a sympathetic smile while he waits for her to settle. She wonders if it’s not too late to return to Nottingham and pretend this was all a strange dream. But she does not want to fall victim to cowardice, or disappoint her father, who despite his resignation and confusion, allowed his only daughter to leave home.

If only her father knew how close to death she’d been, he would lock her up in the cellar for the rest of her life, just to keep her safe.

“Where are we?” she finally asks in a quiet voice. She can almost make out a path beyond the tree-line, illuminated by a lone lantern. In the distance, a train horn bellows.

Professor Fig joins in on surveying the area, his eyebrows twitching up in surprise. “It can’t be…” he says with a slight shake of his head. “It seems those who set up the Pensive, the locket—and the path to both—wanted someone with your ability to end up here…”

His words taper off and for a moment, the professor appears deep in thought, as if contemplating his own role in today’s events, and what the future holds for them both. The introspection doesn’t last, and a moment later Fig is regarding her with an amused grin.

“I do believe we aren’t very far from the castle grounds,” he announces. “Rather convenient, wouldn’t you say?”

Siobhan wryly smiles. “Very.”

“Come along,” he gestures for her to follow.

Not a few steps down the hill, her curiosity gets the better of her. “What will happen now?” she asks, clarifying when the professor glances her way. “To the locket, I mean, to…” she trails, hesitant to broach the subject. His wife’s research on ancient magic will need to continue…right?

“I will study the locket as soon as I can, but first I must contact the Ministry,” he explains “They need to know what happened to George…and be warned of Ranrock.”

“For the moment, I ask that you keep all that’s happened this evening between you and me,” he continues before Siobhan can reply.

“O—of course, sir,” she answers, unsure whom she would even tell, or if they’d believe her. 

The remaining trek to Hogwarts Castle is spent in relative silence, allowing Siobhan more time to comprehend all that has transpired. Not that she believes it possible to fully understand, not for a naive girl like her. Instead, dread coats her stomach, twisting round and round until she feels like she might be sick.

There isn’t enough time for Siobhan to admire the architecture, though the high ceilings and imposing towers do little to quell her anxieties. She hurries after Professor Fig as he leads her towards the Great Hall, where beyond the shut doors are the murmurs of celebration.

“With any luck, we haven’t missed the sorting ceremony,” he says. Siobhan refrains from making a quip about how terrible their luck has been so far, but she wouldn’t have been able to say anything anyways, not when a booming voice calls out to them.

“Fig!”

A tall and imposing man has slipped through the large doors without their notice, though Siobhan is sure by the sneer on the man’s face he isn’t there to greet them—at least not in the way she expects. His suit is impeccably tailored and his facial hair is well groomed, not a wrinkle or stray whisker in sight. Whomever he is, he must be important—or at least think he’s important.

Professor Fig grumbles and lets slip a curse before forcing a grin.

“Ah, Phineas!” he replies in a strained but jovial manner. Siobhan straightens her posture, recalling the name from the list of Hogwarts staff Fig provided her. Phineas Nigellus Black—the Headmaster.

“How nice of you to join us,” he says, face scrunched up as if he’s smelled something foul. His dark eyes flick across Siobhan’s appearance and she freezes, holding in her breath until her lungs burn. She wishes there had been time to fix her likely abyssal appearance and avoid making such a horrible first impression. Then again, it’s likely she could be dressed in the fanciest gown from Worth and still receive the same reaction.

Headmaster Black sighs. “But I’m afraid you are too late.” 

Professor Fig protests, shaking his head and hands in disagreement. “There were…complications—”

“Complications?” Black scoffs. Before Fig can begin to offer an explanation, the Headmaster continues. “You already know of my displeasure about this…” he motions lazily at Siobhan. “Situation. A new fifth-year? It is simply unheard of, especially one of her pedigree.”

Professor Fig scowls, shaking his head at Siobhan’s questioning glance. He will explain later, but the malice in Black’s tone doesn’t bode well. She feels the last shred of her already weakened confidence fade away and gulps down the bitter sting of emotions.

“Alas, the Ministry insisted upon her acceptance,” Headmaster Black grumbles.

“Even you could not sway their decision on the matter, it seems,” Professor Fig retorts, and if it weren’t for Siobhan’s presence, the two might have exchanged blows—magical or otherwise. “Siobhan Sloane is a capable witch, I assure you.”

“Humph,” Black scrutinizes her with disdain. “That remains to be seen.”

Siobhan wants nothing more in that moment than to be somewhere else. Home, she thinks. I want to go home.

Professor Fig’s expression darkens. “Phineas—”

“No matter,” the Headmaster waves his hand, silencing the older man. “Miss Sloane may join the rest of the students in the Great Hall. Consider yourself lucky—”

There’s that word again.

Siobhan never wants to hear it again.

“—we might still be able to get you sorted this evening.”

Headmaster Black spares once last glance at her before sharply turning on his heel to renter the Great Hall, not bothering to wait for them to follow. Siobhan deflates, exhaling as tears immediately flood her vision. Professor Fig quickly steps to her side, offering a handkerchief from his coat pocket.

“Allow me to apologize for the Headmaster’s abhorrent behavior,” he murmurs, eyebrows creased in a mix of concern and frustration. “Godric knows he never will. How he is permitted to keep his position whilst disrespecting the students and staff is beyond me.”

Siobhan says nothing, too preoccupied with sniffling and drying her tears. She feels like a inconsolable toddler, annoyed with herself for being so damn sensitive. Her father claims it as his favorite trait, but she feels cursed, embarrassed by the flush on her cheeks. Knowing she cannot stay there in the hall forever, she attempts to regain at least some of her composure.

Professor Fig—bless his patience—doesn’t speak until she lifts her chin, just enough to see the same sympathetic expression from earlier. She wipes at her face one last time, clutching the handkerchief tightly in one hand.

“Here, allow me,” he says, taking a step back as he brandishes his wand. With a flick of his wrist, he transforms her tattered coat into a dark, clean robe. She stares down at the Hogwarts insignia and the heavy reality of the situation comes crashing down.

“Are you ready?” Fig asks, affectionately patting her shoulder to offer some small encouragement for what she is about to face. No, she wants to scream to the professor and anyone else who will listen. She wants to run away while still can, but her feet shuffle forward, closer to the Great Hall doors.

Something tells her there is no turning back now.

Siobhan feigns bravery with a shaky smile. “Y—yes.”

It is a lie.

[arwenkenobi48]

Robin Hood Minific: Prince John And The Ghost

Prince John claims he doesn’t believe in ghosts, but a mysterious encounter is about to prove otherwise…

“…an’ legend has it, as legen�� always does, that the ghost of that headless execution’r goes a-wanderin’ through Nottin’ham when the moon is full, lookin’ fer a new head to chop off.” As the Sheriff of Nottingham finished his gruesome tale, he took note of audience’s reaction. Sir Hiss looked slightly disturbed, Trigger was listening with furrowed brow in concentration, Nutsy’s knees were knocking to a cartoonish degree, but Prince John’s reaction really took the cake.

The lion’s fur was standing on end, his eyes were as wide as dinner plates and his entire body was quivering like a golden blancmange. Every few seconds, he made a little whimpering sound like the beginning of a sneeze and in typical Prince John fashion, his thumb was slowly finding its way to his mouth. It took every bit of effort for the sheriff to not burst out laughing.

“Well now, how’s that fer a scary story?” Prince John immediately snapped out of his terror-induced paralysis. “Pah! Headless executioner, indeed. How would he even be able to see where he was going? What a lot of poppycock!”

Little did Prince John know that he and his courtiers weren’t the only ones who had overheard the story. A certain group of outlaws were also listening in on the macabre fable and had seen his reaction. Robin Hood ducked behind the castle wall and whispered to his companions. “Friar Tuck, put your hood up. I think I’ve got an idea…”

1 hour later…

Sir Hiss leaned on the sill of the royal bedroom window, a gentle breeze ruffling the ends of his cape. “Ahhh, what a fine night this is…” Resting his head on the end of his tail, positioned like a hand, he gazed up into the sky. “And what a beautiful full moon that is, too.” Prince John felt the fur on the back of his neck stand up. “D-d-did you say a…a full m-m-m-moon, Hiss?” “Yesss, come and have a look, sire. It’s sssimply lovely.”

Prince John stared up at the moon, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. “Uh, it’s fine enough, as full moons go, I suppose,” His words were more muffled than he wanted. “Are you alright, sssire? You sssseem a little on edge.” “On edge? Me? Rubbish, Sir Hiss! I’m as not on edge as a king can be!”

Suddenly, there was a loud, low clang from the courtyard below. It sounded like the solemn toll of a solitary church bell, but it was really just Little John banging two large metal pots together on the other side of the ramparts. “GAH!” Prince John leapt about a foot in the air. “What was th-th-that!?”

“Did it work, Rob?” Little John whispered hopefully. “Looks like it, Johnny. He’s coming into the courtyard now.” Robin watched excitedly as Prince John and Sir Hiss entered the courtyard. Grasping the hilt of his sword tightly to hide the fact that his hands were shaking, Prince John called out into the dark: “Come out with your hands up, whoever you are!” A strange groaning sound emanated from just outside the castle walls.

“Oooooohhhh���ooooooooohhhhhhh…” A hooded figure emerged from the shadows, seeming to float above the ramparts, draped in a dark cloak and wielding an axe. “Bewaaaaare, Prince Johnnnn!” It bellowed. “It is I, the Headless Executioner! Wooooohooooo!” Friar Tuck was enjoying himself tremendously, swinging his wooden axe about as a camouflaged Little John held him up. Sir Hiss saw right through the disguise, but the same could not be said for Prince John.

“AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!” Shrieking like a mandrake, the cowardly lion turned tail and fled back to the safety of his tower, clinging to Sir Hiss like a reptilian lifeline. “Help! Save me! I’m too young to die! MOMMYYYYY!” Practically falling over his own tail in his haste, he scrambled up the stairs, sprinted to his room, leapt into bed and hid under the covers.

“Heeheeheeheeeee!” Friar Tuck guffawed once he and others had retreated to the safety of Sherwood Forest. “Did you see the look on his face? I guess I do look pretty spooky with my hood up!” “Nah, it was Robin’s ghost impression that frightened him,” chuckled Little John. “Ah, but you’re forgetting, old boy,” Robin smiled. “If you hadn’t been there to make Friar Tuck look like a hovering ghost, none of this ever would’ve happened. Hmm, I wonder what Prince John’s up to now…”

When he was finally sure that the Headless Executioner hadn’t followed him up the stairs to his room, Prince John peered out from under his bedsheets. He had been sucking his thumb so much that it was feeling a little sore. “Uh, Sir Hiss? Are we safe now?”

“Yrsss!” Said a muffled voice. “Hiss? Where are you?” “Yr sssrttrn rn me!” When he finally emerged from beneath the royal backside, Sir Hiss wheezed for air. “Yes, we’re sssafe!” He grumbled. “And I don’t think we’ll be requesting ghost sssstories from the Sheriff any time ssssoon!”

The sheriff in question, meanwhile, had slept through the whole adventure and was none the wiser. But his vulture henchmen, Trigger and Nutsy, had only witnessed Prince John’s legendary display of abject terror. “Well, looky there, Trigger.” Chortled Nutsy. “You’d’a think Prince John’d just seen a ghost!”

The End

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

ROUND 1 MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

Into the Dalek

Synopsis

Surrounded by his greatest enemies, the newest Doctor will journey into the most dangerous place in all of the universe. With the limits of his compassion being tested, the Doctor will be forced to ask a question about himself that he doesn't know: "Am I a good man?"

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

Robot of Sherwood

Synopsis

Clara is offered the chance to choose the next destination for herself and the Twelfth Doctor. They go and meet the English folk hero Robin Hood, much to the Doctor's disbelief in the existence of someone who's supposed to be a mere folk story character. Travelling through Sherwood Forest in 1190, they soon realise that something is amiss, as the cruel Sheriff of Nottingham and his malevolent robot knights set in motion a plot that could rewrite the course of history for the worst.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

Kill the Moon

Synopsis

The Doctor, Clara, and Courtney go visit the Moon in 2049, where they discover that the Earth's constant companion is a little more than another mere celestial body.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The Pyramid at the End of the World

Synopsis

At a war zone in Turmezistan where American, Chinese, and Russian armies are about to meet, a 5,000-year-old pyramid stands. It's very strange, but one thing raises the suspicions of the United Nations: it just appeared overnight. The aliens inside claim that humans would cause the death of all life on Earth. Soon, the Twelfth Doctor, Bill and Nardole are facing an invasion the likes of which they have never seen before. Before they invade, the aliens need the permission of humanity.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The Eaters of Light

Synopsis

What happened to the legendary Ninth Legion of the Roman army? Bill and the Doctor both have ideas of what happened, but who is right? What is that strange creature lurking in the dark? And why are people suddenly disappearing?

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

[orbitalpirate]

4

Jamie and Richard bestie <3

Their friendship was always decorative. Two attractive men, pretty boys, photographed well together, press always took pictures of them leaving clubs with women, it made sense that they drifted to each other. Even if it was skin deep. Even if Jamie still said Richard's name wrong. It was a good time. A quick laugh. They were both putting on personas and couldn't recognize eachothers masks.

That was until the hurricane that was named James Tartt stormed through the man city locker room, and Richard was struck with two horrifying realizations. 1. James Tartt is a horrible, jealous, abusive prick and a terrible father, and 2. Jamie Tartt was just like him.

It gnawed at him for weeks. The team walked on eggshells around the issue. Richard was not welcome to contribute, so he waited until the moment felt right. The moment never did.

They won a match against Nottingham Forest and went out as a team to some club. Richard snuck out as he does sometimes to tend to his French vice of fine cigarettes when he sees Jamie outside sat with his back to his wall. They were both in a dim alley, best to avoid paps.

"Jamie, are you alright, frere?" He called out tentatively.

"Too loud in there," Jamie responded, "needed a break."

Richard could understand that. It was loud in there. "Cigarette?" He offered Jamie as he lit his own.

Jamie shook his head no but scooched over to allow Richard space on the damp ground next to him. They'd both have darker trousers when they went inside, but clubs were dark they'd be fine.

"Been a bit since we talked," Richard mused. Jamie nodded, opting for silence still. "I wanted to say what you did at Man City, standing up to your father, I admire that."

He waited a beat, Jamie still wasn't really reacting. Jamie did look at him for a moment before returning his fixed gaze to the floor, which Richard considered a victory.

"I never hit my father back, even when he broke my collar bone or burned me with cigarettes. Always bit my tongue, yes? So, seeing you punch your father, thank you. It meant something to me," Richard said succinctly.

Jamie looked up at him, considering, "You're old man a piece of shit too?" He asked even though they both knew the answer. "That proper sucks mate, I'm sorry. My dad never broke any bones or nothing like that, but he'd chuck the odd beer bottle or two at my head. Made me feel weak small, I never want to feel like that again."

Richard took a moment to smoke and let the words settle between them. "The feeling small it is mutual. My dad ruined my mental health, but against my better judgment, I’m alive. It's nice to talk about it, my friend."

"Yeah, man, listen, if your old man ever tries to show up in your life, I'd be willing to punch him too," Jamie said. "I got you, you got me, yeah?"

Richard kept smoking in relative silence before ashing his cigarette on the ground. He bid Jamie a subtle nod as he headed back inside. They were still pretty boys, and they still looked mad fit together, but their friendship would never be decorative again.

[annieqattheperipheral]

tw: death, funeral

Beautiful article on Adam Johnson's Celebration of Life, includes those from the hockey world who attended and their shared words:

- - -

HIBBING, Minn. — In a small, hard-working town of 16,000 in Minnesota’s Iron Range, where there are streets named after Bob Dylan and there’s a sense of pride at having also produced MLB legend Roger Maris and Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin McHale, there is — and was — only one “Adam.”

“If you said the name ‘Adam’ in Hibbing, everybody knew that meant Adam Johnson,” said Scott Pionk, the father of Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk and Wild draft pick and University of Minnesota-Duluth freshman Aaron Pionk. “Like LeBron, he needed only one name: Adam.”

Jim Perunovich, the father of St. Louis Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich, agreed: “Cher. Bono. Everyone knows who Adam is.”

That’s why on a chilly, wet Monday afternoon, some 3,000 people filled the Hibbing Memorial Arena, which was originally built during the Great Depression and stands three blocks from Adam’s old high school, to pay their respects and offer an outpouring of love and support to the friends and family who are reeling right now. Nine days earlier, Hibbing’s “Adam” died at 29 years old playing the sport he loved, cut by a skate blade across the neck while playing professionally in England.

The Nottingham Panthers on Saturday conducted their own memorial, at Motorpoint Arena, where assistant coach Kevin Moore said Panthers fans had immediately taken to Adam — “our best player” – and will “wear his No. 47 in their hearts forever.”

Then on Sunday, Nottingham Forest football player and Panthers fanatic Orel Johnson Mangala scored in the 47th minute of a Premier League victory over Aston Villa — while fans were paying tribute to Adam with a one-minute ovation. Hours later, Matthew Thiessen, the goalie for Adam’s alma mater, University of Minnesota-Duluth, made a career-best 47 saves in a 3-3 tie with cross-state rival University of Minnesota.

On Monday in Hibbing, scores of people walked into the lobby of the arena and were greeted by a picture of Adam flashing his joyful and infectious smile.

There was a condolence book and there were pictures of him as a baby and young boy running around or skating with his older brother, Ryan. There were pictures of Adam excelling with a hockey stick and tennis racket in his hand. There were pictures of him playing with his young nephew and niece and kissing his fiancée, Ryan Wolfe, a St. Francis native who he fell in love with instantly and planned to buy a farm or coffee shop with.

Seeing so many pictures of a happy Adam and hearing the memories of him was a great reminder that Adam is not just a name, not just a stranger causing so many other strangers to argue on social media about how and why he died. And the term “neck guard” wasn’t uttered once Monday, even though Adam’s death may end up causing a lot of good in the game as college and professional hockey players are starting, one by one, to seek out neck protection.

We were reminded that Adam was a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew, a cousin and everybody’s best friend.

“Adam truly is and always will be our hometown hero,” said former Hibbing/Chisholm Bluejackets teammate Jake Doherty, one of nearly two dozen speakers to pay homage.

The nearly two-hour service was often funny and more often profoundly sad. And fittingly, it took place on the sheet of ice where Adam used to electrify, in the building he used to fill.

Hockey runs deep in Hibbing, and Adam’s death brought this community together.

Longtime P.A. announcer Dan Marich boisterously welcomed folks into the arena intentionally because that’s the way Adam would have heard it on the ice when he was in the starting lineup. And he ended the ceremony by announcing Adam’s name like he had just scored a goal to draw a thunderous ovation from the crowd as a band did a rendition of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” – a song Adam learned to play on a guitar he saved up to buy when he was a teenager.

This was not long after the same band caused waterworks by playing one of Adam’s favorite campfire songs, the song he used to love to sing with his best friend, Neal Pionk: the Eagles’ “Peaceful Easy Feeling.”

There were so many poignant moments during the ceremony. Like when Adam’s fiancée, Ryan, read a letter she wrote for him, telling him how much she’d miss her favorite napping partner and sous chef. And when Ryan’s sister, Kylie, read a poem then talked about how her sister sneaked out of a cabin to meet Adam that first night, the same night they apparently burned down a sauna. There were Adam’s nephew, Grant, and niece, Britta, constantly running over to Adam’s fiancée and sitting on her lap because, in their eyes, she is their “auntie.”

Maybe the most gripping moment came when Adam’s old high school coach, Mark DeCenzo, choked up and struggled to even start his speech. Adam’s mourning father, former UMD captain Davey Johnson, stood up, walked down the black carpet and joined DeCenzo, putting his arm around him and helping him get through his touching words.

- - -

Friends came from far and wide.

Winnipeg Jets ownership, led by Mark Chipman, arranged for a charter to fly Neal Pionk, Alex Iafallo, Dominic Toninato and Dylan Samberg to Hibbing for Sunday’s funeral mass and Monday’s celebration. St. Louis Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich also attended both and then hitched a ride with the Jets players back to St. Louis for Tuesday’s Jets-Blues game.

Also there Sunday were Wild president and general manager Bill Guerin, who signed Adam to the Penguins in 2017; Adam’s agent, Pete Rutili; former NHLer and current player agent Neil Sheehy; and Minnesota State coach Luke Strand and Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Jay Varady, who both coached Adam for USHL Sioux City.

University of Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin spoke at Monday’s event and brought his entire team and staff. St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson was also there, as was Hibbing High’s hockey team.

Other players seen Monday included Henderson Silver Knights captain Jake Bischoff; the Colorado Eagles’ Riley Tufte; the Bridgeport Islanders’ Karson Kuhlman; the San Diego Gulls’ Nick Wolff and his girlfriend, Sydney Brodt, who in September was drafted by the new PWHL team in Minnesota; Bruins scout Parker MacKay; and former Minnesota Mr. Hockey Avery Peterson.

“Definitely had to be here. All of us,” said Tufte, who rushed back to Colorado on Monday night for a game Tuesday. “Can’t miss this. Not for this guy. We all loved him.”

On Friday night against Ontario, one of Adam’s former teams, Tufte recorded his first professional hat trick.

“The first thing I thought about was Johns,” Tufte said. “Even the way the third one went in: off the goalie, off a defenseman’s shin and in. I know Adam pushed it in. It was insane. Something pretty special.”

Neal Pionk first became friends with Adam playing in the Minnesota high school Elite League, then at Sioux City, where they lit it up on the power play. They lived together while at UMD. Pionk said during the celebration that you knew Adam really loved you if he was unrelenting with his insults.

Pionk demonstrated their bond by repeating one of their last text messages after the Jets lost three of their first four games this season: “You’re off to an abysmal start. Pick it up.”

Said Pionk, “I’ll miss those texts every day.”

Neal’s dad, Scott, whose wife helped plan the Celebration of Life with other family friends, said his son is crushed.

“This is the first time as a young guy that he’s lost somebody that he’s really close to,” Scott said. “He’s shocked. He’s devastated.”

Scott, a close friend of Adam’s dad, first got to know Adam in ninth grade. Davey would every now and then ask Pionk to call his son to encourage him when things weren’t going well hockey-wise. Adam worked at Pionk’s hockey camps and helped him one summer at his landscaping company, so they had a bond.

“He was quiet. He liked to be alone a fair amount. And he liked to do things his own way,” Pionk said of Johnson. “He was a free spirit. I’ll put it this way: He was playfully grumpy. Because whatever you decided, he’d be like, ‘I don’t want to go there tonight.’ And then five minutes later, you’d get him in the car and he was laughing and the life of the party. So he played that role. Guys loved it.”

Adam was a terrific hockey player. He was a beautiful skater, taking after his uncle and fellow UMD alum Gary DeGrio, and ultra-skilled, especially in high school. Guerin recruited him for two years, hoping to sign him in Pittsburgh.

During development camp with the Penguins after his sophomore year of college, Adam met with Guerin and Penguins development coach Mark Recchi. They told him they loved him but to go back to school, have a great junior year and they’d be waiting to sign him after that season.

Guerin then returned to the stands. Hall of Famer and Penguins owner Mario Lemieux walked up to Guerin and asked, “Who’s that kid?”

He was pointing at Adam.

Guerin said, “That’s Adam Johnson. Beautiful skater, isn’t he? We’re going to send him back to UMD and sign him after the year.”

Lemieux said, “Well, you probably shouldn’t let him leave the building.”

Guerin responded, “Are you serious?”

Lemieux said, “Yeah, we need to sign guys like that.”

Guerin and Recchi went back downstairs, grabbed Adam when he left the ice and told him, “We understand we just told you we’re sending you back, but things have changed. Mind coming upstairs and meeting with a small group of us?”

Adam showered, changed and walked into a room. That “small group” was Guerin, Recchi, coach Mike Sullivan, CEO David Morehouse, general manager Jim Rutherford and none other than Mario Lemieux.

When Super Mario tells you he wants to sign you, you sign.

“Hey look, this kid was as hot a free agent as you could get,” Guerin said. “We just loved the way he could move, the way he skated, the way he frankly smiled. Like his teammates loved him. He fit everything we wanted. There was no B.S. to him. He was just a well-rounded, well-grounded, really good kid.”

Guerin’s voice began to crack.

“This is just such a sad story,” Guerin said. “Just so sad. Gone way too soon. He had his whole life ahead of him.”

- - -

The testimonials Monday were beautiful.

Johnson’s old Hibbing assistant coach and good friend Grant Clafton called him a “joyful grump” and said he had to be loving seeing Clafton look and feel so uncomfortable and nervous talking in front of a packed arena.

As funny as that was, he made everybody sob when talking about his broken heart that Adam and the love of his life, Ryan, wouldn’t get to create the life together they so deserved.

Sandelin always told Adam he wanted him to have the puck on his stick 90 percent of the time. He remembered his sly grin, his humility, his care for his teammates.

Moore talked about watching all of Adam’s assists this season for Nottingham and being so warmed by the selfless look and joy he had when his teammates scored.

Ebony Johnson, Adam’s sister-in-law — “not by choice,” Adam would joke — talked beautifully but also got everybody laughing when she admitted that their friendship actually began as rivals when they were each up for a third-grade fitness award.

As she remembered it, she could do more pushups than Adam.

Every speaker’s address touched on a similar theme: This was a tremendous person who also happened to be a tremendous hockey player.

As his cousin and former Hibbing teammate Michael Pechnovnik said, “Heaven’s hockey team gained a heckuva player.”

- - -

Four thousand miles away in Nottingham, Adam’s devastated and shaken Panthers teammates watched the live stream Monday.

It was proof of community, one that Nottingham’s Westin Michaud knows well.

He hails from Cloquet, Minn. — 70 miles away from Hibbing — and played with and against Adam in youth, high school, college and pro hockey.

Michaud was an eyewitness to the incident that injured and ultimately killed his friend and was at Adam’s side until the very end.

Michaud said this has been a tremendously challenging time for him and his teammates but the outpouring of love of support has been heartwarming and there’s no doubt watching Monday’s sense of community helped.

“It’s truly amazing how much hockey has impacted not only my life but also the lives of others who play the game, regardless of their skill level,” Michaud said via text. “It’s a community filled with people who genuinely care for and support each other.

“Hockey is more than just a game; it brings people together, ignites passions and provides a profound sense of purpose. Additionally, it unites communities and validates individuals as part of something greater, nurturing both a sense of belonging and purpose in life.”

Still, Monday was hard. “We’re all cried out. We’re hurting. We’re hurting really bad up here right now,” said Jim Perunovich, who was so broken up after Sunday’s mass, Adam’s mom, Sue, had to console him. “Nobody can understand it, but I guess God needed Adam more than we did.”

But what made Monday beautiful was the laughter, the celebration of Adam’s life with humor and memories, as well as music and P.A. announcements.

“That’s the way we roll up here,” Perunovich said.

There’s something special about the Iron Range, where hockey runs deep. Adam cared so much about the people here. He was proud to be from here and took a piece of Hibbing and brought it with him to the UK.

Tufte, for one, was not surprised at Hibbing’s perfectly executed celebration.

“Good ol’ Hibbing hockey community,” said Tufte, who went to high school three hours south at Blaine but attended UMD. “Can’t beat it.”

The celebration of life was live-streamed.

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Never has the Cenotaph, in its 103 years of standing sentry on Whitehall, been “defended” on Armistice Day by a Port Vale fan supping a can of Stella Artois.

“I’m here in case the jihadists get past the police, who’ll probably just let them through anyway,” said Ben Neale, 22, from Tunstall, Staffordshire. “If they do come, they’ll soon wish they hadn’t.”

As it transpired, it was some of his fellow football supporters, backed aggressively by elements of the far right, who broke violently through police lines, toppling over metal barricades, throwing missiles and temporarily forcing officers back as they surged towards the Cenotaph on the anniversary of the end of the first world war.

Many stated explicitly that they had travelled to Whitehall because of comments made by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, who, days earlier, had claimed that police treated football supporters – such as Neale – unfavourably compared to “politically connected minority groups”. “She’s the only one making any sense at the minute. We’re sleepwalking into a race war,” said a middle-aged man who said he was a Sunderland fan but did not want to be named. “Armistice is our day!” he added.

“It’s getting ridiculous, them taking our streets, attacking the Cenotaph,” said another man, a black scarf covering the lower part of his face.

Who’s them? “The Palestinian mob,” he added, echoing the words of Braverman who had also alleged that the police were too soft on “pro-Palestinian mobs”.

As several dozen people scuffled with baton-wielding police during the countdown to the two-minute silence at 11am, the crowd increasingly felt like a hardcore football following at an away game.

Middlesbrough, Rangers and Nottingham Forest flags fluttered in the clear sky. Large numbers wore balaclavas and were clad entirely in black: the street wear of the ultra. Many were drinking heavily. Moments before the silence to remember those lost in conflict, a fug of cannabis smoke drifted above the crowd.

Broken briefly by a police helicopter, the silence itself concluded with polite applause and chants of “Ingerland, Ingerland.”

As promised, plenty of the far right had turned up. The Democratic Football Lads Alliance, a football hooligan network set up after the terror attacks of 2017, was among those present. So too was Tommy Robinson, founder of the anti-Muslim English Defence League, who had positioned himself in the middle of the throng, basking in the adulation of fresh-faced supporters who periodically chanted his first name.

Others, though, had gathered to pay their respects rather than “defend” the Cenotaph. Some even detected similarities between themselves and the pro-Palestinian demonstrators about to start their march two miles away.

Jake Taylor, 27, one of whose ancestors died near the Belgian city of Ypres in the first world war, said: “We’re both supporting the same thing. It’s ironic that the pro-Palestinian protesters are campaigning for a ceasefire, which is what Armistice Day is about.”

Later, as the gathering of about 2,000 left the Cenotaph, large groups were seen heading towards where the huge pro-Palestinian march was beginning to assemble, a 10-minute walk away.

For a few minutes, the observer accompanied one such group which – after blaming each other for losing Robinson somewhere near Trafalgar Square – set off briskly along Pall Mall.

“This’ll be tasty,” said one, clutching a union jack and Israeli flag as he began to jog. Moments later, a line of officers from the Met’s Territorial Support Group approached: the group quickly turned and bolted back the way they had come.

Across central London, a giant game of cat and mouse unfolded between police and counter-protesters as the latter attempted to reach the pro-Palestinian march. Groups of men could be seen hiding from officers in pubs; others clashed openly with the police. In Chinatown, a group began chanting “You’re not English any more” at officers.

Soon afterwards, a group of about 15 men was detained outside the Duke of York pub opposite Victoria station, close to the route of the pro-Palestinian march. Further down the Vauxhall Bridge Road, police on horseback stopped others leaving the White Swan as pro-Palestinian supporters filed past.

Another much larger group, numbering about 100, was also detained, this time near Westminster Bridge.

A more significant threat was detected shortly afterwards. At about 2:30pm, officers arrested 82 people in Tachbrook Street, Pimlico, to prevent them attacking their target in the parallel street: the hundreds of thousands calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

As the pockets of “patriots” attempted in vain to reach the latest pro-Palestinian march, it was quickly evident that London was witnessing one of Britain’s biggest days of mass protest.

A vast crowd – 150 times the size of the gathering several hours earlier near the Cenotaph – was making its way south from Hyde Park towards the Thames, thousands of red and green Palestinian flags glowing in the sun.

Perhaps it was the weather, but the atmosphere felt more ebullient than previous marches, with huge numbers of families and children.

[semper-legens]

139. Hillsborough Voices, by Kevin Sampson

Owned: No, library Page count: The 15th of April 1989 would be a date etched into the minds of Liverpool supporters forever. Nearly one hundred spectators were crushed to death in the Hillsborough Stadium. Tragedy enough, but almost immediately, the police began to cover up their part in the disaster by pinning the blame on fans. The result was a struggle for truth and justice that spanned decades of hurt for those affected. My summary: My rating: 5/5 My commentary:

I...don't know how many people outside the UK are familiar with the Hillsborough disaster. Hell, I'm not sure how many people outside the north west know the details. I knew the shape of the story - the bullet points, as it were - but none of the specifics, so I wanted to learn more. I was born in Liverpool, and it remains the city dearest to my heart. People from Liverpool are often demonised as being benefit scroungers, thugs, criminals, scum, but this is just classist nonsense. Sure, it's not like Liverpool's perfect (particularly historically) but a lot of the problems with Liverpool as a city come down to decades of neglect by the government - 'managed decline', as they call it. And this, Hillsborough...this is one of the most potent and painful reminders of how the government sees Scousers and how they're willing to throw a huge amount of people under the bus to cover up their own mistakes and maintain the status quo.

(Warning below the cut for disasters, death (including the death of children), police mismanagement, police neglect, and generally the police being arseholes.)

Here's what happened, in short. (If you want to know more about the subject, please look into it, I'm just giving an overview.) Liverpool fans were given the worst, smallest, more dangerous end of a stadium that had not been safety-certified for a semi-final against Nottingham Forest. The turnstyles were not up to the amount of fans, and the police who were meant to be controlling and organising people going into the stadium made some terrible calls. A bottleneck formed, with supporters going down a central tunnel into a single central pen, rather than being guided to the side pens - which was made worse when an exit gate was opened to let people through without said tunnel being blocked off, meaning that people were funnelled into the already-overcrowded centre pen.

By this point, the crush was deadly. Fans were climbing the pens to try and get away from the crush, with some being lifted to safety by people in the stand above. The match was stopped, but the damage was already done, and in the crush 95 people died. The death toll would become 96 in 1993 when one person who had sustained traumatic injuries had life-support switched off, and rose to 97 in 2021 when another person with irreversible brain damage from the disaster passed away.

The disaster itself was horrific. There's no doubt about it, and I do not wish to de-legitimise the trauma of the actual event in my next statement. But the disaster might not have occurred, and people might have been able to heal from the trauma and move on and deal with their grief, were it not for the actions of the police. As I implied in the outline above, the police were one of the main causes of the disaster. They mismanaged the crowd. They didn't take steps to ensure safety. But what I haven't yet mentioned are their actions during and after the disaster.

Police formed a cordon across the pitch to stop Liverpool supporters from crossing the pitch, because they feared violence or a pitch invasion. Police wouldn't let people out of the pens despite them literally pleading for their lives, and in some cases pushed people back into the fatal crush. Police didn't let emergency workers and ambulances onto the pitch - or at least didn't alert them to the gravity of the situation, meaning that the response to the disaster was slowed. Many police just stood around watching while fans attempted to save lives and get as many people out as possible.

And afterwards? This book is a collection of testimonies from survivors, families of the victims, people connected to the disaster in one way or another. There are a few testimonies where they speak of having gone to the morgue to identify the remains of their loved ones, only to be pulled aside immediately afterwards and interrogated by the police, with no social worker or legal representation. The people who report this happening note that the police were focused on whether they or their loved ones had been drinking before reaching the stadium, mere hours after the disaster itself. And the reason why would be soon apparent. The police blamed the crush on supporters.

More than that, the police blamed everything on the Liverpool fans. They alleged that Liverpool supporters were beating up police attempting to give the kiss of life, urinating on the police, pickpocketing the dead, threatening to sexually assault the body of a dead teenager, that the disaster was caused by thousands of ticketless fans attempting to break into the stadium, that fans were drunk and disorderly and brawling and fighting and that was why the disaster occurred.

Needless to say, there's no photographic or video evidence of this actually having happened. Because it's bollocks. Because the police made it up to justify the fact that they fucked up so bad that ninety seven people died.

Most of these allegations were made in the newspaper The Sun. To this day, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone selling The Sun in Liverpool. Hell, the place where I work is outside of Liverpool, and I've still seen 'boycott The Sun' stickers around recently. To cause a disaster is one thing, to turn around and claim that it was actually the fault of the victims, when most of the people who were helping and trying to save lives and fighting so hard to protect as many as they could were the fans themselves, is absolutely odious.

But of course, the government took the police's side, and still nobody has been convicted of murder or manslaughter as a result of the Hillsborough disaster. How long did it take for a verdict of unlawful killing? Well, it was recent when this book was published. In 2016. Twenty seven years for an official proclamation that the victims were not to blame. Twenty seven years where the families did not get the justice they deserved. Just because it's easier to demonise Scousers as thugs, as drunks, as scum, than to admit that the police. Fucked. Up.

You'll notice I haven't spoken much about the actual book, but honestly, this whole rant is as much of an endorsement as I can give for this book. This book made me angry. I knew the cold facts of what the police had done, but I didn't feel it quite so much as reading the testimonies of the poor people involved. I knew that the cops were covering their own asses, but I didn't know they were questioning bereaved families about being drunk straight out of the mortuary and were blood-testing all of the victims for alcohol, including children. I knew that the aftermath of Hillsborough was awful, but I hadn't read exactly what happened in the voices of those who were there. This book is horribly, painfully relevant. I implore you to read it if you can.

Next up, two strange kids move into town.

[wuxiaphoenix]

Plotbunny For Hire: Fantastic Mercenaries

Ten years ago, a crack archer unit was sent to the gallows by the Sheriff of Nottingham for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security castle to the Sherwood Forest underground. Today, still wanted by the monarchy, they survive as bandits of fortune.

If you have a problem, if no one else can help you, and if you can find them... then maybe you can hire - The Merry Men.

(Multiple thuds of arrows across the screen.)

Featuring:

Robin Hood: Mastermind and leader of the Merry Men, Master of Disguise, and possibly the best archer in the world. (Picture a guy sometimes in Lincoln green of a forester, others in everything from a mendicant’s rags to a monk’s rope-belted robes to raising a knight’s visor to reveal his grin.)

Will Scarlet: Expert swordsman, snappy dresser, and con artist. (All the clothes, all the lovely clothes, fast horses, used-armor-salesmen, and so many fast-talked people.)

Little John: Huge quarterstaff expert. Possibly also a blacksmith, who Makes Useful Things for the latest escapade. (Lots of flying sparks, lots of bellows action, lots of fanservice for the ladies when all those muscles flex. This is the guy people walk in on, think he’s not that tough... and then he stands up. And up....)

Friar Tuck: Slightly addled priest who’s no slouch with a quarterstaff himself, prone to engaging in battles of wits with unarmed men, and known to be an expert in things that fly over the ground. Hounds, hawks - and possibly more if you want to throw in some fantasy/wuxia-style inventor elements. (I.e. if you want to do DaVinci’s flying machine, this is your guy.)

Maid Marian: Likely to be in the background anywhere, picking up rumors of trouble to stomp, people who need help, and traps from the Sheriff and Guy of Gisbourne. Not a bad archer herself, which the bad guys never seem to expect, and also a fair hand at disguise. She has a quill pen, she has paper, she has the ears of the local criers, and she’s not afraid to use them.

And up to seven score Merry Men.

(Think of a fantastic take on The A-Team. Robin - Hannibal. Will - Face. Little John - B.A. Friar Tuck - H.M. Murdock. Maid Marian - Amy.)

Heck, if there’s any magic in the setting, you could even get in the same quotient of things going boom....

Ahem. Plotbunny, free to good home! Have fun!

[cryingforcrocodiles]

on one hand I walso want nottingham forest out because I irrationally can't stand that team they're all brats omg. on the other hand they have a charity partnership with UNHCR ( UN refugee agency) as their main sponsor and they did that statement saying they are in support of refugees so Idk I'm conflicted on this yk lmao better than sponsoring oil companies I suppose

this is completely new and very intriguing information to me. i know nothing about nottingham other it is brennan johnson fc (my son) & lingard plays there 🫂 idk how they are brats wkdjjsdj id love to be informed. but that's so good that they do that n I (ME) hope they don't relegated bc i just don't want them to 😭 THEYRE RED!! I LIKE IT!! BESIDES THAT ONE POS SHIT THERE (bald racist guy) it otherwise seems decent.

ty for the knowledge anon that's very good of them

[cupsdeeps]

Brentford 1-3 Arsenal: Gunners Move to Second with Impressive Comeback

Arsenal kicked off 2025 with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on New Year’s Day. The win saw the Gunners leapfrog Nottingham Forest into second place in the Premier League standings, nine points behind leaders Liverpool. Despite an early setback when Bryan Mbeumo put the hosts ahead, Arsenal responded with goals from Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino, and Gabriel…