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natasha-romanoff-deserved-better · 4 years ago

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Children of Yesterday- Chapter One

Summary:

Standing in front of him, are two more children, only slightly older than the one he had found. The blonde child was freakishly skinny with dark bags under his eyes, and was standing with another black-haired slightly taller child who had a bony arm wrapped around him.

The blonde was wearing an oversized Captain America costume that drowned him, and the other only wearing a leather jacket with sleeves that covered his hands and fell to his knees.

Tony almost chokes.

The blonde in the Captain America costume. The black-haired child standing over him. The scared, timid kid on his hip with glasses and bruises.

He knows who these kids are.

After an accident with the time stone, Tony and Rhodey are left with six of their teammates turned young children. Trying to keep the six young, traumatized and rambunctious children safe all while finding a cure and attempting to give them a taste of a real childhood might be their biggest mission yet.

Read on Ao3 here! or continue under the read more!

Tony blinks.

“Strange? As in, Stephen Strange?” He raises his eyebrow, disbelief filtering in his voice. “You’re telling me, the Sorcerer Supreme, couldn’t fight off a few Hydra goons?”

Nick sighs, a displeased frown on his face as he elaborates as if talking to children, “We don’t know what happened and we won’t know until we can actually locate Strange. But, for now, yes. We believe Hydra is in possession of the time stone based on energy signals we’re picking up in Italy.”

Steve cuts in. "So, what? you want us to go get it back?"

"That's exactly what you are going to do. This stone, we don't know much of what it can do. But we do know Hydra having this kind of power could be catastrophic.”

The team meets each other’s eyes for a split second, deciding if this was something they really wanted to do. Exhaustion from their last mission was still weighing heavily on them. Technically, they should all be on leave, a break well earned, not preparing for another mission.

“Guess we better let Thor know we’ve got another mission coming.”

“Actually, Thor is currently occupied. There is a situation in Asgard that requires his presence. We will continue to try and get in touch with him but, this simply cannot wait. I’m sure you all will be capable to perform one mission without him?” Nick raises his eyebrow, the question obvious and taunting.

A huff of air expels from Tony’s mouth, as he takes the bait. “Of course we can. I just about stabilized the damn middle east by myself.” He retorts as he takes another sip from his almost empty glass.

Rhodey eyes the glass warily.

Nick nods, and ends the meeting. Tells them the obvious, to get ready; and promptly hangs up the hologram call.

Steve stands, and nods at the team. “Alright, well. See you guys on the quinjet in twenty, then.”

“Tony.”

The engineer turns to face her, taking in her disapproving expression. He doesn’t feel like doing this with her again.

“I have to go, Pep.”

“You’re in no shape to be going on missions right now…” She takes a step forward. “It’s okay to take a break.”

“I don’t need a break. I need distractions. I need to not think.”

“You’re getting bad again.” The question, implicit in her statement.

“I’m not.”

“Tony…Ever since Peter got hurt last month you’ve been drinking so mu—”

“Stop.” The warning is clear, but giving up isn’t in her nature. Pepper doesn’t stop.

“But he’s okay now.”

“I don’t care that he’s okay now. Don’t you understand? He got hurt because of me. Me.”

“He got hurt because he wasn’t listening to directions,” Pepper chastises gently.

Tony doesn’t bother to respond. He turns back to his suit, adding some last minute tweaks to it, a product of his most recent overnighter. On his desk, his phone rings with another unanswered call.

“Okay,” Steve retightens the strap on his helmet, coming to stand with his teammates, giving them a nod. “The base doesn’t look big, but we still need to be careful. Widow—” He looks at Natasha, who steels her expression. He hands her a metal box, small enough to fit into her palm and plain enough no one who didn’t know would give it a second glance. “You go in, find the stone, put it here. Out of any of us, You’re probably best suited to sneak past everyone unnoticed. Clint, Keep her covered. Me, Stark, Bucky, and Rhodes will handle them and take them out on the ground. Sam, you in the air. Sound good?”

Agreeing silently, the team making minute changes to their suits and amour. “He isn’t the only one that can fly, ya’ know…” Tony grumbles. Steve chooses to ignore him.

As the group starts to disperse, Steve catches Bucky’s shoulder. “Buck, I want you to stay close to me out there, okay?”

Bucky sighs slightly at his best friend. He was still getting used to this side of him, this new dynamic between them. With him being the weak one now. “Steve. I’ll be fine.”

“I know, I know you will. But please. It will make me feel better.”

“Yeah,” He agrees, seeing the worry etched onto his best friend’s face. “Okay.”

It’s Bucky who notices it first.

They’ve been fighting all of ten minutes, Natasha half-way through the compound. The fight is unusually easy for Hydra. Something is off.

“Uh…hey guys? I think some of them are taking cyanide pills. These guys just fucking dropped dead before I even touched them.”

“I haven’t seen anyone take anything?” Sam.

“You wouldn’t. We- they have a fake tooth that carries it. Makes it quicker.”

“What? Are they that scared of us?” Tony asks as he shots another beam from his palm, taking out five men at once.

“No. Not scared. Planning something.” Steve joins in. “Widow, how’s it coming?”

Natasha doesn’t respond, instead Clint’s voice crackles through the earpieces.

“We’re good. We’ve narrowed down where they’re keeping the stone and are almost there.”

“You guys wanna hurry that up? I don’t like the thought they might be up to something else. Bucky is right- these guys are dropping way too quickly.” Rhodey covers Steve and Bucky as he talks, urgency in his tone.

Tony hums. “You really think they’re going to d—” He’s cut off as something slams into his body, knocking him through the air. Around him, the world is orange and red with sudden flames.

“--ny? Tony? You gotta wake up man, I could really use some help here.”

Tony forces his eyes open at the voice ringing in his ears. Rhodey, he recognizes.

“Rhodes? Are you… crying?” He asks, stunned at the small sniffling he can hear over the communication line.

“No, Tony.” Rhodey sighs, exasperated. “But I can’t find the team.”

“What the hell happened?”

“They had the place rigged full of explosives. Offed themselves before. We’re in metal suits but the rest of the team…”

Tony doesn’t respond, instead pops his face shield open to look around himself better. Without the shield, he could hear the crying more clearly now. He glances around, narrowing in on a small figure several yards away. A child. What the fuck.

“Hey, kid,” He calls out. The black-haired child sniffles, rubs some dirt away from his face and turns his head in Tony’s direction. Tony forces himself to stand, limping over towards him. He picks up a small pair of cracked glasses and holds them out. The kid takes them, offering him a watery smile as he shoves them back onto his face. “What’re you doing here?”

“I don’t know.” Huh. Helpful.

“Are you hurt?” The child’s lip begins to wobble once more, and Tony groans internally. Before he can say anything to comfort the child more, Rhodey’s voice calls him again through his helmet, this time more urgently. “Okay, okay, I’m coming.” He mutters out.

“Alright, kiddo. I can’t exactly leave you here. So, c’mon, I guess.” Tony reaches out towards him, pausing slightly when the kid’s eyes grow wide and he flinches back. But he doesn’t protest, so Tony continues, grabbing the child under his arms and hiking him up onto his hip. It’s only then that Tony notices the child is naked except for a large pair of oversized boxers hanging off his hips.

He’ll figure that out later.

Tony carries the kid over to where to Rhodey is kneeling on the ground, his back facing him. “Rhodey! Look what I found!” he yells out to announce his presence, kicking himself slightly when the child on his hip flinches again. Rhodey whirls around, eyes wild but body slightly letting up when he sees the kid Tony is holding.

“Oh, thank god.” He breathes. Tony raises an eyebrow and closes the distance, craning his neck to see what Rhodey was kneeling over.

Standing in front of him, are two more children, only slightly older than the one he had found. The blonde child was freakishly skinny with bags under his eyes and another black-haired slightly taller child had a bony arm wrapped around him.

The blonde was wearing an oversized Captain America costume that drowned him, and the other only wearing a leather jacket with sleeves that covered his hands and fell to his knees.

Tony almost chokes.

The blonde in the Captain America costume. The black-haired child standing over him. The scared, timid kid on his hip with glasses and bruises.

He knows who these kids are.

“Oh, god.” His breathing catches in his throat as his stomach drops. “What the- What—"

Rhodey glances up at him. “Tony. You gotta breathe. Now is not the time to freak out. Focus, man.”

He closes his eyes, wills his lungs to work properly.

“Okay. Okay- what. What do we need to do?” He asks.

“I’ve already called emergency evac in. But I have no fucking idea where the rest of the team is.”

“Fri? Can you pick up the rest of them?”

Friday takes several seconds to scan the area before responding. “I cannot identify the team. However, I am picking up three more children. The closest one is approaching from your right.”

Tony whips around to find another young boy, stumbling his way over to the adults. He is wiping at his face, trying to clear the dust covering his skin.

“Sam?”

Sam jerks his head up, surprised by the unfamiliar adults already knowing his name, but nods eagerly.

“That’s me!” He waves a hand. “Are you here to help me? I don’t know what happened…”

Tony nods. “Yeah, yeah we’re to help. We’ll explain it later, okay? We need to find some other kids first though. Are you okay?”

Sam looks down at his body, wiggles his legs as he takes stock, and then nods.

They find Clint on top of a half-fallen shelf. It’s leaning dangerously to the side, which really doesn’t help Tony’s anxiety. He has curled into himself, high above the piles of rubble. "Clint!" Tony calls up to him. he sees the child curl tighter in on himself, his eyes narrowing.

Kids, Tony. He has to remind himself. You’re talking to kids.

He softens his voice. "Hey, Bud. I know you're probably pretty scared and confused right now, huh? It looks like your arm is a bit hurt, why don't you come down from there and we can help you." Clint glances back towards where Rhodey is standing with the other kids.

"Where's Barney?"

Tony probably should have expected that one. He doesn't want to lie to the kid. Really, he doesn’t.

"We'll help you find him, kid." Whoops.

"Are you from the government?"

"No, no government here. Just us.” He gestures towards the others. “We helped those other kids too, see?”

Clint continues to frown at him, but he uncurls from his ball, carefully putting one foot down on a piece of wood under his body as he begins to lower himself down. Tony waits with outstretched arms and nods back at Rhodey.

"Well, there we go. Five down. Just need to find Natasha and-"

A gunshot rings out through the air. Without thinking, Tony rips Clint from where he’s almost to the last shelf, and curls around him protectively. Rhodey drops low, arms pulling all the children down with him to the ground. "Fuck, Fuck. FUCK," Tony mutters as his suit closes back around his body. "Rhodey? Keep them covered!" he yells and shoos Clint over to them. Friday is quick to alert him to a small heat signature- Natasha, crouched behind a fallen piece of the ceiling.

"Natasha? We’re here to help you.”

“Natas-uh, wait. Natalia,” He corrects himself. "Stop shooting" He moves towards the crouched figure. She shoots him again, landing a shot squarely on his heart. If it weren't for the Ironman suit, he'd be dead. It doesn't deter him, and he advances in, cornering the small girl in the piles of rubble. Her eyes grow wide as she takes him in, narrowing in on the place her bullet had effortlessly bounced off. She mumbles something in Russian.

"We’re not going to hurt you. But you need to stop.”

She calls out to him, something in Russian. Who are you? Friday translates in his ear. Natasha’s voice is strong, but he can hear the faint tremor she is hiding behind her Russian accent.

Against Friday’s advice, he opens his faceplate, allowing her to see his face as he speaks to her. “My name is Tony. I’m one of the good guys, yeah?”

Friday encases him in his suit before he can even realize she has fired another shot at him, this time at his face.

“Russian, Tony. She’s Russian. Why would the good guys be speaking English?” Rhodey mutters in between curses as he attempts to herd the other five children out of the crumbling building. From the sounds of it, it’s not going great. One of the kids- Steve, maybe- is arguing with him, telling him he wants to stay and help the robot man. Two other voices are then arguing with Steve, while one sniffling voice is asking if those are real gunshots. “SHIELD is about a minute out. You might just have to grab her.”

“Are you insane? I’m not going to grab her. Does she even speak English?”

“Tones, it will be a lot worse if SHIELD gets here while she’s still freaked. They’ll only scare her more and she’ll injure or probably kill someone.”

Tony frowns at the redhead in front of him. He crouches down, keeping his distance. “Okay, kid, listen. There’s about to be a lot more people here, with guns and they might not be as nice as me. So, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You can walk out with me or I’ll carry you out. You choose.” He doesn’t know exactly how much of the English she can understand, but between his words and hand gestures, it seems she’s gotten the point. Her eyes only narrow more, and her frown grows, but she lowers the gun. He nods encouragingly at her, waving his hand to gesture her over. Still holding onto the gun, she crosses her arms over her chest and takes several steps towards him, somehow managing to not trip over the rubble even though she doesn’t take her eyes off him for a second.

She follows Tony outside, where the SHIELD jet is just landing, SHIELD agents unloading with Fury leading the way. As Fury draws closer, he visibly pauses when he catches sight of the children. He pauses for a moment, then slowly lifts his eye patch, as if he doesn’t trust his only good eye to be seeing correctly.

“Is anyone going to explain what the fuck I’m looking at?”

“Uh,” Rhodey says, “They blew up the time stone and…” At the same time, Tony makes a joke about introducing the “Minivengers.”

Fury ignores Tony. He looks at the kids, spending a few seconds on each one as he identifies and assess them. He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Well, get them onto the jet, then. Let’s them get home.”

#look i actually wrote something #marvel fic #kid fic #my writing #children of yesterday #tony stark #bruce banner #clint barton #james rhodes #natasha romanoff #Steve Rogers #Bucky Barnes #sam wilson #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #not canon

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dragonrajafanfiction · 4 years ago

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Norton and Constantine Pt 2

The following are translated excerpts from the novels regarding Norton and Constantine. I’ve only included portions where Norton and Constantine are together and have omitted the rest.

Please enjoy.

-------------NORTON AND CONSTANTINE MEET-------------------

At the gate of the school, several students were armed with guns. When they heard the roar of the motorcycle, it was too late to get out of the way.

A dazzling silver light approached at an extremely high speed. It was a Harley motorcycle, twisting a thrilling lone line. It successfully dodged their barrage and cut past them. Some people say that the Mongols are a race that grows up on horseback, but this guy must have been born of a race that grows up on the back of a motorcycle.

“Hallelujah! God always favors the handsome!” No 13 shouted.

It went smoothly. After leaving the underground, he quickly found a silver Harley motorcycle, his dream ride! More incredibly, the key was still inserted in the ignition!

The unexpected mission is over here. He’ll go back and take his 5 million dollars and then he will go on vacation, roaming island nations with white sand, blue seas, and sexy ladies in the Pacific! No. 13 was full of joy. Turning his head though, he made a grimace. In the darkness behind him, those girls who were still wearing white dresses were holding high heels in one hand and strafing Uzis in the other but they couldn’t catch up to him.

He was suddenly shrouded by dazzling light from the side and he heard the roar of an engine.

“Ambush?” No 13 was shocked.

It was too late to dodge. He jumped off the motorcycle and relied on his excellent jumping ability to stop after hitting the ground, tumbling a few times in the dust.

The Harley turned into a silver light, flew over the roof of the car and hit the stone guardrail, flying off the cliff.

Lu Mingfei looked at the silver light in fear, jumped out of the car and walked to the victim’s side, rubbing his hands and speaking in plain English. “You’re not hurt are you? You came out so suddenly.”

“Hey, what are you doing?” Lu Mingfei thrust his hands in the air.

The dark barrel of the gun was pressed against Lu Mingfei’s head. No. 13 was furious.

“Stop him! He’s an intruder!” Gao Hu, a student, was running far behind.

“Are you here to ambush me?” No. 13 snarled viciously.

“I have nothing to do with them! I’m no one! I just drove out to buy hot dogs!”

He didn’t know if he could fool this “Dragon Clan” member, but the appearance of this “Dragon Clan” member was beyond his expectation.

Lu Mingfei could understand if he had a dragon’s blue face with double horns, fangs and whiskers. But this guy looks too standard, just like Lu Mingfei is a standard human. A smiling face, a Chinese-style of black hair, and a pair of iconic bushy eyebrows... he looked so familiar?

Lu Mingfei’s pupils dilated, “Hey, aren’t you Old Tang?”

No. 13 froze for a moment, “You mean... You’re the guy with the big bear face?”

Lu Mingfei used a bear with a big head as his icon in that StarCraft Group. ‘Old Tang’ is Lu Mingfei’s only friend from the US, except for classmates and professors such as Nono and Fingel. He didn’t know how many nights they blasted on the StarCraft map. When interviewing Cassell Academy, Old Tang also used videos to help him correct his oral English. Because he met Old Tang, Lu Mingfei felt that he’d found a friendly place on the US map -- Brooklyn, NY

How could he meet Old Tang here? Why was he still holding a gun to him? Didn’t Old Tang live off government benefits in Brooklyn? Didn’t he say he wanted to tour the US with him on a Greyhound bus? The world turned upside down in Lu Mingfei’s mind.

“Acquaintances?” Nono also raised her hands in the car next to him.

“Old Tang... I am the bigheaded bear... and no, I am Mingming... Don’t shoot. Why are you here?” Lu Mingfei was shouting. “Mingming” was his ID in the group.

“I’ll tell you later, I’ll tell you later! I’m just here to do some work... Now that the work is over, I have to hurry and get out of here.” Old Tang looked over Lu Mingfei’s shoulders and looked at the Bugatti Veyron behind him again. He looked up and down at Nono. “Hey! Hot girl! Let me use the car!”

“You already borrowed my boyfriend’s Harley.” Nono said. At the moment of the crash, she saw that Caesar’s favorite motorcycle was flying over her head.

Old Tang looked up and down at Lu Mingfei, “I underestimated you. I never thought that you would get a beautiful girl right after you went abroad. And not just a Bugatti Veyron but also Harley motorcycles? What world am I in?”

“That’s exactly what I want to ask!” Lu Mingfei held his hands up. “I’ll let you take the car. No need to return it!”

“I have to take you and your hot girl hostage!” Old Tang dragged Lu Mingfei to the Bugatti.

“Drive!” He turned his head and shouted at Nono.

“Old Tang, what are you going to do? Would you like to talk about friendship?” Lu Mingfei said loudly.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Just pretend to go down the mountain and let it go.” Old Tang said in a low voice, and shouted at the approaching soldiers, “Get any closer and I’ll kill him!”

He tried his best to put on a ferocious expression. His genteel face was sometimes his weakness. Often people thought he was not threatening but joking. But this time, he felt that his aura had taken effect, and the girls in white skirts with guns suddenly stopped, their expressions froze on their faces for a moment, and step by step they stood back.

“Hey, why are they looking at me like that?” Old Tang was a little surprised. The effect is good. Maybe too good.

This time, he felt the hot wind rolling behind him. As if there was a sun rising behind him. He turned his head trembling and looked at Nono, whose long hair was blown forward by the hot wind.

All three of them felt unable to breathe. It was not Tang that those girls feared, but something... standing behind them.

The huge force almost knocked them down.

Old Tang didn’t dare to turn his head, as if there was a wolf behind him that would bite his throat if he turned. He poked Lu Mingfei in the side. “You look back.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re the hero. Why don’t you turn around instead of telling me to turn around!” Lu Mingfei shivered.

“Don’t look back,” Nono’s voice trembled, “Look in the rearview mirror.”

In the rearview mirror, on the hood of the Bugatti’s rear engine, a burning figure stood, slowly leaning down with open arms as if to kiss either Old Tang or Lu Mingfei.

His face became clearer and clearer in the rearview mirror, his pupils were burning, glowing with brilliant gold. His face seemed to be cracked and there was lava flowing in the cracks. A terrifying face slowly opened up with a terrifying expression.

“Brother.” He said softly.

“Ghost!” Lu Mingfei and Old Tang hugged each other and screamed, their mouths open wide.

“Everyone! Stay out of danger! Stay out of danger!” Professor Schneider’s roar echoed in the campus radio.

The burning figure roared past a high-voltage transformer. The metal shell of the transformer melted in an instant. The brilliant fountain of sparks gushed up to the height of a person and then exploded, turning the surrounding lawn into scorched earth.

Gunshots were like thunderstorms and dense barrages came from all sides. The students trained in the battlefield hid behind buildings on either side of the lawn to make a perfect shooting gallery. Both groups are equipped with M4 style guns standard. 5.56 mm steel core bullets are fired at a rate of 900 rounds per minute empty magazines are immediately replaced and firing is resumed. The failure of the previous rounds of shooting made the person in charge allow them to fire at will without reservations. The Vice President of Lionheart, Lancelot, a third year student from France, directed the raid.

No bullet could hit the figure. When he was about two meters away, the bullets melted, as if there was an invisible dark fire. the hot molten steel formed a high speed flowing wall. It was like moths trying to fight a fire.

In the dull sound of shots, dozens of smoke trails moved towards the figure. They used a 40mm grendae launcher. This explosive power can eliminate an infantry vehicle in a direct hit.

the figure didn’t move but the molten steel swirling around him did, capturing all the grenades in the air. The explosive force was completely radiated outward.

Lancelot’s face was illuminated by the fire and he flinched. “President, bullets and grenades are useless against him.” He said into his cell phone.

In the ruined church, Chu Zihang and the other party looked at each other from a long distance. Under the attack of his Word Spirit ‘Royal Fire’ they had managed to keep their clothing intact.

“Lancelot! Retreat! If he can order metal and flames, he belongs to the ethnic group of Norton, the king of Bronze and fire. Before he uses Royal Fire, retreat!”

----------- OLD TANG RUNNING FROM CONSTANTINE ----------------

“Old Tang, where did you get your bug units?” Lu Mingfei was already very calm, but that’s because he wanted to cry inside.

After joining this college, he hadn’t spent his days watching beautiful women in luxurious classrooms and libraries. He had encountered one life-threatening situation after another. And this time was really no fun.

“I really don’t.” Old Tang swallowed. “You know my tactical style has always been very cautious. If I knew it would be this dangerous, how could I have come.?”

“Can you stop talking about Starcraft right now?” Nono said.

The three people stood side by side in the narrow road where Lu Mingfei was hiding from bullets on “The Day of Liberty”. They were less than 50 meters away from the guy who was constantly on fire. The narrow road could allow the flames to pass by them and was like a pocket of shadow so that ghost-like dragons would find it difficult to locate them. If he found them, he would surely hunt them down.

They were all still alive because of Nono’s gut instincts. At the school gate, she slammed a foot on the Bugatti’s accelerator. The supercar accelerated to a speed of 100 kilometers per hour in 3 seconds, rushed into the campus, and threw the dragon off the car. At this moment, both Old Tang and Lu Mingfei thought that everything they saw was an illusion. They turned to look at the two melting footprints on the Bugatti aluminum rear hood, and then turned to look at the figure thrown from the car running after them and accepted reality.

“What should I do?” Lu Mingfei said, “We can’t keep hiding here. I can feel like it can smell us.”

“BS, what do you smell like? Sashimi?” Old Tang said, “You can’t go out there and die!”

“But I do feel like he is approaching?” Nono said.

“What’s on the other side of here?” Lu Mingfei lowered his voice and asked Nono.

“There is an open area without any cover. Do you want to be attacked by a napalm bomb out in the open?” Someone said in the dark.

The three of them realized that there was a fourth person in this narrow passage.

Nono reached into the darkness with one hand, grabbed the man by the collar and at the same time sealed his throat with her fingers so that he did not dare to struggle, and dragged him out

“Sister, your technique is so flawless... Fingel, you dog, why are you here?” Lu Mingfei widened his eyes.

What was dragged out was his waste of a senior brother Fingel, who was actually wearing pajamas and carrying a plastic bag in his hand.

“My dear grandma, why do you show up here with a chicken leg in your mouth? What is the use of your scraps? I would rather Caesar or Chu Zihang show up!” Being able to raise his leg high enough, Lu Mingfei wanted to kick Fingel in the face.

“Ohhhhh...” Fingel said.

“What are you trying to be a rooster?”

“I mean... I , I , I just ordered a late night snack in the cafeteria but they said that tonight the guard won’t deliver food... but students are not forbidden to go to the cafeteria to get it, so I came out...” Fingel took a bite of the drumstick, crying.

“We have got to go! I think he... is really approaching!” Old Tang whispered.

The sound of footsteps came from outside the narrow road, and it became brighter and brighter, as if someone was approaching with a giant lamp in the middle of the night. The four people shut up at the same time, all in cold sweat.

Lu Mingfei’s premonition seemed to be right. The dragon could smell them and even if he couldn’t see them, he could feel their position.

“Is there a way to escape? It’s a dead end wherever you go. If you hide anywhere, he will find you in a few minutes...” Nono said softly.

“Calm down!” Fingel said. “That thing is a dragon, right? A dragon is full of fire. So if he catches fire, let’s go to the place with the most water. The swimming pool! Let’s go to the swimming pool in the gym. Fire’s biggest weakness in the Word Spirit system is water. As long as he temporarily has his power restrained, we might be able to destroy him with a single shot! On the way across from the Hall of Valor, I also grabbed a PPK. The modified one is enough to shoot a dragon. It’s a good gun.” Fingel pulled out a PPK from the waist of his pajamas. The shape was exactly the same as the cannon version shown by Masashi Toyama.

“You take a gun with you when you go out for dinner?” Lu Mingfei asked. “Is it reliable?”

“Self Defense! It is purely theoretically reliable. Water overcomes fire. I got an A in the advanced course of Linguistics.”

“There’s no other way then. Run!” Nono said loudly.

The four people jumped up at the same time and rushed toward the other side of the passage. The sound of footsteps approaching behind accelerated instantly, bright and dazzling, like a car behind with its headlights chasing.

---- HIDING IN THE SWIMMING POOL ----

“Old Tang, why on earth did you come here?” Lu Mingfei asked.

“i told you that I am a bounty hunter, right? We have a website for our business. We specialize in taking some supernatural cases. Cases are announced there regularly by anonymous employers. People with sufficient ability have the right to check the details of the case and decide if they want to accept it. If the employer is satisfied with your resume, you’ll receive a letter. After you finish, the commission will automatically be credited to your account.”

“Wow, you actually have an amazing line of work.” Lu Mingfei said.

“Actually, I don’t have the ability to do anything else.” Old Tang was a little bit shy. “I just seem to be naturally resistant to supernatural things. For example, if some people go into an ancient tomb are affected, I will not be. Some rumors in the industry say that I can’t be cursed, so I’m quite high level. So I can accept a 5 million dollar bounty.”

“Five million?” Fingel’s eyes widened.

“But I didn’t expect this case would be so dangerous. It only said to come to this college to find this one thing. As a result... had I known what it was, I would not have come. I would still be asleep in New York. I don’t have enough money to take you on a greyhound tour of the US.” Old Tang said. “Brother, you’re loyal, I won’t forget you.”

“I want a bus tour of the US too...” Fingel said.

Old Tang’s expression suddenly changed. “I don’t know why... I think... he seems to be chasing me.”

“No?” Lu Mingfei pricked up his ears like a bunny. “I didn’t hear anything.”

He suddenly stopped and his face turned pale. At this moment there was the sound of footsteps echoing in the empty sports hall, from far and near, as if only separated by a layer of wall panels. A voice dully shouted. “Brother... Brother...”

“Ghost!... The Ghost has chased us here!” Lu Minfei shivered. “What do we do now?”

Fingel’s face was not relaxed any more, and he handed everyone a plastic bag. “Don’t be nervous. He’s walking around the pool because he realizes that we are nearby, but because of the water, he can’t get a read on our exact location. It’s not surprising that he guessed we were here. The sports hall is right outside the Hall of Valor. We don’t want to scare ourselves. He’ll find us if we appear now. Let’s each dive with a plastic bag of air. And if we we get scared, we can take a few breaths from it. If we’re underwater, the fire spirit won’t be able to find us at all. Once he loses our trail, he’ll leave. I think his mind is a bit unclear. Maybe he’s a brain damaged dragon.”

“Is he really a dragon? Why do dragons look like people?” Lu Mingfei asked.

“Nine kinds of dragons are born. I thought the beautiful woman fighting with Caesar (a.n. Mai Sakatoku) may still be a dragon. Last warning. Don’t get nervous. Tension will show signs of movement. Water will form a seal, covering your breath. The Yangtze river formed a seal over the Bronze City for a long time. You have to believe that I was an ‘A’ grade.” Fingel finished, pressing the heads of the two of them into the water.

Lu Mingfei held his breath, buried his head in the water, not daring to open his yes. He swam very well, but he didn’t like to open his eyes while diving. Seeing himself surrounded by light blue made him feel like a person who had arrived on an alien planet. The water was not heated at all and soon he was shivering from the cold.

He didn’t know how long he was down there and nothing happened. The water in the swimming pool gradually began to warm up, as if the heating system were turned on. Lu Mingfei felt that at this temperature, as long as the air was not a problem, he was fine to stay under water. But the good times didn’t last long. Soon it became ridiculously hot. He didn’t know if Fingel set the wrong temperature but the swimming pool water was more suitable to take a shower in.

Lu Mingfei’s heart began to thump. There air in his bag was almost gone and the swimming pool was so hot. He hoped that the dragon had maybe collapsed somewhere so he could afford to go up and look. He tried to reach out and tap Fingel and Old Tang. He reached out, but didn’t feel anyone.

Horrified, he floated carefully above the water to look around. All he saw was white steam. The temperature of the swimming pool had risen by 40 degrees and had become like a hot spring. Lu Mingfei didn’t see Fingel and Old Tang. Maybe they got to hot and were already out of the water.

“Or... don't’ tell me that Old Tang and Fingel got eaten?” He thought. It seemed that the two of them were better than he was.

He climbed the stairs out of the pool and soon the water in the pool got hotter, steaming like soup. The whole area was like a sauna. It got very hard to see the exit.

Lu Mingfei didn’t dare to call out as a figure swam to the edge of the pull and climbed out of the water.

“Who’s there?” Lu Mingfei backed away and hurried back toward the water. He was stunned for a moment as he saw neither Old Tang nor Fingel’s face but a delicate young man who was climbing the stairs out of the pool. He looked younger than Lu Mingfei, maybe only sixteen or seventeen years old. He has a small face, pale brows and even black eyes. But those eyes were empty. His naked body reveled a kind of paleness. He’s so thin his ribs were visible.

He stared at Lu Mingfei for a few seconds.

“i didn’t come to see you, I came to see my brother. Have you seen him?” The boy asked, his voice drifting away.

“no.” Lu Mingfei shook his head, wondering who his brother was.

“Then I’m going to find him, goodbye. The boy and Lu Mingfei passed each other. The boy’s body was hot, and the heat hit Lu Mingfei in the face.

Lu Mingfei turned his head and watched the boy slowly walk away. “Brother... Brother...” The young man shouted, his voice getting farther and farther.

This sound seemed familiar... Lu Mingfei suddenly felt that goosebumps on his body were about to jump out of his skin. He remembered where he had heard this sound. The sound of the dragon shouting was exactly the same as this sound. Because it echoed off the walls, it seemed more erratic, like the cry of a ghost.

Did he talk to a dragon just now?

---------- THE DEATH OF CONSTANTINE ----------

Old Tang ran on the lawn, trying to leave this damn place as soon as possible. He felt a little guilty. Somehow, he was scared to deat just now. The sound of footsteps seemed to be ringing in his mind. He felt that it was impossible for him to hide in the water, so he couldn’t help but quietly get out of the pool.

He felt a bit sorry for Lu Mingfei, but the sense of fear was really terrible.

“Don’t run! Don’t run!” Fingel chased after him, “You can’t hide from him, he...”

Fingel turned his head to look at the top of the Hall of Valor, and was too frightened to speak Obviously the dragon had noticed their position, and the bones all over his body made an ear-splitting explosion. The skin on the back was split and the pair of membrane wings that had originally been attached to his back where opened, dripping with blood.

It was too easy to catch him with the advantage of flight.

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

The dragon flashed its membrane wings, flying on the roof over the roof of the Hall of Valor, and pounced towards the sprinting Old Tang. Seeing the shadow that enveloped him, Old Tang sank to the ground in shock.

“Replace your ammunition with live rounds!” The principal’s voice sounded in the communication channels of the students.

They don’t have time to think, nor do they have to. The principal is the absolute leader on the campus. Hundreds of guns had their ammunition replaced from Frigga Bullets to live rounds and this was aimed and the dragon gliding in the dark. They didn’t notice that there was a person like Old Tang also in the dark.

The dragon landed on the opposite side of Old Tang. Behind him, hundreds of bullets slid into the barrels of guns and the firing pins were primed.

Constantine realized what was going to happen next. he suddenly opened his wings, as if opening a huge barrier, wrapping Old Tang in it.

The gunfire ignited the entire campus in the dark, Thousands of rounds of live ammunition hit the dragon’s body. He had lost the power to command the metal and he could only use his back and wings to block it. The students kept changing their magazines until they had emptied them all. They didn’t dare to stop. In such a violent barrage, the dragon stood still and didn’t fall down.

This was an different kind of lifeform!

The last bullet let the chamber and the campus was filled with the pungent smoke of gunpowder. Everyone looked at the figure standing with wings spread out like a god in the gunpowder smoke.

Old Tang also looked at him, looking at his face, The dragon was broken, like a corpse nailed to a cross, with countless bullet holes. No matter how flexible his dragon bones were, after he lost the power of this speech, it was only a durable material. All the bones and joints on the open wings dissolved into powder, falling apart, one by one.

He no longer flowed with radiance and turned a bleak, grayish white. He smiled wearily at Old Tang. “Brother...”

“No... don't’ chase me! I don’t know you!” Old Tang screamed and turned his head to run. Behind him, the dragon’s body collapsed.

Old Tang ran wildly on the winding road. He didn’t know what he was running from. He just wanted to escape. The dragon was dead, but there seemed to be something chasing him.

“Brother, there are many people outside.”

“We are going to die Constantine, but don’t be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid so long as I’m with you, brother. But why.... don’t you eat me? Eat me, brother, and you can break through any cage.”

“You are good food, but that would be too lonely. For thousands of years, its only been you and I together.

“But death is really sad, forever and ever in the pitch dark. You reach out your hand but you never touch anything.”

“The so-called destiny of the abandoned clan is to cross the wasteland, raise the battle flag again and return to our home. Death is not terrible, it is just a long sleep. Before you can swallow the world, it is better to sleep peacefully than to walk alone. We will still wake up.”

“Brother, if you raise the the battle flag and swallow the world, will you eat me?”

“Yes, then you will be with me, as King over the world!”

He remembered it, and it was the memory that was chasing him.

He stopped, pulling at his hair in desperation, and yelling at the dark night sky.

“Little Brother!”

He remembered it. He remembered everything.

It turned out that in these two thousand years, whether he was sleeping or waking up, he just wanted to come to him, but when he found him, he had forgotten what he looked like.

But when he remembered what he looked like, he was dead.

Blazing flames surrounded his body and rose into the night sky, and the flames exploded high in the sky, as if there were wings spreading there.

“Dragon Bone Cross. Dragon King Norton, finally revealed his angry godship.” Principal Anjou drink a martini from his glass in the church bell tower. “You can hear his shouting, so many years of loneliness and pain. Ah... it was him. Completely resurrected, with the soul of a martyr.”

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bccity · 5 years ago

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JULY 2020 BC ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn 3 points each (up to 6 points) for writing, by the end of August 7 KST:

A solo para of 400+ words based on their monthly schedule (does not count toward your monthly limit).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) based on the monthly schedule.

Threads and solos do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule for the month and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated throughout the month if new information needs to be added.

Reminder: June schedule posts are due by the end of July 7 KST. Please do not post schedule posts in the fmdschedule tag.

Overall Company

All BC idols are scheduled for a meeting with upper management the day before the news of the upcoming base Culture Complex is leaked to the media. They’re given a more detailed rundown of plans for the facility than the public is, although not all the details are made clear. In the meeting, everyone is informed BC has partnered once again with Dimensions and Gold Star to fund the construction of a new building in Gangnam meant to become the ideal location in the world for fans of idols. The building will include a museum with exhibits dedicated to the history and music of each group and soloist, a handful of theatre venues for intimate concerts and company-sponsored musical productions, a merchandise mall, a cafe, and many other fan experiences. (admin note: For reference, imagine something similar to SM COEX Artium —with over three times the budget.) The idols won’t spend much time there even once it’s finished being built, but content starring them is critical to the financial success of the venture, so the next several months leading up to its opening will have all three companies’ idols working hard to make its opening a success. This month, that mostly involves producing photo shoots: all idols will attend a photo shoot session this month where three categories of photo will be tacked: profile pictures for the artist wall (grayscale, professional and serious tone), images for life-sized cutouts of each idol (wardrobe will consist of jeans and a single-color top for each idol, fun and bright tone with fanservicable poses such as here and here encouraged) and 3D imaging for 3D-printed figures of each idol.

Important dates:

July 5: base Culture Complex briefing meeting.

July 12-July 31: Photo shoots for base Culture Complex, as individual muse schedule allows, at unspecified photo studio in Gangnam (admin note: muses may encounter idols from other companies while there).

BC Soloist 1

Since everything is filmed and shot for her comeback, most of July is about practicing and perfecting her performance, which has been the biggest praise point since her debut. Upon its release, “Love U” isn’t as big of a smash hit as “Roller Coaster” was, but, as a summer release, the improvement from “Why Don’t You Know”’s already impressive performance is clear. While her true staying power has yet to proven seeing as she’s still a rookie soloist, her future looks promising in a way upper management is clearly pleased with for their first soloist in a decade.

Important dates:

July 29: Release of “Love U” & Blooming Blue mini-album, music show promotions continue through August 29.

July 30: Guesting on SBS Power FM Cultwo Show radio show.

July 31: First debut anniversary.

July 31: Guesting on Arirang Radio Super K-Pop radio show.

Decipher

To promote their comeback, Decipher have a magazine shoot to do for Marie Claire Korea on the first of the month. It’s an inside spread in the issue that will be cover by their juniors WISH. While their maknae heads back overseas to tour with CHAMPION, the rest of the group will keep practicing to make their comeback on the 13th. Promotions are kept to a minimum, without any fansigns to boost album sales, and, unfortunately, the more mellow vibe of the song doesn’t click with the public for the summer as well as BC would have hoped, leaving them with an abysmal chart performance, though the comeback still brings in a profit thanks to their dedicated fans.

Important dates:

July 1: Photo shoot for Marie Claire Korea’s August issue.

July 13: Release of “Love Paint” & Canvas mini-album, music show promotions continue through August 13.

July 15: Guesting on MBC FM Starry Night radio show.

July 26: Release of Mr. Sunshine OST “And I”.

↳ Decipher R & V

No schedules for the month.

Important dates:

N/A.

↳ CHAMPION

CHAMPION has already broken records, soaring to the top of the Billboard Hot 200 album chart last month, a feat only Origin has previously achieved. The achievement has BC and Dimensions quite proud and the lack of significant performance on the Korean charts isn’t considered a big deal to them due to the overseas success. This month, they begin their tour in Texas (flying out from Seoul late on July 5) and hold five US dates total before they fly out back to Seoul in the early morning hours of July 12. As previously mentioned, the two involves all of the songs on their mini-album, two unreleased songs (”Dangerous Woman” and “With You”), and solo stages by those who have made solo debuts before the tour.

Important dates:

July 6: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at Dickies Arena in Forth Worth, TX, USA.

July 8: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at United Center in Chicago, IL, USA.

July 9: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, GA, USA.

July 10: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, VA, USA.

July 11: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, USA.

BEE

The members will fly out from Seoul to the US on July 2 to shoot their photo book for their album. They’ll return to Seoul on July 5 and two days later will have another photo shoot, this time for Elle Korea’s August issue. The members will take on a retro photo shoot concept for the shoot. Shortly after, they’ll shoot the music video for “Darling”, and then the rest of the month is focused on preparing for their Seoul concerts. Each member will continue to rehearse their self-chosen solo cover stages for the concert (admin reminder: please avoid choosing songs that could be claimed as points claimed songs and have not been released in-’verse). At the end of the month, they’ll perform “I Like That”, “I Swear”, “Touch My Body”, and “Loving U” at a resort festival.

Important dates:

July 3: Album photobook shoot in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

July 7: Photo shoot for Elle Korea’s August issue.

July 10: “Darling” MV & making videos [2] filming.

July 24: Live Concert: B concert at Olympic Hall in Seoul.

July 25: Live Concert: B concert at Olympic Hall in Seoul.

July 29: Performance at Blue One Resort K-Pop Festival in Gyeongju (also performing: Knight, Lipstick and Gal.actic).

↳ 2BEE

Though their promotions have ended and they don’t have any major schedules in the future to work toward at this time, they will be giving a sub-unit performance of “Ma Boy” in addition to BEE’s group performance at a festival at the end of the month.

Important dates:

July 29: Performance at Blue One Resort K-Pop Festival in Gyeongju (also performing: Knight, Lipstick and Gal.actic).

Knight

After a photo shoot for Dazed early in the month and following the two CHAMPION subunit members' returns from the US, Knight is slated to begin comeback preparations for an album release in October. After playing it safer the last few comebacks, Knight is returning to something a little more experimental again. The full album should be recorded before they perform at a resort festival at the end of the month. Their set will consist of “Love Shot”, “Enough”, and their older summer hit “Kokobop”.

Important dates:

July 2: Photo shoot for Dazed Korea’s August issue.

July 29: Performance at Blue One Resort K-Pop Festival in Gyeongju (also performing: BEE, Lipstick and Gal.actic).

↳ White Knight

No schedules for the month.

Important dates:

N/A

↳ CHAMPION

Important dates:

July 6: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at Dickies Arena in Forth Worth, TX, USA.

July 8: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at United Center in Chicago, IL, USA.

July 9: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, GA, USA.

July 10: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, VA, USA.

July 11: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, USA.

↳ Knight Light

They’ll film their last music video rather early in the month, after which point, they only need to rehearse throughout the month to be ready for their showcase and music show stages next month. Since the two Knight members don’t have much in the way of choreographed dancing, most of the rehearsal focus is on working well off of each other and getting all three title tracks into their muscle memory.

Important dates:

July 9: “Closer To You” MV filming.

Lipstick

Lipstick finishes their promotions for “Wild” in the first half of the month. While it doesn’t earn them any music show wins, the song has been fairly well-received in comparison to their last release. They’ll make a short appearance on MBC Starry Night radio show before kicking into the last week of promotions, but as an eight year senior group, music shows to connect with fans are the main focus. Near the end of the month, they’ll perform “Wild”, “Glue”, and “Lil’ Touch” at a resort festival, but work on Queendom is also in full force. They’ll be filming the first two episodes of Queendom on July 16 and July 30 (the latter date also happens to be their debut anniversary), and they’ve been asked to prepare a performance of their representative hit song, “Genie”. Full details of Queendom filming for this month can be found here.

Important dates:

July 10: Guesting on MBC FM Starry Night radio show.

July 16: Queendom episode one filming (introductions).

July 18: End of music show promotions.

July 29: Performance at Blue One Resort K-Pop Festival in Gyeongju (also performing: BEE, Knight, and Gal.actic).

July 30: Queendom episode one & two filming (representative hit song stage).

↳ Lip Gloss

No schedules this month.

Important dates:

N/A

CHARM

CHARM continues to tour this month, with three Asian dates this time. It’s a rather relaxed month since they only have three tour dates, so the members will have some down time in between concerts, though there are general rehearsals and schedules to be attended to that will prevent them from taking any kind of true vacation abroad. If they’d like and they have family in South Korea, the company will permit them to have enough of a break to take a day trip or two to visit family, but longer trips or trips for other reasons will not be approved by the company this month to keep the members out of trouble and focused on staying focused on their tour.

Important dates:

July 4: Ode To You tour concert at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines.

July 11: Ode To You tour concert at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

July 18: Ode To You tour concert at NTSU Arena in Taipei, Taiwan.

↳ CHARM U

No schedules for the month.

Important dates:

N/A

WISH

Following a photo shoot for the cover of Marie Claire Korea’s August issue, the members of WISH are back off to Japan shortly after for a series of three concerts, the first since the release of their latest Japanese album. They won’t stay long for any additional promotions and will only be in Aichi from July 9 to July 13. Once they get back, they’ll get some down time, though there are general rehearsals and schedules to be attended to that will prevent them from taking any kind of true vacation abroad. If they’d like and they have family in South Korea, the company will permit them to have enough of a break to take a day trip or two to visit family, but longer trips or trips for other reasons will not be approved by the company this month to keep the members out of trouble and focused on staying focused on their tour.

Important dates:

July 3: Photo shoot for Marie Claire Korea’s August issue.

July 10: WISHlights Tour concert at Portmesse Nagoya in Aichi, Japan.

July 11: WISHlights Tour concert at Portmesse Nagoya in Aichi, Japan.

July 12: WISHlights Tour concert at Portmesse Nagoya in Aichi, Japan.

#fmdschedule #queued post

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dimensionsunited · 5 years ago

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JULY 2020 DIMENSIONS ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn 3 points each (up to 6 points) for writing, by the end of August 7 KST:

A solo para of 400+ words based on their monthly schedule (does not count toward your monthly total).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) based on their monthly schedule.

Threads do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule for the month and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated throughout the month if new information needs to be added.

Reminder: June schedule posts are due by the end of July 7 KST. Please do not post schedule posts in the fmdschedule tag.

OVERALL COMPANY

All Dimensions idols are scheduled for a meeting with upper management the day before the news of the upcoming base Culture Complex is leaked to the media. They’re given a more detailed rundown of plans for the facility than the public is, although not all the details are made clear. In the meeting, everyone is informed Dimensions has partnered once again with BC and Gold Star to fund the construction of a new building in Gangnam meant to become the ideal location in the world for fans of idols. The building will include a museum with exhibits dedicated to the history and music of each group and soloist, a handful of theatre venues for intimate concerts and company-sponsored musical productions, a merchandise mall, a cafe, and many other fan experiences. (admin note: For reference, imagine something similar to SM COEX Artium —with over three times the budget.) The idols won’t spend much time there even once it’s finished being built, but content starring them is critical to the financial success of the venture, so the next several months leading up to its opening will have all three companies’ idols working hard to make its opening a success. This month, that mostly involves producing photo shoots: all idols will attend a photo shoot session this month where three categories of photo will be tacked: profile pictures for the artist wall (grayscale, professional and serious tone), images for life-sized cutouts of each idol (wardrobe will consist of jeans and a single-color top for each idol, fun and bright tone with fanservicable poses such as here and here encouraged) and 3D imaging for 3D-printed figures of each idol.

Important dates:

July 5: base Culture Complex briefing meeting.

DIMENSIONS SOLOIST 1

As promised, she begins work on her next comeback this month with a new digital single. She’s planned to make her comeback in October, so this month isn’t too busy as she’s only in the studio to record the final vocals for the song. At the end of the month, she’ll have her first fittings for potential stage outfits. The goal for this round of fittings is mainly to get her opinion on potential styling.

Important dates:

July 30: First MV and stage outfit fittings.

DIMENSIONS SOLOIST 2

He’ll be debuting a new song, “When You Call My Name”, at his concert next month, so in addition to rehearsals for the concert, he’ll be in the studio to record the song throughout the month of July. He won’t be releasing it until November, but the song needs to be recorded in full now so that a backing track can be made, though he’ll be expected to sing it mostly live at his concert.

Important dates:

N/A.

DIMENSIONS SOLOIST 3

She’ll be holding her first ever solo concert in September, something Dimensions will be announcing this month as tickets go on sale for her fans and the public. It’s a big deal for her to hold solo concerts already and is a big show of faith from the company in her following the impressive performance of her debut, even if the venue isn’t huge. She’ll be rehearsing live performances all of her released songs and OSTs, and will also be able to cover up to three songs of her choice (as long as they don’t conflict with her public image too much). Rehearsals will be filmed for her OnStyle reality show.

Important dates:

N/A

GAL.ACTIC

News of a new comeback comes to the members in the form of a meeting this month. At the meeting, they get to hear demos of the upcoming mini-album and are informed that the concept for their comeback will be “black swan”, something more elegant and darker than their recent comebacks. Throughout the month, they’ll be in the studio recording the album. They also have a photo shoot for Arena Homme Plus and they’ll be performing “B.B.B”, “Someone Like U”, and “Be Ambitious” at a festival at the end of the month.

Important dates:

July 6: Photo shoot for Arena Homme Plus’s August issue.

July 29: Performance at Blue One Resort K-Pop Festival in Gyeongju (also performing: BEE, Knight, and Lipstick).

ALIEN

After they have the fittings for the “Follow” MV and comeback music show stages, Alien will move on to wrapping up comeback preparations by filming their comeback MV on July 7. Filming is simple compared to the overseas travel and acting they’ve had to do for some recent releases, as they’ll be filming solo and dance shots on a series of sets this time. After that, they’ll spend the next two weeks hard at work in the dance studio to fine-tune all of the details of their performance until the day of their comeback on July 20.

Important dates:

July 1: Comeback MV and stage outfit fittings.

July 7: “Follow” M/V filming.

July 14: Release of pre-release track “Find You”.

July 20: Release of “Follow” & Follow: Find You album, music show promotions continue through August 20.

MARS

MARS are back to work as ambassadors for Jambangee jeans by shooting an ad campaign for the summer season. It’s a simple shoot concept with simple styling, so it isn’t planned to take very long. The day after that photo shoot, MARS will be informed that they’ll begin preparing for a Japanese comeback this month by studio recording their Japanese comeback single, “Can’t Say”.

Important dates:

July 2: Jambangee summer ad campaign photo shoot.

7ROPHY

Now that 7ROPHY wrapped their most recent comeback promotions, they get a break from the cycle of comeback preparations for this month. Instead, they’ve been asked to participate in two magazine photo shoots that Dimensions has been happy to accept on their behalf to keep them in the public eye despite the disappointing performance of their last two singles. They��ll be the cover models of August’s issue of The Star and will have an inside spread in Nylon Korea the same month. For Queendom, they’ll be filming the first two episodes on July 16 and July 30, and they’ve been asked to prepare a performance of their representative hit song, “Latata”. Full details of Queendom filming for this month can be found here.

Important dates:

July 1: Photo shoot for Nylon Korea’s August issue.

July 4: Photo shoot for The Star’s August issue.

July 16: Queendom episode one filming (introductions).

July 30: Queendom episode one & two filming (representative hit song stage).

UNITY

The first two days of the month, Unity fits in both the photo shoot for their album photo book and a photo shoot and interview for Harper’s Bazaar Korea’s August issue. After that, the CHAMPION sub-unit members will leave for the US, and once they return, it’s the final month leading up to their long-awaited comeback, so pre-promotion activity kicks into high gear, including MV filming and the filming of a series of videos that will be released in the lead up to the album on Dimensions’ Youtube channel.

Important dates:

July 1: Album photo book shoot.

July 2: Photo shoot for Harper’s Bazaar Korea’s August issue.

July 16: “Kick It” MV & behind & 1?Q 7!A filming day one.

July 17: “Kick It” MV & behind & 1?Q 7!A filming day two.

July 19: Welcome To The Unity Zone filming (The Opening Show, U.N.I Shopping)

July 29: Welcome To The Unity Zone filming (Looking For The Best Bruce Lee)

↳ CHAMPION

Important dates:

July 6: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at Dickies Arena in Forth Worth, TX, USA.

July 8: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at United Center in Chicago, IL, USA.

July 9: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, GA, USA.

July 10: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, VA, USA.

July 11: CHAMPION: We Are The Future Live concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, USA.

LUCID

Beginning on July 4, the Lucid members begin their Welcome to The Dream World tour, which is dedicated entirely to songs from their nightmare realm concept, along with the special stages mentioned in last month’s schedule. From July 7 to July 9, they’ll be in Taiwan, and then on July 23, they’ll fly out from Seoul again to continue their tour overseas. For the first chunk of the month, while they’re in Seoul, they’ll be busy learning the choreography for their title track, “Navillera” and b-side “Gone With The Wind”, along with outfit fittings.

Important dates:

July 4: Welcome to The Dream World concert at Shinsegae Mesa Hall in Seoul, South Korea.

July 7: Comeback MV and stage outfit [2] fittings.

July 8: Welcome to The Dream World concert at Legacy Taipei in Taipei, Taiwan.

July 24: Welcome to The Dream World concert at El Teatro de Flores in Buenos Aires, Brazil.

July 26: Welcome to The Dream World concert at Club Chocolate in Santiago, Chile.

July 29: Welcome to The Dream World concert at Maracanã in Lima, Peru.

July 31: Welcome to The Dream World concert at Teatro ECCI El Dorado in Bogota, Columbia.

#fmdschedule #queued post

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fortunatelylori · 6 years ago

Text

This episode is more convoluted than the crypts of Winterfell

Disclaimer: Proceed with caution! There is snark ahead! I repeat: There is snark ahead! It had to be done, people. If I had to sit down and actually take this episode seriously, I would have lost my freaking mind!

So it happened. The first episode of season 8 aired. The leaks were true and I am now officially dead inside. Let’s get started.

General Impressions

Trying to review this episode is an extremely challenging exercise. There is no cohesiveness to it, no narrative strand to tie it all together. In an ideal world, an episode should be linked by a common theme. It should have a structure that pushes you towards the end from the very first scene onward.

Here the writers have completely given up on even pretending they care about structure and plot progression. They’re essentially jumping from scene to scene like a freaking gymnast on crack.

Surprised that Euron managed to travel to Essos and back and Cersei still hasn’t grown her hair? Seems dubious to you that the Wall gang not only survived the Wall falling but managed to get to Last Hearth through zombie infested territory? How about Ned Umber traveling all the way to Winterfell and back to Last Hearth just in time to die a pointlessly shocking and gratuitous death?

Well, I’m here to tell you to knock it off! GOT does not give a shit. This show has its priorities straight. And those priorities are:

Pretty pictures of people being dismembered, burned alive or generally dying painful deaths.

Porn ... we got to get that porn quota up, you guys! Just you ladies, of course! Who the hell wants to see naked men on this show?!?! Not the Ds certainly. That would be yikey.

For the sake of my own sanity, I’m going to try and bring some order to the chaos by splitting the episode into 3 main story lines. I’m extremely generous here because 2 of those story lines are barely there at all, and the other one is not linked together by anything other than location:

Story A

Winterfell is turned into a Big Brother type house where everyone that ever hated each other is now forced to coexist. If I were to pick a main character in this story line it would probably be Jon.

The problem is Jon is confused and confusing so watching him work his way through this meandering plot is painfully strange and frustrating. And that’s because his POV continues to be, at least, partly hidden, meaning that I never get any idea of what the hell he’s doing or what is actually driving him in this episode.

Generally this would allow for some sort of character reveal at the end of the episode when all these loose ends would be brought together and we’d finally know what Jon is up to but these are the Ds. They’re going to milk the ambiguity for all its worth and in true Ds fashion run it into the ground from sheer exhaustion.

If I were to summarize Jon’s story line in this episode it’s: Jon arrives at Winterfell and proceeds to be flabbergasted that the people he knew would be upset that he bent the knee, are actually upset that he bent the knee. He rides a dragon and gets down to some PDA in the middle of nowhere because he needs to amuse the royal bush. He reunites with his long lost family members and spends most of the episode sulking because Sansa is giving him the cold shoulder.

I feel like I’ll be saying this a lot but this is not a story line. This is a character aimlessly drifting from scene to scene whose reactions don’t make much sense.

Then there’s the parentage reveal:

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This goes just about as bad as you’d expect. The dialogue is slightly sophomoric with John Bradley being forced to deliver this line straight:

Your mother was Lyanna Stark. And your father, your real father, was Rhaegar Targareyen. You’ve never been a bastard. You’re Aegon Targareyen, true heir to the Iron Throne.

This little bit of exposition here just sounds off and strange, despite Bradley’s best efforts to soldier through it. Not to mention that the writers are ripping themselves off by having Sam parrot basically the same thing Bran said in season 7.

But the real problem with this scene is ... and I’m very sorry to say it ... Kit Harrington. He just doesn’t deliver. He doesn’t find the right tone and reactions to the monumental reveal and the whole scene falls flat on its stupid, exposition face.

It’s made even worse that this scene is following the Tarlys burning reveal in which John Bradley does, without a doubt, the best bit of acting in the whole episode.

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The Tarlys reveal is a strange and off kilter scene as well but Bradley sells you on Sam’s grief and horror so you’re instantly in his corner, which in turn helps ground the entire piece.

Harington doesn’t manage to do that so the scene ends up not amounting to much of anything other than setting up the future plot point of Jon and D*ny as rivals to the Iron Throne. We’ve known the truth of Jon’s parentage since season 6. What’s interesting to us in this scene is how Jon reacts to the news and we want to be given the opportunity to commiserate with him. Alas, we never get the chance.

Story B

The King’s Landing plot. This is not really a plot. More like an amalgamation of scenes that are sporadically thrown at you in haphazard fashion, with the only goal of setting up plot points for future episodes.

In quick succession we get Euron and Cersei having sex (off screen). Lena gets about 10 seconds to act some sort of emotion once the business is concluded and we’re off to the next plot point.

Theon and Yara reunite and separate within the span of 5 minutes and Bronn is off to kill the Lannister brothers - one man sent into hostile territory, in the freezing winter, with a crossbow. What could go wrong here? ... WHO CARES?!?! PORRRRRN!

The funniest thing about this plot is that the White Walkers are treated as an after thought at best.

Cersei is more upset she didn’t get her elephants. How much do you want to bet that the Ds blew their CGI elephant budget on the dragons? Speaking of which, should we start putting up flyers for Ghost? Lassie has been MIA for a while now, guys. I don’t think she’s coming back this time.

Bronn is trying to get it on with the 3 prostitutes in what is easily one of the least sexy scenes I’ve ever seen in my life. The 3 ladies of the night, however, seem determined to kill his buzz with talks of dragons disfiguring people. I guess everyone in Westeros is a fan of D*ny’s children, right? You know what they say: no press is bad press and all that.

Story C

The Wall gang meet up at Last Hearth and, in true redneck style, get down to some barbecue!

Again this isn’t a story line. It’s just two scenes hobbled together for the purposes of:

Exposition: we know that they’re going to ride to Winterfell and arrive in the next episode so we’ll have all of our main characters in place for the big battle in episode three.

Gratuitous child murder:

Complete with a strange parallel to this:

I take no credit for this connection. It was pointed out to me by @and-holly-goes-lightly. At this point they’re just hitting us over the head with the clues that once the Night King is dead, D*ny is the next, big bad.

And putting the fear of God into the audience when they realize they’ll have at least 1 episode of night scenes:

Do you see anything? Yeah ... hope you enjoy darkness for a full hour because that’s exactly what you’re going to get.

Favorite scenes

The opening sequence:

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The writers swore up and down that the first episode of season 8 would be filled with callbacks to the pilot. The only one that lands, in my opinion, and makes a good counterpoint is this scene. Visually, it looks amazing. We have a little Bran stand in to act as the POV and we have Arya watching her beloved brother finally arrive home.

It’s poignant and unsettling at the same time. When I watched it the first time, I wasn’t really sure why it felt so unsettling to me. I knew that D*ny wasn’t going to receive a warm welcome in Winterfell and I knew she’d be angry about it so that wasn’t the reason for my misgivings.

Later on I realized, the most unsettling thing to me in this scene is Jon. He left Winterfell as the character that I most relate to and came back as a distant, off putting figure. Jon, who has never been elevated above those around him, is now marching into Winterfell in the midst of a foreign army and he’s so dead eyed and distant, that he doesn’t even notice his sister in the crowd:

Who are they now? What are they to each other? There’s something deeply sad and mournful about these shots and seeing these two people that were so close at the end of a very long journey of being torn apart. And Maisie Williams does a fantastic job of conveying all of these emotions.

To me this scene was better than Jon and Arya’s reunion. The reunion is pretty by the numbers, with the two of them comparing swords and not truly ever communicating. It was heartwarming but it didn’t have the emotional punch this scene did.

The Tarlys burning reveal:

I’ve already talked about this scene in the Winterfell plot section but, while I felt the scene was awkward and choppy, John Bradley completely sold me on Sam’s tragedy and I can’t help but love the scene because of it.

There is something else that caught my eye, though:

From this scene, it seems pretty obvious to me that Jorah knew about the Tarlys’ execution. Which makes it all the more interesting that Jon, on the other hand, doesn’t know. I guess he’s not the only one keeping secrets.

The Gendrya reunion:

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Initially, I really disliked this scene because it feels stilted and it doesn’t flow properly. I still think it’s poorly constructed. However when watching the behind the scenes video, Maisie gave me some much needed context. Her saying that Arya was in love with Gendry and would have followed him to the ends of the Earth finally made the Gendrya relationship click for me.

While I’ve always liked the idea of them together, I never really understood how we were going to get there. But this is, actually, about a girl reuniting with her childhood crush and him being able to see her as a young woman, instead of a little girl.

It also plays in really nicely with Arya’s standoffish-ness in the scene, since Gendry abandoning her to go off with the Red Woman gets a romantic connotation as well as explains Gendry’s awkwardness around her. She’s not a little girl anymore and, dare I say it? He likes her.

It’s all very cute.

And these lines?

Gendry: It’s Valyrian steel. I always knew you were just another rich girl.

Arya: You don’t know any other rich girls.

Legitimately adorable banter.

The scene is also setting up something with the weapon Arya is commissioning. It looks like a spear or an arrow of some kind. It reminds me a bit of that flash back Bran has in the books of one of the Starks making an arrow from a weirwood branch. It’s been theorized that those arrows were meant to kill Aegon’s dragons. I wonder if they’ll tackle that plot point with Arya?

The opening credits:

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Yeah ... I’m really scraping the bottom of the barrel on this ...

I assume everyone noticed that the title sequence has been changed. What I found really intriguing is that they focus a lot on the underground tunnels of both Winterfell and King’s Landing.

The Winterfell sequence doesn’t feel like such a novelty since they’ve been pushing the crypts pretty hard in their promotion so far. The crypts represent the parentage reveal as well as possible danger for whoever hides down there once the dead attack the castle.

But King’d Landing is intriguing because the thing that I most associate with the tunnels underneath the Red Keep is wild fire. I guess we should get ready to see King’s Landing go up in flames.

Episode MVPs:

Lord “I think you’ll find you’re wrong” Varys

Varys would have been on this list for this alone:

Tyrion: You should consider yourself lucky. At least your balls won’t freeze off.

Varys: You take great offence at dwarf jokes but love making eunuch jokes. Why is that?

Thank you, Varys! Thank you! I’ve been saying that Tyrion is a mean spirited hypocrite since season 1. Glad I’m not the only one that noticed.

But then, Varys goes on to shoot down the idea of a Jon/D*ny marriage alliance with this:

Varys: Nothing lasts.

Lolz ... you, my friend, are a STAR! Keep doing what you’re doing!

Sansa “No time for your bullshit” Stark

If looks could kill ... Sansa was so on point this episode that I relished every second of it. Not only did she look stunningly beautiful but she decided to give some much needed reality checks to everyone she came into contact with.

Apparently everyone that arrives in Winterfell is delusional because Sansa’s actions of merely pointing out the obvious, like:

Armies and dragons eat a lot. How are we going to feed them?

You really took your sister at her word? Am I supposed to keep thinking you’re smart, Tyrion?

Is met with shock, horror and confusion. Everyone and their mother is wondering what Sansa is doing and what she’s up to. Jon is sulking because Sansa is not jumping at the bit to see him. D*ny is upset Sansa doesn’t like her. Tyrion is shocked that Sansa doesn’t think he’s as brilliant as he thinks he is.

Meanwhile, Sansa is just standing there, not breaking a sweat while everyone around her is twisting themselves into pretezles trying to figure her out. Now that’s a Boss Bitch right there! (yeah, yeah, too much Good Girls. I know).

Bran “King of the Clap back” Stark

Talking of Boss Bitches, here comes Bran to ruin D*ny’s day. He ain’t having whatever lame attempt at human emotion D*ny is trying to convey and decides to spread some reality checks of his own:

Bran: The Night King has your dragon. He’s one of them now. The Wall has fallen. The dead march South.

Also:

Your hair looks stupid. That coat is lame and I don’t like you very much.

(this was the subtext, right?)

But Boss Bran doesn’t stop there. He decides to out creep even himself by waiting in the freezing cold of night in order to spook Jaime Lannister upon arrival in Winterfell, like a ghost in a gothic novel:

Since I apparently have a lot more to say, I’m going to make a little series out of this. In the next two installments I will tackle the J0nereys and Jonsa relationships. Stay tuned!

* none of the gifs or pictures are mine. Thank you to the content creators!

#got 8x01 #got meta #house stark #house lannister #sansa stark #jon snow #arya stark #gendry waters #arya x gendry #gendrya #episode review #anti-daenerys

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james-stark-the-writer-wips · 5 years ago

Text

Of Witches And Demons - An Excerpt

Chapter 2: The Immortals.

WC: 4000 words. Wanted to get this out asap tbh so it’s not the most polished thing but I hope you’ll forgive that and enjoy this!! If you wanna read a slightly more polished version, it’ll be up on wattpad soon so,

LINK

(“Let’s go away a little. Different town, different people. Doesn’t matter where. Just know we’re not in Tenebris anymore although we will get back there soon. Does matter who. So pay attention.” Krilla said. Almadea nodded.)

“So,” Alice said, lighting the candle in her hand. “Who are we this time around?”

The forest was calm, quiet, isolated. They liked coming here a night. Listening to the crickets hiding in the grass, the hooting owls, seeing the moonlight giving everything a soft glow. It was magical. Even after so long, the magic hadn’t faded. The man beside Alice sighed as he looked away from the moon and towards her.

“Who do you want to be?” He took the candle from her. “Billionaires? Eccentrics? Business owners?”

“I can’t decide, Xan.” Alice said.

A soft breeze began to blow, carrying cool water along with it. The candle flame flickered as the wind blew past it. Xander put a hand around the flame to keep it from going out.

“So, you’re here. Took you long enough.” Xander said.

A branch crunched under the foot of the man walking towards Xander.

“I’m sorry I don’t finish as fast as you do, Xander.” The man said.

“You took an unusually long time.” Xander replied.

“I take a perfectly okay time, Xan. You’d think you’d know after two centuries together.” The man stopped in place. The wind began to die down.

“I should, I suppose.” Xan nodded. “Anyway, get over here, Cy.”

“So why the meeting outside?” Cyrus asked.

“I wanted to talk about our plans on Thursday.”

“Couldn’t we have had this conversation in the house?” He protested.

“I wanted the fresh air. Now get over here and stop whining.” Xander said. Cyrus let out a frustrated groan and walked over to the two of them.

“So, have you decided who we’re going to be?” Cyrus asked Alice.

“Well, I’m not sure yet. But definitely something new, someone we haven’t been yet.” She said.

“New, huh?” Cyrus chuckled softly.

“Let’s start at the basics. What have we been?” Xander said.

“Doctors, magicians, circus folk, philanthropists, bakers, politicians...” Cyrus began.

“So, what do you think, Alice?” Xander asked.

“How about ourselves?” Alice said.

“Don’t be naive, Alice. You know we can’t do that.” Cyrus said.

“I’m not saying tell everyone who we are.”

“Then what are you proposing, Alice? You know I hate vague people.” Cyrus leaned against a tree.

“Let’s be a family again instead of distant siblings. I’m tired of playing siblings.”

“Then, what? You wanna be my mother?” Cyrus scoffed.

“It’s not the 1800s, Cy.” Alice replied, picking up the candle and putting it to her nose. “You’d be my father. Besides, you are older than me.”

“You want me and Xander to be your fathers?” Cyrus said.

“Yes. And what’s the problem? You two used to date each other, right?” Alice vaguely pointed at both of them.

“There’s no problem, I’m just confirming.”

Xander interrupted before Cyrus could get another word in. “That’s fine and all, Alice, but what do we do? You know, for a living?”

“We’re rich, that’s for sure. I have had enough of being poor. We’re immortal, for fuck sake. There’s no fun being poor. Certainly not in this world.” She grumbled.

“Okay. Then you better come up with a good reason for us being rich.”

Alice pondered over it for a minute. What should they be? People would ask, that’s for sure. After so many years, Alice had learned that people couldn’t help but stick their noses in other people’s businesses.

Alice snapped her fingers. “Ooh, how about you be oil princes?” She said. “We haven’t done that yet.”

“Both of us?” Cyrus asked.

“No. Don’t be silly. There’s no way anyone would believe that. It’d be more plausible if you started the business together after you met and fell in love or you started the business then fell in love but that feels old.”

“Then, what, pray tell, should we be? It’s your turn, Alice. Otherwise we skip your turn and we do my thing.” Xander said.

“No! We did your thing the last time we moved. I’ll think of something. Just give me a second.”

Cyrus sighed. “Okay, then. Take the night to sleep on it. We have a long trip ahead of us soon, anyway.”

“At least we’re sure of the location, yes?” Alice asked.

Xander nodded. “Yes. That hasn’t changed.”

“Where was it again?” Cyrus asked.

“You know where it is.” Xander said.

“I wasn’t listening when you said it.”

“You’ve got to start paying more attention, Cyrus. You’re wasting that photographic memory of yours.”

“Please, let’s not do this right now, Xan. Just tell me where we’re going. And let’s let Alice decide till tomorrow, yes?”

“Sure, whatever.” Xander let out a soft sigh. “We’re going to Tenebris.” He turned to Alice. Let’s go.” He put a hand on Alice’s back and turned to Cyrus. “You coming?”

“Go on ahead. I’ll catch up. I’m going to enjoy some of that fresh air you dragged me out here for.” Cyrus said.

Xander handed him the candle and began to walk away.

“Where the fuck is Tenebris?” Cyrus called out.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Xander kept walking.

“Don’t be vague, Xan.” Cyrus shouted but Xander and Alice had already walked away.

A slight smile crept onto Cyrus’s face without permission as looked up at the moon, its glimmering light illuminating the entire forest in a silver blanket. Anyone who says the night is evil has never looked at the moon. He thought.

He put his hands in his pockets. The air seemed to grow colder every passing second. He could smell the fresh, wet grass from last night’s shower. It clung to the air like glue, filling it with a soft hint of earthiness everywhere.

He began to walk back towards the mansion they currently resided in. They owned the forest (at least parts of it) and the mansion. They’d bought it to make sure the number of tresspassers and onlookers would go down and it had helped a lot, actually.

But people were getting suspicious. It was time to pack up and move, as they did every twenty or so years, whenever they thought someone was onto them. They’d lived in France, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, India, Japan, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and every big city and country in the world. Now they’d had enough of the city life — one of the primary reasons they’d moved to this town from NY, in fact — and wanted to move somewhere more quiet and peaceful.

While cites sure had their advantages — a prominent one being everyone was too busy to give a shit about new people in town — it got lonely over time. And even in big cities, there was no escaping nosy neighbours.

Though it had been only nine years in this town, they’d decided to move somewhere they could live in peace. A place where they wouldn’t have to worry about getting shot or killed and being found out. This town had its charm but even it’s residents were wondering why the people in the mansion didn’t seem to age a day in the last few years. They’d started believing the ‘good genes, I guess’ excuse even less every time it was told to them.

Cyrus had personally seen what happened when humans found out about one of them being an Immortal.

When Cyrus had been granted the opportunity to be an Immortal, there were eight of them. Now, only Cyrus and Xander remained of the original eight. The others had either died, left to live in isolation or moved away to try their best to stay out of regular human business, trying to live normal lives unhindered.

Alice had only recently – 167 years ago, to be precise – joined them but she was a fine addition. She was the first woman to be turned in almost five centuries.

Cyrus took in a deep breath, letting all of nature’s beautiful smell consume his body as if tasting wine. He took his hands out of his pockets and blew on them to warm them up a bit. It was freezing out here.

Time to head back, he thought as he turned around and began to walk uphill back to the mansion.

With over twenty rooms in the mansion, the place was fit for kings (and had actually once belonged to a prince, of sorts). Everything about this place screamed ‘We have too much money’. Which wasn’t a bad thing, really. They had actually helped build an orphanage in the city, which had finished construction three weeks ago.

The mansion sat alone on a cliff, with no houses for miles and no one to disturb them. From the balcony, you could see the entire town in all its glory.

In one corner, smoke arose from the town’s bakery as Keith, the owner of said bakery, baked the last bread of the day, shutting down for the night.

In another corner, if you lived in a mile radius, you could her Mrs. Radley screaming at her husband for being home late again. As the clock struck ten, the town began to close up, with only the twenty four hour pharmacy and the famous Powers’ Coffee Shop staying on.

Even in this small town, you could see a few people sitting in the coffee shop, writing away on their laptops all night long. It was the students from the nearby college that came out to Powers’ for their famous coffee.

Justin Powers and a single employee kept the shop open all day with them looking after it during the day while Justin’s son Max looked after it at night.

And their coffees were delicious. And, thankfully close by to Joanna’s Pie Shop, the best pies you’ll ever taste.

And in two days time, they would all be a faint memory, never to be seen again, if possible.

Cyrus made his way into the mansion. All the lights had been turned off, no surprise there, and Alice had gone to bed.

Xander, on the other hand, sat by the fireplace, a glass of expensive whiskey in hand and a novel in the other.

“I’m gonna go sleep, Xan. I’ll see you in the morning.” Cyrus said.

“Mmhmm.” Xander said, flipping a page in his book.

Cyrus walked up the stairs and found his way to his bedroom, the smallest of all the rooms in the mansion, and crawled into bed, pulling the covers onto him.

He reached under his bed and grabbed the long stick he kept there. He quickly extended it to the opposite wall and flicked off the light switch. He put the stick back in its place and opened the curtains behind his bed. As he closed his eyes, he found sleep quickly.

As the sun rose above the horizon, Alice woke up, yawning, gently outstretching her arms. She had given much thought to what they should be… and nothing seemed as exciting as good old star crossed lovers. Ala gay Romeo and Juliet. Except without the dying part.

She pushed the bed covers aside, heading straight for the bathroom. She couldn’t wait to tell Xan and Cy what she’d chosen. As she took a quick shower, she began to iron out the details of how it would work and what their story would be. Sure, star crossed lovers was old and cliche, but it was perfect. To be honest, she was always trash for Shakespeare and star crossed lovers. This was a perfect pit. Besides, they’d been siblings for far too long.

About twenty minutes later, the clock rang nine and Alice stepped out of the shower, quickly drying herself off and slipping on a nice pair of jeans and a plain red t-shirt.

She rushed down the stairs, jumping two steps at a time, making her way to the dining table where a sleepy Cyrus sat, slowly sipping on his coffee. Besides him sat Xander eating his regular bowl of cornflakes.

“Guys!” Alice said, rushing to take a seat besides Cyrus.

“Please, just…softer.” Cyrus said, halfway through a sip.

“Just listen. I’ve decided.”

“About?” Xan asked

“Our cover.”

“Alice. Softer.” Cy scolded.

“Shut up, dick.” Alice snarked. She turned her attention to Xan. “So, our cover. I know what we wanna be.”

“Alice, you know what we say about cussing at the table.”

“You’re not my dad!” Alice said.

Xander had a rule about being civilized at the table. It was a surprise he’d managed to uphold it all these years, especially with Alice and Cyrus in the house — half their vocabulary was curse words.

“Well I’m gonna be soon, apparently so you better start listening, right?” Xander retorted.

“Ugh, I hate you.” Alice groaned.

“Perfect. Means I’m being a good parent.”

“So much wrong with that statement but we don’t have the time to explain all that. Anyway can you just listen to me?”

“Alright alright. Go on, I’m listening.” He shoved a spoonful of cornflakes into his mouth.

“Right. Our story. You two are, drum roll please,” She paused until Xan put down his spoon and reluctantly did a little series of taps on the table, “star crossed lovers.”

“Good god.” Cyrus sighed. “Why did we let her choose again?”

“I can hear you, you know.” Alice said.

“Her birthday comes up soon. It’s her gift.” Xan reminded, not noticing it was a rhetorical question.

“So,” Alice continued, unfazed. “I’ve been thinking all night and Xan was the rich guy…”

“Obviously.” Xan said, taking a bite of his food. Alice rolled her eyes.

“Would you just let me tell it?”

“Okay!” Xan backed off. “Sorry.”

“Right, so, Xan was the rich guy. You met at a mutual friend’s party, had drinks together and hooked up. Cyrus was still in the closet at the time and his dad was super homophobic. But, you kept seeing Xan because you felt a connection. When you meet him the second time, three days have passed. Xan sees you and says, “I’ve been waiting for you.” And you ask, “For three days?” and he nods and you kiss him in public for the first time. You stay over for the night but the next day your dad finds out. He’s threatened to cut you off if he sees you with Xan again.” She paused for a breath.

“But, you like him so much, you risked being broke. Your family isn’t super rich, but you do pretty well. You went off to live with Xan and your dad said he cut you off. But, your dad suddenly falls ill only you don’t learn that until a week later when your mom calls you to his funeral. He couldn’t bear to see you go and he died of a heart attack. When his will is read after the funeral, you realize he never took you out of it. In fact, he left you most of his possessions. You give a lot of it to your mom and you and Xan continue living together. After two years, you have an amazing fall wedding. Then the year after that, you adopted me from an orphanage at age six or something. At this point, Xan is 28 and Cy, you’re 26. And since then, it’s been like eight or nine years and now I’m starting high school.”

Xan almost spit out his milk. “Wait, hold up. You’re going to high school?”

“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t really get to go back when I turned and I haven’t really been to one since. It’ll be a good learning experience. Plus what am I gonna be? Homeschooled? I need to start hanging out with people my own age!”

“Good luck finding a hundred and seventy year old people. Do you need me to buy you a graveyard, hon?” Cyrus teased. Alice ignored him.

“It’s going to be awful. You haven’t been to school for what, a hundred and sixty eight years at this point?” Xander said.

“Sixty seven.” Alice corrected. “Sixty eight next month.”

“Yeah, a lot has changed since then.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll pick things up quick.” Alice reassured him. “Plus there will be cute boys and girls there.” She added softly.

“You can’t be serious.” Cyrus put his cup down, fully awake now, and turned to Xander for an answer.

“Oh, come on, Xan.” Alice begged.

“Eh, let her do it. She’ll be fine. You know how she can be if she doesn’t get what she wants.” Xan resigned, after some thought. He continued eating.

“Yay!” Alice squealed, jumping out of her seat. “You lose, I win!” She stuck her tongue out, making a face at Cy. He ignored her.

Alice blew a raspberry. She turned to Xan. “So, when do we leave?”

“Tomorrow afternoon, earlier if we can manage it.” He chewed on his food before continuing. “Start packing, say your goodbyes.”

“Great. I’m gonna go do that then.” Cy stood up and left the room.

“I’m gonna go to Joanna’s then. Grab some breakfast and say goodbye.”

“Bring something back for me and Cy, yeah?” Xan said.

“Sure.” Alice grabbed her coat, her purse, the car keys and rushed out the door.

Joanna’s Pie Shop was a quaint little shop, tucked between a McDonald’s and a Starbucks. But it got by surprisingly well, all because of how goddamn delicious Joanna’s pies were.

Alice had eaten a lot of things in her relatively small existence but having had a taste of Joanna’s pies was her most proud moment.

“Joanna!” She called out as she pushed open the door and walked in.

“Coming, darling!” Joanna’s voice came from inside the kitchen. “Just getting some pies ready. Be out in a minute. Take a seat.”

Alice took a seat on the black bar stools by the counter and sat patiently as she waited for Joanna to come out.

Joanna arrived from the kitchen with thick gloves and trays with steaming hot pies, her apron covered in flour.

“Hot from the oven!” She announced, placing the tray on the counter and slipping off the thick gloves. “Want a slice?”

“Yeah.” Alice said. “A full Chocolate Coconut Creme for me, two slice of green apple for Cy and a slice of Pumpkin pie for Xander.”

“Coming right up.” Joana said. “Feel free to help yourself to some coffee if you want.” She grabbed a mug from behind her and handed it to Alice.

“Thanks, Jo. You’re the best.”

Joana smiled before disappearing back into the kitchen.

As Alice sipped on her coffee, Joana walked out of the kitchen with the pies. “Here ya go, hon.” She quickly stuffed them into a large box and handed it to Alice.

“Thanks. How much is it?” Alice asked.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s on the house. I’m in a good mood today. Plus you’ve already done so much for us.”

“Oh, come on, Jo. This’ll be the last time you get to charge me.”

Joana gave her a puzzled look, “What do you mean, hon?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about…” Alice said.

“You’re not dying or nothing, right, hon?”

“No, no. Nothing like that.” Alice reassured her.

Joana let out a deep sigh of relief “Well, good. Then what is it?”

“We’re moving. Me, Xan and Cy.”

“Moving?” Joana gasped. “Where?”

“It’s far. That’s all I can tell you about it. It’s family business.”

“But you’ll come back eventually, right?” Joana asked.

“No, I’m afraid not. We’ll be staying there permanently.” Alice said softly.

“Permanently?” Joana couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Alice nodded. “So, this is… technically, goodbye.”

Joana choked up. “When uh— When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow. Afternoon. Maybe earlier.”

“Oh. Alright then.” Joana cleaned her hand on her apron and wiped off a tear.

“I’m sorry, it’s just the decision was so sudden. We made plans last night.”

“No, it’s fine. Just, before you leave, promise me you’ll stop by one last time? For old times sake?”

“I’ll try, Jo.”

“No, promise me, Alice. Just stop by before you leave. It shouldn’t take very long.”

“I’m sorry, it’s out of my hands. But I’ll try my best.”

“Very well then. I hope you come.” Joana started to go back in the kitchen.

Alice held up the box. “Joana? How much?”

“Like I said, Alice. They’re on the house. Enjoy them. I’m not gonna charge you and that’s final.”

Alice smiled. “I’m gonna miss you, Jo.”

“I’m gonna miss you too, hon.” Joana disappeared back into the kitchen.

Alice sighed and walked out of the shop.

The next day came quickly and everyone rushed frantically to stuff their things into a million bags. It’s insane how much junk you collect over the years. A lot of it would go into the storage facility they’d kept over the years but beyond that, everything else they were attached to came with them.

This time, the furniture, most of the paintings, the utensils, some small things and other stuff they didn’t want all stayed. They’d decided to donate the mansion to the city and open it to the public for free use by anyone. Xander had even talked to some of the townspeople to turn it into a lodging for the homeless free of cost of something similar. But now they had to leave so who knew what would happen to the house?

The truck came, the important stuff was loaded in and Cyrus and Alice sat in the car, waiting for Xander to lock everything up and bring out his bags. Finally, he did come out and got in the car.

“Ready?” He asked, putting on his seatbelt.

“Yeah.” Cyrus said.

“Hey, Xan, you mind if we stop by Joana’s? She asked me to stop by if we could.”

“What’s the time right now?”

“It’s uh, 1:36 pm.” Cyrus said.

“Sure. We’ve got some time to kill. I guess that’d be alright. Plus I have to go give the house keys away too.”

“Great. Just drop me off at hers then and come pick me up after you’re done.”

“Alright, give me a second to go tell the driver the plans have changed.” Xander said, getting out of the car. He returned quickly.

“He’s gonna go ahead and he’ll be waiting on the outskirts of town for us to lead the way.”

“Cool.” Cyrus said. “Turn the AC on and let’s go already.” He put in headphones and lied down on the backseat, using his forearm as a pillow. “And wake me up when we get there.”

Xander sighed. “Fine.”

The car whirred to life.

Joana stood idly in the shop, expectantly staring at the door, waiting for Alice and the other two to arrive.

As she saw their car turning the bend, she rushed out from behind the counter and ran outside.

“You came!” She said as Alice opened the car door.

“Yeah.” Alice said.

“No, no don’t get out.” Joana said. “Or I’m going to start crying and I don’t want to ruin my makeup. “Just wait here, I’ll be back in a second.”

“O-okay.” Alice said.

“What’s wrong?” Xander asked.

“She told me to wait here.”

“Fine.” Xander said.

Joana reemerged from the shop carrying a large box of pies. She quickly handed it to Alice.

“What’s this?” Alice asked, opening the box.

“It’s my coveted smores pie. With extra marshmallows. Made them specially for you this morning.”

“Thank you, Joana.”

“I’m gonna miss you, hun.”

“I’m gonna miss you too.” Alice said.

“Now go, before the waterworks start.” Joana said.

Alice nodded, closing the car door. As the car drove away, Joana waved a last goodbye.

Almost thirty six straight hours of driving later, Xander called out for Cyrus who had woken up and gone to sleep multiple times at this point.

“Cy, we’re almost there.” Xander said.

“We’re here?” Cyrus sat up, rubbing his eyes.

“Just about. We’ll be there in five.”

“Great.” Cyrus said.

The car slowly cruised along the road, the truck following behind as they passed into Tenebris’s borders.

“Welcome to Tenebris, babe.” Xander said to Cyrus.

“I am not calling you babe.” Cyrus said.

“You better start.” Xander said. “Our daughter wants us to, don’t you, hun?”

“Mmhmm.” Alice said.

“Fuck you both.” Cyrus said.

“Yeah, love you too, babe.”

Cyrus let out a frustrated groan. God, he wished this wouldn’t last long. It already felt weird. But, here they were: in Tenebris, a town smackdab in the middle of fucking nowhere. And for a while, this would be their home.

#writeblr #writblr #writing #creative writing #original writing #wip #owad #Of Witch And Demons #excerpt #excerpts from my writing

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slapshot-to-the-heart · 6 years ago

Text

For the Love of Queens

Totally random one-off idea I’ve had floating around for a few months, so bear with me, haha! Only planning for it to be a one-part, but please tell me what y’all thing!

For the Love of Queens

Late August, 2018

After the snap, the last thing Peter wanted to do was to get himself in trouble again. He had had his fun already, been to more planets than 99.9998% of the population— if you rounded to the fourth decimal, he did the math— and had seen more tragedy than anyone should ever have to experience. But he wasn’t willing to hang up the suit. He couldn’t. His city still needed him, his people still needed him, and as much as he sometimes wanted to throw in the towel, he couldn’t. He had an obligation to help wherever and whenever he could, and that commitment was one he didn’t take lightly. If he wasn’t going to protect Delmar’s bodega, and that kid who had his bike stolen, and that nice Dominican lady who bought him a churro, who would? Spider-Man wasn’t gone, but he needed to go back to his roots, back to where he came from. Back to being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Back to Queens.

So, almost like someone had spun a Time-Turner back to 2017, Peter was sitting on the edge of a ten-story building a few blocks from his apartment, a #5 in one hand and his phone in the other. But the difference was, this time, he wasn’t constantly texting Happy, itching for an assignment, for a chance to prove himself. He was scrolling through a Buzzfeed article entitled “46 Memes Guaranteed to Butter Your Eggroll.” He needed new material for the Midtown High Instagram page that he, Ned, and MJ ran. Now that his weekends weren’t packed full of a potentially universe-ending sojourn to Titan, he had a little more spare time to actually, you know, be a kid for once. He bookmarked the page, finished off the churro, and zipped his phone into one of his suit pockets. Telling Tony he wanted to take a step back from the Avengers, having that conversation with him, was one of the hardest things Peter had ever had to do. There was nothing he hated more than disappointing people. Compounding that with the fact that Tony was probably the closest thing he had to a dad since Ben died, and Peter was practically shaking when he told him he wanted to ease up on missions. Tony was strangely understanding about the whole thing, even though Peter wasn’t too sure why he expected otherwise, and pulled him into a hug, telling him to “do what you need to do, kid.” And as soon as Petter reassured him that he did want to keep working with him, just maybe make the “Stark internship” less Avenging and more STEM-y, he nodded, made a thirty-second phone call to Pepper, and told him to show up Monday after school.

So Peter wasn't less busy than normal, not by a long shot. Between school, homework, his actual internship, and the patrols— decathalon season hadn’t started yet, thank God— his schedule was more packed than ever. But he was also happier than he’d ever been, and more fulfilled than he could ever remember.

As Peter swung down from the ledge, dropping down to the street below, he noticed something odd. Not concerning, just out of the norm. Three people, young people, in T-shirts with clipboards, pens, and stacks of what was either flyers or restaurant menus, Peter couldn’t really tell. They weren’t with Greenpeace, or Amnesty, or the ASPCA, judging from the lack of logos on their clothing, so he was more than a little confused. Keeping a curious eye on them from his hiding place behind a lamppost, he waited a few minutes for the group to reach the next block. They had tucked some kind of a pamphlet-postcard-type-thing into the frame of Glen’s Barber Shop, and after a moment to make sure the coast was clear, Peter looked for a moment, grabbed it, and slid it into a pocket.

At about half past eleven, Peter was back on the fire escape outside of his Queens bedroom. After May had discovered his, er, “extracurricular” activities, she left his windows open at night, contingent on his promise that he’d be back by midnight and kept his GPS location on in case anything went amiss. She knew that he was a good kid, that his heart was in the right place, and at his core, he just wanted to help people. And what kind of person would she be if she told Peter, who for all intents and purposes was her kid by this point, that he couldn’t be a good person?

He threw his backpack on the floor, wincing when he heard the telltale “clang” of his water bottle, and unzipped his suit, folding it haphazardly and placing it back into its designated box. The pamphlet fluttered out of his pocket,and Peter leaned down to pick it up, one arm still wrestling to pull his favorite sleep shirt over his head. He originally tried to smooth out the creases, quickly abandoning his efforts, and sat on his bed. Peter knew that there was an election in a few months, he knew he absolutely detested Donald Trump, and he knew that he was mad as hell that he couldn’t vote. But that had caused some amount of complacency with him; if he couldn’t actually cast a ballot for anyone, what use was it knowing who was running or what was on the news if all it seemed was ever on was old people yelling at each other? It wasn’t like Peter didn’t care about the issues; that couldn’t be further from the truth. If he didn’t end up going into crime-fighting full-time after high school, what he really wanted to do was go into environmental engineering and sustainable development. He’d seen all of the heartache and pain that gun violence had brought the city and people he loved, so he knew how important reasonable gun control policy was. And despite all of New York City’s espoused progressive values, Peter’s AP Spanish teacher had come to school with red-rimmed eyes one day, telling the class that him and his husband had just been turned down by another adoption agency for being gay. And college. College was a big one. Tony had repeatedly offered to set him up at MIT— “Think of it like a scholarship,” he had said,— but Peter didn’t want to feel like he was getting anything handed to him that he hadn’t earned. May didn’t make too much either, and while they could certainly live off of her salary from the hospital and Uncle Ben’s life insurance for a while, hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans were a different story.

Peter flipped the pamphlet around, scanning the front cover. Dignified healthcare. He liked that. Tuition-free higher education. He really liked that. Quality employment. A $15 minimum wage in New York City was great, but still didn’t make ends meet for some people. Justice for all. Sounds about right, Peter thought. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat for Congress NY-14. He’d have to look her up.

Half an hour later, Peter yawned as he finally closed his laptop from her campaign website, remarkably tired and also pretty sure he had signed up for a mailing list at some point. It was almost one, and he needed to get to bed. Research could wait until morning.

It was a block day, so after his calculus class had let out, Peter grabbed his lunch from the locker and walked over to the cafeteria, meeting Ned and MJ at their usual table.

“Sup,” Ned said, in between waffle fries.

Peter looked at him quizcally. “Since when do you say ‘sup?’”

He shrugged. “It’s a new thing I’m trying out. Doesn’t work?”

“Not by a long shot.”

MJ snorted. “You guys are a couple of losers, you know that?”

“And you’re not?” Ned asked.

She tilted her head. “The thing is,” she said, pausing, “I already knew that, and I’ve accepted it. It’s only when you really come to terms with yourself and who you are that you’re able to move on and develop. So what if I’m a little bit of loser?”

Peter shook his head, trying to hold back a snort. “Hey guys, want to hear something weird that happened to me yesterday?”

“I’m always up for weird,” Ned responded.

“So, I was on patrol, and these people were walking around. And at first I thought they were like from the ASPCA or something, you know how they’re always around here?” They nodded. “But anyways, they weren’t, and I picked up one of the flyers they left by Glen’s, the barber shop, and I got to reading, and—”

“Oh, God, Peter joined a cult,” Ned said, panicking.

Peter shook his head, reaching down into his backpack to retrieve the pamphlet. “No, no, I promise it’s not a cult. I guess it was people campaigning for the election, what’s it called, canvassing? Well, it’s people canvassing for this woman running for Congress—”

“AOC?” MJ asked, interrupting.

“Huh?”

“AOC. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. That who you’re talking about?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah, how did you know?”

The side of her mouth twitched. “I’ve been walking for her since the summer. You know how I’ve been busy on my weekends now?” Peter and Ned nodded. “I’m heading up her youth volunteering. Outreach mostly, getting high schoolers to understand that they deserve to have a say in who’s elected to represent us. Getting them to campaign for someone who actually believes that we all deserve a fair chance. To campaign for someone like them. A young person who’s a woman of color, who didn’t come from money, who cares.”

“Geez, MJ, why don’t you run yourself?” Peter asked, only half-joking.

“I mean,” she started, grabbing the spare hairband from her wrist and pulling her hair into a ponytail, “obviously I’m too young, but I’m not even sure if I’d want to be the kind of public face that elected officials are. I’d rather be the one calling the shots from behind the scenes, the guy in the chair, if you will,” MJ added, nodding towards Ned.

“Wait, I’m still confused. So who’s she?” Ned asked, looking in between Peter and MJ.

Peter slid the pamphlet over to his side of the table while MJ grinned. “Now, let me tell you.”

Ten minutes and two online forms later, MJ had signed both Peter and Ned up for canvassing on Saturday. “I know you’ve got your ‘Stark thing,’” she had said, using air quotes, “and your actual Stark thing, so I put you down for the morning. You said you’re free then, right?”

Peter nodded. “I don’t have to be at Tony’s until what, like 2 or something? Plenty of time.”

“Great, and Ned?”

Ned tilted his head, in that low-key, laidback way of his. “Hey, you just tell me what you need and I’m there, MJ. I trust your judgement. You say she’s the real deal?”

MJ nodded. “She is. I’ve met her, and I like to pride myself on having what’s probably the best bullshit detector of anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Then I’m in.”

So Saturday afternoon found Ned, Peter, and MJ crammed into a small and packed but bright office in the north side of Queens, listening to someone who Peter’s pretty sure introduced themself as AOC’s campaign manager. Maybe deputy campaign manager? Peter wasn’t too sure, he didn’t know how these things usually went. But she was standing on a desk, which was cool.

“You need to make sure you’re able to ask for their support, see who they’re supporting, and tell them why you support Alexandria. This campaign is going to be won by people making connections and ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard and everyone feels like they are listened to. Because she’s running to represent the entire New York 14th, not only the ones who will vote for her. And I know it might seem tempting, but please, please make sure that you remain cordial to everyone, even if they say they’re voting for the other guy or they think her policies are crap. Stay calm, thank them for their time, and move on. This campaign is already an uphill battle, and we don’t need anything else stacked against us.” She finished her speech with a slight nod of her head. “Can I have all of our regular volunteers or field staff raise their hands?” About fifteen people in the group of thirty-five or so raised their hands. “Alright, anyone who’s new or more comfortable with someone more experienced, grab a partner or two and get into groups of two or three. Javier over there,” she pointed to a young man by the door, who was precariously holding stacks of folders in one hand, “has the district maps and lists of all the houses everyone will be going to, so go see him for that. One per group.” She was about to step down, but wheeled around and raised her voice again. “Oh, and one more thing—” she added, “Alexandria will be stopping in the office around noonish after a town hall she’s hosting, so be sure to swing back by if you haven’t met her. Fair warning, she’s a hugger.”

MJ nudged Peter with her shoulder. “You ready?”

He grinned. “Oh, hell yeah I am.”

#peter parker #peter parker imagine #marvel #mcu #marvel imagine #marvel writing #peter parker imagines #marvel imagines

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idasessions · 6 years ago

Photo

Famous Muses & Girlfriends in Filmmaking Pt. 26

MUSE: Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene)

Jean was born on October 17th, 1900 in Plattsburgh, NY to photographer Herbert Greene and his wife Johanna Nelson. Jean was of Norwegian ancestry and had Lutheran maternal grandparents, though her parents were practicing Protestants. She and her three brothers grew up in various locations like New York, Maine and Florida because of Herbert’s photography career before settling in Manhattan when Jean was 15. When WWI broke through, Jean dropped out of school and got a job as a stenographer as her brothers registered to serve (older brother Albert would sadly die from a gas attack). About five years later Jean started modeling in NYC and even befriended future MGM queen Norma Shearer, who was also a model at the time. In 1923, Jean and Norma headed out to California with offers for movie careers. But Jean would begin wasted in short silent films and B-movie westerns because she wasn’t comfortable with the fashionable flapper persona of the 1920s. Her shyness and slightly nasal voice would hold her back from stardom for a decade, while she was passed along to various studios around Hollywood. Eventually when ‘talkies’ debuted, Jean started gaining traction at Paramount Pictures with flicks like The Canary Murder Case (1929), The Saturday Night Kid (1929) and the later hit A Foreign Affair (1948). To help calm her social anxiety, Jean was recommended to get stage training on Broadway, which only lasted a year in 1931. She also went from a natural brunette to a peroxide blonde. In 1934, Jean was offered a contract at Columbia Pictures, where she would make the majority of her best received films such as Easy Living (1937), Only Angels Have Wings (1939) and The Talk of the Town (1942). She had her only Academy Award nomination—for Best Actress—in The More the Merrier (1943).

Unlike most actresses in old Hollywood and even modern filmmaking, Jean hit her prime as an actress in her late 30s and early 40s. Even more impressive is that she was consistently cast as leading ladies and love interests which is almost unheard of at that age. Part of this success was for a few reasons. One, she’s very talented. Two, she never revealed her age in resumes throughout her career, though it was always rumored she was born sometime between 1900-05. Three, she either found the fountain of youth or an amazing diet+skin routine because she legit looked exactly the same for two full decades. (Never spending time in the sun probably helped in the skin department too.) Jean was a bit like the American Greta Garbo with her aloofness and privacy off camera. Before Diane Keaton, Winona Ryder and Zooey Deschanel existed, Jean was the neurotic queen of classic cinema. She never socialized in public and rarely participated in interviews or magazine photospreads. Like Marlene Dietrich and Claudette Colbert, Jean insisted all of her profile shots be from the left side of her face. Allegedly on her final day as an actress for Columbia in 1944, Jean exclaimed “I’m free!” while walking out of the studio. She had become so burnt out on fame and films, that she only made two more movies: A Foreign Affair and the classic western Shane (1953). She tried Broadway again in 1950, with a successful run of ‘Peter Pan;’ and then experimented with starring in her own sitcom “The Jean Arthur Show” (1966) for three weeks before the show was cancelled. She officially retired from performing when she discovered she had a psychosomatic illness, and then spent the 1970s teaching drama at Vassar College and North Carolina’s School of Arts. Filmmaking legend Frank Capra openly referred to Jean as his ‘all-time favorite actress’ to work with. While they were both contracted at Columbia, Capra had her as the female leads in his dramedy masterpieces Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can’t Take It with You (1938) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). The latter two co-starred Capra’s favorite male star, Jimmy Stewart.

Okay, so this entry is going to be a little different than the usual theme of this series. Basically I just want to tell you a story on how one of my fave screen couples, Jean and Jimmy, apparently weren’t into each other at all IRL. Jimmy and Jean played adorable love interests to each other in Mr. Smith and You Can’t Take It with You, but were polar opposites out of character. Unlike Jean—who was either at the studio or her therapist’s office when she wasn’t locked in her house—Jimmy was a huge extrovert whether it be up in the air flying one of planes, clubbing in Hollywood with many a starlet or just chilling with his dudes. When Mr. Smith went into production it was originally planned as a sequel to Mr. Deeds, reuniting Capra, Gary Cooper and Jean. This made Jean extra excited because she liked Gary a lot as a friend and co-star (she even credited him for helping her get over being camera shy). But then Gary ended up having to choose Beau Geste (1939) over Washington, and Capra used the available role as a way to work with Jimmy again. Capra was a big supporter of Jimmy becoming a lead actor, and thought he was the perfect choice for Jefferson Smith. “I knew he would make a hell of a Jeff Smith. He was a country kid, an idealist. That’s very close to him.” Jean, err…thought otherwise. She apparently told Capra that he made a mistake casting a ~pretty boy as a man who goes up against the entire government; and that someone with a stronger, masculine, more intimidating presence (Gary) would make more sense. She was so disappointed in the casting, that apparently she complained about it on set (kinda overkill, but okay…). Jean even turned down working with Capra and Jimmy a third time seven years later in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), where she was offered the part of Mary Hatch (Donna Reed). Good thing she turned it down though, because who the hell would believe Jean as an 18-year-old during the dance sequence? Meanwhile, Jimmy had nothing but nice things to say about Jean during all of this. He went as far as to call her one of finest women he ever worked with.

So there you go. My favorite male actor of all time and one of my favorite actresses had amazing chemistry on film, but didn’t get along as people. I’m so sad. But my one question, is like…why?? I still can’t even figure what Jean’s deal with him was besides the ‘miscasting’ and Jimmy being a big playboy at the time, while she was a wallflower. I mean, I know he was a lifelong Republican and she was a registered Democrat, so it could’ve been political….But if that was the case, then why did she love Gary so much, when he was just as conservative?? IDGI. Apparently Jean did eventually come around to agreeing that Jimmy gave a good performance in Mr. Smith while participating in a retrospective on Capra’s career in the 1970s. She also listed Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as her favorite movie she made.

Oh, and to make this post somewhat relevant to the M&G series, I’ll mention that Jean was married twice in her personal life. The first time was when she was 27 to some guy named Julian Anker for only 20 hours. And the second time was to writer-producer Frank Ross from 1932 to 1949, during which they also collaborated on The Devil & Miss Jones (1941) and The More the Merrier. Oh, and she had an affair with studio head David O. Selznick back when they were both working at Paramount and he was married to L.B. Mayer’s daughter Irene (SMH). Living up to her reclusive reputation to the fullest, Jean died single, without children and requested not to have a funeral when she died at age 90 of heart failure in 1991. Her ashes were scattered across the California coast. For the past nine decades, Jean has been remembered and considered one of the most versatile actresses of her generation. Her former director George Stevens once called her “one of the best comediennes of screen history.”

#jean arthur #Jimmy Stewart #frank capra #mr. smith goes to washington #Gary Cooper #man....this is bumming me out #not just the jimmy/jean stuff #but like...i sometimes wonder if jean was truly happy :/#musesandgroupiesseries

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bornofdragonstone · 7 years ago

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Hey I noticed that you’re a Romanogers shipper too and I’ve just been wondering how the rest of the ship has been feeling since Chris and Scarlett did that interview and spoke about how “romance hasn’t ever been in the air” for their characters? This broke my heart and seeing as how they already filmed Avengers 3 and 4 and Cap’s last film is 4, I’m guessing that means our ship will never become romantically canon 😫

Thank you so much for the ask! It means a lot and I can understand you wanting more opinions from our fan-base as I did when I first saw the interview.

A while ago I drafted a post on how I felt about the interview, the stage we are at in the mcu, why I still have hope - besides the interview - and why I was upset about our ship being written off/shot down romantically just because we are a bunch of nice, quite, respectful fans and I am gonna start it below. I hope it answers part of what you are looking for!

Okay, so I’m tagging this as romanogers because it is directed to my family and our ship, but it mentions other ships. This isn’t hating as I actually like a lot of other Steve/Nat ships but it is just my personal opinion on where the mcu is - and should be - going with all the relationships in IW and why I would be okay with our ship being shot down (not completely but us being brought down a peg in the Scarlett/Chris’ interview) but I’m just not and I want to explain why.

I am distorting the other ship names, because all though I respect every ship (except br*tasha sorry, I’m not hating, I just can’t but I respect the shippers cause you gotta be ballsy) and like a lot of them, I know if I was a diehard shipper, I wouldn’t want someone else explaining why they don’t think the ships are right for this stage of the story (like we have incorrectly been told), because after all - it is just my opinion and everyone is always free to theirs on my page.

Okay so, I love Chris & Scarlett, and I don’t blame them for the questions they get asked that they aren’t prepared for. But, shooting down a ship, even to friendship, even if they don’t mean to, seems pretty off and out of the left field. And by this, I mean they didn’t have to give a literal description of where we find them.

I appreciate the honesty, but how do we know it’s honesty as they are in the dark a lot about the whole plot and this was filmed months ago and they could have only had an idea of whether they would have any romantic scenes which doesn’t mean they aren’t or haven’t been romantically involved just that there isn’t any time for big scenes like that in the movie and Chris & Scarlett seemed pretty thrown off and unsure of an answer - which does lift my hopes a tad - plus they could’ve given us open ended answer or a hopeful answer that says there is development and a bond fans will be pleased with/or with not - but they didn’t which means there is an air of secrecy there.

Anyhow, I can BET my life that if St*ny, St*cky, or B*ckyNat got shot down (romantically) in one interview - this would be a whole separate conversation with people who I know to be more verbal and expressive. I know they weren’t saying NEVER, I know they weren’t saying anything bad but it does inspire feelings considering all we have been given/shown of these two characters pointed to ‘canon’.

I don’t feel hateful or resentful but I feel we have the right to feel annoyed and disappointed because that would never happen to those ships. St*ny & St*cky are both lgbtq ships and B*ckyNat is someone else’s canon (though so is romanogers but I think people forget about their son James), so they are protected against cast members saying anything as they would be majorly hated on by fans. But we are supposed to roll over, stop shipping (I know Chris wouldn’t want that) and be happy with what we are given - even if we can’t know yet?

Giving us all the romanogers content, the teasing, the promotions just to have one interview diminish thousands of shippers hearts like that *Gamora’s hand clicks dramatically* ?? It seems unfair to any shipper, let alone ones who have been sent backwards through a 180 degree wash like we have.

We know Steve and Natasha have the potential to be more as the last movie focused heavily on how conflicted Nat was over choosing sides. We were given flirting (also when Bruce was right there in the room, but everyone shrugs that off, lmao) and teasing and devotion and care and trust - just like many other ‘less likely of becoming canon’ ships in IW that I don’t believe could become canon, not because I hate them but because I know chances have already come and gone - like 6 years whilst romanogers has constantly shifted and developed and flowered quite beautifully within those years.

People say Clint & Natasha are the purest brotp (whilst I know there’s a few diehard ‘otp shippers’ I usually see that the shippers still ship because they are St*cky fans) yet they say romanogers - something we have seen grow onscreen - is the same and has the same development. And I don’t get it. The only similar thing about Clint*sha and Romanogers is that they both got baited the hell out of promotion-wise with no intention (it seems) of a follow up. I do love the “I owe him a debt/I owe you” parallels but I always saw that as more of a mirroring and an understanding into who Nat is and why she was so adamant in saving Clint because her and Steve were only at Step 2/6 of their development when this was paralleled.

The reason i can’t ship B*ckyNat or Clint*sha is because friendships are more important for going through and helping Nat through the shit they did (both in comics and canon) and romance doesn’t seem right to me just because they “saved” or were the only people to be decent at a certain stage of her life, hence why I ship her and Steve because they are both at a crossroads of sort but not the life altering ‘I need emotional support that is platonic’ kind of way that I feel Nat was at in those more challenging stages of her life.

Anyhow, I am trying to understand the meaning of their (Chris & Scarlett’s) words, why they said what they said, how it hurt me, the pieces of logical hope I have in my brain and only conclusion I can come to with their conflicting comments along with all the romanogers promotion, but lack of a follow through with vague interviews (though we know they have been pressed to each-others sides for three years), is that The Russo Brothers/Feige are trying to make a stand and show that they want to end Br*tasha and have Steve/Nat as close as possible to give us quality content and a possibly open end that Wheldon nearly annihilated - I guess this is all we could hope for after all.

I want to conclude, I’m not mad at Scarlett & Chris, I never could be. But I am trying to make sense of it all and these were my thoughts and feelings. I was deeply upset, but I managed to see reason and logic behind what they were saying, what I know and what we have been told of Br*tasha coming to an end - which is a positive along with what we know:

Natasha has moved past and buried those ‘feelings’ for Bruce as he had been gone a year in CACW - So I can understand the lingering smiles on his name in CW (which seems to me as some sort of closure, not the gaping wound that Mark is trying to stress it is) - but IW will be four years after the mess that was their relationship and I believe in Natasha and the producers/directors/Scarlett to do right by her character and have had development and growth past that unholy stage in her life.

½ of Br*tasha’s scenes in the trailer were two scenes of them in the same location cut together for all we know, and the other was yes, them standing close but looking to the sky and looking to be working with my boy Rhodey on an important machine - if that’s the only scenes of them and extent of their interaction besides their imminent end, how is that a strong contender/threat?

Chris is in 100% support of Romanogers and is always happy to talk about how strong their bond is so we have that.

And here are some points from this amazing and hopeful post by @kryptoniancape (sorry for the tag, gotta give credit where it’s due, please do tell me if you want me to take away your points) on the whole situation:

This may straight up be an attempt to mislead us.

The interviewer asked a million dollar question and we know the way Marvel is with spoilers. There was really no way they could honestly answer this unless Marvel wanted people to know going in, something was happening.

Imo, both Chris and Scarlett struggled a little bit to answer and seemed thrown off by the question, but this depends on your perception.

They were careful not to use any finite terms.

Scarlett uses the same answer and reasoning every time someone asks about Nat being romantically involved.

This interview was filmed months ago during filming, Chris and Scarlett may not have yet been exposed to the script for avengers 4, not to mention changes could have even been made to IW or Avengers 4 since then.

And of course, Kevin Feige stating that all hints and teases from previous films will be paid off in Infinity War so if they don’t he’s a fucking liar.

I have also said before, that we could have words as a statement to them being together/something more. We could have Bruce looking between them jealously (as Nat has done with Sharon a few times, and Steve has done with both Clint & Bruce and it would add to the list of parallels we have in our ship) and making a comment of closure (which is what has been confirmed for Br*tasha, but no romance) and she could say something like “He has always been there at some of the most important and life-changing stages, he has always been there. When Clint went home to his family, when Tony & you left, when Shield fell and the rug that kept me up since the red room was removed - it was him and I. Even in Sokovia after all those crazy and irrational ‘that’s not me’ plans of running away with you from the fight, the team and the world, he was there and that reminded me this life of the fight is me but I as long have friends and a team and a purpose and a way to survive, as long as I have him and my purpose, it is something I could happily die doing,” cause that, in my opinion, sums up their relationship and their development.

There could be words, there could be hints, there could be an open ending, jealousy. But overall, in the end, I have decided it doesn’t matter (though I am bummed) we know that they have always been and will continue to be each-other’s rock and emotional support. “They care about each-other more than any of the other avengers,” & “Natasha sees versions of herself in Steve but wants better for him than what she got,” & “When all of the other avengers go home, their home is each-other” which is a similar quote of a smaller point to larger quote of this: (I have had it saved on my laptop forever and can’t remember who said it or the source but it is someone’s official quote on the pair)

Answer: Nothing really to ponder on, it’s pretty straightforward. Surrogate means replacement. Steve and Natasha are evolving into that, which makes sense because they’ve got no one else to turn to. They’ve got no loved ones, no family, nothing. All they have is pretty much each-other when there are no missions to battle, their home is each other. This is how they get close and protective of each other. The Russos are quite clever and really know how to execute their relationship. It started off as work-wife, work-husband but it’s getting deeper and naturally it’ll be more and more intimate in TA:IW. They’ve got that slow-burn love, I feel (is then an added opinion, prediction).

My interpretation of that quote is that whilst Steve has the other avengers, it is stated Natasha is his constant and his partner. Whilst Steve has Bucky, he didn’t have the knowledge of him being alive until a few years of having to learn to survive in the new world (part of which was with Nat, after New York as we see him quite lost at the beginning of The Avengers but in CATWS they are partnered together and have worked pretty well together as a “well oiled machine” - despite Fury’s lies building mistrust but eventually helped them open up and see each other more clearly), whilst Nat has Clint, he has his family - that she is part of occasionally but not on the ‘we live together and always have each-other’s backs’ since he retired sort of way - that he goes home to, but Steve and Nat are fighters and they struggle with finding someone with “shared life experience” and say they can’t have a family but fighting is who they are and is their purpose when they are both right there but the timings weren’t right then I feel, now is,in my opinion.

Furthermore, Steve and Nat have been underground for three years. We are led to believe Sam has been too (My Poor Smol Birdy Third Wheel Son). But nothing happened? That is too difficult to believe - it’s harder to believe nothing actually happened as the Russos wanted and debated with making Nat his love interest in CATWS but decided against it cause they thought it would cheapen both characters and have her be ‘just a love interest’ (y’mean like she was for Bruce in AOU). But this could be their slow burn. Developing building trust, respect, synchronisation, friendship, unconditional love, romantic love slowly, subtly over all these movies together? That’d be epic - especially if they did it in a very low-key way.

From my perspective, Chris & Scarlett were thrown with the question because they probably got told the romance question wouldn’t be in the air as “there isn’t time for romance, we got a war to fight” but that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be more hints, tension or most indefinably the bond we have all loved can only be stronger with three years being together - intimately - close underground.

So there are my jumbled feelings! I wouldn’t lose hope. In my mind they are canon, if they are in yours too, nobody can take that away from you.

#romanogers #steve x natasha #captasha #capwidow

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psjbernie8075158-blog · 6 years ago

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Portable GPS, Mind And Media For DIRECTION FINDER Tooling & DIRECTION FINDER Sale Techniques And.

In earlier days reserving a Taxi was actually a big challenge which entailed calling a variety of trips as well as taxi operators. These packs use identical features, though commonly feature layout factors that are more effective to a great deal of global travelers, like aired back panels, hydration sleeves, weather-resistant fabrics, a more enhanced fit for all-day comfort, and also at times lighter body weight. Just recently, WhistlePig discharged Farmstock, its very first scotch to consist of rye distilled in Vermont, Farmstock is a mix of rye coming from Vermont, Indiana as well as Canada. Retro Spirits, Belmont, CA. These producers of Rusty Blade Gin as well as Los angeles Sorciere Absinthe additionally create Goldrush Rye Scotch, Ace High Rye as well as Goldrun Rye Bourbon. Other than as explicitly delivered here, nothing at all in this Agreement shall be deemed to create a license in or even under any such Intellectual Property Civil Liberties, and also you acknowledge certainly not to sell, certificate, rent, customize, disperse, copy, recreate, transmit, publicly screen, openly execute, publish, adjust, modify or even produce acquired jobs from any sort of components or material easily accessible on the Solution. Serbian authorizations said Tuesday they have launched an initial inspection of some social challengers of vaccination after 12 individuals, consisting of pair of little ones, have actually passed away in an episode of measles. Gardiner Fluid Mercantile, New Palz, NY. Established through Tuthilltown owner Gable Erenzo, this distillery intends to bring in whiskey. Tidewater Healthcare Shared Services Group is just one of the largest medical care group obtaining institutions in the nation. Willie's Distillery, Ennis, MT. This whiskey is intending on making Bighorn Bourbon, Nodding Donkey and also Willie's Private Reserve, sourced bourbons, and also a sourced rye, Tobacco Roots Hill Rye. South Florida Distillers, Ft Lauderdale, FL. This is actually a rum distillery but they additionally bottle Mumbledrum Whiskey, distilled in Indiana. Television, an award-winning voice role in the 2002 computer game Grand Theft Car: Vice Urban Area, and a persisting role on the 2003 NBC tv set Mister Sterling. They are also considering to release a collection under the tag Shifter single malt ( each launch will feature a various design solitary malt and are going to be actually named a various "Gear" i.e., 1st Gear, second Equipment, 3rd Gear, and so on) and Problem Bus, an unaged malt. Steward's Solera, Aurora, CO. This firm deals with Woody Creek Distillers to bottle Steward's Solera Bourbon, a mix of three bourbons distilled through Woody Spring, three Kentucky diehards, a Tennessee diehard as well as a whiskey distilled at LDI (currently MGP).

The best recent zoning dispute happening in Buncombe Area is actually occurring in downtown Asheville, NC. In a write-up written through Spot Barrett in the January 15, 2008 issue of the Asheville Consumer Times the Asheville Common council will look into two major zoning issues in 2008. Two people, featuring a five-year-old child, have died this month in an episode of measles in Ukraine, where the vaccination price is among the most affordable in Europe, authorities pointed out Wednesday. Product, concept, and julietblog-Gymexcercises.Info legitimacy in treatment of the design of the Modern Activity. Duck Stream Distillery, Lewisburg, TN. This distillery is servicing a white scotch. My birthday celebration (October 1st) drops on the exact same time Catholic Banquet Time of October 1st (which concerns St. Remy) Most internet short articles concerned he or she; therefore this coincidence wasn't difficult to locate, but it operated.

Public health authorities collected detailed information on those current in the course of the direct exposure duration in these sites, and reviewed the listing against a booster shot windows registry maintained through New York Metropolitan area to find those individuals at risk of having measles.

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jaredifro522-blog · 5 years ago

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What Is the Dimension of a Half-Court Basketball Court?

How far is a youth 3 pointer?

Good news: There's a perfect basketball court layout out there for you! How big is a basketball court? Typical backyard basketball court dimensions are 60 feet by 90 feet (for reference, a regulation NBA court is 50 feet by 94 feet).

Elevation became a benefit in the video game, making the highest men to be drafted on different groups with significant regularity. As Pablo S. Torre from Sports Illustrated explains, a man as tall as 7 foot has opportunities as high as 17% of playing in the NBA (only based on his elevation). When the basketball gamer typical elevation demands were set at 6 ft. 7 in (2.01 m) by NBA, those who have always favored the elevation being raised obtained an extraordinary quantity of assistance from around.

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A lot of basketball gamers imagine being able to soak, but are under the misconception that soaking is an ability limited to just the highest of people. When James Smith hung the peach basket (what was initially used as the hoop) on the first basketball court near a running track at the Springfield Educators' College, they located its height from the ground to be 10 feet. The big arc (6.25 m or 20.5 ft from each basket) is the three-point line-- effective shots from outside this line rack up an additional point on top of the usual 2. The first video game of basketball was had fun with a football and also 2 peach baskets used as objectives. Basketball is an athletic non-contact sporting activity played by opposing teams that rack up points by throwing the ball right into each various other's basket.

Are NBA players allowed in the Olympics?

The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA)

Munich and also after.

The NBA three-point line is 3 ft (0.91 m) from the sideline in a zone beginning at the baseline as well as finishing when it goes across the 23.75 feet (7.24 m) arc. The 22 ft (6.70 m) range exists only at the factors on the three-point line that are straight to the left and right of the basket facility. The dimension of the secret, likewise generally described as "the paint," differs among degrees of play.

As you can see from the chart, NBA leads are skewed in the direction of the right.

50-- 40-- 90 club, special group of players that have actually made at the very least 50% of basket (counting both three-pointers and two-pointers), 40% of three-pointers, and also 90% of complimentary throws in a season.

When James Smith hung the peach basket (what was initially used as the hoop) on the very first basketball court near a running track at the Springfield Educators' University, they found its elevation from the ground to be 10 feet.

You may assume that the elevation of the basketball rim for the initial video game was come to after comprehensive consultations as well as lots of computations.

ABA commissioner George Mikan stated that the three-pointer "would provide the smaller gamer a possibility to rating as well as open up the defense to make the game more enjoyable for the fans". During the 1970s, the ABA made use of the three-point shot, together with the bang dunk, as an advertising and marketing tool to take on the NBA. Play ground basketball courts are typically created at the same specifications of other courts with the free-throw line being set 15 feet from the backboard. Nevertheless, there is no laws for playground courts, so the dimensions could be different from those utilized in secondary school, college or professional video games. Various other court dimensions, such as the 3-point line, also differ.

As you can quickly presume, the boosted standard player height was a negative aspect to the much shorter players-- who had to depend extra on basics as well as skills to be able to make it through with the taller gamers in the court. You could think that the elevation of the basketball edge for the very first game was gotten to after comprehensive appointments and also lots of calculations.

This may be a mild exaggeration, yet that's what shooting with a size 7 basketball will certainly feel like for many 5-year-olds. When a gamer practices with these bad routines for long enough, they end up being very challenging to fix when players grow older and also more powerful. Some of you could be wondering 'why' utilizing the proper sized basketball is essential. For boys and women, a size 5 basketball ought to be utilized in between the ages of 5 - 8. For children as well as women, a size 5 basketball need to be used in between the ages of.

Why do basketball players touch hands after free throws?

The reason they put that rule in is because they thought it would open up the game. Several players mentioned something those who voted in the rule might not have thought about â€” the fact that there will now be two three-point lines on the floor, one for the men and one for the women. The women's line remains at 19-9.

In 1962, the St. Francis (NY) head instructor, Daniel Lynch, once more made the pointer of a 3pt line to the New York Basketball Writers Organization. A three-point field goal (additionally 3-pointer, three or informally, trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, an assigned arc surrounding the basket. A successful effort deserves three factors, in contrast to both factors granted for basket made within the three-point line and also the one point for each made cost-free toss. The controling companies for basketball action the range of the free-throw line from the front plane of the backboard.

Besides the USA, Argentina is the only nation still around who has actually won either the men's or women's competition. The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and the Unified Group are the nations no longer around who have actually won the competition. The USA are the defending champs in both males's and also ladies's competitions. In the season, NBA included the "no charge zone" or the "limited area".

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blschaos3000-blog · 5 years ago

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Its 1:56 am cold/dark/leftovers

Welcome to “8 Questions with…….”

Yeooooow has my November lethargy been a wicked pisser this year. I am so far behind on everything but I’m going to catch up,I promise!!

I met our next guest,the fantastic Wyatt Terwilliger in a rather different manner. He and I met on Facebook in a horror movie group. As many of you know,while I am a huge horror fan,I’m not a torture porn fan and that topic came up in the group. Many “fans” love it is what I discovered in this group and when I politely pointed out that I didn’t,well,many were butt hurt and then I was out of that group….but I wasn’t alone in my stance as Wyatt joined in on my side before I left and after I was “kicked out”,I got a friend request and I accepted Wyatt’s invite. Since then I discovered that Wyatt is an extremely talented photographer and his pictures and composition is among the best I’ve ever seen. What really caught my attention was despite many of his photos featured beautiful models,they were almost an distraction because of the locations he uses for his shoots and the colors in his backgrounds. Just breathtaking and beautiful. The more I saw the stronger the urge was to ask my friend Wyatt if he wouldn’t mind doing this interview and and am quite stoked he said “Yes”. I do owe Wyatt an apology for this being posted so late and for being so patient. I really hope you really enjoy meeting Wyatt as he answers his 8 Questions…..

Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m Wyatt! I’m a Long Island NY photographer interested in creating images that are a little off center of the usual.

How old were you when you discovered photography? What was the first camera you ever owned?

If we’re talking the FIRST first time I discovered photography; I was 9 or 10, I discovered black and white film existed and became obsessed with shooting black and white and coloring parts in with photo markers.I didn’t really start doing the photo thing legitimately until about 4 years ago. I had kind of tired of all other creative outlets and had enough creative friends who had modeled in the past, that it made sense to collaborate.

How did you work to improve your technique? Do you perfer shooting with film or digital more and why?

I’m always trying to push beyond what I’ve done and try things I haven’t yet. I try not to let myself get comfortable, which I think forces me to get better. I study my own stuff a lot and find what I’ve done that I like, and try to fine tune those things. I would LOVE to shoot film but I’m living the starving artist life in a big way. Film is expensive! I shoot digital out of necessity. Maybe that’ll change in the future.

What kind of gear do you currently use? How do you get beautifully colored backgrounds?

I shoot on a Nikon D3200, it’s not a terribly fancy or advanced camera, but it’s getting the job done so far! I have a basic ring light I got off eBay that I use for indoor setups when possible. The color is all done in editing. I use photoshop and play with color, I find color to be infinitely fascinating. It brings so much to the photos. Enhances mood and feel, it changes so much about every image, I’m glad to see that people respond to it.

Which do you perfer shooting- indoor shots or outdoors? What are some of the pros and cons of each setting?

That’s tough. I love both for different reasons but I do really love being outside and exploring new places, there’s not a TON of variation in scenery on Long Island (where I shoot) but this has helped me find a lot of cool new spots I never would have discovered otherwise! Shooting outside is great because I also love to use natural light. Although I also like manipulating light with indoor shoots. I don’t know that I really enjoy one over the other!

Which is your favorite lense and why?

Currently I’m in love with the Sigma 50mm I’ve been using. It’s responsible for a lot of my best work.

You often will use nude models for your shoots. What do you do or say to your models to ensure a safe and comfortable session? Is there anything a model can do to protect herself from a scammer?

Everything is discussed beforehand. We discuss the shoot in as much detail as possible before getting on set, most importantly comfort levels and boundaries. This way I know where the model is at and what the shoot is going to entail. Comfort, trust and respect are absolutely key. A model should know what a shoot is going to involve long before she steps in front of the camera, and a photographer should know and respect their boundaries. As far as avoiding negative experiences with photographers, always, ALWAYS get references. If you do not know a photographer personally (and sometimes even then) speak to models they have shot with previously, ask about their behavior on and off set. Take a look at their social medias as well, see how they talk about models the shoot with. These can be good indicators.

Among your photos,which three are your favorites and why?

This is so hard to answer!

An image from a shoot I did with Betsy ( @betsoh ), who is a fantastic model, indoor shoot, very simple setup, just her and a bed with a white sheet. There’s an overhead shot, her on her stomach with her back to us. It’s one of my absolute favorites. The way the shadows fell on her, the contrast of her against the color of the sheet. The angle I lucked into. I think it’s got a really cool vibe. I have a shot with Vivian (@vivian_haze95 ) with her draped in a bright red, sheer fabric. She’s tucked into a vibrant green backdrop of flowers and foliage, it’s such a striking image. The bright red against the green, and her body language is so great. I’m really proud of that one. Another I’m really proud of is from a shibari shoot with Niki (@orisha.realness) The shoot itself was one of the best and coolest I’ve gotten to be a part of. There was the model, and the man tying the ropes. I expected to get cool shots of the various ties and knots and harnesses he would be tying, but quickly realized the shoot lied in the process, which was delicate and intricate. It was also a really cool display and exercise in consent. The relationship between the two, while binding and being bound, is all about consent and communication. There is a shot from this shoot, it’s a fairly simple profile portrait, the rigger (person who ties ropes) has his hand on the models chest, there is an orange light that fades into pale blue/grey on the wall behind them, the contrast of their skin tones, Niki also has super cool hair, which adds a little pop of purple to the top left corner of the image. I think it’s a really powerful shot. That might be all time favorite image I’ve ever been a part of creating.

Which photographers have influenced you the most in the way you take your pictures?

Right now my biggest influences are Moss Von Faustenberg, who was the first photographer I saw use color in the way that I’m so in love with (and employ myself). His images are as close to perfect as possible, Every. Single. Time. Harris Nukem is just absurdly talented and can make absolutely anything infinite’s interesting to look at. The way he photographs humans is just brilliant. Christopher McKenney creates images that are simultaneously absolutely gorgeous and haunting all at once. Wildly talented photographer. Film is also a MAJOR influence on me and my art. A few films (and their respective directors and cinematographers) that have had the most influence include

Mandy (2018)

The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (2013)

Suspiria (1977)

Enter the Void (2009)

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Dredd (2012)

The use of light and color in these films have been highly influential in my photography for sure, and are also pretty great films in general.

What is your greatest motivation in taking your pictures,what do you want to do with your talent?

To create photos that I would like to see in the world. It’s hard to find artists that are exactly in line with what you’d like to see and what your tastes and interests are. So ultimately I’d like to create that art. I’m not quite there yet, but that’s the goal!

What have been the three best horror films you have seen this year?

Oooh, I’m glad you asked!

‘Midsommar’ is right at the top of the list. That movie is WILD man, it’s absolutely stunning to look at, it’s beautiful, severely dark and foreboding, crushingly heavy. It’s such a trip. Ari Aster is one of the most brilliant filmmakers working today.

‘Dry Blood.’ – It’s not from this year but I saw it this year and WOW, what a movie. Easily one of if not the best micro budget indie horror film I’ve ever seen. It’s not without its flaws but it keeps you guessing and trying to figure it out the whole time, and still manages to surprise you in the end…and end which is shocking, heartbreaking, unsettling…it’s great.

And ‘Haunt’ Which just came out. It’s a horror movie drenched in Halloween atmosphere and is just pure fun. I also have a fear of pretty much exactly what the movie is about so it hit nicely. I’m super excited about Doctor Sleep, I’m sure that’ll take a top spot for the year as well!

The new Nitehawk movie theater opened last night December 18, to a large crowd of media and interested parties in Park Slope.

The cheetah and I flying to watch your latest exhibit but we are a day early and you are now our tour guide,what are we doing?

Ah, pressure!

Well I love a short train ride from NYC, which certainly doesn’t need me to do it any favors… But, I’m a food guy, it’s pretty much what I do, and between NYC and Brooklyn, there’s pretty much going to be your new favorite place for any kind of food you can imagine. Right now I’m swooning over Federoffs Roast Pork in Brooklyn. Best sandwiches I’ve ever had, hands down. The NiteHawk theater in Brooklyn is a super cool movie going experience, they show tons of indie films, older films and have lots of cool horror film screenings. The theater also has a full bar, and has full snack bar/food/drink service AT YOUR SEAT. Its pretty much guaranteed to ruin all other movie theaters for you.

Movies and food…those are my areas of expertise!

I like to thank Wyatt for taking the time off his schedule to chat with us. If you’re in Long Island,NY and need some world class photos taken,well…..look no further then Wyatt.

Wyatt has a InstaGram page that showcases his skills which you can find here.

He also has a Facebook page as well in case you don’t use IG.

I like to thank you all for both reading my words but for also supporting the folks I am so fortunate to chat with. You can read my other interviews by going here. Feel free to drop a comment or two…..

8 Questions with……..professional photographer Wyatt Terwilliger Its 1:56 am cold/dark/leftovers Welcome to "8 Questions with......." Yeooooow has my November lethargy been a wicked pisser this year.

#8 Questions With #art #Chris McKenney #Harris Nukem #Life #lifestyle #Long Island #Moss Von Faustenberg #New York City #photography #professional

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slrlounge1 · 6 years ago

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Four Decades Later: An Interview with Rick Friedman | SLR Lounge Artist Feature

Our “SLR Lounge Artist Feature” articles highlight some of the very best photographers in the world. This article features award-winning photographer Rick Friedman of Rick Friedman Photography (Boston, MA). Rick has been a photographer for going on four decades, getting his start in photojournalism in the mid 1970s. We recently met Rick while hanging out near the Tamron booth at WPPI 2019, and got to know him a bit further over a few emails and phone calls. So, what’s Rick up to in 2019? Well, read on and be inspired by a true master of photography, lighting, and story telling!

[Related: “Interview with Kate Woodman | SLR Lounge Artist Feature (NSFW)”]

Thanks so much for taking the time for an interview, Rick. Could you start out by talking a bit about how you got into photography?

When I got out of college, I was working as a teacher and got a part time job working at a camera store in Harvard Square [mid 1970s]. Soon after, they offered me a full-time job, and I didn’t go back to teaching. A couple people that would come into that store had a big influence on me and my career. One was George Riley, who worked for UPI (United Press International). George was always willing to teach any young photographer the trade, as long as they were willing to put in the time.

The other person was Arthur Grace, who, at the time, was working for Time. But it was really George Riley who taught me how to be a photojournalist. And, more and more, I began working for UPI on a regular basis.

By a fluke, I went and took a photograph of Arthur Fiedler, long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. On a whim, I went and rang his doorbell. I asked if I could photograph him, and he said I could. It was the fist time in 50 years that he would not be conducting on July 4th. I took a roll of black and white for UPI and a roll of Ektachrome, but no one was interested in the color. Undaunted, I called Black Star, and they were interested. Now, at that time, you mailed in the film. You didn’t develop it. You overnighted it. Unfortunately, Mr. Fiedler passed away while the film was in transit. Of course, everyone called me back and wanted the film, but Black Star had it. And from there, I suddenly had a connection at Black Star.

My first real assignment for Black Star was to cover Pope John Paul II coming to the US. And that was the beginning of a twenty-eight-year relationship with Black Star. All done on a handshake. What a nice way to do work, right? Within a short time, I was also regularly doing assignments for Newsweek. And I am still an active photojournalist today, currently represented by Polaris Images.

You’ve covered several presidents and are still covering politics. How has the landscaped changed? What’s a piece of advice you’d give someone looking to cover politics as a photojournalist?

Well, from the very beginning, I loved covering early presidential campaigns. You quite simply have more access. It’s before the motorcades, the crowds, Secret Service, and all the security.

When I first started, I did a little bit with Carter and did a lot on the Reagan v. Bush campaign. My first Newsweek cover was actually when Reagan won the New Hampshire primary. I was on assignment to cover Bush. After Reagan won, I photographed Bush’s speech and then drove from Manchester to Concord, dumped my car in a snow bank and ran into the room, setting up 15 minutes before Reagan’s speech. I got a photograph of Reagan that made the cover of Newsweek.

Of course, today, you can’t do that. You can’t just walk into the room 15 minutes before a high-profile politician is about to speak. It’s unheard of. But yeah, it’s the access that you have early on that makes it fun. When they’re campaigning in a bar with twenty people, for example …

And as far as advice? Be nice. When you are covering a campaign early on, introduce yourself to everyone, especially security and police. Because when access is restricted or they’re only allowing in three photographers? They’ll remember you and let you in.

You have photographed quite a few celebrities, and also regularly photograph professors from local universities. That’s a diverse, and very interesting, clientele for head shots. How do you make that happen, i.e. get a celebrity to be comfortable with you or relate to a professor who is an expert in area with which you aren’t familiar?

When you deal with celebrities, you, of course, get a ‘Do and Do Not List’ from their people. For Anthony Hopkins, for example, the entire ‘Do Not List’ was simply that I couldn’t have anyone on set who wasn’t working. We spent an hour with him, telling jokes, etc. In preparation, I watched several of his earliest movies. And I asked him, because I was wondering about it, if he ever went, wearing a disguise, to see how people reacted to his movies when he first started out. He said he didn’t have to wear a disguise, because no one knew who he was! He couldn’t have been nicer.

Basically, my rule is to know everything I can about a subject before I photograph them. You have to be able to talk to your subjects/ask them a question about what they do. It accomplishes a couple of things. First, it breaks down any barriers. Second, it helps them relax, because it shows them that you care enough about what they do to learn something about it.

And it’s similar with professors. I photographed, as another example, a professor of physics, where I had 15 minutes to photograph her. In fact, I had been reading up on physics for three days in advance of the session: textbooks and some work on string theory, which was her area of expertise. I asked a few questions, and she asked how long I’d been studying physics. I told her three days, and our 15 minutes became an hour. And then we had lunch.

So, that’s how you get through to a subject. Realistically, anyone can buy a camera and push a button. Not everyone knows what to do with their subject to create a photograph …

You’re well-known for your lighting workshops, and your Location Lighting Workshops in particular. What are a few of your go-to lighting tips for lighting “on location”?

First, know your lighting equipment.

Second, do your best to plan everything out in advance, so you are ready for any possible situation.

Third, know how to control your light and plan what light modifiers you might need. For example, I will often mix speedlights and portable studio strobes. For speedlights I use Nissin Flashes. In the studio I use Dynalite, and on location I use Dynalite Baja portable strobes.

On major shoots, I will bing several sizes of soft boxes, strip lights, grid sets, gobos, and, of course, my Sekonic flash meter. If I am using speedlights, I’ll bring Rogue Flashbender XL2 and Rogue Grid sets. I also work a lot using Rosco gels and cinefoil. On some shoots the gels become a major part of the final photograph, and, other times, I might just use a 1/2 CTO (orange filter) to bring out warm highlights in the hair …

The photograph above is a good example of a quick lighting set up. The model in the photograph is my former assistant Hyunah Jang, who is now a successful photographer in the San Francisco area. And that’s the basis of what I teach in my Location Lighting Workshops, I teach across the US and UK.

Likely, most photographers reading this interview are wondering how you are still rocking it some 40 years later? It’s impressive! So, can you give us your secret?

It’s fun. I love the challenge of all the different kinds of work I get to do. I could be covering the President one day, a noted scientist or professor the next, and then be off on a travel story overseas. Truly, I have the best job in the world. I get to jump in and out of people’s lives. I describe it like this: I have gotten my college education one hour at a time, from some of the greatest minds in the world.

And one last question, Rick! Who and/or what companies are you working with that make your job that much more enjoyable?

First off, I have a wonderful photography partner (pictured above). Her name is Keiko Hiromi, and we’ve been working together for 15 years now, even though she is an award-winning photographer in her own right. As far as companies and products, I only have relationships with companies whose products I actually use and have used for years. I am very proud to represent Tamron as an official Tamron Ambassador, and with Rosco, I created the Rosco Location Lighting Kit by Rick Friedman. I also work with the following companies that I didn’t mention in the interview already: Click Props Backdrop, ExpoImaging, Hoodman, LensBaby, Mindshift, PocketWizard, and ThinkTank Photo.

You can check out more of Rick Friedman’s work on his website. Also, be sure to connect with him over on Facebook and Instagram as well. Finally, you can learn more about his upcoming education events and lighting workshops here, including the Can Am Photo Expo (Buffalo, NY, from April 26-28, 2019), a Tamron Benefit Seminar for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life (Commack, NY, May 2, 2019), and his next Location Lighting Workshop at Cardinal Camera in (Lansdale, PA, May 4, 2019).

Thanks for checking out our latest artist feature! Quick reminder before you go! Don’t forget to submit by the April 30 deadline to be considered for SLR Lounge’s April 2019 awards competition. Remember that anyone can sign up for an SLR Lounge account for free and submit. However, Premium Members are able to submit up to three photographs each month!

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davidoespailla · 6 years ago

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The Amazon Effect May Not Wind Up Being Prime for NYC and DC Housing

iStock; realtor.com

By now, the shock that Amazon is splitting its new headquarters into two—yes, two!—separate locations has subsided. Congrats, New York and DC! But as the fairy dust settles, it’s time for a reality check: Just a couple of months after the tech giant’s long-awaited announcement, there are some early signs of the real impact this will have on housing in the two urban markets that won the prize.

So far, it’s not quite playing out the way some pundits had predicted.

Without question, real estate agents in the HQ2 neighborhoods—Long Island City, across the river from Manhattan, and Crystal City, VA, a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Pentagon —are suddenly very busy. Investors are circling, and prices are swelling in anticipation of up to 25,000 jobs with average salaries of $150,000 moving into each location. But those hoping to see home and rent prices double overnight—or even this year—will certainly be disappointed.

Amazon’s meteoric rise has boosted real estate prices in its hometown of Seattle far beyond what anyone would have expected a decade ago. The billion-dollar question: Will the same thing happen in these East Coast cities?

“We’ll see a price impact,” particularly in the immediate vicinity of where the company sets up shop, says Chief Economist Danielle Hale of realtor.com®. “[But] New York and DC are already larger markets. … They will be able to adapt without the same run-up in prices that we saw in Seattle.”

Looking at Seattle’s past to predict the future

So how will it play out?

Since Amazon’s announcement, prices have jumped 10% to 15% in both Long Island City and Crystal City, say local real estate agents. Sales in Long Island City, where hundreds of brand-new, luxury condos recently came onto the market, have spiked.

But in Crystal City (which Amazon is quixotically trying to rebrand as “National Landing”), a neighborhood of offices and hotels where inventory is extremely limited, sellers have been pulling their listings off the market. They’re hoping these properties will fetch more when the Amazon workers roll in.

Those hopes are fueled by Seattle’s example: Since Amazon began its rapid expansion there in 2010, home sale prices shot up nearly 91%, to hit a median of $725,000 in 2018, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. In the Lake Union area, where the company is based, prices zoomed up almost 135%.

But that was over an eight-year span, starting when the housing market was near rock bottom. Prices had nowhere to go but up, especially as the economy improved and more buyers flooded the market.

“Housing prices are starting from a much higher point than we were in Seattle,” says Jeff Shulman, a marketing professor at the University of Washington, who has looked at Amazon’s impact on his city. “You can’t expect it’s going to play out the same way.”

Despite the economic recovery, homes have gotten so prohibitively expensive in many large cities that when mortgage rates went up recently, the housing market began slowing down. There are simply limits to what folks can afford, even techies making good money at companies such as Amazon.

Market Median List Price Median List Price in HQ Neighborhood* Average One-Bedroom Rent in HQ Neighborhood** Seattle, WA $664,950 $499,250 $2,180 New York, NY $1,087,753 $992,500 $3,056 Washington, DC $599,000 $599,000 $1,956 *Neighborhoods: Seattle: South Lake Union New York: Long Island City Washington, DC: Crystal City ** rental prices from apartments.com

Salaries don’t stretch as far in NYC and DC

Let’s also face facts: A $150,000 salary simply isn’t the same in Seattle as it is in New York City and DC, which are already astronomically expensive markets. And we’re not just talking about the sticker price of homes.

There’s no state income tax in Washington state—a perk that can boost residents’ bank accounts. So while the overall tax burden (income, sales, property, and auto taxes) for those earning $150,000 was $20,153 in New York City and $12,975 in DC—it was just $8,579 in Seattle, according to the most recent Government of the District of Columbia report. There’s also a generally lower cost of living—enough of a difference to beef up a down payment, or get a larger mortgage.

“Your dollar just goes further in Seattle,” says Annie Radecki, a vice president at John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

The skinny on Long Island City

Once upon a time, Long Island City was a seedy, industrial swath of Queens filled with warehouses and crime. But developers capitalized on its proximity to Manhattan, just one subway stop away. Over the past decade or so, they’ve erected a slew of gleaming, luxury towers along the East River, building the neighborhood from the ground up. And renters and buyers have dropped big bucks to live in them.

But the neighborhood is still cheaper than nearby Manhattan, which is key to its appeal—and may put a ceiling on just how high prices can go. Even with the higher demand for housing imposed by the torrent of new Amazon workers, prices will likely remain 10% to 15% below Manhattan prices, predicts real estate broker Eric Benaim, of the brokerage Modern Spaces. (The median Manhattan list price is $1,495,000, compared with Long Island City’s $992,500.)

“Do I see it gradually growing and increasing? Yes,” says Benaim, who’s been boosting Long Island City for a decade and has most of the listings there. “[But] I don’t see it jumping up 100%.”

But if Amazon’s presence makes Long Island City the place to be, who knows how high prices could soar?

Before the tech company’s announcement, there was a glut of luxury rentals—and to a lessor extent, condos—on the market here. Landlords and developers were slashing prices and offering concessions. But since the neighborhood was selected, interest in condos has skyrocketed with investors and buyers, and sales have spiked. About 350 to 400 condos have been sold since the November Amazon announcement—compared with the typical 15 to 20 sales during this time period, Benaim says. And prices are up 10% to 15%.

“We essentially went from a buyer’s market to a seller’s overnight,” Benaim says.

The rental market isn’t likely to spike quite as dramatically until the hordes of Amazon workers move in. But with an average monthly price of $3,056 for a one-bedroom apartment, it’s not clear how much higher even Amazon workers could afford for rents to go.

For now, there are plenty of homes to go around. There are several hundred condos still for sale and about 1,000 vacant rentals in the neighborhood. Over the next three years, an additional 2,600 condo units and 6,000 rental units are slated to come online. That amount of inventory is expected to keep prices from getting out of control.

Other nearby Queens neighborhoods, like more affordable Astoria and Woodside, and close Brooklyn communities such as Greenpoint and Williamsburg are also poised to benefit from the spillover of tech workers needing places to live. Some Amazon workers are likely to also live in Manhattan, particularly the Upper East Side, given how quick of a commute it is.

Crystal City: A new name in search of an identity

The future of Crystal City, a vast expanse of concrete-and-glass office parks in Arlington, VA, is likely to be a bit different. It’s starting off at a lower price point than Long Island City, at a median $543,000, and there is a dearth of available inventory.

Sellers are holding off putting their properties on the market in hopes of fetching higher prices when Amazon workers move in, say local real estate agents. Only eight homes in the neighborhood’s 22202 ZIP code were for sale as of Wednesday afternoon, according to realtor.com data.

Meanwhile, foreign and out-of-state investors have descended, bidding up prices as they compete against one another with all-cash offers. Local real estate agent Jordan Stuart recently sold a one-bed, one-bath condo as an investment property to an out-of-town NBA player who wants to get in on the Amazon action.

Before the announcement, the $420,000 condo had sat on the market with just four showings in the two months since it had been listed. But after the news, he had 60 showings on it and five offers on the property despite raising the sale price to $450,000.

“They’re setting new [price] thresholds,” says Stuart, of Keller Williams Capital Properties. As the neighborhood becomes more desirable, he anticipates prices will go up 20% to 25% over the next few years before hitting a plateau.

Many new residents will be forced to look outside of Crystal City for housing, at least initially. They’re apt to head into greater Arlington, where there are plenty of high-rise apartment buildings and single-family homes.

And many folks, particularly younger workers, will head to buzzy DC areas like the Wharf, the city’s new southwest waterfront district. The $2 billion development includes restaurant, retail, and office space; a 6,000-person concert hall; and hundreds of luxury apartments starting at around $2,000 a month.

But most of the Amazonians’ salaries aren’t likely to be high enough to purchase million- or multimillion-dollar homes.

“I don’t think [prices] will double. It’s not that type of market,” says Stuart. “But what will shake out is still a wild card.”

The post The Amazon Effect May Not Wind Up Being Prime for NYC and DC Housing appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

The Amazon Effect May Not Wind Up Being Prime for NYC and DC Housing

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