#stephen stickler

[ruinedholograms]

Björk | Radiohead (1998)

[eroticlamb]

Jeff Buckley photographed in Los Angeles, July 30, 1994 ♡ Photographed by Stephen Stickler

[sweetdreamsjeff]

Image by Stephen Stickler

[kiki-de-la-petite-flaque]

Jeff Buckley photographed by Stephen Stickler, 1994

[fionaapplerocks]

Fiona Apple // photo: Stephen Stickler, 1996

[dreamsister81]

📷 Stephen Stickler

[deelaundry]

May Prompts #2 - Box

Another update to The Private Personal Blog of Dr. John H. Watson, posted on AO3 as Chapter 24 in the fic.

WARNING for implied homophobia, and intense swearing in response.

Prompt 2: Box

Voicemail from Bill. Fucking Christ, I’ll box his ears next time I see him. Fucking cunt, fuck him and his bigoted fiancee!

John, it’s Bill. Super quick, I talked to Deborah, told her about you and Sherlock, and she was furious with me, that I hadn’t told her that you and him were, yeah, together. She said to tell you to throw the invitation right in the rubbish bin. Oh shit, gotta go, talk to you later.

...

In the category of things not being what they seem:

John had been stomping through the flat for more than a day, ever since that voicemail from Bill Murray. He hadn’t played it for Sherlock, naturally – who needs that in their ears? – but had let Sherlock know that Bill was right off their Christmas list. If they’d had one, which they didn’t, and it had taken a while to convey to Sherlock why anyone would have a Christmas list, and then that got the two of them off onto the subject of the varying levels of “friends” and why people didn’t say “acquaintances” and then how “network” was an appropriate term for people you knew as a noun but appalling as a verb that meant accumulating more people to know, and then Mrs. H popped in holding the post.

“Lovely thick ivory envelope for you; bet it’s a wedding invitation.”

Sherlock took the envelope and sliced it with the letter opener (actually a dagger, “but considerably dulled, John; repeated contact with bone does that”).

“It’s nice when couples take that step,” Mrs. H continued as she headed into the kitchen. “It’s all right, you know, when you’re just living together. I don’t mind, as the two of you well know.”

She re-entered the lounge, cup of steeping tea in hand. “But there’s just something about that solemnisation. Who is it, dear?”

Sherlock recited, somehow managing to convey the formatting through verbal tone alone:

Mr and Mrs Stephen R. Faustus request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter Helen Deborah to Mr. Wilberforce Murray

“Bill? What’s that ffff” – he held the letter, teeth against lips, as his brain scrambled to come up with a less sweary word to use around Mrs. Hudson, ah, yes – “fellow doing sending me another invite?”

“It’s not just you,” Mrs. Hudson pointed out, holding up the smaller envelope that’d been in the larger one. “Dr. John Watson and Mr. Sherlock Holmes.”

Sherlock turned the invitation over and read, “Looking forward to meeting Sherlock and having the both of you there as we celebrate. Hugs.” He over-articulated that word, his voice dripping with his customary disdain for sentiment, especially informal sentiment, but he was able to finish reading: “Deborah.”

“But.” John was thoroughly perplexed. “But Bill said Deborah said to bin the invite.”

“How odd,” Mrs. Hudson commented, “to tell you to throw out something already in the post to you.”

“It wasn’t in the post,” replied Sherlock, ever the stickler for detail. “This is the second invitation John’s received for the same event; John was instructed to bin the first one.”

John told Mrs. Hudson the rest of the story, how Bill had given him the invite in person and then left the voicemail. He could feel his head filling up with steam as he relayed Deborah’s anger at them being a couple.

“Well, no, dear,” Mrs. H replied. “She wasn’t angry at you being a couple; she was angry at Bill not telling her you were a couple.” Seeing John’s scepticism, she shook her head. “Who was the first invitation addressed to?”

“Me.”

“And?”

“And, um, Guest.”

Mrs. Hudson nodded again. “There you go, love.”

She seemed to think everything was now clear.

It wasn’t.

After a light sigh, Mrs. H went on. “The etiquette for addressing invitations is that writing ‘and guest’ is only for single people; with a couple, both people should be named. She wasn’t upset about you being together; she was upset that she’d mistakenly implied that you weren’t together.”

A mystery solved by Mrs. H! Score one for her, and one for me and Sherlock who’ll be going to Bill and Deborah’s wedding.

(And thank god I’d decided to give Bill the silent treatment after the voicemail instead of shouting at him. How awkward would that have been? Bill’s seen the ol’ Watson temper but that doesn’t mean he would’ve liked it aimed at him.)

[gargusscp]

Decalog 1: Enigma - "Fallen Angel" by Andy Lane

Cracking through the utter avalanche of Doctor Who books in my backlog and rambling about them on tumblr because this site deserves someone who cares to post about the short story anthologies.

The first of Virgin's anthologies uses a pretty standard set-up for its wrap-around segments, entitled "Playback": Seven has lost his memories, stumbled into a private eye's office in the mid-1940s, and together they seek out the help of a psychometrist, whose visions sparked by assorted objects in the Doctor's coat serve as glimpses into interrelated stories from his past. Obviously I can't judge the thing until through with the book, but Stephen James Walker seems to have an alright imitation of period detective novel descriptive language, and it's neat seeing a guileless Seven when one knows a Virgin-era story means there's some overly-convoluted plan in the wings once his memories return.

As to "Fallen Angel" itself, we kick off with as close a crossover as Lane and Virgin can publish without a lawsuit. The narration most commonly sticks to the thoughts and experiences of one Lucas Seyton, a gentleman thief whose shady family history compels him to give back by robbing the world's rich criminality their ill-gotten gains, for both justice and the fun of it. He aliases under the story's title, leaves a calling card with a little stick figure doodle of himself, brushes elbows with working-class friends who enable his adventures, and lives life to the fullest with no apology for his criminality or compunctions as to its righteousness. His voice is also described in tones evoking Roger Moore. In other words, he's a thinly-veiled analog for Leslie Charteris' popular hero Simon Templar, alias The Saint, and the story is basically Lane bumping him against a fellow 60s British telly alumni so they can exchange banter, save each other's bacon, and generally compliment how brilliant they find the other despite differences in philosophy.

S'not a bad thing by any shot. Seyton's an amiably-written perspective character whose blase attitude and observations about the Doctor's eccentricities are amusing, especially opposite so disheveled an incarnation as Two, and Lane uses the homage as excuse for all the classic pulp adventure staples. Rough alleyway encounters, morning after recuperation and pleasantries, high-flying biplane dogfights, desperate manor-bound shoot-outs, the works. Highly amusing to imagine Troughton bumbling and panicking through the best realizations a mid-60s ITV budget could manage, or exchanging quotations from Winnie the Pooh opposite Moore.

The actual plot of the thing is deliberately incomplete, as you're supposed to piece things together through the whole anthology, though I've a complaint all the same. The Doctor accidentally lands the TARDIS in a manor house that's secretly a Time Lord prison for warmongering aliens whose punishment after defeat was confinement in a convincingly faked forever war, and barely escapes the automated security on his lonesome. All the business with Seyton goes down, the Doctor revealing little details all the while, they bust into the manor, and find the prisoners dead, having killed each other over some petty dispute long ago, their robotic guards still viciously attacking any intruders because the Doctor forgot to program their deactivation if their charges died. It's always irksome to me when Wilderness Era stories decide the increased focus on Seven's machiavellian tendencies means all prior incarnations were equally duplicitous and scheming, cause it never fits how One was written or played to imply he was some brilliant Time Lord mastermind with fingers in all their devious little projects. I know we're stuck with it because "Remembrance of the Daleks" is a classic and the Hand of Omega plot point is super memorable, but I'm a stickler for Doctors feeling right, and this bit ain't it.

(Also it's a Jamie and Zoe-era story in which they barely feature, so boo on that too.)

Beyond a bother introduced by the frame story's needs, I'm happy with this self-indulgent fannish runaround. Nice tribute to the then-recently deceased Charteris. I'd say it's pretty solidly...

GOOD

[stellaroasis]

Photo by Stephen Stickler

[horrormovieaddict]

Pet Sematary (1989)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⚫️⚫️

!! SPOILERS AHEAD !!

Tw: suicide, death, child death, murder

Pet Sematary is a film based on Stephen King’s novel: Pet Sematary. I’m a huge Stephen King fan, so I was really excited to watch it, but I was a bit disappointed.

The movie follows the Creed family: Louis Creed(father), Rachel Creed(mother), Ellie Creed(their daughter), and Gage Creed(their son). They move to a new house in Maine, near a busy road. Their neighbor, Jud Crandall, shows them the pet cemetery behind their house, and when the family’s cat, Church dies, Jud leads Louis to an ancient Micmac Indian burial ground. That day, Rachel takes her kids to her parents’ house for thanksgiving, leaving Louis alone. Church comes back to life, and starts acting strangely. Then Gage dies, and Louis buries him there as well. Gage comes back to life, and kills his mother and Jud. Then, in a last attempt to save his family, Louis buries his wife in the burial ground, and she comes back to life, only to kill him too.

First I’m going to go over what I enjoyed about the movie. I thought they did a really good job with the camerawork(is that what it’s called?) and it was hilarious when Stephen King made an appearance as the priest at Gage’s funeral.

I’d also like to highlight how entertaining the character known as Pascow was. He was a university student that got killed and Louis tried to save, causing Pascow to attempt to help the Creeds. Pascow was maybe my favorite character in the movie, just because of how well-written his dialogue was.

Another character that had some good features was Rachel’s dead sister, Zelda. Zelda was described in the book exactly the way she appeared in the movie, which made me very happy. She was also played very well.

My problems with the movie mostly stemmed from the fact that it wasn’t always very true to the book. One such issue is that in the book, Jud Crandall has a wife, and her death is a major turning point in the book. It was just strange not having her there.

I believe that instead of Jud having a wife, at the beginning of the movie, she was replaced by what I assume was a cleaning lady? Anyways, she ends up hanging herself and has no contribution to the plot whatsoever.

Another thing that bothered me was the lack of explanation that the loons on the way to the Micmac burial ground were actually wendigos. I also think they could’ve used just a few more loon noises to make it a bit spookier, but that’s just my personal preference.

I also just have kind of an issue with the actor who played Louis, and how a lot of his dialogue felt kind of flat. His character, or the way he was playing his character, just felt kind of forced. I also think he didn’t have the right appearance for the part, but again, that’s just my opinion.

The ending was honestly the most confusing and frustrating part of it. There’s a point where it’s implied that when Gage came back to life, he was possessed by Zelda, with an intent to kill Rachel for killing her. I don’t know if that was supposed to be part of Rachel’s inner turmoil or what, but it sure was confusing.

The book ends with Louis getting killed in the bathroom, and the movie ended with him getting killed in the kitchen, which doesn’t really matter, I just liked the final scene in the bathroom better

All in all, it wasn’t terrible. I doubt I’d watch it again on my own, but it definitely wasn’t the worst I’d seen. I think if it had been truer to the book, then I would’ve liked it more. Maybe if I hadn’t read the book, then I would’ve liked it better, but I’m a bit of a stickler for consistency. So yeah. That’s my very long review of Pet Sematary.

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Qantas Upgrade Palm Greasing Of Politicians

The recent political kerfuffle over politicians getting free upgrades on Qantas flights misses the point somewhat, I think. It is the corrupt and odious practices of Qantas management which should be called out rather than merely berating the politicians, in my view. Qantas upgrade palm greasing of politicians. Alan Joyce was one of, if not, the most ruthless CEOs in Australian corporate history. This chief executive of our defacto national carrier for more than a decade, instigated repeated purges of the Qantas workforce. These were undertaken whilst simultaneously currying favour with the political movers and shakers by making them and their families feel special in the air and within the infamous Qantas Chairman’s lounge. Old fashioned graft and palm greasing really. “Qantas employees have been expressly warned over potential “bribery” risks and reputational damage when offering “gifts” to Australian politicians worth more than $200 in a new all-staff training module. News.com.au has confirmed that the training was rolled out by the airline on Monday and it urges employees to run any “gifts” to public officials and politicians past Qantas’ legal department.” (Samantha Maiden, 5 November 2024)

Joyce & Qantas Graft Merchants For Political Power

It is the elite looking after their own while the workers cop it in the neck. The mass sackings of Qantas workers happened repeatedly over the 15 years the diminutive Irishman stood tall in Australian aviation. We now know why little was ever said by politicians, even on the Labor side, as they were too busy taking backhanders  in the form of pampered treatment aboard the Qantas juggernaut. Human beings are simple social animals at heart and few are immune from deferential behaviour, especially in the rarified atmosphere way up there and at the airport.

Aussie Politicians Trade Their Integrity For Qantas Upgrades

Yes, the politicians should have resisted it if they were sticklers for integrity but few are in reality. I would like to see corporations prosecuted for this kind of thing – graft and bribery. The media is focusing on the tit for tat political spats, as they always do – with the ABC being the worst offender. It is the private sector initiating this kind of thing and seemingly getting away with it scot-free. A ‘scot’ was an arcane term for a tax. This is a good segway to the fact that some 42% of corporations doing business in Australia paid no corporate tax at all in the most recent financial year. This is a growing number every year of tax avoiders. What is the government doing about this since the infamous PwC betrayal under the LNP Coalition federal governments of Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison? We, the people, have heard little about this since it broke news several years ago.

Neoliberal champions who led us where we find ourselves - ripped off by our own economy! National Corruption Watchdog Rolling Over & Playing Dead The NACC or the SNACC, as some pundits call it because it is so secret that nobody ever hears about it, has been a total failure and embarrassment. It reaffirms the mutual complicities of both main political parties in avoiding accountability at the federal level. We have just seen the conflict of interest at play between the head of the NACC and senior bureaucrat Kathryn Campbell, who has been under investigation for her major role in the Robodebt illegal scandal. Both are active old fellows of Sydney University involved in shared pursuits pertaining to that organisation. “The decision by the National Anti-Corruption Commission not to investigate the six public servants over the Robodebt scandal appears to have been “infected by the bias of Commissioner Justice Paul Brereton and, if so, should now be disregarded”, says Stephen Charles AO KC, a former judge at the Victorian Court of Appeal and a former board member of the Centre of Public Integrity.” (https://michaelwest.com.au/why-did-nacc-decline-to-pursue-the-robodebt-scandal-conflicts-of-interests-revealed/) Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©WordsForWeb

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[preblesboys]

One HC for each current PB as I brain storm ideas for art.

William Bainbridge: has exquisite taste/ likes the finer things in life.

James Biddle: low key tries to find ways to distinguish himself from his rich family. (Tries hard not to be “just some rich kid”)

William Burrows: From the limited information I have on him, he’s odd and a little random. Amazing artist though.

Stephen Decatur: “I triple dog DARE you so you have to do it!”

Isaac Hull: The cinnamon roll too precious too pure, the first person you ask to get you out of a jam.

Jacob Jones: Dad friend with friendly advice; will watch you make mistakes and ask if you learned your lesson after.

James Lawrence: Why does he scream “Boy Scout” to me? Stickler for rules.

Thomas Macdonough: You know what? HE’S the stickler for rules. More original HC is he gets a job done because someone has to do it.

David Porter: Oh jeez. Your best friend or worse enemy. Either way you get immense passion from him.

Charles Stewart: Usually crude but poetic when he wants to be.

Lewis Warrington: I want him to be absolutely perfect who can do no wrong but he gives off the sort of vibe how he makes you think an idea was yours but it was actually his.

[wavehq]

enjoy limitless possibilities here in celestire islands, benjamin wyatt ( parks and rec ) and eddie kaspbrak ( stephen king's it ) , where you can start the new life you've always longed for. make sure you read the checklist, as we'll be sending the discord link through ims! enjoy your new dream, whimsi!

( stephen king's it, dupes not allowed. miles mckenna, he/him, trans man. ) ——- hey, is that ( eddie kaspbrak ) hanging around ( carnation creamery )? i wonder what life is like for them, balancing working as a ( twenty - four ) year old ( art student ) and ( overthinking )? they’re notorious for being ( levelheaded ) yet ( uptight ), and i always seem to hear ( scrawny ) by ( wallows ) playing whenever they walk past. they’re known around the islands for ( constantly being sick or injured ), and they’re associated with ( walking on the farthest edge of the sidewalk from the road, being paralyzed by your anxiety, perfectly clean white shoes ). last we spoke, they were telling me about a vision they had… something about their biggest regret being ( never being able to get his mother's voice out of his head ), but it must have just been a bad dream. // — [ whimsi ]

( parks and rec, dupes not allowed. dev patel, he/him, cis man. ) ——- hey, is that ( benjamin wyatt ) hanging around ( celestire town hall )? i wonder what life is like for them, balancing working as a ( thirty - three ) year old ( auditor ) and ( making claymation films )? they’re notorious for being ( logical ) yet ( stubborn ), and i always seem to hear ( the king has lost his crown ) by ( abba ) playing whenever they walk past. they’re known around the islands for ( being an unmovable and unfeeling stickler ), and they’re associated with ( eye bags from working late, triumph from finishing a lego set, trying to prove yourself continuously ). last we spoke, they were telling me about a vision they had… something about their biggest regret being ( spending too much time trying to rectify his past mistakes ), but it must have just been a bad dream. // — [ whimsi ]

[allthingsgrunge]

By Stephen Stickler

[jeffbuckleyforever]

Jeff Buckley photographed by Stephen Stickler behind The Roxy in West Hollywood in November 1994

[thevenusiandiva]

Bianca Lawson photographed by Stephen Stickler for Stuff Magazine (2004).