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the-clari-net · 2 years

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Untouchable

Ao3

After Johnny 13 romanced the pants off of one unknowing Jazz Fenton, Jazz has been frustrated to say the least. She continues to think about how she let herself get lead on so badly like that. Everything in her mind understands that nothing that happened was her fault.

Nevertheless, Jazz wants to be better, she wants to be less vulnerable.

She wants to fight.

Her mom showed Jazz self defense moves, but even so, Jazz felt it wasn’t enough. She wants to make it so that no one can come that close to her again unless she allows it. She wants to be prepared for anything. Jazz didn’t think much of it until she was on an errand with Danny through the Ghost Zone.

“Hey, Jazz can we make a quick stop? I gotta ask Pandora about something for my history class”.

“Um, sure?” Jazz frowned, “But Danny you should really look into studying and getting your information from resources within our actual dimension”.

“But who better to know about ancient Greece than someone who literally lived it, “Danny countered.

Jazz has met Pandora before. She’s an incredible ghost. She’s powerful, she’s kind, she’s one of the few who can have an intense conversation about psychology and provide her with a new perspective and insight on how the world works. While she may not approve of Danny’s methods, she’s happy he’s still making an effort to finish his school assignments.

Pandora is training when they arrive. Jazz sees Pandora going up against one of her subjects, another tall and strong man who seems to be going through a tough time.

Rather than using a sword or some other sharp weapon to face her opponent, Pandora is using a staff. A simple, blunt staff that through her grace and skill managed to knock down her opponent in an instant.

Jazz was mesmerized. Jazz wanted to learn how to do that. She needed to see more.

Unfortunately, that’s when Danny called out to Pandora and waving her over.

Pandora smiles when she sees the duo and walks over, tossing her weapon over to one of her servants, and they fumble while trying to hold its weight.

“Hello Danny, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

Danny bows, and responds politely, “Lady Pandora, I wanted to come visit to ask a favor from you. You see, I want to hear some stories from your time in Greece, what the typical day was like for you.”

Pandora raises a brow. “Is this related to your studies by any chance? Because I also was sent a message from another one of your peers not too long ago asking the same thing. Samantha, if I’m remembering correctly.”

Danny squawked, “What do you mean Sam– I mean, uh no? This has nothing to do with school…”

“Well, I’m still happy to assist you, so long as you stay for a quick hand to hand combat if that seems like an acceptable trade?”

Danny winces a little, knowing he’ll be very sore tomorrow, but the guaranteed interview is too good of an offer. “Yes, my lady that’s uh, acceptable”.

Two hours later, Danny is seriously questioning his past self’s rationale for being here. Even though he’s much more athletically built than be was before his transformation, Pandora is lethal even without a weapon. Thankfully she steps back for a second and announces that she’s satisfied with their combat and will allow them to rest.

“Oh,” Danny wheezes out, “sounds good, I’ll just…take a water break for a moment.” Danny walks away, presumably to find a comfortable space to collapse before he interviews Pandora.

As he leaves, Jazz and Pandora are left alone together. She faces Jazz and smiles. “Your brother has immense skill in combat, it’s not anyone who can endure training for that long with me”.

Jazz smiles wryly, “Yes, he is quite skilled. He inherited that instinct from our mom. I don’t think I got much of that I hate to admit”.

Pandora blinks, “I don’t understand. This isn’t all skill young Jasmine, I’ve seen him when he was still developing his abilities. His energy is stronger, he’s been steadily improving. I am certain that you can reach similar levels of physical combat if you applied yourself.”

“You really think so?” Jazz looks up at this gladiator of a woman telling her that she can do it. She takes a shaky breath before continuing in a smaller voice. “Um…Lady Pandora, would you mind allowing me the honor of training how to combat? With a weapon I mean.”

Pandora takes in Jazz’s slightly hunched posture, and her shaky voice and frowns. “Your brother has mentioned to me that you have some experience, why would you want to learn more?”

“I do have some self-defense experience, but…” Jazz looks down. “I just want to feel safe in myself.”

The ghost looks at the young girl and her frown deepens, “I see”.

She goes and walks over to the farther wall, where her weapons are hanging. Jazz is trying to settle her breathing when Pandora comes back with the same stick that she was using when they first arrived to her haunt.

“This is a bo staff. You’ve already seen me working with this, yes? I think this would be a good weapon for you to learn. It takes discipline to learn but can be incredibly beneficial when necessary.”

Pandora tosses the staff at Jazz and she’s quick to grab it. It’s very light in her hand.

“I’ve only worked with this form of martial arts in my current form,” she gestures at her four arms, “but I think I can help you.”

Jazz gives a small smile in response. This is the answer she was looking for. With this in her hand, with enough time, she could go out with less fear. Help Danny.

She feels hopeful, that she will be untouchable with this.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

#Ectoberhaunt22 #EH Chaos #Day 2 #Staff

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five-rivers · 3 years

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Home

The building that housed Fentonworks had never been normal, no matter what neighbors and real estate agents might profess.

Things had happened there. Deaths. Wild twists of fate and shocking coincidences. People who lived there heard noises, saw things, felt things. Experienced sicknesses with no cause. Were cured of sicknesses without cause. Survived things that should have killed them.

It was a thin spot between worlds. Reality was a rippling membrane, frayed enough for things to shine through.

The construction of the neighborhood itself had been… strange. It happened much faster than it should have, as if there was a whole extra shift of workers on the project.

The townhouse that would one day become Fentonworks had stood out even in that mystery. Extra rooms, a basement deep enough to cause a nasty fight with regulators, features not approved by the architect.

It was a wonder they hadn’t hit any of the water lines or the sewage systems. A wonder- and an impossibility. So, the matter was ignored and dropped.

Then the next owners expanded that impossible basement, building another, secret basement and putting things in the walls- They were criminals, of course. It was expected for them to do illegal things. (Although exactly what they had done was… oddly uncertain.)

(Drugs, perhaps.)

Then, the lunatics. Then, the tiny cult that collapsed in on itself. Then the empty years, dozens of transient ghosts trying and failing to pass through, and the ghost hunters. So many ghost hunters, none of them particularly successful.

Then, the Fentons.

Then, little Jazz.

Then, little Danny.

Danny with wide eyes that saw too much.

And all the horrors that the Fentons could dream up, from living hotdogs to weapons that burned like stars and doors to places that should not be visited.

And this was Danny Fenton’s home.

The Manson estate was an odd case, even for Amity Park. Save for the basement, the entire building they lived in had been transplanted, brick and beam, from Germany.

Rich people were bizarre.

Even the Mansons couldn’t explain it. The man who had done it hadn’t been a Manson. The Mansons, who were relatively new money, all things considered, had purchased it from one of the man’s children. Anything to boost their prestige.

It was fancy, and it was old, a gothic and statuesque mansion worthy of its name. Still, it wasn’t quite fancy or old enough to merit the kind of expenditure moving it had to take.

Hence the rumors, squelched by the Mansons, that the place was haunted.

It wasn’t.

The rumors, however, were enough to get one Samantha Manson interested in the occult. Especially given how hard she saw her parents working to hide the rumors from her.

No. The mansion wasn’t haunted. For all it’s oddities and quirks – which only multiplied as the Mansons added more and more features to it – the building itself was mundane.

(The land it was built on might have been another story.)

And this was Sam Manson’s home.

The Foleys didn’t want to know what Tucker got up to in the attic, but liked to think that, with that one exception, their home was a nice one. It was on a nice street, in a nice neighborhood, just far enough away from Fentonworks to keep both sightings of the Ghost Assault Vehicle and resultant property damage and property taxes to a minimum. Within walking distance of the high school, a supermarket, and a park.

They kept the fridge and pantry stocked. Their food might not have always been healthy – red meat was an element of almost every meal – but it was always available and filling. They made an effort for the dietary restrictions of Tucker’s friends of course.

All the rooms were kept clean and neat. Even Tucker’s, by way of bribes. Everything was organized, everything had its place. Except, perhaps, for the stray shoe or piece of schoolwork.

But that attic.

It really hadn’t been anything, before Tucker asked if he could move his computer stuff up there. Just a storage space, one too difficult for either Angela or Maurice to climb up there often. They didn’t consider themselves old, but they couldn’t call themselves young either. Not with a son Tucker’s age.

Once Tucker had realized the attic was there, he had been fascinated. And, well, once he was old enough for them to not worry about him falling off the ladder, they let him go up.

Some days, it seemed, he didn’t come down.

Better than his faintly disturbing Ancient Egypt phase, where he kept bringing pictures of mummified corpses to the table. Or, worse, the werewolf phase.

And this was Tucker Foley’s home.

Amity Park had claimed the distinction of ‘most haunted town in America’ long before the Fentons opened their portal. In fact, that was the reason the Fentons had set up shop there, in the first place.

No haunted town was complete without at least one haunted house. Amity Park had several. Not to mention a haunted hospital, a selection of haunted schools, a haunted museum, a haunted pool, a haunted crosswalk, a haunted mall, a haunted football field… The list went on, essentially ad nauseum.

Of course, that list mostly consisted of places that became haunted after the Fentons built their portal. But even before then, some places offered their dubious charms to tourists.

Mostly gullible ones. More than half of the claims of hauntings before the portal opened were fraudulent in their entirety. These places quickly went broke and got abandoned when real ghosts started showing up.

One of these was the ominously named Raven House, which stood in the hills on the west edge of town.

The story the tourists of years gone by had been told was that a widower had lived out here, all by himself and that one day, he stopped coming to town, or paying his bills, or even getting his mail. When the mailbox at the end of the long driveway was full, the mailman decided to go check on the widower. What he found was a flock of ravens and a skeleton, entirely picked clean of flesh.

No such death had occurred there, nor in any part of Amity. No such person had ever lived in the house, either. The last owners, before the company that decided to market the house as haunted, were a couple with two children.

It wasn’t until months after the portal started up that it became haunted in truth.

“This place isn’t haunted,” said Danny, panning his flashlight over cobwebbed corners on the ceiling. “I don’t think it ever was.”

“That’s what, strike five?” asked Sam.

Danny shrugged. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Four, actually,” said Tucker. “We counted the hospital as inconclusive, since we don’t know if anyone was there before Spectra.”

Danny nodded. “It’s weird, though, isn’t it? That no one lives here, I mean. It looks like a perfectly nice house.”

“Décor’s a bit… eh. Trying to hard to be haunted,” said Tucker, poking a raven decal on the wallpaper.

“I like it,” said Sam. “Needs cleaning, though.”

“Hey,” said Tucker, “you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you? Because I’m pretty sure that’d be illegal.”

“It isn’t as if anyone else is using the place,” argued Sam. “It could be a great backup hideout, if we ever had to… you know.” She glanced at Danny. “Plus, we’d be doing them a favor, really, keeping things clean and lived in.”

“I think it’s an okay idea,” said Danny.

“Yeah, but you think lots of dumb things are good ideas. Like showing up at a party hosted by people who publicly humiliate you on a regular basis.”

Danny grumbled something about trauma responses that sounded like a direct quote from Jazz and something else about that incident being ages (aka weeks) ago. Then, he brightened.

“We could get one of the little ectoplasm generators to power everything,” he said. “Remember all that stuff we lifted from Skulker and Technus? We could actually use it. Study and test things without worrying about whether our parents will walk in. I mean, your attic is great, but still.”

“Plus, we can have actual lab safety protocols. No offense, Danny.”

“I am the one that half-died in a lab accident, so… None taken.”

Tucker rubbed his chin. “Alright. I suppose I can see the appeal… But if we have stuff that can trace back to us, we could get in serious trouble."

“We’ll be careful, then,” said Sam.

“Anything I take from Mom and Dad has plausible deniability. They’ll assume ghosts stole it.”

“We also need to clean if we’re being serious about this. And get a fridge. And figure out the pluming situation.”

“Fridge is on the list. We have to be careful about the outside, too. If this place is suddenly well maintained, people will notice.”

“Sure, but that isn’t something they’d call the cops over,” said Danny. “They’ll just assume new people are moving in. If anyone sees it at all. We’re pretty far away from anything. But pluming won’t be too hard. We just need to bring our own water. Like, toilets flush using physics. If you dump more water in, they’ll go, no electricity required.”

“How do you know that?”

“I can’t even tell you how many time Mom and Dad blew out all our breakers with stuff in the lab,” said Danny. “You pick up a few things.”

“Well,” said Tucker, swinging his flashlight over to examine a discolored spot on the ceiling. “Then… Home sweet home, I suppose.”

There was a house in the hills in the west hills of Amity Park.

And this was the home of two and a half humans and half a ghost.

#danny phantom #dannymay2021 #dannymay 2021 #dannymay #dannymay day 2: home

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agent-jaselin · 3 years

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All of these are drawings of Cosmic based on dm talks about him and his au with @five-rivers, drawn before the Isolation oneshot was written. I drew these a while ago but lets see if I can remember what they are for k? Cool.

1. First picture is Cosmic’s ghost form and his secondary human form. Less a reverse pallete here and more just a Clockwork colored version of him XD He’s still very much and elfish and mischievous fellow in human form, and doesn’t talk there either.

2. Clockwork first finding Cosmic once he’s finished changing. Before Five came up with the cocoon idea.

3.What it looks like when Cosmic blushes in ghost form! little nebulae forming on his cheeks. :3

4. There was some talk about Cosmic having the ability to visit other universes, and in particular latching on to one that’s closer to canon. Sort of becomes a brother figure to Danny and befriends Danny’s friends and family. Here he is hanging with Jazz, and being generally quite affectionate. (Danny puts up with the strange ghost because he 1. seems like a sweet kid, and 2. no other ghosts appear when Cosmic is there so he usually has time to study. Danny does not know that Cosmic is an all powerful ancient.)

5. Cosmic being sad and taking comfort from Danny, I can’t quite remember why? I think it had something to do with his origins coming up and Cosmic getting a bit morose about it.

6. Ok this relates to the idea that the Danny he becomes attached to is one that’s destined to become Ghost King? Specifically in the way that he became king in that one shot by @five-rivers where it was done in his sleep and his two halves were permanently fused and his lost his eye to the crown? Well as an Ancient that means that Cosmic was forced to put chains on him as well. And it’s actually like, opposing to one of his obsessions. His long time trapped in the void makes freedom and the ability to leave very important to Cosmic, so binding Danny actually hurt him physically. IT took him a few days to recover, but once he was finished he came with a gift to the king, a mirror that could let him see the human world and lands beyond the Ghost Zone. It is one of the few times he speaks, to apologize. His voice sounds strangely older than it should, and is very quiet and hoarse. (which also relates to his Ghost Wail being that of danny’s last calls for help in the void.)

7. The first time Danny and Cosmic met. He didn’t know the kid was a half ghost and suddenly his parents came in and he was worried about protecting him. But his parents were like “oh are you babysitting?” And he looked down and Cosmic was HUMAN and he suddenly had to figure out how to lie about that while also freaking out about the new half ghost so he was just like “OH UH YEAH I SURE AM”

8. A series of little sketches, first row has a randomly distressed Cosmic and cosmic with the mirror approaching Danny (with gift wrapped.) second row is Cosmic growling at Vlad over Jack’s shoulder. Basically a version of events where they found out about Danny and it sort of led to them befriending/adopting him (and learning about his origins too.) And the last one in that group is Cosmic trying to talk to ghost king Danny.

9. Cosmic is having a nice sandwich because Jack said little kids his age should eat, Danny is freaking out about this kids possible origins.

Also, not drawn here but the freak out about origins and Cosmic not liking Vlad has to do with Vlad temporarily capturing the master of Space as part of one of his hair brained schemes. (shortly before Maddy and Danny ended up in his forest mansion.) Cosmic freaked out and destroyed half the mansion (and Vlad had to make up a lie about tornadoes.) and because of that incident has had a strong grudge against him since. But most people don’t know the reason for the grudge and just think Vlad had something to do with his murder (or in Danny’s case, thinks he had something to do with him being half ghost.) OH! also his look in number six is relating to the fact that all the half ghosts forms combined into one form? So the colors and crown and grey details are references to his human form.

#danny phantom #dp #my art #sketch dump #cosmic #cosmic danny

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andydona-chan · 3 years

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Doors research

Read it at AO3!

This was fun! Danny thought as he floated out of a door in the Ghost Zone, he had been checking some of the doors near the portal for about 20 minutes now, so far he had entered two different places through them, he smiled as he turned to his left and reached another door, he looked at it, studied it, the door was an elegant one, with crystal embedded on the surface making a beautiful pattern in the top center of the frame, it had an elegant knob too, it was color bronze but with intricate swirls, it had no keyhole, it’s purple color covered what was supposed to be some sort of strong wood, going by the design it was probably a dark wood or a fancy one, thought in the Ghost Zone the color wasn’t really an indicator, the purple was the same in all doors, only sizes and styles changed.

Danny floated around it, it was the same on both sides so it was probably and one big room, when there were more doors inside them, doors usually were plain on the other side. He touched some of the crystals, and after a moment, instead of turning the knob he knocked on the surface of one of the crystals, the one that was different from the others, it had some scratches on its surface and it seemed dirty somehow, so it had to be it, she pressed on it until he heard a soft click.

With a triumphant punch to the air, Danny pushed the door and floated into the new area, the space where the door turned opening to a dark blue barely illuminated room, just as he had expected, the room was huge, it was like a small palace room, it had one of those fancy coaches where you could lay on your side while eating grapes, or at least Danny would be happy if he could do that.

There was a big rug under it, all flourishes and flowers and big enough for Sam, Tucker Jazz, and him to lay on comfortably, there was also a couple of cushions, all of them with size enough to be able to seat on them without being all the way down to the floor, there were some paintings on the walls, with prince-like figures painted on them and horses and dogs, also a lot of small but pricy items, like a pure metal tea set, he was sure it was some kind of precious metal, like silver or something like that, also a clock that had stopped at 4.30 and some jars on each corner, but he wouldn’t touch them. Not even the desk full of what looked like letters and books, he had learned from his previous incursions, to be respectful of the place.

The big chandelier hanging from the roof was made only of big crystals that sparkled and added a bit to the whole scenario, even though the items on the room were not many, it still made it feel livable, thought if Danny had been a kid in this room he could have been playing around without interrupting his parents if they were sitting on the couch, or even Jazz, if she had been studying. He felt the expected wave of nostalgia roll over him, that’s what always happened in this kind of place.

Even if it was entertaining, it was something he had decided to do alone, he couldn’t help the curiosity of his friends and sister, they wouldn’t understand, damn he could understand it, but he was unable to find a way to explain it, and he would rather lie than try to let them know what it meant for a ghost.

He had learned just recently that most of the doors weren’t occupied, while some of them were the lairs of active ghosts and could open and close at any time, there were some ancient doors that had belonged to a certain spirit, these places they had used to rest, and the ghost itself had then dissipated within it, becoming part of the space within and closing the door, leaving behind seemingly abandoned lairs, however, they could be accessed and inhabited for short periods of time, like making a visit, the items could be moved and taken, however usually the ghost that was resting in that place could wake up and look you up until you returned it, but usually just being there, staring at a place so personal and special for a ghost, made you sad, as if you were in long lost memory.

There were some doors where ghosts had just enclosed themselves and they didn’t like being bothered, also doors with nothing inside them, just an empty void, those places were unbearable, Danny had heard it could drive you crazy or they could lead you to disappear cause once inside you’ll get lost and never find your way back. He had seen some of those by accident but checking out some of the simple door designs or the ones that looked older and dimmer than the rest were usually the ones that you could safely visit.

With a sigh Danny turned again towards the door and left, making sure it was fully closed and placed a small seal on the door, one that Pandora had given him, it locked the door for anyone that wasn’t a ghost with the correct intentions, like those looking for temporal shelter for example; then he floated to the next one a few meters away from the one he had just visited, this one was the one just above the portal, he could see it a few meters below, somehow it was nice to know there weren’t many doors around it, it could have been dangerous given how his parent’s curiosity was usually chaotic.

Danny once more started his initial study of the door, this one looked like one that you could slide to one side, plain on the other side so there might be other rooms within it; it had a metal door with a metal handle that looked heavy, like for a high-security entrance. He looked at it trying to locate a hidden knob like on the other one; however this one looked rather simple, so he went straight to the handle and moved it, pulling at the door at the same time in order to slide the door open.

The place was in complete darkness, so Danny floated to the entrance and lighted his hand with ectoplasm to cast some light into the room… It looked empty but he moved inside the place, seeing how there were some windows at the other side above what seemed like a bed. He approached it and found that yes, there was a bed there, a futuristic one actually, just a floating plaque with the mattress above it and the window to the side, the window wasn’t open, but the outline had a white glow to it meaning it could be opened. He wished he could touch it to see what image was out there.

Trying to make out some other things inside the room he keep looking, there was a desk, it was empty but it had a small chair in the same style as the bed, it looked like a room a place to straight forward go to rest or take care of planning or something else. Then, there was another door, he went to it and opened it, it looked and worked just the same as the front one.

In the next room, there was a living room, a small area with black couches and a TV screen, there was even a small coffee table with the remote there, there was also a window in this room just behind the TV, the white outline making it stand from the other things in the room, there was an area to the side where there was a table and a small refrigerator, maybe the ghost that had lived here used to be human and liked to have these amenities in their place.

One last room at the end of the place led to a bathroom, a full bathroom that had its toilet and sink, a bathtub and shower, all of it with black and blue accents, this place could be a good hideout if he ever needed one. He floated out of the bathroom and went back to the living room, he approached the window behind the TV and risked touching it, it wasn’t an item he could take with him so it couldn’t be dangerous, and also it was improbable that anything would happen.

He lifted his hand and touched the black screen in front of him, it immediately activated, fading out slowly towards the edges, illuminating the room at the same time and opening to a sight that left him breathless. Right out of the window, and so close he swore he could touch it, NGC 6753 was in full display, the colors, the shape, and everything was so… Danny gave two steps behind; he felt his core hum in a way that almost made him vibrate.

He tried to get a hold of himself and moved into the previous room, he would be able to think straight once he was out of it, however, the next room was now illuminated too, the window next to the bed was now open to a view of IC 3639, and how could he ever mistake them? He approached it, his mind as always enthralled on the image and looking to see more of it now that he could. He knew what this meant, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it, he turned around, away from the image just outside the window.

However there, over the bed, was something he hadn’t seen in ages, it was something he had got for his birthday a while back… for his 14th birthday. It was an official NASA pin; he had worn it every day since receiving it when he turned 14 and had last seen it on the day of the accident, he thought that it had got lost in the portal to never be found again, but… there it was.

The only metal thing he had had with him on that day, and it was now inside this place, unknown to him, his lair. Just as the thought was formed inside his head the pin glowed and suddenly the room filled with other items, posters on the walls, books, and papers on the desk, he gave a quick glance to the living room and found it filled with some of his favorite things.

It made him happy, but at the same time sad. It was like finding a place where he could be happy forever but also a place that reminded him that he also belonged to the world of the dead, that there was a place for him here where at some point, if he wanted to, he could come and rest, and never be disturbed again, his own last resting place, his own door in the Ghost Zone…

He floated out of the place feeling numb; he didn’t know if he wanted to use his lair if he wanted to go in at all, should he tell Tucker and Sam about it? What would Jazz think of the place? He didn’t know if he liked it being above the portal of all things… Suddenly checking other doors felt irrelevant, so he just went down and back into the portal, he could take some time to think about it…

#Danny Phantom #phan phic #ectober2021 #ectober month 2021 #ectoberhaunt #ectoberhaunt 2021 #ectober month #ectober treat #doors #sam manson #tucker foley #jazz fenton #ghost zone

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bitch-i-migth-be · 4 years

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Crash Course | Chapter 04: A Busy Queen Bee

Fandoms: Danny Phantom, Batman,

Relationships: Danny Fenton & Jazz Fenton,

Characters: Danny Fenton, Jazz Fenton, Ghost Writer, Clockwork, Observants, Pariah Dark mentions, Random ghosties mentions *boo*

Words: 2′549

Tags: BAMF Danny, BAMF Jazz, Sibling bonding, Shenanigans, Swearing

Summary: He swore his sister was trying to make him go into cardiac arrest - considering his halfa status that was quite the accomplishment-

But there was no other explanation to his sister’s stubbornness, and if he knew her at all there was just no talking her down from interning at goddam Arkham.

A/N: The academy location is what the Gotham Academy Comic brought up to the table on it’s pages. Gotham Academy IS across the road on that comic.

Complete madmen, I’m telling you. That’s child endangerment right there and like HELL I’m passing up this opportunity HAHAHAHA.

This is going to be a disaster.

CHAPTERS: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7

-.-.-.-

Danny was quickly writing down on his journal every single little thing that could be helpful to deal more efficiently with his workload, had been rather busy lately, and normally he would just wing it and be done with it, but this time there were some things he had to take into consideration before he started to poke bears with sticks.

One of the most important?

When you are dealing with ghosts, you have to take into account that they have a thing called obsession.

It’s their drive. The reason behind their actions and continual existence upon this world, and as such, a good way to guess what makes them tick.

Danny liked to pretend he was not a slave of a fucking obsession, but considering he was still fighting the ghosts, with no payment to speak of, and after the massive amount of times someone had used his face to scrub the streets-

The fake it ‘till you make it ideology only carried you so far in life.

His friends called it a hero-type obsession.

Danny didn’t think that fit quite right.

When he couldn’t turn a blind eye on one of his, particularly reckless, actions he preferred to describe it as a protection streak.

Obsessions were ‘born’ the moment of one’s death, after all.

And there had been nothing heroic in the way he had died.

He had been scared shitless.

The moment it had clicked in his head that he would most definitely die right there, all the reasons why he didn’t want to die yet flashed by his mind, all those places left to visit, his dreams of going to space, going out with his friends, his family- My god, Jazz …

He would leave his sister behind.

He was leaving her alone in this godforsaken house with their parents.

Even after all the years the Fenton siblings spent calling living in the Fenton household ‘survival’ they had only been playing around. It was supposed to be just a joke. Something to lighten and make fun of their weird family dynamic.

It wasn’t supposed to escalate like this.

And now- n-now their parents had demonstrated that they were apparently more than capable of killing off — if accidentally — one of their children, what the fuck would prevent them from murdering the other one?

Who was going to protect his sister?

The fear for his well being had rapidly transformed into dread for his sister’s future. A tremendous and sudden rush of protectiveness had inundated his being.

And that was it for him.

The next time he had recovered some semblance of coherence he had awakened as a fully minted halfa and there was no going back.

Some months later, after learning more about his situation and what it meant, he had been capable of identifying what was the drive behind his ghost half. Jazz had been the catalyst, but apparently the sheer feeling of protectiveness had been what his soul had latched onto. So while his sister was a big priority, he recognized that he still felt somewhat inclined to protect in general.

He still refused to call it an obsession, though.

So Protection Urges it was.

Apart from keeping a constant watch on their house —for both their sake’s, truly—, when the ghosts started running wild all over the place his new ghost instincts had come to the conclusion that a safe town meant a safe sister — and a happy sister. Jazz would blow a fuse worrying about getting lynched by the town when they realized the older Fentons were at fault of the destruction of their homes. And he would worry about his sister getting skewered. An intervention was in order —, so, most of the time this protection was reserved for the humans, considering the weak things tended to get trapped in the crossfire between the ghosts and their obsession or even other ghosts.

There were also moments when humans would turn against other humans. But in a place like Amity — where the citizens felt a certain level of kinship against the ghostly invaders and tended to stick together — those tended to be scarce and far between.

The occasions where his protection streak would show up in favor of ghosts weren’t as numerous, but they existed. They tended to be either when the G.I.W. got their imbecility involved, his parents were hell-bent on getting subjects for dissection or when other fucking ghosts insisted on being fucking assholes.

After all the time he spent dealing with ghosts it was undeniable there were good ghosts out there, and no matter the reason, when he helped these ghosts out most of them tended to be openly grateful. Some promised him their allegiance, others gave him their respect, and a good bunch of them would find subtle ways to stay under his protection.

Once the almost disaster that had been Pariah Dark was over, some of the ghosts had started to actively request his protection.

Some of the most aggressive ghosts had started to back down, shit, even Walker was not bitching at him as much as he used to these days. He would think he was going soft, but he still looked at him like something the dog had dragged in — which, ok, that was true sometimes because Wulf, or even Cujo, but there was no need to be rude —, Danny didn’t really mind, Walker wasn’t his favorite person either.

So things were a little better for him when he visited the Ghost Zone, and he could make things somewhat better for the weaker ghosts that relied on him for protection. As far as Danny was concerned he was doing fine in his protection duties. Fast forward a pair of months and the Ghost Writer was kind enough to inform him that while he was doing an excellent job with the fighting aspect, he sucked in all the others.

Apparently, when a ghost asked for the protection of another ghost they were requesting a lot more than just a ‘fight for me’. — And how the fuck was he supposed to even know that? — This, of course, also meant that they were willing to offer a lot more in exchange. But Danny wasn’t as focused on what he could get in return as in the fact that he was apparently lacking on his role as protector.

Not on his goddamn watch.

Damn his fucking urges.

Later on, with more time and experience to sort through this wreck waiting to happen and after he finally got the chance to met more of the sovereigns of the Infinity Realms and personally witness their interactions with their people, he would start to understand what exactly this new role he had stumbled upon meant.

For the moment the only thing he deemed as the first priority was supplying the ghosts under his care with a safe space to exist.

According to the Ghost Writer, giving them a safe space would normally translate into welcoming them into his lair, because the weaker ghosts that normally requested protection didn’t have the proper energy levels to make one of their own.

The problem with that was that he didn’t have a lair.

…Not necessarily.

GW hypothesized that, as he was so attached to his hometown and spend the most part of his time in there, it was likely that his ghost half recognized the entirety of Amity Park as his lair, and as such his instincts hadn’t seen the construction of one for his own use in the Zone as necessary. Or something along those lines.

That had been a bump on the road for his plans.

Nonetheless, a Fenton does not know when to fucking stop, so he kept at it.

When he nagged clockwork about it the older — or younger, whatever he was at the time — ghost had said that winning a fight against a ghost king meant inheriting their lair by right of conquest. So technically speaking, Danny did have a lair now, no matter how creepy the thing was.

That was all good and dandy but didn’t quite resolve the main problem.

Because now the problem was that Pariah’s goddamned keep — now Phantom’s —, was ‘guarding’ one sleeping murderous king, and two fucking powerful artifacts. And opening the doors to what amounted to a small army of random ghosts while those things were there was not a good idea.

But, seeing as Danny was not about to expose ghosts or humans to each other, there was no way he was letting his ‘people’ into Amity, so the castle it was.

Considering the significance the crown, ring, and even fucking Pariah held for the zone, the Observants would have to get involved for decision making, because of course, they had to shove their nonexistent noses on everything.

As anyone would have predicted, it was a goddamn pain to reach some kind of agreement when such uptight guys were involved. The halfa acknowledged that finding a place to these things was important but after two hours of debating back and forth over it, the situation was getting ridiculous.

Danny, being pretty annoyed already, had asked if they could just melt the damn things and be done with it.

The Observants nearly had a coronary.

Clockwork would have succeeded in looking chastising if he hadn’t been so busy trying to hide the smirk blooming in his face from witnessing the eyeballs’ ruffled distress.

They explained to him exactly why doing something like that was completely foolish, Phantom retorted that leaving two ancient artifacts of immeasurable power, and a psychotic slumbering ex-king in a creepy castle guarded by fear factor alone was fucking foolish.

The Observants countered saying that if the new high king would just fucking accept his position and wear them then they wouldn’t have to worry about the artifacts. Phantom disagreed in principle because the new high king would have to be as imbecile as the last one to let himself get possessed by a fucking ring.

The halfa dutifully ignored most of the implications thrown in that particular conversation.

Happiness belongs to the ignorant.

In the end, they had all acquiesced

A good thing, because Danny had been more than prepared to throw the tantrum of the century if any of them tried to get that goddamned cursed ring anywhere near his fingers, and there was no fucking way he was going to parade around wearing a fucking crown on fire — or otherwise—, he had an ice core for ancients’ sakes.

In the middle of the ghost-catfight, Danny had stated that he would only agree to use the damn artifacts as long as they found a way to get rid of the goddamn curse of the ring and make the gaudy crown less of a fire hazard.

The Observant sniffed pompously, saying that the notion of them not knowing how to do such a simple thing was ridiculous, Danny’s eye twitched as he sneered, because ‘Why the fuck haven’t you done it already then?’

The Observants shifted nervously. Danny sneered harder. Clockwork stopped trying to pretend he was not enjoying himself.

One of the Observants finally disclosed that the issue was not the knowledge but the power needed to pull off such a thing. With newer things, transferring powers from a thing to another was relatively easy. With millennia-old artifacts with such amount of power inside, though? Near impossible. Not even taking into account that the artifacts Danny wanted to ‘mess with’ were — however cursed — an ancient heritage of the Infinity Realms.

“Then we ask for help.” Phantom said curtly, crossing his arms over his chest.

This declaration resulted in a row of rapid blinking among the Observants. It was fucking weird to watch.

“Ask who for help, exactly?” Came the uneasy reply.

“Isn’t it obvious?” he drawled, pushing his hand through his already messy white hair and massaging his aching temple while he was at it.

“I think what Daniel is trying to say is,” Intervened ClockWork after letting Phantom loose on the Observants as long as he could get away with. The boy was a real wonder. “If we need power and permission to ‘ mess with the ancient heritage ’ then the better option would be to consult with the Kings and Queens of the Infinity Realms. Wouldn’t you agree?” the ghost of time finished sending a playful little smile to the ruffled Observants.

At the end of the day, all this chit chat resulted in the official formation of the High Council of the Infinity Realms.

For Danny, the best thing about this Council was that most of them, like him, had a bone to pick with the Observants.

Which didn’t mean that they agreed with him on everything he put forward, but it still makes him quite satisfied, all things considered.

Once established the first order of business had been, of course, dealing with the artifacts and Pariah.

Phantom suggested from the get-go stashing pariah into a more discreet, less flashy location than his previous castle, and transferring the powers of the ring and crown into new non-cursed-or-flaming-and-better-named jewelry.

These things had been a trademark of the ruthlessness of Pariah’s reign, after all.

Taking into account that all of the ghosts sovereigns had either been present for Pariah’s carnage or were more than aware of the repercussions it caused, it was not much of a surprise when it was an almost unanimous vote in favor of the notion. It would have to be discussed further to decide on the precise details, but for the most part that was the general sentiment.

The Observants had seethed for a while, but they couldn’t do more than resign themselves after the majority of the votes cast were in favor of a complete change.

They had still insisted on keeping a goddamn crown as mandatory, and he could have kept going with his bitching but Jazz had been trying to teach him how to pick his battles, and this one was not worth more of a sore throat.

All of this hassle because he wanted to give some homeless ghosts safe heaven into his previously non-existent lair.

Once done, with the artifacts and Pariah taken out of the keep, he realized some redecoration was in order before anyone lived in this place. He thought about asking ClockWork but decided to let him deal with the Council Shenanigans and went to bother the Ghost Writer instead.

The dude sure had some strong opinions on color schemes and furniture.

Danny shook himself out of his daydreaming, he had gotten carried away.

He put his pen down, taking advantage of the little break in writing to stretch his cramped limbs and back like a cat before looking over his chicken scrawl spread all over the journal’s pages.

If he dealt his cards well a single chat with the High Council and a visit to the castle would be more than enough to start the preparations.

Danny’s eyes zeroed in the last column of names he had written on the page.

That only left the more- mmh, particular cases.

He let his chin rest on the palm of his hand, releasing a low hum while a little smirk slowly made itself comfy on his features.

Now, for the fun part.

-.-.-.-

NOTES:

You might be wondering, “Did she just made Jazz the root of Danny’s obsession?” And the answer is yes. Yes, I did. -.-.-.-

Frostbite’s name in the Latin American (Or is it from Spain? Don’t know :v )dub is “Congelación” (which means ‘freezing’) and I don’t know how to fucking deal with that. It does not sound anywhere as cool as the original :’v

Maybe it’s because I’m not used to hearing “congelación” applied to something as awesome as a goddamn ghost yeti.

Or maybe not.

Who knows. -.-.-.-

I swear I’m trying to get these two to Gotham, but It feels like I’m dragging Danny there kicking and screaming. Which is- appropriate, I suppose. -.-.-.-

There would be more details of the High Council integrants later (I think?) and the dynamic I’m going to put here, not like you can’t guess some of them already *wink wink nudge nudge*

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jackson-overland-frost · 4 years

Text

My Fics Masterpost

I’ll update this whenever I write more, but it seems like a good thing to have on my tumblr, at least. Sorted by series/universe first, and then by fandom. Obviously, let me know if any of the links don’t work or the information is wrong!

It’s That AU

Fandom — Marvel Cinematic Universe, Main Pairing — Parkner, Alternate Universe — Canon Divergence, on hiatus/discontinued

Regretfully what I’m most well-known for. No over-arching plot line.

Another Field Trip Fic

2 parts, 10,091 words, complete

The traditional “Peter’s class takes a field trip to Stark Industries” trope, + some parkner thrown in there

Midtown Visitor

1 part, 2,259 words, complete

Harley takes a little saunter on down to “Midtown School of Science and whatever”, as I so elegantly put it in 2019

Obligatory Valentine’s Day Fic

1 part, 3,403 words, complete

An fluffy romantic explanation of an in-universe gadget that’s basically a smart watch. I dunno why I thought updating on Valentine’s Day was an obligation though. Yes, I know I spelled James “Rhodey” Rhodes’ name wrong, you can stop tell me.

Career Day (or alternatively, Midtown Visitor part 2)

1 part, 1,896 words, complete

Tony Stark takes a little saunter on down to “Midtown School of Science and whatever” for career day. Another tried and true trope of the fandom.

The Meme Kids™

1 part, 1,502 words, on hiatus/discontinued

Peter, Harley, Shuri, Ned, and MJ are certainly an iconic squad. Shame I can’t come up with any stories to tell about them though. This one’s discontinued, sorry.

Lab Renovations

1 part, 4,831 words, complete

Parkner goes out to do some interior design. Mostly description. How did I used to write one of these a week?

Against All Odds

2 parts, 2,636 words, on hiatus/discontinued

Wow, I hate this fic and it’s premise with a burning passion now! You can still read it if you want but yikes.

Crows, Spirits, and Human Antics

Fandom — Danny Phantom, Main Pairing — none, Alternate Universe — Nature Spirits, on hiatus

Man would I love to continue writing this, I adore this au/series so much!! Unfortunately I’m swamped, so.

Crows, Kitchens, and Hot Chocolate

1 part, 1620 words, complete

Danny finally returns to the human world to visit his little sister, fellow crow spirit Danielle. Written for Ectober week 2019. Prompt: Artifact/Nursery Rhyme

The Coldhands Project

Fandoms — Danny Phantom, Rise of the Guardians (2012), Main Pairing — coldhands (Danny Fenton/Jack Frost), Post-canon but with the Phantom Planet exception, ongoing

Currently ongoing, partially pre-written. This is my current pet-project, my baby, my blood sweat and tears, my pride and joy. AKA no I am not accepting critique on this one, sorry. Planned to continue into 2022

Frosted Shadows

32 parts, 79,211 words, complete

An ancient evil from the Golden Ages has been awoken in deep space. Clockwork assembles a team of teenagers to take it out. Two of them fall in love in the process.

The High Council

1 part, 1373 words, complete

Clockwork goes to justify his new apprentice in front of the observant high council. Can stand alone

Yeah, That’s Chill

5/? parts, 4328 words, incomplete

Chatfic that takes place after Frosted Shadows, goes along with the series and plays parallel to the real world (aka the dates and times are when I wrote them). Just shenanigans, with no overarching plot at present. Inconsistent updates.

MCU Stand-Alones

I’m Sorry

1 part, 503 words, complete

Poetry angst, I wrote this basically right after I watched infinity war while bored in class, which honestly tells you all you need to know.

Dream of Me

3 parts, 28,320 words, complete

Alternate Universe — Faeries, the only parkner fic I’m currently happy with. Written for the 2019 Parkner Christmas Exchange for @persephoneblackrose (sorry for the @ dude). Harley is trying to run away from home while also protecting his little sister Abby, in the only way he knows how. Is getting a sequel this Christmas~

Danny Phantom Stand-Alones

Phanniemay Prompts

23 parts, 8,512 words, complete

Written for phanniemay 2019

Scantily Clad Boys Are More Competent Than You May Have Previously Assumed

1 part, 2,050 words, complete

Written for Ectober week 2019. Prompt: Cauldron/Electricity

Other

A New Shade of Dark

1 part, 1,146 words, complete

Fandom — Greek Mythology/Original Fiction

A retelling of the traditional Hades/Persephone myth in my writing style from 2018. My first story on AO3.

Night Sky

1 part, 630 words, complete

Fandom — Original Fiction

A written personification of the night sky and it’s various aspects, in my writing style from 2018.

Desert

1 part, 852 words, complete

Fandom — Welcome to Nightvale/Original Fiction

The story of an original character in an interpretation of Nightvale’s universe, in my writing style from 2018.

I will pay the bill (you taste the wine)

2 parts, 1,361 words, incomplete

Fandom — Good Omens

Ineffable Husbands tour the world (a story revolving around descriptions of good food). Will continue once the pandemic is over and I’m able to consume acceptable sustenance once again.

Benevolent Possesion

1 part, 4,602 words, complete (probably)

Fandom — Buzzfeed Unsolved

Whatever the equivalent of being a roommate, but instead of sharing a dorm you shared a body was, Ricky Goldsworth was that. Just tagging along in Ryan’s mind. I’ve been asked to continue this, but I dunno yet. Inspired by the benevolent possesion tumblr post by @ernmark (sorry for the @ dude)

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karenxmenfan · 4 years

Photo

(above: Jack Kirby, John Verpoorten, Glynis Oliver; John Paul Leon; Al Milgrom, Joe Sinnott, Julianna Ferriter; Daniel Acuña)

READING THE ETERNALS

Jack Kirby’s Gods return to the Marvel Universe

PART 1 — INTRODUCTION

“When two aggressive species share the same environment, evolution demands acceptance or dominance.” When Jonathan Hickman’s return to Marvel was first teased in 2019, I thought they might do something unexpected and announce a new Eternals series. Kevin Feige had revealed an Eternals movie not too long before, so it seems possible. I knew practically nothing about the characters, aside from Sersi being an Avenger, that it was Jack Kirby’s baby, and they were tied to the Celestials. I met these massive Space Gods in the beloved 1999 miniseries Earth X. That series includes a basic recap of the Eternals and Deviants in service of an epic plot surrounding the Celestials and their relationship to Earth.

The Hickman rumors sparked an interest in the characters, so I decided to read the original run from the beginning. What I found out is that there’s a lot of silly fun to these characters and I’m genuinely excited for the movie. The concept is weird and doesn’t quite have the same generative power as, say, the Fantastic Four, but it’s still enjoyable and Jack Kirby’s art is always a treat for the eyeballs. It’s easy to get caught up on all the essentials, since these characters are used so infrequently, but their presence is heavily seeded throughout the Marvel Universe. I’ve put together this reading guide to offer a roadmap for anyone wanting to take a deep-dive into THE ETERNALS!

WHO?

The Eternals are secretly one of three branches of the human race that were ENGINEERED BY ALIENS (a fact that gets reiterated nearly every time they appear in a comic). Yes, it’s that old urban legend that human evolution was kickstarted by extraterrestrial influence. In this case, massive space beings called the Celestials came to Earth and did experiments on apes, resulting in homo sapiens, but also the Eternals, powerful god-like beings, and Deviants, “monsters” who have unstable genes so no two are alike. Make of that what you will, it’s kind of messed up. Anyway, many thousands of years after their first visit, the Celestials return to Earth again to check up on their creations, and to see if the planet is worthy to survive.

PART 2 — KIRBY

The main draw of this series is Kirby’s art, weird ideas, and how funny all the characters are as they strut around exclaiming everything. What’s interesting here is that it’s not actually a part of the Marvel Universe - there’s an issue halfway through where they fight a robot Hulk, which is pretty explicitly based on a fictional character. The best characters in the whole book are Sersi, who is a hip, with-it party girl, Thena, and of course the Deviant leader Kro (the romance between the latter two is very good).

Entries in blue are favorites

The Eternals (1976) #1–6 — Where it all begins!! WHO ARE THE SPACE GODS? Some human archaeologists discover, with the help of a disguised Eternal, the big secret of the human race, and their relationship to Eternals, Deviants, and the Celestials who created them. This kicks off the series and the first arc where all the various Eternals are brought out of hiding as the Deviants, led by Kro, launch an effort to keep the Celestials from returning to judge their creations - this includes an attack on New York where the Deviants pose as demons from space hell. Meanwhile, the Fourth Celestial Host arrives on Earth…

The Eternals (1976) #7–13 — Picking up after the attack on New York, the human race is now formally introduced to its ancient siblings. This arc starts to get more into the relationships of the characters, with Sersi getting thirsty for a flummoxed, stuffed-shirt anthropologist, while Kro and Thena drop hints of a previous romance. Through their story, we see more of Deviant society, which introduces future BFFs The Reject and Karkas. Meanwhile, the Celestials are floating around the planet making observations like colossal roombas and freaking out humanity who start to get very worried. We also see the introduction of the Uni-Mind, where all the Eternals fly into a blue flame and emerge as one giant brain-thing. In this form, they leave Earth for a while.

The Eternals Annual (1977) #1 — A fun little adventure with Thena, The Reject, and Karkas (who has a human disguise in this) dealing with some Deviant menace who brings Jack the Ripper and Atilla the Hun to the present day to cause mayhem. The Eternals (1976) #14-17 - The momentum of the series comes to a halt - the Uni-Mind returns to Earth and the Eternals get swept up in a battle with a robotic Hulk who goes on the loose, and then a secret, all-powerful monster that Zuras was hiding in the basement.

The Eternals (1976) #18–19 — Probably with the knowledge that cancellation is nigh, the story picks up again. Druig becomes obsessed with uncovering the whereabouts of a secret weapon that is able to kill the Celestials (planting the seeds for the Dreaming Celestial). Ikaris tries his hardest to stop his cousin’s folly and avert the wrath of the Space Gods and I think it eventually comes to an end when the Celestials make Druig disappear? I guess this is when Jack Kirby peaced out of Marvel…

CREDITS* full series (Writing/Pencils - Jack Kirby; Inks - John Verpoorten, Mike Royer; Colors - Glynis Oliver; Lettering - Gaspar Saladino, John Costanza, Irving Watanabe, Mike Royer)

PART 3 — JOINING THE 616

Since the original series kind of was cut short with Kirby’s departure, the Eternals’ story gets picked up in other Marvel comics, where the heroes slowly learn about their existence.

Thor Annual (1976) #7 — Since the original series kind of was cut short with Kirby’s departure, the Eternals’ story gets picked up in other Marvel comics. This issue starts off a storyline where Thor recovers memories of the Celestials and some secret that Odin has been keeping from him.

(Writing - Roy Thomas; Pencils - Walter Simonson; Inks - Ernie Chan; Colors - Glynis Oliver; Lettering - Tom Orzechowski)

Thor (1966) #283-289, 291, 300-301 — Spurred on by his meeting of the Eternals, Thor takes the question to Odin. Odin won’t tell him anything, so this sets Thor off on a journey that takes him to the Eternals, the Deviants, and eventually the lead Celestial, The One Above All, who shows him hints of a deal between Celestials, Odin, Zeus, Zuras, and the other deities of Earth. Joining forces with the Eternals, Thor tries to stop the Fourth Hosts’ judgement of Earth which puts them at odds with the Norse and Greek gods. Thor finally learns the whole truth just in time to stand against the Celestials on the Day of Judgement. This is the big culmination of everything that started in The Eternals #1!

(Writing - Roy Thomas, Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio; Pencils - John Buscema, Keith Pollard; Inks - Chic Stone, Gene Day; Colors - George Roussos, Glynis Oliver, Marie Severin, Bob Sharen, Carl Gafford; Lettering - Joe Rosen, Tom Orzechowski)

Iron Man Annual (1970) #6 — Rhodey is flying around and accidentally happens upon the Eternals’ city, but it’s overrun by Deviants! They’ve incapacitated all the Eternals and are trying to steal their power source or something.

(Writing - Peter Gillis; Pencils - Luke McDonnell; Inks - Roy Richardson; Colors - Carl Gafford; Lettering - Diana Albers)

Eternals: Secrets from the Marvel Universe (2019) #1 — This one-shot collects a series of backup stories that ran in What If? through the early 1980s. This covers the established origin of the Eternals and Deviants, but also goes into more detail about the branch of Eternals who left Earth to populate the solar system. It also ties in the Inhumans and creates a relationship between these two very similar groups of characters.

(Writing - Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, Peter Gillis; Pencils - Ron Wilson, Rich Buckler, Bruce Patterson; Inks - Chic Stone, Alan Kupperberg, Bruce Patterson, Joe Sinnott; Colors - Carl Gafford, Ed Hannigan, Nel Yomtov, Glynis Oliver; Lettering - Michael Higgins, John Morelli, Tom Orzechowski)

Avengers (1963) #246-248 — The Avengers crash one of Sersi’s parties and get dragged with her back to Olympia for some Eternals business. There we find out about the Eternals who went to Titan, and everyone finds out Starfox is an Eternal. The main plot involves a supervillain infiltrating Olympia to steal the power of the Uni-Mind. At the end of this story, the majority of lesser-known Eternals decide to leave Earth in a Uni-Mind for good, greatly narrowing their cast to just the essentials.

(Writing - Roger Stern; Pencils - Al Milgrom; Inks - Joe Sinnott; Colors - Christie Scheele, Julianna Ferriter; Lettering - Jim Novak, Diana Albers)

The Eternals (1985) #1-12 — This is actually a solid series, and does a huge amount to introduce new concepts and characters into the Eternals. It’s more of a standard Marvel superhero comic than Kirby’s weirdness, which perhaps allows it to fit more neatly into the greater shared universe. The best thing is that it features a lot of Kro and Thena as the latter becomes leader of the Eternals despite them not taking her seriously, and the former becoming embroiled in a sectarian power struggle with Ghuar (that guy from “Atlantis Attacks”) to lead the Deviants. The two find their love rekindled, putting them at odds with the other Eternals (Ikaris is a big asshole in this). Meanwhile, Sersi collects more human pets, including a guy she saves from suicide and tries to show that life is worth living. Central to everyone’s machinations is a plot to harness the power of the Celestials, playing off of the hints left by Kirby about the Celestial who was killed during the Second Host (this is the continuing foundation for the Dreaming Celestial idea).

(Writing - Peter Gillis, Walter Simonson; Pencils - Sal Buscema, Keith Pollard, Paul Ryan; Inks - Al Gordon, Keith Williams, Danny Bulanadi, Sam de la Rosa, Al Williamson, Tom Morgan, Geof Isherwood; Colors - George Roussos, Bob Sharen; Lettering - Joe Rosen, John Morelli, Rick Parker)

The Eternals: Herod Factor (1991) #1 — A little one-shot that is fun largely because it ultimately is about Thena and Kro. It’s written by Roy Thomas so doesn’t stray too far from established canon.

(Writing - Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas; Pencils - Mark Texiera; Inks - Bob McLeod, Christopher Ivy, Mark McKenna, Ian Akin, Sam de la Rosa; Colors - Mike Thomas, Dana Moreshead; Lettering - Jean Simek)

PART 4 — SERSI & THE AVENGERS

Despite the Forgotten One (aka Gilgamesh) joining the Avengers in issue #300, he doesn’t seem to have ever made much of an impression. His tenure does little more than to lead the team to another, more famous Eternal - the cosmopolitan Sersi! She definitely makes her mark on the team in the early 90’s. For better or worse!

Avengers (1963) #307-310, 325 — Gilgamesh is injured in battle, leading the Avengers to seek out the aid of his fellow Eternals - except Sprite has transported all of Olympia to the Negative Zone. After helping fend off Blastaar, Sersi joins the team in Gilgamesh’s stead. At this point she becomes a series regular and fans can start reading Avengers from here for more. Issue #325 is a great fill-in by Mark Gruenwald that features Sersi at her best – throwing a party and hitting on stymied squares.

(Writing - John Byrne; Pencils - Paul Ryan; Inks - Tom Palmer; Colors - Christie Scheele, Tom Fine; Lettering - Bill Oakley, Rick Parker)

Avengers (1963) #325 — A great fill-in by Mark Gruenwald that features Sersi at her best — throwing a party and hitting on stymied squares.

(Writing - Mark Gruenwald; Pencils - Rick Levins; Inks - Fred Fredericks [et al]; Colors - Ed Lazellari; Lettering - Brad K. Joyce)

Avengers (1963) #370-371 — Kro works at the Pentagon and has an outreach database for Deviants, which he uses to form Delta-Force! This team includes his kids with Thena who have the ability to merge into a grotesque fusion, and they need to save the Avengers from Ghaur.

(Writing - Glenn Herdling; Pencils - Geof Irsherwood, Mike Gustovich; Inks - Al Milgrom, Kevin Yates, Tom Palmer; Colors - Chris Matthys; Lettering - Bill Oakley)

Avengers (1963) #339, 344-347, 355-366, 372-375 — This is Bob Harras’ grand epic to ruin Sersi. After Sersi forms a version of the Uni-Mind with a bacteria-based group of Eternals (it’s… a thing), her behavior becomes erratic, presumably some Eternals mind-sickness. She begins to fawn all over Black Knight, linking to him in a soulmate ritual against his consent (he’s falling in love with Crystal). It’s all because of an alternate-reality Black Knight who wants to get revenge on Sersi because his version broke his heart. When everything is finally resolved, Sersi and Black Knight enter a wormhole and leave the dimension. At least Sersi has a cool costume.

(Writing - Bob Harras; Pencils - Steve Epting, Gordon Purcell; Inks - Tom Palmer, Steve Alexandrov, Fred Fredericks; Colors - Kevin Tinsley, Sarra Mossoff, Scott Marshall, Evan Skolnick, Tom Palmer, Gina Going, John Kalisz; Lettering - Bill Oakley, Michael Higgins, Rick Parker)

Heroes for Hire (1997) #5-7 — Sersi returns to a post-Onslaught 616 universe to warn about another plot by Ghaur to form an “Anti-Mind.” He’s been resurrected as a giant gold statue and is controlling all the Deviants. Once the day is saved, Sersi goes off on her separate way, with her bond to Black Knight severed at last.

(Writing - John Ostrander; Pencils - Pasqual Ferry; Inks - Jaime Mendoza; Colors - Joe Rosas; Lettering - Jonathan Babcock)

PART 5 — REBIRTH & DEATH / THE MODERN ERA

Having exhausted the story potential of the Eternals throughout the 80s and 90s, Marvel decided to pull in a ringer to give the franchise a reboot.

The Eternals (2006) #1-7 — the Eternals have all forgotten who they are thanks to Sprite, and the return of the Dreaming Celestial forces them to wake up… I am not a big fan of this run, and hold a bit of a grudge against it. John Romita Jr’s art is good though, especially when he’s drawing big bulky things. The biggest shame is that the Deviants are pretty generic here, and Kro is nowhere to be found. I mostly recommend reading this because it reintroduces the Eternals in the modern era and sets up the scenario for the next volume, with Makkari taking center stage and arranging Druig and Tiamet, the Dreaming Celestial on the board.

(Writing - Neil Gaiman; Pencils - John Romita Jr; Inks - Danny Miki, Tim Townsend, Tom Palmer, Jesse Delperdang, Klaus Janson; Colors - Matt Hollingsworth, Dean White, Paul Mounts; Lettering - Todd Klein)

The Eternals (2008) #1-6 — Druig is brainwashing as many Eternals as possible to his cause as Thena and Ikaris race against him. The heart of the story, though, is how Makkari is being used as a megaphone/alarm system by the Dreaming Celestial to warn about an intergalactic menace called the Horde that is coming to consumer Earth - a role that is overtaking his personality like an addiction. Sersi gets some good scenes in this but her character is kind of diminished in favor of Makkari. The story is actually pretty interesting, and salvages a lot of the ideas that Gaiman brought to the table. There’s a three issue X-Men crossover after this but I don’t have much to recommend it - Acuña’s not even drawing it.

(Writing - Charles Knauf, Daniel Knauf; Art - Daniel Acuña; Lettering - Todd Klein)

Thor: The Deviants Saga (2011) #1-5 — A little romp with Thor that takes the newer elements established by Gaiman and the Knaufs and brings them more in line with the previous depictions of the mythos. It does include a lot of details and references that Eternals fans should get a kick out of – Karkas and Ransak play a large role, Deviant Ereshkigal makes a return as does Ikaris’ dad Virako, there’s a lot of Kro – but it’s kind of meandering and doesn’t amount to that much. It ends with the entire cast essentially writing themselves out of future appearances.

(Writing - Robert Rodi; Pencils - Stephen Segovia; Inks - Jason Paz, Jeff Huet; Colors - Andy Troy, Will Quintana; Lettering - Jeff Eckleberry, John Rauch)

The Ultimates 2 (2017) #4, 6, 100 — Overall this is an amazing series, but as it pertains to this reading list, these issues shed light on the origins of the Marvel Universe, and thus, the Celestials. Created in the very first iteration of the cosmos, they not only have survived the many subsequent deaths and rebirths of the Multiverse, but they stand in opposition to a host of opposite, evil Celestials, known as the Aspirants. The Aspirants lay waste to the Celestials, who manage to live on through the surviving One Above All (this is even after the Celestials were seemingly all killed by the Beyonders in New Avengers [2013] #30).

(Writing - Al Ewing; Art - Travel Foreman, Filipe Andrade, Marco Lorenzana, Scott Hanna [Inks]; Colors - Dan Brown, Matt Yackey; Lettering - Joe Sabino)

Avengers (2018) #1-6, 8 — This series combines with Aspirants with the Horde of the last Eternals series to introduce the Dark Celestials, retconning the Celestial’s origin even further. The evil Dark Celestials have killed off their more colorful brethren and are coming to destroy Earth. Meanwhile, the Eternals are found to have all killed each other for some related reason. Ikaris holds out long enough to give Iron Man the power to make a Uni-Mind, which saves the day. The Celestials return and are cured of their Horde sickness – in return, they give the Avengers an ancient Celestial corpse to live in. Not my favorite, but as of this writing, it is the last time any of these concepts have appeared in the comics.

(Writing - Jason Aaron; Pencils - Ed McGuiness, Paco Medina, David Marquez; Inks - Mark Morales, Jay Leisten, Juan Vlasco, Karl Story; Colors - David Curiel, Justin Ponsor; Lettering - Cory Petit)

The History of the Marvel Universe (2019) #1 — As the name implies, this is a straightforward and beautiful explanation of the MU’s origins and the role the Celestials play, told from today’s vantage point with all the retcons and retrofitting that have happened over the years. Includes the obligatory origin of the Eternals and Deviants and the first three Hosts of the Celestials.

(Writing - Mark Waid; Pencils/Inks - Javier Rodriguez; Colors - Álvaro López; Lettering - Joe Caramagna)

PART 6 — XTRA-CREDIT

Being an X-Men fan, it's worth noting the times when the Eternals, Deviants, and Celestials have run into the mutants.

X-Factor (1986) #43-50 — Judgement War! X-Factor ends up on another planet which is visited by its own Celestial Host. The team gets involved between a set of Eternals and Deviant-type sects, trying to stop the Celestials from judging them unworthy.

(Writing - Louise Simonson; Pencils - Paul Smith, Rich Buckler; Inks - Al Milgrom; Colors - Tom Vincent; Lettering - Joe Rosen)

X-Force (1991) #77, 79, 82-90, 96-97 — X-Force starts running into people associated with the Damocles Foundation - a group of Deviants, Eternals, and Humans.

(Writing - Joseph Harris, John Francis Moore; Pencils - Adam Pollina, Jim Cheung, Angel Unzueta, Terry Shoemaker, Anthony Williams; Inks - Mark Morales, Rob Stull, Ray McCarthy, Bud LaRosa, Harry Candelario, Scott Koblish, Derek Mei, Scott Elmer; Colors - Marie Javins, Steve Buccellato, Mike Thomas; Lettering - Comicraft, Chris Eliopoulos)

Earth X (1999) #0-X — Issue 0 is basically Uatu explaining the history of the Marvel Universe to X-51, with a heavy emphasis on the role of the Celestials. This includes a very brief discussion of the Eternals and Deviants, but mostly focuses on the creation of humanity and the birth of super heroes, as the various Celestial Hosts visit Earth. By issue 9, the Celestials return for their Fifth and final Host, and more of their relationship to earth and Uatu is revealed as the remaining heroes defend their planet. Really really good and a must-read in general, even if the Eternals themselves are just footnotes. John Paul Leon makes the Celestials look like the coolest things the Marvel Universe has ever produced. The Reject does get to play a role in the sequel Universe X, though.

(Writing - Jim Krueger, Alex Ross; Pencils - John Paul Leon; Inks - Bill Reinhold; Colors - Matt Hollingsworth, James Sinclair, Melissa Edwards; Lettering - Todd Klein)

New Eternals: Apocalypse Now (2000) #1 — Apocalypse is behind some ill-defined plot that involves destroying Lemuria and turning Karkas into a kaiju. Ikaris’ father Virako is brought back, and they have some quarrels over leadership. This is another good one for Eternals fans but it’s kind of incomprehensible. At the end, the Eternals adopt new superhero identities as “the New Breed,” but this is never mentioned again.

(Writing - Karl Bollers, Mike Higgins; Pencils - Joe Bennett; Inks - Scott Hanna; Colors - John Kalisz; Lettering - Benchmark)

Uncanny X-Men (2012) #1-3 — Mr. Sinister messes with the Dreaming Celestial and it’s bad news for the planet. Magneto comes in handy.

(Writing - Kieron Gillen; Pencils - Carlos Pacheco, Jorge Molina, Rodney Buchemi, Paco Diaz; Inks - Cam Smith, Roger Bonet, Walden Wong; Colors - Frank D'armata, Rachelle Rosenberg, Jim Charalampidis, Dono Sánchez-Almara, Rex Lokus; Lettering - Joe Caramagna)

There’s more stuff with Eternals in it throughout the Marvel Universe, and even more with the Celestials, but this is pretty foundational and focused on the Eternals of Earth. Most of this stuff is on Marvel Unlimited, and the stuff that isn’t is looking like it will be included in a new Omnibus - ”The Complete Saga” - (currently scheduled for December, 2020), like the 1985 series and the “Herod Factor” one-shot. With the MCU movie scheduled for February 2021, it’s highly likely we may be seeing a new series before too long. I recently came across this fascinating bit of research on the behind-the-scenes of Jack Kirby’s work on the The Eternals -- check it out! Four Color Primer: Sersi & The Eternals Part 1

*issue credits gathered from marvel.fandom.com

#eternals #celestials #marvel #deviants #comics reading list #eternals reading list

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donaldflower00-blog · 5 years

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10 Essential Episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Parts Unknown’

Over the last five years, Anthony Bourdain brought TV viewers to the most interesting places around the world on his award-winning, game-changing CNN show Parts Unknown. And now, following Bourdain’s death last June, the show is sadly coming to a close. The final season of Parts Unknown will wrap up at Bourdain’s old stomping grounds — the Lower East Side of New York City — this Sunday, November 11, in an episode that will explore the people and places that shaped Bourdain as a young adult.

Parts Unknown had a monumental impact on food and travel TV, most notably because it eschewed coverage of tourist attractions, and focused, instead, on artists, thinkers, and doers around the world, with special attention paid to disenfranchised communities and their hopes for the future. Some episodes were intense, others lighthearted, but the show was always essential viewing.

Here’s a look back at 10 episodes that defined the series, in chronological order:

“Peru”

(Season 1, Episode 7; original air date June 2, 2013): Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert let their bromance blossom on camera throughout the filming of Parts Unknown, and, tragically, they were actually shooting a new episode together when the Kitchen Confidential author died in France over the summer.

The Peru episode from Season 1 sets the tone for future adventures to come: The friends eat amazing meals while discussing the great mysteries of the human experience, all the while pushing each other outside of their respective comfort zones. In this case, Bourdain brings his gentlemanly pal to an ancient erotica museum, while the chef coaxes his sarcastic friend into participating in a ceremonial blessing from a local shaman. Along the way, the friends eat Amazon-inspired cuisine at Amaz, sizzling beef hearts on the streets of Lima, and a rustic hen soup at a market in the mountains.

Bourdain and Ripert actually have a bit of business to accomplish on this trip: They hike up to the Andes to meet farmers who are harvesting the cocoa that’s used in the duo’s gourmet chocolate bars. The friends are clearly inspired by working with the farmers, but this experience only leads to more questions. “Do I wanna be in the chocolate business?” Bourdain remarks at the end. “That’s something I’m gonna have to figure out.”

“Lyon”

(Season 3, Episode 3; original air date April 27, 2014): While visiting France’s second largest city, Bourdain and his pal, New York City chef Daniel Boulud, eat their way through tiny bistros, learn the art of sausage-making from a charcuterie expert, and spend a weekend in the company of a proper culinary legend.

The duo’s visit to Paul Bocuse’s eponymous restaurant, where Bourdain, Boulud, and the late Bocuse dine on the legendary French chef’s greatest creations, is arguably the best food sequence in the entire series. Tony refers to this feast as “the meal of my life,” emphasized by his reactions on camera. Later, Bourdain and his chef friends go duck hunting and enjoy a hearty lunch in Bocuse’s lodge out in the country. The episode ends with another rustic family meal, this time with Boulud’s parents at their home just south of the city.

The Lyon episode shows Tony fully enjoying himself in the company of a great friend, while also offering a concise history of the last century of French cuisine.

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Iran”

(Season 4, Episode 6; original air date November 2, 2014): Throughout its 12 seasons, Parts Unknown often showed audiences what life was like in places that aren’t often featured on Western television: The Iran episode is arguably the most important one in that regard. “All I can tell you is, the Iran I’ve seen on TV and read about in the papers, it’s a much bigger picture,” Bourdain remarks. “Let’s put it this way: It’s complicated.”

Bourdain is immediately surprised by the warm welcome he receives everywhere he goes, and he’s delighted by the hospitality that his hosts extend toward him, especially in their homes. He visits bustling markets, centuries-old places of worship, and parts of Tehran where the locals unwind. Tony also memorably chats with married journalists Jason Rezaian and Yeganeh Salehi about the local way of life. As noted at the end of the show, Rezaian and Yeganeh were both imprisoned shortly after filming this episode in 2014; Salehi was released after a few months, but Rezaian was kept in an Iranian prison until 2016. Bourdain remained a vocal advocate for Rezaian until his release.

After the TV host died, Rezaian told CNN: “The show actually had nothing to do with us being arrested, and if anything I think our appearance there — with really one of the most beloved television personalities, and people, of our generation — raised awareness in a different kind of way that nothing else could have.”

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Massachusetts”

(Season 4, Episode 7; original air date November 9, 2014): A large chunk of this episode features Bourdain visiting his old haunts from when he was a young, aimless chef bumming around Provincetown. “[I] pretty much had my first everything on the beach,” he says while standing outside of a boarded-up seaside apartment in P-Town. But the real heart of this episode is its second half, when Tony heads west to learn about the opioid epidemic devastating small towns throughout the state.

Tony meets with an undercover narcotics division cop and one of his anonymous sources, as well as a young woman who has stepped back from the brink of heroin addiction and is constantly looking out for addicts in need of help. Tony knows these struggles all too well: One of the episode’s last scenes shows Bourdain talking to a group of recovering addicts about his own past drug use. “I’ll tell you something really shameful about myself,” Bourdain remarks. “The first time I shot up I looked at myself in the mirror with a big grin.”

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Hanoi”

(Season 8, Episode 1; original air date September 25, 2016): Bourdain clearly loves the capitol of Vietnam, a city he says “grabs you and doesn’t let you go.”

On this very special episode, Tony gets to introduce President Barack Obama to one of his favorite Hanoi activities: eating the pork and noodle dish bun cha and drinking local beer from the bottle. During their convivial meal at a small noodle shop outfitted with stools and tiny tables, Bourdain and Obama discuss the sensory elements of travel, the dining habits of their children, and whether or not it’s ever acceptable to put ketchup on hot dogs (Obama deems that it’s “not acceptable past the age of eight”).

Elsewhere in the episode, Bourdain eats streetside snails in the Old Quarter, and freshly caught squid aboard a steamer ship. The host also chats with a family in a floating fishing village about how the culture and economy in Vietnam are always changing.

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Houston”

(Season 8, Episode 5; original air date October 30, 2016): Bourdain enters Houston with a goal of ripping up the white-washed image of the city that often finds its way on TV — the one that leans into cowboy hats, the oil industry, NASA, and football. “Close minded, prejudicial, quick to make assumptions about places different than where we grew up,” Bourdain says in the episode’s intro. “I’m talking about me and people like me who are way too comfortable thinking of Texas as a big space filled with intolerant and variably right-wing white people waddling between the fast-food outlet and the gun store.”

During his stay, Bourdain meets with the owners of the Acapulco Ballroom, a popular quinceañera venue for the local Mexican-American community. He visits high school principal and Vietnamese refugee Jonathan N. Trinh, who oversees a student body that hails from 70 different countries. He hangs out with local hip-hop star Slim Thug and learns about local “slab” car culture. And he ends his trip by visiting the Houston Indian Cricket Club, where the game day snacks involve tandoori chicken and “some spicy, tender, and totally delicious curried goat, and made-to-order potato masala dosas.”

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Rome”

(Season 8, episode 9; original air date December 4, 2016): In a clear homage to filmmaker Pier Pasolini, the Rome episode showcases the working-class neighborhoods of the Eternal City. “This is about people, often extraordinary ones, living their lives in the Rome you don’t see much in the travel guides or TV shows,” Bourdain says at the start of the show.

It’s here, on camera, that Bourdain meets his future girlfriend, filmmaker/actress/activist Asia Argento. They go to a boxing arena where spaghetti is served to attendees during the match. Argento brings him to her home, where they enjoy a rustic meal with her family. And later, they go ambling among the Brutalist ruins of the Mussolini area. Like many of the best episodes of Parts Unknown, Bourdain seems creatively charged by the people and places he meets along the way.

“Rome is a city where you find the most extraordinary pleasures in the most ordinary things,” Bourdain says while dining in a trattoria, “like this place which I’m not ever going to tell you the name of.”

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Los Angeles”

(Season 9, Episode 1; original air date April 30, 2017): The first Parts Unknown episode to air during the Trump administration is a passionate celebration of LA’s Latinx community, and the immigrant workers who drive so many of the city’s industries. “Los Angeles, like much of California, used to be part of Mexico,” Bourdain says in the intro. “Now Mexico, or a whole lot of Mexicans, are a vital part of us.”

Bourdain meets with community activist Elisa Sol Garcia, tattoo artist Mister Cartoon, actor Danny Trejo, and MMA fighters Nick and Nate Diaz. Throughout his LA sojourn, the host samples some of the city’s myriad Mexican specialties, from tongue tacos to traditional Oaxacan moles to Ray Garcia’s modern cuisine at Broken Spanish, all the while emphasizing the importance of Latinx chefs in the American food scene.

“I worked in French and Italian restaurants my whole career, but really, if I think about it, they were Mexican restaurants and Ecuadorian restaurants, because the majority of the cooks and the people working with me were from those countries,” Bourdain remarks. “That’s who, you know, picked me up when I fell down; who showed me what to do when I walked in and didn’t know anything and nobody knew my name.”

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Laos”

(Season 9, Episode 4; original air date May 14, 2017): Although he eats some terrific local delicacies in this episode — including steaming bowls of khao soi and charcoal-grilled squid skewers — the majority of Bourdain’s visit focuses on the tragic story of how Laos became “the most heavily bombed country per capita in the history of the world.”

Tony spends a lot of time in Hmong villages discussing the bomb clean-up from the war, and sees, first-hand, why it’s so difficult to remove the unexploded ordnances. Bourdain also explores the country’s complicated relationship with the United States, and meets the aid workers trying to help the country bounce back. “Here, on one hand, we have Americans dropping bombs that at the time blow this child up, and then there are American doctors to put them back together,” Bourdain says.

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Kenya”

(Season 12, Episode 1; original air date September 23, 2018): A big part of Bourdain’s appeal on Parts Unknown is that he seemingly lived an enviable life, bouncing around the world, surrounded by fascinating people and delectable things to eat. And the joy of this episode is seeing a bona fide Bourdain fan — fellow CNN host W. Kamau Bell — join him on one of his adventures for the very first time.

Tony is a benevolent traveling companion, imparting various bits of wisdom to Bell on his first trip to Africa, and the United Shades of America host seems thrilled to be rolling with Bourdain and experiencing the local culture for the first time. While sitting atop a mountain on safari, with a drink in hand, Bell turns to Bourdain and says, “The idea that I’m sitting here with you doing this now, knowing where my life and career have come, it’s pretty cool.”

The Kenya episode was the first to air since Bourdain’s death, and the last to feature his full participation. It’s a great way to remember this TV legend, particularly because Bell’s commentary highlights the reason why audiences loved Bourdain so much throughout his career: He kept exploring, never talked down to anyone, and always brought us along for the ride.

Read Eater’s Full recap here.

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Source: https://www.eater.com/2018/11/10/18079924/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown-cnn-best-episodes

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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askmerriauthor · 7 years

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askrustynail submitted:

SO:

I am guessing that there are at least one or two of you who want to join in on the Rider Fun, but don’t know where to stick your OC, Or who want to make an OC, but are uncertain as to where they’d best fit.

LET RUSTY HELP!

(Warning: Rusty may not be helpful)

Kuuga: (Rusty is not helpful)

Agito: (Rusty is so not helpful)

Ryuki: (Rusty, why the hell, dude, what even?)

Faiz: Cell Phones! Also Amnesia, Drama, and Laundry. Lots of belt-swapping, so if you’re a side-cast member, Faiz might be for you.

Blade: (?? Playing Cards?

Hibiki: (Ha ha ha nobody knows what the fuck Hibiki is, anyway. Plastic trumpets and drums.)

Kabuto: Beetles and Super Speed. Plenty of room for both bug-based Rider-Armor, and enemies.

Den-O: Time Traveling Train fighting Space-time violating temporal thieves made of sand that grant wishes. All the Coffee you could ever drink. Sadly, unless you have a pass or ticket, you cannot ride the Denliner.

Kiva: Do you love time-travel? Do you love Universal Movie Monsters? How about Violins? Stained Glass? Maybe you are a friend of the Majestic Friendship Sunshine Society. How about SCORES of people getting FUCKIN’ MERC’D? Not a lot of room for Riders, here. you miiiiight be able to claim a successor or predecessor to IXA, but you have to ask yourself. “Do I really want to be IXA?”

Decade: (Rusty Knows Nothing, other than Decade is a Smug Fucker, who is arguably the most powerful rider there is.)

Double: There is a little room for other Riders in Double. The problem is that everything is powered by little USB drives that are bad-news bears. EASY to be an enemy in Double. Many of them even survive! MANY OF THEM DIE. HARD. Using a Gaia Memory (What you do as an enemy) Has… Consequences. Also: You will never be as cool as Cyclone/Joker. You just won’t.

OOO: You do not want to be a Yummy. There’s a very limited number of Greed, and you kind of need a really, really specific thing you’re adamant about lusting after. (Snow Sparkle is an exception, as she gets to lust after Ice Cream.) There’s only one OOO-Belt. Just the one. And you have to rely on teenage Bishounen Teabiscuits to give you the things you need to transform. You can probably swing wearing Birth, or a birth prototype. Or Mk. 2.0 or something. Oh, and Happy Birthday!

Fourze: Really, really rough to be an enemy here. Very few die, but the effects of using the Enemy-Trigger is heavily addictive. On the plus side, High School! Plenty of space there! Ha Ha! SPACE! Seriously, get on the Cosmic Energy Bandwagon, and you should be able to excuse just about any Rider. The Side-cast is really where you want to be, here, though. Oops!

Wizard: You are not gonna be a Wizard. You just aren’t. You MIGHT be able to get away as one of the Prototype Mages, but even then, you’re pretty… mind-controlled. The enemies, all of them, are pretty rough, as not only do they all die. Hard. But each and every enemy is only there because someone else died. Now, you can probably pick up an Archetype no problem. Just…. Archetypes tend not to ask permission, before they latch on, and they tend to have some REALLY strict conditions to their inhabiting you.

Gaim: Whoo. Whoo buddy. There is…. Look, if you want to be a rider, then come to Gaim, and slap on a Warring Driver, and grab your lockseed. Downsides: You are based on fruits or nuts. You just are. Deal with it. Basically every other Rider wants you dead. Oh, there’s a power-jump you just might never make, and you’re proper-fucked if you don’t. Oh, and there are madness and hallucinations and then shit gets WEIRD. On the plus side, Break-Dancing team-battles! (Gaim was written by the person who wrote Madoka. It explains a lot. The same way Fourze’s writer being the one who wrote Tengen Toppen Gurren Lagan makes a looooooot of sense.)

Drive: (Other than Robots wearing incredibly tight pants, I know nothing of Drive.)

Ghost (I have heard it compared to the 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo)

Ex-Aid: (Rusty is not helpful.)

Hopefully this lends a little bit of assistance!

Let me fill in some blanks there for ya’.

Kuuga: Rage and explosions, color-coded for your convenience. There’s science involved, but it’s mostly for effect. Not a lot of room for Riders here since the Transformation Trinket is an ancient artifact.

Agito: Amnesia and housework have never been so much fun. Semi-related to Kuuga. This one actually has more room for Riders, with the exception of the titular Rider himself. The baddies are responsible for a series of murders and the police, sensibly enough, decide the best way to deal with it is to make Kamen Rider power armor. Just watch out for the armor’s AI - it can get sort of mind-controlly. Alternatively, you can get your hands on a one-of-a-kind ancient artifact or be a mutant. Whatever works.

Ryuki: This is what happens when you mix spandex with Highlander and Battle Royale. While this series is a great source of Riders (seeing as how it has 13! in the main cast), it’s only because the Riders are forced/coerced/otherwise cooperate in an extra-dimensional death battle to decide who the one-and-only Kamen Rider will be. That is to say, the last one standing. Kind of a downer, but they’ve got really neat armor designs, so it balances out.

Blade: Playing cards, Undead, and corporate Japan ladder-climbing. This one does have a number of Riders on both the good and bad side of the conflict, but you sort of need to learn how to play Yu-Gi-Oh style card games to make way. Frankly more wiggle room for non-Rider characters.

Hibiki: Looks like it was made in the late-80′s despite being from 2005. Good if you want to fight Oni - Japanese demons - using the power of rock and roll. Amazing soundtrack.

Decade: Decade is a smug fucker and everything is his fault. Imagine Sliders + Quantum Leap with superpowers, a camera motif, and a petty rival who likes to steal shit. While access to other Riders is abundant with dimension-hopping hijinks allowing a visit to any time and world, it sort of results in the destruction of all realities. Soooo... yeah, not a good one. Also, major throwback to original flavor Kamen Rider.

Drive: Police drama! Sort of, since there’s a lot of comedy on top of it that keeps the tone light. The Transformation Trinket is a sentient being in this one, so availability is understandably limited. But plenty of room on the force for non-Riders! Also, robots.

Ghost: Danny Phantom meets Yokai Watch. Not a good place to be a Rider since the admission fee is dying.

Ex-Aid: HEY KIDS, WHO WANTS TO PLAY SOME VIDYA-GAMES?!

#kamen rider #kamen rider au #this is why i just say it's safer to make a unique au rather than try to jump into an existing story #submission

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magicmenageriestuff · 5 years

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3am Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.) – The K.L.F.

( The Ancients of Mu Mu )

Alien 3 – Paranoia In Pinewood part 2

The six stages of Film Production : as seen carved into the wall in Pinewood, Studio Five, by someone presumably better-versed in the industry than I :

Wild enthusiasm

Disillusionment

Panic

Search For The Guilty

Punish The Innocent

Reward The Non-Involved

The above quote from the diary I kept in 1991 while filming Alien 3 in Pinewood Studios. I released it into the atmosphere as My Pop Life #171 – Praying For Time. I think it’s time for part 2, don’t you?

Somebody send me a clean version of this picture. thanks.

Things settled down a little after the heart-thumping and deeply paranoid first month recorded in the previous episode. No one was sacked. I don’t think. No one was re-cast. There was a terrible accident one day when Sigourney’s make-up lady Linda was standing in a doorway on set – one of those science fiction doorways with a sliding panel which goes up and down with a swish. It was a wooden contraption with a weighted pulley which failed, and it came down suddenly onto her face, right onto her nose. I wasn’t there but it was a nasty accident and she was rushed to hospital. We never saw Linda again. Later I learned that she didn’t want to claim the medical expenses from the company, but having had a facial reconstruction and various operations I think that she eventually did settle. Dangerous places film sets.

The cast of Alien 3 with David Fincher on set, 1991

My relationship with Sigourney had subsided into a kind of sulk, and although she would make the odd remark, the earlier fire and brimstone had calmed down a bit. Not that we’d made up at all. Sadly we weren’t friends. I’d confided in other cast members – Niall Buggy thought I was completely bonkers “What are you talking about Ralph, she’s lovely!” Pete Postlethwaite and Phil Davis felt the same way. Dhobi Oparei too. I was happy that they were enjoying working with her, but just as I started feeling cornered, there was Charles Dance asking me how it was all going as we waited for a set-up. I think I was tentative at first but eventually told him what had been going on. He confessed that he’d had the same kind of experience. “Is that how you’re going to say it?” and all of the paranoia about how clean he looked, other competitive nonsense. I felt relieved that I wasn’t going totally mad. It was only people she had scenes with where the behaviour occurred. Wait – was Charles Dutton also having this relationship with her? No. He was a friend already and he was not the enemy. Charlie and I have been firm friends ever since.

Charles Dance as Clemens

One day on set Sigourney and I had a scene on a balcony, after the fire. Men had died. The Alien was trapped, locked in a loading bay. Dutton and his men were praying below us. The scene wasn’t going well. But we got it at around 8.00pm and Fincher pulled me aside. “Dude. She vampired that scene. Don’t worry I can cut around what you did, we got it. But you’re letting her get to you.” I think I said that I was trying to stand my ground. “If you ever need to leave the set, take five minutes, regain your centre, just say it OK? I got your back.” It was another welcome acknowledgement that I wasn’t paranoid. I went home, cuddled my lady and gritted my teeth for the long haul. I had to try and protect my performance at the end of the day, that was what mattered.

the balcony scene is in the “director’s cut” on the DVD

As the weeks progressed, all of the actors were called in every day, in case we were needed. First thing – put through ‘the works’ – costume and make-up – and then sat in our dressing rooms to await the call, often all day. I often went into the next-door dressing room occupied by the Prison Governor, my boss the legend Brian Glover, who’d memorably played the gym teacher in Ken Loach‘s heartbreaking film Kes. Brian was from Barnsley and did the voice overs for Tetley Tea Bags : ‘Tetley. Make tea bags. Make Tea.‘

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Brian Glover as Andrews

Brian regaled me with stories from his days as a professional wrestler, fighting on the circuit with Giant Haystacks, Big Daddy and Mick McManus. ‘There’s money in ugly Ralph‘ he would announce, his squashed ear a keepsake of his years playing rugby. Every 45 minutes the lovely 2nd AD Marcia Gay would knock and pop her head around the door – ‘Gentlemen. You won’t be required for the next 45 minutes. Just relax‘. This became alarmingly irritating until one day Brian swivelled his giant head in her direction and asked ‘Is the money the same?‘ Marcia was puzzled. ‘Yes‘ she said. ‘Well Fook Off Then!‘ shouted Brian. Rude and fucking funny.

Fincher on the camera with Alex Thomson alongside him who had taken over as DP when Jordan Cronenweth was too ill to continue

There were eventually four units running at the same time – 1st Unit with David Fincher directing and another legend Chris Carreras as 1st AD. The eye of any storm, the 1st AD basically runs the set, oversees all of the departments and keeps a keen eye on who is slowing the unit down. The 1st AD is basically making the film. Chris had an amazingly calm temperament but I saw him biting his tongue a couple of times. Years later in 1999 I would contact him and ask him to 1st AD my film New Year’s Day, which he graciously agreed to do. Without him it wouldn’t have got made. I was going to create a link there to the blog where I talk about the film that I wrote and which actually got made. So scarred am I from this experience that 220 blog posts later I haven’t even started to think about discussing it. Watch this space !

Paul McGann as Golic

Meanwhile back in Pinewood, the other 3 units which might or might not need actors for any given day were : 2nd Unit with Martin Brierly directing (and Nick Heckstall-Smith assisting, whom I would also work with later), Action Unit doing Alien Stuff and other SFX, and a Fire Unit which set fire to things and put them out while stunt guys ran around with falmes one their clothes. We were all required, at one point or another, on all of these units. But there were interminable days when nothing happened. Backgammon became institutionalised, with American actors Chris Fields and particularly Holt McCallany relieving us of our wages on a regular basis with ruthless use of the doubling dice. I soon saw the error of this form of time-wasting, likewise poker and other competitive pursuits.

Clive Mantle as William, Peter Guinness as Gregor

One day when it was clear once again that nothing was going to happen a group of us decided to wander around the studio lot and see what else was going on. Like a bunch of escaped prisoners escorted by a correction facility officer. That was me. We went into one of the bigger studio buildings (Alien 3 had the majority but some were still available for hire) – I can’t remember precisely who was in that gang but I think Peter Guinness, Paul Brennan, Clive Mantle and Danny Webb certainly were. Maybe Niall Buggy and Vincenzo Nicoli too. And there was a giant pyramid structure with lights on frames around it and people with cloaks wandering about. We’d asked permission to visit of course, and the producers knew who we were, what we were doing there. The band was The K.L.F. and they were shooting a video for their single 3am Eternal which had been at Number 1 in the charts that January. A video it turned out, for the US market. We watched a take with smoke and lights, bleeps and heavy metal guitar chords, acid house beats and rap, capes and cloaks. It was all a bit mental. Then they took a break.

We wandered into the next studio through a heavy door. And there was Kylie Minogue, dressed for the Shocked video. We were all introduced and I became suddenly aware of a tiny elfin Australian blonde woman being dwarfed by half a dozen dirty shaven-headed prisoners from outer space. She shook everyone’s hand then gently wandered away and asked one of her people if they could ask us politely to leave. Which we did. Poor love.

Kylie Minogue is Shocked at the power of love in 1991

There’s a curious link here because Bill Drummond, (who with Jimmy Cauty is The K.L.F.) had worked as an A&R man for WEA (now Warners) in London in the mid-80s and had apparently spent half a million pounds on a band called Brilliant who never quite took off. Stock Aitken & Waterman were writers & producers for Brilliant, and Jimmy Cauty was in the band along with Martin Glover aka Youth from Killing Joke. And Stock Aitken & Waterman were now writing and producing for Kylie, along with a vast stable of acts including Donna Summer, Mel & Kim and Jason Donovan. Kylie & Jason had starred together in Aussie soap Neighbours, and to continue the odd waltz between the 2 acts, the K.L.F. had made a single called ‘Kylie Said To Jason‘ which was a hilarious rip-off of ‘Left To My Own Devices‘ by The Pet Shop Boys. Confused Yet ??

Bill Drummond & Jimmy Cauty

I didn’t make any of these connections at the time. I was listening to George Michael, Public Enemy, The Breeders. Catching up with Bob Marley and Miles Davis. Discovering Wagner – again. Looming on the horizon was Massive Attack. The K.L.F. seemed to me a little like The Tubes, one of my favourite bands to be sure, or the Bonzo Dog Band (see My Pop Life #77), formed by musicians who wanted to lampoon the music and the industry and anything else they could gather into their fiendish net. Like everything was in quotes. I mean who sang along with the phrase “Ancients of MuMu” without a silly grin on their face?

And of course we were still recovering from the smiley-face rave culture moment from which the K.L.F. appeared to have emerged. In fact they were rather more like a situationist art project that wanted to burn the whole thing down. Anarchists. Their career was inspired partly by the theatre show The Illuminatus Trilogy, written and directed by mad genius Ken Campbell in Liverpool where Bill had been the set designer. He walked out one day to buy a sandwich and never came back. Later he formed his Pop Group who became The Timelords with big novelty hit Doctoring The Tardis, then The JAMS (Justified Ancients of MuMu) with the single What Time Is Love which got re-issued a number of times from 1988 onward, then The K.L.F. Their brilliant warped career peaked a year later in 1992 at the BRIT Awards when Drummond machine-gunned the audience of music industry execs from the stage, and a dead sheep was left at the door of the afterparty with the message “I died for you – bon appetit” attached. A few months later in May 1992 The K.L.F. announced that they had quit the music business and deleted their entire back catalogue. Other stunts followed such as the infamous burning of a million pounds, the Soup Line, the 17 Choir and other innovative ideas. Apparently Bill Drummond lived just down the hill from me when I was in Brighton but I never met him, I don’t think.

Niall Buggy as Eric, Danny Webb as Morse

Back on the Alien3 set a few days later it was Valentine’s Day. I had been sent a card and an AD delivered it to me as we relaxed between shots. It was of course from Jenny my beloved. We were not married at that point. And I could swear Sigourney was looking over my shoulder to see who it was from. Hahaha. Fincher was shooting a lot of footage. “I’m doing long pans & track so they can’t cut into my footage” he explained one day. It meant that when we had a group scene we could open a book on how many takes it would be. Anything under five was unpopular. Over twelve was possible, common even. I think we did a tenner per set-up. Someone wrote the names down and the number they’d chosen. Often no one would win because we went up to Take 17 and no one wanted to put ten of your earth pounds on that.

Here’s an idea…

In fact Sigourney and I had one of our scenes discussing plans regarding telling the company their was an Alien on the planet, and playing a fella who wanted to go home to his wife and kids, rather than perish in some millennial cult group suicide, Aaron ’85’ suggested a plan. Ripley’s response was tentatively ‘yes maybe‘. We did a couple of wide shots, then into my single. Can’t remember how many takes it was – probably around seven or eight. Then turned round onto Sigourney. David didn’t like her tone, which suggested that Ripley thought Aaron was a dick. He didn’t think that was right at that point in the story. So. One more. Turn over. Sound Speed. Scene 178 take 17. Mark it. And….Action! Blah blah blah. Cut. Same result. He’s not your enemy. Take 22. Don’t sneer. Take 29. You think it’s a good idea. Take 34. By which time we were all so exhausted and dizzy from the repetition that Sigourney said the line in a kind of dazed acquiescence and Fincher had the take he wanted.

About a year later in Los Angeles, after the re-shoots, I had two days of ADR in a West LA studio on Olympic Boulevard. David remembered the scene well, 34 takes. He’d never done ADR before though – Automated Dialogue Replacement – where you can change the inflexion, emphasis, tone, shade and meaning of a line just by using your voice and matching the lip movements on screen in front of you precisely. Movie magic. Some actors hate it, I made friends with the process very early on after I had to voice the whole of my performance as Danny in Withnail & I for the US market. The test screenings had indicated that audience members couldn’t understand what he was saying. Who could? I did that piece of work at Twickenham Studios in 1987 where the engineer consoled me having to re-do my entire performance at the same speed except more intelligibly by telling me that Michael Caine had done Alfie and Bob Hoskins had also done The Long Good Friday for America. And yet we were expected to understand Stallone’s mumbles or Pacino’s – hey that’s what it means to be an outlying part of The Empire right? I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen the US version of Withnail but I suspect it would be a bad idea. But having said that the experience toughened me up for future sessions. Especially the Alien 3 session which was two long days – the reason for that was the amount of atmospheric smoke and steam in the design of the film which was very noisy to produce. Often back in the day on big movies the Sound Department knew that they were recording a guide track only, to be completed and polished in ADR. So here we were down on W. Olympic and David says – if I’d known about ADR in Pinewood I would never have done 34 takes just for a vocal inflection…

It’s hard to recall now in 2019 how difficult that experience was. Jenny can remember quite clearly how I would come home every day, full of doubt, full of worry and anguish, just because I was trying to do my best work. What a fantastic opportunity for me, but you know I was running fast just to stand still. I remember a visual image I used to produce while trying to explain it to friends, as a learning curve which came from my chest, looped back over my head and stabbed me in the back. I wondered if, at some point, whether the fact that we were making a horror film in space meant that we had to have a horrible experience in space. I called Richard E. Grant one day who was shooting Hudson Hawk in Italy – another picnic – and he asked me how much I was getting. I told him. He said

“well – that’s the amount of shit you have to eat then.”

I could almost understand why Bill Drummond had formed The K.L.F.

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My Pop Life #220 : 3am Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.) – The K.L.F. 3am Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.) - The K.L.F. ( The Ancients of Mu Mu )

#Alien 3 #Bill Drummond #Brian Glover #Charles Dance #Chris Carreras #Danny Webb #David Fincher #Jimmy Cauty #Kylie Minogue #Paul McGann #Sigourney Weaver #The Illuminatus Trilogy

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buddyrabrahams · 7 years

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10 biggest NBA trade deadline takeaways

[clears throat and does best ancient Roman accent]

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? IS THIS NOT WHY YOU ARE HERE?!?

After countless visits to the Woj bomb shelter and copious mashing of the F5 button, this year’s NBA trade deadline is now in the rearview mirror — but not before New Orleans became a Boogie Wonderland, Jeanie Buss executed Order 66, and Danny Ainge slept through all of his alarms yet again. As the salary cap dust finally begins to settle, let’s go for a deep dive into the 10 biggest takeaways from Trade SZN 2K17.

1. The Southwest Division has become a meat grinder

In their shocking acquisition of three-time All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins from the SacrHAHAHAHAmento Kings, the New Orleans Pelicans managed to melt our faces off and give the ultimate middle finger to small-ball all at once. Cousins will join forces with Anthony Davis to form what is easily the NBA’s most fearsome frontcourt duo since Tim Duncan and David Robinson, and he very well could lift the team to a Godzilla vs. King Kong-esque clash of styles against the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.

But while the Cousins bombshell dominated all of the headlines, the Houston Rockets upgraded their own weapon system by trading for former Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, a top-tier bench scorer and yet another threes-and-free-throws enthusiast to toss into Daryl Morey’s cauldron. And with the omnipresent San Antonio Spurs again cruising to a 60-plus win season, the Memphis Grizzlies modernizing nicely, and the Dallas Mavericks somehow still kicking, we may officially have a new Division of Death in the Association.

2. The East is now as wide open as it’s been in years

A faint glimmer of hope shines intermittently in the distance to signal the possible end of LeBron James’ reign of terror over the Eastern Kingdom. That glimmer may actually be the Ibaka Flocka Flame that the Toronto Raptors lit this trade deadline, a get that should improve their spacing and help remedy their chronic problem of bleeding easy buckets at the rim in crunchtime. Their late addition of P.J. Tucker as a LeBron-stopper of sorts has the potential to be huge as well, especially he was had for the price of a negative asset in Jared Sullinger and a pair of inconsequential second-rounders.

But don’t sleep on the Washington Wizards either now that they no longer have a cardboard cutout of a second unit thanks to the acquisition of Bojan Bogndanovic from Brooklyn. Bogdanovic’s friskiness off the bounce and his 36.6 percent career mark from deep give the Wiz a legitimate sixth man instead having to trot out The Ghosts of Power Conference Studs Past in Trey Burke and Kelly Oubre Jr. Now as long their starting five continues to swipe lunch money, Washington is set up to a be yuge headache come playoff time.

And to think that we haven’t even gotten to the team that’s mathematically closest to the Cavaliers yet…

3. The Boston Celtics are still waiting for the right time to pounce

“This will be the year that Danny Ainge finally awakens from his trade deadline slumber,” we repeated to ourselves as we slowly rocked back and forth in the fetal position. But alas, Ainge has once again taken the advice of the Magic Conch Shell and done nothing.

Paul George? Sike. Andre Drummond? Ask again later. Jimmy Butler? LOL.

In fairness, there’s not as much urgency to deal for a superstar when the Celtics have already witnessed one emerge in-house this season in Mighty Mouse Isaiah Thomas. Ainge may also want to see a healthy Avery Bradley get more reps with this current core and wait to see where that much-ballyhooed Brooklyn pick will actually fall so as to make a more well-informed decision about the future of his team. But time is of the essence with the Cavaliers, who are just three games ahead of Boston entering the second half of the season, beginning to show signs of mortality, so it’s still tough to justify the Celtics sitting on their hands instead of throwing them.

And since we keep mentioning those pesky Clevelanders…

4. The Cavaliers are walking a dangerous tightrope

LeBron James just hit all of his prospective playmakers with a resounding “It’s not you, it’s me.” Granted, a pre-deadline move was a longshot with the capped-out, asset-deficient reality the Cavs were forced to work with, especially since they gave up what little they had left to acquire sharpshooter Kyle Korver. But it’s still a highway to the danger zone to maintain status quo when the roster only runs six or seven deep right now thanks to the respective injury absences of J.R. Smith and Kevin Love.

Fortunately though, deadline inaction is far from nuclear Armageddon for the Cavs. The buyout market is still a viable place to acquire cheap, albeit exiled, talent in order to retool for a playoff run. Ditto for the often-overlooked 10-day contract cycle, which they recently took advantage of with the signing of ex-No. 2 overall pick Derrick Williams. So while time is very much ticking on Cleveland, there’s still an ample amount of sand in their hourglass, and hopefully that means their title defense doesn’t fall flat (no pun intended).

5. Several more months of Carmelo Anthony rumors await us

#StayMe7o he did indeed, much to the chagrin of those of us who felt compelled to bang our heads repeatedly against our keyboards thanks to the constant bombardment of Carmelo chatter and the gross societal overuse of the phrase “no-trade clause.” Well, those therapy sessions now look like a pretty darn good investment with Anthony surviving the trade deadline and ensuring that many more months of Melo-brand Instagram shade, indecipherable Phil Jackson subtweets, and Spike Lee sideline struggle faces are looming on the horizon to assault the senses of the NBA fandom.

Where do the Knicks go from here? At 23-34, they’ve all but clinched another season of futility. Meanwhile, Derrick Rose will likely be gonzo after the year, but Joakim Noah will still be around to clog cap, and Kristaps Porzingis will continue to have his development stunted by the team’s Melo-centric offense. Then draft season arrives followed shortly after by the 2017-18 campaign, and we fire up the Anthony hot stove all over again. Are we having fun yet?!?

6. The Lakers are done playing games

Jeanie Buss means business if you didn’t gather from the Red Wedding she stunningly pulled on her brother Jim and Mitch Kupchak just 48 hours before the deadline. The same goes for Magic Johnson, who, upon ascending to his new perch as Lakers president of basketball operations, traded away Lou Williams, got the team involved on the Paul George front, and took calls on Nick Young, all faster than you could say “Abdul-Jabbar.”

Now none of those moves were game-changers in and of themselves, but they affirmed one message to Laker Nation: our long national nightmare is over. Johnson is already working to rebuild the franchise’s reputation in the eyes of marquee talents and scheming with new GM Rob Pelinka and the rest of the front office to put the Lakers in a position to realistically and financially be able to acquire that talent. So rival executives best be vigilant of no-look passes zipping by their ears, because it’s Showtime in Los Angeles again.

7. Doc Rivers is perfectly content to run it back again

Another team somewhat surprising in their silence this year was the Los Angeles Clippers, who took a pie to the face last deadline by swinging an eleventh-hour deal for Jeff Green, who played for the team for all of two months, in exchange for Lance Stephenson and a future first-rounder. Welp.

Perhaps the sting of that belly flop of a trade necessitated the exercise of more prudence this time around, but the Clips are in a good spot regardless. Merciful point god Chris Paul is on the verge of an early return from injury, and Blake Griffin has been Hellboy in basketball form since his own return.

While the temptation to gauge themselves against Golden State and panic into a Carmelo Anthony-type deal must have been enormous, there’s intrinsic value in the 2011 Dallas Mavericks model of keeping a nucleus intact for several seasons in the hope that they can eventually break through the glass ceiling. Though the Dubs have all but assured that the ceiling [commander-in-chief voice] just got ten feet higher, it sounds like that’s the conventional wisdom Doc Rivers is going for here.

8. The cavalry is coming behind Russell Westbrook

Those 10,000 “Save The Brodie” shirts I ordered off eBay were not purchased in vain.

Though the loss of Westbrook’s blood sworn dance partner, Cameron Payne, is absolutely devastating (not really), the reinforcements have arrived for our beloved triple-double addict. Doug McDermott will offer Billy Donovan a versatile offensive threat to close games with in those situations where the foul stench of Andre Roberson’s jumper is too much to bear. The addition of veteran forward Taj Gibson should also unlock a number of juicy tall-ball lineups next to Steven Adams in case rookie Domantas Sabonis isn’t ready for the bright lights of the postseason or if Enes Kanter isn’t the same upon returning from his upholstery-related injury.

All things considered, the cost is quite minimal for the Thunder. Joffrey Lauvergne proved to be little more than a 6-foot-11 whoopee cushion in the increased opportunity presented by Kanter’s absence, and Payne is a low-upside option at a position of abundance who simply hasn’t looked serviceable since undergoing foot surgery. With the Thunder only 3.5 games out of a top-four seed in the West, let Westbrook’s piercing battle cry shepherd the weak through the valley of darkness.

9. Is The Process still being trusted?

The trade of Nerlens Noel to Dallas was a bolt from the blue, especially since he had finally appeared to find his calling as a defensive dynamo sixth man for the Sixers. In selling off Noel, a Day One Process OG, is Jerry Colangelo beginning to trample all over the carefully-crafted sandcastle that his predecessor, the Honorable Sam Hinkie, built?

In conjunction with their earlier trade of Ersan Ilyasova to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the injured Tiago Splitter and two future second-rounders, Colangelo seems to be presiding over a radical shift in team-building strategy by the Philly front office. Gone are the days of building exclusively through the draft in favor of clearing out roster space and cap room, perhaps to work more closely with the free agency pool in future years.

With that in mind, dealing Noel, who is due for restricted free agency after the season, makes at least a remote inkling of sense, even if it’s still difficult to justify the late 180 of choosing to keep Jahlil Okafor over Noel. So while I can at least somewhat understand why Colangelo pulled the trigger, as a fanatical disciple of the Holy Gospel according to Hinkie, I can never forgive him.

10. Paul George survives the deadline

As it turns out, Larry Bird was just teasing us all along. Though the PG-13 fever dreams abounded from Boston to Los Angeles, George remains with the Pacers through the deadline. It’s an interesting way for Indy to maintain the outward appearance of long-term commitment to the four-time All-Star while also gathering intel as to what his trade value might be over the summer and come next season.

In the end, it stands to reason that the time wasn’t ripe for the picking to move George. The Pacers are still a playoff team and George is under contract through 2018. But as Carmelos and Butlers before us can attest, this by no means symbolizes the death of the rumor mill, for George or other potentially-available stars. So as winter gives way to spring gives way to the playoffs gives way to the summer, there shall be no rest for the weary. Long live the National Basketball Association.

from Larry Brown Sports http://ift.tt/2lvZhIM

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tourguideexpert-blog-blog · 5 years

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Great desert adventures: readers travel tips

New Post has been published on https://travelqia.com/must-see/great-desert-adventures-readers-travel-tips-2/

Great desert adventures: readers travel tips

Spectacular night skies, vast red dunes, one of the worlds longest trains and Navajo porridge are among our readers highlights in these beautiful sandscapes

Winning tip: The Canning stock route, Australia

Crossing four deserts, the Canning stock route in Western Australia extends 1,850km from Halls Creek (east of Broome) to Wiluna in the mid-west. The route was established in 1910 to break a monopoly in the beef trade. Much of it is bush track and can be undertaken with a 4WD. However, it is more usual to travel in a small escorted tour either for the whole or a section of the trail. (Last year my father-in-law undertook a section with a group of volunteers maintaining the waterholes and wells.) The trail crosses a vast and stunning wilderness: from the red dirt of the Kimberley, the Pilbara regions Lake Disappointment (a huge salt lake surrounded by sand dunes) to the wildflowers that appear in early spring. You may even see a camel or two. The best part of the day is when you set up camp, night falls and the heat subsides, and you sit beneath an endless canopy of bright stars thinking you could be the only people on the planet. john redston

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Every week we ask our readers for recommendations from their travels. A selection of tips will be featured online and in print, and the best entry each week (as chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet) wins a 200 voucher from hotels.com. To enter the latest competition visit the readers’ tips homepage

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The Sahara, Mauritania

Photograph: Alamy

Chinguetti in Mauritania, almost swallowed by sand, is the Sahara at its prettiest. The town is one of Islams holiest cities and an architectural delight. The surrounding sand dunes are mesmerisingly beautiful and impressive in size. Its possible to visit nearby oases on a camel and stay overnight in the desert under the open sky, an unforgettable experience on both full moon and moonless nights. The very adventurous can get to Chinguetti by riding the first class carriage (free of charge) on Mauritanias iron ore train, one of the longest trains in the world (at about 3km). It departs Nouadhibou and Chinguetti can then be reached via Choum and Atar (which has an airport and can be reached by air from the capital, Nouakchott). GoranLondon

Navajo territory, Arizona, US

Photograph: Alamy

On the last night of our four-day trip in Arizona, my brother and I stayed at Shash Dine Eco-Retreat (cabin sleeping four from 112 a night, shashdine.com). We were able to spend the night on Navajo land in a traditional hogan (a small house made from poles and branches). We spent time taking in the reds, oranges, and purples of Antelope Canyon, exploring the bizarre landscape of toadstools, splashing around Lake Powell, and marvelling at the majesty of the Grand Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. That night around the fire we watched the stars while lightning storms rolled through in the distance. The fire kept us warm for hours. Soon enough the sun rose and we were greeted with freshly brewed Navajo tea, porridge, and fresh fruit. Our last stop before we left town was a lookout over the Grand Canyon. Our hosts took us because it is not accessible to the public, being on Navajo land. It was explained that, according to the Navajo, the gods lived in the Grand Canyon. Once more I stood in awe of its greatness; the gods chose the most wonderful place to call home. Kara Cunningham

Petra, Jordan

Photograph: Alamy

Even without the incredible rock-hewn monuments, Petra would be one of the most captivating of desert landscapes. The Siq canyon is mindblowing enough, cleaving through the rosy sandstone for more than a kilometre, but the puckered eruptions of rock that contain the ancient city are a masterpiece of natural beauty. Blistered red cliffs soar skywards, painted with streaks of purple, rose, ochre and orange. Follow rock-cut steps up to the High Place of Sacrifice, looking out for the colourful strata on the way up, and enjoying a birds eye view of the mountains from the top. To round off the desert experience, spend the night in one of the Bedouin camps near Little Petra, reached along a road through more mind-bending rock formations. marthah

Stargazing in the Atacama, Chile

Photograph: Getty Images

While visiting the Atacama desert, our standout experience was a tour with a retired astronomer. A minibus picked us up at our hotel in San Pedro and we drove out to a collection of fixed telescopes, where for the next two hours we were shown the wonders of the night sky free from light pollution. Wrap up warm. The tour doesnt run for three nights either side of a full moon. Tours from 30, spaceobs.com Danny Jones

Oatman town, Mojave, US

Photograph: Liz Marr

In stunning scenery along a mountain road between Lake Havasu City and Kingman lies the forgotten town of Oatman. Take away the cars and you have the old wild west tumbledown wooden buildings and saloon bars. Wander the raised wooden sidewalks with the oh-so-friendly donkeys that roam free in the streets and sometimes the gift shops. Eat and drink at the old west cafes when you need to get out of the sun. Dont forget the Oatman Sidewalk Egg Fry in July when temperatures can reach 50C. Sun block and hats a must! Liz Marr

Rajasthan, India

Photograph: David Ross

As you approach the city of Jaisalmer through the vast Thar desert, the vegetation becomes ever more sparse. Peering through the windows of your train carriage, you can see the cattle slowly give way to camels. At the end of the line a 17-hour rail journey from Delhi is a real desert treat: a city of imposing sandstone forts, intricately carved temples and jaw-dropping Rajasthani havelis (mansions). In a country as populous and frenetic as India, this isolated region on the border with Pakistan feels special. Within an hour of the city walls you feel as if you are days from anywhere. An overnight camel safari is the perfect way to appreciate the beautiful wilderness: cooking and camping under the stars in the Thar gives you an experience of solitude you will never forget. The wonderfully relaxing Hotel Mystic in Jaisalmer (doubles from 28 B&B, mysticjaisalmer.com) makes a great base and also organises trips into the desert. David Ross

Cycling the Sonoran, Tucson, US

Photograph: Alamy

You can cycle (my favourite) hike or drive through Saguaro national park, part of the Sonoran desert bordering Tucson. Youll be blown away by this landscape. Some features are familiar, such as the iconic giant cacti: silhouetted against a desert sunset, they are breathtaking. This desert abounds in birdlife. Ive been lucky enough to glimpse hummingbirds and vermilion flycatchers. For a fuller understanding of the ecology and more, the Arizona-Sonora museum (desertmuseum.org) is worth a visit. Moiraash

An enchanting ecolodge, Jordan

Photograph: Alamy

Its a bumpy old ride to get there, through unmade roads in Wadi Feynan in Jordan, but you are definitely rewarded as you approach Feynan Ecolodge in the rugged Dana Biosphere Reserve. My wife and I threw caution to the (sandy) winds, and hired a car in Jordan to drive deep into the desert for a night at this incredibly peaceful ecolodge, where your only neighbours are wild camels and the very occasional Bedouin goat farmer. While the candlelit dinner was something special, it was lying on the roof terrace watching the stars unfold on a cloudless night that made this an experience to remember. Doubles from 124 full board and activities, ecohotels.me Joe Sunderland

Sandboarding in Perus Northern Desert

Photograph: Getty Images

Most people travel to north Peru to surf the coastal waves, but inland at the Northern Desert theres surfing of a different kind sandboarding. Take a 30-minute taxi ride from Trujillo to the oasis of La Laguna de Conache. At this small farming settlement, you can rent boards for a few pounds and surf the huge sand dunes. Climbing up is a work-out in itself and coming down is heart-stoppingly fast, so remember to pause at the top for a photo of the endless desert as you perch gingerly on your board. Cool off in the neighbouring reservoir, and even hire a boat to fish for tilapia. bowbank

The Negev, Israel

Photograph: Northlondonhousewife

Consider a trip to the Negev if youre visiting Israel. Its such a small country that nothing is really very far away, but the Negev feels as if its a million miles away from everywhere, including the troubles of this region. Hostel Succah in the Desert, near Mitzpe Ramon, has fairly basic cabins (no electricity, no running water, no wifi, no mobile signal) that take you back to a much simpler time and place. Theres a pool at the reception, which is also where breakfast is served. Activities include horse and camel rides, and desert safaris. Desert cabins from 105 B&B, succah.co.il Northlondonhousewife

Wahiba Sands and Hajar Mountains, Oman

Photograph: Joe Trevorrow

With three friends I hired a guide and a 4×4 through Nomad Tours in Muscat (250pp, nomadtours.com) and set out on a very basic camping expedition into the Hajar Mountains in the north of Oman, witnessing stunning sunrises of which I have pictures of, climbing through dangerous desert canyons and seeing a space rocket burn up in the night sky. We then headed south for a night in the Wahiba Sands a 200 sq km desert with long rolling dunes, herds of bedouin and camels roaming. The desert much is reddish in colour, and comes alive at night with various insects, lizards and jerboas hunting. Dunes rise to around 200 metres in height and climbing them is certainly a workout. The further you head into the desert you find yourself cut off from the dune bashers and civilisation. Temperatures during September when we went hit 49C during midday so we had to make sure all our skin was fully covered. We finally headed out of the sand dunes to Wadi bin Khaled, one of many oasis-like features found in Oman to wash the sand of and refresh. Joe Trevorrow

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

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