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darkhighness · 6 months

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Good Omentober Day 23- The Anti-Christ

Prompt by @disaster-dog

Adam Young has had The Dream since about his 11th birthday. He confides in his friends, hoping to make some sense of it.

This oneshot continues tomorrow into Day 24!

It had been many years since but every time Adam closed his eyes, he had the most vivid dreams of some kind of occult beings. There was an odd sense of familiarity but the people in his dreams didn’t look anything like anyone he’d seen in real life. Not even The Them remembered but they all seemed very keen to solve the mystery.

Almost 50 notebooks had been filled up with sketches and every single thing Adam could remember from his dream. He remembered two people with wings and a flaming sword. He remembered some kind of motorcycle gang and for some reason, Anathema was there.

It was late at night and Adam was once again finalising the shading on yet another image of some kind of demonic being that erupted from the ground. Despite documenting everything, Adam still couldn’t piece it all together. He really should’ve been asleep as he promised Pepper and Wensleydale that they’d go to the library and try and look up more old movies he might have seen that were similar to The Dream.

Adam wasn’t sure if The Dream was deserving of the capitals but it was something that simply felt just and none of The Them ever really questioned it. Dog was sleeping peacefully under the desk, the small canine snores being the only sounds besides the occasional brush of eraser dust that filled the room.

Arthur Young, while pleased by his son’s sudden studiousness and constant trips to the library was once again awoken by the light peering into the hallway, illuminating underneath the doorframe into his bedroom.

“Adam, what are you doing?” The tired father asks, leaning against the doorframe.

“Just studying Dad, I’ll turn the light out once I go to bed,” Adam assured, gently erasing a stray pencil mark.

“It’s midnight, Adam. It’s time to go to bed.”

Adam rolled his eyes and slid the drawing under a stack of books before flicking the lamp off. He laid down in bed, resting under the covers and wondered if he was going to have The Dream again tonight ---

“Do you ever think about Adam?” Aziraphale asked gently, toying with Crowley’s hair.

“I mean, sometimes,” The demon groaned, barely conscious, “I’d be surprised if the Anti-Christ didn’t make any kind of impression.”

“I do hope he’s well.”

“Course you do. You’re an angel.”

---

In The Dream tonight, everyone’s voices felt blurry, like Adam was listening through a wall. He saw the light and the dark figures again, always standing close to him like some kind of bodyguards

He woke up, feeling entirely frustrated to have not gotten any kind of new details so he pulled on his jeans and sweater, looped his backpack over his arms and rushed out the door, already almost 10 minutes late for the bus.

Adam ran out to the yard and hopped on his bike, cycling as fast as he could to the school. He couldn’t stop thinking about The Dream. It was all he thought about anymore anyway but he was determined to find the identity of these two figures.

“Do you think it’s God in your dreams?” Brian asked optimistically, shoving another handful of crisps into his mouth.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would God be in his dreams?” Pepper scolded, opening up yet another tab on the library’s computer.

“It’s not like we have any leads,” Wensleydale reminded, hoping Brian wouldn’t take it too harshly.

Brian was entirely unphased.

“Show me the picture again, Adam,” Pepper instructed bluntly.

Adam slid the picture across the table and Pepper stared at it intently. “These people, they look like these people in an old newspaper about a magician. This was ages ago though. Do you think it could be their Dads?”

Adam inspected the scanned, grainy image on Pepper’s screen, his eyebrows raised in a quizzing fashion, “I mean, I guess it looks a little bit like them. But that’s not a very good photo.”

“Of course it’s not! Photos were rubbish back then.”

“What are their names? Mr Fell and…Mr Crowley?” Adam asked, zooming in on the caption of the photo.

Pepper searched Mr Fell first and all that came up was an antique bookstore. Nothing about magicians at all. There were even less results for Mr Crowley.

“They can’t have been that famous if they aren’t even on Google,” Brian interjected, crumpling up the bag of crisps and gripping it in his closed fist.

“Well, what if we call the number of this bookshop? Maybe it’s his great-great-grandad!” Adam suggested.

“How long ago do you think the war was?” Pepper sighed before pulling out her phone and carefully typing in the number. She hesitated for a moment before pressing call and she set the phone on speaker.

---

The phone rang precisely 3 times before Crowley peeled himself off the couch to answer it. Aziraphale was in the back room, looking for some misprinted bible he was keen to show Crowley, leaving him to tend to the business needs. “This is-” Crowley paused for a moment, trying to remember what Aziraphale would say when he answered the phone, “A.Z Fell and Co, Rare and Antiquarian Book Dealer. If you want it we probably don’t have it, this is Crowley how can I help you?”

The demon heard an excited squeal on the other side and what sounded like a muffled ‘Crowley, that’s the name in the paper!’ and ‘He doesn’t sound very old!’.

“Oh hell-” Crowley huffed before sticking his head out towards Aziraphale, “Oi angel, you’ve got kids prank calling you again!”

The angel toddled out of the back room looking incredibly cross. He took the phone from Crowley and held it up to his ear before saying, “Now, now kids, surely there must be a better use of your time than prank calling a bookshop!”

“Is that Mister Fell?” One of the kids asked excitedly.

“Yes, and I get very cross with people who muck about,” The angel cautioned.

That got a laugh out of Crowley who slumped back into the seat, “I’d like to see you cross, angel.”

“We wanted to ask you about your grandad! He was a magician, wasn’t he?”

#good omens #crowley #good omens 2 #good omentober #anthony j crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #aziraphale x crowley #ao3 fanfic #ineffable husbands #the them #adam young

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authorsadiethatcher · 1 year

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It’s Saturday night, but there’s still time for some bimbo doll fun. Again, this is another story inspired by the work of Leticia Latex. This time, we have a former politician who actually feels guilt over what she did and said to try and attain office. Now she finds a way to repent and get rid of her guilt.

Plastic Guilt is available for purchase from Amazon, Smashwords, and Google Play.

Charlotte has just come off a horrible and humiliating political campaign. She said and did things that she isn’t proud of, demonizing people she considered friends. Now she is stuck with the guilt of her actions and the tension with her husband, Brian. While visiting with friends one night, Charlotte is faced with the fact that her friend Ruby, a woman who she had demonized and proposed cutting disability payments to, was now a plastic doll. And seeing Ruby so happy has Charlotte wondering if she could erase the guilt and make up for her past misdeeds by becoming a doll too. Will Charlotte go through with it? And if she does, will she still be the same woman she is now or will she change, turning into a plastic bimbo doll, just like Ruby? Find out in Plastic Guilt.

#sadie thatcher #writing #BuildingBetterGiggles #story #book #ebook

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gorillazsharko · 1 year

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Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades (2002–2008)

After attempting to kill 2-D and leaving Gorillaz, Murdoc headed off to Mexico to get some sun and relax, however after using fake dud cheques at a brothel, Murdoc was arrested and sentenced to thirty years at La Mesa State Prison on October 31st 2002. During this time, Murdoc met cellmates who taught him a bit of black magic, and acquired himself a pet raven named Cortez.

Meanwhile, that same evening, Kong Studios had been shut down tight in its owner's absence by local law enforcement after an unknown man was seen running, naked and in hysterics, in the marshes near the studio. The police proceeded to keep the area secured while they investigated the strange paranormal events surrounding Kong.

After Murdoc left, the next to leave was Noodle. Noodle went back to Japan in a fruitful attempt to uncover the secrets of her own past after suffering from nightmares and visions on the Gorillaz Tour. Noodle left for Japan on October 1st 2002, she checked into a capsule hotel, and began her search.

2-D was the next one to leave, 2-D headed out into the world of L.A., rubbing elbows with Brian Setzer, joining The Viper Room Club, and moving into an apartment flat with actress Britt Ekland. However, after Britt spent every night banging on the walls and building a wicker statue, and getting sick of the Los Angeles life style, 2-D decided to go back to Eastbourne and work at his father's funfair. 2-D returned to England on November 25th 2002. It was during this time 2-D's ego got a significant boost and he re-established his grip on reality, coming to terms with his newfound pop icon status with the ladies. He also began a friendship with Shane Lynch from Boyzone. 2-D also began to grow a resentment for Murdoc, breaking free of adoring his abuser.

Russel remained in L.A. for some time but became increasingly haunted by The Grim Reaper, who eventually banished Del from his body. Luckily, Russel was approached by Ike Turner who offered him sanctuary in his basement to recover.

After a year of searching in Japan, Noodle was close to giving up on her search, she decided to head down to a sushi bar in downtown Hong Kong, to eat in woe. While she was there a waitor called for an order of "Ocean Bacon" and all of Noodle's memories came flooding back. she was reunited with her mentor, Mr. Kyuzo who was working as a chef at the establishment and learned that she was part of a secret government super soldier project and could speak English fluently. Noodle was the only survivor after the project was scrapped. Mr. Kyuzo erased Noodle's memory using the words, "Ocean Bacon" and sent her off to England in the FedEx crate. Armed with her newfound knowledge and iron resolve, Noodle decided to return to Kong Studios. on October 27th 2003, Noodle returned to Kong, and discovered that the building had fallen under a state of disrepair during the band's absence. She also discovered that the building was invested by zombies and a monster infested darkness. Using the Kong security room as a safe house Noodle slowly cleaned the building of it's unwanted inhabitants. Now knowing English, Noodle began to soak up what was playing on her TV in the security room, and discovered society was being fed manufactured shit. It was here that Noodle began writing and putting together the concepts of the band's sophomore album "Demon Days".

While Noodle was clearing Kong, Russel was still recovering in Ike Turner's basement, it was here that Russel began recording demo's for a solo hip hop album. However, after seeing hallucinations of demons flying out the speakers, Russel decided to bury the demo tapes, believing that they were causing several world problems.

Finally, in February 2004, Noodle finally cleared Kong of the undead and began contacting her bandmates, but Murdoc was still in prison!

After spending a year in jail, Murdoc's patience began wearing thin, he teamed up with his cellmates and escaped from La Mesa State. He returned to the Chicken Choker brothel, to commit the same crime he did before, then heading over to the airports, and flying back to England.

Noodle texted her bandmates, and on March 3rd 2004, 2-D, Murdoc, and Russel returned to Kong Studios. Gorillaz were together again. The band caught each other up on what they had been up to, before Noodle unveiled her Demon Days project. Recording for the album began the next day.

Noodle drafted in Damon, and producer Danger Mouse to help out with the record. The main story of Demon Days was to depict a post 9/11 world, with each track dealing with a different topic/demon. Noodle also set out to make the album prove that Gorillaz were more then a marketing ploy gimmick, as many critics accused of Gorillaz in regards to their last album. Recordings completed in November 2004. A month later on December 12th 2004, Gorillaz announced their comeback with the release of a new music video for a new song called "Rockit". Along with this was Noodle setting up the "Search For A Star" contest. A competition in which fans could submit themselves doing a talent, and submit said video or piece of artwork to Gorillaz website. Gorillaz also launched the Reject False Icons campaign, which encouraged fans to reject false celebrity icons. The cherry on top of all of this was a complete renovation to Kong Studios, new rooms and new minigames for fans to explore and interact with.

on May 9th 2005, Gorillaz released the first single and music video off their Demon Days album "Feel Good Inc." featuring De La Soul. The song and video was a huge success. Once more bringing Gorillaz mainstream, charting increasingly well, and properly replacing Clint Eastwood as Gorillaz signature tune.

On May 23rd 2005, the "Demon Days" album released, the album received critical acclaim, topped many charts, sold millions of copies, and was listed on various publications lists of the best albums of 2005, and the best albums of the 2000s.

From June 6th - June 22nd, Gorillaz embarked on The Demon Detour; a series of live radio shows throughout America. Like always however, issues immediately began, when the band's tour bus was being shot at consistently every night. The band tried putting together who was shooting at them, suspects included Paula Cracker, Paulo Skinbacio, Alfred C. Klinker, Dr. Wurzel, and Noodles Government Bosses. To keep his mind stable, Russel began experimenting with taxidermy during this time. Eventually, the band getting sick of being shot at every night (as someone probably would), Murdoc decided to take things into his own hands, asking the tour manager Jimmy Manson, to see what he could do about the shootings. The next night, shootings stopped, and the tour continued as usual.

After The Demon Detour, the band returned to Kong, where Noodle hatched secret plans for the 2nd Demon Days music video. Noodle recorded the "DARE" music video, without letting any of the other band members know. The single and video later released on August 29th 2005, reaching No.1 on the UK Singles Chart, being the only Gorillaz single to do so.

Later that same summer, Gorillaz headed off to the deserts of Africa to record the music video for the track "Dirty Harry" featuring Bootie Brown. The single and video later released on November 21st 2005.

After the "Dirty Harry" shoot, the band returned to Kong, tired and double booked. The band was set to perform at the MTV EMA's, while also set to perform a five night concert at the Manchester Opera House. To fix this dilemma, the band drafted in Damon and the Demon Days collaborators to perform the album live. From November 1st - 5th 2005, Damon and his live band performed the Demon Days album live at the Manchester Opera House. The band attended these gigs in the audience for the first show, before heading over to Lisbon to perform "Feel Good Inc." at the MTV EMA's.

Later that Christmas, MTV Cribs released an episode where they receive a tour of Kong Studios from Murdoc Niccals. Murdoc also delivered the Queen's speech that Christmas Day.

On February 8th 2006, the band headed back over to America to preform "Feel Good Inc." at the Grammy's. After the award show an after party was held at Dennis Hopper's, in which Murdoc got into a drunken fight with ex Archies member, Jughead Jones, who claimed Gorillaz was a rip off of his band.

On February 15th, 2006, Gorillaz performed "Dirty Harry" at the Brit Awards featuring a huge choir of children and guest star, Bootie Brown.

Following the BRIT Awards, the plans began to be made for the final Demon Days music video. Murdoc received contacts from The Demon Detour tour manager Jimmy Manson, who revelated he had been following Gorillaz for awhile. He initially tried out for the guitarist role but was rejected upon Noodle's arrival, he stalked the band for sometime during their time in Hollywood in 2002, and finally got a gig as the tour manager for The Demon Detour. Manson reveled that he was the one behind the shootings and he pitched an idea to kill Gorillaz and cash in on their success. Murdoc agreed to this, and came up with an idea for the track "El Manana". Murdoc pitched the idea to Gorillaz and Jamie, in the video, Noodle would be on the windmill island from "Feel Good Inc.", and the island would be shot down by copters, Noodle would have a parachute, and the copters would have fake bullets. The rest of the band were a bit reluctant to this idea, but ultimately gave in. Especially Noodle who wanted to leave Gorillaz for a break, and had already packed all her stuff up in her room. She planned to leave straight after the filming of the "El Manana" video shoot. Murdoc and Jimmy hatched out the plan, in which Manson would hide out inside the windmill tower with guns, and come out and shoot Noodle. On March 7th, 2006, Gorillaz started the shoot for "El Manana" which starred Noodle on windmill island. Halfway through the video, the island was shot down and exploded as planned. However, after the video's shoot, Noodle was nowhere to be found, leaving behind a used parachute, panic exploded on set. Manson had never come out and shot Noodle. This was because Murdoc had actually double crossed Manson, by locking him inside the windmill, with the guns. The island crashing, with Jimmy Manson perishing along with it. In an attempt to calm fans and save face, Murdoc lied and said that Noodle had escaped by parachute and was chilling out in Maldives. In reality, Noodle was missing and supposedly dead. Murdoc noted that the copters that shot down the island, were not the same fake copters from "Feel Good Inc." but were actually real helicopters that came and shot down the island. Meaning that Noodle was being shot down with real bullets in the video and was not acting. The "El Manana" single and music video later released on April 10th 2006. Following Noodle's disappearance, Kong began falling under a state of disrepair once more, as if her presence was the only thing keeping the building alive.

Shortly after the video's shoot, Damon and the live band once more performed a residency of five shows at New York's Harlem Apollo from April 2nd to April 6th 2006. 2-D and Murdoc attended these gigs in the audience, while Russel stayed behind at Kong. After the Apollo gigs, 2-D and Russel left Kong Studios, while Murdoc stayed behind by himself in the crumpling building. 2-D headed off to Jamaica to get a degree in law, while Russel put together and toured a new Gorillaz project Gorillaz Sound System, a project in which Russel performed remixes of Gorillaz tracks live. Later that year, on October 26th 2006, Gorillaz released their autobiography Rise Of The Ogre, the same day as the book's release, an emergency transmission from Noodle was received in the Brain Room at the ruins of Kong Studios. Murdoc discovered that the coordinates of the transmission were being transmitted from the depths of hell. Murdoc attempted to travel through the bowels of hell in order to bring her back but failed. Following the rescue attempt, Murdoc put Kong Studios up for sale, and headed off on a bender around the world. During this time, Murdoc released another compilation album, "D-Sides". Similarly to "G-Sides", D-Sides consisted of the bonus tracks, b-sides, and remixes off the singles of Demon Days. The album released on November 19th 2007, and performed similarly to G-Sides. Not long after D-Sides, director Ceri Levy was preparing on releasing a Gorillaz documentary titled Bananaz. The documentary was about the making of Gorillaz first two albums from the perspective of Damon and Jamie. The documentary premiered in Berlin on February 7th 2008. Murdoc responded to the documentary via a drunken threating voice message to Ceri. An online war began between Murdoc and Ceri, which resulted in Ceri leaking a audio tape of Murdoc having sex. Murdoc called off the war following the leak.

eating this

#𖤐 ;; asks

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not-sport-martial-art · 2 years

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I got tagged by @gatherer-schafer to post 6 albums I've been listening to recently. Roll, roll, roll, Plymouth rock roll over.

The Beach Boys - Smile (i was going to be an annoying bastard and post Smile six times because I've primarily been listening to Smile bootlegs this last week as well as Smile Sessions and Brian Wilson Presents Smile. The more I listen to it the more I'm sure it may be the *best* music I've ever heard if not necessarily my favourite. Also, after being used to Brian Wilson Presents and Smile Sessions both ending with Good Vibrations as this huge triumphant happy ending to what is otherwise quite a melancholy album, I have to say using Surf's Up as the end track (as was listed on Wilson's original track listing for a potential 1967 release of the album and which a lot of fan bootlegs tend to do) may be more fitting.)

Ween - The Pod (was also going to be annoying and post six different ween albums. always thought this was just a fine follow up to the sheer insanity of GodWeenSatan when I was younger. Now all these years later it's hard to even think of another album that sounds like this, even within Ween's own discography. It's fascinating just how easily they can emulate seemingly whatever style of music they like without ever feeling like they're just cheaply laughing at it. There's something very special about being able to write a song called 'Pork Roll Egg and Cheese' and having it capable of reducing me to tears each time. Ween have always been fantastic at toeing that fine line between being completely genuine and taking the absolute piss to the point where the line doesn't even matter anymore. When the guava's drained.)

The Residents - Demons Dance Alone (first listened to this around this time last year having been a half Residents fan for a bit. This is easily their most 'accessible' album but it's also an album full of misery. I still can't tell if Make Me Moo is supposed to be a joke, but I don't care, it's the sweetest song I've ever heard. The fact that it's followed by one of the most soul crushing songs I've ever heard is just a classic Residents joke.)

Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07 (i listened to this a whole, whole bunch in school, may as well have been like listening to the Ramones for the first time. Other artists may have played faster, more aggressive, but few had the raw energy on display in Jay's music. I hope he's sound, wherever he is.)

The Magnetic Fields - Distant Plastic Trees (I will never forgive stephin merritt for removing the best country song of all time plant white roses from seemingly every release of this album after the original pressing. Man went out of his way to erase his best lyric ("you're all I need, but you need more than country songs") and for what. I will track you down stephin. Easily the best magnetic fields album with all its toy keyboard noises and weird lo-fi aesthetics, and I wish stephin had kept susan anway on as even a part time vocalist after the first two albums. listen to 'you love to fail' and '100000 fireflies' before I explode.)

This Heat - Live 80/81 (for a brief moment on this album this heat play a lovely very pretty organ (?) and guitar part before going directly in to fucking makeshift swahili. Bastards.)

I'm tagging @gatherer-schafer and @futuredaysbycan. The heat goes on.

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wingsoverbobdylan · 5 years

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you brian jones stans are so fucking annoying, y'all are so up your asses convinced he was a perfect angel who singlehandedly made the stones but in reality he was a piece of shit who was musically influential for MAYBE the first couple years of the band

#fjkl;zsdkl;fjl;kdfj #maybe if he weren't so erased an demonized we wouldn't have to be so defensive #just a thought lol #brian jones #the rolling stones #asks #mine

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yandere-toons · 3 years

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Saw your requests were open. Might I suggest platonic and romantic headcanons for Tom Lucitor from SVTFOE. Huge fan you inspire me to try my hand at fanfiction.

Tom Lucitor (Platonic & Romantic Headcanons)

WARNING: yandere, references to violence, psychological manipulation, toxic mindset.

A.N. - Glad to hear it! This fireball's exact personality varies depending on what point in time we're talking about, but I tried to do a mix.

PLATONIC:

With his intimidating heritage and explosive abilities, the Prince of the Underworld has been restricted to the companionship of sycophants and servants. The prospect of a genuine friend is one that both excites and confuses him, for he has no idea what to expect from each interaction and fears a single mistake will lead to permanent rejection.

Tom consults his life coach and follows every suggestion with reckless enthusiasm, having no frame of reference, aside from Star and Marco's complaints, for when to stop.

He expends most of his day in the presence of his friend to erase any potential scepticism about his dedication. When Brian informs him that friendships are strengthened by mutual interests, Tom takes this as an incentive to lie about his daily life and adapt his hobbies to better imitate theirs.

Declining an offer to spend time with him results in the prince assuming that he has done something wrong, and his efforts to atone for this possibly imaginary misstep involve shoehorning himself into random parts of their schedule.

Utilizing his family's wealth and reputation, Tom grants as many wishes as his friend is willing to share. He intends to protect their happiness with his services, but his methods of removing stressors are ruthless and oftentimes myopic.

Unbridled access to magic, such as teleportation and interdimensional mirrors, makes it insidiously easy to spy on his friend without any risks.

ROMANTIC:

Tom understands the severity of his actions only to the extent that certain behaviour causes his partner to become upset with him. The code of ethics in his kingdom is alien to the rest of Mewni, for the use of violence to resolve conflict is a commonplace habit that afflicts most demons.

While his jealousy is vibrant and intractable, Tom aims to distract both himself and his partner from his more regrettable moments with gifts and compliments.

He wants to believe that his anger management will allow him to bond with his partner. If his attempts fail or do not succeed well enough, which is the same thing in his mind, Tom ejects the worst of his frustrations onto the damned souls of the Underworld.

Wrathmelior expresses concern for the quality of the relationship, but when her son assures her that the problem lies with others, she rallies various demons to torment the alleged culprits.

Spending his life in the company of demonic entities who have little regard for kindness has instilled more than a few identity issues. Tom is desperate to prove that he is not a slave to his wrath, but his impatience for this to be recognized and appreciated leads to outbursts that imply otherwise.

The prince's dependence on his partner for emotional support is likely one-sided, a fact that he denies for the sake of his sanity.

Do anything you want with my work, but never make me boring!

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the-laridian · 3 years

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Bad Trip playlist

It's on YouTube because at least one track isn't on Spotify. Wherever possible, I included videos with only lyrics or still images, the exception being "The Fine Print" which was made specifically for the Outer Worlds.

Lyric samples under the cut if you're interested, we used to do this back in the fanmix days.

Rowan Rolling Stones - 2000 Light Years From Home Sun turnin' 'round with graceful motion We're setting off with soft explosion Bound for a star with fiery oceans It's so very lonely, you're a hundred light years from home Freezing red deserts turn to dark Energy here in every part It's so very lonely, you're six hundred light years from home Bell Flight Fourteen, you now can land See you on Aldebaran Safe on the green desert sand It's so very lonely, you're two thousand light years from home The Stupendium - The Fine Print (All the lyrics to this song, but specifically) Were you expecting adventure? Were you hoping for fun? My friend you’re indentured And pleasure’s exempt from your tenure So venture back down to your slum That's provided at generous prices Your worth is determined by your sacrifices Scylla (outside): Mazedude - Surface of the Moon (Instrumental) Brian McFadden - Demons Have you ever been lost in a different world Where everything you once knew, is gone And you find yourself powerless With everything that exists You're numb Will I ever break free I searched my world but I can't find you You're standing there but I can't touch you Try to talk but the words are just not there I can feel a sense of danger You stare at me like I'm a stranger Paralyzed and you don't seem to care The demons in my dreams Placebo ft VV of The Kills - Meds I was alone, falling free Trying my best not to forget What happened to us, what happened to me What happened as I let it slip I was confused by the powers that be Forgetting names and faces Passers by, were looking at me As if they could erase it Baby...did you forget to take your meds? I was alone, staring over the ledge Trying my best not to forget All manner of joy, all manner of glee And our one heroic pledge How it mattered to us, how it mattered to me And the consequences I was confused, by the birds and the bees Forgetting if I meant it Baby..did you forget to take your meds? (And the sex, and the drugs, and the complications) Max J Englishman ft Esthero - The Hero Well I've been watching from the shadows While you shook your fist at God And screamed for all who listened About how he's done you wrong Why don't you put away your pistols Climb down off your cross 'Cause the battle's long been over And the war is long since lost And all those bridges that you've broken Done burned down long ago 'Cause you just had to be the superstar You just had to be the hero Well I was there in the beginning And I saw you choose your path I watched your candle burning And I knew it wouldn't last 'Cause when experience comes knocking Innocence will pass And all that once seemed child-like Is now ugly, crude and crass And you wonder how you lost yourself So many years ago Are you as angry on the inside as you are on the surface? Been frontin' so long you've forgotten the purpose Now there's a hole in the whole Where your soul used to be Rowan/Max Linkin Park - Somewhere I Belong (When this began) I had nothing to say And I'd get lost in the nothingness inside of me (I was confused) And I let it all out to find That I'm not the only person with these things in mind (Inside of me) But all the vacancy the words revealed Is the only real thing that I've got left to feel (Nothing to lose) Just stuck, hollow and alone And the fault is my own, and the fault is my own I wanna heal, I wanna feel What I thought was never real I wanna let go of the pain I've held so long Erase all the pain 'til it's gone I wanna heal, I wanna feel Like I'm close to something real I wanna find something I've wanted all along Somewhere I belong And I've got nothing to say I can't believe I didn't fall right down on my face (I was confused) Looking everywhere, only to find That it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind (So what am I?) What do I have but negativity? 'Cause I can't justify the way everyone is looking at me (Nothing to lose) Nothing to gain, hollow and alone And the fault is my own, and the fault is my own I will never know myself until I do this on my own And I will never feel

anything else, until my wounds are healed I will never be anything 'til I break away from me I will break away, I'll find myself today Relient K - Be My Escape I’ve given up on giving up slowly I’m blending in so you won’t even know me Apart from this whole world that shares my fate This one last bullet you mention Is my one last shot at redemption 'Cause I know to live, you must give your life away And I’ve been housing all this doubt and insecurity And I’ve been locked inside that house all the while you hold the key And I’ve been dying to get out and that might be the death of me And even though there’s no way of knowing where to go I promise I’m going because I gotta get outta here I'm stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake I gotta get outta here And I'm begging you, I'm begging you I’m begging you to be my escape I'm giving up on doing this alone now 'Cause I've failed and I’m ready to be shown how You've told me the way and I'm trying to get there And this life sentence that I'm serving I admit that I'm every bit deserving But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair I am a hostage to my own humanity Self-detained and forced to live in this mess I've made And all I'm asking is for you to do what you can with me But I can't ask you to give what you already gave I fought you for so long, I should have let you win (Oh, how we regret those things we do) And all I was trying to do was save my own skin But so were you, so were you

#bad trip #rowan dane #the outer worlds #vicar max #playlist #youtube

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merlivystories · 4 years

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not over, never over (trixya)

Just a short fic about one particular friendship that overcomes the struggles of addiction created with help of my humble imagination and inspired by Trixie & Katya. Enjoy! xx

Trixie’s life has been pretty much the same for the past few months. He would go on tour, do shows, perform his music on stage, make instagram posts and tweet from time to time, receiving nothing but waves of admiration and love from the fans. His life has been the same, except for one piece missing. It felt like he had one piece of a puzzle gone and it’s absence spoiled the ability to fully enjoy the process since he wasn’t able to see the whole picture anymore. That would cause him to forget words to his own songs, cry in almost every dressing room in every city on the tour, constantly make spelling mistakes or leave out words on social media. The craving was slowly ruining him from the inside, sucking out his energy, keeping his mood down and his heart aching. That missing piece was, of course, one particular russian high-class whore - Katya, also known as his madly insane but utterly amazing best friend - Brian McCook. Or as Trixie was quite sure of lately, his former best friend.

No one ever said being close to Katya was a piece of cake, it was, actually, the opposite of that most of the times. The man was unstable, had an addictive personality and an endless amount of terrifying stories from his past he just had to share with Trixie. He could be loud one minute and then suddenly quiet the next one, he hardly ever allowed himself to talk about his real feelings, trying to disguise truth as jokes. But Trixie couldn’t help but loved him. They were naturally drawn to each other, sharing the same sense of humor and feeling comfortable while spending time together. Trixie often wondered if Katya could see all the things he loved him for, he was sure though, Katys was aware of all the things he loved him despite of. Their friendship was Trixie’s greatest strength and biggest weakness at the same time. People around them would say they were joined at the hip, and that has been absolutely true for a few years post season 7 of Drag Race. It was almost perfect, till it wasn’t anymore.

The first time Trixie learned about Katya’s multiplе addictions was when the two of them were working together with Pearl and Fame on one of the earliest episodes of RPDR. Trixie saw something small and round falling out of his pocket when he was pulling the jeans on. Katya followed his glance and hurried to pick it up, but Trixie knew for sure what that thing was. Sobriety chip. His mother’s boyfriend had a lot of those.

- Alcohol? Drugs? - He wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to ask, if the two of them were close enough to share real stuff, but he did anyways.

- Both, actually. It’s been a year and a half. I’m better now. - Katya smiled at him weakly, shoving the chip back inside.

- You know you can talk to me if you feel like it. Anytime, I’m there for you. - Trixie said in a serious tone. He caught Katya’s wandering gaze, trying his best to let the older queen know he wasn’t kidding, not this time. Katya just grabbed his palm and squeezed it in response. He knew and he appreciated that.

Afterwards they got closer and Trixie spent hours of his life listening to stories about Katya’s addictive past. He would listen to them over the phone, in a cafe while eating eggs with a salad on the side, while applying his makeup before the gig and in a dark alley filled with cigarette smoke he could barely stand after a gig, also in hotel rooms, on WOW Presents set, on buses and on airplanes. Simply put: he would listen to those stories everywhere. But he never got tired of it. On the contrary, Trixie was completely fascinated. Katya managed to make it all sound amusing, he has always been amazing at turning tragedy into comedy. However, from time to time Trixie looked at Katya’s face for a little too long and wondered how he’s still alive and breathing. This is what should be called the eighth wonder of the world. At first, right after the both of them just started working together post Drag Race, Trixie would catch himself being worried about Katya’s well-being and wondering whether he could take all the pressure without breaking down. But it has been a few years and Katya always rose up to every occasion, ready and totally able to entertain. And just as Trixie was about to let it go and finally breath out, everything exploded right in his face.

To be honest, it wasn’t that horrible. The older queen has seemed erratic and distant for a couple of weeks. Trixie tried to talk about it but got nothing more than irritated «I’m fine-fine, stop huffing around me, Tracy!» out of him. One day Katya just didn’t show up on the set of their «Trixie & Katya» tv-show and didn’t pick up his phone (Trixie called like fifty times, all in vain). On his way to the hotel where Katya was staying, he texted that he was going to come see him. And finally got a reply: «Don’t you dare coming over. I quit. I don’t want to see you ever again.» Trixie came over anyway, he has never been much of a listener. Katya was gone, checked out of his room a few hours ago. But he left a note on the reception: just a small piece of paper. It said «to Brian F» on one side and «Trixya is over!» on the other side. Well, maybe it was horrible.It definitely hurt like hell. Trixie felt confused, betrayed, disappointed and mad. As soon as he managed to pull himself together, he called Patricia, searching for any reasonable explanation: she told him Brian was using again, she said he came home a total mess, she apologized over and over, promised it was all going to get better after rehab and begged not to call quits on her son. Trixie had no intentions to do so. Katya wasn’t the enemy here, his addiction, on the other hand, was.

Since that moment the younger queen stepped back from the situation, put it all on pause. Their relationships, their dreams and his feelings as well. Katya stopped returning his calls for good. Trixie blamed it on addiction. Katya unfollowed him on every social media he could. Trixie blamed it on addiction. Katya’s first text to him after a long silence was about how much he hated him on the first episode of All Stars 3. Trixie blamed it on addiction. He heard rumors about Katya talking shit about their friendship behind his back. Trixie blamed it on addiction. Never blaming any of it on Katya. He kept shoving his feelings into the farthest, darkest corner of his soul the way Katya shoved that sobriety chip into the pocked of his jeans. Mostly, he could get by days just fine: not to take spelling mistakes, forgotten lyrics on stage and tearing up in dressing rooms into account. But not a single night was spent without missing his best friend, not being able to dial his number and just babble about his life, going on and on about the troubles, feeling “the weight of existing” being lifted off his shoulders slowly. He reminded himself constantly that the whole situation was way worse for Katya, that he is the one who should be strong and patient, that all of it (all of them) was going to be back one day. Could he say the last one for sure? Not at all. Making attempts at predicting things that depended on him only partially seemed stupid, but he simply couldn’t deny himself that whatsoever fleeting tranquility.

It’s been more than half of the year and Trixie’s heart started to heal. He knew no one could ever replace Katya, people don’t really get so lucky in life as to meet soulmates every few years. Nothing depended on him anyway, it was all about Katya fighting his demons and probably winning. Deep down Trixie knew he was going to be alright as long as his friend got to feel better. Thought it wasn’t easy to pretend like it didn’t bother him at all that his next show was in Boston, in a theater just an hour away from McCook’s family house. Nothing else mattered as long as he had the chance to put all his worries aside and do what he loved doing the most: dressing up and putting on makeup, creating a full country-Barbie fantasy and singing his own songs from the stage. How lucky he was to only spot two painfully familiar piercing blue eyes staring at him from the audience right before closing the show? Extremely lucky. Trixie didn’t trust his vision at first, but the truth was - Katya, out of drag, sitting in the audience, wearing skinny black jeans and a plain grey t-shirt, showing his arms all covered in newly done tattoos. Their eyes met and the younger queen felt himself being on the verge of heart-attack. Katya got up from his place, pointing backstage with a silent question in his eyes. Trixie nodded almost invisibly and rushed from the stage.

Just a couple of minutes after getting into his dressing room, Trixie heard knocking on the door. His heard was racing so fast it could totally fall out of his chest any second now. He turned the knob with a shaking hand, pulled it and there was Katya standing on the other side with a paper bag in his also shaking hand, visibly sweating and looking extremely uncomfortable.

- Can I come in, please? - Katya asked in a low voice. Trixie stepped to the back of the room, letting him in. - I brought you brownies. I figured you would be hungry after the show. - Trixie suppressed a smile. Mixed feelings were tearing him apart from the inside. It wasn’t right to be in that much pain and so relieved at the same time. Katya seemed normal, he seemed himself. But this fact didn’t erase all those months spent in darkness and total abandonment, without his best friend. He took the bag and thanked the older man. Katya came close to a mirror, looking at the younger queen standing behind him through it. Then there was silence, usually comfortable between the two of them, but this time it seemed unbearable. Trixie couldn’t help but wondered if things would ever be the same again, if the damage this falling out caused their friendship was irreversible or not.

- I like your tattoos. - Trixie finally spoke up, carefully trying to defuse the situation. He caught Katya’s eyes in the reflection. The older queen was smiling.

- Thank you, Tracy. - Katya replied softly and turned around, facing Trixie and leaning on the dressing table with his legs crossed. - I’m glad you let me in here today. I would be even more glad if you agreed to hear me out. Can you grant me some of your time? - Trixie had never even once in his life heard Katya speaking in such way: calmly, steadily and confidently.

- Sure, I’m all years. - The younger queen nodded. He sat on the little white leather coach in the corner of the room and streached out his lean legs. He was still in drag and his feet were killing him from jumping around the stage in high-heals for the past couple of hours. Katya probably noticed the glimpse of discomfort on his face.

- Oh, I’m so sorry, I should have let you get out of drag first. So fucking inconsiderate of me. We can meet in the alley behind the theater in 30. Is that okay with you? - He looked genuinely worried and Trixie was secretly relieved to postpone this conversation, even for half an hour. Definitely wasn’t going to be an easy one.

- That would be great, thanks. - It came out a little cold. He didn’t aspire to sound this way, but it did. Katya retired immediately, leaving Trixie alone with his thoughts.

It exactly 28 minutes Trixie in his boy-clothes went out the back door and found himself in a pretty dark alley. Katya was standing under the only streetlight in sight, looking down intently and tracing lines with his right feet.

- Hey. - Trixie called out and the older guy lifted his head, smiling.

- How are you never late? - He asked, staring at the watch on his hand. Katya was that type of an “old person” that barely ever had his phone around, but this simple black-strap watch was literally glued to his wrist all the time he was out of drag.

- The same way you are always late! No logical way to explain this. - Katya wheezle-laughed and it hit Trixie how much he missed the sound of that awful, stupid, infectious and painfully familiar laughter.

- Well, I guess you can hear me out now. - Katya said quietly, not a trace of a smile on his face, when the younger queen came closer. Trixie nodded, feeling the heartbeat fastening. Come what may, he thought. - I came to talk to you today because I’ve been told I was ready. To be honest, it doesn’t feel like “ready” to me. - Katya shook his head and took a deep breath. He was staring at the ground intensively while Trixie was dying to look him in the eyes. - However, I believe I will never feel ready enough for this. I’m not good at sincere and emotional conversations, you know that better than anyone, Tracy. - Trixie could feel tears coming up, oh, how much he hated being this vulnerable in front of Katya in that moment. - I came to apologize, - the older man finally found a courage to look up and their eyes met, - there are not enough words in the world to express how sorry I am for hurting you, for ruining what we’ve had. I understand it’s bold of me to just show up out of the blue and expect you to forgive me instantaneously. - His voice was shaking and Trixie noticed the way he digged his nails into his own hip. - If I’m being completely honest, I can’t even promise you not to go nuts ever again. Most of the times I can control it, but sometimes those voices in my head get too loud and I feel like I don’t even know who I am anymore. Though I can ensure you, as long as I am myself, I will always consider you my best friend. So I kind of came here to ask you for something I knew I didn’t deserve at the first place. For you to be a part of my life again. - At that point, Trixie was dead-ass ugly crying, his cheeks all wet from tears and his nose running. The older man was crying, too. The way he somehow always managed to look beautiful when he cried happened to be an unsolved mystery. - I can’t promise you perfection, I won’t promise that. But I for sure will try my best to be a better person, a better friend to you, if you let me. - Katya reached out and stroked Trixie’s shoulder just once, obviously doubting whether it was a good idea to do so. - Also, nothing drag-related. I’m aware you can’t rely on me career-wise and with a lot of done work and money on stake, there’s no reason you should trust me again. I wrote it myself: Trixya is over. - He went silent and froze like a convict who has said his final words, waiting for the verdict of the judge. Trixie was overwhelmed with the emotions, struggling to speak back. So instead he grabbed the older man’s arm and pulled him into the embrace. Katya wrapped his both arms around the younger queen lightly, not quite sure about what exactly was going on.

- I don’t need perfection, - Trixie finally whispered, - I just need you. - Katya breathed out loudly into his shoulder, feeling relaxed and excited at the same time. - Also, - Trixie pulled back a little so he could see the older guy’s face, still holding his forearms in his hands, - Trixya is not over. We both know, it is never over. - Katya only smiled and nodded, not even trying to figure out anymore how he got so fucking lucky to call the guy in front of him a friend.

#RuPaul's Drag Race #trixya #trixya fanfiction #yekaterina petrovna zamolodchikova #katya zamolodchikova #trixie mattel #brian firkus #brian mccook #olya merlivy fics

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ericdeggans · 3 years

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Tom Hanks, Fox News and Me: Life at the Center of a Media S#@tstorm

When you write a column that puts you in the middle of a media crapstorm, it is one of the oddest places to sit in modern life.

This happened most recently last week, when Fox News decided to misrepresent a column I wrote urging Tom Hanks to bring antiracist action to his work as a film star, executive producer, writer and all-around upstanding guy in Hollywood.

Their hysterical, inaccurate insistence that I was trying to cancel Hanks turned the column into a massive flashpoint for reaction on social media and otherwise. Unfortunately, it seemed people were often reacting to the column Fox News pundits wish I had written, instead of the measured piece I actually did write.

NPR’s weekly podcast Consider This did an amazing, 16-minute bonus episode featuring me discussing my ideas and conclusions after a couple of days at the center of a Fox News-fed media cyclone. Host Audie Cornish was sharp and insightful, as always, and we covered a lot of the ideas I could only hint at in a longish essay.

But I also came away with a few more observations about trying to talk about race, media and representation in today’s media environment. Here’s a few ideas:

Observation 1: In today’s toxic media culture, if an opponent doesn’t make the argument they want, some media outlets say they did it anyway. Nowhere in my essay does the word “cancel” appear. So how did Fox News and other conservative media outlets get the idea that my column was invoking or part of “cancel culture?”

Newsmax TV ran a segment headlined “NPR writer cancels Tom Hanks.” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade said “cancel culture (is) coming for one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars.” A segment in Fox News’ America’s Newsroom program featured a photo of Tom Hanks with the word “cancelled” plastered across his face. A commentator for The Daily Wire who I do not know and haven’t met said that I must believe “white people are villains” and “this is a man who simply hates white people and can't contain it.”

But I wrote in my column, “These stories of white Americans smashing the Nazi war machine or riding rockets into space are important.” The biggest thing that bothered me about them – and Hanks, who admitted as much in his own essay – was that Black people’s stories were too often left out of those tales. They define a type of American mythos that erases Black people’s presence, and that should change.

These outlets wanted to have a one-sided argument about the unfairness of “cancel culture” – with an added side benefit of demonizing me and NPR. So they pretended my column said something that it did not. They took aim at a fictional version of my work which was much easier to criticize. Just another example of all the ways in which Fox News and some of ideologically focused news outlets often broadcast reports which are not fair, balanced or accurate to serve their political agendas.

And, in an odd aside, none of these outlets contacted me for comment or tried to ask me any questions or asked me to come on their shows to debate what I had written.

Observation #2: It feels weird, as a black person, to say something relatively mild and get accused of acting violently or in an extreme way. It’s something that is already an odd feature of the stereotypes Black people contend with; that sometimes, expressing resistance or a contrary opinion is perceived as more hostile and threatening than it really is.

My column had some pretty mild criticisms of Hanks – mostly that he’s helped shape white-centered history narratives, has the power to correct that situation and should have said so in his own guest essay. But the headlines reporting on my column made it sound like I’d advocated running him out of Hollywood with pitchforks and torches.

The American Conservative’s piece was headlined “Shaming Private Ryan.” Breitbart.com’s piece noted, “NPR TV Critic Hits Tom Hanks…” MRCTV’s story said “Sorry Forrest: NPR Blasts Hanks…” Something called American Ground Radio put up a clip on YouTube called “NPR’s TV Critic…Attacks Tom Hanks…”

The less said about the response I got on social media, the better. But there were emails with the n-word and worse; messages on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook filled with insults and hysteria. The overreaction was knee-jerk, often vulgar and completely out of proportion to the measured tone of both my column and Tom Hanks’ essay.

Part of this, I think, is habit. We are used to talking about controversial race issues in combative ways, for many reasons: the stakes are often so high and getting people to think outside their comfort zones sometimes requires a jarring example to get attention. So conversations about racial oppression are centered on when a calamity has happened – something terrible has happened and now we’re going to try and talk about one of the most combustible subjects in American society.

And there are people who don’t want this conversation to be measured. They want to convince others that change to produce equality will somehow destroy what they have or threaten what they love. For these people, when we all argue about equality rather than discuss opportunity, they have a ready-made example for turning away from progress.

There’s a dynamic in racial issues, particularly in America, called “attributional ambiguity.” It’s the idea that, when ambiguously insulting or negative things happen to non-white people in white-dominated settings, people of color have a tough time judging whether racism is playing a part.

Seeing so many, mostly white pundits accuse me of doing something so much more aggressive than I actually did left me awash with this feeling. Sure, some of it was just ideologues doing what they do. But it felt like that wasn’t the only thing going on here.

Observation #3: It was odd to see so many pundits acts as if a Black media critic had no right to suggest how best to address the suppression of Black stories in Hollywood. So many of the negative reactions I got to the column supposedly looked at the issue from Hanks’ point of view, assuming that he would be put off by being told by a Black writer that he hadn’t done enough to combat the erasure of Black stories from history-based works.

There’s always people who say I am revealing bias and shouldn’t express my opinion, somehow missing the job title which indicates that critical opinion is pretty much the central element of my job. And conservative ideologues are always trying to absolve their followers of trying to address racial inequity by saying that liberals will never be happy with anything they do.

But ultimately, I realized what bugged me the most about these criticisms: A Black critic, who has written about race and media for decades, made suggestions about how to solve the erasure of Black stories from Hollywood, and was told he had no right to start that conversation.

It reminded me of something I learned when I did a lot of reporting and talked to tons of experts about antiracism last summer. Sometimes, when people of color step forward and say what they would like to see in the effort to fight racism, the best thing a white ally can do is listen and help lift up their voice.

Listen. And help lift up their voice.

So often, in today’s always-on, always broadcasting, always reacting media culture, that is the toughest thing to do.

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weirdletter · 4 years

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The Many Lives of It: Essays on the Stephen King Horror Franchise, edited by Ron Riekki, foreword by Joe Mynhardt, McFarland, 2020. Cover image di Shutterstock, info: mcfarlandbooks.com.

After its publication in 1986, Stephen King’s novel It sparked sequels, remakes, parodies and solidified an entire genre: clown horror. Decades later, director Andy Muschietti revitalized King’s popular novel, smashing all box office expectations with the release of his 2017 film It. At the time of its release, the movie set the record for the world’s highest-grossing horror film. Examining the legacy of the controversial cult novel, the 2017 box office sensation and other incarnations of the demonic clown Pennywise, this collection of never-before-published essays covers the franchise from a variety of perspectives. Topics include examinations of the carnivalesque in both the novel and films, depictions of sexuality and theology in the book, and manifestations of patriarchy and the franchise, among other diverse subjects.After its publication in 1986, Stephen King’s novel It sparked sequels, remakes, parodies and solidified an entire genre: clown horror. Decades later, director Andy Muschietti revitalized King’s popular novel, smashing all box office expectations with the release of his 2017 film It. At the time of its release, the movie set the record for the world’s highest-grossing horror film. Examining the legacy of the controversial cult novel, the 2017 box office sensation and other incarnations of the demonic clown Pennywise, this collection of never-before-published essays covers the franchise from a variety of perspectives. Topics include examinations of the carnivalesque in both the novel and films, depictions of sexuality and theology in the book, and manifestations of patriarchy and the franchise, among other diverse subjects.

Contents: Acknowledgments Foreword – Joe Mynhardt Introduction – Ron Riekki Part One: The Novel “He hits his fists against the post”: Stuttering Bill, Trauma and the Protective Power of the Imagination in Stephen King’s It – Hayley Mitchell Haugen Seven Children and It: Stephen King’s It as Children’s Story – Cory R. Goehring Clowning Around: The Carnivalesque and Stephen King’s Novel It – Katherine A. Troyer Doing It: Sex and the Monster – Dominick Grace “The turtle can’t help us”: Evil, Enchantment and the Magic of Faith in Stephen King’s It – Gregory Stevenson Part Two: Television and Film Changing Mike, Changing History: Erasing African-America in It (2017) – Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr. “Best Not to Look Back”: Monstrosity, Medium and Genre in Tommy Lee Wallace’s It (1990) – June Pulliam Stephen King, Endings and the Unburdening of It – Jason V. Brock The Disturbing Appeal of Pennywise – Michelle Leigh Gompf Derry’s Subterranean Carnival in Stephen King’s It – Conny Lippert Patriarchy and Abject Horror in Stephen King’s It: Young Beverly Marsh’s Search for Subjectivity – Ralph Beliveau and Laura Bolf-Beliveau From Page to Screen: Troubled Domestic Space in the It Franchise – Rebecca Janicker The Truth Inside the Lie: It and the Evolution of the Serial Killer – Rebecca Frost Wuh-We Do It: The Losers’ Club and Collaborative Leadership in It – André Loiselle The Clown Will Eat You Now – Brian W. Smith Appendix: Interview with Erik Junnola – Ron Riekki About the Contributors Index fo Terms

#book #essay #horror essay #cinema essay #stephen king #it #horror tv #horror cinema

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mrs-evadne-cake · 4 years

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“You shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to.” -Books

Since we’re about to hit the Stranger Things Doldrums where it’s been a while since S3 and S4 has just started filming and if you’re anything like me you’re gonna start jonesing bad- I thought I’d make a So You Need A Hit survival kit for myself of some Stranger Things-esque media to read/watch/play during the wait and that maybe you guys might be interested too. Not all of them are gonna set the world on fire- but hopefully there’s some stuff that people haven’t seen before Expect a lot of Small Town Nostalgia, a bunch of monsters, and more plucky, dangerously unsupervised kids than you can shake a stick at.

A Boy’s Life By Robert R McCammon : “Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson -- a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake -- and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand his father's pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him. From an ancient mystic who can hear the dead and bewitch the living, to a violent clan of moonshiners, Cory must confront the secrets that hide in the shadows of his hometown -- for his father's sanity and his own life hang in the balance. ”- Goodreads

My Best Friend’s Exorcism By Grady Hendrix : “Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act…different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?” - Goodreads

Something Wicked This Way Comes By Ray Bradbury : “The show is about to begin....The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. A calliope’s shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. Two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes…and the stuff of nightmares.” - Goodreads

The Halloween Tree By Ray Bradbury : "A fast-moving, eerie...tale set on Halloween night. Eight costumed boys running to meet their friend Pipkin at the haunted house outside town encounter instead the huge and cadaverous Mr. Moundshroud. As Pipkin scrambles to join them, he is swept away by a dark Something, and Moundshroud leads the boys on the tail of a kite through time and space to search the past for their friend and the meaning of Halloween.” - Goodreads

Paper Girls By Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang : “Early on the morning of All Saint's Day 1988, 12 year old Erin Tieng goes on her normal newspaper delivery route in a Cleveland suburb only to be menaced — and then rescued — from some teenage boys with dubious intentions by a trio of other paper girls who have banded together for mutual protection from any lingering Halloween craziness. That's when things start to get strange.” -TVTropes

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero : “1990. The teen detectives once known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club are all grown up and haven't seen each other since their fateful, final case in 1977....The time has come to uncover the source of their nightmares and return to where it all began. This time, it better not be a man in a mask. The real monsters are waiting” -- Goodreads

The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson : “Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls--a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place--Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turns twelve, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so Calvin decides to initiate them all into the "Saturday Night Ghost Club." But as the summer goes on, what begins as a seemingly lighthearted project may ultimately uncover more than any of its members had imagined.” - Goodreads

Summer of Night by Dan Simmons : “It's the summer of 1960 in Elm Haven, Illinois, and five 12-year old boys are forming the bonds that a lifetime of changes will never erase. But then a dark cloud threatens the bright promise of summer vacation: on the last day of school, their classmate Tubby Cooke vanishes. Soon, the group discovers stories of other children who once disappeared from Elm Haven. And there are other strange things happening in town... The friends realize that there is a terrible evil lurking in Elm Haven...and they must be the ones to stop it.” -- Goodreads

December Park by Ronald Malfi : “In the fall of 1993, the quite suburb of Harting Farms is shocked when children begin to vanish, and one is found dead near December Park--a great, sweeping expanse that is sunken below the streets and surrounded on three sides by vast woodlands--a place children believe is haunted...Angelo Mazzone and his friends discover a link to the dead girl and take up the search for the killer, vowing to stop the Piper's reign of terror. Their teenage pledge becomes a journey of self-discovery and an odyssey into the darkness of their own hometown.” - Goodreads

#books #stranger things #Media similar to Stranger Things recs

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marble-hornets-fic-prompts · 4 years

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Ghost and Mansion au crossover

Hello! Quick warning: this is a very long post. I tried to separate the paragraphs more for an easier read, because let’s be honest, if you see a giant block of infodump text you probably aren’t going to read all of it.

Also, a note: in this The Operator is the same character as 'Slenderman' but also not really. They are a demon, and feed off chaos (positive, neutral, and negative). The name difference is based off of who named the demon. The Marble Hornets Crew all still call him The Operator, but to everyone else he is known as 'Slenderman'. That was the easiest way I could incorporate them into the same au.

Quick one-sentence summary: crossover of the Creepypasta mansion au and Jay, Alex, and Brian being ghosts and following Tim around post-MH.

Here are the trigger warnings for the post: Death mention, religious themes (specifically the mention of demons), smoking mention

Because of how large the Creepypasta mansion would be (and if we include characters like Masky and HABIT in there, it would bring even more people in) someone is bound to be able to see ghosts, right?

The au idea is a mix of the mansion au, where Tim hangs out after the series ends, and the ghost au. This means he is actually there with the ghosts of Jay, Brian, and Alex, but he doesn’t realize because he can’t see them. This leads to all following him attempting to help in any ways they can, along with an apologetic Alex.

Jay and Brian have a hard time forgiving him, but eventually they are able to accept his apology and acknowledge that he wasn’t fully in control/felt he had no other options and became desperate. Of course, everyone agrees it was a fucked up situation and that Alex’s solution was terrible, but eventually they are able to be together and be friends again.

Originally, the only reason Jay tolerated either of them (after finding out Brian was the hooded man) was because he didn’t want to leave Tim alone. Of course, the others stayed for the same reason, and even when they had full blown arguments the one person keeping them together was Tim. Now, they are able to be comfortable wandering around with one person watching Tim at all times (he’s in a house full of killers of course they aren’t comfortable leaving him alone, even if they cant do anything).

The entire time Tim is actually at the mansion he is wearing his mask. This doesn’t mean he is always in his “masked-state”, however, but he doesn’t like to talk to the others regardless. No one except Ben knows what happened, as most came in a lot later or never saw the videos. He made all the YouTube videos private and erased all evidence he could of the situation they went through. This leads to Alex, Jay, and Brian being listed as “missing”, because while some people followed the series when it was going no one could prove any of it anymore. Tim is able to return back out into society and gets a job to help pay for the things in the mansion. (How else could they get food or electricity? A demon can only do so much)

After a couple years, Tim is finally able to keep his job steady as he has to balance his job, taking care of the rest of the mansion, and the “missions” The Operator has him do in his “masked-state”.

The “missions” aren’t your average ‘go kill this guy because ___’, no, most the time they are just chaotic neutral tasks. The Operator is a demon who feeds of chaos and the negative feelings of humans, so it makes sense that most of the time it would be to just cause general chaos. (Although sometimes it leads to very… Interesting tasks…)

During this entire time of recovery is when the others are recovering too, and soon they start trying to do little things to help. Paperwork scattered across his desk because he got too stressed and left for a smoke? Jay and Brian organize the papers while Alex watches over Tim. Fell asleep with the lights on? Alex turns it off while Brian grabs a blanket to put over his shoulders.

Alex, Jay, and Brian can’t interact too much with physical objects because it takes up a lot of energy (depending on the item). If they use too much energy up, they go into a strange state of there-but-not-there. This means that they are present and (because they all linked to Tim) are following wherever Tim is, but they are not able to see, hear, feel. They are also not able to be seen, heard, and felt by other ghosts in this state, so they try to avoid this as much as possible. Energy recharges passively over time, so most times they just can’t help for a while.

Tim notices the strange occurrences and after a couple months asks The Operator about them. The Operator says he has no idea about them, but they don’t seem to be bad so they shrug it off. (Of course, he has an idea but isn’t about to let Tim know this. He doesn’t know how he would react, and Tim is one of the few people providing for the members of the mansion. If he loses one of his best sources of income and chaos, it would be a waste.)

One day, everyone’s just hanging out and Tim is casually in their living room watching some of the others play games on their TV. Suddenly, the person who can see ghosts starts laughing randomly. The others aren’t used to this because, while everyone knew they could see ghosts, they never interacted or talked with them. Someone finally asks “Hey, dude, uh… what was that just now? You okay?” and they respond, “Yea, sorry, one of Masky’s ghosts just tripped over themself. Not over any physical object, just like, in the air. Sorry, I just found it funny.”

The some of the others are just staring at him, others let out a laugh of two, but Masky is frozen in his seat. Why? Because he never was sent on any of the missions to kill specific people (the one rule that The Operator followed to keep him around), and the only people he knew that could’ve been ghosts are Jay, Alex, and Brian.

Jay, Alex and Brian, of course, are the only ones to notice Tim’s change in stance. Sadly, because they are ghosts, no one else can hear their concerns except the Ghost Creepypasta. Jay is just a couple loud “Tim? Are you okay? Oh no’” before he goes into unintelligible mumbling while frantically moving around, Brian just looks upset and seems to attempt at being a reassuring presence to Tim, and Alex attempts to get Jay to calm down from his panicking. This isn’t to say the other two weren’t panicking, oh no, they definitely were. All of them knew they made the same connection at the same time.

After a moment of watching this all go on, the Ghost Creepypasta just kinda speaks up again and says “So, uh, Masky. Are you okay, dude? Your ghosts are kinda freaking out and a little worried about you, so…” ‘Are they… how many are there? The ghosts, I mean,’ he signs.

Everyone else around there who was taking it as a moment of ‘oh, haha, their just worried because they can’t see his face’ finally realize ‘oh shit, this is serious’ and all the previous talking stops. Some are more gossip-hungry than others and actually move closer to hear what’s going on, while the rest turn off anything that might be making extra noise as the atmosphere completely changes. The Ghost Creepypasta tells him three, obviously a little unnerved at what’s going on. “How come you never mentioned anything about the ghosts before hand, dude?” Someone speaks up. The Ghost Creepypasta shrinks in on themself and mumbles out a short excuse about attention and the ghosts being mostly personal.

Right as they finish saying this Tim stands up and leaves, walking outside and ignoring the worried calls after him. He needs time to think and process the information he just heard, otherwise he might break down right there.

#crossover #mansion au #ghost jay #ghost au #ghost alex #ghost brian #creepypasta #creepy pasta #my au #my prompts

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thecomicsnexus · 5 years

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EXCALIBUR #1-2 OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 1988 BY CHRIS CLAREMONT, ALAN DAVIS, PAUL NEARY AND GLYNIS OLIVER

SYNOPSIS (FROM MARVEL DATABASE)

In a deserted factory complex near Loch Daemon in the Scottish Highlands, Tweedledope plays around with a small metallic gadget. He fills it with various stuff such as beans, trash and metal and misuses it as a cocktail shaker. When his eyes fall on a wanted poster of the Crazy Gang, he suddenly looses interest in his toy and throws it away. The metallic object opens its eyes and comes to live - it is Widget.

In the meanwhile, Excalibur and the police encounter a hostage situation in London. While Dai Thomas is reluctant to send in young girls like Kitty Pryde or Rachel Summers, Captain Britain reassures him that Excalibur will handle the situation. In the meantime, Kitty and Rachel talk to police officer Ray Mulholland on the rooftop of the building, impressing him with their mutant powers.

The two women then phase through the roof to check out the hostage situation while Mulholland is attacked by a warwolf who kills him and strips him from his skin.

Kitty and Rachel move into a storage room adjacent to the larger room where some hostage-takers hold about 20 people as hostages. Kitty phases her face through the wall, telepathically reporting details about the layout of the room. Suddenly, Rachel suffers a seizure and looses her consciousness - exactly in the same moment as Ray Mulholland gets killed by the warwolf. Her scream alarms the hostage-takers and they search the storage room for any intruders, discovering the unconscious body of Rachel and dragging her into the main room. Kitty utilizes a white blanket to dress up as a ghost and phases through the main room ceiling, howling and threatening the confused hostage-takers. One of the men shoots at her with a pump gun but doesn't hit her due to her phased status.

Alarmed by the shot, Captain Britain, who waited on the outside, decides to storm the building. Rachel, suddenly awakened, releases the Phoenix and disarms the hostage takers, rendering them unconscious by smashing them against a wall. When Captain Britain enters the scene, Kitty and Rachel already dealt with the situation. Merchant Banker Nigel Frobisher approaches Rachel and offers her to "express his gratitude more privately" - an offer which disgusts Rachel. She is still confused about her seizure and tells her teammates that she felt a despairing psychic scream of a person who seems to be entirely erased from existence without even leaving a mind trace.

Back in Merlin Mews, Rachel feels the same sensation again when Jacko Petrie is killed and skinned by a warwolf disguised as police officer Ray Mulholland.

One night later in Merlin Mews, Kitty mourns over the pictures of the X-Men and her friend Doug Ramsey who are supposed to be dead after the Mutant Massacre. She remembers some of the fiercest enemies she and the X-Men opposed over the years and is interrupted by Captain Britain who tries to cheer her up. He invites her to join her on a trip into town, but she refuses because she is working on a secret device she calls the "Doppelgänger Module".

On the west coast of England, Meggan and Nightcrawler fly to Brian Braddock's lighthouse. Meggan suggests that Excalibur could use it as a secret Headquarter and shows Nighcrawler around in a kind of sightseeing tour. He is impressed by the location. While Meggan makes some tea in the kitchen, he encounters a strange vision in a storage room where he is attacked by alien species. In the nick of time, he teleports out of the room and back into the kitchen, but when he wants to show Meggan what he just saw, the storage room is empty.

In London, Rachel accompanies Captain Britain to Fraser's Bank at Thameside where she is approached by Nigel Frobisher again. She is distracted by a telepathic message from Meggan and Kurt, announcing that they will return to London tonight, and Frasier uses this moment to touch her. Rachel pushes him away with her Phoenix power, watched by an amused Captain Britain. He is startled by the entrance of a blonde woman he immediately recognizes as Courtney Ross, his former girlfriend, who is now the vice president of the bank. They sit down and talk about old times.

In Merlin Mews, Kitty finishes her Doppelgänger Module which will allow her to mask herself as Phoenix by sending out her unique energy pattern. She dresses as Phoenix as well, somewhat uncomfortable with the skintight suit and the high heels, and moves out into the streets of London, planning to draw the warwolves' attention. The warwolves want to capture Phoenix in order to take her back to Mojo, so she hopes they will be lured to her. Meggan and Nightcrawler return to the Mansion, not aware of her departure. Nightcrawler is taking a bath and startled by Meggan who fixed him a mug of hot chocolade.

Returning from the bath, Nightcrawler discovers Kitty's invention in Captain Britains lab. He is immediately alarmed and telephatically calls Rachel, who is currently visiting the Shakespeare Company in London. She leaves the theater and starts searching for Kitty who just met police officer Mulholland and some companions. Mulholland mistakes her for Rachel Summers and he and his companions reveal that they are warwolves. Kitty phases when the first warwolf strikes her, but then her powers get scrambled and she cannot phase back from solid state. The warwolves capture her and drag her away. Phoenix, Meggan, Captain Britain and Nightcrawler appear at the scene, but they cannot stop the warwolves from abducting Kitty. Together they decide that they must rescue her teammate before the enemies turn her into a warwolf.

In a deserted factory complex near Loch Daemon in the Scottish Highlands, Colin McCay plays "tag" with Widget. The boy is hiding from Vixen who payed a lot of money to get the orphaned boy into custody. Vixen's armed troopers search the facility and try to lure the hungry boy with Fish'n Chips. Eventually, they surround the child, but before capturing him, Widget opens a dimensional portal and Colin happily disappears. The soldiers return to Vixen with empty hands.

In the meanwhile, in the London Underground, the Warwolves appear at Hob's End Station, together with the captured Kitty Pryde. They steal some more skins, push a woman onto the rails and disappear into a dark tunnel. The woman's life is threatened by an approaching underground railway, but Captain Britain manages to save her in the nick of time while Rachel stops the train with her telekinetic powers. The civilians celebrate the super heroes, but when Nightcrawler appears at the scene, they get afraid and panic because of his demonic appearance. Eventually, the police enters the station and tries to sort things out. Captain Britan demands that the police officers inform Scotland Yard special agent Dai Thomas, who will vouch for Excalibur. Excalibur is inhibited from following the warwolves into the tunnels until the situation is sorted out. Nightcrawler notices that one police officer shows a very odd behavior - he is smiling to himself and seems to be very amused. The mutant secretly follows him into a tunnel. There he is ambushed by the policeman who turns out to be a warwolf. Nightcrawler is captured and taken into their secret underground headquarter.

In the meantime, Kitty Pryde's kidnappers reach the headquarter. Some warwolves are waiting for new skins and are provided with the latest stolen bodies. One warwolf tries to steal Kitty's skin, but after finishing the procedure, only the skintight Rachel suit is left - no sign of Kitty's body. The other warwolves mock their colleague who becomes quite depressed about the fact that he is the only one without a proper human skin. In the same moment as Kitty's life is at stake, Rachel Summers feels her pain due to their PSI link. She changes into her Phoenix form, leaves the subway station by tearing a big hole into the ceiling, and flies away. The police demands that Captain Britain will pay for the destruction of public property.

In Fraser's Bank, Thamesside, Nigel Frobisher is amusing himself with his secretary when he sees the Phoenix in the sky. He immediately looses his interest in the woman and decides that he and Phoenix are meant for each other. Courtney Ross, who is sitting in her office, reflects about her time with Brian Braddock while watching the Phoenix rising.

Rachel telepathically reports to Captain Britain and Meggan that Nightcrawler was attacked. The two leave the subway station and run into the tunnel in order to find the secret headquarter of the warwolves. In the headquarter, the warwolf who just tried to skin Kitty Pryde, shows a very odd behavior. Another warwolf, carrying the captured Nightcrawler on his back, enters the headquarter and offers him to take the mutant's body instead. The skinless warwolf is disgusted by Wagner's appearance, but his companions force him to take the body without complaint. While trying to suck out Nightcrawler's life, the warwolf suddenly starts beating his comrades and then begins to grow long hair. Soon all warwolves begin to melee with each other while Nightcrawler uses this situation for an escape attempt. He is captured by one of the warwolves, but then Captain Britain and Meggan enter the headquarter and save him from being skinned. Together they defeat all warwolves and capture the one with the long hair who shows a strong resemblance to Kitty. Meggan is confused because her scent is a mix of warwolf and Kitty, but suddenly two human hands open the warwolves mouth from the inside and Kitty Pryde fights her way out of the alien's body. She phased into her opponents body when he tried to kill and skin her while Rachel helped her to keep her conciousness cohesive. From the inside Kitty could control the warwolves' actions and used him to fight the other warwolves.

Excalibur is clueless about what to do with the captured warwolves - they are aliens and can't be arrested or put on trial. Eventually, Exalibur donates the Warwolves to the London Zoo.

REVIEW

While X-Men spin-offs were a plague in the nineties, it is easy to forget they started well. New Mutants, Excalibur and X-Factor were very different from each other.

In this case, we start right were the special left. We get new long arcs and new short ones. The Warwolves look humanoid. I think putting them in a zoo is not a good idea (they could easily escape and blend in).

Apart from that, some story elements are dragging, I assume for good reasons, but make the pace slower. If you are a new reader, there are plenty of support characters that were introduced before the series, and even main ones, that you may not know about. So I don’t think it is new-reader-friendly. I do think that despite that, the story can be understood.

The art looks amazing, it’s classic Davis + Neary.

I give the story a score of 7.

#alan davis #marvel comics #comics #review #1988 #modern age #x-men #excalibur #phoenix #captain britain #nightcrawler #shadowcat #kitty pryde

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twunkycowboy95 · 5 years

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Queen and I: Brian

Author's Note: This is part two of a four part fic of Crowley bonding with Queen during 1975. Like and reblog if you enjoyed it and I accept constructive criticism 😊

"May I borrow this?" Crowley holds up a blue hard bound book.

"Sure. Didn't know you like astronomy, Anthony."

I created the bloody stars, Bri. Crowley grinned. "I love it."

Brian's expression brightened and he picks up his guitar. He turned the tuning pegs while Crowley turned pages. It was a peaceful arrangement for the two as the music from the guitar and Brian's soft voice almost lulled the demon to sleep.

Crowley manages to keep himself awake by tapping his foot in time with the song. Occasionally, he would hum along. However, he was disappointed when the song was over. He then sees Brian write something down on his notebook while a book on astrophysics is propped open next to it.

"Are you studying?" He asks, genuinely interested. He closes his book and moved his chair next to the guitarist.

"Yes, and I'm also writing a song." Brian ran his hand into his big curly hair and Crowley notices his fingernails were painted white. "Ever since we started touring, I never had time to write my thesis."

He sighs and erases a line. Whether if it's a lyric of his song or a citation for his thesis, Crowley couldn't say.

"Doctor Brian May." The demon recites. "It's got a ring to it."

That got a smile from the guitarist. "Are you familiar with time dilation effect?"

"Yeah, pretty clever of you to include it in your song."

Crowley then chooses his words carefully. "But it's kind of sad once you understood the whole thing."

Brian regards him with intelligent hazel eyes as if the two of them were having a class discussion. Crowley was thankful he had his sunglasses on. The demon clears his throat and returns the book he borrowed.

"You ever want to go to space, Anthony?" Brian places the book back to his pile.

I've been there and it is incredibly beautiful. Would you like a tour of the galaxies that I made? "Who doesn't?" Crowley answers confidently.

"Taking anyone with you? It can get awfully lonely."

"That's enough questions."

The guitarist twirls his pencil, his curiosity piqued. It's a 'yes' judging from what he could tell. "Where are you taking them?"

He'd Fall if he were an angel. "Alpha Centauri."

"A binary star. That's very romantic of you."

Crowley hisses as his cheeks turned pink. "It makes for a better song than some astronauts coming home after one year in space, only to find out their loved ones are either dead or old."

"You write your own song then." Brian says coolly.

A heavy silence followed and Crowley shuffled his feet awkwardly as Brian continued writing on his notebook.

"Sorry." Crowley apologizes.

Brian nods in acknowledgment. "I just don't want to neglect my studies. Don't get me wrong, I love being in Queen. Freddie, Rog, and Deacy are the best mates anyone could have and I wouldn't ask for any other way."

Then he looks at Crowley. "Maybe a love song about Alpha Centauri isn't a bad idea after all."

The demon just sighs and he slumps down on the table. "Nah, forget I said that. It was stupid. Like he'd ever want to go off together with me to space. There are no books there."

#queen #brian may #good omens #crowley #good omens fanfic #good omens fanfic rec #good omens fanfiction #anthony j crowley #aj crowley

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thalsianiii · 5 years

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Dark Reclamation

(( @cypris-thalsian @brian-wellson @blackbay-wra for mentions/pertinent. ))

“Hmm… mmm… what… where am I?” came the whispered, female voice of the Vicar. The powerful shadowmancer’s eyes fluttered open as she tried to move her wrists only to be found she was shackled. Around her neck was the same bone Loa fetish Cypris had used to nullify her powers. Looking around she appeared to be in a dungeon of sorts. Her clothes were torn apart leaving her bare. Strange markings were drawn onto her flesh. Around her were the skeletons and corpses of previous victims. Blood stains smeared against the old wooden floors. Half drawn and half erased mystic circles were drawn into the walls and floors. Tools of torture, strange vials of light knows what, reagents from the farthest reaches littered the area.

“You’re in my tower, Vicar,” answered Percival Thalsian the third as he emerged from the shadows, “It’s also going to be your final resting place. Hopefully, not before you leave one last gift to this world.”

She was ready to explode with all her ancient, shadowy power. Percival knew. While she was unconscious he had his hounds siphon her magic to get a taste. Two Felstalkers and a felhunter were now comatose from their gluttonous feast and the woman had scarcely stirred from her slumber.

“Do you like that fetish? My wifes handiwork. Your power is awesome, that I cannot deny. Certainly a rival for my own. I had every intention of dropping the entirety of my host of demons on your abbey and beat you to a pulp. Oh I had such a vision you see. Bilescourge would blot out the sky. Imps would crawl up the walls. Hounds would tear apart cloistered brothers and sisters alike. Your guardians would fight valiantly against my elite demons but ultimately fall. My assassins would execute your disciples. A concerto of chaos. The final movement would reach its crescendo as your magic and mind clashed in a battle of wills. But no… something far more beautiful delivered you into my hands. You fell for humanity. The shadows of your absolute ignorance and overconfidence was your downfall.” Percival monologued.

“Congratulations. You have me in chains. My powers are nullified. Now what? Going to torture me for information? For power?” the Vicar asked. She kept her tone calm and cool. Confident. “I could offer you power. You needn’t do this for young Brian’s sake. He can’t offer you what I can.”

“Ahh Vicar,” chuckled Percival, “You misunderstand. I’m not trying to gain your power. I’m doing this as a favour for an old friend. Loyalty is a powerful force. Perhaps if you commanded the same level of loyalty from your underlings as I do from my friends, you’d be in a very different position.”

“Then why am I still alive?” she asked. Her confident tone didn’t falter. She truly believed there was something she could exchange.

“Allow me to tell you,” He replied. At this moment the warlock pulled off his Empyrium mask and revealed his old, wizened face. “Two years ago, The Burning Legion attacked Azeroth for the third time in her history. A demon army the likes of which hasn’t been seen in millenia washed over the continents and laid siege to our homes. It originated on the Broken Isles. Two years ago I travelled to that broken shore with a contingency of soldiers to fight back that initial wave. I was not the master I am now, and I used more power than I had to ensure the safety of my comrades. This was the sacrifice I made.” he explained as he touched his own wrinkled face. “But in the end, they all betrayed me. I’ve returned the favour multiple times against the people. Now it’s time to reclaim what was lost and you, Vicar, are the only one who has the power to give it back.”

“So you think I’ll show you some trick to gain immortality? The fountain of youth? Even if I do know it, you lack the faith to acquire it, warlock. I’ll give you nothing.” The Vicar replied. Her tone far more harsh and condescending now.

“You see, you don’t have to give me anything, Vicar. Because I’m going to take it!” he growled with a vile grin.

As soon as the words left his lips, Percival hands grabbed the woman’s head. His fingertips dug into her temples and the runes on her flesh began to glow. Percival’s eyes glowed a vibrant fel green in response as he felt the rush of her life drain from her being and into his. He wasn’t wrong, her power was incredible. Unlike the countless failed experiments before her, he could feel himself being restored. His vitality, his strength, his youth returning. The sacrifice he had made was being undone and he was once more being made whole. That was the missing ingredient. He couldn’t simply take what was lost from someone else. His power had grown exponentially since that day on the Broken Shore. So he needed that much more life essence to break even in the first place. This woman had so much life to give, only she could have returned what was lost. “Yes… yes… YES!!!” he cried out in near ecstasy as his skin tightened the wrinkles away and his muscles regained their tone and vigor. His hair darkened and darkened until it once more was raven black. Finally, he was back to his true form.

“What… what have you done?” coughed the Vicar. She had been drained. Her body wrinkled and wizened, “You… you shouldn’t be able too…”

“I don’t care what you say I should or shouldn’t be able to do, Vicar,” Percival replied as he stood up right and puffed his chest taking a deep breath with revitalized lungs. “Your vitality… no… your ancient power is now part of me. I am so much more than I was before. Now there is one last thing to do. Complete the commitment I made.”

With a simple snap of his fingers, all consuming fel magic enveloped the old woman. Her blood curdling screams filled the tower and the hills beyond. Surely, those connected with her would feel her horrific passing. The unstable energies of the twisting nether tore her very soul apart along with her body. Bones turned to dust within her body as her blood boiled. She was being destroyed from the inside out until all that was left was a limp corpse that oozed boiling ichor.

Percivals last affront to the Vicars body was to dip his bloodstone ring into the foul ooze that was her remains and let it drink of the left over power. He turned and took another deep breath.

“Can you feel us, Azeroth? Can you feel the coming chaos?”

#IC #Plot #Story Arc #Youth #Power Up #Demonologist #Sacrifice #Magic #Role Play

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