#maurice restoration

[my-screenshot-dump]

[luminary-of-the-marz]

My designs for (most) the LoTF kids!!

[groundonesix]

1980s Memphis Design Period Etagere #1

Red Italian etagere, very much in the manner of the Memphis Milano group, and originating from the 1980s. A tubular, powder-coated metal frame in a pleasing vermillion houses five glass shelves. One unit has clear glass, and one has smoked glass. This listing is for the clear glass shelving. One of the shelves has a small chip.

These fun shelving units would brighten up any interior –– be it in a bedroom, office, kitchen, or bedroom.

These pieces can be dismantled and posted internationally, for ease of transport. Please note that one etagere has a slight discolouration on the powder coating.

CREATOR: Unknown

PLACE OF ORIGIN: Italy

DATE OF MANUFACTURE: c. 1980s

PERIOD: 1980 - 1989

MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES: Powder-coated metal, glass, plastic

CONDITION: Good used condition

WEAR: Wear consistent with age and use. One unit has some slight discolouration.

HEIGHT: 180cm | 70.8in

WIDTH: 69cm | 27.1in

DEPTH: 32cm | 12.5in

DISTANCE BETWEEN SHELVES: 35cm | 13.7in

Request More Information

[brutalistinteriors]

Christchurch Town Hall. Miles Warren and Maurice Mahoney. Post-earthquake restoration by Hawkins.

Second photo from Christchurch City Council.

[2sundowner69]

Sundowner

The project: restore a 17th century Perigord castle

Your support is needed to save Nontron Castle. Indeed, it is urgent to preserve this building which is deteriorating rapidly and significantly.

Only the ground floor is currently in use and can be visited with the craft exhibitions, the Crafts boutique and the Blades and Metals space.

The work will bring together on a single site the different activities of the Pôle Expérimental des Métiers d'Art de Nontron et du Périgord-Limousin (PEMA) by occupying the entire building. All levels of the building will thus be rehabilitated. The public will then be better received, new exhibition rooms will be created and the freed space will be used for educational workshops.

Further information and/or to make a donation:

https://www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/chateau-de-nontron-pole-experimental-des-metiers-d-art

source: @enchantingcolortacogarden

[shuttershocky]

*pops up out of the ground dodging the understandable reflexive gunfire*

So I’m still having a blast with Mo and Krill but there’s a problem with controller mapping rn where I can’t seem to remap the cancel ability function to a controller, which means having to try and frantically hit space with a finger while I’m in the middle of a firefight

Because if that I wanted to see if there was a build to be made around maximizing the grab damage/impact, but all the builds I find focus on the dig and burst strat and I’m still very green at moba building. Any advice for a grappler main trying to maximize Mo’s beatdown?

Sure thing, but before we begin please take a look at Shahed's fundraiser and consider donating if you are able! This is a vetted fundraiser that's been stalling for a bit, and while we're talking about free video games I think the money saved could go to people in need.

_____

So if you want to build around Combo, what you need are friends who will actually follow you beefiness, and damage while doing combo. The reason why you're seeing builds based around Burrow is because it has the best spirit scaling at 1.4x, while Combo has a scaling of 0.8x, meaning 100 spirit will give +140 DPS to Burrow while only giving +80 to Combo.

This should be balanced out by Combo giving your allies the easiest kill of their lives. However Deadlock is a team game, which means that teamwork is the last thing you are ever going to see, so we're going to build to do the damage ourselves.

After filling out all your slots with cheap items you will replace later (remember, Tier 1 items cost only 500 souls for stats, so if you sell them you get 250 souls back which means you only spent 250 souls for the temporary boost), beefy stuff like Extra Health, Restorative Shot, Enduring Spirit, Mystic Reach (you will upgrade this later) etc, the first items you want to aim for are items that let you move and farm fast. Fleetfoot and Surge of Power (imbue on Burrow) are great for this, since the first gives you movespeed on activation and also lets you shoot your gun without slowing yourself down (good for chases), while Surge of Power gives a damage boost to Burrow and also turns you into a racecar when underground. Push lanes into enemy territory and steal all their jungle camps and Sinner Sacrifice machines (you want to leave your own camps for your crybaby DPS teammates), and if you see them going for you hit Burrow and zoom away (or zoom in if they're attacking your allies).

This ability to farm fast and shove waves is what's going to let you actually buy items and earn the flex slots that enable your Combo build. Get Duration Extender and Improved Cooldown as soon as you can, this will extend the length of your Combo and lower its cooldown. If you're balling and got 3k Souls early though, get Torment Pulse first. If you don't know what it does, Torment Pulse makes two enemies around you take Spirit Damage just by being near you once every 1.7s, good both for farming even faster and for tacking on extra damage to Combo. Duration Extender and Improved Cooldown can be upgraded into Superior Duration and Superior Cooldown which can both be imbued on an ability for an even bigger bonus, so imbue it on Combo. Mystic Reach can be upgraded into Improved Reach as well, to extend Maurice's grabby arms just a little longer.

Now here comes the part the community Build guides don't tell you: Cooldown reduction works on Torment Pulse. That damage every 1.7 seconds? It's coded as a cooldown, so cooldown reduction reduces the amount of time between bursts of damage, increasing its DPS. We already bought Superior Cooldown, but there's CDR on other items too. And what do you know, they're stuff Mo and Krill likes to buy.

Enchanter's Barrier gives you 300 Spirit Shield. While the Spirit Shield is up, get 8% Cooldown Reduction and 20 spirit power. Diviner's Kevlar gives you 700 bullet and spirit shield when activating your ult, perfect for the guy that makes his enemies scream "SHOOT THE MOLEMAN" when grabbing them. It also gives you 20% Spirit Lifesteal (heal while Comboing!) and 12% CDR. Soul Rebirth auto-revives you once every 3 minutes if you die (and you're a tank so it's gonna happen), but it's also got 15% Cooldown Reduction. You get the idea.

Stack enough CDR and Torment Pulse's cooldown goes from 1.7 to 0.9 seconds, almost doubling its damage. Between Mo and Krill's disruptive skillset and Torment Pulse proccing Spirit Lifesteal, he becomes a menace in teamfights.

Of course, midway through this build any team with half a brain is going to realize you have to be countered or you make every teamfight an automatic 6v5, so you're going to have to make compromises with this theoretical build.

What those compromises are will change depending on the enemy. Lots of Spirit damage? Build Coldfront (+10% Spirit Resist and a handy AOE freezing blast trhat slows people, great for catching enemies for a Combo) and Improved Spirit Armor. Disappearing under a stream of bullets? Warpstone gives you 30% bullet resist on use, and also helps you teleport right on top of an enemy to Combo them. Enemy built a shitload of Spirit Resist to counter you? Build Hunter's Aura and reduce their Bullet Resist instead. If you're fast with your fingers, you can also build Alchemical Fire which throws a burning flask on the ground that makes any enemies within it take constant spirit damage and take +50% increased weapon damage. Nobody really buys this (apart from Vindicta) because enemies usually just walk out, but nobody keeps the enemy from moving quite like Maurice.

A build guide can only teach you so much. With a game like Deadlock, a lot of your ability to even complete the items listed in this guide is going to be determined by your mechanical ability to outplay your enemies both in the micro sense (in fights) and in the macro sense (winning the resource race), but so long as you understand the main ideas presented here, you should have a target goal to reach.

TL;DR

Make your Combo last longer, reach further, and cooldown faster

Support Combo with Torment Pulse

Cooldown Reduction increases the DPS of Torment Pulse (lol)

Only invest as much into Combo as you're allowed to get away with. You're the team's tank and bruiser, so bulk up.

If you have any questions just ask, and if you found this helpful please consider donating to Shahed's GFM linked above or to some of the fundraisers linked here

[poomphuripan]

Hey! Have you watched 'Your Name Engraved Herein' ? I did it last weekend, and I'm still feeling very miserable. Do you have recommendations for shows/movies that offer the same visceral kind of pain? I'm a sucker for angst so I really wanna see if anything can surpass what this movie did to me lol. ^_^

hi nonnie (❁´◡`❁)

Your Name Engraved Herein is literally an iconic queer film, who HASN'T seen it (┬┬﹏┬┬) It stills leave me reeling after so many weeks after watching it.

But I grew up watching sad angsty LGBTQIA+ films so I've grown accustomed to this specific genre of sad LGBTQIA+ films i wanna bawl my eyes out after watching. so here's a few recommendations you've probably seen already, but i'm just here to give you a nudge to watch them in case you haven't seen (though it's my personal recommendation to take a break or watch happy things in between these films or else after the first few films, you're just numb to the pain and misery, and won't be able to maximize emotional connectability with the characters).

1. Happy Together (1997) dir. Wong Kar Wai

Synopsis: Ho Po Wing and Lai Yiu Fai, a couple from pre-handover Hong Kong, visit Argentina hoping to renew their ailing relationship. The two have a pattern of abuse, followed by break-ups and reconciliations. One of their goals in Argentina is to visit the Iguazu waterfalls, which serves as a leitmotif in the movie.

my thoughts: i didn't know what the hype was with wong kar wai until i watched this film. 100/10 cinematography and it breaks me every time.

2. Brokeback Mountain (2005) dir. Ang Lee

Synopsis: Two modern-day cowboys meet on a shepherding job in the summer of ’63, the two share a raw and powerful summer together that turns into a lifelong relationship conflicting with the lives they are supposed to live.

my thoughts: not the best of its genre but i cried a lot watching it the first time so i'm giving it a little space here in this list. Ang Lee has delivered a lot more LGBTQIA+ films

3. Lan Yu (2001) dir. Stanley Kwan

Synopsis: Set in Beijing in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the film makes vivid reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre. Lan Yu, an architecture student in desperate need of money, finds himself in the bed of successful businessman Chen Han Dong. While Lan Yu falls in love, Chen tries his best to avoid emotional attachment, showering Lan Yu with expensive gifts and even getting married. However, as the years go by, Chen soon realizes that he cannot live without Lan Yu.

my thoughts: god i want to quote this entire film as i was watching it. THE ANGST. THE PAIN. it's been recently restored in 4k so i rewatched it a while back, god the pain is still visceral.

4. Farewell My Concubine (1993) dir. Chen Kaige

Synopsis: Abandoned by his prostitute mother in 1920, Douzi was raised by a theater troupe. There he meets Shitou and over the following years the two develop an act entitled “Farewell My Concubine” that brings them fame and fortune. When Shitou marries Juxian, Douzi becomes jealous, the beginnings of the acting duo’s explosive breakup and tragic fall take root.

my thoughts: pain. pain. pain. pain. pain. ABSOLUTE PAIN. but also i adore poetic and tragic films so this was THAT masterpiece for me.

5. Maurice (1987) dir. James Ivory

Synopsis: After his lover rejects him, Maurice, a young man in early 20th-century England, trapped by the oppressiveness of Edwardian society, tries to come to terms with and accept his sexuality.

my thoughts: hugh grant is gay af and i'm always here for it. i never fully bought him being charming male lead in all those het romcoms he got

happy watching! \(￣︶￣*\))

[expo63]

Dang, life is so horrible that I forgot about James’ 66th birthday. :((

So:

Happy 66th Birthday, James Wilby (b. 20 February 1958)!

And have a classic(?!) thing I made back in 2017 for Maurice’s 30th anniversary restoration & re-release. :-)

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - November 7, 2022

🏳️‍🌈 - Meet the best-looking couple in the world

1. Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Argentina reveal they secretly got married

Beauty pageant queens Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Argentina secretly tied the knot on Friday after revealing they had been in a relationship.

In a joint Instagram post, newlyweds Fabiola Valentín, from Puerto Rico, and Mariana Varela, from Argentina, said: “After deciding to keep our relationship private, we opened the doors to them on a special day 28/10/22.”

Would this be the best-looking couple in the world? 😂

2. Book banning attempt defeated after community stands up for LGBTQ people

After a heated public debate, the Greenville County Council in South Carolina voted to keep LGBTQ books accessible to children at the public library.

A resolution from city Councilor Joe Dill — who recently lost the Republican primary and will not be maintaining his seat — proposed requiring the 12-location library system in the area to remove books “promoting sexuality” from all children’s sections.

They refused to allow “Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe” by Benjamin Alier Sáenz on the shelf due to “unnatural sexual behavior” when it has one gay kiss but Twilight has an entire human vampire hybrid. Glad the fight was finally won.

3. Man released from California prison after 38 years following DNA test

Maurice Hastings cleared of murder charge after testing of long-held evidence points to another person.

4. The shrinking ozone hole shows that the world can actually solve an environmental crisis

The ozone is on the path to recovery, if not fully restored. New data released on October 26 by NASA indicates that the annual ozone hole over the Antarctic reached an average area of 8.9 million square miles over the past year. That’s slightly smaller than last year, and continues a trend toward overall shrinking over the past several years.

“Over time, steady progress is being made, and the hole is getting smaller,” Paul Newman, chief scientist for earth sciences at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement. “The elimination of ozone-depleting substances through the Montreal Protocol is shrinking the hole.”

5. Children refill a stranger’s empty Halloween candy bowl

6. Icelandair Announces Carbon-Free Flights by 2030

The airline will operate only emissions-free aircraft for its domestic routes. Some of these flights could start as early as 2026.

They will use only electric or hydrogen-powered planes. This decision puts Icelandair at the forefront of sustainable aviation, considering that other airlines are only aiming to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

7. Blindness Awareness Month: Don’t just be aware, be a friend

October was blindness awareness month, a month devoted to educate others about the realities of living without sight and to advocate for those who are blind or have low vision.

Because of this I wanted to give a shoutout to Be My Eye app. Be My Eyes connects people needing sighted support with volunteers and companies through live video around the world.

That’s it for this week. If you liked this post you can support this newsletter with a small kofi donation:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Have a great week ahead :)

[darlingandmreames]

@inception30daychallenge Day 28: What piece of media would you want to see in a crossover with Inception?

The Mummy/Indiana Jones!I think I maybe made almost this exact same post last year, but oh well. LOOK AT MY AU BOY!

Dom: formerly well-respected archeologist who has since fallen into somewhat disgrace after several (false) allegations of mishandling and illegally selling artifacts. Used to work with (and be married to) Mal, but they have gone separate ways since Dom's fall from grace and are now rivals. Both have been searching for a particular artifact for a very long time- Dom wants to find it to preserve it and make sure it's kept safe (and also to restore his reputation). He used to believe Mal wanted to find it for the same reason, but now he's not sure that's true.

Mal: archeologist and Dom's ex-wife. Controversial in the field, both for being a woman and for turning to private collection work after falling out with Dom. She's actually the one who started the rumours about Dom mishandling and selling artifacts after he confronted her about selling artifacts to a private collector. Working for Maurice Fischer and racing against Dom to find the artifact they've both searched for years for.

Miles: Well respected and tenured archeology professor. Trained both Mal and Dom. Believes Dom is innocent of the rumours/accusations against him but also blames him for Mal going down the path she did. Mentors Ariadne and fosters her skill and talent, and when Dom comes to him looking for someone to help with this one last job, he reluctantly suggests her.

Ariadne: Miles' secretary and assistant. She really wants to be an archeologist but the university won't accept her as a student since she's a woman so she got a job working with Miles instead to at least have access to the university's resources. Extremely bright and talented and (much to Miles' chagrin) not put off in the least by the more dangerous (and often less legal) aspects of how Dom works.

Arthur: long time friend of Dom's, and serves as his protection/guy who Gets Things Done (legally and otherwise). He often scopes out jobs for Dom and gets things set up before they arrive. Fought in WWI and was involved in espionage during the war, so he's particularly good with codes and scoping places out. He doesn't think the artifact Dom is after actually exists but he knows how important it is to Dom, so he stays with him regardless. Very loyal and determined and absolutely not afraid to get his hands dirty, both literally and figuratively. Initially distrusts Eames and thinks he's unreliable, but becomes increasingly interested in him as it becomes clear that there's more depth to Eames than his casual and superficially flippant attitude might suggest.

Eames: literal forger with some notoriously sticky fingers. Gets pulled into the job to forge papers for Dom, Arthur, and Ariadne so that they can get into the country Dom believes the artifact is in and then gets further roped into shenanigans from there. Initially pokes fun at Arthur for his posh suits and business-like attitude, but becomes increasingly interested by him as it becomes clear that Arthur has no qualms getting his hands dirty and is in fact quite adept at doing so.

Yusuf: chemist and explosives expert, brought in on Eames' recommendation. Was initially only supposed to consult and provide materials, but gets fully roped in through a series of shenanigans that he never stops complaining about.

Saito: museum curator who's trying to keep this artifact from disappearing into a private collection where it'll never be seen again. Is aware of the rumours surrounding Dom but is also aware of his reputation for being effective, if unorthodox. Insists on being part of the job itself to make sure the artifact isn't harmed.

Maurice Fischer: private collector and Saito's rival who's well known for snatching up artifacts through less than legal means. Has been searching for this artifact for most of his life and is now in very poor health.

Browning: Maurice's right hand man, and the one who takes care of the...less legal aspects of how artifacts make their way into Maurice's collection. He's the one who hired Mal.

Robert: not as interested in obtaining artifacts as his father and certainly less insistent on keeping them hidden away, but wants to get this one last artifact for his father before he dies. If just to have his father's approval for one brief moment.

[southernprideyall2]

“Those who honor and defend symbols of Southern heritage have found themselves under well-organized (and financed) attack. In summer of 2000 following the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House Dome, restaurant entrepreneur Maurice Bessinger raised it and the South Carolina flag over each of his restaurants in the Columbia, South Carolina, area. He issued a press release calling for a public discussion of state sovereignty. Not only did this discussion never take place, but because of a single tract on display tables in his restaurants he found himself denounced by the liberal media as pro-slavery and a racist. His award-winning products were boycotted by Wal-Mart and several grocery store chains, eventually costing him 98 percent of his wholesale business.

In *Defending My Heritage* Maurice Bessinger tells his story for the first time, from his childhood and upbringing in extremely poor, Depression-era Orangeburg Co., S.C., to his rise in the world of Southern barbecue. His golden colored barbecue sauce became Columbia's claim to fame. He also tells the story of how he became involved in politics.

Mr. Bessinger argues that "on his property a man is king." This gives him the right to serve his customers to the best of his ability without interference from the federal government. He also shows, in plain and simple language using several cases from his own life experience, how dangerously far this country has strayed from its Constitutional foundations.

Mr. Bessinger tells why the fight to preserve Southern heritage and symbols and its symbols is so vital today. The Old South and its values of independence, local control over both government and business, and Christianity, are the last bastions of opposition to a rising tide of globalism. This movement seeks to bring all the nations and peoples of the world under a single umbrella of control by an extremely wealthy and powerful elite trying to build a world government--sometimes called the New World Order. Mr. Bessinger has concluded after years of study, prayer and reflection that this New World Order is nothing less than the forerunner of the Antichrist, whose rise to power in the end times is foretold in both the Old and New Testaments.

In this book, Mr. Bessinger reveals the true meaning of the X-cross symbol on the Confederate flag along with its 4,000-year-old history, and the real reasons why this flag is under sustained assault today by the forces of political correctness. He challenges us all to (1) begin bringing our country back to the Constitution and our people back to God; (2) restore a Constitutionally correct relation between the states and the federal government, based on the Ninth and Tenth Amendments which provide the Constitutional basis for state sovereignty; (3) observe state sovereignty by flying state flags over state capitols in all 50 states; (4) return the Confederate flag to its rightful place beneath the South Carolina flag to honor the Southern heritage of independence, state sovereignty and opposition to the concentration of power in the federal government.

While noting that we may have a rough ride ahead if we oppose the forces of globalism openly, Mr. Bessinger's message is one of hope--by placing our trust in God, not in government or politics or political parties.”

[groundonesix]

1980s Memphis Design Period Etagere #2

Red Italian etagere, very much in the manner of the Memphis Milano group, and originating from the 1980s. A tubular, powder-coated metal frame in a pleasing vermillion houses five glass shelves. One unit has clear glass, and one has smoked glass. This listing is for the smoked glass shelving. The top and bottom shelves are made of a slightly thicker cut glass.

These fun shelving units would brighten up any interior –– be it in a bedroom, office, kitchen, or bedroom.

These pieces can be dismantled and posted internationally, for ease of transport. Please note that one etagere has a slight discolouration on the powder coating.

CREATOR: Unknown

PLACE OF ORIGIN: Italy

DATE OF MANUFACTURE: c. 1980s

PERIOD: 1980 - 1989

MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES: Powder-coated metal, glass, plastic

CONDITION: Good used condition

WEAR: Wear consistent with age and use. One unit has some slight discolouration.

HEIGHT: 180cm | 70.8in

WIDTH: 69cm | 27.1in

DEPTH: 32cm | 12.5in

DISTANCE BETWEEN SHELVES: 35cm | 13.7in

Request More Information

[tybaltsjuliet]

Opinions on Gaston? 👀

the way disney was in no way fucking around with their renaissance-era villains... i miss it. i miss it so bad.

part of what makes gaston work so well, i think, is the escalation. his first scene with belle - you could put this interaction in any period romance made in the 1990s, and still confidently convince your audience that they’d be happily ever after in the end, after he works on himself a little.

and, as we were discussing earlier, it is clear that he does, to a degree, care what belle thinks of him! as you said, he really thinks he’s making a good impression, haha. there’s the part where lefou starts making fun of maurice, and gaston laughs along right up until belle objects - and the proposal! it is obnoxious and terrible, to us, the audience, but this is not, like, the gothic villain menacing and threatening the heroine into marriage (at this point, anyway). he genuinely thinks he is delivering belle the greatest news she will ever receive. he genuinely thinks he is going to make her happy. he does not want to hurt her. he just cannot get out of his own ego and worldview enough to comprehend that she would not want to live this way.

fascinating way to handle a villain in this mold, in my opinion.

(and this is just me going wild on interpretation for a second, but i always thought there was something kind of similar going on, when he complains about her reading and goes “the whole town is talking about it.” like, it is not hard for me to imagine his thought process being, like, come on, belle, don’t you just want to be normal, and have friends, and hang out with cool people like ME? it makes life so much easier!)

i think your point about how it doesn’t really make a lot of sense to treat gaston as stupid is true, too! his plotting against belle and maurice is effective and, yeah, he definitely knows what the fuck he’s doing while he manipulates the whole village (although, in fairness, i do not think the villagers are, uh, particularly difficult to manipulate).

ALSO. MAN QUOTES MACBETH. shakespeare exists in this universe. belle and the beast read romeo and juliet in the deleted/restored interlude between “something there” and “human again.” ergo gaston saying “screw your courage to the sticking place!” is AN IN-UNIVERSE SHAKESPEARE REFERENCE. i intend to start bringing the energy people give belle as The Smart Princess to gaston as The Smart Villain for this. (mostly kidding. but my point stands.)

[redcloverlocomotive]

TOY TOWER AU: LORE DUMP

Alrightyyy folks, I said I would be doing a ramble of one of my AU's and Toy Tower won. Somehow along the way it became a lore dump...but that's okay cause now I have the main bosses art and explanations/descriptions for the major players (...although I did run out of motivation for some of them)! Now for heads up, this is A LOT of information about Toy Tower, as in the art and writing totals to 13 pages, so prepare yourself as if you are reading a short story or something similar. Hope you like it! Defiantly doing this again, but with a larger time frame for myself tbh-

Now, without further adieu, here is Toy Tower!

Peppino Cotton:

Owner of “Peppino’s Toy Shop”, where many types of toys can be found with their own personal stories. Peppino specializes in making hand-made plushies, with most of his knowledge being from his grandmother. He puts a lot of care into his work and makes sure to treat every plushie he creates with the same love and care as if it was his own child. He is very passionate about his craft and is determined to make the best plushies he can. He also values hard work, kindness, and respect as he believes that with all of those combined, anything is possible. In fact, he believes in those pillars of his personality so much that he refuses to curse or use violence as a first method of combativeness, regardless of the circumstances.

Prior to his shop, he and Maurice were drafted into the military, with Peppino working as a combat medic and Maurice as a rifleman. Maurice at one point got severely wounded and it was only thanks to Peppino he was able to survive via care and transport, but Maurice refuses to believe it as he was knocked out and can’t see Peppino as a hero when for his whole life Peppino had always been lower than him. In spite of seeing the report made on him, Maurice concluded Peppino didn't save him; that another nearby medic kept Maurice alive while Peppino drove when the reality was the reverse. Peppino did feel hurt by this, but was glad that Maurice was still safe and alive…even if he is called weak or soft for his new job as a toy maker (which often results in Peppino being pleaded at when holidays come around).

When Peppino opened his store with his friends Gustavo and Mr. Stick, he noticed many people unhappy with the toys made by the large company nearby, “Toy-Time Toys”. He noticed the knock-off appearance and Mr. Stick used it to his advantage when promoting Peppino's, claiming all of his toys are the real deal in comparison. This drew in many customers and gained attention from Toyhead, who sent a mini Toyface to approach Peppino.

Toyface praised Peppino for his success and wished to add him to his list of toy lines, offering to buy his shop in turn for some of the profits. Peppino, aware of the cheaply made toys, denied the deal and told Toyface the products he has do not bring joy to those who buy them and that they have no spirit or care, and that those reasons are what made Peppino popular. 

Toyhead, surprised and enraged that someone would dare reject his offer, threatens Peppino that he is willing to destroy the little shop if it means he couldn’t have it, and tries to offer more money into the deal. Peppino still refuses Toyface’s offer, telling him that he himself will go to the tower and tear it down himself if it means his shop prevails. Amused, Toyface gives him a final offer that he cannot refuse: Peppino has one day to arrive at the tower and tear it down without any outside assistance before he sends his demolition crew in. Peppino agrees and goes off, almost in a panic, to keep his shop alive.

Gustavo:

Good ol’ Gustavo. He helps in repairing and restoring old toys, in hopes of giving them a second life. Working at Peppino’s toy shop gave him the best access to broken or trashed toys, mostly by finding leftovers from the Tower, it’s where he found Brick after all. He enjoys the simplicity of the shop also. It may not sell the latest, top of the line toys, but each one he has worked on has a story to tell to a child, and that is all that matters to him. After the tower, he also helps Pepperman when he opens his own shop.

Brick:

Keeping it simple. Brick is a rat-worm on a string, with colorings being gray with a pink tail. When they squeak, it sounds like a chew toy going off. Brick also loves cuddles and can act like a therapy animal if he notices someone is heavily stressed.

Mr. Stick:

Mr. Stick, the distributor for Peppino’s Toy Shop. He helps with putting ads out where he can if it means to make some extra pay. He is also a collector of construction toys (i.e., Legos), which includes him having a room back at his home solely to display his sets. Mr. Stick doesn’t tell no one though because he thinks it’s childish, but can’t help picking up a few pieces and letting his hands work on something. Appearance wise, he is the same from Pizza Tower, just with a darker shade of orange for his suit and hat.

Trinket's:

The Toppin’s equivalent of Toy Tower. They are: A brown teddy bear, a yellow toy block, a red toy car, a silver slinky, and a multicolored tom bowler (big) marble. They act just like the Toppin’s.

Pepperman (Phil Capsin Pepper):

An artist once tied up by his own hubris. Being a skilled craftsman, he used his arts to specialize in making puppets, dolls, and mannequins of various sizes and uses for people of all ages to enjoy, dreaming he would become the greatest doll maker anyone has ever seen. During this time, he caught Toyheads attention as he expressed his wish of grandeur. Toyhead wanted to help Phil, and did so by making a contract. The contract that Phil signed said that if a certain quota of sales was made, he would return to Toyhead and allow him to recreate and sell his creations, with a part of the profits going to Phil as a safety measure. Phil agreed and the quota was quickly met, a new found popularity following suit and put him on cloud nine.

Everything seemed grand until Phil saw what was being sold in his name. Phil’s dread grew into horror as now his once beautiful name was tarnished, being nothing more than a title for cheaply made dolls that were no longer unique and did not hold the passion the originals were made with. He confronted Toyhead with his concerns, but was shoved away as he already signed his permissions off, sent to the bottom floor of the Tower with the demands of making newer and more complex designs, forcing Phil to work day and night to the point of exhaustion. He had become unable to meet deadlines. He no longer wanted fame if it meant being a sellout. He no longer wanted to make what he once loved, going through life without a sense of being. He has become a prisoner of his own ambition.

When Peppino arrived for the boss battle, he saw a broken soul being forced to fight and use his words to reach Phil, allowing the two to talk, understand, and sympathize. Phil would become inspired by Peppino to fight after hearing the deal Toyhead made with him, and help in the final battle with Toyhead.

After the tower, Phil would go on a road trip across America to clear his name from Toyhead, expose the horrors behind “Toy-Time Toys”, and later return to open a small shop of his own, which often had collaborations with “Peppino’s Toy Shop” via plush puppets.

Vigilante:

The slime toy of the wild west. He is golden, glittery, and gritty, with a passion for protecting toys from being harmed and broken. He is relatively the same as original Vigilante personality-wise, being fooled by Toyface that Peppino and Gustavo were destroying toys in a mad rampage and needed to be stopped. Once battling them, he saw how he was tricked and was willing to help in any way he could. In terms of weaponry, they are more so used to slow down rather than hurt, these include: a pistol with slime bullets, a glue gun uzi, a paint sprayer, smoke bombs, and a paintball bazooka. After the tower, Vigilante is unsure of what to do at first, but later helps the other residents to make a new tower, with the usage of gnome magic to open levels rather than a curse.

Noise (Theo Noister):

The superhero of his own story, the Noise! He works as an actor for his action packed (Power Ranger inspired) tv show titled “The Pitch Force”, allowing Toyhead to make merchandise for his show if Theo gets part of the profit. He personally loves the action figures, but will promote just about anything that involves him and his show.

Compared to the original Noise, he is more sincere when it comes to his appearance and how he displays himself, but can and will still be a smartass if irked. When away from the camera and in normal attire, he is more insecure due to thinking his tv persona is the one everyone wants to see, not some guy who smokes like a train and curses like a sailor. On occasion, he donates extra stock to Noisette’s playplace where she can use them.

After the defeat of the tower, Noise and the NTV cast go and continue the show elsewhere, keeping the merchandise lines with help from Mr. Stick. Theo however allows the show to be more story driven rather than product driven thanks in part to Hazel’s request, even adding a mini arch telling the story of the tower.

Noisette (Hazel Noister):

Not much to say about her really. She’s the same silly Noisette as in the original, but instead runs a playplace instead of a cafe as well as being a secondary actor in Noise’s tv show. In this AU, she does not know Fakey well, and is warned to stay in her area unless called by Noise or Toyhead.

Fake Peppino (Fakey):

This is a living plushie, once unaware of kindness. Fakey himself is a patchworked beast of fabric, robotics, and enough human DNA to at least have a brain (only God and Toyhead knows what else lies under the stitching). It is not used to interactions besides ones of fear and hostility, which shaped his mindset that others want him to be scary and cause harm. In his part of the tower, unsettling patchmade plushies are found in all manners of care. Some are poorly done, some torn to shreds, and others mixed from different creatures to create amalgamations. The worst (or best if you like horror) part of all of this is that he can make the plushies come to life as he used his ‘living stuffing’ as part of their creation, with broken laughter and cracked squeaking heard in all directions. It is only after the tower and facing Peppino is Fakey aware of other emotions, like kindness and curiosity…even if the others are still freaked out by the living plush.

Toyface:

Toyface is a drone that has AI assistance installed. Mostly just to help assist Toyhead and not much else.

Toyhead:

       The head honcho himself, creator of “Toy-Time Toys”. Not much is known of him, besides him being a child actor for many types of advertisements. He was so enamored with toys and with how many there were, as a child he wished to make his own version of everything. 

       As he grew older, Toyhead invested time and effort in making the latest toy for all the ‘cool’ kids. However, these toys he made always lacked something he couldn’t figure out, giving the impression that they were knock-offs or cheaply made. With failure after failure, he made a make-or-break deal in purchasing a tower, which turned into a success and made him launch a company that now sells in mass, with the levels saving him money in toy production. However, that feeling of fraudulence is still present in his toys, but he now simply makes too much money to care, believing money is now the way to happiness. That was his life until he noticed a small toy shop opening up not too far from his tower and threatening the little toy shop and toy maker into oblivion if he couldn’t have it.

And that's all for now folks! Thank you for reading if you made it all the way down here. I do apologize for the wait from the initial poll, but when I was working on this, my brain blasted off on multiple occasions which also included multiple rewrites of what was initially there. Nonetheless I am glad to get this AU out into the world! Might give myself a break though...then make a new poll on my 3 other AU's.

[garadinervi]

Susan Greene, La Lucha Continua / The Struggle Continues, a collaboration with Freedom Archives, 3260 23rd St – between Mission and Capp Streets, San Francisco, CA, originally painted in 1985, then restored by Susan Greene, post-2003

Portraits: Mumia Abu-Jamal, Aristide, Judi Bari, Soha Bechara, Maurice Bishop, Madame Binh, Marilyn Buck, Sitting Bull, César Chávez, Rachel Corrie, Bernadette Devlin, Frantz Fanon, Ghandi, Emma Goldman, Che Guevara, Handala, Joe Hill, Dolores Huerta, Frida Kahlo, Leila Khaled, Martin Luther King Jr., Lolita Lebrón, Audre Lorde, Patrice Lumumba, Rosa Luxemburg, Farabundo Martí, José Martí, Rigoberta Menchú, Leonard Peltier, Archbishop Óscar Romero, Edward W. Said, Augusto César Sandino, Assata Shakur, Harriet Tubman, Pancho Villa, Malcolm X, Sofia Yamaika, Emiliano Zapata

Photos: (1) Freedom Archives; (2-3) Wally Gobetz/Flickr; (4) SFGATE

[hiswordsarekisses]

“It is a pity that music, which may be serviceable to the good temper of the mind, should ever be abused, to support vanity and luxury, and made an occasion of drawing the heart from God and serious things.

That is driving away the good Spirit, not the evil spirit.

Music, diversions, company, or business, have for a time often been employed to quiet the wounded conscience; but nothing can effect a real cure but the blood of Christ, applied in faith, and the sanctifying Spirit sealing the pardon, by his holy comforts.

All other plans to dispel religious melancholy are sure to add to distress, either in this world or the next.

Many instances besides those recorded above in scripture might be quoted of the beneficial effects of music and singing upon a disturbed spirit, or on a mind diseased.

We are told that when Elisha, was “disturbed in spirit," he would call for a minstrel, and after listening to the sweet, soothing strains, would write and speak his prophetic utterances.” (2 Kings 3)

~ Matthew Henry

“The music was more than a mere palliative. It brought back for the time the sense of a true order, a secret, inward harmony, an assurance that it is near every man, and that he may enter into it. A wonderful message, no doubt, to a king or a common man, better than a great multitude of words, a continual prophecy that there is a deliverer who can take the vulture from the heart, and unbind the sufferer from the rock... As the boy minstrel played, the afflicted monarch was refreshed, and the dark clouds rolled away."

(F.D. Maurice)

“Even in modern times a well-known instance of this strange power over a troubled spirit is that of Philip V. of Spain, who, we are told, was restored from the deepest melancholy and depression by the sweet voice and words of Farinelli. Luther speaks of this power of music over the sick and weary soul as "one of the fairest and most glorious gifts of God, to which Satan is a bitter enemy, for it removes from the heart the weight of sorrow and the fascination of evil thoughts."

Basil's words on this subject are worth quoting:-"Psalmody is the calm of the soul, the repose of the spirit, the arbiter of peace.

It silences the wave, and conciliates the whirlwind of our passions. It is an engenderer of friendship, a healer of dissension, a reconciler of enemies.

It repels demons, lures the ministry of angels, shields us from nightly terrors, and refreshes us in daily toil."

(Cambridge)