#HE'S ALIVE (1963)

[scarletspider2the2ndpower]

“Hunting the Hunter, Part One: A Prophecy,” Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1/1963), #635.

Writer: J. M. DeMatteis; Penciler and Inker: Max Fiumara; Colorist: Fabio D’Auria; Letterer: Joe Caramagna

[jellyfishsthings]

WARNINGS: this is quite angsty...no actual smut happens just a tiny scene. Also I messes around with some scenes so I feel like it doesn't follow the storyline in the series... that's about it... (should a do a part 2?) part 2 here, part 3

He was nursing a long drink of whiskey on ice as he stared at the blank wall. The year was 1963, and he was currently sitting on a lousy couch in Dallas. The apocalypse was going to take place once again mere days away. He felt bone tired, no one around him understood the stakes and the pressure he was under. He got out of his jacket a black and white photo. A young woman in her early twenties had a huge smile plastered on her face, her head was slightly cocked to the side and loose hair from the messy bun that rested at the top of her head framed her beautiful face. She seemed radiant, her eyes were crinkled from her smile and she seemed like a goddess to him. A piece of heaven that he left behind.

“Who's that?” Klaus whispered in his ear and Five jumped from the sudden sound and he glared at his brother. Out of all his siblings, Klaus was the only one who would understand him. “She is beautiful.”

“She is my wife.” Five said quietly. His voice was soft and colored in an emotion that Klaus couldn't recognize.

“Your what?”

“Are you deaf? I said she is my wife, or at least she was.”

“What happened?”

Five had been at the Commission for several years. After a failed experiment he had turned back to his twenty-year-old self. He had heard whispers of the Scarlet Angel all around him, everyone seemed to talk about his rival, especially in his presence. It was supposed to be the deadliest assassin of the Institution besides him. One gray day he was called into the Handlers office. That was when he saw her for the first time. A tall woman was seated on a chair, her beautiful face turned towards him as he entered the room. Five had never been one to find in someone's physical beauty but at the moment their eyes met he could swear that his heart skipped a beat.

Their first assignment together had been such a success, that they were stuck together permanently. Throughout the following years, Five found himself falling for her harder every day, with every word she said, with every laugh she caused from him, the way she always had his back and defended him whether she agreed with his actions or not. Their fights were the best thing that ever happened to him, she always found ways to leave him speechless, with her smart comebacks, the way she was animated when she got angry, her hands flew around her, her face got angry red and her hair bounced with her movements. He had never seen someone look so exquisite when they were yelling at him. She made him feel alive, adrenaline coursed in his veins. She always got the better of him. She was so… infuriating. On one of those occasions he finally had enough.

He grabbed her face and smashed their lips together to silence her. She was breathless when he distanced himself from her. Her eyes were wild and her hand flew to his cheeks, slapping him. Before leaving him frozen on his spot. They were supposed to be undercover as a married couple at the gala of their target. They had been discussing tactics and strategies when things escalated.

With a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down and headed back towards the ballroom, searching for his supposed wife. They stayed together all night, dancing and acting like a couple. It seemed natural to him to be this way with her. Having her in his arms, and showing her off. Finally a few minutes shy of dawn, they tiptoed towards a huge room where their target hid diamonds. Diamonds they were going to steal after killing him, so the crime would seem like a robbery gone wrong. Just at the last corner, they were almost caught. Five quickly hoisted her up before he pinned her to a wall and he placed his face on her neck. Her skin flashed and her heartbeat was rapid beneath his mouth.

“Play along.” He whispered sweetly to her skin but she was shocked by his actions. So he had no choice. He sucked at her pulse point receiving an immediate reaction. Her legs drew back on his hold, her back arched, her eyes closed and her lips released a quiet breathy moan. At that moment he knew he was already addicted to her. He couldn't hold himself back any longer. He bit and sucked on her neck and her hands tangled into his hair as she tugged at the short strands on the back of his head. She was moaning in his arms and her hips rolled against his. He raised his knee and she started riding his leg shamelessly. He wanted to be inside of her or he was going to burst. He wanted to shut her smart mouth so it would no longer fire comebacks at him. He unbuckled his belt and lowered his pants before pushing her underwear to the side and he waited for a confirmation to continue. She could ask him to kneel, to beg and he would gladly do so. Just to steal one moment with her.

A loud bang echoed through the walls and they snapped out of their daze. But the damage had already been done. Their partnership had been blown to proposition forever. And the rest was history.

Several years later, and many happy years together after being married in secret. It happened, their big bang, the thing that embodied the doom of their relationship. Five had always been a pessimist, even in his early childhood. He was a firm believer in Murphy's law, which stated that when something could go wrong in a situation, always expect it to go wrong. They had traveled in Germany during the Second World War. Five posed as one of the ranking officers in Auschwitz as his wife was expected to do the same. Only, she had been compromised and now she was one of the prisoners. The terrible labor that she endured every day was the thing that would plague him for years to come. After completing their mission and several wounds later they managed to get back to the safety of their home.

“Why didn't you listen to me?” Five snap in frustration and terror. His hands shook as he tried to stitch a big guss on her stomach. She looked paper thin, her bones were visible and her veins along with her arteries stood prominent against her pale skin that lost its color.

“I did. I disagreed with your plan either way. And we had to do something drastic. I took a risk and I lost. It happens.”

“And did it have to happen in one of the most terrifying places that ever existed on this Earth?”

“Snap out of it. You would have done the same. And always where we are atrocious things have happened. So you don't get to lecture me. I am my own person. I made a call and it happened to be wrong. But if I hadn't done that we would have eventually failed this mission. And you don't get to lecture me when you have done nothing but be untruthful to me since the moment this started.”

“Wh- what are you talking about?” Five whispered, his voice quivered with unshown emotions. He could see the inevitable impact between them before his eyes, he had just hoped he could have a few more moments with her. A few more minutes, a few more hours, days, or years. Anything really.

Her eyes were hard and full of hatred. She pulled herself to her feet. The pain that consumed her must have been blinding. The open wounds leaked with blood that stained her skin. She moved towards her coat where she retrieved a dark green notebook and she slammed it against their kitchen table, before placing her hands on her hips and firing a challenging look towards him.

“You know I want to get back to my family, sweetheart.”

“Don't sweetheart me. These equations are only for one person. So is there something you want to tell me, dear husband of mine?”

“Please let me explain…”

“Explain what? That this meant nothing to you? You are an egoistic son of a bitch Five. And I am done with you. And you know why? You made the mistake of placing a date when you started. Our wedding date. You have already shown your true colors. You can leave now. And you can take this, I don't need it any longer. Either way, it was fake and it meant nothing to you.” She said before throwing her wedding ring at him. It thudded against his chest and he caught it mid-air, as he watched her walking away from him and slamming the door of their bedroom in her way. He stood frozen in his place. It was done. The one thing that made him feel alive, the one thing that made him happy left him. He lost it under his own hands. The same night, he left a letter behind him before he traveled back in time, back to his family. To them, he seemed a shy seven years older than when he disappeared. But they didn't know about the two things he carried with him from his last life. Her picture in the breast pocket of his smart jacket and her wedding ring on his collarbones as it hung from a golden chain, both hidden from the world.

“Five. That is just … I don't know what to say.”

“Then don't. It is already hard to think about her.”

“How long has it been since -”

“Six years, eight months and twenty days. My early attempts to get back to you weren't really successful.” He whispered as he toying with her ring. It was gold and smooth to touch, his name had been engraved on the inside. It had been a blast to convince the person who made them that his name was actually Five. And he smiled at the fond memory.

“Will you ever see her again?”

“I don't know. The selfish part of me wishes that, but another part of me knows that it is better this way. Because she is free and safe from me. Klaus, if you don't mind … no more talk please.”

Klaus looked at the pained expression on his brother's face. He had never heard him utter the world “please”, at least not to him. So he simply nodded and stayed with him in silence before their peace was disturbed by their reality.

words: 1.781

[sugarpapillon]

no but like Lily insisting on being able to watch horror movies and Victor supervising so she doesn’t get scarred for life by anything on the screen (and covering her eyes when there’s anything too inappropriate), but he’s the one who gets traumatized

[a-queer-seminarian]

Thich Nhat Hanh on self-immolation

“Before the Vietnamese monk Thich Quang Duc burned himself alive in 1963, he meditated for several weeks and then wrote very loving letters to his government, his church, and his fellow monks and nuns explaining why he had reached that decision. When you are motivated by love and the willingness to help others attain understanding, even self-immolation can be a compassionate act. When Jesus allowed himself to be crucified, He was acting in the same way, motivated by the desire to wake people up, to restore understanding and compassion, and to save people. … When you read Thich Quang Duc’s letters, you know very clearly that he was not motivated by the wish to oppose or destroy but by the desire to communicate. When you are caught in a war in which the great powers have huge weapons and complete control of the mass media, you have to do something extraordinary to make yourself heard. Without access to radio, television, or the press, you have to create new ways to help the world understand the situation you are in. Self-immolation can be such a means. If you do it out of love, you act very much like Jesus did on the cross…”

- Vietnamese monk and Zen master Thich Naht Hanh (1926-2022) in Living Buddha, Living Christ (1995)

[aloneandforsakenbyfateandbyman]

“From Window” by Masahisa Fukase, a photographer who took photos of his wife leaving their apartment building almost every day (1974)

His then wife, Yoko Wanibe said about the time they spent together (from 1963 till 1976), that there were moments of “suffocating dullness interspersed by violent and near suicidal flashes of excitement."

When Yoko left him in 1976, Fukase began drinking heavily and suffered bouts of debilitating depression. In the immediate months after her departure, he photographed ravens he saw at train stations on his way home to Hokkaido with the same single-minded intensity that he had photographed her.

Yoko left Fukase soon after these pictures were made and cited photography as a barrier that came between them. “In the ten or so years of our marriage,” she wrote in 1973, “he has only seen me through the lens of a camera, never without. And in fact what he saw through the lens was not me, but nothing other than himself.”

Yoko was just the longest in many failed relationships, and after each relationship breakdown, Fukase would experience an existential crisis that questioned his very being. “Taking photographs does not make you a photographer, and living doesn’t make you alive. At the end of the day, who am I, really?” he wrote.

[dietmountaindewb8by]

Chapter One

Into the Abyss

warnings: five just being kinda crazy, herb not being as nice a guy as you might assume

please tell me if you’d like to be tagged ❗️ ❗️

tag list: @lv9su ; @groovydazephantom

Five was very loud when he wanted to be, he realized as he walked through the winding halls of The Commission, watching his employees cower and duck their heads into their files or pretend to fix their clothes.

None of that mattered then, however. He reached into his pocket for that very familiar key that he had used every single day he had been in The Commission. The key to the Infinite Switchboard.

Just so he could see your face again, even for a moment. Maybe even find you if he could.

Sometimes he would come across old memories and dive into them. Oh, how beautiful you were. How you smiled and how you laughed and how you were always so kind. To him and to everyone. 

His beautiful, beautiful girl. An angel among demons that crawled beneath her feet–he was a demon that would crawl beneath her feet anyway. A devil cast to the deepest pits of hell searching for that which could bring him salvation, if only for a moment.

Five Hargreeves wanted nothing more than to hold you to his chest, to tuck you into his arms safe and sound and never let you out again. Because his arms were where you belonged–where you still do belong. They were wide open for the ghost of you, gates to a rotting manor that only welcomed its original owner.

You could rip his heart from his chest and he would forgive you in a heartbeat. 

The door creaked open and he quickly locked it behind him. The only other person with a key was Herb, and he wouldn’t dare disturb the owner of the Commission in his incredibly important research.

Even if that research wasn’t important to the company, per se. It was important to him. And if it was important to him then surely the world would fall apart if it wasn’t completed.

I would tear it apart if I couldn’t reach this at the very least, he thought, sitting down in the very same chair he did every day, flipping on the switch that reintroduced him to his sins, to what he needed to do.

Your smiling face greeted him, and for a second–just as always–he smiled back. He turned a dial beneath his right finger, looking back to the dreaded day he lost you. 

November 22, 1963 was a day to behold, that was for sure. It was brighter than usual, not one cloud lingering in the sky and the sun blared down upon the mild Texas landscape.

His gun was aimed for where the president would ride by as you sat beside him, picking at the grass.

“Be careful, Sweetheart,” he said, and you looked up at him for a moment, eyes void. “You’ll ruin your sundress.”

“I think the sundress is the least of our worries today, Five.”

He sighed. “You’re not wrong.”

Five minutes later amidst the chaos that was taking place on the other side of the fence, he took your hand and brought it to his lips before diving through the hole he had ripped in the time-space continuum. 

And then you were gone, stolen from him by the cruel fingers of time.

Five jumped when a knock on the door sounded, his fingers flying to the knife he had stuffed in his pocket at all times.

“Mr. Hargreeves?” Herb called. “Sir?”

Five sighed, dropping his knife before gliding the chair over to the door, unlocking it. “Come in, Herb.”

Herb stepped in through the door before staring at the mess that had become the Infinite Switchboard. Papers were scattered everywhere–some with half-drawn faces, others with numbers and symbols he could only begin to understand. And then there was Five; clean shaven as always, but his eyes held something either dead or dangerously alive.

Either way, he knew there was nothing but trouble to be had with Five Hargreeves.

Nothing but trouble.

“Mr. Hargreeves,” Herb said, watching Five return to his pages, “what are you doing?”

“Nothing, Herb.”

Herb’s eyes flicked to the screen, to you. You in the yellow sundress. You who had cried in Dot’s arms one too many times to count.

You who had successfully escaped Five Hargreeves and fallen into a new hell.

“Trying to find her, Sir?” Herb said with a chuckle.

Five’s jaw ticked before he turned to the smaller man. “You have something to say, Herb? Something funny?”

“Nothing at all, Sir.” He shrugged, before taking a shaky step away from the man. “Just that you’ve been looking so hard and her files have been with us all along.”

Five’s heart jumped. He dove for Herb, taking him by the lapel of his jacket and pulling him up to eye level. 

“Herb,” he said sweetly. “Old friend. Tell me where the fuck those files are.”

Herb gulped. “We have them all. We watch them on Friday nights. They’re quite entertaining–I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

“I want them. I want them all–and whenever a new one comes in, I want that too. I’ll decide if they’re entertaining or not.”

“Of course,” Herb whispered before being thrown to the ground, scampering out of the room as soon as he could.

And for the first time in a long time, Five smiled.

[withnailrules]

You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was Dostoevsky and Dickens who taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who ever had been alive. Only if we face these open wounds in ourselves can we understand them in other people. An artist is a sort of emotional or spiritual historian. His role is to make you realize the doom and glory of knowing who you are and what you are. He has to tell, because nobody else in the world can tell, what it is like to be alive.

—James Baldwin for Life Magazine, 1963

[boreal-sea]

I've never lived through two Democrats in a row. Many people currently alive haven't. The last time this happened was when Lyndon Johnson was elected in 1963 to take John F. Kennedy's place after he was assassinated. He was then elected again to serve a full term in 1964.

Incumbents usually win a second term. However, Americans tend to get tired of a party after 8 years, so when a president has served two terms and can't run again, the government usually flips. This means I'm used to 8 years of Democratic progress followed by 8 years of Republican regression.

The earliest president I remember is Bush Sr. He served from 1989-1993, only 4 years because he was voted out. He was followed by Clinton, who was president from 1993 to 2001, (8 years). Then we got Bush Jr. from 2001-2009 (another 8 years), and Obama from 2009-2017 (8 years again). Trump followed from 2017-2021, once again only serving 4 years because he was voted out.

Now. The major difference here is that Biden only served 4 years on purpose. Biden dropping out as an incumbent is unprecedented. I don't actually know the last time that happened. A big benefit for Harris may be that Americans haven't gotten tired of the Democrats being in power just yet. Even just looking at the record in my lifetime, people to tend to prefer Democrats over Republicans by a tiny amount - of the past 3 Republicans, 2 of them were voted out after only four years, whereas Obama and Clinton both served the full 8 years.

If When Harris wins, what will be interesting is to see if she gets elected to a second term. At that point, we will get to have Democrats in power for 12 years in a row. Think of how much good can happen in 12 years. Think of how many Supreme Court judges that is. Think of how much policy that is.

[merthosus]

Leave me

Summary: After Diego sees you at the Obsidian hotel he thinks he lost his mind. You should be buried deep into the ground, but you were standing right before him.

Writing this broke my heart fr

"You killed me. Don't do it again"

“You’re supposed to be dead.” His voice is flat as he stares at you. You’re his little sibling, and they’d been forced to leave you behind back in the original timeline, before they’d traveled to 1963. You’d been left behind to die in the apocalypse. So how were you here? In the Hotel Obsidian? "Don't you see me breathing silly?", you ask him as he adored you. Diego’s lip almost quirks up at that, but he catches himself. He stands there, his arms crossed and trying to keep his face serious.

“Yes, but you’re supposed to be in the future. In a ruined world. Not…” Not here. Alive. With him. You smirk, you are not supposed to be in this timeline, don't you remember love?", you ask him in an almost angelic voice. He does love that voice. He adores it, he missed it so, so much, hearing it again makes a shiver run down his spine. He tries to stay stoic, but he feels as though you’re seeing right through him, and it seems as though he’ll break at any second. He just needed to make sure this was real… even if it was just to make sure it wasn’t some sick joke.

“…Prove it’s you.” "Ask me something then, something only I would know", you smile at him. He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fine.. What nickname did I call you when we were kids?”. "My beautiful little angelito", you answered and tilted your head. Seeing him again did something to you too. That does it. He can’t fight the smile that breaks out on his face as he steps forward and suddenly wraps you in a tight hug. It’s like all his walls come crashing down in that moment, and he clings to you and holds you as close as he could, afraid that if he let go it truly would have been a dream.

You slowly caress the back of his head. "Diego you are not supposed to be here", you whisper in his ear. You can sense that he was holding back tears. He swallows hard as you speak, holding you just a little tighter. He never would have admitted this to the others, but he cried for you, many, many times. It kills him. How are you here? Alive? It makes absolutely no sense. And yet he can hear your heartbeat, he could feel you and you were right here. And, you were still calling him “Angelito”, like you’d use to when you were kids.

He pulls back enough that he can look down at you, still refusing to let go of your hips. He takes in every part of your face, as though trying to commit it to memory. “How? I don’t understand how you’re even here…”. "Diego you need to go", you mumble and look deep in his eyes. He shakes his head. No. He just found you again, and you think he’s just going to leave? He tightens his grip on you, practically pulling you into a possessive embrace again.

"Diego", you stop him from shaking his head, by holding the sides of his face. "Go", you whisper. “No.” He looks down at you and almost refuses to tear his eyes away from yours. He takes a breath and shakes his head. “I’m not leaving you again. Not now that I have you back.” You didn't leave me Diego...", you begin. "You killed me. Don't do it again", you whisper in his face. He suppressed it, you know and he knows.

His breath hitches and his eyes widen as he hears that. Killed. It was like a kick to the gut and he can feel the guilt rise up in his chest again, and he swallows hard. He grips one of your wrists in his hand, his fingers wrapping around it like he was afraid that if he didn’t hold you close enough, you’d disappear again. “…I wouldn’t… I won’t… Not again…”.

"If you and the others stay here you will kill me and everybody else". He’s silent for a moment, swallowing hard as he digests that information. It makes sense to him, and he knows that you’re right… But at the same time, he doesn’t think he could bring himself to leave again. After years without you, to have you back just like this… “I don’t want to leave you. I refuse.” "Don't be so selfish my love", you say and stroke his cheek with your thumb.

He leans into your touch, his eyes falling shut as he takes another shaky breath. The pet name has his heart soaring, and at the same time it makes the guilt come back even stronger. You had called him that many times as kids, and yet now he had to hear it again while knowing what he had done to you. He’s silent for a moment, just taking in the feel of your hand on his cheek as he opens his eyes and looks down at you. He brings a hand up to hold the back of your neck, his eyes darkening slightly as he stares down at you.

He brings a hand up to hold the back of your neck, his eyes darkening slightly as he stares down at you. His grip on you is gentle, but there’s an almost desperate feeling to it. “Please… don’t make me leave you again.” "I will come back to you, but not in this timeline", you say wiping the tear away, which landed on your finger. His throat constricts as you speak, swallowing hard as he listens to what you’re saying and letting it sink in. He lets out a shaky breath before pulling you close again, his arms wrapping around you in a tight hold. “Promise me… promise me you’ll come back. Don’t make me lose you again…”.

"I will Diego", you say. You press your lips onto his, not wanting him to not swallow the lie. He practically melts against you, his eyes slipping closed and his arms wrapping tighter around you as he pulls you even closer. One of his hands slides up to the back of your head, his fingers burying in your hair as he returned the kiss just as desperately. There was a slight, almost painful, edge to it, as though he was afraid you’d disappear as they kiss.

He only broke the kiss to breathe, resting his forehead against yours and taking in ragged breaths. His eyes stay shut for a moment, and he’s silent as they do. He’s taking in this moment, wanting to commit every emotion, every detail, to memory right down to the way being close to you like this makes his heart pound as though it were trying to jump out of his chest. "I love you Diego, I always will", you say.

Hearing that gets a small shudder out of him, a shudder of something deep and strong. He swallows hard, and his head lowers so he could bury his face in the crook of your neck. “I love you too. So much. More than you will ever know… I’m so sorry-”. His voice cracks as he speaks, and he has to stop himself from saying anything more or he knew he’d break.

He doesn’t say anything more. Just lets himself fall silent and relishing the feeling of having you in his arms again. He wasn’t going to lose you. Not this time. His fingers in your hair curl slightly and he buries his face in your neck, taking a deep breath and letting your scent wash over him. He’ll have to let you go… one more time. To keep you safe. But he still couldn’t keep himself from clinging to you like his life depended on it.

This was written with character ai, but of course I have rewritten it and put my own spice in it!

[broadwaydivastournament]

BROADWAY DIVAS SUPERLATIVES: Bosom Buddies - Icons Only

Yes, yes, there are so many iconic friendships on and around Broadway (Bernadette and Mary Tyler Moore, especially), but this time there's no "other" option.

Video Clips & Stories Beneath the Cut: More Polls

Angela Lansbury & Beatrice "Bea" Arthur: Angela and Bea first met in 1965 during rehearsals for the production of Mame, in which Angela played the titular Mame, and Bea her "bosom buddy" Vera. Both women would earn Tony Awards for their iconic, never-to-be-bested portrayals. They remained lifelong friends for the next five decades until Bea's death in 2009, where Angela hosted her memorial service at the Majestic Theatre. As the story goes, Angela's legendary Jessica B. Fletcher is named "B" for Bea.

"She was a class act and a real joy to work with. When I first met her I thought I was meeting this patrician, classically trained actor, but she has a mouth like a longshoreman. No kidding. She loved telling dirty limericks." - Bea Arthur on Angela Lansbury, 2003.

Ann Reinking and Bebe Neuwirth: Forever linked by dance and the great Bob Fosse, Ann and Bebe met in passing during the special 3,389th performance of A Chorus Line, but would not come to know each other closer until Sweet Charity, where Annie took over Charity for Debbie Allen during the run, and Bebe played Nickie (Tony Award). They remained dear friends until Annie's death in 2020, working together in Fosse, and of course, the 1995 revival of Chicago that persists to this day.

“I fell in love with her, I continued to fall in love with her. I am in love with her forever. There was a trust between us, there was a connection between us that was beyond anything that had any logical explanation. I felt sometimes--this may sound strange, but it’s the truth--I felt sometimes I looked in her eyes and I time travelled.” - Bebe Neuwirth on Ann Reinking, 2021

Carol Burnett & Julie Andrews: Though they may have never starred in an official Broadway show together, Carol and Julie are too iconic to pass up here. They met in 1961 and are both still alive, kicking, and enduring friends. They did a series of television and stage specials together, including Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall (1963, Emmy Award), Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center (1971) and Julie & Carol: Together Again (1989). They also both starred in Putting it Together as the part, one after the other. And as a story goes, Carol and Julie were "caught" kissing as a prank on their friend Mike Nichols, but were instead discovered by Lady Bird Johnson.

"As we sat in the darkened hotel hallway on the sofa in front of a bank of three elevators waiting for him, we started to feel rather foolish, and we thought 'Let’s do something to make him laugh.' We decided to pretend we were making out," she said at the time. "He’d called our room and said he was coming right down, so we thought, well, the first person off the elevator would be Mike. But it wasn’t." - Julie Andrews recounts the story to Oprah magazine.

Chita Rivera & Gwen Verdon: Before there was Annie and Bebe, there was Chita and Gwen. The original Velma and Roxie duo in the 1975 Chicago, Chita and Gwen remained friends until Gwen's death in 2000. As Chita recounts, Gwen Verdon was the first person to tell her she had her own talent and didn't need to be her understudy. Years later, they were starring together in Chicago. Chita and Gwen shared the role of Charity (alongside many others) in the benefit concert production of Sweet Charity in 1998. It would be Gwen's final stage appearance. Though Fosse brought his own drama, Chita and Gwen never fell out.

"Our relationship was what it was from the day I stood beside her in “Chicago.” She was a strong woman. She was private. She used to, which is really kind of cute because I would call her on it, sometimes dramatize a story and would say, “Isn’t that right, Chita? Don’t you remember that?” And I wasn’t even there. I would find myself saying, “Yeah, absolutely.” She was so terribly funny, really, really funny." - Chita Rivera on Gwen Verdon, 2019

Donna Murphy & Marin Mazzie: Donna and Marin met while doing the Passion workshop in 1993, and their friendship endures to this day, despite Marin's death in 2018. After all, "and should you die tomorrow, another thing I see: your love will live in me." Marin sang at Donna's daughter's christening. Donna sang at Marin's remembrance concert. She still writes her memorial posts to Marin each year on the anniversary of her passing. Donna played Mother in the earliest workshop of Ragtime, before Marin took over and made that role what it will always be.

"She would always be the first person to say "how are you doing?" That kind of kindness and selflessness in a way--it's not that I didn't appreciate it then--I really did. So I don't need to smack myself in the head and say "why didn't you realize how rare and beautiful it was?" I did. What I couldn't calculate was how much I miss it." - Donna Murphy on Marin Mazzie, 2018.

Kelli O'Hara & Victoria Clark: Our first and only mother-daughter duo, though who is mother and who is daughter is up for debate. Kelli and Vicki met playing mother and daughter in the 2005 The Light in the Piazza as Clara and Margaret Johnson. They remain dear friends to this day and the only pair alive, well, and not dangerously close to death... Kelli and Vicki, trained opera singers, also reunited for Dido and Aeneas in 2016. Their friendship has survived a few awkward situations, such as being up against each other (alongside fellow Piazza star Celia Keenan-Bolger, and that's a story in and of itself) for the role of Nellie Forbush in South Pacific.

"I just started calling her Mother, because I felt like I could be who I was without covering up. Why she called me Mother back is pretty obvious, but she was, for me, always the rock. I felt like, Okay, she loves me, warts and all. Hopefully." - Victoria Clark on Kelli O'Hara, 2016.

[anotherwatchedninja]

I feel like people forget Time Lords are the same person across every incarnation.

like, ‘14’ even says that it’s not dying. Same memories, same thoughts about people, sometimes expressing something they can’t, not being able to say something they used to.

Think back to you 10 years ago.

You're probably a very different person now compared to then, but you're also not at the same time.

You probably talk differently now, you see the world differently, you might believe different things.

When The Doctor regenerates, that's the level of change that is done but in a few seconds instead of a decade.

Fundamentally you’re still the same person, and you’ve probably retained most of your core beliefs and interests, but you’ve also grown and learnt more about the world; altering many of your less integral values, and even possibly some of you more integral ones.

you could attribute it to a line from one of the novelisations, where the doctor attributes his lack of control over regeneration (and as we can imply, how bad of a post-regen situation he has) is because he didn’t pay enough attention in regeneration lessons.

I think for the Doctor it's like if you woke up and were suddenly 8 again, with all your 8-year-old impulses and personality and likes/dislikes, but your current memories.

The Doctor is always the Doctor. There's no "2nd Doctor" or "10th Doctor" or "14th Doctor." they're all the same person. Just because someone gets clobbered on the head and wakes up from the resulting brain damage knowing fluent German doesn't mean they disappeared and a new person took their place. His brain gets a shake-up, and his appearance changes, but it's still the same person all together.

I think all the media hype about the actors playing the role, and this weird regeneration for the 60th, kind of make it hard to remember that. For the Doctor, it's one continuous line of consciousness. 10 didn't die and wake up again with 13's memories, because there is no 10, there is no 13, there is only The Doctor. We number their faces but they're one person.

And it's confirmed by what he said immediately after the regeneration. He didn't say, "I'm alive!" or "How did I get here?" or something along those lines. He said, "I know these teeth." He realises that he's reverted to an earlier form, but he hasn't forgotten the intervening forms.

It seems to change not just from writer to writer, but Doctor to Doctor. 9 didn't seem to think of his 'death' as the end by any stretch. 10 considered them different people that shared memories, while 11 seemed to see more continuity and connection from incarnation to incarnation. 12 similarly was refusing to regenerate because he wanted to end it, a pointless position unless he saw 'the next Doctor' as still being him. 13 seemed to lean more towards the individual incarnation view, as she felt in necessary to say goodbye to Yaz.

And this is just the Doctor, a single Time Lord. We've seen extremes from literal dissociation from incarnation to incarnation with the One through Union (aka the collective, but that’s due to their condition), to Romana trying on new faces line a human would a new outfit, or how the monk tries to act like their past selves are different people to shift the blame and get away free from the consequences, or how six was post-regen

I just really don't like the idea of them being separate people, which unfortunately does seem to be RTD's interpretation from 10's line of regeneration feeling like dying, and a new man sauntering away. To me that devalues the idea of the Doctor being the same person from 1963 until today. They're the same person, who have been through the events of every single episode, and remember them and all the companions there travelled with.

If they were different people, them meeting former companions just doesn't have the same weight either. 10 for example becomes someone who just knows of Sarah Jane instead of being the same person who travelled with her.

But that doesn't mean it can't still be confusing when an old face returns. It's something that's never happened to the Doctor before, and perhaps it's something that he's never heard of happening to other Timelords either. So when it does happen he's very confused because he immediately knows who this new version of himself is, instead of having to go through the usual self discovery at the start of each incarnation.

I remember from an audio story (I think Sirens of Time), one of the Doctors (i say DOCTORS because time travel) said something along the lines of this: Take every trait of their personality is like a bar graph. Kindness, courage, alienness, anger threshold, etc. each have their own bar on the graph. Each regeneration is essentially the same personality but the bars could be altered with some traits more emphasized in a new face than the previous one.

Some examples of what I mean.

10 and 11 are examples of the alienness trait being skewed in opposite directions, where I feel Smith is more alien-like in his physical behavior than Tennant is. 12 and 13 still have this trait but it’s viewed more subtly through social interactions.

6 and 12 were less on the kindness scale but increased over time. 10, 11, and 13 seemed to have that kindness trait more emphasized.

Anger threshold /emotional control can get thrown multiple ways if a respective Doctor is impulsive and expressive vs bottling it up and letting it simmer. I feel like there are many examples to pull from off this alone.

There could be more obvious ones I’m missing but these spring to mind. I do like this interpretation since it lets you know it’s the same person but just aspects can be more emphasized than others across their different incarnations.

I like to think it’s just the same person at different points in their life - hell, we aren’t the same person at 18 that we are in our 30’s, or even the same person we are in our 40’s that we were at 30.

Life changes you, sometimes you’re goofy, sometimes you’re callow, and sometimes you’re stern. In DW terminology: you’re a quirky thief, then a person who has to kill everything they know, and then you become a person capable of finding some solace in life… then to a whole new person.

From the doctor’s point of view I believe they think they are the same person, they don’t differentiate between selves. Think of 12 near his start when 11 phoned Clara, he says he didn’t need to eavesdrop because it was him talking and that she looks at him but can’t see him.

Now this doesn’t mean the doctor doesn’t remember the traits each regeneration has, and this can manifest in their subconscious as talking to their different regenerations; but that’s no different than you talking to yourself in your head.

like, it’s even implied 14 will eventually become 15

[thenightling]

Demisexual and Queer language

There's been some heated "debate" about the word demisexual and if it is necessary.

I admit there are certain words I don't really think are necessary but I sort of like the sound of, like Pansexual.

First, to be clear, Bisexual didn't originally mean "excluding nonbinary and trans." It wasn't a strict attraction to the binary. It wasn't transphobic or nonbinary-phobic. And most self-identified bisexuals, even now, do NOT heed these newly added restrictions.

Bisexual was a third option when, once upon a time, there were only two options.

Late into the 90s (and even now) there are still some gay folk who think bisexuality is a myth and you have to be attracted to one or the other, men or women, but cannot be potentially attracted to all genders / either gender.

For a lot of bisexuals the term means attraction to your own gender and all other genders. And that's what the "bi" actually means. I only like the term pansexual because of its connection to the Greek Pan.

There was even the weird stigma and notion that bisexual meant you were horny for everyone. Into the 2000s you saw this in pop culture even with beloved characters like Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and as recently as the AMC Interview with The Vampire TV show version of Lestat, where bisexual felt like code for "Horny for everything" and even physically abusive and dominating. Odd that the 90s movie depiction of Lestat felt less... negative-stereotype-y.

Anyway, for a lot of older Queer folk "bisexual" was still a new term as recently as the 90s. When David Bowie came out as bisexual in 1972 a reporter mistakenly took that to mean he had the sex organs of a man and a woman. (Source: the 1993 book "Bowie: In his own words.")

Bowie was so stigmatized by America's obsession with him being bisexual that he walked back into the closet until the mid-2000s when he came back out and admitted he had only gone back into the closet because he was sick of American reporters asking him about it. And he admitted it felt like no other country did that, just America.

And when Vincent Price's daughter found out that her father had been bisexual she ran to Roddy McDowall and confronted him by asking "Why didn't you tell me my father was bisexual?" and Roddy responded with "We didn't know the word. How can you deny something when you don't know the word?"

Based on Roddy McDowall's response about Vincent Price, there are probably a lot of older and historic Queer folk who were actually bisexual but the moment they had any same-sex attraction the title of "homosexual" was pinned to them.

Language evolves for a reason. The acceptance of the idea that someone could be attracted to more than one gender is why we have the word bisexual. Demisexual has always existed, we just didn't have a term for it. Yes, there are a lot of new terms in the LGBTQAI+ spectrum. And change can be scary. This is why a lot of folk have started to positively use the term Queer, to keep things simple while also taking back a word some used to slur-like capacity. The 1963 novel The Man who fell to Earth by Walter Tevis had a line "He walked like a queer." and in the 1970s that line was changed to "He walked like a homosexual." I half-imagine that if Walter Tevis was still alive he would acknowledge the character Nathan Bryce's internalized homophobia (the character whose internal monologue uses the description) or drop the description entirely but it is interesting to note that the original wording would be more accepted today than back in 1963 when it was first published.

[raithwithwings57]

Avengers and X-Men crossover fic with time travel

(let me say this is movie versions because no one needs crossovers from the comics they literally all live in the same world. Mostly.) This is part of my giant crossover fic that is both a Stucky fic and a Cherik fic. It's got lots and lots of lore though so due to it's ambitious scope it's been a minute since I worked on it. However even without the context i think this part is fun so here, take my unfinished draft.

“We found him. One Charles Frances Xavier. He’s dead, Director. Died 1963, killed by the Winter Soldier. Headshot, body identified by multiple people. Worked briefly with the CIA in 1962. Classified files claimed he was a telepath, but this was never confirmed. Quite frankly sir, we’ve found him, but how does a man who’s been dead for sixty years turn up alive, and having barely aged?”

Fury paused. “He was a target given to Barnes by Hydra?”

“No sir.” Said Coulson. “Wrong place wrong time.”

Fury snorted in disdain. “Sounds like our official story on his death is getting a bit rusty. Wrong place wrong time sounds like he got in the way of something. Where did he die?” Fury continued walking down the hallway, leaving Coulson to trail along behind him.

“November 22, 1963, Dallas, Texas.”

Fury stopped walking abruptly. “Hell.”

“The assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.”

“Why the hell did this guy get offed by Barnes on his way to JFK? I want you to find me answers, stat. All the files we have on him.”

“Yes sir.”

[what-gs-watching]

“I can only smile like this because I have lost so much.”

Y’aaaaaaall, how excited am I that Doctor Who is finally back?! The 60th anniversary specials got me so on board for 15, and I am really so curious about how his arc is going to play out. Nunuwho, and all that. I’m here for it, I’m ready, I desperately need the distraction. 

Obviously, last time we saw 15 he was getting into hijinx with his new companion Ruby over Christmas, and I appreciate that’s exactly where they picked up for the first episode. 

Let’s talk about it. 

Space Babies

Wherein the Doctor and Ruby end up on a space station and something is definitely wrong.

Okay so, this episode was honestly just really cute from start to finish. Babies on a space station? Running the station, rolling around in little strollers? Trying to fight the boogeyman? Fucking adorable. Was the CGI to move their mouths weird? Of course. But again, I’m totally bought into this absolutely ridiculous situation so you gotta just roll with it. It’s pretty clear that this season is going to be a lot more whimsical than they have been in the past, and that might not be some people’s thing, but oh well. I can’t drag myself away from Doctor Who, it’s become too much of me, so I really will just follow where they lead, why the eff not. 

It’s also obvious they’re gonna keep leaning into the whole Timeless Child business, and I’ll go along with that too even if I was NOT a fan of the Flux because I’m interested to see what 15 is going to make of it. He was surprisingly upfront about where he was from when Ruby was grilling him, that was something that historically had to be PULLED out of the Doctor. Telling her, “the one that was adopted was the last one left” (which, isn’t he technically the first time lord also, since they basically harnessed whatever he technically is to become time lords?) And then this man actually said the word ‘genocide’ AND  expressed his gratitude about the fact that he’d survived. Is the Doctor finally letting go of the guilt he felt over that entire absolutely insane situation? 15 really is all about that emotional growth. You love to see it. 

Bypassing the ridiculousness that is a monster made out of straight up baby BOOGERS, I also thought it was interesting that they let that creature live. I’m not sure 10 would have. But again, the whole ‘the only one of my kind’ thing. Adopting the forgotten. Saving everybody, for once. 

Basically, the whole thing was pure fluff. And I like that sometimes. Cute first official adventure. Even though I gotta say I was surprised he gave Ruby a key like, fucking immediately. 15 really is going all in on those human emotions. It’s gonna get him in trouble, gang…

The Devil’s Chord

Wherein Ruby makes a request for where she’d like to go, and they land in 1963, but again, something is definitely off.

OKAY so, here’s the thing about this episode. Asking to see The Beatles recording their first album is a DIRECT LINE to my heart. Ruby talking about listening to records with her aunt - that’s me with my dad. And it’s absolutely what I would suggest. I enjoyed that he said everyone asks about the Titanic (I would too, eventually) but this girl got her priorities right. 

And I loved how he reacted to it. Pure fucking joy, 15. And the little vignette with them getting dressed up and strutting through the fucking TARDIS, yelling “I’ve got wigs galore!” And then being so absolutely excited about landing basically on the cross walk of Abbey Road. Just, all of it. Pulling all kinds of strings for me. I can’t even. 

I can also appreciate how  they got around not being able to utilize actual Beatles music - music is dying! Music is gone! John and Paul singing about having a dog; “my dog is alive, he’s not dead … he’s not your dog, if you want a dog get your own.” I loved the surprise of it, how absolutely absurd. 

The conversations that Ruby and The Doctor have with Paul and John too…the whole episode is a love letter to music, and I love that. 15 says something like “songs that lift you and devastate you and-and make you soar…” and shit, that’s exactly what it is (I say, as I continue to cry through The Tortured Poet’s Department).

John saying “why do I wake up crying?” ugh. The whole fucking thing. As someone whose life has always revolved around music in some way or another, the thought of losing it really is mind melting. All the feels.

All that to say - the Maestro. Damn, gang. Hard fucking whimsy, I see. And what an absolute psychopath. In a creepy, good, but also terrible way. What the fuck was that? 

The point being now we know a little bit what they’re up against - because 14 played a game at the end of the universe, they apparently let gods from the Pantheon into the universe. So now we’re less about aliens, and more about forces The Doctor really shouldn’t be fucking with, but is going to anyway. Because he caused it, after all. And the devastation he had when he realized that - 15 feels so much, so hard. Gonna hit the entire emotional spectrum with this one, which is so not a Doctor thing, and I will enjoy the entire ride.

 There were so many good moments in this one - Ruby playing the piano on the roof, or when she was trussed up in musical notes and just started emitting Christmas music - and that’s the other thing, the Maestro saying “this creature is very wrong.” Girl, what are you? I love the companion backstories, I really do.

Oh AND The Doctor declaring they had to hide, at one point. My dude is realizing his limitations. 14 wondering what he was underneath all of the gadgets and the time machine really sunk in. And then him talking about how his soul was ripped in half? Jesus. Growth, growth, growth. 

Someone might as well get the emotional epiphanies I should probably be having. It counts if I watch someone else go through it, right? 

There’s too much to say about this one. I loved it, even if I did think the last musical number was almost a bridge too far. But, I’m already on this train, so I’m giving up on clinging to expectations.

Boom

Wherein the two of them land on a planet that’s clearly at war but maybe it’s not all that they think it is.

This one is definitely more classic Doctor Who - immediately they’re in danger and it just ramps and ramps and ramps the entire episode and you can never really relax. I love those. This episode is basically all stakes. 

Doctor standing on a landmine? Check. Ruby valiantly trying to help but most likely is going to make it worse but does it anyway? Yes. Post-apocalyptic “ambulances” wandering the battlefield killing people if they’re injured instead of actually helping them because an algorithm decided it? Of course. 

I feel like a lot of shows lately have been trying to lecture me about the danger of AI (I’m looking at you, Murder At The End of The World, which was so terrible I didn’t even bother writing it up) and I’ve been like ‘yeah yeah I get it jesus’ but I think they did a solid job of it in this one. Capitalism and AI together is honestly a worrying combination, and they got me with this plot.

Essentially, 15 is trapped on a landmine that immolate whomever it ensnares basically, turning him into a giant bomb  which isn’t great because as we know he’s a big ol’ space-time event and he needs to get out of it but then the daughter of a soldier we saw killed by the ambulance shows up and then another soldier coming after the kid and things just go haywire. 

The point is, AI is running everything because war has become an industry (more than it already is) and the algorithm is forcing casualties in a war that literally doesn’t exist and everything is kind of terrible but the Doctor manages to talk his way out of it sort of, by connecting to a projection about being a father and protecting their kids always and forever, no matter the form they’re in. 

It’s kind of sweet that they’re letting 15 talk more about his long, long life - in the previous episode he mentioned his granddaughter and when Ruby asked if he had kids he said something like “did have, will have” and then at the end he tells the child he’ll be back to check on them and that “fish fingers and custard” is his favorite which obviously made me squee and I just really appreciate that he’s more…integrated? It’s always felt like they worked so hard to make sure they’re all different and of course they are, but they’re all The Doctor and I want that thread of all of the things that have come before. 

Also, Ruby again with the weirdness, making it snow after she gets shot accidentally and then grabbed by the ambulance, basically dying on the ground. Girl is complicated. Gimme that backstory!

The other thing I really enjoyed was the mockery of “thoughts and prayers”. Fuck people who hide behind that. Fuck corporations that hide behind that. The Doctor’s not taking your shit, and neither should we. 

All that to say, all three of these episodes were ridiculous in their own ways, and I’m about it. So far, 15 is 1000000% his own thing and I love it even if it is fairly far off the beaten path for Doctor Who and I’m excited to see where else he’ll take us. 

Like he said, “There's hardly any time that we're not dead. Which is a good thing, too. We've got to keep the pace up.”

[queer-ragnelle]

I'm coming from having fallen in love with the show bbc merlin and then reading roger lancelyn green, then howard pyle. I really loved green's way of presenting balin and balan, and the way they seal their own fates, and the dolorous stroke. (I also loved his gareth/beaumains! best part of the book in imo.) as for pyle, I loved his strange, wild magic adventures and the dialogue between arthur and merlin as merlin is tiredly asking him to please not fight every knight he sees. can you recommend anything with gareth, anything wonderfully tragic about balin and balan, anything that focuses on the magic and setting, or anything that just made you laugh to read?

Hi anon!

Welcome to Arthuriana. I loooove Howard Pyle. Have you read all 4 books? Highly recommend the whole series. Sounds to me as if you’re looking for more retellings, so that’s what I’ll give you.

As always, if the author is out of print or has passed, I’ll share a PDF. But if they’re alive, I link to goodreads so you can learn more about the book and decide if you want to purchase.

Gareth Beaumains

Books

Exiled From Camelot by Cherith Baldry

Hunt of the Hart Royal by Cherith Baldry

Under Camelot's Banner by Sarah Zettel

Gareth and Lynette by Alfred Lord Tennyson

How Gareth Won His Spurs by Reverend James Yeames

The Savage Damsel and The Dwarf by Gerald Morris

Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger

Movies & TV [Watch movies here!] [Watch TV Shows here!]

Knights of the Round Table (1953)

Sword of Lancelot (1963)

Arthur of the Britons (1972-73)

BBC The Legend of King Arthur (1979)

Kaamelott First Installment (2021)

Balin & Balan

Books

Balin and Balan by Alfred Lord Tennyson

The Tale of Balen by Algernon Charles Swinburne

The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck

The Knight With the Two Swords by Edward M. Erdelac

Magic & Setting

Books

The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment, & The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart

The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell

The Book of Mordred & The Last Knight of Albion by Peter Hanratty

Lancelot & Gawain by Gwen Rowley

The Squire's Tales Series by Gerald Morris

Tales From the Mabinogion by Gwyn Thomas, Kevin Crossley-Holland, & Margaret Jones

The Quest for Olwen by Gwyn Thomas, Kevin Crossley-Holland, & Margaret Jones

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight by Selina Hastings

Sir Gawain and The Loathly Lady by Selina Hastings

Movies & TV [Watch movies here!] [Watch TV Shows here!]

The Adventures of Sir Galahad (1949)

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956-57)

Knights of the Round Table (1953)

Prince Valiant (1954)

The Sword in The Stone (1963)

Camelot (1967)

Arthur of the Britons (1972-73)

Gawain and The Green Knight (1973)

Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)

BBC The Legend of King Arthur (1979)

Excalibur (1981)

Fire and Sword (1981)

Merlin and The Sword (1985)

Merlin (1998)

Kaamelott (2005-09)

Starz Camelot (2011)

Arthur & Merlin (2015)

Arthur & Merlin: Knights of Camelot (2020)

Kaamelott First Installment (2021)

Laugh Out Loud Funny to Read

Lancelot & Gawain by Gwen Rowley

The Squire's Tales Series by Gerald Morris

Muppet King Arthur by Paul Benjamin & Patrick Storick

Modern Arthur Series by Peter David

Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger

Hope that gives you some stuff to chew on, anon. Have a great week!

[darkmaga-retard]

In a recent explosive interview with Tucker Carlson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped a bombshell about his willingness to take on a role that would shake Washington to its core: CIA Director. But the revelations didn’t stop there.

When asked by Carlson whether he would accept the role of CIA Director if offered, RFK Jr. didn’t hesitate but acknowledged the political hurdles he would face in securing Senate confirmation.

He explained that the intelligence agencies are fiercely protected by powerful committees in both the Senate and the House, committees that have long been “safeguarding” the interests of the intelligence community.

Kennedy acknowledged that his appointment would be a direct threat to the entrenched powers within these committees, making his confirmation an unlikely prospect.

Tucker Carlson: The CIA, I mean, a lot of roads lead back, unfortunately, to our most powerful intelligence agency. If you were asked, would you run it? Would you become CIA director if you were asked? RFK Jr.: Yes, I would, but I would never get Senate confirmation. As you know, the intelligence agencies are protected by very, very powerful committees in the Senate and in the House that are already into the project. The people who serve on those committees are safeguarding that directorship, and I would be very dangerous for those committees. Tucker Carlson: Yet in your joint appearance on Friday, President Trump introduced you by saying that he plans to, if elected, establish a commission to declassify the remaining documents regarding your uncle’s murder in 1963. RFK Jr.: Yeah. Tucker Carlson: I think everyone at this point knows the truth, which is the CIA is implicated in that. Those documents protect the CIA, maybe, among others. RFK Jr.: Well, whether they do or not, it’s odd that they’ve not allowed them to be released. Tucker Carlson: What could possibly be the reason? RFK Jr.: More than 60 years after my uncle’s death, almost 65 years. None of the people who were implicated in that crime are alive now. The last ones have died off in the last year or two. It clearly is to protect the institution. That’s wrong. It’s just wrong. It’s wrong for a Democrat, and it’s wrong for a Republican.

But the most shocking revelation came when RFK Jr. discussed President Trump’s 2020 campaign promise to declassify the remaining documents related to his uncle, President John F. Kennedy’s, assassination.