#Sorry for the format but I'm on mobile

[mangostarjam]

knot happening (part one) — bnha, alpha!bakugou katsuki x f!reader, aged up characters, established relationship, a/b/o dynamics, use of "brat" and "pipsqueak" as pet names, smut in the second part (coming soon), omegaverse!au for the spring fever collab run by @lorelune ! 1.2k words

your new company has some... interesting policies for employee heat cycles. you do your best to find a loophole.

"I can't do it."

"The hell d'ya mean, you can't do it?"

You give your Pro Hero boyfriend and resident alpha A Look. Bakugou Katsuki has the grace to shut his mouth, but he rolls his eyes and drapes a heavy arm over your shoulders, yanking you into him on the faded yellow couch you picked out together years ago.

"This is my first heat at this new job, and it's just... embarrassing. Do you know what they do, Katsuki?"

He raises a sharp blonde eyebrow in invitation.

"They..." your voice drops with horror, "they announce it to the whole company."

"Hah?" Katsuki sits up a little, strong thighs flexing beneath his gym shorts. He came in on the tail end of your mental breakdown, finding you pacing in the living room of your apartment with your hands tugging incessantly on your borrowed shirt. "What the fuck?"

"I know," you wail, "it's ridiculous! The president sends out a company wide email explaining your absence, and the HR team sends you a care basket, and the Sales team sets up a pre-heat drinking party! Do you know what's in the care basket, Katsuki?"

"Do I wanna know?"

"It's filled with sex toys, babe! SEX TOYS! From my company! They're branded!"

A spark lights up in Katsuki's otherwise vaguely concerned expression. "Don't they know you're mated?"

"Yes, of course, that was in my file," you wave him off, still seeing horror images of company branded sex toys floating in your mental vision. "I heard from Sasaki in Accounting that the toys are for when your mate needs a break. Y'know, from fucking."

Katsuki's derisive snort is loud and breaks you out of your personal hellhole. "What kinda fuckin' alpha needs a break when their mate needs 'em?"

"Well, not every alpha is a big strong Pro Hero like you," you point out, poking him on one annoyingly firm bicep. The familiar scent of caramel and smoke fills your nose. "And actually, maybe I should ask if they've got any onaholes for when you're the one in heat. Last time I needed another two days to recover."

"Hah?! There's no fucking way I'll use one of those!"

You peer up at your boyfriend reproachfully. "I like being able to walk, Katsuki."

"You don't need to fuckin' walk if I'm carryin' you everywhere, brat."

"Hmm, we'll see," you say. Katsuki's red eyes flash as you tap your bottom lip with your finger thoughtfully. "There's gotta be a way for me to take a week off work without telling them I'm going into heat."

"There's no way you'll be able to avoid it," Katsuki rumbles, leaning forward to catch your finger with his teeth. He nips at it lightly before leaning down more to capture your lips in a sweet kiss. That, more than anything, finally makes your anxiety simmer down. "You always smell so fucking good before it starts. Everyone's gonna notice."

"You're the only one who can do anything about it, though, so you'll have to keep it in your pants or quit picking me up after work."

"Not happening," Katsuki presses another kiss along your hairline and noses into the strands, sniffing deeply. It tickles, and you laugh, trying halfheartedly to shove him off of you. "What else do they give in these care packages?"

"Actually, besides the super cursed sex toys, they include really good snacks and electrolyte drinks to keep your energy up," you say, "and I'm really glad my company is so open about it all, but it's just so embarrassing!"

Katsuki hums, letting you vent out your worries. You look really pretty like this, dressed in one of his shirts and a pair of pajama shorts, some soft cotton thing that barely covers your perfect ass. He pulls your legs onto his lap and you flop backwards on the couch, moving on from your minor breakdown to sharing a funny story that happened to one of your new coworkers the other day. He had missed hearing about it then, stuck on overtime for a patrol, so he basks in your attention now as the two of you laze around on the couch.

The afternoon passes into evening. It's a rare lazy Monday together — your new job lets you have three day weekends in exchange for slightly longer work days, and Katsuki's patrol schedule happened to line up this week. You're digging into a pint of ice cream after polishing off a plate of his delicious (but spicy) curry and rice when it comes up again.

"What're you gonna do about your heat?"

"Well, I was thinking," you slide your spoon into the thick cream and wave it at him, "I'll still need to use my authorized heat cycle time off, since I want to save my vacation and comp time for real uses, so there's no avoiding the company finding out..."

Katsuki raises an eyebrow and accepts the spoonful of ice cream you're dangling in his face. His tongue pokes out to chase a bit of cream lingering on the edge of his lip and he grins, sharp, at the way your eyes track the movement. "But...?"

You have a feeling Katsuki hasn't fully thought through the horrors of corporate sponsored pleasure items, but you have, and the thought of everyone at your new company knowing you'll be getting fucked within an inch of your life makes you want to shrivel up and die. All companies have policies in place to protect time off for heat cycles, as society couldn't function otherwise, but this is the first place you've worked where impending heat cycles are declared company-wide. Normally it's just marked as time off.

"But they don't have to find out until after it starts, right? So as long as I can get through the pre-heat stuff without anyone noticing, I can avoid the cursed care package and company-wide email!"

"Ain't happening," Katsuki says flatly.

"We've been mated for sooo long now, babe," your gaze flicks up to meet his and you pout. Your boyfriend outright snorts when you start batting your eyelashes at him. "Surely you can resist the pre-heat symptoms this one time? I swear I'll get over my company's shenanigans once I see it happen to a few other people. It's really great how supportive they are, but I need some time, that's all."

"Your heat is in like. Two weeks," Katsuki says.

You pout up at him some more.

"During your last heat cycle we broke the mattress frame when I missed your first few pre-heat days."

"Yeah, but that was because you had that mission that went long," you say. If you could just... convince him... "C'mon, babe, this will be different! You're such a strong, powerful alpha — resisting me will be a piece of cake! Unless..." you pause and scoop another bite of ice cream into your mouth, "you're too weak to resist me."

"Are you callin' me weak?" Katsuki narrows his eyes. You wave your spoon casually and shrug.

"I mean... all you've gotta do is ignore my pre-heat. I'm just an itty bitty omega..."

Getting into a staring match with Pro Hero Dynamight is not on anyone's Top Ten Good Ideas list, but you match your boyfriend's red glare steadily.

"Alright, pipsqueak, you're on," Katsuki scoffs. "We'll see who's beggin' for who by the time your heat rolls around."

part two

[fandom-fun-for-sluts]

I am incredibly normal about Baldur's Gate 3. I spend a normal amount of time thinking about these characters.

Below the cut is a organized list of perfumes/scents for the characters, including all the origin characters and several side characters

Perfume note rundown:

Notes are defined by how long they last in the fragrance; short, middle, and long.

Top notes: What you smell immediately after perfume touches skin, evaporates first

Heart notes: ties together the top and base notes, while being the main note during most of the wear

Base notes: What lasts the longest, usually the underlying scent that runs underneath all the other notes

skin scent: the stage of perfume where it's died down to the point it's only detectable right at the skin

TOP HEART BASE

Wyll: Jasmine cedarwood suede

skin scent: vanilla

Astarion: Bergamot rosemary brandy

If ascended: dark chocolate

skin scent: blood

Gale: parchment old books ash

rosewater velvet gunpowder

Shadowheart: saffron milk(<-selunite->)lavender

osmanthus red wine(<-sharran->)truffle

skin scent: makeup powder

Karlach: smoke magnolia leather

fire safraleine myrrh

gasoline sweat

skin scent: motor oil

Lae’zel: kumquat lapsang souchong timur

neroli mate amyris

Leather

skin scent: sweat

Halsin: fern oak oakmoss

ambrette haitian vetiver animal fur

sage tobacco benzoin

skin scent: musk

Jaehira: Incense desert sagebrush guaiac wood

tea tree soap raspberry leaf andiroba

skin scent: cat fur

Minsc: mountain air leather (hamster) fur

Minthara: incense pomegranate labdanum

coffee bitter orange

Mizora: heliotrope tuberose lipstick

jasmine lilac metallic notes

Dried roses

skin scent: sulphur

Raphael: peppercorn bordeaux cherry balsamic

vinegar

reduction

palmarosa mahogany

Dame Aylin: cold metal milk cashmeran

oolong tea ginger candle wax

Isobel: milk sandalwood flower linen

honey driftwood suede

skin scent: dust

Orin: blood salt dragon blood resin

Gortash: japanese vetiver whiskey peat

motor oil

Ketheric: dust ebony wood stone

Withers: dust parchment moss

Ink buddha wood

Dammon: hot iron almond japanese vetiver

motor oil tonka bean

Rolan: ink pressed cotton ozone

Omeluum: lemongrass driftwood mushroom

sea water pu’er tea

Blurg: pu’er tea coffee dirt

mushroom

Volo: black sapote praline cedarwood

amaretto shea butter

Alfira: powdered sugar fresh cream waffle cone

honeysuckle

Ethel: cherry blossom marmalade sour milk

candied lemon dirt

Drow Twins: yuzu raspberry dark chocolate

rose alba amber sweat

[theboyanachr0nism]

had a poster idea. gotta squint your eyes for this one!

alts and progress pics below 🌟

[sleepanonymous]

is there a solid way to tell apart ii, iii, and iv? i always mix them up : (

Hello Anon 🖤 Ty for the ask. I've actually answered this in this post for III and IV. I'd be happy to go over it again for you here and include II more. I'll be honest, the majority of the time they've been on stage, the three band members have worn literally the same sort of clothes, and it doesn't help that they all have blue eyes either lol. It gets easier eventually, I promise. This might sound odd, but you'll soon start to recognize cheekbones, hand veins, eye shape, and overall mannerisms that the Eepy guys have.

Some quick tells are: II - Drums, double scythe necklace, black painted nails, cola/redbull stains on his mask, short king III - Bass, checkered socks, man bun, stage right, long boi IV - Guitar, black paint stains on his mask (from Vessel's kisses and his own fingers), jewelry, stage left, also a short king

Something I didn't mention in the first post is that there is a single scythe necklace that's been passed around between Vessel, III, and IV. Most recently that necklace has been worn by IV but I wouldn't count it as a valid indicator unless you know who was in possession of the necklace at the time the photo was taken. Rings, on the other hand, could be a valid indicator. I've only ever seen Vessel and IV wearing rings on stage (if I am wrong about this, someone please correct me).

Something I did mention in the other post (and is quite honestly one of my favorite ways to tell the Eepies apart) is utilizing Vessel as a measuring stick.

If the Eepy guy is taller than Vessel, you have a III.

If the Eepy guy is shorter than Vessel, you have a II or IV.

[marcheriest]

i guess it can't hurt to cross-post some of my process vids here from youtube. here's one of my favorites!

[gerard-zilla]

Teal Roots Gerard (2003?) as Orga, from Godzilla 2000 (1999)

[poisonvdhonvy]

closed starter : @ofgrenvde !!

where : the flats !!

The Flats stretches out before them as Kyro keeps pace with Duke through the evening patrol. Something's been nagging at his mind lately. These new punks calling themselves the Red Hand Crew trying to set up shop near Cedric's place. "Got word about those idiots from Red Hand making moves again," he says, eyes scanning their surroundings. Three weeks of them testing boundaries, pushing into their turf like they got some kind of death wish. His gut's been right too many times to ignore it now. He knows wannabe players when he sees them. "They're recruiting at Cedric's fight club. Trying to look legit, but my people say they're running protection rackets on the side streets."

[dailydemonspotlight]

Huoniao - Day 152

Race: Raptor

Arcana: Temperance

Alignment: Dark-Law

January 14th, 2025 (Posted Jan 15th)

Birds and the sun have been linked for a very long time, and it's not hard to see why- both are associated with the sky, most obviously, and as long as humans can look up at the giant eldritch ball of fire we've wondered what the hell was up with it. This, naturally, led to a lot of ancient civilizations tying together birds and the sun, such as Ra being both the Egyptian god of the sun and having a hawk's head. However, while Ra is the most famous example of a bird being connected to the sun, there is a very fascinating trend in many east-Asian mythologies of a three-legged bird that is said to embody the sun as well, and today's Demon of the Day is all about that: specifically, the Chinese Huoniao.

This is another demon with a pretty confusing issue related to its translation, much like Porewit but luckily far less egregious. The being that Huoniao in the series is based on isn't actually the origin of the name 'Huoniao,' as it seems to be based primarily on the chinese mythological species of bird known as the Sanzuwu, or Golden Crow. This species of birds was responsible for ferrying the sun across the sky, and there were specifically ten of these crows who resided in the sun and helped to pull it out from behind the clouds. They kept up this duty for many years, making sure the pattern of the sun was nice and consistent. I think they were each meant to be a different sun, cycling out on different days, but due to mythology weirdness it's hard to really tell.

However, the crows ran into an issue soon enough- their favorite food was a specific kind of grass that only grew on earth, and they tended to peep down during their duties and disrupt the path of the sun to get a nice snack in. This, naturally, led to some pretty severe consequences, as having the sun basically land on the earth (even if for a few seconds) would burn cities to the ground. Having enough of her children goofing off, the mother of the 10 crows would blind them all, and they fought back in revolt! All ten of the crows emerged from the skies one day and wreaked havoc, razing the ground and ruining crops, as well as letting monsters out to break and ruin even more. Sensing the issue, the mother (who was also an incredibly powerful deity named Xihe, famous for being the wife of none other than the JADE EMPEROR,) hired the assistance of an archer to get the suns to stop attacking.

The archer, a deity named Hou Yi, went to the Jade Emperor to plead his case and the fact that the crows wouldn't listen to reason. After he finally spoke with the crows and told them to stop, and they responded by literally sticking out their tongues at him, he opened fire and shot down each one of the suns, leaving only one, who is likely what Huoniao is based on in the series. While the tale of the 10 suns is an incredibly famous piece of literature in Chinese mythology, though, why is the bird based on a golden crow named 'Huoniao'?

I think that Huoniao's name might be a mistranslation and misconstruing with another being from Chinese mythology that is a bird, being the Gu Huo Niao. This might sound familiar to you, and that's because it is! It's heavily tied in with another demon that I've covered in this series, being Ubu/Ubume. It seems to me that the translators likely saw 'chinese antagonistic bird' and immediately decided to name it after Guhuoniao, which is incredibly odd to me given that Guhuoniao is also a demon in the series! But whatever, it's weird translation stuff more than likely. It doesn't take away from the fact that this three-legged bird is a pretty neat demon.

[partiallystarsmostlyvoid]

Rules: Without naming them, post a gif from ten of your favourite films, then tag ten people to do the same!

i was tagged by @princefitzchivalryfarseer :)

@cptnjaneway @theartintheblood @athenagray @rachelscoops @albabutter and anyone else who wants to do this

[archersgoon]

/

okay. 👍

[morelikesin]

This, the proof of my existence,

Let this be the catalyst

of my love

of my dignity

and the evidence of my belief

in my body to serve everything

beyond myself.

"Aldrnari."

-

A lengthy passage of my writing including a transcript of the above images beneath the cut. Translations will be in the replies.

This, the proof of my existence,

Let this be the catalyst

of my love

of my dignity

and the evidence of my belief

in my body to serve everything

beyond myself.

Through the harsh winds against the mountain face, the short bowings of Frea’s tagelharpa - strings played loose and softly - reverberated against the ice of the glaciers and the cold snow cushioning the land beneath their feet: the chill both a reminder of their living against heated skin, and the preservation of everything before them in its still permanence. From the horn, blowing distant into the dark, vibrant beauty of the night sparkling with glittery snow and stars that melted into the aurora within a canvas of black and violet night, was a sense of grounding.

So much had happened, and so much will - but for now, they stood, alive, atop the mountain face. It would, for now, be enough.

A night so still, and yet so alive, to be relished in with grace and weeping humbleness. What is to come after will be the same as it had before: the world will continue to turn, with them in it or not.

Raising a hand to their chest, Blóðhundr’s fingers grasped the jaw hanging from the leather string of their necklace. It felt frozen underneath the mercy of the biting wind. Tentative and slow, they began to drag the jewelry upward - pulling it off of their neck by lifting it above their head; looking down at what was a gift from their beloved, from a time that felt so long ago. They supposed it was.

Their other hand lifted the cover of their journal. Upon the pages that proved their existence in the form of their poem written from the previous night, they, after one more longing look upon the smooth, gently yellowed bone of teeth and mandible, thumbing over the divets of the mandibular and mental foramen, placed the coyote’s jaw onto the pages for weight.

Ný sól rís,

Ný dögun,

Með sóma,

Með kærleik.

“Aldrnari

Eldr bal bruni.”

“Hyr hiti

Logi seyðir.”

Through winds to sky,

The birds to keep cawing,

The wind to keep blowing,

with or without

you and me.

“Aldrnari

Eldr bal bruni.”

Unfettered in my mourning,

Jǫrð be our will

In our deaths and what life we've left to live.

“Hyr hiti

Logi seyðir.”

Heilir, mín nýr byrjun,

Með virðingu

Do I lay you to rest.

"Elddansurin."

“Aldrnari

Eldr bal bruni.”

Sofna upp frá þessu;

Mercy unto you

As you have given to me.

"Elddansurin."

“Hyr hiti

Logi seyðir.”

Að elska,

My greatest weakness,

Cradled by you:

My favorite memory.

"Elddansurin."

“Aldrnari

Eldr bal bruni.”

Leyf mik vilja þínn skilja.

“Elddansurin.”

“Hyr hiti

Logi seyðir.”

My traust into you I give

My body yours to carve

Your blóð mine to bear

And your grave mine to keep.

“Elddansurin.”

“Aldrnari

Eldr bal bruni.”

For now,

We lay in each other's arms

Flesh and bones in Earth's embrace

For what brevity we are allowed to be.

“Hyr hiti

Logi seyðir.”

May death be our home

As life was our respite;

Hann þarf þinn styrk.

Þú þarft hjarta hans frjótt.

[havegaysex]

covid and canines

My mom sent this to me as a text so I don't have a source I'm sorry.

The image above is a blue background infographic that reads:

Covid and canines

key takeaways from the November 2023 study neurologic effects of SARS-CoV-2 2 transmitted among dogs

Canines catch it

all dogs in the trial were infected six were infected by nasal spray

Canines spread it

six dogs were infected via contact ( horizontal spread)

Canines may not show it

all dogs in the study were asymptomatic

Covid causes damage

all dogs in the study had short and longer term brain and lung damage

You can prevent infection

Break the chain

Wear an n95 or a respirator indoors.

Avoid interaction with dogs that are not protected from exposure.

Stay informed, share what you learn.

[rake-rake]

"I believe that is what humans call “freaky”..? Am I right, Master~?"

@kaerou

[zaideaben]

HELLO ART FIGHT 2023!! 🥰🎉 You can find my AF profile in my linktree (pinned post)! Examples of my artwork are below the cut!

[septembersghost]

"(and take a guess at who destroyed the professional affinity they built with him" is this the colonel? jfc I keep hating that man

who else? leiber and stoller initially didn't know who elvis was and had some preconceived judgment in place (which happened to him a lot), but then once they actually met with him, they were impressed and developed a rapport. elvis wanted them to be in the studio when he recorded. they had suggestions and encouragement for him, about songs, about his career, and parker didn't like that, was threatened by the idea of them getting in the middle, or worse, giving him ideas (this would repeat throughout his life, it's not dissimilar to what happened with steve binder). the colonel eventually destroyed the relationship they built by sending leiber and stoller a blank page and calling it a contract as an intentional slight. they told him exactly what they thought of that, and never worked with elvis again.

longer details from here

"Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were like the rap artists of the early '50s, pushing buttons, inviting scorn and testing the limits, as rock roared into being from its roots as blues and rhythm and blues. They were writing music for black artists, when one of their songs, Hound Dog, was heard by a young Elvis Presley. His adaptation turned it into a No. 1 hit and helped aim Leiber and Stoller toward the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

They wrote 20 songs for Elvis until the brash young songwriters had a falling out with Colonel Tom Parker, the Svengali they now remember as a 'bully' and a 'foul, greedy' man who helped destroy Elvis. But the estrangement didn't change their respect for Elvis.

'We feel that Elvis Presley was the high water mark of the 20th Century. He's legend. No, he's myth. He's in that celestial place for mythological figures. At the time, we just thought he was a white kid trying to make it as a singer', says Leiber, the man who supplied the words as lyricist of one of the worlds' best-known songwriting duos.

Leiber and Stoller originally met in 1950, sharing a love of the blues and boogie woogie. They were writing for black artists, their earliest songs recorded by Jimmy Witherspoon, Little Esther, Amos Milburn, Charles Brown, Little Willie Littlefield and, among others, Willie Mae 'Big Mama' Thornton.

It was for Big Mama Thornton that they wrote Hound Dog in 1952. Her version came out in 1953 and was adapted by several groups. Stoller had gone to Europe with royalties from some of those early songs and was on his way home aboard the Andrea Doria when it sank in 1956.

Rescued by a lifeboat, Stoller arrived in New York with Leiber yelling from the dock: 'We've got a smash hit'. 'I said, 'You mean Big Mama Thornton's record?' He said, 'No, some white kid named Elvis Presley'. Elvis had heard Hound Dog in a Vegas Lounge by a group called Freddie Bell and the Bellboys', says Stoller.

Elvis' recording of Hound Dog was released in July of 1956 and bounded up the charts, selling millions of copies. Released the same year as Heartbreak Hotel, it put Elvis on TV and turned him into a phenomenon.

After Elvis' great success with his version of Hound Dog, Paramount Studios and music publishers Hill and Range selected additional Leiber and Stoller songs for Elvis' 1957 film Loving You. It was on April 30, 1957 while working on the movie Jailhouse Rock that Elvis first met Leiber and Stoller. They were skeptical of meeting the newcomer, thinking he was a country bumpkin. However, they were very impressed when upon meeting and talking to Elvis that he was very knowledgeable of R&B music and could discuss its nuances in great detail. They went on to work closely with Elvis on the Jailhouse Rock soundtrack with Stoller appearing in the film playing the piano for Elvis' character. After an incident of pitching songs and movie ideas directly to Elvis and not going through the usual chain of command with Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, they had a falling out with Parker and essentially ended their collaboration with Elvis. Fast-forward to 1960, they did write a couple of songs that were in the running for inclusion in Elvis' first post-army movie, G.I. Blues, but, ultimately they were not used. Although the direct collaboration ended, Elvis did choose several additional Leiber and Stoller tunes to record over the years.

'We were completely unconscious of what it might imply. We were just doing numbers', says Leiber. Stoller says those numbers were unfamiliar to white audiences because he and Leiber had written 'almost exclusively for black performers, so we wrote in a black idiom. People started thinking it was entirely new, but the base we started from was the blues and boogie woogie'.

Stoller says they didn't specifically tailor songs to that early Elvis persona but began by supplying songs they had already written, like Love Me, a ballad they had already recorded. 'Then we were asked to write for a movie, Loving You, with Elvis and Lizabeth Scott'. The next project, Jailhouse Rock, included four songs Leiber and Stoller wrote while held captive in a New York hotel.

They had been living in Los Angeles, and Stoller says they rented a New York hotel suite with a piano in the living area. 'We were given a script for the movie and kind of tossed it in the corner. We were having a ball in New York, going to jazz clubs, cabaret, going to the theater and hanging out. Finally, Jean Aberbach who ran Elvis Presley Music knocked on the door and said, 'Well boys, where are my songs?' I think Jerry said, 'Oh, Jean, you're going to get them'. Jean then pushed a big overstuffed chair in front of the door and said, 'I'm not leaving until I get my songs'.

They wrote four songs in five hours, including Jailhouse Rock, the movie's title song and Treat Me Nice, both major hits.

After that, Elvis 'wanted us in the studio with him whenever we recorded', says Stoller. It was part of Elvis' 'perfectionist' tendencies in the early stages of his career, says Jerry Schilling, a member of Elvis' Memphis Mafia. Leiber says Elvis 'was like an Olympic champion. He could do 40 to 50 takes. I never saw him happier than when he was on a microphone, performing'.

Both songwriters say that studio time was their primary contact with Elvis, who was kept at arm's length from them by Colonel Parker. Stoller says Elvis once asked, 'Mike, could you write me a real pretty ballad?' Over the weekend, they wrote the song Don't for him and handed it to him only to be berated by Parker.

'He was upset that I handed a song directly to Elvis. They didn't want anybody to have direct access to Elvis. It was like Elvis was kept kind of in a glass box and away from contact except for the Memphis Mafia. They were like paid companions'.

Like almost everyone else, they also had little contact with Parker himself. 'The longest I ever spent with him was a dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel around 1956, after Hound Dog', says Stoller.

The breaking point for them came when Leiber was recovering from a bout with pneumonia about two years later, and Parker ordered them to California to write songs for a new movie project. Leiber explained that he had just been released from the hospital and was unable to travel. 'Parker said, 'You'd better get your ass out here'. He then sent a packet with a contract for them to sign. Leiber says he pulled the contract from the packet and found only a dark line across the middle of a blank page for his signature.

'I called and said, 'I think you made a mistake. There's no contract in here'. He said, 'Don't worry about that, boy. Just sign your name, and I'll fill it in later'."

"Jerry Leiber: I called and asked to speak to (Colonel) Tom. He got on the phone and said (Leiber imitates Parker) 'How you doin' boy?' I said, 'I'm OK. I had a real close call there. I had walking pneumonia and I just got out of the hospital.' He said he wanted me to pack right away and catch a plane. I told him I wasn't in any shape to catch a plane because I'd just gotten out of the hospital. He said, 'If they let you out, that means you're all right'. I told him I needed a day or two to get myself together, but he said the schedule was very tight and he needed me to come out right away.

Then he said, 'Did you see the contract yet?' I said, contract?' He said, 'I'm sure it's there by now. It's a contract covering the forthcoming movie and soundtrack album. You better take a look, sign it and send it back. So I hung up, took the contract out of one of the manila envelopes, and saw nothing but a blank page. Nothing was written on it except two lines at the bottom where Mike and I were supposed to sign our names.

I thought they had made a ridiculous blunder. I called Parker's secretary and said, 'There's been a mistake', she said, 'Let me get Tom.' Colonel Parker got on the phone and I told him, 'There's a piece of paper here with two places for signatures, but the contract is missing'. He said, 'There's no mistake - just sign it'. Then he said, 'Don't worry. We'll fill it in later'.

I got off the phone with Parker and immediately called Mike. I told him, 'Breaking up with the Presley outfit is like throwing away a license to print money. After all this work, I really hate to do it, but I am really offended' (When I was on the phone with Parker, I almost told him that I wasn't one of his 'okie dokies'). I told Mike I didn't want to work with this jerk anymore.

I asked Mike, 'How do you feel about this?' Now Mike is a very measured and modest with very good manners. He paused for a moment, and then he said, Jer ....tell him to f**k himself!'

So I called Colonel Parker back and said, 'Tom, I thought about what you told me'. He said, 'Good! What time are you gonna get here?' I said, 'Tom, I spoke to Mike about the contract, and he told me to tell you to go f**k yourself'.

I hung up, and I never spoke to him again."

"Like many others, [Leiber] wondered about Parker's hold on Elvis. 'I think he (Elvis) had a very weak father and didn't get a sense of what a father was like. Parker came along, and his attitude was, 'Do this, do that, and I'll take care of everything'. Parker became his surrogate family'."

"Leiber: Of course, the Colonel wasn't really a colonel. He was Thomas A. Parker, whose former job as a carnival barker defined his personality. He had a definite shtick ('Pick a number from one to ten'). He told dozens of canned jokes. I can't remember any of them except that they weren't funny. But it didn't matter that we didn't laugh, because the Colonel wasn't really conscious of us. Of course, he knew we were the songwriters of 'Hound Dog' and the new songs for Jailhouse Rock. He knew more hit songs for Elvis meant more money for him. Beyond that, though, he was more interested in putting on his own show than getting to know us.

He had his long cigar and his confected Southern accent. He was a nonstop talker whose ego was always on parade. He told us in great detail all he had done for Elvis - and all he intended to do.

'Elvis' he said, 'is going to be bigger than the president, bigger than the pope'.

Naturally we agreed.

Stoller: The Colonel had the kind of energy that sucked all the air out of the room, even the dining room at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I had little interest in the man. Elvis was the guy we were eager to meet.

The session was due to start later that week.

Leiber: My heterosexual credits have long been established, so I can comfortably say that the first thing that hit me when I walked into the recording studio and found myself standing next to Elvis Presley was his physical beauty. Far more than his pictures, his actual presence was riveting.

He had a shy smile and quiet manner that were disarming."

"Stoller: It's important to remember that on the day we met Elvis, he was twenty-two and we were twenty-four. We were contemporaries. Remember, too, that Jerry and I shared the uppity view that he and I were among the few white guys who knew about the blues.

In the first five minutes of conversation with Elvis, we learned we were dead wrong.

Elvis knew the blues. He was a Ray Charles fanatic and even knew that Ray had sung our song 'The Snow Is Falling'. In fact, he knew virtually all of our songs. There wasn't any R&B he didn't know. He could quote from Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup, B.B. King, and Big Bill Broonzy.

Leiber: When it came to the blues, Elvis knew his stuff. He may not have been conversant about politics or world history, but his blues knowledge was almost encyclopedic. Mike and I were blown away. In fact, the conversation got so enthusiastic that Mike and Elvis sat down at the piano and started playing four-handed blues. He definitely felt our passion for the real roots material and shared that passion with all his heart.

Just like that, we fell in love with the guy."

"'Whenever I record' he said, 'I want you guys in the studio. You're the guys who make the magic'."

"When Elvis returned (after a studio break), his head was down and his demeanor totally changed.

'I'm really sorry, Mike', he said, 'but you're gonna have to leave. The Colonel came in and he doesn't want anyone here but me and the guys'. 'Okay' I said, not wanting to make any more trouble. And with that, I left. The next day at the shoot I mentioned the incident to one of Elvis' Memphis buddies. 'Don't take it personally, Mike,' he said, 'It's just that the Colonel doesn't want Elvis to develop a friendship with anyone but us'."

[ntamain]

Liv Hewson in this interview from Teen Vogue.