#if Thomas could warp space and time it would explain some things though

[shinygoku]

Thomas the Immortus Engine

[parkersanders]

Just Other Years - Chapter Twenty-One

[Silence and Duality Chapter One]

First | Previous | Next

Warnings: Mentions of blood

Word Count: 1,951

A/N: The sign of a true fanfic writer are year-long gaps in updates, right? Anyway, because of the sheer time that this fic has been updating, I've made a lot of changes to the originally planned timeline. The fic is going to end in the next few chapters instead of the original longer timeline that was planned. I think it's better this way though. So prepare for the climax that is approaching lol!

———————————————————

Things have been...okay. They've been okay in a way that parker isn't used to. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. It had to, one way or another, right? But he was doing his best to stay positive. It was hard to do that considering his role, but...

"Earth to Parker," Roman sang.

Parker blinked a few times and looked over his shoulder at Roman. He looked forward again and moved the dish he was washing into the other sink to be rinsed off. "Uh. Did you need something?"

"You were standing there idly for five minutes," Roman said. He leaned against the counter, watching Parker. Parker's skin prickled and his ears burned with embarrassment at being scrutinized. "I was worried something was wrong."

"Oh. No. No, everything's fine," Parker promised. "Just lost in thought."

Roman laughed. His warm laugh put Parker more at ease. "That's supposed to be my job."

Parker chuckled back, though sounds a bit more uneasy. "I guess I'm taking over." Roman didn't laugh at that, and when Parker glanced at him, he had a more contemplative look on his face. "Um...I'm--I'm joking."

"I know!" Roman looked up and nodded. "Of course I know." He moved to Parker's other side and picked up a towel, starting to dry off the dishes that had been rinsed. "Virgil mentioned that you two talked."

Parker nodded. "We did. It was--It was really nice. I think we came to a nice conclusion. It...felt less hostile." He smiled a bit. "It was just nice."

Roman smiled. "I'm glad. It's nice seeing you two get along for once."

"It's nice to get along." 

They worked in silence for a while. It was right when Parker was feeling comfortable in the silence together that Roman spoke again, asking, "Has Thomas seemed weird to you lately?"

"How so?" Parker scrubs at some food stuck to a knife before he holds it out to Roman to clean.

"He's seemed sad."

Parker flinched and dropped the knife. Roman hissed and his hand yanked back. Parker clapped a hand over his mouth in silent shock as Roman fumbled for a fresh rag to press against the cut. "Are--Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah," Roman said weakly. "A little cut is nothing to me." He winced and sucked in a breath. "Gotta be more careful."

"Um. Yeah." Parker chewed his lip tightly. "I--I can finish the dishes. You should go, um...take care of that...?"

Roman nodded, seeming a bit eager to be in agreement. "Um. I can--talk to you another time?" He smiled weakly and took a shaky breath. He then added, "I'm okay."

Parker didn't believe that at all, but he nodded anyway. Roman left and Parker looked down at the knife left in the sink. There were a couple drops of blood on the knife that blended with the water droplets. He sighed and hung his head as he leaned against the counter.

Thomas had been having a hard time with several things lately. He wasn't getting callbacks for the things he auditioned for. He was having a couple issues with friends. It was getting to Thomas, and so of course it was getting to the rest of the sides. parker felt anxious all the time and he felt like crying for even more times than that. But he knew that the others didn't want Thomas to be upset. If they knew that Parker was directly causing it, then--well--

No. No no. Things were different. They weren't angry at him and they would never put him back there. Parker took a few shaky breaths, trying to calm himself down so he wouldn't act irrationally. When he felt steady enough, he continued cleaning the dishes, making extra sure that he set the dishes down carefully and didn't handle them clumsily.

When Parker was finished, he left to try and find Roman. On his way to Roman's room, he heard soft humming coming from Logan's room. The door was open a bit, so Parker peeked inside. Logan was seated at his desk, hunched over a book and writing things down while he occasionally looked at one of his word flash cards.

Parker hesitated before he knocked on the door. Logan looked over at him. "Ah, Parker. Come in."

Another beat of pause passed before Parker stepped over the threshold into Logan's room. He walked over to the desk. "What are you working on?"

Logan smiled proudly. "I'm glad you asked." He held his hands out to the journal he was writing in. "This is my thoughts journal. I keep all of my research in here, as well as an in-depth record of my word system and fun facts that I can use to try and really drill down into Thomas's brain so he can learn useful information that can be applied to everyday life."

"That's cool," Parker said softly. He tilted his head, getting a better look at the cover of the journal. There were a few stickers pasted haphazardly on the cover. Parker smiled. "...is that the same journal that you had when Thomas was a kid?"

Logan hummed and closed the book so he could admire the cover. "It is," he admits. "I've been using it since we were children. I can just keep adding pages. It feels..." Logan grasped the air like he was trying to physically pluck the word that he was thinking of out of the air. "...nice?" He shook his head, looking unsatisfied with the word. "But I cherish the book. It is one of my oldest possessions."

Parker smiled and leaned over the desk to look at the stickers a bit closely. "I think I remember us putting the stickers on this."

Logan laughed and nodded. He took a sip of water from the glass he kept on his desk and set it down. "I believe it was Roman's idea to put the stickers on it. I was so upset that day." His fingers traced over the stickers with admiration. "But I think that it was a good decision. I wouldn't change that they were here." His eyes squinted and he pursed his lips. "Which sticker was yours?"

"The bird," Parker chuckled. He pointed to the bird half-covered by another sticker. "I was upset when Patton put his cookie sticker over mine, but then Roman told me that my bird was strong and would just fly out from under the cookie when it wanted to. Just--ZIP!" He flung his hand to one side like Roman always did when he explained the bird's flight pattern to Parker.

Unfortunately, this time around, there was a glass of water on the desk. When Parker's hand smacked into it, it overturned, spilling water all over the desk.

"No!!" Logan shouted and Parker let out a gasp. Logan snatched up the notebook, but it was already soaked.

Parker lifted the cup up, but didn't know what to do for the water. He certainly didn't know what to do for the notebook that Logan clutched in trembling hands. Parker could only helplessly stare and hold the cup tight against his chest. "Um..How...I can help, I-"

"You always make such a mess," Logan hissed, looking at the notebook whose pages were already curling and warping with the water.

Parker took a couple steps back, not knowing how to respond to that.

"I heard yelling," Patton said breathlessly, appearing at the door. "Logan are you alright-?"

"Parker, get out," Logan said stiffly. Parker struggled to speak but Logan repeated, "Get out. I." He sucked in a deep breath. "I don't want to snap at you."

Parker looked to Patton helplessly. Patton looked equally lost and just shrugged a bit. "Give him his space for a while, kiddo," he said softly. 

His stomach twisted at that, but he did as was told and moved out of the room. He breathed uneasily as he walked down the hall, still gripping the glass tightly in his hand. He tried to take deep breaths. He needed to calm down. But everything felt like too much and blood pounded in his ears and he felt like he was going to find himself back behind those walls.

Virgil passed Parker in the hallway, but he stopped and looked back. "Hey. Parker." Parker stopped but didn't turn towards him. "Uh. You good?" Virgil walked back up to him. "You look like you're going to shatter that glass."

"Um." Parker's mouth was dry as cotton. He tried to lick his lips, but there was no moisture. "I, ah, upset Logan. It was an accident."

"Ah. I'm sure it's fine," Virgil said. "Logan gets it."

Parker shrugged weakly. "He seemed really--really upset." He looked down at the floor. "...I think he's also still. Still upset about. Y'know. Everything."

Virgil considered that before he shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Probably. I don't know if any of them really like--move past anything, you know?"

Parker looked at Virgil, feeling an uneasiness stirring in his stomach. "...yeah?"

"Yeah. We hold grudges. It's who we are. It's who Thomas is." Virgil shrugged. "It'll be alright. Don't worry too much."

Virgil slipped on his headphones and continued on his way. Parker stared after him, feeling his heartrate pick up in speed again. 

He looked forward and continued to his room. It was hard to breathe and he felt like he was going to pass out. He leaned against the door and let himself sink down to the ground. He breathed heavily and shut his eyes tightly. Breathe carefully. Count. Calm down. Parker's body wouldn't listen to any of his commands. He could only think of the fury in Logan's voice. The way he destroyed this precious thing that Logan loved. How he hurt Roman, and the blood that dripped into the sink. The stupid nightmare scene he'd thrown at Roman as punishment. All of their punishments, and how foolish he was, and how much he hurt them. They could never forgive him for that. Why would they ever forgive him?

Parker opened his eyes slowly and stared up at the ceiling. The mural was almost completed, full of colors and pretty shapes. He hadn't shown the full thing to any of the sides yet. It didn't matter anymore. They would never appreciate it. It was a hollow gesture. Parker just pretending that they were all happy, and they were accommodating him. They were afraid of him. If he got upset then he would hurt them again. Of course that's what they believed. It's why Roman wouldn't speak ill of him when he got hurt, why Logan didn't want to snap at him, why Patton just gave him that pitiful smile and tried to send him on his way. Only Virgil was honest with him. They all held grudges. Virgil held a grudge too. Parker was never actually going to be forgiven by any of them.

He stood up and walked over to the mural. He stared up at it, feeling sick the more he looked at it. He couldn't lie in bed and smile up at those shapes anymore. He couldn't act like it was an accurate reflection of any of this.

He picked up a can of black paint. Parker gritted his teeth and threw it up at the ceiling. The paint soared out of the can and splattered against the ceiling, smearing against all of the colors and leaving it a dripping stain of black. That's all that Parker was. He was making Thomas sad, he was harming the other sides. He was a horrible black stain that was consuming everything around him the longer he was around. He had to fix that.

[ask-fantasy-sanders-sides]

Roman!!! Darling!! Can you tell us about Thomas? Any legends about him, perhaps? ♥️

(Yall, this one is so long. HUGE lore under the cut)

~~~

Roman: “Any legends about Thomas??” Are you joking? Do you really not know?! He’s only got the coolest Rulership origin story known to mankind! Intrigue, adventure, romance, betrayal, all the works~!

(Roman laughs and sweeps his cape up with a flourish, sitting down on a nearby bench with one leg crossed over the other, like a teenager about to spill gossip.)

Roman: You might want to sit down, dear listeners, because this is a tale for the ages~! I will tell it how it was told to me; starting with our antagonist: The dastardly Lord Donovan Sanders…

Roman: You see, Thomas wasn’t always heir to the throne, or even in line! His family was influential, and he was always trained to be a lord of the realm and member of the council, but he had no relation to the royal family. His Uncle Donovan was a member of the council, but he wasn’t happy with that; He wanted to be King. Not just King, he wanted to be a dictator!

Roman: He wasted no effort in courting the current heir, Princess Malinda. He convinced her that he loved her, and she loved him in return, but it was clear to anyone who knew him that he was playing it up for her. Thomas noticed this, and he already knew his Uncle to be cruel and greedy, but he knew he would never have the chance to warn Malinda, or even speak with her alone. 

Roman: When the Princess and Lord Donovan got engaged, it only got worse. He played the same ‘innocent’ bit in front of his betrothed, but behind closed doors, there was something off… He was neglecting his duty as protector of the peace, and people had started to go missing in town. The palace guard were corrupt and mean, and Thomas knew nothing good was going to come from his Uncle’s rule if this was allowed to continue.

Roman: So, with the help of his exceptionally stealthy best friend Joan, Thomas snuck into his Uncle’s office! They rifled through his letters and papers, and uncovered an evil plot to take over the country and sacrifice the residents to an entity known as The Shaman, in exchange for otherworldly magical powers and an iron-fisted rule over the coast. 

Roman: The letters were written cryptically and none of them were signed, but Thomas and Joan knew what they were looking at was his Uncle’s doing, and it all lined up too perfectly with the sudden disappearances of his outspoken political opponents and activists… The problem was, they couldn’t use anything they’d found as proof. And, who should show up and discover them in their snooping but a member of the royal guard?

Roman: They fought their way free with the help of a town arcane scholar, Talyn, and ran away into the night! After a message to Thomas’s parents warning them to move away for the time being and remain safe, they were off to find this Shaman and put an end to Donovan’s plans before they could begin!

Roman: They faced various trials and tribulations on their way around the country and through various planes, gathering new allies everywhere they went: An Elven barbarian by the name of Quill, a cleric of Sune named Adri – She’s a heartwarder now, I know her! She’s lovely~ Anyway, back to the story –the fledgling Goliath knight Leo, the performative bard Terrence, the monk Dominic, the druidess Dhalia, and the fencing squire Camden! 

Roman: As their journeys continued, each of his new companions came to swear oaths of fealty to Thomas, recognizing him as their King instead of Donovan, before anyone even knew Thomas would be a king someday – this was the strength in their belief in him! At the same time, Joan and Talyn fell deeply and passionately in love~ Every story needs a romantic subplot, and let me tell you, those two are absolutely adorable! 

Roman: The ten of them worked together, facing hordes of beastly monsters, underhanded traps, and trained assassins – but slaying only who they could not first convince; You see, Thomas is a pacifist, and turned to violence only as a last resort! If he had his way, he would simply convince the Shaman that what they were doing was wrong, and needed to end. This would never be possible, but such is our sweet Thomas~

Roman: Eventually, they reached the belly of the beast. The Shaman – a giant, sharp-clawed serpentine beast with a human’s torso, serpent’s tail and head, and five dragon’s heads sprouting alongside it – stood in a bloodbath of what had to be hundreds of missing citizens and his own cultists, having sacrificed all of them to open the portal! 

Roman: Before it could be opened fully, however, our team of heroes attacked! As the others fought him off to keep his several heads busy, Druidess Dhalia used her magic to send Thomas into the beast’s head, to confront him alone in a mind palace of sorts. Thomas desperately tried to reason with him, but the Shaman was murderous, remorseless, and completely and utterly insane. And, the longer Thomas spent sharing in the space of his mind, the more it ruined Thomas’s own sanity! After all, the creature was still trying to channel that portal, and thus his mind was open to the Far Realm.

Roman: But, this effort was not wasted – while inside his brain, Thomas learned that this being had effectively turned itself immortal. He could not be killed, but he could be contained, and sealed away for eternity! Thomas released his hold on the creature’s mind, and while the fighters destroyed the body, Thomas and the other spellcasters focused on creating a Horcrux to contain his soul – a crystal of sorts, that could never be broken by mortal hands, and would be hidden in the royal vault and never see the light of day again.

Roman: Unfortunately, mad as he was, the Shaman caught on to their plan. As the last of the beast’s strength left him, the Shaman tried to cast a spell to flee. Both his spells and Thomas’s were completed at the same time.

Roman: The Shaman, his dastardly Far Realm magics, and the contaminated energy of the portal he was attempting to create were trapped in the crystal, never to be seen again; Meanwhile, Thomas and company were teleported to the place where the Shaman was trying to go – right outside a Dark Elf Kingdom.

Roman: Immediately, they were surrounded by the guards, and a Priestess was summoned to deal with them. Thomas had enough energy left for one big spell – a Teleportation spell of his own – but there was a catch: It could only take nine people.

Roman: In a heroic display of self-sacrifice, Thomas warped all of his injured companions back to his home on the surface, and faced the priestess alone. She was furious to learn that Thomas had slain the Shaman, who she regarded as her own flesh and blood, and even more furious to learn that he was the nephew of Donovan – That’s right, folks! All three of them were in on this together!

Roman: For some reason, due to his relation to Donovan, the Priestess was unable to harm Thomas. She jailed him while she sent correspondence to her only surviving partner in crime, giving Thomas time to formulate an escape! Of course, he defaulted to his signature move; befriending the people around him~ He made allies of a few fellow prisoners, and they organized a massive breakout, where Thomas was able to flee the prison. 

Roman: As he snuck alone, abandoned by the other prisoners, through the streets of the kingdom, he heard that the Priestess was furious – after all, she had just gotten his Uncle’s explicit encouragement to slay him. He heard next that she had ordered her fiercest dog after him; her most heartless, lethal man-hunter. He was called Anxiety, supposedly for the lingering dread the mere mention of his name caused in potential victims, and his sudden and ruthless attacks!

Roman: Thomas would have just teleported himself to safety, but something had happened to his magic after the thing with the Shaman, and he couldn’t get a single spell to work after that night. To this day, he still can’t cast unless he’s on his medicine.

Roman: Thomas made it to the surrounding woodlands before he was caught by the hitman, but it’s a wonder he made it that long: Thomas had been suffering from splitting headaches ever since he had tied his mind to the Shaman’s, the whispers louder than he had ever experienced in his life, and no way to quiet them. He hardly got sleep, and his own anxiety was not helped by the hundreds of daily warnings that his Hunter was getting closer and closer every second.

Roman: So, of course, he was caught. He closed his eyes against the sting of the voices in his head, and when he opened his eyes, there was a young Drow with an arrow trained on Thomas’s heart. Thomas flew into a panic attack, and who knows how long the assassin sat there, just… Watching.

Roman: Then – and every time Thomas gets to this part he looks just as surprised as he did the day it happens, you should see his little face! – the soldier put away his weapon, sat in front of Thomas, and helped him breathe.

Roman: When Thomas asked why the soldier helped him, he wouldn’t answer – just told Thomas to go get some rest, and be ready to leave in the morning.

Roman: Suffice to say, Thomas was terrified. But, he was in to state to fight the soldier, and did as he was told. The next day, when the soldier started leading Thomas onward, Thomas knew that the soldier wasn’t taking him back to the kingdom to be slaughtered. For whatever reason, he was going to help Thomas escape.

Roman: They traveled together for the next few months, and though the soldier still terrified Thomas, he slowly grew fond of him, and got him to open up. He explained, after no short amount of coaxing, that he hated his Priestesses, and wasn’t going to kill Thomas just because he was demanded to. When he had found Thomas, he was ‘just a scared, crying child, who didn’t even have a single weapon on him.’ Thomas was grateful for the compassion, though he couldn’t help but point out that the soldier seemed to be just as young as Thomas, by his race’s standards. Thankfully, that made the soldier laugh, not kill Thomas for the audacity (which only occurred to Thomas as a possibility after he said it out loud)

Roman: The soldier and Thomas grew very close. He would carry Thomas when the whispers made it too hard to move, fight off anything that threatened him, and lull him to sleep when he was too scared to get rest – Usually, here, Thomas will start complaining about how the soldier himself refused to sleep, it is very cute, if a bit hypocritical of him~

Roman: But, of course, this couldn’t last. When they finally reached a tunnel entrance back to the prime material plane, the soldier insisted they split ways, and Thomas go find his friends topside. Thomas tried to convince his new fire-forged friend to accompany him, but the soldier was still having trouble abandoning the only life he’d ever known, and besides, he had never seen the surface before. Thomas had just convinced the soldier to come with him when they were attacked by dark elf assassins, ones that had been sent after Thomas when Anxiety had taken too long to return. The soldier pushed Thomas towards the tunnel and yelled for him to run, promising he would be right behind him. Thomas knew he was lying, but he was too scared to argue. As the soldier stood his ground and guarded the entrance, Thomas fled. Thomas never heard from him again…

Roman: Thomas was found by some friendly locals outside the cave he crawled out of, and they recognized the crest on his pin, and took him to his parents. When he was reunited with his family and friends, he was informed of what had happened when he was gone:

Roman: His Uncle had tried to murder now-Queen Malinda the night of their wedding, but her and her sisters – including Lady Valerie, my relative, and new friend of Thomas and the crew – had fought him and his soldiers off, and taken control of the country with the aid of Thomas’s parents. Queen Malinda visited her nephew to thank him for all he had done, having been informed of everything by the others, and told him she had named him her heir - he would have some training to do over the next three years! 

Roman: Thomas healed from his wounds, and told the story of what happened to him after they were separated to his friends, who then spread the story of their exploits across the country! In three years time, at the peaceful passing of his Aunt, Thomas was sworn in as King – with his fellow retired adventurers among his court, minus one or two who went their own ways – and he’s been a well respected leader ever since!

(Roman stretches and smiles, as if genuinely worn out by his storytelling and gesticulating)

Roman: Ahh, such a good story! I’d tell you more about the individual adventures if I had time~! I get Thomas to re-tell it for me all the time, it draws such genuine emotion out of him! He has such strong love for all of his friends, including the ‘hired hitman turned pseudo-bodyguard.’ 

Roman: I have to admit, that character specifically was always quite attractive to me, the way he was described and all that~ Letting Thomas lean on him, protecting him, real ‘I’m going to act like a dangerous loner because I have a shady past, but actually I’m really soft and chivalrous’ archetype, like the cute bad boys in romance novels! I’ve always wanted to meet him, though I know he’s probably…. Well, not anywhere near here, if even alive.

Roman: Anyway, there’s your story~! Now you know a bit more about Thomas! And at this point, if you don’t absolutely love him, you’re just wrong, my friend~

[in-flagrante]

The wait is over

THE TIARAS HAVE BEEN DUSTED OFF AND THE PEARLS POLISHED. FOUR LONG YEARS AFTER THE FINAL INSTALMENT OF DOWNTON ABBEY, IT’S BACK, THIS TIME ON THE BIG SCREEN. BEN LAWRENCE WENT ON SET TO UNCOVER SOME FAMILY SECRETS

The Daily Telegraph

31 Aug 2019

As Downton Abbey sweeps majestically on to the big screen, Ben Lawrence joins the cast reunion on set

It is a crisp, clear morning at Wentworth Woodhouse, the stately home in South Yorkshire. Built by the 1st Marquess of Rockingham, it has the widest façade in Europe, boasts at least 365 rooms (no one is certain of the exact number), and represents two and a half acres of building. This perfect specimen of English baroque is the setting for the new Downton Abbey film – in which George V and Queen Mary tour the north of England (which also includes a visit to Downton itself, filmed as usual at Highclere Castle in Berkshire) – and today they are shooting a grand ball at the home of the Countess of Harewood in the film, attended by the royal couple and Downton’s Crawley family.

Inside the house, a production unit zigzags in and out of huge vaulted rooms with cables and film cameras, while extras in 1920s ball attire chat nonchalantly on makeshift chairs. Meanwhile in the ballroom – a giant marble space, adorned with deep-red damask wallpaper and enormous flower arrangements – Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton (two of the stars of the original series) slip through the lines of dancing couples in diaphanous silks, as a small orchestra plays a waltz. In the background, an assistant producer is being told off by one of the volunteers of Wentworth Woodhouse for wandering into a disused room. This isn’t jobsworthiness. The carpet in some rooms is nearly 300 years old and will disintegrate

if anyone breathes on it. The wallpaper, meanwhile, is laced with arsenic (as was the fashion at the time) in order to make it a certain shade of green.

Away from the action, Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary (the eldest Crawley daughter), is sitting in her trailer, her sharp features accentuated by period make-up, feeling slightly in awe of the whole process. ‘It was during my costume fitting when it hit me. I got really emotional.’

Downton Abbey made Dockery and many of her fellow cast members international names, and no wonder. The ITV series, which ran from 2010 to 2015 and followed the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants, was sold to 220 territories worldwide, achieved a global audience of 120 million and was nominated for 53 International Emmys. In America, it became the most successful British drama import of all time. It also set the bar for costume dramas, at least in terms of visual sheen. The Crown, Netflix’s lavish regal series (which returns this autumn), has clearly been influenced by Julian Fellowes’ series, which cost, on average, £1 million per episode to make.

Everyone expected that a film would be made, but it was quite a feat getting the cast together. ‘It was like herding cats,’ says Dockery. ‘But I just love it. It’s so familiar and doesn’t feel like work.’

Despite rumours to the contrary, Maggie Smith is back as the Dowager Countess, famous for her

‘When we finished the series, we didn’t envisage a film. We had a party at The Ivy and everyone cried’

withering put-downs, as are Hugh Bonneville’s paterfamilias the Earl of Grantham, his American wife Cora (played by Elizabeth Mcgovern) and his two surviving daughters, Lady Mary, of course, and Laura Carmichael’s Lady Edith. Others involved include Penelope Wilton’s sensible cousin Isobel and many of the downstairs staff: Jim Carter’s stentorian Mr Carson and his wife, the no-nonsense housekeeper Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan); Mrs Patmore (Lesley Nicol), the plainspeaking cook with Escoffier abilities, and her protégée, the occasionally mutinous Daisy (Sophie Mcshera).

When I talk to Fellowes though, he is adamant that a film was never inevitable. Rumours circulated about a prequel, following Robert’s courting of Cora for her money and subsequently falling in love with her, but nothing came of it. ‘When we finished the series, we didn’t envisage a film. We had a lovely party at The Ivy and everyone cried, but that was it as far as I was concerned. Then, as the years rolled by, there was a sense that people hadn’t quite finished with it, and eventually I formed an idea for a feature film.’

The Downton Abbey film, directed by Michael Engler, is set in 1927, just over a year after the series ended, and focuses on the Crawleys and their servants as they prepare for a royal visit. It causes much excitement below stairs, but the staff soon find the monarch’s entourage taking over – including a temperamental French chef (played by Philippe Spall) and a pompous head butler, played by David Haig, who refers to himself as the ‘King’s page of the back stairs’. Other new cast members include Simon Jones and Geraldine James as the King and Queen, Imelda Staunton (real-life wife of Carter) as Lady Bagshaw, lady-in-waiting to the Queen and a relative of the Crawleys, and Tuppence Middleton as her mysterious lady’s maid, Lucy.

Fellowes was inspired, in part, by a book he had read called Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey, which details a 1912 visit by King George V and Queen Mary to South Yorkshire. As well as tucking into lavish 13-course dinners, which included puddings served in sugar baskets that took four days to weave, they also met local miners and toured pit villages. Although the film is set 15 years later, the King and Queen did make similar, unlikely tours around the country, as Fellowes explains. ‘After the First World War, there was a period of unsettled feelings about things – not least the monarchy. It had to re-establish itself as many members of European royalty had disappeared – the German Emperor, the Austrian Emperor, the Tsar of Russia. The structure had to be restated as having an integral role in society and they [George and Mary] were very successful in doing so. By 1930, the Crown was back at the heart of English life.’

For Dockery, making the film was not only a chance to catch up with old friends, but also to further develop a character that the nation took to their hearts.

‘Mary is so complex. We met her at 18 and she was this rebellious teenager – she was bored, and

‘It is pompous, but if you are recreating the ’20s you may as well get it right’

because she was a girl, she wasn’t what her father wanted [an heir to Downton]. Ultimately he became very proud of her, though, and I think everyone really responded to that. Seeing her journey was what hooked people.’

Now we see Lady Mary very much in control, happily married (to Matthew Goode’s Henry Talbot) and more than capable of taking over the ancestral pile when the time comes.

‘Julian writes really well for women and I think that has something to do with his wife, Emma [a descendant of Lord Kitchener]. I see a lot of her in Mary, just her expressions and things,’ she says.

Dockery has had a particularly successful career post-downton. She brought rigour and a dash of fun to her part as an ambitious TV exec in Network (the National Theatre production based on the acclaimed ’70s film), and a sort of watchfulness to the role of a hard-edged widow in Netflix’s warped western Godless. Next year, she will be showing her versatility further in Guy Ritchie’s film The Gentlemen, in which she plays the wife of a drug lord (played by Matthew Mcconaughey).

One character who has a particularly meaty storyline in the film is gay footman Thomas, played by Robert James-collier. We meet at Shepperton Studios, where the kitchen scenes are being filmed. It’s a cavernous setting which production designer Donal Woods describes as ‘like a noirish, Scandi film, as opposed to the glorious technicolor of upstairs’. For the TV series, the servants’ quarters were created at Ealing Studios, but the set has been flat-packed and sent over, as have the copper jelly moulds, kettles and pans.

This time, we see Thomas befriend a footman from the Royal household (played by Max Brown), and he ends up in an illicit gay drinking den in York. This was an era when homosexuality could result in a prison sentence, but, says James-collier, for one brief moment his somewhat malevolent character is liberated.

‘He is introduced to this other world that he doesn’t know exists, and there is this sense of relief, this sudden realisation that there are kindred spirits and that he is not this “foul individual” as Mr Carson once described him.’

The irony that Downton Abbey has been sold to countries where homosexuality can be punished by death is not lost on James-collier, and he feels a grave sense of responsibility about his role. ‘I have received letters from young men who say that watching Thomas’s journey has helped them. All I can say is that it’s an utter privilege. It’s the reason why I do it.’

The film’s 1927 setting marks a period in Britain when country houses such as Downton were beginning to feel the austerity of the interwar years. Death duties had to be paid and households streamlined, which meant that many servants lost their jobs. Meanwhile, the General Strike of 1926 – in which the TUC fought against worsening conditions for the country’s miners – underlined a growing sense of solidarity among the working class. In the film, however, there are no such concerns, and that reflects the point that Downton is in many ways a fantasy. One criticism of the original scripts was that the Crawleys were too benign as employers, that the relationship between master and servant was much more remote, without any of the Earl of Grantham’s well-meaning paternalism. Fellowes disagrees.

‘This notion that people were horrible to their servants is wrong. Most of us, if you think about it logically, and putting aside the moral view that that life should exist at all, would want to get on with the valet or lady’s maid. When you see a character snarling at his butler, you think this isn’t a way of life. None of us would want to be in a position of speaking to people you disliked.’

If Fellowes is the arbiter of psychological accuracy, then Alastair Bruce is the gatekeeper of protocol. He was Downton’s historical adviser at the beginning and describes himself, among other things, as the posture monitor.

He explains. ‘The cast tend to put their bums here on the seat,’ he says indicating the back of his chair. ‘But in those days, you didn’t – you would sit at the front. Also, [people’s] shoulders have fallen forward because everyone is on their mobile phone all the time.’

Bruce also helps the actors with their diction and mentions the word ‘room’. Many tended to accentuate the ‘o’s when it fact it should be shortened, so they sound very nearly like a ‘u’.

‘It is pompous bollocks, but if you are recreating the ’20s you may as well get it right,’ Bruce adds. ‘Michelle would quite happily let me describe her evolution in life as a long way from Downton Abbey, but I have some pretty grandiose friends who can’t believe this is the case. I am very proud of the fact that she now has this incredible poise – you never see a curve in her back – and her accent is on point.’

Several months later, I ask Fellowes whether he has plans for a sequel (although in truth, certain scenes in the film suggest a full stop rather than a pause). ‘There is never any point in answering that,’ he says. ‘In this business as soon as someone says that’s the last time I’ll put on my ballet shoes, there they are, a year later, dancing Giselle.’ Downton Abbey is released on 13 September

[hedwigsaardvark]

From the Telegraph.

The wait is over: Downton Abbey hits the big screen - and a visit to the set uncovers family secrets 

By Ben Lawrence

30 AUGUST 2019

Harry Hadden-Paton, director Michael Engler and Matthew Goode CREDIT: CHARLIE GRAY

CREDIT: CHARLIE GRAY

It is a crisp, clear morning at Wentworth Woodhouse, the stately home in South Yorkshire. Built by the 1st Marquess of Rockingham, it has the widest façade in Europe, boasts at least 365 rooms (no one is certain of the exact number), and represents two and a half acres of building.

The tiaras have been dusted off and the pearls polished. Four long years after the final instalment of Downton Abbey, it’s back, this time on the big screen. 

This perfect specimen of English baroque is the setting for the new Downton Abbey film – in which George V and Queen Mary tour the north of England (which also includes a visit to Downton itself, filmed as usual at Highclere Castle in Berkshire) – and today they are shooting a grand ball at the home of the Countess of Harewood in the film, attended by the royal couple and Downton’s Crawley family. 

Inside the house, a production unit zigzags in and out of huge vaulted rooms with cables and film cameras, while extras in 1920s ball attire chat nonchalantly on makeshift chairs. Meanwhile in the ballroom – a giant marble space, adorned with deep-red damask wallpaper and enormous flower arrangements – Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton(two of the stars of the original series) slip through the lines of dancing couples in diaphanous silks, as a small orchestra plays a waltz.

In the background, an assistant producer is being told off by one of the volunteers of Wentworth Woodhouse for wandering into a disused room. This isn’t jobsworthiness. The carpet in some rooms is nearly 300 years old and will disintegrate if anyone breathes on it. The wallpaper, meanwhile, is laced with arsenic (as was the fashion at the time) in order to make it a certain shade of green.

Away from the action, Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary (the eldest Crawley daughter), is sitting in her trailer, her sharp features accentuated by period make-up, feeling slightly in awe of the whole process. ‘It was during my costume fitting when it hit me. I got really emotional.’

Downton Abbey made Dockery and many of her fellow cast members international names, and no wonder. The ITV series, which ran from 2010 to 2015 and followed the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants, was sold to 220 territories worldwide, achieved a global audience of 120 million and was nominated for 53 International Emmys.

In America, it became the most successful British drama import of all time. It also set the bar for costume dramas, at least in terms of visual sheen. The Crown, Netflix’s lavish regal series (which returns this autumn), has clearly been influenced by Julian Fellowes’ series, which cost, on average, £1 million per episode to make.

Everyone expected that a film would be made, but it was quite a feat getting the cast together. ‘It was like herding cats,’ says Dockery. ‘But I just love it. It’s so familiar and doesn’t feel like work.’

Despite rumours to the contrary, Maggie Smith is back as the Dowager Countess, famous for her withering put-downs, as are Hugh Bonneville’s paterfamilias the Earl of Grantham, his American wife Cora (played by Elizabeth McGovern) and his two surviving daughters, Lady Mary, of course, and Laura Carmichael’s Lady Edith. 

Others involved include Penelope Wilton’s sensible cousin Isobel and many of the downstairs staff: Jim Carter’s stentorian Mr Carson and his wife, the no-nonsense housekeeper Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan); Mrs Patmore (Lesley Nicol), the plain-speaking cook with Escoffierabilities, and her protégée, the occasionally mutinous Daisy (Sophie McShera).

When I talk to Fellowes though, he is adamant that a film was never inevitable. Rumours circulated about a prequel, following Robert’s courting of Cora for her money and subsequently  falling in love with her, but nothing came of it. ‘When we finished the series, we didn’t envisage a film. We had a lovely party at The Ivy and everyone cried, but that was it as far as I was concerned. Then, as the years rolled by, there was a sense that people hadn’t quite finished with it, and eventually I formed an idea for a feature film.’

The Downton Abbey film, directed by Michael Engler, is set in 1927, just over a year after the series ended, and focuses on the Crawleys and their servants as they prepare for a royal visit. It causes much excitement below stairs, but the staff soon find the monarch’s entourage taking over – including a temperamental French chef (played by Philippe Spall) and a pompous head butler, played by David Haig, who refers to himself as the ‘King’s page of the back stairs’.

Other new cast members include Simon Jones and Geraldine James as the King and Queen, Imelda Staunton (real-life wife of Carter) as Lady Bagshaw, lady-in-waiting to the Queen and a relative of the Crawleys, and Tuppence Middleton as her mysterious lady’s maid, Lucy.

Fellowes was inspired, in part, by a book he had read called Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey, which details a 1912 visit by King George V and Queen Mary to South Yorkshire. As well as tucking into lavish 13-course dinners, which included puddings served in sugar baskets that took four days to weave, they also met local miners and toured  pit villages.

Although the film is set 15 years later, the King and Queen did make similar, unlikely tours around the country, as Fellowes explains. ‘After the First World War, there was a period of unsettled feelings about things – not least the monarchy. It had to re-establish itself as many members of European royalty had disappeared – the German Emperor, the Austrian Emperor, the Tsar of Russia. The structure had to be restated as having an integral role in society and they [George and Mary] were very successful in doing so. By 1930, the Crown was back at the heart of English life.’

For Dockery, making the film was not only a chance to catch up with old friends, but also to further develop a character that the nation took to their hearts. 

‘Mary is so complex. We met her at 18 and she was this rebellious teenager – she was bored, and because she was a girl, she wasn’t what her father wanted [an heir to Downton]. Ultimately he became very proud of her, though, and I think  everyone really responded to that. Seeing her journey was what hooked people.’

Now we see Lady Mary very much in control, happily married (to Matthew Goode’s Henry  Talbot) and more than capable of taking over the ancestral pile when the time comes.

‘Julian writes really well for women and I think that has something to do with his wife, Emma [a descendant of Lord Kitchener]. I see a lot of her in Mary, just her expressions and things,’ she says.

Dockery has had a particularly successful career post-Downton. She brought rigour and a dash of fun to her part as an ambitious TV exec in Network (the National Theatre production based on the acclaimed ’70s film), and a sort of watchfulness to the role of a hard-edged widow in Netflix’s warped western Godless. Next year, she will be showing her versatility further in Guy Ritchie’s film The Gentlemen, in which she plays the wife of a drug lord (played by Matthew McConaughey).

One character who has a particularly meaty  storyline in the film is gay footman Thomas, played by Robert James-Collier. We meet at Shepperton Studios, where the kitchen scenes are being filmed. It’s a cavernous setting which production designer Donal Woods describes as ‘like a noirish, Scandi film, as opposed to the glorious technicolor of upstairs’. For the TV series, the servants’ quarters were created at Ealing Studios, but the set has been flat-packed and sent over, as have the copper jelly moulds, kettles and pans. 

This time, we see Thomas befriend a footman from the Royal household (played by Max Brown), and he ends up in an illicit gay drinking den in York. This was  an era when homosexuality could result in a prison sentence, but, says James-Collier, for one brief moment his somewhat malevolent character is liberated.

‘He is introduced to this other world that he doesn’t know exists, and there is this sense of relief, this sudden realisation that there are  kindred spirits and that he is not this “foul individual” as Mr Carson once described him.’

The irony that Downton Abbey has been sold to countries where homosexuality can be punished by death is not lost on James-Collier, and he feels a grave sense of responsibility about his role.  ‘I have received letters from young men who say that watching Thomas’s journey has helped them. All I can say is that it’s an utter privilege. It’s the reason why I do it.’

The film’s 1927 setting marks a period in Britain when country houses such as Downton were beginning to feel the austerity of the interwar years. Death duties had to be paid and households streamlined, which meant that many servants lost their jobs. Meanwhile, the General Strike of 1926 – in which the TUC fought against worsening conditions for the country’s miners – underlined a growing sense of solidarity among the working class.

In the film, however, there are no such concerns, and that reflects the point that Downton is in many ways a fantasy. One criticism of the original scripts was that the Crawleys were too benign as employers, that the relationship between master and servant was much more remote, without any of the Earl of Grantham’s well-meaning paternalism. Fellowes disagrees.

‘This notion that people were horrible to their servants is wrong. Most of us, if you think about it logically, and putting aside the moral view that that life should exist at all, would want to get on with the valet or lady’s maid. When you see a character snarling at his butler, you think this isn’t a way of life. None of us would want to be in  a position of speaking to people you disliked.’

If Fellowes is the arbiter of psychological accuracy, then Alastair Bruce is the gatekeeper of  protocol. He was Downton’s historical adviser at the beginning and describes himself, among other things, as the posture monitor.

He explains. ‘The cast tend to put their bums here on the seat,’ he says indicating the back of his chair. ‘But in those days, you didn’t – you would sit at the front. Also, [people’s] shoulders have fallen forward because everyone is on their mobile phone all the time.’

Bruce also helps the actors with their diction and mentions the word ‘room’. Many tended to accentuate the ‘o’s when it fact it should be shortened, so they sound very nearly like a ‘u’.

‘It is pompous bollocks, but if you are recreating the ’20s you may as well get it right,’ Bruce adds. ‘Michelle would quite happily let me describe her evolution in life as a long way from Downton Abbey, but I have some pretty grandiose friends who can’t believe this is the case. I am very proud of the fact that she now has this incredible poise – you never see a curve in her back – and her accent is on point.’

Several months later, I ask Fellowes whether he has plans for a sequel (although in truth, certain scenes in the film suggest a full stop rather than a pause). ‘There is never any point in answering that,’ he says. ‘In this business as soon as someone says that’s the last time I’ll put on my ballet shoes, there they are, a year later, dancing Giselle.’

Downton Abbey is released on 13 September 

Source and copyright The Telegraph

[the-record-columns]

July 19, 2017: Columns

The sermon from my wife was entitled...

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

Often in this space, last week for example, I often revel in the really odd, eclectic, and unusual things that have either been brought in to me, I have found in my travels, I have purchased, or, shall we say with tongue in cheek, have otherwise acquired.

               On Monday of this week I was recounting the stories that go with my chance encounter some years ago with one Joseph Thomas Redding, III, from Long  Beach, California. Joseph was the grandson of legendary businessman, civic leader, entrepreneur, inventor, and the de facto mayor of the Cairo Community, the late J. T. "Big Tom" Redding. I met Joseph when he was in town to settle the estate of his father, J. T. Redding, Jr.

               Over a period of weeks, I was able to acquire some very special items of local history, including some black history items. These include two cement block-making machines which the senior Mr. Redding invented (and the patent model that went with them), all the way to two 9 foot arched doors from the old Damascus Baptist Church-and a plethora of treasures in between.

               There were some really cool old locks in the in-between stuff, and, while locks had never been a focus of my collecting, Kay and Brenda Ball had given me a some locks from the old Thrift Supermarket some time ago. But these at the Redding estate caught my eye and went along well with the other stuff I was loading up. I took what looked like the better one to Harvey Barlow, local locksmith at Wilkes Lock Service on 10th Street here in North Wilkesboro.

               Harvey is not too easy to impress, but his eyebrows did arch up a few times as he looked over my Redding locks, especially an unusual Yale lock, and pronounced the lot of them as "...well worth saving." With that endorsement I proudly placed the locks, along with some Ford wrenches from the same find, on a window frame just outside my office door at The Record. If I can see them often, I will be be reminded to show then to Sonny Church and crow about beating him to the sale.

               So now I am excited about locks, and one evening I happened to be in a place where I really had no business being-at a minimum it was a judgment call-but curiousity won out over judgment. I went inside the building; it was dark, rainy, and leaking and all I had with me was a small flashlight and a flat head screwdriver. As I stumbled around in the dark and dampness, I spied a lock hanging on a door frame.

               My new found interest in locks trumped ( or is that Trumped?) the fact that it was cold and I needed to go top the bathroom. Upon looking closer, I could see the lock was attached to a hasp that had Phillips head screws. Armed only with a flat head screwdriver, I resolved to dig those screws out if necessary, all the while holding the flashlight between my teeth which was making me drool like a baby. After what seemed like forever, I had the lock in hand and managed to get out of the building without breaking a leg so I could find a bathroom.

               I went straight to the office and began to clean up my treasure-WD-40, Gunk Remover, and fine steel wool soon cleared away years of dirt, soot, and grime off the lock. I grabbed my trusty "Carl W's," the jewelers glasses I have which I named after the wonderful jeweler who worked across the street for so many years, Carl W. Steele. With my Carl W's on, the hair on my fingers looks like a tree limb, so I squinted down to see if I had found a Yale, Slaymaker, Master, Hurd or Corbin lock. I found numbers but no name. After more cleaning, I realized that there was a name on the bottom left, but it was so small and full of dirt I still could not read it, Undaunted, I continued cleaning and spraying till the name could be finally read with magnification. I adjusted my Carl W's once again, peered through the three layers of glass at the lettering. I cannot tell you the emotion I felt as I read, stamped clearly on the bottom of my new lock--"Taiwan." When I looked again, it still read, Taiwan.

               I was crushed.

               All that work, basically breaking and entering, enduring the cold, rain, and leaks; enduring personal discomfort to the point of uric poisoning, and all for basically nothing.

               And to top it all off, the only help I got from my wife was a sanctimonious sermon entitled, "You shouldn't have been there to start with."

         Decisions

By LAURA WELBORN

Have you ever acted on something that seemed like a good idea at the moment and then turned out to be a disaster?  I sometimes forget how much everyday decisions can affect our lifes with great consequences both good and bad.  While an immediate need is satisfied, in the long run the decision lasts a long time.  The story of Jacob and Esau (the twins of Isaac and Rebekah) Genesis 25:19-34 where Esau gives up his birth right for food to Jacob, thinking he was going to die anyway.  While this is a dramatic story, it does illustrate how decisions that are made quickly without care thought about how it affects not only ourselves but others as well.

               The Torah guideline is that" every one of us is responsible for the well-being of our neighbors.  What is right is right and wrong is wrong.".  How we treat others is a direct reflection on ourselves. So we must put faith in action with a lantern to our feet and a light to our path so that with power and determination we can accomplish our goals without harming others.

               So how do we keep from making quick decisions?  This goes back to mindfulness.  The

               It's about being silent, and witnessing the thoughts passing through you. Just witnessing at first, not interfering and not even judging, because by judging too rapidly you have lost the pure witness.  The moment you rush to say, "this is good" or "this is bad," you have already grabbed ahold of the chaos.

               It takes a little time to create a gap between the witnessing of thoughts and your reaction to them.  Once the gap is there, though, you realize - that you are not the thoughts themselves, nor the chaos influencing them.  You are the witness, a watcher, who's capable of letting go, changing your mind, and rising above the turmoil.

               And this process of thought-watching is the very alchemy of true mindfulness.  Because as you become more and more deeply rooted in witnessing, the confusing, chaotic thoughts start disappearing and you can make decisions that are thoughtful, and do not lead to harm to yourself or others.  

Continue to move through each day consciously. Make an effort to notice at least one insignificant little frustration that you would normally get frustrated about. Then do yourself a favor and simply let it go.  Experience, in this little way, the freedom of being in control of the way you feel. And realize that you can extend this same level of control to every situation you encounter in life.

   Ice cream, sunsets, and green pigs in the dog days of summer...

BY HEATHER DEAN REPORTER/PHOTOJOURNALIST

This column will not make much sense unless you are like me, and weird and random facts swirl through your brain at warp speed 24/7.  

               I'm absolutely addicted to the "this day in history" and the "this is National (insert bizarre shenanigan here) day. In fact my 2016 office wall calendar had an assignment for everyday every day. I went with a simple calendar this year because it proved entirely too distracting, as my publisher , Ken Welborn, did not feel as strongly as I did every week about the public-at-large needing to know it was National rutabaga day and the story behind it.

               But I digress....  This week Ken and I were fortunate enough to find out that this is National hire a Veteran month. He asked me to work up a little ditty about it on page 7B and I did, and we talked about all the awesome guys we know and love at the local VFW Post 1142.

               But not before he  and my editor Jerry, spent the next 20 minutes finding out what every day in July was, rather  (Allow me to share those most notable in my opinion:) the 8th is “bald is in”, the 10th “don't step on a bee day”, the 13th is “embrace your geekiness day”, the 14th is “Robin Hood day”, the 15th is “National gummy worm day” (which is every day for me as its my my favorite candy ever) the  16th is “national snake day”, (bet my daughter makes a party hat for her pet snake) and the 17th is “yellow pig day”. Now, we don’t have any yellow pigs, here in Wilkes that I know of, but Ken says we did have a Green Pig restaurant..)

               For those of you who like Ice cream, (I’m the odd duck who doesn’t...) July is National ice cream month. It’s also Park and Recreation month, blueberry month, watermelon month (sorry, Justin...) sandwich generation month, (whatever that means, but I love a good sandwich)....

               Well you get the idea. Very little work was done Monday morning cause Heather got distracted by the fun fact tunnel, but we all shared a giggle at some of the absurdities.

               I guess that’s enough of that for one day.  (By the way, today is National Hot Dog and raspberry cake day.)

               So, enjoy talking your house plant for a walk (July 27) in the dog days of summer (July 3 - August 11) and remember you deserve a massage (July 16-22).

 The Hounds of Summer

By Carl White

Warm summer days in the South are not uncommon and the Dog Days of Summer take things to another level. For the most part, we don’t mind sweat because we know it’s good for us. Sweat is an equalizer for all people…somewhat that is.

I recall a conversation with Jenny Biddle in Conway SC. We were talking about the hot weather and the sweat of summer. She reminded me that horses sweat, men perspire and women glisten.  This expression seems to have originated from the Victorian era. I listened as she explained and later I did a bit of research because I know that sometimes etiquette suggest we say things in a politer way, and often, there is good reason.

As it turns out men do in fact sweat or perspire more than women do, by as much as 4-5 times. It is also of interest that horses do have a few things in common with humans and two of those common traits are armpits and sweat. I realize that the horse has legs and not arms, non-the-less the correct expression is armpit and not legpit.

As it relates to sweating or perspiring for men. If you look back in time we will see that the many cultures used the expression that men perspire and animals sweat. But time has progressed and for good or not humans are often classified as sweating.  I even asked three of the ladies at the office if they sweat and each answered yes. One even said that her husband glistened far more than she.

So, what’s all this got to do with summer heat, well just about as much as dogs have to do with the Dog Days of Summer. It’s easy to ponder the lazy days of summer with our dogs stretched out and not eager to do anything that requires a lot of energy or at least not for an extended period. We humans can find ourselves feeling a bit the same. It’s just too hot to do much, the heat seems to take away our energy. We spend much of our energy trying to find ways to cool off.

We have established annual traditions that take us high in the mountain for shade and cooler weather or off to the coast we go to play in the waters and then lay in the sun and crisp our skins, which does in fact make us feel cooler when the burn stops.

The Dog Days of Summer are normally the hottest days of the year and last between early July and mid-August. It all goes back to the Greek, Roman and Egyptian ideas and mythology. The star Sirius which is represented by the dog apparently rises with the sun during this time of the year.

It was thought that when joined with the sun, Sirius A which is the brightest of the stars, and with its smaller counterpart Sirius B creates our hottest, haziest and yes laziest days of the year.

When you consider the geography of Rome, Greece and Egypt compared to the Carolinas, it’s hard to tell if the idea is valid, however it is hard to dismiss the heat of our summer days.

And how can we deny the sweating horses, the perspiring men and the glistening women all surrounded by our beloved lazy hounds of summer.

Please remember to apply sunscreen.

 Carl White is the executive producer and host of the award winning syndicated TV show Carl White’s Life In the Carolinas. The weekly show is now in its seventh year of syndication and can be seen in the Charlotte viewing market on WJZY Fox 46 Saturdays at 12:00 noon. For more on the show visit  www.lifeinthecarolinas.com, You can email Carl White at Carl@lifeinthecarolinas.com.

[keykidpilipili]

Hamilton(AYFS AU)-Second chance

@badromantics @sarcastic-swl-dragon please take this late humble George^2 offering. Maybe a bit ooc at times but they’re drunk soooo I tried.  Hope you like it, sorry again for the lack of smut. QwQ

Are you for Shores belongs to @badromantics

George Peterson let himself fall on the couch after yet another exhausting day : managing the debate club plus his new duty as class president was quite draining, even with his boys helping. Unfortunately there were the incoming mid-year finals to count in his schedule as well! Never as a college student he wished so hard for days to last more than 24 hours!

At the very least Frederick attended classes once more, there were too many feelings better left unsaid which had been laid out in front of the whole college. Nobody deserved that, nobody. Alex and Thomas had taken this challenge way too far but he couldn't even begin to apologize to his ex-boyfriend who kept getting dragged away by his people. Before this he had attempted to check on Frederick due to the worryingly long radio silence except Lee had set up camp before his boss' door and refused to let anyone not from the Royalist group inside. Exhausted and entranced by the tune of the water hitting the window, the general let himself drown in his deep thoughts.

Last year Peterson had remembered his past life entirely, his boyfriend had very quickly noticed something had changed: Washington would take longer to reciprocate touch, get lost in day-dreaming all while refusing to explain. Maybe the general had wished to pretend things wouldn't change despite his memories and Thomas so eager in gathering his old acquaintances. In the end he never knew how Frederick learnt the truth, however slowly King would stop cuddling, come back late or go missing for days altogether.

Till that one morning past 2 am when regardless of many texts and calls his boyfriend hadn't been at his own flat or in classes, he found him tagging on the walls with Charles Lee of all people. Peterson in the spur of the moment outed himself as first POTUS resulting in Frederick crying and laughing for ten minutes with everyone else too flabbergasted to ask what the hell was going on.  “I-I can't believe you just told a total stranger about your past life and never me!” Had uttered King between two giggles while the Redcoats were burning holes in Washington with their disapproving glare. Later in the morning Frederick came to pick up his stuff, revealed he remembered his other life a week ago following the news of his favorite cousin Amelia being deceased, once his daughter two centuries ago. All while meeting Peterson's eyes King choked how he couldn't get a hold of his lover during those events because he was out with his past friends. He even told him in person who he used to be but his boyfriend didn't pay attention somehow.

Washington's daydreaming was broken by a knock, suppressing a sigh he got up: only Alex was reckless enough to climb the rain gutter multiple times past second floor. However in front of the glass a bruised and drenched Frederick plastic bag in his other hand starred sheepishly at his ex-lover. Frozen and confused by the sight the general stood there for a few minutes before dragging him inside by the hoodie, disappeared into his room then soon came back with a change of clothes and a towel.

Little red-riding hoodie now dryer spread the contents of his bag on the table: cans of beer and partly smashed chocolate box. The quizzical look from the host was answered by a sly grin and a sultry 'Movie night' whisper by the unexpected guest who after setting the DVD dragged his ex-boyfriend back on the couch. Peterson could hardly hold back his laughter as the title screen appeared, of all the things they watched together Frederick pulled THAT movie!

“Hey! It wasn't that bad,” Pouted the red-riding hoodie leaning further in the sofa, “ probably not worth sneaking out of my conservative grandparents' house though.”

- Definitely not. The restaurant was nice but that's because I was the one to pick it!” Retorted Washington half-smiling glancing the student wearing clothes two times his size. “Then you got grounded for breaking three gutters trying to get back in!”

- Okay! Okay! We had more closet time though the week after that so it was all good. Let's not cry over spilt tea.” Shrugged Frederick winking at the host first despondent then just groaning taken back by the return of the bad jokes.

- PLEASE it's not even past midnight yet! You know what? Never mind! Tell the world how General Washington was slayed by royal puns!” Moaned Peterson clutching his chest, slouching deeper and deeper into the couch while his other hand was reaching for the sky.

Time passed swiftly once Frederick had broken the awkward silence between the two. The film did hold their attention otherwise they would playfully bicker over rations with King falling off the couch trying to keep them for himself. More often than not the latter would cautiously close in the space separating them, repeatedly glancing at Washington's face searching for disapproval. Yet as they became less and less sober he leaned on the general's broad shoulder and later simply rest his head on his lap. Their hands had long found their way back together as naturally as geese fly south craving with absolute certainty. Once in a while the red-riding hoodie would tighten his grip, in his haggard eyes a shimmer of fear he would wake up to an empty bed and icy cold sheets. As for Peterson  he was twirling then untangling the ginger curls, aware of the need to discuss how to work out this relationship but content with this moment of peace after such dreadful weeks.

At some point the general startled by the menu music blasting from the speakers suddenly recalled they had started a movie. Once the TV was turned off, he nudged King whose snore still sounded like a cat's, faint almost like wheezing. Things didn't change that much after all: the grumpy look on his face as he reluctantly opened one eye assessing whether he REALLY had to get up or not, was the exact same one. Speaking of bedtime Washington ought to move the guest on his bed and leave the sofa for himself not exempt from morning classes. Tentatively the red-riding hoodie swayed back up on the couch, ignoring the black spots in his vision stared at the host for two minutes then mumbled followed by falling right on the other side: “I'm stayin here night.”

- Nope. Unless you wanna rise at six.” Spelled out Peterson dragging into the bedroom his guest who dropped on the mattress nearly the second they entered. Objective number one accomplished and after grabbing a blanket and a pillow was ready to head out when a hand clasped  his wrist pulling him on the bed.

- Hey... I know... you didn't help Hamilton with that pamphlet...”, Confessed King avoiding his ex's tired eyes attempting to cover it with a forced laugh and rambling, “I mean they didn't even checked my spelling! I was like 'Wow, these new beta-readers are crap!' Anyway... thanks for letting me in. Had a great time! Tell me if you wanna spend another night with me any time bed or couch!”

- Shhh talk less.” Spoke the general as he warped his arms around the stressed red-riding hoodie who crumbled under the touch whimpering, having missed those embraces for so many months. Ultimately both slipped under the covers, reveling into this tender warmth tied to much simpler times deprived of ancient and heavy memories. Loneliness and longing vanished under the new dawn, it was still dark but they were together once more.

The following morning Frederick groggy bumped into the same wall twice and a desk, tripped over a coffee table before recalling he was in his ex-lover's apartment and not his own. While the mist had cleared up, the nausea refused to let go of the past monarch who settled on a glass of water and reluctantly crossed slushie off his shopping list. Suddenly the realization that no one except Peterson knew where he was he hit him like a canon ball, with the violence of a hurricane he flipped over every pillow and blanket searching for his phone until he saw a note on the coffee table signed by the host.

“Pudding in the fridge and tea bags in the cupboard. Also in your latest story the writing for the actions scenes was clumsy and awkward, meet me at 1:30 pm closet under the stairs next to the chemistry classroom for practice,     Peterson.”

A quick glance at his watch displaying 1:20 slapped the red-riding hoodie awake as he hastily threw over his sweater, still wearing his borrowed clothes. Though the campus Frederick ran the goofiest grin on his face, jubilant over having a second chance at their romance.

Later in the afternoon, Peterson, after fixing his collar to hide a hickey, opened the door of the debate club ready to greet his fellow soldiers. Unfortunately the light headache from this morning spiked up at the sorry sight before him: Alexander moping on the floor mourning another comrade lost to the red coats with John reminding the group he was still alive and so was Burr despite the latter being busy banging his head against the well in denial. In the end only Lafayette and Thomas seemed to have retained their sanity or so the general thought as the two pulled him asking every detail of his intercourse with King. Suppressing another sigh Washington considered that maybe they should stop having sex in school closets.

[supahhoomandoggo-blog]

Crazy yet plausible ideas

SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TIME

- Alcubierre Warp Drive (Result: The invention of IXS Enterprise, NASA’s Star Trek inspired Warp technology)

- Einstein’s General and Special Relativity Reviews

- More information about wormholes

- And blackholes of course as they bend the space-time itself

- Gravity as a lens bending light forming another object relative to the observer but the object is just a copy of the original [not real but duplicate (see  Twin QSO)]

- Look at time as a “dot” in the middle of an x-axis, the “dot” represents the present, the x+ is the future, the x- is the past. (I have so much more in my mind about this but I can’t write it down cuz izu so many hahaha) 

//  I wrote down a really long paradigm explaining time, but realized no one would enjoy some nerdy chuchu like this, so I’m saving it for my special someone who would enjoy nerdy stuffs the same as me :)))

// UPDATE: I did tell her my story about time, and she really enjoyed it yay :))) I’m so happy

-

-------------------------

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

- I cant draw ones with colors yet *sad face*

- So, I’m doing my best to give black and white its fullest life yay

(RANDOM THOUGHT - do tumblr really allows this long posts unlike twitter with limited characters? :o)

// I’m still recovering from that long post about time I just deleted TT u TT

- I was thinking, if I should draw the Big Ben and Eiffel Tower since she really loves France and London (and Benedict Cumberbatch -,-). 

- I love the sceneries from Italy, I don’t even know what their culture are, but I really love their city streets like OMG I SHOULD DRAW THIS ONE ASAP

- I love countrysides too

- And mountains ..

- I want to draw something from Canada, so I can give something to her before they leave, but I have no idea what to draw. And every time I think about her leaving, my mind doesn’t work anymore :(( I don’t know, my chest hurts every time I think about it, so I can’t get anything done huhuhu (I am teary right now)

-

-------------------------

RANDOM SYNAPSES BY MY LITTLE GREY MATTERS

- I am really bothered by how Thomas Jefferson and KG OM CH TD PC DL FRS RA handle their states

- I’m bothered by how she is Bisexual ??? Dunno HAHAHA

- I wanted to correct her about that post I shared about the Grandfather Paradox. It states that, if you go back to the past to kill your Grandfather, didn’t you just kill yourself. She commented and said, it is syntactically error and you didn’t kill yourself, you just ceased to exist. I want to say, “You killing your ancestor, is another way of committing suicide”, but I think that’d be rude so I’ll just leave it here hahaha 

// Doing something that will cause a paradox is impossible (sudden realization)

- I realized, myJapanese lingual side (which is in the left hemisphere of the brain) needs to know more Japanese words. And sudden realization, I need to know the other connectors to finish a sentence (e.g. ha, wa, no, ni , ga etc...) 

- As of now, I can finish a Japanese sentence using a limited amount of information

- I want to learn Korean, I guess I can learn it quickly, because of its simplicity

- And I want to learn French too, secretly to surprise her, since she’s so adorable when she’s speaking French, and when I replied back in French she’d be surprised like, “What ?! Did you just speak French ?”, “Oui, suis moi”, as we wander along the streets of France* :P

- I want to save money. I could save up a lot of money this school year, so I can visit her in Canada, 1 year after they moved in (crazy yet plausible ne?) haha

- And for our future house too 

- And for our unexpected trips around the world 

- I want to learn more about French cuisine, and pastas, and  linguine etc ..

- I want to cook for her since she really love pastas

- DO TUMBLR HAVE THIS FEATURE THAT TAG THIS POST SO THIS WILL BE THE FIRST THING THAT WILL SHOW UP WHEN YOU VISIT MY TUMBLR :o

- I have a dream, me and her are playing a game something that involve the ff:

      A 7x7 Grid   /    Dots    /    Dashes    /    Numbers    

I don’t know what’s it called, but we’re enjoying it though hahaha

------------------------- This is not the end haha;