#or if most of them also had the same job as stanley

[squuote]

still on the topic of the other employees but it’s fun looking into the different office rooms too. kinda gives a glimpse at what that employee might have been like which is fun because a majority of them are like either super messy or it seems as if they were just fucking around. which both are fun and good. idk I just rlly enjoy the small characterizations of it all

[mudisgranapat]

FitnessInfluencer!Reader x GymBro!Ghost

so i’ve recently really gotten into going to the gym and i can’t stop thinking about Ghost working out and reader being an annoying influencer that is always recording at the gym. the last thing he needs is a camera in his face when he is trying to work out and de-compress from his deployment.

After finally finding a 24 hour gym, you get your things ready to film your content. Your youtube channel is one of the most popular nowadays, and it’s the platform where you make most of your videos. Most of them teach people workout series, ranging from stuff they can do at home, hardcore exercises and even a step to step guide on how to use each gym equipment, so newbies don’t get scared of training for the first time by themselves. However, sometimes, you do some vlogging on the side, showing your daily routine and other things, like skincare.

You figure 3 am is a good time to go to the gym and record - no one is at training by then and your schedule is already fucked anyways. Not having an office or regular work hours has its ups and downs, but at least you are in charge of own routine, since you make a surprisingly good amount of money from your videos.

You take your own time, making a protein smoothie (and obvioulsy recording it, as you had a paid partnership with the supplement’s brand) and writing down your ideas for the video you want to do today. You stick to a simple “leg day” vlog, typing on your phone what machines and reps you want to do.

Choosing a simple purple top and matching leggings, you make your way towards the gym on your Range Rover, Stanley cup filled with water on the cup holder. You roll your eyes as you make a turn and can feel the water dripping out of the cup. You make a note to yourself to bring a water bottle the actually works next time and keep it off camera, so the useless cup can just sit on frame for aesthetic purposes while your record.

If you had to point out one thing you hated about your job, it would be having to keep up with all the (in your opinion, useless) trends, so you could reach a bigger audience. At the end of the day, it was about making money, although you loved how your content got to inspire people to be more active. If it meant you had to carry a metal 40oz lead poisoned cup with you for a couple of hours, then so be it.

As soon as you park your car at the gym’s empty parking lot, you pull out your vlog camera, not noticing the single black truck parked in the far corner, under a tree.

Sometimes you wonder if you would hate your “vlog persona” if you met her in real life. Repeating the same phrases over and over again, trying to get the best take, constantly looking for better lighting. What looks good on camera, in real life, just looks painfully awkward sometimes, specially when you are talking to an audience that isn’t even there. You push those thoughts to the back of your head, as you slide your card at the gym’s card reader, opening the doors.

“Anyways, guys. I know it sounds crazy right?” You make your way into the gym, re-recording the introduction at least 3 times so you know you’ll have good material to edit later. “Training at 3 a.m. I don’t even know if it’s technically morning or night right now.” You joke to the camera. “Let me know in the comments if I should start the videos with ‘Good morning’ or ‘Goodni’-“ a hand suddenly grabs the camera from your hand, holding it right above your head. You stare at the man who seemed to materialise out of the shadows.

“How about ‘Goodbye’.” He says, and you barely have time to register his sarcasm as he slams your camera on the floor, breaking it in pieces. You stand there, frozen, while the man swings his duffel bag over his shoulders and heads out of the gym.

When you finally regain your senses, he is long gone, and you’re left wondering to yourself, not only who he is, but also who does he think he is. You barely had time to register what he looked like, simply recalling we was well over 6ft tall and build like a fucking tank. But regardless of his built, if he believes, even for a second, that he can do something like that and just walk away unscathed, he is dead wrong.

You can’t wait to see him again.

A.N: wrote this with my eyes literally closing, but i just couldn’t get it out of my head (sorry for any mistakes, def not proofread). hopefully it’s not complete shit. let me know if you want to see more of this! i could see this becoming either a short series or at least having one more part. Let me know if you want to be tagged if this has a part 2 :)

[strongestbanner]

What If:

Logan and Victor decide to forgive each other, escape together and live in a small cabin located in Argentine Patagonia (probably in the Río Negro province, towards the mountains of the west) 🏡❤️‍🩹🇦🇷

They both accepted that they are two sides of a same coin, and they'll always be there for each other, no matter the circumstances <3

(If you wanna cry at the end, keep reading)

Logan gets addicted to drink mate and can't live without his thermo (he choose Lumilagro when he just arrived bc he didn't have enough money for a Stanley thermo, but he doesn't give a f*ck). His favorite yerba mate is Rosamonte: the most bitter yerba mate for his taste 👌🏻

Vic shows off Logan the words he already knew in Spanish after so many missions. Now he learned to say to Logan: "enano boludo" (fool runt) just for piss him off.

Victor has become very punctual at merienda time, he always waits for Logan with sweet facturas (like biscuits, croissants) (sometimes Logan is sick of eating sweet, so he asks Vic to bring salty facturas too). Also, Victor LOVES membrillo's facturas (quince jam) (his beard always ends up dirty as if he had blood on it, never forgetting his animal instincts).

Of course, Logan got a job at a sawmill, he has too much experience with wood hehehe. And Victor worked for a time in a food distributor for a bakery, but he got fired bc he was caught stealing some cookies with membrillo. So, now he stays at home doing housework (surprisingly, he's very clean and hates finding cobwebs on the ceiling).

Logan secretly listen to Tango music, somehow he feels internally moved and sometimes cries too!! He also bought some Carlos Gardel vinyls to send for Laura's birthday <3

They both bought earplugs to use once a month bc they discovered that they have a lobizón neighbor 2 km away (the argentine werewolf 🐺).

At first they slept in different rooms, until Victor decided to have a sleepover after watching a chick flick movies marathon with Logan over a weekend (yes, they have Netflix). How did he convince him? He used his secret weapon: kitten eyes ✨ This is how slowly Victor's old room was transformed into a leisure room. Now they have a shelf full of classic literature books (and Spanish literature too bc Vic is so interested in it and he wants to still learning). Some CDs and vinyls of Logan bc he also likes argentinian national rock (He seems to like "Los Piojos", "Intoxicados", and "Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota" 😂).

This is for the argentine fans: LOGAN SUPPORTS BOCA JUNIORS CLUB 💙💛💙 He's not a very huge fan for football games, but he stays focused watching them. While Vic usually falls asleep at half time on the sofa with him.

Victor convinced Logan that he would control his bloodlust, so their household is never short of a good supply of meat. Unfortunately, this is a vile lie. When Logan is away, Victor takes advantage of those free hours to hunt and devour little animals like hares or deer. He knows his schedules and how much time he has to clean up his tracks. Who knows how long he can sustain the lie 🫣

In my mind their first kiss was PURRFECT. The coldest month is July (it's winter there), so, after a week of overcast skies, one night Logan went outside the cabin to smoke a joint. He observed the number of visible stars until he realized that Victor was stalking him with a cup of tea in his hand. They both sat on the front steps and IT JUST HAPPENED. Logan tried to deny what happened, FOR SEVERAL DAYS. But Vic managed to take away his embarrassment and make him enjoy it many times more bc he ✨obviously✨ kissed him first.

It hadn't been a year yet and Logan had invited the X-Men to his whereabouts to celebrate his birthday in October. Logically, Victor didn't like this idea at all, so he decided to flee to the forest. Logan had so many feelings fluttering in his chest, but he knew better than to waste such a beautiful and special day. He looked for Victor and found him cooling off in a river. He was so upset and a little jealous, but Logan convinced him because they would make barbecue. It was a VERY uncomfortable moment for Victor, he was not sorry for what he did, but Logan took care of making him feel part of his family <3

Ofc, I wrote all this with my tears.

I don't consider myself a good writer and my English is very poor, but if anyone wants to make a fanfic or fanart of this TAG ME PLS 😭💖

[magadauthan]

Ep 26: Under the Sky So Blue

Thank you to the @trigun98watchparty for making this possible, and to all of you who have been reading along with me to this point. It's been a great trip down memory lane and getting acquainted or re-acquainted with other '98 fans who watched the first Trigun and loved it despite its flaws.

Also big thank you to those who engaged in meta, especially @tiggymalvern! Finding you again was the nicest surprise of all!

Without further ado, I am plant-ing (HARF) my tongue firmly in cheek for the intro to this recap.

Knives. We need to talk.

You have spent the last 130 years working on becoming the most basic bitch on NML, and you've done a good job. You couldn't be any blonder or blue-eyed. You have (had) a loyal second-in-command who did all your dirty work for you so you didn't have to get your hair mussed. You have a Squad who secretly hates you but sticks around because they want to be on the right side of things if you win out. And you have a silly-looking pair of boots.

It's also well known that you are the Beverage Boy of NML. On your desk (which is sitting in front of a big loopy wall art stating "Live, Laugh, Murder Everyone") and next to the "Universe's #1 Brother" mug you bought yourself is a canvas frame that says "But first, coffee." You probably killed everyone else at Target so you could get the latest Stanley.

But Knives. Knives. The wine? That's a red you're drinking. Red wine doesn't get chilled. It should be decanted and served at room temperature. Plus, basic bitches drink rosé, or a white zinfandel. To make your declassé behavior worse, you're drinking it out of a martini glass. If you're going to have a Cosmo, have a Cosmo. It's no shame. But really - how are you going to claim that you're a superior breed if you don't know such simple rules of etiquette?

Get a grip, Beverage Boy.

--Aw, baby Vash.

--I wonder whether the twins need to eat and drink, or whether it's just easier for them if they do.

--You know, Knives, humans wouldn't have had to rely so heavily on the Plants if you hadn't crashed the ships. Ofc he didn't intend to have anyone survive besides himself and Vash, which sounds pretty boring. What were the two of you going to do for all eternity?

--Was Knives working on the guns before the ship crashed, and that's what he went in to find?

--I remember seeing somewhere that the little cartridge above the barrel of the Long Colts is a teeny Plant, or Plant-stuff. Anyone else recall this?

--NOW who's the big whiny baby, Knives? (my leg, it hurts! Why?)

--That must be a very young Doc on the ship. Although, there's nothing to say that a year on NML is the same as a year on Earth. It would be more surprising if it was, rather than it wasn't.

--LOL William Conrad (aka Revnunt Buskus) is from Cleveland, Ohio

--No but seriously, how did Knives get himself and Vash's severed arm out of July after getting blasted to smithereens?

--"Hi Knives! Living as a human was great! Congratulations bro, I am done with your shit!"

--Vash kept quite a few of Leonov's wires. They've come in handy.

--Knives has learned Vash's physical tricks well enough to keep up with him... and Vash has finally figured out how to control his Plant powers well enough to cancel his brother out. (Tristamp really nailed this; their battle in the final ep was fantastic)

--Vash is worn out. Not only has he been shot through the shoulder by his brother, he's likely not completely healed from the encounter with Legato.

--Even in death, WW is looking after his friend and kicking his ass to do something, damnit! I'm right here to help you!

--The peppering Knives got from the Punisher likely wouldn't have been enough to put Vash off, but Knives has never been able to handle physical pain. Vash remembers this very well and takes excellent advantage of it.

--that boy has jawlines for days

--A blast from the well, the cauldron of Rebirth. Vash is reborn to be his own person, to make the right choices for himself and his conscience, rather than for her memory.

Which is what every mother wants for her son. I should know.

--go get your man, Meryl, he won't keep you waiting. if he did you'd go find him anyway.

--Vash leaves his coat, his gun... and his sunglasses. He's done hiding behind them. He doesn't need to anymore.

--This would have been the ending scene, for most anime. Anyone who watches anime gets used to the vague ending, the things left unsaid, and the ambiguity. There's rarely a "happy ending" the way Westerners think of them. Vash could have wandered off into the sunset, leaving the viewer to wonder whether he ever saw Milly and Meryl again. That's pretty normal.

And then there's Trigun, which takes that expected ambiguity and says "nah, we're not done."

Vash comes back to town. He's made his choice to accept the girls into his life, of his own volition, and he's going to let them make their own choices about having him (and his brother) in their lives. There would be an awful lot to sort out, but he wants to try.

This is the very next scene. Don't tell me otherwise; I don't want to hear it. (credit: doujinshi circle Nail Cut Club; title Meteo Strike).

I have Big Thoughts about what could happen after this, and of course a fanfic, but my cat wants me to go to bed now. She's being very persistent.

Thanks to all of you who read this far. You're the best, and I love you all! And talk to me, I like hearing from ppl!

[latenightcinephile]

Film #608: 'Barry Lyndon', dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1975.

I suspect that Stanley Kubrick, like Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles before him, has become one of those directors that it is difficult to enjoy. What I mean by this is not that they make films that are hard to like, but that they have become so lionised by the history of cinema that watching anything they've made starts to feel a bit like homework. With Kubrick in particular it feels like there is a 'right way' to enjoy his films, which is to say, to study them intently and thus not enjoy them at all. Even his broadest comedy, Dr. Strangelove (1964), has had most of its pleasure leached out of it by successive generations of film scholars avidly discussing it as high art, repeating the same stories about Kubrick's perfectionism over and over until the film basically ceases to matter - it becomes, in this form, just an object one can point to and declare genius. So, you can imagine that I went back to Barry Lyndon with a bit of nervousness. After all, this is a three-hour period drama, and the first film Kubrick had released after 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1971). Was this going to be enjoyable at all? Or was it going to be a final exam?

This isn't the first time I've seen Barry Lyndon, according to my notebooks. That said, I think that my first viewing must have been a hazy post-midnight watch a decade ago, because I have barely any recollection of it. This is true of many of the films early on in the list, which is partly the reason why I'm writing these summaries/essays - so that I don't have to rewatch a film in order to reflect on it years from now. What I certainly didn't remember from that first viewing was the scope of Kubrick's vision here - how lush the sets and locations and costumes are - or just how much story and how many events Kubrick has crammed into the three-hour runtime. Nor did I remember how witty and engaging the film actually is.

In the 1750s, young Irish rake Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal) is incensed when his cousin, Nora, falls in love with the advantageous Captain Quin, and challenges Quin to a duel. After his victory, Barry is quickly persuaded to leave town to avoid the repercussions, leaving his mother Belle (Marie Kean) and taking refuge in the British Army. Here, life for Barry is difficult but respectable - after the death of a family friend, however, Barry deserts his regiment and tries to escape to a peaceful country. He poses as a British lieutenant, but this disguise is seen through by a Prussian captain, who forces him to join the Prussian army instead. When Barry saves this captain's life, he is honoured and, following the Seven Years' War, given a job as a spy in the Prussian Ministry of Police. This continues one of the dominant threads in Barry's life: that of playing both sides until he determines where the advantage lies. Unbeknownst to Captain Potzdorf, he schemes with the professional gambler he has been asked to spy on, and the two escape the country before the Prussian government can arrest them. The life of a gambler is Barry's introduction to noble society, although initially an undignified one, as Barry is often called upon to fight duels in order to collect outstanding debts. However, when he lays eyes on Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson), he sees an opportunity for legitimate wealth and privilege. Lord Lyndon's abrupt death means that before long, Barry takes the title of Barry Lyndon, much to the disapproval of Lady Lyndon's son, Lord Bullingdon (played for most of the film by Leon Vitali).

Lord Bullingdon is right to disapprove - despite the birth of a second son, on whom Barry dotes, the marriage is toxic, with Barry wasting his wife's fortune and restricting her to the house. Most of Barry's financial ineptitude is devoted to the attempts to gain a permanent title as part of the landed gentry. Barry's mother, reunited with her son, also pushes him to attain a title, although it seems that Barry doesn't really need any more encouragement. Barry's relationship with his stepson grows more antagonistic, culminating in an outright brawl during a concert. After this, Lord Bullingdon abandons his family's estate, seeking to make his own way in the world. Tragedy strikes when the younger son is thrown from a horse which is to be his birthday present, despite the boy's promise that he will not ride the horse unsupervised. Barry is inconsolable, and Lady Lyndon's condition worsens. For a time, the estate is left in the care of Barry's mother, who makes several calculated staff cuts under the guise of attaining financial stability. Several of the estate's long-standing staff persuade Lord Bullingdon to return and challenge Barry to a duel. Despite the opportunity to easily win the duel against the petrified Lord Bullingdon, Barry refuses, believing that Lord Bullingdon will have received his satisfaction. He is wrong about this, though, and gets shot in the leg, requiring amputation. Barry is offered one final lifeline: an annual stipend from his wife's estate, as long as he never returns to Britain. He accepts, and the final scene of the film shows a recovering Lady Lyndon, pausing thoughtfully as she signs Barry's annuity check.

That description should give a sense of just how eventful Barry Lyndon is as a film. I haven't even mentioned the minor events - Barry's brief relationship while posing as a lieutenant; the scene with the highwaymen; the fact that Captain Quin survives the duel after all - because they're of limited importance to the main plot. What Kubrick has succeeded in is bringing the fullness of a picaresque novel to the screen and giving it the true ambience of a serial novel. One element that really adds to this is the perfect casting of even the smallest roles. All the minor characters who appear, from the highwayman's teenaged son to the soldier that Barry bests in a boxing match to Captain Potzdorf's governmental uncle, are all given performances of such precision and vividness that they feel like entire chapters of Barry's life, even though they spend mere seconds on screen. Kubrick also makes Barry Lyndon's literary sources explicit by dividing the film into halves, each with its own wordy subtitle that tells us what we're about to see. There's also a significant shift from William Makepeace Thackeray's original novel which is largely unavoidable: the novel is told in the first person while the film, out of necessity, takes a more objective third-person approach. Kubrick has kept an omniscient narrator at times, to clarify events that Barry is not present for or which lack an impartial observer to explain. However, the majority of the film comes to us seemingly unmediated, which I think might be partly responsible for the reputation that has become attached to the film: that it's cynical and cold.

On the charge of cynicism, it's hard to disagree. Redmond Barry undergoes a slightly odd shift of personality when he meets Lady Lyndon, suddenly becoming cruel and callous in a way that seems too quick, even for a film that compresses time in this way. He's started as a deeply romantic figure, but one of the first times we see him after his marriage, he's blowing pipe smoke into Lady Lyndon's face despite her protests. His drive has become naked greed, which seems a little out of proportion with his behaviour immediately prior to the wedding. When this change has been commented on, it's usually suggested that Barry's romanticism has been dashed by his wartime experiences. I think this is a perfectly fine explanation, but I just don't see it on the screen to quite the degree I would anticipate. The events following the death of Barry's son are also deeply cynical - Lady Lyndon's depression and Barry's turn to alcoholism are indicative of Barry's failures as a husband and of the futility of his aspirations for wealth. Lord Bullingdon fights for his family's honour, but is terrified as he does so, and death would in some ways be a kindness to Barry, who faces mounting debts. Even his exile does not rid the Lyndon estate of him, as they are perpetually bound to pay his annuity. All ends as well as it could be expected to, but that does not mean unencumbered happiness for any of the characters. But does this mean that the film is 'cold'? I don't think so at all. Kubrick paints the first two thirds of the film with streaks of broad comedy, the effects of which linger long afterwards. Barry's awkward courtship with his cousin, the ruse by which he and the Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee) escape Prussia, and even the duels Barry fights on the Chevalier's behalf, were all met with loud laughter from the packed Embassy Theatre screening. Even in the duel against Lord Bullingdon, there are beats of humour to leaven the gloom that hangs over everything. The film may be judgmental of its protagonist, but it does so while looking at a world full of witty and absurd characters.

Another element that has contributed to the film's chilly reputation is its visual style. Kubrick was partly inspired by the paintings of William Hogarth, and in one of the film's most famous images, Barry is shown in an almost identical pose to Hogarth's Marriage A-la-mode 2 (a painting which could basically sum up the entire second half of the film). What this means, on a practical level, is a large number of carefully-constructed tableaux, expressive lighting techniques, and landscapes in which the power of the elements overwhelms the human figures. The cinematography was the work of the Academy Award-winning John Alcott, who also worked with Kubrick on 2001 and A Clockwork Orange, and it is in every respect remarkable: stately and dramatic when it needs to be, caring and intimate at other times, but never obtrusive when the performances need to carry all the weight of a scene. I'm not completely sure where this style's association with 'coldness' comes from, but I imagine it's probably been reinforced by Kubrick's reputation as a perfectionist, which I think usually robs a director's films of warmth, too, which is what I was thinking of way back in my opening paragraphs. A reputation like this is almost never factually accurate, and stories tend to get blown out of proportion. Kubrick and Alcott shot many of these scenes without electric lighting, and famously borrowed three large and expensive lenses left over from the Apollo missions which enabled them to shoot some indoor scenes by candlelight. However, this fact has been blown out of proportion, and it's not commonly said that the production used no electric lighting at all - a story that's completely implausible if you look at any of the exterior nighttime scenes. Even the artificial lighting, however, successfully mimics the natural lighting to such a degree that it feels like it was filmed on location in time as well as place.

Because Kubrick's previous films were heavily based in more popular genres, and because they all shared a more acidic and satirical edge, many audiences were unsure what to make of Barry Lyndon, and the film was a disappointment at the box office. Critics were equally dismissive - multiple critics, including Charles Champlin and Pauline Kael, referred to it being less of a film and more of a coffee-table book, with Kael adding that Kubrick had "drained the blood" out of the source material. Even Vincent Canby, in an otherwise positive review, described the film as "another fascinating challenge". I find these statements a little odd, given that Kubrick's other films were no less weighty or accessible than Barry Lyndon was, but I think this is always one of the problems of trying to anticipate what a director renowned for being surprising will do. Although making a slow and stately film is entirely appropriate to what Kubrick clearly wanted to say about Thackeray's novel, it seems like this was the wrong type of surprise to viewers who wanted another breaking of their expected boundaries. In any event, this critical disappointment had an apparent impact on Kubrick. It definitely factored into his decision to make a slightly more traditional genre piece next... The Shining (1980).

Despite this, Barry Lyndon underwent a reappraisal over time, and it is now recognised as one of the director's masterpieces. Although I'm usually loath to rank films, I think Barry Lyndon definitely falls in my top three for Kubrick's films, and it certainly seems like one of his most accessible films. It merges the farcical comedy and bleak satire that his films are known for, while also being endlessly appealing on a visual level. Far from being worried that it was going to be homework, I'm tempted to go and watch it again already - and that's not something I say about a lot of Kubrick's three-hour-long doorstops.

[doll-elvis]

What does Reeca Smith look like? I tried looking up photos but nothing seems to come up..

I got a few asks about Reeca Smith so I thought I would combine them here <3, thank you guys for the questions !!

As for the first ask: sorry some of these are aren’t the best quality 😩 but all these pictures of Reeca in 1974 were taken from the documentary “Elvis: Heartbreaker” also called “Elvis’ Women” or “Loving Elvis” depending on the country where you are streaming it

Reeca is on the right in this group photo

And this is Reeca pictured with the Trans Am that Elvis purchased for her ⬇️

If you’re in the North America and unable to watch the documentary, here is a tutorial that I posted awhile back, it still works and I use this method myself !! ⬇️

Second ask: As for any intimacy, this is all that Reeca has said on the subject ⬇️

Since she didn't mention kissing or any other form of intimacy in her most recent interview, I'm assuming it wasn't something that played a major role in their relationship. She has stated that Elvis and her would mostly just talk, and that he especially enjoyed just reading the Bible to her. I think Reeca’s dynamic with Elvis was exactly the same as girls like Heidi, Frances, Gloria and Arlene. All of those girls have only ever talked about Elvis in high regards, and I think that really does speak volumes

However, although these girls don’t see themselves as victims, and while I do truly believe that Elvis never took advantage of them, it still doesn’t justify the kissing. Like you said this is obviously a very hard pill to swallow for any Elvis fan but it personally helps me to try to understand Elvis’ intentions and his mindset when he involved himself with those girls. And so when they all say that it was very innocent, I believe them, and I can honestly say without a doubt, that I think Elvis had good/pure intentions and that the situation wasn’t as black and white as some people try to make it seem

As for the third ask: In terms of Reeca overstating her importance, that very well could be possible, but to give her the benefit of the doubt, Elvis invited a lot of people on tour 😩 and they weren’t always girls that he was dating, for example Jeanne Lemay Dumas who was Linda’s friend and the Alden sisters (Ginger’s family)

If she was invited by Elvis like she says, that doesn‘t mean that Reeca would have been his main girl or anything like that on the tour, it’s likely that he still would have had either Sheila or Linda with him as his girlfriend. Also Reeca was good friends with Ricky Stanley who accompanied Elvis on tours, so that could have been another factor

Infact the very first day that Reeca hanged out with Elvis, Linda, Ricky and David Stanley accompanied them. And in that amazon documentary Linda acknowledged Reeca and also referred to her as one of Elvis’ “dalliances”, so she was at least aware of Reeca’s friendship/relationship with Elvis

** also I saw you mentioned Elvis possibly dating Maggie Smith and I got another ask about her that I am currently researching for (desperately trying to find a copy of this book written about her 😩) and so hopefully I will have more info on her by then

quote from Maggie (Magnolia) Smith 💗

but just from the little research I have done so far, it’s looking like it’s unlikely that they ever dated. Maggie Smith herself hasn’t said that she dated him, Marty Lacker said she was someone Elvis felt sorry for and therefore given a job, and Nurse Tish and Mary Jenkins also only referred to her as one of the maids/employees. Only Nancy Rooks has said that she dated Elvis so I’m still trying to figure out who is telling the truth 😭 like why would Nancy just make that up?

As for Elvis possibly wanting to pursue a serious relationship with Reeca, I don’t think he meant to do so until she was much older

Reeca said this about Elvis wanting a possible future with her ➡️ “He said ‘I know you’re are young but when you’re older, maybe in a couple years, maybe we can go places and have more of a relationship’”

I don’t believe their relationship ever became “serious”, especially since Reeca has never said that they formally dated. He only saw her September and November of 1974, and then for the last time in January of 1975. He was probably preoccupied with Sheila Ryan, Linda Thompson and Ann Pennington etc etc 🤧

I hope this helps anyone who wanted to know more about Reeca, I would love to hear what you guys think, or if you have any info yourself on Reeca or Maggie that you want to share 💗!!

[crazy56u]

Spoilers, the tags might be relevant here...

Fellas, is it normal to casually admit you have mentally worked out how a certain issue of a certain comic could've ended differently had the writers involved wanted to kill off a certain character?

Is it normal to just shoot that off on a Tumblr post on a Sunday afternoon?

So yeah, I'm yet a-fucking-gain talking about IDW #53, and, full disclosure, I may have started fiddling with writing this out.

So, yeah, let's pretend, as a hypothetical, Evan Stanley decided to go fucking wild, and use the fight against Surge as an excuse to kill off Whisper, how the fuck would that work?

Well, the major change is the easiest: Sonic and Tails show up late.

With the benefit of hindsight, it is practically a literal fucking miracle that, even though Sonic and Tails' house got fucked up during the badnik riot going into Issue #50, the computer managed to avoid getting broke.

Now, granted, by the time Jewel contacted Tails, this had happened-

But, hey, Sonic and Tails still managed to speed over to Central City in time to stop Surge from finishing the job, right?

So, let's assume the computer also needed to get fixed, and they didn't get that call from Jewel when they did.

So, Surge just kills Whisper then and there, right? Post over?

No.

Like I said, I have had dark thoughts, and the way this plays out in my head, that would've been ideal:

After getting distracted by her Starline hallucination, Surge remembers "Oh, right, I was about to kill Whisper," and turns her attention back to her; she hadn't yet gotten up, same as in the comic.

In a panic, Cyan tries in vain to protect Whisper, gets absorbed for his trouble. So, literally, it's just the two of them left.

But before deciding to land the blow, Surge decides "You know what, it's not like you're gonna need it after today," and decides as one final stab to take her mask, and wear it.

You know? The thing that can translate Wisps?

So, what do you think would happen if Surge put that on?

If your answer was "sensory overload in the form of five voices screaming at the same time", then yes, that is what would happen...

So, yeah, naturally, hearing all that screaming freaks out Surge, she unknowingly fries Whisper's mask as a result, and after managing to calm down from that, she get really fucking mad, and decides "You know what, fuck being cute," and decides to... well...

Do what she almost did to Sonic three issues later:

She pins her down to the ground, and starts trying to electrocute her to death; it would probably be around here when Sonic and Tails finally show up.

Regardless of how the rest of the confrontation with Surge plays out, the most important thing would be "Holy fuck, Whisper needs to go to the hospital now," and Sonic speeds her over to the nearest one, and she is swiftly put into a hospital bed; she is most likely gonna need heart surgery, but her heart rate needs to settle down first before they can do anything.

So, that's where we currently are: Whisper is in a hospital bed, unconscious and clinging to life, while Surge is dealt with in the background. What happens next?

Enter the other player in this fucked up game.

It is my personal belief that Mimic 100% was nearby in Central City when Whisper and Surge were fighting, and was quietly waiting for Surge to be done so he could finish the job; it's only when Sonic and Tails showed up when they did that he abandoned those plans.

So, in this timeline, that's not what happens.

While Whisper is recovering in the hospital, a nurse quietly enters her room, with the pretense of checking on her.

In reality, this is Mimic, deciding to take advantage of Whisper's already weakened heart.

He fucks with her IV drip, slips out of her room, and by the time he's sneaking out of the hospital, the medical staff are scrambling to try and save their newest patient, who is in the middle of flatlining, but their efforts will ultimately be in vein.

Surge's attack would already caused bare minimum congestive heart failure. Mimic inducing a heart attack would be the nail in the coffin.

And so, to summarize: How would Issue #53 (and technically 54) need to be rewritten if it was decided to kill off Whisper?

Smash Tails' computer beforehand.

[drstonetrivia]

Chapter 225 Trivia

POV: you are baby Ryusui and you're about to get fed mushed peas and caviar on a silver spoon. "Here comes the rocket! Nyoom!"

The other half of the SSVP docking system! Look at that little probe, doing its job.

(I guess Stanley is doing his job too, but the probe helps him do those final tiny adjustments.)

We already knew some English survived through the Hundred Tales. They mostly seem to be interjections of sorts, like "freeze!" or "congratulations!", and of course, numbers, as was shown in Kohaku's introduction.

So ground control (Xeno and the others) can hear what's happening on the rocket, but the rocket can't hear anyone from ground control.

This shouldn't be permanent since the lunar lander Ryusui is on has a radio, and possibly the space suits have them as well.

There's also still a fifth part of the rocket to be sent up, so if ground control doesn't attach the spare circuit board that they know the astronauts need from overhearing them over the radios, it'll be a bit silly.

Kohaku is on a space walk to remove the shielding from part 2 of the rocket. She props all the panels up, then it detaches & takes off away from the main rocket so there's space to attach part 3.

The cylindrical shielding was necessary to protect it on the way up (aerodynamics!)

Stanley succeeding to dock the spacecraft with only half a screen is nothing short of incredible, especially since he'd only done it for real once before.

If you want to try docking like Stanley, play this simulator with a piece of paper over your screen!

It's unusual for all the astronauts to be out at the same time, even if there's a lot of work to do outside the rocket. Normally astronauts only leave in pairs for safety reasons, like what they did at the sulfur lake almost 200 chapters ago.

Since the petrification stone is mostly made of iron & gold, it seems that it's also conductive, which is why this problem only appeared after the hair was petrified. It connected two capacitors (2 legs) to a transistor (3 legs).

Normally I'd expect one of the capacitors to overload and explode, but in this case it looks like the hair exploded instead. This could be because one of the capacitors unloaded its stored charge into the hair, causing it to explode, like this.

Even though they look undamaged, the unexpected current passing though could have killed the components, so putting them back together may not work. Another problem is that there are conductive pieces now floating around the rocket, ready to do the same to other circuits.

None of these labels seem to be real transistor/capacitor part numbers.

There also seems to be a little inconsistency with where the hair passes between the transistor's legs at the bottom.

Senku's comment here is that they should have been petrified away from the rocket, and then brought onboard as statues to avoid random pieces of person getting petrified exactly like this.

Hindsight is 20/1.8!

A condenser is the same thing as a capacitor, it's just an older word for it.

The reason Senku can't just replace the capacitor is because other parts may have been damaged, and they don't have the time (and maybe not even the tools) to know what's broken.

So Ryusui made it to space with no space suit and without being petrified, and then almost immediately had to do some never-before-done maneuvers to reconvene with his fellow astronauts.

He probably weighs only 1/100th of the lunar lander he's piloting, so I suppose it's good he only needs delicate movements.

Well done Ryusui!

Instead of those awful space suits the others had, Ryusui is wearing a completely new outfit based on the titular Space Pirate Captain Harlock, a manga series from the late 1970s which was later animated.

He's also got a revival watch on his left wrist.

I'm sure most of you have heard of Newton's third law, "every action has an equal and opposite reaction". This is exactly what's happening here:

Ryusui is spinning himself around the craft to adjust the trajectory, though it may also be that he gave himself an impulse and is actually just starting and stopping the spin by grabbing on or not. Doing this manually is very difficult since a person's movement isn't balanced.

Senku's E=mc^2 is back again!

He obviously missed and poked himself a few times trying to draw it, I wonder if the ink bled through the fabric onto his skin too haha!

I hope the irony of Ryusui's actions here isn't lost on him.

The rocket not being able to hear what's happening on Earth sounds like a really good reason to have something bad happen down there… 👀

[antaxzantax]

What do you think about each notable member of the Ashford family? What do you like the most and the least about them? Any general thoughts?

Since there is hardly any information on the Ashford family as a whole, I will respond directly with my headcanons.

VERONICA ASHFORD

Great-granddaughter of Anne of Great Britain and the youngest of six children, she was always noted for her suspicious erudition and natural beauty. As a child, she enjoyed working in the office of her father, a Scottish businessman who reinvested his inherited Stuart fortune in coal mining. She assisted her father as a bookkeeper and served as his scientific advisor because of her innate talent for learning and her insatiable curiosity for knowledge. At the age of 16 she graduated with a degree in natural sciences, but never pursued a doctorate because she was more interested in business.

When her father was about to die, she conspired with her older brother Rupert to disinherit her other four siblings, taking advantage of her father's favouritism towards her and Rupert and the political circumstances of the time. Two brothers ended up in exile in continental Europe, a third murdered and a fourth disappeared. As agreed, Rupert shared half of the inheritance with Veronica. Veronica took over the factories her father managed in southern Scotland and decided to expand both her business and her fortune.

She built new factories in the north-east of England, north of the River Tyne, which spurred the urbanisation and industrialisation of the Northumberland coast from Newcastle to Berwick. As was common during the Victorian era, the labour force, which was hired for less than half a dollar today, consisted of poor peasant families exiled from the countryside and, especially, of children, mostly orphans who were employed from the streets and orphanages. Working conditions were deplorable and workers who died on the job were buried in mass graves in and around the factories. As today, Veronica prioritised maximum profit at minimum cost. This policy led to a steady growth of her own fortune, surpassing even that of her own family, the Campbells. Apart from industry, Veronica was involved in the colonisation of the East Indies, particularly India and Indochina, where she owned numerous plantations and ran her own company for the recruitment and shipping of slaves in Asia.

These ventures helped to strengthen her political influence, largely inherited from her royal ancestry, and to finance scientific projects and expeditions. It was the latter that made her popular in academic circles, and she became an honorary member of the Royal Society for the Advancement of Natural Science in London. She also ended up becoming an advisor and right-hand woman to Victoria I, a position that ennobled her. Although she aspired to be a duchess like her father, she was eventually granted the title of countess to avoid dynastic conflict with the Crown. She chose Ashford as the name of her title in honour of the village of the same name in Cornwall where she used to summer with her family. The title of Ashford was also adopted as her surname, and she became known as Ashford-Campbell-Douglas-Stuart, or simply Ashford. She chose Northumberland as her home and had his manor house, Ashford Hall, built there.

She married a distant cousin for convenience and had an only son, Stanley, born of a passionate affair with a Prussian general. Her personality was narcissistic and controlling, apathetic to the suffering of those she did not consider part of her social class, but loving and devoted to her family and close friends.

She died of natural causes in 1900.

STANLEY ASHFORD

Stanley was rather continuist with the economic and political line established by Veronica, but also opportunistic. When the First World War broke out, he turned his factories over to the production of armaments and munitions. With the progressive emergence of the United States as a power, he opened new industrial businesses in the country, becoming well known among the American upper class.

With the abolition of slavery and the improvement of working conditions, Stanley was one of the few businessmen in the UK who still clung to the old practices of the Industrial Revolution, such as child labour. Stanley continued to promote child labour in his factories until the Prime Minister sent him a note warning him that it was no longer socially acceptable. For this reason, Stanley became a rather unpopular figure in Northumberland, being characterised as a bogeyman who abducted children to lock them up forever in his factories. To clean up his image, he began investing in charities and negotiating with the workers' unions.

Stanley was noted for his fascination with the occult sciences. In a hidden room at Ashford Hall, he began to keep all sorts of esoteric trinkets and books. His favourite activity was psychophonies, which he practised assiduously, especially after the death of Veronica, with whom he claimed to contact from beyond the grave.

In politics, he was sympathetic to official positions after rejecting the creation of Northern Ireland, which led to his expulsion from the House of Lords, although he later regained his seat.

He married a Scottish Highlander and had twins, Thomas and Arthur. His personality was more moderate than Veronica's, although he was always brusque and uncompromising.

He died during the 1920s.

THOMAS ASHFORD

His untimely death meant that he was barely able to function as head of the family. Arthur's older brother, his brief life was marked by alcohol and prostitution. His addiction to alcohol began when he was very young, mainly because of social pressure and later because of his personal problems, mostly due to his constant affairs with prostitutes.

Apart from his bad life, he was very much loved by Stanley and his brother Arthur, with whom he always maintained a close friendship. Like his grandmother and father, Thomas only obtained a university degree, and quickly went into the family business. Politically, he was a forerunner of Scottish nationalism and Jacobism, both of which he espoused in his numerous pamphlets and works written under pseudonyms. In one letter he wrote that the Ashfords were Scots living in England.

Although he was betrothed, he never married, as he died before formalising his marriage and having children. He was noted for his cheerful and joking personality.

He died of liver cancer in the 1930s.

ARTHUR ASHFORD

After his brother's untimely death, he assumed his position as head of the family. From an early age, he stood out as a bookworm. His main interests were anthropology, sociology and history, from which he graduated. Moreover, Arthur was the first Earl Ashford to be awarded a doctorate with honours under the modern university system. He was a university lecturer and during the World Wars worked as a propagandist in the service of the British government. He wrote several books related to propaganda and social control through culture or ideology. Unlike his predecessors, he did not specialise in the natural sciences and business, although he must have run the family enterprises

He was a highly respected and well-known scholar, although he was also considered an obscure figure because of his misanthropic view of the human species and his introverted and discreet personality. He married a Welsh woman and had two sons, George and Edward. George would end up distancing himself from the family due to problems of conscience to the point of being disinherited by his own father, Arthur. Edward continued with his family and quickly became known for his scientific talents. Arthur and Edward became inseparable, although Edward would eventually take a completely different path from his father by turning to the natural sciences. Politically, Arthur abandoned the nationalist and Jacobite line of his twin brother Thomas for his loyalty to the British Crown.

He died in 1959 of liver cancer.

EDWARD ASHFORD

After becoming an Earl following Arthur's death, Edward focused on research and capitalising on his research. For this reason, he partnered with Oswell E. Spencer and funded the discovery of the Progenitor virus. He would later synthesise the first variant of the Progenitor virus: the Tyrant virus. Like his father, he was a famed and highly respected scholar with wide national and international political influence through his many contacts in the United Kingdom and the United States. Although conservative, his stance was tempered by his concern about nuclear war between the two hegemonic blocs. Apart from his research, he aspired to bolster his family's political and economic status.

He had an older brother, George, from whom he separated, although he always maintained a cordial relationship with him. He married a Dutch scientist, Elizabeth, whom he met in Canada. They had one child, Alexander, whom he always supported, even when he came up with the CODE project: Veronica. His personality was polite and professional, more optimistic than his father's and even idealistic.

He died in 1968 in an accident with the Progenitor virus.

ALEXANDER ASHFORD

After the unexpected death of his father, he took over the baton, becoming president of Umbrella and biological father of the two children that resulted from the CODE project: Veronica. Initially, he did not think they would be his biological children, but to avoid a confrontation with their mother and legal problems, he had no choice but to become involved in their conception himself.

The son of a British father and a Dutch mother, Alexander has both nationalities and is bilingual in English and Dutch. He was always very close to his father, whom he considered his role model. However, he was never his equal, a fact that triggers his insecurity and depressive tendencies. He hates George for abandoning his family. Unlike Edward, who is open and outgoing, Alexander is withdrawn, inexpressive and not given to establishing emotional bonds except with his closest friends or partners.

[thenationaltreasuregazette]

Should Abigail Leave Ben? Part 2: Mutual Weirdos

As we established in Part 1, Ben and Abigail demonstrate mutual curiosity for each other and mutual respect as soon as they meet.

But that first scene in her office isn’t the only indication of how they feel about each other before Abigail gets dragged* into the treasure hunt.

*literally, she would like to remind you.

What makes a subplot?

To have a subplot, you need to touch on it multiple times throughout a story. And it’s not really a subplot unless there are at least three of these “hits”—it’s just a random thing you brought up once or twice. A subplot gets returned to. That’s the only way there can be character movement, and that’s what subplots are for.

There are hits on the “Ben x Abigail budding romance” subplot throughout National Treasure, but, as I established previously, I think the first three are crucial in setting Ben and Abigail up as a believable future couple because they demonstrate interest before the treasure hunting really kicks in.

No one’s saved anyone’s life yet. No one’s had (I assume) the most exciting, thrilling, dangerous, world-changing weekend of their lives, with this other person as a key player. No one’s hung from a disintegrating platform over a pit with only this other person’s strength keeping them from certain doom.

That’ll definitely influence the way you feel about someone.

My thesis is that Ben and Abigail were already on their way to becoming a romantic item long before the treasure hunt, and the movie does a really good job of establishing this.

Scene 2 - The Gift

The second “hit” on this subplot is when Abigail receives the the George Washington campaign button from Ben.

More below ↓

His actual gift of the button is obviously part of the heist plan, but Abigail’s reaction is not. She starts off annoyed saying:

ABIGAIL I hope it's not from Stan.

Readers of the 2003 script will know that earlier drafts of the script had a significantly subplot about Abigail’s boss, Dr. Stanley Herbert, having a must more pronounced, much more uncomfortable one-sided crush on her.

(In that draft she’s also 26 while he’s in his 40s.)

Personally, I think the subtly really works in the final film. Dr. Herbert’s interest in Abigail is definitely there, as is Abigail’s clear disinterest in him, but none of it’s really spelled out.

Sometimes you need to get something on the page before you can dial it back and weave it into the subtext.

In any case, for our purposes here, Abigail goes from “Ugh this better not be from Stan” to exchanging excited glances with her assistance as she reads the note, and then to genuine flattery and admiration, and perhaps a bit of awe when she sees the button and looks toward the empty space in her collection.

Oh course, Abigail does not know this gift is a ploy to steal her password in order to steal the Declaration of Independence. Therefore the seemingly very generous gift is actually…not.

What interests me here, though, is her reaction.

She could conceivably have the same reaction to Ben’s gift as she did when she thought it was from Stan: “Another weird historian trying to get in my pants. Hooray.” But it isn’t. She seems excited and flattered to be receiving a gift from him both before and after she sees what it is.

Despite that fact that she thinks his claim is ridiculous, she doesn’t think Ben/Paul Brown is ridiculous. She’s actually still intrigued by him, even after she asked if Bigfoot stole his treasure map.

There was something about him that interested her in spite of, not because of, his treasure hunting antics, and she was excited to receive a note from him even before she knew it was something she wanted or cared about.

The interest is clearly there, and it doesn’t seem to be influenced by treasure—either by what Ben is searching for or what he already has.

She’s not into him for his George Washington campaign buttons, is what I’m saying. She’s into him because he cares about George Washington campaign buttons.

Scene 3 - The Toast

The final hit on their subplot before Abigail joins the treasure hunt proper is their meeting at the gala just before Ben attempts the heist.

Again, the action here is strategic—Ben needs to obtain her finger prints to start the heist—but their reactions are not.

Before Ben arrives, Abigail is wandering around the gala looking bored. She even has her jacket over her arms, suggesting that she’s trying to leave soon. (A function this nice 300% has a coat check.)

When Ben arrives, she lights up.

She’s clearly happy to see him, and starts flirting with him immediately. The ways she asks

ABIGAIL What are you doing here?

is with a flirtatious, almost sultry tone, rather than a demanding one. Abigail thanks him for the gift, yes, but after that she’s the one who continues the conversation. She could let it end there, but instead, she brings up the “pipe that Bigfoot took.”

ABIGAIL I have been wondering, though, what the engraving indicated on the pipe that Bigfoot took.

Based on our timeline, it’s several days after their first meeting, and Abigail is still thinking not only about Ben but also about his claim. She’s excited to see Ben again, and curious enough about his theory that she’s asking more about it.

She does not have to ask him more about it. She does not have to talk to Ben Gates about the Templar Treasure ever again.

But she wants to.

Ben doesn’t get to say more because Dr. Herbert interrupts them. Abigail not only does not light up, she basically has no reaction.

To recap:

Ben: Hi Abigail: ☺�� Dr. Herbert: Hi Abigail: 😑

The inclusion of the Stan subplot, as subtle as it is, provides an important contrast. We can infer from Abigail’s differing treatment of the two men that’s she’s not just being polite to Ben in the hope that he’ll go away, because that is what she’s doing to Dr. Herbert and it looks very different.

Abigail has to work with Dr. Herbert every day. In the final movie it’s unclear if he’s her boss or a colleague of the same rank, but in either case it’s important to her job and to her comfort in the workplace that she keep Dr. Herbert at a distance but not upset.

While you could argue that she wants the same from Ben here, the film doesn’t read that way to be because she treats Ben in pretty must the opposite way she treats Dr. Herbert in the same situations, per her reactions to gifts and drinks from both of them.

Btw, I would argue the whole Stan thing is a true subplot because we hit on it three times:

In any case, that’s Abigail’s perspective, but what about Ben’s? Let’s talk about the toast.

Ben's Toast

Ben’s plot objective in this scene is to get Abigail’s fingerprints. He plans to do this by handing her a champagne glass and then taking it back from her.

Offering the glass is easy, but taking it back without arising suspicion will be harder. Maybe he initially planed to offer a toast as part of this plan. Then he could get her to drink some and offer to refill it, or otherwise find a reason to take the glass.

But he doesn’t need to do that because Dr. Herbert shows up with a second glass for Abigail, giving Ben the perfect excuse to take her glass.

BEN Here, why don't you let me take that, so you can take that off his hands.

He could leave now.

Ben could leave with the minimum pleasantry needed to make an exit, as we’ve already seen him do in her office. With a single, “Oh excuse me,” or “Don’t let me interrupt,” he could be on his way with the glass, the last item he needs to initiate the heist.

But he doesn’t.

Instead, he stays and offers an iconically unhinged toast.

BEN A toast, yeah? To high treason. That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and - Oh! Oh, my personal favorite - and had their entrails cut out and burned! So, here's to the men who did what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right. What they knew was right.

As he’s listing the various punishments the founding fathers would have faced, Ben is not really looking at either of the people he’s speaking too. He’s looking up and off to the side as he gets a little lost his spiral of thoughts. He's probably thinking about the punishments he’ll face if this goes badly.

But when he readjusts with, “So, here’s to the men…” he looks directly at Abigail. Like, intensely stares into her eyes because he’s trying to impart a message to her. He’s doing what he knows is right, and he wants her to see that.

There’s not much of a strategic reason for this. Sure, perhaps if Ben is caught before he can test the Declaration, Abigail will at some point get curious enough run the tests herself, but that’s a long shot. If Ben though it was possible to convince her to run the tests herself, that would be a much safer, less felony-ridden path to the treasure. And a much less interesting movie.

Instead, Ben just needs her to believe the he isn’t doing this to hurt her, or because he’s a bad person.

If Ben gets caught, Abigail has no power to absolve him, even if she wanted to. But he cares what she thinks because he cares about her.

It would be a much better strategic move to not make this toast, and to not come so close to admitting what he’s about to do.

If he had flat-out gotten away with it, Abigail could have turned the FBI onto him based on the toast, which in the moment is just weird, but after the theft of the Declaration would be a pretty clear admission of guilt.

As it stands, the toast is probably what makes her check the guest list and follow him out of the building. The rest of their interaction was pretty benign, but the weird-ass toast and I’m-staring-into-your-eyes-because-I-need-you-to-believe-me bit is a red flag for her. It’s her first real indication that something out of the ordinary is happening.

And then Ben chugs the champagne because he’s nervous, which is another what-the-fuck moment for Abigail.

Ben all but tips his hand on the heist because he needs to soften the blow for Abigail. What this woman he just met thinks of him matters enough to Ben that he risks getting himself caught. In fact, he does get himself caught. After all it’s Abigail, not security, who first recognizes that Ben’s acting suspiciously and investigates.

My impression is that Ben doesn’t even realize why he’s behaving like this. He’s obviously incredibly keyed up and nervous as it is, but during the toast his priority isn’t on the heist. It’s on the overwhelming feeling that he needs this woman to believe him. Not Dr. Herbert, not anybody else, only Abigail.

Conclusion

So. Abigail and Ben’s reactions to each other—both through the gift and their meeting at the gala—display clear and significant interest in the other party. Abigail does not have to be excited about Ben’s gift even before she sees what it is. She does not have to engage with him at the gala any more than a cordial “hello and thank you.” And Ben does not have to stay and risk giving away the heist before it even starts in order to try to salvage Abigail’s opinion of him.

And yet they do. Because they like each other.

Abigail’s romantic interest in Ben is pretty clear, based on the way she immediately starts flirting with him at the gala.

For Ben’s part, I honestly don’t think he’s even there yet. I don’t think he’s realized his interest in Abigail is romantic, or stopped long enough to think about it. I think at this point he’s just compelled by her in a way he hasn’t fully processed yet.

These scenes complete the foundation on which their relationship is built. Not the treasure, not the heist. This.

On to part 3!

[omegatheunknown]

15 Questions For 15 Mutuals

Are you named after anyone?

No, but if i had been afab, I would've had to wear Jocasta, which is an impressively heavy mantle.

Do you have kids?

In this economy?

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Only at work.

When was the last time you cried?

Across the spiderverse got me a bit, but Saturday morning we watched one hunded and one dalmatians and thinking about the fellowship of the animals helping reunite the family really got to me.

What’s the first thing you notice about other people?

Energy, posture, vibe.

Eye color?

Sorta hazel.

What sports do you/have you played?

Played box lacrosse, basketball and tennis until I didn't want to be around the kids who played sports in high school. Which is lamentable, in retrospect.

Any special talent?

Mostly silly memory tricks. A few times I've managed to tell someone i've met for the second time, many years later, exactly when and where and who else was present/introducing us when we met one time before. So... trivia, I've got you covered -- Countries of the world? Stanley Cup Winners? Presidents? Every premise of every episode of TNG or the magic school bus? Usually able to remember things on the basis of remembering when and where I learned them. Have been accused of never forgetting anything ever, but that feels the opposite of true, though maybe I'm just more aware than is typical of everything I have forgotten, for some of the same reasons. Should also point out that I've gotten lost walking home a few different times in my life, so... we all have different talents.

Where were you born?

Calgary, AB

Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings mostly. Prefer comedies, at this point in my life.

Do you have any pets?

Sandwich is my partner's familiar, but she counts:

How tall are you?

About 184cm.

What are your hobbies?

TTRPGs, writing, reading, being terminally online, watching/arguing about pro wrestling, cooking/baking new things, sometimes i draw comics.

Favorite subject in school?

in senior year i was allowed to take a class called 'script writing' which was essentially spending an extra hour a day in the theatre department working on literally whatever and occasionally directing freshmen. led to hilarious days where i'd have theatre, film, scriptwriting, free block, lunch, then english lit. best university elective was probably either obituary writing or a film class based on the works of the coen brothers and jim jarmusch.

Dream job?

Talk show host. Roddenberry-esque creator of a thing people love enough to keep going well beyond my paltry limitations and see grow and invert and reinvent itself decades on.

I was tagged by @unbound-shade

I'm going tag, sans obligations, my 15 most recent mutuals. Which is to say, I don't know much about you even to know if you do these sorts of tumblr socializing games. Presumably most of you are mutuals because you like my smut blog but feel free to ignore me! @kittencrack @alexisairhead @cuckoosnestblog @strawbabiezs @witchybibabe @soft-greengoddess @submi55ive-kitten @vera-vondoom @eldritchhbagel @dolliespit @the-harpy-celaeno @sunniedayzxo @dinedwithwolves @420xbabydollx @ripescrumptiouspeach

[hoperays-song]

Stan and Barry Headcannons Because They’re the Best Uncles Ever

Stan and Barry are like some of my favorite minor characters in all of film history. They’re perfect and are just amazingly supportive of Marcus and Johnny. So, here’s my headcannons for them.

Stan and Barry have been best friends since primary school and have considered the other as a brother since then as well, with Stan moving to London with Barry when he got a job there. However, Barry does get on to Stan for introducing them as brothers as it confuses people since they don’t look or act alike.

Stan’s actually name is Stanley and Barry’s is Bartholomew. They both have gone by nicknames for so long they don’t recognize their birth names when people say them.

Stan was the first one to meet Marcus when the man started working at the same mechanic shop as Stan. He immediately invited Marcus out to dinner with his “brother” and him and wasn’t deterred from this offer when Marcus explained he had a young son. He was determined to make sure this lonely seeming guy had friends.

Barry was originally a cybersecurity analyst and actually was planning on getting his doctorate degree before the group moved to the states.

Barry being Johnny’s favorite “uncle” is a practically a non-hidden secret with Johnny being the only one who doesn’t know that everyone knows. Stan isn’t offended and takes pride knowing he’s the “fun uncle” who lets him get away with practically everything.

All of the gang members got at least bachelor’s degrees, Marcus (masters in business management), Barry (masters in cybersecurity), Stan (bachelors in communication), and therefore did everything in their power to make sure Johnny knew to stay in school, no matter what.

Barry tends to be the voice of reason for the other two and is very logical. This is also why he ended up being the mediator for any serious fights that occur.

When Marcus and Johnny fight, Stan is always the one to be tasked with calming Marcus down (which rarely works), meanwhile Barry is always sent to comfort Johnny. Barry hated this arrangement at first since he didn’t like children, especially crying ones, but Johnny eventually wore him down and he now prefers to deal with the boy to his father in intense situations like that since Johnny actually listens when Barry says something.

Barry and Johnny didn’t want to move to the US but had to anyway to keep their family together (Barry) or because he didn’t have a choice (Johnny). The dislike of the move just brought them closer.

Barry actually identifies as bisexual but spent so long not being in  any type of relationship that he never actually came out to anyone but Johnny when the boy was questioning his sexuality (before he came out as gay) in an attempt to comfort him and get him to realize he wasn’t alone.

When Marcus announced to Stan and Barry that he and Johnny were going to move to the US to get a fresh start (since things hadn’t been the same since Jia, Johnny’s mum, died), Barry and Stan immediately started to talk about how long it would take them to get the paperwork together and get approved for visas. When Marcus told them that they didn’t have to come with them, Barry just snorted and said “You’re our brother, of course we’re coming.” and Stan jokingly accused Marcus of trying to take their nephew away. This was the first time any of them had verbally acknowledged to the others that they saw Marcus and Johnny as part of their family now.

Barry is the blunt one of the group, never sugarcoating anything and using logic. He’s the only introvert beside Johnny and doesn’t really interact with anyone besides his brothers and nephew.

Stan is very energetic and the jokester of the group. He loves teasing everyone (especially Johnny) and has a stereotypical “frat boy” attitude at times. He’s always trying to get Barry to go do things with him.

Marcus is an outgoing and determined man, making him a good leader of the group. However, he can be hot-headed and stubborn which causes most of the fights in the group as a whole. As a father and brother however, he’s calmer and more protective. He tends to be the moderator in day to day bickerings instead of Barry (who is the cause of most of them with Stan).

Stan and Barry bicker a lot. It’s always good heartedly as that’s their way of showing affection for the other. However, Marcus does have to step in a fair bit because it’s hard for anything to get done when your only two employees won’t stop bullying each other.

The first time Johnny called Barry his uncle was when his dad and him got in a fight about his dad being late to pick him up everyday and how Johnny didn’t matter to him, he was 12. Barry just made the boy tea and called Marcus an idiot. Johnny thanked him and called him Uncle Barry. Barry was surprised but didn’t correct him since they had never told Johnny to call them that and the boy seemed to avoid the title like the plague. He proceeds to goad this fact over Stan for the rest of their lives.

Stan, Barry, and Marcus met only three weeks after Jia (Johnny’s mom) died. Marcus had taken up a job at a mechanic’s shop closer to Johnny’s school so the boy wouldn’t be alone after school now that his mum was gone. Stan showed back up from holiday a week after Marcus started and worked at the station next to him. The two became fast friends after that.

While having never met Jia (Johnny’s mother)  themselves, Barry and Stan do know a lot about her from how Johnny acts and how Marcus changed after her death. 

Though Johnny’s bluntness is just like his mum, it’s more likely that he picked that trait up from Barry. Barry never tells that to Johnny or Marcus and Stan is forbidden from telling either of them.

Stan once got in trouble for pulling Johnny out of school to help him go grocery shopping and then getting him ice cream.

Johnny is the only one Barry shows traditional affection towards willingly (hugs, praise, compliments, etc), however it is rare. The closest Stan and Marcus get to that treatment is teasing bickering and eye rolls.

Barry does call Johnny his favorite family member in front of the others just to annoy them. It works every time, especially on game nights.

Stan loves teasing Johnny on the fact he finally called him his uncle in an interview after the talent show, meaning it was a televised confession of relation. Johnny regrets it for years.

Stan and Barry rent an apartment together not far from the garage and had traditional day jobs before getting sent to jail. Stan was a HR officer at a chain store and Barry was a computer programmer (Marcus ran the garage legitimately as well). After being sent to jail, they all work legitimately at the garage.

In the gang, Barry was in charge of gathering intelligence and information. Because of his security background, he’s a decent hacker and can find a lot of information very quickly. Stan was the muscle of the group and typically handled any physical confrontations with other groups. 

Stan was the one to teach Marcus how to box and now that Marcus is better than him, he always pretends he was going easy on him.

The first time Stan and Barry babysat Johnny, they nearly called the cops because Johnny (a six year old) climbed onto the ceiling fan somehow and they couldn’t find him for two hours. They spent the rest of the night using a belt as a leash to not lose him again and nursing their headaches. Marcus was very amused.

Stan cut off contact with his birth family in college when they kept berating him for his choices and goals in life. 

Barry was in foster care most of his life and had no close friends or family except for Stan, who was the next door neighbor of the foster house he lived at for 8 years. 

Stan and Barry went to the same college and were roommates for the two years that they were enrolled together. After that, Stan just followed Barry around as he moved for jobs. 

Stan and Marcus call everyone in the gang by nicknames, Barry and Johnny refuse to participate. Marcus is Markie or Mark, Stan is And or Lee, Barry is Bear or Bears, and Johnny has just a ton of nicknames including but not limited to Johns, John, and John-Song.

Barry and Stan adore being uncles and secretly enjoy the cheesy uncle gifts Johnny gets them. They roll their eyes when they get them for appearance sake however. Johnny knows they do this and keeps trying to outdo himself with gifts every year.

Both Stan and Barry are extremely protective of Johnny and keep inhalers and band-aids on them at all times in case he gets an anxiety attack and has trouble breathing or hurt.

[greentrickster]

So, i find your Ace Parable/ Stanley Attorney fic on AO3. Absolutely love it. So much fun! So, in wanting to spawn more ideas- music and fashion. What do the Parable lads bring back with them, what did they enjoy the most? And for our silly Lawyer Men, did any of the things they changed include better music choices or options for new clothes? Miles does try to dress very nice after all. As opposed to Phoenix, of whom prefers casual, but will dress nice if needed.

Thank-you so much, and good job correctly deducing how you get more of my AUs! ;D

Hmmm... for both music and fashion I'd say Phoenix and Miles don't add much at all - they're busy trying to figure out what's going on and what they can do and, while they do make changes, most of them are the sort that there are already procedures for generating, like how to make a new ending, accessing the Narrator's large library of game assets, that sort of thing. They don't know exactly what's going are or what the limits of this place are, so they try and test the boundaries a bit and get creative, but not in areas there aren't pre-exisiting structures for. The Stanley Parable wasn't made to have clothing options as part of the game, so there aren't any structures or assets for that, and neither of them want to risk ending up trapped in this strange place while also naked. That might be funny/fun for an hour, but after that...? So neither of them suggest or risk it. Likewise, neither of them want to end up with the same song playing permanently on a loop with no way to turn it off.

No, it's the Narrator and Stanley themselves who eventually bring these new aspects to the game, though not until they've been back for awhile and gotten themselves reoriented and working together more. I think this would happen sometime after Stanley's gotten some options that let him go and stay outside for awhile (possibly even as a part of endings that involve him voluntarily going back inside eventually), and he brings it up to the Narrator.

Because, prior to going to the AA world, Stanley had never worn anything than what he spawns each new game wearing. He didn't experiment a whole lot while with the AA gang, because he and the Narrator were both rather overwhelmed and overstimulated, but going to bed his first night there was the first time he'd ever taken his shoes off, ever, or any of his clothes. Until that point, he'd known he had feet and toes and a belly-button and everything else, but he'd never seen them. It was kind of a lot (in a mostly good way), and even moreso for the Narrator, who'd never had a physical form of his own to undress before. And, to be honest, it was a bit of a relief for both of them to get back to the Parable where things were simpler again.

Except, once they've been back for awhile, Stanley starts to get curious about things he'd never thought to be curious about before. Like crouching down to see how the carpet feels against his hands and really pay attention to the texture. Once he's gotten used to being able to go outside in the Parable, he eventually puts forth that it'd be nice if he could take off his shoes and socks here, too, to feel the textures of the dirt and the grass beneath his feet, or even just the regular old office carpet.

(The Narrator initially says no on the grounds that there are people on the internet that get weird about feet, but Stanley argues him down with the fact that there are people on the internet who will get weird over anything and Stanley can't properly grade things with his little packet of gold stars if he can't get the full experience, now can he? (Barefoot mode gets unlocked two runs later.))

As for clothing the Narrator himself instigates that himself, on the grounds that the Parable is supposed to be a game all about choices, so of course it would make sense for the protagonist to be able to choose his own clothing (to a certain extent)! Think of all the exciting possibilities it will open up!

...turns out, Stanley is a man with boring, boring taste in clothes. Like, he absolutely tries a few new looks for a bit when the options first become available, but he generally ends up defaulting back to his classic look.

Thanks for the ask!

[septembersghost]

Which memphis mafia members do you consider reliable sources when it comes to Elvis?

this is a tricky question because i know opinions vary and accounts have notable discrepancies...it's difficult with everything surrounding elvis because it often feels like, to one degree or another, everybody was looking for a way to exploit their connections to him (not necessarily in a malicious way, though some definitely have done that, but just insofar as everybody relying on him and their stories and experiences with him financially and for other assorted reasons, as comments in this thread mention), and did so especially once he died and had no say in any of it. i have a lot of qualms with the total lack of hesitation in sharing intimate details about his life with the general public that go a bit far beyond explaining his character and experiences, and yet at the same time of course there's an insatiable curiosity and market for it because people want to know about him. it makes me think of the preface shared from june's book: “There have been lots of books written about Elvis Presley, of course, with probably as many personal memoirs among them as have attached to any other cultural figure or entertainer in history. Some have been spurious, a number seem to have been written out of little more than personal rancor, motivation has ranged from love to money to self-adumbration..."

i'm rambling, but sometimes it's difficult to sift out the people still looking after e and his personhood versus those using him for their gain. jerry i would count easily as one of the former, perhaps the most obvious choice there. maybe george klein and billy smith? perspectives range all over the place on charlie hodge, joe esposito, marty lacker, lamar fike, the stanleys, and even larry geller (despite elvis often being open and vulnerable/trusting with him in particular), to the point where i feel like we have to take everything with a grain of salt and be circumspect about individual subjectivity and agendas. red and sonny i struggle with for *multiple* reasons, and given what they did to him (and whoever the third one was involved with that book. god el i'm sorry sometimes i cannot keep track of all of your people...), i think it cut him to the core, from which he did not recover (and he didn't have time). but i also respect elvis' inherent generosity and kindness and forgiving qualities that he extended to the people he loved, even when he was hurt.

tl;dr ugh sorry this is not a particularly helpful answer because it involves so many factors and complicated people. tbh i'm probably not the best person to ask this because my little introvert self that cares more about elvis' humanity and artistry than some of the noise and chaos around him is way less informed about each of those guys as individuals. i do think they all loved him in their own ways, to one degree or another, but their usefulness and incentives in sticking by him could be mercurial. and e was far from perfect himself and i'm sure many aspects of being in that group were not easy, he was responsible for many of his choices, but he also had a retinue of people clinging to his lifestyle. it can be painful to observe how he had this mix of enablers and dependents around him as constant companions and everything still unraveled the way that it did.

edit: i went to the sub to see if i could find you a better/more comprehensive response quickly and still turned up a lot of dispute, but this comment speaks to some of it (also funny how some of the comments here use similar language to what i'd already written, i appreciate seeing those thoughts from others): Each has told their version of their story and of course each person is the hero of their own story, and many paint themselves as Elvis's One True Best Friend. Some, as you mention, had proper jobs, others were really, truly sycophantic hangers-on, some were true blue friends and brothers, and some would barely qualify as part of the "Memphis Mafia" at all - they just happened to be in the right place at the right time and latched on to what little time they had in his periphery. For most who care, I think it comes down to an individual by individual basis...Personally, I think more attention should really be placed on the artists, songwriters and creatives whose influence impacted Elvis's actual creative and commercial achievements and legacy. But people like hearing celebrity gossip, and Elvis fans have always been voracious to consume anything and everything they can about him. People also like picking sides and being in opposing tribes, even over the most petty shit. In our collective cultural grief over the loss of Elvis, trying to grasp onto anything and everything left that we could, we gave them all attention to hear them say nice things, and the media happily gave a platform to those who were willing to help tear Elvis down off the pedestal his fans put him on, too. I think, at the end of the day, people are looking for understanding about what happened. Many would like to take their sides and lay moral judgment on all of them and everything they've said or did, as though talking about who was or wasn't at fault for what happened would change things or help us understand what happened any better. But we weren't there, and never can go back and be there. Some were good, some were bad, some just happened to kinda be there because Elvis wanted or needed them for whatever reason. The only sure truth is that Elvis died regardless of all of them - which is a tragedy. And they're all just background characters who've taken up too much time on center stage. And now that most of them have left, I think it's about time to bring the curtain down.

[world-cinema-research]

Week 5: A.I Artificial Intelligence-Yanissa Agbigay

For this week’s film I chose A.I Artificial Intelligence. This film captures a robotic boy that is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. David (the robot) was programmed to love and is seen as part of the family. In his journey, he tries to be real like us humans and seeks to find a middle ground between humans and machines. The main message of this movie is for him to be able to be seen and loved as not just a robot but as their real son. Essentially, Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines.

The movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence was released in the year 2001. This film was directed by Steven Spielberg, with a costing budget of $90 to $100 million and a box office of $235.9 million. This film is said to be one of Spielberg’s most expensive films that had three different releases. These were done domestically ($78,616,689), Internationally ($157,309,863), and worldwide ($235,926,552). All a success for Spielberg and the cast.

Also, though Spielberg is the director of the 2001 film, the production began with Stanley Kubrick in 1983. It was actually Kubricks Idea for Spielberg to direct the 2001 film. The two met when Spielberg was in England making Raiders of the Lost Ark. Although Kubrick loved the idea of A.I, he abandoned the film for quite some time because, of the lack of technology and how it would play into the movie. When Spielberg came out with Jurassic Park, Kubrick felt hopeful of him to create this movie and direct it how he really envisioned it to be.

Within the same year, on September 01, 2001, Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger planes in the United States. Two planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing both towers to collapse. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon, just outside Washington, DC. The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and onto the streets below. It immediately became clear that America was under attack.

https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-attacks#world-trade-center

OPEC members decide to cut oil production quotas by an additional one million barrels per day. Secretary Abraham calls the decision "disappointing." OPEC's goal is to keep the price of a basket of crudes between $22 and $28 per barrel, fears production increases and passes in 2000 will lead to a glut of oil as world economic growth slows in 2001, reducing demand for crude.

I found these two quotes from the movie interesting, which is why I had to include them in this essay. The first one says “Human beings have created a million explanations of the meaning of life... in art, in poetry, and mathematical formulas.” I chose this one quote because I found it beautiful because it is true, that though we may not have the same beliefs or experiences we all share some sort of art though it be through music or many other forms of art.

David: What's for dinner tonight? Monica: You know you don't eat. David: Yes. But I like sitting at the table.” I also used this conversation between the two characters because I found it laughable and also very wholesome because David (the robot) is trying to fit in and find a way to be a real person and son to his so called parents.

Overall from what I have read, there are more positive reviews on the movie. Some say they were emotionally touched after watching and that Spielberg did a great job where viewers felt the love and emotion from each character. I’d say this movie is definitely one that is more pricey but it is a movie that is and will continue to have many viewers who enjoy watching and will recommend to other people.

[hatesverse]

so the stanley parable huh

im a bit late to the party when it comes to the release of ultra deluxe, and i haven’t payed attention to the game in months, but... now it’s my newest fixation and i would like to share an art while also talking about my headcanon backstory for the whole thing. now obviously this will include spoilers which i will contain under the cut.

... Oh, and also, this WILL be a long one. Good luck.

(yes i did steal the background from My Little Pony since I’m not good at drawing backgrounds myself shut up)

You know, something I find interesting is that most people seem to connect the Curator (Female Narrator from the Museum Ending) with Mariella (that girl from the Insanity Ending) and like, I get where they’re coming from, but I got something a bit more fun. So let’s talk about Employee 432.

So, from my understanding, Employee 432 is basically the Golden Freddy of the Stanley Parable universe. Of course there’s more to him than that but that you can easily find out on YouTube or a fandom wiki site. Point is, he was (most likely) someone who experienced something similar to what Stanley is experiencing as evidenced by all those logs and papers hidden around.

Now for the Curator and the Narrator. I like to imagine that the whole game of The Stanley Parable is a simulation in that kind of style and the Player is merely someone interacting with that Simulation through Stanley. The Narrator and the Curator are from a group of AIs that handle each and every person that has been run through the Simulation- Stanley and 432... Soooo....

This is the story of a man known as Employee number 432.

Employee 432′s job was much like everyone else in his Office- Pushing buttons at a computer. However unlike the rest of his co-workers, Employee 432 was selected to be the first to be run through a simulation experiment alongside a prototype Narrator- The Curator.

The experiment was simple, add an AI into the mind of Employee 432 to see how his Coworkers would react. Some may have considered it heart wrenching and sadistic of an experiment, but to those who discovered the world being a simulation, it was merely science.

However, one day, something very peculiar happened. Something that would forever change the lives of everyone in the office. Employee 432 slowly went insane and became unstable, and upon closer inspection, it appeared that The Curator had become unusually aggressive towards him. Once he asked for a pencil and pencil sharpener, and... Well, let’s just say that he found out just how sharp a pencil can become. (ow)

As a last ditch attempt so they wouldn’t be discovered, the Boss of the office demanded that the two be separated. The Curator was removed from 432 and was given a room far beneath the office to reside in an attempt to ‘punish’ her, however that soon proved to be futile as The Curator discovered a way to control the simulation and transformed her cell into a museum and subsequently created the Narrator we know.

The Narrator became quite the storyteller, and soon enough, he gained the same sort of Admin Commands that the Curator had gained and made his way upstairs to the employees. He’d done many things- Befriend them all, kill them all, burn, crush, destroy, delete... So many choices, and yet, he began to get bored... What if someone could do all the choices for him? So, he made one last choice- The choice to create Stanley, and his own story within the office...

And as for Employee 432? He was too broken after the experiment, only the Curator managing to split without many side effects. She’d only become a lot calmer, however Employee 432 seemed corrupted and even that was an understatement. In an attempt to put him back together, those in charge replaced parts of him with unused content for The Curator- However that only managed to stabilize him physically, not mentally.

In the end, Employee 432 was abandoned- or as they called it, fired- and was hidden away in an old office, left only to communicate through a computer. He began to loose his sense of time, how long had past, and whether it was day or night. He spent so long trying to find a way out in his insanity that he gained access to a limited amount of commands himself.

He soon discovered the existence of another employee much like himself, one he remembered as Employee 427, however he didn’t have the materials to properly connect with him. Of course, that changed once new content was released...

... And Mariella is blissfully unaware of anything that’s happening, due to working in another building. Lucky her.

man, you read this far? well, i hope you enjoyed the story. yeah i could write a fanfic about this but do i have the motivation? hell no. if you want to do something with this story though you have my full permission to.

thanks for reading this far and have a fun rest of your day!