#subway sign london

[hometoursandotherstuff]

The London tube has the best signs.

[sometimeslondon]

A beautiful vintage London Underground roundel sign at Bethnal Green Tube station

[thingsdavidlikes]

Wasting Black Light by Douguerreotype

[albertayebisackey]

London created the Underground, and the Underground created London. - John Lanchester

[umairrd]

Entrances to the Underground, Kings Cross St. Pancras

[shaqthemc]

Now playing

[octuscle]

I'm on a flight to Tokyo, and I'm definitely going to stand out amongst the locals... what should I do?

I always have the greatest respect for visits to Asian countries myself. So it's more than natural that you need support. I myself have had very good experiences with a preset that I am sending you. I recommend that you activate the preset as soon as possible, the transformation is set to last 12 hours.

Okay, it's exemplary that you had your cell phone in flight mode, so the message only reaches you after the plane is already on the tarmac on its way to the terminal. With your seatbelt still fastened, you activate the default setting. After the first few seconds, the first effect becomes apparent. The tension is gone. This is not the first time you have landed in Haneda. Only tourists and fools jump up and open the luggage compartments before the seatbelt signs have gone out. You are disciplined. Discipline is the only way to survive a juggernaut like Tokyo. You know that. The idiots around you don't.

You say goodbye to the person sitting next to you. You say goodbye to the flight crew when you leave the plane. In broken Japanese. You struggle with the language. Even though you've been learning it for over a year. At least you recognize a few of the characters at the airport. At least you can understand fragments of the conversations around you. And you know your way around the airport. Even if you're not the first to jump on, you're one of the first at the baggage carousel. It pays to have a Japanese ID card. Wait a minute! A Japanese ID card? Sure, you've been living here for years. Tokyo is your second home. Naturalization was only logical. You have a Japanese great-grandmother. That made it easier. You inherited your black hair from her.

You look at the people with the big suitcases with pity. They're either going to waste a fortune on cabs now. Or they'll have real problems on the train during rush hour. You've packed efficiently. And your advantage is that you stand out from the crowd. 190 cm… That makes you a giant in Japan. And a colossus at 120 kg. When you finally take the steps from the subway into the open air, the default setting has already been active for three hours. You walk the last few meters to your hotel. It's so nice to be back here. Yes, you actually live in London. But you spend as much time as you can in Tokyo for business and pleasure. For years now. You speak the language very well, you're up to date with all the fashions and gossip. And a regular guest here at the hotel. The concierge addresses you by name. You greet him back by name. Nevertheless, you exchange business cards. Tradition is tradition. The building trembles. A slight earthquake.You don't know how many earthquakes this is in your life. It's not even worth mentioning in your conversation.

Now a quick bowl of noodle soup. And then to the gym. You've spent too much time motionless on the plane and in the subway. You need action now. The feeling that your body has given its last. And then a hot bath and a massage. Your buddy at reception has already arranged everything. You just quickly take your luggage upstairs and get changed. And then you run down the stairs to the gym. The earth has just shaken a little again. The last thing you need now is to get stuck in the elevator.

Two hours later, when Atsushi presses his elbows into your back, all is right with the world again. Atsushi is a master of his trade. And you've known each other for ages. In fact, you played baseball in the same club as children before you moved to Europe with your parents. It was a real coincidence when you found each other on one of your visits here on Grindr. It's one of the biggest and hardest reasons why you're staying here at the hotel. Rarely have you experienced a better masseur who is both good for your back and offers a first-class happy ending. He stands behind you and massages your neck. And his hard-on sticks out in front of your face. Shit, if he doesn't suck you off right away, you'll cum without him laying a hand on you.

You two spend the evening at karaoke. Unfortunately, Asushi can't stay in your hotel room tonight. But he will take you upstairs. And you fuck him as a thank you. Asushi thanks you with a deep kiss goodbye. He says that your education in Europe has paid off. Nobody fucks like real Japanese men who learned to fuck in Paris. You grin. Well. An almost real Japanese man. Your one grandmother was English. You owe your blue eyes to her.

Get up, go to the gym, take a hot bath. That's how your next morning starts. Not easy with the jet lag. But you have to get back into the rhythm of the city of your ancestors quickly. The first meeting is at 07:30. Time is money. And life in Tokyo is not cheap. "それで、侍よ？よく眠れましたか？" Asushi sent a picture of his morning wood. You return the favor with a selfie, freshly showered. "よく眠れたよ！しかし、私には硬いものと柔らかいものがある。疲れ果てた夜に備えよ," you reply. "はい、侍よ！" You're looking forward to the end of the day!

[simstorian-blog]

Residential Floorplan Suggestions

New York City: TWO

(CC List + Links)

World Map: San Myshuno

Area: Spice Market – Waterside Warble

Lot Size:  30 x 30

Capacity:

A Dive Bar

An Internet Café

A Pizzeria

A Tattoo Parlor

Bonus: 6 residential rental units floorplans completed – not assigned

Gallery ID: Simstorian-ish

Packs Needed

Expansion Packs

Cats & Dogs

City Living

Discover University

For Rent

Get Together

Get To Work

Growing Together

High School Years

Horse Ranch

Snowy Escape

Game Packs

Dine Out

Dream Home Decorator

Jungle Adventure

Outdoor Retreat

Parenthood

Spa Day

Star Wars: Journey to Batuu

Strangerville

Vampires

Stuff Packs

Crystal Creations

Home chef Hustle

Laundry Day

Moschino

Kits

Castle Estate

Courtyard Oasis

Cozy Bistro

Desert Luxe

Recommended Gameplay Mods

(Please read through what each mod has to offer before deciding if it fits your gameplay style or not.)

Carl’s Dine Out Reloaded

City Vibes Lot Traits

Functional Tattoo Parlor

Functional Venue Lot Traits

Lock/Unlock Doors for Any Lot

Spawn Refresh

Use Residential Rentals shared areas as Community Lots & Create Multi-Purpose Community Lots

Build Mode

CharlyPancakes

Chalk Pt.2 (Tiles)

Felixandre

Chateau Pt. 1 (Stone Foundation)

Chateau Pt. 2 (Doors, Metal Pieces, Tiles, Walls)

Colonial Pt. 3 (Fence 2, Plaster Foundation 2, Railing 2)

Florence Pt. 1 (Fresco Mural)

Grove Pt. 4 (Plaster Column, Plaster Floor)

London Interior (Dining Chair, Stool, Walls)

Paris (Cartouche Large, Corbel, Swag)

Schwerin (Terracotta Female)

SOHO Pt. 2

SOHO Pt. 3

SOHO Pt. 4

Harrie

Brownstone Pt. 2 (Traditional Door Frame – Med, Traditional Door – Med, Traditional Window 2 - Med)

Coastal Pt. 2 (Column)

Klean Pt. 3 (Concrete Floor, Painted Walls)

Kwatei Pt. 1 (3x1 BiFold, Double Arch, Single Interior Door)

Mutske

Stairs Add-on

Lijoue

Louer Collection (Iron Fence, Railing, Stone Stairs)

Peacemaker

Bistro Expanded (Awning 1x1)

Graffiti Mural 01

Pierisim

Winter Garden Pt. 2 (Double Door High, High Window w Bottom x2)

Sooky88

Checkered Marble Floor

English Country Wall Set (Subway Tiles, Subway Tiles w Wallpaper)

Scandinavian Wall Set (Plain w Tiles)

Syboubou

Neighborly 1 (Ceiling Outdoor Light, Mailbox)

Neighborly 2 (Interphone)

Buy Mode

AroundTheSims4

Laundromat (Seating x3 – Metal Base)

Tattoo Parlor (First Aid Kits, Gloves, Ink, Ink Display, Light, Saddle Stool, Tattoo Gun)

Cepzid

Functional Tattoo Chair

Felixandre

Berlin Pt. 1 (Curtain – Tall)

SOHO Pt. 1

Harlix

Baysic (Coffee Table, container, End Table, Kitchen Cabinet, Kitchen Counter, Kitchen Island, Kitchen Sink, Kitchen Trolley, Kitchen Accent Counter 1-3, Sofa)

Jardane (Leather Pouffe)

Kichen (Cabinet, Cups, Glasses, Plant, Shelf)

Kichen 2.0 Pt. 2 (Glasses 2 & 4)

Harrie

Shop The Look 1 (Armchair, Coffee Table)

Shop The Look 2 (Ceramic Side Table)

Shop The Look 3 (Circular Cushion)

Spoons Pt. 2 (2 Tile Glass Pedastal- Short & Tall, Counters, Espresso Bar, Island, Pastry Platter, Pizza Board, Shelving)

Kiwisims4

Blockhouse Dining (Booth Seating)

KKB

The Chilling Home (Module Bar Stool)

LittlleDica

Greasy Foods (Napkins, Salt Shaker, Stalls Door, Stalls Wall, Vents, Wet Floor Sign)

Modern Kitchen Stuff (Soft Breeze)

Rise & Grind (Décor Mural 2, Décor Syrup Bottle, Décor Wall Painting Menu, Dining Tables – All, Wastebun Counter)

Max20

Happily Ever After (Sign of Attention)

NANDO

Fashion Store (Ceiling Lamp)

Pierisim

Coldbrew Coffee Shop Pt. 3 (Menu, Paper Cup, Tea Box, Tips Jar)

MCM Pt. 1 (Simstudio Display)

MCM Pt. 4 (Kitchen Island)

Ravasheen

Shake and Shimmy Dance Floor

Shop Chef (Drink Dispenser)

Severinka

Industrial Light II

Simkoos

Clutter Dump Pt. 2  (Boba Notepad, Boba Stacked Cups V1, Cafeteria Straw Dispenser)

SimspirationBuilds

Toffee Pt. 1 (Art)

Syboubou

Catherine Sushi Restaurant (Wall Shelf 1 & 3)

Contemporary Haven (Armchair, Artworks, End Table, Sofa 3P Left)

Macaron (Counter Display)

TaurusDesign

Lilith Chilling Area Pt. 1 (Bartender Kit, All Drinks, SulSul Sign)

Tuds

Cave (Panel Light 2 x 4)

IND 01

IND 03

Turn Couch

Wondymoon

Fraxinus AIO Computer (DL on Patreon)

DO NOT REUPLOAD MY LOTS.

DO NOT CLAIM THEM AS YOUR OWN.

DO NOT PLACE BEHIND A PAYWALL.

Tray Files: DOWNLOAD

[vaguekiwi]

Queen's Court Suites

For @thewitchway (Read on Ao3)

Tony and Peter are sent on a top-secret mission by Fury. The catch? Tony can't use any of his own resources. Which means Tony has to fly economy for the first time in his life. Fortunately, Peter is there to show him the ropes.

The attendant at the ticketing counter had freckles on her eyelids.

Peter made sure to give her the most dazzling smile he could muster, but even his relentless optimism was waning on their hopes of making a flight tonight.

Who ever heard of making standby on a flight from London to New York that had been oversold to begin with — let alone for two people.

And the night after a sold-out concert at Wembley?

Yeah. Freaking unheard of.

Tony shifted beside Peter, impatience twitching in his fingertips. Aware that Tony might be about to blow their cover and whip out a black credit card, Peter asked,

“Are there any other flights tonight to the US? Not just JFK or Newark.”

“Umm, one moment Mr. Parker… let me just check… hmm, well…” the attendant’s eyes flicked between Peter and Tony, as if unsure who was in charge even though Peter had done all the talking. Peter supposed the hat, sunglasses, and face mask gave Tony a somewhat mysterious allure.

“So, I could route you through LAX on standby leaving at 6:35, the airline would comp a hotel for the night, and then in the morning you could fly into Newark…” her face pinched at the mere suggestion, as if knowing the overshot would be too much for Tony to bear when the man hadn’t even said a word.

“Otherwise…?” Peter nibbled his bottom lip, and the attendant seemed to deflate with sympathy for him.

“Otherwise, I could guarantee you seats on a direct fly to JFK… but it won’t be until three pm tomorrow.”

Peter nodded, taking this in very seriously while keenly aware that Tony was trying not to rip the whole ticket booth into two pieces.

“And accommodations tonight…?”

“Oh! Of course, Mr. Parker. The airline would cover a hotel room for the two of you.”

“We’ll do that then, the direct flight and guaranteed seats to JFK tomorrow. Thank you so much!” Peter reached to shake her hand and the woman literally blushed.

“Of course, of course… if you’ll just hand me your passports… I’ll take care of the booking details…” Peter passed the passports to her and nodded when she asked, “Would you like me to check you in now?”

“Please!”

“Okay then that’s… Mr. Peter Parker and… Anthony Stark — ha! Like Tony Stark, huh?”

Tony grimaced behind his mask and answered gruffly, “Get that a lot.”

“Oh I can imagine,” she giggled and cluelessly continued to get their booking squared away.

Peter beamed again at both of them and resisted the urge to pat Tony on the back in a childish form of praise.

She passed their passports back along with two boarding passes and a voucher listing acceptable hotels, and Peter led Tony from the ticket counter with a soft, “Wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“Wasn’t so bad?” Tony blustered incredulously. “Peter we could be home and eating authentic New York pizza three times over by now — maybe four! I don’t understand this whole ‘standby’ system… you wait and get told no, wait and get told no, wait and get bumped to the next flight, wait and get told no again… this is insane. When do you actually fly home?”

Peter looked at him puzzled, “Tomorrow at three.” He said, then he grinned.

All Peter could see of Tony were his eyes, so all he could make out was a deeply furrowed brow in answer to this.

“Come on,” Peter jerked his head toward the sign that read arrivals, “We got a long way back into the city,”

“Right,” Tony mumbled something else under his breath, but through the mask Peter couldn’t make it out. “Which hotel are we going to? I’ll order an Uber.”

“Some place called Queen’s Court Suites, and you won’t be booking an Uber.” Peter said, crossing the arrivals platform to stand in line at the elevators, “We’re taking the subway. Or as they call it here the tube.”

Tony all but dragged his feet after Peter. Boy did he have a bone (or twelve) to pick with Fury; a mission with just the kid was bad enough, but being cutoff from Stark and SHIELD resources was unbearable.

The tube wasn’t just packed, wasn’t just standing room only. It literally overflowed with people. All Tony could see was shoulders and bag straps and all he could smell was sweat.

Peter was wedged in front of him, and in a past life Tony might have reached to cup the boy’s supple ass on the subway car. But he swallowed stringently and held his muscles strictly in check while all around them teenage girls gushed about concerts past and upcoming.

It took them an hour to get into the city and two transfers to different lines before they finally walked 13 minutes to their hotel. Tony dragged his suitcase behind him, grateful at least that Pepper had packed it efficiently and lightly, and resolved to continue to let Peter speak for them at the hotel concierge desk.

There was no one at the desk. Peter tapped the waiting bell once and then held still, Tony’s fingers twitched with the impatient urge to hit the bell another four or five times out of insistence.

“So,” Tony cleared his throat while they waited, “You used to fly like this all the time?”

Peter’s head bobbed. “Not internationally,” he said, “But yeah May, Ben, and I used to visit relatives in Sacramento by flying standby,”

“And.” Tony had to swallow hard to get the word out, still disturbed by their experience on the flight to London just three days ago, “and economy.”

“Yes, economy.” Peter laughed.

“And you waited in all those lines every time? And got way too familiar with the entertainment preferences of the person next to you. And trekked all over the airport between gates when you couldn’t get on. And overpaid for the shittiest cup of coffee you’d ever had in your life. And-“

“Well we never bought anything at the airport, because it was overpriced. But yeah.”

Tony stared down at Peter, and wondered if the boy had been right all those months ago. Maybe the chasm between them was just too wide.

“Hello sirs, sorry for the wait. Can I help you?” An overly cheerful man swept behind the desk and reached for the voucher Peter offered.

“Right then, one room for one night. Your night is fully covered, but there is the matter of the city tax…”

Peter sorted out the fee in cash and Tony asked,

“How much would a second room be?”

“We don’t need a second room.” Peter interrupted before the concierge could answer, “Thank you though.”

They got sorted out with two room keys and were directed down the hall and up three flights of stairs that left Tony puffing more than he’d care to admit. They walked down the most depressing hallway Tony had ever seen (it made him want to put the suit on and just blast himself in the face with one of the gauntlets) and stopped outside a brass sign that read 321.

“Oh.” Peter stopped dead in the doorway and let out a breath, “maybe we do need a second room.”

“Why? What’s wrong with it?” Tony craned his neck and went to his tiptoes to try and look around the younger man, his own heart double thumping with an asinine flicker of hope when he saw the problem.

Tony looked from the room back to his ex.

There was only one bed.

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

New Article Interview!!

Tonys Roundtable: Rachel McAdams, Kelli O’Hara, Leslie Odom Jr., Sarah Paulson, Daniel Radcliffe and Eddie Redmayne on Broadway Paths, Parts and Pet Peeves

The talented sextet — nominated for 'Mary Jane,' 'Days of Wine and Roses,' 'Purlie Victorious,' 'Appropriate,' 'Merrily We Roll Along' and 'Cabaret,' respectively — sat down with THR ahead of the 77th Tony Awards.

BY SCOTT FEINBERG

Ph. JESSE ILAN KORNBLUTH

Eddie, you grew up in England but made it to New York when you were still very young… EDDIE REDMAYNE I was a kid of the ’80s in London, which meant the mega-musicals were a massive deal — the [Andrew] Lloyd Webbers and the [Alain] Boubil and [Claude-Michel] Schonbergs. The first theater I saw — I was aged about 7 — was Cats, and I remember the sets, these gigantic tomato ketchup things, and then it would turn in the round, and then suddenly cats appeared at my feet and scared the living daylights out of me. And I was completely seduced. PAULSON That’ll do it. REDMAYNE Exactly, some ’80s leotards and some cracking songs — talking of which, Cats: The Jellicle Ball is about to start here! PAULSON Sign me up — to watch it! [Laughs.] REDMAYNE But I remember, I instinctively just loved it so much. My parents, for my birthday, would take me to see one of these shows, and — this is slightly embarrassing to admit — I remember I would weep at the interval because I knew I only had half of it left. As far as New York was concerned? We were brought up on American culture, so seeing this city, it was the zenith of aspiration. When I came in my early teens or whatever, I remember coming to Broadway, and to this day, as we walk on the way to work from the subway, you walk past Times Square, and it just has this thing, doesn’t it? It’s electric, and it’s vibrant, and it never loses that “Come on in!” Its pulse is pulling you in. And so yeah, it was always something that I aspired to.

Eddie, in Cabaret you play The Emcee at the Kit Kat Club in Berlin as the Nazis come to power. The show has been around since 1966, and the film version came out in 1972, but your version is, from what I’ve gathered, very deliberately different than prior incarnations with Joel Grey, Alan Cumming and others. And you have your own long history with it… REDMAYNE I played The Emcee when I was about 15 years old at school — which feels a bit inappropriate now, I think. I didn’t know Cabaret when I first did it, so I watched the film and listened to all the recordings and was just stunned by it. It seduced me. It moved me. It made me laugh, and it made me think, “That’s what I dream of when I go to the theater.” And even though I didn’t necessarily understand all those things when I was a kid, it really stuck with me. Then, I did it again at the Edinburgh Festival when I was about 19 in a production in this grimy venue; we were out flyering every day trying to persuade people to come to the festival dressed in latex and PVC, and then at night we would do the show at 8:00 in the evening, and it would finish at 11:00, and then we’d have half an hour and do another show. And then the people who created that venue at the Edinburgh Festival — they’re called The Underbelly, and it became their business, these site-specific comedy shows — became really successful in London. About nine years ago, they asked me, “Would you ever consider doing this again?” And since then I’d seen every production of Cabaret that I could touch. I saw the Sam Mendes production in Barcelona, in Spanish; I’d seen Alan do it with Emma Stone so stunningly here; I’ve seen the Rufus Norris production; and I just love it. So, when they approached me about doing it, I thought, “I would love to, but only if we’re going to do something that hasn’t been seen or a new take on it.” And I’d just seen this production of Summer and Smoke in London, directed by Rebecca Frecknall, that had blown my mind — it was so poised, and it was stunningly designed by a guy called Tom Scott — so I went and spoke to Frecks and she said, “I’d love to do it.” But at this point, we didn’t have the rights. It’s impossible to get the rights to Cabaret — everyone dreams of doing it! So it became one of those pipe dreams that was never going to happen. But, even at that stage, we wanted to do it site-specific, so we’d found this old music hall in London underneath a train station in Angel, which basically now looked like a concrete car park in the shape of the Globe Theatre, and we thought, “If we could take people down fire escapes, and then the show could turn into Bergheim afterward and into a club, could that be interesting?” Then COVID happened. Afterward, the producers, ATG, who had jumped on board, said, “Look, we’ve got all these theaters that have been sitting empty. Could we ever take the experiential idea of taking an audience to an evening where, once they step over the threshold, they pass dancers and musicians and get discombobulated into a world where, by the time they reach the show proper, they’ve left all their troubles behind?” And I’ve always loved the backstage of theaters and seeing the grime and the grot behind the presentation. So that’s what we dug into.

And on Broadway, you guys basically invite people to arrive at 6:45 p.m. for what you call a prologue, and for over an hour before you ever show up onstage, bars are open and dancers are dancing and a whole vibe is created — it’s really its own show. REDMAYNE The dancers are extraordinary. Our choreographer, Julia Cheng, comes from a clubbing background, so one of the things we’re trying to do with the show is, although it’s very specifically set in its period, the echoes are so tangible now, and so the dance vocabulary is from waacking, from voguing, from contemporary club culture in the same way as the costumes. We’re not going, “This happened then; it can never happen again.” The costumes refer to contemporary fashions. There aren’t lots of Nazis in Nazi uniforms. It’s all trying to go, “Wait. There are regressions, things that we’ve talked about now, powers and rights being taken away and pulled back, and the loss of individuality.” Hopefully, the evening makes you think.

REDMAYNE I certainly agree with you about the physical costs. What I find interesting about doing Cabaret in the musical theater world is it demands a different set of skills that I’ve not necessarily harbored all my life and trained all my life. And whilst I look forward to serving this extraordinary piece every night, I’m filled with fear of whether technically I’m going to be capable to serve that. My wife, as I was having a complete meltdown in the lead-up to doing this, was back in London and reading Andre Agassi’s memoir [Open] — O’HARA Oh, it’s the best memoir! REDMAYNE And there’s a passage in it in which he talks about going to a musical on Broadway and how he relates to musical theater people because it’s that monastic, athletic living of having to eat, sleep and breathe something. My wife was sending it to me basically going, “Come on, you’re like Agassi!” But I’ve found that nothing upsets me more than when I have to go onstage to serve this stunning score in this extraordinary part in a beautiful — or I hope it’s a beautiful — production, and you are worried that you don’t have the facility to serve it to its full potential.

Does your ability to handle the demands of these parts vary depending on specific days of the week?

PAULSON Can I ask a question? Does anybody else loathe when people come on a Tuesday?

MCADAMS Yes!

PAULSON I hate the Tuesday show! When you come to see me on a Tuesday, I am so upset. People are like, “Lady, this was the time I could come…”

I would have assumed that on Tuesday, having had Monday off, you’re at your freshest…

O’HARA No. You’re not warm.

PAULSON A Tuesday, to me, I just feel like I’m finding my sea legs for the first 20 minutes of the play.

MCADAMS Yeah, you only had one day off, but it feels like a month.

O’HARA Tuesday’s not a good day. Don’t come on Tuesday.

REDMAYNE Guys! We need people to come on Tuesdays! [laughs and then jokingly continues] It’s my favorite night of the week!

RADCLIFFE It could go either way. It either feels like, “Oh, I’m back and I feel fresh,” or “I feel like I’ve never done the show before.”

Right. When I saw that, and ever since, I have said, “This is the greatest voice I’ve ever heard.” It was a great show. But it didn’t last very long. You never know what goes into these things — I read something where Leslie said that if Hamilton had come along five years earlier, who knows if even it would’ve clicked. It may be about just catching the zeitgeist. So I just wonder the degree to which you guys think about these things…

ODOM I’d love to hear you [O’Hara] talk about it because I —

O’HARA Why? Because this one closed too? [Laughs]

ODOM When I came to see you guys, man, did I love it so much.

O’HARA Listen, this musical was about alcoholism. Deep, dark alcoholism. And a love story, but riddled with this third player, right? So it wasn’t for everybody. I knew that it wasn’t the most commercial thing. It was an art piece, and I was so proud of that, actually. And we’re lucky that it had a space on Broadway for even a minute. But what killed me is that I felt like the population that needed it — us all being the daughter or having had that mother or knowing that father or whatever it was — I was worried that we hadn’t reached them. I sometimes worry that the business can be very formulaic, especially in how we sell things. And I was concerned that we weren’t reaching the audience, the whole new generation of sober-curious people, and people that don’t usually come to theater, or whole organizations that thrive and survive on sobriety or that need to have the conversation constantly or to see themselves in a story.

We were being told to sell it as a love story. We were deceiving people as they walked in the door, and I’m saying this out loud because it was one of the most painful parts of the process for me — to be doing that much, to be giving that much of my heart, and being so satisfied by the performance, and then I would literally have someone every single night come and see it and say, “Oh, I had no idea it was about alcoholism.” I jumped back on social media when we got the closing notice and started trying to promote the show, sweating, just to get more people in front of this beautiful piece of work. And I felt sad and angry because there was a time when that wasn’t your job as much; your job was to do eight shows a week with all your heart. But it felt like, “Gosh, I should have been more of an influencer. I should have been having things on the sidewalk [like Hamilton did].” And I started to get desperate because when you work on something for 20 years, and you know how special it is… But then you have to check yourself and say, “It’s special to me, and that doesn’t always translate to special to the larger community.” But it’s painful. When you’re in something that means the world to you, and it’s closing, it’s heartbreaking because it feels like a death.

REDMAYNE There’s something interesting that I’ve noticed, and that’s the extraordinary difference between doing a commercial play in the West End and on Broadway. The idea of grosses being announced and your makeup artist knowing them every Tuesday and telling you? In London, I had no idea. But here, as a producer on Cabaret as well, I had to say, in the producer meetings, “I’ll sit on all the calls, but I don’t want to know.”

With our remaining time, I’m going to give a few prompts and ask you to say the first thing that comes to your mind. To begin with: Excluding family, whose attendance at one of the performances of your show has meant the most to you?

PAULSON Laurie Metcalf.

RADCLIFFE Martin Short.

REDMAYNE Joel Grey.

MCADAMS Linda Maskell, my high school drama teacher — the reason I’m here.

ODOM Kathleen Battle came to our last performance, and I fell on the floor.

What’s the most unusual thing in your dressing room?

RADCLIFFE A small plastic basketball hoop that was left by Alex Edelman, who was in the show before ours. He said, “Do you want to keep it?” I was like, “Yeah, obviously!”

PAULSON I had a fan send me what looks like a taxidermy dog that is an identical replica of my dog. Everyone walks in the room, and they’re like, “Your dog is so calm!” I was like, “This is not a real dog.”

REDMAYNE Mine is something that looks like a loaf of really soft white bread, but it’s a stress ball. It was given to me by Jamie, who does my wigs. One day I was so in tears that she was like, “Eddie, you need some anger bread.”

What’s the most annoying thing that audiences, or at least some members thereof, are doing these days?

ODOM The cell phone thing. We had one crazy show where we had three or four cell phones going off. When you hear the first one, you should think, “Oh, shoot, let me actually turn mine off.” But there was a second one. And a third one. And it was in the first 20 minutes of the show. And so I did have to stop the show and say, “There’s grace in this moment. There’s amnesty. Let’s really do it [turn off all phones].”

PAULSON Good for you. God, I love that you did that. There is this thing of, “Let’s just be here together, all of us. You do your part. I’ll do mine.” I do feel like there is an alchemy every night, depending on what the audience is bringing and what we’re bringing.

O’HARA Oh, sure. They’re the final collaborator.

PAULSON Yes, they are the final collaborator.

MCADAMS I think people don’t realize that. I think they think you can’t even see them. I thought I wouldn’t be able to see them, but I can see everything. I can see when you’re sleeping. I can see you when you open your phone to see what time it is.

PAULSON I think the most annoying new thing that’s happening is everyone seems to have their cell phone in their lap, and so there’s all the phones dropping on the floor. And at the Helen Hayes, where we started, there’s no carpet, and so it would just be like [makes clanking noise]. Now, at the Belasco, you just hear this dull thud onto a carpet.

Eddie, there’s a lot of people that are getting smashed at your show, right? Is that an issue?

REDMAYNE “Come to Cabaret and get smashed!”

O’HARA “Especially on Tuesdays!”

REDMAYNE We do have a few vocal people. There was a moment last night when Gayle [Rankin, Redmayne’s Tony-nominated co-star], who is extraordinary in the show, was singing “Mein Herr,” and she got to that bit, “And I do, what I do, and I’m through, toodle-oo” — and literally there was a woman like, “Oh, my gosh, I love the ‘toodle-oo’!” [Laughs.] So occasionally, you get a good vocal Cabaret support.

MCADAMS Just a question. I remember someone — was it Jack White? — was asking people at concerts to put their phones in lockers or something. Has that happened on Broadway?

PAULSON They did it during Take Me Out because of the nudity. They did that. So, I know it can be done, and I would love to know why we don’t just do it. Just put your phone in a cubbyhole —

MCADAMS We’ll charge it for you.

PAULSON Would that be some cost-prohibitive thing to implement?

RADCLIFFE At Merrily, it’s been OK. I think being in a musical covers a lot — I’m sure stuff’s happening during those songs, but I can’t hear it. But since we’re here, my two favorites: On Equus, there was seating onstage, and I was onstage the whole time, and if I wasn’t in the scene I would just go back to sit on one of these four blocks — it was supposed to be my room at the hospital. And there was one night when I got to my block in the first scene that I wasn’t in, and two girls in the seats just started talking to me, just full voice, while Richard Griffiths and Kate Mulgrew were doing a scene behind me, just going, “Dan! Dan! Look up here!” It carried on through the whole first act. And then I was like, “I don’t need them to leave. But can they just go into the main auditorium so that they’re not just trying to speak to me through the show?” And then my other favorite audience member? I was doing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in London, and this dude came in, sat down, and, through Josh McGuire’s first monologue as Guildenstern, which is incredibly complicated, took out a footlong sandwich, wrapped in tin foil, unwrapped the whole thing, ate it in its entirety and fell asleep for the rest of the first act. But then in the second act, he was the most attentive audience member — jumped up at the end and clapped. I wanted to be like, “Wait, did you have a good time?” “Yeah. I had a dinner, had a sleep and saw half of a great show.”

If you could snap your fingers and make it so, what would be the ideal number of performances your show would offer per week?

RADCLIFFE I don’t want to make myself unpopular, but I like the grind.

ODOM I mean, listen, the ideal would be six, right? Six or seven.

PAULSON I think the Wednesday matinee is the one I would chuck. Because when you start the Tuesday week, and then you’ve got that matinee right away? I would like to do seven with no Wednesday mat.

O’HARA I would do anything to have two days in a row off.

REDMAYNE When you get two days off, your voice can really recover.

MCADAMS Oh, fuck that Tuesday show. [Laughs.] To get the Sunday or the Sunday night-Monday-Tuesday stretch off — I mean, I might actually leave the city and go somewhere where there’s nature.

Last one. If you could play any role on the stage that you have not played before — somebody’s listening — what would it be?

PAULSON I would like to do The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?

REDMAYNE Oh! Which I would love to see you in. That was the first play I ever did in London, and you would be magnificent in that part.

RADCLIFFE I’ll know it when I see it.

REDMAYNE I’m exactly the same. I’m much better when people tell me which part I should play.

ODOM Someday — and it ain’t soon — I want to do Lear.

And the Purlie musical maybe still?

ODOM It could happen.

Rachel? Are you going to come back for more after this?

MCADAMS Not next year! [Laughs.] I would love to star in any musical, but that will never happen. So this is just all pipe dreams. But yeah, anywhere I could sing. I started out doing Disney musicals at theater camp, and I was so bad that the teacher said to me, “You know, you might be really good in the Shakespeare camp,” and sent me on my way, and it was devastating. But it was the right thing in the end.

full interview here!!

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/tony-nominations-roundtable-rachel-mcadams-daniel-radcliffe-eddie-redmayne-1235918192/

[supertrainstationh]

STEPNEY VISITS ARVERNE

by A. Griffin/ Super Train Station H ---------------------------------

From Sheffield Park so far away, to the narrow stretch of Rockaway, the young at heart count down the days, till Stepney visits Arverne.

A tour spanning across the world, bringing joy to every boy and girl, now New York City gets its turn, when Stepney visits Arverne.

The Bluebell Railway's long revered, does blow her chime so all will hear, and beyond its sound, is spread the cheer, when Stepney visits Arverne.

Brightly the merry whistle tones, beach rabbits scurry to their holes, folks rush out from their bungalows, when Stepney visits Arverne.

Long Island Rail Road right of way, between the ocean and the bay, will carry her throughout her stay, when Stepney visits Arverne.

Backyards on Amstel Boulevard, from there wave children from afar, they see the engine working hard, when Stepney visits Arverne.

Each of her cars, a wooden coach, on streams of steel, away they float, within the sight of canal boats, when Stepney visits Arverne.

These tracks knew steam so long ago, and reminded of the days of old, the beachside rails do creak and groan, when Stepney visits Arverne.

Subway cars get traction too, watch Stepney pull R32s, the silver cars glisten like new, when Stepney visits Arverne.

The engine painted muted gold, whispers with steam the stories told, of escape from scrap, so brave and bold, when Stepney visits Arverne.

The Jay Street Cargo Railroad yard, meets the London South Coast Railway's star, the Brukelen Bridge isn't so so far, when Stepney visits Arverne.

Suited commuters, office bound, are caught off guard by what they've found, tank engine strength gets them around, when Stepney visits Arverne.

Beach 67th needs crowd control, when the famous train is due to roll, perfect shots are the spotter's goal, when Stepney visits Arverne.

Long Island multi-unit cars, though motors rest, they travel far, the engine takes them from the yard when Stepney visits Arverne.

She brought the Pullman coaches too, for dining pleasure on the move, the bayside vistas set the mood, when Stepney visits Arverne.

Not everyone's seen steam before, but the magic they'll learn to adore, from the "Floreat Vapor" ambassador, when Stepney visits Arverne.

And off she goes, all by herself, to have adventures somewhere else, but she came before, and she'll come again, and a few more seaside days she'll spend, on the ocean line, with the blue H sign, when Stepney visits Arverne.

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

Arverne is a neighborhood situated between the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay on New York City’s Rockaway Peninsula.

London Brighton South Coast Railway No. 55, “Stepney”, is a tank engine that was built in 1875 and now lives at the Bluebell Railway in England.

The artwork of Lunarian H (my own character) and Stepney in Arverne was provided by Keetah Spacecat.

[Twitch] [VOD Channel] [Writing FA] [Ko-fi]

[larakb117]

LONDON ADVENTURE

Joseph Quinn & female y/n

Summary: London Adventure is turning into New York Adventure…

Content Warning: fluff, rpf, implied smut

Part 10

The next morning you woke up, Joe sat next you in the bed, shirtless, with his phone in his hands. He clearly had already showered, there were some water drops all over his body, his hair was wet. “Hey.”, you said with a raspy voice. “What time is it?” He hadn´t recognized that you were awake, he almost threw his phone away on the night stand and turned to you. “Morning love.”, he smiled, his eyes were filled with adoration. “It´s almost 5 am.” He cupped your cheeks and kissed you softly. You slowly closed your eyes. Your breathe got a little heavier and you could feel your heartrate get higher, it was like your heart was nearly bursting out of you. Your hands wandered down his naked and wet upper body, they rested at his chest hair for a while, your fingers curled up in it a little. It was a long kiss. Once your lips separated he asked: “Do you want to go on sleeping or…?” “I think I slept enough, Joe.”, you chuckled. “You want to go and see the city a little bit?” “Oh, yes!”, you hastily kissed him again, sprung up from the bed and ran into the bathroom. “I´m taking a quick shower!”, you shouted out of the bathroom.

It had two separate sinks, a huge bathtub and was covered in white marble. You showered off the dirt from the 7 hour flight and many hours of waiting in line. “Damn.”, you thought, when you realised you did not bring any clothes in the bathroom. Then it came to your mind, that you wouldn´t need to worry about stepping out in the room naked. That was still new to you, but you were confident enough to do that. The last couple of days Joe had told you how beautiful you were hundreds of times. And you could feel that he really meant it, so you went out there without anything on. Joe stunningly stared at you: “Wow, love, you are just…Come here.”

After a short make out session (you came twice), you got dressed: Joe wore some grey trousers and a pinstriped shirt. It seemed like half of his wardrobe were pinstriped shirts. You decided to go for a simple white shirt and a leather jacket on top of some jeans. The jewellery you wore spiced up the outfit a bit more, Joe wore his chain and the rings as well.

At about 6 am you left the hotel. You took two different subway lines and went to Times Square 42 St. The moment you left the subway station you got to see Times Square right in front of you: Hundreds of billboards were in front of you, movie trailers, ads for various products, lit up signs for shops and restaurants everywhere around you. Suddenly you discovered Joe on of the billboards: “Oh my God!!There´s you, Joe!” “Yes.”, he blushed a bit. Joe had told you about the movie he was part of and which he was about to promote this week in New York. It was the first time you saw him in the costume and everything. You just knew the stuff he told you about so far. Pride started to grow in your chest. You grabbed his hand and squeezed it, while you watched the short trailer with a fascinated look. Then you turned around to look him in the eyes: “I´m really proud of you.”

After Times Square you took a taxi to Lower Manhattan for a long sunrise walk at Battery Park. You slowly started to get hungry, so you got some takeaway breakfast at a café and sat down at a bench with a view to Staten Island and the Liberty Statue. The Liberty was way smaller than you had expected, she was barely to see. You sat there for a while, the sun had already risen a few hour ago. “Love, will you join me at Jimmy Fallon tomorrow?”, Joe surprisingly asked. “What?”, you stared at him with an open mouth. “I´ll be at Jimmy Fallon tomorrow, do you want to come with me?” “Oh yes!!I love Jimmy Fallon!!!”, you lowkey freaked out. You could not believe you were sitting on a Bench in New York City and had the chance to see Jimmy Fallon live. Joe laughed: “Okay, we can go on top of the Rockefeller Centre together before we have to go to the studio, if you like to? So, don´t do that later when I´m at the Buzzfeed office, alright?”

You hastily nodded out of excitement and threw yourself at Joe. You tightly hugged him and wouldn’t let go. Joe stood up with you wrapped around his waist. He laughed, his laugh was perfect, it came right from his heart, it was a true and honest laugh. You just left some metres behind till you jumped off of him. Meanwhile it was 10 am, you sat down at a café to get some coffee and a snack.

Joe had to leave and get to the Buzzfeed Office near to Times Square, he had already texted Maddie that he would meet her there. It was a hard goodbye, even though you would see him again in a few hours, you would very much miss him. Joe told you to enjoy the city, he would call you as soon as he finished filming and doing interviews. The first thing you did was going to the Metropolitan Museum. The fashion exhibitions were the most exciting thing about the museum. After that you walked around Central Park, visited the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain and strolled around the Reservoir. A lot of pictures, selfies and google maps searches later your phones battery was about to die, so you decided to go back to the hotel. The moment you arrived at the hotel, Joe called you. You picked up the phone: “Yeah?” “I love, I just finished, where are you?” “I just arrived at the hotel. Are you coming?” “I´ll be there in twenty minutes, love.” He hung up.

Exactly 22 minutes later, the hotel room door opened and Joe came in. His eyes wided when he saw you laying on the bed: “Oh, I missed you so much.” He jumped up on the bed right next to you and grabbed your face to pull it close to him. “Hi, babe.”, you grinned. “How was your day?” “Pretty good, they let me play with puppies, that was cute. And I had to read some thirst tweets. Fans are begging BuzzFeed for two years now to make me do this video.”, he laughed and ran one hand through his hair. He looked incredibly good, that´s because you stared at him for a moment. You went in for a deep kiss.

“Love, I have a surprise for you.” Excitement rushed through you, you loved surprises. “You told me that you like musicals.”, he stopped. “Yes?” “I texted one of my friends who´s currently on Broadway and he put us on the guest list tonight.” “What?”, that was a thrilling surprise. “You tell me, I´m going to see a Broadway Musical?! At fucking Broadway?!”, you squeaked. “I love how excited you can get.”, Joe said with a loving undertone. “Who´s that friend? And what´s the musical?”, you asked while your hands tugged at his shirt. “It´s Gaten Matarazzo, I met him at the stranger things set.” “Oooh, he is Dustin!!!” “Yes. Gaten´s the best. Such a nice guy. He has some time after the Musical, so you can get to know him” “He´ll be the second friend of yours I get to know!”, you smiled, Joe hopefully did not think that you just wanted to meet Gaten because of his role in Stranger Things, you just wanted to meet all the people who were important in Joes life. “So tell me what´s the musical?”, you curiously asked again. “Sweeney Todd. You know that?” You squeaked again: “I love that musical! I was obsessed with the movie too!” You started to belt the song “Johanna”, but got in a fit of laughter after just a line of the song. Joe covered his face with a pillow. “Am I such a bad singer?”, still laughing, you knew that you were actually good at singing. Joe revealed his face, he was laughing too: “I just love how excited you are, love.”

To be continued…

[softquietsteadylove]

Thenamesh taking the subway for the first time! And some drama! pls?

Dane sat in unbearable silence with the woman next to him.

He and Thena were getting along, as far as Sersi could tell him. And he did enjoy Thena's company--she was calm, maybe a little cold, but he was getting to understand that none of her bite had teeth to it. And she seemed to find him funny.

He also knew that she wasn't doing well with most modes of transportation. She and Gilgamesh had apparently travelled by train as much as possible on their journey. Planes were too confined and too high risk, as it were.

He had been prepared to walk clear across London to meet up with Sersi and Gilgamesh, who were perusing the various food markets while Dane got some grading done and Thena rested through the morning and early afternoon.

It would take them literal hours but he was prepared for it.

Thena herself had said there was surely a faster way to get to them, and not to hold back on her account.

Now, they were seated together on the tube, in the least crowded car possible. They were through four stops already, and still had to make one transfer and then go through another six.

Dane cleared his throat. He wasn't entirely sure how to converse with the Warrior Eternal. She never struck up conversations on her own and he wasn't sure what would even be relatable to her, let alone not insufferably dull or passe for a person of her age--experience, maybe; he knew they didn't have any age at all.

Thena looked up as the lights grew dim. Dane looked at her instantly, watching for any small signs of trouble, "something is wrong."

He didn't ask for more. He knew her senses were capable of more than anyone else's. He made no attempt to placate her worries, either.

Not a few seconds later the car went dark before the emergency lighting shone faintly.

"Dammit," he murmured, looking out the window at the completely pitch black side of the tracks. They weren't even within site of the next station. "Power surge or something--we'll be stuck here until they can get the cars moved."

"Dane."

"Shouldn't be long," Dane sighed as he tried to see out the other side as well. No one else was panicking, which was a bit of a relief. "This does happen from time to time."

"Dane."

"We'll be on our way in no-"

"Dane!"

"Time," he muttered, catching the faint gold running under Thena's skin. Her eyes were closed, but he had been told that if he ever saw a flicker of white in them, he need do only two things: get Gilgamesh, and get away.

The car creaked under the dead weight of its load. Thena flinched.

"Okay, all right," Dane said gently, sitting next to her again. She was folded in on herself much more tightly than before--he should have taken more note of her posture. "Hey, Thena, are you all right? Can you breathe?"

She nodded, and indeed he could see the rise and fall of her shoulders, the clench of her throat.

"T-Tell me-" he gulped. Tell him what?--how to help her? Was there truly anything a mortal man like him could do?

She shook her head.

Dane pulled out his phone; no service, of course. He sighed, budging closer until his knee could knock against hers gently. "Thena, can you tell me what you need?"

Her throat tightened and her lips pinched together, something akin to a whimper escaping from her.

Gilgamesh: what, or who, she needed was her husband.

"Right," Dane sighed, still hovering close to the woman. He looked around him warily at the other civilians around them.

"Is she okay?"

He looked over, an older woman looking at them in concern. He gave her his calmest smile. "My sister-in-law, she gets...panic attacks--claustrophobic."

He looked at Thena again, afraid to worsen her struggle. He inhaled, "what if I talk? Something to focus on?"

Thena nodded, moving her own trembling hands to her head.

"Okay, yes, talk," Dane gulped and nodded to himself. His throat had never been so dry in his life. "Uhm, so, I-"

Thena growled from within her throat.

"Sorry," he sighed. Why had they split up? Even if just Sersi were here, she could calm her sister down. Better than he could, at least. "I'm sure you wish Sersi were here too."

Thena waved her hand at him.

Yes, Sersi--oh, Sersi! He leaned forward, "S-Sersi, yes, t-talk about Sersi?"

She nodded.

"Right," he let out a somewhat easier breath. "Well, we, uhm, we met almost four years ago now. She gave a presentation at the school and, well, I suppose I fell for her rather quickly."

"It's terribly cliche, but it's true," he chuckled, remembering the day he first laid eyes on the unearthly - oh, the irony - beautiful woman. "Even more unexpected was how much we had in common, and how she asked if I'd like to get coffee some time."

"I thought to myself, surely this woman is way out of my league. Surely she has some long-term partner I just don't know about yet."

Thena smacked his shoulder.

Right, no Ikaris talk; Dane rubbed his arm. "Sorry--anyway, we had such a great time talking about history and natural science that I suggested we get together again. And I suppose...it went from there."

"Sersi just...never gets tired of it all. Especially knowing now how long she's been here, I can't fathom how she still has so much wonder for the little things. But she takes nothing for granted--she loves the sunrise, and loud rain, and watching birds. She doesn't squish bugs who find themselves where they shouldn't be."

"Early in our relationship, we were on a walk in a public garden. There was a butterfly exhibit, and she told me that 'an old friend' of hers used sign language, and that her sign for Sersi was like a butterfly."

"Anyway, we were on our way out when we saw a butterfly on the leaf of one of the trees by the entrance. It was quite far from the butterfly exhibit and my guess is that it was swept away by the winds or something--poor thing."

"And Sersi," Dane sighed, a smile coming over him at the memory. "She held out her finger, and the butterfly made itself right at home with her. I've never seen anything like it, but it settled in her palm and moved its wings a little."

"We walked to lunch and that butterfly just sat there. At one point she took a strawberry out of her salad for it. Then, on the way home, it had finally recovered itself and...fluttered off."

"I'll never forget what it was like to see such a delicate life form so comfortable with another," Dane finished softly. Thena was holding herself much less tightly than she was before, he noted with some relief. "The next date we went on I got her a little trinket--just a silly little thing. Glass butterfly she could keep on her desk. Just-"

"It's on her shelf at home."

Dane blinked. Even before they had gotten stuck, Thena hadn't spoken since descending the stairs into the station. "I-It is?"

Thena nodded, looking up at last. Her eyes were green. "She keeps it next to the gift Ajak gave her on her wedding day."

Well that certainly was a place of honour, involving her ex-husband or not.

Thena looked up and over at something, Dane doing the same, even knowing it was futile. He looked back at her. "Something is coming."

He couldn't sense what she was, but he noticed a faint light travelling under them. He assumed it was safety precautions installed by the station.

"She's transmuting."

Dane blinked again. He knew that was what they called Sersi's power. He still didn't know every little detail of how they worked, and Sersi was more than tired of him asking her. But transmutation was the best word for it: transformation of one state of matter to another.

The lights came on and the car lurched as its systems booted again. The small crowd within let out a collective sigh of relief. Although not at full speed, the subway car did at least slowly slide into the next open station, where a crowd of people was both awaiting its arrival and anxious for those inside.

Dane startled as the doors rattled, being gripped and ripped open from the other side.

"I told you to use restraint!"

"Thena?!"

The Warrior Eternal rose and went right to him, letting their rescuer pull her into his arms as she buried her face in his chest. She sighed, "you're here."

"I'm here," he whispered to her, kissing the arch of her cheek and sending that golden glowing away.

Dane eyed the dents in the metal door where Gilgamesh had pried it open like wet cardboard. He cleared his throat, pulling it as far back as it could go and standing in front of it, "please, everyone, this way."

Sersi did the same with the other door, "everyone off, just in case it...shuts down again."

Gilgamesh pulled Thena off the modern contraption and to the side as the crowd filtered off the car and a station inspection crew replaced them. "Come on."

Thena settled into Gil's side as he led them away from the crowd and the congested stairs leading in and out of the station. She breathed in the scent of him.

Gil ran his hand over her hair as he turned to Dane, "you guys okay?"

He nodded, offering his sympathies in a weak smile, "certainly tried--I'm no substitute for the real thing."

"He did well."

Gil beamed, taking his wife's word and kissing the top of her head. He looked back at Dane with that same grin, "sounds like you did a hell of a lot better than 'tried'."

"I'm sorry," Sersi ran her hand down his arm, "I'm sure it was stressful being stuck in there."

He had never been more stressed out in his life. He shrugged, "we were all right, I think."

"Well, let's get above ground at least," Gil suggested, still with his bag of loot on his other arm. "Fresh air?"

Thena nodded against him, still quiet after their close call.

Dane looked at his girlfriend, "what did you do?"

Sersi gave him a somewhat sheepish smile, "copper is a much better conductor of both heat and electricity. Gil and I heard that a car had been stopped due to a power outage. He ripped the fuse box open and I turned all the wiring to copper."

Dane shook his head; she made it sound so simple.

"I changed them back already," she huffed in her own defense.

Dane just chuckled, taking her hand in his as they trailed behind his in-laws, "careful, love, or you'll make the news again."

[localwebslingers]

| Headcanon - Differences |

This is a slightly different one and I didn't know how else to do it, but these are two fairly notable differences between both Peters: mcu Peter has a faster healing factor, but tasm Peter has a stronger spider sense.

For the healing factor, while both are absolutely faster than most, tasm Peter still had healing bruises a full day after being in a fight, even though minor scrapes seemed to heal up faster. Meanwhile mcu Peter crashed an entire plane into a beach and was perfectly fine by school the next day. He did get pretty messed up by the bullet train in Europe but that was also pretty sudden, fast, and with no warning to try and brace for, whereas with the plane he was able to at least try and control and brace for what was coming. Severe injuries still need more time but if they're fairly minor, they seem to be completely gone by the next morning rather than needing a couple of days to fully recover.

With the spider sense, yes mcu Peter absolutely is in tune with his great, especially when ahving to fight against Beck on the bridge in London. There's no doubt about that. However, tasm Peter's sense not only seems to have a wider range but picks up on more things. There's a sound effect given to when it kicks in that plays through both movies and Peter not only tagged when enemies were nearby, but he noticed there was trouble from Conners on the bridge before and as the police sirens sounded, noticed the lizards around the subway which weren't a threat themselves but a sign of where one was, and was able to pick up on Max getting to Time Square before he'd even done anything and that was from pretty far away too.

They're just things that have been rattling around in my brain a little while and I absolutely use this in how I write both of them. Fun thing to keep in mind.

[beardedmrbean]

New Jersey sued the U.S. Department of Transportation for its role approving New York’s planned congestion toll, arguing the federal government should conduct a fuller environmental-impact study of what would be the nation’s first congestion pricing system.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Newark, Friday morning. The suit, which also lists the Federal Highway Administration and two officials at that division of DOT as defendants, could upend plans by New York officials to raise money for the subway system by charging congestion tolls on people who drive into the busiest parts of Manhattan.

“We believe the feds short-circuited the normal review process,” the Democratic governor said in an interview on Good Day New York.

The Federal Highway Administration, or FHWA, doesn’t comment on pending litigation, a spokeswoman said. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which will oversee congestion pricing, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. MTA officials have previously said they conducted an extensive environmental analysis.

The FHWA signed off on the MTA’s review in late June, and the MTA has begun setting up camera systems needed to charge the tolls. The authority hopes to start charging congestion tolls by the spring of 2024 on vehicles that enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.

Murphy argued that the new tolls will unfairly target New Jersey drivers, who already pay a $17 toll to use the Lincoln or Holland tunnels into Manhattan. Around 111,000 people drove into Manhattan’s business district from New Jersey on an average fall weekday in 2019, according to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, a planning group.

The MTA this week convened a board that will set toll rates and consider exemptions—including a possible credit for drivers who must already pay tolls to use tunnels.

The congestion charge could be as high as $23 during rush hour, according to the MTA’s environmental review. Drivers just using highways along the Hudson and East rivers can avoid the fee, and low-income residents of the congestion zone would receive an offsetting tax rebate.

The toll must raise enough money to cover operating costs as well as bonds to finance $15 billion of mass-transit improvements for the MTA. New York approved the congestion pricing in 2019 as part of a larger budget bill in Albany.

In addition to raising funds, leaders of the MTA estimated that the new tolls would reduce traffic by up to 20%, thereby improving air quality and reducing trip times. Similar systems are in place in London, Stockholm and Singapore.

[vibrantlifeboringdeath]

Tag Game to Better Know You

tagged by the very lovely @zozobruh thank you SO much for thinking of me <3

What book are you currently reading?

it WAS Time is a Mother, the poetry collection by Ocean Vuong, but it's currently lost on the london subway :( next on the list though is Secret History, my friend got it for me for christmas and I really wanna start!!!

what’s your favorite movie you saw in theaters this year?

I'm ngl I don't think I've been to the cinema yet this year!! But I'm very excited for Asteroid City (which I might get to see this week) and Barbie. I am becoming very unhinged about Barbie tbh-

I will say though, I REALLY wanna see Banshees of Inisherin that u mentioned in ur own post!!!

what do you usually wear?

monochrome (with the occaisional splash of red or blue), short skirt & long jacket (like the cake song), lots of jacket pins. I wore a dress on saturday that was a bit risky in terms of my dysphoria but i FUCKING LOVED IT ACTUALLY. I also adore my new barbie crop top-

how tall are you

5 foot 10-ish I think??

what’s your star sign? do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event?

I'm an aires and I have the same birthday as Nathan Fillion, Mariah Carey, Christine Sydelko from Vine & apparently a bunch of tiktok stars I've never heard of lmao

do you go by your name or a nickname?

my name, Envy. A couple of people have tried V against my will, I hate it tbh

did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child?

When I was a child I did not even know I was a girl lmao. I wanted to be a rockstar and I *am* in a band though, so????

are you in a relationship? if not, who is your crush if you have one?

oh boy lmao (I'm single and mostly fine with it. I think I need to figure myself out a bit before I think too much about this one)

what’s something you’re good at vs something you’re bad at?

I am good at playing guitar. Not great, competent. I lack the focus to really grind out the practice to break the barrier into being Really Really Good at something. So I guess I'm bad at learning??? But my actual answer to that is I'm bad at picking up on social queues/figuring out where I stand with people

dogs or cats?

I love them both, I love going to someone's house and they have a dog, but I'd personally rather live with a cat

if  you draw/write, or create in any way, what’s your favorite  picture/favorite line/favorite etc. from something you created this  year?

A lot of what I've written this year are song lyrics that are NOT ready for anyone else's eyes lmao. You can have this little snippet from an Our Flag Means Death fic I'm working on though:

The dull Toronto sky barely seemed real as Ed stared gloomily out of his studio apartment window. The whole city felt fleeting, a hastily-painted backdrop to an imitation of life that looked as if it could start peeling away at any moment. He remembered coming here with his mother as a teenager, resenting the city’s skyscrapers for blocking his view of home, all the friends he had to leave behind. It was childish to feel that way again, Ed thought, but he also knew he couldn’t help it. Stede made him happier than he’d ever thought possible, and everything that came between them was cruel in its indifference. They hadn’t arranged when to see each other again – that was normal, Ed needed to know his schedule before he could commit, and he normally called from a payphone once he had something to offer. But the wait until then didn’t make it any easier.

what is something that you’d like to create content for?

I want to make a video game lmao. I started designing a top-down shooter a while ago to see how it felt and I. It activated all the special interest neurons in my brain I want to make game mechanics and spend ages making little pixel art icons bc I will get v obsessive about the art style and- but that's not really what the question was lmao. Uh. I've only recently started getting into writing fanfic and stuff, I'm writing for Our Flag Means Death right now but I had some ideas in high school for Doctor Who fics that I might dust off at some point-

what’s something you’re currently obsessed with?

YuGiOh, our flag means death, whatever Ryan Gosling has going on right now

what’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

my year has NOT been going how i expected it to at all and some of it stings a bit, I won't lie, but that's unfair of me because things are really, really good when I get over myself and really think about it. I am happy, I'm just a little bit insane, but I'm leaving the place that is making my mental health tank in about a month so things are looking up!! and they were already good, I just!!!

what’s a hidden talent of yours?

I am good at So Few Things, I would not hide a talent, I am trying to seem like a good hire

are you religious?

No, but I think the sense of community and catharsis and connection to something so much bigger than myself I get when I see my favourite artists at a concert is close to the feeling I think a lot of people are chasing, and can feel, when explorign their faith. I would say I'm some kind of spiritual but I think that feeling just comes from Us, not because there's something Bigger out there

what’s something you wish to have at this moment?

A reason to leave this island Right Now I'm moving up north to be with my friend in a month and I could NOT be more excited but this is going to be the longest month of my life lmao

going to tag @school-marm-charm if u fancy sharing!! No pressure though <3