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chicagocityfclanspromoblog · 3 years

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Miles Agyeman-King → Alfie Enoch → Pumapard

→ Basic Information

Age: 136

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Born or Made: Born

Birthday: April 9th

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Religion: Animism

→ His Personality Miles is a hard character to place and understand. He seems to have a wide array of personalities mixed in one, which can be explained by his experience with the Hypershift. He is self-contained and doesn’t typically use strong emotions to show what he is feeling. He generally feels uncomfortable around outbursts of emotions. He doesn’t talk about his feelings, but he will act on them and show people how he feels instead of telling them. Miles prefers to keep his thought process to himself. He never brings up the past, whether it’s his or someone else’s, and never relies on people’s personal or historical experiences to tell him who they really are.

Miles is comfortable adapting to the environment and responding to the situation as it changes. He tends to blend into the background when stronger or louder personalities are in the same room. His silent strength however plays very well with the often overly expressive Cats in his pack. Hidden below the calm layer is that same zealous energy that he only allows out during schedule runs with the pack. He’s become known as an impartial calm judge in any arguments that might happen in the pack.

→ His Personal Facts

Occupation: History Teacher

Scars: Marks along his arms and sides from fighting when he was younger

Tattoos: None

Two Likes: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and Pwason Boukannen

Two Dislikes: Superhero Movies and Pen thieves

Two Fears: Heights and Hypershift

Two Hobbies: Meditation and Journaling

Three Positive Traits: Observant, Ambitious and Forgiving

Three Negative Traits: Secretive, Elusive, Restrained

→ His Connections

Parent Names:

Roseline King (Mother): She was a fiercely protective mother and taught the boys how to fight for themselves. Her tenacity was up until the very end as Hunter blood was sprayed all around her, she got one last fight in before she died.

Emmanuel King (Father): Miles’s father was a quiet man. He and his brothers were rarely not butting heads with their father’s quiet and gentle behavior. As Miles has grown and reflected, he wonders what his father might think of him today. And if after the hypershift he became the person his father wanted him to be.

Sibling Names:

Arthur King (Triplet): He and Arthur are close, but not like they used to be. They split off after Henry was killed, only meeting up every so often. Arthur tried to settle down once, but the pack kicked him out once they heard of his hypershift. He’s been alone ever since, and has warned Miles that the same thing might happen to him.

Henry King (Triplet): Henry died almost 70 years ago. He couldn’t control his shift anymore and the New Orleans alpha had to kill him. Miles has been scarred ever since that day, and uses it as a motivation to stay in control.

Children Names:

None

Romantic Connections:

Malia Agyeman (Mate and Wife): M² have been together for 5 years but finally married at the beginning of 2019. Miles’ soft spoken nature is a stark contrast to Malia’s strong and outgoing nature, but he is always there to support her in her endeavors.

Platonic Connections:

Noel Crais (Good Friend): At first Miles was unsure about Noel mothering him or showing him genuine concern. She grew on him when she learned to speak Creole and about his culture. While Mile doesn’t appreciate her knowing looks but he does appreciate her not telling whatever it is she thinks she knows.

Kayla Silvestre (Friendly): Miles has tried to become a resource for Kayla as her dad goes into hypershift. He knows the long painful road ahead of the whole family, whether her dad pulls out of it or not, and he hopes he can ease some of that pain for her.

Esther Yoo (Close Friend): By default of Esther being Malia’s best friend, she’s somewhat become his as well. Esther serves as a good mediator when M² is fighting and is the only other person who excels at talking Malia down.

Rebecka Blake (Acquaintance): Rebecka has been trying to plan a hybrid class between history and English. He’s interested, but the planning is taking longer than he expected.

Roy Allen (Friend): Miles finds Roy a calming presence. There never seems to be an expectation from him and he is a good centering point when Miles feels overwhelmed with his secret.

Hostile Connections:

Rhett Colt (Hate): Rhett Colt was the one hunter who escaped after killing his parents. He sees taking a Colt daughter’s arm as revenge.

Churchill Darling (Annoyance): Churchill stole his face a few months after he came to town. His pack members generally can tell, but Malia has taken to punching Church when she thinks he has stolen his face and he’s been punched quite a few times by his wife on accident.

Ben Miller (Dislikes): He and Ben have had some altercations in the past, especially right when he joined. He’s found it’s better to steer clear of the liger to not trigger an unwanted change.

Pets:

None

→ History Miles and his family immigrated from Haiti to the United States during his early childhood. Miles was 3 years old. They spent some time in Florida as crop laborers/farm workers but eventually worked their way up to Georgia then to New Orleans. His father worked as a seasonal framhand and his mother worked as a maid. His family soon met up with the local pack and they settled in. Eventually people began noticing his parents didn’t age. Some accused them of being witches, or of hiring one to keep them young. The townspeople became so riled up that Buford Colt caught wind, all the way up in Jackson, Mississippi. He came down with his sons and they went hunting for witches. Instead, however, they found the cats. Roseline and Emmanuel sent their sons away to get the alpha when they heard the news of a hunter in town. When their sons returned, they had already been killed. Their alpha and the local seethe quickly killed Buford and most of his sons, except for one.

Miles and two brothers quickly became reckless without their parents warnings. They were angry and in mourning and they took to running off their pain. The triplets would go on long runs, sometimes gone for days at a time in their shift. Their alpha told them to slow down, but they had already become too aggressive to really control. It was at this point any warnings were given up, and they were told to just not kill anyone in New Orleans. A few months later Miles, Arthur, and Henry woke up in Texas, next to a man who’d been mauled to death. They buried him, and realized it had gone too far. Their alpha hadn’t mentioned anything when they’d come back, but a part of Miles wondered if he knew. The brothers immediately stopped shifting, but it wasn’t a smooth process. Miles broke down once or twice, but managed to stop shifting for a year, Arthur figured it out a few months after Miles, but Henry succumbed to the Hypershift, and was killed the following year. That almost triggered both Miles and Arthur to begin shifting again, and they had to move away from the town. It was then that Miles began journaling, to keep his temper and cat under control. It was the only way that he could process those emotions. The two remaining King brothers moved to Atlanta the following year, and then split apart. Miles spent decades travelling around in his human form, until finally he made his way to Chicago. There he finally met a pack likable enough to stay.

→ The Present Miles always thought his years spent in hypershift killed off any chance of romance or a family for him. He’d stayed out of the way of most cat shifters to avoid anything that would trigger him losing control again. He expected he’d act the same again in Chicago, but found something that clicked. Especially when he saw Malia cornered that night. It’d been one of the few times Miles had run with the pack and he wondered how that particular bit of luck worked out. He is truly in awe of Malia, and he’s even more in awe that he gets to be her husband. Her tenacity and strength and intelligence has brought a new vibrance to Miles that he wasn’t sure he’d get again without the use of a shift. Miles and Malia are both trying to figure out how to balance everything. Malia put things on pause for them and their wedding and Miles wants to show her that he appreciated what she did and knew the sacrifice she made for them.

Miles has yet to tell anyone about his past, except for Kayla. Not even Malia. He knows what animal shifters and specifically the Chicago pack think of those who have gone into hypershift and he worries about how it would affect his relationship with all of them. Arthur warned him against it the last time he visited, reminded him why they didn’t do packs. Especially not judgemental ones. He’s been dragging this secret around for almost a century, and when he finally could at least somewhat talk about it with Kayla, he felt a little freer. He’s debating telling Malia now, hoping it doesn’t ruin everything they’ve worked so hard to maintain and grow.

→ Available Gif Hunts (we do not own these)

Alfred Enoch (Miles King) [1][2][3]

#Alfred Enoch #oc rpg #fantasy rpg #supernatural rpg #city rpg

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eddycurrents · 4 years

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For the week of 28 October 2019

Quick Bits:

Afterlift #1 is a digital original from Chip Zdarsky, Jason Loo, Paris Alleyne, and Aditya Bidikar. Very interesting concept here playing with a character who drives for a Lyft analogue in Cabit, leading to becoming a rather unique courier.

| Published by Jams & Jellies

Batman Annual #4 actually gives us many adventures and stories as we go through almost two months’ of diary entries of Batman’s exploits from Alfred, as told by Tom King, Jorge Fornés, Mike Norton, Dave Stewart, and Clayton Cowles. It’s a nice way to pack a lot of story into this annual in a fairly unique way, while also showcasing just how busy Batman really is.

| Published by DC Comics

Black Panther #17 sets up for the next confrontation with N’Jadaka and his forces, also giving us a rather...awkward but interesting conversation between Storm and Nakia. Gorgeous art from Daniel Acuña.

| Published by Marvel

Bloodshot #2 continues the balls to the wall action as Bloodshot and the Black Bar conflict escalates, from Tim Seeley, Brett Booth, Adelso Corona, Andrew Dalhouse, and Dave Sharpe. It’s a bit of a throwback to a more action-oriented style, but it definitely works for Bloodshot. A nice change of pace to give a variety of storytelling.

| Published by Valiant

Conan the Barbarian #10 spins us the twins’ yarn as they plotted their revenge on Conan, from Jason Aaron, Mahmud Asrar, Matthew Wilson, and Travis Lanham. The art from Asrar and Wilson is gorgeous. The backstory building up to last parts of this story and the fate of Conan is gripping.

| Published by Marvel

Contagion #5 brings an end to this series from Ed Brisson, Adam Gorham, Veronica Gandini, and Cory Petit. Gorgeous and creepy art here from Gorham and Gandini.

| Published by Marvel

DCeased #6 is surprisingly hopefully, even as everything dies and everybody hurts. It appears to be setting up a sequel, though likely to be incredibly bleak. Tom Taylor, Trevor Hairsine, Neil Edwards, Stefano Gaudiano, Rain Beredo, and Saida Temofonte conclude this series in epic fashion as we say goodbye to Earth.

| Published by DC Comics

Death’s Head #4 is another ending to a series this week, from Tini Howard, Kei Zama, Felipe Sobreiro, and Travis Lanham. Some very nice character work here for Death’s Head and Vee.

| Published by Marvel

Doctor Strange Annual #1 gives us a pair of tales. The lead from Tini Howard, Andy MacDonald, Tríona Farrell, and Cory Petit is a fun Halloween story dealing with the spirits haunting the Sanctum Sanctorum. Any art from MacDonald is a treat. The back up is a bit more deadly serious with Pornsak Pichetshote, Lalit Kumar Sharma, Sean Parsons, José Villarrubia, and Petit revealing a failsafe should Strange go rogue.

| Published by Marvel

Ether: The Disappearance of Violet Bell #2 continues to be incredibly inventive as Boone tries to track down the assassin. David Rubín’s art is absolutely amazing. And Boone’s continued inability to really think about anyone other than himself is telling.

| Published by Dark Horse

Excalibur #1 is another tick in the win column for “Dawn of X”. The X-Men dabbling in magic isn’t common, but Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega, and Cory Petit do so with amazing flair, fittingly taking us in through Otherworld, Captain Britain, and Betsy Braddock. Apocalypse’s new incarnation as “ •|A| •” and his newfound interest in magic is fascinating.

| Published by Marvel

Five Years #5 spotlights Zoe’s rather elaborate imagination for coming up with ways to murder people. Granted, the Russian agent may well deserve it, but still... Terry Moore continues to deliver some unexpected twists as the end of the world inches closer.

| Published by Abstract Studio

Giant Days: As Time Goes By #1 is a one-shot finale special from John Allison, Max Sarin, Whitney Cogar, and Jim Campbell. It picks up roughly a year from the end of the series, dealing with why Esther has been missing from their reunions. It’s full of all of the humour that we’ve been used to and hammers home the power of friendship. Also, it gets very, very weird.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

Harleen #2 works hard to portray Harley’s seduction by the Joker. Stjepan Šejić and Gabriela Downie portray it as an insidious, manipulative thing. It might appear romantic on the surface, but there’s definitely a darkness there. There are ideas of bringing back a monster from the edge of insanity, but the story makes you realize that some may well be beyond hope.

| Published by DC Comics - Black Label

Hellboy and the BPRD: Long Night at Goloski Station might well be the best of these new format tales yet, and both of the previous ones were incredibly strong. Here Mike Mignola, Matt Smith, Dave Stewart, and Clem Robins deliver a single issue story building on Hellboy’s confrontation with Baba Yaga, Sir Edward Grey, and demons.

| Published by Dark Horse

Invisible Kingdom #6 begins the second arc, “Edge of Everything”, as the crew first try to find food and fuel and then run afoul of a salvage ship. G. Willow Wilson, Christian Ward, and Sal Cipriano keep things interesting as we start to see the crew’s life after Lux.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

Invisible Woman #4 is disturbing, basically everything goes to hell and everyone that Sue was trusting to see this operation through has let her down. Or worse. Mark Waid, Mattia De Iulis, and Joe Caramagna set up a rather horrifying situation in this penultimate chapter. Again, De Iulis’ artwork is stunning.

| Published by Marvel

Joker: Killer Smile #1 is essentially a psychological horror from Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Jordie Bellaire, and Steve Wands. It comes from the point of view of a psychiatrist, Dr. Ben Arnell, who is trying to get to the heart of Joker’s mental state. It’s not going so well and it appears like the good doctor is losing time, doing strange things, and possibly worse. Very intriguing beginning to this story.

| Published by DC Comics - Black Label

Knights Temporal #4 has some stunning artwork from Fran Galán, particularly during the gangster sequences where colour comes into play as another important storytelling element. There are some very nice twists this issue, making you wonder about a lot of what we thought we knew.

| Published by AfterShock

The Last God #1 is dark fantasy done right by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Riccardo Federici, Sunny Gho, Dean White, Tom Napolitano, Steve Wands, and Jared Blando. It gives us lying kings, heroes who weren’t rightly heroes, and a Lovecraftian terror returned to show the truth. It plays deep on resentment and distrust, and of a complete failure of institutions to uphold a decent society. All with absolutely stunning artwork from Federici, Gho, and White. This is a beautiful, haunting work.

| Published by DC Comics - Black Label

Last Stop on the Red Line #4 is very, very weird. We get a peek behind the masks of the monsters and it’s even stranger. There’s a very interesting mix of symbolism and the supernatural where we’re really not sure where one begins and the other ends. This was a very unique series from Paul Maybury, Sam Lotfi, and Adam Pruett.

| Published by Dark Horse

Mall #3 goes even harder into inter-faction warfare as it seems like all of the groups are at one another’s throats. Great world-building here from Michael Moreci, Gary Dauberman, Zak Hartong, Addison Duke, and Jim Campbell, with some interesting plot developments.

| Published by Vault

Manor Black #4 concludes the series as we see what essentially amounts to order vs. chaos as the old blood takes on wild magic. This doesn’t feel so much as a conclusion as an end to a chapter of a wider arc, leaving much unresolved. Hopefully we see more. The artwork from Tyler Crook is phenomenal.

| Published by Dark Horse

Marvel Zombies: Resurrection #1 is really damn good. Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Leonard Kirk, Guru-eFX, and Travis Lanham kick off this series with a new angle on the Marvel Zombies, playing up more on the horror angle, with a truly terrifying spread of the disease through a new vector. Gorgeous artwork from Kirk and Guru-eFX.

| Published by Marvel

Monster Planet #1 is the kind of thing that you used to see regularly published by Image and Top Cow, the military action comic that throws in horror elements, from Joe Brusha, Marcelo Mueller, Maxflan Araujo, and Taylor Esposito. It’s not bad, setting up a world where humanity has been turned into dinosaur-like beasts and the remnants of society need to turn to classical monsters for help.

| Published by Zenescope

The Necromancer’s Map #3 takes a bit of a different approach, giving us a fair amount of action as Tristan’s Will catch up with Bethany and co. as well as some great character building in between the action. Great stuff from Andrea Fort, Michael Christopher Horn, Sam Beck, Ellie Wright, and AndWorld Design.

| Published by Vault

The Plot #2 is wonderful horror storytelling from Tim Daniel, Michael Moreci, Joshua Hixson, Jordan Boyd, and Jim Campbell. Very creepy build of supernatural events once Chase Blaine and his family arrive back at his ancestral home. Hixson and Boyd’s presentation of the black, gooey masses are also disturbing.

| Published by Vault

Queen of Bad Dreams #5 concludes this excellent series from Danny Lore, Jordi Pérez, Dearbhla Kelly, and AndWorld Design. Rather interesting confrontation with and revelations about Eleanor Chase here.

| Published by Vault

Red Goblin: Red Death #1 is a one-shot featuring three stories set during Norman Osborn’s tenure as the Red Goblin at the end of Dan Slott’s run on Amazing Spider-Man. It’s kind of weird that it doesn’t instead tie-in with current events in Absolute Carnage, but it’s not bad for what it is. The art of the first two stories from Pete Woods is great.

| Published by Marvel

Relics of Youth #2 is even better than the first issue, delving deeper into the mysterious tattoos that the kids have been branded with and their connection to the island that they’ve landed on within the Bermuda Triangle. Matt Nicholas, Chad Rebmann, Skylar Partridge, Vladimir Popov, and AndWorld Design are telling a very compelling adventure here.

| Published by Vault

Roku #1 begins another mini-series focusing on one of the luminary villains in the Valiant Universe, this one from Cullen Bunn, Ramón F. Bachs, Stéphane Paitreau, and Dave Sharpe. It’s full of action and intrigue as Roku is hired by an unknown client to retrieve...someone. Things get more interesting as a new face stands in her way and we find out the unusual nature of the target.

| Published by Valiant

The Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer #1 is a homecoming of sorts for John Constantine, back to his old haunts alongside some of the other Vertigo corner of the DC Universe. Si Spurrier, Marcio Takara, Cris Peter, and Aditya Bidikar spin a yarn that reconstitutes John after a massive magic war led by an evil Tim Hunter. How exactly the pieces fit are anyone’s guess, but it’s a brilliant darker take resetting him here.

| Published by DC Comics - Black Label / The Sandman Universe

Savage Avengers Annual #1, though largely a self-contained story, is still integral to Conan’s adventure through the Marvel universe and the overall narrative as he, Hellstorm, and Black Widow stumble across a human trafficking ring that bears the marks of Kulan Gath. Gerry Duggan, Ron Garney, Matt Milla, and Travis Lanham deliver a compelling story.

| Published by Marvel

SFSX #2 does further world and character building, showing us just how much has changed since the Party took over, and how utterly betrayed many of the people from the Dirty Mind felt of Avory abandoning them. Very interesting stuff from Tina Horn, Michael Dowling, Chris O’Halloran, and Steve Wands.

| Published by Image

Silver Surfer: Black #5 concludes what has been a very trippy series from Donny Cates, Tradd Moore, Dave Stewart, and Clayton Cowles. There are some very interesting revelations of the past here, and it really makes you wonder about the Surfer’s new incarnation.

| Published by Marvel

Star Pig #4 concludes the series, kind of, from Delilah S. Dawson, Francesco Gaston, Sebastian Cheng, and Shawn Lee. There’s some rather disturbing tentacles in this one.

| Published by IDW

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #5 brings an end to this round of the series. I think it’s a perfect approach for some all ages “ghost stories” within the Star Wars universe. Wonderful resolution for the framing story from Cavan Scott, Francesco Francavilla, and AndWorld Design.

| Published by IDW

Tales from the Dark Multiverse: The Death of Superman #1 is the second of these one-shots spotlighting DC events gone horribly wrong, this time giving us a much angrier Lois Lane’s grief at the loss of Superman to Doomsday. Jeff Loveness, Brad Walker, Drew Hennessy, Norm Rapmund, John Kalisz, and Clayton Cowles present her as vengeance against a world that didn’t deserve Superman’s grace, raising some of the questions that you’d often see in The Authority. Only, you know, kind of evil. It’s not bad, but definitely dark.

| Published by DC Comics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #99 is the extra-sized penultimate chapter of “City at War” as all of the pieces begin falling into place for the grand finale. The story here from Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz, Dave Wachter, Ronda Pattison, and Shawn Lee feels truly epic and that something huge may just happen next issue. As it is, there’s still a ton of action here, some interesting developments with the Rat King, more disappointment when it comes to Raph, and something new with the mutagenic bomb.

| Published by IDW

Test #5 is very strange. Christopher Sebela, Jen Hickman, Harry Saxon, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou end this story as Aleph and Laurel find one another and a new way is planted, but there’s still seeds of something going awry.

| Published by Vault

Venom #19 largely plays out the end bits for the Maker and Dylan’s portions of Absolute Carnage, with some very interesting revelations. It seems like even bigger seeds are being lain for future stories here. Great art from Iban Coello and Rain Beredo.

| Published by Marvel

Witchblade #16 gives us the fight between Alex and Haley, after a few distractions and discursions. The stakes are pretty high here and there are a few rather tense moments as it plays out. Beautiful art from Roberta Ingranata and Bryan Valenza.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Wonder Woman Annual #3 is largely a flashback tale, set five years ago as Wonder Woman and ARGUS attempt to extract an agent sent to infiltrate Gorilla City to see the legitimacy of Grodd’s rule. What Steve Orlando, V. Ken Marion, Sandu Florea, Hi-Fi, and Pat Brosseau do with is establish a new backstory and interpretation for a very old Wonder Woman foe in a fairly interesting way that even ties in to Event Leviathan. It may strain a bit of credibility for the villainous turn, but that will largely depend on the follow-up.

| Published by DC Comics

Other Highlights: Archie 1955 #2, A Basketful of Heads #1, Batman and the Outsiders Annual #1, Chrononauts: Futureshock #1-4, Dead Man Logan #12, Fantastic Four: Grand Design #1, Fight Club 3 #10, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #13, Ironheart #11, James Bond 007 #12, Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance #2, Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Alliance #4, Jughead’s Time Police #5, Kick-Ass #18, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #44, Rick & Morty #55, The Ride: Burning Desire #5, Runaways #26, Star Trek: Year Five #7, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Annual #3, Star Wars Adventures #27, Superior Spider-Man #2, Tremor Dose, Warlord of Mars Attacks #5

Recommended Collections: Amazing Spider-Man: Red Goblin, Amber Blake - Volume 1, Black Science - Volume 9: No Authority But Yourself, Deadpool - Volume 3: Weasel Goes to Hell, Dept H. Omnibus - Volume 3: Decompressed & Lifeboat, Dick Tracy Forever, Hit-Girl - Volume 5, Jimmy’s Bastards - Volume 1: Year One, Lucifer Omnibus - Volume 1, Marvel Action: Spider-Man - Book 2: Spider-Chase, Punk Mambo, Spider-Gwen: Gwen Stacy, Star Trek: The Q Conflict, Symbiote Spider-Man, Thor - Volume 3: Wars End, Tony Stark: Iron Man - Volume 3: War of the Realms, Vamps: The Complete Collection, War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men, The Wild Storm - Volume 4

d. emerson eddy feels like stale, day old pepperoni pizza.

#This Week in Comics

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boogiewrites · 5 years

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Choking On Sapphires 67

Title & Song: More Than Words

Characters: Alfie Solomons x Genevieve (OFC)

Word Count: 5700+

Summary: Alfie shows Genevieve what good she's bringing forth in the community with her charity work when she feels overwhelmed with her Hebrew studies. He shows her the other side of being a gangster that he doesn’t flaunt. He shares about his upbringing and family with Passover on the horizon. He puts her through some of the final paces towards becoming his wife.

Warnings/Tags: FLUFF. Usual Alfie language. Talk of Alfie’s parents, sibling, upbringing. Hebrew studies.

**Chapter song is More than Words by Extreme.**

Click on my icon then go to my Mobile Masterlist in my bio for my other works and chapters. (Had to do this since Tumblr killed links, sorry.)

Alfie had been wondering about the next move to make in your relationship. Although it was easy to forget at times he wasn't actually married to you already. He mulled over the possibilities when he was alone. The when's, the where's, the how's and what he would do. He couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to use a ring or some other grand gesture of a gift. He wanted you to be his, he wasn't sure if he wanted to wait until after you became bat mitzvah, or if he should speak to a Rabbi about the whole thing. What a confusing process it was all turning out to be. He had plenty to consider and wanted to make the offering of his hand to be something he found worthy of you. Which was proving difficult.

You had been keeping your nose in books on Hebrew and Judaism, reading your new religious studies books, in your little glasses when he would come to your home late at night. He watched you learn the passages, the stack of books on your desk growing by the week. He'd come over for Shabbat and watched you light the candles, do the readings and break the Challah you'd baked yourself. He could see a change in you, and although you would behave as normal outside your home, your business dealings still having to be ruthless and cruel at times, you always left it outside your home. You were softer, kinder and watching you become something that was forbidden to you until now was a period of growth he was blessed to be able to witness.

Your growth and dedication had touched him. When he had read of your charitable doings over the span of your separation, he had taken the time to reflect on what he was currently giving. This led to a rise in his donations and allowing himself the time to be more personal with those that he knew needed his help. Friends, distant relatives, wives and children of good Jewish men he'd known, he gave more attention to. Anyone could sign a check for something, but your hands on nature with the children at the home and your teaching of art with the young women had shown him that the money wasn't enough. He should be better, he should remember where he came from.

Your commitment and hunger for knowledge had led him to sit and read with you, or to you some evenings. With Passover fast approaching he knew you were nervous. Such an important event and it being something you felt responsible for now was making you too over critical of yourself. Would you be ready for Seder? Would you have the have the right food, wine, and preparation for it all? Did you know the prayers, the blessings, the questions, and songs? You were a bundle of nerves and Alfie sat by and gruffed at you to not worry about it so much. After studying more you felt more prepared, but as it always did, you had deeper more complex worries arise as to were you doing enough? Were you kind enough? Giving enough? An onslaught of heavy questions would pour down upon you and you would try to drown them with wine and Alfie would be there to remind you that you were in fact good enough. He would remind you of Esther and how violence has its places when it protects your people. And that was what you were doing now, facing a cold modern world with all the tools you had to carve out a safe place for yourself and others. He took you to a festival for Purim and the revelry and readings helped to set our mind at ease. But soon after the calm from the festivities passed, Seder anxieties reared their heads again and Alfie had found the perfect solution.

You sit in bed together, both in your night clothes, tucked under his arm as he read to you in Hebrew, little gold glasses adorning both your faces as you tried to concentrate on the pronunciations. He was waiting for you to voice your worry about Seder, as he knew it would come. In these moments of new found intimacy between the two of you, he was reminded of his father, reading and teaching him and his siblings when they were young. He's reading mindlessly, wondering if he too would be reading and teaching children of his own one day when your mouth opens to give him his opportunity to soothe you.

"I would share the lamb with the house, but you aren't supposed to share with servants. But they aren't really servants, are they? They're paid and I know them and care for them, pay for their educations and manage their needs. They're more like friends. But I don't want to be inappropriate. It'd all have to be eaten that night and I can't waste it and-"

"Chanah." he says with a sigh, taking off his glasses. He'd taken to calling you that behind closed doors. There was something about it that warmed him when it would leave his mouth.

"Ari." you say back in the same tone. As your studies started to include him, he'd divulged to you his Hebrew name, Arioch. Which suitably meant like a lion. So naturally, you shortened it to Ari for times like these where you would appropriately be calling him a lion when he would be giving you an unhelpful tone. Although you thought the name Alfred Arioch Solomons sounded very regal and admittedly a bit sexy to you. The name suited him you thought, prideful and powerful, wild hair and a stare that would strike fear into any living thing if it wanted. He was your lion now and you wished his mum was around to tell her what foresight she'd had for her son.

"I got an answer to these worries of yours, eh?" he says with a rise of his brow, looking down to you.

"If you tell me to just calm down one more time I'll scream." you say with a flat delivery and a low brow.

"No, this is much more proactive." he grins. "How's about you spend Seder with me 'n my family?" he offers with a delicate tone.

Your eyes go a bit wide at first, darting around the room at the suggestion. "With...your family?" you ask.

"'Course." he says in a warm inflection. "It would ease ya worryin' and you could also finally meet the lot of the nutters." he grins. "I suppose it is time you met them, yeah? Seein' as I met Altar 'n all." his eyes move back down to yours.

"That would solve a good portion of my issues." you nod. "I would only have to worry about my studying then...and of course the seeking approval from your family." you mutter. "I'm not used to trying to make people like me when it's not business." you add with a lowered brow and thoughtful tone.

"No reason they won't like you." he says with a frown and a shake of his head. "At this point I could've brought anyone wif me and they'd be relieved." he adds in his course way.

"Thanks for the high praise." you huff out a laugh and smirk at him.

"You know 'at's not what I meant." he scolds and tops his glasses on the tip of your nose. "So do you accept?" he asks with a broad gesture of his hand, voice loud and demanding.

"Of course I do," you state obviously. "If we are to become more serious I believe it is a perfectly reasonable next step." you nod and settle back against his side. "And we are becoming more serious..." you say softly. "Aren't we?" you ask with a shy lilt.

"That's the daftest thing you've ever said." he grins and replaces his glasses and lets out a loud laugh. "We are deadly serious, my love." he kisses your head.

"A woman has the right to ask." you say defensively, pinching at a roll on his stomach.

"She does." he nods. "But do you think I've ever spent my evenings reading Hebrew to a woman before?" he asks looking over his glasses at you.

"That look tells me no."

"Intuitive as always, love." he says with a much kinder tone but the same smirk, putting his arm around your shoulder to hold you close. "If you need to hear of my dedication you only have to ask." he sighs out in a sweet way. "But be assured I do also speak with my actions, Chanah." he nods and pouts his lips, eyes looking over to find his place again. "I'll be sure to comfort your worries more actively if need be." he offers.

"Yes please." you say softly, snuggling up to him again.

"Then after this shall we spend our night as if we're married already? A little bit 'a practice for bein' fruitful?" he teases, his hand running down your chest to cup your breast, his thumb swiping over your nipple.

You let out a giggle, moving your hand lower on his stomach and resting it just above his pajama bottoms. "It certainly couldn't hurt." you laugh into his beard, stretching your neck to kiss his jaw, drawing a deep contented hum that is reflected in his expression with cheeks rising to hide his eyes as he continues to distract you through the rest of the reading with his thumb that seemed to have remarkable aim and ability. --------- He stood outside your classroom door. His layers of vests and jackets, your favorite sort of wide-brimmed hat atop his head as he leaned against the wall, waiting. He'd come in with the intention of interrupting you early, to give the girls a break and have you come out with him for the afternoon. But he stood and watched you through the open door to your classroom, standing out of your line of sight and he couldn't bring himself to do it. You spoke with attentiveness, your hands on your student's hands and brushes to guide and direct, you pacing and reading from books and telling of advice from great artists and how it applied to the practice and life outside the walls of the school. He could see you cared, that this wasn't only a vanity project for you. So with that same notion, he heads to the front office and sets up a donation to add to your scholarship fund anonymously.

"'Ello, love." you hears his deep voice call out as you exit your classroom, causing you to jump and whip your head around at his unexpected appearance.

"Alfie, darling, what are you doing here?" you say with a sincere question and fondness as you move the small space between you to meet with a kiss to the cheek.

"Came to see you with your girls," he says with a slow nod. "Never seen you teach before, so used to you bein' the student with me." he gives you a subtle smile.

"And am I as good of a teacher as you?" you ask with a charming smile and a tilt of your head.

"You'll get there, love." he chuckles, holding out his bent arm for you to wrap yours around. "I asked Claire about your afternoon and she says it's free, and I's wonderin' if you'd accompany me on some errands today?" he suggests as you walk down the hallway together to the door.

"You've never asked me to do such a thing before." you muse, your heels clicking slowly in pace with his shiny shoes across the tiled floor.

"I have not. But I am now innit I?" he says, nodding to people as they recognize him as they pass. "I've got some things I'd like you to see...some people I'd like ya to meet." he elaborates as he sees you through the doors.

"Then of course. I had no formal plans for this afternoon, why not?" you shrug as you move to his car.

"Wonderful, love, fanks." he says with a kiss to your head before you duck inside the car. "To the East End, Isaiah." he gives a nod to his driver. "I've been meanin' to do this for a little while now." he begins, holding his hand out to take yours. "You talkin' 'bout bein' more serious and 'n that I knew it was time for me to let you see all it is that I do." he nods and looks down to find your face attentive and intrigued. "You know me best for my violence, yeah? But 'at's not all I got goin' on, mate, no, I got a bit 'a good in the work I do too." he explains, nodding and eyes twitching at the corners as he looks out the windows. "I've been thinkin'... that if we are to be married that you need to be seein' me at all sides, love. Most people'll only talk about the so-called ill I perform but I want you to see how I try to help as much as I do hurt when it comes to my... our people." he brings his eyes back to you and adores the self-reflective nature of them. His face is in its usual creased thoughtfulness, his eyes half hidden under the shifting brow as he explains himself. "I did some soul searchin' when we's apart, right? Seein' you goin' out and bein' a public figure for charity 'n art 'n that I took it upon myself to do better by your example. After I knew we'd been seein' each other again... and in my hopefulness for a future together I arranged to set in motion some plans to be able to show ya that I would be worthy of bein' a good sort of husband for a good Jewish woman such as yourself." his words are calm and calculated and you were touched as you watched him reveal his inner workings to you. "I saw I needed to get back in touch with my roots, my people ya know." he nods. "I'd been too heavy in me business doin's and had been neglectin' the things that got me to where I am today. I wanted to show I wasn't above anyone else, as I'm not, and upon further reflection, as I wanted to be betta for you, I wanted to be betta for that little boy I once was." he moves to take your hand between both of his and you follow suit. "You learnin' and becomin' what you always shoulda been opened me up in a way I hadn't been willin' to do since I was a lad. And thinkin' about me past, the schoolin' and family I thought 'bout what I might want for myself one day... or if I wanted it 'at all. And I do. Now I do. But I see that to be what a child needs in a father, I myself, needed to be better than I's bein'. Hold myself to a higher standard than I used to, yeah?" his nose wrinkles as his eyes continue to move about, but your stay fixated on his face. "If I were to be with a Jewish woman, which wasn't sumfin' I was plannin' on doin' until I's wif you, right? Then our children would need a good Jewish father. Someone who knew what the fuck he was on about and as much of a fuckin' hypocrite as I am and 'spose I always will be, I knew I at least needed to try." he returns his eyes to you. "So... as fuckin' long-winded as I've gone and made myself here I wanted to share 'a bit of meself with you so you'd know what sorta man I came from... what sorta man I might be inclined to be if we were to have little ones, right?"

"I've wanted to know for some time, admittedly, but I wasn't going to push you to tell me."

"Well it's ya lucky day innit, love?" he gives you a charming smile, thumb rubbing across your hands. "We'll start with me father then. Bernard. Me mum did call 'im Bernie in private but he fuckin' hated it." he lets out a chuckle. "Bernard Dov, although he tried to get the name Berel to stick with mum, she tried to sound more English and preferred somethin' that sounded sweet and small as she said. But he was neither sweet nor small."

"Perhaps it was meant to be ironic? A cheeky little joke or something?"

"Mum was funny that way." he smiles warmly. "Father passed shortly after I became a man and I 'spose that was a big thing that fueled my studies, as he never let us forget the importance of knowledge and it's pursuit. He was a stern man. But fair, always fair." he nods. "He held me 'n my siblings to a high standard. Especially the boys. So I did well in me studies, both at home in school. I always had a knack for learnin' it seemed. Was told I was clever, if not a bit up me own arse about it at times." he laughs. "I got high marks and I was proud. Same as always heavy handed in my own way about fings. I'd try to set the other boys straight ya see. Tellin' 'em...what sort 'a man ya gonna be if ya don't try to be just that now? Ya can't live like ya do and be of any worth to anyone later. Ya stuntin' ya own potential." he grins, his eyes far away in the past. "I couldn't understand how they weren't more concerned about bein' good men. Men of faith and fortune built from workin' hard and usin' their minds to earn their gold. That was all me father talkin' that was." he sighs. "And me mum." his face softens. "Peninah." he smiles. "You'd think me father would've been inclined to give her a nickname, Pearl or Penny or such...but he wasn't much for informalness." he grins. "She was strong but always sweet with her children. Father was the law and she was the peacekeeper. She expected more out of us just like he did, she never coddled, but whereas father was cold in his approach, she was warm. She passed after goin' back to Russia, you see. When the fuckers were pushin' us all out she went back for her sisters. They all made it back... but she didn't live long after that. Told me stories of bein' chased by the Russians through the snow. Havin' to hide in that sort 'a climate and she got sick from it." he voice trails off slightly.

"I see where you get your bravery from." you give his hands a supportive squeeze, bring his glazed over eyes back to the present, the anger still simmering under the surface.

"She was very brave, yeah." he nods and sighs. "Always spoke of the importance of family. And speakin' of, you'll be meetin' me sisters soon won't ya?" he pats your hand. "Rachel, Matilda and Sarah. The bellends." he laughs. "Nah, they're good women. Been ridin' my arse since my bar mitzvah to get me a wife. But they are women and two older than me, so I suppose it was all to be expected, eh?" his laughs weakens to a chuckle. "You'll be meetin' me brother Jeremiah's wife, Pippa. He died in the war, though. But I believe I told you that."

"You did." you nod and give him a weak smile. He didn't seem distraught about it, but it made you sad.

"And my heard of nieces and nephews. Got what's left of me mum's brothers and sisters and me dad's brothers. Whole family a men they are."

"All of them?" you say with a huff of laughter.

"Yeah, there were so many of 'em, his mum, who died before I was before kept havin' children in hopes of havin' a girl. But it never came to pass." he shakes his head. "Seven boys instead." he chuckles.

"Poor woman." you share the same amused laugh with him.

"That so?" he tilts his head and looks back to you. "Do you want a little girl, love?" he asks and your stomach flutters at the ease that you both speak about marriage and children with now.

"Of course I would. I'm certainly not opposed to a boy by any means. It would just be nice to have the experience of raising both I think." you shrug. "Plus I am a girl and a feminine one at that so having a little doll of my own does sound appealing," you admit and lay your head on his shoulder. "What about you?"

"Either would be nice, yeah? Long as the poor things get their looks from you." he grins.

"I wouldn't be making babies with an ugly man, darling." you laugh and reach up to give him chin a scratch and kiss to his cheek.

------- You pull up to a block of housing. It reminds you of small heath in it's sad and drab exterior. Dark, dirty and desolate looking as Alfie takes your hands and leads you through the archway. You see numerous children playing, running around through lines of drying clothes, mothers in aprons shouting after them. You don't expect them to all greet Alfie with such fondness, but they do. They know him by name, a polite, Mr. Solomons at his arrival as he hands them sweets from his pockets and ruffles their hair. They look at you suspiciously, not having seen you before, and you don't blame them. He leads you up the tarnished metal stairs to an inconspicuous door.

He knocks and very quickly a woman opens the door. "Oh, shalom, Mr. Solomons." the worn looking woman smiles warmly and greets him with a smile.

"I've told you many times, Mable to call me Alfie. Now is Alice about?" he says loudly, a gentle command.

"She's in her room, let me go fetch her." she rushes out before shuffling off.

"Who is Alice?" you whisper.

"Someone I wanted you to meet," he says with a nod. "Ah! Hello love!" he says warmly, reaching out to take the young girls hand that is outstretched, her other is holding onto a harness that rests around a dog. It becomes apparent to you quickly she is one of the beneficiaries of the charity you were on the board with with Alfie.

"Hello, Mr. Solomons." her voice is sweet and delicate.

"You ladies and your politeness. I told ya mum to call me Alfie as well. But ya just won't listen." he says warmly, patting the back of her hand. "How is little diamond doing now? Bein' a good girl?"

"She's been such a relief." she says with downcast, milky eyes. "And she also keeps me very warm at night." she smiles.

"I had someone I wanted you to meet little one," he says, holding his hand out to you to beckon you closer. "This is Genevieve Durand. She's the one what helped you get Diamond there." he says, placing your hand in hers.

"Pleasure to meet you Alice." you say looking over the kind and pretty girls face.

"You work at the charity with Mister- with Alfie?"

"I do." you nod and her mother comes and places her hand on your arm.

"We'd like to thank you for your help Miss Durand. Alice here has been waiting for assistance for some time now. Alfie had told me there had been an influx in donations recently and because of that they were able to giver her Diamond, as they were primarily givin' dogs to the boys after the war who needed them." she explains and you try to keep your face warm and not shocked or sad as you felt. You hadn't known about this girl, or how long the wait on the list was and you were deeply touched by the thoughtfulness of Alfie to bring you to see your work for yourself.

"I'm just happy Alice here could get some assistance." you say sincerely.

"Diamond has been such a lifesaver for me. She suffers from seizures you see, and Diamond here can let someone know if she needs help by barking if she's alone. The neighbors help me out when I can't be here for work, keeping an eye out for her, but now everyone's much more at ease." she says reaching out to pat the dogs head.

"Mable here has been able to find work for the first time since Jack passed, isn't that right?" Alfie offers with a strong nod.

"Yes it's been such a help to get some money coming back in, believe me." she nods enthusiastically.

"Jack was a member of my company you see, in the war. He used to tell me about Mable and Alice. So when I saw the name on the list, I happened to reach out to them and I've been workin' for a long time to get them Diamond here." he explains.

"Alfie's been a lifesaver, truly. Couldn't have made it without him." she says patting his cheek. Such a soft gesture from a man who was known to be a criminal made your heart warm.

"Least I could do. Jack was a good man." he says more sternly. "Speakin' of, I've got something to show you. Would you love?" he asks, motioning his hand out to the other room.

They leave you and Alice and you pat Diamonds head. "I've heard your name in the paper." Alice breaks the silence.

"Oh have you? Nothing bad I hope." you softly laugh.

"You paint, right?"

"I do. Are you a fan of the arts? Music and the like?" you clarify, not wanting to sound daft.

"I do adore music. My mum took me to the theater once. I loved it." she smiles.

"Have you ever been to the opera Alice?" you ask, moving your head to look at Alfie in the other room with her mother. He hands her an envelope, and she refuses at first, but with his insistence she takes it. You're seeing he'd been helping support them while she had had to stay home with Alice.

"Oh, no. I wish." she chuckles. "Far too posh for me." she shakes her head and Alfie walks back into the room with her mother.

"Would you like to go? Or do you have a distaste for the style?"

"It'd be wonderful to go. It's just always been so expensive." she says sheepishly.

"Would you like to go with me?" you ask, watching her face go through a slew of emotions.

"Really?" she asks quietly.

"Of course! You can feel the music when you're by the pit. Your mum could come to. Alfie doesn't like the opera...I'd love to have some girls to go with." you say cheerfully.

Her mum walks up with a bowed head. "It sounds lovely and thank you Genevieve, but I'm afraid we'd be a bit under dressed." she gives you a sad smile.

You see the sinking in Alice's face and you won't stand for it. "Don't' be silly, I can get you something." you wave your hand dismissively. "How's about you two come to my house sometime soon and we can find you some gowns of mine? We're all three not too far off in size, certainly nothing a few alterations can't handle." you insist.

"Genevieve does have far too many dresses. Do me a service and take some off her hands would you?" Alfie laughs.

"Would you like to go Alice?" her mother asks her.

"Yes." she nods enthusiastically.

"Then it's settled," you say clasping your hands together. "I'll get back up with you through Alfie's people and we'll set something up soon."

"Thank you Miss Durand." Alice says with a shaky voice.

"Call me Genevieve... or Gen, whichever you'd prefer, really. If we're going to go out and have some fun, we can't be so formal can we?" reach out and hold her hand. "We'll have a lovely time, Alice." you say sincerely.

"Thank you, Miss-" you give a playful frown to her mum.

"Genevieve. I'm sure Alice is just a bit tongue-tied from surprise." she laughs and moves to hug her from the side. "First time she'll be going to such a grand thing."

"It won't be the last." you smile. "All girls deserve a good night out from time to time don't we?"

"Ya do, love, ya do." Alfie says, his hand sliding across your upper back. "I'm sorry to cut it short but we've got another appointment to keep so if you don't mind... Mable, Miss Alice. We'll be seein' ya." he gives a nod and you see yourselves out.

"Why didn't you tell me about her before we went in?" you ask him as you follow him down the stairs back to the car.

"I wanted to see your raw reaction." he states simply and honestly. Today was a bit of test of sorts, and he knew you'd pass, but your warm acceptance of the girl and her mother had made him all the more certain of you being fit to be his wife. He needed a woman who could charm people in such a way.

"I didn't know about the waiting list." you say a frown.

"Well, it's for the senior members. They deal with that sort of thing." he explains gruffly.

"Are there others like them Alfie?" you ask him once you get into the car.

"What you mean?"

"Other you take care of? I saw you give her money."

"There are a few yeah." he says looking out the window.

"Families of men you oversaw?" you inquire.

"Not all no. Most not." he shakes his head. "Just Jewish families that haven't been as lucky as me." he says with a sense of sadness to his tone. "Sick little ones... widows... families of men that worked for me that sacrificed for me in some form or 'nother I like to keep an eye on. Don't give 'em all money, y'know. Some just need a wee bit of food or medicine from time to time." he looks back over to you and you sigh heavily and take his hand into yours.

"All this time you spoke of my capacity for kindness and violence. What of you darling?"

"What of it?" he shrugs. "I'm only doin' what I should. You take care of your people, they take care 'a you. Like you and your girls at home. You 'n your kids at the home and the schoolgirls. Same sort of thing, love." he says cooly, looking down at your adoring eyes.

"You have a personal touch I do not. A connection to the community I've been cut off from that I envy."

"And now you know two women you didn't yesterday dunnit ya? See.. you'll get connected. Ya just used to connectin' with folk what don't require help."

"That is true." you nod. "I guess I do have connections. Just not in the same class as you do." you say thoughtfully. You see a chance here for the both of you. You can handle the upper classes, he can handle the lower. With connections made on every level of the community, when you two did marry, you would have a reach that most people couldn't dream of. Feet on the ground to do work for you, people in ivory towers to persuade to make decisions in your favor. You could have a foot in both worlds.

"Exactly love." he agrees with a slow blink. "But the point I wanted to make with little Alice, was to show you where your charity was goin'. I wanted you to see it in action." he clarifies.

"Thank you," you say, leaning your head onto his arm. "It's something I needed." you add softly. You could get so caught up in the high stakes world you both lived in that you could forget what good was possible out of the bad that you did. Charity was important to your faith and being able to see it work, beyond writing something down and having Claire donate it showed you the people behind what you were working on building with Alfie.

"You always say you aren't doin' enough. I figure it's 'cause you don't see it up close and personal. Thought it might help ya."

"It did, thank you, really, darling, it was very thoughtful of you."

"So was invitin' them out." he says with a smile, arms around your shoulders and kissing your head.

"Least I could do. All girls deserve a bit of fun now and again. Especially a woman that works so hard like Mable and a sweet young thing like Alice. It's nothing for me to show such kindness to them."

"I can only be thankful for such a woman to come into my life as you, Chanah." he says close to your ear, the gentle tone catching you off guard.

"What brings on this sweet tongue of yours?" you ask, giving his beard an affectionate tug.

"You love, it's always you that makes me this way innit?" he smiles and leans in to give you a chaste kiss. "You are such a compliment to my weaknesses I couldn't imagine goin' 'bout my life of dual nature without you now." he gently holds your chin up to him. "Only your soft heart could be the one to withstand wearing away at my hardened one." he says softly. "I didn't ever think I'd be able to regain the will to want or expect better from myself when it comes to things outside of business. Not until you came along."

"It is not good for man to be alone." you say sweetly, reciting from Genisis.

He sighs and kisses you again. "One who has found a wife has found goodness and has brought forth favor from God." he whispers.

"Solomon from Solomons." you giggle against his lips and a slow, deep chuck bubbles out of him. "And with all this talk you fluster me, Ari." you say more playfully. "It seems you forget we are not in fact married yet. When is it you intend to reunite our souls?" you gently bump your nose against his.

"I want the occasion to as perfect as you are, pet. And I humbly ask of you to give me time to orchestrate the impossible." he grins and kisses you again.

"If anyone could do the impossible, I believe it would be you." you coo at him.

"And that faith in me is why I can even entertain the thought of it at all."

@fangirlfreakingout @jaegeeeeer @cosettewinchester @lookuptheskyisfalling-blog @brianaisasongbird @cry5t4l-w4rri0r @iliveonchocolateandnetflix @jess2464 @hardygal69 @thegarrisonpublichouse @a-flock-of-angry-pigeons @pootle @negansdirtygirl22 @musingsby-night @wtf-is-wrong-with-this @shine-dont-shadow @inkinterrupted @vale0413 @lafayettes-baguettes-1 @sxlomons @aphnxrising @emerald-bijou @elaenom @give-jack-a-lightsaber @anrm1@ultrablackwidower @tinastarkandco @arrowswithwifi @marvelgirl7 @they-are-not-just-stories @ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes

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“Just the facts, ma’am” — “Dragnet” (1951 - 1959) (1967 - 1970)

“Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.” Such a cool opening for one of the most memorable “cop” TV shows of all time. Sgt. Joe — My name’s Friday. I’m a cop — Friday (Jack Web) and his detective sidekicks (played by Ben Alexander and Harry Morgan) managed to keep us glued to the television with their subtle tactics in apprehending criminals because all they really needed in their quest was... just the facts. So cool. Dum, de, dum, dum! Check out this very cool short video.

“Stifle it, Edith!” — “All In The Family” (1971 - 1979) Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) had a way with words. He called his liberal son-in-law, “Meathead”and his faithful wife, “Dingbat “ (and he insulted about every stereotype you can name) without getting his hand slapped from the politically correct community. He was so lovable, though, right? Whenever his wife Edith (Jean Stapleton) had an opinion, he managed to stifle her — most of the time. Check out the time she stifled him here.

“Who Loves Ya Baby?” — “Kojak” (1973 - 1978)

Kojak (Telly Savalas) was probably the only New York City detective on TV who made the Tootsie Roll Pop sexy. And, didn’t he start the bald head craze? (OK, Yul Brenner in the “King And I” helped get this trend started). Who loves Ya, Baby? We do, we do! (Look here for clip.)

“Good Evening” — Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955 - 1962)

Maybe you had to be there, but no one could grab an audience with an introduction quite like Alfred Hitchcock. His “series of unrelated short stories covering elements of crime, horror, drama and comedy about people of different species committing murders, suicides, thefts and other sorts of crime caused by certain motivations” kept us coming back for more each week. It seems like seven years just wasn’t enough for this film director and his spell-bounding stories. Take a look at his one-of-a-kind introductions here.

“Would you believe... “ — “Get Smart” (1965 - 1970)

“Get Smart” (battling the forces of KAOS) had an embarrassment of riches in the catchphrase department. Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 (Don Adams) kept his co-hort, Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) and the Chief (Edward Platt) on the tips of their toes every time he opened his mouth. “Would you believe” these words of wisdom: “Missed it by that much!,” “Sorry about that, Chief,” and “I asked you not to tell me that.” Yes, we would believe anything you say, Agent 86. Take a peek at these “Get Smart” funniest moments here.

“To the moon, Alice!” — “The Honeymooners/The Jackie Gleason Show” (1951 - 1959) Who could forget the wild and crazy antics of New York City bus driver Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason), sarcastic wife Alice Kramden (Audrey Meadows), NYC sewer worker, Ed Norton (Art Carney) and his wife Trixie (Joyce Randolph)? These four feisty Brooklyn residents tested each others patience on a daily basis which was the reason millions of viewers tuned in once a week. Needless to say, Alice Kramden knew how to draw blood which is why Ralph gave her the what for... “One of these days, Alice, you’re going to the moon!” “Just One more thing...” — “Colombo” (1971 - 2003)

Peter Falk made “Colombo” a household name with his unique way of solving the “whodunit” mystery in this clever television detective show. The Fashion Police would have a field day with this disheveled, cigar-smoking detective. (Oh, that rumpled, beige raincoat... how we loved it.) The criminal always thinks he/she has the upper hand in the investigation only to be caught up in the web of Colombo’s increasingly intrusive presence. Just when the suspect thinks all is well, the polite detective (who always gets his man/woman), has “just one more thing“ to ask.

“Goodnight, John Boy” — “The Waltons” (1971 - 1981)

This Great Depression Virginia mountain family sure knew how to grab our hearts. Each episode focuses on the “family of John Walton Jr. (known as John-Boy), his parents, John and Olivia Walton, their seven children, and John’s parents Zebulon “Zeb” and Esther Walton. John-Boy (Richard Thomas) is the eldest of the children (17 years old in the beginning), who becomes a journalist and novelist. In the signature scene that closes almost every episode, the family house is enveloped in darkness, save for one, two or three lights in the upstairs bedroom windows. Through voice-overs, two or more characters make some brief comments related to that episode’s events, and then bid each other goodnight, after which the lights go out.”

“Let’s be careful out there.” — “Hill Street Blues” (1981 - 1987)

“Hill Street Blues“is an American serial police drama that chronicled the lives of the staff of a single police station located on the fictional Hill Street, in an unnamed large city, with ‘blues’ being a slang term for police officers for their blue uniforms.” In the opening, Sgt. Phil Esterhaus (Michael Conrad) does the police roll call, concluding with his signature line: “Let’s be careful out there.”

“May God bless.” — “The Red Skelton Show” (1951 - 1971)

“The Red Skelton Show” was mainly known for the comedy sketches performed by Red himself which included an array of comedic characters (Clem Kadiddlehopper, San Fernando Red, George Appleby and Freddie the Freeloader). He also had guest star performers including John Wayne, Phyllis Diller, Jack Benny... the list goes on forever. His opening monologue often included his two favorite seagulls, Gertrude and Heathcliff. At the end of each show, he ended it with thoughts that went something like this.

“Lucy! You got some ‘splainin’ to do!” — “I Love Lucy” (1951 - 1957) That crazy redhead we affectionately know as Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) was never at a loss for words... or hair brained, good-natured mischief. Her cohort, Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance) was somewhat skeptical at times to play along, but the two BFFs made life interesting for their respective spouses, Ricky (Desi Arnaz) and Fred (William Frawley) to say the least. When Lucy tested Ricky’s patience one too many times, he screamed the only phrase that came to mind (each time): “Lucy, You got some ‘splainin’ to do!” Don’t we all use that phrase ocassionally when we get pissed at our significant others (no matter what gender they are)?

“Yada, Yada, Yada” — “Seinfeld” (1989 - 1998)

Let’s give a big round of applause to Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George Costanza (Jason Alexander) and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) for giving us the best nine sitcom seasons of our lives. Did you know it was actually George’s new girlfriend, Marcy, who came up with the “yada, yada, yada” expression? If you don’t do anything else today, watch this Seinfeld montage.

“Come On Down!” — “The Price Is Right“ (1956 - 1965) (1972 - Present)

I don’t care how old you are, you have heard — at one time in your life — a game show announcer say, “Come on down!” You know the game show: “The Price Is Right.” And you know the master of all game shows: Bob Barker. The point is, no matter what year you were born, somewhere, on some network, “The Price Is Right” has been on your radar. Unless you live in a third world country. Check out this “Come on down!” video with Bob Barker.

“Sock it to me.” — “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In” (1967 - 1973) The comedy team of Dan Rowan and Dick Martin hosted this psychedelic, fast-moving comedy series that featured series regulars Lily Tomlin, Ruth Buzzi, Judy Carne, Goldie Hawn, Arte Johnson, Jo Ann Worley, Gary Owens, Alan Sues and Henry Gibson. Judy Carne became the butt of the joke when she said, “Sock it to me.” They doused her with water or gently assaulted her with rubber objects. Be careful what you say out there.

“Dy-no-mite!” — “Good Times” (1974 - 1979) “Good Times“ lets us in on the lives of Florida (Esther Rolle) and James Evans (John Amos) and their three children, J.J. (Jimmie Walker), Thelma (Bern Nadette Stanis) and Michael (Ralph Carter). “Episodes of Good Times deal with the characters’ attempts to survive in a high rise project building in Chicago, despite their poverty” ... and hilarity ensues. Fess up, you know you said the word “Dy-n-Mite!” every time something good happened in your life back in the day, thanks to the adorable J.J. (Although nobody says it better!)

“God will get you for that!” — “Maude” (1972 - 1978)

Who remembers that “Maude“ was a spin-off from “All In The Family?” Yes, Maude (Bea Arthur) was Edith’s cousin — who somehow got the spunk gene in the family. And who remembers that Maude was a “liberal, independent woman living in Tuckahoe, NY with her fourth husband, Walter (Bill Macy)?” And if you didn’t know all that... (say it).

“De Plane, De Plane” — “Fantasy Island” (1977 - 1984)

Picture it: a remote tropical island resort where all your dreams come true. Well, not exactly. There were glitches in those wishes. Mr. Roarke (Ricardo Montalban ), assisted by his adorable miniature side-kick Tattoo (Hervé Villechaize) had the best of intentions of making his guests live out their fantasies, but what kind of show would that be if everything were perfect? You could count on one thing. The beginning of each episode, a plane arrived with their (we’re presuming rich) guests. Tattoo always alerted Mr. Roarke, by pointing up to the sky, announcing: “De Plane, de plane!” Welcome to Fantasy Island.

“What U Talkin’ ‘bout Willis?” — “Different Strokes” (1978 - 1986)

“Different Strokes” starred Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges (Arnold and Willis Jackson), Conrad Bain (Phillip Drummond) and Dana Plato (Kimberly Drummond) who were perhaps one of the first racially mixed families on television. Arnold didn’t hold back when Willis came up with some bizarre and/or surprise monologue that got his goat. “What u talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?” Too cute!

“Book ‘em, Danno.” — “Hawaii Five-0” (1968 - 1980)

This may be my all-time favorite detective show based in Hawaii (sorry “Magnum P.I.”). And it may well just be because of one of my all-time favorite detective catchphrases: “Book ‘em Danno.” Detective Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) worked so well with Danny Williams (James MacArthur) in each episode to put the bad guys in hand cuffs. (And who didn’t love that theme song!? Check it out here and turn the volume up and enjoy!)

“Say the secret word and win a hundred dollars.” — “You Bet Your Life” (TV version, 1950 - 1961)

Groucho Marx was probably the first choice to host this quiz show that featured a show chocked full of competitive questions — and some hilarious conversation. As it turns out, the comedian was the perfect host. As in all quiz shows, there is money to be won. But, with the right “word,” a contestant could win an extra hundred big ones. All they had to do was say the secret word. Easy Not so fast. How many words are in the English language? But we loved to hear Groucho announce: “Say the secret word and win a hundred dollars.” Sometimes they did. And that was seriously exciting.

“Say goodnight, Gracie” — “The George Burns And Gracie Allen Show“ (1950 - 1958)

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/catchphrases-classic-tv-shows_b_8142724.html

#tv catchphrases #classic television #alfred hitchcock #the honeymooners #i love lucy

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chicagocityofclans · 4 years

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Miles Agyeman-King → Alfie Enoch → Pumapard

→ Basic Information

Age: 136

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Born or Made: Born

Birthday: April 9th

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Religion: Animism

→ His Personality Miles is a hard character to place and understand. He seems to have a wide array of personalities mixed in one, which can be explained by his experience with the Hypershift. He is self-contained and doesn’t typically use strong emotions to show what he is feeling. He generally feels uncomfortable around outbursts of emotions. He doesn’t talk about his feelings, but he will act on them and show people how he feels instead of telling them. Miles prefers to keep his thought process to himself. He never brings up the past, whether it’s his or someone else's, and never relies on people's personal or historical experiences to tell him who they really are.

→ His Personal Facts

Occupation: History Teacher

Scars: Marks along his arms and sides from fighting when he was younger

Tattoos: None

Two Likes: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and Pwason Boukannen

Two Dislikes: Superhero Movies and Pen thieves

Two Fears: Heights and Hypershift

Two Hobbies: Meditation and Journaling

Three Positive Traits: Observant, Ambitious and Forgiving

Three Negative Traits: Secretive, Elusive, Restrained

→ His Connections

Parent Names:

Sibling Names:

Children Names:

None

Romantic Connections:

Platonic Connections:

Rebecka Blake (Acquaintance): Rebecka has been trying to plan a hybrid class between history and English. He’s interested, but the planning is taking longer than he expected.

Roy Allen (Friend): Miles finds Roy a calming presence. There never seems to be an expectation from him and he is a good centering point when Miles feels overwhelmed with his secret.

Hostile Connections:

Rhett Colt (Hate): Rhett Colt was the one hunter who escaped after killing his parents. He sees taking a Colt daughter’s arm as revenge.

Ben Miller (Dislikes): He and Ben have had some altercations in the past, especially right when he joined. He’s found it’s better to steer clear of the liger to not trigger an unwanted change.

Pets:

None

→ Available Gif Hunts (we do not own these)

Alfred Enoch (Miles King) [1][2][3]

#Miles King #Miles Agyeman King #Alfie Enoch #Open #OM #OMC #OAS #OMAS

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gravitascivics · 4 years

Text

AN EXTRAORDINARY AREA OF CONCERN, Part 1

This blog has had a bit to say about the natural rights view of governance and politics. In summary the main points have been that that view has become prominent among Americans; that it promotes the belief that individuals have the right to determine their values; and the right to pursue those values with only one restraint, i.e., that no one be allowed to interfere with others having the same rights.

This, in turn, has implications on one’s morality. The last posting hinted at a connection between this political/moral perspective and economic concerns and activities. There is a good reason for this connection. The moral element of the natural rights construct is the moral foundation of a capitalist or free market economy. What does that mean? This posting attempts to answer that at a basic level.

One can readily find critiques of free markets, especially among leftist political writers. This writer has deeply felt concerns over unregulated markets or over how libertarians and other strongly conservative advocates support free markets. This blog has expressed those concerns, but here this writer wants to sing about its qualified merits.

This is done here because nothing illustrates the meaning of the moral positioning of the natural rights construct – which is the main topic of concern being addressed here – more than when one considers free markets. No economic arrangement as capitalist/free markets has led to such levels of enormous wealth. So much so that the political writer Jonah Goldberg calls it “the Miracle”[1] with good reason. And that reasoning needs to be reviewed to garner the positive moral aspects of capitalist thinking.

This is so because by its nature, free markets provide the means by which to overcome the obstacles that keep people economically constrained. Wealth is created and accumulated by the acts of many. Free markets situate people in this endeavor by them seeking individual goals. Initially, as societies moved to this mode of production and distribution, many were coerced into their roles (here one can cite the exploitive conditions that early factory workers or miners sustained), but over the longer term more people than in any other means of production benefitted.

Hence, each actor, under current forms of capitalism, takes care of his or her own interests by his or her own means. A person so engaged has a targeted motivation to fulfill his or her role that both advances the person's interests and those of society – at least most of the time. Rest easy; this review will forego the economics of it all, but it points out that history has not known a more impressive success story.

The question is not whether free markets work, but whether free markets, in the long run, work best under certain restraints placed upon them. In this posting, the argument is made for restraints on free markets as necessary components of a well-functioning capitalist economy and how restraints (usually through some form of regulations) affect natural rights’ morality. According to those who advocate for restraints on free markets, their arguments have to do with the social conditions that unfettered markets help create as was the case during the early development of free markets.

These advocates would argue: Without any restraints, free markets create dysfunctional levels of skewed income and wealth distributions.[2] They also set up very dubious practices such as the selling of products that most feel are, for moral reasons, beyond limits. This might include the selling of babies, the selling of military service, or other civic oriented duties such as a person's vote. One is apt not to think of these examples or see them as beyond the pale, but one should remember that America has not had a totally unregulated economy.

In terms of this, Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote: “As soon as public service ceases to be the chief business of the citizens, and they would rather serve with their money than with their persons, the state is not far from its fall.”[3] Unfettered markets enable and encourage citizens to view their civic life in monetary terms and this can cause expensive outcomes to a government and its people. And with enough of that, one starts encroaching on moral concerns.

But nothing essentially says that a free market cannot have restraints. Supporters of restraints would point out that the US economy from 1945 until the end of the century functioned with meaningful restraints and experienced vast growth. Yes, given the advantages World War II provided the US in relation to other industrial nations, one can argue that those times were not common.

But as the Noble Prize-winning economists, Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, argue, reasonable restraints, such as those imposed by governments with mixed economies, do not impose debilitating consequences regardless of global conditions.[4] In their book, Good Economics for Hard Times, ample evidence supporting this claim is cited.

[Note: The next posting will pick up on this topic.]

[1] Jonah Goldberg, Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics Is Destroying American Democracy (New York, NY: Crown Forum, 2018). Yes, Goldberg is a leading conservative national writer and former editor of the National Review.

[2] For a historical account of this claim the reader is referred to New York, a documentary series produced by Public Broadcasting Service. This series, directed by Ric Burns, depicts the New York economy run by an exceptionally free market system resulting in segments of the city's population being extremely rich and “half,” as Jacob Riis designated it, living in abject poverty. See Ric Burns and James Sanders, New York: An Illustrated History (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999).

This was particularly the case in the nineteenth century. The nation is again experiencing large income and wealth disparities among its population. This has spawned a literature currently available; for example, the following book: Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty. This has taken place as the restraints instituted by FDR’s New Deal policies have been weakened or, in some cases, eliminated.

This more recent trend began under the administration of Ronald Reagan and has been accelerated under the Trump administration. Another history that focuses on the rise of industrial cotton production and lends insight to the trend highlighted here is Sven Beckert’s Empire of Cotton: A Global History. Sven Beckert, Empire of Cotton: A Global History (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014).

[3] Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, Book III, chapter 15, translation by G. D. H. Cole (London, England: J. M. Dent and Sons, 1762/1973), n. p.

[4] Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, Good Economics for Hard Times (New York, NY: Public Affairs, 2019). Capitalism, with structural restraints, has also lifted the fates of millions of people in the developing world.

#natural rights view #economic values #civics education #social studies

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sceawere · 7 years

Text

another time pt. 13 | alfie solomons

[STORY BIO + PREVIOUS CHAPTERS HERE]

The boys sat quietly for a long time after you finished the rambling story you’d delivered. Trying to fit so many confusing things into a coherent timeline was difficult. Especially when you didn’t fully understand it yourself. Toby was frowning, staring out the window. Aaron was turning a spoon up and over, up and over.

Alfie would flip his eyes up to you every so often, checking you were alright. He was leaning against the wall opposite, with one arm crossed over his chest, the other resting on it by his elbow. He was tracing his thumb over his beard, bent slightly over himself to balance.

Up and over. Up and over. Eyes up. Eyes down.

“Someone say something, please. Good or bad, I don’t care” you broke through the silence, stepping away from leaning on the counter.

“The future?” Toby questioned and you sighed.

“The future” you confirmed. You didn’t know how this was going to go but it definitely wasn’t going well.

Aaron let go of the spoon as it was balancing on its curve, letting it crash to the table top. Pickles jumped up from where he was tucked under the windowsill, investigating the ruckus. Aaron rose from the chair, flicking his jacket off the back as he moved passed you.

“Aaron” Alfie warned, unmoving. You stepped aside, letting him leave. Toby turned to watch his brother leave, brow still furrowed. He flicked his eyes to you, raising from his own seat. He sighed, tucking his hands into the pockets of his trousers, rocking a little in place.

“Well…I was actually expecting worse”

“Wait, you believe me?” you questioned and he scoffed a laugh.

“I don’t disbelieve you. Let’s hold off on anything more concrete for now, eh? Besides, it explains a lot” he added and you scowled.

“What does it explain?”

“Your complete lack of understanding of current events, for a start. I thought maybe you’d been locked up or something but…”

You looked over to Alfie as he unfolded himself, stepping towards the doorway.

“Let him go” Toby insisted after him, moving to a serious state you rarely saw from him. Toby was all nervous energy. Like static, bouncing and dancing, electrifying its environment. Aaron was more solid, less fluctuating. He took a place as he found it - left it how he did too.

“I need to talk to him” Alfie explained but Toby shook his head.

“You need to give him time”

You fidgeted, preparing.

“We need to talk about what happened yesterday. We need to talk about what’s happening today. I’m sorry, but I don’t think any of us have had the privilege of time since this all started and I don’t think now is the best time to start wasting it” you added, trying to stick to your new plan while you still had the courage.

Toby shuffled in place, freeing one hand to scratch at Pickles sniffing nose.

“How are you?” he asked, looking up to meet your eye. The question froze you up, shifting your weight as you mulled over the question.

“Has anyone asked you that?” he continued and you saw Alfie push his shoulder into the doorway, probably offended at the accusation that he hadn’t been looking after you properly.

“If I’m honest, I don’t actually know” you breathed out, half a laugh at the end. It soured in your mouth, rolling your tongue around the inside of your teeth.

“This had to melt your mind, huh?” he laughed, leaning back to perch on the edge of the windowsill.

“You have no idea. Alfie’s kept me busy. Helps, you know? Not thinking about it” he nodded a response, solemn.

“Oh yeah, he’s good at that” he looked up to Alfie, then moved to you “When bullets are flying, you’re not exactly stopping to sort through things frame by frame, huh?”

“Yeah can’t say I have much time to contemplate my place in the universe when I’m worrying about disappearing into the ether or getting locked up. Time travel, gangsters, and vendettas. It’s all very interesting” you joked, managing a smile “Now please stop being serious and go back to being the guy I know. You’re creeping me out more than the other stuff is”

He smirked and you waited for whatever was coming.

“Nice jammies, by the way. You sleep well last night you two?” he made sure to look over to Alfie at the end and you rolled your eyes.

“There’s my boy. Knew you still had it in you” you fired back, making as if you were going to exit the room, before turning back at the last second “Tobias Valentine the second”

As his face fell, Alfie’s lit up, as though it had passed between them. You winked to Alfie on the way out, waving off Toby’s protestations as you went. One out of two wasn’t bad, and you had to work on building Aaron’s trust no matter what.

“It’s ‘Valentin’, time lady. Valentin. It means ‘strength’!” he followed you out of the kitchen, shouting down the corridor at you, before turning back to Alfie “Did you tell her that?”

“It’s on your arrest record, mate. Tough luck” he slapped a hand to his shoulder as he followed you down to the bedroom.

Toby sighed, watching the two of you disappear behind the door. He turned his head, catching sight of Pickles sat square in the middle of the kitchen.

“She named you Pickles for goodness sake” he frowned at the dog’s whine, stepping into the now empty room to scratch at their ears again.

You flopped down onto the bed, pulling your legs up to cross before you. Alfie shut the door softly, moving to drop beside you.

“You alright?”

“I think”

“That was brave” he assured, lifting an arm up and over your head to wrap around you. You dropped your head to his shoulder, watching your reflection in the mirror on top of the dresser. Alfie was resting his chin on your forehead, looking over you out the window.

“Was it the right thing to do? I heard Aaron and I just…couldn’t keep the secret anymore. With everything that’s happening, we need them, and I couldn’t keep lying to them while asking them to put themselves at risk for me”

“It was the right thing to do” he licked his lips, then amended his answer “I think”

You laughed, turning so your forehead was flush with his shoulder, tucked into him.

“The great Alfred Solomons, floored by questions of morality”

“What, we giving everyone their proper names now? Don’t go making a habit, love. Besides, you know how I feel now. Weighing everything up, wondering if you’re doing the best for everyone or just doing what needs to be done to get you through to make another decision tomorrow”

You untucked your head, lifting to meet his eyes. He still looked tired, and you wondered if he’d woken up as soon as you’d fallen asleep. You started to think ‘when all this is over…’ before remembering it had only just started. The thought alone was exhausting.

“You do a good job. I think” he smiled to you and you continued “I don’t really know. I mean, I’ve never seen you actually working properly but now I think of it…from what you’ve demonstrated you’re really fucking dodgy”

He laughed, nodding in agreement.

“Pretty spot on description”

“I mean, you threatened to shoot me within an hour of meeting me”

“Only if you kept misbehaving” he amended.

“And you faked me a number of documents at short notice, with little effort and thought to the consequence or legality”

“Well-“

“And you broke me out of jail yesterday, which-”

“Legally. I sent a lawyer to get- how is that ‘breaking you out of jail’?” he tripped over himself mid-sentence, worked up at the allegation.

“I was thankful for it!” you assured and he scowled down at you.

“Damn right, you better be, missus”

“Oh, shut up and piss off. I need to get dressed” you leant forward to dot a kiss at his cheek, lifting yourself from the bed quickly when you realised what you’d done on instinct. You moved straight to the dresser, opening the drawer that had been cleared of Alfie’s things and was now yours.

You kept your head down, digging through the cloth to find something decent to wear. You felt him move behind you, hovering a short distance away. A safe distance.

“You’re not going to work”

You stalled, not turning your head to him, but flicking up to see him in the mirror.

“Well, no, I’m not going to be at my desk today. But we need to have a meeting with the boys, and we need to get a plan sorted. That police guy was sniffing around the lot of you and we need to work out-“

“We will do, but I think it’s best if you go to the big house until we sort what’s happening” he reasoned and you turned to him for real.

“The big house?” you questioned, gripping your dress in hand “You’re hiding me away?”

He clicked his tongue, looking away and back. He was exasperated before you’d even begun to argue your case.

“I’m not hiding you away, I’m making sure you’re somewhere safe. This place isn’t exactly a fortress is it? I need you somewhere safe until we get Kaye out of the way and then- “

“You wouldn’t let Esther live here if it wasn’t safe” you argued.

“Oh trust me, I’ve tried to move her many a time” he pointed to you “she makes her own decisions and everyone else can make theirs. Bless ‘em if they try to get at her up there”

“She makes her decisions and I make mine. That whole thing this morning-“you lifted your arm to point blindly in the direction of the door, dress swaying in your grip “was about me being brave and making decisions now. Not going with the flow of whatever came before me. Assessing a situation, and making a decision.

I got arrested yesterday. I got tagged with you and yours. They’re coming after me as they’re coming after you. They see me as part of this organisation now. So I’m part of this organisation now. I’m-“

You took a breath, swallowed, and forged ahead.

“I’m part of this family now, Alfie. I need to part of decisions. I need to have a hand in what happens. It involves me, and I’m not a thing to be shied away and hidden until its safe. I don’t need you to protect me like that. I need you to trust me and…teach me. I need you to teach me how to survive here”

He paced away a little, looping around to lean over the footboard. His hands wrapped around the piping, eyes to the quilt as he thought.

“I’m not hiding you away. But, I take your point. You’re in this now, same as the rest of us. This changes things. Which is why-“he looked up to you “I need to be working from a place of safety, instead of worrying about you being exposed, right? I can’t be focusing on what I need to be doing if I’m constantly looking to see where you are”

You sighed, and dropped back against the dresser.

“Point taken” you agreed “You come to the big house with me”

“We all go to the big house, sweet. Like I’d let you lap up the luxury all on your lonesome. It’s my damn house”

You rolled your eyes, smiling lightly at him.

“I like this place” you noted.

“Yeah, it’s lovely. What else?” he asked, catching you out.

“What else what?”

“Well, you sounded like you had a plan. You went off there like you were about to break out a speech” he replied.

“I didn’t…I want you to teach me about the…you know” you swung your hand in front of you, scrunched dress flapping around “the lay of the land. Who we like, who we don’t. Who to work with, who not to trust”

He stood straight, crossing his arms again.

“I not been giving you enough homework?” he joked but you ignored him.

“I want you to teach me to shoot. Or, find someone to teach me to shoot. Maybe not you”

He tilted his head and you nodded to him.

“Sweetheart-“

“I need to know. You keep a gun in the drawer by the bed, Alfie. I need to know” you threw the dress onto the bed before it was completely crumpled beyond hope “what happens if the shit hits the roof and you’re not there? I need to know”

He mulled it over for a few moments, not looking entirely sure on his decision when he made it.

“Right. I’m make sure to produce a well-rounded curriculum, then”

“Alfie, be serious”

“It’s all I ever am. Anymore demands?” he sighed, stepping to the entry and putting his hand on the doorknob.

“Whose ‘Kaye’?” you went back to what he’d said before, confused.

“Kaye. Detective Kaye. The guy who had you arrested” he looked more confused than you did.

“Oh”

“You didn’t get his name?” he questioned, sounding disappointed.

“No! I was busy…being…intimidated”

“We’re all…we’ve all got a lot on, love. You still- right, you’re right. I need to teach you some stuff. I’ll add it to the list” he opened the door, stepping out.

“And pack a bag!” he shouted a few moments later and you dropped your head back. Here we go.

#|writing #another time verse #peaky blinders fic #peaky blinders imagine #alfie solomons

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hysterialevi · 7 years

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In the Smoke pt. 8 (Cobblebats)

From Thomas’ POV

GCPD

Navigating through the halls of the precinct, I hastily made my way to Carmine’s room as police officers stared at me with suspicious eyes, almost grimacing whenever I passed by. Apparently, rumors were starting to float around that I was working with the notorious crime-boss, and multiple news companies had even received a decent amount of evidence, but so far, nothing solid had reached the surface. Yet. Though, it was still concerning. After all, where were they finding this ‘evidence’ in the first place, and who was giving it to them? Right now, the only person who I could think of was Penguin--considering his vested interest in me--and there were no other notable enemies that I knew of who would’ve pulled off such a blatant move. I supposed only time would tell.

Arriving at Carmine’s room, the muffled, high-pitched sound of a heart monitor reached my ears, and once I opened the door, I saw the man himself lying in a bed, practically dead. His face had been decorated with multiple, dark bruises, and there was a rather prominent one circling his neck from when Penguin tried to strangle him. There were also several burns charring his skin due to the explosion, and a generous amount of bandages had been wrapped around him as if he would fall apart without them.

Slipping my hands into my pockets, I quietly approached my old friend and sat in a nearby chair, waiting for him to wake up as worry started to fill me. Carmine was as tough as nails--no one was questioning that--and it would take a hell lot of effort to bring him down, but I was still anxious about his condition. None of us were as young or brash as we used to be, and our physical strength only deteriorated with age. No matter how strong Carmine was, everyone had their limits, and I was afraid he had been pushed beyond his.

Suddenly, a soft grunt broke the silence of the room. I looked up.

“...Tommy?” Carmine mumbled, barely able to open his eyes. A weak chuckle escaped him. “Damn, you’ve got some clout, don’t you? My own wife can’t get in to seem me.”

I cut right to the chase. “How you doing, Carmine? I know Penguin roughed you up quite a bit.”

He scoffed. “Roughed me up? The son-of-a-bitch threw me off a goddamn building. Or, at least, he tried to. Batman showed up, you see. Somehow caught me before I could hit the ground. I guess it’s true, what they say about the vigilante. He really will save anyone.”

“He doesn’t save everyone,” I corrected, “but he won’t let anyone die either. If he can help it.”

“A noble goal, but ultimately useless. Enemies don’t get rid of themselves, you know. Just look at me: I’ll be out of this tin can by tomorrow. It’s gonna take more than handcuffs to keep me down.”

I smiled at that, but it quickly faded away. Carmine noticed my troubled look.

“Hey, everything all right, Tommy?”

I rubbed my temple out of exhaustion, letting out a breath. “Carmine, I think Bruce is catching on. To what we do.”

“Is that so?” He didn’t appear to be bothered. “ And what makes you say that?”

“Well, nothing specific, but he’s been...distant, lately. Like he’s trying to avoid me. Just the other day, on the anniversary of Martha’s death, Bruce disappeared before I even woke up. Normally, we always visit her together, but that day, I barely got to see him for more than a minute. Everything he does now is just...so unpredictable.”

Carmine laughed at that. “I wonder where he gets it from.” His chest heaved slightly with a short series of coughs. “I wouldn’t put too much thought into it. The boy probably just wants some space. He’s always been a lone wolf anyways.”

“But not like this.”

He sighed in a reminiscent tone. “We can wish against it as much as we want, but kids grow up, Tommy. Little boys become men. Their naivety turns into experience, and their ignorance turns into awareness. Bruce is gonna learn the truth eventually, whether we like it or not. He may not act like it, but I know, somewhere in that tuxedo, he understands the situation. You might as well explain it to him.”

I wasn’t so sure of the suggestion. “Maybe I should’ve told him sooner, but by this point, I’m not even certain how he’d react. To know that I’m still working with the man who killed his mother.”

“Bruce has been exposed to the world of politics more than a few times,” Carmine reassured. “He’ll understand that you can’t always opt out of something, no matter how nasty it is. Hell, I’m not even the biggest fan of Ham anymore, but we’re twenty years in deep. You can’t just dig your way out of two decades of history. That takes blood and time. Both of which we can’t afford right now.”

I twiddled mindlessly with the end of my mustache in thought. “...you’re right. You’re right. Perhaps it is time to tell him. I just don’t know how.”

“It won’t be easy, and I can’t even guarantee it’ll end well, but honesty can do wonders. Believe me.”

Before we could carry on the conversation any further, I received a phone call from Alfred, the gentle buzz of my phone emitting a soft, sharp noise. Standing up from my chair, I answered the call and walked over to the window, taking in the dark view of Gotham.

“Master Thomas?” The butler sounded panicked.

“I’m here, Alfred.”

“Oh, thank goodness. Sir, I’ve come across something rather...disturbing. I was just tidying up the manor, you see, and I was getting ready to clean your study, until I realized someone had gone through your stuff.”

I lowered my voice to a worried hush. “What do you mean ‘gone through?’ And who is this ‘someone?”

“Well, from what I can see, multiple of your files pertaining to Arkham Asylum and Wayne Enterprises have vanished. And on top of that...” Alfred paused for a moment, clearly hesitant to tell me more. “Sir, the entrance to the Batcave has been opened.”

My body stiffened at the news, and I could feel myself slightly shaking.

“What--opened? How? Did they mess with anything else down there?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know. On the bright side though, your gear seems unharmed, and the Batsuit appears to remain intact. Whoever broke into the cave was mostly interested in the computer, and just like before, they only accessed documents relating to Arkham. Who on Earth do you think could’ve done this?”

It didn’t take long for me to think of a suspect. “Penguin must be responsible. He has to be. Not too long ago, he was just harassing Carmine for info about that place, and once he was done with him, he mentioned having to deal with the Waynes somehow. This must’ve been what he had in mind.”

Alfred let out an unsettled sigh. “We must be careful, sir. If Penguin really was behind this incident, then your identity is at risk.”

“I know. Speaking of careful, has Bruce returned home yet?”

“No. And I’ve not received any calls or texts from him. Has he, by chance, contacted you?”

“No, not that I’m surprised.” I dragged a hand down my face. “All right. This is getting out of hand. I’ll try to get a hold of him, figure out where he is. In the meantime, I need you to dig deeper into the break-in, and see if we can’t pinpoint the invader.”

“Of course, sir. I will do everything I can.”

“Thanks, Al. I’ll talk to you later.”

Ending the call, I shoved the phone back into my pocket and turned to Carmine, who was eyeing me with curiosity.

“Everything okay, Tommy?”

I headed for the exit and grabbed the doorknob, holding on for a bit longer than I intended.

“...yeah,” I lied. “Everything’s fine. Look, I gotta get going. I’ll see you some other time, Carmine.”

“Sure thing. Try not to lose your head out there.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Leaving the room, I replayed everything Alfred just told me in my head over and over again, my heart racing with paranoia as I sped my way out of the precinct. Not only had someone potentially discovered Batman’s identity and rummaged through my stuff, they had also stolen all of the records about Arkham Asylum, and the debate was literally just tomorrow. If I didn’t fix this on time, the following days were about to be one hell of a shit show, and I was far from prepared.

From Bruce’s POV

CHILDREN OF ARKHAM HQ

Oz and I attentively watched the security camera footage from Arkham Asylum, which included Esther, Hill, Falcone, and my father. They were all cramped in some tiny, padded cell, and Esther had been bound to a hospital cot against her will while everyone else surrounded her. There was also an unknown man standing next to my father, holding a syringe of some blue liquid.

“Subject Nine, Esther Cobblepot,” my father announced, “you’ve been declared criminally insane...and committed to Arkham indefinitely as a ward of the state.

“Please--” she begged in a shaky voice. I almost didn’t recognize her. “--I’ll sell you the land. Please, don’t do this--”

Hill approached the cot, snobby as always. “Hrmph. You had your chance. You should have made the deal we offered you. Give her the drug.”

Esther started struggling. “Thomas, we--we’re friends. Our boys play together--”

My father joined in. “You were warned, Esther. You know I always get what I want.” He turned to the third man. “Commence the procedure. Give her a dose she won’t come back from.”

Esther didn’t say anything in response to that and simply sat there, her head hanging low with defeat as the man positioned the syringe’s needle above her neck. Why wasn’t he doing anything? Was he having second thoughts?

After a second of silence, he snapped back into business and all of his sympathy disappeared as he slowly started to puncture her skin with the needle, injecting the deranged chemical.

Barely a heartbeat later, Esther was already shrieking at the top of her lungs like a madwoman and wildly flailing around in the cot, her face twisted with insanity. The footage abruptly ended there, and the screen went dark, leaving us with our thoughts.

I glanced over at Oz, who was dead silent.

“...Oz?” I put a hand on his shoulder. “...are you okay?”

Even though the footage had stopped, he continued glaring at the black screen and clenched his fists, blinking rapidly. His eyes looked glossy, and I could tell he was about to snap.

“...mum...” Oz whispered, voice trembling. Suddenly, he snatched the beer bottle resting on his desk and hurled it at the wall with an enraged shout, the glass violently shattering all over the floor. I flinched at the outburst, a little scared.

“I’m gonna kill all of them, Bruce,” Oz vowed, furiously slamming his fist into the wall. “I’m gonna kill every. Single. Fucking. One of them. They think they can just...just do that to my mum and--and...”

He trailed off and slid down towards the floor, breaking into tears as he curled up and his face in his knees.

Leaving the desk, I carefully took a spot next to Oz, saying nothing. He didn’t want to hear words right now. He just needed company.

Pulling Oz into a comforting hug, the man instantly wrapped his arms around me and buried himself into my embrace, shaking uncontrollably against me. This was the first time I’d ever seen Oz like this, save for when he used to be bullied at school, and I wasn’t quite sure how to handle the situation. So I just did what my instincts said, and continued to hold him protectively, letting him do whatever he needed.

After a few minutes of constant sobbing, Oz finally brought his gaze up to me, eyes red and face wet. His brow was furrowed in anger, and he wouldn’t let go.

“We’re gonna make them pay, Bruce,” he growled. “We’re gonna take back our city.”

#cobblebats #batman telltale #bruce wayne #oswald cobblepot #harvey dent #fanfic #story

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dougcook · 7 years

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I wrote words and created sentences to review a game that came out months ago!

“He will remember that.”

Well, I goddamn hope so.

I’ve never played a Telltale game before. I’ve heard they’re great. A lot of people talk about THE WALKING DEAD (Seasons 1 and 2), but I passed because I don’t much care for THE WALKING DEAD. It took me too long to realize GAME OF THRONES was a Telltale game and not a cheap tie-in, and by the time I did I learned the big ending and wasn’t particularly interested anymore. I’ve never played BORDERLANDS so TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS was never really considered. I’m always intrigued by games that have a shifting plot based off of your choices – HEAVY RAIN got a shot years ago because of this, I fell in love with MASS EFFECT partially due to how skillfully it builds on your choices over three games [1], and I randomly took up LIFE IS STRANGE to see how they did it, even though it was an unknown to me.

But I know Batman. And in the wake of an uncertain future for Batman video games following Rocksteady bowing out after ARKHAM KNIGHT, I was eager to try BATMAN: THE TELLTALE SERIES.

Alright, so I’m not such a big gamer that I can talk about gameplay for long, and it’s not a huge factor for me. I mean, I need the gameplay to work and be fun, but beyond that there’s not a huge difference. And while I think there’s a lot BATMAN: THE TELLTALE SERIES has going for it that the Rocksteady games don’t, the gameplay is nowhere near as fun or engaging. The QuickTime event nature of its action makes them tedious to me, and anytime I had to move Bruce or Batman around is was mostly frustrating. And I despise the game forcing me to highlight circles when investigating things with the right joystick, it feels so damn awkward, like being asked to write with my non-dominant hand.

Thankfully, the game’s real interest to me was its story, and how it developed behind my choices. And this is clearly Telltale’s bread and butter. There’s a lot of spoilery stuff to unpack here, so probably stop reading if you haven’t played and want to remain spoiler free. Or don’t. I don’t care, do what you want.

So the game’s real strength is its use of Batman lore against the player. And it’s undoing as well. It starts off well enough, by introducing Oswald Cobblepot as a handsome, thin young man around Bruce’s age, and an international criminal. It takes a canon idea (the Cobblepots and Wayne’s as rival families, until the Cobblepots crumbled, leaving Oswald bitter), and takes it in a fresh direction of establishing Wayne’s equal and inversion in all ways. It’s fun!

This even applies to the big thing I presume people being pissed about: Bruce learns that Thomas and Martha Wayne were in league with Carmine Falcone and corrupt Mayor Hill, and that specifically Thomas is the brutal evil mastermind, committing enemies to Arkham Asylum for petty reasons, such as Esther Cobblepot simply to gain her land for the construction of Wayne Tower. Guys what a great idea! By casting the shadow on the memory of Bruce’s parents, it forces the idea of Batman to be analyzed: why does Bruce do this then, if his memory of his parent’s morality was a lie? (This gets compounded when it comes out that Thomas and Martha’s deaths were a hit ordered by Hill, and not a random mugging). Where does Bruce’s moral code come from, and does it remain afterwards? This is, of course, not really a chance for Bruce Wayne to grapple with these thoughts, but a chance for us, the player, as we dictate what kind of a man Bruce/Batman is.

This takes me back to a memory of a coworker and I discussing THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. I really love the book, I do, but I’m not blind to the unfortunate fascistic implications of the book’s portrayal of Batman. He has power and takes more because only he can be trusted with, etc etc. My coworker didn’t see this as troubling – he’s Batman, he is the only person that can be trusted with power. He couldn’t see that, while the fictional character as written by a person is pure and always makes the right choice, that’s not a lesson we as people can take and use in our lives. Superheroes work best as Aesops, and too much Batman fiction gives into the power trip of the character. It comes from the base root of everything, this intrinsic idea: the trauma instilled Bruce with a hardline moral code that makes him incorruptible. BATMAN: THE TELLTALE SERIES forces us to reconcile how that moral code can remain intact when the cause is shown to be even more impure. I find it interesting so many players make choices as Batman that are more merciful when faced with this.

It’s a shame the things we don’t control are borderline too much. Like the Rocksteady games, it’s a pretty tough sell that Batman doesn’t accidentally kill anyone with his roughness. Batarangs enter eyes; heads slam against walls. I want to applaud the game’s desire to show violence as brutal, I just don’t know if I have it in me to go through anymore crime scenes where people’s eyes are gouged out.

Oh yeah, and the game seems to have an obsession with eyes. Batman gives Catwoman a black left eye after punching her; the lens on the goggle on that same eye is broken in the next episode, along with Batman’s left eye. Alfred’s glasses are found with the left lens broken, and he can possibly lose that eye by the end of the game [2]. Penguin at one point dons a…um, thingy that looks like a monocle, leaving his left eye open. Falcone is shot (oh yeah, he gets offed so much earlier than one would expect) with a shot to the left eye. So does Thomas Wayne when we finally get the required Wayne’s death scene. And of course, there’s the Harvey Dent scarring, a major part leaving his left eye uncovered, ala THE DARK KNIGHT [3]. The game’s central focus seems to be on secrets; everyone’s got ‘em, and nobody’s what they appear. Except Gordon. Fucker’s a rock in Batman fiction.

The first three episodes of the game move at a breakneck pace, with things getting wilder until the third episode’s climax, which reveals you were being played the whole time by…Vikki Vale? Um, cool? It’s not that it breaks canon (I’ve shown a fondness for that so far), it’s not that it’s left field (it’s foreshadowed very well in retrospect), but…like, how the fuck does somebody become Gotham’s Lois Lane while secretly planning…huh, not super sure what her end goal was besides screwing with Bruce Wayne. The fourth and fifth episodes continue to fly by, with fun cameos [4], explosive moments, and some heartfelt scenes. But ultimately, the climax falls short due to Lady Arkham/Vikki Vale just…not being interesting. It works, story and theme wise, to fight her as Bruce Wayne, but it’s so muddled what motivates her and what she really wants. It’ so unclear she comes across more like throwing a tantrum. And to have an interesting version of the Penguin as her number two, and even a Two-Face who’s betrayal stings so much due to a strongly developed friendship with Bruce both playing second fiddle to Lady Arkham, well, it’s disappointing.

The game starts strong, and ends with a bit of a dud. But its highs, man they’re really high. A quick-hit of amazing stuff in this games: Bruce throwing down the Batman cowl and yelling at Alfred, accusing him of lying about his parents; Bruce and Selina Kyle fight off Penguin’s goons in a bar to, well, jaunty bar music; Bruce pulling off the “I’m about to be caught as the other man in a love triangle so I’ll tip-toe away carrying my clothes to hide” move while carrying the friggin’ batsuit; Batman and Two-Face have a showdown in Wayne Manor; Bruce reassuring a despondent Alfred he’s not to blame for the game’s events.

BATMAN: THE TELLTALE SERIES can delight and make you weep, but only when the villains aren’t around. Rating: 14 out of 17 Stolen Waynetech Grapplers

[1] – There’s a handful of series in fiction that are so tightly wound together that I never engage with a single installment out of context – I begin the series at its start and I go until it ends. HARRY POTTER, THE LORD OF THE RINGS films, and MASS EFFECT are the three examples I can name without hesitation. I’ve played through the three MASS EFFECT games straight three times. [2] – I confess, this didn’t happen in my play through, I simply read about it after. [3] – I consider it a true delight that I could’ve avoided Harvey getting scarred, but that’s another “armed with canon” moment for you. I assumed it was gonna happen, thus I was complicit. [4] – Let’s talk Joker down here briefly. I liked him, mostly, interpreted as like, that awkward, nerdy guy you knew in college with the weird sense of humor. His knowledge of everything Lady Arkham comes across as 80% “get out of jail free” card, but it does kinda fit. He’s…aight.

#batman #the telltale series #spoilers

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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How The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It Secretly Ties Into Annabelle

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This article contains The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It spoilers.

Set in 1981, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It centers around the real case of Arne Johnson, a young man who murdered his landlord and claimed that he was possessed at the time. While this case, which the Warrens did have involvement with, is the framing device of the story, the meat of it, where the Warrens strive to understand what the demon wants and where it comes from, is fictional and has a neat tie-in to the wider Conjuring universe.

We discover that an occultist has summoned the demon using witches totems in order to gain great power. This occultist is revealed to be the adopted daughter of retired priest Father Kastner (John Noble). Kastner was instrumental in bringing down a cult called The Disciples of the Ram, an endeavor he worked on for almost a decade. He has his own ‘artefact room’ similar to the Warrens’ which is packed with books on the occult and items from his research. It is implied that his daughter’s fascination with her father’s work is what drew her into the dark arts.

But this is not the first time we have met the Disciples of the Ram…

This seemingly casual reference actually links The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It to the films Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation (the prequel of Annabelle, which is itself a prequel to the first Conjuring film).

At the start of Annabelle, Mia (Annabelle Wallace) and John Form (Ward Horton) are attacked in their home by a couple who are part of the cult of the Disciples of the Ram. The couple who attacked them are the child formerly known as Janice, who by that point was possessed by a demon and went by the name Annabelle, and her cultist boyfriend. The two murdered the Forms’ neighbors, the Higgins’, (who were Annabelle/Janice’s adoptive parents) and break into the Forms’. The police arrive and shoot Annabelle/Janice’s boyfriend, while Annabelle/Janice shuts herself in the Forms’ nursery, grabs the Annabelle doll, and slits her own throat leaving a marking on the wall – this is the symbol of the Disciples of the Ram. The demon that was possessing Annabelle/Janice is transferred to the doll, which terrorizes the Forms before ending up in the artifact room belonging to the Warrens.

Where had the demon that possessed Annabelle/Janice (and later the doll) come from?

We learn from Annabelle: Creation that the doll had been the original host of the demon decades back. The doll was made by a man named Samuel Mullins (played by Anthony LaPaglia) who, with his wife, Esther, (Miranda Otto) unwittingly invites a demon to possess the doll, thinking the demon is the spirit of their dead daughter, whose name was Annabelle. When they learn of their mistake they enlist the help of priests to bless the house and contain the demon in the doll, in a blessed, locked closet in their late daughter’s room.

Later the Mullins’ take in several orphans including a girl called Janice. Janice finds the possessed doll and the demon eventually possesses her. After murdering both Esther and Samuel, Janice escapes and is taken in by an orphanage in Santa Monica, where she calls herself Annabelle. Later she is adopted by the Higgins family (the family murdered at the start of Annabelle).

That’s a lot of Annabelles. The short version in chronological order then:

The Mullins accidentally conjure the demon into the doll. The demon leaves the doll and possesses child Janice. Possessed Janice kills the Mullins and goes to live with the Higgins. Possessed Janice grows up, joins the Disciples of the Ram – who are into devil worship – murders the Higgins, attacks the Fords, and then kills herself. The demon returns to the doll, and terrorizes the Fords until family friend Evelyn (Alfre Woodard) offers up her soul to the demon. The doll goes to some nursing students and eventually finds its way to the Warrens.

This is interesting for several reasons. Firstly of course because Easter Eggs tying installments together are a massive part of the Conjuring universe, no less than they would be in the MCU or similar. But secondly because this could provide the perfect jumping off point for the next spin-off. The previous two Conjuring movies prompted standalones not featuring the Warrens – Annabelle, and its two sequels, sprung directly from The Conjuring while The Conjuring 2 introduced us to The Nun who got her own origin story. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is no less deserving of its own spin-off and there’s untapped material here.

The backstory of Father Kastner and his daughter is only skirted over briefly here, there’s more story to tell. What happened with the Disciples? How did his daughter get involved with the cult, if indeed she ever was? What’s going on inside Kastner’s evidence room that convinces him to keep the books and papers locked away rather than destroy them?

Even within the Conjuring universe there has always been scope for different flavors – indeed, The Devil Made Me Do It moves away from the ‘70s haunted house vibes of the first two movies and into the 1980s’ Satanic Panic era. A cult movie featuring Kastner vs. the Disciples of the Ram could be an excellent addition to the catalogue.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post How The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It Secretly Ties Into Annabelle appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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chicagocityfclanspromoblog · 3 years

Photo

Miles Agyeman-King → Alfie Enoch → Pumapard

→ Basic Information

Age: 136

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Born or Made: Born

Birthday: April 9th

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Religion: Animism

→ His Personal Facts

Occupation: History Teacher

Scars: Marks along his arms and sides from fighting when he was younger

Tattoos: None

Two Likes: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and Pwason Boukannen

Two Dislikes: Superhero Movies and Pen thieves

Two Fears: Heights and Hypershift

Two Hobbies: Meditation and Journaling

Three Positive Traits: Observant, Ambitious and Forgiving

Three Negative Traits: Secretive, Elusive, Restrained

→ His Connections

Parent Names:

Sibling Names:

Children Names:

None

Romantic Connections:

Platonic Connections:

Rebecka Blake (Acquaintance): Rebecka has been trying to plan a hybrid class between history and English. He’s interested, but the planning is taking longer than he expected.

Roy Allen (Friend): Miles finds Roy a calming presence. There never seems to be an expectation from him and he is a good centering point when Miles feels overwhelmed with his secret.

Hostile Connections:

Rhett Colt (Hate): Rhett Colt was the one hunter who escaped after killing his parents. He sees taking a Colt daughter’s arm as revenge.

Ben Miller (Dislikes): He and Ben have had some altercations in the past, especially right when he joined. He’s found it’s better to steer clear of the liger to not trigger an unwanted change.

Pets:

None

→ Available Gif Hunts (we do not own these)

Alfred Enoch (Miles King) [1][2][3]

#Alfred Enoch #supernatural rpg #fantasy rpg #fandomless rpg #lsrpg

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cryptodictation · 4 years

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There is a clear favorite

Attention, spoilers to Vikings! The midseason finale from Vikings brought us a tremendous shock, because Björn may be Ragnar's next son. Meanwhile, Ivar is still alive and it even seems as if he has achieved his greatest triumph so far: including the conquest of Scandinavia Kattegat at Oleg's side.

However, it is already clear that the alliance between Ivar (Alex Høgh Andersen) and Oleg (Danila Kozlovsky) will not last long – as is well known, the boneless has secretly allied with Oleg's brother you. A showdown between the two big villains is therefore imminent in season 6B.

Vikings season 6: Oleg has bad cards against Ivar

The gives us a possible indication of the outcome of the duel Preview of the Vikings final. The video shows how Ivar attacks King Alfred in England to conquer Wessex. All other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were already taken over by the Vikings.

Vikings: Ivar intrigues against Oleg

Oleg cannot be seen at the meeting – perhaps because Ivar has already switched him off at this point. The attack on England looks like the boneless man has gone it alone, who now has his back free and does not have to take Oleg's concerns into account. It seems obvious that the conflict between them will escalate in the next few episodes and come to a bloody end.

Do you tip the scales in Vikings?

Ivar's alliance with you, which was most recently established behind Oleg's back, could pay off. You should have been dead already, but was saved undetected by Ivar. Now he should think of revenge on Oleg. Ivar, on the other hand, is obviously not interested in sharing his latest achievements and therefore wants to get Oleg out of the way too.

If everything goes perfectly for Ivar, even Oleg's wife could Katya beat on his side. Then in season 6B it would be: one against all. Last but not least, there is also Hvitserk (Marco Ilsø), which Ivar picked up again with open arms. You, in turn, may have regained his troops after his release – another potential advantage for Team Ivar.

However, Vikings is full of surprises and that merciless Oleg has proven to be unpredictable a few times. Overall, Ivar is the more important character for the series, but even that doesn't have to mean anything if we consider that Ragnar, the greatest Vikings icon, already died in season 4.

Moviepilot podcast on Vikings: Why the series is so popular In der new episode Streamgestöber – also with Spotify – Andrea, Esther and Jenny U. discuss what makes Vikings' currently largest history series so special – and what you have to overlook:

For all fans of Vikings, we dive deep into the spoiler area from minute 00:31:03 in the second part of the podcast to the most exciting characters. From minute 00:52:02 we talk about season 6A and guess what awaits us in the grand finale.

What do you think: Will Oleg or Ivar prevail in Viking's season 6B?

The post There is a clear favorite appeared first on Cryptodictation.

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#Entertainment

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mastcomm · 4 years

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Wild Storms and Shifting Ice: Two Explorers Talk About Arctic Life

Since October, the Polarstern, a German research icebreaker, has been frozen in the ice in the Arctic Ocean on a mission to learn more about climate change in the region, the fastest-warming area on the planet.

The Mosaic expedition (shorthand for Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) is organized by the Alfred Wegener Institute and is expected to continue until September. Until then the Polarstern will be drifting with the pack ice for hundreds of miles, near the North Pole and across the Arctic.

About 60 scientists and technicians are on board for two months at a time, taking detailed measurements of the ice and snow, ocean, atmosphere and the organisms small and large that exist in the central Arctic.

In the first few months the expedition encountered wild storms, constantly shifting and cracking ice that made setting up instruments difficult, and the occasional polar bear. Since early October the expedition has been in the polar darkness, with the only illumination coming from lights on the ship and some set up on the ice.

Markus Rex, a climate scientist with the institute and the expedition leader, and Esther Horvath, a photographer who has been documenting the expedition, were on board for the first two months. They left in December on another icebreaker as part of a planned rotation of personnel, and recently came to New York City to talk about the expedition. These are edited excerpts from our conversation.

First of all, are you happy to be back on land?

MARKUS REX My feelings are a bit mixed. It was kind of sad to leave the expedition during a key phase — everything was up and running and I just wanted to stay with my precious instruments there on the ice.

But on the other hand, I’m now glad to be back here to see the sun rise every morning. I’m still a bit confused seeing that.

ESTHER HORVATH I really didn’t want to leave the ice floe. It started to become so much home and the only reality in my life. But after the supply vessel arrived and leaving started to become a reality I started to feel, O.K., maybe it’s time to go back to civilization and recharge myself.

What’s it like being in the middle of the frozen Arctic Ocean in the 24-hour polar night?

REX It’s very striking. All the colors disappear — just the white snow and the ice and the black of everything behind, on this completely frozen landscape. There’s a feeling of being on some different planet or moon.

HORVATH You’re on the sea ice, and after a while you forget about it. But then you remind yourself that, no no no, this is one meter of sea ice and you have 4,200 meters of ocean underneath. And you realize this especially when the ice starts to move and there are openings.

Right after I returned I flew to Washington, D.C., and walking on the concrete there I realized, “Wow, I don’t have to watch my step.” Because being outside on the ice in the darkness you always watch your step. You can easily step into a crack.

You are going back for another couple of months in early April, Esther, right?

HORVATH Yes. I think because I knew I was coming back again, I could leave. I knew what I was going to miss the most was the darkness. When I go back it will be 24-hour sun, so it will be very different.

You are going back in April too, Markus. And then you go back one final time, in late summer, as the expedition draws to a close.

REX At that time the ice will be starting to melt. It will be very challenging. We’ll have lots of melt ponds and the ice will become even more unstable than it is now. Depending on the conditions we’ll have to decide on a daily basis whether it’s still safe to work on the ice and then, at some point, just pick up and go.

You’ve been involved in the planning for this expedition for years. Now that it is underway, is there anything that has surprised you?

REX We expected a very dynamic ice surface, with lots of cracks and pressure ridges forming that would force us to reconfigure our research camp frequently. But 2019 was special. It was the warmest summer that we have ever experienced in the Central Arctic, and that of course eroded the sea ice even more. The degree of instability was even more pronounced than I expected.

Pretty much every day during the early part of the expedition, we had formation of new cracks in the ice and these massive events when pressure ridges form, with ice piling up one or two stories high. It happens in minutes and it’s very impressive to see, but it’s annoying for setting up and maintaining our infrastructure on the ice.

Is there anything you can say yet about what the expedition has learned about the Arctic and climate change?

REX We just brought the first hard disks of data back to the mainland a few days ago. People have hardly had time to start to look into it, so I can’t give you any specific results. What we do know is that we now have continuous observations of over 100 key climate parameters. The research camp is in full swing.

The data includes measurements taken before, during and after storms, including a very fierce one that passed through in November. Storms are very important events in the Arctic, and these are the first detailed measurements of the climate processes that occur during them. That is certainly a scientific highlight — it will give us a much better understanding of how storm systems affect the Arctic.

Even in calmer conditions it was bitterly cold, with temperatures as low as minus 34 degrees Celsius (minus 29 Fahrenheit) and wind chill readings into the minus-50s Celsius. Esther, what were the challenges of trying to take photographs in such a harsh environment?

HORVATH In heavy storms I could only go out wearing goggles. It was impossible to see without them because you couldn’t open your eyes. So it would be dark, you’d be wearing goggles and the snow is blowing, and you’d have to look through this little viewfinder. And autofocus doesn’t work in the cold, so you are focusing manually. It was really hard to get anything.

It was also a constant challenge to avoid freezing my hands. Only at the very end of my time there did I figure out a method to be able to be outside for several hours: I wore thin gloves and inside of those I put hand warmers, and over all that I wore huge mittens. I figured out how to use the camera even wearing the mittens. And even if I had to use my fingers to do something, I could quickly do it and then go back into the mittens. They were so warm — we called it a hand sauna.

You were on a ship with about 60 scientists and technicians from many different countries and 40 crew members for two months, surrounded by ice in the polar darkness. Did everyone get along?

HORVATH People always ask me if there are any fights or conflicts, or do you get on each others’ nerves. I never experienced that. I think the reason is we are there with the same mission and with the same love for this environment.

If you were to select 100 random people from anywhere, I think that wouldn’t work. But this passion for climate research and for working in this environment brings people together.

REX We also know that we are a small team, and that the next human is 1,000 kilometers away. We depend on each other so everybody always makes sure we get along.

As an expedition leader, I have to make sure that we don’t lose anybody — people who would fall out of the group and get into a difficult mind-set. If I sense this could happen with someone then I put the person back into the social life of the group to make sure we are one team. It’s not such a big challenge actually. It works very well.

The ship is expected to drift with the ice for another nine months or so, and if all goes as planned should come out in the Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard in northern Norway. What challenges lie ahead?

REX Right now everything is going extremely well. The research camp is fully established. The drift is pretty much following the predicted drift corridor. We are a little on the Siberian coast side of the corridor, but I’m not worried at all that we won’t go in the direction we want to go.

The ice has become a little more stable now as it has gotten thicker, and cracks are less frequent. The establishment of a runway for our aircraft, one of the big challenges that is coming up, is going well. We have a custom-made ice mill to remove pressure ridges from the runway. It just eats pressure ridges and turns them into heaps of snow that can be moved away. It’s amazing.

So I think we are on a good track.

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jameshboyd · 5 years

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The Cross: Violent Grace

A number of years ago, I saw a sign on a church marquee which read “Salvation is free, because God paid so dearly for it.” This central truth, although believed by all Christians, is one which we all too often take for granted. When you think of the Cross, what comes to your mind? In our contemporary society, this most sacred symbol is often regarded as a trinket or a good luck charm. Even much of our great Christian art paints a very “sterilized” picture of what Jesus went through for us.

In this study, I would like for us to examine the events of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, including a detailed look at His crucifixion. I warn you that what you are about to read is very graphic, even gory. However, once you have finished reading it, I hope that you will be able to say along with the Apostle Paul: “…God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 6:14).

Everything about Jesus’ death was very deliberate. He did not die as a victim. No one took His life, He voluntarily laid it down (John 10:17-18). Although legions of angels were standing by to rescue Him (Matthew 26:53), He would not fail to complete His mission, which was to freely give His life as a ransom for the sins of all people (Matthew 20:28;1 Timothy 2:6) .

Historians estimate the date of this history-altering event as being around Friday, April 7th, A.D. 30 (1). What was unfolding was a plan which God had ordained before the very foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). From the earthly viewpoint, the religious leaders of the day, jealous of Jesus’ influence and popularity, had turned him over to the Roman government to be tried for false charges of sedition. Although the occupying Roman Empire gave the Jews a great deal of freedom in conducting their legal affairs, Roman approval was required for an execution. In order to avoid a riot, and thus preserve his standing with the Emperor, Governor Pontius Pilate reluctantly consented to the crowd’s demands to have Jesus crucified (Matthew 27:22-24).

The first step in this horrible process was a brutal beating with a leather whip, which was called scourging (Matthew 27:26). The whip was what we would today call a “cat-o-nine-tails.” Jewish civil law limited the beating to forty lashes (Deuteronomy 25:3). However, the Romans recognized no such law, and thus were at liberty to beat the person as viciously as they pleased. They violently yanked out His beard (Isaiah 50:6), and His face was marred and disfigured unlike any other person who had ever lived (Isaiah 52:14). The beating itself was often fatal. Geikie’s “Life of Christ” tells us that:

Victims condemned to the cross first underwent the hideous torture of the scourge, and this was immediately inflicted on Jesus…He was beaten at the pleasure of the soldiers, with knots of rope, or plaited leather thongs, armed at the ends with acorn shaped drops of lead, or small sharp pointed bones. In many cases not only was the back of the person scourged cut open in all directions, but even the eyes, the face, and the breast were torn…Under the fury of the countless stripes, the victims sometimes sank-amidst screams, convulsive leaps, and distortions-into a senseless heap; sometimes died on the spot; sometimes were taken away, an unrecognizable mass of bleeding flesh, to find deliverance in death, from the inflammation and fever, sickness and shame. (2)

Eusebius, the early church historian, describes a Roman scourging of some martyrs thus: “All around were horrified to see them so torn with the scourges that their very veins were laid bare, and the inner muscles and sinews, and even their very bowels were exposed.” (3)

After the scourging, it was off to the hill known as “The Skull,” (“Golgotha” in Aramaic, “Calverius” in Latin). (4) This was the designated place where local executions took place, some by stoning, others by crucifixion.

According to Unger’s Bible Dictionary, crucifixion was used by a number of ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians (Genesis 40:19), and the Persians (Esther 7:10). It was used by the Romans from the very beginning of their history, until it was eventually abolished by Emperor Constantine. For a devout Jew, it was even worse because according to the Old Testament Law, a person who was hanged on a tree was cursed of God (Deuteronomy 21:23). In any scenario, it was reserved for slaves and for the worst kind of criminals. (5)

Scholar and historian Alfred Edersheim tells us that “Three kinds of Cross were in use: the so-called St. Andrew’s Cross (x, the Crux decussata), the Cross in the form of a T (Crux Commissa), and the ordinary Latin Cross (+, Crux immissa). We believe that Jesus bore the last of these. This would also most readily admit of affixing the board with the threefold inscription, which we know His Cross bore.” (6, see Matthew 27:37).

Large, rusty spikes were driven into the wrists (considered in Jewish thought to be part of the hand) as well as into the feet. The cross was then erected, with the person’s body suspended about four feet above the ground. What followed was a long, excruciating death so horrible that mere words cannot begin to do it justice. Medical Doctor Gerald H. Bradley gives us a look:

This was the most agonizing death man could face…He had to support Himself in order to breathe…the flaming pain caused by the spikes hitting the median nerve in the wrists explodes up His arms, into His brain and down His spine. The spike burning through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet jerks His body erect, then the leg muscles convulse and drive His body downward…beating Him against the cross. Air is sucked in, but cannot be exhaled until the buildup carbon dioxide in the lungs and blood stream stimulates breathing to relieve the cramps. Exhaustion, shock, dehydration and paralysis destroy the victim. The heart is barely able to pump the thick blood as each of His billions of cells die one at a time. Prior to His death in all His agony, Jesus is in full control of His mind. He asks the heavenly Father to “Forgive them; for they know not what they do.” And the dear Lamb of God was sacrificed for you… (7)

At least thirty Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus’ death (8). The guard thrust his spear into Jesus’ side, and blood and water came out (John 19:34). Medically, this showed that the ultimate cause of death was heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the sac around the heart. Think about that for a moment: Because of our sins, He literally died of a broken heart (9).

However, I believe Jesus’ agony started before the first nail was ever driven. As horrible as His physical death on the cross was, the spiritual aspect of His suffering was millions of times worse. When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He faced the reality of becoming sin, something that was totally foreign to His holy nature (2 Corinthians 5:21). This culminated when, for the only time in history, God the Father turned His back on His Son, resulting in Jesus’ heart wrenching cry “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)

This statement is largely a mystery to us, as our finite minds cannot come anywhere near comprehending the unspeakable torment Jesus was facing, spirit, soul and body. In order for us to enjoy Heaven, He faced the fiery torments of Hell.

Although the notion of Jesus descending into Hell is spurned by some in the Christian community, it is well documented by both Scripture (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27; Ephesians 4:7-10; 1 Peter 3:19), and by church history. In fact, it was almost universally accepted among the early church fathers (10). As the great French reformer John Calvin put it:

If Christ had died only a bodily death, it would have been ineffectual. No – it was expedient at the same time for him to undergo the severity of God’s vengeance, to appease his wrath and satisfy his just judgment. For this reason, he must also grapple hand to hand with the armies of hell and the dread of everlasting death (11).

The legendary evangelist Billy Graham echoes this theme:

Jesus’ cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) has puzzled many. Jesus is actually quoting the opening line of Psalm 22 and using it to express His deep agony on the cross. He is suffering the penalty for our sin in our place. The penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). Death includes two dimensions — physical and spiritual. Physical death is the separation o the spirit from the body. Spiritual death is the separation of the spirit from God. Since Jesus was dying for our sin as our substitute, He was experiencing the agony of separation from His Father. It was the agony of hell (12).

In order to understand this principle, we must understand the concepts of substitution and identification. In order to redeem us from sin, Jesus had to taste of the full penalty of that sin. His death bought back everything that the curse of sin had stolen from us. He was cursed, so that we could be blessed (Galatians 3:13-14). He was made sin, so that we could be made righteous. (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was wounded, so that we could be healed. (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). He was made poor, so that we could be made rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). He died, so that we could live (John 3:16, Hebrews 2:14-15).

However, the cycle was not yet complete. As important as Jesus’ death was, it would have ultimately been meaningless were it not for the event that followed: His bodily resurrection from the dead. Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, His followers were perplexed by His mysterious prophecies that He must be rejected and killed, then rise again on the third day (Matthew 17:22-23; Mark 9:31; Luke 9:18-22). One can only imagine what it was like in that room when He actually stood before them, showing them the wounds in His hands and in His side (John 20:19-29).

In the forty days following His resurrection, Jesus made numerous other appearances to His disciples, as well as to many others. In all, He was physically seen by over 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:6)!

Jesus’ resurrection, which is a fully verifiable historical fact (13), irrefutably proved who He was (John 10:17-18; Romans 1:4), and that God’s Word is true (Psalm 16:10; Luke 24: 44-47; Acts 2: 25-31). It established Him as the head of His church (Ephesians 1:19-23), and showed His ultimate victory over the powers of darkness (see John 12:31; 16: 8-11). In the words of Colossians 2:15, Jesus “spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” This is military terminology. The image being drawn is that of an army overthrowing a rival kingdom, stripping its ruler naked and parading him down the streets in humiliation. This is exactly what Jesus did to Satan. Had the forces of darkness known this, they would not have crucified Him (1 Corinthians 2:8). Jesus died as the sacrificial lamb, and was raised as the conquering warrior. As He majestically declares in Revelation 1:18: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

Friend, the price has been paid in full. The free gift of eternal life is being offered to you now, bought and paid for by Jesus’ own blood. You can reject Him, die in your sins, and be eternally lost, or you can accept His payment for your sins, embrace Him as Lord of your life, and live with Him forever. Romans 10:13 tells us that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” You can call on Him right now, right where you are.

If you already know the Lord, then I hope this message will serve as a fresh reminder of just how much He loves us, and how that love should inspire us to serve Him with our whole hearts. As the Apostle Paul so beautifully puts it:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

NOTES & BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1-Pollock, John. The Master: A Life of Jesus. 1984 (British edition), 1985 (U.S. edition). Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois. p. 205-207

2-From Geikie’s “Life of Christ.” Quoted in “Bodily Healing and the Atonement” by Dr. T.J. McCrossan, re edited by Roy H. Hicks, D.D. and Kenneth E. Hagin, D.D. 1982. Rhema Bible Church/Kenneth Hagin Ministries. Tulsa, Oklahoma. p 27

3-McCrossan, p 28

4-Pollock, p 207

5-Unger, Merrill. “Crucifixion” from Unger’s Bible Dictionary. 1957, 1961, 1966. Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, Illinois. p. 229.

6-Edersheim, Alfred. “Crucified, Dead and Buried” from The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Public Domain. http://www.ccel.org/e/edersheim/lifetimes/htm/x.xv.htm#x.xv . 9 July, 2003.

7-Bradley, Gerald H. M.D. “A Medical View of His Suffering,” quoted in The Gift by Jack Chick. 2002, Chick Publications, Ontario, California. Page 29.

8-See “The Crucifixion of the Messiah” from “Messiah Revealed.”

9- Chick, Page 30.

10-See Bloesch, C.G. “Descent Into Hell (Hades)” from “The Concise Evangelical Dictionary of Theology” ,edited by Walter A.Elwell. p136-137. Copywrite 1991 by Baker Book House, Grand Rapids Michigan.

11-Calvin, John. “Christ Descended Into Hell,” Excerpted from Institutes of the Christian Religion. Edited by John T. McNiell. Translated and indexed by Ford Lewis Battles. Publishing date unknown. http://reformed.org/documents/Christ_in_hell/#439. 7 July, 2003.

12-Graham, Billy. “Did God really forsake Jesus when He was dying on the cross?” Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Publishing date unknown. . 7 July, 2003.

13-See “Evidence for the Resurrection” by Josh McDowell. http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html Also, see McDowell’s book “The Resurrection Factor,” as well as “The Testimony of the Evangelists” by Simon Greenleaf.

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