Happy 90th Birthday Scottish actress Phyllida Law, born on May 8th 1932 in Glasgow.

I always love  announcing events like this where the person in my post has had as long successful life and career, and  Phyllida certainly falls into this category.

There is very little  about her early life except she was born in Glasgow, the daughter of Megsie “Meg” and William Law, a journalist, we don’t even know if  Phyllida has any siblings, the only comment she has made about her upbrining is  “When you grow up in Glasgow with a Glaswegian granny, you’re taught that pride is a wicked thing. I still feel a bit like that.“ The little we know is she grew up in Glasgow’s west end, just off Great Western Road, and when war broke out when she was just seven and she found herself evacuated to places such as Lenzie, in Dunbartonshire, and Skelmorlie, Ayrshire.

That gave her a love for the Scots countryside which means she now splits her life between her home in London and a family cottage in Argyll. Phyllida would fit in well with the Scottish & Proud ethos, in an interview she says:

“I’m passionate about my Scots heritage. How could I not be?  I can’t live without it. There’s no way I could live without those hills and it’s got to be the west coast. “I sometimes travel to Edinburgh then go up to Pittenweem or somewhere and I think to myself, ‘This isn’t Scotland.’ It’s a wonderful coastline but it’s not Scotland for me.

“When my parents lived in Glasgow they were always looking for a cottage to which they could retire. They found one in Ardentinney, so I visit that a lot.

She joined the Bristol Old Vic in 1952, from what I can gather she was first in the wardrobe department, the first pic shows her standing, from a 1952 photo. Heron screen acting credits start in 1958 and are very extensive, the pick of them are Dixon of Dock Green and a stint as the storyteller in the great children’s show Jackanory in the 60’s. It must have been during her time in the BBC’s children’s TV department she met her husband to be, Eric Thompson, they married in 1957, he went on to narrate The Magic Roundabout

Angels in the 70’s and of course Taggart in the 80’s followed, as well Thomson, the variety series hosted by actress Emma Thompson in 1988, Emma just happens to be her daughter. Heartbeat, Hamish Macbeth and Dangerfield in the 90’s, Waking the dead and Doctors in the noughties has kept her busy, now in her 86th year she has still been appearing on the small screen, in The Other Wife and New Tricks during the past 8 years. Film roles include She is known for her work on Much Ado About Nothing , The Time Machine and The Winter Guest.

Phyllida spends most of her time in Argyll in a house she shares with her actress daughter, Emma. The second picture shows mother and daughter receiving honorary degrees from The Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow in 2013. Her other daughter, Sophie is also a talented actress.

With Phyllida’s advance years she is classified as ‘extremely vulnerable’ category in the current climate, Emma, who spends most of her time in Italy, flew out from her home in Venice, just as the corona virus was starting to take hold in the country, arriving in Scotland in early March to look after her mother in her home on the banks of Loch Eck. Emma has a love for Scotland too and once said of the loch …

"I’ve played on its banks, picnicked on its beaches, swum in its chilly, unsalted depths, cycled round it, drunk it, got drunk near it, kissed in boats on it, got married near it and never wearied of it.”

When asked,  The way you would spend your fantasy 24 hours, with no travel restrictions she answered

I’d take my best friend Mildew on a tour of the islands of Scotland, 

which of course id the correct answer!

The third pic is from 1998 when Phyllida was a mere 66 years young, it is of Emma and Alan Rickman  at The Winter Guest. Next up is with Emma again, this time at the 1993 Oscars.  The last pic is proud Mother with her two daughters. 

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When I was quite small, my family were Jehovah’s Witnesses. My big brothers remembered their Catholic beginnings, they remembered magical Christmases. My little brother and I did not, we’d never been Catholic yet. We used to get very sad that all of our friends had lovely Christmas or Hanukkah, and we did not. We’d pout. My big brothers tried their best to console us. Our best friends lived across the 2023 Postseason Philadelphia Phillies Take October Signatures Shirt . Their dad was not home much, but he was a very stern man. He had quite the temper (when we grew up, we realized that he was always drunk, but when we were small he was just scary). He had a Doberman called Rex who we were all also terrified of. One year, I’m probably four or five, we’re sitting in my brothers’ room wistfully staring out the window at our friends playing with their new toys, wearing their Christmas sweaters, all that. The oldest two brothers, maybe trying to console us, convince us that we do not want Christmas at all. They tell us that Scary Dad is Santa Claus. They tell us that Rex the

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Chi Eta Phi In My Heart Yellow 3D Sweater Community Custom Name Logo For Men And Women Gift Christmas

Only three of the 2957 Plymouth dealers in 1999 were not also Chrysler dealers, so very few dealers were impacted by the decision to streamline the Chi Eta Phi In My Heart Yellow 3D Sweater Community Custom Name Logo For Men And Women Gift Christmas. And many of these 2957 also sold Dodge, so they could easily show the Dodge versions to interested buyers who did not want the Chrysler trim levels. When Mercedes evaluated Chrysler after the acquisition in 1998, the Plymouth brand was a logical sacrifice to save money and give the remaining brands unique attraction. Unit sales had been low for over a decade, less than half the equivalent Dodge model volumes, and the corporate executives calculated some level of network efficiencies to be had from canceling the Plymouth brand and streamlining the portfolios. After a year of internal discussions, the decision to end Plymouth was announced in November 1999. The last Plymouth brand Neon vehicles were produced in June 2001. The remaining brands had distinctive positions: Dodge (standard, performance), Jeep (SUV, fun), Chrysler (American luxury), and Mercedes (specialized European luxury), plus the super-luxury Maybach brand.

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When I was quite small, my family were Jehovah’s Witnesses. My big brothers remembered their Catholic beginnings, they remembered magical Christmases. My little brother and I did not, we’d never been Catholic yet. We used to get very sad that all of our friends had lovely Christmas or Hanukkah, and we did not. We’d pout. My big brothers tried their best to console us. Our best friends lived across the 2023 Postseason Philadelphia Phillies Take October Signatures Shirt . Their dad was not home much, but he was a very stern man. He had quite the temper (when we grew up, we realized that he was always drunk, but when we were small he was just scary). He had a Doberman called Rex who we were all also terrified of. One year, I’m probably four or five, we’re sitting in my brothers’ room wistfully staring out the window at our friends playing with their new toys, wearing their Christmas sweaters, all that. The oldest two brothers, maybe trying to console us, convince us that we do not want Christmas at all. They tell us that Scary Dad is Santa Claus. They tell us that Rex the Doberman is actually Rudolph. Would we really want Rex landing on our roof? Would we really want Scary Dad judging whether we were naughty or nice, and sneaking into our house while we slept?

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Doberman is actually Rudolph. Would we really want Rex landing on our roof? Would we really want Scary Dad judging whether we were naughty or nice, and sneaking into our house while we slept?

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I grew up reading your TT fanfics and always find myself going back to them, even years and years later! So first off, thank you for giving me the Raven content I needed when the series was suddenly cancelled 😊 I was curious what romance novels would you recommend? Trashy, feel-good, fun, naughty — anything goes!

Oh. Oh, friend. You do not want to go down that rabbit hole with me. I read, on average, between 4 - 7 romance books a month.

But, since you asked...

Dragonkin Series from G A Aiken - if you like hot and horny and sarcastically witty dragon shifters. Plus, her world building is so good. Like yes, the romance is top-notch, but also the fantasy story she weaves is so intriguing and it's by far one of my favorite fantasy stories, but with real, genuine porn in it too.

Anything from Presley Hall - she writes mostly alien/sci-fi romance. She has... three series now? They all take place kind of in the same universe, but I'm very fond of her Voxeran stories. I'm waiting for the next one to come out.

Fire's Edge and Inferno Rising from Abigail Owen. It's kind of a long series about familial groups of dragon shifters.

Ice Planet Barbarians from Ruby Dixon. I'm pretty sure I was drunk when I bought the first book because the title is ridiculous, but I ended up devouring most of the series (before my free trial of Kindle Unlimited ended). Her writing really develops between each books in the series, and she's got a few other stand-alone books in the same universe that are just great.

Cara Bristol has a few series she writes. They're pretty quick, easy reads, and you enjoy the time spent with the characters. They're not blow you out of the water, but they're genuinely enjoyable.

Nadine Mutas has a witches series that feels a bit like I'm reading a New Adult novel. It's cute and fun, and easy to get into. I think I read the whole series in a week. To Seduce a Witch's Heart was just fun, and silly at times.

Bec McMaster has a few series that are really quite good. There's a sort of steampunk, high-society, Victorian series with werewolves that's my favorite. And a gaslight magic one that's top-notch. I really enjoyed reading her work.

Dark Protector series from Rebecca Zanetti. It's a solid modern vampire series.

Soulless by Gail Carriger. Technically more of a steampunk book and less of a romance, but it's such a great novel with great tension between the the two main characters that it's just one of my favorites.

Nalini Singh's Archangels series is great. Also not really a romance as much as a series of books that circle the contention between Archangels and Humans, but still quite good.

Red Phoenix's Brie and the Art of Submission is just ridiculous and over the top, but I think it was one of the first erotica series I read that I just genuinely kind of enjoyed. It's not great and sometimes it's just dumb, but it's actually very sexy and fun.

And I used to read a ton of Christine Feehan (I'm a fan of her Dark series, with the Carpathian Vampires), and Gena Showalter.

I’m currently reading some kind of good, but bordering on ridiculous Steampunk romance right now called Iron Dominance, by Cari Silverwood. Will I read the other books? I don’t know. But this book is not bad. 

I also love a good regency bodice ripper, but they all kinda tend to be about the same for me. Enjoyable, and a fun way to pass the time, but there isn't any that stand out right away as the best book I've ever read.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. I've been reading romance books for a solid twenty years, and there are also a ton of books that I just genuinely enjoyed reading, but might not have been anything that stuck with me in my head for very long. I was trying to go through my Kindle and Hoopla and Overdrive to see if any of them sparked a memory, but they really didn't. Ultimately, I'll give anything a chance for about 50 - 100 pages. And there have been some great books that I read once, and never really thought about after.

There have also been some terrible mishaps.

Family !

(As pictured left to right)  Andrea & Benjamin Thorne, Alice Kane Rachel & Rebecca, Bartholomew & Katie Thorne

Andrea and Ben had no business having kids so early in their lives, barely stable themselves they stumbled through the early 90′s working as paralegals. Ben was handsome, a jokester with a heart of gold, Andrea was a bit darker, from a rougher past and brilliant. Them getting together ought to have been bad, but having Katie only forced them to straighten out quicker than they might’ve. Ben quickly got his law degree and was practicing at a large construction corporation in Bristol, Andrea was opening a boutique with her best-friend Alice Kane who was returning home from America just to start the business. Bartholomew was Ben’s twin brother, on the straight and narrow, and never let Ben forget how he was throwing away his potential. He rarely hung around his nieces, Katie (7), and the twins Rebecca & Rachel (2). He was the one tasked with babysitting the twins that night Andrea and Ben went to some party in London, taking Katie who even as a child didn’t like her Uncle. Bartholomew didn’t want to be saddled with expectations other than his own, but when Andrea and Ben didn’t come home that night, and the news broke that the car had flipped, Katie inside having miraculously survived the whole night that’s exactly what he was saddled with.

Alice Kane took back off for America, despite being the children’s godmother she was in no position to take care of children, nor did she want to. Alice proved herself to be a fair-weather friend. She had a fashion career ahead of her, and she was scared, of Katie. The little girl who left a smoldering accident with only a broken leg and some 2nd degree burns, in a snowdrift on a winter’s night. It was unnatural and Alice was a self-professed coward. So she fled back to America, leaving the boutique, and her goddaughter to rot.

Bartholomew had no choice. Expectation he’d take care of his nieces fell onto his lap and he squandered it. He was not like his brother to rise to an occasion, and instead fixated his ire on a recovering little orphan girl, and made sure she knew how it hurt. Katie was like Ben, snarky and brilliant, a handsome child who could make friends with anyone who was professionally odd. She took to pranks and mischief, lashing out in her grief and Ben had spared her the rod. Bartholomew was not going to watch his niece follow the same hellish lifestyle Ben did, with his drugs and partying. Katie doesn’t know this, and never will, but her parents were drunk when they drove home. All Katie remembers is getting sick and the family drove home instead of staying in London. While Bartholomew can admit that alcohol was the major player in the accident, he can’t help but blame Katie for dragging them home. Katie and Bartholomew clashed, and Bartholomew was not going to spare the rod, he was going to use it, daily.

The twins grew up in fear, watching their elder sister and not at all following her footsteps. They stayed quiet, patient, Bartholomew actually felt love for them and Katie lashed even more, feeling an outsider in her own family. Hogwarts was a relief, and coming home each summer was a nightmare. She would return to Gryffindor Tower in barely covered bruises and hospital visits. She would have phone calls with Alice around her birthday, who didn’t listen to Katie’s pleads. Katie was slowly going mad, Hogwarts was like a dream, but breaks were a living nightmare. 

Sixth year was the turning point. Katie wanted answers, from her parents, from the world at large. She’d been dappling in alchemy for a few years at this point, magic didn’t have a boundary and though she was warned by several friends who had an idea of what the muggleborn was doing she took no heed. 

Katie made an attempt to raise her parents from the dead in the dungeons of Hogwarts. Convinced they would be of help, convinced it would make her life better, maybe it would release the guilt that she killed her parents, was the reason for their deaths. 

It failed, the blowback of the alchemic work took out the old classroom she’d made her own. Katie was suspended, sent back home to Bristol for the last week before Winter Break. While the Hogwarts Board debated the Case of Kat Thorne, there was a second nightmare unfolding in the Thorne house. Bartholomew and Katie’s rage feed into the bonfire that spread, and then broke. Katie was in St. Mungo’s for four days, severe head trauma. Bartholomew Thorne was sent to prison for attempted manslaughter. Katie was effectively emancipated, and after a quiet investigation, Katie was sent back to Hogwarts worse for the wear but threatened with expulsion if she put another toe out of line. Alice Kane returned for America, now an adult and feeling some guilt she took the girls in, but Katie never warmed up to her godmother, and now as an adult she only see’s her for Sunday dinners that her sister’s beg she keep up. 

Katie after years of this awful family life is always searching for a family, she’s always looking to save people, to envelop them with herself. Katie wants a family of her own, protection and to be protected. 

getaway club | scotia, callum&bristol

Bristol Overgaard fiddled with the tie, high on his collar as he trekked further away from the lavish outdoor wedding reception than he guessed most of the guests of the night would. Drink in hand, he simply needed a moment away from the aristocratic company that the Vogel family kept, just a few moments of solitude, and then he would be alright to return to Sven’s side, armed with a polite smile and copious amounts of small talk.

As he rounded towards a large tree close to the lakeside, Bristol heard the laughter of two men who soon came into his line of vision. Scotia Fallon and Callum D’Angelo, both dressed to the nines as Bristol himself was, leaned against the tree, cups in hand, though nearly empty. When they noticed Bristol, they exchanged glances in a pause of amusement and then chuckled.

“Ah, we were wondering how long it would take you to wander off for your first time,” Scotia, a decade long veteran in the Vogel family, said, waving Bristol closer. “Come on, come on, you’re safe here, son,” He reached down to the half-empty bottle of wine nestled in the grass by his feet and unscrewed the top to pour a copious amount into Brisol’s cup as soon as the man approached. 

“I’m a little offended that you guys have a getaway club and didn’t invite me,” Bristol said slowly, taking in the scene unfolding before him. 

Callum, who had only a handful fewer years of experience with the family that brought them together, answered that time, “The club does not come to you, you come to the club. Just as I wandered one day into Scotia drinking wine straight out of the bottle in the woods during a family gathering, you too had to find us. It’s tradition.” There was a slight smirk on his lips as he clearly teased the youngest among them. 

“Okay,” Bristol chuckled, as he watched Scotia turn the bottle of wine towards Callum, who shook his head. Scotia only shrugged and added more to his own cup and Bristol’s smile grew a hair. “I guess that’s a fair initiation. Makes me feel a little better that I’m not the only one that low-key doesn’t wanna be at all the social engagements involved in being a well-standing Vogel.” 

“Oh, it is not low-key,” Callum snorted. “Like-” he turned to Scotia, “What did you do to convince Charlie to come to this?” 

Scotia smirked around the rim of his glass, “Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to, D’Angelo.” 

Callum put his hands up in surrender right away. Though Emma kept him just as much on his toes as he was sure Charlie kept Scotia, Callum was, by nature, significantly less vocal about it. And he was perfectly alright not knowing the details of his brother’s best friend’s sex life too. 

“What about you?” Scotia raised a brow, “How’d you get Emma to agree to come to this stuffy periodic wedding?” 

Callum sighed, “I signed a written and magically binding contract to do the dishes for the next month.” To which Scotia instantly sputtered out a laugh, “Wow, even wizardry doesn’t make you immune to hand wash only products huh?” 

“Nope.”

As interested as Bristol was in simply observing the dynamic which he had stumbled upon, he finally interjected into the conversation, “Wait, if Charlie and Emma didn’t even want to come to this why didn’t you two just bail with them? Why convince them to come here tonight in the first place?” 

Scotia and Callum exchanged glances once again, bemused as two people who had commiserated together for six years now. 

“Why?” Scotia laughed softly before taking a long sip of his drink, “For your man of course.” 

And Callum added easily, “Sven is too set in his shoes to say no to an invite like this but we all know he wants out.” 

Scotia put on a mocking grumpy old man voice for his next statement, “And in this house, we don’t abandon family.” He laughed and added, “Usually we draw straws to see who’s going to get belligerently drunk and require the rest of our doting attention to make it home safely. But with the way Charlie started as soon as we got here, I think our choice for tonight is clear.” 

Callum shrugged, “We keep hoping they’ll stop inviting us to these things and Sven by proxy but…” he clicked his teeth, “No such luck yet.” 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Scotia said, reaching to clink his glass with Bristol’s, which had been held slack the entire time he stood before there, as he’d been too busy taking in what he’d apparently been missing out on for the last few months. “At least give our guy here a few more distant cousin weddings full of free fancy food and drinks before we get banned for life, yeah?” 

Callum just chuckled and shook his head, taking a sip of his own drink for the first time since Bristol had joined them. 

Still taken aback seeing the sheer seamless rapport between the two men, Bristol opened his mouth to comment on it all when none other than Sven himself appeared in their space. Looking confused and even a bit perplexed, Sven glanced between each of the three men leaning by the tree and asked, “What are all of you doing here?”

To which Scotia, who had clearly had more than one drink that evening, raised his glass slightly and quipped, “Hiding, darling.” 

Callum snickered and only made half an attempt to hide it behind his glass. 

Sven spared Callum a glance but pointed his priority to Scotia, “Well, Charles is out there making a fool of himself so I’d suggest that you-“ 

But before Sven could finish his thought, Scotia and Callum were already brushing past Sven quickly.

“Ah, the party’s started!” Scotia could be heard as he rushed by, with an addition of Callum saying, “If you want to stay in the club, Bristol, you’d best come along.” 

Now it was time for Sven and Bristol to exchange glances. Sven couldn’t help but wonder when his partner had become friends with those two- and eyeing the bottle of wine on the ground he wondered if they were being a bad influence on Bristol. Was there cause for him to intervene in whatever shenanigans his boyfriend was being wrapped into? He didn’t have too much time to think on it as Bristol merely shrugged at him and took off after the departed men.

“We’re doing this for you, babe! Come on!” was all he called back before disappearing around the bend.

About Sebastian Thorne.

I’m a hammer from hell, honey, can’t you tell? I’m the wild one, yeah, I’m the wild one.

basic information

Full name: Sebastian Thorne Nickname(s) or Alias: He likes to be called Seb or ‘Bas, he’s a fan of nicknames. Gender: Cis male Species: Muggleborn Wizard Age: Twenty Five Birthday: March 27th Zodiac Sign: Aries sun, Aquarius Moon, Capricorn Rising Sexuality: Bisexual Nationality: British Religion: Agnostic City or town of birth: Bristol, England Currently lives: London, England Languages spoken: English Native language: English Relationship Status: Single

physical appearance

Height: 6′2 Hair color: Brown Hairstyle:  He usually doesn’t do anything to his hair and will often just mess it up with his hands before he goes somewhere. He keeps it usually on the longer side but will often go to get it trimmed so it doesn’t get too shaggy. Facial Hairstyle: He can get pretty scruffy on his cheeks and upper lip but he won’t keep it for more than two days then it’ll get shaved off. Eye color: Blue-Green Tattoos: A red dragon on the side of his neck, closer to his collarbone Piercings: N/A Scars/distinguishing marks: He has a few scars on his forearms and biceps from Auror raids and his failed short-lived quidditch career. Preferred style of clothing: Sebastian is a very casual dresser and usually wears loose t-shirts, jeans, and flannel shirts. Frequently worn jewelry/accessories: None

health

Smoker?: N/A Drinker?: Yes, he’ll have a beer or a glass of wine with dinner every now and then. He doesn’t really go out of his way to get drunk unless he’s had a particularly stressful day. Recreational Drug User? Which?: Not frequently, he’s not against smoking weed every now and then. But wouldn’t go out of his way to do it. Addictions: Caffeine, he needs it to function like a normal human being. Allergies: N/A Neurological conditions: N/A Sleeping habits:  Sebastian goes to bed oddly late and wakes up early, he loves getting an early start on the day. He sees sleep as a waste of time, so, he’ll usually just stay up until his eyes physically can’t stay open anymore. Eating habits:  He does love to eat and really doesn’t care if it’s unhealthy or not since he says he’ll just work it off anyways. Sebastian is also a big snacker and he always keeps snacks at his desk at work. Exercise habits:  Sebastian really enjoys working out especially since he usually has some pent up energy that he needs to get out. He usually works out at least five days a week even if it’s just jogging. Emotional stability:  He is definitely low on the ranking for emotional stability, he is a very passionate man and often lets that get to him. He never, ever makes a decision based on logic it’s almost always emotion based. Sociability:  He is quite the outgoing guy and really loves talking to new people but he also enjoys having his alone time more often than not. Body Temperature: Very warm

personality

Label: The Miscreant Positive traits: Focused, hardworking, passionate, independent Negative traits: Impatient, hard headed, argumentative, vindictive Character Alignment: Chaotic Good (A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society.) Goals/Desires: To change the way the wizarding world treats/views muggles. Likes: Going to quidditch games, a raid going successfully, having a drink with his buddies, taking his dog for walks, and usually people that end up being bad for him Dislikes: Blood purists, not being listened to, seeing any kind of injustice, not being able to help people Fears/phobias: Sebastian hates enclosed spaces the thought of it makes his skin crawl. His real fear is that he’ll never be able to see his parents or muggle family again with the way the rules against muggles are going in this current age. Favorite color: Maroon Hobbies: Exercising, singing (poorly), hiking Habits: Sebastian has a really annoying habit of humming and he does it very, very loudly. He usually doesn’t notice that he’s doing it until someone tells him to knock it off. He also makes notes for everything, his desk is crawling in post-it notes. Taste in Music: His favorite is 60′s-70′s rock and also some country music but only if it’s Orville Peck.

skills

Talents/skills: Sebastian has very few skills or talents but one of them is that he’s able to hold his own in a fight, especially one that doesn’t involve magic. He’s also a pretty decent dueler and a quick thinker. Ability to drive a car? Operate any other vehicles?: Yes, his parents were adamant about teaching him when he would come home from Hogwarts during breaks. He has his own car and loves to drive it around, especially when he has Dude in the passenger seat. 

eating habits

Omnivore/Carnivore/Herbivore (Vegetarian): Omnivore Favourite food(s): Anything cheesy and unhealthy but cheese fries are his favorite. Favourite drink(s): Redbull, redbull vodkas, and coffee Disliked food(s): He’s not very picky but he’s not fond of sushi, the raw fish freaks him out  Disliked drink(s): Green tea and most kind of tea in general

house and home

Describe the character’s house/home:

Sebastian lives in an apartment in London, a regular run of the mill one that has muggle residents. He doesn’t mind at all and usually makes small talk with them if he sees them in the elevator.

He has a two bedroom apartment, he says one room is for Dude but it’s supposed to be his “office” although it doesn’t get much use as that. His apartment is a little snug but the perfect amount of space for him and his companion. It feels very homey and he always some kind of spicy candle burning.

He loves his home and spends a lot of his free time there, it’s just his time to unwind. His kitchen and living room are connected which is extremely helpful so he doesn’t leave anything burning while he’s watching his shows.

Do they share their home with anyone? Who?: Only his pup. Significant/special belongings: His only special belonging is a framed picture of him and his folks right after he graduated Hogwarts.

career

Level of education: Hogwarts level education. Qualifications: Wizarding diploma, and Auror diploma. Current job title and description: Auror: trained to investigate crimes related to the Dark Arts, and to apprehend or detain dark wizards and witches. Name of employer: Ministry of Magic.

combat

Peaceful or aggressive attitude?: He is definitely very aggressive with his words and his actions. As soon as he feels like he’s being threatened he bristles up and is quick to get on the angry track. Sometimes he can be talked down but if he’s really ticked off, it’s hard to get him back to a calm state. Fighting skills/techniques: He’s a relatively skilled dueler but he definitely prefers an old-fashioned fist fight.  Special skills/magical powers/etc: He can do some basic healing spells but that’s only if he or his comrades need it. Weapon of choice (if any): His wand and fists. Weaknesses in combat: Getting him in any kind of situation where he won’t be able to strike back with brute force. His dueling is doable but it’s not the best, he could be overpowered. Strengths in combat: He has a very high stamina and could go in a fight for quite a while, he’s also relatively quick on his feet.

family, friends and foes

Parents names: Patrick and Lydia Thorne Are parents alive or dead? Both are alive. Is the character still in contact with their parents? Sebastian used to be able to visit home as much as he wanted. He’d go home for holidays, birthdays, and when he just missed seeing his parents. But now because of the muggle laws, it’s definitely been harder for him to be able to get away to get in a visit. He still tries to keep in contact with them as much as he can. Siblings? Relationship with siblings?: N/A Other Important Relatives: N/A Partner/Spouse: N/A Exes: Children: None Best Friend: Hunter Finch-Fletchley Other Important Friends: Roxy Weasley, Alastor Lestrange, Molly Weasley Acquaintances: Pets: A golden retriever named Dude Enemies? Why are they enemies?: Blood Purists and Death Eaters, he thinks their logic is idiotic and backwards. The fact that people still believe in that proves that things in the wizarding world need to change.

backstory

Describe their childhood (newborn - age 10): Sebastian had a very loving and normal childhood, something he wouldn’t change for the world. His parents spent almost every second that they could with him when they weren’t working. He’s their only child but he wasn’t spoiled by any means since they were just reaching middle class at the time. Not that, that was something Sebastian ever had any kind of thoughts about. He played with all of the neighborhood kids and was always coming home with a bruised knee, bloody elbow, but a huge smile on his face and something new to tell his parents. 

Describe their  teenage years (11 - 19): When Sebastian Thorne found out he was a wizard he just felt as if everything had fallen into place. Not to say he wasn’t absolutely terrified by the idea at first, as far as he knew nobody in his family could do magic and he had no idea how his parents would react to the news that their only son was apparently a wizard. Luckily for Sebastian, his parents were absolutely thrilled. They told him over and over again that they always knew there was something special about him and that he was destined to do amazing things. Which did scare him just a little bit since that was quite a lot to tell an eleven year old but it also did really inspire Sebastian to try his hardest when he was at Hogwarts.

While he was in school, Sebastian definitely got along well with a lot of the other students. He wasn’t Mr. Popular but he did have a solid group of friends there especially within the Gryffindor house. However, Sebastian wasn’t quite as popular with his professors since he wasn’t one to shy away from a fight or any kind of altercation. He was definitely one for defending any of his friends that were a little too shy to do it themselves. Even if it meant landing himself in detention with a black eye or a split lip. His parents told him time and time again that he could still support his friends without getting in fights to defend their honor but that never really seemed to stick in his brain.

But as Sebastian got older especially when he began his fifth year, he knew he had to change something. He knew he had to find some kind of career once he got out of Hogwarts and getting into fights and detention wouldn’t exactly help with that. When he was younger he was hoping he’d end up being a gifted flyer so he’d be able to play on a professional quidditch team. But as it turned out, Sebastian hated flying and was also awful at it. Which was when he discovered being an auror, he knew it’d requite a lot of work and focus but he was determined.

Describe their adult years (20+): Sebastian soon after was able to call himself an auror and he was over the moon about it. His parents were excited for him too, of course, although they weren’t particularly sure what his job meant. They tried to though and that was enough for him. Once Sebastian began his job it was definitely way different than he thought it was going to be, more paperwork and it was extremely dangerous. The first few raids didn’t exactly go according to plan but Sebastian couldn’t deny he loved the rush he got when they actually caught somebody. It was exhilarating and they were doing something good, a two for one.

But the longer that Sebastian was in his position the quicker he realized how corrupt the wizarding world really was. There were blood purists and Death Eaters working right under their noses, who looked so smug when the muggle bans were passed that Sebastian thought he was going to lose his job that day. He knew he needed to do something but what was there for him to do? That was around the time that Sebastian found the Crimson Allies, a group he really connected to on a deep level. He knew that joining them was the right decision and was the way to get the wizarding world to change. 

Dr. McNinja Original Art Sale

It’s been about a year since I’ve ended The Adventures of Dr. McNinja, and last night I went through some old pages and picked out a few favorite moments I thought would be nice to sell (because APPARENTLY I can’t pay rent with a stack of bristol in my closet.)

In the past when all of the original art was for sale, pages were priced at $90, but today I have SLASHED that to $45 for this special collection. Here are the pages. Click through to the sale page to see the original artwork.

DR. MCNINJA GETS DRUNK WITH A PIRATE - $45 - SOLD

I remember enjoying the drawing of this page so much, I asked Kent to let me ink the faces, which is looking back, incredibly selfish and silly. But you can see there’s a lot of acting in this page with drunky ninja, and you don’t really need the dialogue to understand what’s going on, which makes it ideal for displaying. 

See the unlettered art here.

NINJA TRICKS - $45 - SOLD

This is one of my favorite moments of the series because it does several things at once. It’s funny, with Dan McNinja explaining that he just magically stuffs food in his mouth to avoid taking off his mask even a little. It sets up a stupid hand-wavey justification, so anytime I wanted the ninjas to get away with any shenanigans, someone can just say “Ninja tricks!” and that’s the end of it. And... it sets up the ending I knew I would pull the trigger on some day, with Dr. McNinja just taking off his mask and disappearing into anonymity.

See the unlettered and non-shaded art here. SOLD

DR. MCNINJA IS CHASED BY A BUNCH OF GHOSTS - $45 SOLD

This one is still just cool to look at. There’s a bunch of ghosts chasing Dr. McNinja, and he’s scaling an airplane in flight to get away from them. Have fun explaining it to your guests.

See the unlettered and non-shaded art here. (SOLD)

GORDITO DOESN’T GET TO COME ALONG -$45 - SOLD

I like this one because it’s a funny little character moment for poor Gordito, who I had no plans for inside of the tennis temple, and I had to just say “Yeah, you’re in the B plot for this one, sorry.” You can tell what’s happening without the dialogue, and like I said, that’s what I like in the comic art I have displayed in MY house.

See the unlettered, black and white art here. SOLD

DR. MCNINJA DREAMS OF STEPPING IN UNICORN POO - $45 - SOLD

I love drawing dream sequences, because its an excuse to mess with the medium, which we’ve done here by making the trees of the dream forest into the actual panel borders. It looks particularly striking in the original black and white. 

See it here. SOLD

MCNINJA HAS A HAPPY DAY - $45 - SOLD

This is one of those pages I loved to make because it got to jump around the pieces that make McNinja who he is - he’s training Gordito in martial arts through his weirdo brand of science, he’s happily dealing with a patient with a real and normal medical condition, and there’s the quick nod to the gorilla receptionist, who did not get explained for a very long time. Also there’s a unicorn.

But mostly I just enjoy McNinja’s gleeful expressions until he is finally horrified by a body in the street. 

See the unlettered black and white version here.

KING RADICAL IS A JERK - $45 - SOLD

This is one of those pages that really sums up a relationship. King Radical respects McNinja, but... he’s still got be himself, you know! And that self is the most radical man in the radical lands. And a twerp.

This page also features a king on a dirt bike kicking a raptor, which is neat.

See the unlettered black and white version here. SOLD

DR. MCNINJA AND HIS CLONE MEET MORE CLONES - $45 - SOLD

Story wise, this page is the start of the big turn in Army of One. Normally we’d assume that clone army was designed to beat Dr. McNinja by forcing him to fight an impossible to defeat larger number of himself. But if they’re all clones... then they wouldn’t WANT to fight him! And Frans knew that, and it was part of the plan. If you’ve read Gwenpool, you know I like to mess with genre tropes, and this is one of the larger examples of that in Dr. McNinja.

Also it looks good in black and white, which is why I’m selling it. See it here.

FRANS RAYNER PUNCHES MCNINJA IN THE FACE - $45 - SOLD

And here’s where Frans explains the plan. Again, just a nice looking page! This was near the end of Kent’s run as our inker, and he’s doing some of his best work.

See the unlettered black and white art here.

YOU HIT THE MAYOR - $45

After a bit of inking warmup on “Judy Gets a Kitten”, this page is probably the first where I start to feel comfortable and good with my own inking, and you can see the style of the comic start to change. I drew this on expensive paper with an expensive brush, and the thick, dark, expensive ink looks excellent in person.

See the unlettered black and white art here.

DAN KICKS APART A ROCKET CHEETAH - $45 - SOLD

It’s not too long after this page that I stopped working on paper, finding that Manga Studio just made everything so much easier. 

Again, this is one that just looks good in person with nice inks. See it here.

FINALLY, A COUPLE OF SPECIAL FULL PRICE PAGES

JUDY’S FIRST APPEARANCE - $100

First off, considering how much original art I’ve sold over the years of making this comic, I cannot believe I still have this one. Besides being the first appearance of Judy, with some excellent fur work from Kent, there are a few interesting things about this page.

1) I redrew the kid and replaced him digitally, because well... he didn’t really look like a kid at first. The art has the original version.

2) This was originally homework I did at the School of Visual Arts, and on the original page, you can see it was graded a B+ from my professor, Walter Simonson.

See the unlettered original version here.

THE VERY FIRST PAGE OF DR. MCNINJA - $100 - SOLD

It’s the first page of the comic! A collectors item! Get it out of my house.

I will say this page represents when I was first really finding my voice, and it was a thrilling time for me. I was discovering that I could make comics however I wanted, and prior to this, I wasn’t really doing much in terms of comedy. A cheeseburger mayor fountain was hilarious to me, and you know what? It still is.

See the unlettered art here. SOLD

Thank you for taking a look at this collection of art, and I hope you consider taking some home with you! I’ve also got some signed books for sale on my eBay page as well. Happy New Year!

The Pureblood Pretense

Okay this needs its own post. Seriously. For me, The Pureblood Pretense is on the same level as THROAM, and that’s saying something. Anyways, let’s get to it. 

TPP is a series made up of four books as I’m writing this, each book making up one year, same as the HP books. 

“Hold up,” a voice interrupts. “I don’t read unfinished fic.”

Yeah, yeah, I know. Even I was wary of the WIP factor when I first stumbled across it. But worry not, my child, for this fic will keep you entertained for an eternity and a half. How so, you ask? Because it’s over one million words long. 1,144,996 words. 1145k. To this day, the longest time I have been awake (hellish times at airports with ten minute naps here and there not included) was when reading TPP for the first time. It wasn’t until I was having Harry Potter themed hallucinations that I finally put the fic down and crashed for 14 hours. 

Anyways, I’ll add that when Violet (aka Murkybluematter) does update with a chapter, she releases chapters that are about 40k words. And if you’re anything like most readers you’ll get a rush like no other when you receive that sweet, sweet email notifying you of the new chapter. Be sure to follow the tags on tumblr, hang around r/hpfanfiction and especially the Rigel Black forum on FF.net when the next chapter drops (hopefully this summer) to join in on the celebration. ;)

EDIT #1: The chapter dropped! Hallelujah! 

EDIT #2: Another chapter dropped this summer!?! 

What about the plot, you ask? Well I suck at putting that in words, so lemme pull up the description from the author herself:

The Pureblood Pretense

Harriett Potter dreams of going to Hogwarts, but in an AU where the school only accepts purebloods, the only way to reach her goal is to switch places with her pureblood cousin—the only problem? Her cousin is a boy. Alanna the Lioness take on HP. 229k

Right, so that’s the first book in the series you’re looking at. And I know what you’re thinking, “Harriett Potter?! Oh god.” But don’t worry, she goes by Harry. Or, well, Rigel for the most part. Sometimes Archie. You’ll understand when you read it. 

If that wasn’t enough, here’s a fun description from the author of a fic that’s a fic of the fic TPP (The Rigel Black Chronicles by Elelith) Confusing, I know.

Summary: For those of you who haven't read Murkybluematter's Rigel Black series – What are you doing? Go read it now. If for some incomprehensible reason you haven't but still want to read this- this is what you have to know:

Harry Potter is actually Harriet Potter and she secretly exchanges place with her male cousin (Sirius Black's son) to go to Hogwarts because he wants to learn healing in America and she wants to learn potions under Potion Master Snape but Hogwarts only allows purebloods and she doesn't qualify. She makes friends with Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson all the while masquerading as her male cousin and is apprenticed to Severus Snape.

Actually, all you need to know for this chapter is that Rigel Black (aka Harriet Potter) has an unhealthy obsession with Potions and is both very smart and a clueless idiot when it comes to social cues.

Stephan Sokolow wrote a lovely review of TPP on his blog. I recommend reading the entire thing even if you’ve already read TPP in its entirety. Below are some excerpts.

First, this is a damn good “Draco and other Slytherins as interesting characters” story. The interactions between Rigel’s friends remind me of Harry and co. in canon or the Scoobies (main cast) in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I really enjoy reading about them.

[…] Murkybluematter really has a talent for good pacing. The ebb and flow of threats and resolutions kept me on my toes beautifully and, if the foreshadowed build-up in the series-level conflict arc is delivered upon, this is going to be one amazingly satisfying read when I get into the later volumes.

All in all, this is one of the best fics I’ve ever read. Of the multiple gigabytes of fanfiction I’ve chewed through in the last 15 years, I’m not sure I can find half a dozen which came this close to the satisfaction I get from a good professionally published novel.

Still not convinced? Well check out this post from years ago, it’s still relevant!

FANWORKS

Check out this two-page comic of the first chapter! It’s hella well made. 

And if you’ve already read it? Well go read som TPP fics! There’s a thread on the Rigel Black forum that houses most drabbles and several comments pointing one in the right direction to find more fic. Additionally, the Google doc Recomended Fics has a list on 18 TPP fics, plus more HP fics.

Some excellent TPP drabbles:

Reactions to the ruse reveal (and a bit of humor) by The Four Eyes - I was thinking about how each character might react to finding out that Harry=Rigel and Archie=AIM!Harry, and thought I'd post it here. This is mostly a way to channel my current obsession with the story since I just finished rereading.

Some excellent TPP fics:

Breaking the Lines by kitsunerei88 - Caelum's life is full of lines, between pureblood and Muggle, powerful and weak, pure and impure, fake and real, right and wrong. Harriett Potter shatters them all. A story about Caelum Lestrange, first and foremost: about his childhood, his life, and his relationship with a certain Harriett Potter. 36k

Moments of Realization by kitsunerei88 - A collection of the moments in which various characters discover or realize the ruse, and their reactions. 13k

Liar Liar by kitsunerei88 - Some people are not all that they seem to be. Rigel Black is not, and neither is Aldon Rosier. [AU post-Ambiguous Artifice] 176k

The Rigel Black Chronicles by Elelith - Approved one-shots based on Murkybluematter's Pureblood Pretense & Serpentine Subterfuge fics. Different POVs, cracky, funny, and just plain weird snapshots of Rigel Black's double life. Synopsis: Harriett Potter dreams of going to Hogwarts, but in an AU where the school only accepts purebloods, the only way to reach her goal is to switch places with her pureblood male cousin... 55k

The House of Black – Fanfic of The Pureblood Pretense Series by SakinaoftheAlleys - This takes place before anything that happens in The Pureblood Pretense, and focuses on Sirius after the death of Diana. 7k

And lastly, check out all the wonderful fanart on this site by following the tags pureblood pretense, rigel black etc etc. I’ve reblogged most of it on a sideblog under the tag the pureblood pretense: link. Here’s another comic from The Ambiguous Artifice (book three) :3

MORE LINKS

Rigel Black Ebooks on Google Drive (via rebell-k)

Google doc: Things Leo knows (color-coded!)

WHAT THE CHARACTERS LOOK LIKE

I like having a few images of what the characters look like to keep it fresh in my mind, so here are some links to my favorites.

Well first of all, there’s this thread: What do these characters look like in your head? aka Casting Call! ... it’s pretty much the mecca of suitable images. 

Harry Potter/Rigel Black/and Archie I guess

Blop OoOo art (year 1-2)

Rigel Black~ (year 1-3)

Harry’s Magic Core (year 1-2)

Harry and Rosier, counting drunk people during the gala.  (year 3)

Edwardian style dress robes (year 3)

Harry and Addy at the gala (year 3)

Harry in duel outfit. (year 4)

Arcturus Black

Archiiiiie!

Addy

Harry and Addy at the gala

So, that’s it, that’s Addy for me.

Draco Malfoy

The King of Slytherin (Well, that would be him from third or fourth year).

Pansy Parkinson

Copic on Bristol.

Aldon Rosier

Harry and Rosier, counting drunk people during the gala. 

The Promise

Alesana Selwyn

Selwyn and Rigel. Ink on bristol.

Caelum Lestrange

Listen this drawing is so perfect I’ve saved it to my phone so I can go stare at it occasionally when reading TPP it’s so fucking accurate and amazing: That’s C-A-E-L-U-M.

Severus Snape

Young genius Severus Snape

Just try me (Severus and Lily)

Tom Riddle

Age 12

Blop OoOo art

The Ambiguous Artifice

Other characters

Gavril and Irina of the Strigoi Shrouds

              92 Truths About Me                                                        

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 92 truths about you. At the end choose 25 people to be tagged. I was tagged by: @midnight-forest, @lovely-amethyst-witch and @itslikelymagick

LAST: Last drink: coca-cola Last phone call: my younger sister Last text message: to my mom- “Sorry ! I’m off too I could stop by sometime today. Oooo that looks yummy!” Last song you listened to: Fool’s Gold by One Direction :) Last time I cried: Sept 12th, bad falling out with my mother-in-law, lots of crying!

HAVE YOU EVER: Dated someone twice: nope Been cheated on: nope Kissed someone and regretted it: nope Lost someone special: yes Been depressed: I don’t think so, I had job once that I hated so much that I just lived in dread and I’ve always told people that was a time in my life that was the closest I was to being depressed, I quit that job (rather carelessly) without having another one lined up! Been drunk and thrown up: more than I would like to admit to haha

IN THE PAST YEAR HAVE YOU: Made a new friend: Yes Fallen out of love: i don’t know if I can say yes, but I also don’t think I can say no for a fact, my marriage has been a real struggle this past year Laughed until you cried: yes Met someone who changed you: yes Found out who your true friends were: yes Found out someone was talking about you: Yes

GENERAL: How many people on tumblr do you know in real life?: I met up with several wonderful women for a 1D concert, they are FAB and it was a blast! Do you have any pets?: two! german shorhair- Bristol, cockatiel- Junior Do you want to change your name? no What time did you wake up this morning?: literally 10:40 am, the LATEST I have slept in for a long time! What were you doing last night?: cross-stiching, tumbling, being crafty Name something you cannot wait for: sending my gift for the Secret Witch Event! Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: one maybe? What’s getting on your nerves rn?: my husband being out of a job, although he finally got one and he starts next wednesday (THANK GOODNESS) Blood type: O+ Nickname: Britt Relationship status: married Zodiac sign: virgo Pronouns: she/her Favorite tv show: VERONICA MARS, like seriously if I could beg every person to watch that show I would, also The Walking Dead!! College: nada Hair colour: Brown Long or short: long Do you have a crush on someone: nope What do you like about yourself: I’m a passionate person :)

FIRSTS: First surgery: none  First piercing: tongue (at age 13) First best friend: woman from work, ETA: lmao I really missed the FIRST aspect to this! It would be a girl who lived across the street from me, such good memories running around the neighborhood with her! First sport you joined: lol none First vacation: idk we took so may road trips as a kid I don’t know which was first, but maybe it was to Niagara Falls? First pair of sneakers: no clue Eating: we had pizza earlier Drinking: soda I’m about to: do some more cross-stitching Listening to: The Faculty of Horror podcast, their new episode just popped up yesterday, so excited! Want kids: yes, one would be nice…but I am 33 and not sure it will happen Get married: I am :) Career: idk I’ve always wanted to do the stay at home mom thing if I do have a child, but I am very happy where I work (at a bank) and I guess if I could do a dream job it would be selling crafty stuff online and working from home every day! 

WHICH IS BETTER: Lips or eyes: Eyes Hugs or kisses: hugs Shorter or taller: taller Older or younger: i don’t get this one, i think neither is better than the other Romantic or spontaneous: spontaneous Sensitive or loud: Sensitive Hook up or relationship: relationship Troublemaker or hesitant: Hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER: Kissed a stranger: no Drank hard liquor: yes Lost glasses/contacts: yes, probably at some point Sex on first date: nope Broken someone’s heart: Yes Been arrested: nope Turned someone down: nope Fallen for a friend: nope

DO YOU BELIEVE: In yourself: yes Miracles: i’m not sure Love at first sight: yes, a form of it I suppose Heaven: i’m not sure, but I guess no Santa Claus: No (but I absolutely LOVED believing in him as a kid! only good memories!)

I’ve been meaning to do this one so I finally finished with it! :)

I tag (25? oh dear) @madamehearthwitch @crownandsea @green-witch-aesthetic @she-who-treads-on-water @earthystuffandmoondust      @honeycatsabi @figsntwigs @magicalpandulce @newitchontheway @babydollneko @antiquewitch @babylavenderwitch @muscle-witch-magic @laceforest @nokothesecretwitch @supernovasweetheart @witchand2cats @chiefgrumpkin @persephoneandthepomegranates @themadmage @jadeiteheart @borrowers-of-the-night @chronicallywitchy @writingswitch @mai-muse

very late recap of my experience at Alexis Michelle and Farrah Moan's show in Bristol on 11/5/17

Note that I was blitzed out of my mind when I wrote this recap, except for the edits I made when I started to remember things:

One was called Leeonce Knowles (sp?), who did a good number but I legitimately can’t remember what it was (EDIT: IT WAS CLAT, FOLLOWED BY THE INTRO TO READ U WROTE U BUT INSTEAD OF THE LYRICS HAD THE LINDA EVANGELISTA REMIX), then Polly Amory (sp?) who did a great fun Hermione-witchcraft inspired number which included Harry Potter film audio clips, Little Mix’s Black Magic, School’s Out For Summer and What Time Is It from HSM2 (in my opinion she was the best of the ‘local queens’, besides the host). Another queen who I can’t remember the name of did another number but it was a song I’d never heard of so I didn’t really remember it. She had amazing legs.

Then the hostess introduced Alexis. Alexis started with S&M by Rihanna and was BRILLIANT. She pulled a guy onstage and like pretended to suck his dick it was funny and she had this whip. Then she finished the performance and spoke a little bit, mainly jokes about giving the guy chlamydia. She was like actually funny and i enjoyed her a lot. She then introduced her “little sister” Farrah.

Farrah was wearing her pink robe (my friend who doesn’t watch drag race kept yelling “OH MY GOD SHES SO PRETTY”) and she did a song I didn’t know but it was very good and very Farrah. (EDIT: It was a female cover of Whatever You Like which turns out is an absolute banger and we listened to it on repeat the next day in the hotel room). I filmed literally all of it because she’s really captivating in person. She got the biggest applause out of everyone for that number. Then she took the mic for a couple of minutes and said “This number was dedicated to everyone who says I’ve got a boy body. Number 1) Who gets to say what a woman’s body should look like anyway? Number 2) I am a boy. Number 3) We should all just be nice to each other (tl;dr version). She also mentioned the roast episode and explicitly said she struggled. She mentions how she didn’t want to rip on anybody who made a career out of it but she doesn’t really find it funny to make fun of people because she was bullied so much that it’s just associated with negativity and bullying for her.

Then there was a break. After the break the hostess sang Its Not Fair by Lily Allen, and then Mamma Mia by ABBA, she was very good. She sings live (like all the English queens according to Charlie). She cracked a lot of jokes and was very funny. Two of the local girls performed again, they were good but I was rather drunk so I honestly forgot what they performed. (EDIT: one of them did Titanium and I got a little bit of video of it, she sang live and was very good)

Farrah performed another song (it was very good but again I didn’t know what it was and again I was drunk so tbh I don’t know what it was). She wore the dress she wore at the premiere and did a reveal. She took the mic and chatted for a bit about England and then went quiet for a bit and then said "I’ve run out of things to say” which was cute. Alexis came out again and sang “Here’s to the ladies who lunch” (idk if that’s the actual song name but it’s That Song you know). Then she did a lip sync mash up that included spoken word and Hey Big Spender. It was brilliant honestly.

NON-PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS: Max was there! I’ve wanted to meet Max for ages, and I was actually wearing my Max shirt (totally by accident because I wear it most of the time), and she appeared at the beginning of the show in a little raised cage/box thing behind some of the audience, and she was just there enjoying the show. During the break I went over to her where she was behind the barrier and showed her I was wearing her shirt and we screamed at each other for like 3 minutes. Then she said “We should take a picture together” and I got my friend to take a picture and Max came out from behind the barrier to take a picture with me, and then she held my face and told me she was going to get a drink at the bar and then she hugged me again and then left. She’s such a sweet person, and seemed to make an extra effort because I was wearing her shirt when she came out from the barrier, because people before me taking pictures with Max took pictures where they were in front of the barrier and Max was behind. It was such a special moment and then we bowed at each other like weirdos because I was drunk.

Oh, Max also may have overheard me singing Sasha Velour’s verse in CLAT while I was peeing. The toilets were unisex and I was in a cubicle and my friend was outside of it washing her hands when Max walked in. I was complaining about how there wasn’t a handbag/jacket holder on the back of the door and Max was like “oh it might be because they’re unisex toilets” but because I was drunk and peeing I didn’t realise it was him, and then he said “Gender is a construct, tear it apart,” and I freaked and started rapping the rest of Sasha’s verse and my friend (who had no idea what was going on and only vaguely knew who Max was) was like “don’t rap in the cubicle!” and according to her Max just looked up from washing his hands and kind of just smiled. So that’s the story of how I sang at Max from a toilet cubicle without realising it was him.

Alexis and Farrah were so sweet during the meet and greet. They initiated hugs and they both looked amazing. I told Farrah she looked beautiful and then stood next to Alexis in the photo and then turned to her like “I wasn’t expecting you to look so good in real life” which honestly sounds like a back-handed compliment but I was just drunk, and Alexis laughed, and then I elaborated that she looked so amazing and she went “You do too!” and then she complimented my hair.

There was a cool guy with a bright pink beard who we chatted with in the queue, and who also told us about when the club got Unisex toilets and which side used to be the ladies and which the gents. He was good fun to talk to and was very nice.

The bartenders were very nice and patient and had cute purple bow ties.

Merch stall was small but had a reasonable amount of merch for a reasonable price. I had to ask about the merch a couple of times and apologised for being so drunk and the woman laughed and said “Don’t worry, I wish I were.” I bought a Farrah shirt and an air freshener because I had £30 cash and that came to the exact cost. Alexis had some merch but not as much because there were apparently problems when it came to shipping it from LA to New York and so she couldn’t bring as much.

Shoutout to my friend Liv who came along despite not knowing anything about drag race just so I wouldn’t have to go 165 miles alone to Bristol, and who gave me piggybacks when we lost our place at barrier so I could see.

Also in the break they played Read U Wrote U but the moment Roxxxy’s verse was about to play they cut it off abruptly and I’ve never been so upset in my life.

King Kong

To Open on Broadway in Fall 2018

At the Broadway Theatre

Written by

Jack Thorne

Score Composed and Produced by Marius de Vries

With Songs by Eddie Perfect

Direction & Choreography by

Drew McOnie

Producers Global Creatures (CEO Carmen Pavlovic) and Roy Furman are pleased to announce that King Kong, will arrive on Broadway in the fall of 2018 at the Shubert Organization’s Broadway Theatre.

King Kong’s first preview, press opening, and on-sale dates will be announced in the coming months. King Kong will play the Broadway Theatre following the limited engagement of Miss Saigon which as previously announced will begin its North American tour in September 2018. King Kong is written by Jack Thorne, who received the 2017 Olivier Award and the Evening Standard Award for Best Play for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and wrote the critically acclaimed play Let the Right One In. The show will be directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie, an Olivier Award winner for the London production of In the Heights and an Olivier Award nominee this year for Jesus Christ Superstar. McOnie directed the U.K. premiere of Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom The Musical, and the recent London productions of The Wild Party and On the Town. The score for King Kong is composed by four-time Grammy nominee Marius de Vries (the films La La Land, Moulin Rouge, and Romeo + Juliet) with songs by Helpmann Award winner Eddie Perfect, composer and lyricist of the Broadway-bound Beetlejuice, Strictly Ballroom The Musical and Shane Warne The Musical. Pioneering creature designer Sonny Tilders developed Kong for the show, bringing together the worlds of animatronics and puppetry that has never been seen on stage before. Tilders was honored by the Helpmann Awards, Australia’s highest theatrical honor, for Outstanding Theatrical Achievement. Carmen Pavlovic said, “I’m thrilled that King Kong will be coming to Broadway next season led by Drew McOnie and Jack Thorne, who will bring a new dimension to the telling of Kong’s story. Drew’s physical world will allow Kong to live in ways we never thought possible, propelled by Jack’s text and the score and songs written by Marius de Vries and Eddie Perfect.” Producer Roy Furman said, “King Kong is a quintessential New York story and I’m proud to be involved in this historic production. Our team is creating a theatrical experience that we hope will astound audiences, while delighting them with its heartfelt storytelling." Based on the novel of the original 1933 screenplay, the stage show of King Kong is a contemporary take on the classic tale of beauty and the beast. King Kong’s design team for Broadway will include Peter England (Set Design), Sonny Tilders (Creature Design), Roger Kirk (Costume Design), Peter Mumford (Lighting Design), Peter Hylenski (Sound Design), Gavin Robins (Aerial and King Kong Movement Director), King Kong is authorized by the Merian C. Cooper Estate. Casting, additional members of the creative team, and ticketing details for King Kong will be announced at a later date. BIOGRAPHIES JACK THORNE (Text) writes for theatre, film, television, and radio. His theatre credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hope, and Let The Right One In, all directed by John Tiffany; Junkyard, a Headlong, Rose Theatre Kingston, Bristol Old Vic and Theatr Clwyd co-production; The Solid Life of Sugarwater for Graeae Theatre Company and the National Theatre; Bunny for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; Stacy for the Trafalgar Studios; 2nd May 1997 and When You Cure Me for the Bush Theatre. His adaptations include Woyzeck, Old Vic; The Physicists for the Donmar Warehouse and Stuart: A Life Backwards for Hightide. On film his credits include Wonder, War Book, A Long Way Down, and The Scouting Book for Boys. For television his credits include “National Treasure” (2017 BAFTA winner), “The Last Panthers,” “Don’t Take My Baby,” “This Is England,” “The Fades,” “Glue,” and “Cast-Offs.” He won 2016 BAFTAs for Best Mini-Series (“This Is England ’90”) and Best Single Drama (“Don’t Take My Baby”), and in 2012 won Best Series (“The Fades”) and Best Serial (“This Is England ’88”). DREW McONIE (Director, Choreographer) is one of Britain's most sought-after emerging directors and choreographers. He is the Artistic Director of The McOnie Company and a proud Associate Artist at The Old Vic theatre. Drew won the Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreography for In the Heights in 2016 and he was nominated for the same award in 2017 for the ground-breaking production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Theatre credits as director/choreographer include: On the Town (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); The Wild Party (The Other Palace); Strictly Ballroom (Toronto/West Yorkshire Playhouse). Theatre credits as a choreographer include: Jesus Christ Superstar (Olivier Award Nomination for Best Theatre Choreography 2017 – Regents Park), Kinky Boots (Malmo Opera), In the Heights (Olivier Award Winner for Best Theatre Choreography, WhatsOnStage Award Nomination for Best Choreography, Winner of the Off West End Theatre Award for Best Choreography – Southwark Playhouse and Kings Cross Theatre), The Lorax (Old Vic), Hairspray (BroadwayWorld Award Winner for Best Choreography – U.K. national tour), Bugsy Malone (Lyric Hammersmith), Oklahoma! (U.K. national tour), The Sound of Music (Curve Theatre Leicester), Little Red Riding Hood (NYB), Chicago (Curve Theatre Leicester), West Side Story (NYMT), British Style (collaboration with Matthew Bourne at Buckingham Palace – BBC), Laurel and Hardy (The Watermill), James and the Giant Peach (U.K. national tour), 13 (directed by Jason Robert Brown – West End), Tommy (European tour), Spring Awakening (German premiere – Frankfurt), The Full Monty (German premiere – Frankfurt), Kes (Liverpool Playhouse & U.K. national tour). For The McOnie Company: Jekyll and Hyde (BroadwayWorld Award Winner for Outstanding Achievement in Dance – Old Vic Theatre), DRUNK! (Curve Theatre Leicester/ The Bridewell Theatre London) which lead to him being nominated for the Emerging Artist Award at the National Dance Awards, Making Midnight (Jermyn Street Theatre/ Latitude Festival) Slaughter (Audience Choice Award Winner – The Place Prize), and Be Mine! (Robin Howard Theatre). Film credits include: Me BeforeYou (directed by Thea Sharrock) and Recordare: Days of Remembrance (pre-selected for the Cannes & Berlin Film Festivals). Upcoming projects include: choreographer of Stephen Sondheim’s Company (directed by Marianne Elliott for the new Elliott Harper Theatre Company in the West End). MARIUS DE VRIES (Composer) has won two BAFTAs, an Ivor Novello award, and four Grammy nominations.  He is best known recently for his music direction and production on the multi-award-winning musical La La Land, which won 2017 Academy and Golden Globe Awards. Beginning his career playing keyboards for The Blow Monkeys, he has worked with artists such as Madonna, Bjork, David Bowie, Rufus Wainwright, Chrissie Hynde, Neil Finn, Annie Lennox, Bebel Gilberto, David Gray, P.J. Harvey, U2, Massive Attack, Elbow, Perry Farrell, Josh Groban, and many others. In the film and theatre world, he has collaborated with Baz Luhrmann, George Lucas, Andrew Lloyd Webber, A.R. Rahman, Zack Snyder, Daniel Kramer, and Stephan Elliott.  De Vries' long collaborative relationship with Nellee Hooper was responsible for landmark recordings with Massive Attack, Björk, Madonna, The Sneaker Pimps, Tina Turner, and U2, and ultimately the soundtrack and score for Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet and the groundbreaking Moulin Rouge.  Marius composed the score for Stephan Elliot’s The Eye of the Beholder and Easy Virtue. In musical theatre, Marius has worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber on Bombay Dreams and the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera: Love Never Dies. He also produced the cast album for Jerry Springer The Opera. In 2010, Marius contributed score and song productions to Kick-Ass and Sucker Punch, as well as co-producing an LP with Robbie Robertson. Another collaboration with Rufus Wainwright arrived in early 2016, an album of musical settings of nine Shakespearean sonnets, released to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, entitled Take all My Loves. Marius worked on George Lucas' animated fairytale musical, Strange Magic. He is now attached to Teen Spirit, starring Elle Fanning, directed by Max Minghella, and earlier this year he signed an agreement with the English National Opera to develop new and adventurous opera-related projects. He is also completing an album with The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde.  EDDIE PERFECT (Songwriter) is one of Australia’s most diverse, respected and prolific writer/composer/performers, having made his mark in the fields of comedy, music theatre composition, playwriting, screenwriting, classical music, jazz and acting for stage and screen.  Perhaps best known for his portrayal of Mick Holland on Ten’s Offspring, a judge on Australia's Got Talent, and as the new host of Play School, Eddie has won multiple awards for his work both as a performer and a writer. His stage credits include Baz Lurhmann and Global Creatures’ Strictly Ballroom, Malthouse Theatre Company (Babes InThe Wood, Drink Pepsi Bitch, The Big Con), Shane Warne The Musical, Keating! The Musical, Songs From The Middle in collaboration with ANAM, Iain Grandage and the UK’s Brodsky Quartet, Opera Victoria’s The Threepenny Opera and Opera Australia’s South Pacific.  His solo music comedy shows (Angry Eddie, Drink Pepsi Bitch, Misanthropology) have received Helpmann and Green Room Awards, touring Australia, New Zealand, Edinburgh and London. His first play The Beast (for Melbourne Theatre Company) was a commercial and critical hit, before touring Australia with Ambassador Theatre Group in 2016. Eddie is currently writing a new play (Vivid White) for Melbourne Theatre Company, a musical adaptation of Beetlejuice for Warner Bros. Theatricals in New York, and is co-Artistic Director of Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

Busy Londoners, get ready to relax and refresh.

Leading British herbal tea experts Pukka Herbs has come to town, offering FREE teas, yoga and wellbeing workshops at its new Island of Tranquility pop-up event at Wholefoods London.

From Tuesday May 9th until Friday 30th of June, Pukka Herbs, the leading organic herbal tea experts, will be running its exclusive Island of Tranquility tea-tasting and wellness experience at Wholefoods’ flagship store in High Street Kensington.

Visitors to the Island of Tranquility will be invited to drop in for free cups of tea, expert herbal advice and a comfy relaxation space to escape the hustle and bustle of the high street.

Made from 100% sustainably sourced materials, Pukka’s Island of Tranquilly is a place of solace, designed to inspire the vitality and positivity of health through nature’s finest herbs, without compromising the wellbeing of our beautiful planet.

Visitors will have the opportunity to meet with Pukka’s team of herbal experts to discover the delicious tastes and health benefits of its award-winning super-brews. Whether it’s to soothe stress, aid sleep, improve digestion after dinner, or invigorate energy levels, Pukka has the perfect tea. This exclusive event offers the chance to sip through its entire 40-plus collection, including Three Mint, Mint Matcha, Detox with Lemon, Peppermint & Licorice, Love, Vanilla Chai, Turmeric Gold, Detox, Night Time and much more. Pukka’s herbal team will also be on hand to advise on the best herbal supplements to support wellbeing.  

As well as plenty of free tea on tap and a chill-out zone to unwind in, Pukka will be hosting yoga, meditation classes and wellness workshops (gift bags will be also provided), including ‘How to Make Your Own Herbal Tea’ master class with Pukka’s co-founder and Master Herbsmith Sebastian Pole.  

Sebastian Pole, co-founder and Master Herbsmith at Pukka, comments, “The idea behind Pukka was simple: to give people a delicious cup of herbal tea that brought a whole load of goodness into the world. I also wanted herbs to be at the heart of effective natural health solutions too and so we put our heart and soul into making the best organic supplements. 15 years on since I blended the first Pukka tea, our mission is still the same: to introduce as many people as possible to the unique wonder of herbs. So I’m thrilled to be bringing our Island of Tranquility herbal experience to Wholefoods so we can share our herbal wisdom with Londoners.”

The Island of Tranquility will be up and running from Monday to Sunday at Wholefoods High Street Kensington, opening from 11am – 7pm.  Nearest tube is High Street Kensington. 

For more information on Pukka's Island of Tranquility events and to book onto the Pukka Presents free wellness workshops, visit http://ift.tt/2pMymKR

About Pukka: awakening people to the incredible power of herbs

Pukka’s had its beginnings in a spare bedroom in Bristol, UK in 2001 after Tim Westwell met his future business partner Sebastian Pole. Tim was a successful businessman, looking to step out of the corporate world to find a way to express his passion for nature and desire to contribute to a more positive world using his business skills. Sebastian was an ambitious herbalist who wanted to change the world by introducing people to the power of herbs.

Fast forward nearly 15 years and Tim and Sebastian’s company, Pukka Herbs, is now global. Pukka is growing at an average of 30% a year, with over a million cups of its tea drunk every day.

So what’s behind this success story? Teas that make you feel as good as they taste.

The idea to set up Pukka Herbs was based on a simple premise: to awaken people to the incredible power of herbs. Tim and Sebastian quickly hit upon the idea that tea was a great way to do this. “We wanted to reach millions of people so that their lives could be touched with the wonders of herbs. The simple daily ritual of a delicious cup of tea is the perfect vehicle to do this,” explains Tim.

All Pukka’s teas are blended not just for taste, but also for wellbeing. “Our teas are blended using the principles of Ayurveda, an ancient Indian holistic philosophy that shows how to live a healthy, wholesome and more fulfilled life by balancing your mind, body and spirit,” explains Sebastian, who blends all of Pukka’s teas. “The herbs we use in our teas are a medicinal grade, rich in natural oils, helping to enhance wellbeing and delivering a multitude of physical and mental benefits, depending on the tea – from helping people to sleep, supporting their digestion or even rebooting their energy levels.”

Pukka uses a multitude of quality organic herbs and spices in its blends, each bringing a different, unique wellbeing benefit. Familiar plants such as ginger, renowned for stimulating blood circulation and relieving nausea, and licorice, a magical plant that’s renowned for its calming and soothing properties, feature in many blends alongside herbs and spices you wouldn’t normally expect in a tea, from tulsi to turmeric.

Doing good through commerce

In Hindi, Pukka means ‘real, authentic or genuine’ and this was the type of organisation that Tim and Sebastian wanted to create. “We wanted to do good through commerce,” says Tim. “So every business choice we made from the outset was achieving just that. From the organic herbs that we now source from across the globe through to our commitment to ensure a fair price is paid to everyone throughout our supply chain.”

“I think people are looking for companies that are genuinely committed to positive social and environmental change,” explains Tim. “And that’s a big reason why people choose to buy our teas.”

Pukka has consistently innovated in this area, always seeking new ways to inspire conscious consumerism.

•    Pukka is working with FairWild growers in India, Kazakhstan, Bosnia, Hungary and Spain. FairWild is an innovative scheme that guarantees the plants used from the wild have been harvested in a sustainable way and that the collectors have been paid fairly for their work.

•    All of Pukka’s teas are certified as ‘Fair for Life’. Fair for Life is one of the fairest, most equitable and transparent fair trade systems in the world. It guarantees that everyone who Pukka touches, from crop to cup across the globe, is treated fairly, equitably and transparently.

•    As a member of 1% for the Planet, Pukka gives 1% of everything it sells to support environmental projects across the globe.

•    And most recently Pukka became a B Corp, signifying the organisation’s commitment to sustainable business practices.

A Pukka philosophy

Ultimately, Pukka is best summed up through the organisation’s mission: to inspire people to discover a more conscious life to benefit people, plants and planet. This philosophy starts at the very core of Pukka’s business and ends up ultimately with the organic and fairly traded teas sold across the world.

Charlotte Dormon PR Manager Pukka Herbs

e: [email protected] m: 07912 208645

Pukka Herbs 2 Hawkfield Business Park Bristol, BS14 0BY Main: +44 (0)117 964 0944

www.pukkaherbs.com

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