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seelaa26 · 4 years

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8. Start A War

“Bang, shots fired. Pain is what you desire. The pen is mightier than the sword then how did we get here, my God. Sail among liars, blame the deniers. So you want to start a war. So you want to be immortal with a loaded gun”

As we had done in the interrogation of Pete, Sara, Brass and I entered the interrogation room while the FBI agents stayed in the viewing room. As soon as we entered, Brian got mad and started talking.

-Finally! What am I doing here? You have no right bring me here when I have done nothing!

-Are you in a hurry, Mr. Reid? –Brass asked.

-In fact, yes –he nodded seriously- I have to stop by my ex-girlfriend’s house to pick up my stuff before she gets from work.

-So you didn’t break into her apartment? –He frowned like if he had no idea about what I was talking about- The door was bashed open.

-What? No! I have a key –he exhaled and tried to calm down- Just call Portia. She’s angry with me but she’ll back me up.

I opened my mouth in surprise. Brian didn’t know what had happened, which meant I had to tell him. This was going to be the first time that I had to communicate someone’s death. I looked at my colleagues and they nodded at me. With their support, I quickly thought about how to say it.

-There was a fire at the spa.

-A fire? Oh God! Is she OK?

-Unfortunately, Ms. Weismann never made it out of the mud bath.

-The mu.. you mean sh.. it can’t be!

-Mr. Reid, we’re sorry for your loss –Brian closed his eyes and put his hands in his head- We have no evidence implicating you right now, and we know it must be a shock to hear about Portia. We need your help to figure out what happened to her. You mentioned that you and Portia were no longer together. Was this a mutual decision?

-No, I broke it off with her. She.. her, her drug problem was getting in the way. Weed. She knew I couldn’t.. she knew I had a problem with it.

-Was Portia self-medicating? –Sara asked- Cancer patients are sometimes prescribed medicinal marijuana to help them cope with the side effects of treatment.

-Cancer? Well, that may have started her habit, but her cancer’s been in remission for years.

-Portia’s cancer had come back. The autopsy found mesothelioma in the lining of her heart. She didn’t have long.

-But she never told.. I didn’t know.

-Where were you last night? –I asked- Can anyone verify your location between the hours of three and four a.m.?

-I don’t think so, no. I was at home hanging with my body Jack for most of the night. But by then, Jack was gone and I was pretty much passed out. -Can your buddy Jack confirm your story?

-Well, I try not to ask the bottle too many questions. People look at me funny.

-Mr. Reid or should I call you Captain Reid? –I could see where Brass was going.

-Not anymore, I’m no longer with the Las Vegas Fire Department.

-I bet you’ve seen a lot of buildings burn and I bet you know a lot of ways to light ‘em up.

-You know something buddy? You are way the hell outta line! –Brian snapped and hit the table with his fist- I devoted my life to jumping into flames and saving people. So for you to sit there and insinuate that I may be an arsonist.. is the most offensive thing anyone has ever said to me! And Portia? You think I set Portia on fire?! I mean, I don’t know what kind of animals you people have to deal with, but that’s not me!

-Being a firefighter was obviously very important to you so it must have hurt to lose that. I think you failed a drug test..?

-Portia made pot brownies. Now, she says she didn’t dose mi intentionally but she did leave the damn things right where I would find them and she didn’t tell me what they were! And then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, happy Monday! Go pee in a cup.

-You dumped her because she dosed you.

-Tell us about this tool –Sara showed him a picture of the tool used to break in Portia’s apartment- It’s a firefighter tool, isn’t it?

-It’s called a Denver Tool. Firefighters use it for getting into and out of places.

-The drywall at the spa was ventilated with a Denver Tool.

-Well, it wasn’t mine. Anybody can buy one on the internet, even my gir.. even Portia had one. She wanted it for protection. Said it creeped her out to be alone in that place all day.

-How often did she do that? Spend hours alone at the spa? –I asked him.

-Just about every day. You know.. there were times I started to believe that place might be some sort of front for money laundering. Portia was convinced and she was keeping her own records.

I looked at the mirror, knowing Killian and his partner were behind it watching the interrogation. Brian gave them what they were looking for.

-Did anyone else know Portia was keeping financial records?

-I think she might have mentioned it to her boss which seemed like the wrong guy to talk to about it, but she trusted him. After she talked to him, she got all paranoid.

I left the room feeling satisfied. Besides clearing up my suspicions, Brian gave us a reason for Pete to start the fire and the pressure point we wanted to start dismantling “The Queen of the Hive”. Next stop? Pete Baxa’s barbershop.

***

When we got to Pete’s office, the barbershop, we saw the blinds down and the sign closed hanging on the door. Killian and I exchanged a daring look and knocked on the door despite being closed. We were willing to wait whatever it took, but luckily, Pete opened the door holding a piece of paper around his neck.

-Hi, uh, sorry. I was shaving.. cut myself –he threw the paper in the trash next to the door- What can I do for you?

-We’re looking for a tool –I said directly- Portia Weismann owned a firefighter tool. She kept it at the spa for security. Have you seen it?

-No, she had some kind of weapon at the spa? That’s totally against company policy.

-That’s all we need right now. We’ll be back.

-Uh.. looking forward to it.

After that phrase, he closed the door and disappeared. It was clear that Pete wasn’t a very smart pawn, because if were, he wouldn’t have given us his DNA. When the evidence is in a public place and in plain sight, we don’t need a warrant, so we took the paper.

Still with the DNA lab doors closed, you could hear the music Greg was playing but once I opened the doors, the sound flooded the room and Greg was lost in the song. He moved his leg like he was hitting the drum’s pedal and moved his arms like he had drumsticks.

-Good morning to you too, Greg! –I yelled in his ear and he jumped in fright.

-What can I say? A man need his pleasures –he answered with a smile while he removing the music.

-Especially, when those pleasures include Marilyn Manson’s Holy Wood album.

Greg’s eyes lit up and his mouth fell open at what Killian said. Love at first sight.

-Greg Sanders –he introduced himself and shook hands with Killian- It’s always a pleasure meeting someone who values metal music.

-Killian Hayes.

I was surprised to see that Killian didn’t introduce himself as a Special Agent, which is normally what they should do, but with Greg he did it on a personal way. Like if he wanted to meet him beyond the profession.

-I don’t know why but I knew you two would get along –I smiled at them and handed Greg the piece of paper with Pete’s blood- I need you to compare this blood with the black hair from the bead curtain. I need it ASAP, please.

-C’mon love, I’ll buy you a cup of coffee while we wait.

-I bet you can get it for free with that charm of yours –I said as I walked out the door that Killian was holding for me.

-You don’t like it? -he put his arm around my shoulders and brought me closer to him as we walked down the hall being the center of attention of my colleagues. I looked at his blue eyes and his devilish smile and forgot about everyone and everything around us.

We left the lab and went to a cafeteria that was on the opposite street, so we were close in case we were needed. We sat at a table at the back, by the window, and ordered two coffees. He ordered an Irish coffee, which was curious but predictable.

-Feeling homesick? –he raised an eyebrow and nodded slightly- How did you become an FBI agent anyway?

-Had some connections with the IRA. One day the FBI showed up at my door, offered me a deal to be their informant, I accepted and since I helped them take down the operation I started working with them until I got my position.

-That’s.. quite impressive, actually.

-What about you?

-I thought you were Sherlock Holmes, why don’t you give it a shot? –I dared him. Killian placed both arms on the table and stared at me.

-Divorced parents clearly marked by the absence of a father, broken home and growing up with different difficulties. Short-tempered and with a certain tendency to fight–I swallowed and leaned back- I’m sorry Laura, but you’re from textbook.

-You’re right.. –I nodded with a certain sadness- About everything.

-Hey, it’s better to come from a broken home than to live in one –the waitress brought us the coffees, interrupting that beautiful scene- So, what was your method to get the rage out?

-Boxing.

-Suits you –he smiled like he expected that answer- Keep practicing it?

-Not since I moved here.

-Why’s that?

-Well, coming to Vegas was a new chance for me and I wanted a different life than what I had in Barcelona, so I left it all behind.

-In my opinion, I think you should box again. I’m going to give you some advice, Laura. You need to find something outside of work to disconnect. Anything. Otherwise, the things you see and the people you meet, they’re going to be stucked in your head. For a girl like you, with that kind of fire inside, boxing is one of the best options.

***

Greg sent me a message confirming that the DNA matched, which meant we had a search warrant. Brass, Sara and I got in the same car and we headed to the barber shop.

-Mr. Baxa, Las Vegas Police, open up! –Brass yelled while he knocked on the door- Looks like he’s not here. We’ll have to execute the warrant without him.

The police opened up the door and Sara and I handled the scene investigation. The barber shop was small, way too small to be a normal business, so we figured that everything had to be in his office. We found an empty financial portfolio with the spa’s logo on it.

-Those records we found in the victim’s oven are just the kind you’d keep in a binder like this –Sara concluded.

-Hey Sara, look what I found –I held the bag in my hands- Vegan blueberry muffins. They look almost edible.. and flammable.

Next to the office, there was a small room with shelves, but the first thing we saw was some boots on the floor. Sara picked them up and observed the sole of the shoe. It was similar with the shoeprint the intruder had left at Portia’s apartment.

-I wonder why they need so much acetone –I said to my colleague pointing to a 5L litter of acetone- Place is a little too masculine for manicures.

-Mmm.. Laura? Guess what my favorite city is.

I turned around and looked at the tool she picked.

-Denver.

Back in the lab, it was time to get some physical evidence of Pete’s tampering with the Denver Tool, since finding it in his office wasn’t enough. We needed him on the weapon that caused the fire and killed Portia. I had the tool on the table and everything I needed to search for fingerprints, when someone entered the room. I looked back and saw him.

-Hey Nick.

-Hey, how you doing with the case? –he asked when he stood next to me.

-Good, actually I was about to examine the tool that caused the fire.

-Can I help you with something? –he nicely offered.

-Well, if you want you can examine the portfolio –I pointed to the portfolio next to him on the table- I was going to do it after finishing with the tool, but if you help me that would be great.

-Let’s get to work then! –Nick put on some gloves and I looked at him with a kind look, thinking him for helping me.

With the magnetic powders I dusted all the parts of the tool, but there was only one fingerprint on the handle. I looked at Nick with a satisfied smile while he looked back showing me the portfolio with another fingerprint. We had both been successful.

-Now, let’s photograph them and run them through AFIS.

-So, ..Where’s the Super Agent? –Nick asked like he was interested.

-I don’t know, I’m not his mom.

-Yeah, I know.. I was just asking because you’ve been spending so much time together.

-Well, yes, we’re working a case.. together.

-I’ve worked cases with FBI agents and they haven’t been holding me in the middle of the hall.

I had never seen Nick react like this; he seemed annoyed and even jealous. Before saying anything, I stopped to look at him. He kept his gaze steady, jaw clenched and darken eyes.

-Nick, what’s all this about?

-About that you two should have a professional relationship. I understand that he’s handsome and charming, but don’t let that cloud you. Especially when he’s playing with you.

-Excuse me?! –I opened my mouth and took step back- What if I like him? What do you have to do in my love life? Do I tell you who you should be or shouldn’t be with? Besides, I think it’s funny and hypocritical that you advise me to keep it professional. Like you did with Kristy?

-I guess I had that one coming.

The sound of the AFIS search separated us from the discussion to look at the result. Portia’s fingerprints were the ones in the financial portfolio, confirming she took the papers and Pete’s fingerprints were the ones on the handle of the Denver Tool, confirming he started the fire.

As fast as I could, I went to Brass’s office to get an arrest warrant for Pete. I knocked on his door and when he let me in, I realized that both officers were in the office and looking nervous.

-Guys, I think I know what happened –I explained- Baxa was laundering money and when Portia confronted him about it, he panicked. Then he decided to rig the spa to explode. Portia probably showed up after Pete was gone. Doc Robbins said she had marijuana in her system, so she might not have noticed the acetone. While she was there burning to death, Baxa was at her apartment, looking for the records she was keeping.

-Laura –Brass made a dramatic pause- We have a visitor. Ms. Beatriz Salazar.

-You serious? She’s here?

-“The Queen of the Hive” herself just walked in and asked to talk to the CSI in charge of the Pedro Baxa case.

-Do you mind if I sit in on this one, Captain Brass? –Agent Huntby asked.

-Be my guest, you can even take my seat. I’ll hang back and watch from the viewing room.

Agent Huntby and I entered the room with some intimidation and fear, we couldn’t deny it. Agent Huntby remained standing while I sat across from Beatriz. She was a woman in her 50s, she had brown hair with highlights. Her suit clothes showed a scar on her chest from an open-heart surgery and a tattoo of a crow.

-Hello, Ms. Salazar. My name is Special Agent..

-Gene Huntby. I know who you are. But she.. –she looked at me with narrowed eyes- I am unfamiliar with. I shall presume you are the one persecuting my poor, clumsy Pedrocito?

-We’re not persecuting anyone. The evidence speaks for itself, ma’am –I wasn’t going to let Beatriz intimidate me- Why are you here? Usually. When someone wants to talk to us in this room, they want to confess. So, is there something you’d like to get off your chest, Ms. Salazar?

-You think you’re very clever, don’t you? –She got mad- Perhaps I know you better than I thought, but I’m here for Pedro. He’s family.

-Family, huh? You know, I might actually be moved by that, if you weren’t still the primary suspect in the execution murder of your first husband –Agent Huntby spoke boldly.

-My husband’s murderer remains at large, Agent Huntby –she smiled at him- Pedro’s family, all three of his sisters, they live in the house I provide. So, as you can see, I have s significant investment in the future and well being of this young man.

-Sorry about your investment, but, like I said, the evidence speaks for itself and it never lies –I spoke again.

-What precisely is this evidence saying to you?

-I’m not at liberty to discuss the specifics of an ongoing investigation.

-Very well, I understand. Sometimes a man is called upon to be more than he has been in the past. Sometimes he fails.

-A woman is dead because Pete Baxa was trying to clean up a mess. Do you think it was his own or yours?

-I think if this evidence is speaking to you, miss, then something must be lost in the translation, regardless of whatever mess there was, Pedro is incapable of violence. Pedro is not a murderer.

-You’re very bold to come here. Aren’t you afraid you’ll leave some trace behind? A hair or flake of skin? Something with your DNA.. that we might be able to use against you.

She looked at me with a sideways smile and then she spat on the floor.

-Wouldn’t want to make your job more difficult than it has to be. I believe I have made myself very clear to you. I shall not waste anymore of your time. Muchas gracias.

Beatriz got up from the chair, gave me a last challenging look and left the room. A few seconds later, we all met again in the hallway. When we were about to talk about what happened, Brass got a phone call.

-Two police officers came by to serve that arrest warrant again –Brass explained as we walked into the barber shop and saw Pete dead on one of his chairs- They found him like this. Called it in.

There was a video camera aimed right at him, so we hit the play button. Pedro was sitting in front of the camera making his confession.

-My name is Pedro Baxa. I am an embezzler.. and a murderer. I set fire to the Superla Spa in order to cover up the fact that, for some time now, I have benn fraudulently reporting its earnings –he really looked sad and sorry- I poured acetone all over, I cut the gas line, and left a muffin to burn in the toaster oven. I swear to God the place was empty when I rigged it go up. I know it’s small comfort, but I apologize to her family and to anyone close to her. I’m so sorry for taking her away. Please, tell my sisters this. I made a deal with the devil to keep you safe, to give you a better life. I beg you to remember me if you are ever tempted to make a deal of your own. So it’s come to this.. Good bye.

Pete Baxa put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

***

-So all the forensic evidence supports what Pete Baxa confessed to on the video? –Killian asked.

-Yes, it does. But Pete Baxa’s confession wasn’t for us.

-Neither was his suicide. I think he was trying to make amends.. to his Queen.

-Well, this case may not have resolved itself the way you hoped. Now, we’ll have to find another way to trap Salazar.

-Yeah.. and maybe we’ll trap her together –Killian nodded and looked at me. Noticing we were in the middle of the hallway, he got close- Look, I’m not leaving until tomorrow and I was wondering that maybe you’d like to have dinner with me. Now that the case is officially over.

Killian’s seductive and daring gaze was a force that attracted me to him. His hand brushed mine lightly and I couldn’t help but blush. There was no reason for what I felt when I was with him. So, when I was going to say yes, Nick appeared on the scene. He and Warrick were talking and laughing and then Nick realized that I was there with Killian. His face changed.

-I can’t. I’m sorry.

-I understand love –Killian nodded and approached me to give me a hug- Maybe some other time. I’ve left something in your locker accompanied by my phone number. Call me.

After that farewell, the first thing I did was go open my locker to get my things and find what he had left. It was the business card of a boxing club in Vegas.

#csi #csi las vegas #crime scene investigation #gil grissom #nick stokes #george eads

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kellyvision · 5 years

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LOCO

Sasha stars in Kells’ music video while their complex relationship... uh, situation, continues to blur lines they are obviously not ready for within their friends with benefit like definition.

If y’all want more and didn’t cringe from this please let me know. Hope y’all like it. -kellyvision

***********

I sat on the bed in a lingerie set, aesthetically positioned by the director. I watched as K animatedly talked to the DP and the Director about the storyboard of the visual album. Getting impatient, I sighed to myself. We had a whole day to shoot. Call time was six in the morning.

The way he expressed his creativity happened to be cute. I knew he wanted to show out like the attention whore he was and make an extra ass video of him pretending to fuck me on camera so the whole world would not to touch me. He thinks I am stupid but I knew he had an ulterior motive. The man is so territorial and jealous, he is branding my forehead for the world to see.

Not like anybody had a chance.

But knowing how deep his trust issues run, he wouldn’t believe me if I was God and Kells knew exactly what to say to me. He was a master manipulator. He just had to bat his long thick eyelashes at me and I caved. So when he told me I was his muse, I couldn’t stop myself from giggling like the slut I am.

What a white man’s whore.

This recent addition to our “friendship” had only solidified my intense attachment to him. I was a delusional for so long that I had to keep pinching myself that we both were actually dating one another. Was my need to be around him 24/7 a little toxic? Maybe. We might have the tendency to be co-dependent on each other, but I love him.

I don’t even love myself.

It was pathetic. I know.

The more I watched him, the more turned on I became. Pete was joking around the other day when and said that K was a sex addict and he couldn’t stopped if he had a gun to his head. Kells then got the bright idea to stop having sex in order to bring out our natural chemistry on camera. The only problem he wasn’t the only sex addict in this relationship.

I have been deprived.

All the times he was allowed to finger pop his dirty fingernails in me, without washing his hands, in public- I laid in this bed with regret and frustration. I never punished him with sex but he was so quick to punish me. Whatever he can do, I can do twice as bad. I could ruin his whole life if I wanted to. I scowled at him, my eyes piercing though the back of his Invader Zim shaped head.

Men will always have the audacity, I sneer under my breath.

I felt myself pout a little as I wallow in my sexual frustration, the way the cloth of the lace panty rubbed against my clit was uncomfortable as I became moist between my thighs.

I begged him to fuck me this morning but he yelled at me. I remembered his attitude and the little altercation that happened too. I let him think he was in control. It was all part of my plan to get what I wanted. Am I an emotionally and mentally unstable person? Maybe but two of us can play this game.

Checkmate.

***********

“Please let me put my mouth on you” I whispered in his ear, I sucked on his earlobe. My lips pressed against his jaw line and then made its way down to his neck.

He ignored me as he continued to write an email on his phone.

My leg was stretched out on his lap as my bare pussy was angled against his gym shorts-clad thighs, I began to rub my pussy against him until I felt friction against his bare skin as his shorts rode up.

I pressed my succulent lips onto the corner of his mouth and lined his jaw with kisses. I started to suck his neck again, I felt him breathe a little heavier. He snaked his arm so that he could hold me better, he tossed his phone towards the seats in front of us. He lifted me against his hardening cock. I grinded against him as he massaged my ass and brought me closer to his body. I sloppily sucked his tongue into my mouth. He bit my lip and his tongue took dominance.

I knew his ass missed me too.

I pulled back. “Colson” My voice begged for permission, and he nodded.

I slipped my hands beneath his shirt. I traced my fingertips against his abs. I teased him as I ghosted around his crotch, and the anticipation had him buckle against me. I couldn’t wait any longer. He watched me from his half-lidded lustful eyes.

I cupped him through his underwear when I was about to pull him out; his phone rang and he answered the call, and he swatted my hands away from him. I looked at him in embarrassment. I felt blood pool towards the back of my neck and ears.

“I thought-” I sat there confused.

“I don’t want you” he snapped and then continued the rest of his conversation on the phone.

I sat in faux shock, he left me on my knees, the position went from empowering to degrading in mere seconds. I can’t believe he rejected me...again.

I shriveled back to my seat. I left a huge space between Kells and me, it was getting bigger as the dismissive silence filled the emptiness in the car. I curled against the window facing away from him.

It didn’t occur to me that I was crying until I started sniffling.

Hot angry tears poured down my face.

I couldn’t stop it cos I was tired, hungry, and sexually frustrated. Every emotion hit me at once. I angrily wiped my tears away.

He looked at me oddly, “I have to go, I call so we can schedule the meeting”. He ended his call.

“Are you fuckin crying” he unsympathetically asked. I ignored him and smirked against the window trying not blow my cover.

“I don’t have time for you to be actin cranky, stop acting like a little girl, we are about to arrive on set in 30 minutes, you got about 5 minutes to stop your shit” he demanded.

He was so disrespectful. Someone needs to teach him on how to deal with a woman. This only made me cry “harder”.

He tried to pull me towards him, but I shrugged him off. “I don’t want you” I threw back in his face.

“Stop acting like a little bitch, I didn’t mean it that way baby, c’mere”

I shook my head.

He yanked me towards him, he whispered into the side of my head, “I’m sorry, please forgive me, I didn’t mean to make you cry” he kissed my wet cheek and then softly kissed my lips. “Even though you look so beautiful like this”

He then wiped my tears away. He kissed me again and tried to deepen the kiss but I turned my head away from him.

“Stop being difficult” he pulled my chin towards him and pressed his lips against mine. I eventually gave in and reciprocated his tongue motions.

Kells snaked his hands up my dress and he cupped my pussy and I couldn’t help my moan in anticipation. I always get what I want, I pressed myself closer to him wanting to feel more friction.

“I’m crazy for you know that,” He said into my lips.

“I give you whatever you want” he rubbed his fingers against my clit.

He lifted me to so I could straddle his lap.

“Wearing no panties, do you like when I have to punish you?”

Punish me? I’m gonna punish you sweetheart. Men are so weak and stupid.

He thrusts a finger inside me and tapped inside of my wall causing wetness to leak out, his lips traveled to my cleavage as he sucked on my puffy nipple, he bit on to it as I became a mess in his lap.

I threw my head back as I felt the build-up of my impending orgasm, I wanted him so bad. I whimpered at the loss of his fingers. He thrusted his soaked fingers into my mouth while he unzipped himself and thrusts his cock inside of me.

Tears fell because it felt so fucking good, his dick pistoled in and out of me, he hammered into me. After I sucked his fingers clean he grabbed my neck by the side and squeezed harder with each thrust. The visceral look in his eyes made me shake with lust.

With his other hand, he slapped my ass cheeks, I felt them throbbing. I was so close. His grip on my neck was tight and he carefully wiped my tears. I was a mess and I was crying for release, every synapse in my body was about to explode. The nerves were so sensitive, I was teetering on the edge, K roughly rubbed my clit.

“Stop, please I can’t” I said weakly.

Kells looked me in the eyes and rubbed faster. The feeling of pressure building between my legs and my stomach muscles tightening, I felt a tsunami of pleasure crash into me as I couldn’t control the noise or liquid that came out of me.

K’s dick was soaked with my juices. His hand on my clit didn’t move as I continued to cum.

“Isn’t this what you wanted” he sarcastically pointed out.

“Cum for me” Kells breathed against my neck as he bit my jugular.

I came harder as he rubbed my clit. I splashed his lap as I squirted and liquid pooled against the seat. I tried to catch my breath as sobs racked my body. I clung on to his body.

“Suck me off” Kells commanded, I obediently got down on my knees and swallowed him whole, as he held my head down.

Tears followed and sucked him to his base as he bobbed my head, hitting the back of my throat. I felt his dick throb and twitch before releasing in my mouth. He emptied his load down my throat and made sure I swallowed every drop.

He put himself back into his pants. I crawled to sit on his lap. I curled into him he wiped my tear streaked face.

“so beautiful”. He kissed brushed his tongue against mine and tasted himself.

Just you wait on what I got in store for you.

***********

He loved it when I cried for him, I know he was eating up the fact how distraught he had me feeling over the loss of his dick. Yet I always get what I wanted.

I still didn’t have enough of him.

His underwear sat right below his thick V cut. His abs were glistening with the baby oil I rubbed into his skin. I closed my eyes thinking about the last time he made me squirt before this morning, he had me squirting everywhere that night, it was such surprise to us, cos it was the first time it happened with just his dick, it probably had a lot to do with the fact I ate an edible and that shit kicked in heavy as fuck. It wouldn’t fuckin stop, it was like a water fountain.

Kells called me his fountain of youth after that. He always brought it up in public and no one else knows what the fuck he is talking about.

I barely shifted my hips so that my clit would rub against something giving me some release.

“Sash, you good” K asked.

I just nodded, kind of embarrassed cos I was caught.

“Imma need you to bring your A game. I want you to lick my stomach and shit, whatever feels right, when I give him the heads up, he’ll yell action, the scene will start. We doing B-Roll, so we gonna have to shoot 20 different sex scenes and shit, just in case I want to edit something different”

“This is a whole production” I laughed at him.

“I’m finna start filming when we alone so we can have more intimate moments like the one we had in the car this morning” he smirked.

I pushed him away. “You so nasty” I lick my lips at him.

“You love it” He pinched my ass.

“I do” I smiled at him.

“You ready” he looked at me and I nodded.

K gave a thumbs up to the director. The director yelled action, and slowly Kells came crawling to me, starting sucking my neck and kissing my chest. I forgot they were about 10 cameras on me and lights shining down, I started acting ambitious. I was gonna fuck with him a little and finally put my plan into action.I grinded my hips up to meet him and he barely flinched. He held my hips down and whispered into my ear.

“Don’t fuck with me” he said.

“Kiss me” I pouted back.

Kells pressed his plump lips to mine and I connected to his face roughly. I wanted him so badly I felt my clit throb. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he thrusted his hips into me. He was gonna get so mad at me for what I am about to do. I sneak my hand down his pants grab his dick and hear him lightly moan. He gives me a look of disbelief, I just give him a seductive smile.

“Behave” he mouths to me.

He pins both my wrists above my head, I am no longer in control. I guess he wants to play dirty. I flip him with my body weight so that I am straddling him.

I pin his hands down and he begins to laugh at me and I just kiss the tip of his nose. Out of nowhere he gets out of my hold and picks me up and sits me on top of his face. I never been this vulnerable in my life. He really is petty. I decide to twerk on his mouth, I could feel his wet tongue lap me over my lace panties.

I stand and face the opposite direction, instead of the headboard and continue twerking for him. I could tell he super distracted with my ass shaking in his face. I sneakily unclip my lace bra from the back. He still hasn’t noticed what I am about to do. I fling the bra on the floor. I feel him tense a little as he realizes everyone can see my breasts, and that there are recordings of me basically being a porn star.

I shake my ass some more and turn around to face Kells again, I put my black heel lightly on his crotch and drag it up slowly to his windpipe. I put a little pressure on him. I remove it once I feel I’ve emasculated him enough in front of our company. Once I pull my heel off his throat, I gracefully walk down from the bed and strut to the middle of the room, I stop once I know every camera can get a full view of me. K sits at the foot of the bed, I bend slowly so he could get the full view, and I slowly untie the flimsy g string that flossed my ass.

I toss it in his face, I slowly walk offset into my makeshift dressing room. I hear a lot of silence maybe cos I was running on pure adrenaline. I hear a loud cut, and Kells shouting. Then I hear his footsteps come into my dressing room with a red face. I don’t know if he is turned on or mad. I actually think I might be in trouble.

“Are you fucking crazy?”

I didn’t say anything to him, so I just shrugged.

He pulled me to his chest.

“You’re mine, who told you to do all of that, no one. You got me fucked up, no ones post to see you naked, you know I’m crazy. You got me looking stupid.”

I rolled my eyes at his dramatic ass.

“Well maybe if you didn’t disrespect me earlier in the car, I wouldn’t have to teach you how to respect me” I shot back.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me” He yelled.

“You can’t tell me what to do bitch” I pushed him away from me.

“Don’t call me a bitch, Sasha”

“Oh but you get to, I just think its funny how you think its cool to come with all that energy, especially to the one person, or should I say bitch, that puts up with your bullshit. You didn’t disrespect me before you started to put your dick in me, maybe we should go back to being just friends”

Maybe I did this on purpose cos I wanted him to declare it himself. Maybe I was acting out cos I wanted him to say it out loud, obviously, he couldn’t control his emotions when he was angry.

I knew he would feel some type of way. He paced around the room as I bit my lip.

I anticipated what he was going to do next. I’m always submissive, I blurred so many lines, that I am sure I got to him when I put my heel on his throat.

I let him pull me and bend me over the couch.

He wasted no time.

His dick thrusted inside of me without warning, and I had to hold my moan in, I felt K pull on to my hips as he hammered into my vagina, he slammed my pelvis into him. His roughness made my eyes roll to the back of my head. He was stroking my g-spot so repetitively he knew what he was about to do.

I felt my vagina contract uncontrollably around his dick. He hadn’t said a word to me yet, but this role-play was so fuckin hot, I couldn’t take it.

The more he swiveled his penis in the right angles, I felt a familiar sensation of release, my orgasm was so far away but I knew that I was about to release the fountain of youth.

“K, please stop, I am gonna make a mess, please stop” I begged him but he knew what he was doing on purpose.

The levee broke as I squirted all over him, uncontrollably. My thighs shook as my clit erected and streams of arousal splashed on to the couch, floor and Kells.

K flipped me on my back and started to play with my clit as he continued to thrust inside of me.

The next wave came harder and longer. The moment he completed one circle against my sensitive clit elicited pints of squirt.

I couldn’t stop squirting, it was splashing all over K’s chest and face.

Tears started to fall from my ducts out of pure pleasure, my clit was so sensitive. With each stroke, I could feel my stomach clenching, the muscles in my body were tightening, as the waves of pleasure began to build, and my walls pounded as my clit throbbed against Kells’ fingertips.

My pussy was making all types of water sounds, which I knew turned him on even more. His thrusts become erratic with every sound effect.

The building pressure was intensifying with continued combo of thrusts and friction against my clit, I felt my vagina contract harder and harder. His dick pushing into that button over and over and over. My body freezes and all I could feel was my soul floating. I’m moaning and squirting, Kells enters me again, thrusting as fast as possible, while my vagina is milking his dick.

Kells body twitched as he emptied himself inside of me. He pulled his thick throbbing cock out of my pulsating cunt. As I contracted, his cum seeped out of my tight apex. He rubbed the head spreading his cum around my clit, each time he rubbed against me I swear I was going into anaphylactic shock from being sensitive.

Kells entered me a few times, very slowly. I held him from pulling out and I looked into him, Kells patted my leg so that I could wrap my legs around him. When I did, he lifted me from the couch, so he could sit, as I lay on top of him, still attached. As he relaxed, he wiped the tears from my face and tiredly smiled at me.

“Are you gonna apologize to me” he cockily asked.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, that’s not my fault you have a weak male ego” I smiled into his neck.

“You knew that little stunt would’ve made me mad” he raised his eyebrow at me.

My shoulder began to shake into him as he joined me in laughter.

“Like I said I always get what I want and I wanted to fuck you again” I licked his jawline as he sighed into me.

“You could have asked nicely” He placed his hand on my hip.

“Where’s the fun in that” I spoke on the lips.

“So crazy” he whispered into my mouth, I swallowed his tongue. He started thrusting into me again, I gave him a throated moan. As he fucked me, it was a good ache and I didn’t want him to stop. I rocked back and forth in his lap as he thrust into my wetness ever so slowly.

“You feel so good” I threw my head back as I held on to his chest.

“You are loco” He grunted as his thrusts began to slow.

“Te gusto” I smirked at him.

Kells shook his head in laughter.

“C’mon girl, we need to get back on set” He slapped my butt as he pulled me off of his dick.

I groaned at the absence. He walked away to the bathroom, as I stretched out on the couch face down. I dozed off a little and heard the sound of my skin smacking against K’s hand, I gave him seductive moan knowing it would get a rise out him.

“I am tired, I need a nap” I mumbled into the sofa cushion.

“Take a quick shower and we need to film” he clapped his hands fast.

I got up and dragged myself to the bathroom complaining every chance I got.

“If you stop pouting, I’ll give you a massage as soon as we get home, okay” he promised and rubbed my back. He gave me a kiss.

“I don’t have a choice” I yell after him as he walks out.

I pulled it together and promised myself I wouldn’t sabotage him. The quicker were done, the faster I could be with him naked. That was the only thing getting me through the day. Surprisingly enough, I got through different scenes, acting in different positions in the bed.

It was so hot watching the playback. Kells sucked my nipples in one of the sex scenes. He wanted a documentary style for his visual album. I was doing B-roll of random things, singing while cooking, me combing my hair in the bathroom, there was even a shower scene, where I was pretty naked but the fog, stream of water coming down my body and shots of parts of my baby oil soaked body were artistically filmed where it didn’t look too revealing.

Once we were done, I changed into one of Kell’s oversized tour merch shirts. I threw on some slides. I took some Clorox wipes and sanitized the faux leather couch we fucked on. I felt a little bad. I also picked up the towels on the floor and threw them into the dirty pile. Kells walked in as I was getting my stuff together.

“Ready” He said in a sing-song voice. I nodded.

I looked up and he was making the face at me. I rolled my eyes cos he knew exactly what he was doing. As we walked to the escalade hand in hand he kept making the face at me.

“What” he said already picking up my facial expressions.

“I hate when you make that face at me” I said in low breath.

“What face” He says facetiously as we get to the car with a shit eating grin.

“I know what you’re trying to do” He lets out an airy laugh as he opens the door for me. We both get in.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” he laughs at me as he feigns innocence.

“The horny face Colson!” I accuse him.

“What me?” he says almost as if he is appalled.

“You know I can’t say no to you” I whine and immediately give up.

“I’m not even offering anything” he looks at me so sexily again and licks his lips.

“Stop it” I smacked his arm.

“That’s just how my face is,” He tells the driver to go to the house with his studio.

“What about my massage?” I pout.

“I have something better in mind” He winks.

He pulls up the partition.

“Why did you pull the partition-”

Kells attacks my mouth and pulls away.

“I want to eat you out, think of it as my apology for making you work so hard and also not giving you the massage that you deserve baby”

“Let me make you feel good” he licked his lips as he got down to the floor and spread my legs.

“No panties” He smirked at me.

“I’m all about easy access” I smiled at him.

“I’ve been wanting to taste you since this morning,” he says with a thick voice.

He kissed my thighs. He gave me that look again, I swear, his powder blue eyes made me forget where I was.

Sometimes his stare intimidated me during these moments because I wanted to be sexy for him and not let him down, it was almost as if he knew this, I didn’t know how he did it but with one look, he gave me friendship, safety, and reassurance. With one of his looks, I knew he could eventually hurt me. It was only inevitable.

I felt raw and vulnerable. I saw him for who he was. He was going to eat me alive. When he looked in my eyes, he almost made me forget that he didn’t love me. When he looked at me, I felt pieces of myself attach to him. I felt so connected to him. I never wanted to leave. I know eventually, he’ll stop looking at me that way. When he does it, he will take parts of me that I will never get back.

I wish he would never leave me, I wish he was more in love with me than I was in love with him. Maybe I should just enjoy him for what he is before he comes to his senses. I can’t make him love me, but I sure as hell was gonna try.

***********

Kells was in another recording booth since he wanted his new song to be a surprise. So I went outside by the pool to smoke by myself in the cool LA air. The more smoke I inhaled the more I began to trip. I mean these thoughts of doubting myself were always there but so much louder when I was alone.

All of the shiny things Kells said and did for me didn’t make me up for the fact that he wasn’t in love with. He disguised fucking as love. He hid behind the fact that he loved sex with me, that he loved me in a way a brother or friend would.

My inner mantra screamed at me all day that he didn’t love me, yet I spread my legs for him every chance I got. It felt great but I hated myself so much after. No bullshit, was he doing this just for me? Was I pity fuck? A placeholder until he found someone else better. Or at least until he gets bored? I can't fuck him into loving me.

Why was I giving my all to someone who didn’t even want me like that? I am waiting for him to pull the plug. After this there’s not much I can do, all I can do right now is love him, wait and pray. And if it doesn't end the way I want it to, I’ll still be his friend and I’ll stop trying. I can’t stop loving him though.

I don’t want to stop fighting for him, he was worth it. I mean if it was any indication we were so good together, well when it came to sex. I will have to face the truth eventually. I hate being alone cos I can’t block the nagging bitch in my head telling me I was his last choice, that he is settling for me.

I feel like I will never be enough for someone like him. The judgment day will come and it will break me cos good things never happen to people like me. Eventually, I will succumb to every dark thought I’ve ever had about us. With him I still felt alive, but when he tells me how he truly feels, I know deep down I won’t have anything left to live for if he no longer wants me.

It’s hard to love someone like me. I can’t even love me. I love a man who is emotionally unavailable. Well only emotionally unavailable when it comes to me.

I won’t be able to love him for the both of us.

#machine gun kelly imagines #machine gun kelly fanfiction #machine gun kelly #colson baker #kellyvision #est 19xx #rap devil #MGK #young gunna

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stayextrafrosty · 5 years

Text

Of Saints and Sin: Chapter 4

Fall Out Boy Mob Boss AU

Warnings: cursing, violence

Read On AO3

The ride was tense. No one wanted to say something to set Patrick off again. They were all in agreement over getting rid of the asshole, but Patrick really seemed riled up. He blamed himself for any trouble that he may have caused.

They had taken one of their less obvious cars. They figured if Vinn had any guys that were loyal to him, they would be reporting any nice cars in the area. Even if he wasn’t there anymore.

Pilsen hasn’t changed much during the time Patrick could remember. It was a lower income section of the city that needed a lot of work. Work that Vinn clearly wasn’t doing. The buildings looked like they were falling apart. Paint was pealing. The graffiti art looked more like vandalism.

They pulled up to a larger office building. Patrick hadn’t been here in a while. He remembered coming here once with his brother, but it was more to pay respects than to do business. There was a festival going on at the time.

Patrick shook himself out of memory lane as they opened the door and stepped out cautiously. It was too quiet around here. There was no way Vinn just abandoned it. Patrick reached for the gun at his hip.

“Stay alert. Some of his guys are probably still around.” Various sounds of agreement followed.

They made their way up to the door. Andy pulled and it opened with ease. They all shared a look and began to move inside. First Joe and Pete, then Patrick and Andy rounded the back. The front lobby was empty, or at least seemed to be. Joe hurried around the front desk to get into the computer.

“Ok, so there’s two floors of offices and the third is probably the main office. This also shows a basement. It’s the only floor I can’t unlock from here. Must be his ‘jail’ of sorts.” Patrick nodded. They would have to find a staircase. And if that isn’t possible, they would have to climb the elevator shafts.

“One floor at a time. We have to make sure no one else is here before we lock it down.”

“Do you want me to call back up now? You seem on edge,” Pete said. Patrick thought for a moment.

“I just don’t trust that this place is empty. Maybe that would be a good idea. At least put them on standby somewhere close.” Pete nodded and shot a text to the reserves. They made their way over to the elevator, trying to keep an ear out for anything that wasn’t normal.

It was still playing the bad music that all elevators play, making Patrick’s skin crawl. He felt like it was a horror move. He supposed it was in a way. The things they did were horrific, and he couldn’t seem to escape it.

The elevator dinged, signaling their arrival to the second floor. They exited in the same order as before, each with their guns loaded. They couldn’t afford to be surprised. They made their way down the hallway, opening each door slowly. They all looked like regular offices, but Patrick knew they would have to send drug sniffing dogs in here before reforming it.

Patrick located the lobby area of the second floor. The coffee was still warm. The people here had left in a hurry. Or maybe they hadn’t left at all.

“Trick, you better come see this.” He turned toward the voice. The other three stood in front of the door to another room. He made his way over quickly. Patrick winced at the scene before him.

A single gunshot to the head. The man was slumped in his chair as if he didn’t have time to react before he was shot. Patrick didn’t recognize him. He looked around the room briefly. There was a picture of him with his wife and kids but little else to identify him. He sighed.

“Look for a business card or something. We have to inform his family. If they’re still alive.” The guys nodded as they looked around the room. Patrick hadn’t expected to find any bodies. That was naive of him. Patrick left to look through the other rooms but that was the only one with a dead body.

“Hey, boss, I found something. And you won’t like it.” Pete handed him a piece of paper.

If you found this I congratulate you on not being a fucking dumbass. I promise this guy deserved it. He wasn’t meeting quota. It’s time for things to change so that we can actually make money. So, I’d appreciate it if you handed the territory over to the Snakes.

It wasn’t signed. But it didn’t need to be. Vinn had switched sides. Patrick had expected it, but something was telling him that this wouldn’t be the only body they would come across. Patrick wondered how long Vinn had been working with Reggie and the Snakes.

But this meant they had to shift operations everywhere. Safe houses weren’t safe and headquarters for other districts were compromised. He had to move his headquarters also. Unless He killed Vinn before he could spill. Patrick folded the paper and slipped it in his pocket.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. Vinn is going to come back. Probably with reinforcements. We need to have this place under strict watch when that happens. We need any forces we can get so we can ambush them. The ultimate goal is to get rid of Vinn. I don’t care who does it, but it needs to be done.” The other three guys nodded.

“And what if the Snake leader is there. Should he take priority?” Patrick thought for a moment.

“You three and I will focus on Reggie if he shows up. I need him taken alive.”

Reggie sipped on a beer. This plan better work or that idiot was going to have hell to pay. He looked around the limo. His guys held their guns lazily. Dumbasses were gunna kill each other before the target.

“What did I tell you about holding those? They’re semi-automatic. I don’t need a million fucking holes in my limo or myself. Look alive you little shits,” he snapped at them. They each changed the way they were sitting. He really did love being the boss.

Reggie pulled out his phone and texted her. He smirked at his phone with the dirty picture. He couldn’t wait to see Patrick’s face when he showed him this. It’d break his little heart. He’s too soft. He’s not fit to be a leader. She had told him that plenty of times.

Make sure everyone is prepared. And find that guys family. They deserve to mourn.

Patrick hit send on the text to Smyth. They had moved through the rest of the building they could access. There weren’t any more bodies but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be once Joe hacked the lock to the basement.

Joe cursed from behind the counter. Clearly it wasn’t going well.

“Damnit. Why the fuck does he have something this complex. There’s not even anything this difficult in our own headquarters. This is like, military grade shit.”

“Not sure if I should take that as an insult to our own security,” Patrick said, watching the front door.

“No. This is way more beefed up. I can get into it but not in any sort of reasonable time frame.” He turned back and Joe shrugged. Patrick clenched his fist and resisted the urge to hit a wall.

It was important that they learned what was down there before turning it into a war zone. He wanted to clear out the entire surrounding area, but he couldn’t just displace that many people. And he probably couldn’t afford to fix all their homes if they were to be destroyed.

“Alright. I’m going to try to find another way in,” Patrick said. Joe nodded and kept working.

“I’ll come with,” Andy said.

The two of them stepped out of the front door, looking around cautiously. They made their way to the back of the building, hoping for a cellar door that they could easily break. Patrick tried to peer through the dark windows. There hadn’t been any doors in the front room except for the storage and bathrooms.

“There weren’t any windows in the storage room or bathrooms, right?” Andy thought and shook his head.

“No.”

“Well these can’t just go nowhere.” Patrick looked around for something to break the window. The wall had begun to deteriorate in some places. He picked up a larger piece of concrete. It would do.

Patrick moved back to one of the windows. He tried to see what was inside again, but it was still dark. He stepped back and hurled the block at the window. The glass shattered. Patrick waited for the glass to stop falling before he walked up to the hole.

“No one is in here right,” he called in through the hole. Silence followed. “Alright. Help me get rid of the glass so I can get in there.”

“Not sure if that’s a good idea. What if you can’t get back out?”

“I just have to get back to this window. But if this is how we get to the basement then I gotta check it out.” Andy nodded slowly and helped knock off the remaining glass.

Patrick jumped up and slid through the opening. This wasn’t easy in dress pants, but he did it. He landed on the dirty floor. Andy waited by the window as he explored. There was minimal light from the windows. They were too tinted.

Patrick didn’t see much other than a few tables with chairs covered in a layer of dust. He was looking for a door. An exit that would lead somewhere more familiar. He noticed one on the other side of the room. He moved slowly, just in case he needed to be aware of something.

He jiggled the handle. It opened to a staircase down. He wanted to see what was down there but he couldn’t without backup. He jogged back to the window.

“I found a staircase going down. We should get the other two,” Patrick said. Andy nodded then reached for his phone that seemed to be buzzing. His eyes widened a fraction and then Patrick heard the gunshots.

“Stay here. Looks like Vinn got here earlier than we thought.” Andy rushed off. Fuck.

Patrick clambered out of the window and ran around the building, prepping his gun on the way. He hid behind a corner and peeked around it. There were three limos and their car. He didn’t see anyone but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any still in the vehicles.

The gunshots resumed. They sounded like machine guns and he couldn’t just leave them there to die. He had to find another way to get in. He didn’t want to go back to the other room, but he figured that was the only option.

He stepped back. Into the barrel of a gun.

“I can’t believe your right hands just left you alone. I knew you was a shitty leader. Never understood like your brother,” Vinn sneered at him. “Drop your gun or I’ll kill you.”

“You’re going to kill me anyway so what’s the point,” Patrick spit back. The gun pressed harder against his head.

“Shut up you waste of space and do what I say!” He was bluffing. No one was allowed to kill him except Reggie. How considerate.

“The thing about losers like you, you will never have power. You only have the illusion of power. No one respects you. You could never get anyone to do what you want.” Vinn shoved him forward and spun him around, grabbing his shirt.

“Shut up! I don’t need it when I have a gun in my hand. People tend to listen to that,” he said, glaring.

“And yet here we are.” His nose flared and brought his gun up to hit Patrick across the face. He never got to hitting him though.

As soon as the barrel wasn’t pointed at him anymore, he swept his feet out from under him. Vinn stumbled back and Patrick trained his gun on him. He hated killing people. But this one was necessary.

“Any last words?” He stopped himself from laughing at the cliché.

“What happened to never raising a weapon against your own?” Patrick glared at him.

“You never were one of us and even if you were, it ended as soon as you started trafficking underage girls,” he scolded. Vinn rolled his eyes

“Oh, I see. Your girl spill her guts before she blew you? The whore broke her promise. Shouldn’t have expected anything more,” Vinn said, a smirk overtaking his face. Patrick’s anger flared, and his fist was flying at Vinn’s face. Patrick could feel the bones in his nose break. Or maybe that was his hand. Vinn stumbled into the wall, clutching his face.

“Don’t talk about her like that. You’re the disgusting one. The world will be better without you.” Vinn met his eyes and Patrick almost hesitated. Almost.

He fired a single shot into his head. The memory of Smyth killing a guy that day flashed across his mind. This was it. This was part of the business he wanted to take over. He couldn’t react the same way he did that day.

“Well that wasn’t very nice. Idiot did have some good ideas.” Patrick turned to the new voice. He would never forget it. He pointed his gun at Reggie’s head.

A cigarette hung loosely out of his mouth. And he still didn’t flinch with a gun pointed at him.

“Shoot if you want but I don’t think ‘ur guys would appreciate being dead any more than I would,” he said. Patrick looked over his shoulder and saw Pete, Joe, and Andy being restrained by more than a few of his guys. He ground his teeth together.

“Don’t listen to him, idiot! Just shoot,” Pete yelled at him. A guy hit him with the end of his gun. Patrick took a step toward them.

“I wouldn’t. Not in the middle of our little convo.” Patrick looked back at the Snake’s leader.

“So then start talking. Clearly you want something,” he said. Reggie looked almost thoughtful.

“More like I want this building. And this whole area. Saves you the trouble of finding a new leader for this section.” Patrick clenched his jaw. It wasn’t a huge section, but it would pretty much negate the area they took from the Snakes.

“Make up your mind pretty boy, I don’t got all day,” Reggie said, irritated. Patrick looked back to his three friends. Where was that backup he called for?

“You have to promise me their safety. Let us go, and it’s yours.” Patrick heard loud protesting from his friends, but he dared not look at them. Reggie smirked and lifted his hand.

“Good choice kid.” Patrick eyes darted over to the other three and they were being released. Guns were pointed at them the entire time they walked towards him. Patrick looked past their angry glares to Reggie. “Now get out.”

“You going to let us go to our car,” Patrick asked stiffly? Reggie glanced behind him then back at Patrick.

“Nah. I like that car.” Patrick glared at him. He shouldn’t have expected any more.

Patrick nodded to the other three and they all backed away slowly. He never turned his back to the other gang. He glanced over to the back of the building where they had broken in. What was in there?

“And do me a favor! Bring my baby sister back at some point wontcha?” There was cackling from the group. Patrick wanted to puke. He wouldn’t send her back to that.

“I oughta kill him with my bare hands,” Pete mumbled. Patrick didn’t disagree.

“Soon,” he said.

Patrick looked around but still didn’t see any cars pulling up. Maybe Vinn took more with him than he thought. Once they were a safe distance away, he pulled out his phone again and dialed Smyth.

“What’s going on, Boss?”

“We got a problem. Pete called for reinforcements but none showed up. We were ambushed. Lost Pilsen.” Smyth said something to whoever was with him.

“We never got the message for back up.”

“Fuck. Then Vinn had a hold on more people than originally thought.”

“Did you find him?” Patrick gripped the phone.

“Yea. He’s dead.” Silence. “We’re headed north from the Pilsen headquarters. Come get us. But be careful.”

“Sure… You ok, kid?” No. He wasn’t. But that didn’t matter.

“Yea. Just hurry up.”

Patrick hung up and looked at his friends. Joe looked like he wanted to lecture him. He probably deserved it. But if he could go back, he wouldn’t change a damn thing.

“Don’t say anything. I would save you guys again in a heartbeat. When we get back to base, get ready to move. I don’t know how much Vinn spilled so we gotta go.” The three of them nodded as they continued walking.

A small kid ran across their path, nearly tripping Joe. A short mother ran after him, calling his name.

“Marcelo! Stop running!” She was able to grab the small boy’s arm and picked him up. “What did I tell you? You going to hurt yourself,” she scolded him. She turned toward the four of them. She looked them up and down and held her child closer to her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her slight accent noticeable. Patrick tried to smile at her, but it was clear she wasn’t trusting them. Understandably so.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure kids can be a handful,” he said lightly.

“We don’t need money from you!” Patrick raised an eyebrow and looked over at Pete.

“I didn’t mean to suggest that you do. I’m sorry for offending you.” She seemed to relax slightly.

“You mean to tell me you don’t work for that gang? You don’t want to destroy everything we built?” Patrick sighed and ran a hand through his hair. So that was it. Vinn traumatized these people. And it was just going to get worse.

“Ma’am, you have no idea how sorry I am that you had to go through times of such fear. That man is gone now. And I’m begging you to hold on just a bit longer. I will help you rebuild. It won’t be horrible forever.”

“Don’t tell me you’re the big guy?” She seemed to be joking but her face changed as Patrick nodded. “Well then you better do something fast. Because there’s more drugs running through these streets than the rain can wash away.” He clenched his fists.

“Unfortunately, I don’t control this section right now. But I promise, I’ll get it back.” A car pulled up to the side of the street. The window rolled down and there was Smyth.

“Let’s go Boss. We have some things to discuss.”

The car ride was awkward. Tense was a better word. Smyth gripped the steering wheel the whole ride back. Pete tapped away on his phone, probably letting the safe houses know that they needed to regroup and relocate.

Walking into headquarters made Patrick want to hide. Every eye turned toward him. Some not nearly as welcoming as usual. A chill ran down his spine. He had really fucked it up this time. He wouldn’t be surprised if more people defected. Patrick shook his head. He couldn’t think like that.

But he was right back where he started with territory. Except it was worse. The Snakes had inched in on the more important areas. The areas that brought in the most revenue. Legal revenue that is. The five of them stepped into the elevator. Patrick gripped the bar along the wall, refraining from hitting something. He took a deep breath.

“Alright. Start packing when we get up there. We have to move fast. I already have an idea of where to go.” He looked around them briefly to make sure they understood. They each nodded.

Smyth was the only one that followed him once they reached the floor. Patrick knew he was in for it. He chuckled to himself. It was as though he wasn’t even the boss. Smyth pretty much just told him what to do and he would execute it. What a sad excuse for a leader.

“Just let me have it. Stop fuming in silence,” Patrick snapped once the door to his office closed.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, kid. I could yell at you for going in without backup in the first place. I could yell at you for losing a crucial piece of territory. I could yell at you for even choosing this job in the first place. The list is a mile-long Trick.”

Patrick ground his teeth and ran a hand though his hair. He knew all of that. He fucked up. He just needed to hear it from someone else.

“But I’m not going to yell at you. Because I know how you work kid. You want me to tell you the things you did wrong and then tell you how to fix them. That’s not my job, it’s yours. You needa figure it out.” Patrick whirled around, glaring.

“Then why the fuck are you here? If you’re just gunna bail on me when I need you then why don’t you leave? Why don’t you—”

“Oh, grow the fuck up, Patrick!” Patrick blinked in surprise. “This was your choice! You chose the mob and guess what? Now you have to live with that choice! You can’t pick and choose when to be a leader and when you want to be a kid.” He clenched his fists. Patrick had never seen Smyth this angry.

“A weak leader means a weak gang. And when members sense weakness, they either overthrow you or defect. So, I suggest you figure it out before you die. One way or another.” Smyth spun on his heal and stormed out, limp still evident.

Patrick stood there for a while, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. He dug his nails into his palm, composing himself. A part of him knew Smyth was right. He still felt like a kid. Who was he fooling? He was twenty-four. There was no doubt he was still a kid. Forced to grow up sooner than normal.

He moved to his desk, shifting things around, collecting papers. There was a knock at his door. He just ignored it. The knocking continued, and he ended up knocking over the lamp, sending it to the floor with a clatter.

“What,” he barked. The door creaked open and then clicked shut again. “I swear to god this better be important,” he said stiffly. He turned, coming face to face with V. She stood, arms crossed.

“Smyth called me,” she said flatly. Patrick raised an eyebrow. Why would he call her? “Told me Vinn was dead. I didn’t expect you to deal with it so quickly.” Oh, right. “Under normal circumstances, I might say thank you, but from the way you just bit my head off… Why not tell me what happened, and I can give you some advice.” Patrick shook his head, anger flaring.

“What would you know about it,” he snapped. Her eyes narrowed.

“Look, if you’re not going to accept help when it’s offered then you’re in for a rude awakening.”

“I don’t need to listen to you spit more bullshit at me about being a leader,” he said, turning away from her.

“Seems like you do! You’re acting like a child!” Patrick clenched his fists and ground his teeth together. He could have screamed. Patrick whirled around to face her again.

“It’s almost like I am! It’s almost like I was forced to grow up!” She took a step toward him.

“Oh, boo hoo for you! So were the rest of us!” Patrick flinched. V took a breath, calming herself. “I know your general story. You have my sympathies but that doesn’t mean you can just bail like this. It sucks for sure. But you don’t have the luxury of acting your age anymore.”

Patrick didn’t respond. Both of them were right and he knew it. But it hurt his pride. He was like a filter for Smyth. He had to start acting on his own. He slipped his hand into his pockets.

“We need to move. Our location was compromised. And I lost Pilsen.” He thought he saw a softness race across her features, but it was gone too fast.

“Well. It’ll be hard to top this place,” she said half-heartedly, nodding to the old wood that surrounded them. He didn’t disagree, the place had character and Patrick liked that. A knock came from the door.

“Come in,” he called. Pete, Joe and Andy stood in the open door. Patrick felt his shoulders relax. They hadn’t left him.

“We’re almost ready to get going, Boss,” Joe said. Patrick nodded and looked over at Pete.

“What’s the status of the safe houses? Have they been evacuated?” Pete pulled out his phone and scrolled a bit.

“Most of them, yea. I would like to request that I be allowed to check on Mana. Move her to a secure location myself.” Patrick thought for a moment. He needed her to be safe. He nodded at Pete’s request.

“Yes, go do that. Andy, Joe. You’re with me. We gotta erase any evidence that we were here.” Pete waved and hurried out. Patrick turned back to V.

“I appreciate the pep talk but let’s not forget that I’m the boss,” he joked. She rolled her eyes and smirked. Did his heart skip a beat? If it did he wouldn’t admit it.

“Whatever you say, dude.” She saluted and left. Patrick followed Joe and Andy out.

Pete sped toward the safehouse where he left Mana not that long ago. She was probably gunna complain, not that he could blame her. He counted more than a couple cops that he sped past but none of them bothered him. Until the last one.

He noticed the lights flashing behind him when he sped through a yellow light as it turned red. Pete cursed to himself. Probably a newbie who hasn’t had any run ins with their gang yet. He pulled into a parking lot and pulled his ID out before the cop came up to the door along with a couple hundreds. He was in a hurry.

A guy a bit younger than him came up to the door. He peaked inside the car, obviously looking for any visible drugs or weapons. Pete smiled at him.

“Can I help you, sir,” he asked politely.

“Well I pulled you over because you ran the red light back there. On top of that I clocked you going almost sixty in a thirty-five. Can I see your license and insurance please?” Pete sighed and handed him his license.

“Look. You seem new so it’s not that big of a deal. But we have an agreement with your chief. It’ll take a while to learn which cars are ours, but the Overcast do our best to follow the laws when there isn’t something horrible pending.” Pete handed him the money and waited for his license.

“Are you trying to bribe me, sir? I could arrest you for that alone.” Pete tried to not show his impatience.

“If you let me get my phone, I can call your boss right now and have him explain it.”

“No one is above the law. I’m going to need you to step out of the vehicle and keep your hands where I can see them.” Pete did not have time for this. He gripped the steering wheel to keep himself calm.

“Hey, Siri, call Sheriff.” Pete stepped out of the car while the phone rang. The cop looked furious.

“Hang it up right now. Who are you calling? You’ll have to come with me down to the station.”

Peter? What did you need? I’m a bit busy right now.

Pete relaxed at the sheriff’s voice. He glanced to the cop that had his hand on his hip, ready to pull his gun. He still looked angry but there was recognition on his face.

“Look, one of your guys here has me on the side of the road. I just need you to tell him to let me go. I’ve got some very important things to do. Involves the safety of the city.” There was some quiet chatter from the other end before he spoke.

This is Sheriff Manoa. Let him go and come speak to me when you return to the station. I’ll explain why. Thank you for doing your job so diligently.

The rookie slowly removed his hand from the gun at his hip. Pete kept his hands forward the whole time until he seemed to relax. Did not need to be getting shop by the police of all people. Pete thanked the sheriff and he hung up.

“What makes you so special?” He heard the guy mumble. Pete held his tongue as he watched him get back into his car. Pete shook his head and sped off toward the safe house.

When he pulled up to the curb, he noticed most of the cars had vacated. At least they work quick. That’s what he hoped was the case. Pete hurried in past the unattended front desk. He fidgeted the entire ride up the elevator. No one was around to escort him.

Which wasn’t that big of a deal normally but in this climate, didn’t spell anything good.

He knocked on Mana’s door, waited, and when there was no answer, knocked again, more urgently. Pete jiggled the handle. It was still locked so she should still be in there. It would be a waste of time for them to lock the door as they were leaving.

“Mana? You still in there?” He thought he heard someone moving around behind the door but wasn’t sure. “Come on, it’s Pete. I was here a few hours ago? Dropped you off and stuff?”

“I can’t unlock the door genius. I’m trapped remember.” He mentally face palmed. Pete had completely forgotten. He pressed his forehead against the door.

“Did anyone tell you where they were going by chance?”

“Uh, no? I thought the whole reason I was in here was because I wasn’t trusted? Actually, I didn’t even know people left,” she said. Smartass.

“Ok… well do you wear bobby pins by chance,” he asked, hopeful. He did not want to resort to trying to kick the door in or shooting the lock.

“Yea. But I doubt you can do any better than I could.” Of course she had tried to escape. A couple pins slid under the door. He picked them up and bent one open. The lock was open in less than a minute. Pete pushed the door open, hitting Mana in the process.

“Ow! Seriously?” She rubbed her head where the door had hit.

“Sorry. Why were you standing so close to the door anyway? Whatever, grab your stuff and let’s go.” She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “What?”

“You just gunna drag me all over the damn city?” Pete rolled his eyes.

“Maybe, now let’s go,” he rushed. She sighed and grabbed the bag she had with her, all its contents untouched.

She followed closely behind him, keeping quiet. He wondered if she knew what was going on. She grew up around the mob, so he assumed this might have been a regular experience. Of course, she was like a princess in a way, being the sister of the boss.

Pete’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out as they walked up to the car. He glanced back at Mana for a moment. She didn’t seem like she was going to run so he unlocked the door for her and nodded towards the door.

“Get in.” She raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue.

“Wow I can do things on my own now?” Pete rolled his eyes before checking the message from Patrick.

“Yea. Don’t mess it up.”

The message contained a simple address followed with, Bring her here. There’s space at the new spot. Until we can sort out other safe houses.

“You’ll be staying at our headquarters again. I’ll try to get you some free roaming privileges.”

“Whata gentleman,” she mumbled sarcastically. He glanced over at her before peeling out of the parking lot.

Patrick, Joe and Andy familiarized themselves with the layout of the new building. It was farther north than Patrick would have liked but it was the best they had on short notice. He had found the address in an old folder that belonged to his brother. Even now, he was still getting help.

They came across a group of guards that had worked at the other building. But they talked in hushed voices and Patrick watched as they looked over their shoulders. The three of them shared a look before he made is way over to them.

“Excuse me?” He saw the three men jump. While he hadn’t been able to catch any of their conversation, he could only assume it wasn’t favorable for him.

“Boss. What can we do for you?” Patrick shrugged.

“Guess I was just curious what you guys were talking about over here all quietly.” The three of them laughed awkwardly.

“Sorry, nothing important. Just plans to go out at some point,” one of them said. The other two nodded in agreement.

“Ok. If you’re having any problems. Come to me,” Patrick said before turning back to Joe and Andy. Patrick thought he heard some mumbling but didn’t acknowledge it.

They continued down the hallways and Patrick checked his phone again. He waited for an update from Smyth, but one never came. He must have really pissed him off this time. But Patrick wanted to apologize. He couldn’t do that when Smyth was AWOL. He trusted that he could take care of himself but he still worried.

“We’ll let you know if we see Smyth. Don’t worry too much. He always turns up when you need him.” Patrick nodded at Joe’s reassuring words.

“Call a meeting for tomorrow. There’s obviously some things that need to be discussed.”

#mob boss au #fall out boy fanfiction #multi-chapter #masking our bruises #violence #cursing #forgive my extended absence #i feel really bad #believe it or not i actually know where i want the story to go #getting it there is the problem #bandom #band imagine #mob boss patrick #also if anyone wants to edit for me #thatd be cool

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your-music-sucks · 6 years

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My Dream Band

A question I ask almost all my music friends: if you could make a band with anyone dead or alive, who would be in it, and what would they play?

There aren’t many other questions more suitable to fanboy over. So many options, so many people, so many genres. And yet, most people would put Hendrix as their lead guitarist (they aren’t wrong for the most part). In this post, I’ll explain my person dream band, and then a couple other band combinations sure to make any music patron giddy with joy.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here is my dream band.

Kirstin Maldonado - Pentatonix (Lead/Backup Singer)

I was always a fan of Penatonix even before I heard Kirstin sing solo. The complex harmonies, the superior arrangements an innovation, not to mention how they never seem to sing out of key. While watching PTX’s vlog, there was a part where Kirstin sang a solo performance, my ears were blessed, and my eyes were opened. And then there was her performance of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” reasserted my love and admiration for her as a singer.

Obviously, as a singer for Pentatonix, she’s got harmonies like no one’s business. She has a great range, never goes off key, can sight-read, and can improvise. However, my favorite part of Kirstin (other than her dog) is her ability to change the tone of her voice. Obviously, it would sound weird to sing harmonies with a heavy vibrato, or sing lead straight flat. Kirstin has the ability to change her vibrato and pitch to crush any arrangement I’d give her, whether singing lead or in the back. I’d do anything for a chance to work with her, and very deserving of this job in my dream band.

Hayley Williams - Paramore (Lead Vocals)

Nobody is arguing Paramore’s staying power and ability to write a damn catchy song, but there’s a reason why Hayley is the first person on everyone’s minds when they think “female vocalist”. Anyone whose heard her have a hard time forgetting her. She has one of the most iconic voices in recent memory, and a fantastic range. The biggest reason why I want her in my band is her driving and rough around the edges voice. It would compliment Kirstin’s voice perfectly and make for some seriously sweet harmonies.

Dominic Howard - Muse (Drums/Percussion)

Muse is already one of my all-time favorite bands (excusing their latest few efforts). I love their chord progressions, the way they add classical flavor into rock, all three members of the band are amazing musicians (every time Matt plays piano, I get super jealous). I choose Dom to wield the sticks in my dream band because he has a perfect combination of holding down the beat and adding flair, behaving himself and keeping things interesting. He never compromises the feel of the song, but whenever the spotlight falls on him, he shows the world he can play.

Mike Dirnt - Green Day (Bass)

As some of you know who actually follow this blog, I put out an opinion piece on why Green Day is the best punk band ever. Mike Dirnt is one of the reasons why. First off, he has tons of stamina. Anyone who can play “Platypus (I Hate You)” live with all of Billie Joe’s extended pauses without stopping or breaking a sweat is god-tier in my book. Second, like Dom, always knows how to balance flair and foundation. I consider Dookie one of the best bass albums of all time. The licks and riffs Dirnt plays are bar none to any punk bassist dead or alive. Finally, he knows how to stay in the pocket. No beat he hits is off. He makes Green Day on a James Brown level of band symmetry. He’ll do the same for my dream band.

Neil Giraldo - Pat Benatar (Lead Guitar)

While I’m not the biggest fan of Pat Benatar, I am well aware of her impact on music and the laundry load of hits she has under her leather spiked belt. One of the reasons for her success? Neil Giraldo. Everything riff or solo this man touches turns to gold. He doesn’t just shred, he shreds tastefully. He doesn’t just go in guns a-blazing and hit every blues scale note on the fret board. Giraldo was the rock element Pat as looking for in her music, and he would make the perfect soloist for my dream band. He’s got the riffs, he’s tasteful, and he’s got major chops.

The Famous Flames - James Brown (Brass Section)

Speaking of James Brown level of synergy. There is no single backing band tighter then The Famous Flames. You know how I know that? James Brown would frequently test them live by stopping and starting songs at will, and constantly change the song live to test if the band was paying attention. Knowing that, and seeing how the band played like they were the same person, it should come as no surprise why they make the band. Like, at all. They can learn any work of music, and would never fail to learn it by the day of the show. They’d be ready for anything

Rick Wakeman - Yes (Keyboards/Organ)

I don’t really listen to Yes. But if you listen to “Roundabout” and don’t think that man is the best keyboard player of his era, I have nothing to say to you.

And there we have it! My dream band. For genre, they would make pop rock with flairs of ska and electro.

BONUS BANDS

The Ultimate Emo Band:

Brendan Urie - Panic! At the Disco (Vocals/Rhythm Guitar)

Ray Toro - My Chemical Romance (Lead Guitar)

Pete Wentz - Fall Out Boy (Bass)

Josh Dun - twenty one pilots (Drums)

They would play all their respective hits. Millions would cry, millions would scream. They’d all make more money than they ever knew what to do with, or knew existed.

The Ultimate Jam Band

Jimi Hendrix (Guitar)

Flea - Red Hot Chili Peppers (Bass)

Jon Bonham - Led Zeppelin (Drums)

Every attempt to praise their music would still make them under hyped. Their first album is a combination of odd time signatures, funk, and psychedelic blues. Rock experts would never go outside again.

And finally...

The Nightmare Band (The Worst Band Ever)

Fred Durst - Limp Bizkit (Lead Guitar)

Yoko Ono - Plastic Ono Band (Lead Vocals/Drums)

Tom Delonge - blink-182 (Keyboard)

Sid Vicious - The Sex Pistols (bass)

This band would be tasked with playing "Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce. They would get very limited rehearsal time. Rock experts would never go outside again, but for a different reason.

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ghchgc · 3 years

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esonetwork · 6 years

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Timestamp #160: Doctor Who (The Movie)

New Post has been published on https://esopodcast.com/timestamp-160-doctor-who-the-movie/

Timestamp #160: Doctor Who (The Movie)

Doctor Who: The Movie (1996)

It’s a major turning point: The gateway between the classic era and the modern. But first, the Doctor must face Y2K.

The Master finally came to trial for his litany of crimes on the planet Skaro as part of a treaty between the Daleks and the Time Lords. Over cat eyes, we learn that the Master’s final request was for the Doctor to carry his remains back to Gallifrey for final disposition. The Doctor places the Master’s urn in a lockbox and secures it with a new sonic screwdriver before settling in with “In a Dream” on the gramaphone, The Time Machine in his hands, and a bowl of jelly babies. The control room is massive and gorgeous, and reflects the Seventh Doctor’s twilight years to a tee.

The Master breaks out of the urn and the lockbox, moving as a shadowy snake form to the TARDIS console and shorting it out, forcing the Doctor to make an emergency landing on Earth, San Francisco, New Years Eve, 1999. The TARDIS materializes in the middle of a gang fight, saving a young survivor in the process. Unfortunately, the Doctor (who didn’t use the scanners, I guess) steps into the fight and is shot. As Chang Lee calls for an ambulance, the Master escapes through the TARDIS lock.

The Doctor (on the record as John Smith) is rushed to the hospital, but modern medicine fails him. The x-ray accurately reflects his two hearts, and the bullet wounds are not particularly life-threatening (one in the shoulder, two in the leg), but the heart readings require a cardiac specialist. Enter: Grace Holloway.

The Doctor wakes up on the operating table to the sound of Madame Butterfly, pleading with Grace to stop the surgery and get him a beryllium atomic clock. The surgical team ups the anesthetic and proceeds, but human surgery on Time Lord physiology proves fatal. The Seventh Doctor dies on the operating table. Grace reviews the x-rays before informing Lee of the bad news, and Lee runs off with the Doctor’s personal effects.

We are treated to a double Time Lord resurrection: On the other side of the city, the Master has hitched a ride home with an ambulance driver named Bruce. As he snores away, preventing his wife from sleeping, Bruce is taken over and killed by the Master. Bruce’s wife is happy for the silence. At the hospital, the Doctor’s body is loaded into the morgue and regenerates in parallel with the 1931 version of Frankenstein. The Doctor bangs at the door and breaks out of the freezer, scaring the on-duty attendant. The Eighth Doctor finds a mirror (or thirteen… see what they did there?) in a broken room (seriously, what?) while humming Madame Butterfly. In shock, he screams and questions who he is.

As morning dawns, we find Grace Holloway in her office, the Doctor rifling through lockers for clothing (and discarding a replica of the Fourth Doctor’s scarf), and Lee trying to figure out what a sonic screwdriver does (as well as examining a yo-yo, the Doctor’s pocketwatch, and the TARDIS key). The Doctor finds a Wild Bill Hickok costume (intended for the New Years Eve costume party), discarding the gun belt and hat in the process. Meanwhile, the Master awakens (with glowing green eyes) and kills Bruce’s wife.

Pete, the morgue attendant, shows Grace what happened the night before. She walks right by the Doctor, who is still suffering from the effects of his regeneration, before meeting with the hospital administrator. The administrator tries to cover up the events of the botched surgery, and she quits her job as a result. As she’s leaving, the Doctor joins her in the elevator and follows her to her car. He begs her for help, pulling the abandoned cardiac probe from his chest as Grace drives him away.

The Master arrives at the hospital and demands to see the Doctor’s body, but finds out that the corpse is missing and that Lee has the Doctor’s possessions. Meanwhile, Grace and the Doctor arrive at her home to find that her boyfriend has left her (and taken her furniture). She examines the Doctor and his heartbeats as his memory fades back in. Grace is upset and confused by the whole affair, but the Doctor comforts her in his awkward way.

Lee finds his way to the TARDIS and steps inside, having one of the most amazing “bigger on the inside” moments. Unfortunately, he also finds the Master, who somehow entered before without the TARDIS key. The Master enthralls Lee and takes the Doctor’s things before demanding that Lee help him find the Time Lord. The Master tells Lee a false tale of how the Doctor stole his regenerations, offering the human gold dust and a tour of the TARDIS, including the Cloister Room. In the depths of the Cloister Room is the Eye of Harmony, the heart of the TARDIS, and Lee is able to open it with a little coercion. The Eye shows the Master and Lee the Doctor’s Seventh and Eighth incarnations, and the image of a human retina leads the Master to believe that the new Doctor is half-human.

That’s an important note to make: The Master makes the assumption that the Doctor is somehow half-human. While the Master – who has known the Doctor for a really, really long time – should presumably know better, the Doctor’s lineage is not a statement of fact. It is a wild assumption.

The Doctor finishes getting dressed (and finally removing his toe tag) as Grace examines his blood. They take a walk to clear their minds, jogging the Doctor’s memories of his own childhood. The joy of this incarnation is amazing. As the Eye of Harmony is opened, he remembers that he is the Doctor and kisses Grace, making this the first romantic moment for the Doctor in the franchise.

I’m okay with that. New face, new body, new Doctor.

With the Eye of Harmony open, the Doctor and the Master can share vision through the Eye. The Doctor closes his eyes and gives Grace the download on who he is. Lee also hears this, chipping away at the Master’s thrall. Grace runs away in shock and locks the Doctor out of her house. Despite the Doctor’s protests, Grace calls for an ambulance, but the Doctor shows her that the Eye of Harmony is tearing the planet apart by walking through a window without breaking it. The Master and Lee oblige her request by hijacking an ambulance and taking it to meet the doctor (and the Doctor).

The Doctor watches the news while they wait for the ambulance, learning that a local institute is unveiling a beryllium atomic clock, which is exactly what he needs to close the Eye. The doorbell rings, and it’s the Master calling. Grace has no idea, but the Doctor obviously recognizes the Master, and nevertheless, they all pile into the ambulance and hit the road. Eventually, the Doctor unmasks the Master and runs with Grace. They hijack a police motorcycle with jelly babies and race for the institute with the Master in pursuit.

Notably, the Doctor does use a gun once again, but it’s a distraction instead of a threat.

Lee knows a shortcut – of course he does – so they beat the Doctor and the doctor to the clock. They proceed inside and look for a way to the clock, passing the Doctor off as “Dr. Bowman” and meeting Professor Wagg, the inventor of the device. In the meantime, the Doctor explains more about himself, and distracts the professor with a joke about being half-human while swiping his badge. They take a piece of the clock, distract a guard with a jelly baby, and spot the Master before running. They race to the roof (understandably, the Doctor is afraid of heights) and use a fire hose to drop to the street before heading to the TARDIS.

They use a spare key to open the TARDIS, have a humorous moment with a police officer driving in and out of the time capsule, and go inside to install the clock component in the console. Unfortunately, the Eye has been open too long and the cosmos are in danger. The TARDIS also has no power. They attempt to jump-start the TARDIS, but Grace is enthralled by the Master as he arrives. She knocks the Doctor out and together, she and Lee take him to the Eye. The Master supervises as Grace places a device on the Doctor’s head to prop his eyes open. The Doctor pleads with Lee, and Lee refuses to open the Eye when the Doctor points out the Master’s lies. The Master kills Lee by snapping his neck, then enthralls Grace into opening the Eye.

Apparently, only a human’s eyes can open the Eye. Which is weird, but kind of plays into a theory of mine… more on that later.

The Eye’s light is focused on two points, designed in this case to channel the Doctor’s regenerative energy into the Master and extend the villain’s lifespan. The light of the Eye breaks Grace’s trance, and she runs to the console to reroute the power. At the very last second, Grace jump-starts the TARDIS and they travel into a temporal orbit. She releases the Doctor, but the Master throws her off the balcony and kills her. The two Time Lords fight over the eye, but the Doctor is triumphant and the Master falls into the Eye. The Doctor tries to rescue him, but the Master refuses and is (apparently) killed.

The Doctor places Lee and Grace on a balcony in the Cloister Room, and the energy of the Eye infuses with them, bringing them back to life courtesy of the TARDIS and its sentimentality. The Doctor shows them Gallifrey from a distance before returning midnight on January 1, 2000. Lee departs with the gold dust and a little advice after returning the Doctor’s stuff, and the Doctor offers Grace the opportunity to travel with him. Grace declines, and the Doctor departs for a new adventure.

This presentation is deeply flawed, but it does have a lot of things working for it. I love the theme music (even if they don’t credit Ron Grainer or Delia Derbyshire) and I do love the humor and Doctor/Grace banter. On the other hand, it is swimming in the cheesiness that defined televised American science fiction in the 1990s, and a lot of those elements fall flat in the spirit of Doctor Who. I mean, can we get that hospital a little more funding for the entire floor full of broken junk?

The story also has a fixation on people stealing people’s stuff. Was there a major trend of kleptomania in the mid-90s?

Paul McGann is simply a joy to watch, and his energy and joy shines in this story. It’s also interesting to watch the “half-human” controversy play out: The Master takes it seriously based on scant evidence, but the Doctor plays it as a joke. I have often wondered if Gallifreyans are some sort of evolved human being – it’s definitely possible given that the default appearance is always human, most medical exams show only the two hearts as a physical difference, and that whole Eye of Harmony key thing – but I don’t think that the Doctor is any more human than that. The evidence just doesn’t support it.

All in all, this story would fall into the average range, which is a shame since Paul McGann deserved so much better. Of course, this was also a regeneration story, so it gets a little boost per the rules of the Timestamps Project.

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

UP NEXT – Seventh Doctor Summary

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

#Doctor Who #Eighth Doctor #Seventh Doctor #Timestamps Project

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monaisme · 3 years

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Day 5: “take me instead”

Tony had to say it. The whole alien invasion thing was getting pretty stale.

The Battle of New York had been devastating, and yeah, it had taken a load of couch time (and a load more suit modifications, thank you very much!) for him to be okay with going out into the city at night, but he’d done it and he was good now... really.

But what he really needed was for these things to stop showing up every second Saturday, especially during his lab time with his favourite Spider-baby—because that, it seemed, caused its own separate set of issues.

“Hey, Iron Man! I’m here! Where do you want me?” Spider-Man chirped over the comms.

Yup, Spider-baby always knew when something was up—

“Boss, on your left!” FRIDAY warned and Tony immediately banked right, narrowly avoiding some purple alien laser beam-thing and the debris from the now damaged building.

—Not that Spider-Man could have missed this one.

“Wow, Iron Man, did you see that? That was so cool and it was shooting and you were just—“

“SPIDER-MAN!” Tony yelled through the comms. “I’m amazing. I know, now get to work, ya’ scrub.”

“Ugh, was that a 90’s song reference? ‘Cuz I’m not sure Aunt May is okay with you corrupting my musical pallet. She’ll be put—”

Cap cut him off, “Chatter, gentlemen.”

Spider-Man piped in, “Sorry about that Mr. Captain America, sir!”

“No sass, either, Spider-Man.”

“Got it, Captain!” Spider-Man swung along the perimeter of the battle, watchful and waiting for instruction. Tony liked that about the kid. He might not always think before he speaks, but he’d always defer to the team before jumping in blind during missions. He had this ‘thing’ about messing up, always played it safe if he’d missed the plan. Yup. Pete was smart like that. “Where would you like me to go?” he finally asked.

Sam had taken the aerial approach to the battlefield. “Kid, we’ve got some tourists with nothing but time and phones on their hands just south of Central Park. Feel like doing civilian duty today?”

Tony knew what that answer would be.

“You bet, Falcon!” Peter chirped. Spider-Man changed direction, started swinging towards Central Park, and then forgetting he was still on the comms, muttered, “Every. single. time.”

They pretended not to hear.

“Falcon, have you got eyes on a source yet?” Cap inquired.

“I’ve got nothing. No rooftops, no suspicious vehicles. Nothin.’ Nat? Any luck closer to the ground?”

Black Widow was on her bike, scouring the streets for anything—a spaceship, a hideout, anything—but she was striking out, too. Well, she was also striking out any stragglers she’d come across but that was semantics. “Sorry guys, but all I’m getting are the ones you keep letting through.”

They worked quietly after that, dispatching alien after alien, all of them working like a well-oiled machine. They had just hit the ten minute mark and there was no sign of the influx letting up.

“Guys!” Iron Man called out as he fired his repulsor at his twenty-third alien, “This is starting to get old. Do we have any thoughts on where these things are comin’ from?” He shot at his twenty-fourth. “’Cuz I think we’re missing something?”

“Agreed.” Cap replied.

“Um, Guys?” Spider-Man suddenly crackled over the comms, “I think I’ve found something!”

“Report!” Cap barked out.

“There’s some clinic back here. I came over to make sure no one needed help evacuating, but the scan showed was empty. Now Karen is showing some weird readings and I’m not sure what to do about it.”

Tony chimed in then, “Pete? What do you mean by ‘weird?’—Actually, never mind. FRIDAY, contact Karen and show me what she’s got.”

His visual input doubled. At a glance, there didn’t seem to be anything too anomalous. But then... “Hey, Pete, I need you to fall back. I’m gonna head on over and Nat?” Tony directed his attention to her, “Nat, I need you to head over to Peter’s location.”

“What? Why?” came Peter’s response.

Nat’s came immediately after, “That’s a negative, gang. I’m—“ then the sound of her gun discharging once, twice, three times. “I’m a little busy right now.”

“Damn it. Okay, Cap,” Tony needed a new plan. “I’m going to head over to Peter’s location and take a look at this clinic.” He punched the alien in front of him, trying to clear the area of threats before launching, “Sam, I’m gonna get you to head over NOW. I can’t tell if we’re looking at a bomb or the cause of the portal we’ve been trying to track down or both... but—eurk“

“Tony?” Sam and Peter both called out.

They could hear the sound of struggle and Sam changed course to help his teammate. “I’m coming, Tony!”

“NO!” Tony choked out, flipping over the alien that had climbed onto his back. “Get to the clinic. I’m just...” a repulsor blasted. “Caught up. Nat! Meet him!”

An immediate “Still busy!” put the kibosh on that idea.

“Hey! I’m already here and you know I can help!” Peter piped up.

Tony blasted another alien. “Absolutely not! You know the rules!”

When the team had finally discovered that the mouth under the mask really was actually a 15 (and a HALF!) year old boy, a lot of rules, training, and more rules were implemented so Peter wouldn’t get hurt and rule #1 was:

“No biting off more than I can chew!” They could all hear the boy’s frustration. “But you know I can do this, Mr. Stark! I’m like super smart! And I haven’t seen a single alien!”

Everyone ignored him.

“Nat, ETA on completion of alien massacre?” Tony piped in.

“Mr. Stark! C’mon!”

Cap piped in, “Tony—we gotta wrap this up...”

Peter muttered, “This is ridiculous.” And then, apparently, his patience ran out. “Sam, where are you?”

“I’m twenty seconds out.”

“Sam, I’m here. Just... take me instead. I can do what Mr. Stark can and we don’t need to wait!” Peter insisted.

The comms stayed silent for a beat.

Sam asked, “Tony? Can he do it?”

Tony wanted to lie and keep the boy safe for another day, but he couldn’t. “Kid’s a genius, of course he can.”

"Cap? Any issues with this scenario?"

"We need to wrap this up. I say go."

Sam seemed to consider, and then, “Fine.”

“YAASSS! I won’t disappoint you, I promise.”

Tony didn’t think the boy ever could. “Just be careful.” He fired his repulsor again, and again. “You’re not on the Avengers insurance plan... and your aunt will kill me if I return you damaged.”

“I will be!” the boy promised, “Sam, I have eyes on you. Can you see me?”

Sam sighed, “You know why they call me Falcon, right?”

“’Cuz you can fly?”

Sam, it seemed, ignored the silliness and announced his arrival to the team, “Guys, I’ve rendezvoused with Spider-Baby and can see the clinic. We’re gonna head on in and evaluate—goin’ silent so we don’t have to listen to all you yahoos while we’re trying not to blow shit up.”

“Copy that, and you be careful, too,” Cap answered.

* * * * * *

Tony tried to shake free of this sudden surge of aliens. He really did. The three of them were managing well enough, but he knew they were all worried about Peter and Tony really needed to be there.

And then the world turned purple.

A witty quip was on the tip of Tony’s tongue when the cluster of aliens surrounding him—but still totally manageable, really!—collapsed to the ground and stilled.

“Um, guys? Is this just me or...” Tony started.

“Did all of your aliens drop dead, too?” Nat finished.

He could hear Cap’s grin through the comms, “They did it!”

“Guys, we need help here! I think Spidey is down but he’s trapped me and I can’t get to him!”

Tony blanched, but rocketed off to their last known location with a speed saved for terrorists and nuclear bombs. “FRIDAY, contact SHIELD. Send med evac to Peter’s location! Sam, tell me what happened!” Tony barked.

“So the clinic Peter found was actually abandoned and whoever did this set up this system—this jimmy-rig that Pete said was acting as a beacon. I guess he hadn’t gotten close enough before for Karen to recognize the reading as radiation correctly ‘cuz it’s outer space shit.”

Tony landed at the clinic. “Wait. Radiation?” FRIDAY immediately set to scan the area. Tony needed to be coolheaded about this.

“Yeah,” Sam continued. “Pete said he could shut it down but then it scanned us and a countdown started, but not with real numbers, like alien stuff. He figured it was gonna blow but then looked at some wires and then did some messing around and then...”

Tony listened as Sam explained.

“He told me he thought he could disable it completely, but wasn’t sure about the timeline—alien numbers and all.”

“Okay?”

“So that sneaky little shit grabbed me and tossed me one of those lead rooms that they use in x-ray clinics and locked me in.”

“He locked you in?”

“Yes! He locked me in. He muttered something about changing dispersal rates or something and slammed the door shut. I can’t see, but I think he put something in front of the door so I really couldn’t get out.”

“Scan complete.” Read across his visual input.

“Okay, Sam, I’m looking at my readings here.” Cap and Natasha came up beside him as he spoke, “There is definitely radiation happening, but it’s harmless out here.” He looked at his teammates as he said it. “I’m guessing you’re safe inside your little hidey-hole, but I’m gonna need to head in to get some more readings.”

“Tony.” Cap rested a hand on Iron Man’s arm to stop him.

“It’s okay, Steve,” He reassured his friend. “I’ve planned for this kind of situation and I’m built for it.” Tony replied, and knocked on his metal shell. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Tony walked toward the tiny clinic.

“Sam, can you tell me where you are in the building? And where is Peter?”

“We’re right next door to each other, man. Are you inside yet?”

“Yeah,” Tony kicked open the door and stepped through the broken front entry. “I’m in.”

“Perfect. The building should be empty, but be careful. Anyways, there’s a hallway that runs behind the reception desk. Take a left and then head all the way down. You’ll turn right there. I’m in the second room on the right, and Pete is in the third.”

“Nice and easy. Great.” Tony muttered and stepped behind the front desk. He checked the radiation levels as he moved. “On the plus side, readings in here aren’t too bad, Sam. We’re gonna be able to walk you through these halls no problem in a couple of minutes. Okay?”

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know, buddy. Thanks.” Sam was quiet and then, “Have you found Peter yet?”

Tony turned down the last hallway to the right. “I’m about to see—and you’re right, he put two medical file cabinets in front of the door. No way are you getting out of there on your own.” He huffed a laugh as he rapped his fingers on the heavy metal. “This is why offices should go e-filing.”

“Don’t be a smart ass.” Sam retorted. “Just find the boy. I don’t like it when he’s quiet.”

“Agreed,” Natasha added. “FYI, just got word, SHIELD medical will be arriving in 15 minutes. Apparently the dead aliens are cooler than our Avenger in training and they got distracted... those idiots.”

“Got it.” Tony scaled the cabinets and dropped to the other side and came face to face with a closed door.

He turned the door handle and pushed it open, paying attention to the radiation levels being detected. Levels in there were definitely higher than even the other side of the filing cabinets, but still within manageable levels. “Guys, I’m at Pete’s last known location, and numbers are still looking alright.”

He stepped inside and saw the now inert alien device Sam had spoken of. “Wow!” Tony was distracted by FRIDAY’s analysis and his own observations. “Guys, this could have been really ugly.” He shook his head in disbelief. “If I’m looking at what I think I am, this was bio-tech related, which is why you guys getting close set it off.” He was impressed. “And you just entered the room?”

“Yeah,” Sam answered. “It scanned us with a beam of light and that was it. Now where the hell is Peter?”

Tony was horrified with himself for getting caught up in the tech, “Shit!” He looked around the room, under the one desk in the corner. Nothing. “Guys? Um, Peter’s not here!”

“What do you mean, Peter’s not here?” Steve snapped. “Tony is it safe for us to enter the building? Are the levels safe enough?”

He looked again, “Yes, we just need to be fast. It’s dispersing but too long may not be great for you guys—especially you, Nat.”

“I’ll worry about me, thank you very much. You worry about finding Peter. We’re on our way in.”

He did worry. He worried while he double checked behind the desk, and the air vents, just in case. He worried as he rushed to the next room over, only to find that one empty, too. He stepped back into the hallway as Steve entered the hallway on the other side of the cabinets.

“Any luck?” Steve asked.

“No! He’s not here!” Tony was starting to panic. “Sam said he went back into the room and then...” Tony’s heart sank. He rushed back into the room and started analyzing the alien device, more determined to understand what it did.

“Steve- get Sam out of the room, now! I need him to explain exactly what Peter said and did!”

Steve turned and within seconds, the grinding of those ridiculous metal cabinets was echoing through the building.

Sam appeared seconds after the grinding stopped, Steve and Natasha behind him.

Sam got to it immediately. “Okay, he said it was a beacon. That’s how the aliens keep finding us. It did its countdown thing, and that was it.” Sam knew Tony wasn’t looking for anything but the facts now. “I told you all I remember about it.”

Tony glared at the contraption.

Sam stepped forward. “Wait a minute. When it lit up, it was white light here,” he pointed to a panel, “and green here.” He pointed again. “The countdown was around here,” he circled an area toward the top of the side facing him. “And he looked like he wanted to play over here.” He pointed to the side furthest to them. “The beam came from here.” He showed Tony where a lens peeked out of the wiring and metal. “And THAT is all I got.” Sam stepped back again.

“But...” Tony started and then stopped himself.

“But what?” Steve questioned.

“What if Peter was wrong.” Tony whispered.

Natasha heard him. “What do you mean?”

Tony couldn’t tear his eyes away from the device. “What if this is actually some sort of porthole generator and I was right? We haven’t found any spaceships yet, right? What if whatever he did set it off and Peter is gone—like ‘not on the planet’ gone?”

Natasha scoffed, “You don’t give that boy enough credit.” She scolded. “I know you’re worried, but you need to be reasonable. He’s around here somewhere.”

And then they heard it.

“help...”

They all stopped.

“Pete?” Tony called out.

The sound of flesh banging against metal. “in here...”

He sounded weak.

“Peter?” They moved to the hallway, trying to track the sound.

Another bang.

And then another—coming from one of the filing cabinet drawers!

“Pete!” Tony rushed forward and opened the bottom drawer to the cabinet closest. Empty! He lunged for the second cabinet, he had to be...

“Here!” Tony called as he struggle with the awkward weight of the drawer. Peter was there and he was whole.

“FRIDAY, scan him! And forward all info to Dr. Cho at the tower!” He reached down and carefully extracted the boy from his hiding place. “If you think, for one second I’m letting those asshole SHIELD agents touch my kid, they’ve got another thing coming to them.”

No one disagreed, not that it mattered to Tony. They could deal with the dead aliens.

And Tony?

Well?

The whole alien invasion thing... most definitely getting stale.

@febuwhump

#febuwhump #febuwhump2021 #fanfiction #take me instead #alien invasions

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52murders · 12 years

Text

5 - One In, One Out

On the 1st of January at 12:02 AM, the following took place at The Wash nightclub in Dalston.

On the roof terrace:

Graham shuddered to the first orgasm he had ever shared with another person and thought that this was going to be the best year ever.

Florence suddenly wondered if she had remembered to take her pill. She was pretty sure she had. Almost definitely.

Paul was one of many people who were pretending they couldn’t see the couple shagging behind the azalea bushes.

Simone was wondering why there weren’t any fireworks. Weren’t there supposed to be fireworks on New Years Eve? Where were the fireworks?

Fergus was considering throwing Simone off the roof if she didn’t shut up about fireworks.

Tammy was having her last cigarette before quitting.

Keith was trying to discreetly roll a spliff without attracting too much attention.

Georgina thought Keith looked like a young Jeremy Vine. Apart from the dreadlocks, obviously.

Maria was trying to get people singing and didn’t understand why no one was joining in.

Claudette was one of several people wondering why Maria was singing “How Much is That Doggy In The Window?”

Hadley wanted to go back inside.

Sandeep was wondering who his ex-girlfriend had kissed at midnight.

Tara thought she and Sandeep had a future together.

Harry was wondering who the fuck invited their dad out for New Year’s Eve.

Ron was talking about the pills back in the day and how you just had to take one and you were on one for the rest of the night.

Chas hadn’t felt old until he’d seen the expressions of amused contempt on the faces of those kids as they took the piss out of his brother.

Billy looked at the skyline and wondered what the year ahead would bring.

On the upper staircase:

Caroline was crying.

Julianne had her arm around Caroline, was rubbing her shoulder and said “there, there” but wasn’t really in the mood to be going through these dramas so early in the evening.

Nicholas stood around awkwardly, wondering what – if anything – he could do.

Genovese was knocking on the office door, so Ken could reset the credit card terminal.

In the office:

Ken was busy racking up lines of coke.

DJ Dan Diamond was promising himself that he would stop taking crappy bookings in these shitty two-bit clubs.

Chantelle was wondering if Ken expected her to shag DJ Dan Diamond.

Vicki wished she’d been able to get tickets for Ministry.

Pete was fairly sure he’d once had a handjob from DJ Dan Diamond at a festival in Berlin.

In the stock cupboard:

A mouse was nibbling on a pistachio nut.

In the first floor bar:

Sam was ignoring his boss’s previous warnings about drug use and necked two pills behind the bar.

Georgia thought that if Sam wanted to keep his job, he should either be more discreet or learn how to share.

Hamish still couldn’t get served, even when there was nobody else standing there.

Chris wasn’t sure whether to say Happy New Year to Pauline or Sabrina, so just stood there with his arms half outstretched to the room in general.

Sabrina was hugging Pauline and telling her that it was going to be their year. THEIR YEAR.

Pauline wished that Sabrina hadn’t eaten so much garlic before coming out.

Freddie was waiting for Sabrina to shut up so he could say Happy New Year to Pauline.

Tim was putting something in Pauline’s drink.

Kenneth wasn’t sure he wanted to hang around with Tim any more.

Michelle was wishing that she had stayed at home.

Tom was wishing that Michelle would take that look off her face and at least pretend to have a good time.

Carol hoped that she and Julius didn’t end up like Tom and Michelle.

Julius felt homesick.

Maxine was sick, but kept her mouth shut and was doing her best to swallow it without anyone noticing.

Jack tried to make a move on Maxine and didn’t understand why she wouldn’t kiss him.

Sharon watched Jack make a fool of himself and knew that she would be the one he went home with at the end of the night.

Andy thought he definitely was in with Sharon.

Penelope suddenly felt a sharp pain under her chin, like she’d been punched by an iron fist. She fell to the floor and was dead before reached it.

Kevin thought that Penelope was just staggering because she was drunk and was about to laugh at her. Then he saw the blood.

Jocasta was about to slap that fucking bitch that was bumping into her.

Coralina wished she’d worn better shoes. That heel was just about to snap.

Patti wasn’t going to be able to take her top back tomorrow. Not with Bacardi spilled down the back and sweat in the pits.

Carl had his hands on the skinny arse of some girl he had been introduced to twice, but whose name he had forgotten.

Jemima wondered if wanting to get off with a black guy - any black guy - was racist.

Callie had never seen what happened to Jemima when she drank and now understood why she generally only had lemonade at their works do’s.

Samson wanted to know why this one wasn’t as much fun as her friend.

Roxanne wondered what the point of wearing makeup and putting on nice clothes when guys went for scruffy old tarts.

Jack thought seventy-five a gram was extortionate, even for New Year’s Eve.

Toby would have given the gear away for free if it meant he could go home and be with Joy and the baby, but Ansell needed his money and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Sandra watched the deal go down and reminded herself that she was off-duty.

Bea was only pretending to be drunk. It was the only way she could justify acting the way she did.

Kayleigh wondered why Bea had to get so wankered every time they went out.

On the lower staircase:

Kyle was explaining this theory about a universal consciousness and how we are all different vibrational frequencies of the same energy.

Sharon had no fucking idea what this guy was on about.

Pauline was just pleased that she had found somewhere to sit down.

Derek had surreptitiously bombed a load of speed and wanted to head back to the dancefloor.

Rose made a joke about ants in the pants, then blushed furiously for no discernible reason.

Luke had no idea that the woman he was snogging would be his wife by this time next year.

Cora was glad she had brought mints and condoms out with her.

Dave skipped down the stairs two at a time, keen to get back to the serious business of strutting his stuff.

In the gents toilet:

Bill was completely missing the target and pissing all over his shoes.

Kamal couldn’t go.

Wendall was thinking that if he didn’t pull tonight, he might try being gay for a bit.

Nigel was remembering the time he ate a urinal cake for a bet and had to go and have his stomach pumped. Why didn’t he have nights like that any more?

David didn’t notice that there was blood in his piss, but could feel the stinging sensation.

Pete was trying not to be rude as he knocked on the cubicle door, but he was about twelve seconds away from shitting his pants.

Clyde told whoever it was outside knocking to fuck off and die.

Jacques was tapping his arm, trying to find a vein.

Andre hated toilet men and tried not to make eye contact.

Keith smiled as he held out a towel to the guy washing his hands.

Idris waited patiently for his turn and was careful not to make eye contact with anyone or any thing.

In the main room:

DJ Cheddar didn’t care if it made him a sellout - this year he was definitely going to produce a mash-up version of “Auld Lang Syne” and make a fortune.

Cheryl had dropped a contact lens and was weighing up the pros and cons of trying to find it versus spending the rest of the night winking like a pirate.

Liz wished she wasn’t on her period.

Kevin thought Liz smelled funny.

Theresa had dropped six pills and didn’t feel a thing. If she saw that scrawny fucker that had ripped her off, she was going to rip his tits off.

Dreamer was just there for the music. He didn’t hold with this new years shit.

Christos had been dancing for over and hour and hadn’t moved his feet once.

Sami thought house was for poofs and hairdressers, but these girls seemed to be into it, so…

Hector made the box.

Charlene liked to dance, but preferred it if guys were a bit clumsy. For some reason, she found it reassuring.

Veronica had been saving the last few drops of her vodka and coke for twenty minutes, waiting for someone to buy her a drink.

Bettina wondered why she was getting funny looks.

Lewis didn’t want to stare, but couldn’t help but notice that girl’s dress had gone totally see-through.

Bernard didn’t mind staring at all.

Francis thought they didn’t make tunes like this any more, even though the song had, in fact, only been released three weeks ago.

Indigo would rather have been in Bali.

Karl couldn’t work out what that guy was so upset about.

Frank knew trouble when he saw it and was pushing Karl and Dayton away from the dance floor.

Dayton was pissed off they had to leave. That girl in the see through dress was hot.

Fiona saw the flash above the crowd and thought it was a firecracker.

Ben did his best to aim Stephan’s hand way from the crowd, but couldn’t stop him from pulling the trigger.

Stephen had got the gun from his uncle and would have used it on that pussyhole motherfucker, if Ben hadn’t smacked his hand upwards and sent the shot into the ceiling.

Jason felt his eardrum burst as something loud exploded near his head.

Isaac knew what that pop meant and started running for the door.

Jen wanted to know where the fuck Isaac was going.

Freya didn’t know what the fight was about, but felt certain that her stupid little brother had been the cause of it.

Gemini thought it was typical. You couldn’t go for a dance without stupid men ruining everything.

Inga wanted chips.

Marco was feeling self conscious, but didn’t want anyone to know it.

Heidi was never drinking Jagermeister again.

Delores was considering a round of Aftershocks.

Jacqui thought she might go blonde this year.

Krystof kept one eye on his rucksack, which was in the corner of the room.

In the ladies toilet:

Kirsty had noticed that one of her pupils was larger than the other and couldn’t stop staring at them.

Petra was wondering if her top made her look too slutty… or not slutty enough.

Christine was systematically washing every square centimeter of her hands while counting to five hundred and fifty five.

Jessie was using her lipstick to write “Cora is a big fat slag” on the cubicle wall.

Verity was wondering whether she could ask the girl in the next cubicle if there was any loo roll in hers.

Kat thought she felt something snap in her nose as she took that last bump.

Gina didn’t like the way Kat was scratching.

Louise had totally emptied her stomach, but still had the dry heaves.

Clair was holding back Louise’s hair and wondering whether putting her in a cab and sending her home alone made her a bad person.

Joe was having his first night out as a woman and apart from a couple of odd looks here and there, was actually starting to have a good time.

In the cloakroom:

Petra realised that she’d forgotten to put any tickets on hangers and was looking intently at items of clothing to see if she could remember to whom they belonged.

Paolo slid an iPhone out of a coat pocket and put it in his bag.

On the door:

Ansell was telling a pissed student to fuck off home.

Miguel was laughing.

Donald didn’t know why these guards were outside his hall of residence and wouldn’t let him go to his room.

Tania was one minute into the New Year and had already broken her resolution to stop smoking.

Heidi was wishing she’d worn tights. It was freezing out there.

Donna thought that drunk guy went to her university and might be on her Introduction to Economic Theory course.

Marie was trying to get a signal on her phone to send messages to all her friends.

Penny had a signal, but no messages.

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tenroseforeverandever · 6 years

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Dear Father Christmas... Chapter 16: December 24, 2031

MASTERPOST

Characters: Tentoo; Rose Tyler; Jackie Tyler; Pete Tyler; Tony Tyler; OC Hope Tyler-Noble; OC Charlotte Tyler-Noble; OC Wilfred Tyler-Noble

Rated: Teen

Tags: Family!Fic; Kid!Fic; Pete’s World; Letters to Santa; Christmas Fic; Family; Fluff; Hurt/Comfort; Angst; Romance; Love; gun violence; violence resulting in death; life-threatening injury; life threatening situations

Summary: When Rose Tyler was little, she always wrote a Christmas wish list to Father Christmas. As she grew older, the wish list became more of a letter to someone she could confide in once a year, but she fell out of the habit somewhere along the way. Now, as a new mum, celebrating her daughter’s first Christmas, Rose takes up writing her Christmas letter to Father Christmas once again.

Rose’s Christmas letters are excerpts from her life with her beloved Tentoo and their children in Pete’s World, written once a year, for each of 31 years.

Chapter Summary: Rose reflects on the growth of Hand in Hand, and the changes for her family in the coming year.

Notes: A short, newsy chapter… enjoy!

I would be lost without my betas, the wonderful @rose–nebula and mrsbertucci <3 They've helped me so much to get to this halfway point without falling behind! (((((hugs)))))

Thanks to @doctorroseprompts for their 31 Days of Ficmas prompts. The prompt I used today was Holiday Music.

Also read at: AO3; FF.net; Teaspoon

December 24th, 2031

Dear Father Christmas,

As a family, we’ve always loved music. We’re not especially talented (except for Hope, she’s actually quite gifted; it seems no matter what instrument she picks up it sounds beautiful in her hands.) But the rest of us are only fair to middling. But we’ve always had so much fun with it. And when the Christmas season rolls around, just try and stop us belting out our favourite tunes!

And nowhere is Christmas music more fun to sing than at the Hand in Hand Festive Feast. I dunno, it just seems like the combination of great music and good food bring people together like nothing else. The music scene at the Feast has taken on a life of its own over the years. People show up with instruments in hand and just get together in little groups and sing and play! Ordinary people; celebrities; the people we’re supporting. Everyone! Jamming together. No one unimportant. It is such a brilliant experience, and something we all look forward to every year.

After the Hand in Hand’s second Festive Feast, a few years back, a rather star-struck Charlie approached some of the celebrities, and discussions got going about holding a massive concert, a music festival, where loads of artists would come together to do a live show as another major fundraiser for the charity.

By this time, local and federal politicians had been convinced to review the mothballed plans for the refurbishment of the neglected areas, and as it turned out, one of the biggest plans for Peckham was the creation of a huge multi-media auditorium and sports complex, right on the site of the former Powell Estate. With a lot of coaxing from the right people (including Charlie, the tireless little shit-disturber herself), resettlement of the residents and construction were quickly underway.

Charlie was desperate for the first Hand in Hand Music Festival to take place in the new facility and was crushed when she realized how long it would take to build such a structure. Not only would the current residents need to be safely rehoused, but the sheer scope of the construction was massive, taking in not only the construction of the auditorium, but the surrounding community as well. As a result, the concert has had to be held every summer at another site in the city.

It took a few years, but this past summer, Charlie officially opened the Charlotte Tyler-Noble Arts and Sports Coliseum, officially owned by Vitex, and the inaugural event was the Hand in Hand Music Festival. She was so proud. And we were all so proud of her. It was her initiative and persistence that had made all of this possible.

With all the redevelopment taking place in the area, we’ve had to be flexible about the site of the Festive Feast from year to year. This year, with most of the construction complete, and the fledgling community starting to thrive, we’re holding it in the massive green space and park, that was set aside right in the middle of the area. Central Peckham Park! I’ve gotta say, I laughed with pure joy at the sight! A huge park, right smack in the middle of Peckham! What I wouldn’t have given to have had that when I was growing up!

Of course, the question arose, now with the underprivileged areas redeveloped and flourishing, what was the point of Hand in Hand? Charlie’s answer was that London was not the only city in Britain that had homeless and destitute residents, and Britain was not the only country in the world. Proceeds from Hand in Hand would continue to support the needs of people in London and across the globe.

We are all so looking forward to putting all the politics aside for a day, though, and just enjoying the Feast tomorrow: singing and dancing with friends and family; a community of people from all walks of life, sitting down together and sharing a meal. What could be better than that?

And I’m going to hold on to the memories we make tomorrow, because it might be the last Christmas our family all spends together for some time. Come the New Year, my Hope is off to the stars. She has been enrolled at the Bontane Medical Academy on Edifinol Beta, a human colony, far in the future, in the 51th Century. The university is renowned for producing some of the top medical minds in all of human history… the Doctor checked.

My baby girl… Santa, I don’t know what I’m going to do. She’s still so young. Fifteen. I reckon me and the Doctor will be visiting in the TARDIS… a lot! But, I suppose, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Charlie and her venture, it’s to never underestimate my kids and their ability to cope with a wide variety of situations. Hope is mature and collected, and completely brilliant. She’s out to make the world a better place in her own understated way, a very different way from Charlie, but no less significant.

I’m going to say Happy Christmas, for now, Santa. I’m going to call my family together, turn on the Christmas tunes, and dance around the living room! A warm-up for tomorrow!

I hope you and Mrs. Claus and the elves and reindeer all get to enjoy time spent together, singing and dancing.

love, Rose

#doctorroseprompts #kid fic #tentoo x rose #christmas fic #fluff #hurt/comfort #angst #family #love #romance #ficandchips #tenroseforeverandever's fic

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fullspectrum-cbd-oil · 5 years

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Between Gun Massacres, a Routine, Deadly Seven Days of U.S. Shootings

A boy accidentally killed by his father during a fishing trip in Montana. A woman dead and her husband behind bars after a single gunshot in a Dallas hotel room. A teenager cut down on his porch on a warm day in Washington state.

During the week bookended by mass shootings in Gilroy, California; El Paso, Texas; and Dayton, Ohio, in which gunmen killed 34 people, hundreds of others were shot to death across 47 U.S. states, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit group that uses local news and police reports to track gun incidents.

The deaths were the sort of everyday murders, suicides and accidents that may not grab the headlines of mass shootings, but in many ways show the true toll of the gun violence endemic to the United States.

More than 36,000 people are shot to death every year on average in America, according to U.S. government data compiled by the gun-control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. That works out to about 100 a day, or one every 14-1/2 minutes. Suicides account for more than 60 percent of those deaths. Slightly more than a third are homicides.

Here are some of the victims of deadly shootings during the week between the attack in Gilroy and the attack in Dayton:

SUNDAY, JULY 28

Soon after a gunman opened fire at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, Steven Parsons was sitting in a parked car with two other people 1,500 miles away in an alley in Kansas City, Missouri.

The 27-year-old died there along with another man, Montae Robinson, shot by a gunman who is still at large, police said. The third person in the car is being sought by police for questioning but is not a suspect.

“I have a wedding dress in my closet that I will never wear,” Marissa Tantillo said during Parsons’ funeral service on Wednesday evening at a chapel in Blue Springs, near Kansas City.

They had two daughters together and planned to marry in a few months. She urged mourners never to take their loved ones for granted. “All I want you to do is hold your husband a little closer, hold your wife a little tighter,” she said.

Tantillo recalled a romance that began when she and Parsons were barely teenagers.

“So many of us don’t believe in love anymore,” Tantillo told the gathering. “In Steven I knew I found my soul mate.”

Parsons had a sense of adventure as a boy, his father, Steve Parsons, said at the service. “We’d be cruising along in the old white van and he’d say, ‘What’s that way?’ and so we’d turn and go that way,” Parsons said.

People should remember the years his son lived, not the day he died, he said. “Do not let the last day destroy all the good days you had with him.”

MONDAY, JULY 29

Guests at the Hotel ZaZa in Dallas heard a commotion and screams from the room where Jacqueline Rose Parguian and her husband, Peter Nicholas, were staying on Monday night.

When hotel security staff knocked on the door, no one answered. Paramedics, responding to a 911 call about a woman loudly in distress and a report of a possible drug overdose, listened to the commotion outside as they waited for police to arrive, per department rules. A noisy hour passed. A gunshot rang out. The arguing stopped. Parguian was dead.

“Jackie had a passion for beauty,” an obituary published by Parguian’s family said. She pursued a degree in cosmetology and graduated from a Dallas beauty school in 2016.

She loved ’90s pop music, especially the boy band NSYNC, and collected concert tickets in a box of memories. One of six children, she was known for checking in frequently with her younger siblings.

She was 32. Her sons are 2 and 8.

“How do we explain to those little angels that their parents are both not going to be there anymore, ya know?” Parguian’s mother said in an interview. Friends and relatives had soon pledged more than $25,000 in donations to a GoFundMe fundraiser in support of the boys’ uncertain future.

When their father, known to some Dallas music fans as DJ Pete Mash, opened the hotel room door on Monday night to police, he had blood on him and an extension cord wrapped around his neck, according to the Dallas Police Department.

Police said he seemed high on drugs and that they had to subdue him with a stun gun after he began screaming and fighting. They found a handgun in a backpack in the room near Parguian’s body.

Explaining the delayed response, police later said officers were responding to higher-priority calls that night before reports of a gunshot came through.

Nicholas, 30, was arrested and charged with his wife’s murder. He was later released on a $250,000 bond. An attorney for Nicholas did not respond to a request for comment.

“Peter is a nice young man,” Parguian’s mother, Tess Parguian, told a local ABC television affiliate. “He’s very polite, and that’s why I cannot believe he could do such a thing.”

TUESDAY, JULY 30

It was a warm day in Tacoma, Washington, and Jamone Pratt was out on a friend’s front porch when he was shot in the head. Witnesses told police they saw at least two cars speeding away. Pratt was 16 years old.

Police have made no arrests. Jamone’s mother, Kyndal Pierce, has filled her Facebook page with anguished posts, saying she’s finding it hard to go on without her eldest son, a “tall and skinny” kid the family called Junior and who was inseparable from his sister.

“He made some bad choices, you know, got involved with the wrong people,” Pierce said in an interview with a local news channel. “I don’t know what happened, but I know my baby didn’t deserve this.”

A schoolmate of Jamone’s who makes music under the name KiingCalebb recorded a rap tribute to his friend called “MonesWrld.” The lyrics include oblique references to gang rivalries.

“Thought you were going to make it to 18,” the lyrics went. “All you wanted were your dreams / but now you fly high.”

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31

Growing up in the Miami area as a black transgender woman, Kiki Fantroy faced a lot of bullying – but that never altered her natural inclination to trust and forgive other people, her mother said.

Fantroy, 21, was shot several times early in the morning after leaving a house party, becoming the 13th black transgender woman killed in the United States this year, activists say.

The killing prompted several events in her memory, including a “Take Back the Night” event held by a local transgender women’s group and a candlelight vigil.

In an interview, Fantroy’s mother, Rhonda Comer, switched back and forth between using her daughter’s preferred name, Kiki, and her birth name, Marquis, and between masculine and feminine pronouns.

Comer said she supported Fantroy’s decision to begin transitioning as a teenager.

Fantroy always had a flair for fashion, Comer said.

“He would make clothes, he would tell me what to wear, what he wanted to wear, and he would always put his twist on things,” said Comer, 44. “Kiki could take a shirt and a skirt and make it a whole different outfit; you can’t ask me her favorite color because, honey, she wore it all.”

Fantroy loved and trusted people implicitly, Comer said, a trait that sometimes worried her – especially after Fantroy was sexually assaulted and “dumped in a tomato field” at age 16 by someone she had met online.

Fantroy had just left a house party with a friend, another transgender woman, and Comer said she was convinced they were deliberately targeted. Police in Miami-Dade County have declined to call the shooting a hate crime.

Police later arrested a 17-year-old boy and charged him with murder after a witness picked him out of a lineup.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 1

Caden Lacunza, 11, had finished cleaning one fish and was just starting on the second one he had caught near Crow Creek Falls in rural Montana when he was shot in the head.

His father, Cadet, dropped the .357 revolver he had just fired, sprinted toward his fallen son and began yelling for his wife.

Hours later, he was under arrest for negligent homicide.

The details of the incident, laid out in a Broadwater County Sheriff’s Office report, indicate Cadet Lacunza didn’t intend any harm when he shot off a round in the direction of the river.

He had seen his family, including his wife, his son and his daughter, near the campfire, and decided to shoot his pistol, according to the report. While he was retrieving the gun from his pickup truck, however, Caden made his way to the river to clean the fish he had snared.

Lacunza’s lawyer, Greg Beebe, said his client was innocent of any criminal wrongdoing.

“This was just a tragic accident, and not a negligent homicide,” Beebe said. “At the center of this, we have a family who’s been devastated.”

Lacunza’s wife, Victoria, told Reuters in a Facebook message that the shooting was an accident but declined to comment further.

At the scene, officers retrieved Lacunza’s revolver, the cylinder still loaded except for a single spent round. In the river, about 10 feet from where Caden collapsed, they found a cleaned fish; the other fish was on the ground where the boy had dropped it, a small cut in its belly and a knife lying nearby.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2

Deante Strickland came running out of his grandparents’ house in Portland, Oregon, in mid-afternoon, bleeding from the chest.

“I don’t want to die,” he said, according to a construction worker who was at a site nearby. “My sister shot me.”

Strickland, 22, died near his home despite efforts to save his life. His sister, Tamena Strickland, has been charged with his murder, as well as with wounding her grandmother and aunt.

Authorities have not offered a motive for the shooting. Tamena Strickland’s defense lawyer, Robert Crow, said it was still too early to know exactly what had happened.

“Everybody is of the belief that this isn’t who Tamena is,” he said, adding that many family members attended her initial court appearance on Monday in support of both her and her brother. Tamena Strickland has not entered a plea and remains in custody in the Multnomah County Detention Center.

Crow said neither sibling had a criminal record, and there was no outward sign of any dispute between them.

“That’s part of what makes it such a mystery to people,” he said.

Strickland was a standout basketball and football player in high school. He spent two years at a junior college in Wyoming before transferring to his hometown school Portland State University, where he played on the basketball team.

He was entering graduate school at PSU in the fall and planned to play for the football team.

Friends and teammates flooded social media with remembrances of “Strick,” praising his devotion to Portland, his near-permanent smile and his love for basketball.

In a video he filmed shortly before graduation this year, Strickland said, “My advice to you: Don’t take the time for granted. It goes by fast, so try to enjoy every moment.”

SATURDAY, AUGUST 3

It was a cheerful summer Saturday afternoon in Denise Wimberly’s house in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.

As music filled her home, the 61-year-old mother of four relaxed on her couch with her niece as her son Calvin Seay got ready for an afternoon basketball game.

“He came back in the house to lay his clothes out because he was a neat freak,” she said. “Then he left to go down the street to show the neighbors the phone he just got.”

Moments after the 23-year-old left, police officers responded to an alert from the department’s gunshot-detection system.

They found Seay, a father of one, lying on the sidewalk steps from his home. He had been shot once in the head and once in the chest.

“My other son ran down the street, saying Calvin got shot,” Wimberly said. She jumped up and threw down her cigarette. “I almost set my couch on fire.”

“He was my baby,” she said. “They need to stop the shooting, because they are shooting people that they don’t need to be.” No suspects have been arrested.

Seay’s slaying was part of a bloody weekend in Chicago in which seven people were killed and at least 45 others were wounded, including a 5-year-old boy.

“What will it take for people to become sick and tired at the level of gun violence in this country?” Chicago Superintendent of Police Eddie Johnson asked at a news conference.

Seay, whose daughter turned 6 last week, loved to draw and play basketball and had just gotten a job with the Chicago Park District, where he was working with children at a summer camp.

“He was no person to go hang out on the street. He wasn’t like that at all,” Wimberly said. “He said that since he got the job, he was going to send me on vacation. That’s how he was.”

Less than 12 hours after Seay’s death, a gunman opened fire on the street in downtown Dayton, killing nine people.

Another week of gun violence in America was drawing to an end.

(Additional reporting and writing by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City, Zachary Fagenson in Miami and Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Kari Howard)

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newagesispage · 5 years

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MARCH 2019

PAGE RIB

***** And the men who hold high places must be the ones to start, to mold a new reality closer to the heart. -RUSH

*****The most heroic word in all languages is revolution. – Eugene Debs

***** Words cannot begin to say how I feel about the death of Peter Tork. To lose another Monkee is heartbreaking. It is the circle of life and all things must pass and all the things we say but this one is hard. As they sang themselves, “you say we’re manufactured, to that we all agree” but that was only the beginning. The Monkees are very special to me and mine. Oh sure, some make fun of us for our loyalty and some just don’t get it but this band is a thread thru my life like no other. I always call Davy, ‘the gateway Monkee’ because almost everyone loves him first, he draws you in. Davy seemed cute and talented and not at all imposing and we fall for him. Once you know that you are a fan for life, you find your lifetime Monkee and or you just appreciate the non- manufactured parts. Some of the best memories of my life involve listening to Monkees , from my childhood bedroom to the party residence I had with my teen friends to my child’s childhood bedroom to seeing them LIVE in concert with my son and my sisters. We all understand every reference and we never tired of HEAD, the movie and Micky still makes me swoon. In my family, our middle sister is into Mike and my baby sister was the Torkee . Go in Peace sweet Pete. You may have played the dummy but you never really were to us.*** Peter died of a rare form of cancer called adenoid cystic carcinoma, cancer of the salivary glands. He and his family asked for donations to be made to the institute for the musical arts in Massachusetts, a non -profit that provides young women with music education, recording and community.

***** Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has announced his budget which includes proposals to legalize recreational marijuana, legalize sports gambling, increase cigarette tax and put taxes in e- cigs and plastic bags.

***** Colin Kaepernick settled with the NFL.**The league will forever have to live with the fact that it was complicit in destroying someone’s career simply because he wished to bring attention to the injustice suffered by his people.- Jemel Hill

***** The new Diane Keaton film, Poms, a definite chick flick ,looks, warm, funny, sad and uplifting. Look for it in May.

***** Looking forward to Larry Charles’ dangerous world of comedy.

***** U.S. Coast Guard officer Chris Hasson has been arrested in an apparent Dem murder plot. No wonder Alec Baldwin is worried, these threats really do exist in this climate.

***** Former Maine Governor Paul LePage spent up to $1,100 a night on stays at Trump hotels with state money. Why do so many politicians think the people’s money is their piggy bank?

***** Amazon pulled out of its NY deal after protests. It seems terrible to me to give big incentives to the richest man in the world but the country needs good jobs. It wasn’t like they were going to just hand cash to Bezos. The 3 billion tax subsidy would have only gone to the company if they produced big revenue. People have the right to have a say in their neighborhoods and the will of the people should be done. In the end the decision was Amazon’s. Next stop?? Nobody knows.

***** Oil lobbyist David Bernhardt will head the interior department.**The new deputy in the EPA, David Dunlap, former Koch industry official was quietly put in place in October. He helped to decide that we won’t set chemical limits on drinking water.

***** Saw Rich Hall recently on something and he got even hotter.

*****So, This seemed like the worst Super Bowl ever. Can we just say football is over already?

***** Cory Booker is so full of sound bites, I mean he never shuts up. Good ideas or not, I think it would get on our nerves.

***** Ok, Michael Moore, we all know U R awesome but U need to watch when they mike you for talk fests because your chin waddle often hits it and it blunts your message. Also.. Boycott Starbucks to fuck with a former CEO so he won’t run for Pres??? C’mon.. U will mostly be hurting the innocent workers who need those jobs, U R for the little guy and so that is just dumb.** Michael Moore is also one of the subjects on a current Finding your Roots on PBS which involves Quakers and slaves.

***** Mormon David Matheson, known for his masters degree in counseling and guidance that he used for gay conversion therapy has announced that he is gay.

***** Thank you John Roberts and the other liberal Supreme Court justices for blocking a new abortion law in La.

***** So glad to see Dirk Blocker and Joel Mckinnon Miller get bumped to the opening credits on Brooklyn 99. It’s about time. We will miss ya Chelsea.

***** The Directors Guild held their awards soiree and honored Alfonso Cuaron, Bo Burnham, Ben Stiller and Tim Wardle. I was thrilled to see love for Adam Mckay for Succession and Bill Hader for Barry. How fucking awesome is that??

***** Rosanna Arquette is joining the cats of Ratched with Finn Whitrock, Amanda Plummer and Sharon Stone. Sarah Paulson will produce for Netflix.

***** The Scary Clown administration has sold military equipment to the UAE and Saudi Arabia that is now driven by Al Qaeda.

***** Japan nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize that they say was requested by the U.S.

***** The State of the Union came and went with more ridiculous slow teleprompter talk. He seemed delighted when he mentioned jobs for women and ow they got elected. The women cheered as they all wore white to commemorate the suffragettes. He was glad to take credit for all their votes. ** We must thank Patton Oswalt for inventing the phrase ‘fuck you clap’ when he saw the way Nancy Pelosi responded to Trump.** “Best State of the Union speech in my lifetime delivered by the best POTUS since George Washington.”- Jerry Falwell.

***** Adam Schiff has announced new investigations into the Presidents finances. Trump is currently in the middle of 17 investigations. He has also written an open letter to his colleagues. He has asked those in congress to come out of the shadows. He claims that privately they tell him to keep doing what he is doing when he calls out the Pres. but he wants them to get some balls and say this in public.

***** The latest in men and their sexual quirks: Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots was arrested for soliciting prostitutes who are allegedly victims of sexual trafficking. He was next seen at an Oscar party.** A Bishop admitted that the church destroyed loads of files concerning sexual abuse allegations.

***** Get ready for season 2 of At home with Amy Sedaris. Woo Hoo!!

***** You Tube Premium has brought us Weird City which looks great!!

***** A judge in North Carolina voided mandates that required photo ID’s to vote. Hooray, one for the good guys!!

***** Amy Klobuchar is running for President.

***** The Justice Department has opened a probe into the plea deal given to Jeff Epstein for rape that was made by Secretary Acosta.

***** Virginia seems to be in a lot of trouble when it comes to racism, sexual harassment and politics.

***** Subpoena’s show that all parts of Trumps life, business, personal, charity, campaign, are now under investigation.

***** The National debt has topped $22 trillion for the first time.** It is all such a show. This administration is like when I used to go to the Pentecostal church where they speak in tongues or like calling a psychic , believing a televangelist even after there is proof he is stealing their money or reading a National Enquirer. It is a show built to entertain with no substance and filled with lies. The flock holds signs that say’ build the wall’ until he tells them to hold signs that say ‘finish the wall’ and they do. I mean, do they really believe him or do they just love a dictator because they can’t think for themselves?? It is impossible to figure these people out. Scary Clown is easy to figure but the followers?? How do we relate to these people?? He declares a national emergency for something he has screamed about since day one and only now is it bad enough to declare and yet he signs a deal which Rand Paul called, “massive, bloated and secretive.” The deal gave him 1.375 mil for ‘fences’ and an increase in spending for homeland security. His signature does keep the government open. Why didn’t they give him his money when they had the house and the Senate and Paul Ryan was in charge?? It seems he and Mitch would rather throw shade at the Dems and show that he can throw his weight around. It was unforgiveable to see the damage that caused. The Lincoln home national historic site is taking steps to keep the home open next time, just in case. What we have here is a giant smokescreen for all his nefarious wrongdoing.** The true emergency is taking place in his skull. -Stephen Colbert

***** Pelosi warns that a declaration of emergency could start things down a dangerous road. She warns as an example that a Democratic Pres may use it to get guns under control or something. I am sure Mitch and the boys are not worried. They probably think (and perhaps rightly) that Dems wouldn’t go that far because they have a conscious and follow the rules.

***** Of course, it is probably icing on the cake for the wallers but it is fucking with the butterfly habitat. They are already clearing spots to put up this wall and it is messing up the natural butterfly migration.** Ted Cruz says that El Chapo should pay for the wall.

***** GO NON SEQUITUR!!!!!!! Go Wiley Miller!!!

***** Governor Cuomo signed the child victims act into law. Victims of sexual abuse will have until age 55 to file civil lawsuits and seek criminal charges until age 28.

***** Matt Whitaker went to congress to testify. He agreed to talk but only if he weren’t subpoenaed. Whitaker dodged and weaved the whole time. He did say that he never denied funds to Mueller and that he never spoke to Trump about the investigation.

***** Calling a black POTUS married 25 years to 1 wife with 2 children, no mistresses, affairs or scandals, ‘the antichrist’ but a white POTUS married thrice, 5 kids by 3 women, mistresses, affairs and scandals, “God’s anointed, proves your religion is white supremecy. –Bishop Talbert Swan.

***** Former Fox news talking head, Lea Gabrielle has been appointed special envoy and coordinator of global engagement to counter foreign propaganda disinformation.

***** Andrew McCabe has a new book, The Threat: How the FBI protects America in the age of terror and Trump.

***** Trumps El Paso rally was a bit more raucus than usual. We all know these things are just gonna get worse. BBC photojournalist Ron Sleans was attacked by a man yelling, “enemy of the people.”

***** The latest in sexual harassment news: A report found at least 700 victims of Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers. And people wonder why members are leaving religion.** Ryan Adams is being looked at for sexually inappropriate behavior with a minor that involves skype and texts. Several women have accused him in a Times article. Technology gets ‘em everytime.

***** Illinois is headed toward a $15 minimum wage by 2025. It will kick off with a $1 bump in January.

***** This can’t be right: 1.6 million Americans don’t have indoor plumbing.

***** Oh how I wish the original cast of Cuckoo could all get back together.

***** Check out George Takei’s new graphic memoir, They Called Us Enemy. The story is about his experience in the internment camps.

***** Modern Family will end after the 11th season.

***** Jeff Bezos wrote an essay about the despicable way that the Enquirer threatened to blackmail him. He put it right out there like Letterman. It really does show how guys like Trump and Pecker do business. Is this all some elaborate plan by God to weed out all these selfish, soulless fuckers?? I mean why do so many men feel so worthless that they have to assert themselves so forcefully? Why do they bully women and hide their inadequacies? Why do they impose their beliefs with a vengeance by calling it the will of God or the will of the people?? ** Ronan Farrow and other journalists are coming forward to tell tales of how the Enquirer threatened them as well. Surprise! More bullies!** AMI is broke with a net worth of negative $200 million. Why did it take so long? **Amazon made $11 billion and it seems they don’t have to pay any taxes.

***** The Iowa caucuses are just 1 year away.

***** Candace Payne is a beautiful soul who has now started a whole new movement for the homeless. She bought 30 rooms for the homeless when the cold plunged below zero. The word went out and before it was all over, with the help of others, they assisted 122 people. It got Candace to thinking that she could use her job in real estate to flip houses to start housing the homeless.

***** I find myself getting excited about the Lion King coming this summer.

***** The house is working on the issues of guns which may get lost in the shuffle of all the other news. Go Go Go!!

***** The Grammys went wild for women this year with a record number of wins. I was so excited to see Jimmy Carter win his third for his audiobook, Faith: A Journey for all. Dave Chapelle and Weird Al both won. Buddy Guy won for best Trad Blues and Willie won for best Trad pop vocal. And hooray for Greta Van Fleet for best rock album. The best song in years to me was awarded Best rap/sung performance to Childish Gambino for This is America. Joy Villa had a MAGA purse and Rebel wore a Trump jacket.** Best dressed, to me, were Fred Armisen, Angela Aquilal, Saint Heart, Maren Morris, Jameel Jamil, James Blake, Cardi B and Lady Gaga. The WTF goes to Andrea Echeverri .

***** The BAFTA’s happened the same night as the Grammys. Roma wins the top prize and grabs director too. The Favourite won big. Olivia Colman and Rami Malek took home prizes. Black Panther was awarded for visual effects. I was so happy to see Blackkklansman get the nod for adapted screenplay. ** I thought the best dressed were Timothee Chalamet, Regina King, Yalitza Apamcio and Duchess Kate. The WTF goes to Margot Robbie

***** Judd Apatow is producing 2 new projects. We will have a gay rom com with Billy Eichner and a semi -autobiographical comedy from Pete Davidson.

***** Payless Shoe Source will be a thing of the past.

***** So yes, we have 4% unemployment and 69% feel good about the economy but credit card debt is bigger than ever and those making late payments are at a record high.

***** Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has yet to set up a district office.

***** Everyone is talking about a Golden Girls cruise that will set sail next year.

***** CNN has hired Michael Caputo and Corey Lewandowski.

***** Tulsi Gabbard is running for President.

***** Bernie Sanders is running for President.

***** This Jussie Smollett thing gets stranger all the time. He was arrested for his lies and charged with paying people to beat him. He allegedly wanted more pay at Empire and some publicity. He got the publicity but was written off Empire. We will see how things play out.

***** Studies show that blueberries may be as effective as some meds for high blood pressure.

***** R Kelly was arrested finally. I think Chicago PD is tired of messing around.

***** Insulin prices have more than doubled in the last few years. In the first 2 days of 2019, 286 drug prices went up in price. Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill to cut drug costs by cutting out special interests.

***** The 91st Oscars went off without a host. Queen with Adam Lambert opened the show in probably the best Oscar opening I have ever seen. It seemed to make everybody happy!! My best dressed were Billy Porter, Willem Dafoe, Adam Lambert, Melissa McCarthy, Helen Mirren, Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding, Chadwick Boseman, Kelly Ripa, Jordan Peele, Lay Gaga, Leslie Bibb, Chelsea Peretti, Bette Midler, my Adams, Regina King and Dana Guirira. The WTF was Gemma Chan. I did not think Brian Tyree Henry was all that best dressed but he is so fucking talented and so fucking hot. Give this guy some awards!! Rami Malek won best actor and fell off the stage. Olivia Colman was the only real surprise. It was great to see Spike Lee win for writing and I am glad he made a statement but what about the other guys with you? I was really pulling for BlacKkKlansman or Black Panther for best pic but it went to Green Book. A lot of people grumbled about that. It really does seem that Tina, Amy and Mia should just host everything, no controversy there.

***** So, Michael Cohen testified 2 days behind closed doors and 1 day for the public. That was a thing! Why did all the southern republicans behave as if we are all idiots and not worth a thought from their fine selves? Besides Trump and his family and cohorts, I never saw humans so righteous, so smug. How dare they call this Cohen testimony a circus after the circus we have all been subject to from this scary clown 45. Carol Miller did not even seem to care that our President is a crook. She just wanted to denigrate Cohen. She was concerned that they couldn’t be looking into real issues like child separation. Are you fucking kidding me? Ya’ll created this problem and now you are concerned? The weirdest was questioning from Kelly Armstrong, I mean what was wrong with him, he was shaking like he needed a fix or he was on a coke binge. Jamie Raskin called him “frantic and unhinged”. I thought it was just my tv until I heard that. How do we take these people seriously? They actually printed a sign for the occasion that read’ liar, liar, pants on fire.’ They are talking about BIG, REAL problems with our leader. Don’t get me wrong, Cohen is a liar and deserves to go to prison but it should not just be him. There are many complicit in these dastardly deeds. Cohen claims he has threatened people aprox. 500 times for his former boss, Donald J. Trump. Russian collusion was not really cleared up for he did not have any direct info just speculation. Cohen did however feel that Trump would have never hit his wife or had a love child. He looked into it and found nothing to support these claims which, in my mind, made him believable. It also sounds like CFO Allen Weisselberg and the Trump children are just as guilty as Trump himself. It looks like they will now have to testify as well. And how can we believe anything from the President when his ego allows him to fuck with charity money just to jack up the price of his own portrait and manipulates polls so he looks good? There was much more to see and I suggest you look it all up on C-span if you missed it. There is more to come as Cohen tells us there are many things being investigated that he can’t even comment on. The highlights to me were his opening statement, the financial questioning from Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and chairman of the oversight committee’s Elijah Cummings closing. It’s not like we haven’t heard this stuff before. All roads lead to this al making sense. Anybody who paid attention before Trump was President would know his character.** Republican congressman Matt Gaetz tweeted a threat to Michael Cohen about his alleged girlfriend. The President and his thugs sure are open about their intimidation, no shame at all.

***** The prototypes of the wall were demolished. An owl flew out of one of them.

***** Wal Mart is eliminating the greeter position. It was about the only thing I admired about them. The elderly and disabled are fucked out of another job. Way to go.

***** Isreal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being indicted for bribery and fraud.

***** I will never understand this obsession with money.

***** Farmers are finding it tough. They do not want welfare and many of their loans have become delinquent. The tariffs and low crop prices are really hurting our farmers.

***** If you ever watch Seth Meyers, the wrap up of the Oscars from’ Amber says what’ was her best yet. Check it out!

***** Days alert: More Adrienne please, give her a story!**

***** The trailer for Jordan Peele’s new Twilight Zone looks fucking amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***** R.I.P. Alsa Mashzoub, Kristoff St. John, Julie Adams, Albert Finney, James Ingram, Frank Robinson, John Dingee , the Aurora shooting victims, Lee Radziwill, David Horowitz, Karl Lagerfeld, those lost in the Bangladesh fire, Fred Foster, Stanley Donen, Mark Hollis, Jackie Shane, Peter Tork and Gail Reynolds.

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viewfromthedrumstool · 7 years

Text

View From The Drum Stool #47

Originally posted on MikeDolbear.com, 15/09/17

Howdy folks!

Thanks for checking back in. I’m glad to report it’s been another busy month of gigs and recording with a final few festivals, the odd radio session and plenty to keep me busy in the home studio.

↑ Reading Festival

One thing I’ll say for a life in music is that there’s always a story to be had. Life on the road in particular is a weird and wonderful thing and in the years of temp jobs and office jobs I rarely met the kinds of memorable characters and situations that seem to occur daily on tour.

Take an innocent trio of gigs this month with Willie J Healey and band. It all started out so innocently, just another sunny Friday and a pleasant jaunt north in our new van - her maiden voyage. Previously the cherished ride of the boys at Network Rail, Willie recently wrestled it off ‘em at a bargain price and now we ride in style with a cruising speed of 65mph, six seats and one microwave.

The gig was at Zebedee’s Yard in glorious Hull - city of culture for 2017! In an intriguing lineup we would be the openers, followed by The Fratellis (na, na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na-na-na) and then main headliner Ocean Colour Scene.

↑ In situ, in Hull

The gig went smoothly despite a minor mixup meaning we only had sweets (lots and LOTS of sweets) on the rider. Willie had a couple too many Percie Pigs resulting in a stratospheric sugar high right before we went on, and then the subsequent plummeting come-down 20 minutes later. I think we were half way through Subterraneans at the time. Nevertheless we battled through and made a swift get-out after the show for the long ride south and, despite a sticky clutch, indulged a short detour at my own request to ride the glorious Humber Bridge.

(Some trivia for the pub quiz fanatics among the readership: the Humber Bridge, once the longest single span suspension bridge in the world, is so long that its two towers, despite both being perfectly vertical, are 1.4 inches further apart at the top than the bottom due to the curvature of the earth!)

Saturday now, and it's a headline slot for Will and band in beautiful Bristol. The ‘SWX2’ venue looks suspiciously like the alien nightclubs that I thought I'd left behind when I graduated University and offers a load-in via 15 flights of stairs or a grisly heroin-sodden service lift. With a drum kit, keyboards, merchandise, 15 guitars and enough amplifiers to open a shop we opt for the latter and it’s a good job tour manager Jake insists we get everywhere so dang early.

We nip out before the gig for a pre-show game of bowling and when we arrive back at the venue there’s an interesting addition to our dressing room. Hung on the back of the door is a suit carrier and it soon becomes clear that we aren’t the main attraction at SWX tonight.

Jason the stripper is.

↑ Jason mid flow

Part of the 'Dreamboyz' troupe, he would be performing for a hen party in the larger room downstairs. And I’ll apologise once more to the people of Bristol that we were late to the stage, but we simply couldn’t tear ourselves away from his astonishing performance.

Needless to say our gig was inspired - and now that Wills album is out it’s great to see people singing along.

But we’re swiftly turfed out after the gig for the club night to begin - they need the room for more hen parties and private booths and bottles of cheap champagne with sparklers in the top. Alas.

The following morning and we arise early to head down to Boardmasters Festival in Newquay. But the nagging niggling clutch on our new ride is starting to become an issue - the gears are tricky to locate and we’ll be lucky if we make it there, let alone back.

After a near-fatality (ours) on a roundabout near Bodmin we stumble onto the festival site and porno-park right behind the stage. Perhaps it was the uncertainty about our fate that afternoon but we played another blinder to an appreciative crowd.

And after some pleasant catering we’re keen to hit the road again and we cautiously fire up our precious jalopy which rumbles ominously towards the motorway. We make the A30 but the end feels nigh and a meeting of the COBRA committee concludes it’s an AA job.

I’m not sure what it is about the AA’s recruitment process but I’ve yet to meet a pleasant AA man. And as we roll into the Exeter M5 Services the technician who awaits us is no different.

And though never clearly nor empathetically nor vaguely politely he does inform us that we’ll be travelling home tonight in colleague Pete’s truck, with our van on the back.

↑ It started so well

It’s several more hours wait for Pete to arrive and I wander into the services. My eye was caught by a disheveled man with long untamed hair and longer untamed fingernails sat out the front. Upright on a table in front of him were three empty shotgun cartridges.

In short he was just the kind of wild-eyed mentalist I knew would like the look of a guy like me and sure enough he promptly struck up conversation.

"Fancy a go on me gun?" he asks in a strong west-country accent.

"What a kind offer" I replied hoping he would spare me. "Much worth shooting this time of night on the M5...?"

"Rabbits."

Relief. “Do you eat them?" I ask.

"I blow them to f*****g smithereens mate".

"I see."

"Wanna know what's fun?”

“…”

“Tie a firework to a roller skate and send it down a rabbit hole."

I asked him what that would do.

"It blows them to f*****g smithereens mate."

I could see what got this guy off.

"Wanna know what's even more fun...?"

I had a feeling I knew so thanked him for the offer of his gun and made my excuses.

Meanwhile bassist Garo had discovered that on the side of the Travelodge was a small sports bar. After the ill-luck that had befallen us what more pleasant way to see out the wait than over a quiet pint in a peaceful pub.

Predictably a quiet pint was not what awaited us. Instead a team of Scottish electricians prepping for a long weeks hard work with a pint or ten were after either a party or a fight. “Yous are in a band?! GIVE US A SONG!” shouts the alpha male from across the bar while singing loudly to Dean Martin. “You look like f*****g MEATLOAF!!”

With much relief the phone finally rings to inform us that Pete is here.

He loaded the van onto the trailer at a speed that befits his 74 years and eventually ushered the six of us into the large cab. Sure enough I drew the short straw and was sat next to the big guy at the front to keep him company.

And boy did he like company. Though he wasn’t much of a listener: you see Pete lived to talk. The man was born to chat, to speak, to yarn, to natter.

We covered most of his life story, he talked about his wives, he walked me through his entire employment history and told me about his brother who went to prison. He talked about music and guitars and trucks and Spain and bankruptcy and caravans and Roy Chubby Brown. At one point we started singing together - it was the only way I could get him to stop talking.

↑ M5 Services, Exeter

It’s no short journey from Exeter to Oxford but when we arrived home at 3:30am he was still going strong.

Albeit a tale of some woe, most importantly the weekend was also a fun and thrilling time - cherished memories of exciting encounters shared with friends and bandmates alike.

I’m glad to report that the clutch was a fixer and that there are plans for many a Ginsters still to be warmed in her microwave.

Perhaps this will enlighten, inspire or maybe simply explain something. Music offers potential for experiences, travel and creative reward not found in any other line of work and I’m sure many other musicians will attest to the adventure that inevitably befalls (and that it’s never what you expect!).

But for now I’m off Stateside for a few weeks with Saint Etienne - hopefully for some more adventures. For anyone who may be interested in following my adventures in the coming weeks more closely, check in to my regular writings over at http://viewfromthedrumstool.tumblr.com where I’ll be posting regular updates.

Until then may your gigs be plentiful and your gear changes smooth.

Mike

↑ At Wogan House for Lauren Laverne this month

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