Jem was truly outrageous once but not today…part 2

#TheStorybookKiller  Ok so we established in the previous post, that a horror production company and a agent/record label exec hired a well known action director who grabbed his buddy the unknown screen writer to do Jem and the holograms and they did it badly. Sad thing is even the poster lies. The studio that brought you pitch perfect is Universal. Thats the ONLY thing the two movies have in common.

Moving back to 1985, you have Jerrica in her gap year. You have Starlight Music. Here is the interesting thing. Starlight music was founded in 1965 by Emmett Benton as an independent label. This is the age of the Beatles, rolling stones, righteous brothers, Four Tops and Beach Boys. Naturally any label would focus on rock or pop. Obviously they had to land a famous group (someone we would call famous now) to survive 20 years untouched in LA. The Byrds would qualify. Lets toss the McCoys. Finally, lets say that since Emmett was a brilliant visionary engineer but wasn’t that good of a music guy. However, he was friends with BoB Keane. He was more than happy to help.

Lets also say that in 1979 as starlight music was slowly failing, two things happened. Keane hired Eric Raymond from business school as he had a passion for both music and business. Second, Steve Wozniak approached Benton about his idea for the holographic computer he had commented on during the Apple ii launch two years prior. Together they design it and the full prototype is finished and operational on January 29, 1981.

After Woz’s accident, Emmett is left to teach synergy alone. He finishes one year later. That month February 1982, his wife and Jerrica and Kimber’s mother Jacqui dies of as brain hemorrhage. Jerrica is 17 and is a senior is high school. She ends her garage band dreams with her sister and her friends aja and Shana who are both 15 like she is.

1985 is midway through King Vann Natal reign. His only daughter is fifteen at the time. However, Emmett Cetus is very much aware of Starlight music. He is beginning his quest to absorb all the small players so his future grand niece will be able to have a place to sing. He’s a politico so he can see the future (kinda like minority report’s Agatha)

Of course Emmett has no interest in selling even though he hasn’t had a major band in 10 yrs. He believes Synergy will revolutionize music.  He hints at it to Cetus who is curious. However, Emmetts death prevents the grand reveal and thats where Jem begins.

1985 was the MTV era; Madonna ‘like a Virgin’ Reo Speedwagon, Phil Collins, Foreigner, duran duran, Heuy lewis, Back to the future etc. It was also ‘WE are the world’ this is the year Jem and the Holograms and the Misfits appeared. Misfits competed with Vixen. jem dominated a scene that was just beginning. In fact they would blaze the trail that Kesha, Britney Spears, Selena Gomez and even Gwen Breton would travel. In truth, Jerrica Benton was 1985 taylor Swift.

1988 the feud ends between the Misfits and Jem as Misfits move to stinger sound. Stinger sound was bought at the same time Pamplin was, December 2001 and was folded in.  This was the same year Raymond died of a heart attack as he was 60.

Because of Jem’s fame, numerous awards (American music, People’s choice and MTV VMA and EMA) the group continued to make money into the 90s. Eventually, the industry turned and jem disbanded in 2001 as well.  Jerrica sold the company to Emmett Cetus retaining all rights to her music and Jem’s.

So what does this have to do with the Assembly? Well if Jerrica was 20 in 1985 that makes her 50 today. She runs the foundation her father created with her money and occasionally writes music in LA. Aria’s mother spent a lot of time in starlight house helping out and looking for lost assembly members. Jerrica and her friends have always supported the assembly and continue to do today.

Sorry this is ponderous and long. I didn’t intend on this being a history lesson. Yet, thanks to the fact that the movie is bad, it will fail. When it fails the copyright is still locked so I still can’t use it in fiction. That’s sad because I would love to create an actual story.

Finally I want to say that the music is good and you will see it used in the current stories. It wont be attributed to Jem though it will be attributed to Loren Tate.

As for Song of Betrayal, I am in chapter 6 so things are moving swiftly. Nanorimo is coming and I am involved again. Look for good things!

Thanks for reading

Jem was truly outrageous once but not today… part 1

I like to keep my posts about what I am doing for the novel series and the occasional comments relating to stuff I like that can have at least a tangential relationship. Then things come up. Things that annoy and frustrate. Things that want me to help build a time machine like Project Almanac (which is actually a pretty decent teen film. It messed up at the end but thats another whole topic) and just drag certain individuals to now or back to 1900; just somewhere they cant ruin things.

This brings me to Jem and the holograms movie released yesterday. I commented on twitter when the first trailer came out and revealed what it would be but now its out, I can explain things in detail. This does actually connect to the stories in a way so bear with me.

First off, let me explain Jem and then introduce the problems and why movie Jem failed (in my opinion)

Jem cartoon was about Jerrica Benton, a 19 yr daughter of Emmett Benton, who founded and ran Starlight music (a modest independent label) While in her gap year, her father died and willed to her two things: Half of Starlight music and the Starlight house, a home for teenage orphans, runaways and homeless teenagers. Her mother has died earlier.

When Jerrica discovered that Eric Raymond, COO of Starlight had plans to cut her out of the business entirely as well as turn it into a direction her father despised, she decided to fight back. She hadn’t really made music other that the typical garage band of the mid 80s’ (there was no youtube, spotify, smart phones etc back then). Nevertheless she was committed to fighting him. Starlight house was in deep disrepair as well.

Then his final gift arrived. A project that Emmett had been working on for years. A siri like holographic music production system complete with an avatar called synergy. It had been programmed to contact Jerrica when Emmett died and it did revealing itself and what it could do.

Using it Jerrica became Jem and her sister and friends became The Holograms. Playing against a concert Eric has set up as a promotional vehicle for ‘The Misfits’, a hard rock all female group, they attracted more buzz from the assembled media.

Eric, enraged, challenged her to a battle of the bands, with the company at stake. Each would surrender their half of the company if their band lost. Well Jem won, and Eric spent the rest of the series trying to eliminate Her both professionally and bodily. The series showed that a strong young woman could do anything, be a ceo and a member of a billboard charting band. Great female empowerment, its highly feminist, moral without religious or preachy and all its character where diverse.

Aja was Chinese, Shana was Nigerian. Both were living in Starlight house about to age out and had befriended Jerrica. Kimber Jerrica’s sister was a redhead.  Rio, Jerrica’s boyfriend and a music magazine columnist was Hispanic. It would have been the perfect show for now. It could have been a series. However, all of this was completely ignored. Why?

Because of these people:

Scott Samuel “Scooter” Braun is an American talent manager and businessman. He owns two record labels: School Boy Records and Raymond-Braun Media Group. RBMG is a joint venture with R&B performer Usher. He got his start doing after parties for Emimen and was the man who discovered Justin Beiber (even though it was L.A. Reid who recognized his talent and signed him I dont blame Reid. He knows talent and is a capitalist. Just like Jerrica )

So why is Braun a problem. He’s not qualified to do fiction. If Jem were real, yea. She isn’t so him being a producer is like having a tone deaf person record music for a band. You won’t get anything actually usable because you can’t know what is wrong.

This brings us to Blumhouse Productions.Aan American horror movie production company, founded in 2000 by Jason Blum.^[1] Blumhouse produces micro- and low-budget horror movies, such as the Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, and Sinister franchises.^[2] In 2014, Blumhouse produced the Academy Award–nominated drama film Whiplash, for which Blum was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.^[3] The company currently has a 10-year first-look deal with the studio Universal Pictures. There you go. No more needs to be said other than the fact they hired the screen writer.

This brings us to the script writer Ryan Landel who doesn’t even have a wikipedia page. This is his first major film. According to Imdb, he did LXD shorts and a syfy channel movie Collision earth. Again, these facts alone need no other comment.

Finally we move to the director, Jonathan Murray “Jon” Chu . Chu (Chinese: 朱浩偉; pinyin: Zhū Hàowěi; born November 2, 1979) is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer, best known for directing the movies Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.^[1] Chu is an alumnus of the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television. There, he won the Princess Grace Award, the Dore Schary Award presented by the Anti-Defamation League, the Jack Nicholson directing award, and was recognized as an honoree for the IFP/West program Project: Involve.

He actually was the right choice for this film. Sadly what he was handed was a steaming pile of lion feces. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t correct that because he directed Landels LXD projects.

The short and long of this was no one gave a steaming pile of lion feces about the canon. They wanted  a coming-of-age drama that compensates for its near plotlessness with charming and sometimes touching performances, astute observations about how today’s youth use technology to deepen their sense of community and self, and some lush handheld camerawork (in CinemaScope ratio!) that occasionally evokes, for real, “The Tree of Life” and “To the Wonder.”  (these words are pulled from Roger Ebert’s review of the movie and are not mine. I agree thats what the movie is).

That’s not what Jem is nor what the target audience (people who watched it in the 80s ie 30 and 40 somes) wanted. Since they would be the ones paying for the tweens. It will be a bomb. Io9 comments and ebert comments already money back on tickets spent.

So what does this have to do with my series. Well if the canon were in my reality Jem would be along side Deborah Gibson during the MTV era. Jerrica would be a colleague of Emmett Cetus. More on that on the next post.

Why the Assembly is at war with Taiji

One of the things I have to deal with in creating my series, is a level of whys. One of those is why is ‘Why are the Warriors of Dagon based in Taiji, Japan?’ Isn’t Dagon a Greek entity? Yes, He is. However over the centuries, Greek fell out of favor. AS the first of the AD millennium (or their sixth) headed into its fifth century the tide had changed in the Mediterranean so the Piscene (they call themselves. Think of it as the differences between Arabs and Europeans calling the terrorists ISIL and the US media calling them ISIS. Both are accurate. They call themselves themselves both. The french call them Daesh which is an Arabic insult meaning a bigot. They hate that. They will cut out the tongues of those who use the term)  needed to move elsewhere. At one point, Han China and the Roman empire were within a weeks journey from each other, so the Piscene knew about China.  They moved there to the area that would be Hong Kong. It wasn’t until the 1800s that they moved to Taiji.

They moved there because they discovered this.

The larger boats equipped with massive metallic drums sat on the deeper water an played their beat. The harsh tones of the percussion instruments hurt those poor creatures forcing them away from the large boats, like this they were herded to the shallows. Once caught in the shallow water, unable to dive to safety the men upon the smaller boats struck out with their spears. With their harpoons they lanced at the human half.

Females were prized more highly, their scales appeared dark green through water but once in the dry air they showed up pale jade but with a sparkle and glisten which jade had never held. The skin was always dusky to tar and only used to bind books. Though males were killed all the same, their scales sold cheaply but their meat was more palatable and fed the boat crews.

The Assembly elite always stayed away from certain areas where it required en masse fighting to travel. Yet the mindless slaughter that Japan habitually wrought led to great losses of the lower houses as well as sharpened their hatred and their skill set. One of the raids that almost failed caught the attention of the visiting Piscene dignitary in 1895. And so for the last 120 years they they have remained.

Thought I would share that.

This below is what appears to be a typical day out on the shallows from the perspective of the fisherman, only its not typical at all.

The wind died and the waves calmed. For the first time in weeks the weather seemed placid enough to head out on our scow. Dad determined this day as the perfect time. I shall learn fishing since my coming of age this year. We sat out on  our back patio to wave watch getting ready. Dad said this was required. We had to watch the weather and if we went out at the wrong time, we would never return home. The ocean was something to fear, yet love. It prospered our village but also took the lives of many. My hope remained high.

“Aoki, did you get the nets untangled like I asked,” my father said.

“Yes, father.”

“Good boy.  Go untie the boat from the dock. We will leave soon.”

“Okay, father,” I said, reaching down and touching the tops of his feet. Touching someones feet was a sign of respect in our culture. My father is the best fisherman here in the village. Everyone loved him. If other fisherman were unable to provide for their families; dad would give part of his haul to make sure no one went hungry. He is my idol and I want to be just like him .

As I headed out to the docks, my sandaled feet shuffled through the moist sand. Waves languished, tickling my feet. The cooling water clashed with the intense heat.of the noon sun bearing down on my tender shoulders. I was parched and we hadn’t even left yet. There was no saliva in my mouth. It felt like fishing for days, or weeks. Yet the smell of the sea salt gave me pride as well as nausea for my task ahead.

The boards of the dock creaked under me and bowed into the water as I stepped forth. Each step made a slight ripple into the  water below. If I stepped hard enough, or jumped with full force, the board would snap and send me into the deep. It frightened me that I couldn’t see anything below, or if anything was under the dock, but I followed through with my fathers orders by untying our boat.

I could see my father in the distance. He treaded the sand with the nets over his shoulders. When he arrived at the dock, he gingerly crossed in a wavy pattern sue to not break the boards. Yet with his massive size the boards still bowed deeply, wetting the entire dock dark grey. My heart raced as I watched my father cross and dump the nets onto out scow..

“Aoki,” my father said. “Hand me the rope.”

Yet as I reached down into the cool water I saw a gigantic, dark shadow swim approach the dock. It was larger than anything I had ever seen before and froze me still.

“Aoki!” my father yelled. “The rope! The time is now, son.”

My body wouldn’t move. I wanted to hand my father the rope, but I couldn’t find it. I wanted to scream out and warn him, but I couldn’t. I was trapped staring into the black eyes of a black skinned monster. Its webbed hand held still beneath the wave held the rope as it smirked .

“Aoki?”

She broke through the surface of the water and began to sing music unlike I had ever heard. Abject pleasure and silence washed over me. My father rocked side to side, smiling from ear to ear. This creature looked like one of us, only had skin of charcoal. Yet beyond her waist slimy scales and thin line down the center that vanished beneath the tide  Fish like gills closed as water dripped of her naked petite chest. Then suddenly I snapped out of my trance. She shrieked , spearing my father off the scow with a jade looking trident and pulling him into the sea. My whole body shook in fear and I turned to run only I couldn’t. I was adrift. She swam up next to me, furious with her coal eyes burrowing through my soul. She stroked her wet jet hair and said perfectly, “He received the due reward for his actions against our people. I chose to give you knowledge before you make your choice. Hunt us and meet his fate. Hunt others and meet his fate. Fish and you might starve but you will by your own hand. Leave the ocean alone and live. Choose wisely.”  She swam away, dragging my father down beneath her never to be seen again.

I mourned alone for awhile. Then after my tears dried, I chose. I became Koga ninja, and to this day, though I have much blood on my hands, I have no mermaid blood. I set here in my home in Ido, an old man now. I was one of the few who escaped Nobunaga’s rage. My sons and grandsons have too. Sadly they missed out on the open sea, the smell of salt and sand and storm. Yet, they haven’t missed the song of that monster who killed my father. The one who I could never kill. The one who I spoke of whenever I killed. The reason I pen this before I draw my last breath.

OK, there is nothing like a early 17th century piece to help explain things, For those who are confused about my mermaid, its simple. Whales are dark skinned. dolphins are dark or grey skinned so. 90% of all mermaids would look like this.

This is what they look like. Gwen is unusual. Aria with her olive skin is almost too light herself.

Its not Ariel’s world but then again it’s not your world either

I decided that as I continue to edit ‘Song of Betrayal’ I would share a few insights into the world at large that the Assembly exist in.

1. Its similar to deep impact only without the impact scenario. Basically, the presidents congressmen and news anchors aren’t like ours. This is sadly more because of safely (anyone real can sue if I disparage them) but it allows more freedom. I always loved that movie anyway.
2. The ocean is 4 times more oxygenated than ours is.  The one reality I can’t get around is that there simply isn’t enough oxygen in the ocean for a mermaid to breath via gills. So i had to alter that. I opted to go with the firmament concept that is in KJV Bible. http://ift.tt/1KURVRo. This solves that problem and actually makes it easier to breathe at sea level.
3. Certain other movies and shows are apart of the Song of the Assembly reality. I can’t tell you which ones but if you read all the stories you can guess. Some hints are obvious. Others not so much.
4. Finally for now, Hitler didn’t die. He still shot himself in the head, but managed to live on (Yes, that is actually possible ). However, he suffered brain damage, impairing his memory and causing agonizing pain whenever he tried to access those memories, somewhat similar to the case of Clive Wearing .

The pain subsided, the confusion abated. I could see. I tried to move. I could do so but only in small steps as rusted cuffs tied my wrists together. The bore a symbol that flashed in my mind and excruciating wave of throbbing followed.
I was clean shaved There was something over my right eye, and the right side of my head was very warm. All I could do was look forward at a white wall. Cloth as I brushed the right side. No hair, just soft cloth.

I tried to remember where I was, what I was doing. Then, I tried to remember my own name.

The side of my head burned. I screamed curses in German before they faded to moans.

Six armed men stormed into the room, weapons raised. A doctor came and looked me in the eyes. The pain abated. The doctor put a light directly in front of my eyes. He smiled and nodded.

I was ordered to rise, and pushed forward. When I stopped to catch my breath, I was dragged out of the grey room.

All I could see were the armed men in front of me, and the wooden ceiling. I could still hear yelling. Such noise, I hadn’t heard it since…

Trench.

Gas.

Mask.

Bunker

Pistol click.

My head was on fire. I screamed, screamed for mercy, screamed for release, screamed for death. Screamed for anything to make the pain stop. I was punched and it all went black.

Something poked my arm.

The side of my head grew numb. As things cleared, I was facing two tables, one raised behind the other, with a dozen men glaring down at me. One of them spoke, reading off from a long list. It was spoken in English, I could barely understand a word. Someone to my right was repeating what was said in German, Something about Belsen, death, Jews, and an American bunker raid. They kept repeating a name, a name that sounded familiar but I couldn’t quite place.

They stopped talking and turned to me. The person infront of me said something, the German repeated it as clearly as he could, “Adolf Hitler, how do you plead?”

The memories returned. I knew who I was. Then, the fire in my head returned, and all I knew was scorching agony.

I said as clear I could. “I do not deny it. I, for my part, acknowledge another precept which says that man must deal the final blow to those whose downfall is destined by God. If this is my fate so be it.”

Silence reigned until the judge spoke. The man on my repeated it in German and I nodded. Let the pain be my cross to bear. I was walked out of the room and the pain dimmed until I saw what was left of the Fatherland. Again, scorching agony consumed me.

Hitler would live past the October 1, 1946 execution date of his comrades because of his hospital incarceration. In fact he lived until Sept 17, 1949 when he died alone of a cerebral hemorrhage. The Assembly claims that a effegy of Hitler was hung in his place but the Piscine in Taiji have his remains in their mausoleum

As for ‘Song of Betrayal’ itself, I am inside of the chapters that I wrote as fanfic. I have solved most of the problems that cropped up from the removal of Jen, having replaced her in the early scenes with Reagan. Still shooting for 70 k words.

Reagan and Malcolm ‘Before the coronation’

I know I promised some though but life always seems to happen right after I promise things, so here is a short. (the Taft High News blurb is coming)

As Malcolm came too, he saw the familiar figure of his friend over him. He saw sweat glimmer on Reagan’s face in the dim light of the closet. He blinked slowly to chase away the blurry vision and he slowly sat up. His head was throbbing and he tasted the metallic ting of blood in his mouth. He groaned and closed his eyes again, the world spinning.

“What happened…?” He asked in a weak and wavering voice. She sat on her knees and bit her bottom lip, tears dripping down her cheeks slowly.

“Jordan was. . .” she gulped, eyes wide. “I-I don’t even know what happened! The room went dark and then there was something with us,” She took a shaky breath and her hands curled into fists. She wiped away a tear and tried to compose herself.

“There was this THING that oozed in through the walls. Small with sharp teeth and claws. It was like looking at a shadow, every time you moved the thing distorted and seemed to change shape. The only light was their eyes, they were glowing but there was no light…” She swallowed past a lump in her throat and her hands seemed to be trembling now.

“Everybody ran out, but I saw what happened. The thing climbed on top of her and just bit down. She screamed, and I felt something on my face. Like walking in mist at night. I didn’t know what it was, but the sound . . . It sounded like blowing bubbles in milk through a straw. Gurgling! It was like gurgling. I think it was her. It sounded like she was drowning . .”

“So where is she now?” He asked, leaning in to comfort her.

“Gone. After the horrible sound, it just melted away into the night. Do you think Dagon has such…” she gasped, covering her mouth in horror as she saw all the blood splattered on the ground.

“We have to leave.” He turned his face to her kneeling as she stared downward. “Reagan, we can tell Princess Gwen when we see her.”

“When we see her she will be minutes from being ‘Queen Gwendolyn of the house Istan.’ I can’t interrupt it for that, even if its from Dagon.” She wiped the tears from her eyes as she turned the knob, opening the doorway to the Regal Colonnade. Malcolm glanced around the empty bedroom one last time, grim and shaking his head.

Mirrors of life reflected back

As we all know there was a shooting in Lafayette last night done by John Russell “Rusty” Houser who methodically shot 11 people in a Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater on Thursday night using a handgun he legally purchased from an Alabama pawn shop.
Normally, I don’t use this blog as a commentary on the news unless it relates to my novel so this, considering where and when sadly fits.
While I am deeply saddened by the events and am reminded that certain people should never have access to firearms, I find myself in the unusual position of being able to use this tragedy to help define my world.
So there will be various news reports about the Taft High school Massacre using the source material provided.
Don’t know what the Taft High school Massacre is or when?
Its one of 2 fictional events that is the underpinning of the Song of the assembly series. More about it specifically is in the Gwen Breton Wikipedia entry.
Gwen and Aria would both be horrified and angry. Each would invest money into the situation. However, this event would have happened really close to Gwen’s coronation day. This is Gwen’s 25th year and a princess is made queen at age 25.
You see where I am going? So Mr Houser will be folded into the history of my story universe as another Warrior of Dagon.
While the media will chew on this for a while, this is the only post I will make regarding the reality of the situation.
As for the Novel, nothing new. I am a quarter way through. Reagan who you met in Homecoming song is now a full character and her story will connect from the novel to there.

So until the morrow, may your waters be warm and full of life.

What Was Lost

thunderclapmorgridge:

and this is what is not understood. Texas responded today by saying that they don’t have to issue licenses. what is happening? Google Reichstag fire

Originally posted on The Axis of Ego:

Today’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges represents the culmination of a perfectly executed public-relations campaign.

It is impossible not to be impressed by what this activist-driven effort accomplished—I mean in real terms, not the unserious victory slogans of the campaign itself.

In no particular order, it:

1. Successfully and fundamentally transformed the definition of “marriage,” and did so in a way that portrayed efforts to preserve traditional marriage as the novelty, rather than as the millennia-old status quo.

2. Successfully convinced a critical mass of the public that there is only one side in this debate, despite the fact that the side claiming the monopoly had only existed in any meaningful form for perhaps 20 years.

3. Successfully convinced a critical mass of the public that race and sexual orientation are directly analogous.

4. Successfully convinced a critical mass of the public (and jurists) that there is no possible argument…

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Meanderings in darkness then sudden light

Well, I have to honest, I love my mermaids and the assembly as a whole. I guess that stems from the failure of my last project and its over broad ideas. This is simplistic and easy in comparison. So that means I am working still on Song of Betrayal.
I have just entered the main novel itself and so have kept to my plan of cutting away large chunks that aren’t needed. A good example is the old fourth chapter contains story point involving Jen and Tyrion, Tyrion and the king and Jen and Tom. It also introduced the gate and the fact it is on islands.

Since Jen is being removed, those scenes are gone. I have a solution for everything Jen did so I have no plot holes now. My goal is the end of this year. However, I will post a preliminary draft the week of Rosh Hashanah, ie September 13th. Things are afoot and I want to make sure you see all the work if something should happen to impact my ability to finish the editing on time.

That brings me the actual purpose of this blog post. I saw the sad, evilness that was Dylan roof. His crazy murderous spree that denied 9 people their lives made me mourn those people I never met. However the can always be light brought to even the darkest places and good can always be gained even from the darkest evil. (although usually that good is overshadowed by the evil deeds themselves).

In that vein, I took Dylan Roof’s manifesto of black hatred and turned it into a manifesto of Mermaid hatred.

The Piscine have always hated the assembly because of their abilities and skills. However, the discovery in the 9th century that assembly members could walk as normal humans struck a chord, and then the true fight began. It and other stories are a way to keep this fresh and functional while I get the largest chunk of the story finished.
Here is the Scribd page. I posted it here too but its hard to read.

That brings us to Big brother. Its coming on soon so shout out to those who choose to come here to read my stuff. Thanks.

And finally there is a small joy about using various characters in the public domain in my stories. This link here illuminates the life of Susan Pevensie, who you all might know.. At the time of my stories, she would be in her late 70s so I have introduced her as a brief aside minor character in the fan fic I did for glee. If that transfers over (meaning I didn’t catch it) she’ll be a part of my world too.

Best hope, I get everything I am working on out. Goal: finish final edit Song of Betrayal before Sept. 13.
Nevertheless, you will get to read everything I have written.
Thanks again.

HBO Now Launches with Apple, Cablevision — No Cable TV Needed

thunderclapmorgridge:

No really you don’t have to see the Wire. But this show and Game of Thrones, yes!

Originally posted on Variety:

HBO’s standalone broadband-streaming service — HBO Now — is now available via Apple and Cablevision Systems’ Optimum Online for $14.99 per month, a move that could contribute to the erosion of the pay-TV industry’s subscriber levels.

HBO said customers who sign up for HBO Now in April will receive a 30-day introductory free trial period. It’s available currently only within the U.S.

[pmc-related-link href=”http://ift.tt/1BV5FLC” type=”See More:” target=”_self”]HBO Now Finally Breaks Up the Pay-TV Bundle[/pmc-related-link]

The launch of HBO Now is timed for the premiere of the fifth season of “Game of Thrones,” which airs Sunday, April 12. The over-the-top service provides subscribers with access to every episode of the premium cabler’s original series plus recent movies, original films, documentaries, sports and comedy and music specials.

Similar to HBO Go, the service available to cable, satellite and telco TV subs who pay for HBO, HBO Now will offer more than 2,000…

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Watch: ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ Featurette Focuses on Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch

thunderclapmorgridge:

while not having anything to do with mermaids it is interesting.

Originally posted on Variety:

What sets “Avengers: Age of Ultron” apart from the first film? The introduction of “massively important new characters,” for one thing.

Director Joss Whedon talks about the characters, super-siblings Scarlet Witch (played by Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), in a new behind-the-scenes featurette.

Aside from showing brief footage from the “Avengers” sequel, the clip, released by Marvel U.K., also explores the twins’ superpowers. Scarlet Witch has telekinetic abilities that ultimately drive that Avengers crazy, while Quicksilver moves as fast as a bullet.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” opens in theaters on May 1.

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