We are Writers of Words, Scribbling Scribes, and Philosophers of Thoughts. This is a collaborative blog with a bunch of us writing whatever the hell pops into our heads. Enjoy...and to find out more click ABOUT.
Hi guys. I'm so so sooooo sorry that I haven't been around. I feel really really bad. Mostly because I was the one who suggested this project in the first place, and also because I am supposed to be a contributing member, which I have not really been. I've been working my butt off the last two weeks with a group called "The Challenge" doing all sorts of challenging things all over England (I'll tell you about that in a later post), and that's my main reason for not really joining in. So I'm just going to say a humongous sorry one last time..."SORRY!", and start writing more things. Um...alrighty then...BYE.
I'm not sure who's supposed to come up with the next word prompt, so I took it upon myself! ^^ The second word is Friendship.
Same rules:
Every member of the Scribblers team must participate.
Your piece can be no shorter than one paragraph, but no longer than three paragraphs.
You must use the prompt word (in this case, “friendship”) as the inspiration for your piece; however, it does not necessarily need to be featured in it.
You have two weeks to complete the challenge.
Your piece can be about anything. It can be completely random, or take place within a fandom. (Just make sure to let us know what that fandom is!)
Five reasons why we should all listen to Cabin Pressure!
Cabin Pressure is an amazing BBC show with a pretty small fandom. This is a little bit surprising, but can probably be explained by the fact that it is a radio show, and not that many people listen to radio shows anymore. The show follows a small air charter company (MJN Air) with the minimum amount of planes (one) as it attacks the day-to-day things that airline companies encounter (more-than-their-jobs-worth airport staff, paranoid passengers, and incredibly long passenger-less flights). The main character is Captain Martin Crieff (Benedict Cumberbatch), who is the Pilot of the plane (It’s called G-ERTI by the way), and lives a sad somewhat pathetic life, the only highlight of which is flying. Next up is Douglas Richardson (Roger Allam), the first mate, he is a smooth talker, and often gets the crew out of trouble (or into trouble, now that I think about it, using his imaginative schemes. The Steward of the airline is Arthur Knap-Shappy (John Finnemore), who is also the son of the owner; he is a stupid, but that why we love him. The sarcastic and stern owner of MJN is Carolyn Knap-Shappy (Stephanie Cole) who also doubles as a makeshift stewardess when Arthur is being an idiot (which is often). And all of these people make up Cabin Pressure, a hilarious gem of a show.
see under the read more for the reasons.
1. John Finnemore
The writer of the show, he also (now we see who was paying attention before) plays Arthur. John is a genius, unlike his character, and he is a true expert at comedy, and making Cabin Pressure truly unique. (Embarrassingly, I must not have paid enough attention while listening to the show, because I only recently learned that John Finnemore and Arthur are one and the same.
2. You can listen to it over and over and over again
Usually with shows I like, I’ll only watch an episode once (twice if I really like it). This is mostly because I don’t have a TV (or at least I don’t have one yet, but more on that another time), and watching things online can be a bother, because I have to stream it on Netflix, and pay attention to the screen. More often than not, I’ll begin watching something and then go on tumblr and other websites, and then I’ll realize that I’ve missed a huge chunk of the show, and I have to go back and do the same thing over and over again. Since Cabin Pressure is a radio show, you simply have to pay attention with your ears not your eyes. This frees up your eyes so you can do other things. Also the amount of hilarity in each episode never gets old, so therefore you can listen to it on repeat.
3. Its relatable
Underneath all the sarcasm and wit, Cabin Pressure is actually quite sad. The characters have layers that make you go…wow I’ve had that feeling before, or I’ve thought like that. I’m not going to go too in depth with this on account of not wanting to spoil anything, and I’m probably not making any sense. On to the next reason then-
4. The Games/ Songs
Flying a plane can be sooo dull, but the members of MJN Air have come up with a solution to road-trip (well it’s not a road-trip but what do you call a flight…an air trip? No) boredom. Simply pop on an episode of their show and play the next game you hear (unless it’s charades…never play charades) or sing the next song they sing (it’s better if it’s a song like Three Men Went to Mow rather than some of the other songs they sing, as Three Men Went to Mow is like a road-trip song).
P.S.: Some of the games work better on the ground than in the air. Keep that in mind if you’re trying to play “Yellow Car” on a 747 flight to New York. It can get very tricky.
P.P.S.: Some games require items that you may not have, like a lemon or a P.A. system. To solve your lemon-less woes, either substitute another piece of citrus or another item (although playing “The Travelling Lemon” with a ball is not as fun and you should just stock your carry-on bag or boot of the car with lemon to prevent further lemon-less events, don’t worry all parents and border security officers will be fine with this). For a P.A. system, just say “Bing Bong” and begin your speech, it works just as well.
P.P.P.S.: Some of the games work better in the air than on the ground. Keep that in mind if you’re trying to play “The Travelling Lemon” in a four-seated car on the motorway. It can get very tricky.
P.P.P.P.S: While playing these games and singing these songs, keep your other passengers in mind. If they look annoyed, they probably are, and you might get a stern talking-to about how unprofessional you are, and no-one want that.
P.P.P.P.P.S: (Last one, I swear). If you want a challenge, try singing the theme song to the show. If you can do it successfully, I salute you.
5. What’s-his-face: Benedict Cumberbatch
Hey…you know that guy…that guy that everyone loves, and is proud to have an entire country (and more, by this time next year I suspect the entire world) call themselves his bitch. Yeah he donates his “jaguar stuck in a cello” voice to the show. Although, in this show it’s more of an “otter stuck in a pressurized metal container flying 30,000 feet over our heads” voice, with a lot of pathetic Martin mixed in. We like Martin, he’s an interesting change from the suave Benedict Cumber-“got all his shit together”-batch we’re used to after watching Sherlock.
There we go, all done. Of course, I could do another five reasons about the fandom alone, but I’ll save that for you to discover. For any more info about this show, either visit the tumblr tag (Cabin Pressure) or ask me via the ask box (for other questions refer to my tumblr blog –lydiastrade).
(This is for a word promot challenge, inspired by the word fireworks. The fandom is Doctor Who.)
They had spent an entire week celebrating the new year; seven different countries, seven different midnights. 1127 had been good, and 1896 even better. But this one was her favorite by far. She stood in a crowd of over a thousand people, eyes fixed on a glowing ball that was so large it felt like the entire city could see it. The people around her wore party hats and T-shirts that said "I survived Y3K" and other such slogans. That number, three-thousand, kept repeating itself in her mind. It made her dizzy.
"Do you do this every year," she asked her companion, turning to him. Even at night he was wearing sunglasses, and she couldn't get a good read on his face. Surely, this had to be effecting him in ways she couldn't imagine. "I mean, New Year's Eve, in the year 3000. This midnight is only going to happen one time, and then it's over forever. It's a moment that will never repeat itself, ever, for as long as our universe exists. Yet we're here, watching it."
While she stared at him, trying to comprehend this, he said nothing. His only reply was to produce a sound from the back of this throat, a kind of humming noise. Then, after a few long moments, he frowned. "I can choose from a million-million new year's parties, on millions of millions of different planets. But once I've chosen one, I can never go back to it. Never, for as long as this or any other universe exists. And this year I chose seven of them. Seven midnights that will never happen again, and I'm spending them with you."
"Oh," she replied, not really knowing what to make of this or what she should say to him. She thought on it for a long while, and she didn't realize until it was over that she had missed the entire countdown. And when she was finally pulled out of her thoughts she realized that the big, glowing ball was no longer hovering in the air. She turned to her companion and frowned. "So, it's over...what do we do now?"
The Doctor smiled as he put an arm around her shoulder. "Now, my dear, we enjoy the fireworks."
Amy could have just walked away. Walked away from his painted white face, the striped shirt, the suspenders. After all, she'd always hated mimes. They were creepy, and she wondered why anyone would ever want to be one. Only sick people liked mimes. Weird, sick, demented people. Everyone else just scoffed when they saw them, or they even insulted them, spit on them. Being a mime had to be so lonely. And maybe that's why...
Why she couldn't walk away.
When he gave her a little pout.
When he pretended to rope her in.
When he pulled her to him.
It was all in good fun, wasn't it? A little show for the tourists, for the kids who had probably never seen a mime before. And it wasn't as though she had anywhere to be on this sunny Saturday afternoon. So Amy played along, even managing to smile every so often.
Like when he pretended to tie her up.
Roped in together with that other man.
With...
Him.
And suddenly her feet weren't touching the ground anymore. Her head was spinning. She was light as air. And up, up, she floated, into the sky, into the clouds. And she wasn't even sure why, because she swore she didn't love him. And after all, it had been ten years. Ten years exactly, on this sunny Saturday afternoon.
And he must have been confused as well, because he was staring at her. Staring at her through the barrier of cotton candy clouds, his head cocked to the side, eyes glazed over. He was thinking: I swore I didn't love her.
Thinking: And it's been ten years.
Thinking: Ten years exactly, on this sunny Saturday afternoon.
Fifteen minutes later and they're inside a small cafe, the same one they sat in ten years ago. He's drinking coffee, and she's eating a pastry. They're talking, for hours they're talking. How's work, she asks, are you still taking pictures? How's the family, he asks, is your mother doing well?
And that night they're at her apartment in Manhattan, the same one she lived in ten years ago. And they're talking. They're eating. They're sleeping, together, a tangle of naked flesh and sheets as white as ghosts.
And suddenly they're not in her bedroom anymore, but they're under the sea. They're a tangle of flesh and seaweed and water as dark as the night. They are floating, staring at each other through bubbles made of the shiniest glass.
Hours later, and they're in the park. And they could have just walked away. Walked away from his painted white face, the striped shirt, the suspenders. But they didn't.
They gave him a little wave.
They tossed a coin into his hat.
They kissed.
And then he pretended to rope them in.
He tied them up.
And they stayed that way, together, on every sunny Saturday, Sunday, Monday afternoon thereafter.
In case you don't know how this is supposed to work, here are the rules:
Every member of The Scribblers must participate.
Your piece can be no shorter than one paragraph, but no longer than three paragraphs.
You must use the prompt word (in this case, "fireworks") as the inspiration for your piece; however, it does not necessarily need to be featured in it.
You have two weeks to complete the challenge.
Your piece can be about anything. It can be completely random, or take place within a fandom. (Just make sure to let us know what that fandom is!)
I think that covers just about everything, so get your pens ready! Or keyboards... whatever.
