#Steven L Sears

[farminglesbian]

oh hey they're making a xena documentary <3

[scriptwriters-network]

Screenwriter, Producer and Author Steven L. Sears on 9/14

This virtual event will provide valuable insights and tips on crafting compelling scripts for film and television production, including, the intricacies of developing unique characters, a strong premise and story, finding your voice, exploring script development and the writer’s vision.

Steven L. Sears has worked as a Writer, Story Editor, Producer and Creator in Television, Film, digital media and animation. His lengthy career has encompassed over fifteen separate Television series, and development deals with many major studios in the industry, including Columbia Studios, Sony/Tristar Television, Rhysher Entertainment, Artists Inc., Cookie Jar Entertainment, Digital Pictures and many others.

More detailed Info here.

[girl4music]

I’ve had enough of people referring to ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ as queerbaiting and claiming that the creators of the show were committing it so I’ve gone on an extensive Google search and pulled up this AftenEllen article written all the way back in 2008 and I’m transcribing the full thing right here because if people don’t want to voluntarily do their research when they make their insulting claims then I’ll provide the source for them and force them to read it because I refuse to allow them to disrespect the creators/cast/crew like this in making their completely off-base assumptions about a TV show that I’ve been watching since I was 5 years old.

This is an interview with the creators/cast/crew of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ where they express their opinion on what they think would happen with the lesbian subtext between Xena and Gabrielle if the show was made for today. It’s why many of us don’t want a remake or reboot or revival of it of any kind.

Do not ever come for ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ and the incredible people that either made the show or were involved in the making of it around me. You have absolutely no chance in winning the argument!

[Viewers never had to look too hard to find the lesbian subtext in Xena: Warrior Princess, but that’s still what it was: subtext. And while lesbian fans in the 1990s might not have had any choice but to settle for that, would things be different if the show were being made – or remade – today? When I attended the Xena convention in Burbank, Calif., at the end of January, I asked the show’s creators, producers, writers and stars if the world is ready for an openly lesbian relationship between Xena and Gabrielle.

“To me it was main text,” said Renee O’Connor, who played Gabrielle, in an exclusive interview with AfterEllen.com. “And even if it was subtext, it was very clear that we were together. They are so in love with each other, they love each other so dearly; there’s no way you can say that’s not true. Anyone can see that from watching the show.”

I asked her if she thought that relationship could be openly acknowledged if the series were being made today. “I don’t know,” O’Connor answered. “Maybe there’s a little bit more hint of acceptance today. Maybe, maybe not. You can only put it up and see what would happen. I guess we could do anything, just get it out there and see how it affects people.”

In a lot of ways, Xena flew under the radar during the ’90s. Viewers who didn’t perceive (or didn’t like) the lesbian subtext could see it simply as a story about heroic friends righting wrongs and battling villians. If the show were being produced in today’s post—L Word television landscape, it’s hard to believe that audiences would be quite as oblivious.

But O’Connor doesn’t think that a more overt presentation of Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship would have changed the moral heart of the series. That’s because she sees those two things – the love between Xena and Gabrielle and the series’ focus on the fight against evil – as inextricably combined.

“If we were just starting Xena right now, I know what the relationship of the two characters is,” O’Connor said. “So even though we wouldn’t blatantly talk about all the issues involved, because I don’t think that’s what the show is about, it’s still about defeating oppressors and wanting to do the right thing for the world. And that comes down to these people and how they love each other.”

Lucy Lawless, who played Xena, isn’t sure how acknowledging a romantic relationship between the two women would affect the show’s reception if it were being made today, but it could have changed the way audiences perceived it in the past.

“There might have been more general discussion about whether the characters were lesbian or not out in the mainstream,” Lawless said. “In the 1990s, when this was all new, people like Ellen [DeGeneres] and k.d. lang and all these people who are out were blazing a trail. And you might hope that it’d be done long ago. But in a lot of the world, it’s still incredibly painful to come out, even today.”

Then she laughed. “But let’s have a go. Let’s do it. Why don’t we make a Xena movie? Just tell a bloody good story and let the fires and torpedoes be damned.”

A Xena movie doesn’t seem any more likely today than it did a year ago, but I asked Lawless if she thought the sexual relationship between Xena and Gabrielle might be brought more into the forefront if a movie were made.

“I think that’s a good question for Rob,” she said, referring to Rob Tapert, the series’ co-creator and her husband. “I know he’s been thinking about this for a long time, mulling it over in the back of his mind. He’s got a great feeling of where the world’s at and what he can make that’s progressive and gutsy and still have it be financially successful.”

Backstage at the convention, Tapert considered the possibility of a more openly queer Xena and Gabrielle. “It’s a tricky question,” he said, “because if Xena were being made today, well, there’s two different Xenas. There is the one [in which] people could read between the lines, and that played to one audience.

“Then there’s one that played to kids, or that played to 9—17-year-olds. And they didn’t understand the subtext, nor did they get it. So like the finest of Disney films, that plays to all audiences; that was a balance we tried to find. Making it today, I don’t know what would happen.”

He called series co-creator, producer and writer R.J. Stewart over to ask his opinion. “Could there be more commitment to the subtext?” Stewart said. “Well, I think if it was a cable show, absolutely. But if it was the same kind of broader market, I think you have to be more inclusive. But yes, absolutely, I think that a cable version of it could work that way.”

What if a film were made today, based on the series? That would be a different proposition, Stewart said. “When you make a movie you always try to stay pretty close to the original in feeling.” Then he laughed. “Now, if you could just get Oxygen to order some episodes …”

However much fans might wish for another season of their favorite show, not even out lesbian Xena producer and writer Liz Friedman (pictured left, and currently a producer on Fox’s House) thinks it would come back as an ancient Greek action-adventure version of The L Word.

“As much as I would love to see it – and I’m speaking as somebody who watches The L Word obsessively – there was something really wonderful and romantic about the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle,” she told AfterEllen.com. “And I think it’s actually easier to have romance without sex. You don’t then get into issues about ‘Will this relationship last?’ There was never – well, until they started killing each other’s children – the question of a breakup.”

I asked if she thought that times had changed enough that a series could now be made with two legendary female heroes shown unambiguously as romantic partners.

“If you look at the lesbian relationships that are on TV now, it’s either niche-market stuff like The L Word, or it’s Cashmere Mafia that gets you all excited because there’s a kiss in the pilot, and then by Episode 3 she’s hitting on boys again,” Friedman said. “Certainly in a single-lead action show we’re not ready for an openly gay heroine yet. Well, I think we’re ready for it. I don’t think the networks are going to let us do it.”

Then she laughed. “Look, obviously I’m biased. I loved the show the way it was, so it’s like, don’t talk about messing with my Xena. It worked pretty well, thanks very much. … If I were doing the Xena movie I would try to get there to be a kiss, but there are plenty of ways that you can do that without changing what the relationship is.”

That raises the question of just how much would have to change in order to bring the subtext into the forefront.

It’s undeniable that there are some scenes – and even whole episodes – where it’s hard to make sense of what happens without believing that Xena and Gabrielle are at least a little bit more than friends. Most of the time, these moments occur in the more humorous episodes, but as series writer Steven Sears told AfterEllen.com, “We didn’t cross the line completely but … these are two women who live together, travel together, had domestic duties together, die for each other, fought for each other, continually say how much they loved each other, but no. They’re not in a loving relationship.”

Steven Sears talking with Christie Keith

He shook his head. “Excuse me?”

Writer Katherine Fugate (currently executive producer of Army Wives) sees it much the same way. She is the author of “When Fates Collide,” widely considered one of the most subtext-friendly – and romantic – episodes in the entire series.

Katherine Fugate

Set in an alternate universe where Xena’s old enemy, Julius Caesar, has imprisoned the Fates and used their loom to undo the events that led up to his assassination, “When Fates Collide” is about the inevitability of both destiny and love.

In Caesar’s new reality, Xena is his empress. A famous Greek playwright named Gabrielle comes to present her latest work to the Romans, and in the greatest romantic tradition, she and Xena are struck with what can only be called love at first sight.

They gaze at each other across crowded rooms. Xena casts tortured glances at Gabrielle when she is called away by her husband. They stare longingly at each other from their balconies in the moonlight. Xena gives her life to save Gabrielle, and Gabrielle risks destroying the entire world to save Xena’s.

Caesar calls Gabrielle Xena’s “girlfriend,” and his violent jealousy would make absolutely no sense if Xena and Gabrielle weren’t being depicted as lovers.

And, in fact, that’s just how they were being depicted. Fugate appeared at this year’s convention and spoke with AfterEllen.com backstage. “The paradigm in my episode was that they find each other in any lifetime and they were meant to be, no matter what body they were in or what gender they were,” she said. “These souls were entwined somehow. And that, to me, almost has more a spiritual connotation than a sexual one, although I personally believe that they were lovers and had a committed relationship.”

She added: “I think we touched people, and it was multifaceted with all the spiritual components as well as the love. But the love was so intense, and ‘We’ll find each other in any lifetime,’ I think, is profound. I don’t know many shows that say that, period, heterosexual or homosexual.”

Given that, it’s surprising there wasn’t a kiss in the episode, something that had been played with both teasingly and tenderly (if briefly) in earlier episodes.

“There was a kiss written in which was more definitive, and it’s in the script that they sell here [at the convention],” said Fugate. “So my intention was actually to push that envelope, and I was really supported by Rob and R.J. and everyone. But ultimately they pulled it, because they wanted to maintain it for the finale.”

The finale is, of course, a sore spot for Xena fans; mention of it during R.J. Stewart’s appearance triggered the only boos of the convention weekend. He took them in stride, defending his decision to kill Xena at the series’ end, but there’s no question it took the shine off the climactic kiss the two women shared in “A Friend in Need.”

Fugate, who announced at the convention that Renee O’Connor will play a lesbian on Army Wives later this year, is optimistic about the possibility that a show about two female heroes who are openly lovers could be made today.

“This may sound like a writer’s answer, but I think anything works if it’s well-written,” she said. “If you have respect for the subject and if you can find a universal theme, anything will work.”

She said she feels that doing that would be easier today than it was in the ’90s. “We probably couldn’t push the envelope as much then as we could now,” she said.

“The subtext issue gets asked a lot; I think everyone here has been asked about it. And I think that’s because it obviously touches people, and we had an opportunity to dignify these relationships. And everyone felt it did that. I think both the lead actors have come forward and said this is how they view their characters and how they played them. We did what we could.”

If they did what they could in the ’90s, what could they do now? Sears said he’s thought a lot about that question, and he’s not optimistic. “As far as the marketing mind is concerned and the studios,” he explained, “if a movie came out they would play with it, they would toy with it, they would try to appeal to the male heterosexual audience, because in their minds that’s who’s attracted to these kinds of films, these action films. They don’t want to turn those people off.”

Then Sears pointed out the dark side of main text. “The horrible thing that might be done is that they would then say, let’s go completely commercial with this thing,” he said. “They would have the characters kiss, have the characters imply that they had a sexual encounter, and then have them realize, well, that was just an experiment. Now let’s go back to men. That’s the worst possible thing that could happen. But it’s also one of the most possible things that marketing could do.”

In light of those fears, a dozen intimate moments in the hot tub, soulful glances and fireside nights spent in each other’s arms don’t seem so bad. And neither do Renee O’Connor’s final thoughts on how Xena might best be made today.

“I always wanted people to look at it as unconditional love,” she said, “especially people from the conservative side who didn’t want to see anything like that. Just watch the show, and see what you want to see. I still think that today that would be the best way to put the series on.”]

SOURCE: https://afterellen.com/bringing-out-the-warrior-princess/

[nearmidnightannex]

rabbits and subtext

...Back then, the studio was very hesitant about suggesting Xena and Gabrielle were in a romantic relationship. They even objected to a moment in the title sequence where Xena is seen walking seductively towards the warlord Draco, because he was shot from the back and had long hair, so could be mistaken for a woman. But as time went on, they decided to look the other way and just let us get on with it. Somebody once asked me if Xena and Gabrielle ever had sex. I said: “It’s none of my damn business. They do social and domestic duties together, they have fought for each other and died for each other. If you’re defining the relationship just on sex, you’re really missing the whole point.” - Steven L Sears, writer and co-executive producer

Even in the first season, we started to hear from people who thought Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship was more than just friends. Later, that subtext started to develop. We didn’t get a sense of how big the show was becoming until Lucy came back from a convention in the US and said: “Oh Renee, it’s like you’re a rock star!” - Renee O’Connor, played Gabrielle

[raisinchallah]

wow hearing that steven l sears wanted to have alexander the great instead of caesar in xena really opens my mind to a whole host of beautiful possibilities where he could be both xenas evil ex and over the top gay villain since i feel like in a show about close companionship and such u cant do alexander without hephaestion as a perfect opportunity to have like the evil counterparts of xena and gabrielle which i think would be truly incredible levels of crazy bisexual television going on with xena and alexander being over the top toxic evil exes trying to kill each other and getting to be like evil gay villains and mirrors to the main characters things never seen on television before or since.... anyways contemplates this

[ingek73]

How we made

Culture

‘I was attacked by a bloody rabbit’: how we made Xena: Warrior Princess

‘The studio was hesitant about suggesting Xena and Gabrielle were in a romantic relationship. But as time went on, they decided to look the other way and just let us get on with it’

‘Somebody once asked me if they had ever had sex’ … Lucy Lawless as Xena and Renee O’Connor as Gabrielle.

Interviews by Chris Broughton

Follow Chris Broughton

Mon 1 Jul 2024 16.19 CEST

Steven L Sears, writer and co-executive producer

I was in a meeting with an executive from Renaissance Pictures when he mentioned a series they were going to do: “A hip, updated version of Hercules.” Xena was a character in that, compellingly brought to life by Lucy Lawless. When Hercules: The Legendary Journeys became a big hit, they decided to spin her off into her own series. That’s when I became involved.

Building on Xena’s backstory, we developed a character who has been turned into a feared warrior because of things that happened during her childhood and early adulthood, but at heart she is a good person keen to help others. The common take was that she was on the path to redemption, but my belief was that she felt she could never redeem herself for the thousands she had killed.

Gabrielle, meanwhile, is a simple village girl given the chance to realise her dreams of adventure. Since she recorded the duo’s escapades on scrolls, fans started calling her the battling bard. Right from the start, though, we refused to make her just a sidekick. She offered a beautiful innocent perspective on Xena’s darker, more barbaric character. Ultimately, she became Xena’s saviour.

Steven L Sears in 2022.

‘We went from drama one week to satire the next’ … Steven L Sears in 2022. Photograph: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

The show’s co-creator Rob Tapert would present us with wild ideas and leave us to make them work. I can’t think of a regular show that did a musical episode with original songs before we did The Bitter Suite. One time, Rob wanted me to change the word “camouflage”. He said: “It’s a French word and this is not a French show.” I said: “You’re having a problem with a French word in a series set in ancient Greece with a protagonist played by a New Zealand actress using an American accent?”

Later, we expanded our universe quite a bit. In one episode, clones of our heroes interacted with Xena fans in the present day. Another, set in an alternative reality, saw Xena ruling over the Roman empire with Karl Urban’s Julius Caesar after their marriage. Xena offered the opportunity to go from drama one week to satire the next and, more importantly, had a cast and crew that could pull it off.

People called Xena a sword and sorcery show, even though our universe had swords but no magic. There were mythological creatures and entities with powers, but those powers had restrictions. Most of the gods echoed the pettiness of mankind, with all their egos and desires.

Back then, the studio was very hesitant about suggesting Xena and Gabrielle were in a romantic relationship. They even objected to a moment in the title sequence where Xena is seen walking seductively towards the warlord Draco, because he was shot from the back and had long hair, so could be mistaken for a woman. But as time went on, they decided to look the other way and just let us get on with it. Somebody once asked me if Xena and Gabrielle ever had sex. I said: “It’s none of my damn business. They do social and domestic duties together, they have fought for each other and died for each other. If you’re defining the relationship just on sex, you’re really missing the whole point.”

We had a very varied following, from children to students to older people. My dad once spotted a neighbour, in his 80s, waving a stick in his front yard as if sword fighting. “I’ve been watching my favourite show, Xena: Warrior Princess,” he explained. “You should see it – there’s a guy called Sears who works on it.”

Renee O’Connor, played Gabrielle

My focus with Gabrielle was how to make her feel empowered and not just the damsel in distress. The time I’d spent doing gymnastics at school probably helped with some of the moves I had to perform: handstands, backflips and so on. I loved working with weapons and dancing around stunt people. During one fight, my stunt double was standing in for the antagonist and, as we were twirling around, we stepped too close to each other and she ended up with a broken nose.

Even in the first season, we started to hear from people who thought Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship was more than just friends. Later, that subtext started to develop. We didn’t get a sense of how big the show was becoming until Lucy came back from a convention in the US and said: “Oh Renee, it’s like you’re a rock star!” At that point, the show hadn’t started airing in New Zealand. So, as we filmed in our little sacred space in Auckland, we could still walk around anonymously.

I tried showing Xena to my kids when they were young, but my daughter was terrified, seeing her mother repeatedly getting beaten up – or even attacked by a bloody rabbit. I kept the weapons Gabrielle used and still have a few boxes of costumes. My daughter’s 18 now and I know she’ll end up wearing them on a date or something.

I can relate to the young Gabrielles I meet at conventions who appreciate that kindness doesn’t mean you’re weak. Being able to live through my character emboldened me, helped me stand up to the bully. That’s definitely carried on for the rest of my life.

[the-case-of-evil-dad]

Ted at 10th anniversary Xena Con in Burbank, 2005 (photos by Steven L. Sears)

[thisweekinfandomhistory]

Hello, I was listening to your podcast about the Xena/Ares fandom on Xena. I found it deeply frustrating that you refer to Xena/Ares as being the "canon" ship of Xena Warrior Princess. I understand that you have not watched the show, but this statement is simply false. By the strictest logic, both Xena/Ares and Xena/Gabrielle are equally "non-canon", as Xena is never explicitly shown within the show as being in a romantic/sexual relationship with EITHER Ares OR Gabrielle. It is also never made explicit that Xena has romantic/sexual feelings for either.

While Xena and Ares do kiss on the show, it was always intentionally in a manner that didn't confirm a romantic/sexual relationship (i.e. being part of a larger plan like in the episodes "Amphipolis Under Siege" or "Livia", being a dream sequence like in the episode "Eternal Bonds", or being a "gratitude/goodbye kiss" like in the Season 6 opening episode "Coming Home" which is the last time Xena and Ares kiss on the show.) The producers/writers intentionally "played both sides" but never took a concrete stance.

Different writers also "pushed" different pairings, for example writers like Steven L. Sears and Katherine Fugate been very open that they wrote Xena and Gabrielle as being in love with each other, while writer Chris Manheim has been open about pushing the Xena/Ares pairing in her Season 5 episodes.

I am unsure where this notion that Xena/Ares being the "canon" pairing came from, as the Fanlore pages for both Xena/Gabrielle and Xena/Ares state that they are not completely canon. I was curious about the fandom history aspects of the podcast episode, but the repeated false statement that Xena/Ares was the "canon" ship of the show in the discussion made it difficult to listen to.

At the time of the research, the Wikipedia page and the Xena wikia (fandom.com, whatever they call themselves now) stated that Ares/Xena was considered a canon pairing -- and that Xena/Gabrielle was, pointedly, not considered canon and could not have been canon within the context of the time and network of the show's airing. Unfortunately, for all extents and purposes, "canonically do physically unambiguous kissing" = "this ship is afloat because casual fans will see a kiss and be like 'ok so this is the relationship that's happening'," so Ares/Xena was a textually canon pairing. Definitely not "THE" pairing -- apologies if we phrased it that way during the episode, bc you're right, they were never "THE" pairing in an OTP sense!

You're also ofc absolutely right that certain writers of the show intended Xena/Gabrielle to be read as romantically in love and as literal soulmates! Literal soulmates omg! Like! If the show were made now, there would be NO ambiguity about it!

But to retroactively say that Xena/Gabrielle were the canon ship kind of feels like misrepresenting what it was to be a queer (especially WLW) fan watching TV in the '90s and never actually getting to be the canon ship. Like. Xena was pretty damn revolutionary and the distance they DID go to show romantic, sexual love between Xena and Gabrielle made Xena into the icon it is today. For sure. And for queer fans who had never even gotten to be POSITIVE subtext before... hot damn!

But it was still subtext. A LOT OF SUBTEXT. But... like. There are a LOT of queer ships that have all the subtext in the world and STILL aren't canon. Because subtext depends on the audience picking up what they're putting down, and if you can deny what's being put down... then... bleh.

There were also articles that we talked about in the episode (iirc! It's been a long time! I don't have the links anymore, sadly, but they were prooooobably in the citations on Fanlore) that were specifically about how Xena/Gabrielle was mostly allowed to be as open as it WAS allowed to be (literal soulmates!!) because of the fact that mainstream heterosexual audiences and executives didn't register it as romantic or sexual at all, again because of the context of the time period. Relegating Xena/Gabrielle to subtext and elevating Ares/Xena to text is what allowed Xena/Gabrielle to be as in love as they were because straight people didn't have to see it or acknowledge it. Like, Ares/Xena IS ABSOLUTELY canonically one-sided. It's not, like, a GOOD SHIP (sorry, Ares/Xena fans) in terms of being, like, healthy or swoony or anything. But it's also... canonical that Ares loves her, and they canonically kiss. They were the beard, basically, that let the show do as much with Xena/Gabrielle as they did. And to be that beard, they had to be more explicitly a textual (canon) romantic or, at least, sexual, pairing than Xena/Gabrielle.

For what it's worth, I see Xena/Gabrielle as the canon pairing because I think it's the only way the entire schema of the show makes sense and I think it's obvious... but I'm also a lesbian in 2024, with all of the cultural shift and personal perspective that allow me to do that. We are super lucky to have progressed enough, generally speaking, that MOST people would watch Xena/Gabrielle and understand their bond as validly (and pretty clearly) romantic and/or sexual, and that if Xena were being made today, they would get to kiss without having to be giving mouth-to-mouth to excuse it. Xena/Gabrielle just straight-up would be the OTP canon endgame pairing of the show.

But. That doesn't change the fact that it wasn't. Unless they reboot the show and make it text, it will always only have been subtext. And that sucks! It sucks so hard!!!! But it's also part of queer history that for MOST of TV's existence, we've only been allowed to be subtext.

And again: THAT SUCKS SO HARD. But it feels icky to pretend like that isn't true just because we can look back at older media and ascribe queerness onto it that was not actually allowed to be there.

Which again, THAT SUCKS SO HARD.

(I wish that I did not have to take this stance. *I* like subtext and *I* think it 1000% counts and I also don't personally think a kiss = a canon ship! Sometimes you just kiss a dude bc he saved your life or whatever! But. Alas. The '90s said that lesbians were not allowed to be canon, so... canonical, we all were not.)

(Sorry this is so long. I hope it makes some semblance of sense.)

[skillzyo]

Steven L Sears went from working on Xena to a show called Sheena lmao

[czolgosz]

list of pdfs on my phone because i know everyone wants to find out

race, discourse, and the origin of the americas: a new world view (many authors. i'm not writing all that)

what is to be done? (vladimir lenin)

"chemistry and the 19th-century american pharmacist" (gregory j. higby)

the torture garden (octave mirbeau)

"the vane sisters" (vladimir nabokov) + questions for discussion

"the tell-tale heart" (edgar allan poe)

"the lottery" (brainerd duffield)

slideshow about different english cities during the industrial revolution

the compleat works of nostradamus

"terms of endearment in english" (julia landmann)

"speech reflections in late modern english pauper letters from dorset" (anne-christine gardner)

"slopjank prographilose" (rose q. drifting & magnesium oxide)

a few pages of the 1897 sears, roebuck & co. catalog + some other related things

orientalism (edward said)

"in event of moon disaster" (bill safire)

ragtime (e. l. doctorow)

enough to make you blush: exploring erotic humiliation (princess kali)

"you're a mean one, mr. grinch" (dr. seuss) + close reading questions

merry muses of caledonia (robert burns)

"women and the english civil wars" lesson outline

"the concept of the left" (leszek kołakowski)

"kids in the early 1900s" (betty debnam)

"heterosexualism and the colonial/modern gender system" (maría lugones)

"for heidi with blue hair" (fleur adcock)

"flowers for algernon" (daniel keyes)

excerpt of the beginning of m*a*s*h (tim kelly)

tristan tzara poetry collection

"the nature of the beast: the portrayal of satan in the ballads of seventeenth century england" (christopher bailey)

"all the king's horses" (kurt vonnegut)

"conditional divorce in ottoman society: a case from seventeenth-century erzurum" (bilgehan pamuk)

"gender oppression in the enlightenment era" (barbara cattunar)

who's afraid of virginia woolf? (edward albee)

"visual difference & disfigurement in the arts"

"trans-misogyny primer" (julia serano)

the brothers karamazov (fyodor dostoyevsky)

the other victorians: a study of sexuality and pornography in mid-nineteeth century england (steven marcus)

the mistborn trilogy (brandon sanderson)

"the life of an unknown assassin: leon czolgosz and the death of william mckinley" (cary federman)

the brothers karamazov (fyodor dostoyevsky) again

spanish idioms with their english equivalents: embracing nearly ten thousand phrases (sarah cary becker & federico mora)

a sensation novel (w. s. gilbert)

basic principles of marxism–leninism: a primer (jose maria sison)

russia under the old regime (richard pipes)

tristan tzara: dada and surrational theorist (elmer peterson)

pan tadeusz (adam mickiewicz)

psycho nymph exile (porpentine heartscape)

1984 (george orwell)

neath to reach zine: the traveler's guide to [illegible] (i am not writing all that!!)

the dada painters and poets: an anthology (i continue to not write all that)

machine of death (still not writing all that)

"merchants, proto-firms, and the german industrialization: the commercial determinants of nineteenth century town growth" (gavin greif)

"introduction to the history of mental illness"

"girl detective & the mystery of the sap-stained skirt" (porpentine heartscape)

gadsby (ernest vincent wright)

feeling very strange: the slipstream anthology (authors galore.)

english women's clothing in the nineteeth century (c. willett cunnington)

socialism: utopian and scientific (friedrich engels)

the waste land (t. s. eliot)

"debility and disability in edith wharton's novels" (karen weingarten)

death of riley (rhys bowen)

"the black vampyre: a legend of st. domingo" (uriah derick d'arc)

raoul hausmann and berlin dada (timothy o. benson)

flight out of time: a dada diary by hugo ball

art and production (boris arvatov)

"the culture industry: enlightenment as mass deception" (theodor adorno & max horkheimer)

a gilded lady (elizabeth camden)

"changing narratives of martyrdom in the works of huguenot printers during the wars of religion" (byron j. hartsfield)

112 gripes about the french

"the spelling of the country name "romania" in british official usage: from uncertainty to standardization" (paul woodman)

"sarajevo 1914: trial process against young bosnia – illusion of the fair process" (veljko m. turanjanin & dragana s. čvorović)

[rithebard]

I am so happy to welcome back Steven L. Sears on Thursday; on #ChattingWithSherri #multitalented; #Producer, #Writer and #actor; #StevenLSears on 03/14/24 at 7pm pt; http://tobtr.com/12318827 #interview

[howdytherepardner]

end of 2023 music round-up

read this in docs | most listened 2023 | the Mountain Goats Digest

Order of contents:

Artists with major releases not from this year that I've really been enjoying

Albums worth noting

An extended aside on Sufjan Stevens' artistic output this year

Favorite Songs

Favorite EPs

Favorite Albums

It should be noted that entries in each category are not listed in order per se, but typically the things that show up later are the things I felt stronger about. Also, there is basically no overlap between categories (fav songs are not on fav albums, e.g.) for the sake of keeping discussion about a given project contained to one section. I tease more about my feelings on songs in Albums, albums in Songs where I have something to say about them in depth.

Also: there's so much good stuff from this year I haven't listened to. So sorry about that.

~

Artists Without Huge 2023 Releases, Nonetheless Apart of My Year

Ken Pomeroy

After watching the penultimate episode of Reservation Dogs, I was furiously googling what song was playing during the credits, and only realized a few weeks later that the artist had posted noting that "Cicadas" was not yet released. When it does come out, it stands to be my favorite song of that year, but in the mean time, 2021's Christmas Lights in April is a truly beautiful work. Whatever folk-acoustic-country genre you want to put on it, it's a phenomenal display of songwriting and performance that really shows that Pomeroy is worth watching and supporting. This year, she released the single "Pareidolia" (also featured on Rez Dogs) which I liked.

Louis Cole

It might be a bit of a boring take to say that a Grammy-nominated album (this year) and song (last year) are good, but that description clouds the experience of 2022's Quality Over Opinion. Cole is not concerned with a particular consistency across the 20 tracks other than quality - with the tender acoustics of "Not Needed Anymore" to the harsh spoken word of the introduction, the straight forward dance-jam of "I'm Tight" to the searing shreds of "Bitches." Indeed, the only vision for the record is Quality, and I think Cole exceeds that standard. I might always have a soft spot to put tracks from Time ahead, hitting me when I had maybe a tad more neuroplasticity. But my first time hearing "Let it Happen" blew me to absolute pieces - I can't recommend enough.

Emmy The Great

Emma-Lee Moss retired the project earlier this year, in her words "a costume [she] put on at the age of 21." (x) It's hard to really describe the way this makes me feel, especially as a late-comer to the party, but good God, it evokes something strong. I listened to April senior year of college and it has remained uniquely attuned to my experiences navigating newly "real" adult life, especially in the cities I've lived. The sound of Virtue takes me back to the aesthetics of naughts, and the lyrics bring me to the worries of lives that I have yet to live. And Second Love, well, it just really crystallizes the wanting that I seem to place myself within, "Constantly."

So I feel conflicted about its end. Were it more popular, were streaming services not stripping income from artists, would there be greater reason for it to persist? Perhaps, but I do suppose nothing can go on forever. Moss seems focused on moving forward, and I'm excited to see where she goes. In the meantime (ie my 20s), I will be spending a lot of time with all that she's shared over the years as Emmy.

~

Albums Honorably Mentioned

Radial Gate - Sluice

I didn't know anything about Justin Morris's project until I saw them as an opening act back in May. Even with a chattering crowd between the stage and me in the back of the venue, their songs still reached my mind and hit in a strange and beautiful way. Radial Gate resonates, in my experience, with the long moments that come in contemporary young life in rural places. A pinch of emo gives just enough edge to the folk foundations of the project to bring a lot of intrigue.

Aperture - Hannah Jadagu

Jadagu is synced with the beating heart of 'bedroom pop,' but to extend the metaphor she is really working as lungs for the genre - taking in fresh air to give new life, and exhaling strong gales of intention in each track. Even if the album as a whole didn't resonate with me too deeply, I don't think it misses a beat, and on the whole is a really nice listen.

The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess - Chappell Roan

This album is great. Bop after bop, with a couple of real tearjerkers in there for good measure. I don't think it resonated with me super deeply, but I think the project does have real staying power and I think it brings pop to all the right fringes, with different characters (especially apt in the vein of the drag styling) displaying attitudes on shared struggles. If you like pop and people doing interesting things with it, you will (and likely already do) love this album.

Sit Down for Dinner - Blonde Redhead

I get trapped in the soundscape of this one - how a welcoming ambience also carries with it this great unease.

Genevieve Artadi - Forever Forever

It goes beyond just what might be summarized as jazz-informed resplendentness. My first listen to this one was a nice long wander through a city I had yet to live in. Even if I can't call it a favorite, I still delight in giving this album a spin. There is some overlapping aura between all the songs, but each one is so distinct in ways that is sometimes hard to come by. It's so alive, and meditating on what it means to be that, and I love trying to find some new footing in each track as I listen to it.

Sampha - Lahai

By some set of standards, this is probably the best sounding album of the year. Sampha is no stranger to pushing boundaries and bringing a really evocative, percussive feel to his work, and Lahai is no exception. Anyone unfamiliar should absolutely give this album a spin. My first listen of "Dancing Circles" was mindblowing. It falls short of my favorite in part because I think it is interested in trying a lot of different stuff, more than it comes together as a cohesive experience. I love love love his debut, and it sets a high bar, with the many distinct ways it moves the listener over its runtime. Based on the reception Lahai has received, I'm sure that people are feeling it a lot stronger than me, and I'm okay with that. It's a great work and even if it feels a little busy, I still really enjoy the listen and look forward to seeing how it might grow on me in the future.

~

Now, an extended aside about Sufjan Stevens's output this year and my experiences with it.

Reflections

Starting off straightforward enough, I enjoyed this release. I'm not a big cultivator of classical or specifically piano in my regular music rotation, but I found the songs here to bring a good bit of intrigue. Timo Andres and Connor Hanick's performance do well to inflect the strongest points of Stevens's composition. Of all the tracks, I think "Reflexions" creates the most memorable, haunting aura that serves as a space for a listener to, indeed, reflect. Worth a spin for that one alone in my book, but the people seem to enjoy "And I Shall Come To You Like A Stormtrooper In Drag Serving Imperial Realness." Naturally so.

Javelin

I need to start this section by saying that for many months this year, I would put on Carrie and Lowell about every other night to fall asleep. Conceptually this is a somewhat surreal, if one is to accept the album as just its go-to description - a meditation on grief for his mother's death and their troubled relationship - as something that reliably puts me gently to rest. This image is certainly understandable, as "Death With Dignity," "Fourth of July," and "The Only Thing" cementing this as the key thread of the record. This is something I was locked into for a while, and for some sense of reverence, I think I really tried to hold off from listening to the album all that much.

But this year I kept coming back and back, in a way that I've done with his other albums before, finding new grounds to stand on in each track, and really asking what the album does beyond its summary. It's crafted to have such a solidly consistent soundscape, but just how differently each track can function is really intimidating - and breaking through the blanket impression of what the album "is" has been really rewarding, especially with how resonant I find so many lines I feel able to place in each track. Finding this new personal significance has been one of the most important music experiences for me this year, in a time where I haven't felt the resonance with a lot of new music.

With that thought expressed, the figurative blankets over Javelin has been thick and convoluted. I have generally tried to keep up with news about Stevens and his projects, and this year it meant being aware of Evans Richardson IV's passing and rumors of their relationship months before the album was announced, thus months longer before he publicly shared the news about both. With this general shroud of information, it was a lot to see 1) rumors back in May from Sufjan fans about an album releasing 2) people speculate on relationship troubles in his life after "So You Are Tired" dropped 3) it being billed as a follow-up to Carrie and Lowell 4) critical praise immediately before the announcement 5) praise after the announcement, and a lot of content being centered on the album just "being sad" 6) Sufjan fans specifically focusing in on the vinyl release cycle and speculating about the exact ways his relationship informed the record 7) people asking if Stevens will ever tour again.

This is not to say that any of these sentiments were widespread, nor am I trying to avow that there is only one particular way that one can or should experience the album or Stevens's work. But the flippancy between different assumptions about his life or what this work implies about it that I have seen has done enough to fuck with my mental. That cloud is keeping me from engaging with the album to a deeper extent; I enjoy the songs, and I do think it is beautiful - but I think there's so much more behind it that I need time to reach. And in that light, and with all that has informed the album, I can't place Javelin or its tracks against any other music. Attempts to rank it would fall short of the devastating miracle that Stevens released an album this year at all.

Does that make sense? Maybe not. Sorry. Anyway, I think the art book on the physical release is a really interesting accompaniment, especially the 10 essays. And I'm still rooting for it in all the other year end lists out there.

Let's move on to the music which stood above the rest for me.

~

Favorite Songs

"Thousand March" - Mr. Sauceman

I haven't kept up with a lot of games since leaving high school, but becoming aware of Pizza Tower and its soundtrack was nice. What the game is doing is great, and I think it more than earns the praise it has received. The rest of the soundtrack is pretty good too, but this one transcends to me. It creates such an intense aura and makes a statement on its own, working well in thematically in the level that it comes from, but still standing alone to create an incredible narrative.

"No More Lies" - Thundercat and Tame Impala

I feel like people forgot about this one - maybe it's impact at time of release was the novelty of a now-obvious crossover? But I think the track speaks for itself and speaks strongly, with the pair playing off each other in a way that nods to their influences and is playfully self-aware respective songwriting personas. The instrumentation is very pleasing and I feel like I could throw this on any year and it'll find a place in the music landscape; way more than just the sum of its constituent artists.

"The World's Biggest Paving Slab" - English Teacher

It might be the unassuming start that gets me. It could have stayed in the vein of a bass driven head-nodder, but something about that shimmering chorus captures me and really elevates it to a sincere statement. It makes sense to me in a world of little sense.

"Love As A Weapon" - Alan Chang

The lead single from Chang's solo debut, Check Please. The algorithm gave me the music video, and I think that's one component of its charm, but hardly the whole. All the indie/jazz instrumentation is an instant hook for me and great to dance around in, but the vocal performance is the earnest thread worth following throughout.

"Playing Dead" - Glenna Jane

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think there's a precise kind of fullness from the 00s/10s emo that gets captured in this track that's somewhat absent from a lot of other recent work informed by that scene. Certainly, it makes sense that people who were young during that era are trying to honor those sounds. But where others might play more ambiguously, allowing for more broad appeal, Glenna is cutting straight to the bone about her own experiences. It puts one on edge, the verses being a bit tough to stomach in casual listening, but it really gives the chorus such a strong and impactful weight. "Have you left yet? Are you playing dead?" Though I'll miss the intimate singer-songwriting she used so well in Vestige, I'm excited to see where this path leads.

"Fingertips" - Lana Del Rey

Let it be said, "A&W" is a great song and worthy of all the year-end recognition its getting, pushing a particular envelope and tickling ears in all the right ways. But this one just gets to me. Del Rey writes such a stark landscape and slowly, desperately dances within it, with the track structured in a way to barely allow a moment's reprieve. It's sincerely moving and really worth savoring. I couldn't tell you quite why, but specifically "I gave myself two seconds to cry/ It's a shame that we die" brings me to my knees.

"black mirror" - Noname

I struggle a bit with Sundial. Certainly, a lot of great art requires effortful engagement to really be rewarded by what lies within, but in many respects, I feel that much of the songs of the album are saying the same things on the same themes. Even ignoring the notorious feature (which I don't think completely soils any artistic merit, but does create a lot more for a listener to reckon with) I think the album fails to live up to what this song, its introduction sets up. Immaculately produced, her lyricism and rhythm are the most compelling and engaging at this point - addressing the myriad takes that people have about her impact and politics by pronouncing fully her humanity. In an effort that takes the discussion to a level (in my opinion) past the rest of the album, she displays her imperfections without surrendering the sincere beliefs that motivate her to strive for a better world.

"Crash The Car" - KNOWER

I think I needed to explain Cole and Artadi before we got to here, the last track on their collab's latest album, KNOWER FOREVER. I could do more to explain my feelings on KNOWER, and explain how I find myself leaning more towards the songs which sound very separate from their solo work. ("Do Hot Girls Like Chords?" e.g.) But this song... really feels like a true fusion of both. Artadi's tendency for abstract but strongly sentimental lyrics, a tight jazz outfit braided with orchestral flair more common in Cole's newer works. It is both grandiose and contained, a testament and tribute to all the work they've done together, emphasized strongly by the message it sends out. What a journey, what a fucking chorus. Rejoice, and crash the car.

runner up: "Same as Cash" - the Mountain Goats

Not all the time, but some of the time, I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats. And this one kind of snuck up on me, as I was saving Jenny from Thebes until after I finished all prior tMG albums - which put a lot of very immediate weight on the record. But this song cut through all of that, my own expectations. John Darnielle is as attuned to writing the grimes of Americana as always, similarly true for the rest of the record. But something about how the scene is painted within majestic strings and strums (to my ear, almost straight out of an RPG soundtrack) sets this song above the rest. It lends a certain kind of romantic optimism to a moment of anxious, stressed despair - not in a way that makes that optimism dishonest, but enough for one to believe that there is indeed some future after this struggle to persist. One where one can ride their motorcycle under blue Texas skies, to bask in a life free from fear.

best song of 2023: "The Water" - Indigo de Souza

Speaking of riding a bike. I'd like to say that the best parts of my year were spent riding around, with little other aim than to explore a little and get home... eventually. It is true of New York and all the ways in which her rivers express themselves. But good God, there are miracles to be found in Lake Michigan. And I imagine it's at least partially a miracle that in the face of all kinds of incentives to develop property right along the third coast, most of Chicago's eastern edge is just for the public to use and experience. Maybe there's room to improve, but it was everything that I needed. Just to ride, or to run, or to sit. To look on forever, irrespective of it being a smaller forever than oceans. To be lost in thoughts. To be alone. But not alone, because it is always there.

I've loved all of de Souza's albums so far, and even if I couldn't call All Of This Will End my favorite of the bunch, it is still an incredible set of incredible songs. It is by no fault of the rest that "The Water" transcended, jumping ship and ingraining itself into the past year and my memory of it. All the secret little alcoves I've found and placed in my heart. The moments of serenity, and belief in good things.

Poetic if true. But maybe it's just the simplest answer:

I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love I really love the water. the water. the water.

the water.

~

Favorite Extended Plays

going...going...GONE! - hemlocke springs

I don't think there's too much to be said for this, other than it being just a really high quality set of pop bops. There are a bunch of instrumental and vocal quirks that really push it to go beyond its 80s-synth influences (Psychedelic Furs, Duran Duran, et al.) and overall it works hard to set itself apart as a strong effort to make something that feels completely fresh but still lingers as hauntingly familiar.

runner up: Sandhills - Toro y Moi

With his virtuosic tenor for the spacy, the funky, the synth-y, I think a country folk project is probably the last thing I would have expected from Chaz Bear. But his efforts here remind one of how fruitless setting a particular field of expectations on an artist, in a way that is largely unassuming. I can't say that MAHAL blew me away, but how plainly it wore some of its production was a natural precursor to this release, where he is about as plain as you could expect: some guitars and talking about home. The way he plays with twangy notes shows a cautious, but passionate interest in how archetypical country sounds might fit within his songwriting chops. That kind of exploration is so wonderfully apt for an EP, and even more magic that it is so well done in under 14 minutes. For anytime I might also be thinking of that weird rural part of my soul, I'm happy to let Bear take me for a resonant spin.

best EP of 2023: Circle of Signs - Mariee Siou

I would love to shout from the rooftops about this release, because it is a project to mark the century so far. The past couple of years, I've been obsessing over her past releases as some of my favorite folk albums ever. But here, she is on a whole new level. While as firmly invested in the natural world and the legacies people inherit, a sense of urgency in heightened on this record, with Siou holding a focus on the climate crisis, and specifically its impacts on her home region as well as how it manifests on a personal level.

She meets urgency not solely through masterful lyricism and careful vocal performance, but by escalating the depth of instrumentation from a more acoustic focus in her earlier entries to something approaching rock ballads and orchestral pieces. But these pieces do not lose any of Siou's delicate precision. They are so complex and rich, but with 4 songs lasting about 25 minutes, she gives listeners a chance to sit more fully in meditation with each track, and really absorb the method, message, and feeling of her work. I could pick any song as song of the year with confidence, and I have no doubt that Circle of Signs will remain a sincere point of reflection for decades to come.

~

Favorite Albums

Water Made Us - Jamila Woods

I don't know where to start in a way that would not be summarizing what has already been said, or is self-evident from the album itself. What I want to say is that after previous records more focused on life's intersections with the political, Woods is diving pretty headstrong into the personal. What I want to say is that it shows an abstract, but intense arc on the growth and decline of a romance, and that Woods is so intently combing through moments in search of truth. What I want to say is that Woods is a legend of the craft, and I think that even in all its subtler moments, she has created an incredible experience from start to finish. But I don't know if that enunciates enough how exactly I feel about it.

KARPEH - Cautious Clay

Like I imagine many, I was only acquainted with Joshua Karpeh's project from the song "Cold War," which takes themes of trying find footing after a falling out over an incredibly produced track. The trickiness of that negotiation is common for songs about individual relationships, but on this album, Karpeh takes the lens to his family overall. In an almost ethnographic effort, it is a tender and honest approach, trying to acknowledge fraught histories and how they have shaped himself and his loved ones. But it lends a compassion that allows one to more fully process these relationships, and reflect on the stages of his life with full consideration of the world yet to come. Impassioned jazz performances with apt collaborations make this a meditative landscape (I love "Glass Face" and "Blue Lips") like a sauna. There are moments of scorching heat and clouded visions, but a place in which one is present with purpose: to understand and release tension. Really beautiful.

Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? - McKinley Dixon

It's a sublime composition for an inspired musical concept. How Dixon has brought together collaborators for such a phenomenal sound is not completely unprecedented, yet it is so uniquely interested in not only synthesizing sounds from across genres and generations, but also finding the best in each and making them sing together. It is a symphony and sincere triumph in honoring all that came before, and plants seeds for the world yet to come. The title track is probably one of the most wonderful, celebratory closings to an album ever. So fucking good.

Lucha - Y La Bamba

To start, it should be said that I neither speak nor understand Spanish at present, which hinders me from engaging in a significant share of the album on a lyrical front. With that said, this album blows past any barriers I might have. What a phenomenal fucking sound they've cultivated here. Just dripping with intention in each hit of the percussion, in the voices behind the words. Every effect to bring the guitars towards a new psychedelic edge, the layers making the horns a separate but whole aspect of each song. I don't know how to put everything into words, specifically why this lands so much for me personally.

Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? - Kara Jackson

When re-listening on a short flight in a small plane during the holidays, forgoing a book for this leg, I was blown away by how subtly unrelenting the album is. I think it is the darling indie debut of this year, and rightly deserving of that recognition, but I feel that it is vital to experience first hand. Jackson's voice is the driving force of the entire record, and her performance and lyricism does not on the surface seem grandiose, but how steadily she paces her words to (un/re)ravel stories of former lovers is just so slowly devastating: rhymes lead into exactly what you expect, and you are powerless to change that. How intentionally the accompanying instrumentals are layered with this, ranging from crisp orchestrals to plunks from an old stereo, really gives a texture to each step in the album. Every song comes together to give real weight to the question of the album's title - on what cause has the earth conspired for us to know our lives and loves? Is the pain that these things bring also natural?

runner up: The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We - Mitski

You already know. When it came out in mid September, I think it was prescient of how the rest of the year would unfold I think. I can't tell you why, but I could tell you that it progresses in this strange way, like it's crawling up the back of me, scratching up legs and getting blood next to stretch marks. It's clear when it's at the nape of the neck, but right as that first strum comes from "My Love Mine All Mine," it jumps right for the jugular and ruins the rest of my face and mind. The rest is kinda just lying and watching the sky blow by, clouds drifting alongside my remaining thoughts. Again, you already know. Mitski is a veteran but hardly jaded (perhaps, only a pinch in a way that really deepens this album), and I am very grateful for the work that she continues to share.

finally, my album of the year.

To start, I need to start later in the 2023 with a project release almost a decade earlier - the self-titled Black Belt Eagle Scout EP. I think I stumbled on this way earlier, but only got around to listening to it in the end of the fall. It's a very collected, steady, and beautiful rumination (lasting 43 minutes, which the EP designation might not have you assume). Different but not totally distinct from the heavier rock elements that have defined KP's most known work in the project, playing a lot more in spacious and lo-fi soundscapes. Though, it really stands out to me as something so grounded at the same inter/personal foundation that really prevails in At The Party With My Brown Friends. It was a welcome discovery for days that began to get colder, and the onset of a winter of discontent, for the sitting in my apartment and all the thinking that comes with that.

Cut to 9 months earlier from then, or about 9 years later in the catalogue. It is February, and I am walking through a park in Chicago and listening to The Land, The Water, The Sky, and I am pretty sure that it is my album of the year. It comes in waves at first, crashing against shores with "My Blood Runs Through This Land," later slowly ebbing tides in "Salmon Stinta." "Nobody" is the wind in my hair, "Fancy Dance" the sweat on my back. "Sčičudᶻ (a narrow place)" is a cold spot on the earth that I can feel with my face. So many moments lush with the grit feeling of being alive, with still the tenderness of living. Any of those songs, for the record, could also easily be my song of the year.

I don't know how to convey it. It really feels like a light at the end of the tunnel. I keep coming back to it. It is the only thing that makes sense to me. How KP reckons with this life and the world so directly, speaking the truth as they feel and know it. Lush guitar riffs (that I've had the pleasure of dancing to live) that just light up the soul. There is an urge to scream it loud, as it is shared in the record's final moments: The Land, The Water, The Sky (best album of 2023)

thanks. see ya later.

[scriptwriters-network]

Screenwriter, Producer and Author Steven L. Sears on 9/14 - TOMORROW!

This virtual event will provide valuable insights and tips on crafting compelling scripts for film and television production, including, the intricacies of developing unique characters, a strong premise and story, finding your voice, exploring script development and the writer’s vision.

Steven L. Sears has worked as a Writer, Story Editor, Producer and Creator in Television, Film, digital media and animation. His lengthy career has encompassed over fifteen separate Television series, and development deals with many major studios in the industry, including Columbia Studios, Sony/Tristar Television, Rhysher Entertainment, Artists Inc., Cookie Jar Entertainment, Digital Pictures and many others.

More detailed Info here.

[girl4music]

In celebration of XENA DAY I’m going to leave the link to this podcast episode that the She Nerds Out hosts did with Steven L. Sears right here and transcribe some of it for you that I find the most fascinating and validating in regards to how the TV show and TV ship inform and influence each other in that the story arc/plot/narrative always wraps around the characters of Xena and Gabrielle instead of the other way around.  

The way Steven (yes, a straight white middle aged man) talks about Xena and Gabrielle is remarkable to me. He has such respect and reverence and just absolute sincerity when he talks about them both as individual characters and as a relationship dynamic that is primarily and predominantly romantic in his eyes. He confirms exactly why I will always highly praise the creators/cast/crew for what they did with this TV show and this TV ship and the timelessly magical experience it has on me and I know always will have on me. I can't believe that I actually had a personal conversation with this man for over an hour because I feel like he is a kindred spirit of sorts to me. At least as far as my interest and passion for TV art/entertainment goes. The way I know and understand the characters on a much deeper level than the show itself could ever really represent them to and for me.

You’ve just got to love how Steven automatically and intentionally wrote Gabrielle as a comphet lesbian. And I resonate so strongly with his words about her story arc and her journey in terms of how it applies to Gabrielle’s love for and initial fear of loving Xena the way she thinks - at the time - she’s only supposed to love men. Of course she’s constantly “running home to mama” because that’s where she knows herself best even if she’s always felt too queer to be mama’s little girl. And there is that very quietly played theme with her where she’s constantly struggling with that internally which is so brilliantly communicated in both Steven’s writing and Renee’s nuanced portrayal of Gabrielle’s character. And that is exactly what a “comphet lesbian” is. It’s someone that habitually runs home even when they know they don’t belong there because it’s safer or more familiar for them than stepping into the dangerous unknown even when it feels so much more welcoming than home ever did.

‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ is a queer story from the get go. Episode 1 is very queer storytelling actually in the way that these 2 protagonist female characters meet each other and become family to one another. It’s “I feel like a stranger in my own home but I just met you and you seem to feel the same way as me - let’s just stop being strangers and be a home to each other.”

I would really recommend listening to the whole podcast episode because the whole thing is just amazingly in-depth and insightful but if you can’t do that please enjoy these transcriptions of what I think are the best parts of it that explain so much about where the creators/cast/crew’s minds were at VS where the network/studio/executive’s mind’s were at because it’s important to be aware that they were not queerbaiting or pandering or exploiting LGBTQ fans which many show’s creative teams and their network/streaming service platforms still do with their lead same-sex characters instead of take them seriously.

As I said - most of the creators/cast/crew agreed with the fans and even viewed the TV show as a love story between the 2 lead characters themselves. Especially the big names. Steven is a great example of that fact. And if they were just “fan-servicing”, then they were serving themselves just as much because they wanted canon Xena and Gabrielle just as much as the fans did. They may never have initially saw them that way but they clearly knew that it was the natural progression for them so they didn’t dispute it. They embraced it.

STEVEN: “One of the things we discussed at the beginning was a flaw that you find in a lot of TV shows that have 2 leads. Generally, 1 is the lead who has the name on the banner and the other one is the ‘sidekick’. And I remember saying - not as an ultimatum, I just casually mentioned it in the meeting - I said ‘I don’t believe in sidekicks. Sidekicks are the props that you kill off at the end of the first season so that people will tune in the next season. They’re kind of useless and they just exist.’ And everybody agreed with that and we did not want to get to the point where Gabrielle was just standing in the background going ‘Get him Xena! Get him Xena! Get him Xena!’ And I remember we angst during the baby tossing episode ‘cause that’s all she did. She participated by grabbing the baby but she literally was acting ‘Get him Xena! Get him Xena!’ And so we decided that Gabrielle had to have a solid progression that was not just a convenience for us. In other words we didn’t want to do this just because ‘well, we don’t want her to be a sidekick so we’re going to pretend like she’s important.’ We felt she had to be. And so obviously the relationship between the 2 characters folded in with that perfectly. So this was one of the episodes (‘The Greater Good’) where I said - I kind of posed the question in my mind - I thought ‘what if Gabrielle was the Xena of this episode?’ Which, obviously, is what came out of it.”

HOST: “Speaking of that episode though,… that’s one of the most iconic episodes of the show. Definitely of that first season if not of the show generally. So when you say that building up [Gabrielle’s] character and making her more important to the story and finding that through the relationship - was their relationship sort of just natural or was that something that you guys were like ‘yeah, no, this has to be a huge part of what the show is now.’”

STEVEN: “There’s no yes and no for any of that so… the thing is that every TV show - unless it’s adapted from a novel or unless you actually chart out 5 seasons right at the beginning - which a lot of TV series now are doing because of the way that we stream. They’re basically novels - at a certain point as you begin to develop it, it takes on its own life. With everybody’s contributions the characters become real and just as all of you are real, I could write stories that you could do, but you will live those stories differently. Even if you do them together, you’re going to live them individually. So when we started out the series we were looking for having a successful series. We wanted to have fun - everybody in this business wants to have fun - and we wanted to get another season. But, in the way that I write - and fortunately in this particular group we all had the same mindset - we don’t believe in doing action for the sake of action. We don’t believe in doing comedy for the sake of comedy. We don’t believe in doing anything that’s not rooted in character first. So when we started the series I had made a comment about their relationship. I actually said ‘we’re going to have a very large gay/lesbian following’ and some of the people in the office were like ‘why would you think that?’ and I said ‘well,… my first show was 3 guys on a boat.’ And back then you didn’t have the internet for fanfiction but there were news magazines that went out that fans would put together. Fanzines. And - of course - I subscribed to 1 4 Riptide and almost all the fanzines dealt with their relationships with how they regarded each other. On every level. Romantic levels and just on brotherly levels or anything like that… but their relationships were a lot closer. So what I realized with all the subsequent series that I was doing - every time there were 2 leads of the same gender, this type of fanfiction was out there. Now as a backstory, I come out of theatre. I’ve been doing theatre since I was 12 years old. So being around the LGBTQ community was just… Tuesday, you know? So, for me, as I kind of explained this, I said ‘any time a dispossessed group of our society finds validation in any of our media - they grab it. Because they’re not given it, they have to grab it.’ And I said ‘so, you know, it’s going to happen.’ And thank god nobody went ‘oh, we have to avoid that’ or ‘we have to stay away from that’. Okay? Nobody in the room … So what we just figured was like we’re just going to let these characters evolve the way they evolve. And anybody looking at these characters and the way they came together and the adventures they were going on - I mean in retrospect,… was it really a surprise that they would have this incredibly close bond as they went forward? I mean however you ship it, it doesn’t matter. That bond had to happen or Gabrielle would have been totally unnecessary. We would have gotten rid of her. She would have been an annoyance. As opposed to us embracing the annoying aspect at the beginning and then allowing the audience to watch this incredible growth that she never would have had without meeting Xena and the incredible growth that Xena had that she would never have had if she hadn’t met Gabrielle. I’ve always said ‘Sins Of The Past’ was a suicide episode. Xena was trying to kill herself. She had nothing left. When she buried her weapons she was saying ‘I’m leaving myself open to the next warlord to kill me’ and then she hears the noise in the distance and she goes over there and she sees this young girl standing up against warlords and there’s a part of her that says ‘I was like that. That was me. What happened?’”

STEVEN: “I will say though that as the show became more popular the studio backed off on a lot of things with us because we were doing well and they trusted us. I want to look at it that way anyway. The President of Universal Television during that time was a guy named Dan Philly and I knew Dan since I started. He was actually one of the studio executives from NBC for Riptide. So I knew him from back then. Really cool guy. Awesome guy. And he was like ‘look, you know if this is working, people are happy, you seem to be walking that line…’ - which I always snickered at - it’s ‘cause ‘yeah, cause we’re NOT walking that line’ - he said ‘just go for it.’ And he was also one of the old style studio executives where if they wanted something they would trust you. They would turn to you and they would say ‘can you have a little more titillation? ‘Cause we like that. That helps. Give us more titillation.’ But they wouldn’t tell us to do it. They wouldn’t say ‘this is how you do it.’ They wouldn’t say ‘redesign their costumes so that their boobs pop out.’ They would just leave it to us. And so we would say ‘oh, this scene where they’re in the tavern talking about these really intense things that are going on in their life - we’ll put it in a hot tub!’ And that actually is how the hot tub tradition began because we thought ‘well, that makes it titillating’ and yet… we used it for the story and… it actually is kind of a bonding thing… ‘so put it in there.’ They’re watching the dailies and you hear [Lucy] say ‘where’s the soap?’ and we go ‘do we leave that in?’ ‘Yeah, we’ll leave that one in.’”

HOST: “As far as from the fan side of it, I don’t remember when the term ‘subtext’ started to become a word that the fans threw around and it obviously has become it’s own thing: the subtext of the show. But it sounds to me like it was just very organic for you guys. But when did you start to hear of the fans - LGBTQ+ specifically - latching on to what we would call ‘the subtext of the show.’ Was there like any kind of feedback you were getting? Were you then more inclined to kind of give us a little more like ‘wink wink, nudge nudge’ moments like the hot tub? Were you receptive to what the fans were asking for?”

STEVEN: “Yes and no. With the internet obviously we had direct access to the fans and we always made it a rule that we were not going to follow where the fans wanted us to go. We hoped that they would follow with us. But at the same time we kind of adapted things. I remember - because of my geeky nature - I was the one who was online first. I was really into that. I was the one who found the first AOL chatroom that Laura, a little 14 year old girl had set up for Xena. So I was listening in. And for those of you who remember back then, I never hid who I was. I wasn’t a lurker. I would go in and I would say ‘this is who I am’ not because I wanted everybody to go ‘ooo’ but I would say ‘talk freely.’ I said ‘I will leave the room if 1 of 2 things happen: if 1. you start talking about episodes you want to see because I can’t ethically listen to that or 2. if I become the centre of conversation ‘cause that’s not the point.’ I said ‘if I do that, don’t take offence, that’s just my own little ethics.’ But I was able to listen in. And so I do remember that at the beginning of this I told Rob this was going on and he said something to the effect of ‘yeah, well, it’s good they’re talking about the show but, you know, we don’t really care what they’re saying there, we’ve got to keep focused.’ I’m like ‘okay.’ And like an episode would come back and he would come out and come into my office and he’d say ‘so umm,… what do the fans think?’ And again, I was kind of looking for this because of my background so I was a little more aware of what was happening. The early discussions among the fans of where this was going was extremely interesting to me and I tried my best not to get involved in it because I wanted everybody to interpret it the way that they wanted to. I’m always amazed by the Xena fandom. I’ve been on other shows that have fandom and certainly a lot of my friends have huge fanbases on their shows, and I’ve said this when I’ve been on podcasts for other shows: the Xena fandom is the most incredible fandom that I’ve ever been involved with for a number of reasons. And one of them is that at the beginning - keeping in mind this was obviously in the middle 90’s - there was still some contentiousness as if people were trying to protect the girls from being lesbian. It’s like ‘we have to protect them, don’t say that!’ ‘Oh, okay, good, you’re going to protect me from what? Being a straight white male. Oh, thank you very much.’ So it was a little bit of that going on and there was some fire that went back and forth. I remember a few of the transcripts that were just so amazing. I kind of kept track of them. And what I started to see though with the Xena fans - which I loved - is that the people who wanted to maintain their shipper stance became friends. They began talking about it with respect to each other as opposed to ‘no, you’re that camp, I’m this camp’ and then the major contention was ‘do we ship Xena with Ares?’ And I’m like ‘okay, so what you’ve done is you’ve defaulted to the idea that she’s already with Gabrielle and now you’re just talking about a jealousy thing.’ And I’m like ‘that’s totally cool. I love that!’”

So the characters evolved. Now had they evolved in a different direction, well, we’d be having a different conversation here. Going back to the studio, one of the things that did come up was the studio did say ‘can you somehow remind people that, you know, Xena still likes guys and Gabrielle still likes guys.’ But they never said that they can’t like each other. And I’m thinking to myself ‘okay, what you’ve described to me is either the ultimate bisexual or what you’ve described to me is’ - and I don’t have a word for this ‘cause, you know, straight white male, how would I know this? - ‘is many of my friends who are a lesbian but denied that identification and fought themselves, and then finally came out - liberated themselves.’ So I said ‘you’re kind of describing that.’ And I remember thinking to myself ‘and that’s going to be Gabrielle.’ That she’s going to fight a lot of this internally. And so, you know, when we got to the Perdicus episode - with the marriage … you know we all get together and we would talk about how we’re going to put it together and some of us would come up with little things that go into somebody else’s script and it’s always the original writer that really is the owner of the script, but we always contribute things. And I remember we got to that thing and I’m like ‘okay, I know where I’m leaning on this’ and I’m going to lean into the curve on this one because what’s happening with Gabrielle is that she’s gone this far with Xena and suddenly this reminder of what her hidden past was - what her past was when she - well… you could say ‘denied’ -  there’s a time where - this is difficult for me because I’m not a gay woman so I can’t speak with authority from this. I can only say I’ve had friends that have gone through this - where their coming out process is so scary that sometimes they - what I call - ‘run home to mama.’ And mama is where they were - at least they could deal with it - it was familiar enough. So when Perdicus comes in,… she’s questioning a lot of things and she thinks ‘okay, and now I’m questioning where I am and why I’m here,… so I’m running home to mama because Perdicus represents my childhood, my past, my village.’ And that scene where Gabrielle and Xena have that discussion before Gabrielle goes off to marry Perdicus - again, I always remind myself I’m NOT that orientation, I’m NOT that gender, I’m NOT that - but that scene still sticks in my mind because it broke my heart because she’s looking right at the woman who is her destiny and she’s saying ‘I’m so scared of you because of what you’re going to reveal about me and so I’m going to run away to something I should never have been apart of.’ And I’ve seen people go through that so that scene still sticks in my mind. It’s literally in my mind. I see the entire image of that scene.”

HOST: “When you say that - obviously you’re not a gay woman but you know humans and you know people and at the end of the day those characters were very human and - I hate to say it, love is love - it’s very cliché, but it is, right? Of course, why wouldn’t you understand what those 2 character’s are feeling … Because you’re a human being who understands the concept of love. But I love what you said. It’s like, yeah, of course, Gabrielle knew what being married to Perdicus living in her old village would be like. Like you said - she could endure that. She’d been there. She understood it. If she stayed with Xena, it’s scary, it’s the unknown and it’s that great inner conflict in her. I hadn’t really thought about it but that scene is very heartbreaking and it’s got to be one of my favourites.”

STEVEN: “When she left the village that little girl was looking at adventure because she was bored. She had no idea what she was getting into on every level. Not just the action level, the adventure level, the danger level - but the emotional level. She had no idea. So then she got to a point where that all scared her. She was more scared of that than she was about the adventure and the danger. Warlords did not scare her the way that this scared her. And, you know, it was a huge turning point. Now whether you ship one way or the other way on this, it still works because she had to find her destiny. And I also make a little distinction in my mind that Gabrielle’s destiny was not to be with Xena. Gabrielle’s destiny was to be with herself and to love who she chose to love. It was to find her happiness and BOOM… it walks into her life. And that is the scariest thing that can happen to a person and it’s hard to admit it. So I’ve often described the relationship at the beginning as: because Xena was much more experienced Xena was much more focused on what she had won and lost in her life and she had a lot of repair work to do in her life. Gabrielle had a lot of growing to do. So when Xena and Gabrielle came together, I made this distinction: I said that Gabrielle loved Xena ‘cause ‘AWESOME! XENA! The legends, the things I’ve heard about you!’

So Gabrielle loved Xena… but Xena was IN LOVE with Gabrielle… from the moment they met.”

[weemsbotts]

"Lest they should imbibe more exalted notions of their own importance than I could wish": The Incredible Fourteen Page Will

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

Thomson Mason (1733-1785) was born at Chopawamsic Plantation in Stafford County, VA to the powerful Mason family. Instead of deep delving into his political career, we focused on his fourteen page will, and the impressive amount of control he tried to exert even after his death. Over his lifetime, he accrued property in Stafford, Prince William, Loudoun, Richmond, and other regions and was most eager to dictate every detail. Below are some of the more interesting excerpts with our commentary.

(Aaron Arrowsmith (1750-1823) and Samuel Lewis (1754-1822) 1804 Map of Virginia via The David Rumsey Map Collection)

Thomson Mason married twice. First to Mary King Barnes (before 1758-1771). They had four children: Stevens Thomson Mason (1760-1803), Abram Barnes Thomson Mason (1763-1813), John Thomson Mason (1765-1824), and Ann Thomson Mason (1769-1817). Although originally buried at Gunston Hall, her body was later moved to Raspberry Plain in Loudoun County. Thomson Mason married Elizabeth Westwood (1740-1824) in 1777, previously married to Rev. James Wallace. She also had four children with Thomson Mason, Dorothea Anna Thomson Mason (1778-1822), Westwood Thomson Mason (1780-1826), William Temple Thomson Mason (1782-1862), and George Thomson Mason (d. 1873).

“…my body I wish to have interred upon my Son Stephen’s Plantation in Loudoun so that the foot of my Coffin may touch the head of my Son George’s, and that a Space may be left on each side of me, to receive those of my two Wives, if my present wife should desire that her remains may be beside mine, & I desire that my son Stephen will remove those of his Mother from the family burying Ground, at my brothers for that purpose, As to my worldly Estate I give of it as follows – Imprimis I give to my beloved wife Elizabeth, all the Estate of whatever nature that shall be remaining at my death, of what I gained by marriage with her. Item I give to my said Wife, during her natural life, clear of the Mortgages, and other Incumbrances on it, all my lands on Chappawamsick Run, in County of Stafford, which lye below the lands of the Revered. Mr. Harrison, & bounded by lands of the late Mr. Moncure, Mr. Adie, the Rev’d Mr. Harrison, & Chappawamsick Run, & all my lands on the said Run in the County of Prince William, which lye below the lands of Coll. Burr Harrison, Robert Carter, Esqr., Mr. John Hedges, & the said Chappawamsick Run, containing 1220 acres, in the two Tracts more or less, reserving out of the Lands, to my son John Thomson Mason, & his heirs, his choice of 50 acres, to be laid off in a Square for a Sear on which side the run he pleases, so that it does not include the gardens, Orchard, or any of the Housing, in County of Stafford, or any of the low grounds, in the same County, and after death of my Wife, I give the Reversion of all the said Lands, to my said son John Thomson Mason & Heirs, provided he attains the age of twenty one years; and I hereby declare that I intend this device to my wife, in Barr of her Dower of my other lands in Stafford and Prince William Counties, but not in Barr of her Dower of any other lands she may be entitled to elsewhere.”

Mason referenced participating in William Byrd’s (1728-1777) lottery. Byrd’s ostentatious lifestyle led to a considerable amount of debt, some of which he tried to pay in the form of a lottery. He prized most of his estate at the falls of the James River, hoping to raise 50,000 pounds by selling tickets in both Virginia and England. While his entire life deserves one or more blogs, it is sufficient for now to know he swore allegiance to the King of England during the Revolutionary War, and we can see some of the ramifications in Mason’s will.

“I give my son Stephens Thomson Mason & Heirs, the unimproved  Lotts in the Town of Richmond & Manchester which was drawn in the late Collo. Byrd’s lottery, by Tickets marked with the Initials of his Mother’s or his Brother George’s name. Item, I give to my son Stephens Thomson Mason & Heirs, the Ground in the Town of Richmond, on which the Public Store House lately stood, together with the money due from the public for the valuation of the said Store House, and all the arrearages of Rent…which will appear from my books & all arrerages of Rent due from the public or Turner Southall, who took possession thereof immediately after the Death of Miles Taylor, with my knowledge or consent, and kept possession thereof until it was destroyed by General Arnold; and I think he is intitled to recover Damages of the said Turner Southall, he having converted the said House without my Leave into a public arsenal, by which means it was destroyed by the British under General Arnold…”

When it came to dividing his enormous landholdings, Mason devised that certain land be divided for his sons to do as they pleased after they reached the age of 21, leaving it uncleared for timber until then. He also had a mill set in motion.

“Item I direct that the Mill now begun, shall as soon as possible be finished off, a complete Merchant Mill, with two part of Stones, one pair of which at least shall be double Burr and that another set of Mills, with two parts of Stones, shall be built at the expence of my Estate upon the same run near the Mouth thereof as soon as may be & that the said Mills when finished, and all my Lands in Loudon County, between the Main County road, the Limestone Run & Potomach River, & the Cool Spring Run, together with the cleared lands on the Plantation, now rented by Fouchee, below the Mill run be also rented for the benefit of my Estate for twenty years, that four horses, four Mares, six Servant Men & one Servant woman be immediately purchased, & placed together with six Milch cows and twelve breeding sows, & worked thereon, for four years after my death, but that not more than 40 acres of fresh land shall be cleared within the bounds…”

He specified that his son Abraham would have sole management of the mills, but under strict instructions on how to divide the profit, what he could purchase (mainly enslaved persons and stock), and conditions if the mill was not profitable within a short period of time. Not surprisingly, he had similar rules for other mills.

“Item I direct that a Merchant Mill be built on Chappawamsic Run, on the lands given to my son John, where he shall direct, not to exceed the expence of four hundred pounds, which expence is to be repaid out of the profits of the Mill, in part of his Sister’s Nancy fortune…”

Here he specified everything from the names of the enslaved to the names of the prized riding horses, such as Rupert, along with other horses and colts. He also included,

“…that two indented farming white Sevants be purchased for John who have four or five years to serve, provided they do not exceed the price of thirty pounds each…”

For his wife, he left all his household furniture at Errol and Chopawamsic, stock of cattle, sheep, goats, cows, oxen, hogs, ewes, horses, his chariot and harness, and mares. For the enslaved,

“I give to my wife my negro girl Pegg till January 1789 and I direct that one Negro girl between age of sixteen and twenty be purchased by my Executor for my wife, within three years of my death and I direct that another Negro Girl and two Negro lads between age of 16 and 20 be purchased for my wife, by my Executor, within six years of my death and I give said Slaves, in Trust for use of my wife for her life and to uses she shall direct by her last Will and Testament…it being my intention that the four slaves with their increase shall be for the separate use of my Wife without the Interposition of any husband she may marry.”

She also received the promise of “geered Mill” to be constructed and maintained on Pearson’s Run. For his two youngest sons,

“…may be put to learning English, at one of their Guardians Houses till eight years of age, and that then they be kept at Writing, arithmetic, and reading elegant English Authors and modern languages till they are 12 years of age, and then to be kept at learning the Latin Language, Book keeping, Mathematicks, and other Useful branches of literature, till the age of 18, and then to be put out to such Business or profession as their Genius’s are best calculated for. Item I particularly direct that neither of my younger sons shall reside on the South side of James River, or below Williamsburgh, before they respectively attain age of 21 years, lest they should imbibe more exalted notions of their own importance than I could wish any child of mine, to possess.”

His thoroughness continued.

“Item I give the use of my Gold watch, to my wife till a new Gold watch with an embossed case and Equipage suitable for a Lady, of the price of 30 Guineas can be purchased for her out of my Estate, and as soon as such Gold watch and equipage is furnished for her I give my gold watch to my son Westwood. Item I give to my daughter Ann Thomson Mason the equipage that was her mother’s and direct that a gold Watch of twenty Guineas value be purchased for her. Item I give to my sons Abraham, John and Westwood and Temple such a horizontal Silver watch, when they arrive at the age of twenty one years, and I give to my son John Thomson Mason my brass barreled Pistols.”

Two of the enslaved persons received special accommodations.

“Item I direct that my Negro boy Jack be allowed to settle upon any of my land in Loudon Stafford or Prince William, and that my Executors lay off for him, 30 acres of good arable land 10 acres of pasturage, to tend a crop for himself, build him a barn of Loggs, 20 feet square and furnish him with 1 cow, 2 sows, 1 Ewe and a Mare of ten pounds value, one barshare plow, one Dutch plow, 1 broad Hooe, 1 narrow hooe, 1 axe, 1 mattock, 5 barrels of oats, 5 barrels Rye, 5 Bushels Wheat and 10 barrels of Corn, to stock his Plantation and set him forward, and let him have one month’s work of an able negro man and the loan of my ox cart, for the same time, to put his little farm in order with Liberty to get Rails and fire wood off my adjactent lands and I direct thr whole profits of his farm and the Stock given him be at his own Disposal and over and above the bore mentioned provisions. I also give him the annual sum of six pounds specie, the use of the lands I give him for life and the Stock forever; and I hereby direct that my Executors and Heirs all join in protecting of my said slave Jack, in all his just rights, and the he shall be subject to the control of no person whatsoever, and this provision I have made for him as a grateful acknowledgment of the Remarkable fidelity and Integrity, with which he has conducted himself to me for twenty years and upwards. I also give to my said Slave Jack, 300 weight of pork to be paid him in the year I shall dye.

Item I direct that if every my maid Catina should be parted from my Wife, that she also receive 200 weight of Pork, a White shift, and a Callico Gown and petticoat annually…”

Thomson Mason died on 02/26/1785. Interestingly, Elizabeth Mason appeared in front of Stafford County Court on 10/10/1785, to declare she would,

“not accept, receive, or take any Legacy, or Legacies or any part thereof, to me given by last will and Testament of my late Husband Thomson Mason Esquire, and do renounce all benefit and advantage which I might claim under the said Will.”

Why would she contest the will? Given that he had eight children, four with his former wife Mary King Barnes, she could have protested the distribution of inheritance or the rules concerning her dowry if she were to remarry or remain a widow. A will that went so far to specify who would determine the proportion of meat given to enslaved persons, could create chaos if the provisions were not desirable as Thomson Mason clearly tried to control his wife, children, and property from beyond the grave. He often noted the conditions of her dower, a crucial element to her livelihood as a widow. The legal rights of women in the 1780s solely depended upon their marital status. Different rules and rights applied to single, married, and widows, and often widowers experienced the most freedom. Almost immediately, Thomson Mason noted Elizabeth’s dower,

“and after death of my Wife, I give the Reversion of all the said Lands, to my said son John Thomson Mason & Heirs, provided he attains the age of twenty one years; and I hereby declare that I intend this device to my wife, in Barr of her Dower of my other lands in Stafford and Prince William Counties, but not in Barr of her Dower of any other lands she may be entitled to elsewhere.”

On 11/14/1797, a different Elizabeth Mason submitted a similar document to the Fairfax County court protesting her deceased husband, George Mason V’s, will. Scholars believe she renounced his will because of the consequences of remarriage and the inheritance of the two oldest children. Ultimately, she won with a 1799 deed that preserved most of the original document’s language but removed stipulations regarding her widowhood and/or remarriage and granted her more property at the expense of her son’s inheritance.

While the Mason family was extremely powerful, Thomson Mason’s attempts to control the years and decades following his death were remarkable, especially given the country’s emerging and still very fragile independence and identity. From an economic and moralistic perspective, Mason created a will that probably caused a few headaches.

Note: The Prince William Resolves Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) will hold a Wreath Laying Ceremony honoring the 274th Anniversary of the Town of Dumfries and the 249th Anniversary of the signing of the Prince William County Resolves. The event will take place at the Weems-Botts Museum, Dumfries, VA at 11:00a.m. on Saturday, May 6, 2023. HDVI & The Weems-Botts Museum is honored and excited to help commemorate the many historical happenings in our community!

(Sources: Sparacio, Ruth and Sam Sparacio. Stafford County, Virginia. Order Book Abstracts, 1664-1668 & 1689-1690. Millsboro: Colonial Roots, 1987, Note: The enslaved names were often excluded from this transcription; The Mason Web: The Mason Descendants Database, Gunston Hall Library, https://gunstonhall.org/wp-content/uploads/masonweb/index.htm; Mason Family Papers: The Digital Edition: Exhibits: “I Elizabeth Mason … Do Hereby Declare That I Will Not Take or Accept [the] Provision for Me Made”: A Widow Asserts Her Independence, https://research.centerformasonslegacies.com/s/masonfamilypapers/page/elizabethmabmason; Evans, Emory, and Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "William Byrd (1728–1777)" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, (22 Dec. 2021). Web. 19 Apr. 2023)

[raisinchallah]

death mask is definitely a bit of a mess but u can see the steven l sears care towards character moments in it and i feel like it has a lot of interesting early xena characterization stuff to chew on..