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maxxphoenixv1 · 2 years

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The Northridge Angels Pitch Bible

Hello, all 3 people reading this. I’m Maxx, and this is my pitch for a special NSU legacy show. I’ve been thinking on this for a while and I finally got it! Have you ever heard of Kaizoku sentai gokaiger? Or Kamen Rider Decade? My pitch is gonna be like that. Here is my pitch for “The Northridge Angels”

Setting

Welcome to Northridge High School, the legendary institution of learning we've always heard about but never seen. Nestled in the Nickelodeon Sitcom Universe, it's the perfect stage for an extraordinary legacy show.

Premise

Meet KASEY CARSON, a seemingly ordinary high school girl. Since a mysterious incident years ago, she's been merely surviving rather than truly living. But when she crosses paths with four extraordinary humanoid ALIENS – REIKA, FURA, TERRYO, and ZAIRO – her world turns on its head. From navigating comedic high school antics to encountering iconic characters and locations from the Nickelodeon Sitcom Universe, this group of friends will experience a roller coaster ride of epic proportions.

CHARACTERS

Kasey Carson (She/Her)

Northridge's antihero, Kasey Carson carries the mantle of the Nickelodeon Sitcom Universe’s first VILLAIN PROTAGONIST. Despite a hardened exterior resulting from past trauma, Kasey learns to open up with the help of her alien friends. Though her methods may occasionally court chaos, they serve her ultimate ambition. Imagine the cunning of Alex Russo paired with the unyielding determination of Billy Butcher.

Reika (They/Them)

Reika, a mermaid from Planet Syrenia, is a quirky chaos-enthusiast who leads the school's swim team. Reika's treasure-hunting skills and passion for theater add an extra layer of adventure to Kasey's life.

Fura (She/Her)

Fura, a fire fairy from Planet Lafahx, is the group's voice of reason. As captain of the debate team, she possesses a fiery spirit and an uncanny ability to drive the story forward through her persuasive arguments and unyielding commitment.

Terryo (He/Him)

Terryo is a laid-back earth elf from Planet Minera, with a modern hippie vibe. Despite his seemingly relaxed persona, he harbors a genius-level intellect, particularly in chemical science, making him an invaluable ally to Kasey and the gang.

Zairo (He/Him)

Zairo, a Nepele from Planet Aerophant, is the artistic soul of the group. As a sculptor and painter, his adventures often revolve around defending his art or seeking inspiration, constantly shaping the direction of the group's journey.

OTHERS

Principal Agogo(She/Her)

A true menace to society, Principal Agogo is a quintessential CHAOTIC NEUTRAL. She has a rather twisted view on reality. Basically, she’ll either help or hinder the group depending on how much chaos it would cause, because in her view, chaos is beautiful! At least to her it is.

Gibby (He/Him)

Gibby is the manager of the BIXBY, a rec center the group hangs out at outside. He often imparts sage advice from his own experience.

Storyline

Pilot: 1- “Northridge Bound”

The California night sky is lit by the blazing trail of four shooting stars. Their crashing arrival sets off a chain of rumors, with whispers of extraterrestrial activity. Six months later, a transfer student, Kasey, sets foot in Northridge High, oblivious to the cosmic spectacle that preceded her arrival.

Kasey’s first encounter at Northridge is a dramatic one. She steps in to aid Fura, who is being cornered by the notorious Northridge Girls. Despite Fura’s spirited resistance and insistence on using her debating skills to defuse the situation, Kasey's timely intervention turns the tide. The two form an unlikely friendship amidst the chaos.

In art class, Kasey and Fura are grouped with Zairo, an artist who finds his inspiration in the zaniest antics and seemingly nonsensical ramblings about 'listening to the wind.' Their adventures continue in an agriculture class, where they meet Terryo, a laid-back genius showing off his latest creation: a mutant plant.

Despite Fura's dire warning, referencing a parody of "Little Shop of Horrors," Terryo assures them this isn't a movie. Until the plant abruptly bites him. Kasey steps in, annihilating the plant to save Terryo. After the plant's explosive demise showers them with plant debris, Kasey suggests that Terryo could potentially match Quinn Pensky's genius, if he only planned more thoughtfully.

Cleaned up and back on their feet, they cross paths with Reika, the enigmatic swim team captain who invites them to the evening's swim meet. As Reika glides effortlessly through the water, Kasey spots something unusual about their technique. It's too fluid, too precise - almost inhuman. Reika's victory is resounding, yet something about it nags at Kasey.

A couple of hours later, Kasey finds herself back in the school, having forgotten her phone charger. As she retrieves it, she stumbles upon an unbelievable sight. Terryo, Zairo, and Fura, all reveal their true forms. And sitting in the pool is Reika, no longer sporting legs but a shimmering fishtail. Kasey is stunned, exclaiming in disbelief, "Reika's a mermaid?! Mermaids are real?!"

Caught red-handed, the group decides there's no point in hiding. They reveal their true identities fully. Kasey, while shocked, accepts the reality in front of her, promising to keep their secret. She senses that her new, extraordinary friends could provide unexpected benefits. Thus, an extraordinary friendship blossoms amidst the everyday chaos of high school life.

Episode 2: "Good Burger, Bad Intention" (Kenan and Kel Tribute Episode)

Kasey, realizing she needs a job, inspires her friends to consider the same. During their conversation, Principal Agogo (played by Lorraine Toussaint) casually mentions the grand opening of a new Good Burger in the local mall, featuring an appearance from Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchel who will be served a special meal. This news sparks a wicked plan in Kasey's mind.

She pitches an audacious scheme to her friends: they'll poison Kenan and Kel's special burgers. Kasey tasks Terryo with concocting a non-lethal but effective poison and a trace-removing spray. Reika, capable of shifting appearances, is to impersonate Kasey, providing a solid alibi. Zairo is assigned distraction duties. To Fura's curious question about the purpose of such an extreme plan, Kasey vaguely promises an explanation when the time is right. The only remaining piece of the puzzle: a trumpet.

The night falls, and the Northridge Angels stealthily infiltrate the mall and Good Burger. Kasey proceeds with her plan, contaminating the special burgers. The following day, as Kenan devours his burger, he is immediately struck by an intense stomachache and rushes off to the bathroom. There, Kasey, in disguise, blasts a trumpet in his face, switches off the lights, and delivers a violent surprise attack, triumphantly declaring, "Check snaps fingers mate!"

After the day's events, Principal Agogo leaves behind five job applications. Terryo secures a position as a security guard at BOTZ; Zairo finds work as a mall painter; Reika cleverly uses their abilities to land a gig as a professional mermaid; Fura gets hired at the mall's Pear Store as a Sales Associate, a position she finds ironic given her exclusive use of Cyborg technology. Kasey, on the other hand, scores a job at BIXBY.

Upon accepting the position, Kasey confidently assures her new employer, "Sir, you've just made the best decision of your life by hiring me." The manager responds with a bemused, "Gibby!"

Episode 3: "Party On The Brink" (UNFABULOUS Tribute Episode)

Kasey starts to find her stride at Bixby, earning praise from Gibby for her diligence. An unexpected challenge arises when Gibby entrusts her with the task of managing a children's birthday party during his absence. The birthday child in question is none other than the progeny of Addie Singer!

Tasked with ensuring the smooth execution of the party, Kasey hustles through the chaos single-handedly. Despite her determined efforts, she struggles to maintain control, leading to an escalation of her stress levels. Concerned, Reika, Terryo, Fura, and Zairo watch from the sidelines, wondering if they should intervene.

Addie, ever perceptive, eventually takes notice of Kasey's struggle. She gently pulls Kasey aside and offers a piece of motherly advice: "It's clear you're pushing yourself to the brink, and it's causing worry among your friends and colleagues. No task is too insignificant to ask for help. It's okay to reach out."

Moved by Addie's words, Kasey decides to share her burdens. With the assistance of her friends, she manages to transform the chaos into a memorable and joyous celebration. By the end of the day, Addie's child is beaming with happiness, having experienced the best birthday party ever.

Episode 4: "BOTZ After Dark"

A nod to the infamous game 'Five Nights at Freddy's', Terryo embarks on his new role as a night security guard at BOTZ. All is quiet until the once-friendly robots contract a malevolent virus, transforming them into unpredictable and aggressive automatons.

Night after night, the situation escalates, and the bots' hostility grows. Realizing the severity of the situation, Kasey and the rest of the Northridge Angels step in. With Kasey's black belt in karate and her friends' unique abilities, they battle the rogue robots, buying Terryo precious time to concoct an antivirus.

In the aftermath of the chaotic battle, Terryo successfully repairs the bots and injects the antivirus, restoring them back to their friendly selves. Despite the victory, Kasey is left wondering about the mysterious origins of the virus that nearly led to their undoing.

Episode 5: "Treehouse Remix"

In a hilarious homage to the award-winning 'Drake and Josh' episode, "Treehouse", Reika and Fura rush to the hospital, where they find Kasey, Zairo, and Terryo injured. The trio had been commissioned to build and decorate a treehouse but ended up trapping themselves inside. In a futile attempt to escape, they inadvertently cause the treehouse to collapse, leaving them bruised and battered.

Now, with the family's return only days away, they must find a way to replace and paint a new treehouse. As if in response to their dilemma, they come across a flyer advertising a tournament at the Gorilla Club. The prize? A prebuilt treehouse!

Realizing the solution to their problem, they enter the competition, only to discover it's a blend of intense debate battles interspersed with physical challenges. The competition is grueling, but with a combined effort, they clinch the victory and secure the prebuilt treehouse.

With a race against the clock, they manage to install and paint the treehouse just before the family arrives. However, in a twist of irony, the new treehouse collapses on the unsuspecting child. They shrug, figuring that the collapsed treehouse isn't their problem anymore.

Episode 6: "IMakeASplash" (First iCarly Tribute)

Reika receives an exciting challenge - to design special mermaid tails for an upcoming mermaid show. Recognizing Zairo's artistic prowess, they request his assistance. As they brainstorm and create, they unexpectedly attract the attention of Spencer Shay, the eccentric artist and brother of Carly Shay.

As Reika and Zairo navigate the creative process under Spencer's guidance, Reika wrestles with maintaining their secret identity, considering their true mermaid nature. The design process is filled with comical mishaps and unexpected solutions, perfectly befitting the quirky style of Spencer.

Intrigued by Spencer's connection to Carly Shay, Kasey decides to tag along. She shadows the team, observing and gathering intel, all while trying to avoid drawing attention to herself. This episode is a humorous and intriguing nod to the iconic show, 'iCarly'.

Episode 7: "#KarmaOnWheels" (Sam and Cat Tribute)

In a serendipitous encounter, Kasey bumps into a familiar face from the iCarly universe, one of the kids from the infamous "iSellPennyTees" episode. The kid, now older, discloses that the notorious duo, Sam Puckett and Cat Valentine, have been entrusted with babysitting his younger sister.

He shares a disturbing tale of the past, painting a picture of a manipulative Sam exploiting him and several other children to labor under harsh conditions for a minimal wage. While Sam's temperament has mellowed over the years, transitioning her into a reliable babysitter (a reference to the premise of Sam and Cat), her prickly demeanor remains, and her past misdeeds have never truly caught up with her.

This revelation reignites Kasey's simmering disdain for Sam, inspiring her to intervene. She rallies Terryo, Reika, Fura, and Zairo for a calculated operation aimed at distracting Cat, allowing Kasey to infiltrate Sam's personal space.

The opportunity arises with the imminent "Killer Tuna Jump" event, where Sam plans to stun the audience with a daring bike jump. Unbeknownst to her, Kasey has meticulously tampered with the bike's mechanics. As Sam executes her jump, the bike disassembles mid-air, leading to a horrific accident that sends Sam straight to the emergency room.

Kasey, assuming the role of a doctor, subtly indicates to Sam that her accident was not a mere stroke of bad luck - she's on a hit list. To top it all off, Kasey finally confronts Sam about her past actions, promising a taste of her own medicine. The episode concludes on an enticing note, leaving the audience anticipating the next move in this cat-and-mouse game.

Episode 8: "Echos of Northridge" (The Haunted Hathaways Tribute)

Northridge, a name synonymous with high school, holds a history that is less familiar to the students and faculty. Kasey stumbles upon a chilling secret, revealing that Northridge was once the final destination for those shunned by society. The souls of these marginalized individuals have not moved on, instead, their spectral remnants pervade the corridors of Northridge High, hidden in plain sight.

Unfazed by this haunting revelation, Kasey is determined to bring tranquility to these unrested spirits. In this quest, she is not alone. Frankie Hathaway, a seasoned mediator between the human world and the spectral realm, joins her. Accompanying Frankie is her ghostly companion, Miles Preston. Together, they unite to soothe the ghosts of Northridge, seeking to restore harmony in their community.

Their collective effort comprises intricate ghost communication sessions, peaceful resolutions to unresolved issues, and in some intense scenarios, careful exorcisms. They navigate the tricky maze of ghost-human relations, tackling fear, prejudice, and disbelief head-on.

Episode 9: "Dune Buggy Remix”

Starting with a burst of excitement, Terryo and Kasey find themselves with an exciting new possession - a battered yet endearing dune buggy from a second-hand sale in San Diego (From the Drake and Josh episode)With its history of zooming through sun-kissed sand dunes, the dune buggy comes with a spirit of adventure that sparks a thrilling idea in Kasey's mind. They are further incentivized when a boisterous group of local thrill-seekers challenges them to a dune buggy race, wagering both pride and an exquisite trophy.

Their challenger is a snide, experienced racer, known locally for his ruthless tactics and relentless hunger for victory. Known to favor speed over safety, his reckless abandon makes him a formidable and unpredictable adversary.

In preparation for the big race, Kasey and Terryo embark on a crash course of upgrading their dune buggy, enlisting the assistance of their friends. Zairo applies his creative touch, painting an eye-catching design on the buggy, while Fura uses her debating skills to negotiate for parts from local vendors. Reika, with their unique aquatic perspective, suggests hydrodynamic enhancements to reduce drag. Meanwhile, Terryo works on boosting the engine's performance and enhancing the vehicle's stability.

On the day of the race, under the sweltering sun and amidst the swirling sand, their refurbished dune buggy shines like a beacon. They take off, expertly navigating the treacherous dunes and outmaneuvering their competition. The dune buggy, with its upgraded enhancements, proves to be a resilient force against the harsh terrain.

The climax of the episode arrives with a heart-stopping moment when they edge past their rival at the finish line, securing their victory. Their moment of triumph is cut short as they lose control of the buggy in their excitement and crash into a conveniently placed mound of soft sand.

Episode 10: "Deep Sea Salvage" (Gone Fishin')

The episode kicks off with Reika feeling inspired to contribute more significantly to their dynamic group. The mermaid decides to exploit her unique abilities to their benefit and goes for a deep-sea dive, scavenging the ocean floor for potential treasures that could come in handy for the group's various exploits.

The sea, in all its vastness, holds an abundance of treasures. Reika discovers items from shipwrecks, lost artifacts, and valuable resources, all while enjoying the natural beauty of the underwater world. This adventure makes Reika feel useful and helps solidify her place within the team.

However, their little aquatic escapade takes a turn for the worse when a curious onlooker spots Reika in her mermaid form. The stunned observer captures a quick picture of Reika's shimmering fishtail as she dives back into the water. This situation threatens to expose their secret and put Reika's identity at risk.

Enter Kasey, the team's resourceful problem solver. She devises a plan to break into the witness's house to erase the picture from his device, hoping to avert the crisis discreetly. Her attempts to gaslight the unsuspecting person are met with resistance, leading to an unexpected complication.

In a shocking twist, Kasey resorts to drastic measures to protect Reika's secret. She finds herself pushing the onlooker into oncoming traffic to get his camera and smash it. After the incident, Kasey manages to delete the photo, thereby securing Reika's secret.

Despite the gravity of the situation, this episode concludes with the gang choosing to move past the incident, never addressing it again.

Episode 11: "Midnight Mall Madness" (Extra Credit Challenge)

Principal Agogo approaches our main characters with a unique proposition in this episode. To the surprise of Kasey, Terryo, Fura, Zairo, and Reika, she presents them with a peculiar challenge: camp out in the mall overnight. Should they accept and accomplish this task, they will receive a massive boost to their test grades - an offer they can't resist.

Although initially excited, the group quickly realizes that spending a night in a mall is no walk in the park. The mall, so lively during the day, takes on an eerie quiet after hours, and shadows seem to dance in every corner. Various antics unfold as the group explores the mall, plays games, and shares stories to pass the time. From Terryo trying to domesticate a raccoon using his plant powers to Zairo getting lost in a maze of mannequins, the night is filled with hilarious escapades.

Reika uses her water powers to create a makeshift fountain in the central plaza, which becomes their camping spot, while Fura uses her abilities to create the perfect tent out of store displays. The group comes together, using their individual talents in fun and creative ways, to make the most of their peculiar camping experience.

As dawn approaches, Kasey, curious and slightly annoyed, confronts Agogo, questioning why she initiated this peculiar challenge. Agogo, maintaining her whimsical persona, responds that "Chaos is Beautiful" and insists she doesn't need a reason other than that.

This strange ordeal leaves the group with an unforgettable experience, a massive grade boost, and a renewed understanding of the unpredictability of their principal. While they might be mystified by Agogo's philosophy, they agree that, in a way, chaos does have its beauty, especially when it brings them closer together.

Episode 12: "Eco-Escape" (Green Day)

The twelfth episode features Terryo taking center stage. Principal Agogo, in her usual unpredictable style, assigns him the task of making Northridge High more environmentally friendly. Terryo, with his love for nature and his plant-based abilities, takes the task head-on but soon finds it a challenge of Herculean proportions.

From attempting to replace plastic utensils in the cafeteria with reusable ones, only for the students to lose or break them, to planting trees that end up attracting a swarm of bees, Terryo's efforts continually backfire. Even his attempts to create an organic compost heap for the school's garden end up causing an unpleasant stench that pervades the entire school, earning him the ire of students and faculty alike.

In the midst of his eco-friendly endeavors, Terryo crosses paths with the school's jaded janitor. The janitor, having grown weary of dealing with the messes left by students and faculty, threatens to call his union representative if he's forced to clean up after another one of Terryo's environmental fiascos. Terryo, not wanting to add more work to the janitor's plate, tries to reason with him.

Coincidentally, they both find themselves dealing with a group of misbehaving Northridge girls. Terryo, using his abilities, and the janitor, using his years of experience handling unruly students, manage to defuse the situation. This shared struggle helps the two find common ground, and they agree to work together to make the school greener.

Episode 13: "The Fire of Debate"

In episode thirteen, we turn the spotlight to Fura. The school's debate team is gearing up for their most critical match of the year, a head-to-head with their arch-rivals from Bellview High. The opposing team is led by none other than Sonya Crenshaw Nichols, the highly articulate and fiercely competitive daughter of Josh Nichols and Mindy Crenshaw, a couple renowned for their intellectual prowess.

The pressure on Fura is immense. Not only does she have to marshal her thoughts and articulate them persuasively, but she must also do so against the intimidating presence of Sonya. The initial rounds of the debate are brutal, with Sonya and her team strategically disarming Fura's arguments and meticulously presenting their own. Fura, though tenacious, finds herself on the back foot, her team trailing in points.

But adversity, it turns out, brings out the best in Fura. One night, while practicing for the final round, she discovers an unexpected application of her fire powers. By concentrating, she's able to transmute the physical energy of her fire into an intense emotional and intellectual energy, enhancing her debate skills to incredible levels.

Using this newfound ability, Fura stages a remarkable comeback in the final round of the debate. Her arguments are fiery, incisive, and compelling, leaving Sonya and her team astounded. Fura's performance sways the judges, earning Northridge High the victory they had thought was out of reach.

The experience earns Fura a new level of respect among her peers and even from Sonya, who acknowledges Fura's prowess with a nod of approval. More importantly, Fura learns that her fire powers are not just a tool for physical conflict; they can also fuel her intellect and emotions, broadening the ways in which she can use her abilities.

Episode 14: "Spherical Successor”

In episode fourteen, Northridge High receives a surprise visit from the respected Josh Nichols, now a lead designer for GameSphere Corporation. He comes with an exciting proposition: he wants the five friends—Kasey, Terryo, Fura, Reika, and Zairo—to be the beta testers for their newest invention, the Neo-GameSphere. The Neo-GameSphere is an advanced gaming system that promises an even more spherical, immersive gaming experience. As Josh enthusiastically exclaims, "It's SPHERICAL!"

Eager to accept the challenge, Terryo and Fura put their heads together and design an interface device that plugs their minds directly into the Neo-GameSphere. They're not just playing a game—they're literally inside it.

As they traverse the myriad challenges of the gameverse, each one gets a chance to demonstrate their unique abilities. Terryo's analytical mind helps them solve complex puzzles, while Fura's fiery spirit pushes them through difficult combat scenarios. Zairo's artistic imagination helps them navigate the ever-changing gameverse landscapes, while Reika's adaptability allows her to find creative solutions to seemingly impossible problems.

But it's Kasey who truly shines in the Neo-GameSphere. Her martial arts skills, honed from years of practice, make her a formidable force in the gameverse's combat scenarios. Meanwhile, her sharp intellect and quick thinking help them tackle intricate puzzles and navigate complex storylines. She proves to be the missing piece in their team, leading them to the game's thrilling climax.

The beta test proves to be a resounding success, and Josh is thrilled with the feedback. As they unplug from the Neo-GameSphere, Kasey and the gang reflect on their virtual adventure, eager to see what challenges the real world has in store for them next.

Also, Drake Parker got arrested in Mexico for grooming a minor…

Episode 15: "Toys of Terror: Bixby Brawl"

At the end of a long day, Kasey and her boss Gibby are preparing to close up the Bixby store. Suddenly, their mundane routine is shattered when a horde of animated toys come to life and begin to wreak havoc in the store! The ordinarily harmless toys have transformed into threatening invaders, sparking chaos and fear.

Drawing on her martial arts skills, Kasey leaps into action, engaging the menacing toys in a frenzied battle. Gibby, initially paralyzed by shock, manages to overcome his fear and help Kasey using the store's many gadgets. It's a hectic, wild fight, with Kasey and Gibby using their wits and every available tool to combat the toy onslaught.

Once they manage to subdue the toys, they're left standing in a store that looks like a battlefield. Puzzled and breathless, they start investigating the bizarre incident. They discover that all the animated toys share a common factor—they were all products of a toy company known as "Technotronics," notorious for its cutting-edge, experimental technology.

Digging further, Kasey uncovers a suspicious link: Technotronics is a subsidiary of a company named "CyberScape Enterprises” owned by CEO Megan Parker She recognizes the name from somewhere but can't quite place it. Nonetheless, she decides to investigate further, suspecting that this may not have been a random occurrence, but rather a calculated attack.

As Kasey begins to uncover the truth, she realizes she's heading into dangerous territory, setting the stage for more excitement and challenges to come.

Episode 16: "Mermaid Madness"

In episode sixteen, tensions rise as Northridge High prepares to face off against their arch-rivals, Hollywood Arts, in a highly anticipated mermaid show contest. However, beneath the surface of Kasey's determination lies a deep-seated spite fueled by the fact that Tori Vega, her personal nemesis, attended Hollywood Arts.

Kasey's desire for victory takes on an added layer of motivation as she yearns to prove that Northridge is superior to Hollywood Arts, ultimately surpassing Tori Vega's legacy. Her petty rivalry with Tori becomes the driving force behind her relentless pursuit of success.

With Reika disqualified due to their mermaid status, Kasey takes on the role of the team's leader and chief strategist. She pushes her teammates harder than ever, using her sharp wit and strategic mind to devise captivating routines that showcase their talents while also surpassing the skill level of Hollywood Arts.

During the intense training sessions, Kasey's spiteful determination becomes apparent, as she pushes herself to the brink of exhaustion. Their routines become a testament to Kasey's desire to outshine Tori Vega and prove the superiority of Northridge.

As the day of the competition arrives, Kasey's spite reaches its peak. Every move, every step, and every note is executed with a burning desire to overshadow Hollywood Arts and leave Tori Vega in the dust.

In a spectacular performance, the Northridge team captures the audience's attention with their mesmerizing routines, dazzling costumes, and flawless execution. Their mermaid show becomes a breathtaking display of talent, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind that Northridge has emerged as the victor.

While Kasey revels in her triumph, the taste of success begins to slowly chip away at her spiteful façade. The journey, the camaraderie, and the realization that their victory was not solely driven by petty rivalry start to soften her hardened heart.

Episode 17: "Ranking Rivalry: Flipside"

In episode seventeen, Kasey's desire to make Bixby shine takes an unexpected turn when she comes up with an idea to create a mobile app that tracks the rankings of students. With the help of Terryo's technical genius, they develop the app and launch it to great popularity among the student body.

At first, the app seems like a harmless way to celebrate achievements and foster healthy competition. However, as the rankings become more prominent, Kasey realizes the potential power she holds to manipulate and promote Bixby's rankings.

Driven by her competitive nature and desire to elevate Bixby's status, Kasey uses her powers to influence the rankings, subtly pushing her friends and classmates up the ladder. As the rankings shift, tensions rise, and the pursuit of being on top becomes increasingly fierce.

The intense competition starts to take a toll as rivalries intensify and students become consumed by the desire to climb the ranks. In their relentless pursuit, injuries occur, friendships are strained, and the once-harmonious environment at Bixby becomes filled with conflict.

Kasey's plan takes a dangerous turn when a fire nearly breaks out at Bixby. She realizes that her actions, driven by a desire for recognition and superiority, have resulted in unintended consequences that put everyone at risk.

Haunted by the near disaster and the negative impact of her app, Kasey finally comes to her senses. Realizing the destructive nature of her actions, she makes the difficult decision to delete the app, removing the rankings altogether.

With the app gone, the focus shifts back to genuine connections, personal growth, and fostering a positive environment at Bixby.

Episode 18: "All In" ALL THAT Tribute

In episode 18, titled "All In - A Tribute to All That," the current cast of All That visits Northridge High, accompanied by the original cast members. They bring with them a special challenge for the students: to transform All That into a sensational musical production. The air is filled with excitement and anticipation as the students eagerly embrace the opportunity.

While most of the students joyfully engage with the new cast members, Kasey's curiosity takes her on a different path. Driven by a desire to uncover valuable information, she seeks to learn from the wisdom and experiences of the original cast members. As she tries to gather insights, Reika, Fura, Terryo, and Zairo notice Kasey's actions and become concerned about her recent behavior.

The team confronts Kasey, expressing their worries and urging her to share what's troubling her. Kasey finally relents and breaks down, revealing a deep secret. She discloses that she is Kasey Carson, the younger sister of Steven Carson, who was involved in hurtful actions towards Carly Shay and Tori Vega. Kasey acknowledges that while her brother was in the wrong, she believes he did not deserve the severe consequences that followed, including his tragic fate.

Driven by a strong desire for justice, Kasey vows to bring the individuals responsible for her brother's downfall to justice. Kenan Thompson, who played a role in the events, becomes her initial target. Touched by Kasey's pain and determination, the team promises to support her in any way they can, pledging to assist her in seeking justice while upholding their values.

As preparations for the musical production continue, the energy and enthusiasm of the entire cast intensify. With the guidance and expertise of both the current and original cast members of All That, the students flawlessly translate the show's greatest hits into sensational musical numbers. The performance becomes a captivating tribute to the beloved sketches and characters of All That.

The show proves to be a resounding success, leaving the audience in awe of the students' talent and dedication. The musical production serves as a powerful reminder of the joy and impact that All That has had on the lives of countless fans.

As the episode concludes, the team's focus shifts back to Kasey's pursuit of justice. United and determined, they promise to stand by her side as they navigate the challenges ahead.

Episode 19: "Premiere Omen - A Tribute to Drake and Josh/Victorious"

In episode 19, titled "Premiere Omen - A Tribute to Drake and Josh/Victorious," Kasey gathers her group and shares the footage of the offending video. Emotionally affected by the incident, she receives comfort and support from her friends, who assure her that they will assist her in any way they can.

Seeking answers and a plan of action, Kasey discovers that Trina Vega, sister of Tori Vega, will be performing at the Premiere in San Diego that night. Determined to find information about Tori, the group embarks on a journey to San Diego in their repaired and street-legal dune buggy.

When they arrive at the Premiere, they find Trina in a much better place. Away from toxic influences, she has undergone personal growth and transformation. Kasey, despite her initial intentions, genuinely feels happy for Trina's progress and decides to approach her for information about Tori.

Trina shares that Tori and her friends have formed a supergroup called VICTORIOUS and are currently on tour. Realizing that Tori won't be back in town for a while, Kasey understands the need to use this time to strategize and plan her next moves.

Back in Northridge, Kasey and her friends gather to brainstorm and devise a comprehensive plan to confront Tori and her group when they return. They analyze their strengths, resources, and potential approaches to ensure that justice is served and the truth is revealed.

During this planning phase, Kasey learns the importance of patience and careful execution. She recognizes that rushing into action without a well-thought-out strategy may hinder their chances of obtaining the justice they seek. The group supports Kasey, reminding her to stay focused and determined.

As the episode concludes, Kasey and her friends set their sights on the future. They are determined to uncover the truth and bring justice to those who have wronged them. With a solid plan in place, they prepare for the eventual return of Tori and the VICTORIOUS supergroup, ready to take action and seek resolution for the incidents that have impacted their lives.

Episode 20: "Amanda Pretty Please - A Three-Part Special - The Amanda Show Tribute"

Part 1:

In the first part of the three-part special episode titled "Amanda Pretty Please - A Tribute to The Amanda Show," Penelope, now a successful blogger, creates a schoolwide ARG (Alternate Reality Game). Principal Agogo agrees to this unique challenge to test the abilities of the main five. The group enthusiastically dives into solving the ARG, showcasing their intelligence, problem-solving skills, and teamwork. As they progress, they realize that the ARG leads them to meet Penelope at a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant.

Part 2:

Upon meeting Penelope, she reveals shocking news: Amanda, the beloved star of The Amanda Show, has been absent from the public eye for years. Penelope explains that she has been tirelessly searching for Amanda and has recently discovered that Amanda voluntarily checked herself into a secluded retreat due to personal struggles and the pressure of fame.

Determined to help their childhood idol, the group resolves to track down Amanda at the retreat. They navigate a series of challenges and obstacles, finally reaching the retreat where Amanda has sought solace.

Part 3:

In the final part of the special episode, the group confronts Amanda at the retreat, expressing their genuine concern and admiration for her talent and impact on their lives. They share their own experiences, highlighting the positive influence Amanda had on them during their formative years.

With compassion and understanding, they offer their support and friendship to Amanda, assuring her that she is not alone in her struggles. Slowly, Amanda begins to open up, realizing that she has a strong network of people who care about her well-being.

Inspired by their bond, Amanda makes the courageous decision to leave the retreat and re-embrace her love for comedy and entertainment. The group, filled with joy and gratitude, decides to organize a special event: a one-night-only return of The Amanda Show. They collaborate with Amanda to create a memorable performance that showcases her talent and brings back the nostalgic charm of the beloved sketch comedy series.

The special event becomes a celebration of Amanda's journey, resilience, and the enduring impact of The Amanda Show. It serves as a reminder that seeking help, leaning on friends, and embracing one's passions can lead to personal growth and fulfillment.

THIS CONCLUDES SEASON 1

#nickelodeon #schneiderverse #quinton reviews

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everyhowlmarksthedead · 4 years

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MAYANS MC X READER + BREAST—FEED

Anon asked: May I request mayans Mc x reader on how the boys would react to reader being harassed why breast feeding.

Thanks to my lovely beta reader @chibsytelford for also helping me with those crazy ideas✨

Author comments: I hope you all enjoy. Gif isn't mine, credits to the author.

Tag list: @starrynite7114 @chibsytelford @dazzledamazon @mara-mpou @sammskellington @gemini0410 @1-800-imagines @briana-mishell24 @sassymox @whyisgmora @aquamento @sadeyesgf @viviansafizada @samcrobae @jade770 @witchy-wish @rebel-without-cause-x @arveeee ✨ (if you wanna be tagged, send me a message!)

✨ ANGEL REYES

When Sofia starts to cry, you know it's time for lunch. You're not used yet to her lips destroying your nipple in public, but as father as daughter. You two are sitting on the grass of the Santo Padre's principal park. There's a lot of people around you of different ages, doing different tasks but having fun. So you don't give it so much importance. Taking your daughter between both arms, you put her closer to your breast so she can finally feed herself.

Angel seems like he's only enjoying some free time with his family, so proud of you, with his head above your lap and leaving some kisses on your forearm. Until he watches something he doesn't like. Some old men are whispering about you, and about the fact you shouldn't do it in public. But your husband is not going to let them bother you.

“Yo! What's'ap, ah?” He sits up on the grass moving his hands.

“She should do it at home”. One of them says somewhat upset.

“Why she can't feed my baby here, ah? Is yours that park, ah? Also, look at those tits! THOSE TITS ARE BEAUTIFUL, AND YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR SEEING THEM!”

“Good god, Angel… Stop…”

“No! No, baby! What the fuck is wrong with them, ah? Go fuck yourselves!” Showing them the middle finger with a golden ring in it, he lies down again as if nothing happened. “Your tits are beautiful, mi amor. Never forget it”.

✨ CHE “TAZA” ROMERO

“You know that breast-feed gives happiness to the mother?”

The crew is looking at him with parted lips, freaking out that Che doesn't care about the fact that you're feeding his baby boy in front of them. He's totally like a hippie.

“Actually, doing it, the mother releases oxytocin. Love hormone. And by that, the tie between mother and child gets stronger”.

“Ok, we ju—”. Tranq tries to talk, being stopped by your husband again.

“And also relax the mother and free her from stress”.

“I'm not gonna ask again”. Bishop says, starting to feel uncomfortable as he has made you feel with those kind of questions.

“You sure? I know a lot ab—”.

“Yeah, Taza. I'm fucking sure”.

✨ EZEKIEL “EZ” REYES

Mario is inopportune as fuck. He always decides that he's hungry at the worst moment. EZ has to guide the shopping cart through the hallways of the market, putting in all the thing writed down in the list you made, while you feed your favorite boy on earth. You don't feel incommode doing it, but it hurts a little sometimes and growling in public isn't something you're into.

“She should wait to be outside”. You hear a man talking behind you, making you frown. Ez has heard it too.

“She should do it often in front of assholes like you, to shut the fuck up, man”.

The guys didn't see your husband, coming closer to them with both hands placed in the lapels of his Mayans kutte. The size of his arms and the cloth wearing him seems enough to make him run away from you. You laugh, leaning forwards to kiss him softly.

“That was hot, baby”. You chuckle before continue walking.

“Yeah, I earned the other nipple”.

“Ezekiel!” Now you're laughing loud than some seconds ago, while he places an arm on your shoulders.

“But I'm gonna take it at home. I'm too old to do it in public, don' you think, mami?”

✨ GILBERTO “GILLY” LOPEZ

An old man in front of you is staring at your daughter feeding against your chest. Gilly is looking at him back, frowning and feeling disappointed about it. And without expecting and no words, he takes off his shirt, leaving it by a side of the bench and raising his chin proudly.

“Do you like mine, ah?”

You can't help but break in laughs, shaking your head because he'll never stop surprising you.

✨ HANK “TRANQ” LOZA

Your husband just have to growl to the children looking at you, from the swings, to make them run away scared. With a soft smile on the corner of your lips, you look at him offering your right fist to collide it with his.

“Teamwork, papi”.

✨ JOHNNY “COCO” CRUZ

If the situation can't be more unrealistic, with Gilly and Angel looking at you amazed by Daniela feeding herself, Coco turna at you with the only intention to make them feel uncomfortable.

“Can I have some too?”

“YO! MAN! WHATTA' FUCK IS WRONG WITH YA'?!” Both gets up of the sofa with a disgusting gesture on their faces, shaking their heads as they go out of the Templo.

You're laughing as hard as you can, even if it bothers your daughter, because you can't avoid it.

“I was talking serious”. He says then, nodding slowly.

✨ MICHAEL “RIZ” ARIZA

As soon as you put a foot in the mall, the security ward stops you alleging that it's not allowed to breast-feed inside it. You can see Riz sideways frowning to the man and crossing his arms while he faces him.

“Why?” He just simply ask with a hoarse voice, twisting his neck somewhat lost about it.

“Sir, it's not allowed”.

“Yeah', but, why?”

“Because peo—”.

“Where does it say it is not allowed?”.

“Sir, ple—”.

You're just a mere spectator, enjoying watching your husband defend your rights and your daughter's.

“Should I let my baby die of hunger?”

“Sir, I didn—”

“But my wife can't feed her baby girl, because you say that somewhere it's says she can't do it”.

“Si—”.

“Cariño, Rita is ready”. You interrupt the security ward, ignoring him completely. “Hold her a second, please”.

Riz hugs his daughter, as if the other man wasn't there, while you put your shirt on before continue walking.

✨ NERON “CREEPER” VARGAS

Parking the car by a side of the rest area, your husband takes the advantage to buy some candies and the juice you're asking for since one hour ago, while you feed your baby champion. Resting your back against the door, outside of the car, to have some fresh air you can see sideways how a group of bikers are looking at you. And that, makes you feel somewhat uncomfortable, giving them your back and walking away some steps. Even so, you can hear them mumbling about it, till they scream a little begging for apologies.

“Next time, I'm gonna shoot you down, shitheads!”

You turn at your angry husband, pointing them with a gun. You blink several times straight, because you can't believe this is truly happening. And when Creeper is sure they're gone, he walks towards you keeping the gun behind his back, under the jacket.

“They haven't apple juice, but I brought you a peach one, baby”.

“Tha—Thank you…” You say containing some laughs.

“Is it good, buddy?” He asks like nothing happened, kissing Rico's head.

✨ OBISPO “BISHOP” LOSA

Having some free time with Bishop out of the clubhouse is like a miracle, so he decided to have dinner in a new mexican restaurant, next to your house. Resting your back against the chair, you place Amanda on your chest to fees her, leaving some caresses above her head almost brushing her hair with your fingertips.

“Miss, we have a rest-room to do it”.

The waitress claims for your attention, leaning close to not bother the other customers sitting around you. Your husband looks at him raising an eyebrow, sitting up on his chair and putting both arm above the table.

“She can do it wherever she want”. He just say, making the man turn at him, while some people turns at you too looking curious about the scene.

“Yes, bu—”.

“You know who I am, ah?”

“Sir, I'm ju—”.

“I'm the fuckin' Rey de los Mayas, and you're not gonna tell to the Reina de los Mayas where the fuck she can feed the Princesa de los Mayas. You heard me?”

“Yes, sir… I'm sorry”.

“Good. Bring me another beer”.

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ruhrohimrorny · 4 years

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What Subjects I Think LOK Characters Would Teach:

Lin: PE, obviously. Dating Kya and all the kids are happy cause there’s a noticeable shift in Lin’s mood once they start dating. She no longer forces kids to run a mile every day and instead does it once a week now, so the kids are hoping her and Kya stay together. She also coaches Golf and Lacrosse.

Kya: Waffled between MILF Math teacher, MILF Science teacher, and hippy/chill Music teacher, but decided on MILF Science Teacher. Getting strong Biology vibes. Very fun labs and not strict at all. Her and Zhu-Li are super passionate about leading the Science Bowl team. Seeing these young people be so passionate about STEM and helping their fellow teammates makes her hopeful for this young generation.

Tenzin: He kinda gives math teacher vibes, but a large part of his character in the show is about him keeping his history alive, and teaching others abut learning and respecting history, so I feel like he’s a History teacher. His class is a lot of notetaking but he plays quiet music and does a five minute meditation in the middle of class to encourage kids to relax, so students really like him and actually listen to him. Also, he’s kind of gullible so they make up fake trends to tell him. He once spent a week addressing people as “brony” cause students told him thats what people say now instead of bro. Kids got a good laugh out of that one. Him and Pema are another favorite teacher couple.

Bumi II: Def gives off eccentric/unhinged English teacher vibes. Very interesting and informative conversations in his class, but things get off topic very quickly. Whenever kids ask about Bum-Ju, he gets distracted and will talk the entire rest of the period about what to dress Bum-Ju up as for Halloween. Probably plays a lot of videos. And students don’t worry about if they read the books Bumi II assigns cause they don’t think he’s even read the books he assigns. When having discussions about the books in class, sometimes kids will make up stuff and say it’s in the book and for the most part, Bumi II goes along with it cause he doesn’t know what actually happens in the books.

Varrick: Also gives off eccentric/unhinged English teacher vibes, but because he’s a businessman/war profiteer, I’m gonna have to say he teaches Econ and gives students lots of unsolicited financial advice. Also supervises the Engineering and Robotics Club.

Zhu-Li: Science teacher, probably Chemistry. She’s very good at explaining and getting kids to follow her instructions. Not only is she a co-supervisor for the Science Bowl team, she helps Varrick run Engineering and Robotics Club, cause if it were only Varrick running it, no kids would come. His intensity and eccentricity scares them.

Iroh II: He’s definitely the young Math teacher everyone has a crush on. Very chill and doesn’t give a lot of homework. Kids love when he shows pictures of his dog to the class and eventually he brings in the dog cause admin think the dog is too cute to say no to.

Tonraq: Resident DILF History teacher. Kind of a hardass but also a nice dude so most everyone passes his class. Probably that History teacher that is also a football coach, so during fall he doesn’t give a FUCK about whether anyone actually turns anything in. Him and Senna is the teacher couple that seems like opposites but actually are pretty similar and balance each other out.

Senna: That English teacher that every mentally ill student becomes emotionally attached to. You know what I’m talking about. She’s so sweet, funny, and chill so all the kids love her class. Tries to include memes in her presentations to seem “with it” but they’re like, doge memes from 2014. But the kids appreciate the effort.

Pema: Definitely the sweet English teacher that occasionally has a mental breakdown when the students test her patience. Otherwise very chill. Also teaches the Childhood Education and Development class. Her, Senna, and Bumi II run the school newspaper.

Bataar: Drafting. Pretty chill, very skilled, and def smokes on the weekend. Also, him and Suyin are that teacher couple that everyone likes.

Suyin: Dance. Super nice and always has like to of those smelly plug in things going so her room smells good and has a “good vibe that evokes emotion”. Always plays EDM or weird 80s rock to get the kids moving. She runs the school dance team. When Bataar has prep period, he sometimes drops in to see Su dance, cause she’s mesmerizing to watch. All the kids think that, coupled with the fact that they eat lunch together every day, makes them the cutest couple ever.

Amon: Drama. He loves directing kids on how to totally live a role. If you can imagine, he sometimes gets a little overdramatic about drama, forgetting that these are just highschool kids, not Oscar winners, but his passion makes the class more enjoyable. Runs Drama Club with Tarrlok.

Tarrlok: Probably Physics. A difficult class, but he’s pretty good at explaining so most kids don’t struggle too much. His main focus is running student government, which he takes pretty seriously. Sometimes too seriously.

Unalaq: Teaches Psychology. The most pretentious teacher on campus. It’s literally so bad, that even other teachers avoid him. Amon abandoned his coffee still being brewed in the machine in the staff room cause Unalaq walked in and he didn’t want to be in a room with Unalaq again after he said that Amon’s outfit “looked like something stolen from the lost and found of a funeral home”. Unalaq sees it as “telling it like it is”.

Zaheer: Government and Politics. Tries to teach the class very well but also injects his own opinion into teaching a lot. The students find him scary but some also kinda think he’s hot. Also does Yearbook. Him and Senna run Mock Trial. Replaced the old Government and Politics teacher Hou-Ting after she retired. She was that one old teacher that made it a hobby to harrass students and constantly reminisced about when you could smack students.

P’Li: Math teacher. Much scarier than Zaheer. Plays her trash ass music very loudly while the kids work. Def yells at kids. She’s kind of funny when she’s in a good mood tho, and when she roasts kids it’s really funny cause it’s usually dead on. Her and Zaheer are those teachers that flirt a lot and you know they’re sleeping together.

Ming-Hua: Art. Loves drawing and, you guessed it, watercolor painting. Very chill and plays soft music but lets you listen to your own music. Super sarcastic and all the students eat it up. Literally a universal favorite. She runs Art Club and Fashion Club.

Ghazan: Guitar. Pretty cool teacher that definitely has some weird stories. All the students know he has a crush on Ming-Hua cause they flirt constantly, but he denies it. Runs E-Sports Club. Idk why I think that, it just feels right. Him and Ming-Hua are also the kinds of teachers kids become emotionally attached to.

Kuvira: Government and Politics also. Seems calm and reasonable, but is a total ass. Makes kids give up their phones, allows almost no talking, gives out more detentions a week than most teachers do in one year, and doesn’t allow for much discussion. Everyone wants her class cause she’s hot but most drop within the first week, to the point that counselors have to say no to some kids so they don’t have to get rid of the class altogether.

Bataar Jr.: Computer Lit teacher. None of the students respect him so they’ll play Minecraft the whole time or play inappropriate videos really loud. Doesn’t really put much effort into teaching, which for some kids is a dream, but for others is an annoyance. Him and Kuvira are the teacher couple that makes everyone say “wtf”. Literally no one knows why they’re together.

Izumi: Secretary/Attendance. Pretty much remembers everything and is super organized. She is the glue that holds the school together. Most students don’t know her name though cause she’s super quiet and works mostly behind the scenes. Whenever Zuko sends anyone her way though he reminds them of her name and to say thank you cause he recognizes how hard his daughter works to keep everything running smoothly. Izumi catches on to this and always manages to thank her dad with a nice tea and a hug.

Toph: Vice Principal. Scary as fuck. Doesn’t ever call kids’ parents cause she efficiently scares the shit out of every kid, so they never do whatever bad thing they were doing again. When she has to work dances, Katara always tries to get her to dance with her. She resists every time, but she always gives eventually. She’s happy to though, cause although she’ll never say it out loud, seeing Katara this happy at her old age warms her heart.

Katara: Health Clerk. Very sweet and everybody loves her. Sometimes kids pretend to feel sick just to talk to her. She doesn’t mind though cause a kid that has a tummy ache and a kid that needs to talk are both kids that need help, and she’s happy to offer whatever support she can. She also always offers to supervise dances when the school has them and always manages to bust a move.

Zuko: Counselor. Wants to be to students what his uncle was to him. Aang and Sokka were counselors too, some years ago. And while they could give some good nuggets of advice and offered the kids amazing support, they also would totally fuck up student’s schedules by accident cause those numbskulls were exactly that- numbskulls. So usually Zuko would have to fix that. He misses fixing their messes and, more importantly, he misses them (they aren’t dead, just retired). He hopes to retire soon too, cause he’s getting too old for this, but he secretly doesn’t want to retire just yet cause working at school allows him to see and spend time with Izumi. Since they’re both working, it’s not like they have too much time together, but even just her popping into his office to bring him tea or check in on how he’s doing that day brings a smile to his face that doesn’t leave for the rest of the day.

Raiko: Principal. After Toph stepped down cause she’s “too old for this shit” (her words), Raiko stepped in. The students aren’t a fan of him but he’s not terrible. And since Toph is still Vice Principal, she keeps him in check.

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sandu-zidian · 4 years

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Blabbing about this Musician!au I started last summer that has now also turned into a marching band!au because I got sad and nostalgic because despite how shitty it could be, marching band defined my high school life and social life and I couldn’t had asked for anything else.

I also don’t have every single prequel character (because this au is surrounding the prequel characters) in Star Wars smacked into here, and I gave up halfway through a couple of months ago in terms of brainstorming. Anyways, this is hella long so check everything out under the line if you’d like! don’t want to spam everyone with something that’s like, 4 pages long

Now, you might be asking. What instruments are these characters playing, or what are they doing in marching band? well, boy oh boy do I have some lore for you.

Anakin Skywalker: alright lets start of with the “Chosen One”. Now, I gotta say. He’s got some intense brass vibes, specifically high brass. But I don’t know. He didn’t really mesh well. And given his natural talent with the Force in canon, I thought that Anakin would be a sort of prodigy. And we all know the two instruments associated with that: the piano and violin. He’s more of a piano dude, so here we go! piano prodigy Anakin Skywalker. He also gives mad drumline vibes, and I can see him as either the lead snare, setting the tempo, or the main quad player. He’s brash, slightly obnoxious, but damn is he fucking good at what he does.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: I literally started this AU on the idea that Obi-Wan would play the cello. One of the defining quotes for him is that fucking “infinite sadness” quote. And we all know that cellos play some of the saddest pieces out there. (see: Elgar cello concerto) However, I can’t see him as a marching band dude. He doesn’t really give off color guard vibes (since that’s where most non-band people go to) so I have him as the resident student helper who everyone tolerates because he brings ice cream after band camp.

Ahsoka Tano: Ahsoka is a flute player. As a flute player, I have intimate knowledge on this. She’s like the chill flute player who’s competitive enough to keep her position as principal, but is also chill enough to not have a big ego that butts heads with everyone. She also gives mad color guard vibes. Also speaking about that from personal experience (am I lowkey projecting my own experiences on her? you didn’t hear that from me). She seems like the type to love swing flags and sabre, and is 100% captain by senior year.

I have Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka as siblings in this AU because I say so. Qui-Gon is around here somewhere as the resident hippie dad who lowkey smokes pot and will support his children while giving a big ‘fuck you’ to Dooku.

Yoda’s also in here somewhere, and I love the idea that he’s an old Chinese/Asian man who refuses to speak english and will only do so with the most backwards grammar so his grandchild (Qui-Gon) and great-grandchildren (the trio) are forced to speak Mandarin/Cantonese to him (pick your poison). He just spends his days cutting up fruit and also might pull out his erhu if everyone asks nice enough. (I want to say he was a Peking Opera musician, but immigrated during Mao’s reign after he lost opportunities during the cultural revolution)

So, I know that it doesn’t make sense for a family to have 3 sets of twins and one triplet set, but fuck that I do what I want.

Cody Fett: okay so, Cody 100% plays the french horn. I don’t know, he just, he does. He’s got that air of sophistication because he can play the hardest brass instrument, but at the same time, he’s incredibly good at it and is matter-of-fact about it. He also would be the mello section leader (I was playing with the idea of drum major, but for now, leaving him as a section leader for now). He’s a bit uptight to be a low brass player, but cool enough to still be associated with the general brass group.

Rex Fett: I got Rex and Cody as the eldest Fett twins. Rex feels like a string player, so I have him on violin. I can see him be very hardworking and practicing diligently to the point where he easily sweeps through to concertmaster in high school and the local youth orchestra. He also gives of mad drum major vibes. I can see him copying music, handing out drill charts, and hauling the met around. Also, just think about Rex doing a fancy ass salute at competitions. Yes.

Next round of twins lets gooo

Jesse Fett: You could say Jesse has brass vibes. I see him as a reed person though. In concert band, he’s on clarinet. I used to think clarinets were as stuck up as us flutes but no they’re literally balls of chaotic energy ready to be unleashed. Just imagine Jesse blaming everything on his reed. I see him as the guy who switches to saxophone for marching band, though. He’s got the energy of the clarinet and the saxophone harnessed. Also, wouldn’t be surprised if he knows how to play the sousa.

Kix Fett: Y’know, when I originally made this AU, I had Kix as a musician as well. I’m gonna scratch that. He’s going to medical school, or at least, he’s planning to. He’s on the pre-med track and is dying in organic chemistry and wishes there weren’t so many pre-requisites. However, in high school, he definitely played the oboe. Of course Kix chose one of the hardest instruments to play. Also, just imagine him trying to make his own reeds. I don’t see him as a guy who’s in marching band. He’ll come to competitions and maybe football games if he’s bullied into it. Kix is the guy who’s classes are all AP and he’s dying inside.

Next round of twins yeet:

Fives Fett: shit, I forgot I gave them all real names. If I remember correctly, Fives is Frank. Anyways, trumpet vibes. Need I say more? He’s on the trumpet in marching band as well and he’s the dude who’s obsessed with DCI and always tries to play as high as he possibly can and absolutely demolishes his chops. I would say he’s section leader as well. He also hangs with the drumline at the back of the bus and always plays meme songs on blast and sends weird pictures to people’s phone via open airdrop.

Echo Fett: I think his birth name is Ethan??? I’m spitting thoughts not checking my old documents. Anyways. Echo feels like a string person. Specifically, low strings. So, he plays the bass. Upright bass. Whatever. You get what I mean. He sleeps in the case after school and hates hauling it everywhere. He was in marching band as a mello player (the easiest brass instrument to pick up for the activity so) but he was in a car crash that left him paralyzed from the hip down, and had to quit to recover. He never stopped playing, and found ways to adjust. (I do not know how exactly this would work, since I’m able bodied and also don’t play the bass, but I know he’d at least have a stool to sit on in order to lean his body on. let me know if you have other ideas i’d love to hear them!)

Finally, we got the triplets:

Dogma Fett: Dogma plays the bassoon. He’s a low reed kinda guy and between the bari sax, bass clarinet, and bassoon, he fits the last one the best. He and Kix moan over making reeds and he’s on the quieter side. He just vibes and plays all the low notes and has fun whenever he’s got some moving part. I see Dogma as someone who is only casually into marching band. He uses Jesse’s old student clarinet as his instrument and he’s always on time, knows his sets, and his technique is on point. He always finds himself roped into his brothers’ shenanigans though.

Tup Fett: Tup plays the harp. I like to think he met Shaak Ti (we’ll get to her in a bit) when he was young, and she was playing with an orchestra. He met her backstage and she offered to give him lessons. Tup’s not really a part of high school orchestra but sometimes he’ll be brought in. He’s more involved with solo work and the youth orchestra more than anything. Tup’s another on where I don’t think he’d be into marching band. Though I can see him being in winter guard as the dude who just shows up and is lowkey rip and therefore is a hunk on the rifle. His technique’s good but they’ve never been able to saddle him into fall guard.

Hardcase Fett: (i’ve given up on remembering the birth names so i’m just gonna not) Hardcase is 100% low brass vibes. He can’t be anything but a low brass. I see him as a tuba player. He’s chill, laid back, but also reliable for being the foundation of the band sound. He plays the sousaphone in marching band and always blasts either Seven Nation Army or some other popular show tune right after rehearsals. Hardcase also can play the bari sax and no one knows when he learned how to.

OKAY we’re done with the Fett’s! Jango and Boba are in here somewhere but honestly I don’t have enough brainpower to come up with what their roles are. Jango’s gonna be a good dad though. Maybe he was a musician and that’s why most of his kids are going into music. Or maybe he’s just a supportive father. Boba’s the youngest though, that’s for sure. And he’s a little shit. Don’t know if he plays an instrument (probably) or what it might be.

Now lets get into some other characters! There’s a lot. And I wasn’t even halfway done with the characters I wanted to include. What the hell was I on last summer?

Padmé Amidala: Padmé is a flute player who quit after freshman year of high school and started taking music production and music theory classes. She loved it so much that she decided that composing was her jam. Now, she’s highly successful and often works with well known pianist, Anakin Skywalker, on piano concertos. Also, she may or may not be dating said pianists but you didn’t hear that from me.

Satine Kryze: twosetters don’t shit on me but Satine feels like she’d play the viola. She and Obi-Obi-Wan definitely dated in high school but after a year broke up on mutual terms and are just good friends now. A lot of people feel like she’d have been a better political science/international studies major than a music major but she’s good so no one complains (until she gets into a fighting match with someone and wins smugly)

Bo-Katan Kryze: shes Satine’s younger sister and is a mad athlete. She doesn’t play any instruments but she’s deeply active and is on scholarship for college, on the pre-med track with Kix. She’s very scary and most people are too intimidated by her to approach.

Plo Koon: I originally had him as an asian man, but I can see Native American as well. He plays the euphonium and he’s just a sweet man. He helps out a lot with private lessons at local high schools and is often brought in to help with low brass during marching band.

Wolffe Koon: Wolffe and Gregor (get to him in a bit) were both adopted by Plo when their parents died when they were very young. Plo was their godfather and he took them in like they were his own. They’re cousins to the Fett brothers (though don’t ask me how I have no idea). Wolffe is an engineer and works close to home.

Gregor Koon: Gregor is Wolffe’s younger brother and had a short stint of musical interest in middle school but quit after he entered high school. Gregor was in a serious car crash during college that left him amnesiac for a year before some of his memories returned. He now owns a restaurant and sticks close to home. Wolffe often comes around to check up on him because his brain injury still impacts his current life in small physical and emotional dips

Kit Fisto: Kit gives off mad trombone vibes and it’s mostly because he seems incredibly laid back. He’s one of those brass players who’s just a nice guy and while jokes around, never got pulled into jokes as a student.

Shaak Ti: like I said above, Shaak Ti is most definitely a harpist. She has that ethereal quality I think is common in harpists. She’s a tall Indian woman and she loves her job! She’s a private lesson teacher and instructor at the conservatory on top of her job in the orchestra since she’s not called in often to play. She loves all her students and gives good hugs.

Mace Windu: Mace is the director of the Jedi Symphony, the orchestra which almost everyone is involved with. He is a bass player and he likes his more classical pieces over contemporary music. He’s good friends with Yoda and sometimes the old troll has to wack some sense into Windu and have him take on newer pieces. Windu 100% gives off unhinged director vibes because mistakes and lazy musicians definitely don’t end after high school/college is over.

Quinlan Vos: this lil shithead definitely is the obnoxious, slightly arrogant, but kind of deserving of that, percussionist. He loves his snare drum and is also in the drumline. He’s the same age as Obi-Wan and the two are close friends. Quinlan is definitely slightly unhinged and is always at the back of the bus causing havoc after competitions. He’s the guy that I (OP) hate but also can’t help but respect cuz yeah he’s annoying but at least he’s good.

Aayla Secura: Aayla is Quinn’s half-sister, and plays the French horn. Again, like Cody, she’s got this air of professionalism that I associate with French horn players and like, we gotta represent the girls in brass somehow. She just fits it really nicely.

I feel like now is the time to list who’s still in conservatory and who isn’t: Obi-Wan, Anakin, Rex, Cody, Jesse, Quinlan, Padmé, and Satine are all recent graduates. Ahsoka, Aayla, Fives, Echo, Tup, Dogma, and Hardcase are still in conservatory (at varying years of course). Kix and Bo are entering med school/frantically applying and banging their heads cuz MCATs. Wolffe and Gregor are older and have been in the field for quite some time now. Plo, Kit, Shaak, and Mace are all faculty/seasoned professionals.

Somehow, I was gonna bring in The Skiratas (with proper research cuz I know very little about them), Dooku, Ventress, the Oppress siblings, rest of Domino Squad, Cut Lawquene, the other CCs, and more. I designated a page out of my sketchbook for this and my oh my the flow chart was hella confusing. How I thought I was gonna handle that in the summer before my first year of college, I have no idea. Maybe I’ll brainstorm more in the future but for now, this is all I have :]]]

Also excuse some of my slightly unhinged language I started writing this a few days ago while slightly unfocused and tired and stressed so my language is a product of that

#star wars #meta #musician au #my thoughts #I miss marching band so fucking much #I miss DCI #and WGI #miss the community #even if it was pretty stressful at times cuz drama #people love their drama in band #I don’t blame them you get sick of people after band camp #star wars au

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heytheremariana · 4 years

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𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐬 2021

⠀ (26-01-2021)

“ Words on bathroom walls ”

(palabras en la paredes del baño)

- c a l i f i c a c i ó n

5 / 5

- r e s u m e n

Adam tiene esquizofrenia, lo sabe y lo ha tratado, sin embargo su enfermedad es resistente al tratamiento y por más que ha pasado por cualquier cóctel de medicamento imaginable, tiene que seguir lidiando con las otras personas que habitan en su mente: Una linda chica hippie (Rebecca), un guardaespaldas, y un desinhibido joven llamado Joaquín.

Después de comenzar a tomar un tratamiento experimental que puede serle de ayuda, Adam entra al instituto catolico St. Agatha’s, donde tendrá que hacer su mejor esfuerzo para no ser echado pues es su última oportunidad para estudiar y convertirse en el gran chef que desea ser. Ahí es donde conoce a Maya, un inteligente chica que se convertirá en su única amiga y a quien tendrá que ocultarle su mayor secreto (al igual que a todos) para no ser tratado como loco, pero, ¿por cuanto más podrá ocultarlo? ¿y que tan difícil será ahora que se está acercando más a Maya?

- o p i n i ó n (sin spoiler)

Estoy casi segura que la esquizofrenia no se ve justo como en la película, pero también estoy segura de que se siente como tal.

Ame esta película con todo mi ser, realmente creo que es una de las películas que debería tener muchísimo más reconocimiento del que tiene, porque no es otra película vacía de romance, trata bastante bien el tema de una las enfermedades mentales más graves, y sobre todo creo que es muy buena para hacer conciencia, pues en particular esta enfermedad es de las que más juzgamos sin saber de ella, pues siempre que pensamos que la esquizofrenia es sinónimo de locura, y como bien dice Adam en una línea de la película menciona, a los niños con cáncer les conceden deseos y los ayudan, mientras que alguien con una enfermedad mental tal como la esquizofrenia, es burlado y llamado loco. Y existe un estigma gigante en cuanto a esta enfermedad.

La relación de Adam y Maya también es bonita y si bien creo que Charlie Plummer y Taylor Russell no tuvieron mucha química en cuanto a la actuación como pareja, la historia de ellos es bonita y le da un plus a la película, sin embargo creo que el tema principal y al que más se debería prestar atención es a la historia de Adam.

Conforme avanza la película comienza a volverse un poco más cruda pues creo que no ocultan las partes difíciles de la enfermedad, al contrario, las visibilizan más y me pareció bastante bueno sinceramente yo llore un poco en ciertas partes pues jamás me había puesto a pensar en cómo era la vida de una persona que sufría esta enfermedad y me hizo ponerme por un momento en su lugar.

En fin, creo que es una buena oportunidad para conocer un poco más sobre la esquizofrenia, hacer conciencia y pasar un buen rato, es una película muy bonita, romántica, divertida pero sin dejar de lado el tema importante. Me gustó bastante, todos deberían verla alguna vez.

(y sobre todo me gustó la actuación de charlie plummer, últimamente se está convirtiendo en mi actor favorito y la participación de Devon Bostick, mi (eterno) crush de la infancia)

- t r a i l e r

https://youtu.be/BERgVUqz-W0

¡ Gracias por leer ! ೃ࿔

#español #movies #peliculas #reseña #reseñas #cine #cinema #cinemetography #cinephile #words on bathroom walls #palabras en las paredes del baño #2020 #charlie plummer #taylor russell #annasophia robb

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salt-warrior · 4 years

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WHEN EARTH TURNS TO ASHES

Masterlist

Chapter Eight: Incidents and Accidents

Rain poured outside of the school building, despite the fact that it was snowing back in Colorado. Olympia's weather was much more constant— remaining at a cool, rainy temperature year-round. Kai couldn't imagine living in a place where seeing the sun was an uncommon treasure. He needed sunshine almost as much as he needed air, but maybe that was just because he's grown up in constant sunshine.

The door to the principal's office swung open, and out stepped a large, smiling man resembling the Wolf on his door placard. Kai turned wary; he didn't much fancy going into a principal's office after all the time's he'd spent in his own.

It was always Thorne, coming up with a stupid plan and getting them sent to the principal. Kai tried fruitlessly to convince him to stop, but in the end they would always be back up in front of Principal Konn.

"Kaito Crown?" The man's voice came out as something close to a growl. "I'm Alpha Strom." Kai bit back laughter as the principal extended his hand politely— the things that some hippies did. Kai shook the man's hand, and found that he had a pleasantly business-like firm handshake. It reminded Kai of his father.

"You can just call me Kai," Kai said. "Only my dad ever calls me that; and my old school principal."

A bark of laughter split the air, and the two grinned. "I take it you don't have fond feelings for your late principal, then?"

"No, I got along with him fine. He and my father were childhood friends, and he was like another parent to me." Kai thought back on Torin. He was a kind, wise man. He had been there for Kai every moment after his mother had died. "My friend was a major troublemaker, though, so I always had to go and talk with Principal Konn."

"Ah, I see how it is then." Principal Strom winked, gesturing for Kai to enter his office. "Come in and take a seat. I imagine that for whatever reason you're here, it's important."

"You have no idea," Kai muttered. He had planned what he was going to ask the Principal on his five hour flight to Olympia. He had brainstormed about it as he had tried to sleep in his hotel. He had thought about Selene, and how much she was counting on him— or maybe Kai was just counting on himself for Selene.

Strom walked around his large, beat-up desk to sit in a high-backed chair. The seating arrangement looked uncomfortable on his large frame, even though it would have drowned Kai. The room was plain, barren. The only decoration was a flag with the wolf mascot stamped across and the bold letters of OHS. "What would you like to discuss with me today then, Mr. Crown."

"Selene Linh." Kai sat straight up in his chair, mirroring the man across from him. His father had taught him that presenting your best self was one's greatest asset in getting a business deal; Kai hoped that the same applied to gleaning information from an old High School principal.

"She went here about two years back, before–"

"Before she ran away." Principal Strom rubbed two fingers against the bridge of his nose. "I remember Selene. A brilliant girl with a tragic story."

Kai shivered at Strom's words. He didn't appear to hate the girl judging by his demeanor, but he may have just been good with facial masks. "Yes, you see, Selene recently got into a bad car accident. She lost part of her left leg and has severe nerve damage. I just– I'm trying to find someone who cares for her."

The principal stared at Kai, his dark eyes piercing. He was a kind man, but not one to be messed with either. "You may have a hard time with that," Strom said. "Before she ran away, she was constantly bullied, though she never admitted it— too proud to admit. All sorts of rumors were spread about her, and no one ever knew whether or not they were true."

"Were they about how she killed her sister?" Kai asked, his burning curiosity getting the better of him. There was something mysterious about the young girl's death. Something covered up and suspicious.

Principal Strom's face revealed nothing, but his hitched breath showed that the question was shocking. "Yes, they were about Peony Linh."

Kai sat forward in his seat. "How exactly did Peony Linh die? Do you know?"

"No one knows. No one except for the family— they were under strict orders to keep things related to Selene under the wraps until the final adoption papers were completed." Principal Strom looked grave. "Selene and Peony went somewhere; Selene came back alone. No one talked about Peony after that, except for the rumors that spread about Selene having killed her; most of them spread by Pearl Linh."

"Do you think that Selene killed Peony Linh?" Kai asked urgently.

"Personally?" Strom shook his head. "Selene was a fierce girl. I knew her well. But I do believe that she would never have harmed Peony— at least not intentionally."

"Did Selene have a violent past?" Kai cringed as the words slipped out of his mouth. He felt guilty for digging into Selene's past, but he needed to know what was going on. He needed to know her.

"Technically, I'm not supposed to tell you anything about Selene," Principal Strom looked uncomfortable. "But I am willing to tell you what I do know, as long as it's just between the two of us."

Kai nodded fervently.

"Okay, so I don't know much, except for the basics. Her Social Service worker, Liam Kinney, worked his butt off to help her, but trouble always followed Selene. The family before the Linh's, they had wanted to adopt Selene as well, but then there was an incident. I don't know what happened," Strom put his palms flat against the table, cutting Kai off before he could ask. "Kinney kept things tied up very tightly. I would give you his contact information, but I lost track of him about a year ago."

"Like I said, Selene was a kind girl, but dark things always seemed to follow her. Not many people would be willing to tell you much about her; especially not the Linh's. I can, however give you one person who might give you your best shot." Strom pulled out a piece of paper and began to write something down.

"Who would that be?" Kai asked, feeling despondent. He had hoped for more than 'she has a dark past' and 'I can't give you much information.' He wanted answers.

Strom paused from his writing. "Selene's friend. Well, someone who was once her friend." Strom glanced at his computer, clicking a few tabs and keys before he finished his note.

"Here," Strom said, handing Kai the paper. It had an address, a phone number, and a name written in barely legible writing. "She stayed here local since graduating. She was a star pupil, but and outsider; like Selene."

"Thank you for all of your help," Kai stood, and extended a hand to Strom. They shook, and Strom had a melancholy glint to his dark eyes.

"I do hope you can do something for Selene. I always– I wish that I could have done more for her." Strom patted Kai on the back. "I knew that she was being bullied, and I did nothing. I knew that she was drowning, and never did I throw her a life raft. I hope that perhaps you'll be able to accomplish what I could not."

A burning sensation filled Kai's chest. He simply nodded his head, and walked away before he had to look at more of this guilt in the old man's face.

Selene may have caused a great amount of anger and heartbreak, but she caused just as much guilt and sorrow. She was a burning pathway of destruction and loss. She was a magnet for bad luck, but also for people. She was a forest fire: calamitous and deadly, but impossible to ignore. She was a fallen angel, causing the Heavens to weep at her downfall and Hell scorn the beauteous creature in fear of her being the greatest of them all.

Kai read the note again, launching the coordinates into his phone. He would figure out what happened. He would track down Liam Kinney if he had to. But for now, he would talk to Cress Darnel.

***

"Why?" Selene's words were harsh and bitter. "I thought you were my friend. I trusted you." Betrayal twisted her words into a comfortless whisper.

Cress's big blue eyes widened, and Selene would have felt guilty under different circumstances. "You know that I didn't do it— I didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't think–" Selene choked on her words. "We– I– she was my sister. I loved her. You know that."

Selene had cornered Crescent after class, needing to speak to her one last time. She had to know if the betrayal was an act of free will or forced. She wanted nothing more than to believe that Cress didn't mean it. The look in her best friend's eyes, however, was answer enough.

"I thought I did." Cress squeaked. Her eyes were brighter than usual. "But Pearl, she told me the truth. She told me, and now the whole thing makes sense. This wasn't even the first time you've killed someone." Cress looked sick as she said the words. "Ran Kesley–"

"Don't," Selene spat the words like fire. "Don't you dare. That was–"

"An accident?" Cress cut through, her voice rising with nerves and mockery. "You and I both know that an accident like that doesn't just reoccur. You planned it all. You're a freak; a sociopath. Do you even know what love is?"

Selene flinched as if Cress had caused her physical pain. It wasn't the first time she had heard the words, but hearing them come from her best friend made then sting more than they had coming from Adri or Pearl or even Mr. Kesley.

Cress's face softened, but less out of sympathy than horror and sadness. "You tore apart families, Selene. You may not have intended it to happen, but you still caused it. You– you–" Cress covered her eyes with her small, delicate fingers.

"I don't even know why you stay here." Cress murmured, her posture hardening. "No one wants you." Cress hissed. Selene had never heard such unkind words come from the girl. Cress had always been so sweet; now she was ice and a cruel knife in the back.

Bile filmed in Selene's mouth. There were so many things that she wanted to say. Thousands of comebacks, dozens of betrayals; but nothing came.

"Me neither."

#when earth turns to ashes #wetta #a burning world #marissa meyer #tlc #kaider fanfiction #tlc fanfiction #kaider #linh cinder #selene blackburn #prince kai #emperor kai #the lunar chronicles #lunar chronicles #carswell thorne #cress darnel #konn torin #salt warrior stories

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blogquantumreality · 4 years

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Falling Skies Thoughts

Ok, so disclaimer first - there are going to be spoilers for all five seasons in this meta so I’m going to put a “Read More” for anyone who hasn’t seen it (which may very well be the case, since the show is now ten years old and so may have dropped off the fandom radar).

For anyone who hasn’t seen it, I do highly recommend it, even with caveats from the fandom about how the series wraps up.

For those who have, please read on! (and the thoughts I have below are by no means complete, but do represent some of my principal concerns about the quality of the show. Feel free to reblog or reply and add your thoughts!)

Ok, first off, Season 5 was, as I said in another post, uneven.

Actually that was putting it lightly - parts of it really did suck, mainly since they parachuted in things from literally nowhere to wrap up the Season Five arcs and end the series.

But the showrunners and writers didn’t have to.

Number one - Sara didn’t need to be fridged at all. Pope as the antihero who grudgingly respects the mains because he knows they mean well and Get Shit Done could’ve been continued right to the end with him and Sara being all, “this hippy dippy world government thing ain’t for us. Sayonara and off to the Keys!”

Number two - Karen Nadler was a very much underused Big Bad in Waiting.

The show has been full of some unsubtle as hell parallels involving Nazi Germany, in particular, and Karen Nadler follows in the footsteps of many a collaborator who thought they got a better deal under an occupying authority.

The most famous of course, since his name is literally a metaphor for a sell-out, is Vidkun Quisling. And Karen as a quisling in her own right is amply demonstrated. She’s rude and dismissive to Lourdes and mocks her behind her back (which suggests that she’s at worst generally misanthropic and at best easily inclined to be mean on flimsy pretexts). She’s blond-haired and blue-eyed, which is the “Aryan” stereotype, and to all appearances has considerable free will even when harnessed - which is unusual, since most harnessed people are kept under heavy control and are little more than drones executing the commands of the Skitters or Overlords/Espheni.

The seeds of a potential Karen as Big Bad in place of the Queen were planted in Season 3, when she was put in power over the Espheni Eastern Seaboard occupation forces, and used it to begin sowing discord and disharmony, starting with manipulating Hal, and then compromising the DNA of Anne’s baby, and then subtly implying the Volm are not who they say they are.

In short, Karen is unprincipled, smart, and dangerous.

Karen as the ultimate leader of the entire Espheni occupation would combine the worst traits of humans and Espheni, and use them to devastating effect as she uses manipulation and deceit to throw discord into even well-disciplined groups like the Second Massachusetts.

We already know the Espheni use mind-control devices as well as sophisticated cloning technologies to mimic people. One good false flag Volm attack on a human base, for example, could utterly destroy a major offensive and keep the Espheni in control over Earth for years longer than in the show.

In this context, Lexie as the anti-Karen - the uniter of the forces against the Espheni occupiers rather than the ruler of all the humans want gone - would be a very well-executed duality that could be explored in the Season 4 arc.

A Season 5 in this version of the show would call upon the very limits of the capabilities of the resistance to the Espheni occupation, and the Queen could even be handwaved away with a few lines, if not dispensed with entirely.

Karen’s epitaph in such a show would change from being abruptly killed by a few bullets to this line: “We thought we knew what diabolical evil was in our own history. Karen Nadler shattered all we thought we knew about it.”

Now imagine Matt Mason writing that as the final line in his book as the season 5 finale fades to black.

#falling skies #meta #my thoughts let me show you them

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lilspice05 · 4 years

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Youth Culture is different though each generation and can be described in many ways or forms. For example youth culture is the way children, adolescents and young adults live, and the norms, values, and practices that they share. Now imagine that definition and compare it with your favorite television show or movie. What do you see? You should find a relation between the experiences that you dealt with in life and what the character is doing throughout the series or film. Now take that even one step further and look deep into what character you relate to the most. It could be the smallest, funniest, shyest, craziest character or even the main character. Now really look deeper into that relation as it can be any action, feeling, or even the way that character dresses can depend on why you relate to them so much. This relation with youth culture can be seen throughout every decade, especially the 50”s, 60”s,90’s, and 2000’s with each one having its own style, norms, language, and values that related to the teens and young adults at the time.

In the 50’s they strongly focused on family based shows and values as they were post world war II and the dawn of the cold war, so they wanted young men to serve and ladies to stay home and take care of all the chores, kids, and sometimes the finances. That's why shows, or back then they were called sitcoms like I Love Lucy, Father Knows Best, and Happy Days were all premiered during this time frame. This taught young ladies how to cook, clean, respect their husbands, and how to dress which was very proper back then. As image was everything for both men and women and if you weren't a perfect and happy family then something was wrong with you. All of this also was happening while also teaching young men to go to work and take care of their family while providing food, protection, and a house. This all because of their norms as they thought a man was everything back then and women were still fighting for many rights. Which leads us to the 60’s. Now this decade also had a huge war in it which caused a lot of norms to change for many people. It even had one of the youngest presidents in the office who was then assassinated later, which made values also slowly change as people's style, music, and lifestyle was different for the better. Girls were able to go out and wear shorter dresses and start stepping out of their comfort zone, especially on the hippie side where they were able to be free and really like themselves. That's why movies like Casino Royale, Barbarella, She, and Cleopatra were put out to show women as strong, independent, outgoing, and capable of things men can do. Sometimes they were even better than the men, however social media still made sure during that time men were still the superior gender and released Dr No, Goldfringers, and DJANGO, to make the men look ten times stronger. Now after reading all that let's skip a few decades and look at the 90’s. This decade was full of crazy and extreme lifestyles as more and more people were stepping out of that ‘’American Dream” life and more into the party life. People were drinking, smoking, building bigger and better homes, driving expensive cars, and more norms were being added as many people were opening up about being gay or lesbian. They also had a very outgoing and different style than the other decades as crop tops, baggy clothes, big shoes, and funny looking hair styles were all introduced as a way to get young teens to step out of their comfort zone. This then led into the early 2000’s as it became the new norm for the next generation. Which strongly believes in being bold, different, but also takes from the other decades. Like from the 50’s and 60's, image is everything and one mess could lead to a variety of different conquense based on the norms or values that society has put in place for us.

Now that I have dropped all that different outlooks of the different decades on you. You should know I'm a 2000 decade baby so I personally relate not only to the movie Breakfast club but also the character John Bender. I relate to this character in so many different ways as I can see myself as if i was actually in the movie. The first way I relate to him is he is an outsider just like me. We as people don't fit what society considers as perfect or even normal because we have rough past, presents, and maybe even futures as we given up on the reality of a good life. It's like as a person who is just so used to being thrown to the side and forgotten about or used for other’s success doesn't need others to feel sorry for us so we just hide and do our own things. However, with saying another way I relate to John is that we do our own thing and hope someone notices we are doing those actions. We especially want a parent to notice us and actually love us the right way. As just like this character I have a broken home and my mother was very abusive by yelling, screaming, throwing things, and mental breaking me down. Which caused us to change for the worse in hopes they will wake up one day and expect us because society hasn't just like them. All of this then made me three themes that were shown throughout not only this film but many more like Mean Girls,Euphoria, and Mid-90’s.The first theme was rebellion against authority. In everyone of these films they struggled with what adults opinions and demands as they couldn't understand that they were just trying to protect them or teach them a lesson they have to learn. This tends to be a heavy theme that happens today since we young adults grow up just a little too fast trying to keep up with trends, goals, and even just fellow adults. The second theme is the general stereotypes that most movies, short films, and tv shows use to show high school life. Those stereotypes are the popular girl, athlete, nerd, weird kid, mean principal, and most of all the outsider. They then combine them all together and hope that they get along, which never happens since the social class says that can't happen, otherwise you're a complete loser. Unless they are providing something for you, or in the popular girl case worshiping you. Then the last theme is the peer pressure that is actually put on the students to be so perfect. Then on top of that the soundtrack for each film and show gives and assists in telling a story and guides the audience in certain ways, for example emotionally, and it enriches and deepens their experience of the film. That's why if i ever had to choose a soundtrack for any film it would be the Breakfast Club and it would be these ten songs: Simple Minds- Don't You,Nirvana - All Apologies,Paramore: That's What You Get,Numb (Official Video) - Linkin Park,Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication,Journey - Don't Stop Believin',Aerosmith - Dream on,Every Rose Has Its Thorn- Poison,Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue,and Stand by Me - Ben E King. I chose these songs because they all express emotions that are portrayed throughout the movie. From pain to love and everything in between, there are so many different emotions that are brought up in the movie and that’s why I specifically chose these songs.

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vausegf · 4 years

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15 lugares en el mundo para saber antes de morir

El mundo está lleno de lugares increíbles y extraordinarios, y muchos de ellos se convierten en favoritos entre quienes los conocen. A continuación, enumeramos 15 de estos maravillosos lugares que, estén llenos de turistas o no, sin duda merecen una visita.

La ciudad azul de Chefchaouen, Marruecos

Caminando por un mar azul en Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen, la ciudad azul de Marruecos, a pesar de no tener acceso al mar, se asemeja a un océano azul infinito, escondido al pie de las montañas Rife. La ciudad fue fundada en 1471, cuando Chefchaouen funcionó como una fortaleza árabe para escapar de España. Con el tiempo, la ciudad recibió judíos y cristianos que vivieron junto con los bereberes. Cuando estás en medio de este oasis azul, la sensación de diseño te llamará la atención. Pero la razón para pintar las casas en tonos azules era religiosa.

Las enseñanzas judías dicen que el azul nos recuerda el poder de Dios, una creencia que todavía está presente hoy. ¡También hubo un rumor de que el color azul ahuyentaba a los mosquitos! La intensidad de los edificios azules está marcada por las diversas tiendas con vitrinas de edredones, alfombras y lámparas hechas a mano. Y nada mejor que perderse en el laberinto de calles empedradas de la ciudad.

El desierto de sal del Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Entre el cielo y la tierra en el espectacular Salar de Uyuni

Un desierto de sal casi infinita que se convierte en uno de los espejos más grandes del mundo cuando está cubierto de agua. ¿Te parece surrealista? Pero existe! Cubriendo un área similar al tamaño de las Bahamas, el Salar de Uyuni se creó cuando el prehistórico lago Minchín se secó, dejando charcos y salinas. Vinieron más depósitos de sal de las montañas circundantes, ya que no había salida al mar. Por lo tanto, el Salar de Uyuni llega hoy como una de las experiencias de viaje más increíbles de su vida:

imagine un paisaje plano de sal seca y brillante, con la apariencia de barro agrietado, y puntuado por pequeñas islas que hacen que la vista sea aún más surrealista. Durante la temporada de lluvias (diciembre a abril), una fina capa de agua transforma las salinas en un inmenso lago que refleja el cielo tan perfectamente, que se puede ver en el horizonte donde el cielo se encuentra con la Tierra.

Ciudad de Christiania libre, Dinamarca

La comunidad hippie de Copenhague en Christiania es casi un oasis en el medio de la ciudad.

Copenhague, 1971: la revolución hippie está en el agua y un grupo de ocupantes ilegales ocupa un edificio militar abandonado en la zona del puerto de Christianshavn. La policía no puede liberar el área, y nace un lugar de vida alternativo, basado en el autogobierno, la tolerancia y la comunidad. Aunque inicialmente fue tolerado como un experimento social, Christiania se ha adaptado y cambiado a lo largo de los años para sobrevivir.

Hoy, alrededor de mil personas viven allí y la inmensa área está ocupada por edificios curiosos, jardines tranquilos, acogedores restaurantes y salas de conciertos.

Christiania siempre ha estado rodeada de controversia, incluido el comercio de marihuana. Aunque es un área generalmente segura, es bueno seguir las reglas anunciadas en la entrada: no filmar ni tomar fotos, especialmente en 'Pusher Street', una de las principales vías de Christiania.

Conozca más Christiania e Copenhague con nuestra guía de lugares momondo (disponible para iPhone, en inglés).

Campos de arroz en Sapa, Vietnam

Campos verdes como nunca has visto antes ...

Las laderas con campos de arroz, densos bosques de bambú y montañas cubiertas de nubes hacen de Sapa una de las atracciones turísticas más increíbles de Vietnam. Hace mucho tiempo, esta área consistía en numerosas pendientes con suelo muy fértil. Luego, los residentes gradualmente comenzaron a modificar la tierra (creando los pasos notorios) y a cultivar arroz. La técnica común en áreas montañosas reduce la erosión y es bastante eficiente en cultivos que requieren riego. Sin mencionar el aspecto espectacular que producen los campos escalonados. Los colores cambian cada temporada. Entre junio y julio, los arrozales alcanzan su apogeo, y puedes ver una variedad de matices de verde; Entre septiembre y octubre, los campos muestran hermosos tonos de oro en contraste con el verde de las laderas.

Catedral de San Basilio, Moscú, Rusia

La explosión de colores de la Catedral de San Basilio en Moscú

La Catedral de San Basilio, uno de los edificios más famosos y simbólicos de Rusia, parece un plató de cine y es la principal atracción de la Plaza Roja de Moscú. Oficialmente llamada Catedral de la Intercesión de la Santísima Virgen en el pozo, más tarde fue nombrada en honor a Basilio, el "Loco por Cristo".

Su construcción fue ordenada por el primer zar de Rusia, Iván el Terrible, en 1554, en honor de una conquista militar. Originalmente era solo blanco para combinar con las piedras blancas de Kremin y las cúpulas doradas. Los colores se agregaron más tarde en el siglo XVII, inspirados en descripciones bíblicas del Reino de los Cielos.

São Basilio se compone de ocho capillas alrededor de un noveno centro, con los cuatro interiores que se elevan sobre los demás. Hay varias teorías no probadas sobre el diseño arquitectónico de la catedral: una dice que la estructura representa el símbolo medieval de la estrella de ocho puntas. Hoy ya no es una iglesia, sino un museo.

Para obtener más consejos sobre la capital rusa, descargue nuestra aplicación momondo places y vea una guía gratuita para Moscú (disponible para iPhone, en inglés).

Doce Apóstoles, Australia

Los increíbles Doce Apóstoles se mecen en la costa de Australia

Cruce la hermosa Great Ocean Road desde Melbourne y, después de un viaje de cuatro horas, llegue a uno de los paisajes más famosos de Australia: los Doce Apóstoles, las formaciones rocosas que se elevan desde el Océano Austral. Los apóstoles surgieron gracias a un largo y constante proceso de erosión de los acantilados de piedra caliza: el salvaje Océano Austral (o Antártico) y los fuertes vientos torcieron la piedra caliza, dejando cuevas en las rocas.

Estas rocas terminaron convirtiéndose en arcos que, al caer, dieron lugar a montones aislados de piedras de hasta 45 metros de altura. El nombre puede ser un poco extraño, ya que en realidad nunca hubo 12 montones de piedras, sino 9 (no hay una explicación real para el nombre, excepto el apodo local que se adoptó como oficial). Hasta 2005, solo ocho de las piedras permanecían allí, ya que la erosión las sigue afectando.

ciudad del Vaticano

Una mañana soleada bendiciendo la Ciudad del Vaticano

Habiendo recibido su propio estatus como ciudad-estado independiente en 1929, la imponente Ciudad del Vaticano, técnicamente el país más pequeño del mundo, siempre ha sido un lugar importante para los turistas de todas las designaciones, católicos o de otro tipo.

Sí, seguramente encontrarás mucho ruido turístico en las orillas de este enclave amurallado, pero una vez que pases por los vendedores ambulantes que intentan forjar llaveros Popemobile, encontrarás la mejor arquitectura barroca y renacentista del mundo.

Al pasar a los guardias suizos con ropa colorida y monumentos notables como los Museos Vaticanos, la Basílica de San Pedro y la Capilla Sixtina, que es extremadamente asombrosa, parece que te han llevado en el tiempo en 500 años.

¿Lo mejor de todo? Puedes hacerlo todo en un día. Consejo adicional: las piernas y los brazos desnudos no están permitidos en un estado eclesiástico, así que asegúrese de cubrirlos.

Para ver más de 120 consejos de los locales, descargue nuestra guía de lugares momondo de Roma (disponible para iPhone, en inglés).

Capadocia, Turquía

Un vuelo en globo aerostático en Capadocia, Turquía

Estamos seguros de que has visto las fotos, pero ninguna puede estar a la altura de Capadocia. A solo una hora de la gran ciudad de Kayseri en Anatolia, este antiguo reino ha existido de alguna forma durante más de 3,500 años y hoy es incomparablehabitações trogloditas y las piedras volcánicas de forma fálica (anteriormente conocidas como "chimeneas de hadas") dejan atónitos a millones de visitantes cada año.

La mejor manera de descubrirlos es yendo al cielo. Todo por unos 200 euros el vuelo, estospaseos en globo aerostáticopueden parecer una trampa turística cara. Sin embargo, el viaje dura 95 minutos y, una vez que esté por encima del Patrimonio de la Humanidad de la UNESCO, se dará cuenta de que es un pequeño precio a pagar para experimentar una de las maravillas indiscutibles del mundo.

Consejo adicional: Deshágase de la multitud y vea Capadocia en su magnificencia cuando llegue justo antes del amanecer.

Palacio de Versalles, Francia.

En línea para entrar en las habitaciones del hermoso Palacio de Versalles © archer10 (Dennis)

Francia está llena de adornos, castillos reales, pero todos son inferiores en comparación con Versalles. Esta grandeza de los palacios barrocos fue el hogar de la corte real desde 1682 hasta exactamente el nacimiento de la Revolución Francesa en 1789. Hoy, está abierto a los príncipes y a los pobres por igual, quienes toman el sencillo viaje en tren de una hora desde el centro de París para ver su esplendor. .

Comience con un paseo por los jardines de Versalles, majestuosamente conservados, antes de dirigirse a la sombra que ofrecen las habitaciones del retiro de mármol rosa, el Grand Trianon. Cuando esté listo, únase a la línea inevitablemente larga, pero vale la pena, para llegar a la pieza de resistencia del Palacio: la Galería de los Espejos.

Esta sala de 73 metros de largo está llena de 17 grandes espejos en un lado, en el otro, 17 ventanas a juego que ofrecen maravillosas vistas del jardín y un opulento fresco sobre su cabeza que narra las conquistas de la monarquía.

¿Busca más consejos sobre lugares para visitar y los mejores hoteles? Descargue nuestra aplicación momondo places para obtener una guía gratuita deParís (disponible para iPhone, en inglés).

Los monasterios de Meteora, Grecia

El Monasterio de Rousanou es un seis monasterios ubicados en

Donde la naturaleza y la arquitectura se cruzan, encontrarás los antiguos monasterios ortodoxos de Meteora. Las increíbles formaciones rocosas alcanzan una altura equivalente a 120 pisos y albergan seis monasterios del siglo 14. Supuestamente, las primeras personas que habitaron el área llegaron en el siglo IX y vivieron como ermitaños en las pequeñas cuevas a su alrededor. La única forma de transportar cualquier cosa era mediante cestas y redes tiradas por cuerdas. Con el tiempo, la pequeña comunidad comenzó a buscar protección contra los ataques de los invasores y comenzó a construir monasterios. Aunque el acceso a los monasterios es mucho más fácil hoy (se han creado pasos sobre las rocas), requerirá cierta determinación para llegar a la cima. Pero cuando llegues allí, será fácil entender por qué los monjes y las monjas aún viven allí.

Blue Lagoon + Northern Lights, Islandia

Relajándose en la Laguna Azul, Islandia.

Cuando mencionamos Islandia, te refieres a Blue Lake. Sí, este impresionante spa geotérmico es sinónimo de un país nórdico, y tal prestigio significa que se ha vuelto cada vez más comercial y lleno de gente a lo largo de los años, con la tarifa básica de entrada de 45 euros para maravillarse. Y, sin embargo, creemos que esta increíble atracción, a solo 50 minutos del centro de Reykjavik, ¡no debe pasarse por alto en absoluto!

Debido a que está cerca de un campo de lava y de las condiciones geológicas circundantes, las aguas de 39 ° C de la laguna son ricas en minerales como azufre y sílice, con un baño relajante y rejuvenecedor. Si te das un chapuzón durante el otoño o el invierno islandés, asegúrate de mirar hacia arriba para disfrutar de otra de las maravillas del mundo, la granAurora Borealbailando sobre el cielo nocturno. Consejo extra: ¡ Reserve con anticipación! Visite el sitio web de Lagoa Azul paracompra tus entradas y asegúrate de no perder la oportunidad.

Lea mas: Una guía para un viaje de 10 días por Islandia

Petra, Jordan

Una tarde de meditación cerca de los templos de Petra, Jordania © ooOO (Sylvain) OOoo

Petra es conocida en el Medio Oriente como la joya rosa de Jordania, pero para la mayoría de las audiencias occidentales, es probablemente mejor conocida por su cultura popular, como sus papeles protagonistas en Indiana Jones y The Last Crusade and Transformers 2. Si bien puede ser que las películas que atraen a la gente al Patrimonio de la Humanidad de la UNESCO, su belleza irresistible y la preservación de la antigua ciudad realmente le dan a Petra el factor principal. Construido alrededor de 300 años antes de la Era Común por los nabateos con detalles meticulosamente intrincados, el sitio arqueológico incluye tumbas, establos y un anfiteatro, todos esculpidos en acantilados de arenisca. Mírate caminando y perdiéndote durante el día, luego regresa al templo central de Al Khazneh, 'The Treasure', al anochecer y maravíllate con el brillante rojo dorado a la luz de las velas.

Machu Picchu, Peru

Nubes merodean el parque Machu Picchu

Sin lugar a dudas, una de las atracciones más grandes de toda América del Sur, Machu Picchu es bastante inusual, ya que debe alcanzar no menos de 7,979 pies sobre el nivel del mar para encontrarlo. Construido a mediados del siglo XV, es el principal logro del Imperio Inca restante. Muchas de las bases están envejeciendo muy rápidamente, pero aún puede visitar y tener la oportunidad de ver la mampostería "inca", con escaleras, templos, acueductos y puntos de observación repartidos en 12 hectáreas de paisaje montañoso y laberíntico. Para un asentamiento sobre las nubes, Machu Picchu es sorprendentemente fácil de alcanzar. Una vez que haya volado a la encantadora ciudad de Cuzco (un vuelo rápido de 90 minutos desde el aeropuerto de Lima), puede tomar un tren o autobús,

tambien conosca a Kinesiologas los olivos

Strip de Las Vegas, EUA

Todas las luces brillantes en el Strip de Las Vegas © Anthony Quintano

Olvida lo que dice la gente; a veces más no es demasiado. Bueno, al menos eso es lo que se puede decir sobre el Strip de Las Vegas. Tratar de explicar lo extravagante que es Las Vegas para los no iniciados es siempre una tarea infructuosa. Una cuenca de colores brillantes, abierta las 24 horas del día en el fondo del desierto, es un lugar donde el único tamaño es súper grande, y cualquier cosa puede suceder (¡y probablemente lo hará!).

Las Vegas Boulevard South es conocido por su densa concentración de casinos las 24 horas, clubes nocturnos y complejos extravagantes. Incluso puede encontrar versiones propias de Las Vegas de lugares famosos fuera de los Estados Unidos, como elRestaurante Torre Eiffel y el casino y resort de lujo de cinco diamantes, El veneciano. Alrededor de 30,500,000 visitantes vienen cada año para disfrutar de "todo vale", la gloria deslumbrante de la franja central de Sin City. Siga a la manada y prepárese para las vacaciones más basura, exuberantes y francamente más locas que probablemente experimentará. ¡Lo que sucede en Las Vegas se queda en Las Vegas!

O Peak Tram, Hong Kong

El fascinante paisaje verde de Hong Kong, cortado por los tranvías Peak Tram

Elevándose sobre una mezcla de rascacielos ultramodernos y densos jardines forestales en el horizonte de Hong Kong, Peak Tram pone "diversión" en un funicular. Inaugurado en 1888 para uso exclusivo del gobernador británico, Sir George William Des Vœeux, sus dignatarios y residentes de la montaña Victoria Peak , hoy en día más de cuatro millones de turistas suben a bordo para la escalada cada año.

El viaje sorprendentemente fresco puede durar solo siete minutos, ¡pero la vista que se ofrece desde la cima de la montaña no tiene comparación con ningún otro lugar de la Perla del Este y no se la debe perder!

FUENTE: https://www.momondo.com.br/discover/search/peru

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 6 years

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Imagine that you were put in charge of a modern, high-budget, well-written Animorphs TV series. What changes to the plot/characters/world would you make while adapting it? (Books that you'd skip, arcs that you'd rearrange, things you would add or outright alter...)

[Important caveat: I have ZERO experience in set design, directing, editing, camerawork, or any other processes involved in TV production, unless we’re going to be super generous and count the bit of scriptwriting and stage-acting I did in high school. Ergo, these ideas might make no sense in practice.]

Animate it. I would much much prefer to see an anime-style show to a live-action one for a handful of different reasons:

Battle scenes, morph sequences, and alien appearances wouldn’t be constrained by budget realities. Although we’ve come a long way from AniTV’s practical effects, in 2019 Runaways still minimizes Old Lace (the sentient dinosaur) and struggles with her somewhat less-than-convincing appearance while she’s onscreen. I’d like to see real-looking battles between exotic animals and highly unusual aliens. I’d like to see Ax portrayed as a deer-scorpion-centaur with no mouth who also has complex facial expressions. I’d like taxxons and hork-bajir that match their descriptions in the books. CGI for a moderate-budget TV show can’t do that yet.

The characters’ appearances could match their descriptions in the books. I don’t really care about AniTV’s Jake having blue eyes or Marco having short hair. I do care about the fact that Cassie is described as short, chubby, dark-skinned, natural-haired, and androgynous in self-presentation… whereas AniTV’s Nadia-Leigh Nascimento is (through no fault of her own and 100% the fault of Nickelodeon) none of those things. I’d like to see all of the characters drawn in a way that matches their canon racial heritage, and voiced with actors of those ethnicities as well. For bullshit marketing reasons of bullshit, that’s not as likely to happen in a live-action show.

I’d want the show to convey the frequent mismatches between characters’ physicality and their personalities. It’s an important motif of the books. It’s part of the reason that Tobias has been claimed by the trans* community. It’s a major plot point, lest new viewers think that the vice principal of the school is actually trying to kill his own students. It doesn’t come off in AniTV, for all that I commend them for even trying (casting Shawn Ashmore’s twin as controller-Jake, portraying Chapman as straight out of Stepford), just because the nature of controller-ness and nothlitization are difficult to convey literally. Animation has a lot of tricks, from deliberately distorted drawings to screensaver-like “mental space,” that can actually convey concepts like mind control or body dysmorphia pretty well — Alphonse in Fullmetal Alchemist and Aang in Avatar the Last Airbender great examples of body-mind mismatch and multiple consciousnesses in one body, respectively.

Use a cold open for every episode. I am a sucker for Batman cold opens or any other opening scenes that pick up in the middle of the characters’ everyday lives, because they work so well to convey that there is a crapton of life happening outside of the plot of any given episode. Several Animorphs books (#9, #14, #35, #41, #51) open this way, to great effect, and I love the way that it gives us slices of life we might not otherwise see (morphing to cheat on science homework, completing entire offscreen missions, having dinner with the family) and help build these characters’ worlds outside of individual episode plots.

Introduce James sooner (and have better disability narratives). There are several aspects of Animorphs’ social justice consciousness that age okay (Rachel shutting down Marco’s constant flirting) or not well at all (Mertil and Galfinian). One important way the series could update Animorphs is through having canon disabled characters like James, Mertil, and Loren have bigger roles and not resorting to kill-or-cure narratives. Maybe James could come in sooner and form a Teen Titans West-esque team with the other Auximorphs so that he and Collette and the others could be recurring supporting characters with unique plotlines. Maybe Loren could still gain morphing power, but remain blind and brain-damaged so that the hork-bajir need to work with her to figure out accommodations while sleeping rough.

Modify Jake’s and Cassie’s parents to account for the contemporary setting. The fact that the kids so often disappear all afternoon or even overnight without anyone worrying just wouldn’t translate to a contemporary reimagining of Animorphs. Tobias and Ax are each other’s only family on the planet whereas Marco’s dad and Rachel’s mom are both overworked single parents. Jake’s family, however, and Cassie’s…

Cassie’s parents are so freaking cool in canon that they would definitely start to worry if Cassie went for an entire “weekend at Rachel’s” without answering any texts or calls. Maybe there could be some scenes with them talking about how they have this super-mature responsible daughter whom they can trust not to get into trouble even if she does hate cell phones, but oh well because they’re not big on technology either.

Jake’s parents are… less cool, but they still try their best. The show might explain their lack of concern about either of their disappearing kids through upping the hippie factor from his mom, maybe until she practices Free-Range Parenting. (Why yes, it is true that Jake’s family would have the necessary privileges to get away with free-range crap while Cassie’s family would not, because yes it is the case that black families have been arrested for leaving kids alone for 10 minutes while white families are allowed more passes under the law. Yes, that is a steaming pile of racist bullshit.) The other way it could go is by having Jake’s parents completely checked out, which could get in the way of plots like #31 that hinge on them genuinely caring about their kids, but could also introduce an interesting dynamic if it partially parentifies Tom.

Include at least one Rashomon plot. The TV series would by necessity lose the first-person narration, with all its brilliantly subtle shades of bias and misinterpretation. One way to try and bring that back in would be to convey the same events from multiple points of view with subtle differences in the way that each person perceives what happened. This could happen somewhere in the Visser One plot, with Rachel interpreting the scene as a straight Animorphs-vs-yeerks battle, while Visser One interprets it as Visser Three incompetently sabotaging her as Animorphs ruin her life, while Marco interprets it as a struggle to protect his mom and also save his friends, while Visser Three interprets it as the andalite bandits flagrantly plotting with Visser One, while Jake interprets it as Marco going off the rails from stress… and the only witness who has a sense of what actually happened is Eva. Other possibilities abound.

Start with a plan to make one episode per book… and modify as necessary. There are areas of the series I’d like to see expanded (#50 - #54 covers a lot of ground in relatively little space) and areas that I think could afford to be compacted (#39 - #44 feature a whole lotta nothin’). But instead of adding or discarding an entire book, I think you could spread out many of the plots by simple virtue of TV shows not being constrained by first-person narration.

Certain books just wouldn’t get straight-translated today anyway (#40, most notably). I don’t think any books are so bad or useless that they couldn’t be modified into decent television episodes.

The ramping-up that leads to open war happens mostly in the background of #44 - #51, but a bunch of scenes with just controllers talking to each other could go into that process in a lot more detail. This content could help fill out plots like #44 and #48 that frankly don’t have a lot else going on.

The entire plot of Visser happens over a nonspecific period of time between #30 and #45, so instead of getting one book we could get an entire running Yeerk Empire subplot with major consequences for the main plotline.

Similarly, the andalites’ decisions happen mostly offscreen but have major consequences for the Animorphs. The consequences for the Electorate after the events of #38 could also run for a whole subplot that sets up their decision to nuke Earth in #52.

The biggest absence from the last couple books is Rachel. Her last book is a friggin’ dream sequence, she acts out of character in #52 especially, and the narration order cuts off directly before giving her one last book. It wouldn’t be necessary to add an entire episode just to rectify this oversight, when #51 could still be Marco-centric but also show her and Jake on their sabotage mission, and #52 could have the same rough plot but with a few scenes between her and Tobias thrown in for good measure.

Anyway, maybe the various Chronicles could be a handful of Doctor-lite episodes where the Animorphs themselves are incidental and Elfangor or Aldrea has the helm. Maybe the events of the Chronicles could come out organically over the course of the show, for instance by expanding the memory-dumps Tobias gets in #1 and #33 or having Jara tell Dak’s story in #13 or #23. The Megamorphses, on the other hand, could pretty easily just occur as regular-series episodes, albeit possibly as two- or three-parters.

Lean into the comic-book aesthetic. Animorphs is written very much in the style of a graphic novel, from its “teens with superpowers save the world from aliens” plot to its heavy use of onomatopoeia. Even the use of hypertext symbols around thought-speak hearkens back to the comic book convention of using pointed brackets around alien languages to convey translation. The show could homage this motif through having dramatic transformation sequences, “uniforms” of multicolored spandex the kids use to morph, an opening credits sequence that emphasizes the power of each animal, and other superhero-comic elements throughout.

Have the violence be consequential. To keep the examples from earlier: in Fullmetal Alchemist, as well as in Avatar, characters that get hurt stay hurt. A character getting shot or stabbed is portrayed as a potentially life-changing event. Characters’ injuries do not disappear between episodes, and even alchemy and waterbending are not portrayed as total fixes. Characters scar, they become disabled, they spend entire episodes in recovery, they accrue trauma, and they do not shrug off life-ending injuries. Animorphs helps to justify the idea that six kids could (mostly) survive (most of) an entire war against a friggin empire through making the protagonists nigh-unkillable thanks to their healing abilities, but it nevertheless shows that shooting someone will result in that person bleeding and screaming and possibly dying. Having a sci-fi or action show meant for children isn’t actually a valid excuse for portraying violence as cool or funny or inconsequential the way that (Avengers Assemble, Teen Titans, Kim Possible, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, etc.) too many children’s sci-fi/action shows opt to do.

#animorphs #anitv #racism mention #long post #asks #anonymous #animorphs meta #ableism mention #teen titans #avatar the last airbender #fullmetal alchemist #Anonymous

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spn-j2-blog · 6 years

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CW Star Jensen Ackles Invites AD Inside His Family Home in Austin

Danneel, a Tony Duquette superfan, was over the moon when Santini brought the stained glass pendants she’d bought from his estate.

The slightly sunken living room with the deep blue banquette couch, white shag rug, macrame chair, and muscular oak beams is Jensen’s favorite space.

The home’s entry was designed to feel like an outdoor living space according to Santini, who sourced an 1850s English table and unusual Swedish lantern from the 1820s to anchor the room. The woven stools are from Tidelli, and the headless deer with ferns are by Italy’s Imperfetto Lab.

Architect Paul Lamb’s significant removal of walls led to a feel-good expansiveness where there are no boundaries. “It all kind of flows,” says Jensen. “You never feel like you’re in just one room.” In the media room, they did the least amount of work, painting the dark ceiling trusses to lighten the space and putting a German smear on the orange-y fireplace to tone it down.

The most Texas room in the house is the Marfa-imbued dining space, where the couple’s cherished Boyd Elder bull skull hangs. It’s part of a 10-piece series from the ’70s, the most famous of which was on the cover of the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits album. “Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s bands on tour wanted to have an artist with them, and Boyd was like the muse for the Eagles,” says Danneel, adding of the late artist, “I believe he dated Joni Mitchell, and she has one of the pieces.”

Behind the sofa is a gold birdcage artwork by Austin artist Micky Hoogendijk. It’s an observation on “women who seem to be trapped by money and possessions and they’re OK with it; they like living in that gilded cage,” says Danneel. “It looks intense but when you get close to it they’re all smiling and happy and unaware that they’re in this cage because they’re gold and perfect. For me that’s just somewhere I never want to be, so I was really attracted to that.”

Danneel spends a lot of time in the babies’ room (22-month-old twins Zeppelin and Arrow) and the kitchen, where the kids’ favorite toy is a rolling acrylic table from the ‘50s. (“Fern would have a heart attack,” she laughs.) They tore the space down to nothing and built it back from scratch. “It was a totally different feel, and very kind of country looking, which didn’t blend well with the rest of the house,” Jensen says. Now, to Lamb, “the kitchen’s glossy painted wood boards look like pinstripes, crisp and good-natured, like a happy kitchen in the Hamptons.”

“There’s not a space they don’t use,” says Santini of the house she worked on with Jensen and Danneel. The reimagined pool room taps into their proclivity for spooky oddities with framed tarot cards and a game table that could work for board games or even séances, says Lamb, who added a secondary kitchen for big gatherings with access to a barbecue area on the lawn, and a wine room.

A native Southerner, Danneel fought hard for the addition of a screened-in porch, which Lamb had the vision—inspired by Greenwood Plantation in St. Francisville—to make two stories tall. “I wanted more than anything to be able to sit out there, not get eaten alive by mosquitos, and look at the lake and watch the boats go by,” says the actress. Jensen’s favorite piece in the house is the long table, custom made using a 2,000-year-old cypress log that had sunk and was buried on the West Bank of New Orleans.

The bar—black walnut with black and white veined marble—is on one end of the large living room and is the site of frequent small parties involving music, either live or from the McIntosh turntable. The cabinets were specially made to light prized bourbons, and on the side is a white taxidermy peacock Santini tracked down over months. Flooring throughout the house is hand-scraped Texas post oak with character to spare.

The master bedroom and the adjacent sitting room are clad in reclaimed barn wood, juxtaposing the whimsical wallpaper covered in sections by Japanese-inspired barn door panels that allow for flexible boundaries. Jensen said of the scheme, “You guys are losing me, but it sounds awesome, so knock it out!” Danneel already owned the two petrified wood and resin log tables that sit in front of the vintage ‘50s daybed with Mongolian lamb, though the majority of what’s in the home was selected or made specifically for it.

Inspiration for their master bathroom shower came from an Architectural Digest story featuring a steel and glass shower in the home of Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka. Lit by Apparatus fixtures, Lamb conceived a simple vaulted space with a white oak board ceiling and fumed and cerused walnut cabinets with a slight Tansu feel. A Kyle Bunting cowhide rug is centered on the room, and Holly Hunt ombre-dyed handkerchief linen window treatments frame the lake view.

The pair’s five-year-old daughter, JJ, helped pick out all her own bedroom decor. “The more color the better,” says Danneel. Santini calls it “hippie in training.” Like in the rest of the home, her walls are plaster.

The ultra-private home looks out at a nature preserve across the water. Durable throw pillows around the house were made of old quilts purchased online. “We bought a lot of them and mixed them all up,” says Santini. “There’s nowhere in the house where you feel like you have to tip toe around or can’t sit. That was definitely intentional.”

Inside and out, Lamb and Santini ensured that the Ackleses’ Austin home “expresses them—young, bold, and irreverent. It had to be full of humorous and endearing eccentricities and it needed to radiate a comforting yet exotic familiarity.”

(c)architecturaldigest

There’s a lot going on inside the Lake Austin home of actors Jensen and Danneel Ackles—a lot of color, a lot of texture, endless elements begging their stories to be told. If you need a quick snapshot: The living room is scattered with guitars and, on the shag rug, Technicolor floor pillows; antique Venetian dioramas of Lilliputian-sized rooms are embedded into the white-oak walls, while a hanging cage traps gilded Barbie dolls by Micky Hoogendijk; on top of a shelf housing a record player, a photograph of Tom Waits sits next to a chicken skeleton; a regal white peacock perches on the side of the mercantile-style bar. There’s the master bedroom swaddled in Trove wall covering bearing vintage photography of 1920s opera boxes. And the two-story screened-in porch holds a table crafted from a 2,000-year-old cypress sinker log, a storied Boyd Elder cow skull, and four-foot glass lanterns from Tony Duquette’s estate.

Indeed, Danneel and Duquette share a similar philosophy. “More is more is more!” Danneel says emphatically. “More is the most.” Still, the Ackleses' five-bedroom, 7,500-square-foot residence isn’t actually an ode to opulence but rather an evocative tribute to key passions at the core of their personalities: the music and aesthetics of the late ’60s, Austin’s art scene, and imaginative oddities and occultist ephemera, perhaps appropriate considering Jensen’s longtime role on the CW’s Supernatural.

After deciding to leave Brentwood, California, and coming this close to putting in an offer on a Lake Austin fixer-upper, the couple set their gaze on a house three doors down, sans “for sale” sign. “As we drove by, Danneel and I both looked at our real estate agent and were like, ‘See, that is the kind of house we’re looking for,’” recalls Jensen. Adds Danneel, “we wanted something less ostentatious.” Fortunately, the owner was willing to sell, but the property was far from turnkey and required an overhaul to go from what Danneel calls the “Texas Tuscan look"—generic stuccoed track mansion—to a wood-clad ranch-style stunner.

Jensen and Danneel enlisted Austin architect Paul Lamb and Abode principal interior designer Fern Santini to kickstart what ended up being a very collaborative renovation—even the Ackleses' eldest child, five-year-old JJ, got into the fun, choosing everything in her Pinterest-worthy bedroom. At their initial meeting with Santini, the potential for partnership was evident when she pulled up in an auspicious 1967 E-Type Jaguar. “I mean, it’s just like the coolest thing ever,” says Jensen of the car, which was made in the same year Danneel had said she wanted to recreate in the Austin home so as to pay tribute to the Laurel Canyon bungalow where the couple once lived. “People like Carly Simon had played guitar there,” Danneel says. “It was a magical little place. So when Fern pulls up in that car ... We just bonded over music and a love of that time period and had our vision right off the bat.”

Executing that vision involved blowing out the majority of the house’s interior, taking it down to the studs, and reconfiguring it. “It was very closed and very ‘90s,” says Santini. Extensive structural work was devised by Lamb, one of Santini's frequent creative conspirator. “Paul is from New Orleans and I’m from Louisiana, and we have the same odd sense of humor and style,” says Danneel, who saw a residential elevator he’d done entirely in red velvet and said, “That’s the guy for me!” The foursome worked beautifully together—that is, after Jensen learned early on to keep his mouth shut if and when he doubted any stylistic choices. When shown the idea for a rich, royal blue sofa, “I was like, ’Y’all are crazy!’” says Jensen. “But then I just thought, I’m not going to get in their way.”

Smart man, considering a highly personalized space began to unspool under Santini and Lamb's direction. “It was imperative that the house express the Ackleses—young, bold, and irreverent,” Lamb says. “It had to be full of humorous and endearing eccentricities and it needed to radiate a comforting yet exotic familiarity.” He simplified and opened spaces, flipped the feel from a masonry house to a wood-framed home—thanks to exposed beams, larger expanses of windows, and rich wooden ceilings—and, perhaps most transformational, added a breezy two-story screened porch that altered the entire profile. “The former house was straight-laced and vaguely Mediterranean,” Lamb says. “Now it is an eclectic, free-spirited, Austin-style lake house.” Santini calls it “a cross between Joni Mitchell and the Serge Gainsbourg–Jane Birkin thing that was going on in Paris at the same time. It’s very hip but it’s low-key.”

Musically, the home is rich with sound, thanks to Jensen’s collection of guitars and the McIntosh turntable Santini says she “has real fetish for, after spending my entire career trying to hide stereo equipment.” There’s also a surfeit of historical and meaningful music-related artwork—think photographs of Yasgur’s Farm in Woodstock and a house where Bob Dylan recorded. “The hand-scraped wood floors undulate quite heavily, and we’ve got these giant beams and wood all around that feel like you’re in the hull of a giant ship,” Jensesn says. “What that does is it creates an amazing acoustic sound. We’ve always had music in our lives, and we wanted to pass on that tradition.”

The parents of three also are active supporters of local art. “We’re not the type who need it to all be the same. That’s criminal to me, almost,” says Danneel of their home full of diverse pieces from Austin and Marfa, including female artists from galleries like Women and Their Work. Santini describes the pair as risk-takers who both led the charge on outside-the-box thinking and let her push the limits. In their third home together, the Ackleses hit their stride, nailing a personally reflective infusion of edge, humor, and spirit.

“It goes to that having a history, having a story,” says Jensen, who, with his wife, selects works based on a gut feeling as opposed to popularity or perceived value. It’s the same way Danneel approached design. “We have so many friends who come into the house and are like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love this—it’s so crazy and unexpected. But man, I would have never picked out all these things, and I wouldn’t have been brave enough to do it!’” she says. “I’ve heard this over and over, and I wish more people would just be brave and go with what makes them happy.”

#jensen ackles #danneel ackles #family

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go2harsha-blog · 5 years

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Celebrating Woodstock - Part 1

With the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock festival round the corner, Harsha Prabhu looks back to visiting the US for the 40th anniversary

A Fairy Tale of New York

Parrots for Peace, Ecofest, Central Park, NYC, Oct 2009. Pic: Hans Lovejoy

Blog 1 on the Rainbow Dreaming US tour, covering NYC and Ecofest. Rainbow Dreaming is a photodocumentary on the alternative culture of the rainbow region of NSW, Australia. The curators were invited to set up the exhibit for the Woodstock 40th. See more at http://www.rainbowdreaming.org

Which Woodstock?

“Don’t even bother about coming to Woodstock for the festival in August,” said Nathan Koening, our host at the Woodstock Museum. “It’s mostly expensive hype. Come in October, when the weather is better and there will be more Woodstock-related events to celebrate the Woodstock legacy. And you can set up the Rainbow Dreaming exhibit.”

Woodstock Museum, Saugerties, NY, October 2009. Pic: Emi Iizuka

The Woodstock Museum were partners in setting up the historic Nimbin-Woodstock Connection in the mid-nineties, a rainbow bridge linking the alternative communities of Nimbin in north eastern New South Wales, Australia, with the whole hippie tradition of Woodstock. We had sealed the relationship by sending the Woodstock Museum an earlier exhibit from Nimbin, called Some Children of the Dream.

It’s now some fifteen years down the track. Walking down the main strip in Byron Bay I spy Hans Lovejoy sitting in a cafe, sipping on a latte. Hans, musician and journalist for the Byron Shire Echo, was in-between assignments.

“Fancy a trip to Woodstock?” I asked him.

“Which Woodstock?” he asked, undoubtedly knowing there were many: Woodstock, the town; the original Woodstock festival in 1969, which was held some 100 kms away; and the many, commemorative events down the years, held wherever the required permits could be obtained and the producers and sponsors lined up with the dollars.

“Not the festival,” I replied, “It’s a celebration of the Woodstock legacy.”

“Why not,” he said.

Lords of the Material Universe

The first signs were auspicious.

At Brisbane airport, waiting to catch the flight out to LA, we bumped into Elizabeth Thorpe and Debbie Lee. Elizabeth and her partner Ray, proprietors of Happy High Herbs, were the principal sponsors of Rainbow Dreaming and Lee, artist and designer, is an old connection from Nimbin. Elizabeth and Lee were headed for USA to open Happy High’s first US store, in Arizona. And Hans and myself were headed for New York, bringing with us the stories and pictures of life in the rainbow region.

From the plane, the New York nightscape glowed and flickered like some gigantic circuit board. “The lords of the material universe have nice real estate here”, said Hans. Towers of ivory, streets of gold. Would the lords be kind to us? Would they let me in, with my Indian passport?

At immigration, there was a blip: Had my passport ever been stolen? Why was it registered as Australian? The question in my head went something like: So this is what it feels to be at the mercy of dodgy databanks and the mood of the assessment officer. But it turned out ok. After a few questions, Officer Pena waived me through.

Did I have anything to declare, the customs man asked? Don’t touch my bag if you please, I have a haversack full of rainbow dreams, I mused to myself.

At the airport, the smiling face of Benny Zable, waiving a rainbow flag, greeted us. Benny, Nimbin’s ambassador to Woodstock, was the kingpin in the rainbow bridge to Woodstock and beyond. Benny had arranged for us to stay in Brooklyn, at the studio of Traci Mann, a New York tap dancer.

Disoriented by jet lag, Hans had left his laptop on the airport bus. That first night, with the El roaring past our window, we fell into a troubled sleep, woken by the clatter of the El and the cries of children at the daycare centre below.

Through a Glass

Our first pilgrimage in New York was to the Yippie Museum in Greenwich Village. The Village was the bohemian hangout par excellence in the sixties. It still has a funky, if gentrified, look. Jazz bars and restaurants dot the streets.

The Yippie Museum resembles the Nimbin Museum, with a stage for performances. One night, we caught some fine performance poetry. It’s the headquarters of New York’s hemp legalization campaign. They knew about Nimbin. They were also involved with a global linkup of cities for 2010.

1st Oct saw the launch of Mark Roselle’s book “Tree Spiker”. Mark Roselle is the founder of Rainforest Action Network. He’s also the man who infiltrated a Nevada test site. The day was also Benny’s birthday, Benny, an agent provocateur with his rainbow flags. The Yippie Museum was a happening place, true to its name of promoting green(sic) issues through direct action.

It took us a while to work out what ‘uptown’ and ‘downtown’ meant in the subway, but we had worked it out by the time we left New York!

Hans slipped out one night for a dose of jazz; the girls went on a harbour cruise; Benny was beavering away at the Ecofest office. My jet lag meant that I saw the city as if through a glass darkly. One image remains: a black, immaculately dressed saxplayer, doing “In a Sentimantl Mood” in the subway at 50th St.

Ecofest

Ecofest, Central Park, NYC, Oct 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

The Ecofest office, off Broadway, was a hive of activity, presided over by Nanci Callahan, queen bee and director/producer of New York’s signature ecological fair, now in it’s 21st year.

We walked to Central Park to check out the site for this year’s Ecofest, passing Strawberry Fields and ‘Imagine’, the mosaic tribute to John Lennon. On park benches huddled New York’s homeless, shrouded in grey, under the shadows of the tall towers ringing the park. The Dakota apartments where Lennon had been shot were across the street. “Yoko Ono pays for the maintenance of this section of the park and the homeless are permitted to sleep here,” Benny explained. I thought of our homeless in Byron, chased from bus shelters, their beach humpies a mark for rangers. In this instance, New York seemed to have a heart.

Sunday 4th Oct was a fine day. The Ecofest site began to fill up with vedors and exhibitors, including the latest hybrid cars from Toyota and Ford.

Rainbow Dreaming at Ecofest, Central Park, NYC, Oct 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

We had been assigned the outer wall of the conference tent to set up the Rainbow Dreaming exhibit. Space restrictions meant only half the exhibit could be accommodated. We punched holes into the exhibition panels and strung them out on twine like washing on a line. It worked! Sayaka Nakao, Rina Terasaki and Saya Minami, our Japanese friends from Byron Bay, who had flown in the previous day via Tokyo to help with the exhibition tour, assisted us in this improvisatory task. Ever enthusiastic, our petite helpers were worth their weight in gold. Hans and I would have struggled to manage the show on our own.

Over 25,000 visitors streamed through Ecofest that day and, as we were positioned at the entrance, many of these stopped by to check the exhibit. Among these was Nirmala, Gina Lakosta’s daughter, who was in New York to perform a burlesque show, under the stage name La Viola Vixen. Another was a couple from Goonengerry, amazed to stumble upon a slice of life from the rainbow region in the heart of New York.

Tap dancers, including the amazing Mabel Lee, Traci Manns’s former teacher, all of 80; soul singers; stiletto heeled models strutting eco fashions; Rick Ulfik from We the World, the global peace network; Parrots for Peace from the Amazon rainforest; ending with a sing along with the legendary Pete Seeger, 90 years old and still singing his peace and environmental anthems.

Jam session, Central Park, NYC, Oct 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

The sun shone down on Benny Zable’s rainbow flags; children fed ducks in the pond; whole families happily picnicked under the trees; frisbees flew in the air. Catching the last of the sunset, the tall towers seemed to shower us with riches and green fields became fields of gold.

The evening ended with drumming. Three drum circles – Cuban, Haitian and African – rang out in the Park. The moon was full and so were our hearts.

Postscript: Hans’ laptop, lost on our first night, was returned to him by the New York City Transport Authority on our last morning in New York, in a fairy tale ending to our stay in the Big Apple!

Van Gets Ripped, or The Long Sleep of Unreason

Blog 2 on the Rainbow Dreaming US tour, taking in New York’s 13th Harvest Festival & Freedom Rally, Hancock, NY; and Woodstock Museum, Saugerties, NY.

Ma & Pa Woodstock, NY Harvest Fest & Freedom Rally, Camp Minglewood, Hancock, October 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

New York Harvest Fest & Freedom Rally

Marijuana legalisation activists and their supporters on the East coast were to meet at Camp Minglewood in the Catskills, a couple of hours north of New York, for the Harvest Festival & Freedom Rally, on 9 Oct.

Rainbow Dreaming crew at New York Harvest Fest & Freedom Rally, October 2009

It was an opportunity too good to be missed. Our hosts from the Woodstock Museum, Shelli Lipton and Nathan Koenig, had booked us a spot at the Festival. They had also booked us into a bunkhouse, with 10 bunk beds. By now we had mushroomed to a party of 10.

It wasn’t pot, but potties that preoccupied us the three days we were there. The toilets were blocked. Much time and energy was spent agonizing over the situation and negotiating the portaloos well before the happy horde that had descended on the Camp trashed them every morning.

Harvest Fest, the child of Hemp activist and performance poet Rob Robinson, was now in its thirteenth year. The legal situation with pot in the US is complex and confusing. Some states (California) allow the medical use of marijuana. Others will bust you for possessing rolling papers. The talk at the Camp was all about the bust of a long-time hemp activist, who had been caught with a whole lot of pot that he was bringing to the festival. Regardless, the pot was plentiful.

Camp Minglewood, Hancock, October 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

From pot to politics. I met Kurt Shotko, a member of the Greens party. Kurt was of the opinion that the Republicans and Democrats were cut from the same cloth, manufactured by big business. “Look at what Obama’s doing in Afghanistan. He’s sending more Americans to die there. We need an alternative to the main players. We’ve got to wake up to the reality that the American dream has been a nightmare for a lot of Americans and for the rest of the world, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have been asleep for too long. We need a revival of common sense. Only a massive program of self education is going to do it.”

Then he quoted from the Populist Program, published in 1892: “They propose to sacrifice our homes, lives and children on the altar of mammon; to destroy the multitude in order to secure corruption funds for the millionaires.”

1892! The sleep of unreason had been a long one.

But Kurt was hopeful of the next generation. That’s why he set up camp at festivals across the US. And that’s partly why we were there too.

Benny Zable in front of archival pic from Rainbow Dreaming, NY Harvest Fest & Freedom Rally, Camp Minglewood, Hancock, October 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

The Rainbow Dreaming exhibit was attached to a wall in the main music hall. Thus many, mostly young, punters got to see the exhibit. This was where The Wailers played on Saturday. I caught the Wailers when they played in Byron and I’m happy to report that they are still wailing away.

But what struck me most about the music at Harvest Fest was the pervasive influence of the Grateful Dead, the legendary sixties psychedelic band from San Francisco. From Cabinet, an established US indi band that played the main stage, to camp fire songs at 4 am, the Dead were everywhere, on so many t shirts and stickers, in so many riffs and improvisatory moments, as a psychedelic glint in so many eyes.

George Clinton & Funkedelic, NY Harvest Fest & Freedom Rally, Camp Minglewood, Hancock, October 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

I spoke with Jane, an artist from New York, who had a stall selling Dead memorabilia. She had grown up in San Francisco and was still a Deadhead. Her eyes misted when she spoke of Jerry Garcia: “You could see so much love pouring out of him. It was a love affair that lasted and lasted and it’s still going strong even when he’s gone.”

Minglewood Moment: across from the festival site, two lovers sit on the steps of a boat ramp. The dying sun paints purple tints on the tops of the maple and elm; waterfowl break the surface of the lake. A band is playing the Dead’s “China Cat Sunflower.”

Woodstock: The Town that Time Forgot

In Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving’s story, a man who wanders off into the Catskill Mountains, meets some rather strange companions who serve up a suspiciously heady brew, and falls asleep under a tree. When he wakes up, he finds that some 20 years have gone by and his world has changed.

Woodstoock, October 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

The town of Catskill is 30 minutes away from Woodstock. Some 40 years have gone by after the infamous Woodstock festival of 1969. And the world has changed since those heady days. But walking around Woodstock, the town that gave a name to the festival, (which happened in the neighbouring town of Bethel, some 100 kms away), you could be forgiven for believing that it’s still in the thrall of those halcyon days of hippiedom.

Woodstoock, October 2009. Pic: Emi iizuka

Our first port of call was the Woodstock Town Board meeting that night. Benny Zable, Nimbin’s ambassador to Woodstock, presented letters from Nimbin and the crew made a presentation on the Rainbow Dreaming exhibit and its relevance to the whole Woodstock legacy.

The meet was dominated by a spirited discussion over rezoning issues, something very familiar to us on the north coast. Would Woodstock go the way of other small towns and be besieged by rampant development, or would it stay true to its alternative legacy?

That night we also visited the Bearsville Cultural Centre (set up by Albert Grossman, one-time manager of Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and The Band) and Alchemia Café to catch some live music, including a spirited set by Adam, a young musician we had met at the Byron market drum circle!

Guided around by Benny, on our very first day in Woodstock, we met some representatives of Woodstock’s hippie past: Jogger John, the local village savant, who used to jog everywhere, but, due to his advanced age is now is on a bike; Day A, the village barber, who runs a soup kitchen for the Rainbow Family in town; Grandpa and Grandma Woodstock, an elderly couple, dressed the part, almost town mascots. Woodstock itself is full of funky cafes and art galleries. Turn a corner and spy a Zen garden, complete with waterfall and pergola.

Peace Pole, Woodstock, October 2009. Pic: Emi Iizuka

In the centre of Woodstock town is the village green and the peace pole, with peace messages in several languages. We bumped into Fr John, a priest and peace activist. When he heard that two of our crew, Sayaka Nakao and Rina Terasaki, were from Tokyo, he beamed at them and said: “ Let’s set up a peace link between Woodstock and Tokyo. All it takes is five people. Five is the magic number. Can you find five friends in Tokyo who may be interested?”

Hippie Church, Woodstock, October 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

Fr John also runs the Hippie Church, on the hill overlooking Woodstock. This was the very church where Bob Dylan was rumoured to have married the love of his life, Sarah, his sad eyed lady of the lowlands. The church wears the patina of age, its icons fading in the dim, dank light streaming through stained glass windows.

Path to Buddhist monastery, Woodstock, October 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

In stark contrast is the Buddhist monastery next door. Set up in 1975, the monastery is linked to the 10th century Tibetan Kagyu lineage. Its halls are huge and lushly decorated with tankas, its massive Buddha is gold-painted, its prayer lamps cast a beatific glow on meditating monks and visitors; its gift shop bulges with merchandise, all a tribute to Buddhism’s growing influence in the new world.

Prophesy

The next morning, my very first snowflakes, fine and feathery.

It was too cold to venture out. Emi Iizuka and Simeon Michaels, both from Byron, had joined us in Woodstock. We were toasty warm at the Woodstock Museum, hosted by Shelli and Nathan.

Under the tutelage of Shelli, the sacred Indian corn was brought out and inspected. Purple, yellow, orange, red and black, this was authentic Hopi corn. The girls played with the corn silk, good for medicinal tea and dress ups, fake moustaches and beards. They were transformed into imaginary characters, magical beings, the warrior princesses of Genghis Khan, dressed as men to pass unnoticed amidst the ripening corn. Shelli makes beautiful corn necklaces, a craft she learnt from Rainbow Weaver, a Mohawk Clan Mother.

Padmasambhava, Buddhist monastery, Woodstock, October 2009. Pic: Emi Iizuka

Nathan spoke about the connection between the Hopi and the Tibetans. “Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism, said: When the iron bird flies and the horses run on wheels the Tibetans will be scattered over the face of the earth and the dharma will come to the land of the red man.”

Nathan went on: “The Hopi’s felt that this might have something to do with the dharma coming to the US. They have prophesies too. After the swastika and the sun, there would be another force, symbolized by the colour red. This force will wear a red cloak or red cap. Spiritual wisdom will come from the East. This spirituality must spread. If that does not take root, others with the red symbol will invade from the West and crawl over the land in one day. The Hopis think this could be the ‘red’ Chinese.” 

“When the Tibetan Karmapa visited Hopiland in 1974, he said: We must have know each other before; your features, ceremonies and way of life are similar to our own. When we bought Hopis to the monastery in Woodstock in 1979, the two cultures again recognized each other, and the Hopis said that the Tibetans may very well be the long lost brother who left them at the beginning of time and went to the other side of the earth to balance the earth spiritually.” Said Shelli: “When the shit hits the fan, we won’t survive unless we cooperate with each other. That’s also what the Hopi prophecies speak of. The Hopis are known as the ‘peaceful ones’.”

While we spoke of prophecies, outside, in the gathering gloom, Tiago Guimaraes, a Brazilian artist, was busy carving out a statue of a man with a guitar, the quintessential hippie hitchhiker, his hand raised, his fingers flashing the peace sign.

Elliot Landy’s book on Woodstock

The Rainbow Dreaming opening at the Woodstock Museum on Sat 17 Oct was a modest yet sweet affair: local musos were in attendance and we joined the members of the Woodstock drum circle in a bongothon.

Rainbow Dreaming crew with Elliot Landy, Woodstock Museum, October 2009. Pic: Hans Lovejoy

The highlight of the evening was meeting Elliot Landy, the famous Woodstock photographer. Elliot was all praise for the exhibit, gave away signed copies of his book to all the crew and offered to help us find a publisher for a book on the exhibition. (Sadly, I was to leave my copy on the street in San Francisco while moving house.)

The Last Hippie, Woodstock Museum, October 2009. Pic: Harsha Prabhu

The last act of the day was raising the sculpture of the hippie hitchhiker and placing him on his pedestal: a symbol of Woodstock’s hippie past and a pointer to its uncertain future as a cultural pilgrimage centre.

Woodstock Earth, after the drum circle, October, 2009. Pic: Simeon Michaels

On our last evening in Woodstock, we participated in the Woodstock Earth drum circle. Some 30 drummers were gathered in the backyard at Day A’s house. In summer, the drummers gather at the village green and spill out onto the road. As the sound of the drums rose over the autumn dusk, we were again reminded of how lucky we were with our vibrant culture of communal drumming and dancing in the rainbow region.

Last days in New York: the Bangladeshi cigarette sellers; the African rickshaw pullers in Central Park; the old men and women carting large bundles of recyclable cans and bottles; the man in Times Square offering to sell me a 15 carat gold ring or Obama condoms.

While the crew went shopping and sightseeing I wandered back to Central Park. More than the statue of Liberty, than Ground Zero, than the suicide gulches and canyons of Wall Street, I was drawn to the spot with the Imagine mosaic and tribute to John Lennon. Park benches line the walkway, each with its dedication. I sat there, amidst the touros and derros, as the shadows lengthened.

Then I saw these lines from Dylan Thomas, carved on a park bench: “Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.”

Celebrating Woodstock - Part 2 on San Francisco’s Westfest and the Beats to follow. Please check my blog...

by Harsha Prabhu

Rainbow Dreaming crew at Magic Mountain, Woodstock, October 2009

NOTE: An edited version of A Fairy Tale of New York was published in the Byron Shire Echo, October 2009. While the words and sentiments in the blogs are my own, this project has been a community cultural initiative, helped along by many hands, hearts and minds. Many thanks are due.

First up, Benny Zable, Shelli Lipton & Nathan Koening for setting up the Nimbin Woodstock Connection and the sister village link between the two communities. I would like to acknowledge the help and guidance offered by the Rainbow Dreaming crew – Benny Zable, Hans Lovejoy, Saya Minami, Sayaka Nakao, Rina Terasaki, Emi Iizuka & Simeon Michaels – on this amazing journey to the US. Thanks to our hosts in the US, including Traci Mann & Nanci Callahan in NYC; Rob Robinson at Harvestfest; Shelli Lipton & Nathan Koenig at Woodstock Museum; and Douglas Kolberg & Boots Hughston at Westfest. Thanks to our principal sponsor Happy High Herbs and our media sponsors Byron Shire Echo & Bay FM. Thanks to all those who donated to the community chest to make this project possible, including all the artist and performers from the rainbow region who helped raise funds for the US tour. And a big thank you to all the freaky people of the rainbow region, who are the inspiration for this project. And the writers and photographers who so generously donated their work. This project was auspiced by Byron Community & Cultural Centre, assisted by Lismore Regional Gallery and supported by Byron Neighbourhood Resource Centre and Mullumbimby & District Neighbourhood Centre. Rainbow Dreaming was curated & produced by Harsha Prabhu & Graeme Batterbury for the Rainbow Collective. More on Rainbow Dreaming, including how to get a copy of the book, at: www.rainbowdreaming.org

#woodstock #woodstock festival #newyork #woodstockmuseum #nimbin #byronbay #photography #hopi #rainbowregion #padmasambhava #ecofest #cannabislawreform #elliotlandy #hemp #woodstockanniversary

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markowendiary-blog · 6 years

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🆕 Boy band? We're a dad band now! They’ve got 10 children between them, so what ARE Take That's parenting secrets? | Daily Mail/ Event Magazine

«Just a few months shy of their 30th anniversary, the remaining three members of Take That are gathered in a south London photo studio. Bar the row of drivers parked outside in Mercedes cars and the silent but notable presence of a single security guy, the vibe is casual, low-key, with that prickle of electricity that always hovers around a band that’s sold 45 million records.

I have known Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald since they were pop wannabes, travelling round the UK in the back of a van, existing on McDonald’s and takeaways. Back then – along with original members Robbie Williams and Jason Orange – they were five northern kids full of bravado, hair gel and ambition. Now they are men, all over 40, and all three fathers – two (Barlow and Donald) with teenagers of their own. All three are sporting facial hair, and flashes of grey are visible – as is that easy northern wit that kept them – even at the height of their pin-up fame in the mid-Nineties – so relatable. The fast food is a distant memory – a table in the corner is scattered with fresh fruit, herbal teas, vegetable juices, nuts, a half-eaten bar of chocolate and raw carrots. Times and diets have changed.

‘Jason was always into his health,’ says Owen. ‘We used to call it rabbit food. Now we’re all into it. But me and Howard still go for the Cadbury’s Dairy Milk.’

Barlow, slim and ramrod straight in his cream polo-neck jumper, crosses the room immediately to make his greetings and to find out what I think of their new album. It’s a selection of their greatest hits that have been – in the case of songs like Pray and Never Forget – completely rearranged with new and old vocals mixed together and different productions all devised by the band. The record also includes voice recordings from all five of the band, snatches of interviews they gave at the start of their career.

‘All bands hate greatest hits albums, and we wanted to do something different,’ says Barlow. ‘We wanted to reflect who we were at the start of this journey and who we are now.’ Owen nods. ‘All our albums are like our babies, something we’ve created together,’ he says. ‘We want people to love it.’

They are crammed together on a squishy black leather sofa that’s seen better days. Oldham-born Owen has been showing me pictures on his phone of a very nasty recent surfing accident he had, where his bloodied leg was cut to pieces. Barlow takes a look and raises an eyebrow. ‘Remember we’ve got a tour to do,’ he says in his laconic flat Frodsham accent. ‘There’s only three of us left, we can’t afford to lose any more.’

They are promoting a tour and an album but what we’re really here to talk about today is fatherhood and the fact that they are no longer a boy band but grown men with families – though they each have a very different style of parenting.

There is the action dad, who takes his children on adrenaline-fuelled holidays, the indulgent dad, who spoils his children rotten, and the dead-on-his-feet dad, who is currently struggling with the demands of a new born child. We’re going to meet them all.

First up is Donald, who’s the oldest band member at 50, but the one with the youngest child. Donald has four children: Grace, 19, his eldest daughter by his ex, Victoria Piddington, at university in Bournemouth; Lola, 13, who grew up in Germany, is from a long-term relationship with businesswoman Marie-Christine Musswessels; and his two baby sons, two-year-old Bowie and one-year-old Dougie from his marriage to illustrator Katie Halil. The knackered dad apologises for being tired.

‘I’ve had three-and-a-half hours’ sleep,’ he says. ‘The baby was up in the night. My wife said she’d get up with him because I had a photo-shoot but when he kicked off she was dead to the world, so I was running up and down taking him to the loo and looking after him.’ He pauses. ‘This is it for me. I’m too old to be a dad any more. I can’t have any more. It’s just too bloody hard.’

Barlow rolls his eyes and Owen laughs. Like the brown paper bags from Whole Foods that have replaced the Big Mac cartons, the conversation in the inner circle has changed over time. It used to be girls, chart positions and the latest tech. Now it’s marriage, fatherhood and babies.

‘It’s what we talk about in the dressing room,’ says Barlow. ‘That’s our lives. We’ve changed. We’re not boys, we’re men. We’re all dads. It completely alters everything, from the way you tour to the songs you write to the conversations you have – how long on the iPads, worrying about social media, the usual preoccupations. At the moment it’s a lot about Howard and his baby duties. He moans and Mark and I just laugh because we’re both past that stage. He does love to go on about it.’

Unlike their hard-working parents, each member of the band is a multimillionaire, something they all admit feels ‘strange’ when they compare their children’s lives to their own. The exhausted dad Donald is also the strictest. ‘I want my kids to do Saturday jobs, learn the value of money. My eldest daughter got into this habit of ordering Uber taxis non-stop from my account, which I had to pull her up on. I don’t care what kind of school they go to – state or private – as long as it’s a good school and they work. But I don’t like to spoil them. I went to school with plastic shoes my mum used to polish with Mr Sheen. That stays with you. My kids are lucky – I never want them to lose appreciation for what they have. And my kids are great. My daughter’s a teenager now, she sends me little clips of her and her mates in clubs dancing to Relight My Fire. They all look really happy even if they also look a little bit drunk, but it just makes me laugh.’

Donald’s parental conversation runs the gamut of worrying about Lola being too carried away with the YouTube generation and buying her trainers in return for good schoolwork, to his eldest Grace keeping up with her studies at university. He is very much a hands-on dad, changing nappies one day and dealing with university issues the next. ‘I’m the complicated one,’ he says. ‘I didn’t mean for it to be like this but that’s the way it turned out. That was down to me.’

In many ways he is a more typical rock-star dad. ‘I have a lot of guilt about the way things turned out for me. When we’d be on tour, we’d come back to the dressing room and I knew the other guys were going off back to their families. At the time I had just Grace and Lola and I would be desperate to see them. The fact that I had to fly to Germany to see Lola would cause a lot of band rows because I’d be away. But I didn’t care. I had to see her.

‘I grew up without a dad because he [Keith Donald] left home when I was a kid. He left four kids and my mum [Kathleen] in a two-up two-down. I don’t hold any anger towards him any more. In fact, I actually want to sit down and talk to him about it. But I didn’t want any of my kids not to have a dad present in their lives. If it’s a choice between band or family, family comes first.’

Donald talks about looking after his baby sons when his wife suffered twice from post-pregnancy induced reactive hypoglycemia (a condition that causes sickness, weakness and insomnia) that kicked in after giving birth.

‘My wife wasn’t in a good way so it was down to me,’ he says. ‘There is nothing I don’t do: changing nappies, feeding, winding, walking... My wife is in a good place now and to be honest I don’t feel guilty about going on tour. My kids will come out now and then, but I’m actually thinking of it as a nice break.’

In contrast to Donald is Owen, the action dad – the hippy of the band with a less traditional lifestyle. The 46-year-old has always been the most alternative one, with his cool clothes and penchant for meditation and yoga, which has rubbed off on his bandmates.

He reads books on parenting, moved his three children Elwood, 12, Willow, ten, and six-year-old Fox out of London to live in the Hampshire/Sussex border countryside, and has spent two months of the summer travelling with his family. He has learnt to surf and Elwood has become an expert skateboarder.

‘It’s been good for us as a family,’ he says. ‘I feel we are in a position now where we’re getting it right as musicians and as parents. And that feels good.

‘When the children were little, it was easier to bring them on tour, but now they have school, friends, routines and they don’t want to be hanging out in dressing rooms all day. So it changes.’

You might imagine their own children look up to them, these guys who came from the working-class north and became one of Britain’s biggest boy bands, winning eight Brit awards and earning millions from hits such as Back For Good, Shine and A Million Love Songs. But their musical accomplishments don’t give them any credibility with their offspring, as Owen admits.

‘Honestly, it doesn’t really impress them. All of our kids love coming to the shows but they are not in awe of us. My dad [Keith] was a grafter. He worked early shifts as a decorator and would be home at 3.30 and he cooked our tea, and my mum [Mary] went out to work [in a bakery] till 11.30.

‘My dad was also in a local band, so every week he’d put on his good trousers, pick up his guitar case and walk out of the door, and I don’t think either me or my brother or sister would even turn round from the telly. Sometimes when I’m getting ready for a show, I get dressed, pick up my guitar and shout “Bye”, and my kids are all watching telly and I have flashbacks to my dad. I’m turning into him in those moments.’

They are, in fact, a long way from any of their parents. Barlow’s late father, Colin, who worked in a fertiliser factory, remains Barlow’s hero, but the band’s principal songwriter reveals that he is the indulgent dad: ‘I’m happy to give my kids everything. They go to private schools, I love to spoil them. I want them to be polite. There’s no comparison to the way I grew up, but that just couldn’t happen. The only comparison I want is to give them the security and sense of family my parents gave me.’

Barlow, 47, has three children: Dan, 18, Emily, 16, and Daisy, nine, with his wife, Dawn. There was also his daughter, Poppy, who was stillborn in 2012 – a subject he broached for the first time in his recent autobiography, A Better Me. In the book, he spoke about stepping up to look after his wife and taking over the cooking for the family – something he still does, as does Owen.

‘I love to cook for my kids,’ Owen says. ‘I will spend hours making something really healthy and amazing like a beautiful curry and they’ll come home, take a mouthful and say: “Do we have anything else?”’

On stage they have the adulation of millions, at home it can be a different story, as Barlow reveals: ‘The most difficult thing about this business is that you are away a lot. Life at home goes on. You come back and sometimes you are like the lodger in the house. You go from singing a song to thousands to standing in a kitchen saying: “Come on, close your mouth when you’re eating.” And your wife is standing there waiting for you to ask for a cup of tea so she can say, “You’re not on tour now”. So there’s that adjustment, which can be very hard if you come home mid-tour.

‘Growing up changes you, fatherhood changes you,’ Barlow continues. ‘When Rob [Williams] introduced me to Ayda, who was then his fiancée, the first thing I did was call the other guys and say: “We’re OK. Rob’s going to be OK. I’ve met the girl he’s going to marry and she’s a keeper. Three kids later, Rob’s a different man. He’s a great dad. He loves his family – he loves nothing more than just sitting around his house with his kids. And that’s important. Our music has always been emotional, and the older you get, the deeper the emotion, and the more everything means.’

A few days later I receive a phone call from Owen, who’s clearly been thinking deeply on the subject of families. ‘I’m sorry to bother you,’ he begins in his classic self-deprecating manner. ‘But I was really thinking about those moments where what you do and how you are as a parent meet in the middle.

When I put my daughter Fox to bed at night she has always asked me to sing a lullaby. Apart from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I don’t know many kids’ songs, so I’ve always sung her Take That songs like Pray, Shine and Giants – because obviously I know all the words. At the moment she asks for the song about the lights going out, which is Everlasting, so that’s what I sing. It’s something the two of us have together and I realise that not only is it special to her, but it has actually changed how I feel about those songs when I go out and sing them on stage. It makes it even better. She has made it even better.

‘So if you want to know what it’s like being a musician when you become a dad, the answer is it can be hard, you can miss your kids. But then there are these moments when you get to share what you do with your children and that makes it all mean a whole lot more. That’s when it all becomes pretty magical.’

Take That celebrate 30 years by releasing ‘Odyssey’ – their greatest hits re-imagined – on November 23, takethat.com »

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