#and that the reason she tends to seek out tony during them is because he is Safe Human

[the-faultofdaedalus]

some very funny things i’ve realized about kat and people’s perception of her is that a) for a While everyone just thinks that she got her powers because her parents were doing unethical human experimentation on her before their death because tony over-related and his arguments were convincing enough and because no one has mentioned this in front of kat she can’t ever correct them and b) it’s very possible that it takes a LONG time for anyone to even realize that i) she has two different powersets from two different sources ii) what one of those powers even IS (her sight, because she just. doesn’t talk about things. again. and the things she notices that no one should notice could just be really good hearing or smell or smth?) and honestly the longer no one realizes any of these things the funnier it is

[fvriva]

🐖 thrandy thrandles throckmorton

thrandington below the cut, my dear

send an oc + an emoji (or order the WHOLE HOG)

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

Technically this was Tony's doing I believe. He named Elthrandor Sessamine with the logic of "a name that fits his elven naming scheme", in a world where Ellie was raised by U'tlunt'a. If I recall correctly as well, this was where Thrandy came from in the first place!

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

Thrandy is the same age as Ellie, though minutes younger. She will tend to remain aloof about it and go "almost 14".

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

In the campaign they got jokingly paired up with Log, a fankid of the two Animus Vitrum leads. Log's hardass personality simply meshed well with their prim and haughty tendencies.

In Exordium, their royal standing isn't as secure, so their personality isn't as pompous. Regardless they're set up currently to be dating Ida in the future, potentially.

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

Like Ellie, she needs to eat copius amounts of sugar because of her elf heritage. But she prefers spicy foods, especially savory types. She really likes her mom's shakshouka with some sweeter peppers and honey in the sauce.

💼 - What do they do for a living?

He's currently the crown prince of the kingdom of Musaphia, though it's kind of an honorary title because the place is in tatters on top of their present plight. So right now he's basically a wanderer. Isn't making much of a living.

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

She likes listening to music, podcasts, and collecting laemellograms. She isn't as cerebral as her siblings, but she still has a healthy appreciation for learning. She also enjoys keeping fit and practicing various fighting techniques. In Prophecy she also liked working on cars (specifically a fancy Night Court type of vehicle that was shaped like a bronze bug) and listening to jazz (covers of 90s music).

🎯 -What do they do best?

Of the triplets, she's the best at combat. She's been trained by the royal guards and by her mom, from whom she inherited a magical technique that lets her grow her fingers into long claws.

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Thrandy loves physical activities and adventure, stories and games, and seeking out all kinds of excitement. She gets bored really super easily and doesn't deal with it well. She does secretly like holding court, but only if there's going to be drama for this reason.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

It was after a particularly rough training session with his mom. U'tlunt'a patched him up but then took him out to the market as a special treat, as she very rarely leaves the palace grounds with her station. There was a big to-do and the endorphins were definitely helping.

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

Watching his mom sacrifice her life for him by trapping herself in a soul jar with a war machine. Then later watching Ida get herself cursed and being unable to help her.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

Nope! Their design has been a little all over the place. Their Exordium design has been a little but more stable but could also change in the future as I decide more of the world's aesthetic.

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

Originally, a silly roleswap au between Ellie and their girlfriend Nymra where Ellie was the suave royal-in-distress and Nymra was a goofy chuuni hero. Ellie in this au was an elf named Elthrandor, and the dm and I were in talks to try and canonically retcon them into being a half-fey changeling because we liked the idea so much. He surprised me with Elthrandor during the campaign.

Lately, it's been a lot of Olivier from Hello from the Hallowoods as well as Coco from Little Witch Atelier.

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

I think high fantasy, but with a little more courtly intrigue such that the little extending claws are a more perfect spy type utility! Unfortunately this is an apocalypse story. Alas. They get to do this better in Skylands.

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Thrandy is bi and genderfluid and uses she/he/they.

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

He has two siblings but he doesn't know them, so he's very only-child about everything.

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

She's very very close with her mom, Archmage U'tlunt'a Spearfinger. Her bio dad, Daeyim, is out of the picture due to Circumstances, but she's very resentful of him being absent.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

I'm still feeling him out, which is the fun part. When I'm adapting an npc that exists for a specific goody niche for a serious character arc, the fun lies in finding where I can really make these characters squirm and suffer the most. I also like how much he works as a foil for his siblings, being an opposite in a lot of ways but a parallel in others.

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

A bit less than the other two triplets but she does have the most written fic currently in Exordium.

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

Not really. I just don't think I'd get much mileage from it currently.

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

They're a little squeamish when it comes to things like heights. And the dark, which is not great for the eternal night world.

🍩 - Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

They butt heads with Lilibeth a lot but everyone does because she's got a difficult personality. They also are definitely going to be fighting both Ida's brother Goliath and Lili's mom, V'rylla.

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

The au was created in late 2020. I don't remember exactly when they debuted in game but it wasn't too long after. This makes it about 3.5 years.

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

I would've been 20!

[chubbyreaderwriter]

Soft

Bucky Barnes x Plus Size/Chubby reader.

Imagine: Bucky loves how soft you are and how relaxed you make him feel.

Word count: 1.3k

Warnings: none

Masterlist

(GIF isn’t mine, I found it on Google)

Today wasn’t shaping up to be a good day for Bucky. He was up all night from another nightmare and couldn’t bring himself to try to close his eyes even for a few minutes. Not wanting to bother anyone, he had secluded himself into his room in the Tower until 6:30 in the morning, his usual time he “woke up”. Sadly, sleep was rare for Bucky, though there was a slight improvement in his sleep schedule. Due to the new addition to the Avengers Tower, Bucky had started to feel much more relaxed than before. Yes, ever since you arrived, it was like a switch flipped in his mind.

You recently started working as a PA for all of the Avengers. You were given sets of rules and boundaries for each individual Avenger and for the most part, they were all achievable and reasonable. But Bucky’s was very long and, after reading his personal file, you couldn’t blame him. Truth be told, you had been extremely nervous to meet all of the Avengers after watching them all on your television previously and seeing them all look and act so tough while you were this soft, fluffy woman that cries if she sees a spider on a wall ten feet away from her.

It had surprised you to know that they were really friendly and accommodating towards you, not judging you by your weight at all, like you assumed they would. You guessed, it was just a shock to know that they were real people and acted just like normal people do. After being around them for a few days, you could already tell that they were like one big family and you hoped that you could maybe join them in how close they were someday.

Bucky was the one who surprised you the most, well maybe not surprised, more like intrigued. The first time he laid eyes on you, you were stumbling through the Tower on your way to Tony’s lab with a mountain of paperwork in your arms and you could barely see where you were going. You had been unable to see the sign about the recently cleaned floor and your foot slipped. You had let out a yelp as you felt your body falling to the ground when you suddenly stopped as you felt something, or rather, someone, catch you.

Bucky had stood with his hands on your waist, from behind, and looked down at you, still managing to cling onto your heap of paperwork even then. When you finally left his reach to stand on your own, he felt himself feel just a little colder without you in his arms. Almost like he missed your embrace after only experiencing it for a few seconds. You had turned to him and smiled, slowly outstretching your hand, “Hi, my name is (Y/n) and I’m the new PA for the Avengers. Anything you need, or want, I’m your girl. Well, not your girl, but the girl you should come to if you want anything. I mean, I’m a woman, not a girl, ugh, sorry.” You had stopped yourself as you were rambling but Bucky was only able to smile at your antics, finding your voice and general demeanor to be calming yet entertaining.

“That’s okay. I’m Bucky.” You had smiled at him, as he shook his hand, standing there for a few more moments before realising that you needed to get the paperwork to Tony. You had been able to mumble a goodbye before turning and leaving, being more careful of where you stepped. Since that meeting, Bucky hadn’t been able to get you out of his mind. You were different to anyone he’d ever met before, both physically and emotionally. You were a sweet and caring woman that Bucky had no choice but to grow attached to. Your voice was soothing to him and he loved to listen to you ramble about nothing and everything after he asked you a simple question like ‘how was your day?’ Or ‘Do you know where Tony hid the remote control?’ It didn’t help him that he found your body to be so attractive though. He spent many moments thinking about your wife hips, soft tummy, your large thighs, your breasts. Although, when his mind reached that part of your body, his thoughts tended to become quite less innocent.

He had slowly warmed up to you, to the point where he would actively seek you out on a daily basis to see how you were and ask you questions to get to know you better. He would make more of an effort in his appearance and watch movies you said you liked so the two of you would have something to talk about during your breaks when he would find you roaming about the Tower. The other Avengers were quick to notice your effects on Bucky and were more than pleased to see the change in their teammate.

Bucky would come to you when he felt stressed or uncomfortable or lonely. Any negative emotion he felt lead to him walking out of whatever room he was in and marching towards where JARVIS located you in the building. Such as now, after having a rough nightmare where he dreamed that he was The Winter Soldier again and he had hurt you. In the dream, you had told him that you hated him and that he was unworthy of you. It had brought him to tears, he had felt crushed. Because, after all those months of getting closer to you, he had found himself falling in love with you.

Bucky scouted every room that he walked past until he found you in the kitchen, filling up the coffee pot for everyone and making breakfast for yourself and a few of the others that you knew would be up soon. Hearing his footsteps, you turned to look at Bucky and judging by the bags under his eyes, he hadn’t gotten any sleep last night. You smiled at him, a sympathetic look on your face, and asked, “Did you have another nightmare?” He nodded and you frowned, walking closer to him to slowly wrap your arms around his waist to pull him into a hug.

Hugging was relatively new to yours and Bucky’s relationship, but neither of you had been opposed to it. You had wanted to do it earlier but you had been insecure if Bucky liked you enough to let you touch him. You felt his arms wrap around you in return and his chin resting on top of your head. Bucky sighed as he relaxed in your arms. It was like all the negative feelings he had were pushed out of his body as soon as you touched him. He nervously moved his head to rest on your shoulder, his breath tickling your neck. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Doll.” You could only smile, “Probably hugging some gorgeous, skinny model that Tony hired instead of me, a squishy piece of fat.”

Bucky frowned and leaned back to look down at you, “What are you talking about? You’re perfect and gorgeous just as much as those twigs you’re comparing yourself to. You’re better actually, because they don’t have your curves, or make me feel as happy as you do.” Blushing, you smiled out of pure joy but looked down so you didn’t embarrass yourself, “You think I’m gorgeous?” Your tone was a little teasing, which prompted the smirk on Bucky’s face, “I think you’re the most beautiful, soft girl I’ve ever seen. I think you’re too good-looking for your own good. People will try and steal you away from me.”

You shook your head, “No, I’d never let that happen. I’m your ‘soft girl’ after all.” Bucky grinned and held you tighter in his arms, “My soft girl. Now hurry up and eat so we can cuddle on the couch watching (Y/F/M) and you let me fall asleep on you.” You giggled and pulled away from Bucky, “Sounds great to me.”

[princessanneftw]

Princess Anne: the best queen we’ll never have

Discreet and dependable, she is a royal cast in her mother’s mould. No wonder many long for her to reign over us, write Roya Nikkhah and Tony Allen-Mills

Roya Nikkhah and Tony Allen-Mills for The Sunday Times

When the Princess Royal turned up at one of the charities she supports to meet a gathering of disabled and autistic children, a young girl boldly informed her: “You don’t look much like a princess.” Anne didn’t miss a beat. “Good,” she replied. “That’s very reassuring.”

There have been moments over the past half-century when the Queen’s second child didn’t behave much like a princess either. She acquired a criminal conviction after her bull terrier, Dotty, bit two children. She tried to wriggle out of a speeding fine. She once owned a Reliant Robin.

Anne was unprincesslike in other ways too. As president of Save the Children, she has toured remote corners of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. She slept on camp beds and shared a bathroom with up to eight people. She visited parts not many British royals have reached: Madagascar; Peru; Wuhan, in China. In London she travels to some engagements by Tube. In 1971 she was the BBC’s sports personality of the year.

Today, as she approaches her 70th birthday, Anne has in many ways emerged as the royal family’s most valuable member after the Queen.

Captain Sir Nick Wright, a former naval officer, was Anne’s longest-serving private secretary, retiring last year after 17 years. He has never previously spoken about the princess. Now he says her sense of humour is “marvellously wicked” and her stamina endless: “The day starts early and ends at 11pm, day in, day out. Like the Duke of Edinburgh, she’ll just go on and on.

“She is totally consistent. If I’d done something wrong, I’d get a look, which can be disarming at times, but then she would immediately move on. Now, more than ever she will be a great stabilising influence for the monarchy, and when the Prince of Wales accedes to the throne, I don’t see her role being diminished, because she is such a valued and committed member of the family.”

Amid the chaos that has engulfed the dukedoms of York and Sussex, Anne has appeared a pillar of probity, devoted to her royal duties, impervious to the fallout from successive family scandals.

Although she is now 14th in the line of succession, it is tempting to reflect, as the nation braces for a whirlwind of birthday tributes — including a fly-on-the-wall ITV documentary promising to tell the story of “a royal mould-breaker, a princess who refused to follow the script” — that Anne may come to be remembered as the best queen Britain never had.

It has been quite a turnaround for a distant, largely unknowable princess routinely described as “no-nonsense”, “brusque” or “as stiff as her hairdo”. She was the first daughter of a monarch to be sent to boarding school. One of her contemporaries at Benenden in Kent was the royal biographer Penny Junor, who later described her as “one of the rudest people I have ever come across”. Anne inherited her father’s fondness for swearing at photographers and brushing off unwanted attention, earning her the tabloid title “Princess Sourpuss”. A Sunday Times profile in 2001 mockingly described her as an “enemy of the people”, after her lawyers explained that the reason why she didn’t slow down her speeding Bentley when flashing blue lights appeared behind her was because she thought it was a royal police escort.

She was never mistaken for a “people’s princess” and her relations with her former sisters-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York were by most accounts somewhere between chilly and arctic. She was reported to have shouted during a royal Christmas party at which Diana was present: “I will not be pushed around by that brainless woman.”

Her 1973 marriage to fellow equestrian Captain Mark Phillips produced two children; long before Harry and Meghan shunned a title for their son Archie, Anne insisted that her son Peter and daughter Zara remain Mr and Miss.

“I think it was probably easier for them,” she told Vanity Fair earlier this year. “I think most people would argue there are downsides to having titles.”

Over the years there have been occasional upsets, notably in 1974 when Anne survived a kidnap attempt in central London. Some years later she was linked romantically to her Scotland Yard protection officer, who was removed from royal service in 1982 amid newspaper reports of “overfamiliarity”.

Several more rumoured romances were reported but shortly after divorcing Phillips in 1992, Anne married Commander Timothy Laurence (now a retired vice-admiral and a knight). There has been speculation in recent years that the couple have grown apart and live separate lives, but people who know them say the partnership remains watertight.

“I’ve seen them together often and they seem to me a very good team,” said the lyricist Sir Tim Rice, a long-standing friend of Anne’s. She and Laurence attended a revival of the musical Chess at the London Coliseum. “She rang me up and wanted it to be very downmarket,” said Rice. “They sat at the back, we had a sandwich at half-time and when some of the producers found out they said, ‘Why didn’t you tell us? We could have made more of a fuss.’ But that’s exactly what she doesn’t want.”

Indeed, it has been precisely the avoidance of fuss that has turned Anne into such a discreet, dependable and desirable patron for so many of the more than 300 charities, military organisations and associations that she supports.

Unlike Prince Charles, Anne rarely courts public displeasure by pronouncing on government, family or any other policy matter. At her many public engagements — she has often topped the list of busiest royals — she tends to dodge the top brass and head straight for the lower ranks, military or civilian.

As she told Vanity Fair: “It’s not just about ‘Can I get a tick in the box for doing this?’ No, it’s about serving. It comes from an example from both my parents’ way of working and where they saw their role being.”

Gareth Howells, chief executive of the Carers Trust, of which Anne is also patron, said: “At every event she goes straight to talk to the unpaid carers first. They are her priority. She doesn’t just rock up to shake hands.”

Major Tom Gibbs, the officer commanding C Squadron, King’s Royal Hussars, recalled Anne ripping up the programme when she arrived at the unit’s base in Germany shortly after it was mobilised for the Gulf War in 1991: “Instead she spent hours talking to the [soldiers’] wives to understand the impact it was going to have on them. She gives the unit what it needs, rather than what is expected.”

Colonel Jason Gunning, of the Royal Signals, another of Anne’s regiments, added: “She doesn’t seek the limelight, but she’s very good in it.”

A month after Harry and Meghan announced their departure for a new role across the pond, Anne told Vanity Fair: “I don’t think this younger generation probably understands what I was doing in the past. Nowadays, they’re much more looking for, ‘Oh, let’s do it a new way’. And I’m already at the stage [of], ‘Please do not reinvent that particular wheel. We’ve been there, done that. Some of these things don’t work. You may need to go back to basics.’ ”

All this suggests that Anne, in radically different circumstances, might have become the worthiest of successors to her mother. The Queen and her daughter are said to have become much closer of late and one royal source noted: “The feeling is that if the Duke of Edinburgh isn’t around any more, it will be the princess who is giving her mother more support and not the Duke of York, who was trying to insert himself into that role.”

Andrew is now more concerned with extracting himself from trouble. “With everything that’s been going on recently, the members of the royal family you have left are the really hard-working ones, like Anne, who just get it; who knuckle down and know ‘it’s not about us, it’s about them, the public’,” the source added.

The Princess Royal may have been a mould-breaker once, but today she has reshaped and remade herself very much in her mother’s image. All hail not-to-be Queen Anne II, the monarch Britain never knew it might need.

[angerissue]

Character Survey.

Real name: Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, Ph.D..

Single or taken: Single, and this probably isn't going to change anytime soon. He has a number of ingrained emotional issues, and ideological issues that pertain to his condition, that prevent him from seeking romantic relationships and even just becoming close to someone. One-night stands are possible, because they don’t involve emotional commitment from either party, but real relationships scare the hell out of him. The closer that someone gets to Bruce, the more he fears hurting them or being hurt himself.

Abilities or powers: He has an extremely high IQ, almost unprecedented intuition when it comes to the sciences and its numerous technologies, and a great ability to think outside the box and solve complicated, confounding problems. Also, he can turn big and green, which makes him capable of inhuman physical feats and gives him a ridiculous healing factor. This cannot be understated; he can literally recover from decapitation if the conditions are right. It's debatable whether these qualify as gifts or curses, because of the experiences they've created for Bruce in the past, but they're definitely abilities at the least.

Eye colour: Brown. Sometimes green if he’s in a mood.

Hair colour: Dark brown with some grey.

Family members: Rebecca Banner (mother / deceased), Brian Banner (father / incarcerated), Jennifer Walters (cousin / alive), Susan Drake (adoptive aunt / unknown), Elaine Banner (aunt / deceased).

Pets: In The Persistence, he owns a white knockout mouse named Eddie, who came from a selection of ailing lab mice that he experimented on with the Hulk's plasma. He doesn’t have pets in other verses, though he wouldn’t mind a cat, or a dog with a calm and mellow demeanour, as long as his living situation and overall routine is constant and undisturbed. Otherwise, it will never be a possibility. Back when General Ross' squad broke down his door in Brazil, he needed to abandon a mutt named Rick, and it hurt because he’d become very fond of him. He doesn't want to do this to another animal.

Hobbies or activities: He loves hiking and jogging (with trails in forested areas being his preferred location), cooking and baking, gardening, reading textbooks and science journalism, bait fishing, programming and experimenting, travelling, sightseeing, meditation, yoga, collecting and listening to vinyl records, and being a rebel by listening to police scanners and going after bad guys if he doesn't have much else to do. But even if it seems like he's not outwardly doing anything, he's probably still occupied — he tends to spend a profuse amount of time in his own head, ruminating and reflecting on future goals, whether it involves anticipating or dreading them. He also likes to contemplate new concepts and designs for technologies.

Animal that represents them: Definitely a pangolin, because you can’t look at a pangolin and the way it carries itself and not think of Banner from a purely visual perspective. Add on the fact that their bodies are covered in hardened scales for defense, and how they curl up into a ball whenever they're upset and threatened, and you have a metaphorical version of Bruce, who tends to shy away and retreat into himself whenever he's having a lower moment, and has a lot of deep-seated defensive mechanisms on display during social interactions. But seriously, these animals just want to walk around eating ants, minding their own business. They don’t have a bone to pick with anyone... Which is also similar to Bruce. And did I mention that pangolins are endangered, because they're frequently hunted and trapped by humans for their supposed “beneficial properties” in medicine (none of which are proven)? That's similar to how Banner has been followed all over the place by the U.S. military, just because they perceived his condition to be useful somehow.

Worst habits: Take your pick. Distancing himself from other people even when he could use the company, self-flagellation, humouring his guilt complex even when he's not responsible for certain negative outcomes, repressing or suppressing his emotions when he needs to express them (or the opposite, staying as the Hulk so he can stew in those strong emotions and therefore punish himself for whatever he “did wrong”), running away from connections that involve real commitment, especially romantic ones.

Role models: Steve Rogers for his patriotism and overall sense of morality, Neils Bohr for his defense of the Bohr atomic model (which had been a radical theory for the time) and subsequent successes, Ernest Rutherford for similar reasons, and his mother when he was younger, though he doesn’t remember much about her because he was only six when she died. Same goes for his aunt, Susan; while he spent more time around her than Rebecca in total, he was rather emotionally absent by this point because of all the trauma earlier in his childhood. In general, his role models tend to be people who remain strong in the face of adversity and judgement, and stick to their values for the benefit of others. All the above people qualify in that sense, for different reasons.

Sexual orientation: Heterosexual.

Thoughts on marriage and kids: Nope, and bigger nope. He would love to have a close connection with someone, however much he's actually repressed the desire for the time being, and some part of him does want to have a child — however, he always concludes that it wouldn't be worth it. Bruce believes marriage would be a shackle for anyone who's unfortunate enough to become his partner, and it would open them up to potential threats from people who could use them to get to him and his condition. And children are a no-go because Bruce doesn’t want them to have a father like him; he might be absent for a lot of their upbringing, and either unstable or otherwise unaccommodating in temperament if he’s upset. And he'll constantly be trying to hide his condition from them as well, because god forbid they find out their father is a monster, and they feel like a freak because of it. He's been in a position where he felt like an anomaly as a child, and he's not interested in subjecting his children to this. He also loathes the idea of bringing children into the world because he would not be able to ensure their safety — after all, he can’t even ensure his own. So to Bruce, he'd be setting them up for endangerment just because they’re related to him, similar to how his partner would become a target as well.

Style preferences: Safe and conservative, and not flamboyant by any means. He usually sticks to warmer and neutral palettes, and cuts/styles that are classic and unlikely to fall out of style; this includes his suits, jackets, pants, and shirts. We're talking chinos and slacks, poplin dress shirts, wool sport coats and blazers. Most occasions will see him wearing the dress shirt, slacks, and sport coat together. If he's feeling more adventurous, he'll pair a sport coat with a crewneck, or he could even go with a polo shirt and jeans, but the latter is rare. In general, Bruce's most interesting piece is a brown leather bomber jacket, which he usually wears in the warmer months; colder weather will bring out a peacoat (and he loves to pop the collar in lieu of using a scarf). As far as cost goes, Bruce is fairly well-off between the royalties from S.H.I.E.L.D. and other work he's done here and there, but even so, he doesn't purchase outrageously expensive clothing and tends to go for the mid-upper brands. He'll do made-to-measure, but not full bespoke. He finds any further spending to be superfluous.

Approach to friendships: Cautious and uncertain about them, and tends not to approach people first, because he would hate to overstep his boundaries / make someone uncomfortable. Rather accommodating to people he considers friends, but he's extremely quick to duck out if they can’t meet him eye-to-eye regarding touchy topics, like decisions that affect the well-being of many people. This is the reason he shunned his friendship with Tony after they debated about the Sokovia Accords. Being an introvert, he’s one of those people who doesn't like bothering his friends; even if they make it abundantly clear that he's welcome anytime, he'll hesitate, but he’s completely okay and even happy if those friends approach him instead. He doesn't always like when his personal space is invaded, or if someone touches him, but he'll start to make exceptions if he becomes more familiar with someone. He loves the people that he can consider friends, but he always views the friendships as something that could dissolve in a heartbeat. On some level, even unconscious, he's always expecting things to end.

Thoughts on pie: An acceptable desert. Bumbleberry, strawberry rhubarb, and pumpkin are his favourites. He prefers the homemade variety, and because of it, he tends to make his own, butter crust and all, avoiding store-bought unless it’s particularly memorable — or if someone buys a slice for him. He’s appreciative like that.

Favourite place to spend time: Somewhere he can guarantee that he's not being watched; these are most commonly his labs in the Northwind Observatory, quiet and secluded trails, or his chambers in the Crown City citadel on Sakaar. Not only do these locations ease his anxieties about being studied, inspected, or followed, but he feels less of a pressure to put on false pretenses and exhaust himself with social niceties, many of which may be fabricated. He doesn’t need much external stimulation, because he’s fine simply turning inward and thinking, without paying much attention to his surroundings, but he’ll certainly admit to spending a ton of time tinkering with pet projects if he’s in the labs. Obviously, Bruce prefers to be alone in most of these cases. But if he's with someone he cares about, whether a friend or a romantic partner, and can openly express himself around them, that's nice for him too.

Swim in the lake or ocean: Lakes, without question. He has some bad memories of being in the ocean, whether it’s about the time he was tossing and turning in glacial waters after his failed suicide attempt, or clawing his way out of a quinjet that crashed into the water while his alter started to take over. Bruce remembers all that, and it's not pleasant. The openness of oceans perturb him as well; lakes are usually far more intimate and amniotic because they’re often surrounded by forests, which allows him to feel safer and less exposed.

Their type: Someone who is, and is comfortable with showing, some semblance of dependence on him, which would placate his need to fill a provider role and not simply be a charity case; he's had enough of that between begging on the streets and asking Tony Stark for boarding. (This doesn't mean he's looking for someone who's a total pushover, cannot make their own decisions, or is emotionally needy, because those would make him run in the other direction, frankly.) Someone who can hold their own and stand up for their beliefs when necessary. Someone who can challenge him intellectually, though not necessarily in an academic sense; it really just depends on how much they can expand his own perspective by giving their own. Someone who really understands his needs and issues. And obviously, someone who isn't scared of his condition, because it's going to manifest a lot. It needs to; he doesn't really have a choice in the matter. Hulk is another story, but fortunately, he doesn't show up enough to really be an immediate concern, and Bruce and his partner can cross that bridge when they reach it. Physically, he's usually attracted to women who are slightly shorter than him; their hair can be anything from blonde to brown, and he prefers body types that are similar to his own; more on the slender side but not necessarily fragile.

Camping or indoors: He’d rather be indoors. He isn’t extremely fond of camping, if we’re using the most common definition of "pitching a tent, cooking with a fire made from sticks and tinder, and spending the night in the woods with the bears and the bugs". There are indeed occasions where he cannot stand to be indoors, whether because he’s feeling claustrophobic (a common symptom of abstaining a little too long from transformations), or he simply needs some time away from other people in the geographic sense, but in those cases, he’s more likely to go for a walk or hike, not set up an entire campsite and spend the rest of the night outdoors. For him, camping is meant for a survival-type situation rather than a recreational one. The closest thing to camping he'll do is living in a cabin with a wood stove and local water supply, which he’s done a few times over the years. He's even purchased a few cabins by the time his Persistence verse rolls around, so if one of the properties are compromised, he could always retreat to another one.

Tagged by: @mynameisanakin​! Tagging: @fallencomrade​ , @asgardianhammer​​ , @alongingwithin​ , and anyone else who wants to do this.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Why do you think the Animorphs fandom doesn't have as many AU stories as some of the other fandoms? I don't mean non-cannon stories, but those where the characters are taken from the Yeerk Invasion concept enitrely and dropped into another sandbox: coffeeshop AU, Hogwarts AU, etc. Even really common additions to the cannon world such as soulmate AUs seem to be less used with Animorphs. Any thoughts as to why?

Reason 1: The characters are 13.

Technically they grow up to ages 16 - 19 before dying horribly the series ends, but their problems and concerns are very much those of actual early adolescents.  They don’t drive (not even cheat-driving with mopeds or helicars like in other teen superhero stories), they don’t go on real dates, they don’t have jobs, and they don’t use money except for occasional emergency purchases of shoes or tacos.

Obviously that doesn’t preclude the protagonists from suffering through romantic clichés, but it means that there’s less material to work with than in a series such as Harry Potter or Supernatural where the characters do have these kinds of classic adult concerns.  It also means that (and fandalites are classy af so they tend to recognize this) there’s an inherent squick factor in hardcore romance, even in AUs where the characters have been aged to 18+.

Reason 2: There are no love triangles.

Probably the closest we get is Rachel realizing in #27 that she has romantic options other than Tobias… which leads to her realizing that Tobias has what she wants and needs in a romantic partner, whereas a civilian guy simply doesn’t.  Other than that, we have the moment in #44 where Cassie realizes that she’s flirting with Yami… which sets up the realization that Cassie might be better off with someone who has more capacity than Jake to make her happy.  No one cheats, no one fights rivals, and no one experiences much jealousy.

Characters dealing with their romantic feelings in mostly-healthy mostly-transparent ways, whether in or out of relationships, doesn’t leave much room for rom-com miscommunications and the like.  Ergo, there’s no room for characters being forced to date or to confess their feelings by circumstance.  Even Jake and Cassie’s unhealthy dynamic remains unhealthy for, like, a book and a half, before they have an amicable post-breakup goodbye in #53.  Not much room for romantic angst.  Speaking of which…

Reason 3: Do we really need MORE angst?  REALLY?

This series is about six mostly well-adjusted kids having their entire lives destroyed by the horrors of war.  If angst is your jam, there’s no need to add it by introducing backstory elements or hurt-comfort premises that we didn’t already see in canon.  You can literally just grab that time Jake watched his cousin drag his internal organs off the ceiling (#16), that time Cassie killed an innocent prisoner of war on reflex (#19), that time Tobias was tortured into insanity (#33), those times Marco committed matricide (#15, #30, Visser) and you’re off to the races.  A lot of fan fiction tropes are all about angst (Tony Stark’s dad never loved him, Stiles Stilinski wishes he was special, etc.) and where Animorphs is concerned, there’s really no need.  On a similar note…

Reason 4: Adding ridiculous humor would be redundant.

This is a series where running gags include (but are not limited to): the hawk kid getting his talons stuck to cetaceans when he tries to acquire them, “These Messages” (e.g. commercials) and CinnaBon being the only artistic creations of humanity worth saving, the main villain of the series being a Cat Person, all the Animorphs debating whether it’s cannibalism to eat fried chicken in seagull morph, the resident alien being unsure whether vinegar and motor oil count as beverages, and the kids getting out of obligations with excuses that range from “I have to go buy a nicotine patch before I become a teen smoker” to “my cousin — and not the one you’re thinking — just got into a fistfight with a six-year-old over Raisinets.”  Coffee shop humor, de-aging humor, and other whacky fan fic premises simply can’t top what we already have.  Not only that, but a lot of the whackier fun AUs — animal transformation AU, gender mashup AU, evil twin AU — have already been done in canon.

Reason 5: The cast is already pretty tight.

By this I mean that the cast is tight in that there are few wasted or tangential characters, and that the cast is tight in that there are few intragroup conflicts.  It’s not really possible to “break” the dynamic in ways that would feel organic (e.g. Civil War AU) without losing a ton of what makes the series itself.  There are also relatively few minor characters that one can add to the original six’s dynamic in meaningful ways (although yours truly is guilty of trying), because they’re so isolated and codependent.  Writing AUs in which the characters just meet for the first time during the fic is... possible, but IMHO would feel deeply weird.

It’s also a fairly fundamental aspect of what makes Animorphs unique that there are no mentors anywhere in the series.  The kids get occasional information from Erek or the YPM, but they have NO ONE they can turn to if they want to ask for advice.  ALL of their attempts to seek mentors end in said adults revealing themselves to be incompetent (Elfangor, Gonrod, Ithileran), morally bankrupt (Alloran, Arbat), unwilling to help because they have their own agendas (the Ellimist, Toby, Aldrea), or simply less experienced in relevant areas than the kids themselves are (Eva, Jara, Mr. Tidwell, Sam Doubleday).  It is possible to add adult characters to the team through crossovers or other AUs — but to do so is to fundamentally alter the structure of the series.

Reason 6: The plot is already pretty tight.

Animorphs isn’t a perfect piece of coherent plotting, but it also doesn’t have any huge glaring plot holes.  There’s nothing that the whole fandom agrees needs to be “fixed”: some people want Cassie to be wrong more often, some people would like direct queerness, some people dislike the tragic ending, some people think the late-middle sags, some people want more Tobias-narrated books, some people (*cough* me) want the series to be 55 books long so that Rachel gets to narrate one last story… None of these represents a majority opinion, the way that the “what have you done to our Jaime Lannister!?!?!?” outcry is currently dominating the Game of Thrones fandom to the tune of 800,000+ signatures on the world’s silliest Change.Org petition.

The events of the series follow pretty logically from one another, which means that there aren’t tons of divergences on a single theme, and also that it’s pretty easy to invent divergence points from canon itself.  There are occasional modern AUs and college-age AUs, but a lot of the time they have to differ dramatically from the source work to pull off the effect.

Here’s where I acknowledge my bias: I dislike the majority of super-popular AU ideas.  Some strike me as harmless romantic clichés (hatebanging AU, accidental dating AU) or wealthy-American-kid clichés (college AU, wedding AU).  Some strike me as sacrificing character for plot (fake married AU, sword-and-sorcery AU) or not having much plot at all (wedding planner AU, elaborate-miscommunication AU).  Some are downright problematic in their magical codification of power dynamics (omegaverse, sex pollen) or deeply concerning consent issues by definition (soul mates, coffee shop AU).  Most of them are perfectly good story ideas, but most of them are not to my taste.

All of these AU ideas can be done well and have been done well, because every cliché becomes a cliché by being genuinely brilliant until overused.  I mostly avoid these stories anyway because too many of them are plagued by setting rather than motivation forcing the characters to go from Point A to Point B or even forcing the characters to become romantically involved.  So there is a distinct possibility that there are Animorphs stories out there that use these ultra-popular AUs, and I just haven’t encountered them.

[forgcdasseta]

When Kelly had been young even before her father went to jail, before she had been taken in by Tony and Maria and long before the Marines her father had instilled in her that above everything, you were loyal to the club.There was nothing that went above the club, above the loyalty to the family that they had created around themselves.  It had been helpful during her military career where she had treated her unit the way she did the club. And when she finally came back home and back into the fold, it was the reason she made it a point not to sleep with any of the clubs members. Being in a relationship tending to fuck with your priorities; she had seen it more than a few times. Jealous Croweaters and sweetbutts who did stupid things all for the affection of one patched member or another. She wasn’t one of those girls. She was an Oliver and a Stark and she didn’t need to be fucking a patch to be respected.

Then of course her brother’s infatuation had to bring James Procter around and screw it all up.  

They had met for the first time when Tony had come into her shop with Steve and the then very new around James trailing behind him. Kelly hadn’t been able to take her eyes off him the gorgeous man standing almost awkwardly in the corner of her office while she discussed some club thing with her brother. She had told herself just once wouldn’t hurt anyone, no one even had to know about it.

Once had turned into twice a week very quickly.

She found out that they were very similar in the time they weren’t naked. Both ex-soldiers. Both sharpshooters with the same make and model preference in rifles. Talking to him was like talking to someone she had known for decades and she found herself seeking him out not just for sex. She’d invite him over for dinner or be the one perched on his lap at clubhouse parties. It was only recently they had started spending the night in each others homes. And this had been the first time either of them had left the other alone in their home completely. She hadn’t texted to ask where he was when she woke up to find him gone, didn’t want to seem like it bothered her to much. Instead she pulled on one of his shirts over her bare body and decided she was going to need a cup of coffee sooner rather than later.

His bike pulls into the drive only a few minutes after she’s taken the first sip of her coffee, not turning around until his voice cuts through the silence of the room. “Well considering someone used their boot knife to cut me out of my underwear and leather shorts, I needed something to wander around in.” She smirks at him, showing that even though she mourned the shorts, she had liked what he had done more. The dark haired ex-solider puts down her mug and steps a little closer so that there’s a fraction of the distance there was before. “Keep inviting me to stay and I’ll keep having reasons to wear your shirts. And probably steal them from you.”

It should worry her that all she wants is to curl into his chest and let James Procter take care of her. It should be sending alarm bells that she knows she’s been acting like his old lady the past week and a half. The thing about Kelly Oliver is that she’s never been good at heading warning signs. 

          steve’s position was supposed to be his.  years ago when the mission was first being discussed it was bucky who was supposed to go deep cover.  with his quiet demeanor and the tattoos he’d amassed since coming back from his time in the army he fit the bill.  but, as steve tended to do, he fought.  he fought up and down the offices because what no one ever mentioned about bucky’s time in the army was that time he spent as a prisoner of war.  not only had he been tortured but he’d been experimented on.  his captors wanted to mold him into something else for reasons no one really understood.  

                         as a result he’d lost an arm

           smirking, bucky lets his eyes drift down from kelly’s gaze and focuses on several metal digits.  they flex and extend while memories of the knife come rushing back.  he’d never hurt her but bucky would certainly destroy her clothes all day long.  in fact, with the threat of kelly raiding his closet, he silently wondered if he should tear her clothes apart more often.  the sight was painfully domestic.  something about the oversized shirt had the soldier pressing his lips together.  kelly filled a void inside him he hadn’t realized he’d lost in the army.  when she was close he felt complete, which was also the kind of sap that made him want to take a step back.  day by day their world was getting smaller.  with each meeting steve and bucky attended the case was that much closer to closing.  it was only a matter of time before both tony and kelly found themselves behind bars.

          “ would that be so bad? “  bucky practically choked on the words.  to distract himself from whatever facial expression kelly was making in response he looked back down at his metal hand.  he took his time removing the black leather glove that covered it in public.  the patch was enough to send people running when he was in public.  a metal arm?  most civilians didn’t know how to handle that gracefully.  “ staying, i mean.  more than just....whatever we’re doing right now. “

                   don’t do it, barnes.  don’t fuckin’ do it.

          a neutral expression hides the war raging in his heart and he walks forward despite every reason not to.  after letting his gloves fall to the coffee table, bucky closes the remaining difference between them.  he holds back the desire to pick kelly up and slam her into a wall.  those were the moments when thinking was very, very difficult.  bucky needed to be clear headed just then because he was throwing out invites to stay more often than the casual pattern they’d come to develop.  heart and mind were treading a very, very thin line.  one that might cause a fight between he and steve later in the day.  but, then, who didn’t know about what happened with steve and tony behind closed doors?  no one was stupid enough to whisper about it.  he’d accidentally walked in on it once at the clubhouse.  but, even that was only confirmation of the serious tension he’d picked up the minute he’d landed in the tiny little town.  “ having an extra stash of clothes would be practical, right?  or we can forget i asked and talk about the barbecue later instead.“  ( @until-ash-kingdom from x )

[introvertguide]

Spartacus (1960); AFI #81

Our next film that we reviewed is the bleak but powerful story of Spartacus, (1960) the Kirk Douglas answer to missing out on Ben Hur. According to some background viewing on the DVD and on YouTube, Kirk Douglas wanted to be the lead in Ben Hur and was angry when his part was given to Charlton Heston. He bought the rites to his own Roman Empire epic that he believed would rival his missed opportunity and Spartacus was adapted for the screen. Although Spartacus did not win the awards that Ben Hur did, the film won a Golden Globe for best Drama as well as 3 technical Oscars and a Best Supporting Oscar for Peter Ustinov. Spartacus is now generally considered the superior film (OK, specifically by me), mainly because it does not go in the direction that the viewer would expect for a movie of the time. Before I go any further, let’s spoil the story for those who just want to talk about the film without having seen it:

SPOILER WARNING! THIS MOVIE DOES NOT END LIKE ONE WOULD EXPECT SO THIS IS A LEGITIMATE WARNING! THIS REVIEW WILL RUIN THE ENDING SO WATCH THE MOVIE FIRST!

The movie starts with eight minutes of music and establishing shots, making sure that the viewer knows this is an epic. We see our main character, a slave named Spartacus (Kirk Douglas), is so uncooperative in his position in a mining pit that he is sentenced to death by starvation. By chance, he is displayed to a sniveling Roman businessman named Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), who – impressed by his ferocity – purchases Spartacus for his gladiatorial school. He tells his instructor Marcellus (Charles McGraw) to watch over Spartacus specifically because he thinks "he has quality". Amid the “training”, Spartacus forms a quiet relationship with a female slave named Varinia (Jean Simmons). She falls for Spartacus when he refuses to rape her for the entertainment of the guards claiming that he is not an animal. When she says “neither am I,” he respects her and realizes that she is kept for her physical abilities just as he is. Spartacus and Varinia are subsequently forced to endure numerous humiliations for defying the conditions of servitude, but their bond grows stronger as they suffer together.

Batiatus receives a visit from the immensely wealthy Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), who aims to become dictator of the stagnant Roman republic. Crassus buys Varinia on a whim and, for the amusement of his companions; arranges for Spartacus and three others to fight in pairs to the death. It was promised to the training gladiators that these death battles would only happen at the Colosseum. Crassus offers enough money that Batiatus can’t refuse, but this sets the rebellious attitude of the gladiators. During his fight, Spartacus is disarmed and his opponent, an African named Draba (Woody Strode), spares his life in a burst of defiance and instead attacks the Roman audience, but is speared by an arena guard and then finished off by Crassus. The next day, with the atmosphere still tense over this episode, Batiatus takes Varinia away to Crassus's house in Rome. Spartacus kills Marcellus, who was taunting him about his love, and the fight escalates into a full blown riot. The gladiators overwhelm their guards and escape into the Italian countryside. 

Spartacus is chosen as leader of the fugitives and he decides to lead them out of Italy to the sea where they can leave the country. The growing army of slaves and gladiators plunders Roman estates all over the countryside, collecting enough money to buy sea transport from the pirates of Cilicia. Spartacus and his group encounter numerous other slaves who wish to join, making the procession towards the sea as large as an army. One of the new arrivals is Varinia, who escaped while being delivered to Crassus. Another is a slave entertainer named Antoninus (Tony Curtis), who also fled Crassus's service. Spartacus feels mentally inadequate because he is uneducated, but he proves an excellent leader and organizes his diverse followers into a tough and self-sufficient community. Varinia, now his informal wife, becomes pregnant by him, and he also comes to regard the spirited Antoninus as a sort of son.

The Roman Senate becomes increasingly alarmed as Spartacus defeats the multiple armies sent against him. Crassus's populist opponent Gracchus (Charles Laughton) knows that his rival will try to use the crisis as a justification for seizing control of the Roman army. To try and prevent this, Gracchus channels as much military power as possible into the hands of his own protege, a young senator named Julius Caesar (John Gavin). Although Caesar lacks Crassus's contempt for the lower classes of Rome, he mistakes the man's rigid outlook for nobility. Thus, when Gracchus reveals that he has bribed the pirates to get Spartacus out of Italy and rid Rome of the slave army, Caesar regards such tactics as beneath him and goes over to Crassus.

Crassus uses a bribe of his own to make the pirates abandon Spartacus and has the Roman army secretly force the rebels away from the coastline towards Rome. Amid panic that Spartacus means to sack the city, the Senate gives Crassus absolute power. Now surrounded by Romans, Spartacus convinces his men to die fighting. Just by rebelling and proving themselves human, he says that they have struck a blow against slavery. In the ensuing battle, after initially breaking the ranks of Crassus's legions, the slave army ends up trapped between Crassus and two other forces advancing from behind, and most of them are massacred. Afterward, the Romans try to locate the rebel leader for special punishment by offering a pardon (and return to enslavement) if the men will identify Spartacus, living or dead. Every surviving man responds by shouting "I'm Spartacus!". As a result, Crassus has them all sentenced to death by crucifixion along the Via Appia between Rome and Capua, where the revolt began.

After the battle, Crassus finds Varinia and Spartacus's newborn son hiding amongst the dead and takes them prisoner. He is disturbed by the idea that Spartacus can command more love and loyalty than he can and hopes to compensate by making Varinia as devoted to him as she was to her former husband. When she rejects him, he furiously seeks out Spartacus (whom he recognizes from having watched him at Batiatus' school) and forces him to fight Antoninus to the death. The survivor is to be crucified, along with all the other men captured after the great battle. Spartacus kills Antoninus to spare him this terrible fate. The incident leaves Crassus worried about Spartacus's potential to live in legend as a martyr. In other matters, he is also worried about Caesar, whom he senses will someday eclipse him.

Gracchus, having seen Rome fall into tyranny, commits suicide. Before doing so, he bribes his friend Batiatus to rescue Spartacus's family from Crassus and carry them away to freedom. On the way out of Rome, the group passes under Spartacus's cross. Varinia is able to comfort him in his dying moments by showing him his little son, who will grow up free and knowing who his father was.

So just to really hit this spoiler home: the slaves who escape are all slaughtered in battle or crucified along the road into Rome, the senator who tries to help them commits suicide, and Spartacus kills his close friend and is himself crucified to the sound of his slowly dying army. His one consolation is he sees his wife leaving with his child under the same man who turned him into a gladiator in the first place. Kubrick really knows how to end on an up note (sarcasm). This is not that surprising since Trumbo adapted it and he was not feeling like a happy ending was in his future. It was probably very cathartic for him to write out the script. 

This movie brags of having a cast of thousands and that is no lie. My mom commented during the battle scene when all the armies are marching out that “nobody was unemployed during the making of this movie.” There was no green screen or CG effects, just 8000 members of the Spanish military dressed up like Roman soldiers and marching in formation. There were apparently many gory scenes that were cut out of battle towards the end and only a shot of Spartacus cutting off a man’s arm remained. When envisioning the project, Kubrick had no intention of holding back.

I did learn from the DVD extras (this is released through Criterion so there are tons of bonus extras and commentary) that Kubrick considered this the only film in which he felt he did not have complete creative control. He fought with Trumbo about the lead character being too perfect. Spartacus was a rebellious slave with no formal education and a huge chip on his shoulder. Why would he be so nice and understanding when so few people had shown him any kindness? The studios also did not like that somebody who had been shown to be so good would end up dying so badly. Kubrick really distanced himself from this film as he got old because he considered it the one example of a movie that he helped create that wasn’t really his. 

One specific scene that both Kubrick and Trumbo agreed on but the studios did not like was the famous “snails and oysters” moment between Crassus and Antoninus. This is a famous moment in the history of homosexual representation in American film and involves two of the most well known actors of the time, Sir Laurence Olivier and Tony Curtis. Antoninus is tending to Crassus during a bath and Crassus asks a series of questions about moral actions. He asks if Antoninus eats oysters and snails and asks if eating one is morally superior to the other. Crassus concludes that it  is a matter of taste and not a question of morality. During the questioning, Antoninus continually refers to Crassus as master while oiling up the man in a bath. Crassus is blatantly hitting on Antoninus and the only reason it got past the studio censors is that it was the villainous Roman tyrant. This scene would have been cut at the time if it would have gone any further, I think. Very interesting moment in movie history. 

More than any single scene, Kubrick was constantly fighting about his need to put in his special touch of over perfectionism which translated to demanding a lot of takes. This really slows down production when you are trying to direct and you are dealing with so many people. He is reported to have done a dozen or more takes for each dolly shot of the dead bodies on the battle field with specific instructions for every single extra that lay on the field. I am all about sticking to your vision, but that might be going a little bit too far when you are using studio money. I do love the final product, however, so I am probably not allowed to complain too much about the director’s process. 

So does this movie belong on the AFI list? Of course. It is an epic historical drama that won 4 Academy Awards. It stars some of the biggest names in movie history including the great Kirk Douglas in possibly his most memorable role, it was directed by the iconic Stanley Kubrick, and this movie marks the end of the blacklisting of writers who had been accused of being communists. This is a piece of cinema that strongly represents the time of its creation and should definitely be studied by groups like the AFI. Would I recommend it? Across the board. It is a great movie that actually moves through its 3+ hours. I found myself taking less notes during the movie and simply enjoying the entire viewing. I even watched again with commentary without a single gripe. Fantastic movie and a real tribute to the great actor Kirk Douglas. RIP and thank you for the entertainment. I am Spartacus!

[emilyl-b]

9 Signs You Need Help With best portable keyboard

Correction Appended

On an album of bittersweet childrens music that she wrote greater than a decade back, the lady who came to become acknowledged only because the piano teacher offered what, in hindsight, seems like an eerie glimpse of her own upcoming.

Im transferring away now to a location so far away, in which nobody knows my identify, she wrote from the lyrics of a music identified as Transferring.

When she wrote that tune, she was younger and vivacious, a piano Trainer and freelance music writer who beloved Beethoven and jazz, sunsets and river Appears, very long walks and anything about Big apple.

On one of those beloved walks, through Central Park in the bright Sunlight of a June day in 1996, a homeless drifter conquer her and attempted to rape her, leaving her clinging to life. Following the assault, the terms to her track came genuine. She moved away, outside of Ny city, away from her outdated lifestyle, and all but her closest good friends didn't know her identify. To the rest of the entire world, she was — just like the extra famous jogger attacked in Central Park seven years before — an anonymous symbol of the urban nightmare. She was the piano teacher.

Now, over the tenth anniversary on the attack, she is celebrating what is apparently her complete Restoration from Mind trauma. She's 42, married, with a small boy or girl. She's Kyle Kevorkian McCann, the piano teacher, and she desires to explain to her story, her way.

Her medical professional instructed her it would just take 10 years to Get better, and Sunday was that talismanic anniversary. I really feel my daily life is redefined by Central Park, she said a number of days back, her voice smooth and hopeful. Prior to park; after park. Will there at any time be a time Once i dont Believe, Oh, this is the 10th anniversary, the 11th anniversary?

She spoke in her modest ranch home in a very wooded subdivision in a very The big apple suburb. She sat inside a eating home strewn with toys, surrounded by images of her cherubic, dark-haired two-yr-outdated daughter. A Steinway grand stuffed 50 percent the area, and at a single stage she sat down and performed. Her playing was forceful, but she appeared ashamed to Enjoy quite a lot of bars, and shrugged, as an alternative to answering, when questioned the identify in the piece. She requested that her daughter and her town not be named.

She phone calls that day, June 4, 1996, the day Once i was hurt.

Hers was the 1st inside a string of attacks by the same male on four Females more than 8 times. The last sufferer, Evelyn Alvarez, sixty five, was beaten to Demise as she opened her Park Avenue dry-cleaning shop, and finally, the assailant, John J. Royster, was convicted of murder and sentenced to existence in prison.

Nevertheless the attack on the piano Trainer would be the a single folks look to recollect one of the most. Element of the fascination needs to do with echoes of your 1989 assault about the Central Park jogger. But it also frightened people today in a method the attack within the jogger did not since its situation were so mundane.

It didn't occur inside of a remote Section of the park late during the night, but in close proximity to a well known playground at three in the afternoon. It could have took place to anyone. The stress was heightened through the thriller of the piano academics id.

For three times, as law enforcement and Health professionals tried using to see who she was, she lay within a coma in her clinic mattress, nameless. Her mom and dad had been on holiday and her boyfriend, also a musician, was in Europe, on tour. Ultimately, one of her college students identified a police sketch and was in a position to establish her during the medical center by her fingers, due to the fact her experience was swollen further than recognition. The police didn't launch her title.

The last thing she remembers about June four, 1996, is providing a lesson in her studio apartment on West 57th Road, then Placing her prolonged hair inside of a ponytail and going out for a stroll. She doesn't try to remember the attack, While she has read the accounts with the police and prosecutors.

To me its like a fact I discovered and memorized, she reported. As if I ended up a student at school learning record.

She doesn't give thought to The person who did it. I may have been indignant for just a second, although not for much longer than that, she said. How could I be indignant at John Royster? He was declared not crazy, but I suppose by our specifications he was.

Dr. Jamshid Ghajar, her medical doctor at Ny Healthcare facility-Cornell Health care Centre, as it had been recognised in 1996, advised reporters that she had a ten per cent prospect of survival. Physicians had to eliminate her forehead bone, which was later on replaced, for making room for her swelling Mind. When her mom produced a community attract pray for my daughter, hundreds did.

Just after 8 times, she arrived away from a coma, 1st within a vegetative condition, then in a very childlike condition. As she recovered, she slept very little and talked frequently, at times in gibberish. I had been having mad at people today whenever they didnt reply to these words and phrases, she said.

Like an Alzheimers individual, she experienced minimal small-time period memory and would forget people when they remaining the place.

Over quite a few months, she had to relearn ways to wander, costume, read and generate. Her boyfriend, Tony Scherr, frequented daily to Perform guitar for her. He encouraged her to Engage in the piano, versus the advice of her Actual physical therapists, who imagined she could well be annoyed by her incapacity to play the best way she after experienced. Mr. Scherr played Beatles duets with her, participating in the left-hand aspect even though she performed the appropriate.

Which was my very best therapy, she explained.

In August, she moved again dwelling to New Jersey, together with her father, an engineer, and mom, a schoolteacher. She visited aged haunts and identified as buddies, making an attempt to revive her shattered memory. I was extremely obsessed with remembering, she explained. Any memory loss was to me a sign of abnormality or deficit.

Her therapists assumed her progress was terrific, but her two sisters protested that she wasn't the deep thinker she were.

What bothered her most was that she had misplaced the opportunity to cry, like a faucet inside of her Mind had been turned off. A person evening, nine months right after she was hurt, she stayed up late to look at the John Grisham Film A The perfect time to Get rid of. Just after her father had long gone to bed, she watched a courtroom scene of Samuel Jacksons character on trial for killing two Adult males who experienced raped his young daughter.

The faucet opened, plus the tears trickled down her cheeks. I considered my moms and dads, my father, and what they went as a result of, she stated. Very little by minor, my feeling returned, my depth of brain returned.

Urged by her sisters, she went back again to school and got a masters degree in music schooling.

Not every thing went perfectly. She and Mr. Scherr split up 5 years once the assault, although they remain close friends. She dated other Adult males, but she often told them about the attack right away — she couldn't support it, she explained — and they in no way referred to as for just a 2nd date.

We have now to seek out you somebody, her Close friend David Phelps, a guitar player, reported 4 decades back, right before introducing her to Liam McCann, a pc technician and novice drummer. For after, she did not say anything with regard to the attack until finally she acquired to know Mr. McCann, after which you can when she did, he admired her energy.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who experienced generally visited her at her bedside though she was inside the medical center, married them in his Occasions Sq. office. She wore a blue gown and pearls. Although she was pregnant, in a burst of creativeness, she and her close friends recorded Although Were being Youthful, an album of childrens music that she experienced composed before the attack, such as the song Shifting. Her ex-boyfriend, Mr. Scherr, developed the CD. On it, her husband plays drums and she or he plays electrical piano.

Is her lifestyle as it was? Not exactly, even though she's hesitant to attribute the distinctions to her injuries. Her very last two piano students remaining her, without having contacting to explain why, she stated. She has resumed actively playing classical songs, but uncomplicated items, for the reason that her daughter does not give her time for you to apply. As for jazz, I dont even attempt, she mentioned.

She wish to travel more, emotion stranded in the suburbs, but she is definitely rattled. She tries to be content with being dwelling and caring for her daughter.

Dr. Ghajar, a scientific professor of neurological surgical procedure at what's now termed The big apple-Presbyterian Clinic/Weill Cornell Clinical Centre, who operated on Ms. Kevorkian McCann after the attack, reported very last 7 days that her level of Restoration was exceptional. Shes fundamentally regular, he explained.

Other specialists, who will be not Individually aware of Ms. Kevorkian McCanns circumstance, tend to be more cautious.

Regaining the chance to Perform the piano may possibly require an Practically mechanical method, a semiautomatic remember of what the fingers must do, mentioned Dr. Yehuda Ben-Yishay, a professor of clinical rehabilitation drugs at Big apple College College of Medication. Once Mind-hurt, that you are usually Mind-injured, for the rest of your life, Dr. Ben-Yishay reported. There is absolutely no get rid of, You can find only intense compensation.

The more telling Element of a recovery, in his perspective, is psychological, and on that score he counts Ms. Kevorkian McCanns marriage and youngster as an important victory.

For her element, the piano Trainer is aware of she has adjusted, but she has produced her peace with it. I had been kind of a hyper —— I dont know if I used to be a sort A, but I had been formidable, she suggests. Why was I so bold? I used to be a piano Trainer. I dont know what the ambition was about. I really did come back to the person Im purported to be.

[macbetha]

What are some of your favorite books of all time?

sorry this took a bit to answer, i took this question prettyseriously because books mean so much to me haha. so, i made a list! thesearen’t all specifically books; there are plays and poems as well, just becausethose have a tendency to have as much of an impact me as novels and such.

D R A M A / P L A Y S

Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire- On a streetcar named Desire, Blanche DuBois travels from the railroad station in New Orleans to a street named Elysian Fields, where her sister, Stella, pregnant and married to Stanley Kowalski, lives in a run-down apartment building in the old French Quarter. Having lost her husband, parents, teaching position, and old family home—Belle Reve in Laurel, Mississippi—Blanche has nowhere to turn but to her one remaining close relative.

William Shakespeare: Macbeth- Macbeth is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatizes the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake.

G R E E K  D R A M A ( C OM E D Y  &  T R A G E D Y ) 

Aristophanes: Lysistrata- Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BCE, it is a comic account of a woman’s extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War by denying all the men sex - and it works. 

Sophocles: Oedipus Rex- Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family.

C L A S S I C S : G R E E K L I T E R A T U R E

Homer: The Iliad- Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states. The Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege; the earlier events, such as the gathering of warriors for the siege, the cause of the war, and related concerns tend to appear near the beginning. Then the epic narrative takes up events prophesied for the future, such as Achilles’ looming death and the sack of Troy, although the narrative ends before these events take place. However, as these events are prefigured and alluded to more and more vividly, when it reaches an end the poem has told a more or less complete tale of the Trojan War.

The Poetry of Sappho- She was one of the few women mentioned in ancient Greek literature and doesnot frequent the topics of other writers of her time, such as politics and war. She writes about compassion and love; her work is really beautiful andheartfelt. 

C L A S S I C S : E N G L I S H/ A M E R I C A N  L I T E R A T U R E

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”This first sentence filled with irony and playfulness. The novel revolves around the necessity of marrying for love, not simply for mercenary reasons despite the social pressures to make a wealthy match.

Emily Brontë: Wuthering HeightsAlthough Wuthering Heights is now widely regarded as a classic of English literature, contemporary reviews for the novel were deeply polarised; it was considered controversial because its depiction of mental and physical cruelty was unusually stark, and it challenged strict Victorian ideals of the day regarding religious hypocrisy, morality, social classes and gender inequality.

F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby- The best third-wheel story of all time.

P O E T R Y / S H O R T  ST O R I E S

Sylvia Plath: “Lady Lazarus”Out of the ashes / I rise with my red hair / And I eat men like air.

Sylvia Plath: “Poem for a Birthday”“Eaten or rotten. I am all mouth.”

Lucille Clifton: “Homage To My Hips”these hips are mighty hips. these hips are magic hips. i have known them to put a spell on a man and spin him like a top! Maya Angelou: “Phenomenal Woman”It’s the fire in my eyes / And the flash of my teeth, / The swing in my waist,/ And the joy in my feet.  

Warsan Shire:Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth- “later that night / i held an atlas in my lap / ran my fingers across the whole world / and whispered / where does it hurt? / it answered / everywhere / everywhere / everywhere.” - “give your daughters difficult names. give your daughters names that command the full use of tongue. my name makes you want to tell me the truth. my name doesn’t allow me to trust anyone that cannot pronounce it right.” - “every mouth you’ve ever kissed / was just practice / all the bodies you’ve ever undressed / and ploughed in to / were preparing you for me. / was it a long journey? / did it take you long to find me? / you’re here now, / welcome home.” -“I have my mother’s mouth and my father’s eyes; on my face they are  still together.” -“I want to make love but my hair smells of war and running and running.”

Maya Angelou: “Still I Rise”Does my sexiness upset you? / Does it come as a surprise / That I dance likeI’ve got diamonds / At the meeting of my thighs? 

Maya Angelou: “Chicken Licken”When she saw a bed / locksclicked / in her brain

Edgar Allan Poe: Murders In The Rue Morgue- i read this in eighth grade and it is a mystery that stuck with me for therest of my life. it is fascinating in the way that poe always is, i so recommend it.

Edgar Allan Poe: “Evening Star”- “I gazed awhile / On her cold smile /Too cold - too cold for me.”

M E M O I R S / B I O G R A P H I E S

Christine Wiltz: The Last Madam: A Life In the New Orleans Underworld- In 1916, at age fifteen, Norma Wallace arrived in New Orleans. Sexy and shrewd, she quickly went from streetwalker to madam and by 1920 had opened what became a legendary house of prostitution. There she entertained a steady stream of governors, gangsters, and movie stars.

Stephen King: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - Shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped King and his work.

Y O U N G  A D U L T / C H I L D R E N ‘ S 

Cassandra Clare: The Mortal Instruments- so, i didn’t finish this series but it’s the memories of reading these books that makes me put it on this list. i remember reading them on the bus rides home from school, in my eighth grade history class, running to the store on their release date and begging my dad for the newest addition. it is a very fascinating universe; i haven’t watched the show shadowhunters, which is based on this series, but the books were good.

Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events- i read ALL OF THESE BOOKS THEY WERE MY LIFE. they were so depressing but i loved these three siblings so much that i refused to leave them alone in that horrible world. haven’t watched the netflix series! 

Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson Series- for me, as a bored thirteen year old, this was one of the things that opened the door to greek mythology, which is now one of my favorite topics to study. 

S O U T H E R N  G O T H I C

Flannery O’Connor: “Good Country People”- Southern Gothic literature is a genre of southern USA writing. While it may include supernatural elements, it mainly focuses on damaged, even delusional, characters. The humor is strange and even when it is finally realized, it might not be all that funny, because humor in Southern Gothic stories is twisted, and usually quite vile. There are consistent grotesque themes of decay, desolation, and supernatural forces that are often credited to lost family honor, ghosts, witches, faeries, or god - but the shit all takes place on an isolated corn farm. It is a very fascinating genre and “good country people” is a prime example of this. (personal note: most of ewoatt chapter one was inspired by the southern gothic genre).   

R E F E R E N C E

Thomas C. Foster: How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines- THIS IS THE BOOK I REFERENCE MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE WHILE WRITING. It’s an introduction to literature and literary basics, including symbols, themes and contexts, that shows you how to make your everyday reading experience more rewarding and enjoyable.

Joseph Bates: The Nighttime Novelist:Finish Your Novel in Your Spare Time - Franz Kafka was an insurance agent. William Faulkner was a postmaster. Stephen King taught high school English, John Grisham was an attorney, and Toni Morrison worked in publishing. Though romantic fantasies of the writing life don’t often include a day job, the fact is that most writers have one. Yo, if you’re wanting to write a book or just a big fanfic, please get this book. I give it so much credit. 

Barbara & Allan Pease: The Definitive Book of Body Language: The Hidden Meaning Behind People’s Gestures and Expressions- It is a scientific fact that people’s gestures give away their true intentions. Yet most of us don’t know how to read body language–and don’t realize how our own physical movements speak to others. Now the world’s foremost experts on the subject share their techniques for reading body language signals to achieve success in every area of life. Great writing reference. 

Natalie Goldberg: Writing Down the Bones- This text offers encouragement and advice on many aspects of the writer’s craft, from first thoughts to the use and misuse of adverbs, from where the best places are to write - both public and private.

[themastercylinder]

SUMMARY Sam Phillips and his child Tony are playing outside their farm. The father is abducted by a strong light. Three years later, the light returns, and plants a seed. A half-human, half-alien creature grows up, and when it moves it is run over by a car. Ben is attacked and killed when he looks for the crash victim. Jane, his companion, is also killed by the hybrid creature. The monster then moves to a cottage nearby and attacks and impregnates a woman living there, before dissolving and dying. When she returns to consciousness, her belly rapidly and painfully grows to a gargantuan size that it even tears through her dress, showing movement inside her belly, and she gives birth, vaginally, to a fully formed and bloody Sam, who is connected to her by an umbilical cord like a baby is to its mother, before dying. Sam washes the blood off, steals Ben’s clothes and drives his car without bothering to get rid of Jane’s corpse, which will be found by a lorry driver.

Sam seeks Tony, who lives in an apartment building in London, with his mother Rachael, her new boyfriend Joe Daniels, and a French au-pair Analise Mercier. Rachel and Joe are professional photographers and share a studio in town. Many nights, Tony has nightmares where he wakes up soaked in blood, but it’s not his, as the family doctor discovers. Sam picks Tony up from school, until Rachel finds them. Although Joe doesn’t like it, as he intends to marry Rachel, Sam goes to live with them, saying he can’t remember anything. Tony sees him eating his pet snake’s eggs and runs from him. Sam goes after him, talking to him smoothly, and drinks his blood.

Rachel finds Jane’s photo in Sam’s clothes, but he can’t remember her either. Tony discovers he has certain powers now, so he sends a human-sized toy soldier to kill their nasty neighbour Mrs Goodman, in revenge for killing his pet snake, and a toy clown becomes a human-like clown.

Sam and Rachel both decide to visit their former residence, the farm, while leaving Tony in Analise’s care. However, she brings Michael, her boyfriend, and they make love. Tony demands to play hide-and-seek with her. She does so, only to be knocked out by the clown and used as a womb for the alien eggs; Tony sends a toy tank to kill Michael. He discovers Analise and runs away, but a black panther kills him. The building keeper, Mr. Knight, is also killed when Rachel asks him to watch Tony, as nobody answers the phone at home. Sam and Rachel make love at the abandoned farm, but she gets afraid because his skin starts to bleed and decompose. Joe has taken Tony there. Sam and Tony go up a hill towards the alien light. Sam has now taken the form of an alien, and his scream kills Joe. Along with Tony, Sam enters the light and returns to the alien world. Rachel sits down in the field where Tony and Sam left, and the next day returns to her apartment, only to be seen full of eggs. She picks up an egg, only to be killed by the same creature that impregnated the woman in the cottage as her apartment door slams shut behind her.

DEVELOPMENT XTRO marks the feature debut of 32-year-old Harry Bromley Davenport. In 1974, on the advice of a mutual friend, Forstater saw Davenport’s short horror film, WHISPERS OF FEAR, and liked it very much. Davenport, who has an interest in the horror genre, had an idea for a film titled THE HORRIFIC MOVIE HOUSE MASSACRE. Forstater attempted to secure financial backing for the movie, and it was announced several times, but the project ultimately collapsed. Then Davenport and well known anthologist & author Michel Parry came to Forstater with the idea for XTRO.

The original story of XTRO was devised by its director, Harry Davenport in collaboration with Michel Parry, the latter a leading figure on the British fantasy scene, the editor of many short fiction anthologies in the genre. The final script was written by Robert Smith and lan Cassie, with the close participation of New Line Producer Robert Shaye in the script’s development. The resulting film shows a truly bizarre mixture of elements, influences ranging from I Married a Monster from Outer Space to ALIEN to Close Encounters. While the cast, particularly Philip Sayer as the Earthling turned-alien, do much to shore up the film’s believability, it’s a safe guess that many SF purists will be gnashing their teeth with indignation upon the picture’s release.

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Lobby Cards & Production Stills

“The thing that attracted us to it,” says Shaye, “when we saw Davenport’s first treatment, was his intention to include in the film several jaw-slackening moments, where you’d see things that might make you doubt for a moment that you were seeing things correctly. To me, the film is ‘science fiction’ in the same sense that Phantasm is science fiction. It’s really more of a horror fantasy picture; the science fiction element often gets integrated into this kind of story because, when you want people to accept a premise, characters and action that are very far out, the quickest way to do that is to bring in a creature from another planet. People expect something weird from another planet, not from down the block.

“The story really takes off from the end of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND,” says producer Mark Forstater “It’s about a guy who returns to Earth after having been away on another planet for three years.” But here turmsaltered into a life-form which terrorizes an isolated rural community. He impregnates a woman via a tentacle that emerges from his chest and she gives birth to the man as he was before he went on his intergalactic journey. The man returns to his family and converts his son, who carries on the father’s alien ways like infecting the maid by injecting eggs into her stomach and making his toys come to life. All these unearthly events unsettle the man’s wife and she chooses to fight back, too late to affect the hopelessness of the situation. Forstater was quick to point out that XTRO is not an exploitation genre piece like INSEMINOID, with which it shares some superficial plot similarities.

Philadelphia-born Forstater is no newcomer to unusual fantasy projects; he has also produced MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL and THE GLITTERBALL. He got involved with XTRO when co-writer director Harry Bromely Davenport came to him with a script written with Michel Parry. Forstater brought in two other writers, Robert Smith and lain Cassie. “The plot was kept intact,” he said, “but the new writers went off into weird and wonderful tangents. It’s a synthesis of ALIEN and a lot of recent ideas, but it’s really how you put them together, and the style with which you approach the material, that is important.”

Forstater met Davenport, who wrote the first draft of Peter Straub’s THE HAUNTING OF JULIA, during a screening of WHISPERS OF FEAR, Davenport’s directorial debut. “I was impressed with it,” said Forstater, “It is the hardest exercise of all to make a film for $10,000 and limit yourself to one set and one actress, but Harry pulled it off.”

XTRO is being financed by Ashley Productions Ltd. a subsidiary of a British investment group based in Manchester. “The company had dealings with the leisure industry before,” said Forstater. “When I introduced them to this project they liked it, found they could afford it, and that it gave them a chance to break into production.”

Harry Bromley Davenport on the Development and Making of Xtro How did the initial idea for Xtro come about? HARRY BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: Since I have no imagination, I tend to steal ideas from others as frequently as possible. Do you remember the ending of Close Encounters of the Third Kind all those airplane pilots and whatnot emerging from the big UFO? I wondered what happened to them afterward. That seemed like a good jumping-off point for a movie.

Describe the initial development process. BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: Michel Parry and I wrote the first draft together, but Michel is a far better writer than me, so he managed to impose a structure. Then Mark Forstater, the producer, sent me to New York, where I messed around with Bob Shaye at New Line for a couple of months, rewriting a load of old nonsense. Then Robert Smith and Iain Cassie came on. Jesus, this thing was rewritten about 40 times!

Tell us about the progression of the script. BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: The more we worked on it, the more bizarre it became That was not the intended result. It occurred because none of us had much of all idea what we were doing. But we wanted to be unpredictable and shocking. So if anyone had a wacky idea, into the script it went without further ado. And I think that’s why the film has stayed alive and available in one form or another for 30 years. It’s such arrant nonsense that viewers are constantly kept on their toes by this onslaught of drivel that passes for imagination. Mark Forstater and I would occasionally look at each other and say. This is just too ridiculous; we can’t do that, but Bob Shaye always encouraged us to go to the extreme.

How did you get the cast and crew on board? BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: We were fortunate that we were scheduled to shoot it February and March, which were not periods of heavy employment in the movie business, so we scored loads of really good technicians and actors who might otherwise not have wished to work on a little monster movie. But economic reality won out and we got Barry Richardson, who did the hair on Quest for Fire, and Robin Grantham, who did a lot of the transformation makeup on American Werewolf in London. Gallons of good people worked on that show.

Were there any obstacles to overcome during the shoot? BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: The damn panther. There’s no real reason for it to be there that I can recall, except that it was a whim that emanated from the imagination of Bob Shaye. Panthers are untrainable, you know, but Bob absolutely insisted that we somehow shoehorn in a scene where one jumps out and kills somebody. He said it would be “off the wall”. Well, he got that right. We had to get a shot of this damn panther jumping over the camera for the attack. So the crew and I were imprisoned in a cage while a trainer stood above us and waved a chicken at the panther. Now, I don’t know if you have ever seen a panther cat a chicken, but it’s a pretty ruthless operation, and afterward the panther gets lazy and spends an hour or so digesting and snoozing. And we were still locked in this cage, peeing into empty beer cans, Ghastly business. That poor animal cost us $6,000, and I doubt if it’s on screen for more than 12 seconds. But any scene with a live animal is hell to shoot, because even if the trainer Swears up and down that the creature is ready to Tock and roll, it never does it right. Never. And you spend hours rolling camera on bad takes.

Tell us a bit about the killer toys. BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: I always disliked that part because it was dated, even then. And that wretched clown. God, I hated him-personally, I mean, I remember that we all got a lecture about how we could not refer to him as a *midget.” He was to be called the clown.” Nasty little bugger, he was. He was the only midget in the UK who was not employed on Return of the Jedi playing an Ewok, and so he was horrid. I think he stole those clown shoes at the end of the shoot, too. They cost $120 and were custom-made. You don’t just tatter down the road and buy a pair of clown shoes, you see.

How about the incredibly gory birth scene? BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: That is the only truly original death in the movie. I am told that it has been imitated since on multiple occasions. It was a terribly messy business. Rehearsal is unheard of in low budget films, but we actually did a full rehearsal of that scene on a stage and shot film it so that the cast and crew could see how to improve it.

What can you say about the FX, which are pretty impressive? BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: There were some very entertaining people working in the special effects department. In those days, there was no digital manipulation possible, and opticals were too expensive for bottom-feeders like us, so all the effects were done live on the set. We went for quantity, and had very little money left over to spend on the quality.

What do you credit Xtro’s initial success to? BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: New Line promoted the shit out of it. They did TV commercials, and it played all over the world. The relative success of the film is entirely proportionate to the advertising budget. The actual movie has little merit. I wish we could take another shot at it, but thank goodness that’s not in the cards.

Xtro is obviously a cult favorite, what do you owe that following to? BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: That’s because there had not been a movie like it released for quite some time, and apparently, there was an audience out there who wanted to be shocked. “The more we worked on the script, the more bizarre it became… none of us had much of an idea what we were doing.’ pleased that Siskel and Ebert absolutely panned it. It was their lead-off review, and Ebert said it was “mean-spirited” and a bunch of stuff about how horrid the whole film was. That was immensely helpful to our box office, and caused lines around the block. When it was finished, I was far from proud of the film, because it should have been much better. But the older and more geriatric I become, the more forgiving of my weaknesses I am. I was angry with the movie, because I still don’t think I did a good piece of work. It should have been terrifying, and it became sort of campy. But what are you going to do when you’re dealing with rubber monsters and clowns and panthers?

Preproduction sketches from XTRO show how the actor’s head (upper right) fits inside the mask. Marginal notes indicate that “lower part of the alien face is a prosthetic mask” which will tear if the mouth is opened.

SPECIAL EFFECTS The bulk of the effects sequences, executed by NEEFX with makeup effects by Robin Grantham, seem designed to emulate illusions seen in films budgeted on a much grander scale. Because the effects are the primary focal point of the finished film, the plot takes some strange right angle turns in order to include some of the sequences devised.

The talented special effects team of Tom Harris & Francis Coates have both had wide television experience. With science fiction & horror subjects leading the state of the art in this area, it’s not surprising that even a low-budget film such as XTRO is filled with effects sequences. Forstater explained that the movie will contain “at least 3 or 4 major ‘buzz’ sequences” which would excite & awe an audience, and he had only praise for the team handling these often difficult scenes. Almost 40% of the effects work was completed during live-action filming because of the budget restrictions. This ranged from the radio-controlled toys to special Latex makeup effects & difficult multi-image opticals attempted directly inside the camera.

XTRO also offers 2 alien monster designs, which resemble H.R. Giger’s full-grown creature in ALIEN. Davenport & Forstater discussed these designs with artist Chris Hobbs, who is the film’s visual consultant. Hobbs came up with a number of effective ideas-not only for just the aliens but also for Forstater’s aforementioned “buzz” sequences: these include the impregnation of alien eggs under the skin of a young au pair, the decomposition of the creatures’ human bodies revealing the hidden alien forms within and, perhaps most startling of all, a woman giving birth to a fully-grown man! Hobbs’ pre-production artwork has a strong EC Comics quality.

Harry Bromley Davenport prepping the “Pregnancy Scene”

“Our six week shooting schedule meant we had to be incredibly precise about the effects we wanted,” said Forstater. “Francis came up with designs that we have had to stick to. Everything had to work the first time as couldn’t afford delay. Every time we shot an effect, three others had to be lined up in case something went wrong. If the prosthetic on the maid’s stomach didn’t work the first time, off it went and another one went on immediately.”

Chris Hobbs, a sketch artist, helped sort out the visual concepts for the production. Originally, a man in a faceless rubber suit was suggested for the creature, but was scrapped when Hobbs came up with a clever and original idea. “I hope the audience doesn’t realize this, but our creature is a man on his back, on all fours,” said Forstater. “He will have to arch himself as much as he can so this won’t be too obvious. We hired a trained mime artist, who perfected a strange scuttle. You only set the creature at night, so I think we’ll get away with it.”

Other special effects sequences involve a giant cocoon, the father infecting his son by implanting his lips into his shoulder, a scream exploding a man’s eardrums, and the father deteriorating so badly that he literally falls apart. Acording to Forstater, these ambitious effects will be dealt with in an elegant way. “We’ve gone for the dry, clean look,” he said. “There’s no gone or slime to invoke an uneasy physical response’. I know that audiences are now so sophisticated that they want to see it all, but we’ll get gross only as a last resort: if we decide that the effects aren’t working. We’ll do whatever is necessary to make them work and I won’t apologize for it if that’s what we have to do.”

FX artist Christopher Hobbs working the Xtro puppet

Xtro-Alternate Ending(1982)

Director Harry Bromley Davenport originally intended the film to end with Rachel coming home to find the apartment filled with clones of Tony, having apparently come from the alien eggs which the real Tony had been left in the refrigerator. But executive producer Robert Shaye, not thinking the scenes special effects were convincing enough, edited it out and released it for its New York debut with the film ending when Rachel sits down in the field after Sam and Tony have left. Davenport, however, not wanting to have it end on such an abrupt note, created another one which had Rachel going back to the apartment, picking up one of the eggs and being attacked by a face-grabbing creature similar to the one that attacked the woman in the cottage, and ultimately the film was released with this ending.

Xtro – Missing scenes (These scenes are missing from all current DVD releases of the film, yet were in the old VHS releases and also in the version screened by the UK sci-fi channel in 2005.)

DISTRIBUTION-RELEASE Xtro came under fire in the United Kingdom during the 1980s due to several graphic sequences; most notably the pregnancy scene. Were you shocked at this reaction and do you feel the censors overreacted?

BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: I was greatly surprised – and pleased. When the film came under the scrutiny of the censorship brigade, sales roared. I wish I could get that kind of attention today. Now it’s impossible to shock people. We’ve seen everything.

The first film mainly focused on abandonment issues, both of the child losing his father and the man losing both his family and his own identity. Was this something you intended on exploring in the next film?

BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: Wow! Abandonment? I guess so. I never thought of that. You’re right. Maybe I should ask Daryl to do yet another re-write of the current script to emphasise this abandonment issue. Does that ring true for you? Now that you force me to think about it, you may have tapped into something that helped the film to hold the viewer’s attention. Wow! Don’t ask perceptive questions like that.

In his review of Xtro, film critic Roger Ebert described it as ‘a completely depressing, nihilistic film, an exercise in sadness.’ How does this make you feel and would you say this is in any way accurate?

BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: I’ve seen that review on YouTube. And Siskel and Ebert look like a couple of nannies telling their children not to go near the swamp. It’s a statement of enormous self-importance. It is cruel too – designed to make him sound like the savior of mankind. I refute that observation. I find that real critics – not ‘reviewers’ like fat Ebert – take tenable positions about the films I have directed when they don’t like them. This dope just aimed at an easy target – a low budget independent exploitation film – and let rip.

I would like to remind your readers that the script for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls flowed from the pen of Mr. Ebert. I’m glad that I didn’t see that Xtro review until recently. Had I seen it when I was younger, it would have cut me to the quick. I hope that he gets eaten alive by an army of big black spiders.

CONCLUSION Upon its fairly successful 1983 U.S. theatrical release, Xtro was trashed by critics who dismissed it as a cheap, over sexualized variation on E.T. To add to the film’s notoriety, Xtro was labeled a “video nasty by the British Board of Film Censorship. It spawned two very unofficial direct-to video sequels, none having anything to do with the others beyond being directed by Bromley-Davenport—1991’s Xtro II: The Second Encounter and 1995’s Xtro : Watch the Skies.

With Michel Parry having written the original script, did you ever discuss collaborating together again on the subsequent sequels and how did you come to work with Daryl Haney?

BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: Michel, who is an accomplished writer, does not live in L.A., and for me to mete out sufficient psychic trauma on the writer, I need the victim to live here where I can maximize the misery I inflict. I am also very fond of Michel and would not wish to subject him to my hideous method of work. I met Daryl Haney through a remote connection with Roger Corman when we were putting together the third Xtro. Daryl talks a lot and has a fresh idea every thirteen seconds, which means that I don’t really have to do any work. Our method is to spend several months having lunch at Taix Restaurant on Sunset Boulevard, where he expounds and I take notes. After sufficient money has been spent on these three-hour lunch marathons, Daryl disappears for a few weeks and then sends me a first draft screenplay which has no connection with anything we have previously discussed. But we have managed to actually make seven movies together and that probably means something – perhaps what idiots we both are.

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Promotional Art

New Line Cinema are known for exploiting their products as much as possible, yet they chose not to take part in the sequels. Why was that?

BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: Because I own the rights to the title Xtro and they do not. But I do not own the rights to the original story. This is caused by some quirk of the original production contracts. Strangely enough, they did call me a couple of years ago to discuss doing a ‘re-boot’, but Bob Shaye, the CEO of New Line, who co-produced the original film along with Mark Forstater, had been shown the ejector seat button and I didn’t care to deal with anyone there but Bob. He’s a wacky individual who is far more cultured than most film executives. However, Bob was in a bad mood for the entire shooting period of Xtro and that somewhat curtailed his desire to be nice to me. He was in ‘I-am-the-dark-demon-boss-Bob’ mode for some inexplicable reason. But he sure as hell promoted the shit out of the film in the States and for that I am grateful, although it is a mixed blessing to be associated with a film that, at the time, was considered somewhat shocking.

It seems inevitable that every cult movie is eventually remade; has this ever been discussed with Xtro or would you rather continue the series with further sequels?

BROMLEY-DAVENPORT: I was approached by New Line, which owns the original story – but I would rather shoot another sequel far from the interfering hands of the conventional Hollywood executive phone-monkeys. The fun part about having directed a movie which was, at the time, infamous, is that I frequently receive emails from people all over the world which tell me of how they first saw it when they were kids and how it terrified them. Or else it was a film which they couldn’t shake off.

Xtro Xposed Harry Bromley-Davenport Interview

Pure Destructive Records is proud to announce, an official licensed reissue of XTRO. The original score composed by the director, Harry Bromley Davenport.

Available @ Amazon

Xtro – Original Filmsoundtrack 1982

  REFERENCES and SOURCES http://love-it-loud.co.uk/interview-with-harry-bromley-davenport-xtro/ Twilight Zone#10 1982 Fangoria#324 Fangoria#024 Famous Monsters of Filmland 191 Cinefantastique#05

Xtro (1982) Retrospective SUMMARY Sam Phillips and his child Tony are playing outside their farm. The father is abducted by a strong light.

[andrewdburton]

Becoming proactive: The number-one secret to wealth, freedom, and happiness

A few weeks ago, I cataloged the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people. Based on my reading (and personal experience), I compiled a list of 61 habits that foster wealth and success.

While writing that article, I found one critical difference was mentioned again and again. Every author and expert on the subject shared some form of the following. Generally speaking: Successful people believe they control their destiny and unsuccessful people do not.

In Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, for instance, T. Harv Eker lists seventeen ways the financial blueprints of the rich differ from those of the poor and middle-class. Number one on his list?

Rich people believe: “I create my life.” Poor people believe: “Life happens to me.”

This message comes up time and again when discussing the difference between those who succeed and those who don’t. Successful people are proactive, they take responsibility for their future, they have an internal locus of control. Unsuccessful people believe they are victims of fate or circumstance.

Let’s look at why many folks feel like they’re not in control of their lives — and how it’s possible to learn to be proactive (even if you’re old like me and set in your ways).

Permission and Control

As children, we’re conditioned to ask permission whenever we want to do something. You need permission from your parents to leave the dinner table or to go outside and play. You need permission from your teacher to use the bathroom.

Even as adults, we feel compelled to request permission. You need permission from your boss to leave work early. You need permission from your spouse to grab drinks with your friends instead of weeding the garden. You need permission from the city to build a shed in the backyard.

As a result, most of us have developed an external locus of control.

In personality psychology, the term locus of control describes how people view the world around them, and where they place responsibility for the things that happen in their lives. Though this might sound complicated, the concept is actually rather simple.

If you have an internal locus of control, you believe that the quality of your life is largely determined by your own choices and actions. You believe that you are responsible for who you are and what you are.

If you have an external locus of control, you believe that the quality of your life is largely determined by your environment, by luck, by fate. You believe that others are responsible for who you are and what you are.

This isn’t an either-or proposition, obviously. Locus of control exists on a continuum. But many people tend to favor one side of the continuum over the other.

Julian B. Rotter developed the locus of control concept in 1954 as part of his social-learning theory of personality. Stephen R. Covey popularized the idea in 1989 with his best-selling The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He urged readers to become proactive.

Becoming Proactive

Covey believes that we filter our experiences before they reach our consciousness. “Between stimulus and response,” he writes, “man has the freedom to choose.” Our self-awareness, imagination, conscience, and free will all give us the power to select how we’ll respond to each situation in life.

Covey says there are two types of people: proactive and reactive.

Proactive people recognize that they’re responsible for how they respond to outside stimuli. They have an internal locus of control. They don’t blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their state. They believe their existence is largely a product of personal choice derived from personal values.

Reactive people believe their condition is a product of their physical and social environments. They have an external locus of control. Their moods are based on the moods of others, or upon the things that happen to them. They allow the outside world to control their internal existence.

To illustrate the difference between proactive and reactive people, Covey discusses how we focus our time and energy.

We each have a wide range of concerns: our health, our family, our jobs, our friends; world affairs, the plight of the poor, the threat of terrorism, the state of the environment. All of these fall into what Covey calls our Circle of Concern.

Within our Circle of Concern, there’s a subset of things over which we have actual, direct control: how much we exercise, what time we go to bed, whether we get to work on time; what we eat, where we live, with whom we socialize. These things fall into what Covey calls our Circle of Influence, which sits inside our Circle of Concern.

Here’s a visualization of this concept from James Clear and Mr. Money Mustache:

According to Covey, proactive people focus their efforts on their Circle of Influence. They spend their time and energy on things they can change. This has two effects. First, proactive people actually do affect change in their lives; and as they do so, their Circle of Influence expands.

On the other hand, reactive people tend to focus on their Circle of Concern. They spend their time and energy on things they’re unable to influence (or can influence only with great difficulty). They try to change other people, to correct social injustices, to shift thought patterns of states or nations. Their efforts are largely frustrating and futile. What’s more, as they focus on their Circle of Concern, their Circle of Influence begins to shrink from neglect.

Any time you shift your attention from your Circle of Influence to your Circle of Concern, you allow outside forces to control you. You sacrifice your freedom. You place your happiness and well-being in the hands of others. If you don’t act for yourself, you’re doomed to be acted upon.

But what about about luck? Aren’t there times when we really are at the mercy of the world around us? Of course. But our responses are always our own. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “No one can hurt you without your consent.” Covey agrees:

It’s not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us. Of course, things can hurt us physically or economically and can cause sorrow. But our character, our basic identity, does not have to be hurt at all. In fact, our most difficult experiences become the crucibles that forge our character.

Bad Examples

Successful people believe they’re in control of their destiny and unsuccessful people do not. Let me give you some specific examples.

I know a woman who owns a business. The business is always on the brink of collapse. She believes her store struggles because of onerous city codes and an unresponsive landlord. Yet, other businesses around her thrive despite similar circumstances. She doesn’t see that the problem could be with the way she runs the place: the store’s odd hours, its poor condition, the way she treats her customers.

My youngest brother has had his share of financial struggles. Within a one-year span, he lost two homes to foreclosure and declared bankruptcy. At first, he didn’t own any of this as his fault. He viewed it as bad luck, as if he and his wife were simply victims of circumstance. They thought they were screwed by stupid people and a bad economy. A decade later, Tony has a different view. I spoke with him recently, and it was refreshing to hear him take some responsibility for what happened.

For years, my own locus of control was primarily external. I was overweight, in debt, and unhappy. On some level, I knew that my state was a result of my choices, but most of my time was spent rationalizing reasons I couldn’t change: I didn’t have time to exercise, my car broke down, I didn’t get the job I wanted. Nothing good ever happened to me. (Notice that phrase: “happened to me.”) I thought most things were outside of my control.

The good news is that people can change. If you have an external locus of control, you can develop an internal locus of control. If you’re reactive, you can become proactive. I know because I’ve done it myself.

In time, I realized that if I wanted something more from life, it was up to me to obtain it. Gradually, my locus of control shifted from an external focus to an internal focus. I decided that I am responsible for my own destiny and my own happiness. It’s up to me to live a life I love.

I am responsible for my own well-being, and you are responsible for yours.

If you’re unhappy, nobody else can make things better for you. You must make things better for yourself. Focus on the things you can control, and use that control to fix the other things that are broken. In this way, you’ll gradually gain confidence and greater control of your future well-being.

Good Examples

Since I’ve become aware of this distinction — between folks who believe they’re in control of their lives and those who don’t — it’s been like breaking free from the matrix. I can’t help but see the patterns everywhere I go.

I hate to admit it, but it’s often tough to talk with folks who have an external locus of control, people whose Circle of Concern far exceeds their Circle of Influence. It’s hard to watch friends repeatedly make poor choices. On the other hand, it’s refreshing to spend time with people who don’t let life get them down.

My girlfriend, Kim, is a great example of somebody proactive. She never lets anyone or anything hold her back. If something goes wrong, she finds another way to achieve her goals. She takes complete and total responsibility for building the future she wants.

This manifests in lots of little ways:

If she doesn’t understand something, Kim asks questions.

If she has a problem with a company, she calls to explain (not complain about) the problem.

If something is broken, she figures out how to fix it.

Kim never waits for things to get better but actively seeks ways to improve her situation.

Here’s a great example of Kim’s proactive nature in action.

During our 15-month RV trip across the United States, we paused for six months to rent a condo in Savannah, Georgia. Kim could have spent those six months relaxing and seeing the sites, but instead decided she wanted to seize the opportunity to make some money.

The moment we knew we’d be wintering in Georgia, Kim started the process of getting her dental hygiene license. It took several weeks for all of the paperwork to process. Rather than wait and wonder, Kim made polite calls every week to make sure there were no problems.

The day she received her license in the mail, Kim hit the pavement. She scoured the city, dropping off résumés and speaking with doctors. Within a couple of days, she started getting calls asking her to do fill-in work while other hygienists were sick or on vacation. She also got a couple of offers for a long-term positions. During the six months we were in Georgia, Kim had as much work as she wanted.

When we returned home to Portland, she applied the same technique here. She pounded the pavement, putting her name out there as a potential fill-in hygienist. For a few months, she tried various offices. Eventually, she found two practices where she fit in perfectly. Now she has steady work — and constant offers from the other places she filled in.

Simply being around Kim and observing her strong internal locus of control has helped me become more proactive! I’m still not as good as she is, but I’m getting better.

You Are the Boss of You

Shifting from an external locus of control to an internal locus of control isn’t just important for happiness, but also for making meaning in your life, for obtaining personal (and financial) freedom. Freedom comes from focusing not on your Circle of Concern, but exclusively on your Circle of Influence. As long as you allow yourself to dwell on the things you can’t control, you are not free.

Obviously, shit happens. But you know what? Shit happens to everyone. Ultimately, who we are and what we become is determined not by what sort of shit happens to us, but by how we respond to that shit.

Victor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist who survived the Nazi death camps during World War II. The extreme suffering and harsh conditions caused many inmates to lose their will, to choose death.

To be sure, prisoners often had no control over whether or not they died. But Frankl observed:

A man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him — mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp.

In the classic Man’s Search for Meaning, he wrote:

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

Even with a severely restricted Circle of Influence, prisoners still had control of how chose to approach their destiny.

Accepting responsibility for your own fate and attitudes can be uncomfortable and intimidating. There’s a kind of solace when you can attribute your situation to the winds of fate, the will of god, or the workings of the universe.

But recognizing that you’re a free agent can also be liberating. When you take matters into your own hands, you shed your fears, create your own certainty, and discover that you’re freer than you ever imagined possible.

You are the boss of you. You don’t need anybody’s permission to get out of debt or to buy a house or to ask for a raise. And nobody’s going to come to you out of the blue to explain investing or health insurance or your credit card contract. Take charge yourself.

Focus on the things you can control. Use that control to remove constraints and complications from your life. Strengthen and stretch your Circle of Influence. This is the only path to changing your Circle of Concern. You have no control over the hand you’re dealt, but you can choose how to play the cards.

Here’s a simple exercise from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: For thirty days, commit to working only on your Circle of Influence. How? Keep your commitments, to yourself and others. Don’t judge or criticize other people, but turn your attention inward. Don’t argue. Don’t make excuses. When you make a mistake, accept responsibility and fix it. Don’t blame or accuse. When you catch yourself thinking “I have to…” or “If only…”, stop yourself and choose to reframe the thought in a more positive light. As far as possible, accept responsibility for your circumstances, actions, and feelings.

The post Becoming proactive: The number-one secret to wealth, freedom, and happiness appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

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[kariquaas]

Wow. It’s super cool to see lots of people out supporting musicians and art. Ryan Crowther, of Everett Music Initiative, is a gift to this community and I’m proud to know him. Thanks for bringing a glorious new vision of Everett to Everett, Ryan.

I bought my tickets early at the $25 for the weekend price. We missed the action Friday due to being sick all week (O) and me being gainfully unemployed, but contracting, seeking work, and just tired (me), and went out to dinner instead.

Saturday, we began the journey with a yummy dinner at J Ramen and Sushi, and then saw the following bands:

I Will Keep Your Ghost

Tilson XOXO

The Seshen

Cave Singers

Ghost was very good, and I wish I heard more of their set.

Tilson XOXO was totally surprising and fun. I had noticed the lead singer cruising around The Anchor wearing a knit cap and a letterman’s-like jacket. He must have been warm! When he got up to sing, the crowd got engaged and rocked and rapped with him.

The Seshen, taking the full stage at the Everett Performing Arts Center with a simple setup, was beyond magical once they started to play. With just a vocalist, a dude on bass, and a drum set, and I’m guessing one helluva of a computer sound generating system manipulating by foot (think Ed Sheeran), they filled that space and were enthralling. O bought their album the next day. We grooved to it on Sunday before heading out for more.

Cave Singers were an old fave. They are humble and clever. And, seemed surprised that the set went okay. Something must be going on in the background. We enjoyed their set and headed home.

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Sunday’s List o’ Bands:

Alex Johnston

The Winterlings

Kevin Murphy

Woodshed

Gunpowder Stitches

The SkyeMonkey

Planes on Paper

Lake

Courtney Marie Andrews

Karl Blau

Sunday I did the church thing, the Irishmen pub grub for brunch with my friend, Kimberly, and then I wanted to see The Winterlings, who I had seen last summer at Fresh Paint. I connected with my metal lovin’ friends, Gretchen and Jim, and ended up catching Alex Johnston’s set because of The Anchor starting late. I suppose that happens when you head home for the night at 5:30am!

Alex played solo on the keyboard lovely. He also played a raucous guitar, which was not my style, but good for him. Apparently, he’s a local Trinity grad.

The Winterlings are pleasant people and their set was calm and cool. I love hearing banjo and her sweet voice, and he plays guitar along with all kinds of gadgets with his feet. Let’s just say that I remain in awe of the joyful noises that one and / or just two people can make on stage!

We jetted off to see Kevin Murphy, who I first saw perform at the 100 Years Ago Tomorrow show. Kevin had written and sung a song about my cousins’ great-grandfather, Jefferson Beard, who was killed during the Everett Massacre. He sung it so sensitively, I wanted to hear him sing again. This time he had a bass player and drummer with him. It’s simple music with some emotional bursts. I, fortunately, had a chance to catch up with him later that evening outside when I was seeing what food options were still open on Sunday night on Hewitt. He was glad I came up to him again and that I had introduced myself back in November. The massacre is a local story that still has impacts today. And, as he realized writing the song, this person’s ancestors could be in the audience. They were. Kudos to him for acknowledging that.

We then went back to the Anchor for Woodshed, who I would describe as sounding like Metallica with a farm boy doing the singing and a combination Chris Cornell / Frank Zappa bass player, slamming on his bass while grooving all over that stage. They were super fun to watch. And, my metal friends were happy.

Gunpowder Stitches. I’m not sure I understand the name, but they do have a song called Gunpowder Stitches, were a little less metal and little more rock. A pretty standard band, we liked them, but were more excited about …..

The SkyeMonkey! I met these two, Tim and Joel, at Basecamp, which was Ryan’s office and mine for a while in 2016. They, too, had a rock feel. Now, they have this wild goth presence, cool screaming-like vocals, hooded drummer rocking out, and super cool vibe. Apparently, they just completely re-did their sound in the last month and half and this was the result. The audience was WAY into them, and they were super happy to get the feedback. Plus, Tim works for Kennelly Keys and they were a sponsor for the FVMF. Very cool. He also remembered by Everett Sunsets metal prints at Basecamp.

Our exchange:

“Why weren’t you at the Everett Maker’s Market yesterday?” – said Tim.

“I don’t really make anything.” – says me.

“You sound just like an artist. Beating yourself up.” – said Tim.

And, I sighed. It’s funny because I know I make something. I think that somehow I justify the making part to the lab I use and therefore it’s not me. I’ll get over it. I will. Right??

Carrying on with the music, I took off and went to Tony V’s for the rest of the night. I had read about Planes on Paper sounding like Simon and Garfunkel and I had to hear that for myself. They do have a lovely complementary sound. Their last song was haunting about hoping that love will last or be enough. I’d like to hear them again.

I found myself often wondering HOW this people met in the first place. In my youth I had a friend whose voice and mine together sounded magical. We sang something as simple as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and it just worked. The “two sides of” belief. Either everything means something or it doesn’t. I tend to fall on the “everything means something” side. We meet people for reasons and who knows the impact that they could have. Some for a day. Some for a year. And, some for a recording contract! ;-)

Lake, the next band, was out of Olympia, and as I was eating my hamburger and tots, I wrote down these thoughts.

“Now at Lake – hippy, unapologetic, band. That’s their art.

We all make.

We all try to be heard.

We do.

Because we can?

Because we need to?

Because we’re bored?”

And, then came Courtney Marie Andrews. Ryan walked past me before she started to sing and said, “This is going to hurt.” Damn. That young woman can sing….and play….and communicate emotion. I found myself looking her up on the web and discovered that she was raised in Arizona, and was born after I graduated from high school. Wow. Stunning vocals and thoughtful, written by her, lyrics. I bought her CD, Honest Life, and had her sign it. I hope she keeps it up. What a treat. She was not to be missed.

I saw the first half of Karl Blau’s show and I described him, with the help of my table mates, as the country Jack Johnson. Smooth and sultry, I liked it, but it was time to go home.

This year’s festival was earlier than the previous years and I’m glad for that. It had less competition and the weather cooperated! I second Downtown Dave Ramstad’s suggestion of a fall festival as well. I think that Everett needs it and would support it. (Do it, Ryan! We’ll support you!)

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As for the photos, I took them all with my iPhone. I saw so many photographers about and was glad that the event was being documented so well. I did my best to capture the sunsets, and found it enjoyable to be amongst the many posts on Instagram.

I have done and do event photography so keep me in mind for your future events. My aim is to make people feel like they were there too. This upcoming weekend (April 8, 2017), I’ll be photographing the Pioneer Square Spring Clean. Come on down and make Seattle pretty!

Thanks for the music, Everett.

Reflections: Fisherman’s Village Music Festival Wow. It's super cool to see lots of people out supporting musicians and art. Ryan Crowther, of…